Work Text:
It’s an almost silent night. The only sounds are the cicadas’ insufferable screeching. Dick can’t help but find it fitting that the only sign of life going on as usual is as wretched as the city itself. Still, it’s enough noise the cover any sounds his movements might make. It’s sloppy, he knows, but under the circumstances, he can forgive a little sloppiness. He’s tired, and he needs to save his willpower for what comes next. He’s almost at what’s passing for their safe house.
He ghosts over the rubble that conceals the entrance to unsuspecting eyes. Tim did a good job with that. If he hadn’t know it was there, he likely would never have found it.
“Dick? Is that you?” A soft voice calls from within.
“Yeah, it’s me Timmy.” Dick slips inside. Tim turns to meet him, grinning. Dick both loves and hates that grin. Loves it because it’s real, because that grin doesn’t come out for just anyone. It’s his grin, and his alone. Hates it because Tim is here when he shouldn’t be. He should be safe with his dad in Keystone City, not here with Dick, getting thinner by the day. But Gotham is a part of Tim the same way it’s a part of Bruce, the same way it’s claimed Dick. It’s in his marrow and bones, evidenced the fact that he snuck back into the ravaged city when he had been taken safely out.
Guiltily, Dick is grateful Tim is here. He knows why Bruce isn’t, knows that the work he can do as Bruce Wayne will help far more than anything he could do as Batman right now. But he’s not sure he could survive being alone here.
Well. Not technically alone. But his thing with Helena is unhealthy and they both know it. He’s let it peter out over the last few weeks, and they’ve been subtly avoiding each other while trying not to let on to Tim. He doesn’t know how successful he’s been, but if Tim’s noticed he hasn’t let on.
“I have news,” Tim announces, pulling Dick out of his thoughts.
“Does that news have to do with why you’re wearing my shirt? And sweatpants?” Dick asks. Indeed, Tim is swimming in Dick’s old Hudson University t-shirt, and the sweatpants are pooling around his feet. He pushes down the hissing guilt that reminds him that a few months ago, that shirt would have only just been oversized on Tim.
“What? Oh yeah,” Tim says, looking down at himself, blushing lightly. “Sorry, I was hoping it would be done by now. We now officially have hot water!”
Dick groans at the thought of a hot shower. He doesn’t miss that Tim turns a little pinker at the sound, and he can’t help but tease his a little further. “That’s great Tim! But why my clothes? Mi casa es su casa and all, but usually people buy me dinner first.”
Tim groans at the joke, but the blush deepens again, so Dick counts it as a success.
“I’ve been doing laundry. I wanted to have something clean to change into after I shower. But I didn’t realize how long it would take for my stuff to dry. I did some of your things too.”
“Timmy you are a godsend,” Dick says, collapsing dramatically against him.
Tim rolls his eyes and shoves at him, but not hard enough to make Dick actually move. Dick takes it as an invitation to wrap himself tighter around Tim. As much as he may grumble and roll his eyes, Tim still relaxes into it, as he always has. Dick is grateful. He sometimes feels like if he doesn’t get enough human contact, his skin is going to slough off. He finally pulls back, but only because he wants to get out of his suit.
“You might not want to thank me yet,” Tim says. “None of it actually dried, and at this point I don’t think it will before morning.”
Dick shrugs. “I can survive one more night in my undersuit,” he says as he shimmies out of the last of his costume. He leaves his mask for last, so he can watch Tim watching him. Tim used to be a lot more blatant about stealing glances, but now with a few years of Robin under his belt he’s much better at hiding it. If Dick weren’t specifically looking for it, he wouldn’t have noticed. And of course he has the advantage of knowing what to look for.
“So, how exactly did you get the hot water running? I thought it was completely busted?”
Dick lets himself relax, letting Tim’s technobabble wash over him. He’s less focused on the words on more on the soothing lull of Tim’s voice, his excitement and pride as he explains how he figured it out.
Later, Dick will blame himself for not paying enough attention. Tim is moving before Dick even feels the ground shaking, shoving Dick down into the sturdiest part of their little hollow, covering Dick’s body with his own. It takes Dick far too long to realize what’s going on, and by the time he does it’s too late. He hears Tim cry out, hears the screech of rebar, the crumble of stone.
The second he has the wherewithal, he flips Tim over, reversing their positions so if anything more falls he’ll take the damage, but the aftershock is over. There’s a hole in their makeshift ceiling, and moonlight is streaming in.
“Tim,” says Dick, momentarily frantic.
“It’s okay, it’s just a small piece that hit my shoulder,” Tim says reassuringly. “It’s probably just a bruise.”
Dick is not reassured. He carefully pulls Tim into a seated position with an arm under his shoulder, and Tim obligingly shows him his back.
“Left shoulder,” he says. “But seriously Dick, I’m fine.”
Dick will believe that when he sees it. Carefully he pulls the shirt down until it falls off Tim’s shoulder, for once grateful it’s so oversized. Sure enough, there’s the makings of a nasty bruise. Dick gently pokes and prods, and though Tim hisses when Dick puts pressure on the wound, he was also right. It’s a minor injury. Easily something he could have gotten as Robin, if a goon got in a lucky hit. Except as Robin, he would have been wearing armor instead of nothing but a thin t-shirt.
Dick tries to present a calm front when Tim turns back to face him, but he must not do a good because Tim’s brows furrow as he studies him. Just as Dick knows every inch of Tim, so too Tim knows the same of him.
“I didn’t hurt you when I tackled you, did I?” He asks.
“No Tim, you did great,” Dick says reassuringly. “You protected my head and everything. But next time I’d prefer if you worry about yourself first instead of protecting me.”
Tim rolls his eyes at Dick’s concern. “You were drifting, and you just got back from a long patrol. There was no way you were gonna react in time, and I got us both out of the way safely.”
“You got hurt,” Dick points out.
“Barely,” Tim argues back. “It’s just a small bruise.”
“I’m your big brother,” Dick says, reminding himself of this truth. “It’s my job to take care of you, not the other way around.” Tim frowns.
“I’m your Robin,” he counters. “It’s my job to take care of you too.”
Dick purses his lips, but before he can argue, Tim is on his feet, inspecting the damage.
“It doesn’t look too bad. I think we’ll be able to clear it in the morning, but I don’t wanna risk it in the dark. I doubt anyone’s gonna come across us in the night, so I think we’re good just for tonight. And at least we’re stuck in the area with the bed.”
It’s true. The way the ceiling crumbled has completely blacked them from reaching the rest of the safe house, leaving them in a small area that’s likely not much more than five feet wide. Most of that space is taken up by their small stack of mattresses, with the singular one in usable condition piled on top.
“You take the bed,” Dick says. “I can keep watch.”
“Don’t be stupid, you’re exhausted. Don’t think I can’t tell,” Tom shoots back.
“You’re injured,” Dick argues. Tim rolls his eyes.
“It’s literally just a flesh wound. But if it means that much to you, we can share the bed.”
Dick freezes. The beds aren’t exactly roomy, and despite all the weight they’ve lost it’ll still be a tight squeeze. A very tight squeeze.
Tim laughs uncomfortably. “I know I didn’t get to shower yet, but I don’t smell that bad, do I?” He crosses his arms, shifting uneasily. Dick can’t help but notice the slight shiver that in his discomfort he fails to hide. Dick, in his insulated undersuit, is hardly feeling the cold, but Tim is in only a ton t-shirt. It knocks Dick out of his head.
’No it’s fine. Sorry for overreacting. I just haven’t shared a bed in a while,” Dick says sheepishly.
“So you and Helena never made it to a bed, huh?” Tim asks, and Dick winces internally, knowing it probably shows on his face. He’d been hoping Tim hadn’t picked up on that, but he’s not surprised that he did.
“I meant platonically, wise guy. And there’s nothing going on between me and Helena.”
“Yeah, now there isn’t,” Tim says under his breath, but loud enough for Dick to hear.
“You’re not too big for me to spank,” Dick says threateningly. He doesn’t mean it of course, and he knows that Tim knows that, but still, a strange look flits across his face for a moment before he rolls his eyes.
“As if,” he says, climbing into bed. Dick follows after him, holding open his arms and pulling Tim close. Tim shifts around for a moment before resting his head on Dick’s chest. He wraps his arm around his, basking in the touch. Dick can feel the tension oozing out of him as his body relaxes under Tim’s weight. He’s not quite dozing when Tim speaks.
“What if it wasn’t?”
“Hmm?” He asks.
“What if it wasn’t platonic?” For the second time that night, Dick freezes. In doing so, his ar clenches tightly around Tim’s waist.
Dick tries and fails to keep his voice calm and collected. “Tim…”
“You look at me,” Tim barrels on, as if he’s afraid that if he stops, he won’t be able to start again. “Not the way you look at them, but you look at me sometimes, and it makes me think… that maybe you see me that way too. Not the same, but… similar.”
By them Dick understands Tim means the women who flit in and out of his life. Kory, Barbra, Helena… all incredible women that Dick can’t seem to make it work with. He’s always falling just short of what they need, and the same is true the other way around.
That’s not the case with Tim. That’s never been the case with Tim.
“If I’ve got it wrong, just say the word, and I’ll never bring it up again. But I don’t think I am.”
“Tim,” Dick croaks, “I’m your brother.”
“Not technically. Not legally. Bruce isn’t my dad.” It’s true. Bruce might do just as as much if not more to parent Tim than his father does, but for all his faults Jack Drake is alive and well. And worried sick about his missing son, who has snuck back into this broken city at least in part so Dick would’t be alone. Tim hasn’t said it out loud, but Dick can read him easily enough. It’s way Tim fretted over him when he’d first back in to the no man’s land Gotham has become, the way he kept a careful eye on Dick. They way he relaxed when Dick relaxed into having him around.
“I’m older than you. You should be with someone your own age.”
Tim pushes himself up so he can look Dick in the eye. “I’m old enough to risk my life every night protecting Gotham. I think I’m old enough to decide who I love.”
Dick sucks in a breath. “Tim… are you sure about this?”
“I’ve been sure,” Tim says, and Dick can detect nothing but truth is his voice, in his eyes, in the beseeching way he looks at Dick, as if begging him to believe him. And he does.
Dick lunges up, crashing Tim’s lips against his own. Tm gasps, and then melts into the kiss, giving as good as he’s getting. He’s a pretty good kisser, and he’ll only get better with Dick teaching them. Dick wonders how he learned. Did Stephanie teach him? Dick wouldn’t put it past him to have straight up read a tutorial online. He’s a quick learner as well, immediately picking up how Dick likes having his lips nibbled on, how he’s sensitive when Tim Tim’s fingers brush over a spot at the base of his neck.
They pull back for a moment to breath, and Tim lets out an enormous yawn. Dick can’t help but burst into laughter.
“I’m sorry!” Tim says, instantly mortified. “I didn’t mean – I mean, it’s not that I don’t want–“
“It’s okay Tim,” Dick says, still smiling. “We don’t need to do everything right now. You’re not the only one who’s tired.”
“I always do this,” Tim moans. “I always fall asleep on important dates.”
Dick laugh agains. “I won’t hold it against you. Besides, this does not count as a date. When we go on a date, it’ll be somewhere nice. Somewhere I can use Bruce’s credit card to get us into.”
“I don’t care were we are, as long as I’m with you,” Tim says, and Dick can’t help but press one more kiss to his slightly swollen lips.
“Go to sleep Timmy. I promise I’ll still be here when you wake up.”
“You’re not gonna run away because you feel guilty about corrupting my innocence or whatever?”
Dick laughs, and holds Tim tighter. He knows that come morning the guilt will return a thousand fold. He’ll try to convince Tim this is a bad idea, that Dick is too old, too broken to be worth it. But as long as Tim wants him to stay, he’s not going anywhere.
“I promise,” he says, and he means it. Tim curls back up on his chest, apparently satisfied.
“I love you Dick,” he says. All Dick can do is hold him tightly, hoping Tim will understand what words can not convey. Tim falls asleep smiling, so Dick thinks that it worked.
It’s only as he’s falling asleep he can force himself to whisper “I love you too,” to the sleeping boy on top of him. He finally lets his eyes fall shut, drifting off to sleep. Tucked comfortably against his chest, Tim smiles.