Nightwing surveyed his city. It was raining so heavily, he could
barely see three feet in front of himself, even with his night-vision
lenses.

"Nightwing to Oracle," he activated his commlink, "you there, babe?"

"Oracle to Nightwing. I'm here. Over," the mechanized voice usually
reserved for outsiders answered.

"It's raining cats and dogs here. If Two-Face is in Bludhaven, he's
staying in for the night. I'm gonna crash here in the meantime.
Over."

"I'll let Batman know. Over."

"Alright. Night, babe."

Nightwing took off in the direction of his apartment. He finally
arrived there ten blocks later, hesitating before opening the window
to enter. He hadn't stepped foot in the apartment in three months
and was not sure what to expect. When he finally stepped into the
apartment, all he could hear was the rain pounding outside, until he
closed the window. Then he heard the distinct sound of an old Cowboy-
Indian movie and a voice say, "There you are." Dick turned around to
see Roy, wearing only a pair of old, tattered jeans, drinking a beer
on his couch. "I was wondering when you'd get home," the redhead
continued.

"Roy?" Dick removed his mask, shook the water from his hair and out
of his eyes, and looked again. It was indeed Roy Harper. "Roy, how
did you get in here? I don't even have a key anymore."

Roy chuckled. "Dick," he began. The archer stood up and swaggered
over to Dick. "You know how I got here. Why I'm here." Roy was
barely inches away from Dick now, his broad shoulders and chest
making Dick feel small and powerless. He could smell the beer on
Roy's breath, and that smell of salt and earth that was uniquely
Roy. "You're all wet," Roy smirked.

"Huh?"

Roy chuckled. Effortlessly, he slipped his hands under
Dick's shirt, peeling it upward, feeling every inch of Dick's perfect
body.

Dick gasped, "Roy?"

"Shh." Dick felt himself being pushed against the window and Roy's
lips on his, kissing him roughly.

*

Dick sat up in bed, breathing sharply.

"Dick?" Barbara rubbed her eyes. "What is it?" Dick turned to look
at his fiancée and found himself speechless. The guilt and confusion
he felt was too much Rather than answer her, he bolted out of bed
and began pacing about the room. Barbara fumbled around on her
nightstand, finding her glasses and putting them on. "Dick! What's
gotten into you?"

"Gotta get out of here. Gotta get out of here," Dick started
chanting. In a matter of seconds he grabbed a pair of pants and a
jacket and bolted out the bedroom door.

Unable to go after him, Barbara grabbed her bedside phone and
dialed. After a few rings, the other party picked up. "Alfred? It's
Barbara."

*

Roy sighed and turned to look at his alarm clock. 3:45 A.M. the
blaring red numbers read. The closer Dick's wedding got, the less
sleep Roy got. The closer Dick's wedding got, the more convinced Roy
was that he would die alone. He had his daughter, of course, whom he
loved more than anything in the world, but spending time with a three-
year-old was not the same as having a peer, an equal, to share his
life with.

Resolved that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, Roy got up
out of bed and made his way to the kitchen to make some coffee.
After setting up his coffee maker to percolate, he padded out to the
living room where he noticed a shadow outside his window.
Immediately sensing a threat, Roy grabbed the closest thing to him
and approached the window. That's when he noticed the familiar shape
and stance of the would-be intruder and sighed a breath of relief.

"Dick," he opened the window, "what the hell are you doing here?
Shouldn't you be terrorizing the streets of Gotham?"

"I needed to see you," was all Dick said.

"Okaaaaay? You wanna come in, or do you prefer to have all your
conversations on the ledges of tall buildings?"

"Okay," was the only answer he got, but then Dick hopped into the
apartment.

"Nice outfit," Roy chuckled at Dick's chosen attire of pajama pants,
slippers and open leather jacket. "How'd you get here?"

"Bike."

"In that?!"

"Needed to see you," Dick shrugged.

"Okay, so now you're here. What's up?"

"Am I doing the right thing? Marrying Babs?"

"Of course," Roy lied, giving Dick the best smile he could
summon. "You're just getting cold feet now the wedding's just a week
away."

Dick let out a sharp breath. "I... I don't know, Roy. I keep having
these dreams about... this person, and I think I'm in love
with...this person."

Roy felt a surge of jealousy. "Anyone I know?" he asked coldly.

"Yeah," Dick looked up and saw Roy's face. Mistaking the jealousy
for disgust, though, he continued, "but it's not important. You're
probably right. It's just cold feet."

Roy shrugged, "Yeah, sure."

"Geez," Dick moaned. "I can't believe I woke you up for this."

"Don't worry about it. I was awake anyway. Coffee?"

Dick was finally feeling the night hit him. "Nah, I should just,
um..."

Seeing Dick's eyes start to droop, Roy cut in, "You can crash here,
man. It's no problem."

"Thanks," Dick was already nodding off.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just lie down, Dick?" Dick just
nodded wordlessly and lay down on the couch. Roy padded over to the
hall closet, grabbed a spare blanket and pillow, and came back over
to the couch. Dick was out cold. Roy smiled softly at the sight.
What a strange few months it has been. First, he and Dick get into a
terrible fight, and now the man was sleeping on his couch, not
looking much older than Lian, well, except bigger.

Roy lay the blanket down for a moment and took the time to take
Dick's slippers off. He then lay the blanket over Dick, tucking him
in, then leaned in close to gently lift Dick's head up so he could
put the pillow underneath him. Dick muttered, "Love you," in his
sleep. Roy turned bright red, but stayed there a moment. He knew
Dick wasn't talking to him; he was probably dreaming about Barbara,
or whoever this other girl was. Still, he was mere inches from Dick,
so close that Roy's breath was rustling the hair on Dick's head.

"I love you too, Dick," he whispered in the other man's ear. The
sleeping man responded with a snore, at which Roy chuckled.

Roy finally got up from the couch and made his way into the kitchen
for that cup of coffee. After a few sips, he picked up the kitchen
phone and dialed. After a few rings, "Donna, it's Roy. Call me when
you get this."