It was nearly a week before Dick felt like he could move and breathe more freely. True to his word to both Wally and his boss, he had rested, making his way through 4 seasons of 'Friends' and half way through a book Babs had brought him for Christmas last year. For the most part Joey had stayed with him, only returning back to his Dad's place to collect clothes and to make sure there were signs that his Dad had been home and wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere. Not that he would admit the last part to Dick.
He was coming back from one of these trips, letting himself into the apartment with the key Dick had given him, when he saw Dick wasn't on the sofa where he had left him. Over the past few days, his young friend hadn't been able to move all that much and had resigned himself to sleeping either in bed or on the sofa, only really moving from one to the other when Joey was there to help him.
Instantly, Joey was alert, making his way quickly through the apartment, looking for any sign of Dick. In his head, he was imagining the kid crumpled on the floor. What he wasn't expecting was to come across him in the bedroom, bending himself into an impossible shape.
'What the heck are you doing?'
'Stretching.' Said Dick, slowly pulling himself back into a seated position on the floor. 'I've been sat around for ages, I was starting to get stiff.' He shrugged, like bending himself in half backwards was no big deal. When Joey still looked alarmed he added, 'I grew up in the circus remember.'
This fact seemed to suddenly make sense in Joey's head. He remembered reading briefly that Dick had lived in a circus before being taken in by Bruce Wayne, Dick had even mentioned it in passing a few times. It was one thing hearing about it and another to actually see what he could do. Even so...
'You're meant to be resting.'
'I've been resting.' Dick said, getting up off the floor. Joey had to admit, he didn't look as pained as he had yesterday. He was moving a lot more freely. What was this kid made of?
'You're not going back to work.' Said Joey, crossing his arms over his chest and hoping he sounded authoritative.
Dick grinned and walked over to him, being slightly shorter he looked up into the blondes face.
'Going to stop me?' He grinned.
'If I have too.' Said Joey, damn this kid had blue eyes.
Dick seemed to consider this statement for a while, before heading over to his closet and pulling out a t-shirt and some jeans. Joey was glad it wasn't his uniform. Dick pulled off the shirt he'd been wearing to bed and walked into the bathroom.
Joey heard the shower running, he sat down on the edge of the bed.
'You going somewhere?' He called into the bathroom.
'I may not be allowed back to work, but I need to get out of this apartment.' Dick called back.
'You know, most people with bruised internal organs spend time in the hospital and at least a few weeks recovering at home.'
'I'm not most people.'
No, you certainly aren't, thought Joey. The shower stopped and a few moments later, Dick reappeared in his clean jeans, but no shirt. The bruise was still very prominent on his flesh, but for the first time, Joey could appreciate the rest of him. He was ripped. There was no other word for it. On the surface, he looked lean and lithe but under his clothes... Joey swallowed.
'So where do you want to go?' He asked, distracting himself from...well, Dick.
'If you haven't noticed, we don't have a lot of food.'
Grocery shopping, that wasn't too strenuous.
'Then I was going to pop into work and grab the cold cases from my desk.'
Oh hell no.
Joey stood and moved so that he was blocking the door.
'You're on leave. That means no work for at least another week.' He said, looking down at his friend and trying to keep eye contact. It was hard, Dick still wasn't wearing a shirt.
'I can do the cold cases from home.' Dick countered, trying to get passed him.
Joey took his arms in his hands and pushed him back into the room. Dick tumbled back onto the bed with Joey leaning over him. They stayed that way for a while until the spell finally broke and their lips connected. Able to move freely once again, Dick kissed back with passion, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling the older man down to him.
Joey's hands travelled up from Dick's hips, touching the flesh of his torso sending shivers down Dick's spine. He was careful not to jostle his injured side too much, as he moved his mouth away from Dick's and started kissing down his neck instead. Kissing soon turned to biting and he could feel Dick's breathing hitch every so often. When he nipped at the skin of his collarbone, Dick moaned, arching his chest forward. Joey's hands started to roam, somewhere in his brain he noted that the flesh beneath his fingers wasn't smooth. It was jagged and uneven. He pulled his mouth away to look properly at what was under his touch. Scars. Lots of them.
'Comes with the lifestyle.' Said Dick, looking up at the ceiling. 'Acrobat, ward of a Billionaire, living in Gotham. Being a cop. They all come with their dangers.'
Joey followed one of the scars over Dick's abdomen. There were so many, most of them healed to be nearly invisible. Then there were his arms.
'What about these?' He said, tracing the neat even lines.
Dick remained silent.
Joey lowered his head and kissed along the self-inflicted scars. Neither said anything, but the silent plea was there. When he'd made his way back up to Dick's neck he pressed himself against him, reclaiming his lips. Dick moaned and he pressed harder. When Dick moaned again it was a moan of pain.
Joey pulled away, he could feel himself getting excited but he didn't want to hurt Dick. Picking Dick's shirt up off the floor he threw it at him, before running his hands down his face from frustration.
'You ok?' He asked as Dick pulled his shirt on. The kid nodded, flustered. 'Let's go get some food.'
They spent the next few hours walking to the store and stocking up on groceries. Joey refused to let Dick carry any of their produce home and for once Dick didn't fight him. Then the were back in Dick's apartment Joey helped him put all the food away. They were just about done when Joey's phone began to ring.
'Dad?'
Dick stopped what he was doing and looked over at his friend, trying to judge his expression.
'Yeh sure, I'll be there in an hour or so.' He hung up and shrugged at Dick. 'My dad needs me to help him with a job. Will you be alright on your own tonight? I'll probably be late.'
Dick wanted to tell him no. Whenever Joey was around he was distracted, as soon as he was alone his mind instantly returned to Deathstroke. But, he couldn't tell his friend that.
'Yeh, my chest isn't restricting me anymore. I'll be fine.'
Joey nodded and left the apartment. As soon as he was gone, Dick's brow folded into a frown and his eyes darkened as he allowed himself to ask the questions that had been in the back of his mind.
How had Deathstroke known he would be down there? Was it him who had started the rumour mill in the first place? Who was Jericho and was he going to be an individual threat or would he just follow his father? Dick felt his side, the only confirmation he needed that Jericho was trained and trained well. There was no way he would be able to beat the two of them alone but to call in Batman would mean the end of his independence. Hearing Deathstroke was within the same city limits as the former Boy Wonder would send DaddyBats into overdrive. Dick didn't want that. He had a score to settle with the mercenary.
But his lung was healing, not healed. To go out looking for the pair tonight was suicide. He was reckless, not stupid. But he couldn't sit around and do nothing. The streets of Blud Haven had already been left to their own devices for too long. Tonight he would be going on patrol, sticking to the shadow. If luck was on his side, he wouldn't see hide or hair of Deathstroke or Jericho.
But then there was the final question, the one Dick had been terrified to ask himself. Why was Deathstroke coming after him in the first place?
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
After the sun had set, Nightwing had made his way out onto the streets. As per his plan, he stuck to the shadows, taking down a few thieves and muggers but thankfully there were no high scale incidents. He was sat on one of the highest rooftops near the end of his patrol, enjoying the night air from so high up, when he sensed movement behind him.
'Midnight stroll, Selena?' He glanced over his shoulder as the blonde woman drew nearer. Surprisingly, she wasn't dressed in her Cat woman persona. But Dick was glad of this, it meant this was a social call and she wasn't here to make trouble.
'It's a nice night for it.' She purred.
'You're a long way from home.' Nightwing commented.
'And you're a hard one to find these days.'
'Why do you want to find me?'
'I've heard rumours.' She came and sat down beside him. 'There's a bounty on your head.'
Nightwing shrugged, there was always a bounty on his head, it was one of the perks to the vigilante job. But Selena seemed more concerned than normal.
'You shouldn't take this one lightly. It's caught quite a bit of attention in the underworld.' She glanced up at him from under her thick eyelashes, 'People like the Terminator.'
Nightwing felt his body go rigid and his hand unconsciously moved to his side. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the thief.
'I see you've already had a run in with him.'
'And his son.'
Selena's eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn't heard a word about Jericho in many years. Not since the...incident which caused both of Deathstroke's children to abandon him.
'It's nothing I can't handle Selena.'
'Are you going to tell Batman?' She didn't need to look at him to know he was frowning. 'He'll find out eventually.'
'And when he does I will already have it under control.'
Selena pushed herself off the wall they had been sat on and started to walk away.
'Just be careful Kitten, we all have our weak spots. Just be sure the Terminator isn't yours.'
Dick waved her off as she once again disappeared into the shadows. He sat there for some time afterwards, thinking about what the woman had said. For her to have left Gotham and come her searching for him, it meant she was worried. At least now he knew why Deathstroke was coming after him again. Now he just had to work out who had put the bounty on his head and why they wanted him.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Joey quietly inserted the key into the lock and let himself into the apartment. It was dark and quiet, the only source of light was a soft glow coming from the bedroom. Joey placed his bag down on the sofa as softly as he could and then made his way over to the next room. He popped his head around the door and sighed at the sight that greeted him.
Dick was led in bed, notepaper beside him and on the floor, his laptop on his lap, but his eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly.
Joey shook his head, coming to the side of the bed and cleared up the papers. He glanced at a few of them but the words written on the paper were in a language he didn't understand. He put the paper on the bedside table and took the laptop away next, the screensaver blinked off and Joey saw that Dick was on the BHPD database. He shut the laptop and placed it on top of the papers.
'You are going to work yourself to death.' He muttered as he went and got changed. He wasn't sure at what point he had unofficially moved into Dick's apartment. After that first night, when he had held Dick while he was in agony, he had expected to sleep on the sofa the remainder of the time while Dick was healing and needed help moving around. But the kid had quietly insisted on him sleeping beside him, whether because it helped his pain or whether he felt guilty about him sleeping on the old couch, Joey wasn't sure. Once Dick was feeling better he had expected to go back to spending his time at his Dads, but Dick was on the mend now and he hadn't left and Dick didn't seem to be wanting to throw him out anytime soon. When he had said he needed to go and help his dad, the first reaction to flash across Dick's face and been worry, before he caught himself and made his expression once again impassive.
Once he was ready for bed, Joey turned off the light and climbed in. He lay beside Dick for a while, listening to the younger man breathe. His breath was still a little strained but it sounded much better than it had a few days ago. Even through the darkness, he could sense how Dick's body was tensed, even in sleep. There was something troubling him, ever since he had been mugged, Dick seemed to be mulling something over in his mind. It seemed to be causing him a great deal of stress. As he was staring at him, Dick shifted in his sleep, turning to face him before snuggling into the warm of Joey's chest. Joey felt him relax as he wrapped an arm around him.
As he listened to Dick's breathing and felt his body rise and fall against his own, Joey allowed himself to unwind, letting go of the thoughts nagging at the back of his mind. Thoughts of his father, stresses of becoming Jericho once again and the plan he and Slade had devised to push Nightwing over the edge.
A/N Sorry for the late update but I suddenly had writers block and didn't know how I was going to get from one part to the next. I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you do please review, your reviews keep me motivated to write! Until next time, Karin xx
