What is this? Can it be? Did I finally get off my fat ass and finish the chapter!

Lo and behold, readers! Because I finally did! Enjoy XD

When Dick woke up it was morning. He felt hazy, disoriented, like he was hungover, but he didn't remember drinking anything. In fact, he didn't remember much. He thought back, confused, ignoring the twinges of pain throbbing through his temples. He remembered getting ready for patrol, having his usual bowl of cereal and then… nothing. Blackness.

"Jay?" He called shakily, sitting up on the bed and holding on to his aching head.

"Hey, Goldie." Jason greeted as he came into the room, dressed in nothing but a pair of low riding grey jogging pants. He kept his voice low in deference to Dick's headache, sitting on the bed next to him.

Dick looked at him, blinking a few times and wincing. "Jay… What happened?" he wondered. "My head is killing me and I don't remember anything…"

Jason sighed. "I drugged you."

"…What?" Dick stared at him, eyes wide with shock and betrayal. "I'm sorry, you did what?"

Jason had pondered lying, telling Dick that he'd been hit on the head during patrol and that he needed to stay off the streets awhile to nurse the concussion, but it just didn't play out for him. He couldn't lie to that face, and Dick was not a child for him to coddle. He deserved the truth.

"Let me explain why I did it, then you can beat on me until you feel better about it, but I was backed into a corner, Goldie…"

He told him everything about it, how he'd called Bruce behind his back, how freaked out he was about how Dick had been acting, what they had found out about Dick's stalker and how they had threatened Jason. He said it all in a clinical monotone, a familiar tone that they all used when they were reporting facts on a case. Dick listened, pushing past the headache, and watched the emotions burn behind Jason's eyes as he went through it all.

"So, let me get this straight… Not only did you drug me, you also lied to me, talked to Bruce behind my back and tried to go after whoever is doing this while keeping me out of the loop?" Dick said in an equally clinical voice, making Jason wince and look away, the younger man's jaw tightening as he steeled himself.

"Yeah, that's the gist of it." He told him, bracing.

Dick looked at him, silence reigning for a few moments before he just reached out and buried his face in Jason's stubbly neck. He was always warm, Dick thought to himself, warm and rough. "I should kick your ass." He said, "But… the thought of you and Bruce and Tim all working together like that without fighting is… Heh, it's better than Christmas."

He broke out in a wide, watery smile, holding on to Jason tightly while the younger man just looked a little stunned. Dick squeezed him tight and continued. "I have these fantasies, you know? Of bringing you home with me and having it be okay. Not perfect, not forgetting what's happened but just having everything be okay and you letting us be your family again. I know I messed it up the first time around, I know I should have been there more and made sure Bruce was there for you too, and we weren't, not like we should have been. I just wanted to love you like you deserve to be… And if you and Bruce could set aside your differences even for an evening… Then this is all worth it."

Jason stared at him, confused and shocked, not knowing what to say. "D-Dick…"

Dick cupped his face in both hands, looking at him with this broken expression that just looked so damn grateful that it sent Jason's head spinning. Dick was genuinely, insanely happy about this and where Jason had been prepared for and expecting anger, he got this tenderness instead. And suddenly, he could see it too, patching things up with the family, playing by the rules, never being Robin again, but being a part of a family again. Of their family. It would be complicated and messy, he'd fuck up occasionally or Bruce would, or he'd step on someone's toes or bad memories would get stirred up. It would be far from perfect and it would probably be just as painful as it would be healing. And he could see it all because Dick wanted it so badly. Not only that, but Dick didn't want it because of some misplaced guilt or obligation, like Bruce would, Dick wanted it because he loved Jason. Because he cared for him.

"Heh. You're breaking my heart, Dickie…" he said, trying to make it a joke, but his voice shook too much. He touched Dick's cheek, trying to steady his hands, smiling faintly. "Let's just focus on getting this asshole and then… then we'll see." He murmured, shrugging a bit. "I'm pretty used to hanging around here now and I… I don't want to leave anytime soon."

Dick kissed him elatedly, all thoughts of betrayal or lingering headache forgotten.

Jason was going to come home.

/

They talked about how it would go, how they would organize it. Whoever had been watching them obviously only did it at night, otherwise there would have been something regarding their identities by now, some sort of blackmail. A lucky break to say the least, but just in case they'd started taking extra precautions when heading out on patrol on night. It wasn't exactly fun, but they managed. Robin and Batman had been covering their backs as well, a fact that more often than not left Jason with warning tingles up and down his spine.

He wanted to get over the paranoia for Dick's sake, but it was hard when he still half expected to get his ass thrown in jail any day now. Dick did his best to be reassuring but considering the fact that his lover/brother was running hot and cold just then it wasn't exactly the best time to have him easing Jason's fears.

There were still bouts of moodiness, wild changes that Jason had no chance to prepare for. Dick would go into sudden tempers, the likes of which Jason had only seen Bruce prompt in the past. He tore violently at people, beating them to pulps, standing there panting and trembling until Jason finally pulled him close and took him home, the two of them sitting on the couch with Jason's fingers running through Dick's hair over and over.

It wasn't long before Batman and Robin got wind of the outbursts and Nightwing was asked to step down for a while. It had taken a lot of convincing on Jason's part but they had both decided to take a break from the job until they could get a handle on everything again. Jason wasn't used to all this constant company since his Robin days, and he hated to admit that he'd missed the companionship, but he had. Just the idea of having someone there to reach out to when the nightmares came. The way that they began to know each other. Like how he knew how Dick liked his coffee and would make it for him, and how Dick knew that he liked to take ridiculously hot showers. How, when they were in a sexual mood, Jason learned not to pin Dick's legs down, because it reminded him of things too much, but he felt free as long as his legs could move. How Dick learned in a similar vein that certain scars of Jason's were best not touched or paid attention to.

Finding things to do was beginning to be a problem. Without patrol to wear them out they found themselves with an excess of energy. Whenever Dick wasn't working (he thankfully kept better control without the mask) they would go out during the day. Cafes, bookshops, movie dates, festivals and Ferris wheels. They did just about every typical date thing that Dick could think of and which made Jason flustered and bashful. Bars and clubs were easier for him, a little less romantic and a little more fun. They were both watching each other's intake though, and neither of them got really drunk. Still, a light buzz made dark corner make out sessions feel just a little more detached from the rest of the world, and that was exactly what they wanted right now.

Some nights they didn't go anywhere, and those were harder. Because Jason still had his own issues to work through about family and Bruce and Tim, but right now he was the one that had to talk to them because Dick was too ashamed. And he got frustrated, growling at Bruce through the phone and telling him that no he wasn't going to let him replant all the cameras they'd removed because dammit, Bruce, they were allowed some damn privacy to work through this! Tim was easier to deal with and that was hard all on its own because Jason had been thinking horrible things about that kid ever since he'd found out he was Robin and now he was actually starting to like him and the guilt was like lead poisoning his stomach. He tried to be nicer to him, vividly remembering the things he'd planned to do to him, the attacks he'd worked out, and the joy he'd taken in them at the time. He worked hard to try and make up for them. He understood now that it wasn't Tim's fault what had happened to him. Bruce, he would never really forgive. He could never look at the man he'd thought of as father the same ever again. But there was something to be said about patching things up. The scars remained and never healed, but the parts could be usable again. And that was how he thought of his relationship with Bruce and Batman now.

"How's he doing?" Tim asked quietly, sounding like he was biting his lip in that nervous way of his.

"He's having a bad night…" Jason answered. "Restless. Is there any news on the investigation?"

Tim sighed lightly. "We have nothing so far. We've been trying to find out who might be following the two of you, but near as we can tell they must be professional, because they are very good at covering their tracks. It's the type of caliber you would expect from an undercover cop or something. Anything on your end? You were named a target, have there been any threats or anything?"

Jason shook his head before he remembered he was on the phone. "No, nothing. Not even a bar brawler. Normally I attract fights by the dozens but it's been quiet." Dick's fault mainly, he couldn't exactly be his usual death-wishing self when he had the other man to look after.

Tim sighed again. "Alright, keep us posted. I don't understand why they would threaten you directly and then not make a move? The pictures have stopped too right?"

"Yeah, haven't had one for a couple days now. They just stopped for no reason."

"But nothing else unusual has happened?"

"No, nothing."

"I guess I'll talk to you later then…"

"Yeah, don't work too hard, Tim."

"See you, Jason."

He hung up with a sigh. None of this made any sense. No threats, no blackmail, no discernible motive and no updates to the website they'd found. Him and Dick were acting as much like normal people as they could manage, and the lack of weird was seriously freaking him out. In fact the only weird thing that was happening was something Dick told him was totally normal.

He didn't tell Tim but the only strange thing he'd really noticed was that he was getting a lot more attention in public than he should be. Young men and women, around his age or maybe a little older, hitting on him and offering him drinks at the bars. He'd refuse as nicely as he could manage but at lot of them were very persistent. Dick laughed it off for the most part, coming over and wrapping an arm around Jason's waist to show he was taken and pulling him away. Jason wasn't used to all the fuss, but Dick assured him that it was perfectly normal for a young attractive guy like him to get hit on when he wasn't being as prickly as he used to be. Plus, once a guy is taken he is always hit on more, that's just how it works. Jason was suspicious of it at first, but it was a lot of different people, and it would be a bit ridiculous to think they were all mysteriously working for Dick's stalker. So, weird as it was, he was forced to accept that he had somehow become more attractive and leave it at that.

He returned to Dick, who was trying to lose himself in some mindless television on the couch. Trying being the operative word. There was tension in his whole body, feet restlessly twitching and hands fiddling with the buttons on the remote. He looked up at Jason urgently when he came back. "Anything?" he asked. It broke Jason's heart that there was so little he could do to ease that tension.

"Nothing… Sorry."

He crawled on the couch with him and pulled him in against his chest, taking the remote away and putting on some soothing animal channel. Elephants. Dick liked elephants. He wrapped a leg around his to stop his twitching, holding both of his hands in his own. His presence was a balm that relaxed Dick almost immediately. They'd sleep on the couch that night, pretending everything was okay. It was almost routine now.

-/-

Bruce was nearly yanking his hair out over this investigation. They had no leads. Tracking the website was leading them nowhere and they'd gotten no hits anywhere from any of their informants. With the letters no longer being sent to Dick and no evidence on any of the previous ones they were at a dead end there too. No one had ordered a hit on Jason that they could tell, and whoever was following Dick was either a professional whose hire records they somehow couldn't find, or they were an extremely talented amateur of Tim's caliber. Since Bruce highly doubted that there was anyone as good as Tim out there, he was inclined to think that whatever professional had been hired was being paid under the counter in order to not leave a trace.

Dick wouldn't return his calls. And although he was speaking with Jason again it was obvious that Jason vastly preferred speaking to Tim. Bruce had stopped trying to call either of them. Tim was the official go-between now, which was a role he seemed comfortable with. He had a brighter look on his face after his more casual talks with Jason, like he was happier. Bruce couldn't help but wonder what Jason said to him that made him look like that, but after all the complaints he'd gotten from Jason about invading his privacy he didn't dare listen to the phone recordings.

The young Robin was working now, typing away the computer, once again trying to track down the person who had created the website. He'd been at it for hours already, typing until his fingers ached and his hands were dry and cold. Bruce didn't say so, but he was proud of that dedication. He never said so. Didn't know how to say the words except in the most impulsive of moments. And he never had moments like that with Tim. Jason and Dick had both pushed him, nudged him in whatever directions they wanted until he snapped and finally said how he felt. They'd gotten startlingly good at it. But Tim didn't push him like they did, and without that nudging he found he couldn't say a thing. He thought it was because Tim understood him better than the other two, that he already knew and therefore didn't need the outward expression.

He didn't know that it was just that Tim never expected to be praised or wanted like they had been.

The silence between them was worse than it had ever been between Batman and Robin.

And they both just thought that was how it had to be.

-/-

It was another week of this, when Dick and Jason found themselves once again at the small sports bar they'd come to enjoy spending time in, just relaxing for a night. The bartender was a small woman, somewhere between Dick and Jason's ages. She was there the most often when they were and they spoke with her often. She was sweet and they liked her. Dick for her quiet demeanor and Jason for her ability to mix his drinks as strong as he liked them. When she had to tend to other people Jason turned to Dick.

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, don't know if you noticed, but the investigation is kind of in a rut. Who knows when we'll be able to crack this… Do you want to start patrolling again?" he asked him. He felt like they were doing better. Dick was having less mood swings and Jason was more comfortable with their relationship and where it was going. He felt like they could work through it together, and he hoped Dick felt that way too.

Dick smiled lightly at him, a tiny thing that showed in his eyes far more than his mouth. It was an expression that Jason had realized Dick only directed at him when he was honestly happy through the rest of the turmoil. "Maybe… Maybe not yet?" He said, tipping his drink back and forth. Jason touched his arm.

"Whatever works for you, Dickiebird. We'll go as slow as we have to." He said encouragingly. He lifted his drink in offering to Dick, who smiled wider and lifted his own drink. They clinked them together and drank. "How about we just have a good time tonight, huh?" he said, stealing a quick kiss. "Pretend we're not quite as badass as we actually are and let loose, what do you say?"

Dick grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah, sounds good to me, Jay. But if we're letting loose that means you're dancing with me tonight." He said, poking his side teasingly.

Jason rolled his eyes. "I'll look like a bumbling idiot next to you, Mr. Acrobat. No thanks."

"Aw, c'mon, Jay. Indulge me."

He would, eventually, after another drink and a lot of coaxing, join Dick on the dance floor. He still felt rough around the edges and inelegant next to Dick's graceful movements, but there was a buzz around his brain that made it all seem far less important than it normally would. Dick seemed more loose as well, leaning back on Jason and looking flushed and bright eyed. It was an attractive look on him, Jason thought.

A couple more drinks had them leaning and laughing in a private booth in the back corner of the bar. Jason couldn't remember what they were laughing about, just that it had been incredibly funny at the time. Everything was fuzzy around the edges, and it took him a few minutes to realize Dick was asleep against his chest. He shook him lightly, laughing again. Dick didn't wake up, still breathing but unmoving against Jason. Jason was tired too, he realized rather suddenly, leaning against Dick. So tired. Just a couple minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt, and Dick made such a nice, unmoving pillow.

Jason's eyes snapped open when he realized. Dick was always moving, even in his sleep, he was never so still. It wasn't natural. His eyes opened on blackness, however, pitch darkness. The floor was cold under him, he was laid out on his stomach. When he tried to move his body didn't respond as fast as it should, he tugged his arms slowly, hearing the clink of chains when he shifted. He struggled harder when he heard it, fuzzy mind searching for a way to get loose. It had felt like he'd just closed his eyes a moment, but he'd obviously been out much longer.

"Dick?" he called, trying to get up on his knees, realizing that his legs were bound as well and wriggling ineffectually. "Dick?!"

"Jay?" Was the soft reply, several feet in front of him, directly across the cold room. The floor under him felt like cement, the darkness could only be explained by them being underground. "Jay? Where are we?"

"I dunno, Dickiebird. I think we were drugged." He said, cursing and shaking his head. "Dammit… I was watching our drinks! The only way it could have been was if it was-"

A door opened to Jason's left, making him cry out as the light stung his eyes. He forced them open, tears streaming down his face as a figure walked in and flicked on a switch.

His suspicions were confirmed.

It was the bartender.