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He'd always known that one day he'd open his eyes and find the warm place beside him cold again.
Lock
"Let me see," Batman rasped, fingers clenching a feverish line of heat through the torn clasps in Robin's vest, "I need to see, Robin."
Fall
Dick had taught him the advantage of knowing the hand was there before he could think to rationalize the need to reach for it; but no amount of training had ever been enough to make it work as well with anyone else.
Whisper
"I'm sorry," Dick said immediately, but the soft red flush still hot across his cheeks was anything but apologetic.
Highway
"You've always loved her more than me," Dick said despondently, "That's why you never let me drive her."
Wait
"No," Batman said doggedly, jerking away from the touch as if accepting that alone would condemn the boy.
Gravity
He ran the thin yellow silk through his fingers until they reached the charred edges of the bullet hole (and there was really nothing, nothing else to be done now).
Forgotten
"I had Alfred save them for you," Bruce said, wrapping the bandage an extra time before he tucked it underneath, folding the edge inside gently, "You're the only one who likes them better out of the freezer."
Breathe
There were times when feeling it there, solid and unquestioned, was still enough to break him.
Strength
"Stay with me partner," he whispered, and somewhere through the numbing haze Bruce's fingers were on his cheek, smoothing a softening trail up through his blood-soaked hair, "Stay with me, please."
Candle
The drying wax left his fingers slick and tingly for hours, but it was the big, light roughness of Bruce's hands on his that still lingered the next morning.
Forever
"It always ends up this way," Bruce said, dropping his hand again and stepping back before Dick could think to let himself claim the touch, "No one left but you and me."
Sacred
At last he began to accept that there were some patterns of behavior that his body alone would never be able to transcend.
Hope
Come on Bruce (one, two, three compressions; another ten seconds of life forced in past shattered ribs that didn't want it) come on, don't do this…
Lies
"Well, who cares what people think, right?" Tim said slowly, not quite meeting his gaze, "I mean, you know what really happened back then."
Unknown
It was still easy (hard, harder than hard) to allow himself the illusion that he would be back at any moment to occupy that empty space, dispelling the crushing silence the way he always did (the way no one else can).
Laugh
"No," he said immediately, noting Dick's expression and the too-casual posture he'd adopted for the hood of the car, "It's just been waxed, Dick."
Journey
"I missed you too," Dick said finally, staring down at the endless expanse of crumbling roof in between them, "I forgot to say it, last time."
Silence
After a while it occurred to him that maybe Bruce didn't think to offer because no one had ever taught him it was okay to ask.
Fire
"I'm telling you you didn't hurt me," Dick said sharply, jerking back before the hand could slide any further over the harsh, finger-shaped bruises.
Promise
I need you, he wanted to say; "You're needed," he said instead.
Hurricane
"You never need any color to look good," Dick said softly, letting the edge of the fabric slide through his fingers one last time before he let it go.
World
"Anything," Batman whispered, and the knife moved half a centimeter closer to Robin's choked, half-silent no.
Farewells
"You don't have to tell him I called," Dick said, hearing the want in his own voice and hating it, "Just forget it, okay?"
Box
"It's changed everything for you, hasn't it," she said at last, "Having that boy at home, needing you."
Formal
"But you're forgetting that I was the one who had to spend two hours in the corner tonight being molested by that old guy," Dick said, "I think it's pretty clear who needs the good mat tonight, pal."
Drink
"Maybe you'd feel better if you tried taking your medicine once in a while," Dick said, folding the pills back into his palm and closing his fingers around them.
Cold
"You worry too much," he said.
Ring
A part of him had always dreaded the moment the city's smothering weight finally leeched the light from that smile forever.
Music
"You're making it easy for me," Bruce admonished, leaning a little more of his weight into Dick's thigh and pressing until he was sure the rope had to be cutting off his circulation, "Don't think I don't know when you're distracted, Dick."
Talent
"Trust me," Dick said, dipping his fingers back into the salve, "I'm a good multi-tasker."
Cover
For years he couldn't bring himself to relinquish the words, holding in the memory on cold nights like an anchor he'd long forgotten he needed ("I missed you").
Body
It was really a little unfair how effortlessly he'd escaped the throes of teenage awkwardness; never a trace of unbalanced lankiness marring those lean, perfect curves.
Hero
"Maybe sometimes Batman tries too hard," Dick said, smoothing down the edge of the bandage gently enough for it to almost be a caress, "Maybe sometimes he forgets why Robin sticks around."
Temptation
"But it's nothing like the pool at home," Dick insisted, splashing the water hard enough that a few droplets just barely missed the edge of Batman's cape, "Come on, just take it off already."
Talk
"I think I know you better than most people," said Nightwing dryly, in that way he had when the response he was hoping for was one he'd long since given up on receiving, "And sometimes I still wonder."
Overwhelmed
"Might as well get used to losing to me, big guy," Dick said, and for a moment Bruce found himself fighting the urge to smile back just as guilelessly.
Silk
"Please," Dick whispers, pressing into him drenched and white and needing, needing so badly, "Just one more time, please."
Dance
By the time it occurred to him to pull back Dick was already breathing out against his cheek, the soft, unpracticed taste of him marking the touch on his skin like a brand.
Run
"I don't care if you hate me," Dick said, just softly enough for the words to burn at the edges. "I would have died before I left you there."
View
The fact that Nightwing's costume hid so little to begin with had somehow never tarnished the pleasure of watching him peel it off.
Red
"You know," he said, watching the lines of heat turn the soles of their boots to liquid at last, "I really never thought it end like this."
Memory
"But I hope you get to like it here, Dick," said Mr. Wayne slowly, as if the words themselves were something like an apology.
Midnight
He was being shoved hard into the concrete wall, shoved and pressed and lifted up before he could fully register that no, they really weren't going to wait until they got home this time.
Wings
"I told you he'll be fine," Leslie said, a small note of almost-impatience edging into her voice, "Hovering isn't good for you, Bruce."
Ice
Too late, it occurred to him that if Bruce felt the shift in his breathing the fingers carding his hair would be gone before he could ever remember they'd been there.
Fever
"Batman," Nightwing said gently (too gently), still squeezing the shredded gauntlet hard enough to hurt, even through the Kevlar, "I think it's time to call it a night."
Eclipse (the sequel to Talk)
He reached out and touched him instead, let his fingers (just this once) map the soft, loved curve of that face, "Don't," he said.