Chapter Text
Dick glanced around the apartment, feeling a bit… anchorless, like a ship floating without anyone piloting.
It was so… empty. They’d brought the couch, the TV, and Dick’s recliner to the new house. The three barstools, tattered and cracked, had been given to the thrift store. The few kitchen utensils and baking pans Dick had were boxed up, sitting on the island. Damian’s bed was already at the new place, and Dick’s bed was pulled apart, mattress and metal frame against the wall.
The little dresser, with the broken drawers, had been put outside to be taken with the trash. Jason had offered to keep it, offered to move it, even when Roy and Bernard had looked at the two of them like they were crazy, but Dick had forced himself to shake his head.
He was moving to a new house. He was leaving the apartment behind, and he didn’t need the stupid little things to remind him, to comfort him, like a kid with a teddy bear. So he’d helped Roy drag it down the stairs, and outside to the curb.
The coffee table went to the new house though; they’d already talked about it, since the house had a living room, and a family room, they were going to have Dick’s couch, and coffee table in one, with Jason and Roy’s work tables, and Roy and Jason’s furniture and coffee table in the other one, with the TV, where they’d eat. Especially since the kitchen in the new place didn’t have an island.
It would be fine. It was a good thing. He’d managed to let go of some things, and hold onto only what was useful. And Jason seemed to understand, because he hadn’t even asked about the blankets, had just boxed them all up, giving Dick a gruff, ‘you can never have too many blankets’ before he’d taped it shut.
Everything was packed up, and either already gone, or ready to go. A box with some knicknacks from Dick’s room, and the shelves, the kitchen utensils, and Dick’s bed was pretty much all that was left. Roy and Jason would be back soon, and they’d get those last few things loaded into the truck, while Tim and Bernard kept an eye on the kids.
He swallowed as he looked around the little apartment again. The new place was… It was amazing. They’d found a nice place in the suburbs, with a tree, and a decent sized backyard, big enough for the kids to play, and Jason to have a garden and patio set. The bedrooms were bigger than the ones at the apartment, and Jason would have a full size kitchen to work with. It had its own little laundry room. Damian and Lee had had rooms that shared a wall, and they’d spent last night having a ‘camp out’ in Lee’s room with her tent.
But it was… The idea of walking out the door, of saying goodbye to the apartment for the last time made something in his chest crack, like he was standing on unsteady ground as he looked around at the only home he’d ever had since his parents had died when he was eleven.
“Hey.”
Dick jumped a bit, startled, as Jason came up behind him. “Hey. Back already?”
“Yeah. Traffic wasn’t too bad. You good?”
“Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, it’s… It’s just this,” Dick forced himself to try and sound cheery. “The bed, and the two boxes.”
“Alright. Me and Roy can -”
“‘Me and Roy’ cannot,” Roy interrupted, rolling his eyes as he came through the door. “Roy and Dick can take the bed down; ‘me’ can carry the boxes. Carefully.”
Jason huffed a little. “It weighs like twenty pounds,” he pointed out. “It’s fine, I can -”
“You’re supposed to be taking it easy, Jay,” Dick said quietly, giving him a small smile. “We got this.”
“Yeah. Besides, if it’s so light… We can handle it,” Roy said confidently, before he turned to look at Dick. “You all good? Need a minute? We got time, there’s no rush.”
“No. It’s fine. We can just… We’ll get everything downstairs, and I’ll go turn in the keys.” Dick shrugged, hoping it looked more casual than uncomfortable. “No point in hanging around an empty place, right? We’re gonna have to make two trips, one for the mattress, and one for the frame.”
“I could -” Jason started, but Roy cut him off with a quick kiss on the scarred side of his face.
“No, you can’t,” Roy said easily, before moving around to the front of the mattress. “Alright, Dick. Let’s get this show on the road then.”
Dick picked up the back end of the mattress. As they started out the door though, he couldn’t help but be proud of Jason. Or maybe envious of Roy, he wasn’t entirely sure. But Jason took the limitation with nothing more than grumbling and muttering behind them, as he picked up the boxes, and followed them out the door.
Jason pre-Roy would’ve picked up the metal parts of the frame just out of spite, to prove that he could, that he wasn’t helpless. Hell, on a bad day, he might’ve tried to carry the frame and the boxes just to prove a point.
But either Jason was taking the doctor’s warnings seriously, or maybe Roy’s casualness about the situation, because Jason just followed them out the door with the boxes, as Dick and Roy started maneuvering the mattress down the stairs.
It was still early enough in the day that traffic was light; Roy had managed to park the truck right in front of the building, and it didn’t take much effort to get the mattress loaded into the back. Jason set the boxes down on top of it, strapping a tow strap around them, and tightening them down, as Roy grabbed two bottles of water from the truck, rolling one towards Dick, and tossing the other lightly at Jason.
Dick cracked the bottle open, and took a few sips, while Jason practically chugged half the bottle. Admittedly, Gotham at the end of August was nightmarishly hot, and while Dick was in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Jason was in his traditional long-sleeve shirt, and leather jacket.
The new house had air conditioning, which was… It was gonna take some getting used to. And not just one of the window units that cooled down a room, but that blew through the vents like a furnace. For the first time in… well… probably ever, Dick could just turn on the A/C instead of putting a fan up, or just dealing with the heat and humidity.
Dick wanted to move. He wanted to get out of the apartment, and move someplace nicer, someplace with air conditioning. It was a good thing, and he was excited about it. Damian and Lee would be starting school in two weeks, in a nice school. Damian would have a backyard to play in, and with the three of adults, there’d be somebody to look after the kids constantly. Jason liked cooking, so Damian would be eating healthier. And since they’d have more money coming in, they could take the kids and do things, like normal parents.
“Dick?”
He jerked a bit, startled. “Huh? Yeah. Sorry. I’m gonna… just gonna go turn the keys in, then I can grab the frame if you want.”
“Nah, I can run up and grab it real quick,” Roy said casually, giving him a smile. “Jaybird, why don’t you hop in the truck, then I can get it started and cooling off.”
Jason rolled his eyes, but he drained the rest of the water before moving around the truck to get in the driver’s seat, holding his hands out for the keys. Roy threw them his way, before falling back in line with Dick, moving towards the building.
“You good? Anything else in there you want?” Roy asked quietly as they opened the door to the building. “We can do a final run-through if you want, Jaybird won’t mind.”
Dick shook his head. “No, I…” He sucked in a deep breath as he stared at the stairwell leading up to the third floor. How many times had he walked up those steps, exhausted beyond belief? To find Tim with breakfast ready, or Jason sleeping on the couch? How many times had he come home from the studio to find Damian curled up on the couch while Stephanie did her homework?
“If I go up now… I’m not gonna…” He floundered a bit. He couldn’t bring himself to say he wouldn’t be able to leave; he would, and he knew it, but right now… There was an annoying, almost irritating feeling running along his skin, across his scalp, but he could ignore it. Could fight it down. If he went back upstairs, and went back into the apartment… It’d get worse. It was easier to just… not. But he wasn’t quite sure how to put that into words without sounding crazy.
Luckily, Roy seemed to understand, giving him an easy smile. “Alright. I’ll do a run through, make sure we didn’t miss anything, then bring the frame down and meet you in the truck.”
Dick nodded, feeling a bit of the stress easing up. After all, it was already over. He was out of the apartment. There was still more to do, but… The hard part, at least, was over.
Bypassing the stairwell, he walked down the hallway, to the building manager’s apartment. Mr. Lugisi had been the building manager for… well, probably since the building was made in the forties, and that was only a slight exaggeration. He’d been the one to give Dick and Ms. Lance their tour of the place, back before the trial was even finished. He’d been the one to give Dick the paperwork to sign, and he’d been the one that Dick had dutifully given his rent to, month after month, year after year.
Dick knocked on the door, waiting patiently as he heard Mr. Lugisi loudly grumbling from behind the door. The old man always took at least a few minutes to get to the door, his cane clattering as he did, then he’d yank the door open, looking grumpy.
Sure enough…
“Oh. S’you,” the old man said, his brows bunched up as he stared. “All done?”
“I uh… yeah,” Dick said slowly. “Got everything moved out. And… and you have my contact number, if… if anything’s wrong.”
Mr. Lugisi waved his hand dismissively. “I trust you, boy. You been one a my best tenants.” To Dick’s shock, the man reached out, and offered him his gnarled hand. “You and your brothers… You boys did good for yourself. While I hate to lose you, m’glad you’re gettin’ outta here. Bigger n’ better. But you boys did good, after everything. Hell, I remember when y’all were tiny little wisps, and just look at you now.”
Dick shook the man’s hand slowly, swallowing around the lump building in his throat. “I uh… Thanks, Mr. Lugisi. You uh… We appreciate everything.”
The man grunted. “Mmhmm. Well. Gimme the keys then, and go on. Get outta here to your new place. Take care a that boy a yours; he’s a good kid.”
“I… I will. Thank you again,” Dick said quietly, handing the man the two keys to the apartment.
“See ya around, kid. Behave yourself.” With that, Mr. Lugisi closed the door, and Dick stood there for a second, listening to the sound of the cane against the floor, before he could force himself to move again.
That… that was it. It was done.
It was surreal. He felt… strangely detached from himself, as he walked out to the truck, both weightless and heavy, his feet moving almost of their own accord, like he was just watching, and his body was doing its own thing.
Roy was already in the truck, sitting in the middle next to Jason. He reached over and swung the door open when he spotted Dick, giving him a smile.
“All good?”
“Yeah,” Dick said slowly. “It’s… It’s all set.”
“Alright. Let’s get to the new place ‘fore traffic gets bad,” he said, as Dick slid into the truck.
“You good, Dick?” Jason asked, as he pulled the truck away from the curb, and into traffic.
“I uh… yeah. I’ll be fine.”
And he would be. It would take some time to adjust, but… He’d managed to readjust everything, after Jack’s, managed one major life upheaval. He could do it again. It was just a place, after all, and he was going to be with family. It was all going to be fine.