Chapter Text
Dick isn’t sure how to feel about storms. Sometimes they’re scary, sometimes they’re cozy, sometimes they bring up horrible memories, and sometimes they bring up good ones. They can be painful, annoying, awe-inducing. They’re beautiful and terrifying.
Crack
Rain and thunder mix outside in a terrifying clash of sound. Dick hides under the thick blankets in his new bed. Mom used to say that thunder is just the clouds juggling and dropping their juggling pins, but Dick has always been scared of it anyway. It’s far too loud for comfort. Crash. A flash of lightning illuminates both the sky and his room. The small boy burrows deeper under the sheets, tears streaming down his face, and clutches his stuffed elephant, Zitka, tightly to his chest.
Clap
That’s it. Dick can’t take this anymore. He meekly crawls out of bed, bringing his superman-themed blanket and Zitka with him. He tip toes over to the door and slowly opens it, poking his head out into the hallway. Bam! Dick yelps and startles, running across the hall to his da-guardian’s room. Hesitantly, he opens the door and squints inside, seeing a large lump on the bed inside. Another streak of lightning struck through the sky, bathing the room in momentarily blinding light, followed closely by an ear-splitting bang, sending Dick fleeing across the room and into the large bed in the middle of it.
He nestled into the soft, thick blankets on the huge bed, snuggling closer to his guardian. It felt safe, curling up here under warm blankets that muffle the conundrum outside. His eyelids start to feel heavy as he begins to drift off. He feels a warm hand brush his hair out of his face and the blankets are pulled further over him. He thinks he hears a quiet “goodnight”, but he’s already drifted off to dreamland by the final syllable.
The pattering of rain on a tin roof has always been comforting. It’d be great if he was in bed right now and not on a stakeout with the Teen Titans, but bed will have to wait. He’s crouched in the ceiling rafters, legs getting stiff from sitting there for hours. He subtly shifts his position, hoping to ease the cramping, but it does virtually nothing to help. He glances over at Starfire. She’s in the same position as him but on the opposite side of the building. She catches his eye and offers him a sweet smile; he returns it and trains his eye back on the doors. They’re still tightly shut, just like they have been all night. He might send the rest of the team home and finish this stakeout himse-no. They talked about this. He can’t just do everything himself, if he’s staying, they’re going to insist on staying too. They’re in this together.
This was supposed to be a shorter stakeout; it was meant to end around an hour ago but of course the illegal shipment they’re waiting for was delayed by the storm. Kra-boom! The crackling lightning momentarily illuminates the entire warehouse; he can see Beast Boy shifting and fiddling with his clothes from his spot on the floor behind a set of large shipping containers. Dick grimaces in sympathy, he’d be fidgeting too if Batman hadn’t trained it out of him so early in his career. He shakes his head quickly, to get the thought of his dad mentor out of his mind….definitely not to wake himself up. The rain is sort of peaceful, and he hasn’t slept in at least 24 hours, sue him.
He’s torn out of his thoughts when the doors to the warehouse creak open. Four people walk in carrying a large wooden crate, he quickly catalogues every detail he can find in the dim lighting. Three males, one female. One of the men is large and broad-shouldered with a full beard and a tattoo of a chainsaw cutting a log on his upper arm. He has dark hair and is wearing jeans, large brown work boots, and a mostly red plaid shirt. He kind of looks like a lumberjack. The other two are smaller but are clearly strong. One is pale and blonde with a horrible looking goatee, shoulder length hair, and bright neon accessories with hot pink crocs. Well…that’s definitely a choice. The other has dark skin and hair, facial stubble and is wearing a dark blue shirt with light gray sweatpants and black tennis shoes. At least one of them looks normal. The woman has cherry red hair, tan skin, and has a scar cutting through her left eyebrow. She’s dressed in all black aside from the golden earring in her right ear.
They set down the crate and move to unload another one. Dick watches as they carry it in, they seem tired and unprepared for an attack. Good. Dick gestures for his teammates to be on high alert, it’s nearly go-time. The third crate is set down and he signals the attack. Boom! His decent from the rafters is perfectly timed with the next crack of thunder and he aims a well-aimed punch to Lumberjack Man’s head, knocking him out. He grapples with Pink Croc Guy for a moment before knocking him out too. The other two are already knocked out and tied up by the time he finishes with his two. Cyborg is scanning the crates and truck to make sure everything in the shipment is accounted for. Clap! The thunder is a nice reminder that he really should be in bed right now. The police finally get here and Dick gladly hands over the criminals and the illegal shipment over to the police to sort out for the night.
They finally get home and all Dick can think about is getting to bed. But alas, he still needs to wash the night’s grime from his body and change into something more comfortable. And Beast Boy is taking forever in the bathroom. Why did we build this tower with only one bathroom, what were we thinking?? Krooom. The thunder is low and rumbling now, seemingly just as tired as they are. Dick sits down and leans against the wall next to the bathroom door and resigns himself to waiting. The rain picks up outside, calmly drumming on the metal roof of the tower. He stifles a yawn and blinks hard; he can’t fall asleep quite yet. I’ll be in bed soon. Just hang on a little longer.
Dick is finally able to get a shower. He steps out of the bathroom in a worn Superman themed t-shirt that’s slightly oversized, plaid blue pajama pants, and his signature domino mask to protect his identity. He hates wearing it so much, but he can’t risk giving up his identity to his teammates friends quite yet. Dick quickly walks into his room, peeling the domino off and setting it on his side table for the morning and clicking the lamp off just before collapsing into bed. He tugs the covers over himself and presses his face into the pillow, letting out a weary sigh before succumbing to his dreams once more.
Gorooomm.
Thunder grumbles softly in the distance. The storm isn’t here quite yet, but Dick could feel it coming even before he could hear and see it. His scars and old injuries ache and itch when a storm is coming. Gar said he sounds like an old village lady when he says that, but it’s true. Wally prattled on about the cause, something about barometric pressure changes and humidity changes but Dick wasn’t really listening. He’s sitting on the tower rooftop now, knees pulled up to his chest. Listening to the grumble of distant thunder, enjoying the smell of rain on the horizon and the dreary sky that reminds him so much of Gotham. He shivers as a cold gust of wind blows by, raising goose bumps on his exposed skin.
His hands ache the most, but not mainly because of any injuries. More likely because of memories. His mother always stressed the importance of massaging their hands. She said it prevented injuries and helped keep them ready for their performances. She said they’re the most important part to massage. Dick isn’t sure about the validity of that, but he could really go for one of those massages right now. He gently rubs circles into his left palm with his right thumb. It isn’t the same, but it’ll have to do.
The wind picks up and he can feel pinpricks of rain on his face and arms. He spreads the massage into his fingers, pressing his thumb into each numbing digit, shivering as the temperature drops slightly. He pulls his jacket tighter around him; he’ll regret being out in the rain tomorrow, but for now he can’t bring himself to move. He stares at the looming storm clouds, pondering how something so dangerous could be so awe-inspiring. If it struck him right now, he would probably die. But it’s beautiful, nonetheless. Pulling a sense of melancholy and serenity. The imposing cumulonimbi envelop the sky around him and they look almost ethereal. Krakoom! A single crackle of lightning strikes through them and into the bay not far from him, sending up a puff of steam as the heat vaporizes the water around the strike. He startles out of his stupor, eyes widening, and reluctantly walks back inside.
Starfire catches his arm, tugging him into the living room with the rest of the Titans. He settles at the edge of the couch, sharing a large, fluffy, purple blanket with Starfire. Cyborg and Beast Boy are squabbling over what movie to watch. Raven is curled into herself on the opposite side of the couch to him, nose buried in a new book, seemingly not paying attention. Dick sighs softly, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watches his friends antics. Gorogoro. The thunder grumbles, loud and much closer than it was initially. Dick sinks further into the blanket nest Starfire has made around them, adding Beast Boy to it as well due to the sheer number of blankets she’s added. Dick didn’t even know they had this many blankets. He smirks as Raven uses her powers to take the remote from the boys, she scrolls until she finds a movie that no one protests and sets the remote back on the coffee table.
Halfway through the movie, Dick can feel Kori rest her head on his shoulder and he twines their fingers together, delivering a feather light kiss to the top of her head. Not long after, her breathing evens out and he’s effectively trapped here for the rest of the night. He looks around at his other teammates. Vic and Gar are awake, enveloped fully in the plot of the movie. Raven’s book is closed in her lap, her hand resting between the pages, acting like a bookmark, and her head has fallen to the side. She’s fast asleep. Dick leans his head on his girlfriend’s and manages to make it to the credits before falling asleep to the peaceful sound of falling rain.