Fic: Dark Alley
Title: Dark Alley
Author: BradyGirl
Characters/Pairings: Bruce/Dick
Category: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character death
Spoilers: None
Summary: A dark alley spells tragedy.
Date Of Completion: February 19, 2007
Date Of Posting: March 31, 2007
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, DC does, more's the pity.
Word Count: 291
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
The alley was dark, a stray cat skittering across the fence as a preternatural quiet descended from the night. The streetlight cast long, exaggerated shadows into the small space, laughter echoing down the street.
He watched, dark and brooding, clothed in the night. The laughter grew louder, then brightness swirled into the alley, graceful and lithe. He glimpsed a child, charming and happy, then the shadows blocked the boy out, and he re-emerged, still bright but now grown. The young man called a name, teasing with a smile and crooking his gloved finger. He performed a backflip, exuberance thy name is…and stopped, the joy slipping away like sand in an hourglass, surprise and fear crossing his beautiful face.
The young man backed up, brightness fluttering out behind him, a dark figure blocking out the light from the streetlight as it slithered in, the glint of evil winking off the barrel of the gun.
The watcher’s heartbeat sped up, muscles straining, perched and ready to pounce.
Frozen.
The young man becomes defiant, growling “No!” as he launches himself forward, ready to flip away out of danger as the finger on the trigger tightens.
A roar of gunfire, too fast, too fast, the bullet finding its mark, the young man shocked…
The night screamed, watching grace fall, brightness fluttering gently around him like a shroud, drops of blood staining the alley, like pearls clattering, broken, from a necklace…
& & & & & &
The cry is a broken one, the man jerking awake into darkness.
“It’s all right, it’s all right,” soothes his bedmate, gentle hands pulling him close, stroking his hair and whispering, “I’m here. You’re not alone. Never alone anymore, Bruce.”
“Dick,” he breathes, his tears spilling onto warm skin.