Jason had been gone for a while... a long while in fact. Long enough for Dick to be plenty concerned, especially when the only thing his husband had left was a note saying that he might not be coming back.
Every day Dick's hope lessened. He didn't know why Jason had left, whether it was for a mission, or simply because he'd gotten tired of him.
Dick stared down at the tear stained paper in his hands.
'Dickie. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye, because I know that if you'd asked me to stay I wouldn't have been able to refuse. I know I'll probably regret not telling you this in person, but this is easiest for me. I'm leaving and I might not ever come back. I hope you don't take this too hard. Goodbye.'
Dick read the letter again. Why had Jason left him? The only conclusion he could come to was that he just wasn't good enough as basically everyone else in his life seemed to like to remind him.
More tears splashed down onto the paper, and Dick was quick to wipe away the ones that continued to roll down his cheeks. Why did this hurt so much? Dick had been left, discarded, and abandoned so many times already that he should've been used to it.
Only this time seemed to hurt so much more than the others... perhaps because Jason had promised to stay by him. Through thick and thin... the bad times and the good...
Dick stood up quickly, wiping his eyes and leaving the paper on the table. He quickly pulled on his Nightwing uniform before jumping out the window, shooting out a line and swinging off into the darkness of the night.
—
Jason stood in the kitchen sipping on a cup of hot coco, another steaming mug set on the table next to him. He'd returned from his off world mission earlier that night and decided to wait up for Dick to return from patrol so he could see him again after his long absence.
A thud from the living room alerted Jason to someone's presence in the apartment, and he quickly went to check it out.
Dick was lying on his back on the floor, one leg still caught on the window frame.
Jason quickly rushed to his husband's side, shaking his shoulder and feeling for a pulse.
Dick groaned quietly, his face scrunching up in pain.
"Dickie," Jason mumbled as he gently removed Dick's mask, tossing it to the side and proceeding to check his pupillary light reaction.
There was little to no reaction when Jason shone a small light into each of Dick's eyes, either indicating that the acrobat had been drugged or received a nasty concussion.
Concussion was what Jason finally settled on when he saw blood dripping down Dick's forehead from a giant bump.
Jason worriedly scooped his husband up in his arms, nearly dropping him when he felt blood start to soak into his shirt.
Jason placed Dick face down on the kitchen floor, taking a sharp inhale of breath when he saw a cut stretching from the top of Dick's left shoulder all the way down to his right hip.
Immediately getting to work, Jason covered the wound in dish towels from a nearby drawer and flipped Dick over, hoping his body weight would be enough to keep pressure on the wound while he grabbed the medical supplies he needed.
Jason returned to find Dick blinking groggily as he stared up at him.
"Jay?" Dick asked quietly, his voice wobbly and his eyes brimming with tears.
"Hey Dickiebird..." Jason said, brushing Dick's curls out of his eyes.
"You... you came back," Dick mumbled, his head lolling to the side.
"Of course I did," Jason replied, cupping Dick's face with one hand. "I was on a mission of world with Roy, but I'm back now."
Dick hummed softly in reply, his eyes drifting shut for a moment.
"I'm gonna turn you over so I can stitch up your back," Jason said, carefully turning Dick back over and starting to get to work cleaning and closing his wound.
—
Dick flinched as Jason dug the curved needle into his skin again, making a knot and trimming the ends before moving on to the next stitch.
Jason snipped the end of another stitch before standing and heading back towards their bathroom where they kept most of their medical supplies.
Dick whimpered quietly, feeling the stitches on his back stretch as he tried to push himself up.
"Hey," Jason said, quickly coming back to Dick's side and pushing him back down. "I'm just going to grab some more suture material. I'll be back in a sec."
"You... you sure you won't leave me again?" Dick asked quietly.
Guilt rose in Jason's chest. "Of course I won't leave you Dickie..." he said.
Dick let out a shaky sigh. "O... Ok," he mumbled.
Jason returned no more than a minute later and knelt back at Dick's side donning some new sterile gloves before getting back to work.
—
By the time Jason had finished the tedious work of stitching up Dick's back the elder had either passed out or fallen asleep.
Jason sighed, sitting on the ground and gently pulling Dick into his lap, letting the elder rest against his chest as he wrapped over the stitches, making sure they were all covered and well padded.
Dick mumbled something quietly as Jason shifted him, lifting the slightly shorter man up into his arms and balancing him on his hip as he made his way back to their bedroom.
Jason gently set Dick on the bed, making sure the elder was comfortable before turning to leave, figuring that Dick would be more comfortable if he had the entire bed to himself.
"Jay?" Dick cried out softly.
Jason turned around. "What's wrong Bluebird?" He asked.
"Don't... don't go... please don't go," Dick said, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.
Jason made his way back to the bed and climbed in. "I'll stay," he whispered, carefully pulling Dick to his chest, feeling the elder slowly relax into his arms.
"Love you," Dick mumbled, his face pressed into the crook of Jason's neck.
"Love you too."
