Jason, Matt
Matthew awoke to the smell of cooking bacon. Wait what? He sat up in a bed that wasn’t his, he immediately regretted it as his mild concussion reared its ugly head again. Everything was both too old and too quiet, he couldn’t hear anything outside this room and he could hear everything.
Just as his breathing picked up, and his eyes started to get wet, the door opened. His head snapped up and all his senses focused immediately on everything about the man who walked in. He was carrying a tray of food (bacon, eggs, pancakes) and had a glass of water in his other hand. His clothes were baggy, which must be hard to find since he was very well built, with muscles moving almost musically as he moved to set the tray and cup on a bedside table and came up to kneel in front of Matt.
He started to speak but stopped when Matt flinched. That was odd. Matt knew he’d only barely moved, definitely not enough for a normal person to see as a flinch. Who was this guy? He was shaken from his thoughts when the man tapped on his leg. It took a second for Matt to recognize the pattern as Morse code. Short, short, long, short, pause, long, long, long, pause, long, long, long, pause, long, short, short, pause, short, short, long, long, short, short. Food? Matt nodded and the glass of water was handed to him. Once he’d drunk that, the tray was handed to him. At this point the world had stopped ringing so badly so he nodded to the man, hoping he’d understand.
Apparently he did because a moment later he spoke, this time quieter. “How are you feeling? I wasn’t able to check you for a concussion but I think it’s a strong possibility.” Matt made a so-so gesture with his hand. “Ok, I’m gonna assume you feel worse than you’re telling me. You seem like the type to do that.” The man had amusement in his voice. He walked off towards a side room, a bathroom based on the running water, muttering about people in suits never telling the truth. He didn’t know why that hurt so much to hear from this guy. Matt wracked his brain, trying to think of why this person seemed so familiar and why he cared so much about his opinions. Suddenly it hit him, the mugging on his way home from church, the coffee dates, the attempted mugging late at night, the human trafficking bust, the warehouse, Jason.
The name sent a shock through Matt’s system and he was suddenly all too aware of what had happened in the warehouse and what Jason had had to do, and what might have happened to him because Matt hadn’t been able to keep track of his surroundings.
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Jason came out of the bathroom after spending five minutes hunting for some pain meds only to find Matt panicking. He hurriedly sat the cup of water and pills down on the table and took the tray of food and set it aside. He took Matt’s wrist in his hand and Matt immediately grabbed onto him, almost like a lifeline, and felt at his wrist, almost like he was looking for a pulse. Jason guided Matt’s fingers to his veins as he started talking, trying to ground him without overwhelming him too much.
“We’re in my apartment, in Hell’s Kitchen, about four blocks away from your church. The wallpaper is a weird yellow and it smells like rat urine and bleach. It’s about four o’clock in the afternoon, the day after I saved you from Black Mask in the warehouse about ten minutes from here.
“I called your friends to tell them where you were and that you were ok, they’ll be stopping by with some work you can do while you recover. By the way, you’ve got some great friends. They didn’t stop threatening me until I offered to have them stay here with you. I didn’t want you to move so you didn’t get hurt any more and I’m glad they understood. That nurse friend of yours is great, a real spit-fire. I’m glad you have her to take care of you ‘cause I don’t think you’d get any healthcare otherwise. She reminds me of some of my friends back home, though they aren’t nurses they help take care of me and my siblings.” By now Matt had calmed down some, and wasn’t holding his hand like he thought Jason was going to disappear. He mumbled something and Jason stopped talking, nudged him to say it again.
“‘m sorry.” Matt said quietly. Jason frowned.
“What for? It wasn’t your fault that asshole decided to kidnap you.”
Matt shook his head. “No, I should have been more aware. He shouldn’t have been able to grab me in the first place.” Jason stopped Matt by wrapping his arms around him.
“It ain’t your fault Matt. From what your friends told me you were already really tired, and no matter what super sense bullshit you got if you’re too tired to think straight they aren’t going to do you much good.” Matt froze.
“What super senses?” Jason just laughed.
“Don’t worry. I figured out your little secret as soon as you said my name in costume. I’m not worried, its not like I can tell you to stop, I’d be a fuckin’ hypocrite. I’m supposed to be on vacation and yet I still decided to pack a suit. Your secret’s safe with me as long as mine is safe with you.” Jason chuckled and sat back, reaching for the tray of food until Matt hugged him.
“Thank you.” He said. “Your secret is safe with me. I promise.” Jason hugged him back and they sat there in relative silence (it was just about the end of the work day after all. People were rushing to get home outside and causing all kinds of noise) for a few more minutes before Jason pulled back.
“Well, this was touching but you need to eat. Do you wanna eat it here or in the living room?” Jason held up the tray again.
“Living room if that’s alright with you. It’ll probably work better for any conversations we need to have.” Matt smiled awkwardly as Jason nodded.
“That works. I do have some questions about how you ended up with Goth Skeleton but that can wait until after you’ve eaten and assured the blondes that I didn’t kill you. They’re worried about you.” Jason stood up and helped Matt get up, letting him lean his weight against him.
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Matt was confronted with how strong Jason was. Of course he knew this beforehand, he had witnessed this man body another man across a room and kick down several doors, but it didn’t quite seem real until he was the only thing keeping him from falling flat on his face as they walked through his apartment. Jason didn’t even seem bothered by Matt’s weight, easily guiding him through the hall and into the living room, depositing him on the couch and handing him the tray of food that was still warm.
Jason talked about how his day had been, before he’d found Matt bloodied and bruised in the warehouse, sounding so painfully normal that Matt knew he was doing so for his benefit. He was grateful for that. He didn’t want to remember that his identity and the safety of his friend had been put in danger yet again, or that he’d been saved by someone he hadn’t known nearly enough about to feel comfortable with. Yet he did concede, privately, that if he was going to be saved by anybody, he was glad it was Jason.
Once he was done with his food, Matt called Jason over from where he was cleaning the kitchen. They both sat facing each other on either ends of Jason’s couch as Matt started his story.
“I got a concussion a couple days ago, and my friends had all told me to stay home and recover, but there was an emergency at work so I had to come in. That afternoon as I was walking home, I got distracted by something a few blocks away and I guess that was enough for that guy’s men to grab me and drag me into an alley. I was already disoriented because of the concussion I was still healing from so the jostling and movement didn’t make that any better. They knocked me out, even after I struggled, I think I got a few hits in but one guy knocked me on the back of the head. I woke up soon after, tied to a chair, with that black mask guy talking about how he was gonna make Daredevil- well, me - suffer. He beat me up a little more before leaving again. I was moved to the warehouse and it was a few hours later that you found me.” Jason just nodded along the whole time until finally he moved so he sat right in front of Matt.
He slowly moved forward, almost too slow, until their lips were touching. Jason didn’t kiss Matt like he was fragile, like he was made of glass. He kissed him like he was trying to put him back together. Like he was a treasure. Matt pressed all of his emotions into Jason’s lips, doing his best to convey how grateful he was for everything Jason had done for him.
They pulled apart breathlessly, smiling at each other.
“I’m glad you’re safe Matt.” Jason said, “You’ve made my trip so much better.” He kissed Matt again, slower this time. They had time to figure this out. For now, they could just be Matt and Jason. And that was enough.