Title: WE
Date: Saturday, December 14, 2013
Summary: The Justice League summons Batman and Nightwing to the Watchtower to confront them about the rumors of their 'relationship'. Batman, in turn, has had enough of this and gives up. In the meantime, spring is just around the corner!
A/N: Once again, no romance! Just an unfortunate kind of hilarious situation.
OK, I have two more companion one-shots I want to write. You readers have been giving me ideas and I'm going to leave the next two one-shots up to voting. There will be a poll on my profile with the most thoughtful and/or popular ideas I've received. As for those who don't have an account and can't vote on the poll, just leave your vote in an anonymous review.
Now, let's see if I can make you laugh or at least smile.
He was actually heading home via his Winglider when the Batjet appeared beside him. His comm clicked on and Nightwing knew this was probably a preamble to trouble.
"We have a problem," Batman growled over the line.
"I figured!" the acrobat said before readjusting his previous navigation plan.
"Rendsom Field good?" he asked his mentor.
"Adequate."
Nightwing smirked, "I will take that as a compliment."
Both aerial vehicles landed at the previously named Rendsom Field and Nightwing was quick to unhook himself from his Winglider. The field was actually close to his Night-Tower. He smirked at the thought of copying his mentor by naming everything after himself. It was actually pretty fun! And a giant ego booster or morale-he should call it morale!
Batman wasn't but a second behind him in exiting his jet.
"So, what's up? Is it Damian? I'll be back this weekend."
"No, it's not Damian."
Batman paused for a long moment, relishing in the relief that everything seemed to be working out so far. It had been three months since he and his first protégé had had any kind of stupid argument. Of course, that might have been because Damian had doubled his efforts to force them to get along. And by force he meant trapping them in awkward situations that forced them to talk. The last time they had actually had an argument it had been about pizza toppings, which had reached a pretty fast compromise. They were getting better at making peace. Nonetheless both had awoken the next morning, fully suited up and tied to the top of the central communication hub building in Star City. Unfortunately, the chain had taken awhile to get through and later the duo had had to have a 'make-up' conversation within hearing range of Damian.
On the other hand Bruce was glad that Damian found support with Dick. He couldn't imagine having to do this alone. Unfortunately, they now had an old problem.
"Then what is it?"
"Superman is an idiot."
Nightwing tilted his head to the side in confusion not sure if he was more annoyed at Bruce for insulting Clark yet again or more amused that Bruce considered it the most vital information at the moment.
"I know you think he's an idiot but what's the problem?"
Batman sighed. Really visually, obviously sighed that and made Nightwing straiten his posture in some slight feeling of trepidation.
"We've been summoned."
"Summoned?"
The confused look was back on the younger man's face before he bit his bottom lip and took a wild guess that wasn't much of one in the first place, "It's about…US?"
The Dark Knight nodded in his solemn way though beneath the cowl his eyes were seconds away from rolling in annoyance at the stupidity of people in general. Seriously, would people drop it already? He didn't need that kind of environment at work of all places!
Nightwing in turn sighed as well before turning to key in the return-home codes to his glider. They both watched until it had disappeared behind a few distant buildings of New York City before the younger man turned a questioning look on his mentor. Batman just took a step back and motioned to the still open door of his jet.
"Wanna fly?"
For a second Nightwing wondered why they weren't just going to be teleported up to the Watchtower but a chance to fly the Batjet with space traveling capability?
"Yes!" he shouted and shot into the pilot seat.
Outside of the flying vehicle Batman rolled his eyes but dared to let a small smile cross his face. He could hardly believe how easy it was to make his protégé happy. Keeping the smile on his face (since no one else was around and Nightwing was unbelievably loyal) he walked around his jet and climbed into the co-pilot seat. He found Nightwing already pushing every button, turning every dial and flipping every switch he had an excuse to.
"You're having too much fun over there," he muttered, straitening his visage into its more usual neutral look.
In response the younger just stuck his tongue out at him in mock annoyance, "Party pooper."
"Just take off."
The younger man did so and they both enjoyed the feeling of passing through the atmosphere in mere minutes. A screen displayed their ETA as 12 Minutes and all they had to do was wait. It was silent for the first few minutes but it was one of those comfortable silences the duo had experienced many times throughout their lives. Well, true Nightwing did have to focus on the instruments and the jet's control and pressure meters but Batman had trained the habit into his students so much it was second nature.
"How did Damian's and Tim' finals go?" Nightwing said out of the proverbial blue.
Batman only raised a hidden eyebrow at his companion before answering, "Tim's looking at universities and Damian's been more worried about what extra-curricular activities he'll be choosing next year than his grades. Straight A's though."
The younger hero smiled, "Good, when's Tim's graduation?"
"May 20th."
"OK, I'll put in for a few days off at the museum."
The silence was back for only a moment.
"I like New York," Batman suddenly said and the comment was so out-there, Nightwing had to straighten out the Jet's suddenly sloping rise.
"What?"
"For you. I like New York for you. I like it better than Bludhaven."
Beneath the mask, Dick Grayson recognized the suddenly different feel the atmosphere inside the flying vehicle had taken.
"Oh?"
"The Glider is good and the tower-it's you…more you than a motorcycle and an apartment. At least, I believe so."
"Thanks."
The silence was back again. Hm, he needed something to off-awkward this.
"Hey that cloud looks like Aquaman!"
That worked!
They spent the rest of the time having a strangely in-depth discussion about clouds, tornadoes, thunderstorms and Batman was more than happy to explain the weird weather he'd seen on other planets. Before they could even wrap up a discussion about the various rapid jet streams on Jupiter they were just outside of the Watchtower.
"So what do you think they're going to ask?" Nightwing asked a frown on his face showing a bit of worry.
"A lot of stupid questions-I'm sure," Batman said, his face hard and focused on the air in front of him.
Both watched in forms of curiosity as the docking door of the Watchtower opened to welcome them. Near the entrance door to the inner workings of the space tower stood Superman and…Hawkman?
"What's Hawkman doing here?" Nightwing asked.
"I think he's worried about you."
"About me?"
"You're friends."
"Well yes, we are but…why is he here?"
"Maybe he thinks I'm forcing you into this 'relationship' or I'm not treating you right."
The younger man groaned and crossed his arms over the now locked steering controls of the jet before burying his face into them. In response, the Dark Knight reached over and patted his protégé's shoulder.
"Don't worry, if he attacks he'll more than likely be after me."
"Gee, that's makes it all better!"
Unfortunately Batman was right but his statement had been quite an understatement of the highest degree. There were more people than the two imagined in the Watchtower meeting hall. Most were glaring at Batman.
"Do you ever think of maybe cutting down on your circles of friends?" Batman whispered to Nightwing.
The younger hero was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Uh, actually I didn't realize I had this many. Um, would you walk on my other side? I think some are about to pounce."
"OK," the elder murmured, stepping back and to the other side of the younger man to walk closer to the wall.
Thankfully it was Superman escorting them from behind and Hawkman was in front, so Batman could put Nightwing between himself and the bird-man if he needed to make a sudden escape. The small group was making its way to the front of the hall where many heroes were sitting, most glaring. Strangely, it was quite a mixture of them. The Justice League, the Justice Society, the Titans (some teen), Nightwing spotted the Secret Six in the far back and Batman was quick to point out the presence of a few members of the Suicide Squad near the front. They both found that many members of the Outsiders had created a horizontal line near the front as if they were security. In fact, the Outsiders were the only team not sending them strange looks. The lanterns had taken to all floating in the air above the crowds. Wow, this was a lot of people! There were even some Amazons in the center of the crowd. Why were they here?
Both Batman and Nightwing caught and held each other's confused gazes until they reached the raised platform in front of the crowd.
Now what? They both mentally asked of Superman.
The Man of Steel was sending them looks in return that said 'Don't kill me! I was outvoted!'
Nonetheless, Superman turned to the crowd, picking up many quiet mutterings before raising his hands for the crowd's attention, "OK, Batman and Nightwing have been summoned as the majority of you requested. They're here to answer your questions."
"I hate crowds," Batman muttered in his darkly mourning tone as voices exploded with inquiries.
The Dark Knight thanked the majority of the stars he could see outside of the Watchtower windows that his protégé had taken it upon himself to answer most of the questions presented to them by various members of various hero and vigilante teams. The only team actually completely absent was their own Gotham City group. Strangely though Batman noticed that the only team not freaking out or asking questions were the Outsiders that were acting as, they soon learned, their own personal line of security. They were actually doing a great job of keeping the crowd at bay and from approaching the raised platform.
Ugh! He hated crowds!
"Are you two engaged?"
"That has already been asked 17 times, the answer is still no!" Nightwing said, about to pull out his hair if one more person asked that.
"So you're not engaged yet?"
Then there were the embarrassing questions.
"Does Batman have a great body?"
"That's none of your business!"
"Batman, tell us does Nightwing really have the greatest a-"
A Batarang shut that guy up by knocking him out.
"I'm running out of Batarangs. You?" Batman muttered.
"I ran out ten minutes ago."
Yes, to be fair there were quite a few unconscious heroes before them, not that anyone seemed to care. Nor did it seem to be reducing the amount of stupid questions they were being asked.
"Superman, I HATE crowds."
The Man of Steel looked ready to flee the presence of the Dark Knight, "I was outvoted. I told them the rumors were false but not everyone believed me."
"You're Superman!" Batman muttered as he watched Geoforce hold back an eye and fist twitching Arsenal.
There was one man that would not be afraid to punch him in the face if it meant helping his friend.
"That doesn't mean everyone always believes me," Superman said in his own defense before a scuffle forced him to part two people in the crowd.
"You have too many friends. Nearly all of the people in this room want to kill me," Batman said to his protégé.
"Don't worry, I won't let them."
"You think you could fight off 400 heroes and vigilantes both human and Meta that have a despicable hatred against me at the moment?"
Nightwing shrugged, "I could try."
It was the fifteenth time someone asked if they were sexually involved when Batman threw up his hands in frustration which surprised near everyone.
"That's it I can't take this anymore!" he growled before looking towards his protégé and reaching out to grab his right wrist.
"Hey Batman, what-" Nightwing began but was cut off as his mentor dragged him back towards the pathway they had walked across previously to get to the platform.
"Hey you two can't leave!"
"Come back here!"
"You haven't answered if Nightwing has the best a-"
It meant losing his spare grappling hook as he had already used the first earlier to shut up one of the lanterns but he could replace those. Everyone grew silent though when Batman had near reached the edge of the pathway. He stopped and turned to face the crowd.
"Listen, all of you. Five things; one, fine we have a relationship."
Gasps and a startled, "WHAT!" from Nightwing sent the room into a flurry.
"Second, I love him. Third, he loves me. Forth, Robin is our child and fifth, our lives are none of your damn business."
With that Batman yanked his protégé in front of him and pushed him through the door that lead to the hanger. The Dark Knight was quick to close and seal the door behind them with a quick released breath.
"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!" the younger vigilante yelled, his hidden eyes drawn down into a glare towards his mentor.
"Nothing. I simply told them the truth."
"Truth?" the younger man's voice had taken a sudden dip into soft disbelief.
"Damian's our kid we've agreed on that."
"Well yes but-"
"Our personal lives are none of their business," Batman said his voice strangely still calm even though his protégé was still kind of face twitching at the previous scene that the bat had initiated.
"True but-"
Batman cut off any further protests by reaching up to take hold of Nightwing's head with both hands and to stop it from twirling and twitching around in confusion.
"Nightwing."
The duo's hidden blue gazes met and there was a quick conversation between them. It literally took three seconds for the truth of the moment to hit the younger man.
"Ohhhh…I get it."
He was smiling now and Batman let his hands drop with a sigh of relief before he began speaking, "They're going to believe what they want to. I advise that we ignore them. I only agreed to this hoping so many stupid people didn't exist. Alas, I've been proven wrong."
"So let me get this straight we're just going to let them go on believing we're romantically involved?"
Batman shrugged before turning and heading back towards his jet, "It's not going to matter. As I said, people will believe what they want to, but it doesn't matter because we know the truth."
The younger man was quick to follow him, this time walking a head a bit to take the co-pilot seat of the jet. He knew his mentor; it was pure dumb luck he got to fly the Batjet to the Watchtower at first or maybe the Dark Knight was just feeling generous before but certainly wouldn't be feeling so now, not after THAT.
"OK," Nightwing breathed as his mentor climbed into the pilot seat.
"It's never going to be easy."
"I know. You know. WE know."
"…"
"…what do you think was up with the Outsiders?" the younger man asked as the doors to the hanger opened and the Batjet lurched forward.
"I don't know, you work with them."
"You started the team."
"You lead them."
"Uh, newsflash you lead them too."
"You work with them now."
"Hmm, Batman didn't we have an argument similar to this one before about Superman?"
That's when the Batjet's communication link opened via an Oracle signature and a familiar voice filled the aerial vehicle's space.
"What's this about an argument?"
Crap! Damian! And there he was on video call! Oracle must have given him clearance!
Immediately Dick threw up his hands in mock surrender and forced an over-joy filled smile onto his face, "Hey, we're not arguing Dami. Uh-love you!"
He had just as quickly encompassed his mentor in a tight hug.
"Tt!" the child hissed before his eyes dropped in boredom or was it disbelief?
Please be boredom.
"There's a call from the Outsiders for you."
"Uh, which one of us?" Nightwing asked, slowly withdrawing from his mentor's personal space.
"Both of you. Hurry back, they keep calling."
Then the call was cut and both vigilantes breathed a shared sigh of relief.
"Do you think he bought it?" Batman asked as he turned his gaze sideways at his protégé.
"I hope so. Nonetheless I suggest we sleep in shifts tonight."
"…agreed. Damian is ruthless."
"Your fault, it obviously runs through your genes."
"I disagree, he's obviously copying you."
"Since when have I been unconditionally ruthless?"
"Not often but you do have a hidden talent for it, which makes it all the more evil."
A groan escaped Nightwing's lips, "Once again, you have the weirdest way of giving out compliments."
"Then to be fair I will take that as a compliment."
"Touché Batman, touché."
For the following weeks there were some particular events that served to distress the heroes of the world outside of Gotham City. These events occurred at the Watchtower and the members of the Justice League were the main observers of these events.
It all began, respectively, on a Western American Area Tuesday late morning. Nightwing arriving at the tower was strange in itself as throughout his life he had numerously stated that he had no intentions of ever joining the JLA of his own free will. The only times he did find himself in the Watchtower were during times of crisis or when someone, usually Batman, asked him for help. Yet, Batman had been dodging the founders' meetings since he and his protégé had left their 'summoning' and had not made a single trip to the satellite since. It was surprisingly Geoforce that had called for Nightwing as the visiting Outsider was having trouble connecting some evidence for a case though he would specify no more than 'South America' for those that inquired after the case in question.
He had just finished a conversation with Nightwing and left via the transporter when Batman made his first appearance in weeks. No one was surprised when he walked a direct path to his protégé as everyone was making their own conclusions but a few did sneak closer to experience what a meeting between them would now be like.
The younger hero was actually just shutting down a computer display when Batman reached his side.
"Oh hey Batman. Something wrong?"
The Dark Knight only tilted his head to the side slightly, "You always ask that. Does my presence just yell out 'bad news' everywhere I go?"
"Well, you are dressed as a gigantic bat."
"Hmm, fair enough. I got you something."
Everyone who had an excuse to be nearby, immediately pretended to continue working but they all began doing all of their work silently for the quaint blessing of catching a slight, hinting word or possibly the whole conversation in all.
"Really? What is it?"
It was funny really, Batman thought. He remembered when he had tried to give his protégé things years ago when he had run through Bludhaven and they were estranged. Anytime that he offered anything to the younger man the only thing that concluded was an argument because Dick would give the independent-speech and Bruce would try to say he still wanted to be in his life even if all he could was give him funds or equipment but would epically miscommunicate his intentions. Bruce had had to face the facts many times that even if giving expensive and complicated gifts was his specialty it was the last thing his protégé wanted. Honestly, if he had presented Dick with a high-class vehicle armed with all of the latest technology and a photo album of their family the first gift would have gotten him a punch to the face and said car drowned in the nearest bay or sink hole that Dick could locate, the second would have gotten him a hug and probably a few tears of joy. It was a bewildering experience as he spent most of the day with average greedy people.
Nonetheless he was at the Watchtower, having tracked Nightwing there, to give a meaningful gift.
Batman moved his right hand from where it was hidden in his cape and pulled out a bouquet. Yes, every League member assured one another later on and scoured the security tapes for the evidence. Batman held out a bouquet of dark red roses to Nightwing.
Nightwing sucked in a gasp and blinked before raising his eyes from the bouquet to his mentor's face, "Don't tell me-they're…they're the-?"
The Dark Knight nodded with a small smile before he tilted the bouquet slightly forwards and the Dark Squire stepped forward to gracefully take the bunch of roses into both hands. The younger vigilante hid a smile behind the roses before Batman reached for his shoulder and guided him towards the door.
They didn't head for the exit though. They headed for Batman's room and suddenly everyone wanted to understand coding to be able to gain access to the cameras in the hallways and get a hold of any possible spying devices!
In the Watchtower's 3rd low deck hallway the only two vigilantes from Gotham were walking side by side in complete silence until they reached a familiar door. Batman quickly put in his password, had a DNA scan and motioned for Nightwing to enter first. The younger vigilante said nothing but nodded nonetheless and stepped inside, his mentor but a bated breath behind him.
Once inside, it continued to be silent between the two of them for many seconds.
But then-
Nightwing burst out laughing, "Bruce that was hilarious!"
In seconds he was on the floor and Batman was forced to catch the flowers.
"Hey, it took a long time to get this many of them, don't ruin them!"
"Sorry…it's just hahaha! Man, they're…haha….gonna lose it!"
"Well," Batman cleared his throat before reaching up to pull back his cowl, "I was in Tibet anyways. I wanted to check in with Master Reniech after Cassandra's training and I remembered that you mentioned these."
Nightwing lifted his still-shaking-with-laughter hands to his own face to disengage his mask and pull it from his face. His light blue eyes were brighter than ever. The sight reminded Bruce that he actually hadn't turned on the light yet, which he quickly did. Humored, he held out his free hand to help his protégé to his feet. Thankfully the helpful hand was accepted with no argument. This was getting easier!
"Bruce, you just tracked me down and handed me a bouquet of red roses. What do you think they're going to believe?"
Bruce shrugged, "As I've said before, they will believe whatever they want to. Now come on, we need to get to work if you want the Usagi Serum for your new gauntlets. It loses potency if not preserved correctly within a few hours."
"And we're going to do this here, how?"
The unmasked billionaire reached out towards a control pad on the wall, hit a few keys and lab table suddenly came out of the wall next to the bed.
"You have a chemistry lab in your room at the Watchtower that you barely use?" Dick asked with a raised eyebrow he was certain now that he had picked up from Bruce Wayne from the very beginning.
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst," Bruce said in explanation.
Dick rolled his eyes, "Yes, in case the other 30 chemistry labs you have on Earth get destroyed."
"And the five here," the billionaire added quietly before crossing the room.
His protégé wasn't far behind; pulling a few of the roses from the bunch once he reached his mentor's side and peeling back one petal to glance at the green tube hidden beneath it.
"I must admit though, your discovery of the botanist Madame Granich was quite helpful. She knew where to find them," Bruce muttered as he separated the flowers out of their bunch and reached for a rolled up cloth sitting on the back of the fold-out table.
"Oh yeah, MY training in Tibet," the younger man said with an exasperated smile.
"Thankfully you didn't need much."
"Was that a compliment or an insult? I can't really tell with you when you go neutral on me."
The elder man just huffed and handed the younger a small precision knife from the now unrolled cloth that revealed a long row of cutting instruments that were strapped down.
"Get to work before you lose it all."
The duo spent a quick twenty minutes peeling back the petals, opening the small green tubes hidden behind the said petals and extracting very minuscule amounts of a black powder from each. Once every flower had been striped Bruce bound the stems together and set them aflame with the help of a gas burner. Dick sealed the split and unrolled tubes that had held the powder into a small vacuum bag and then sucked the air out with a handheld vacuum cleaner. Man he had everything on this table! Weird Bat!
The powder Bruce sealed into four large test tubes to finish later.
"Bruce?"
"We can finish processing these back at your tower," Bruce said, putting away every tool and sweeping the table free of ashes and odds and ends that he sealed into a large manila envelope he seemed to pull out of nowhere.
That envelope he burned over a nearby waste basket. Dick understood, it was only deadly in certain amounts but there was no excuse to take chances with the basic ingredients of the serum. While the elder watched any possible remnants burn the younger took to cleaning the table/tools, putting back the tools in their proper place and sweeping the non-dangerous petals towards the end of the table.
"What about the petals?"
"Turn that heater on them," Bruce said, putting to a silver square box siting on a shelf on the opposite side of his bed, "I can use them for a sulfur mixture once they're dried out from the intense heat."
"Temp?"
"100 Celsius."
"On it!"
After all of the work and prep the two re-donned mask and cowl before they left to return to back to earth and New York City's Night-Tower. Fortunately, lunch time had cleared the majority of the halls and rooms and they were able to transport back to earth with no one seeing them.
"I think you may have given Superman a brain hemorrhage," Nightwing said just before they transported down.
Only when they were once again on the surface of the earth did Batman give a response, "Interesting? I'll add it to my notes on Kryptonians."
"You're horrible."
"Love you too."
"It's surprising really," Tim said with a shake of his head as he scanned the manila folder in his hands.
He had pulled out the older files Batman had kept on the Outsiders as his mentor/father was gazing at the Bat Computer's screen which was showing what appeared to be some kind of blueprints for a new vehicle. So, maybe he could be expecting a new Batmobile soon? Sweet!
"What?" Bruce muttered, as his cowl WAS down at the moment.
"The Outsiders. They're being very supportive of your 'relationship' in between all the controversy in every other team. By the way, Arsenal called and said he's going to kill you by shoving his quantum arrow down your throat."
"All the Titans are trying to kill me sans you and strangely Superboy. Is he the only one who believes you?"
"I think it's more that I told him to not get involved."
"Wait a minute; I thought you hated the idea?"
"I hated Damian making a big deal out of it, besides all of us in Gotham know the truth."
A sudden ringing echoed from Tim's Titans communicator and he was quick to answer. Truthfully he was convinced he had picked up the characteristic from Bruce. When he didn't check in with the Titans often enough they tended to, occasionally, risk entering Gotham City to look him up and preserve the ideal of his health.
"Robin here… Oh hi! …yes. OK. Got it!"
The man didn't have to ask the teen who it was because he was certain he'd tell him anyways.
"That was Troia and Tempest."
Oh no…
"She wants to kill you via a spearing before roasting your guts upon a campfire and throwing the remainder of your body into a volcano but he wants to feed you to a Kraken after dragging you through a forest of man-of-wars and tiger sharks."
"Tim, this is a very important life lesson. Dick Grayson, even as Nightwing, is one of the most dangerous people in existence."
"Come on Bruce that's ridiculous."
"It's true. I've got more than 400 people meta and trained believing those rumors and pissed off at me because they're his friends. Hawkman tried to strangle me the other day! Imagine what would happen if these rumors hit society."
"I think you're overthinking this Bruce. Besides, Dick wouldn't let them hurt you. By the way Alfred said to remind you that you have a charity dinner on the 26th."
Figures, Alfred must have still been mad at him for the coffee maker that he was using the others as messengers and mediators.
Note to all: never piss off Alfred. His dinners had been over cooked for weeks now, not as bad as before he and Dick had made peace but, it was getting to him. In fact, maybe it was time he made a trip to New York. He needed feedback on the Usagi Serum from Nightwing and wanted to scope out his protégé's new HQ. He had only gotten fleeting glances through video call and a quick glance at the chemistry lab when they had been processing the powder from the Heiral Imitation Roses into the serum. He needed to get a visual. Dick's birthday was next month and he wanted to make sure his gift would be acceptable. He didn't want it blown up if his protégé thought it was…whatever he had apparently been broadcasting to him when they had been estranged.
And if Dick wanted company for dinner well, it was only to the benefit of Bruce's stomach. He wasn't sure if he could take one more cooked on the outside but internally uncooked dinner roll or one more glass of watered down coffee and/or wine.
…especially the fruit salads with chicken bones. Shiver.
People honestly wondered where HE got it from. The Wayne Butler, Alfred Pennyworth, may be strict with his job but he was apparently not above using his normal duties to get his point across- especially to his charge.
There was a new photo secretly being exchanged between the members of the hero/vigilante world.
The truth of the matter was that when Nightwing had set the heater to dry out the petals of the roses, the machine wasn't at its best. After the duo had left it had run a short two minutes before it happened. By IT, it meant a short out that caused a spark. The heater though, had a safety feature that caused internal fans to immediately switch on to cool the machine before a fire hazard could occur. Unfortunately, this caused the petals to be blown from the chemistry table top and over the bed.
This painted a pretty picture for anyone looking for controversy concerning Batman and Nightwing. Unfortunately, it was discovered when a curious Green Arrow had been one of many that had taken to learning the coding to get past the security features on the Watchtower's systems. The DNA scan had been passed by a hair provided by Wonder Woman, though Oliver was curious as to why Diana had a strand of Bruce's hair. Properly preserved and prepped for DNA scan too. That was weird!
Oh he took pictures. After all, ignorant of the motives everyone reached their own conclusions on why Batman had given Nightwing a bouquet of roses, lead him to his room and had similar rose petals over his bed. Of course, the very few less concerned members of the Justice League such as Martian Manhunter and of the Justice Society such as Dr. Midnight did point out that the bed, despite being covered in rose petals, didn't have disturbed or ruffled bedding. There were no indentions or unusual creases either to prove anything or anyone had been on the bed anyways.
All of that just lead to more rumors though, so the two gave up trying to quell all of the horrendous conclusions.
Needless to say, they did not know the truth behind it all but as Martian Manhunter had sensed no hostility or awkwardness between the Gotham vigilantes he had already concluded that the rumors were the result of human assumptions and not any actual romantic feelings between the original Dynamic Duo. The other members of the Justice League were loath to believe him though. Besides, he knew both of them and if he focused a good amount of energy on finding and deleting every copy of the photo well, it was because he just owed them a favor or two.
"That's ridiculous," Dick said with a sigh as he set down a tray of cheese layered lasagna on the small table in his dining room.
Across the table Bruce was sitting and rolling his eyes at the picture he was seeing on the screen of a cell phone sized device in his hand. He took joy in hitting delete before tucking the device into his pocket and turning back to his protégé with a smile. Food!
Dick noticed the gaze on the lasagna and smiled knowingly, "Let me guess-Alfred's still angry?"
Bruce clapped his hands together in mock prayer and looked pleadingly up at the only one in the New York penthouse that could cook, "Feed me?"
The younger man rolled his eyes with a chuckle but finally nodded, "I'll set two extra places while you go get Damian."
The older man nodded in agreement and got to his feet. When he had said he was leaving for New York to see Dick, Damian had been but two seconds behind him, climbing into the back door of the car as Bruce had pulled away from Wayne Manor. He hadn't argued though and the father and son had gotten to the penthouse with no problem. The billionaire had even been surprised that the penthouse had a teleporter hidden in a back closet that would send them to the Night-Tower.
The interesting thing was that it had nearly matched the JLA teleporter exactly. That would explain what Nightwing had been looking at on that computer display at the Watchtower though. Bruce…didn't question it.
Bruce Wayne found his son flipping through a green folder on the desk in Dick's bedroom.
"Damian we've been invited to stay for dinner."
"Tt! Father, you just wish to save your stomach from Alfred's wrath."
The billionaire blinked twice before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorway with a confused expression, "So sue me."
"Hm," Damian hummed as he got to his feet, crossed the room and stepped through the doorway, "I admit father that would be an efficient way to get my inheritance sooner."
This boy was going to terrify the world.
The three sat down to a dinner of lasagna, seasoned mixed vegetables and finger food lobster bites with spiced hummus.
"This is excellent. Thank you for dinner Dad," Damian mumbled into another bite of lobster.
"Heh, no problem Damian," Dick said though it was clear the whole parents thing was still awkward to him.
Bruce mentally admitted it was still awkward to him too but Damian was happy, they were eating food without being punished by over or under cooked ingredients and they were mostly out of range of a particular irritated butler. So, all was good. The Usagi Serum Nightwing had reported worked more efficiently than they had previously estimated and both Bruce and Damian had gotten a full tour of the Night-Tower. It was all definitely 'Nightwing'.
Bruce had also been able to scope out where Dick kept his old motorcycle and the mini-hang-line where his glider stayed. The motorcycle had become very obsolete as of late in favor of the glider and there was enough room for the present he was planning. He just hoped it didn't get a negative reaction. That was the last thing he wanted.
"So, what extra-curricular activities are you interested in Damian? Bruce said you were looking into them for next year."
"I thought about swimming or track."
"Good choices. What do you think of finally going to middle school?"
"Tt! I expect nothing but drama."
"You know Bruce, I think he's already ahead on becoming a teenager."
"Father, was that an insult? I can't tell."
"Take it as a compliment Damian. He means you're growing up fast and won't have to put with other children for much longer."
"Ah! I see. Thank you."
Dick hid the rolling of his eyes before staring pointedly at his mentor who shrugged with an innocent look on his face.
By the end of dinner there was only one complication and it was that some dripping lasagna sauce had stained Damian's shirt. Bruce declared Alfred would be on the scent the moment they set foot in Gotham City so Dick let the kid borrow one of his shirts, which was way too big but terribly cute on the little boy, and set to cleaning it himself.
"You can cook and do laundry too? Does Alfred know you're pining for his job?" Damian asked as he bunched up the excess cloth at the bottom of his shirt in curiosity.
Bruce forced himself not to laugh at the scene where he was now standing just outside of the small laundry room because he actually remembered when the man standing in front of the washing machine had been a kid and borrowed one of his shirts that had been too big but terribly cute on him as well. Ah! Where did all of the time go? Oh, if only he could find that old picture of Dick and put it beside this image of Damian! Heck he'd mount it on the front door with his admittedly very obsessive-pride!
"Come on we can watch a movie while we're waiting on your shirt to get cleaned. I wouldn't want Alfred ambushing the two of you when you get back home," Dick said, guiding Damian towards the living room with a hand on his back as Bruce followed a few steps behind them.
The first day of spring was…mushy but the sky was clear and the sun would be shining brightly all day so Dick Grayson had made certain that he was up extremely early to watch the sun rise on his birthday. The new furniture on his balcony was actually pretty comfortable. His e-mail inbox and phone voice messenger were already full of people wishing him a Happy Birthday! The only problem was that he had a lot of friends and they all said they'd love to come by but the problem was that that would attract too much attention to his place. After all, even if his penthouse was a large roomy one it would struggle to hold even the Secret Six, never mind the Outsiders, Titans, Justice Society or…
He made himself stop there. Maybe Bruce had a point. Still, it was early morning; he had enough time for a long, relaxing shower and a quick costume change. At the very least he would stop by to see the Justice Society (He would have stopped to see the Outsiders but they had left on a mission the previous day) before heading for Gotham. After all, his last birthday he hadn't seen them, even if the BHPD had done their greatest work in years to throw together a party for him, the day had left him sad.
He was just stepping out of the teleporter in his tower when a black cloth was tugged down over his face.
No! No way!
"Old Man, this is so not you," he muttered towards the figure standing behind him with a chuckle in his voice.
"Well, let me be out of character for today at least."
The cloth was pulled away and Dick turned to find Bruce leaning against the back of one of two chairs that were sitting in front of his main computer (name in progress) surprisingly in black slacks and a dark blue long sleeve collared shirt. The blindfold black cloth he had already folded up and hung over the back of the chair with a smile.
"Happy Birthday Dick!"
"Uh, thanks. Um, what are you doing here? Not that I don't like the surprise visits from you Bruce but I WAS heading to the Manor today."
Bruce kept the smile on his face as he raised a curious eyebrow at the same time, "Didn't the Titans invite you over? The Outsiders? The Suicide Squad?"
"You know, I think you're right, I have too many friends. Yes they did, I just wanted to spend my birthday back in Gotham."
"Good, suit up."
He was tossed his uniform as Bruce turned and headed for another room.
"OK," Dick said slowly but did as told.
Unfortunately he had just finished up by applying his mask to his face when another familiar black cloth was thrown over his head. Batman's cape!
"Hey! What's this about?"
"I just wanted to give you my present first. Come on three steps forward than turn."
"I know my own base Bats."
"Hmm, you're right. Close your eyes, no peeking."
"Alright," Nightwing said with a released sigh as he closed his eyes, the cloth was pulled off of his head (probably messing up his hair in the process!) and his hand was taken to guide him around.
He consciously chose to ignore the machines and familiar ground that would normally alert him to where he was being dragged. After all if he really wanted it to be a surprise…
"The teleporter," Batman muttered on their way.
"Huh? What about it?"
"I have administrative clearance. You gave me administrative clearance to it and the programming."
"Which is why I knew it was you," the younger hero pointed out with a grin, still keeping his eyes closed as he was guided forward.
Batman said nothing more for an additional minute as they finished their walk and came to a halt.
"Now, remember it's a birthday gift."
That made Nightwing frown with his still closed eyes, "You spent a lot of money on it didn't you?"
"…yes."
"Batman, I thought we'd been over the fact that I don't care-"
"-about money. I know, but please? ...because it's your birthday?"
"…fine."
"Just promise me you won't have Troia throw it into the sun or anything."
"Bruce we're not like that anymore," he added, breaking the normal masks-on mask-names-only rule.
Seriously, why was the Dark Knight worried he'd like blow up at him? That's when the memories of Bludhaven hit his mind and he almost winced. OK, so he hadn't exactly reacted 'acceptable' before so maybe his mentor had his reasons for such hesitancy. Nightwing decided though, he would accept it-whatever it was. Accepting an expensive gift didn't mean he would be playing up to his mentor's wishes and it didn't make him weak or non-independent.
His hand was dropped; there was a swift ruffle of cloth and then Batman's strangely, slightly more heavy breathing was beside him.
"OK," Batman whispered and stepped back so he was behind his protégé.
If he was going to be angry it was best that he was out of range!
Nightwing took a deep breath and opened his eyes quickly. Then…his jaw promptly fell down and his breath shortened.
It was a…car. Now normally this wouldn't be too big of a thing for Bruce Wayne to buy his now adult child but…
"Oh my gosh," Nightwing breathed, his eyes horribly wide and shoulders tensed at the sight.
Where his motorcycle had previously been was now a 6+ meter long vehicle. It stretched out almost swallowing the platform that had previously held and released his Nightcycle. He surprisingly didn't give the old bike a second of thought though as he walked up to the car. He stretched his hands out and let them land on the car's side. He slid them across the paint for a second before gulping and walking backwards to his previously standing-in-shock spot so he could take it all in. His hands dropped to his sides as his eyes scanned it. Now, he had had years to take in each model of the Batmobile, everything from the old convertible, to the perimeter heavy tank to the new hover tech prototype that was still in Pre-Alpha. This…his vehicle?
The car was black and blue, his own colors, it was thinner than any of the Batmobile models he'd seen and all around more agile from what he could deduce from sight alone. The sliding back top feature Bruce had obviously carried over from the 90's models had originally been shaped like his bat symbol. Nightwing's new vehicle though had a window entrance in the shape of his own blue bird. He hadn't even gotten his feet to move again yet to walk around the thing, much less open the outer plating to examine the internal structure.
"Batman, this is-"
He couldn't even complete the sentence for a sudden lack of a vocabulary in his mind.
Two black gloved hands fell down on to his shoulders, "Do you like it?"
He should have at least planned for it but he was so ready to have it thrown in his face or have a sudden shouting match that the possibility had really been far from his mind. Alas, they had been getting closer with their relationship and they had been doing much better lately. Though they still stumbled here and there it was nonetheless 'not-unstable' at this point. So really? He had contingency plans but they blanked out the moment the shoulders beneath his hands shook twice before the body was turning and tackling him against the wall.
He was…being hugged. OK, he needed a long few minutes to analyze this, even if he was moving without thought because Nightwing had tackled him against the wall, wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face into his still caped-draped shoulder. Batman had automatically wrapped his own arms around the younger man. You know, in case he made any sudden moves.
"Oh Bruce, thank you."
It took a long two minutes to process and accept the hug as reality, it took another three to process the statement and 30 seconds was dedicated to analyzing both the hug he had received and the hug he was returning in more minute detail.
He was being hugged. OK, he could deal with that. He was hugging back…he'd come back to this one later. The statement kind of made his chest hurt in a good way but he was smiling. He was happy that his protégé was so far-accepting the gift and not about to have it towed off to Atlantis to feed to a bunch of sharks and he was happy about it. He liked it! YES! He hadn't screwed up! OK, that was a victory and he took pride in it. Nightwing didn't hate it; he had accepted it! That meant…
"I did well?" Batman couldn't help but murmur.
Nightwing began laughing lightly before pulling back a bit to meet masked eyes with his mentor.
"It's perfect, thank you."
Unfortunately this was when the Night-Tower's connection to the JLA Watchtower clicked on and there was a quick green shuffle that told the duo that some green themed hero had seen the hug and was making stupid assumptions again. Nightwing had stepped away to answer but the line was suspiciously and suddenly cut off as he moved to do so.
"Well that was rude," the younger hero said with a huff, putting his hands on his hips.
"Ignore it," Batman said before walking to his protégé's side.
"People are crazy."
"You…like it?" Batman asked his arm half-jerking towards the vehicle.
The younger man grinned widely, "I love it. Only…"
The elder held his breath. What? What!
"Now I've got something else to name."
Oh, whew!
"I've been calling it the Nightbird."
Nightwing's smile turned into a smirk, "Perfect."
Well, OK that was all done!
"Come on, I'll show you the inside before we head for Gotham."
"Right behind you Old Man!"
"I am NOT old BOY Wonder."
"Hey!"
Laughter filled the tower soon and if Alfred Pennyworth had opened the line to the Night-Tower from the Batcave to relish in the rarity that was becoming more constant as of late well…he was an old man and could be forgiven for possibly being senile at the time.
He had his real party at Wayne Manor with just his family, after the public party he had to have for the illusion of a 'Gothamite Rich Guy' but he had to make promises to drop by every one of his teams in the next few days and plan a few outings for his friends outside of his vigilante gig. At the end of the day he was exhausted and quite enjoyed the rare event in Wayne Manor that was eating pizza delivery.
"Mm, good choice Dick!" Tim said, lifting out a piece of supreme.
Hmm, why was this familiar? Oh yeah-IT.
"No problem. Though I'm more surprised of how long it took Bruce to figure out how to eat it," Dick whispered.
"I heard that!" Bruce said from his chair across the coffee table.
Tim and Damian were on the couch on opposite ends, a large half pepperoni and half supreme pizza on the cushion between them and since Tim had turned to thank his older brother for the idea Damian had taken the advantage and taken three pieces…almost half of the pizza! The tech Boy Wonder was quick in retaliation to grab his own.
"Except Todd's not here," the youngest muttered with a glare aimed at Tim.
"Yeah, where is Jason?" the acrobat asked, aiming his question and gaze at his mentor.
Bruce could hide the smirk, "Oh, I left him to Oracle and Huntress in lieu of those photos."
Tim and Dick both shivered.
"I'd hate to be him," Tim muttered.
"What? Why?" Damian asked, his eyes whipping towards his father before realigning his hateful gaze with Tim's just a moment of breath later.
"You'll understand when you're older son."
"If you say so father," Damian said.
Unfortunately he blinked and then-
"Surrender the peperoni Drake!"
"Then you give me those breadsticks!"
A sharp intake of breath followed before: "Never!"
Wow. What would happen next? Though Bruce breathed a sigh of relief that the entire events had tricked other members of the League into learning coding. Finally! He could get a break from doing all the computer work!
A/N: Alright there's a poll on my profile about what my readers want as the plot of the next two one-shots. So head on over and vote or give me more suggestions via a review or a PM.
Review please?
~Moonsetta