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“Elainna, this is completely unnecessary,” Dick groaned as he sat back in his desk chair. “I am perfectly capable of protecting myself without all of this.”
She gave him a skeptical look that seemed completely unwarranted considering he’d spent three-fourths of his life as a vigilante in Gotham and Blüdhaven, thank you very much. A little death threat was nothing to lose one’s head over, mayors got death threats all the time. But ever since his secretary blabbed to Elainna about the sudden influx in letters that all seemed eerily connected, she’d refused to leave until he found someone to watch his back. Curse that Grayson stubbornness of theirs.
“Even so, the times have changed and you never know what people are capable of now.”
She thumbed through a few resumes as they waited for the last interviewee to arrive. They’d been searching for a suitable bodyguard for him all day and he wasn’t sure how much more his sore muscles could take. Sitting in one place for too long after the night he had could prove to be the death of him long before this anonymous psycho ever got the chance. Maybe that was their plan all along.
“Is that your way of calling me old?” he teased.
She smiled, that beautiful smile that Dick had adored ever since she was a baby, and shook her head. “How would it look if the mayor is seen suddenly beating up assailants by himself? They might connect the dots to you and Nightwing and soon, all the rest.”
“You mean, they’d respect me even more, considering this is Blüdhaven. It'd show them that their mayor is not a wimp who can’t take a punch. Might even get me re-elected, now that I think about it." She looked unimpressed with his new campaign strategy, so he quickly tacked on, “also, that wasn’t a denial, either, young lady. Your old man isn’t old.”
Dick rolled his neck just as his secretary buzzed about the final interviewee coming in. Thank God. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand sitting in this damn chair.
“AND it would put me at ease knowing that you’re safe,” she finished with a huff.
Elainna ran a finger through the streaks of white on the side of his head just like her mother used to do, and Dick had to close his eyes to properly relish the feeling again. He had loved her so much. And somehow, he loved Elainna even more. So as much as he enjoyed putting up a fuss about things, he’d always bend to her will whenever she gave him that Look. The patented Grayson Look that charmed so many over the years, carrying on a family tradition that Dick never thought he’d get to have after everything he’d been through.
“Maybe I should just hire you as my bodyguard,” he felt compelled to suggest.
Snorting, she finally removed her fingers from his hair to sit next to him, pencil in hand to jot down notes as they heard voices speaking on the other side of the door. “I love you dad, but I think I’m a little underqualified for that.”
It wasn’t true. Dick had taught her (almost) everything he knew over the years, and she excelled like a real pro; a compromise he’d made with her mother when it became clear that vigilantism wasn’t going to be an option for her. It was meant to be a way to make her feel included rather than to isolate completely from his second life and the other family legacy he carried.
“Please. After all that training?”
She tapped him with the pencil in reprimand. “Would you really put me in harm's way like that? When you wouldn’t even let me put on a mask?”
Her bitterness over this long contested argument between them wasn’t as strong as usual, but he still felt his heart crack knowing he’d never been able to make her understand just how dangerous that life was. How much it could scar you.
“No, you’re right. I wouldn’t want you to be anywhere near a psychopath threatening to kill me. Which is why we should just stop all this nonsense so you can go back to living your life away from here.”
“I’m not leaving you, dad. Not until I know you’re safe, at least. End of discussion.” When did she become old enough to boss him around? Kids. They grow up too soon, too fast, and use your tricks against you.
Before he could respond, the last interviewee arrived, backing in as he sent Dick’s secretary a flirtatious wave. They had a charmer on their hands, apparently. He tried to prepare himself for yet another sleazy opportunist who’d rather use his position to pick up one-night-stands than actually protect him, but when the man finally turned to greet them, Dick felt his heart stop. His breath came in short, uneven bursts, but no amount of deep breaths could help him stay calm in the face of Jason Todd entering his office. Jason fucking Todd, in his signature leather jacket, who reached across the table to shake Elainna’s hand before reaching for his. How…? Why…?
“Thank you for coming,” Elainna greeted politely.
“Thanks for having me.” His voice sent a shiver down Dick’s spine, a little more gravely from years of unrepentant smoking, but bringing back memories all the same. Memories of words whispered against sweaty skin in the middle of the night. Secret rendezvous in the early hours of the morning, rolling around in dusty safehouses where no one could find them as they rewrote the story of their relationship over and over and over again.
“So, we’ll have a few standard questions about--”
“Why are you here?” If Dick’s voice shook just a little, he didn’t notice when dealing with the full force of Jason’s smirk directed at him. A smirk he used to know the taste of once upon a time. It was almost embarrassing how after all these years, he still felt the urge to run his fingers through that black (now tinted grey) hair and kiss every scar marring that (now aged) face.
Elainna frowned, looking between the two as they stared each other down. “Wait, do you know each other?”
“You could say that,” Jason teased. He leaned back in the chair as if he owned the place, as if he was the one in charge and Dick was the one interviewing to be at his side yet again. How easily he stole control of a room, no wonder he and Bruce had trouble working together; at least Dick knew when to let the room belong to someone else.
“What makes you think you’re capable of protecting me?” Dick’s voice was harsh, but he didn’t appreciate being caught off guard in his own office. He was mayor after all, and, until recently, Jason had been off the grid doing God knows what with God knows who in God knows where. If he thought he could just swan in here just to mess with Dick, then he had another thing coming.
Jason laughed at the challenge, looking to Elainna rather than Dick as he answered. The asshole. “Well, I’ve been trained by some of the greatest fighters in the world, including the League of Assassins and your dear old granddaddy.”
She balked, eyes flickering to Dick once before eyeing Jason with a touch more caution. She was always great at reading the room, at reading people. “Grandpa Bruce?”
“I may have lied on that form of yours. People call me Jay, but my real name’s Jason. Jason Todd.”
“The Red Hood?!” She dropped the papers on the desk, wide eyes taking on a sparkle of hero worship that made Dick squirm with discomfort. Why was she so impressed?
“In the flesh.”
“Mr. Todd, this is such an honor! I’ve heard so many of the stories, even seen some of the news footage, but I never thought I’d get to meet you in person.”
He shrugged his shoulders like a celebrity on a talk show, all ease and charm. “I’m glad to know I’m still so renowned in these parts. Thought old Dickie here would never have brought my name up in such intimate circles as family.” It was a jab, a dig at how hesitant he’d been to tell anyone about their secret meetings, meetings held when all eyes were distracted and unable to condemn them for their rash actions.
Every time they arrived at a family function together, he’d imagine the reprimands, the disapproval, the awkward missions where no one would know what to say or how to act if they ever revealed the truth, and Dick would chicken out before either one could make the jump. They had made so many plans to finally tell everyone. Someone. Anyone. But they never followed through.
Dick wasn’t always to blame, but he had his fair share of mistakes in the messy trajectory of their botched relationship. Emotions that ran too hot too cold too fast, harsh words pushing and pulling each other until they broke against the waves of want and need and desperation. A love affair that never got to see the light of day, despite how much they both yearned for it.
“Oh, yeah! Dad talked about you all the time. Still does, really. I love the stories where you two teamed up.”
“Yeah, me too.” Their staring match continued for a moment longer as all the words they never got to say to each other, as all the words they did say to each other, weighed heavy in the air around them. A tension Elainna began to notice, excited expression shifting into one of unease.
“So, um, where have you been?” she asked once she’d realized Dick felt too tongue-tied to do the questioning this time around.
Jason finally broke eye contact to smile at her again. A small thing, a gentle tilt of the lips Dick wanted to punch and kiss in equal measure. What gave him the right to come in here and do this? After all this time?
“You know, here and there. Had a lot of personal issues I needed to get a handle on, and being in Gotham seemed to make them worse. But now I’ve got my head on straight and I heard my second favorite blue bird was in trouble, so what better way to come back than with a vengeance?” he joked.
“Second favorite?” Dick couldn’t help but ask.
“You know I always had a fondness for Harper.”
It was times like this where he wished he’d been born a Kryptonian so Jason could feel the full force of his glare trying to burn him up. Or singe him, at least. Anything to ruffle his feathers just a little; it was unfair that Jason got to sit there looking suave and calm while Dick felt like he was dying inside. Or maybe it was just a heart attack. More likely it was an ulcer from all the stress, but he refused to let Elainna take him to the doctor for it--it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle--but something was definitely aching beyond just his bruised heart.
“Well, you’re definitely qualified enough. And you know my dad so well, so it makes sense to me that you should be his bodyguard…” Elainna trailed off.
“I don’t know about that--”
“Great! When do I start?”
The ringing of Elainna’s phone interrupted them both as she stood to take it, waving for them to talk through the details while she was away, as if this was a done deal already. The disrespect, the betrayal from his own child. Maybe she wasn’t as observant as he thought.
The stretch of silence between them felt palpable, a knife’s edge of tension that only grew the closer Jason got when he stood to circle the desk. Each step he took sounded heavy against the floors, combat boots moving until he stood in full form between Dick and his desk.
Looking up at him revealed miles and miles of muscle and body that Dick used to know like the back of his hand. And he could feel in his bones that, should they tip back into each other’s orbit again--which was inevitable, he could taste it in the air already, that tantalizing sweetness of an old lover returning--that he’d relish the years it would take to relearn everything he once knew about Jason. Explore the scars, the trick knees and aching hips, hear the gravely words of adventures missed and loves lost, wrap around each other like there was nothing else in the world that mattered more, and finally be free. They weren’t ready to be together before, no matter how much they wanted to be, but now…
“I can’t believe you came here after I specifically told you not to,” Dick lashed out, punching Jason in the thigh lightly.
“What can I say? I want to protect you and this is the only way you’ll let me, Pretty Bird,” Jason laughed, reaching down to box Dick in. A hand on the back of his chair, a hand on the armrest, and suddenly Jason’s face hovered mere inches from Dick’s look of annoyance. He wondered if he could feel the heat of Dick’s blush radiating off of him like he was in the throes of a fever--a Jason-induced fever.
“It was Elainna’s idea. And I know we’ve been seeing each other for a few months now--”
Jason scoffed. “Seeing each other is one way to put it. Sleeping together, waking up together, eating together--one could almost call that dating, Dickiebird.”
“--but I’d rather not--”
“What? Rather not tell anyone again?”
“No! No, I’m not doing that again, not to you. No to us,” Dick whispered, hands cupping Jason’s cheeks in an effort to bring him closer. Their lips met in a series of kisses, each one gradually lasting longer and longer as the sweet addiction felt harder to pull away from.
“Then what? Is it Elainna? Do you think she won’t understand?” Jason asked, punctuating each question with a kiss.
The strength of his warm lips made Dick shiver in memory of all the things they’d done the night before, all the places those lips had kissed him, all the pleasure they’d wrung from each other which left Dick aching in his chair all day. Though now he was aching in an entirely different way, which felt very inappropriate while sitting in his office, where Jason had just been unofficially officially hired to work for him, with his daughter in the next room over.
Speaking of his daughter…”No, I’m sure she’d be happy for me, for both of us.”
Jason snorted, dragging his lips across the curve of Dick’s cheek to get to his ear. “Yeah, I figured after that warm welcome of hers. So you talk about me a lot when I’m not around, Pretty Bird?”
“Settle down there, Mr. Todd, before your head gets any bigger. Won’t be able to fit it into that stupid helmet of yours.”
“Hey! You love that helmet, you’ve told me many times. You’ve shown me too, I still have the videos--”
“Jason!” Dick couldn’t tell if he wanted to laugh or cry or melt into the floor and bring Jason down with him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so hot and bothered so quickly, like when he was a teenager necking some date on the living room couch, hoping Alfred wouldn’t come walking in--or worse, Bruce.
Jason nipped at his ear, scrunching his nose as his own scruff brushed against Dick’s beard, before planting one soft kiss against his lips again. “What is it then? What are you so worried about?”
Dick had to force himself not to chase after those teasing lips when Jason pulled back to look him in the eyes. Those teal eyes he loved so much, eyes ringed with wrinkles that matched Dick’s own, frowned at him much like they had when they were young and dumb and too afraid to admit how in love they’d been. He couldn’t go through that again. They were both men (old men) who had done too much, seen too much, to let these feelings shrivel up and die in the air tight darkness they used to keep them in. No more secrets. No more secrets.
This was a second chance. A fresh start. He’d be a fool to give that up so easily. So leaning forward to press his forehead against Jason’s, Dick brushed their noses together until Jason’s breath of laughter filled the space between them. “You know what? You’re right. And you better enjoy me saying that because I don’t know if you’ll ever hear me say it again.”
“When, you mean. When you’ll say it again. I’m always right, Dickie. Don’t you remember?”
“Keep telling yourself that, Mr.--”
“Um, I guess that’s a yes on the job, then?” Elainna cleared her throat, causing them to jump apart momentarily.
Looking past Jason's bulk where he leaned against Dick’s desk, hands still trapping Dick in place (a place he never wanted to leave, really) he winced at how compromising the position looked. Well, there was no backing out now. At least she looked more amused than upset by the new development, with her arms crossed and eyebrow raised. It was a very ‘Alfred Pennyworth’ look, which made Dick feel giddy with nostalgia.
“Yes, I think Jason will be the perfect candidate,” Dick smiled, squeezing the wrist still gripping the armrest.
“Alright then, we’ll get the paperwork ready for you to sign…”
Jason finally had the common sense to lean back and give Dick some room to breathe, to think, without his intoxicating presence stealing the air from Dick's lungs. “That sounds perfect.”
Elainna nodded, eyes flickering between the two as she read the barely restrained attraction they had for each other in every line of their bodies. It was a miracle they’d managed to hide their affairs (plural, they now could boast having two) from all the detectives in their lives. Thankfully few knew how to read people the way Elainna could, probably a skill she’d learned from Cass after all the times she helped Steph babysit over the years, if Dick had to guess.
“Great…and dad? Maybe you should bring your, uh, new bodyguard over for dinner some time. Really get to know him. Like meeting the family.” Dick knew an olive branch when he heard one, and he knew this was her attempt to show she approved of the relationship while also showing she disapproved of his secretive ways; he’d spent too many years hiding things from her out of a misguided belief that she’d be safer not knowing about the skeletons in his closet.
She was always so smart, so kind, and it took everything Dick had not to leap over the table just to wrap her up in a hug the way he used to when she was little. He’d never felt more grateful for having a daughter like her, something even Jason could tell as he caught him staring at Dick’s face with a look of fondness he knew all too well.
“Absolutely," he sighed.
The two people he loved most in the world finally spending time together? He might have to write that anonymous person back and thank them for the death threats after all.