Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jason's eyes snapped open and his hand automatically went to the gun he hid under his pillow.

Before he could fire it, warm fingers found his cheek and wrapped comfortingly around his trembling fingers.

"It's okay, Little Wing." Dick's rich voice rumbled soothingly beside him, moving the hand from his cheek to rub Jason's heaving chest in a placating manner. "It was just a dream."

Jason nodded silently and forced his hand off the cold metal of the gun to take Dick's hand instead. He brought them to his mouth and kissed each of Dick's fingers while he tried to calm his racing heart. Warm. Safe. Home. Whenever Dick was with him these words always came into his thoughts and painted Dick in a glowing light of perfection. Whoever said that perfection didn't exist had never met Dick Grayson. Happy. Love. Mine. The words swam behind his eyes as Dick shifted closer, wrapping his arms around Jason, holding him like the octopus he loved to mimic in moments like these.

"You wanna talk?"

An intense shake of his head.

"That's okay." It was always okay.

With Dick it was always okay. To be mean, violent, a murder, angry and all the bad things that make him the Red Hood was okay. But it was also okay to be himself. To be uncertain, vulgar, funny, happy and all the things that make him Jason Todd. Dick made everything okay.

He gave his nose a quick little kiss.

The corners of Jason's mouth twitched in response. "I love you."

Dick had that huge smile that he always got whenever Jason said "I love you". It was Jason's favorite thing in the whole world so he was constantly telling Dick those three words that made everything perfect.

"Me too, Jay." Another kiss except this one was on his smiling mouth. "Go to sleep. I'll make you pancakes."

"You mean you'll burn me some pancakes, sweetie."

"Keep talking like that, honey, and you won't be getting anything from me for a whole week."

"That's rude." Jason mumbled sleepily into Dick's neck, nestling the strong pulse there and placing little kisses just because he could never have enough of this beautiful man.

Dick's warm hands rubbed soothing circles into his back and settled confidently on his ass groping playfully. "Go to sleep so I can wake you up with some awesome morning sex."

"Promise?"

A warm chuckle. "Promise."

Jason's eyes had only closed for a minute before his alarm clock screeched the time causing him to wake up for real this time.

Cold.

Everything was cold and not okay.

It was not okay because today was the date that Dick died one year ago.

It was stupid. He had wanted to help Jason hunt down some dealers selling to kids. Always the golden boy. Bruce's favorite. Jason's favorite. Stupid. He should've let the Red Hood walk into the building not Nightwing. Stupid. Stupid. Jason should've been the one to die in that drug lab explosion not Nightwing. Not Dick. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

It has been a whole year of not being okay because the person who made everything okay was gone. Dick Grayson, who made the world smile and Jason feel alive was gone.

He was gone and the only person he had to blame was himself.

Jason Todd had killed the world.

Chapter Text

“Please, Dick.”

“But Timmy,” Bruce Wayne’s eldest son sobbed hysterically into his younger brother’s shoulder, seeking comfort as his heart broke. “He was too cute to die.”

“I know, Dick, I know.” Tim patted Dick’s shaking shoulders, sending a pleading glance at Damian for help. Damian quickly averted his steel blue eyes pretending that he hadn’t seen Tim’s plea for help and continued to casually browse their Netflix queue.

“Demon,” Tim thought bitterly as he attempted to move Dick off of his lap that was starting to numb. A new wave of tears flowed and Tim lost all hope of ever using his pants again as the material soaked up Dick's tears greedily .“Tadashi was a real hero.” Tim offered, seeking to comfort Dick instead of upset him further.

 “A-and B-Baymax too?” Dick sniffled pathetically.

“Yes, Baymax too.” Apparently his words of comfort where not as comforting as he thought because Dick’s crying doubled in strength and soon Tim found himself in a crushing hug that only Grayson could deliver. This time a strained gasped left his lips and Damian rolled his eyes at the noise. Setting the remote next to the popcorn, Damian patted Dick’s back awkwardly.

“There, there Grayson.” Damian almost choked on the words as they seemed to cause physical pain to utter. Surprised by his littlest brother’s strange show of affection, Dick quickly moved his attention to Damian and practically smothered him in a fierce hug. Damian let out a slight growl as he set his eyes on Tim. “You owe me” he mouthed at Tim, attempting to not break in half as Dick cuddled closer to him.

“Later,” Tim winked suggestively at Damian before standing up so he could fetch a fresh pair of pants from his room. He left his two brothers (both flushed for different reasons) and sauntered over to his room, hoping that he’d run into Jason so he could send him to Dick. After all Jason was the best at distracting Dick after their weekly Disney movie marathons.

Chapter Text

The city buses in Gotham were moving garbage dumps. Some people just had no respect for the fact that they had to share the shitty transport system with other human beings living in the god forsaken city named Gotham. After years of having to ride the grey hunks of metal, Jason Todd, had grown immune to their unearthly trashiness and even found it soothing as he focused on the people instead of the actual bus. Today it was packed and some people were already having to stand in the aisle as the bus continued to pick up more passengers each stop.

Jason nodded mentally to the little old lady who always took the bus to the farmers market at 12 on Saturdays to have lunch with her bingo friends. Jason also grimaced in disgust as the local alcoholic hopped on for his daily routine of running to the liquor store downtown. Normally Jason wouldn’t be bothered with a dude like that but he’ll never forget the day Mr. Butterfingers had dropped a Jack Daniels and gotten his new boots covered with booze. Then stepping in behind Mr. Butterfingers was-

Mr. Fancy?

An average height man stepped aboard the bus, casting a nervous glance at his unusual surroundings before paying his way and shuffling further into the packed space. His dark grey suit contrasted coolly with his midnight hair that surprisingly wasn’t cut as short as you’d expect from some fancy businessman like him. His porcelain skin looked soft and smooth but there was something about the way his suit hugged his legs and biceps that broke the illusion of weakness and hinted at the truth of muscular tones underneath the clean fabric. His jaw was strong and his cheeks sharp enough to cut glass but he still managed to look like a little boy playing dress up on a bus that he’d obviously never ridden before.

Jason was embarrassed to be caught staring so openly at a stranger just because he’d never seen them on this bus before. He cast his eyes out the window ignoring the muttered apologies of the new passenger as he made his way towards where Jason was sitting in the back, looking for an open seat along the way. By the time Mr. Businessman had made it next to Jason the bus pulled away with a sharp jerk that sent the stranger into Jason’s lap with a startled yelp.

“I-I’m so sorry!” blushing furiously Mr. Suit scrambled desperately to get up but mostly just succeeded in elbowing Jason in the stomach and his aim getting dangerously close to his crotch. “Sorry!”

“Chill,” Jason wheezed out as another fierce jab was sent to his stomach, his own muscles coiling in response and wanting to strike out at the flailing person in his lap. Yup, Mr. Suit was definitely packing some serious muscles but so was Jason. “You’re gonna hurt yourself and more importantly hurt me.” Jason chastised as he firmly grabbed hold of the stranger’s shoulders and stilled them.

“Sorry,” diamond blue eyes were suddenly looking into his own azure gaze and Jason was mesmerized by the shade that made his look muddy and as unclean as the city he lived in. “I’ve never ridden the bus before and I’m a little nervous.”

Jason snorted. “Oh, really? I never would’ve guessed that a kid like you had never ridden a Gotham bus before.” The young man pouted and for another moment Jason was startled by how adorable he looked. Jason seriously needed to get this dude away from his crotch if thoughts like this kept popping into his head. “Here you can have my seat. I’ll stand.”

As they shuffled around awkwardly Jason found himself practically leaning over the stranger as he stood, the crowd pushing him closer and closer to the boy who had fallen on him. Jason heard some grumbling below and he smirked as he realized the other was still pouting.

“What’re ya complaining about now?”

“I’m not a kid.”

“You sure do look like one.”

“My name is Timothy Drake and I’m a CEO of Wayne Enterprises for your information so I’m not a kid.”

“How old are you?”

More pouting. “I’m 19.”

“Yup, you’re still a kid.” Jason mocked even though he himself was only 22.

“You’re kind of mean,” those gem-like eyes were back on him. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

“Hey, some of us Gothamites have to be mean to stay alive.” Jason leveled a shark-like grin at Tim. “Not everyone is born wearing diamond encrusted diapers, Mr. CEO.”

A rosy blush settled flatteringly across those sharp cheek bones and Tim’s eyes moved away embarrassedly from his own. “Diamond encrusted diapers would chaff too much.”

Jason barked out a laugh and almost fell on top of Tim as the bus jerked to an abrupt stop at a corner. Before Jason crushed the kid he braced his hands against the windows beside Tim’s head, bringing their faces a little too close for comfort. Neither of them moved.

“Hey, I never asked why a princess like you was riding the dirty bus." Jason shifted his weight around, settling into a more comfortable position as he tried not to stare at Tim's soft looking lips. "Was your private helicopter broken today?”

“No,” Tim smirked at the teasing tone and lifted his jaw in a silent challenge. “My car was having some engine trouble.”

“So buy a new one.” Jason smirked. "I'm sure a CEO could buy an extra ferari or two."

“I don’t want a new car.” The words were a little harsh but Tim’s tone softened after a pause. “Someone special left it in my care and I intend to keep it.”

Jason hummed in thought as his stop finally came up. “I gotta go, princess, but if you want, bring your car down to my shop and I’ll have a look at it for you.” He sent a sly wink and a dirty grin at the flustered boy as he pulled out a business card from his pocket and slipped it into the front pocket of Tim’s suit. “Free of charge for a pretty bird like you.”

Jason jumped of the bus leaving then and left Tim to read the business card of the “Red Hood Auto Garage”.

Well, Tim did have some free time this weekend anyway. Might as well get his engine looked at.