Adult-FanFiction.org : Comics

Birds and Bees	By : defying3reason Category: DC Verse Comics > Batman Views: 2564 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or any aspect of the broader DC Universe, and I make no money from my fanfiction

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Chapter Sixteen
As was unfortunately normal when Dick and Roy went on dates, whether with each other or not, the restaurant they chose to have dinner at was targeted by an unstable villain. They each crammed themselves into a toilet stall to change into their costumes, Dick grumbling about how they hadn't even selected an upscale place to eat.
Although to be fair, it didn't seem like Harley Quinn was there to rob anyone. It looked like she'd run into a building full of civilians to make pursuit a bit trickier. This suspicion was confirmed when they caught her muttering "Let's see…hostage, hostage, hostage…" under her breath while she scanned the room.
Dick actually felt a little sorry for her when he and Roy raced back in, Dick poised with his escrima sticks and Roy sporting his robotic arm, already taking aim with his bow.
"Oh…as though this thing couldn't go any more wrong. Oh well. If I gotta get taken in at least the boys are cute. Alright, I surrender." She held her hands in the air, but neither crime fighter lowered their weapons.
"If you're concealing anything dangerous Quinn…"
"Take all the fun out of life!" And then Harley dumped an odd assortment of weapons onto the floor, and though they both watched her do it, neither man was quite sure where in her skintight costume she'd pulled them from. Roy was a little curious about how she planned on using the chattering teeth, but not curious enough to ask.
Dick took a few careful steps towards the peppy criminal, and that's when the person who had chased Harley into the restaurant to begin with made their entrance. A very pissed off Selina Kyle charged into the room ready to crack her whip. She stopped when she realized there was an arrow aimed at her chest. "Why hello there junior," she purred, ignoring Roy in favor of Dick.
"Hey Selina. So what the hell's going on?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that I'd rather not be a part of it," Selina said in a steely voice, eyes trained on Harley in an expression of smoldering rage Dick was used to seeing aimed at Bruce. Hoo boy. He was starting to think he'd have been better off just ignoring the fight.
"Yeah, I figured!" Harley snapped petulantly. "I was gonna leave you alone!" Her hands were still in the air, and Selina took advantage of that to jab her in the ribs with the butt of her whip.
"Really? Because I recollect you threatening to use Jervis Tetch's gear on me if I didn't join you on your little team up. By the way Nightwing, you boys ought to know that a group of particularly nasty human beings are collaborating in our city."
"Yeah, you know it happens often enough not to be that big a deal. Still though, I'll pass the info along and we can keep an eye on it. So who's in the team up?" Dick asked. Harley stuck her tongue out at him, and Selina jabbed her in the ribs again.
"I don't care how much ya poke me Kitty, I ain't squealing!"
"I'm guessing Ivy's along. Harley doesn't suit up much without her or the psychotic clown, and he isn't very social," Selina said. "And considering her poor choice of threat, I'd assume the Mad Hatter."
"Thanks Selina."
"So what, are you on their side again or something? And excuse me for not getting the memo!" Harley yelled.
Selina sneered at her. "I'm on my own side, and I always have been." She turned to Dick again with a sultry smirk. "But you can tell him I said hi. He hasn't been returning my calls you know."
"I'll bug him for you."
"Thanks."
"You're letting her leave?" Roy muttered as Selina took a leisurely exit. Dick shrugged.
"She kinda has been on our side lately. C'mon, let's escort Zippy to Arkham."

Harley was unnervingly quiet for the duration of the trip, and she kept staring at Roy. Finally, just as they got to the hospital, she regarded him with a comically exaggerated look of scrutiny and then made a throwaway comment that turned his blood to ice in his veins. "You know, you don't look nothing like your kid."
Before Dick could stop him, Roy grabbed Harley by the throat with his robotic arm and crushed her into the wrought iron gates. "And just what the fuck do you know about my kid?"
"Hey, let go! You're choking her! Red Arrow!" Dick grabbed at Roy's arm, but Vic had constructed one hell of a prosthetic. Even throwing his full weight at the appendage, Dick couldn't get it to move.
Harley choked out something that sounded vaguely like 'Chesh' and Roy relaxed his hold enough to let her breathe. She let out a few wheezy breaths and eyed him fearfully. "I wasn't threatening or nothing, honest! I don't go after kids!"
"Unless you're with the Joker," Dick reminded her.
"Yeah, well I ain't with Mr. J right now! And I'm right too, because you don't look a thing like Chesh, and your kid looks like her, so there."
"You're working with Cheshire?" Roy asked. Harley eeped and ducked out of his range, lest he go to choke her again.
"Oops. Well you know what, you still don't know much about who I'm working with, because Kitty was only right about Ivy! We just stole some of Jervis' stuff, so there! I mean…uh…oh dang, Ivy's gonna make me sleep on the couch for this one."
"Just what are you guys up to?" Dick asked, not liking the sound of that team up in the least. He hated fighting Cheshire. She was as good as Damian, and she fought as dirty as Bruce.
"I ain't saying nothing else, and you can let your crazy friend strangle me all you want but it won't do you any good," Harley sniffed, doing her best to look defiant.
"Alright, if you insist." Roy went to grab her again, and Dick pushed his way between them.
"Back off," he warned. Harley clung to him with another eep, and he turned his head to give her a frustrated look. "You too."
"Sorry!" She immediately let go of Dick and backed up a couple of steps. "Just don't let him crush my throat again. I don't let guys do that to me no more."
Dick rolled his eyes. He turned to his boyfriend with a pleading expression. "C'mon, she wasn't threatening your daughter, she was just…being Harley. Can we drop her off and go?"
"Please?" Harley asked. Roy growled at her and she shrank away from him.
"Fine."
Dick nudged Harley in the back, and they resumed their walk through the gates of Arkham. Roy strode sullenly next to Dick, a grim expression on his face. "If anything happens to her because of these psychos…"
"We'll keep an eye on it, I promise."
The meeting with Harley pretty thoroughly killed the mood. They changed back into civilian clothes and drove to the manor so Roy could pick up Lian, all the while in a tense silence. The old house was silent when they walked in, the heavy atmosphere only furthering the grim mood.
Dick sighed, and touched Roy's good arm. "I'm sure Lian will be fine, okay? Harley really doesn't go after innocents unless she's pressured into it and she's a gossip. She was probably just bugging Cheshire, and when she found out Cheshire had a kid, well, I could see Harley not letting that one go."
"Uh huh. Dick, there's no way you can spin 'the Joker's ex-girlfriend knows about my kid' in a way that won't make me worried."
Dick chewed his lip and nodded, since it was a valid point. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault. Hey…I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm just mad."
"I know, I get it." Dick leaned in for a quick kiss. "We'll have to try getting dinner again next week. Maybe we can make it to dessert next time."
"We have to wait a week?"
"I've got some leads I need to check out, so I'm going to be busy for awhile. You're welcome to come with, but it won't be very romantic. I'm going undercover in a drug lab. Oh, and rooftop stakeouts." And there was nothing but rain in the forecast.
To Dick's surprise, Roy actually looked a little tempted before he refused. "Nah, Lian's got a science fair to get ready for. I'm gonna be busy helping her with that." He scowled. "I'd rather be working undercover than making a solubility…something or other."
"Well it sounds like we're both working with chemists, if you're liberal with the definition."
"I guess…any thoughts on where the kids are?"
"Dunno." Dick sincerely hoped they weren't anywhere near Damian's bedroom. Not that he thought there was a chance of Damian trying anything with a barely-thirteen year old girl (especially given his pre-date jitters over Jai, something Dick still needed to be caught up on), but he didn't think there was a chance on earth of convincing Roy of that if he saw his little girl in a boy's room.
Roy pulled out his phone and texted Lian. "What room would you call the one we're standing in?"
"Uh…first floor parlor."
Roy looked up from his phone. "I thought the one we were just in was the parlor."
"No, that's the den. We don't really use the den. This is the parlor."
"Even when Ollie's loaded his houses are never as confusing as this."
A few minutes later Lian came skipping into the room, Damian brooding silently behind her. She threw her arms around Roy's neck and leaned up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Hey Daddy! Did you guys have a good time?"
"Sure." Roy wasn't particularly convincing, and his perceptive child picked right up on it. She didn't say anything about it, though her expression was plenty curious as they took their leave. Dick and Damian stood on the porch and watched them drive off together.
"So what'd you guys do while we were gone?" Dick asked, figuring it was a good way to start a conversation.
"Certainly nothing to be concerned over," Damian snapped. Before Dick could figure out what that was supposed to mean, Damian threw another out-of-nowhere comment at him. "So you know Grayson, I do understand that you have the right to make your own choices with regards to your love life, even if they are poorly conceived and turn out to be horrendous mistakes. I'm not attempting to exercise control over you, I'm just concerned."
"Uh…alright. Damian? Is everything okay?"
"Fine." And with that he stalked away.
Dick shook his head. "It's times like this when I wish I had someone sane and well-adjusted I could talk to." Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he didn't actually know anyone like that. He settled for changing back into his tights and meeting up with Tim for a distracting patrol through the city instead.

Hartley Robert Rathaway had been a problem child during his teen years. He'd rebelled against his wealthy, socially conservative parents in every way he could think of. He read Marx at the dinner table, brought up human rights violations the one time his father attempted taking him along on a business meeting, and he intentionally failed all his classes. When his father bribed him a place at an Ivy League university he got kicked out before his first round of midterms, something he repeated every time his father got him into a new Ivy.
And then there was his criminal record. He was brought home by the police for the first time when he was fourteen, but his family's reputation kept him from actually getting arrested until he was seventeen.
Maybe that's why Hartley bonded so strongly with Jai (even though Irey was his godchild), because he remembered what it felt like, not living up to your family's expectations. He'd gone as far as he could the other way to make it seem like he'd never been trying to begin with. That way he wasn't the one failing, because his parents had been the ones with the problems, not him.
At any rate, Piper was a bit surprised to find Jai sitting on his front stoop at eleven o'clock Monday morning, but only a bit. Jai showed up at his place unannounced all the time, just not usually when school was in session. Added to that, Piper was just returning from a morning coffee with Linda, where he'd heard her complain about Jai's behavior problems at school, and his recent team up with Robin. He found it troubling that Linda seemed fully convinced Jai had been on that team up instead of a date.
Sighing, Piper approached the teen, preparing himself for an uncomfortable encounter. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
Jai shrugged. "I'm already grounded, so I didn't think it'd really matter if I skipped."
"Take it from someone who knows…you can actually shorten your sentence with good behavior, but further bad actions extend it."
"Yeah, but I need to talk to you, and I didn't want to wait a week." Jai stood up and patiently waited while Piper unlocked his door and turned off his sound traps. They headed into his workshop together, and Jai leaned against a drafting table while Piper sat down across from a desk cluttered with half-finished prototype flutes. He swiveled his chair around so he was facing the moody teenager. "Alright. What's up?"
Jai's eyes darted around the room nervously for a moment before he fixed a defensive expression of disdain on his face. "So…you know how when my dad realized you were gay he ran down the side of a building to get away from you?"
Piper remembered the moment vividly. He'd been sure he'd scared off his friend, and subsequently spent the afternoon alternating between sorrow and bitterness. Thankfully, after taking some time to process the new information about Piper and pry his shiny yellow boot out of his mouth, Wally had become one of the most supportive straight friends Piper had ever had. He still said insensitive things sometimes, but he always meant well, and the two old friends joked about the building thing. After all, it was a pretty funny story.
Although he could see how the story would cease being funny to a closeted teenage son.
"That was a long time ago Jai," Piper said carefully. "Your father has changed a lot since then, and he's grown."
"Well, um…do you think that he'd still…um, do you think he'd run away like that if it was his son instead of his friend?"
Piper had underestimated this. The story clearly wasn't just not-funny, it was terrifying.
And this was the most important way Piper hadn't lived up to his parents' expectations. It was clearly something he and Jai had in common. Well, mostly…Piper didn't think for a minute that the Wests would respond the way the Rathaways had.
"I can't see your parents being anything but supportive of you. They love you Jai, and they only want you to be happy."
"I don't think they want me to be gay though. Mom always jokes about me marrying Lian and, and Dad…I already disappoint him so much because I don't have powers. I'm not trying to be like him like Irey is, and he doesn't love me as much as her. I don't think he ever will."
Piper shook his head. He could see how Jai had come to that conclusion, but it just wasn't remotely true. Wally loved both of his children. He was a little closer with Irey since they had more in common though.
"Jai, Wally used to have a problem with gays. He used to think it was unnatural and that there was something wrong with us, but he hasn't felt that way since well before you were born."
"He doesn't like same sex marriage," Jai pointed out.
Piper scowled. He and Wally fought about that one a lot. Wally honestly didn't see how changing the terminology to 'Civil Union' was a slap in the face. "He still has some room to grow, but your father is a good person and he loves you. He probably will say something stupid when you tell him though, but it'll be fine. We'll have a good laugh about it, I promise."
Jai snorted and rolled his eyes. "No kidding. I gotta tell him soon though. Last night would have been easier if Mom and Dad knew…unless they end up hating me for it."
"They won't-"
Jai silenced Piper with a look. "Did you expect your parents to react the way they did?"
Piper closed his eyes and hung his head, waiting until his insides stopped lurching quite so painfully before he tried speaking again. Whenever he thought of his parents, the first thing that came up was the false memory of having killed them and it still hurt, even after all these years.
The very real memory of crying himself to sleep in his car the night he ran away, when his father had told him he wished he'd never been born and that he was disgusting, that he was ashamed of having a son like Hartley…that wasn't any better than the fake memory.
"I never thought my parents would do what they did. But it was a different time." Piper's voice lacked the strength and volume it had begun the conversation with, but the conviction was still there.
"I'm sorry Piper. I didn't mean to bring that stuff up. I'm just scared."
"I know." Piper forced a smile onto his face while images of his parents' broken bodies continued to swim unbidden through his mind. "But I think you'll be okay."
"If…if it doesn't go well, and they kick me out or something, can I come here and live with you?"
"Oh Jai, of course. But I really don't think it will come to that."
"I hope so, but just in case."
Piper wiped at his eyes, then stood up and pulled the teen into a hug. He was surprised Jai still let him get away with that; he'd stopped letting his own mother hug him at ten. But they were having a moment, and a hug was in order.
Jai did look a little embarrassed when Piper let him go though. His cheeks were beet red.
"Th-thanks Piper. I just needed to know someone had my back. Just in case."
"Well I do. I always will. Now…any chance you'll let me drive you to school?"
Jai rolled his eyes. "If you insist…can I tell you about my date on the way?"
"Of course. I've been dying of curiosity. Who were you out with?" Piper asked while he fumbled his shoes and coat on.
"Oh, I'd thought you would have guessed that by now. I went out with Robin."
"Robin?" Piper squeaked, dropping his keys.
Jai cracked up at the shocked expression on his face. "Yeah. C'mon, I wasn't that great at hiding it."
"But…but isn't this one Batman's son? Like biologically?" And with the paternal temper, from what Piper heard from Wally.
"Yep."
Piper shook his head in wonder. "Are you sure you don't want to be a superhero Jai? You're certainly brave enough."
He laughed at that one.

That night in New York, Dick and Damian had their own version of a post-date heart to heart while Dick was on a stake-out. Dick refrained from asking Damian about his sudden change of heart regarding Roy (well, change of heart was an overstatement; the kid blatantly still hated Roy, but he wasn't being as vocal about it anymore, which Dick appreciated), though he was just as curious about that.
Dick was crouched on a rooftop in the rain, watching an anxious looking group of wannabe thugs. He almost felt bad for taking in kids like this, or would have if he didn't see what experience hardened them into. Damian was leaning against the door to the roof that the maintenance workers used, and even though he was wearing his costume it was clear from his relaxed posture that he had no intention of working.
When Dick called him on it he arched an elegant eyebrow and smiled condescendingly. "Pardon me, but I'd thought poorly armed narcotics smugglers were within your capabilities. I'm pretty sure even your ignoramus of a romantic partner could work this one on his own."
Dick rolled his eyes. "I thought you were done insulting Red Arrow."
"No, I merely said I would no longer vocalize my misgivings about you pursuing a relationship with him. I never at any point said that I would stop pointing out what an idiot he is."
"Alright. I didn't get the distinction at first," Dick said with a sigh. Damn. He'd really been hoping that after seven years of this, Damian would stop snapping about Roy. He opted for a different tactic. "Are you sure you're not jealous? Seems like if you really didn't have a crush on me you would have let this go by now."
"I do not have those kinds of feelings for you, and that is the last time I plan on repeating myself in regards to this subject!" He'd definitely gotten under Damian's skin with that one.
"Good. Then don't make me repeat myself about Red Arrow. I still don't like you insulting my boyfriend Robin, it doesn't matter what the context is. Now, if you wouldn't mind lowering your voice a bit, these stake outs are supposed to be stealthy operations."
He was surprised the kid didn't hit him for that one.
Damian did shoot him quite the withering glare though, but he missed it since his eyes were trained on his skittish thugs. "I can leave, if you'd rather."
And then Dick would be stuck with only the pins and needles sensation in his long-asleep butt for company for God know's how long. "Fine, I'll be less snarky."
"I somehow doubt that."
"I can try."
They sat in silence (well, Dick crouched and Damian leaned) for a bit, Dick watching the condemned warehouse below them, Damian lounging as though he were enjoying himself. Dick finally opted for the obvious question. "So how'd it go?"
"The date?"
"No, repairing Tim's bike after he near-totaled it. Yes the date! Did you guys have fun? Are you going to see him again?"
Damian snorted. "I should give you the boring details of repairing Red Robin's unnecessarily cumbersome cycle, considering how insufferable you've been tonight…but the date went…nicely. I have some concerns about West though."
"Cut him some slack. I'm sure he was nervous to-uh…nervous."
Damian didn't seem to like the implication that he'd been worried about the date, even though he'd admitted as much himself. He didn't snap about it though, but remained quiet for a few more beats before resuming the conversation. Dick figured he'd been glaring t the back of his head.
"He didn't behave in a nervous manner. Actually, he was rather forward."
"Oh?" Dick smirked at that. He could only imagine the kinds of actions that would come across as forward to someone like Damian.
"Yes…" Damian continued in a measured tone. "He was rather more…enthusiastic about touching me than I'd expected. I got the hang of reciprocation eventually though."
'Don't laugh-don't laugh-don't laugh,' Dick inwardly chanted. He couldn't suppress a small chuckle though. Damian turned away from him and angrily stalked across the roof. "Oh c'mon, sorry! It's just…you guys are teenagers! Teenage guys are horny. It's kinda common knowledge."
"Well it was uncomfortable!"
Dick frowned. "Well it's new for you. I wouldn't worry too much yet. Damian, you're an attractive guy. Your dates are going to want to touch you. I mean, if you don't like it then you should tell them to stop, but-"
"I know that," Damian sneered. "And, as I said, once I was practiced enough for reciprocation things were fine. It was just more than I expected for a first date. If I remember correctly, you assured me I wouldn't have to worry about tongue until the second date."
Dick laughed. "Sorry, my bad. I didn't think it'd come up. So wait, how far did you guys go?" He'd expected his godson to be intimidated by Damian. Apparently he'd been wrong.
Damian looked at him in some confusion. "Go?"
Dick rolled his eyes. "What did you do? You know, as far as touching and all that jazz goes?"
Damian was still standing behind him, so he couldn't see his admittedly impassive face as they talked. His attention had to be on the building, after all. A few months down the line though, Dick would be kicking himself for that one.
"We…well we kissed."
"Mm, got that. And he had wandering hands?"
"Yes. His hands were quite friendly, and his kisses involved the tongue. I believe that's all the pertinent information."
"Not quite," Dick said. "Are you going out with him again?"
"We didn't make any plans but…I suppose so."
Dick winced. "Remember that promise you made me? You said you weren't going to hurt him. If you don't want to see him then don't, but don't lead the poor kid on."
"I've been very candid with him so far."
"Yeah, somehow I couldn't see you doing otherwise."
Their conversation was, unfortunately, cut short by movement below. Dick leapt down sooner than was wise, driven by impatience to get his vigilante work over with so he could continue counseling his former-sidekick.
He had a bad feeling about the budding romance, and he really wanted to make sure his for-all-intents-and-purposes little brother wasn't going to unintentionally trample his godson's heart. Jai had been infatuated with Damian for a few years by that point. The kid wasn't obvious about it (Dick was pretty sure Wally had no idea), but Dick saw every subtle signal when the boys interacted. And Jai was so sensitive, and he already had some behavior issues. It would be so easy for Damian, with his blunt manners, to say entirely the wrong things and increase Jai's sense of isolation.
Jumping into a cluster of anxious rookie criminals eager to make a name for themselves while distracted, needless to say, turned out to be a bad idea. Thankfully Damian was watching even though it was supposed to be the kind of easy take down Dick could have done blindfolded. He saw the other hero get shot in the leg, and he quickly stepped in.
Two of the men were disarmed by batarang before Damian landed boot-first on a third (that one didn't get up again). When the remaining thugs saw Robin snarling at them they dropped their weapons, turned, and ran.
He had them all unconscious or tied up in under a minute, except for the one that had shot Dick. He saved that one for last.
"Don't hurt me!" the kid yelled. Damian responded with a low growl and a series of blows that broke bones, removed teeth, and turned the kid's face into a bloody pulp. Once he was unconscious Damian tossed him aside and ran to Dick's side.
"What on Earth is wrong with you? What was that?"
Dick had already torn a wider hole in his tights and removed the bullet. He was in the process of cauterizing and sterilizing the injury with supplies from his med-pack when Damian yelled at him, and so couldn't immediately answer for his hiss of pain.
"I…I got distracted…it ha-happens," he ground out.
"Amateurish behavior like that could get you killed. You're not allowed to die Nightwing, especially not from incompetence!"
Dick laughed, then rested his sweaty forehead against his raised knee. "Can you just-just help me get back to my place? You have…full permission to…urgh…to yell at me on th'way, but I don't want to be sitting here when the c-cops show up to take these assholes in."
Damian hefted Dick to his feet, and his legs promptly gave out on him as he tried to put too much weight on them. He collapsed into Damian's side. With a disdainful humph, Damian lifted the muscular, athletic crime fighter into his arms as though he were a child, and carried him from the building.

"You're a selfish, stupid fool. Do you know what I would go through if you were killed?"
"For the thousandth time, I'm sorry," Dick groaned.
Damian yanked Dick's mask off his face so hard he took some skin with it, yet still left behind plenty of adhesive. Dick yelped and swatted Damian's hands away from him. "You're a terrible nurse! Never mind, I'll change out of my costume and bandage this thing myself!"
"You most certainly will not as your hands are shaking too profusely to be useful. You're not allowed to die of infection either Grayson."
"Well then can you at least be gentle?"
"I'll try." And to his credit, Damian did a passable job. He was still stiff, and his movements were far from tender, but he held his rage in check and didn't hurt Dick while he helped him deal with his injury.
Helping him undress was worse than bandaging the bloody evidence of Dick's mortality in his thigh. Dick's body was a work of art; tanned and toned, and his skin was so soft, even with the hard muscle just below the surface. It was nothing like touching Jai, and Damian wished the sensations he felt while peeling his friend out of the Nightwing suit had been present while having an attractive but effeminate (and decidedly not muscular) teen writhing on his lap.
It was inconvenient, to say the least.
As soon as Dick was dressed in pajamas Damian excused himself for the bathroom 'to get painkillers.' Dick had passed out by the time he returned with them.

Dick woke up around sunrise, feeling peaceful despite the throbbing in his leg. The atmosphere in his room was nice and serene, with the way the pink light of dawn slowly inched across the floor and the soft sounds of his and Damian's breathing. His surly protector was curled over on the other side of the bed. He'd changed out of his costume in favor of sweats, but had forgotten to take his mask off. For whatever reason, he looked right resting with it on.
After a few minutes of sleepy stillness Dick sat up, stretched out his back, and downed a couple of the tablets Damian had eventually left on his nightstand. He carefully climbed out of bed, making use of a cane that was leaning against the wall. He didn't recognize it, and wondered about where Damian had gotten a cane in the middle of the night. Deciding he didn't care enough to wake Damian and ask him about it, Dick limped into his living room, careful not to wake his guest.
Just to be an ass, he texted Roy to let him know he'd been shot. He'd have to let his boyfriend know eventually, as the unfortunate injury was going to put a damper on their bedroom activities for at least a week. Dick figured he'd have to wait a bit for a response, since Roy only saw sunrise from the wrong end, but to his surprise he got a panicked 'WTF?' in less than a minute. He was halfway through typing that he was fine when his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"What the fuck do you mean you were fucking shot? Are you fucking kidding? Is that supposed to be a joke?"
Okay, so maybe it had been a bad idea to tell him in a text. "I did get shot last night, but I'm fine. Damian was there and he-"
"Where are you?"
"My place. Roy, I'm fine."
"I'm on my way."
"Roy-" He'd hung up. "Urgh…well really Grayson, what were you expecting?"

Roy must have called the Watchtower for a teleportation, because he showed up far too quickly to have driven. Dick hobbled to the door to let him in, and was promptly chewed out for being on his feet when he'd been shot in the leg. Roy forced him to sit down so he could examine the gunshot wound himself, even though Dick and Damian had both looked over the decidedly non-lethal injury, then he told Dick off fort being sloppy enough to get shot in the first place.
He was getting really sick of that.
Dick wondered if he could get away with hiding this one from Bruce and Tim, or if they were going to yell at him for being hurt too.

Roy and Damian were near-constant guests for most of Dick's recovery. They still hated each other though, so aside from a really tense dinner that ended with Dick throwing them both out, they took turns.
After a week of this Dick started getting worried. If Damian was focusing his ridiculously limited social abilities on Dick, he was likely ignoring his new boyfriend. The kid's emotional responses were only capable of being stretched so thin, after all, and as he was supposed to be exploring a new relationship Dick did not want to be receiving attention meant for Jai…plus Damian kept turning red and suddenly excusing himself for the bathroom, which was just awkward.
Dick also didn't like receiving attention meant for Lian. He knew the feisty girl was probably fine, even relieved to have some space from her overprotective father, but Roy wouldn't be okay with it later. He'd panic and assume he couldn't be in a relationship because he couldn't handle being a committed partner and a good dad, and then he'd try to break up with Dick again.
So while Dick enjoyed the obvious affection that had two of the most important men in his life hovering around him, and though he loved being fussed over, he did wish they'd back off.
He thought about bringing it up when he woke from a nap to the sounds of Roy padding through his hallway. Then his boyfriend walked into the room wearing boxers and an open bathrobe, hair dripping wet, skin flushed and damp. And he was carrying a pie tin and a couple of forks.
One of the side effects of fatherhood was Roy learning how to cook. He was actually pretty fabulous at it, and he'd learned how to make pies from Alfred. This one smelled like a blueberry. It was funny how a gorgeous, mostly naked man holding a pie could make one's worries vanish.
"Hey. Hope you don't mind, but I kinda made a mess in your kitchen. I had to borrow your shower. I'll clean it up though, promise."
"Assuming you're planning to cuddle and feed me blueberry pie I don't mind at all. You can leave the mess." Dick held out his arms and, smiling, Roy climbed into bed and did just that.
Of course the cuddling gave way to groping, which included sticky, blueberry flavored kisses, though Roy stopped short when he heard a hiss that didn't sound pleasurable from his lover. "Sorry. Did I tap your leg?"
"Just a little…" Dick reached for him again and Roy started to pull away.
"Dick, you're still healing. This can wait." He sounded about as happy saying it as Dick was hearing it.
"Listen Roy, you are not allowed to prance around my apartment half naked, feed me pie, start making out with me, and then try to stop. I haven't been laid all week either because of this stupid injury, so just don't lean on my leg and we'll be fine."
"I was not prancing."
"That's what you took from that?"
Roy shut him up with a kiss, but it only kept him quiet for a heartbeat or two. Dick groaned and whined with the needy desperation of a frustrated bed-ridden sex fiend, and Roy would have loved to tease him about it, but he was feeling plenty frustrated himself.
Dick clawed the bathrobe off of him and placed wet, sucking kisses down his torso. The lithe acrobat carefully shifted position, holding his injured leg at an awkward angle to avoid Roy's knee, then he slowly moved down the bed. Dick definitely wasn't at his most sensuous, but as the end result had his head at Roy's crotch he didn't plan on complaining. Dick mouthed him through his boxers, and Roy had to bite his lip to keep from making some embarrassing noises in response. He whimpered when Dick pulled his boxers off, and moaned loudly when he was taken into that hot, warm, and oh so lovely mouth.
Meanwhile, Damian was in the elevator on his way up to Dick's apartment, wondering if the man was up to a light patrol yet. He'd been resting for a week, and all of the times Damian had been shot a week's rest had proven sufficient for low level activity. He really wanted to talk to Dick about his progress with Jai (they'd had two more dates while Dick was bedridden), but he'd prefer to do it with the comfort of a lensed domino mask obscuring his face, as opposed to the friendly atmosphere of a living room chat, which seemed to be Dick's preference.
Damian feared that he might be violating his promise to Dick in regards to Jai's feelings, but he didn't think it was his fault. He hoped to convey that to his friend.
He let himself into Dick's apartment and found the main room empty. Figuring Dick was in his bedroom, Damian headed in that direction, but stopped short when he heard heavy breathing, wet slurping noises, and a positively indecent groan that sounded like it was coming from Harper.
Suddenly Damian had a vivid recollection of being ten years old and running to assist his guardian in what he feared to be an attack, only to find him with his pants around his knees while a strange (at the time) man was pleasuring him. If he had to guess, Damian figured the situation was reversed, and that Harper was the one being pleasured. And to his horror, Damian felt his body respond enthusiastically to the thought.
'Leave. Leave now,' Damian ordered himself, but his body wouldn't obey. His body really wanted to stay and listen to what was going on in that room, and his mind wanted to fill in a possible visual. Because even though Damian didn't like Harper on a personal level, the oaf was still pleasant to look at, even in his maimed state. And even though Damian desperately wanted to feel only familial affection towards Dick, he found the man beautiful and enticing.
A new sound reached Damian's ears. It sounded like Dick was…was he humming with Harper's penis down his throat? Damian shoved his hand in his mouth and bit down to keep from making noise. God but he wanted to know what that would feel like.
Hating himself a little bit, Damian sat down next to the bedroom door, which was open a crack. He tried to get his breathing under control and did his best not to shift around too much, though he doubted the men would hear him over the racket Harper was making. Still though, even if they were amorous fools driven by base pleasures, they were also trained vigilantes, and Damian very much did not want to be discovered spying on them while they were doing…that.
He cautiously peered through the door crack. If he leaned his head just right, he could barely see them. Dick's dark head was indeed bobbing over Harper's crotch while his was thrown back in bliss. A sound he didn't recognize (it was a needy whimper) slipped past Damian's lips, and he spread his legs, feeling the sudden urge to touch himself.
'No. You are Damian Wayne, Batman's only biological child and heir to the cowl. You have a will of steel. You will not masturbate while listening to your predecessor orally pleasure a scoundrel.' Damian managed to halt his hand's progress to his pants, but he didn't get up and leave either.
He heard another obscenely wet slurping noise, accompanied by a guttural sound of loss from Harper. Damian chanced another peek into the room, and caught sight of Harper staring at Dick in a daze while Dick stripped off his t-shirt and sweatpants.
Oh God. He'd seen Dick's erection. He was never going to be able to unsee that. Damn puberty, damn it to hell. He was never going to be able to look at Dick Grayson, the man who'd help raise him, burdening himself with the unpleasant task of looking after Damian's development as an individual, without thinking of…that.
And of course, he was going to hate Harper all the more for this.
"Why'd you…?"
The mattress squeaked as Dick crawled up the bed with heavy movements lacking his usual grace. "I want to fuck you." His voice was low and hoarse, and so dirty. He sounded nothing like the brotherly figure Damian was used to. Dick was clearly getting to Roy too, because he let out a noise that Damian was too dignified to utter himself.
"God babe, I want you to too, so bad, but your leg…"
"It's healed enough."
"Dick, we will never live it down if you get hurt again from sex."
"And when have you cared about the shit people say about us?"
That silenced him for a moment. Damian listened closely, eager to know what was going to happen next. Finally, Harper spoke again.
"Be careful Dick. Really, really careful, and stop if you're straining the god damn bullet hole in your god damn leg-"
"It's mostly healed!" Dick said, in a less-than-sexy whine that sounded more like his usual self.
"If you get hurt fucking me, people will talk and I don't want Lian to hear it!"
There was another pause. "In the unlikely event I aggravate the wound, we'll say I slipped in the shower. Now will you stop it? You're really killing the mood."
"Sorry."
"You're lucky you're pretty, you know that Harper?"
"Pretty? Fuck you!"
"I thought I was fucking you this time."
"Really? Fairy boots style humor in be…oh god that's…fuck, keep doing that…"
Damian had no idea what "that" was, but it sounded incredible. Since Dick was uncharacteristically quiet, it was likely the sound of some sort of oral stimulation… He snuck another glance through the doorway, and gasped at what he saw. Because unless he was mistaken, Dick had his tongue up his boyfriend's rear, and whereas Damian had never given that activity any thought before, he wouldn't have expected it to be pleasant if he had.
Apparently he knew even less about sex than he'd realized, because both men appeared highly stimulated from the activity.
Damian didn't dare sneak any further looks into the room once the actual intercourse began. The sounds were enough anyway. Roy's concern about Dick aggravating his injury were apparently well founded (though completely forgotten), because it sounded like they were moving the bed from the force of their activity. Of course, it was hard to hear the scraping furniture or the squeaking mattress over the noises being wrested from Harper's throat. It was interesting how similar sounds of ecstasy and sounds of pain could be…and then there was Dick, who wasn't exactly being quiet himself.
The few (in actuality many) times Damian had allowed himself to imagine Dick and Roy in bed together, he'd expected Harper to be the one swearing. As it turned out, Dick had quite the foul mouth when he was copulating. It was unexpectedly erotic.
They both shouted expletives when they finished, almost at the same time. Damian noticed then that he'd bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He needed to masturbate. He needed to leave that hallway and find a private place and take care of his arousal…and then he needed to convince himself he wasn't a terrible person for listening in on such an intimate moment.
"Are you…you're okay, right?" Harper's voice was hoarse as well now, and surprisingly tender. Damian had never heard him sound quite like that before.
"Right this minute? I'm fantastic Roy…really needed that. Love you." And Dick's voice was completely believably tender, what with him being such a sentimental fool.
"And I'm stupidly in love with you," Harper responded. "Do you need an icepack babe?"
"I'm oka-OW! Don't fucking poke it!"
"Then don't lie to me. I'll be right back with your icepack."
"I'd rather cuddle."
"I'll be right back cuddle slut. Your kitchen's not much of a hike."
Damian's heart hammered in his chest at the sound of the floorboards creaking as Harper crossed the room. He contemplated springing to his feet and darting down the hall, but Harper would most definitely see him if he did that. He was better off holding still and hoping the man didn't look down, as Damian wasn't on the side of the door closest to the kitchen.
He thought for a moment that Harper may have seen him out of the corner of his eye, but he'd only paused to stretch his back. As he flexed, Damian was treated to an excellent view of the man's firm backside, and the finger shaped bruises on his hips. In this regard, Dick couldn't be faulted for taste. Purely in terms of physical appeal, Harper was quite the specimen.
As soon as he was in the kitchen, Damian took his opportunity to flee. He locked himself in Dick's bathroom and groaned with the relief of finally getting his pants off. He took care of his problem, cleaned himself up, and then took his leave through the window.

Meanwhile, Roy retrieved the icepack and returned to bed. He carefully placed the pack over Dick's angry looking (but actually pretty well healed) injury, and watched the stubborn ass sigh in relief. Whatever he'd said, the sex had been a bad idea.
Even if they were both smiling like idiots.
Roy settled by the pillows, and Dick promptly curled against his side, resting his head on Roy's chest. Roy shifted so he could lean down and kiss the side of Dick's face. He nuzzled affectionately, just in case they still had an audience, and whispered in Dick's ear. "Damian was in the hallway."
To his credit, the only sign of how disturbing Dick found that revelation was a slight stiffening of his back. "What?" he whispered, barely moving his lips.
"I don't think he's there anymore. My guess is he's off jacking it somewhere."
"Oh Roy that is…that is not good."
"Tell me about it." Roy combed his fingers through Dick's hair and wished he'd relax. Maybe he shouldn't have told him. After all, he couldn't see Damian bringing it up at any point, so Dick didn't really need to know.
There was one thing he wanted to ask Dick about though.
"I think the kid was checking me out."
Dick snorted. "News flash Roy, you're really hot and he's a hormonal teenager. Of course he was checking you out."
"But he hates me."
"Hormonal teenager. Besides, when has that ever stopped you from checking someone out?"
"Yeah, okay, I guess. It just seems wrong for that to come from Damian."
"In a few very select ways, he is actually a normal seventeen year old kid."
"Apparently."

"So is that why you've been acting like such a little asshole lately?"
"Wally!"
"Oh c'mon, don't tell me he hasn't! He's turning into a punk! Skipping school and lying and sneaking around-you don't like his friends either!" Wally said accusingly.
Linda scowled at her husband. "Your son just confided in you, and you're really going to respond by attacking him on a personal level?"
"Who's attacking? I'm just saying, he's been having issues and if this is why then flippin' hooray because now we can get somewhere with it!"
From there the husband and wife continued squabbling with each other, seeming to forget about the fact that their teenage son was sitting right in front of them at the kitchen table. He sat there with downcast eyes, waiting for them to finish arguing about everything they felt to be wrong with him. Piper was going to tell him later that they were just worried about him, and their fights were expressions of their worry, but it still sucked to be sitting right there while they did it.
After about ten minutes of this, Jai grew impatient and decided to cut in. "I'm not skipping school because I'm gay!"
Linda rubbed at her eyes. "No one's saying that sweetie."
"Dad is."
"I'm not saying that, exactly," Wally said carefully. "I'm just saying, if you're upset because you're closeted, which I hear is hard, then maybe being out will take some of the pressure off. You didn't have to hide this from us you know."
Jai stared at him blankly. So Piper was right. "You don't…care?"
"Oh sweetie of course not. We love you, you know that." Linda sat down in the chair next to him and squeezed his hand. His father sat down on his other side and offered him a small, genuine smile. It was the kind of expression he wore when he and Irey came back from a patrol together.
"We're here for you Jai. Always will be, promise."
Jai looked down and wiped at his eyes, which had started watering. "Okay…I…I'm…thanks for not flipping out."
"What did you expect me to do?" Wally asked curiously.
"I dunno. Run down the side of a building?" Linda teased.
"That was years ago!" Wally exclaimed. "And c'mon, it's not like Piper's still mad. He was only upset by it for one afternoon."
"Um…is it okay if I go upstairs now and call Piper? I want to tell him that I…that you guys acted just like he said you would."
"Give me a hug first, okay?" Linda held out her arms, and Jai willingly hugged her for the first time since elementary school, grateful that his parents didn't think he'd failed them.
It would have been pretty cool to live with Piper though.
He was forced to hug his dad before they let him leave, and to his relief they didn't start talking about him again until he was on his way upstairs. Irey was standing at the top of the stairs by his bedroom. She offered him a small smile, mouthed 'told you so', then went into her room.
Jai opened his door and absently walked into his room, phone in hand and dialing Piper, but he abruptly ended the call when he saw Damian Wayne sitting on his bed by an open window.
"Hello Jai."
"H-hey. I thought we weren't getting together again until Saturday."
"Our arrangements were for Saturday, however I've been thinking recently about our…our sexual exploration."
"Uh huh…" Jai checked that his door was securely shut and locked it.
"I think I'd like to take the process a little further."
"…now?"
"Well not this very instant, but…perhaps tonight?"
Jai grinned. "Tonight totally works for me." He tossed his phone across the room and climbed onto the bed next to Damian. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, as your entire family seems to be home I thought perhaps we could go out somewhere, get dinner, and..." Damian's voice faltered. The guy had a really hard time talking about physical intimacy considering how tempting it was to be physically intimate with him. Jai had always figured a drop dead gorgeous billionaire wouldn't have any problems finding a date, but apparently that wasn't the case.
He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Damian's, keeping the pressure warm and gentle until he felt the other boy start to relax. "Dinner sounds great. Just let me go ask my parents if I can go on a date tonight, and I'll meet you outside."
"Did you tell them?" Damian asked, looking a bit surprised.
Jai smiled. "Kinda. I told them I'm gay, and I think that's enough for right now. I'll see you in a sec, okay?"
Damian didn't bother asking what Jai would do if his parents wouldn't let him go out on a school night. He seemed to realize that that wouldn't change Jai's plans. Damian climbed back out the window, and a few minutes later Jai got into the front passenger seat of his car.
- 15
- 16
- 17
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Birds and Bees