Jason grit his teeth as he leaned heavily against the alley wall. He just needed a few more minutes of rest... then he'd go meet Dick for patrol like he promised.

When Jason finally opened his eyes again they felt like they were burning. His face burned with heat while his body shook slightly. 'I'm fine,' he told himself. He'd patrolled while sick many times before, and he could do it again.

Besides, he'd never cancel a patrol with Dick Grayson.

A few minutes Jason was back to semi-realistically pretending to be fine, so he took to the roofs.

Dick was able to find Jason rather quickly, greeting his boyfriend with a hug.

"Hey," Jason said, smiling despite the pounding of his head.

"Hey," Dick echoed, raising up onto his tiptoes to give Jason a kiss on his helmet. "You ready to patrol?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Jason replied, closing his eyes and taking a deep measured breath.

—

Jason was glad when they settled onto a tall roof for surveillance. He'd managed to keep up so far, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go on ignoring his lightheadedness.

"You alright?" Dick asked, gently pulling Jason's helmet off so he could see his face.

Jason sat up from where he'd been leaning against Dick's shoulder and wiped the sweat from his brow, mustering a small smile. "I'm fine... helmet's just a little stuffy," he said, hoping he didn't look too sickly.

"You sure?" Dick asked, brushing Jason's sweaty hair from his forehead. "You've been kinda sluggish all night."

Jason sighed, leaning into the older's gentle touch. "I can handle the rest of patrol," he said.

"Jay," Dick said, cupping his boyfriend's face in his hands. He rubbed a gloved thumb over Jason's cheek. "Please tell me if you're sick. I don't want you getting hurt."

Jason closed his eyes. "I... I probably should go home..." he mumbled, suddenly feeling out of breath.

Dick smiled softly at him. "Let's get you home then," he said.

Sudden gunfire from the street drew Dick's attention, and he glanced from Jason to the street below and back a few times. "Stay here Jay," he said, jumping to his feet and leaping off the building to the fire escape.

It took Jason's foggy mind a while to realize that Dick had left, and to recognize that the gunshots meant there was something going down on the street below.

Jason shoved his helmet back on before following Dick down to the street, admittedly much more slowly.

Dick seemed to have things pretty much covered, so Jason simply went to work punching at thugs, not trusting his aim with a gun in his current state.

Once the last thug had fallen Jason looked around in confusion. He was suddenly tired. Very tired... too tired to keep his eyes open.

Dick called out to Jason when he saw him starting to sway, immediately running to his side and catching him as he started to fall. "Jay," Dick grunted, staggering under Jason's weight. "Why are you so heavy?" He mumbled as he lowered his boyfriend to the ground.

Jason came to a few moments later, blinking as his eyes adjusted. "Dickie?" He asked.

"Ya, it's me Jay," Dick replied, relief clear in his voice. "You alright? You passed out there for a second."

"I... I feel a little weird," Jason mumbled.

"Alright, just tell me when you feel ready to sit up," Dick said, pulling Jason's helmet off so he could breathe easier.

"I think I'm ready to sit up," Jason said a few minutes later, letting Dick grab his hand and pull him into a sitting position.

"You're doing great Jay. I'm going to help you up. Is that ok?" Dick asked.

Jason nodded, gripping tightly to Dick's shoulder as he lifted him to his feet.

"Sorry," Jason mumbled as he leaned against Dick. "'M heavy."

Dick chuckled. "You're perfectly fine Jay," he said, wrapping an arm around the taller man's waist. "We're pretty close to my apartment, are you fine with going by grappling gun?"

"Think so," Jason said, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and holding on tightly.

—

Dick dropped Jason onto the bed, letting out a tired sigh and flopping down next to him. He let his eyes drift closed, and was on the edge of sleep when Jason launched into a round of explosive coughing.

Another sigh left Dick's mouth as he rolled off of the bed, quickly changing out of his Nightwing suit before changing Jason into a pair of regular clothes as well.

Dick propped Jason up with a few pillows before going to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water and some cough medicine.

When Dick returned he gently shook Jason awake, sitting on the edge of the bed with the glass of water in hand. "Hey sweetheart I brought you some water," he said, brushing the hair from Jason's feverish forehead.

Jason took small sips of the cool liquid until it was all gone.

"Good job," Dick said, wiping the little bit that had spilled off of Jason's chin. "Now time for the cough medicine."

Jason shook his head. "No... no," he mumbled, coughing violently. "Hate that stuff."

"Come on, it'll help you feel better," Dick said, grabbing the bottle.

"No," Jason adamantly insisted.

"Come on... please," Dick begged, not knowing why Jason was deciding to be so difficult.

There was another shake of the head followed by more coughing.

"Would you do it for... a kiss?" Dick asked, fulling knowing that a kiss would almost guarantee his own cold in a few days, but he was desperate for Jason to take the medicine that he clearly needed.

"You'd *cough* you'd get sick," Jason said.

"Ya, but I'm willing to bet that I'll already be getting sick just from being this close to you all night... besides, I could use a night off," Dick said.

Jason paused for a moment. "I'd do it for a kiss," he said.

Dick smiled, rolling his eyes and measuring out some of the medicine.

Jason pouted. "Hey, I was promised a kiss," he whined.

"You'll get your kiss, but you need to take your medicine first," Dick replied, holding the little medicine cup for Jason to take.

"Fine," Jason said, taking the cup from Dick's hand and quickly downing the contents, making a disgusted face afterwards.

Dick smiled. "That wasn't too hard now was it," he said, leaning down and giving Jason a quick peck on the lips.

Jason wrapped his arms around Dick's neck, pulling the elder back down towards him. "I deserve a better kiss than that," he said. "That medicine was freaking nasty after all... and besides, I'm obligated to make sure you get sick too so I can have a turn taking care of you."

Before Dick could protest Jason pulled him down into a deep kiss, the taste of the cherry medicine strong on his lips.

Dick melted into the kiss, smiling softly and choosing to ignore the the fact that he'd most definitely get sick now, because in that moment he really didn't care. The impending cold he'd sentenced himself to was a problem for future him.