Fic: Waiting (1/2)
Title: Waiting (1/2)
Author: BradyGirl
Pairings/Characters: Bruce/Dick
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mild violence
Spoilers: None
Summary: There are times when the Batman is not good at waiting. Bruce is even worse.
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC does, more’s the pity.
Date Of Completion: February 4, 2007
Date Of Posting: February 5, 2007
Word Count: 1478
I
ENGLISH MUFFINS
Bruce Wayne sat in his board meeting and was…bored.
The monthly meeting of the Wayne Foundation Board of Directors was not very exciting.
Bruce had no choice but to attend. How could he expect his directors to put in a full
effort if he didn’t show up? He put on an interested face but allowed his mind to drift
when the lights were dimmed for a PowerPoint presentation…
& & & & & &
Dick laughed as he snatched an English muffin off the tray. Sitting cross-legged on the
rumpled bed, his hair was wet and his smile infectious. Clad in an old, tight T-shirt
and cut-offs, his skin glowed from the shower.
Bruce wore his dark-blue silk robe, his skin also fresh from the shower. Dick’s blue
eyes sparkled as he spread strawberry jam over the muffin.
Bruce copied him, taking a bite out of his English muffin. He was ravenous this morning.
Probably because of this young stud wearing me out.
His smile matched Dick’s. Vitality poured off the 19-year-old, his appetite another
match. He bounced slightly, careful of the tray but unable to contain his exuberance
for the new day. “Alfred’s gonna cook my favorite tonight.” He drank freshly-squeezed
orange juice.
“You have a lot of favorites.” Bruce buttered a piece of toast.
“Italian.”
“Ah.” Bruce put down his knife. “So it’s ziti with a rich, thick, tomato sauce laced
with oregano.”
“Simple but delicious.”
“Like you.”
Delight swept over Dick’s face. “You’re really learning about this sappy talk, Bruce.”
Bruce laughed. “I guess so.” He smiled as he traced his finger down his young lover’s
bare arm. “You inspire me.”
Dick laughed and leaned forward, kissing him deeply. When they parted, Dick popped the
last of the English muffin into his mouth and he bounced into the bathroom, brushing his
teeth. He emerged and grabbed his sneakers, balancing on one leg as he put them on.
Bruce watched with appreciation. A man who could fly through the air without a net or
do backflips on a balance beam had no trouble staying on his feet while struggling with
ratty old sneakers.
“You can get a new pair of sneakers, you know.”
“What, and have to break them in? Nah.” Dick quickly laced both shoes. “Sneakers are
like lovers. Too much trouble to break in new ones.” He laughed and ducked the pillow
thrown his way. “I’m off to New York for the monthly meeting.”
Bruce sighed. “Your Teen Titans’ monthly meeting will be a lot more interesting than my
Wayne Foundation monthly meeting.”
“That’s what you think,” Dick snorted. “Wally will be trying to hit on everyone, Roy
will be cracking bad jokes, Donna will threaten to tie them both up with her golden
lasso, and Victor will just shake his head while Kori looks puzzled and Raven tries to
explain human social interaction to her. Lilith could have quoted everyone word for
word from her dream last night and there you have it.”
Bruce grinned. He knew that Dick was exaggerating but that the patterns of his friends’
behavior was pretty accurate. “And what will you be doing?”
“Trying to get everyone to clam up long enough to get the meeting over and done with.”
“Good luck.”
“Ha!” Dick raced over to the bed and kissed Bruce again. “I’ll be back home tonight.
The Batplane is pretty handy.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Dick bounced out of the room and Bruce heard him say, “Oh, Alfred, thanks for the snack!”
The sound of a paper bag crinkling was overlapped by, “Have a safe trip, Master Dick.”
“You bet! Hey, help the old man in there get dressed, will you?”
“I heard that!”
Laughter echoed down the hall.
Alfred came into the bedroom, smiling and shaking his head. “That young man…”
“…is a wiseguy when he puts his mind to it.” Bruce didn’t mind, of course. He set aside
the tray. “I’m already showered, Alfred, I just need a suit for the board meeting.”
“Very good, sir.”
Bruce often got out his own clothes but there were mornings when Alfred would appear and
he let the butler play gentleman’s gentleman. Alfred opened the door to the large
walk-in closet and selected a suit. He despaired of most of the clothes in one half of
the closet, filled with Dick’s casual clothes interspersed with proper suits.
Dick’s old room had been filled with Bruce’s old toys and posters, moved from this
bedroom. This room had been Bruce’s childhood room, but as he grew older he had
gradually moved his childish things to the unoccupied room next to his. When Dick had
come into his life, he had given the boy that room and allowed him to mix his own things
in it, even offering to relocate the childhood items, but Dick had cheerfully decorated
the room with his own belongings while keeping most of Bruce’s things. Now he shared
Bruce’s room and their clothes shared the closet, and some of Dick’s things had been
carried over to this room.
Bruce liked to think that the mingling of possessions symbolized their life together.
They’d been intertwined for a very long time, even before their romance had started.
So much in one package. Bruce considered himself very lucky.
“Your suit, sir.”
“Thank you, Alfred.”
& & & & & &
The lights were coming up. Bruce scolded himself as he knew Alfred would have done and
paid attention to the rest of the meeting.
& & & & & &
Bruce relaxed as his chauffeur drove him home. The limousine was a rental as Alfred had
duties to attend to at home, and Bruce had wanted to look over some papers on his way
into the city. He read several more contracts and papers before the chauffeur turned
into the main gates of Wayne Manor.
Bruce alighted and thanked the driver, who nodded and drove away. He let himself in
through the front door, setting his briefcase on the hall table, sniffing the heavenly
smell of baking cranberry muffins. The kitchen radio was on, the sound low. He was
about to call for Alfred when the butler came down the hall.
“I smell the wonderful aroma of muffins, Alfred! And cranberry…” Bruce’s voice trailed
off. “What is it?”
“The radio…there’s an attack on Titans Tower.”
Bruce felt his blood run cold. The analytical part of his mind observed how one’s
blood could feel cold, not just a saying. He strode into the living room and turned on
the TV.
“…and the Rampagers are hurling high-powered explosives at the Tower. The Titans are
using their unique abilities to push them back…”
Speedy was launching arrow after arrow at the scarlet-clad men besieging his teammates.
Wonder Girl and Cyborg were in close combat, using natural and mechanical strength to
toss some unlucky attackers around. Starfire and Raven trailed fire in their own unique
ways as they counterattacked. Lilith ran to attack a man, using martial arts. A blur of
red-and-yellow streaked across the screen, Kid Flash on the job, and smoke and fire
began to obscure the tableau.
There. In the middle of it all, shouting orders as he took out one soldier and attacked
the next, was Robin, yellow cape flying out behind him as he somersaulted, kicking the
second soldier in the stomach and sending him crashing into another attacker.
The television camera panned over to Starfire’s spectacular dispatching of two Rampagers,
and Wonder Girl came into view as she whirled her lasso over her head, lashing out with
it. A scream overlapped the shouting, Bruce clenching his trembling fist. Wonder Girl
turned and yelled, “Speedy!” She raced out of camera range while Raven quietly hurled an
energy bolt at a large machine, the explosion shaking the camera.
More smoke rolled in to blot out the scene, then cleared just enough for Bruce to start
breathing again. Robin darted into view, his uniform smudged with smoke, his face
resolute as he ran toward another machine, its barrel pointed at the Tower. Robin
reached into his utility belt and took out a round object (smoke bomb, Bruce noted),
tossed it, but the barrel roared with fire as it lanced toward Titans Tower. Starfire
came into camera range and her energy bolt destroyed the machine. Robin turned back to
help Wonder Girl as she pulled Speedy out of the way of falling debris, Kid Flash’s speed
keeping other chunks of concrete away from Cyborg’s head as Starfire and Raven began a
methodical destruction of the the ring of machines encircling the Tower. Robin’s smile
was bright as he skidded to a stop by Speedy and Wonder Girl, and in the next second, the
earth shook as energy blasted a hole right in front of them, smoke and concrete and
screams filling the screen…
The camera went dark.