Chapter Text
Jason cursed as he battled his way out from under his jacket. Goddamn leather was way too fucking heavy when that bastard mage did his fucking transformation thing. He made it out and kicked the helmet away with a yowl of outrage that made the mage back up a couple of steps.
"Now, now, kitty," the mage said soothingly. "There's no need to pull the claws out."
"Goddamn wrong there, asshole!" Jason yowled.
The words came out more like 'Grrrawwww-yooooooolllrrrr!' but the meaning was obviously there. He launched himself at the trash bin next to the mage, bouncing off it and kicking hard so that he could leap straight at the asshole's face. Jason didn't quite make it. Instead the mage flung out his arm to protect himself. That was close enough so Jason latched on and started biting and clawing everything he could get his teeth and claws into.
He managed to claw his way up the jerk's shoulder and was just getting ready to rip the fucker's ear off when another dark furry shape flew out of the darkness to clamp onto the mage's ass. That turned the shouts into screams of agony. Jason hung on as the mage wind-milled and then spun around so hard that Jason was nearly flung off.
To his amusement, the moron smacked his head into the trash bin so hard that it rang like a bell. The mage staggered, wobbled and then collapsed face down in the alleyway. Jason took a moment to bat the guy's face, confirming that he had just knocked himself out and then turned to see who would be sharing today's embarrassing transformation incident.
Tim looked back at him, already licking his claws clean with that prissy, disgusted expression that said that he really hated this guy. When Jason growled and kicked the mage in the head before stalking off to bat his helmet over, Tim purred and followed. It took a little effort to tap in the 'kitty incident' code into his comm but pretty quick-like he got a reply from Damian.
"I shall be there shortly," Damian said. "Disembowel him, please."
Jason growled confirmation while Dick objected loudly over the comms and Babs laughed herself sick. He didn't actually do it, only because Tim was right there, frowning at him. Jason wasn't sure why until Tim very gently placed one elegant little paw on his shoulder by the gash he'd taken a few days ago. He would have told Tim to stop being such a worry-wart but no vocal chords made that tough.
Instead he sort of head-butted Tim, rubbing up against the smaller man's, cat's, side. Tim side-eyed him, licking the fur around the cut with a glare that could have stripped paint. He draped himself over Jason's shoulders, all but shouting at Jason to sit the fuck down and let Tim look at the injury. Rolling your eyes as a cat was virtually impossible, Jason ought to know since he'd never figured out how to do it despite practicing one time for almost two hours, but flicking your ears back while puffing the ruff up and flicking your tail conveyed pretty much the exact same thing.
Still, he sat down and let Tim check the gash out. It was good. Jason already knew that. He'd gotten Leslie to stitch the thing up, nice and tight. Besides, it wasn't all that deep. Eventually Tim stopped sniffing and licking at the spot. He did stay draped over Jason's back but it seemed more like he wanted a hug than that he was trying to keep Jason still.
Jason rolled over and caught Tim in his paws, arms, what the fuck ever they should be called right now. Either way, he grabbed Tim and kept on rolling so that Tim ended up trapped underneath him. No surprise, Tim growled and hissed something at him that had to be 'get off, you oaf!' He struggled for a moment before sighing and relaxing under Jason's bulkier body.
While Tim's purr was quiet and discreet, Jason's was loud and obnoxious. He turned it on full blast, already knowing from the time before last that Tim thought his loud purr was funny. By the time Damian showed up Jason thought his teeth were going to rattle loose but Tim was laughing little kitty laughs with his whiskers curled forward around his nose. Damian took one look at the two of them and rolled his eyes. He took care of zip-stripping the mage before gathering up Jason's helmet and clothes.
"I assume that you have a costume around here somewhere, Timothy," Damian said.
Tim wiggled his way out from under Jason, still kitty-laughing. He went to the fire escape and looked up, pointing Damian in the right direction. Inside of three minutes they were carefully perched on the back of Damian's bike as they drove through Gotham. Tim, to Jason's everlasting amusement, had curled up inside of Jason's helmet. Jason wrapped his arms around the helmet and by extension Tim, bracing him as they took corners and then sped up on the way back to the cave.
Tim turned his head around and licked Jason's paw. Jason laughed his version of a kitty-laugh, which was more like a sneeze combined with his whiskers curling and his ears going floppy. His responding long, exaggerated slick against Tim's cheek made him bristle and growl.
"You will not quarrel on my bike," Damian huffed at the two of them. "Save it until we return to the Cave."
He pet each of them in turn, fingers light but knowledgeable. Jason licked one gauntleted finger as it passed, making a face at the horrible taste of whoever Damian had been fighting before the kitty incident call. Both Tim and Damian smirked at him. Jason just flicked an ear at the both of them.
Honestly, he didn't really give a fuck. These incidents were annoying at first, mostly because of not being able to continue the fight properly, but they were kind of fun once he settled into being a cat for a while. It was even better when Tim got transformed with him. Lord knew that it was one of the few times that they really, truly got along with each other.
Not for the first time Jason promised himself that when they changed back he'd make it clear that he wasn't just reacting to the change. He wanted to wake up with Tim by his side every day.
He sighed and set his head on Tim's back. Yeah, right. Like he'd have the balls to do that. Tim twisted around underneath Jason, shifting inside of his helmet until he could hug Jason's neck. He patted Jason's cheek and then touched his nose to Jason's in the next best thing to a kiss that the two of them could manage right now.
All of Jason's fur fluffed out until he felt like he was twice his actual size. He could feel Tim's laughs shaking his sides and Damian was snickering every so quietly. Jason cautiously shook himself as they drove into the Cave, doing his best to let his fur go down again. Before he let Tim get out of the helmet, Jason leaned close and touched his nose to Tim's as well. Tim purred, eyes going to slits.
"Please do not fornicate while in that shape," Damian groaned. "Especially not in front of me."
Jason growled at him, finally letting Tim clamber out of the helmet. They jumped down and headed towards the monitors where Alfred had set out the really good cat food and saucers of milk for the two of them. When Jason gently shoulder-bumped Tim, he purred and lightly bumped back.
Yeah, maybe this would be the time when Jason finally had the guts to say 'I love you'. Because he sure as hell did.