Waking up in Dick's arms? Fantastic. 10 out of 10, would recommend.
Trying to get out of Dick's vice-like grip without waking him up? Would not recommend.
Not to say that Regan couldn't. Oh no, they'd been dating for almost 10 months, now, she'd nearly perfected getting out of his arms without waking him up. For a highly trained vigilante, he was a surprisingly heavy sleeper.
Regan just wasn't normally covered in cuts and bruises while trying to wiggle out. But she really needed to pee, and if she didn't get out of that bed in the next few minutes, then bad things were going to happen.
Finally, after way too long, she finally managed to get free of Dick's arms, and sat on the edge of his bed. Her glasses had been left on his bed side table, so she grabbed them and slipped them on over her eyes. It was nearing 1 in the afternoon, so they'd slept the morning away, and they'd probably sleep a little longer when she got back from his bathroom. Luckily, his connected bathroom was a mere six steps from his bed.
She just had to make it.
Lightly placing her bandaged feet onto the ground, Regan braced both arms on the bed and slowly pushed herself up.
Okay, a little achy, but nothing too bad. She could do this. Yeah, she could totally do this!
She tried to take a step forward, and having all of her weight on one leg, even for just a few seconds, sent a ripple of agony up her left leg. She dropped the right leg quickly, gritting her teeth to keep from making a noise that might wake Dick up.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Regan looked at the door to the bathroom.
Come on, Regan, she thought to herself. It's six steps. You can do it. You're a strong, independent woman who highly enjoys being in love, but doesn't need no man. You got this.
Determination entering her gaze, Regan slowly shuffled across the room, and finally, finally, made it to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her softly, she leaned against the door. Dear God, that hurt more than it needed to. But she had done it.
Going about her business, she peed, washed her hands, and then squirt a tiny amount of Dick's minty toothpaste onto her finger to give her teeth and mouth a quick clean. When she was done, she dried off her hands, opened the door, and started the slow shuffle back to the bed.
God, she was tired. Just as she made it back to the bed, Dick moved, his arm going to where he thought Regan was supposed to be lying next to him.
"Hm, Rae?" he asked, his voice deep and scratchy.
"Hey, I'm here," she responded lightly. "Just went to the bathroom. Go back to sleep."
"Are your burns okay?" Dick asked, pulling her back into his chest as soon as she lay down again, laying her glasses back onto the bedside table.
"Can't put my full weight on one leg, but I can shuffle," she replied. Readjusting herself, she made herself comfortable in his arms again, her head resting on his chest.
"You know you're allowed to ask for help, right?" Dick asked groggily. "You don't have to do anything else alone, ever again."
"I know," Regan said, her eyes drifting shut again. "But I figured peeing was something I should probably do on my own."
Dick chuckled lightly. "Yeah, probably," he said, voice trailing off as he fell asleep again. Regan was asleep a few seconds later.
…
The next time they woke up, it was nearing 4 in the afternoon.
After showering and getting dressed in Dick's sweats and a t-shirt, the young couple headed downstairs for food. Although the stairs themselves presented a challenge.
"Can you do stairs?" Dick asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, haven't you ever seen someone with a broken leg go down stairs before?" Regan asked with a shrug. Dick had been taking most of her weight in order to keep her from putting too much pressure on her healing burns, but he figured he'd have to carry her down the stairs. But then she surprised him by sitting down on the top step and sliding down to the second. And then the third, fourth, and so on until she was halfway down the winding staircase, and Dick was still at the top, watching her with an incredulous look on his face.
"I could have just carried you, you know," he said, hurrying down to catch up with her.
"Well yeah, but going down stairs is easy," Regan said, sliding herself down to the next step. "Going up is what's gonna suck."
"Hey Dickie, I know you said your girlfriend was independent, and all, but this isn't what I thought you meant," a voice at the bottom of the steps said, and Dick sighed.
"I offered, Jace, and that's what matters," Dick replied, catching up to his girlfriend as she neared the bottom of the steps. Jason had already reached a hand out and was pulling her up to her feet.
"It's true, he did," Regan said. "Thanks, Jason. For this, and last night."
"No problem, for both," Jason grinned, "Damian's playing in the yard with Titus and Gracie, by the way."
"I think we're on the search for food, first," Dick came up from behind, wrapping his arm around Regan's waist in order to take her weight again. "Got any news about Hallie?"
"Hallie?" Regan asked, "Didn't I make cookies so you could try to impress her a few weeks ago?"
"The cookies were for Sadie, actually," Jason said, "Her four-year-old. And I'll have you know, she said I'm her favorite babysitter."
He looked very proud of that fact, and Regan couldn't help the smile that overtook her face at the thought of the big bad Red Hood wrapped around the finger of a 4 year old little girl.
"You got any ideas on how to win over Hallie?" Dick asked.
"He's already wrapped around her daughter's finger," Regan pointed out. "Won't take Hallie long to realize that. It's a big deal if your kid likes your partner or not."
"Regan's right," Jason said, "and besides, Hallie's been through some shit. I don't want to rush her, you know? I still don't know anything about Sadie's father, if he's still in the picture, if he's even alive. If he's been trying to fix things or whatever, then I don't want to get in the middle of that." He looked troubled at the thought, and Dick frowned. He knew his younger brother, knew that he would very willingly let the love of his life go on with her life without him, if it meant she was happy.
"If she's never mentioned him, then it's possible he's not in the picture," Regan said. "Just ask, something like 'Hey Hal, just wondering, is Sadie's father still around?' and go from there."
"Little forward, don't you think?" Jason asked, eyebrow raised at his brother's girlfriend.
She shrugged. "Sometimes being forward is the only way to get the message across."
Jason shrugged. "You're probably right," he admitted. Regan grinned. "Hey, after everything that happened yesterday, are you okay? Two-Face isn't exactly a walk in the park for your first kidnapping."
"Oh, that wasn't my first time," Regan said. When both Dick and Jason stared at her with their mouths dropped, she frowned. "What?"
"Not your first kidnapping?" Dick asked, blue eyes wide.
"Oh, hell no," Regan said. "I grew up in Gotham, don't forget. The elementary school I went to got held up by The Penguin in the third grade, I once was in the Home Depot garden section when Ivy showed up, tied all of us up, and took off with all the plants, Penguin blew up my place of work last October, don't forget about that, and um… Oh, about two years ago, I dated this guy for a few months, he ended up being one of Scarecrow's thugs, so I broke up with him and ended up with a face full of fear toxin. Was not a fun weekend while it wore off."
"Wait, back up, you dated one of Scarecrow's thugs?" Jason asked.
Regan nodded, grimacing. "For like, five months. I should have known he was bad news, Gracie hated him. Then I saw him on the news as one of the guys who had gotten away from a Scarecrow thing after you guys hauled him back to Arkham and broke up with him the next day. Turns out he was the holder of the toxin, and he still had it on him. He's at Blackgate, now, I believe."
"Well shit, I didn't know you were such a badass, Regan," Jason said with an amused smile. "If you guys will excuse me, I'm supposed to meet Hallie at the playground in an hour, so I gotta go."
Jason left, then, leaving the couple alone.
"Hope everything works out for him with Hallie," Dick said, an amused grin lifting his lips up. "I didn't know you dated a thug."
"Yeah; don't really recommend it," Regan said as they began the slow shuffle to the kitchen for food. "Met him on a dating app, he seemed nice enough. Kept disappearing at random times." She snorted. "The reason why I don't like public proposals, is because he proposed to me in the middle of a crowded restaurant, five months in. Everyone was staring at us, I was mortified."
"I take it you didn't say yes, though?" Dick asked.
Regan shook her head. "Very loudly said something along the lines of 'we've only been dating for five months, this is way too soon' and left. That night was when the Scarecrow thing happened and I found out he was a thug. Somehow, I think I'm better off without him."
"Wait, if he was disappearing at weird times, and I know for a fact that I do that, sometimes, too, you didn't think he was a vigilante, at some point, did you?" Dick asked. "Wait, you didn't think I was a thug, right?"
Regan laughed. "No, I never thought he was a vigilante, and I never thought you were a thug," she said. "You're a cop, so until I had some evidence on the vigilante thing, I just thought it was your weird cop hours."
"And for him?"
"He was a bit of an asshole, so I figured no one that big of an ass could be a superhero," she said it very bluntly, and Dick didn't bother hiding his laugh. "Only person I've ever seen who Gracie didn't like. And she adores you, so that was a point in your favor."
"Gracie does like everyone," Dick agreed. Finally, they had reached the door to the kitchen, and Dick pushed it open. "Hey, Alfie."
Alfred was in the middle of the kitchen, cooking something in a large pan at the stove on the island. On a second stove behind him, was a big pot. It wasn't boiling, and a box of pasta sat on the counter next to it.
"Master Dick," he greeted. "I'm glad to see you up and walking around, Miss Regan."
"I'm glad to be up, too, Mr. Alfred," Regan said. "What're you cooking? It smells amazing."
"I'm making chicken alfredo, for dinner, tonight, regular alfredo for Master Damian" he said. "This is the chicken. I trust you'll be staying for dinner?"
"She's staying for dinner, Alfie," Dick said, sharing a glance with his girlfriend. Shuffling forward, he helped Regan onto a stool on the other side of the island from Alfred. "Neither of us have eaten since yesterday, think we could have a small snack?"
"There's cheeses and meats in the fridge, and crackers in the cabinet," Alfred said, moving over to grab a spice of some kind and sprinkle it over the chicken.
"You're awesome, Alfred," Dick said, moving to the fridge. What he pulled out was essentially a small charcuterie board with thinly sliced sausage and thicker sliced pepperoni, and what looked like slices of cheddar and some other kind of cheese spread out on it. Laying that on the island in front of Regan, Dick then turned to the cabinet and grabbed a box of nice, garlic crackers.
"Oh, this is fancy," Regan said.
"Only the best for this household, Miss Regan," Alfred said, flipping the chicken in the pan over.
"Fair enough," she responded, taking one of the crackers Dick spilled onto the board. She placed a piece of cheddar onto it and topped it with a piece of sausage, popping the whole thing into her mouth. Dick did the same with a piece of pepperoni.
The few minutes the couple spent snacking was also spent talking, with Alfred asking Regan all sorts of questions. Mostly food questions.
"Are you allergic to anything, Miss Regan?" he started with, "I'd rather not accidentally give you something that could possibly harm you."
"And I thank you for that," Regan said. "Peanuts, but that's it."
"Awe, that sucks," Dick said. "Alfred makes a great peanut butter sauce for ice cream."
"You can still have it," Regan said. "I just can't."
"Alright, no peanut butter cups for you, got it," Dick said.
"I'd appreciate that," Regan said with a laugh.
"May I ask how you found out about this allergy?" Alfred asked. He was now working on a homemade alfredo sauce.
Regan snorted. "When I was like six, my mom made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me. I remember taking a bite, thinking it was really good, and then my throat started closing up. Spent a few days in the hospital, and did a ton of allergy tests to see what else I was allergic to. Nothing else was nearly as bad, just a minor pollen allergy, but who doesn't have a minor pollen allergy?"
"I actually don't," Dick said, raising his hand slightly.
"So our future kids will have a terrible peanut allergy, and nothing else," Regan said with a laugh.
"But at least pollen might not take them out," Dick agreed.
"Kids?" Alfred asked, and Regan didn't miss the way his eyes shot to her stomach.
"Yeah, our future kids," Dick said. "Regan isn't pregnant, Alf."
"Yeah, it'll probably be a few more years before we're ready for that," Regan said. "Assuming we last long enough for it."
"Oh we'll last long enough," Dick said. "At least I know why you're so adverse to public proposals, now," he added. About seven months into their relationship, Dick had taken her to a really nice restaurant for dinner one night, and another couple had gotten engaged. Regan had said something along the lines of 'I'm happy for them, but I could never do a public proposal' because what if it was too soon? What if the person being proposed to was getting ready to break up with the person doing the proposal? At least he knew why, now.
"Proposal?!" Alfred asked, this time his eyes going to Regan's left hand.
"We're not engaged, Mr. Alfred," Regan said. "Jeeze, it's only been 10 months. Gotta be at least, I don't know, a year and a half?" she looked at Dick for confirmation.
"At least," he confirmed.
"And a year-ish engagement?" Regan asked.
"Oh yeah," Dick agreed. "Assuming you don't want to just elope."
"Nah, my mom would kill me. Actual wedding, but nothing too big. Close friends and family, although I'm pretty sure you have more friends than me."
"Teen Titans and the Young Justice," Dick said. "Eh, we'll figure it out when the time comes." He shrugged.
"Works for me," Regan agreed, and then Dick helped her out of her chair and helped lead her to the backyard.
Alfred was left feeling a ridiculous amount of whiplash from the conversation he just witnessed, and reminded himself to talk to Master Bruce about it later.
…
When Dick finally got Regan to the backyard, he helped her into a lawn chair by Tim. Damian hadn't noticed them, yet, as he was throwing a ball for Gracie and Titus.
"Hey, Regan, glad to see you up," the second youngest said, lounging back in his own lawn chair with his phone in hand.
"Hey, Tim," Regan greeted as Dick laid back in the chair on her other side. "Thank you for the rescue last night."
Tm waved his hand. "You are most likely the love of Dick's life," the teenager said, "I'm not about to be responsible for the loss of the love of his life."
"Tim!" Dick exclaimed, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment. Regan just giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand, blue eyes filled with mirth.
Luckily, none of them had the opportunity to say anything as Gracie, when coming back to Damian with the ball in her mouth, had noticed Regan. Dropping the ball, she yelped happily and headed straight for Regan, practically jumping into her lap in order to lick her face.
"Oh, hi Gracie!" Regan laughed, running her hands through the dog's fur. "I'm alright, girl, I'm okay!"
"Gracie, get off," Dick groaned. Grabbing Gracie's collar, he was able to easily drag the excited dog off his girlfriend.
"Knight, I see your recovery has been satisfactory," Damian said, the ball back in his hand. Titus, a big Great Dane that was nearly the same height as Damian sitting down, sat obediently in front him.
"Yeah, I think it was," Regan replied, smiling at the youngest Wayne sibling. "Thank you, for helping rescue me last night."
"Tt," Damian tutted. "Your death would have destroyed Grayson; I don't understand why, but we need him at tip top shape."
Regan nodded, "Then thank you for keeping him at tip top shape," she said.
Damian didn't respond, simply turning and walking away, both dogs eagerly waiting for him to throw the ball again. Dick smiled, seeing the slight blush on his youngest brother's cheeks, and chuckled.
"Rae, I think Damian actually likes you," he said.
"It's a miracle, really," Tim said dryly.
Regan looked between the brothers, eyes going from one to the other. "What, is it hard to impress him?"
Tim shrugged. "Damian's been here for three years, he still hates my guts," he said. "You've met him twice, and he hasn't insulted you yet."
"Oh," Regan said, "I'm… honored?"
Dick laughed "Honestly, Damian's not that bad. He had a rough start. His mother is Talia Al Ghul, making Ra's Al Ghul his grandfather. They raised him to be an assassin from the time he could walk. When he was ten, Talia dropped him off here in Gotham for Bruce to train. He's… a lot better than he was."
"That's terrible!" Regan exclaimed. "Raised as an assassin?! What kind of parent does that to their kid?!" she was outraged. "Wait. He came here and became Robin. That's not exactly better!"
"At least here he has people who actually love him," Dick said, reaching over to put a calming hand on her arm. "I started Robin when I was nine; Jason took over when he was 12, same as Tim, and Stephanie. Damian actually didn't start for several months after he came here."
"You know, when I was a kid, seeing another kid be Robin was cool. Now I'm an adult and I'm looking at a 13-year-old vigilante, and I'm realizing that it's kinda fucked up," Regan said, staring straight at Damian as he threw the ball again, both dogs taking off after it.
Dick nodded in agreement. "Oh, it's completely fucked up," he agreed. "But you have to understand, when I was nine, I was fresh off the murder of my parents. I was sneaking out every night trying to find the guy who did it, and Bruce was spending more time tracking me down than he was actually cleaning up the streets. So he gave me Robin so he could keep an eye on me. And then Jason grew up in Crime Alley; he didn't know anything but violence, so Bruce gave him an outlet to get his anger out, but with fun toys and armor."
"And then after Jason died, Bruce was in a pretty rough place. I'd been following him around the city taking pictures for years at that point, so I'd figured out everyone's identities, and then I essentially blackmailed Bruce into making me Robin," Tim said. "He needed a Robin, he was getting a lot more violent, and then after he allowed me to take over the mantle, with Dick's approval, of course, he calmed down."
"Steph, the current Batgirl, was Robin for about a year, and when she faked her death, Tim took over again, and then Damian showed up a year or so later," Dick finished. "When he started sneaking out to do his assassin stuff, I finally gave him Robin- because I was Batman at the time- and Tim became Red Robin. We found out that Jason had come back during Tim's second tenure, and he's fine now. Mostly. At least he isn't killing people anymore."
"Okay, if we ever have kids in the future, they're not allowed to have capes," Regan said, pointing with one finger at Dick.
"Neither Jason nor I have capes," he pointed out.
"No superheroing at all until they are 18 or older," Regan amended.
"Technically we're vigilantes, not superheroes," Tim said.
Regan raised her hand up, again, paused, and finally said, "No armor, weapons, or Kevlar until they are 18!"
"Okay, that's fair," Dick said, relaxing back into his chair.
"You guys are already talking about kids?" Tim asked, eyebrow raised.
"Future kids," Regan said pointedly, "emphasis on the word future."
"Come on, Tim, we're adults," Dick said. "We're not dating for fun. Well, we are, but the end goal is marriage, and maybe kids one day." He said it with a shrug.
"Yeah, we've already talked about it," Regan added. "Part of a mature relationship is talking about that stuff, knowing your partner's intentions for the future."
Tim stared at the two of them, blue eyes wide. Finally, he blinked and looked back to his phone with a shake of his head. "I'm so glad I'm not an adult, yet," he muttered.
Regan and Dick just shared a fond look.
"Wait, you were Batman?!"