Author: Astoria Goode

Fandom: Batman/Under the Red Hood

Story Title: "Meet in the Middle"

Summary:

Characters/Relationships: Jason/Dick

Warnings: Slash. Language.

Word Count: 947

Notes: For Clair, for your birthday (You're legal now! :D). You wanted slash from me and... well, sorry I can't write Kaldur/Superboy. They're impossible. So here's some Jason/Dick instead. And I'm sorry that this sucks, I really am. I also couldn't decide what universe this should go in, so let's just say it can be in both. Also, I probably got them both wrong and my characterization probably sucks, so I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Batman or Under the Red Hood.

Meet in the Middle

The streets of Gotham were slick with rain, the kind of slick that made it nearly impossible for a normal person to walk down the sidewalks without slipping. The water made its way down the drains and into the sewers, an underwater river in the middle of an urban kingdom.

Despite the fact that this was happening, and the fact that it was still raining, Jason Todd seemed to be ignoring what every other seemingly sane person already knew by their absence on the streets or in the alleyways; it would be dangerous to be out on any sort of wheels that night.

Not that he cared at this point- he was trying to get away from Nightwing and it wasn't easy. The older man- his older brother, Jason thought with a sneer- had been following him all night and hadn't let Jason out of his sight, even now that he had a bike and Dick was reduced to running on rooftops.

How Nightwing hadn't gotten the hint that Jason wanted him to just get lost, he just didn't know. Seeing a shadow still leaping from the tops of houses Jason growled and made the bike go faster, as fast as it would go, right before he was forced to turn, tires squealing and puddles splashing.

That was a mistake, as Jason realized two seconds before he flew from a bike in a graceful arc.

Mix slick Gotham streets and a speeding motorcycle, and then add a dash of a fleeing Jason Todd and a Dick Grayson in pursuit. That was a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.

Fuck. That's gonna leave a bruise.

The motorcycle- a beautiful black bike that he had fixed up months ago- made its way into an alley and there was a horrible screeching sound that let Jason know that the bike had just made a trip to the Land of No Return. Great.

"Shouldn't have done that."

And there was Nightwing, gloating, a smile on his face. This night just seemed to be going better and better for Jason. So great, in fact, that he could barely stand it.

"Fuck you," he told Dick, trying not to show a preference to the left side of his body as he began to walk away. He knew that he wouldn't be getting very far anyway but it was worth a shot, and failed. The limp, while probably not noticeable to Gotham's every day civilian, was plenty noticeable to a man who had at one point been trained in the circus.

"Are you alright?" The concern in Dick's voice made Jason want to punch something, preferably that pretty boy face.

"Oh, I'm just so abso-fucking-lutely peachy that I'm practically Georgia."

"Here let me help you. I can take you to the Bat Ca-"

Jason shrugged off Nightwing's helping arm at the mention of any Bat. "I'm fine. Just leave me the hell alone. Aren't there any damsels to save tonight?" He felt like leaving it right there, but he couldn't. "Was this just part of your plan? Making me get injured enough to stop? This will only take me out of the game a couple of days, you know, and then it's game on all over again."

"You need help, now, and I can get you help."

"Didn't you hear me, Dickie-bird? I don't need your help."

Because he can't stand it anymore Jason reached up and took off the red hood, There was still a mask on his face, naturally, but at least he can breathe now. The thick veil of water that was still coming from the clouds was cold, and it gets in his hair and runs down his face.

"Look, I just want to make sure that you didn't break anything or worse, okay." Nightwing looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he shut his mouth again instead, an odd mood for someone who liked to boast that being chatty was just a part of his charm.

"You just want to kiss and make it better, don't you?" Jason paused before continuing, "I bet you'd like that, kissing it and making it better."

Dick's face grew hard at that, and the second Robin knew that his arrow had hit its mark. Maybe he shouldn't have just left like he had last month, but. Jason found himself not knowing how to finish the thought. He also found that he didn't want to.

"I'm not here to fight you, Jay-"

"Then why'd you follow me half-way across Gotham?"
"Because I knew you'd run, and you knew that I'd catch you."

"Well everyone knows that a bird can't fly forever. So just leave me alone."

There was a pause, and even through the veil of rain Jason could see Dick's face change, but this time he couldn't read the expression.

"No, but I can sure has hell try."

And just like that Jason finds himself being shoved up against the wall of an alleyway that he hadn't even realized that he'd been in.

Dick's tongue traces the shape of Jason's lips before finding its way inside the other boy's mouth, making itself comfortable in its familiar setting. For something that started out as slightly forced its turning into something soft and sweet, Dick's hand making its way up to Jason's face.

It's nice, and Jason's never been one for nice.

But maybe, just this once, he can let it go. So he'll go back to the Cave and get fixed up, but he'll end up back on the streets soon enough.

Because that's what they do, Jason runs and Dick chases and that is just going to have to be good enough for right now.