Archive of Our Own ^beta

Girlfriend/Boyfriend - When they’re out on the streets together, Nick yells at strangers to keep their eyes - and hands - off his girlfriend, but in private he would be hard-pressed to forget that his partner is all cowboy.

Satisfaction - Roy apologizes quick enough for the stunt with the girl-scout ID card, and Nick is finally satisfied by the replacement - even if he is a woman.

Retirement - Several years into their partnership, Roy casually mentions that the only requirement for an officer is serving their term... no-one’s going to force them to retire.

Seed - Five years after his death, Nick attends Julia’s wedding and finally begins to heal.

Celebration - Roy takes Nick on a tour of his favorite places as a celebration of their five year anniversary as partners.

Sweet - Nick has to forcibly suppress a face-splitting grin when Roy casually places his hat on Nick’s head.

Analogy -  There are times Nick thinks he should try to compare the relationship he had with Julia to the one he now has with Roy, but he doesn’t need to define them to know what they are, and that both are real and wonderful in their own way.

Tackle - Nick is so overcome with a mixture of relief and astonishment when he catches sight of Roy - intact, whole, unharmed - that he tackles him to the ground and holds him close, desperate to affirm what his eyes tell him.

Compassion - Roy lingers in the church’s shadows, out of sight and mind, while Nick watches his wife marry another man.

Disagreement - With time, they gain a reputation as the R.I.P.D.’s best team of officers, but that certainly doesn’t mean they get along perfectly.

Wonder - Roy freezes completely the first time Nick kisses him, unable to believe it’s not a waking dream.

Innocent - Proctor refuses to admit to planting hints about Roy’s attraction in Nick’s head.

Thief - Nick can’t help but think about what would have happened if he never agreed to hide the gold in the first place.

Love - Nick doesn’t know how to respond when Roy tells him he loves him; he still loves Julia, but she’s moved on and Roy’s right here.

Angel - Nick tries to picture himself as an angel, but the thought does nothing more than make him startle Roy with his sudden laughter.

Debt - Nick owes Proctor a debt for arranging for Julia’s survival, and Roy feels he owes her just as much - only for more selfish reasons.

Visiting - Nick isn’t really supposed to be in contact with Julia, but ‘Matilda Vanstan’ has become close friends with her, close enough to introduce her new girlfriend ‘Opal Pavlenko’.

Construction - Roy is disturbed to find that Nick is slowly demolishing the carefully constructed walls around his heart.

Gain - Roy never wanted a partner - couldn’t bring himself to trust like that again - , but in Nick, he finds that and more.

Art - Watching them work together is like looking at a work of art - they move seamlessly and perfectly in tune.

Prototype - Roy cackles gleefully as he sneaks out the door of the weapons locker and runs to show Nick their newest toy.

Meet - Julia is surprised at how fast she and Matilda become friends, but something about the other woman feels as familiar as her own reflection.

Grief - Nick knows the moment he sees the way Julia looks at Ivan that she’s moved on - it’s exactly the way she used to look at him.

Happiness - Roy wants more - how could he not? - but just being around Nick makes him happier than he’s been in decades, and so he takes what he can get.

Difference - Nick had trusted Bobby instantly when they were partnered  and the feeling had seemed mutual, while he clashed with Roy - and that was also mutual - but this time around trust is hard-earned and that makes all the difference.

Uniform - Nick runs his fingers gently over Roy’s brand and silently thanks the job for bringing them together.

Alarm - Nick has to give himself credit - it only takes him a few weeks for “relax body” to change from a source of alarm to a cause for a wild grin.

Soldier - Nick doesn’t know how to respond to Roy’s reaction when he asks the other man about the war; he’d been expecting a quick rebuke or even a few rough anecdotes, not for him to flinch and then completely close himself off.

Wrath - If the two of them are intimidating together, then it’s fucking terrifying to face one of them alone because the other has been injured.

Nickname - Nick isn’t really thinking about it when he first calls his partner Cephus instead of Roy, but it quickly becomes his private pet-name for him.

Importance - For a long time, Roy strived to be desensitized to anything other than the job; it’s only when he meets Nick, that he remembers how it feels to live.

Need - Nick kneels at Julia’s side and knows she’s willing to die, but also knows just as deeply that she needs to live.

Queen - Proctor knows everything that goes on in the R.I.P.D. and if she likes to play matchmaker for more than just professional reasons, well, that’s her business.

Proposal - Technically, they can’t really get married, but Roy accepts when Nick proposes nonetheless.

Talent - Nick is a bit stunned by the ease with which Roy wields two guns simultaneously.

Rewrite - If he were given the opportunity to redo everything, call in sick or simply take Julia and run away that crucial day, Nick knows he wouldn’t take it - couldn’t risk Bobby winning and losing everything again, with no way to fix it this time.

Accusation - They have their first knock-down-drag-out fight less than two months into their relationship; it ends with Nick walking away after Roy accuses Nick of treating him as a consolation prize - he comes back two days later, and quietly acknowledges that Roy is right.

Fortune - Once, Roy had believed that fortune favors the brave, but dying changed what had once been bravery into near-suicidal recklessness.

Sink - It’s only when Roy freezes in his pursuit at the river’s edge that Nick realizes that his partner can’t swim.

Clue - Nick doesn’t realize something is wrong until Roy goes silent, and in all honestly that scares him more than if the other man had walked away.

Background - It’s true that Roy had fought for the North, but what Nick doesn’t realize is that he had been born and raised in Texas - and had been disowned for his choice, trading his family’s respect for his morals.

Date - Roy is torn between glaring at his partner and staring when he realizes just why Nick chose to wear shorts for their date.

Shame - Roy sometimes wonders if Nick is ashamed of him, because in spite of the increased respect that had popped up for him after they saved the world, Roy is still anything but charming.

Harm - The shine in Julia’s eyes when she tells ‘Matilda’ that Ivan Dickens had asked her out is enough to patch over the cracks the exclamation makes in his heart even as they open.

Music - Nick is surprised to discover that Roy’s taste in music runs more along the lines of classic rock than country music.

Hand - Roy’s hands are scarred, calloused, and so much bigger than Julia’s small, slender ones, and yet Nick thinks they feel just as right in his own.

Defeat - Roy catches Nick halfway through filling out a transfer request the day after Roy’s first real injury during their partnership, but convincing him that it wasn’t his fault takes far more effort than just ripping up the paper.

Prize - Years after that first fight, Roy tries to apologize for saying that he felt like a consolation prize, but Nick shakes his head, puts a hand over Roy’s mouth, and says that if anyone is going to be sorry, it’s him.

Pride - Of all the words that could be used to describe Roy, Nick had never considered humble to be one of them until Roy asks why anyone would ever want to be with him.

Castle - Their tiny office is no castle, but there’s nowhere else Nick and Roy would rather be.