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Nightwing was missing.
And Jason was the last to know.
Jason had to hear it from Oracle, of all people. In a text message, no less. It was almost too much to bear.
Have you seen Dick lately? B’s worried, he hasn’t checked in lately.
Jason replied: no
Really? Don’t you live together?
Well, they did, sort of. They bounced between his place in Gotham and Dick’s apartment in Blüdhaven. But Jason hadn’t seen Dick lately, and it was because they’d had a fight. But he wasn’t about to tell Oracle that. He could almost see the smug look on her face when she relayed the message to Bruce, who would heave a deep sigh of relief now that his precious bird was no longer spending so much time with “his greatest failure.”
Jason wasn’t about to give either of them the satisfaction.
Still, it meant that now he’d have no update on whether or not the bird brain was found in one piece or not. And as much as Jason hated himself for admitting it, his stomach clenched with the thought of Dick hurt. If anything had happened to his finger-striped counterpart, he would blame himself for driving the man away after picking a truly stupid fight.
It had been the first night in weeks the two of them had off. The plan had been to meet at Jason’s place. Jason was going to cook them dinner, and they were just going to have a quiet night in together, enjoying each other’s company (and, Jason hoped, each other’s bodies).
The evening had started off perfectly. Jason had just put the roast in the oven, and he was slicing potatoes for an au gratin. It was an Alfred recipe, one of Jason’s favorites. Dick was in front of the kitchen table, tossing a salad (the only kitchen-related task Jason trusted him with), when his phone rang unexpectedly. He abandoned the salad and immediately accepted the call.
A few short moments of conversation later, and Dick hung up the phone and went for the bedroom.
“What are you doing?” Jason called.
Dick emerged, his Nightwing hanging over his forearm. He looked at Jason guiltily.
“That was B. He needs my help.”
Jason snorted, “He needs your help, really? He doesn’t have, like, six other child soldiers to choose from? Can’t one of them help him?”
“He asked me, Jason.”
“So what? That doesn’t mean you have to go. Besides, dinner is going to be ready in less than fifteen minutes.”
“I know, babe, but this shouldn’t take long,” Dick approached him from behind and gave wrapped his arms around Jason, mumbling and pressing a kiss into his back, “Can’t you just start without me, and I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can?”
Jason recognized that Dick was trying to placate him, clearly looking to deescalate the situation. But all Jason could think about was how quickly Dick was to abandon him if Bruce fucking Wayne told him to.
“Don’t bother,” Jason snapped, dropping his knife on the counter, and pulling out of Dick’s embrace, “why don’t you just stay over at the manor instead? That’s obviously where you want to be.”
“Come on, Jason,” Dick said quietly, “I want to be with you.”
“No, you don’t” Jason yelled back. He didn’t know why, but it suddenly seemed as though nothing in the world was more important than convincing Dick to stay with him for the night, “If you did, you wouldn’t leave every time Bruce told you to! For fuck’s sake, Dickie, stop being a doormat for once! What about when he tells you to leave me for real?! What then?!”
Dick sighed in exasperation, scrubbing a hand over his face, “Can we please not do this right now, Jay?”
“You know he will, Dick!” Jason exploded, his face turning red with exertion, “And when he does, you will leave me, because you always do everything his says! You always have and you always will, even if it makes you miserable! Being his perfect little Robin is all you’ve ever cared about!”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true, and its pathetic,” Jason spat, turning away, “you’re pathetic. Go on and leave, Dick. That’s what you want.”
Dick looked at him sadly, but went to get his boots and the rest of his gear anyway. When he reemerged from the bedroom, he was fully dressed. When he went for the window, he turned to Jason and addressed him softly, “Will you leave the window unlocked for me, Little wing?”
“No.” Jason growled, not looking at him, “Told you I don’t want you coming back here tonight.”
The silence was stifling. Finally, Jason turned to look at him.
But he was already gone.
And so Jason had eaten his dinner alone. Cleaned up the kitchen alone. Caught up on Hell’s Kitchen alone. And, finally, went to bed alone. He had left the window unlocked, just in case Dick decided to ignore him and come back, but he was disappointed when he fell asleep and woke up by himself.
The next morning he’d wanted to text Dick and ask if they could talk about it. But he didn’t.
He shouldn’t have yelled at Dick. But he was still mad Dick had ditched him for Bruce. Why was it so hard for him to just say no to the man sometimes?
Why did Jason always come second? To everyone?
He decided to play it cool. Dick had a phone, just like he did. But when Dick didn’t send a sad faced emoji by the end of the day, Jason was starting to get anxious. Did Dick even want to make up? Was he going to dump Jason?
Where was he? Why hadn’t he come back yet? He’d never been gone so long before…
Jason crumbled. He sent a quick text:
can we talk?
He checked his phone religiously for the next couple of hours, but Dick didn’t text him back. Finally, at midnight, Jason hit the streets to look for him. If Dick wanted to break up with him, he could at least have the common courtesy to do it to his face.
He patrolled around Gotham, beating a couple of low grade thugs just a little bit harder than he had to. But Nightwing was nowhere to be seen. He pulled out his phone. Nothing. He opened Twitter, searching the #BatSightings and #birdwatching tag.
He scrolled through a couple unflattering pictures of Red Robin, a post theorizing Batman’s identity, and a photo of some discarded batarangs. But there were no sightings of Nightwing at all.
When Jason returned home, he laid in his bed face first. It still smelled faintly of the other man, and Jason felt sick to his stomach. He’d overreacted, and Dick was tired of forgiving him. Jason could hardly blame him. Not even the perfect Dick Grayson’s patience was infinite. Still, he would have settled for confirmation that Dick was still in town.
But he’d seen nothing. Heard nothing. Dick was gone.
It all made sense now: Nightwing was missing.
Jason was strapping on his gear, determined to bring his errant boyfriend home safe and sound, when he got the dreaded phone call.
The contact had long been deleted from Jason’s phone, but he knew the number anyway.
“What?” He growled in greeting.
“Jason,” Bruce’s voice was equally devoid of warmth, “When was the last time you saw Nightwing? He’s missing.”
“I know,” Jason snapped, “And the last time I saw Dick was two nights ago, when he went to go and help your demanding ass.”
“Well, he never made it to me,” Batman snapped back, “His phone is either turned off or broken, and the tracking chip I installed in his suit isn’t working. The signal must be blocked.”
Jason allowed himself a moment of amusement as he imagined Dick’s face when he learned that Bruce had sewn a tracker into his suit, “So what does that mean? Is he underground?”
“Or in a room with walls of concrete or lead. I need your help, Jason. If you can retrace his steps, we might be able to find him.”
Jason was about to snap that he was already going to look for Dick, and the implication that he would sit on his ass at home when his boyfriend was missing was completely insulting. But instead, he took a deep breath, “What do you want me to do?”
“I was in the Narrows that night. Try and discern the path Dick took to find me, and where he might of dropped off. I’m doing to cross check of every potential building that might block his tracking signal, and will dispatch Robin, Red Robin, and Batgirl to check them.”
“Then where are you going to look?”
“I’ll be tracing his steps too, but I’m going to start backward. We’ll exchange intelligence when we cross paths.”
The phone cut off with an abrupt click. Jason rolled his eyes as he made his way to the rooftop of his safe house. Batman had pulled out all the stops to find his favorite. Typical. If only he’d show the same degree of urgency when Jason had gone missing. Jason shook his head: no time to dwell on that now.
He had a bird to find.
Jason was halfway through the Narrows, and he’d found no trace of his wayward bird. He studied every inch of what he presumed to be the path Dick took to get to Bruce. There was no indication the man had ever been there, and Jason was starting to panic. Had he missed something crucial? What if they couldn’t figure out where he’d gone? What if someone had taken him far beyond their reach? What would they do then?
He caught a glance of Batman in his periphery. The man was staring at a small screen on his wrist.
“Well?!” Jason demanded, “Where is he?”
“His signal drops off close to where we are right now,” Batman murmured more to himself than to Jason, “It’s unlikely that someone found the tracker in his suit…he must have been moved somewhere the signal could be blocked.”
“Where?! There’s nothing around here but housing projects and abandoned buildings,” Jason spun around anyway, looking for any hint of where Dick could have been taken.
“Hm.” Batman replied, still focused on the small computer, “Message from Robin. He has reason to believe this may be the work of the League.”
“The League?” Jason snorted derisively, “That’s stupid. I have enough experience with the League to know when they’re in Gotham. Haven’t heard so much as a whisper from my network.”
“It’s not impossible,” Batman reasoned, “they’re incredibly difficult to track. They’ve slipped into Gotham outside of our notice before.”
“Outside of your notice, maybe.” Jason mumbled childishly.
“Nightwing may have caught on to their presence and intervened - they could have taken him anywhere.” Batman pulled his grapple from his belt, “We need to get back to the cave now. We can rendezvous with Robin and track the League from the Batcomputer.”
“Dick wouldn’t have gone after the League on his own,” Jason argued, “he knows how dangerous and unpredictable they are. He would’ve contacted me for help.”
“Maybe not. Dick’s not very good at asking for help.” Batman grumbled dismissively.
The hypocrisy was too much to bear. Jason felt his temper rising again.
“He doesn’t know how to ask you for help, because you’ve spent his entire life convincing him he’s not good enough!” Jason snarled, “I never make him feel that way. He trusts me."
“Why wouldn’t he?” Batman replied icily, turning away from Jason, “You’ve certainly proven to be level-headed and trustworthy in the past.”
“Oh, fuck you, old man!” Jason yelled, “I don’t give a fuck what you think about me or my methods! I’ve earned his trust and I could give a shit about earning yours! I care about Nightwing as much as you do, and I’m not going to waste time trying to prove it to you when we both know that you’re just mad your favorite son sleeps in my bed!”
Batman gave him a long, hard look, but, to Jason’s disappointment, didn’t rise to the bait, “I’m going back to the cave to follow this lead on the League. If you do care about Nightwing, you’re welcome to join me.”
“You’re still way off about that,” Jason said stubbornly, “I’m staying here.”
“Fine.” Batman replied curtly before finally shooting his grapple to the nearest building and vanishing into the night.
Jason let out a long breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He probably shouldn’t have lost his temper; he could picture the half-sympathetic, half-disappointed look on Dick’s face now.
He ruminated over his decision not to leave with Bruce. Nightwing wouldn’t have taken on the League without telling Jason; they were partners, and even if they’d been fighting at the time he’d have known Jason would have his back. Right? Jason’s stomach squirmed uncomfortably at the thought of being wrong, but Dick needed him; he had to focus.
He walked a little further down the street where he’d encountered Bruce. The man had said that the tracking beacon in Dick’s suit could only be blocked was if he’d been trapped in a concrete lined room or underground. There were no banks in the Narrows, and Jason couldn’t think of any other buildings in the neighborhood that would require that kind of insulation. So where could he…
Jason stopped suddenly, struck by an idea. He knew where Nightwing was.
Jason wrinkled his nose in disgust as he lowered himself into the sludge below. The helmet could protect him from a lot, but that didn’t mean that the overpowering stench of sewage didn’t come through.
Of course Dick had been dragged underground into the sewers. Jason distinctly remembered a conversation he’d had at a very questionable bar with a very questionable man. Rumors had been floating around that Killer Croc had broken out of Blackgate and was taking up residence in the Narrows. Dick must have spotted the beast attacking someone, or maybe Croc had just gotten the jump on him.
He regretted tossing aside his comm - as much as he couldn’t stand Batman, the man deserved to know where his son was. In any case, once Jason rescued him from the sewers his tracker would emit a signal again, and Batman would come running. Still, Jason didn’t relish the idea of having no backup against an unknown who had managed to take down Nightwing.
The sewers were more like a labyrinth than anything else. Jason felt himself tiring and he wove through the tunnels, dodging rats and other unpleasant creatures. Dick was going to owe him big for this. Once Jason found him, and they had both showered multiple times, Jason was going to kick his ass-
WHAM
The blow smashed into Jason’s abdomen, sending him flying into the wall of the tunnel. It was hard enough to knock the wind out of him, and it had been delivered by a familiar, scaly, tail.
“Croc,” Jason spat in annoyance, getting to his feet, “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Must be my lucky day. Gotham Bats and Birds keep crawling in one by one,” Croc hissed menacingly, “Keep this up, and I’m going to get fat.”
“Where’s Nightwing?” Jason roared, firing his guns at the beast. Croc grunted as one made contact, hardly bothered at all.
“He was a tasty one,” Croc leered, lunging toward Jason and knocking him flat again, “I had a feeling he would be.”
Jason pushed his arm against Croc’s throat, released the all-blades from his sleeve with a savage pleasure. Croc roared in pain, backing away from Jason long enough to give him an out.
Jason pressed his advantage, flying at Croc with a kick to the teeth that he regretted the moment Croc used it as an opportunity to chomp down on his leg. Jason yelled in agony and he was thrown from the beast’s mouth, this time landing face first in the sludge.
He moaned as he tried to move, flopping on his back uselessly. His leg was throbbing in pain, and he was up to his neck in literal shit. Typical, he thought to himself, unable to even manage a weak laugh at his own joke.
Croc crawled over to him, baring his teeth threateningly. Rumors that Croc ate people were just that - rumors. They’d never been confirmed. Still, Jason wasn’t too eager to find anything out for himself.
Jason was the Red Hood. He’d taken control of the drug war in Gotham with little more than an AK-47 and a duffle bag of decapitated heads. He’d beaten off the Fearsome Five without even breaking a sweat. He made the criminal element shit themselves in fear of invoking his wrath. He didn’t think he could stand the embarrassment of being eaten.
Croc looming over him, open-mouthed and drooling, left Jason with very few options. Jason threw his arms around the monster’s neck, and squeezed his legs around Croc as tightly as he could.
A deafening noise split the air as electricity cracked from Jason’s chest to the beast he was wrapped around. Croc howled in agony before slumping to the ground, motionless.
Jason groaned in relief, slowly extracting himself from underneath Croc’s massive body. Dick had mocked his built in chest taser on more than one occasion, but if never failed to come through when it was needed the most.
Speaking of. If Croc had been lurking in this tunnel, Dick had to be nearby. Jason sprinted down the tunnel path, his limp barely slowing him down.
“Nightwing!”
"Over here.” Came a soft voice from behind a stack of rotting wood. Jason felt his heart seize up in spite of himself and ran over, knocking the piles out of his way until he found him.
It was Nightwing. Bound in barbed wire. Looking like he’d just inched himself into a hiding place. Jason felt tears of relief in his eyes, and was grateful his helmet hid his expression from view.
“If it isn’t my knight in shining leather,” Dick said, looking dazed, “Hi, Jason.”
“Don’t you dare make a joke out of this!” Jason hissed in fury, as his cut his partner free with a knife, “I’m so mad at you!”
“That’s okay,” Dick replied, wincing in pain as he tried to stretch his legs, “You’re pretty cute when you’re mad.”
“Shut up,” Jason replied, feeling his cheeks burn unpleasantly, “you’ve got a lot of explaining to do. I thought you’d-“ Jason cut himself off before he embarrassed himself.
“What? Left you?” Dick gave him a gentle smile, “It takes a little more than a fight about Batman to get rid of me, Little wing.”
“I told you to shut up,” Jason mumbled unhappily, “are you hurt at all?”
“I’m okay,” Nightwing said unconvincingly, “he gave me a real beating, but I managed to stay out of his mouth.”
“Can’t say the same myself.” Jason smirked as Dick took notice of his half-bitten leg.
“Fuck, Jay, that looks bad. We need to get you some help.”
Dick got to his feet and pulled Jason’s arm over his shoulder as they walked back through the tunnels together.
“So if you just got an ass-kicking, what kept ya?” Jason asked gracelessly.
“Worried about me, were you?” Dick teased.
“No,” Jason grumbled with a slight blush. More like worried he was about to be dumped. But Dick didn’t need to know that.
“Croc was pretty determined to keep me there. He wanted to use me to lure Batman.”
“A classic boy hostage situation, huh?”
“Unfortunately.”
They climbed out of the sewer.
“I need help with this leg. We’re going back to my safe house. I mean,” Jason paused, feeling uncharacteristically uncomfortable, “if you want to, that is. If you’re not still mad.”
“Jason, I was never-“
“Nightwing!”
The call came through Dick’s comm, cutting him off before could finish.
“Batman.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I was caught off guard and captured by Killer Croc. Red Hood rescued me.”
“Are you…hurt?”
“I’m fine. Headed back now to patch up Red. He took a few scrapes.”
“Did not need to tell him that.” Jason grumbled.
“Oh. I’m glad you’re both alright. Check in tomorrow before 10, Nightwing.” The comm cut out.
Dick turned back to Jason, “Let’s get you home.”
“Okay, take your boot off here. Then, using as few steps as possible, go straight to the bathroom and turn on the shower. I’ll be right behind you.” Jason stated authoritatively.
“The shower?” Dick smirked, cheekily running a finger down Jason’s back, “Someone missed me.”
“Not for that, you menace! We both smell fucking terrible!”
“I don’t smell anything.” Dick grinned, trying to pull the other man in for a kiss.
“You’re fucking nose-blind from being stuck in that sewer. Trust me, there is nothing less sexy than you and I smelling the way we do right now.”
“Fine.” Dick stepped out of his boots and proceeded to cartwheel his way toward the bathroom.
“The fuck!?”
“You said to use as few steps as possible!” Dick replied smugly, now walking on his hands. “I’m just following orders.”
“Dumbass.” Jason mumbled, unable to keep the smile from his face.
After a substantial amount of time, and a significant amount of soap, Jason sank onto the couch next to Dick, throwing a casual arm around him. Dick’s hair was smelling nice again, and Jason aimed a kiss at his neck, but Dick squirmed away from him.
“Let me fix up your leg.”
Jason grumbled his reluctant assent and stuck out his leg unhappily. He sat quietly as Dick worked. He didn’t know if he should bring up the fight. He was so happy to have Dick back with him and didn’t want to chase him off again. Still, it felt like they should talk about it.
“I can hear you brooding from here, Jason Todd,” Dick interrupted his reverie, setting his knee gently but firmly, “why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking about.”
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” Jason blurted back. Damn, he’d meant to make that sound a little more put-together. He wanted to apologize, but what should he apologize for? I’m sorry for what I said. I’m sorry I always let Batman get between us. I’m sorry you have to deal with my anger.
“I’m sorry I lost my temper. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”
“It’s okay, Jason.”
“No, it’s not.” Jason cut him off, almost getting angry again. “I don’t want you to think I’m still that guy. That guy who’s always angry, who can’t control his anger. Who hurt you. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I thought... I thought I was getting better.”
“Jason, you have been getting better.” Dick placed an apologetic hand on his knee, “And I’m so proud of you for it. You had every right to be mad at me that night: I was being selfish. We’d agreed to a night off, and you put so much effort into making me dinner, and I just took it all for granted. That wasn’t right of me. I’m sorry too, Jason.”
“And I don’t want you to think I’d just walk out over an argument,” Dick was looking at him with those eyes again, and Jason couldn’t tear his gaze away, “I love you, Jason.”
He had to say it back. He wanted to say it back.
But when he tried, his throat seemed to close up in protest.
He settled for opening his arms instead, and Dick fell into them.
Later that night, when Dick was sleeping safe and sound in his arms, Jason was still awake.
His arms around Dick’s waist. His nose in Dick’s hair. He’d sleep soundly tonight, he knew.
He hugged Dick just a little bit tighter. Dick gave a soft sigh, but didn’t stir. Jason whispered in his ear:
“I love you, too.”