Choosing Unwisely sequel

[sylph_fics]

Title: Reconciliation
Pairing: Dick/Roy (Nightwing/Arsenal)
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Sometimes, having a pushy little brother isn't so bad.
Feedback: Gods, please yes. I'll love you forever. Even if it's 'dude, you misspelled xyz'.


Tim was not impressed. He'd been annoyed for the last day, but now he was more unimpressed. It had been bad enough to get back from a weekend with the Titans to learn that while he'd been gone not only had Deathstroke managed to manipulate not only Batman but Nightwing as well into doing work he damned-well could have done on his own; but during the course of that manipulation a few buildings had been damaged and there were more of Gotham's various and sundry underworld in bruised and battered states. And to top it off, Green Arrow, Arsenal, Aquaman and Tempest had been running around in the city---he didn't begrudge Nightwing's return, he just wished he'd been around for it!--but the rest of them? Green Arrow had merrily wandered (with friends) right into their city and promptly gone out on a troublemaking spree--this explained Batman's annoyance while picking him up quite well, and it had ruffled Tim's own territorial feathers. That was his first reason for being unimpressed.

The current reason, however, was that after Dick had bailed out of the city before Tim could get home, he'd promptly stood him up--not like that!--about an op they'd been planning for the last two weeks! //Well, stood me up is one way to put it,// Robin thought, perched in a tree with his cape wrapped around him, watching the frantic red-and-blue strobes of lightrails and the moving forms of several of Bludhaven's finest, Gotham's finest, and the state patrol. They'd agreed to work together in the first place because this particular warehouse sat on land with a very murky legal status--no one could quite determine who it 'belonged' to in a jurisdictional sense, even on the Bat's personal maps. //Apparently he decided he could handle it on his own... what in God's name was he thinking?//

And that was the other reason they'd decided to work this bunch as a team--they were extremely heavily armed and completely insane. Nowhere near the Joker's level of psychosis, but possessed of a complete disregard for human life. //You know better, Dick!// he thought loudly to himself. //...yes. He does know better. So what brought this on?//

Tim sat there, memorizing the cops's movements with a sliver of attention as he considered what he knew and what that probably meant for his 'brother's' current state. //He just worked something with Batman, so this could be an independence thing.... No, not likely. He's not this dumb about that and besides I'm no threat to his independence. He could be upset with me over something, but I haven't done anything to him in months, so it's not that either. It's not rebelliousness or anger at me, so what does that leave.... He's avoiding me. ...now, why the hell would he be avoiding me?// He felt himself start to frown and smoothed it away with a thought as he pondered that. //...Something happened. Something bad. He only avoids me when he's really upset about something... time to head for the Haven.//

He dropped out of the tree silently and headed back the half-mile to his bike, walked it across the access road, and headed for the Haven.

*~*~*~*

Half an hour later, he parked his bike a few blocks from Dick's place and went for the roof of the tallest close building, then took the rooftop highway across the busy streets below, landing on the fire escape without a sound. Even at 2am, Bludhaven was loud and busy. It looked dark over in Dick's apartment, and darker yet in this side, but that meant absolutely nothing. He slipped in through the window after carefully disabling the security--the last thing he wanted to do was alert Dick to his presence before he had a chance to ascertain the situation. He blessed the nightvision lenses as he moved through Nightwing's space in the darkness, and triggered the hidden door into Dick's apartment.

It was dark here, too, but there was some faint light, spilling out of the half-open bedroom door. Amber-colored from a bedside lamp, he noted, and there was the taste of steam and soap in the air. He glanced sideways, into the open bathroom door, and saw thick condensation coating all but the bottom inch or so of the mirror--//Hot shower. Very hot. Dick, what's wrong?// Something about the floor had caught his attention, and he looked down... Wet footprints, drying slowly in the a/c coolness of the apartment--there was something wrong with the placement there... Something... //He's hurt. Somewhere in his legs. He's limping, just a little... What the hell did you do to yourself, Grayson?//

Tim felt his lips twist into a frustrated scowl as he cat footed his way across the living room floor towards the bedroom, and slipped through the door by turning sideways, and what he found did not improve the _expression any. Fallen spill of white, wet cloth on the floor, curled-in on himself Dick laying over the rumpled mass of covers like he hadn't even tried to get under them, just fallen onto the unmade bed in the thin shorts and nothing else, still-wet hair a mess against the pillows--//getting long again,// he noticed. He'd made a habit of tracking Dick's moods by his hair, and long meant rebellion (and probably trouble). No obvious bruises on his legs (and nothing worse), nothing to explain the wrongness of the drying footprints, //So what is it?//

His eyes traced on up Dick's body, over hard muscle, looking for the damage... and the dark, almost hand-shaped bruise across Dick's shoulder nearly made him curse aloud. //That's not what's wrong with his legs, but who the fuck got close enough to hit him that hard?! And open-handed? From behind? ... ...This doesn't make sense.// He shook his head, trying to figure this out from the few clues he had. //No way he had the armor on when that happened, or his scapula would be broken and he wouldn't be laying that comfortably. That means someone we trust hit him like that...// Nausea rose in his throat at the very idea and he swallowed until it went away again. //Who hurt you, bro?//

*~*~*~*

//...wha? What's--Someone's staring at me. Who? Why?// Dick kept his breathing steady as the prickle of unease that had brought him out of sleep solidified into something he understood. //I'm at home. I locked the door. I armed the security... oh, great. That means it's one of about five people. None of whom I want to see. Maybe if I keep pretending I'm asleep, they'll go away--or it might be Batman. Who would set you tra--oh god please don't be Bruce if he sees my shoulder I'm dead!// The very thought caught his breath in his throat and made him twist to look, (to hide the shoulder) his eyes automatically at cowl-height... nothing, and the breath went out of him like he'd been hit in the gut. His eyes dropped further... found black hair, green mask, and pissed-off _expression. "Hi, Timmy..." he said softly.. then the glare behind the mask really registered. //Crap. How bad--//

"Don't even," his brother's cool voice warned him. "I'm not even sure where to start."

//Oh, he's pissed,// Dick realized at the utterly flat tone of his little brother's voice. //Bigtime. Shit. Hell. I knew he'd be steamed, but mad enough to come after me? This late? Dammit, I just didn't want to see anybody...//

"I came up here to yell at you about what you were thinking, taking them on alone when we've been planning this for weeks, and now... You're hurt. And avoiding me. And bolted out of town. And... what. The. Hell?"

//He's cussing at me. Oh, great......// "I... Tim, I knew I could handle them. And I figured you'd hear it on the scanner--"

"I did. Your point?"

"So, you didn't have to go out there. Not with it under control. It was handled already." //And this way I didn't have to see you. You're too good at getting under my skin... and I still--I can't do this. Not yet. Not when my shoulder still hurts and I'm still sore and embarrassed and Roy's probably never going to talk to me again.//

"That's not the point, Dick." His own name had never sounded so much like a curse as it did from his successor's thin-set lips. "The point is, we were going to take them down together and you blew me off. Blew two weeks of planning and risked your hide like an idiot. And you did it hurt, too. That shoulder has to be messing with y--"

"Why do you think I'm not still out?" Dick cut him off, trying to shut him up, make him stop before his too-quick brain could get any farther with that topic. He didn't need the damned ammunition. He'd blocked the aches easily enough, he'd done it with worse injuries for longer, but--

"...Thank you for proving my point," Tim replied coldly instead, turning that into another point in his favor. "So, what is going on with you? I mean, other than that you're obviously frantically trying to avoid seeing anyone that might realize there's something wrong with you..."

"If you already knew that, why are you in my bedroom at two in the morning, Tim?" Putting an acid-edge into his own voice wasn't difficult, not with how badly he wanted Tim to leave again and let him go back to sleep already. //Go away. Don't ask, just go away.// "It's over, the bad guys are locked up and I'm home safe in bed."

"Because I was worried about you, Dick, and I'd say I was right to be."

"Dammit, Tim, back off! I'm fine! I handled it just fine. They were out of the Haven, they were my problem, and I didn't need the help!" //No. I'm not. But I'm not talking to you!//

"Bullshit. But you're alive. You're in one piece and not too badly damaged. Good enough. When you feel like pretending you give a damn that there are people that care about you, you know my number." And the Robin was moving, heading back out his bedroom door--and shutting it--without giving him the option of replying unless he wanted to yell.

"Dammit..." he sighed at the door, unable to keep up the pissed-off front without Tim in front of him. He'd known it was going to upset baby-bro, but not this much.... //Damn it. Knights game next Tuesday. And an apology. I can borrow Bruce's box. Not like he ever uses it.//

Reparation-plans for his little brother already in mind, he slithered his way under the covers to attempt sleep again. //Please, god, without the damned dreams?// It was really just one, the hurt, dismayed look on his one-time lover's face and the hate-filled snarl in the air as everything between them shattered and fell apart, replayed from every possible angle, mixed up with long afternoons when Roy's touch was all he needed... And it came over and over again, almost every time he closed his eyes... //I... don't know how to fix this...//

*~*~*~*

Out through Nightwing's space and moving back towards his bike, Robin routed a call to Oracle. "Hey, O. R here..." //Well, that went well.... Time to try something else...He's really upset, if he's not shaving...//

"R? Little out of your territory, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Where's Arsenal?" //Don't ask, don't ask...//

There was a few moments pause, the line thick with questions he didn't have the answers to and that she would never ask, and then..."His comm signal says he's in Outsiders HQ, but that doesn't mean much..."

//Thank God.// "I'll start there anyway. Thanks, O. Get me excused for the day, would you? Flu or something?"

There was a long pause before she answered. "You'll owe me. Want me to tell B where you are?"

"Probably a good idea," //No, I don't, but yes, you should.// "Thanks, O. You're right. I will. R Out."

The line went dead compliantly, Oracle's attention somewhere else again. //I wish I could wake Kon. Or Bart. Anything but deal with this drive... Oh, well. It's only a couple hours. Less if I push it.// He reached the bike, kicked it into gear, and headed north about as fast as he could drive safely.

~*~*~*~

It actually took an hour and a half before Robin pulled up to the Outsiders HQ, locked the bike, and headed up to one of the doors. He tapped the buzzer next to it, looking up at the camera over the door with an annoyed tilt of his head. //Let. Me. In. Already. I know it's 3:45 am, but you should still have someone on--//

The door slid open, breaking up his thoughts, and the greenish form of the android tilted her pink-haired head at him, "Robin?"

"Is Arsenal here?"

"Yes, but... he is not in a very... welcoming mood, and may be sleeping."

"I don't really care. I need to talk to him, I can handle the temper."

The android just shrugged and moved out of the way to let him in. "If you insist. Fourth floor, third room on the right. Lian is not here, so you need not worry about waking her."

"Thanks," Robin said and headed up, testing the door. It opened easily under his hand, and he stepped into the dark room silently, pushing it shut behind him. The nightvision lenses kicked back in, and he spotted the still form of the redheaded archer, face-down with his eyes buried in the crook of his right arm. //Hmm... best way of waking him would be--// the redhead rolled suddenly, coming up with a gun aimed unerringly at his chest //--stare at him, apparently.// "Morning, Harper," he said calmly, not moving.

"Robin? What the fuck are you doing here?" the voice was annoyed, and sleep-groggy, but the gun's safety was flicked back on and it slid back under the pillow. "And turn the damned light on if you're going to invade my sleep."

Tim leaned sideways, flicking the switch after closing his eyes. He opened them a moment later, and studied the sleep-tousled redhead. "I'm worried and you're my best source."

He did not expect the pissed-off glare he got in answer to that statement, or the harshness of the words. "You're worried about what? Nightwing? I don't give a damn." Tim blinked behind the mask, startled. //What the... how big a fight did they have, that Roy's this pissed off?// He bit back the sigh before it could escape.

"Rather or not you 'give a damn', you're still my best source for whatever's wrong with him that he's being this stupid." //C'mon, c'mon, take the bait Harper....//

"What'd he do now?" the tensing of Roy's shoulders and the fear underneath the anger in his voice pleased the younger hero. //Good Harper.//

"We'd been planning a takedown for two weeks, and he went in on his own--and hurt. Limping, his shoulder's giving him enough trouble he cut the night short, and there's something seriously wrong because he blew up at me when I tracked him down to call him on it. Long story short, he's being an idiot, taking more stupid risks than usual, and I want to know what's wrong with him."

Roy'd been biting his lip since the mention of the slap, and he listened to Robin's words with a scowl. "I don't fucking know, Tim... We're not talking at the moment." From the _expression on Roy's face, Tim guessed he knew exactly how much like a girl he sounded. "He blew up at you?"

"Yeah. What's up, that you two aren't talking? You two're tight..." //Like me and Kon,// he didn't say.

"He--I fo--" Roy shook his head, looking like he couldn't believe he was even thinking about saying anything. "It's... complicated, Robin, and it's between us. You don't need to get involved."

"I'm involved. I know him, and I know the signs. He's hurting. He's avoiding me and everyone and lashing out at me, or probably anyone else that gets near him. Translated: he's feeling guilty. And you're pissed off at him. I don't know how he pissed you off, or why, or anything else about the situation, but he's going to get hurt worse if he keeps this up."

"That's not my problem, Boy Wonder. He doesn't listen to me anyway."

//Oooh, boy. He is really steamed.// "Then tell me who has a chance of making him listen, Harper. Please. Before he's so distracted that Bruce gets that call." Some people might call that shot below the belt. He just called it practical. The affection between the two ex-Titans was a well-known fact, and the hot flare of Roy's eyes told him he'd hit the mark precisely.

"You think it's that bad?"

"I don't know. You're the one that knows what's wrong. You tell me."

Roy's lips twisted, "Not a chance, cape-boy." The pause seemed to stretch on forever as Robin looked at his big brother's best friend with his arms crossed over his chest... until finally Roy sighed and flopped back against the bed. "Look. I'm not telling you. But... I'll go talk to him. I cannot believe I'm volunteering to go talk to the jackass... but I will."

Tim felt himself blink behind the lenses again even as the tension in his shoulders eased. If anyone had a chance of getting through to Dick anymore, it was Roy. Donna was dead, Kory and he... weren't talking, just like he and Babs, Wally was the Flash now and too busy, and Garth was--not exactly someone Tim could call up easily--not as close to Dick as Roy had been. "Thanks, Harper."

The redhead snorted. "Don't thank me yet."

"You're going to try. The next option is Batman, and--"

"NO!" The volume of that yell had startled them both, if Roy's wide-eyed _expression was any clue, but he drew another breath. "No, no. Not Batman. Not about this. No way. If you care half as much about Dick as I think you do, don't let Batman find out that Dick's... yeah. Just don't."

Now Tim really, really wished he'd bugged Dick's apartment. Because this was obviously bad, if it could get that kind of a reaction. "Now I'm really worried, Harper..."

"I... look, will you shut up and run interference if I tell you I'll go now? Because if Bruce starts pushing on Dick right now, it--really, really bad is a mild way to put it."

"I'll make sure it doesn't come up... thanks, Harper."

The redhead snorted. "Get out of my room. Fly away home, Robin. I'll deal with Dick."

Tim nodded and walked back out of the room to head back to the Cave. //...Not my night with the originals,// he noted sourly as he settled back onto the bike and headed south. //Hot tub. Or muscle rub. Something. I hate riding this long...//

*~*~*~

//What in the fuck am I thinking? I don't want to be anywhere near that jackas-- (Oh, come on. Yes, you do.) No, I don't. He fucking slept with Ollie, I don't want to even be in the same state with him! (Yeah, yeah. Pissed at him. I know. But you've been feeling like shit about this for the last day and a half. You saw how he reacted....) Yeah. I did. ...Fuck. I am worried... and I promised Robin I'd go. From what I've heard, baby-bird has a mean streak and I don't need to get shown up by somebody that's not old enough to shave if I don't keep my word.// Annoyed, he rolled out of his bunk in the Tower and pulled a set of civilian clothes, tucking a crossbow away into the folds of the coat before heading down to the control room. Indigo turned in the seat. "Did Robin--"

"I talked to him. Thanks, Indy. I'm gonna be gone for a while--shouldn't be more than a day, though. Keep an eye on things, okay?"

"Certainly."

Roy nodded and headed down to his bike to make the trip to the Haven, and try to get his thoughts in order before a confrontation with a bitchy, hurting Birdboy with more skills than sense. Not that he was one to talk about that... He swung a leg over his bike and headed it south.

*~*~*~

As the sun was coming up, he pulled in under the shadow of Dick's apartment building and stared up at the windows. Between the almost 48 hours of cool-off time, the icy, pissed off presence of the Mini-Bat, and the ride down in the almost non-existent traffic to think, he was a lot calmer than he had been standing in the Gotham Arms hotel... and really, he wasn't half as pissed at Dick as he was at Ollie. He knew Dick too well, knew how powerfully charismatic Ollie could be when he wanted to be... exactly the kind of thing that would reel Dick in and make him--he hated to even think it--easy prey for a determined Ollie... and he'd seen flashes of it all night in their interactions, in the way Ollie'd called him to heel....

//Not gonna get anything done sittin' here seething, move it already,// the redhead chided himself and got moving, leaving the bike to head up to Dick's apartment. There was no-one in the halls, and he fished the key out of his wallet as he got near the door, and he let himself in. He turned and tapped a code into the security system on the wall, hoping Dick hadn't deleted his--it went green, and Roy breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was someone showing up to make sure Dick wasn't in trouble. He went to find his teammate... who was asleep, curled in tight on himself--weird for the flamboyant circus boy who usually sprawled out like a cat.

//Aw, Dick,// the thought was surprisingly gentle as he stood in the bedroom doorway, then Dick rolled, baring his shoulder... Roy knew the shape of that hand as well as he knew his own and a red, killing fury misted his vision. That Ollie would not only seduce Dick, but then hurt him crossed every line in his one-time ward's mind. //Oh, you and I are going to talk, Queen. (Just as soon as I get Dick back)-wait, when did that become the plan?!// He was startled by that thought, but... //(as soon as I saw Dick under him, actually.) Just waiting for the right time to bring it up... (and that was now?) Yes.//

As if on cue, the vigilante whimpered softly, a wordless noise of sorrow and pain and a hand stretched out, groping blindly... //what are you dreaming, short pants?// He made that soft noise again, then, "Roy... roy, no, please..."

"Dick, Dick, easy! Easy, I'm here," somehow, he was kneeling on Dick's bed, hands curled around his upper arms, crooning to him, dodging the confused counterstrike and struggle with a twist of his torso as he tried to coax those blue eyes open. "Easy, easy, you were dreaming." Making his voice gentle wasn't nearly as hard as he'd thought, not with Dick's voice like that and his half-open eyes that cloudy, pained shade of deep blue... Easy as breathing to re-settle on the bed, hold Dick close and kick off his boots to pull his legs up onto the bed and get Dick closer yet... "Easy..."

"Roy, I..."

Dick didn't sound like he was all there yet, Roy noticed, and kept coaxing, "C'mon, Dick, come back to me..."

"But... you're mad at me..." Dick still sounded confused and not quite all there...

"I was, yeah," Roy had to admit--and there, Dick was back--and trying to get away from him. He let go and Dick was suddenly on the far side of the bed, staring at him from wide blue eyes, "What're you doing here?!"

//Don't look so glad to see me, flyboy...// "Little bird whispered in my ea--"

"I'm gonna kill Tim!"

//Oh, that went over sooo well, Harper,// Roy noted at the snarl. "Bullshit you are. You scared your baby brother bad enough he drove to NYC to kick me out of bed and hassle me ab--"

"You didn't--"

"Tell him you," //fucked--got fucked by--Green Arrow?// "got stupid? Of course I didn't, what the hell do you take me for?! I derailed him, promised I'd come talk to you."

"So... that's why." It took a long moment before Roy figured out the sadness almost hidden in Dick's voice, and he considered--for just a moment--smacking Dick, but the memory of the bruise on his shoulder made him sick at the very thought. //Damn you, Ollie, you son of a bitch.//

"Don't be a fucking idiot, Robbie. It hurt, and yeah, I was pissed at you... but.. I know you. Know you better than I know myself and I know why you didn't tell him no. Can't say that I like it, but... I get it. I'd have come after you eventually... baby-bird just helped me along a little."

*~*~*~*

Deep in the grips of his newest nightmare again, Dick struggled to get away from Ollie, called after his best friend, tried to beg him not to go--then suddenly, something changed, there were warm, strong hands on him and he struggled to escape before the voice registered, made him go still at the quietly gentle tone that had pulled him from his nightmares for years... He half-settled, reassured, as they moved, but there was something wrong with this... "but... you're mad at me..." he heard himself protest, confused--and reality snapped back into focus with almost painful clarity. He moved, struggling out of his ex's arms to crouch at the end of the bed as far as he could get from the archer that shouldn't. be. there, his heart slamming in his chest with the adrenaline rush as he stared at the archer propped against his headboard in civvies. "What're you doing here?!" the first, stupid question slid out of his mouth while he was still getting his heart back under control and Roy's answer made him snarl, //oh, you little shit! You did not go runnin' to Roy just cause I pissed you off--yes... yes, you did... I can not believe you, Timmy...//

He felt his cheeks go pale at the idea that Roy might have told Tim what he'd done--but it sounded like he'd just pissed Roy off (again). The anger had him off-balance until--//ooh. That's why he came, not because he wanted to...// Roy's voice cracked like a whip, yanking his attention back to his face, hearing the truth in his words, reading it in the gold flare of Roy's eyes... and the understanding, if not absolution, as it was offered. That was true... Roy knew him bone-deep, knew his issues and kinks and everything that drove him probably better than anyone else on the planet at this point.... "You... would have?"

That surprised him. He... hadn't exactly taken it well when Roy left, and they'd never gotten the comfort of their early relationship back.... It surprised him that Roy'd even say it, let alone maybe mean it, "Why?"

*~*~*~

Roy stared at his idiot ex from narrowed green eyes, wondering if part of Ollie's idiocy had somehow rubbed off. "Because--" //you're yelling. Try again.//--"because we fight enough as is, we don't need this between us, too. Because despite everything, you're still the best friend I've got, and i should save taking out my issues for the people that gave 'em to me. Because walking out on you was one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life, and because... I miss you." That last was hard to say, harder than it ought to be, and still a voice in the back of his head continued the list, // because I don't want you to ever be that lonely again. Because you're mine and he can't have you, because I lo--// he didn't let himself admit to that one. Not even in his head.

*~*~*~

Dick studied him in quiet, stunned shock for a few long moments. "I... miss you, too." //God, what an understatement!// "...We... are so fucked up," he admitted wearily, dropping from the crouch to sit cross-legged on his bed, watching Roy, wondering if this might be the moment their long, personal Cold War finally ended... and the slow, wry smile he got in the early morning light was saying 'yes'...

"Yeah, flyboy. We are," Roy agreed, reaching out for him... and it took only a heartbeat for Dick to be in motion, covering the distance between them in one long slide, curling himself along Roy's left side... and just like he remembered, it felt like coming home. Like they suddenly fit perfectly back into place--it was almost a shock, and he shuddered with the pleasure of it. He sighed softly at the contact he'd missed so much, at the feel of Roy against him... All of his 'business-only', "this can't be personal", "I can't do the team thing again" dissolved like so much salt as he curled against his lover's solid body, wrapped his left arm low between Roy's ribs and the headboard, tucked his head up against Roy's neck, draped his right leg over both of Roy's, pressing close, and tangled his left hand into the fabric of Roy's T-shirt (over his heart). "God, I missed you," he heard himself say, thick-voiced, and Roy's right arm curled down around his waist while his left (shooting) hand came up and slid into his hair.

"Dick, I'm sorry," met his ears and the hand in his hair tugged up and he went with it, lifting shoulders and chin and mouth to meet Roy's as it dipped down and they were kissing, clumsy and awkward for a long moment before they remembered how, remembered the best way to tilt their heads from this angle to get the best seal of their lips, the best slide of their mouths against each other... The first press of Roy's tongue against his lips made him gasp softly--gave Roy an opening he was obviously only too glad to exploit, if the deep, hungry kiss and the change in his hold, hand flattening against the back of his neck and skull were any signs, and Dick let him, kissing him back, //God, how did I ever let this go?!// He wondered and pushed the thought away, twisting to let Roy's chest take his weight as he freed his arms to get both hands into his lover's red hair, shifting to straddle strong thighs as he worked to steal control of their kiss from his lover, knees hard against the headboard and still keeping him too far from Roy's body...

*~*~*~

//Can it really be this easy?// Roy wondered as he watched Dick settle down against the bed. He almost laughed at Dick's words--after all, it hadn't been that long since he'd thought that very thing about all of them. He settled for a smile, an agreement... and something in the room, the tension between them, melted away... He was comfortable with Dick again, after all the time they'd spent being angry and hurt with and at each other... and it was the simplest, sweetest thing in the world to reach across the expanse of the bed for his best friend and watch those pain-dark eyes lighten--and Dick felt it too, he must have, because he launched himself into movement and came to him... Dick curled up against his side, half over him like he'd never left, never walked away from the best thing (barring his baby girl) that had ever happened to him.

Dick was talking against his throat, tight-voiced and sounding about a breath from crying and that was so very wrong that he was apologizing before he even knew it, and tugging Dick's head up to kiss him... It was wrong at the start, off-balance and off-center, but then they shifted just a little and it was so damned right, perfect and sweet and hot as an Arizona summer--not as hot as Dick's mouth though, when he licked his way into it....

Dick was suddenly in motion again, straddling his upper thighs, hands deep in his growing-back-out hair, trying to reverse the kiss, the control, and oh, he could go for that... Dick made love like he fought, so fully immersed in it that he'd take your breath away even if you were just watching and to be the center of all that attention was enough to make you insane... Something was still making Dick unhappy, though, wha--//oh. the headboard. He can't get close enough...// The realization amused him in some distant way and he considered moving, then realized it worked in his current favor and he tried to ease out of the kiss, making Dick whine and pull back--the little distance that Roy would let him move. "Huh?" the confused tone pleased Roy immensely.

"Let me get out of my shirt, gorgeous," Roy replied softly, calling up an old nickname, hands running up over Dick's bare skin... He apparently liked that idea, those strong slim hands tugging the hem of his shirt out of his jeans and pushing it up--a wince slid across his face and Roy cursed Ollie again. "Y'okay?" asked even as his hands slid up Dick's arms and over his head to let Dick push his shirt off and drop it off the bed.

"Yeah... just a little sore, I'll be fine..." Dick sounded distracted and his mouth settled on Roy's throat, hands back on his shoulders and sliding down and Roy arched up into it, into every hot lick, and suck, and the bites he wasn't leaving and he slid a hand into night-black hair to pull him in closer. His left hand ran all across Dick's body, finding scars he didn't remember and the faded ones he did and his hand tightened low on Dick's hip, feeling thin slick polyvinyl over hard muscle and bone, and it would be so easy to... He slid his hand under the waist of the shorts, curled it down around the firm, tight curve of his ass--and Dick bucked back against his hand with this gasp that went straight to his cock. //Yeah... just like that,// he thought at him as he squeezed him gently, fingertips tucked into the crease of Dick's ass like he'd never let go--and Dick was kissing him again, tongue flicking at his teeth until he opened up and let Dick have his mouth...

*~*~*~

Dick heard himself make some soft noise as Roy's mouth opened up under his and he kissed him, rolling his hips back against the solid pressure of Roy's hand just to feel him--and the pain he'd been coping with earlier was melting away in the euphoric rush of having his redhead back... It didn't deserve his attention, not when Roy was back here with him, under him, hanging on to him... //Okay, this has got to change//, he decided as his knees twinged at the pressure he was putting on them. He pulled out of the kiss to press on Roy's shoulders, saying with his body that they needed to be horizontal right fucking now, watching the flare of Roy's eyes as he nodded and slid down. Dick moved with him, sliding down, unfolding his legs to lie overtop of Roy and brace on his left arm, going back to kissing him...

Kissing down the stubbled line of his jaw, feeling the rasp of his own five-o-clock shadow against Roy's skin, knowing it would leave marks on him... He licked his way down Roy's neck, tasting salt-sweat and musk and traces of that godawful cheap soap as he rubbed his jaw against the jut of Roy's collarbone and sucked at it, rocking his body slightly against Roy's under him, feeling the powerful body under him and the hot hard pressure of Roy's cock against his lower abs and even this was soo good... //Love the way you taste, Harper...// His right hand traced over the planes of Roy's upper chest and side.. and Roy's hands clung to him harder--made him rock against Roy's body and he knew Roy could feel how hard-up he was... //Mm, so? So's he... Need you, Roy, missed you..//

He had a half-second's warning in the tightening of Roy's shoulders, the tension of his hands and they were moving, Roy's strong body overtop his--his legs curled around the redhead's before he had any intention to, but it felt so good he couldn't dream of moving unless it was to get Roy naked and the laugh that he got said he was going to have to let go... He uncurled his legs and watched Roy shift up onto his knees--and before Roy could get his hands there, Dick curled up, working on the snap and the zipper with hands that felt clumsy but still worked and he pushed the jeans open, hands sliding inside them. He pushed them down with a twist of his wrists that caught the denim and worked it down, fingers sliding over Roy's boxers and the skin below as he slid the jeans down farther. He felt them catch a moment on the curve of Roy's ass and growled softly but a tug got them moving, pushed down almost to his knees.

Roy moved at that, shifting to lie on his side, his weight heavy and welcome on Dick's leg as he caught his boxers and pushed them off along with the jeans, unashamedly nude. Socks, too, were banished to the floor before the redhead stretched out over him again with only the thin material of his shorts between them. //Oh, oh, god, I missed you, yes...// Dick rocked up against the cut, strong body of his best friend and lover, hands sliding down his back to feel the right planes of muscle under his hands again... They were both sweating already, he realized as his hands slid over damp, hot skin... He'd missed Roy too long, needed him too much to make this long or good--it was going to be fast, and he struggled to get enough space between them to fight the shorts off on leg, thankful for his flexibility...

*~*~*~

Roy took him up on that, shifting his weight slightly so he could catch the shorts at Dick's other hip and push them down, out of their way and out from under him, biting back a gasp at the feel of nothing but Dick's skin pressed to his... //gods, so good, he feels, i missed....// The shorts lost his attention once they were pushed down to a knee and he went back to kissing Dick, feeling the hard, loving stroke of strong hands against his back, reading the desperation in his lover in the way his gymnast's body flexed and rolled and arched against him and the way Dick had started to sweat under him--and honestly, he wasn't any better off. Slow and sweet could come later, fast and hard sounded good right now and he wrapped his mouth around part of Dick's shoulder, sucking, running a hand under his body to pull him tighter as he rocked against Dick's body, twisting his hips until they were pressed cock to cock and every time he moved Dick's length slid against his... every cliche about the feel of a cock ever written flickered through his mind as he felt Dick's leak against his abs... He felt just too fucking perfect...

*~*~*~

Dick mewled as Roy shifted over him, pinned him down and pulled him close and rocked with him, as Roy's cock dragged over his abs and he felt the same, solid muscles against his own aching length and-- He heard himself saying his lover's name, over and over and he couldn't stop it, couldn't stop talking any more than he could stop moving.... He twisted, trying to drop Roy onto his side, roll up onto his own side, make a little space between them and Roy protested but let him--he worked a hand down between them and wrapped his fingers around both their dicks, wrist twisting--the way he remembered Roy liking--fingers and palm sliding through the slickness they were both leaking to make this good and the way Roy cursed and arched against him, bucked into his hand was like music. //Yeah, you still like that...// He twisted his wrist again and bucked into it himself, catching the erratic pace of Roy's moves as he lifted his head from watching what he was doing to hunt Roy's mouth, finding it in the early-morning light and kissing him deep and desperate as instinct and his hips took over and he just bucked into his hand, against Roy's cock and lost it with a cry he muffled in the kiss as his world went white...

*~*~*~

Roy had fought him for one long moment, but whatever Dick wanted would work for him and he rolled back, feeling Dick's weight settle on his left arm and the awkwardness of Dick's arm under his bicep absently, clutching at Dick until he realized what his lover was up to--about the same time as that hot, callused hand wrapped around both of them and jacked, that fucking twist in the touch Dick had always used to make him insane... He was moving and cursing at him before he even knew it, hips shoving his cock into that so-fucking-perfect grip... Dick's satin hair slid against his lips //he was watch--// and thought left his brain as hair became skin became stubble became Dick's lips on his and that wicked tongue in his mouth... He half-felt the erratic buck of Dick's hips as they moved together, the hand on his cock and the dick against him taking most of his attention but //Oh, fuck, yes!// Almost triumphant curse as he felt hot, hot slickness in Dick's hand and pulsing against him and between them and it wasn't a heartbeat more before his head snapped back, pulling out of the kiss as his hips bucked into Dick's slightly-slack hand and the slickness between them, adding more as he came just after his lover...

Long, long moments later, he panted for breath and forced his eyes open, heart pounding in his chest as he managed to get his eyes open... Dick looked... wonderful. Head fallen back with sweat-damp black hair across his face and against the mattress, lips dropped open as he gasped for air, eyes still closed and _expression vaguely dazed and sated... The line of his throat highlighted by dark gold sunlight pouring in the window and the open, defenseless fall of his arm and hand between them, the curve of his hip and ass and leg that Roy could barely see from this angle all ran together and reminded him how fucking gorgeous his lover was... and how stupid he'd been to leave. //Over and done with,// he told himself, and just ran his right hand up over Dick's side, waiting for... //There you are,// those gorgeous blue eyes to open. "Hey, there..."

Breathtaking, blinding smile that always had turned him to mush and quiet, gently-sated voice, "Hey, yourself... Roy... I..."

Roy nodded, seeing what Dick was thinking in those clear blue eyes. "I missed you, too... Damn, we're good!" Almost a laugh in his voice as he twisted his hand to indicate the mess between them and everything they'd managed to work out or put aside with this... and Dick smiled at him again so he knew he hadn't been too far off.

"Yeah... Yeah, we are... We're good, Roy."

He was a complete and utter sap. He was, because the agreement in Dick's voice and that second smile, then the firm repeat of 'We're good' in the tone that said Dick was absolutely not talking about sex nearly tightened his throat and made his vision swim for a moment. "Yeah, Robbie?" His voice was disgustingly soft and shaky at that, too.

"Yeah, Roy," sure, strong voice and then Dick was kissing him again and that, that worked for him... He just curled his hand into Dick's hair and kissed him until Dick felt like stopping or they passed out from lack of oxygen. Really, he didn't care which.

*~*~*~

//Yeah, Roy,// Dick thought as he leaned in and sealed his lips over his best friend's. //Yeah. We're good... You're back, we talked you're forgiven...// He lost himself in just kissing him for... who knows how long, but the mess between them was starting to get tacky before he finally pulled away. He must have made some noise, because Roy was laughing softly at him, hand still in his hair, and spoke. "Yeah... we're a mess, too."

//There. You sound better....// he thought with pleasure and looked back over his shoulder at the end table... no tissue box--//yeah. You ran out two months ago and never bought more, idiot.// "Hm... I'll be right back..." he started to slide away and Roy's grip tightened, then relaxed and Roy let him slide out of the bed. //Sheesh. What a disaster,// he noted. They'd managed to knock the pillows off onto the floor, somehow kicked the covers off the bed except for one bottom corner, and one of the top corners of the fitted sheet was pulled up and exposing the mattress below. He shook his head with a chuckle as he walked out of the room, loose-limbed from the endorphin rush and feeling too damned good to notice anything. He ran a washrag under hot water once he reached the bathroom and cleaned himself up, then found another to wet and headed back into the bedroom...

Roy looked like he hadn't moved a muscle, laying on his side with this lazy, contented expression, sprawled out over his bed absolutely like he belonged.... //Yeah. He does,// mind and heart agreed as he watched Roy watch him, green eyes taking on that oddly golden hue they got when he was angry or aroused.... Dick couldn't help flaunting himself a little as he settled back onto the bed and reached out to him with the hot, damp rag... He rubbed it over Roy's abs, first, avoiding the slightly twitching length of his cock until last, when he'd started to take interest again... and Roy's lazy, hungry smile and the slow shake of his head made Dick grin, as he tossed the washrag at the hamper of his clothes and leaned across Roy's body to grab for the blankets and pull them upwards...

"Tired, flyboy?" the indulgent tone of Roy's voice as he settled the blankets over both of them made Dick consider nipping the shoulder under his mouth.

"Yes... and you are too, or you'd have reacted more to me. So. I'm tired, you're tired, I don't have to be anywhere for the next 15 hours and if there's an emergency my comm is on the end table. Shut up, grab a pillow, and get comfortable." //...leave the Nightwing voice out of bed, why don't you, Grayson?// he asked himself, but--

"Yes, boss," Roy laughed, the real, bright laughter he'd missed hearing so badly, and the redhead twisted around to find a pillow while Dick did the same and settled down on his side... He waited a moment, and then Roy's arm was draping across his waist, the solid press of his body settling against Dick from shoulder to knees... Just the way they'd curled up to sleep together when they'd been together, and tensions he hadn't even known were there flowed out of his muscles as he shifted back into Roy's arms. "Mmm..." //Note to self, you owe Timmy a thank you in addition to that Gotham Knights game. Even if he has no idea what he's being thanked for.//

*~*~*~

"Yeah," Roy agreed softly, feeling Dick curl back against him, settling in... He'd missed this. The easy aftermath of sex with his best friend, the simplicity of curling up around a lover you knew wasn't going to leave... "Wanna talk to you, later, about this," and he kissed gently at the livid bruise inches from his lips, "but too tired. That can wait."

Dick tensed, then sighed, nodded, and settled against him again. "A'ight... mmm. Sleep now, damn it," he said, three-quarters asleep already, and Roy just nodded against his hair, pulled the blankets up a little higher, and went back to sleep with him.


The End. (for now?)