Dick was bleeding heavily - maybe bleeding out, although he thought that might be a little overdramatic - and trapped in a warehouse with a bunch of angry and heavily armed weapons dealers coming after him. It was, perhaps, not the best situation he'd ever been in.
It was made even worse by the fact that there was no way any of his family could get there soon enough to be decent backup.
That was the problem with working in Blüdhaven, Dick thought as he put pressure on the gunshot wound in his side as best he could. It was at least half an hour's drive from Gotham on a good day, and that meant that not even the Batmobile could make it in time if Dick were in serious trouble. When Dick was just starting out as Nightwing and constantly at odds with Bruce, he'd considered that a bonus. He would admit that he still thought of it like that sometimes, but he was old enough to know that sometimes it was actually a fairly major negative. Still, he wasn't going to just abandon Blüdhaven, so he'd learned how to stay safe without a whole family of backup.
That worked out better some times than others.
There was one person he could call who would be able to get there in time. He wasn't family, but Dick thought he'd come anyway. Dick would probably owe him something for it, but he was already in his debt, so it didn't really matter at this point.
He carefully and quietly pulled his phone out of a belt pouch and dialed. Every sound the phone made seemed horribly loud as he hid, but he didn't think the weapons dealers could hear it over how loud they themselves were being. At least, he hoped they couldn't hear it.
"Nightwing. To what do I owe the honor?"
"I could use an assist, Midnighter," Dick admitted. "I'm pinned down, and no one else can get here in time."
"Are there people there I can beat up?" Midnighter asked. Dick was pretty sure he could faintly hear him getting ready as he spoke.
"There's some pretty nasty weapons dealers who could use to get their asses beat," Dick replied.
He could practically hear Midnighter's maniacal grin. "We're on our way."
"Thanks," Dick said, slumping slightly in relief. Then… "Wait. We?"
But Midnighter had already hung up, and judging by the sudden yelling, he'd also already arrived via a Door. Dick supposed he'd just have to wait and see who his mysterious companion was. A teammate, maybe? Although Dick hadn't known Midnighter was on a team. A date? That sounded like the sort of crazy thing Midnighter would do. Dick was going to be the awkward third wheel in his own rescue.
Maybe he should have just given up and died.
The sounds of fighting came to an end, and after a few moments of silence, Midnighter's voice rang out through the warehouse. "Nightwing! We fixed your problem for you. Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Dick tried to pull himself to his feet, but his legs strenuously objected to that. The box he was trying to use as a boost clattered onto the floor, and in its echoes, the warehouse went deadly silent.
"Nightwing?" Midnighter called warily.
"Still got a problem, actually," Dick called back. He looked down and saw that the bleeding appeared to be slowing. That was something. The amount of blood on his costume was still worrying, to say the least, but hopefully that was about all of it. "I, uh, could also use an assist in getting out of here."
"How bad?" Midnighter asked, and Dick heard two sets of footsteps begin heading towards him.
Dick looked down again and swallowed. "Well, it's definitely not good."
Midnighter swore, but before he could say anything else, a gunshot rang through the warehouse. He swore again, then told his mysterious companion, "You find Nightwing, I'll deal with this asshole."
Dick tucked himself back into the shadows as much as he could. He was fine with Midnighter's partner finding him, although a small, paranoid part of him wished it would be the known quantity looking for him instead of the unknown, but he didn't want the shooter to find him first, and he had just been yelling across the warehouse. It wouldn't be hard to track him down via the sound.
Also, apparently this meant Midnighter had missed some of the weapons dealers, and Dick was definitely going to give him shit for that when this was all over.
Footsteps approached Dick's hiding place, and he reached for his escrima sticks, just in case. He wouldn't be able to do much fighting, he didn't think, but the sticks would work as tasers too. Of course, this could just be Midnighter's partner coming to get him, but he'd rather be safe than sorry.
Which, as it turned out, was a good idea, because he didn't think the very angry weapons dealer with a gun was Midnighter's partner.
"This is all your fault," the man snapped, his gun trembling slightly in his fury. "You ruined everything."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Dick replied. "Mostly by people who really deserve to have everything ruined, though, so I try not to let it get to me."
The man aimed, Dick tightened his grip on his escrima sticks and prepared to lunge forward, and then the man dropped to the ground as someone hit him upside the head.
"Nightwing, I presume?" asked the most handsome man Dick had ever seen.
"Uh, yeah," Dick said, blinking rapidly. The man was glowing, literally glowing, and honestly, it wasn't fair. He'd look angelic enough without the little halo around his head. "Yeah, I'm Nightwing. Are you Midnighter's partner?"
"I'm his husband, Apollo," the man replied, offering Dick a hand up. "It's nice to actually meet you. He's told me a lot about you."
"All good, I hope," Dick quipped automatically, taking Apollo's hand and trying not to swoon from how hot he was (or from the blood loss).
"All interesting," Apollo replied with a grin that was frankly ridiculous. Dick had thought Midnighter was attractive from the first time they'd met, but this was just absurd.
"You two having fun?" Midnighter asked as he came up behind Apollo, a splatter of blood on his face. "Oh, don't give me that look, Nightwing, I didn't kill anyone."
"You've got blood on your face, dear," Apollo said dryly.
"You can make someone bleed without killing them," Midnighter retorted. "Anyway, we should clear out of here before the cops arrive. Where are we dropping you, Nightwing?"
"Dropping him?" Apollo repeated with a frown. "M, he needs medical attention. We can't just leave him somewhere."
"We'll leave him with his family or something," Midnighter dismissed. "They've probably got their own little hospital or something, right, 'Wing?"
Dick swayed slightly. He was beginning to think that standing up when Apollo offered him a hand had been a bad idea. The black spots encroaching on his vision seemed to agree.
"Shit," Midnighter said flatly, "he's about to pass out, isn't he?"
And before Dick could hear what Apollo said in response, he did exactly as Midnighter predicted, and he passed out.
Dick woke up in an unfamiliar bed and immediately lurched upright into a sitting position. His stomach burned, and two warm hands settled on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down.
"It's alright. I'm Apollo, remember? Midnighter's husband? You're in our apartment in Opal City. We brought you here after we helped you with those weapons dealers in Blüdhaven. I patched you up the best I could, but I'll admit, I'm a little rusty with this sort of thing. M and I can pretty much just heal without needing much first aid."
Dick forced himself to focus on the figure in front of him. Apollo, as it turned out, didn't look any less devastatingly attractive in casual clothes. If anything, the messy bun at the nape of his neck made him hotter.
Dick had to get a hold of himself.
"How long have I been out?" he rasped.
"Two hours, give or take," Midnighter said, and Dick turned to see him leaning in the doorway. "I used your phone to text Daddy Bats that you were okay and with us. He's been trying to call pretty much non-stop ever since."
"You're a bastard," Dick groaned, not looking forward to dealing with those messages.
Midnighter grinned. "Is that any way to talk to the guy who just saved your ass?"
"You missed some of the dealers," Dick countered. "Apollo was the one who saved me from one of the guys you didn't get."
Apollo snorted. "I like him," he told Midnighter.
Midnighter groaned. "Of course you do."
"I'm very likable," Dick said, preening slightly.
"You're a pain, is what you are," Midnighter said. "And you should probably contact your overprotective dad before he makes his way here and breaks down our door." He tossed Dick his phone, and although he tried to make it look careless, Dick could tell that he was careful to make sure it wouldn't land on his gunshot wound.
He checked his text conversation with Bruce and groaned. "You know, you texting him that you've 'got his biggest bird' and you're 'bringing him home' probably didn't help. The 'ps, he's mostly fine' does not look super convincing."
"Is that what you texted?" Apollo asked, looking over at Midnighter with disapproval.
Midnighter grinned his bastard grin. You could argue, of course, that all of his grins were bastard grins by virtue of him being an absolute bastard, but this one was, in Dick's opinion, the bastard-est one.
"Who said I wanted to help? Besides, your dad is way too much fun to wind up."
"You are the worst," Dick grumbled, skimming Bruce's increasingly frantic responses. There were lots of voicemails too, but he decided it would be better to just call than to waste time listening to all of them. Bruce had already had two hours to lose his mind. Dick should put him out of his misery.
"We'll give you privacy while you call," Apollo said as Dick dialed Bruce's number. He shepherded Midnighter out of the room and closed the door behind them. Dick raised the phone to his ear as it began to ring.
Bruce picked up about half a second after the phone began ringing. "Nightwing?"
"It's me," Dick sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm fine. Midnighter is a bastard, but he meant it when he said I was safe at his place."
"Report," Bruce said in the voice that meant he was practically vibrating with tension. Dick pitied whoever was staying at the Manor with him that night.
"I was dealing with some weapons dealers in Blüdhaven, I needed backup, I called Midnighter," Dick replied. "He and his husband helped me kick some weapons dealer ass, then they brought me back to their place."
"You have been radio silent for two hours," Bruce said in clipped words.
"Uh, yeah. I was, uh…" Dick looked down at the bandages around his torso and belatedly realized Midnighter and Apollo must have taken him out of his costume to bandage him up. That was something he'd think about when he wasn't on the phone with his father. "Somewhat shot."
"Somewhat shot," Bruce repeated.
"In the side."
"In the side."
"Which is why I called Midnighter," Dick added. "Because I knew he could get there in an instant with a Door. It would have taken you half an hour in the Batmobile."
"You were shot," Bruce repeated, his voice so tense it was almost shaking.
"I will ask Midnighter to bring me back to the Cave right now?" Dick tried. "And you can fuss over me as much as you want? And, uh, I'll do my best to let you know next time, even if I'm calling someone else for backup?"
"I'll expect you in the Cave in five minutes," Bruce said.
"Yeah, okay. See you in five."
Bruce hung up abruptly, and Dick groaned loudly. He'd clearly given Bruce something of a heart attack - which he would swear up and down was at least half Midnighter's fault from that stupid text - and that meant he was going to hover. Dick probably wasn't going to be allowed to go back to Blüdhaven alone for at least a month.
"Grayson?" Midnighter asked, poking his head into the room. "You want a Door back to the Batcave now?"
"M!" Apollo protested. "You could have at least let him ask first."
"You guys were listening?" Dick asked as he slowly sat up.
"Apollo is a mother hen who didn't want to go out of earshot," Midnighter said, carrying a bag that seemed to contain Dick's Nightwing suit and escrima sticks.
"And Midnighter is a nosy bastard who wanted to listen in," Apollo added, holding a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "I assume you'd like to get dressed first? Midnighter's clothes should fit well enough."
Dick knew from experience that that wasn't really the case, but Midnighter's clothes would definitely fit him better than Apollo's. "Sure. Thanks. And, uh, thanks for helping out tonight. I owe you one."
"Nonsense," Apollo dismissed. "You're a friend. We help friends."
"Also, you owe me way more than one," Midnighter added, ignoring the dirty look Apollo shot him.
"Don't hesitate to call us if you need help again," Apollo added. "I can give you my number so you don't always have to talk to my irritating husband. And don't hesitate to call for social reasons either. M might not admit it, but he likes you, and I like you too."
Dick would absolutely be calling for social reasons, if only because Apollo was an absolute delight to look at and seemed like he'd be a delight to hang out with too. Midnighter was a bastard, but Dick had to admit a certain fondness for him anyway. There were worse friends to have.
"Do you need help with the clothes?" Midnighter asked. "You look like a stiff breeze would knock you over."
"Yeah, help would probably be good," Dick admitted.
Apollo was unsurprisingly gentle as he helped Dick step into the sweatpants, and Midnighter was surprisingly gentle as he helped Dick into the t-shirt. "Right," Midnighter said once Dick was fully clothed and holding the bag of his things. "Door."
A Door appeared in front of him. "I think your dad would probably prefer if we didn't break into his Mancave," Midnighter said, gesturing at the Door. "I mean, I technically could whenever I wanted to, but-"
"Do you need help getting through the Door?" Apollo asked, cutting Midnighter off.
"I'm fine," Dick dismissed, taking a shaky step forward. "Thanks, guys."
"Don't be a stranger," Apollo said, beaming at him and waving.
"Or do, either way is fine," Midnighter added, which earned him an elbow in the ribs from his husband.
"See you around," Dick added, and he staggered through the Door.
As he'd expected, Bruce was waiting on the other side and caught him the second he was fully in the Cave. "How badly are you injured?"
"Midnighter and Apollo already patched me up," Dick said, leaning on Bruce as they made their way over to the cots in the medical area. "But it might be a good idea to check their work. I think they both have healing factors, so Apollo said they're a little rusty on first aid for normal humans."
"Leslie is already on her way," Bruce said, helping Dick onto one of the cots. "Whose clothes are these?"
"Midnighter's. Stop looking at me like that."
"I'm not looking at you like anything."
"First of all, he's not that bad, and second of all, I was rescued by him and his husband, so nothing happened." Not that Dick would have especially minded if something did, especially not if Apollo joined in as well, but that was something to bring up for next time, preferably when he hadn't been shot. And it was definitely not something he was going to talk to his dad about.
"I wasn't thinking that anything happened," Bruce said, which was absolutely a lie. Despite the fact that Dick was a grown adult, Bruce still hated to think of him having relationships beyond the childish flirting he and Kori had done back when he was Robin. If Dick told him that he would be down for a threesome with Midnighter and Apollo - not that he would bring up such a topic with his dad even on pain of death - he was pretty sure Bruce's head would explode.
Besides, Dick figured he ought to talk to Midnighter and Apollo about it first.
"I'm sorry I freaked you out," Dick said as Bruce set up an IV. "Although some of it is definitely Midnighter's fault and not mine. I was unconscious when he sent that text."
"Next time, tell me when you've been shot," Bruce said shortly. "Even if I won't be able to get there in time. Tell me."
"I will, promise. And like I promised, you can fuss over me as much as you want. I won't even complain about the fact that you called Leslie even though you definitely didn't need to."
"You've been shot."
"We've all been shot a million times, it's nothing special."
"Allow an old man his fussing," Bruce said dryly. "Even if you're entirely too blasé about being shot."
"As if you're not just as bad when you're the one who's been shot," Dick retorted. "Somehow, getting shot is a massive deal when it's one of us and nothing to worry about when it's you."
"If Damian had been shot, would you be saying it was nothing special?"
Dick rolled his eyes. "So we're all hypocrites, what else is new?"
Bruce's lips twitched in the slightest hint of a smile. "I'm going to get Alfred. Don't move."
"Not planning on it," Dick promised, making a show of relaxing onto the cot.
Bruce shot him one last look, then he started towards the stairs. Dick had clearly freaked him out, he realized guiltily. Maybe he should consider moving back to Gotham.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. hi nightwing! it's apollo. let us know how you're doing. if you get bored during your recovery, give us a call and we can take you out. m wants me to specify that he'll help you escape your father if you need to. get well soon!
Dick chuckled quietly as he read over the message. He typed out a quick response thanking Apollo for his concern, then he set his phone aside. He didn't think he would take Midnighter up on his offer to escape, but he would probably call them up while he was recovering once he was allowed to leave the Manor. He'd be bored as long as he was benched from patrol, and he had the feeling that it would be very hard to be bored with Midnighter and Apollo.
They were definitely an interesting pair, and Dick fully intended to get to know them better. Once Bruce relaxed enough to let him out of his sight, he would do just that.
(And if Bruce was ridiculous about how long that would take… Well, Dick could always take Midnighter up on his offer after all.)
