Forced Awareness: Epilogue -- Aftermath
Title: Epilogue -- Aftermath (Forced Awareness Series)
Fandom: Batman
Characters: Dick, Tim, Bruce, Alfred
Genre: Family, Angst
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: (This Part) Mention of sexual situations.
Summary: It's not a happy ending. But it's a place to start.
Word Count: 1633
Disclaimer: Sadly not mine, I just like to play with them.
A/N: This has been a long time in coming but this series is now complete (there is one more part after this, the link is at the end of the fic). Thanks so much to
dragonbat2006 for the wonderful beta!
If you want to read the previous parts here they are -- parts 1 and 2 of Opportunity, parts 1 and 2 of Regrouping, parts 1 and 2 of Brothers and Alfred's Interlude and part 1, 2 and 3 of Confrontation.
Dick
Leaving them in the Cave is possibly one of the hardest things I've done in a very long time. There are so very many ways it can go terribly wrong between the two of them. Regardless, it's Tim's call and we have our plan. Now that we've successfully gotten Bruce to come home, it's time for the next phase.
Since I showered first, it's my job to set things up appropriately. Tim has been explicit: peejays (including shirt) are a must. It makes sense. We need Bruce to accept what we have in mind, not run screaming for the hills. Of course, he'll probably run screaming anyhow.
No, he won't get the chance, not if Tim does his part. And we can convince Bruce not to use pressure point strikes on us. I open the door to the master suite. It's ornate with lots of wood. Expensive teak. A large bed covered in fine silk linens. There is a Queen Anne armchair by the ornate fireplace. It looks like something out of a Homes and Garden magazine and gives absolutely no sense of the man who lives here.
I wonder what it does to him, to surround himself with something so... remote? Impersonal? But that's probably the point. While Bruce will on occasion sleep here, this isn't part of his life. His life is down below. But not tonight.
Tonight we have to get through to him, show him that there is more to the world then his Mission-or his ideas about what should or shouldn't happen. I could kill him for so many reasons, not the least of which is that it took sex pollen to get him to act on his feelings. And we know those feelings are real, because he wouldn't be this much of a mess otherwise. With a little luck maybe we can at least start to make inroads toward resolving this.
I shed my robe, leave it in a heap on the far side of the bed and lay down to wait.
Bruce
I should have argued about the need to get back to the Cave. I should have argued with Dick and his proclamations. I could have argued about needing a shower-especially with the memories I have of those tiled walls. I did argue with Tim, after a fashion. But then Alfred came downstairs and there could be no arguing with him. Not this time. I'd seen that look from my old friend before, and I knew that I was going to lose this battle. One way or the other. So I chose that which still allowed me some dignity and headed for the stairs.
I won't sleep, that much is a given. But sometimes it's the appearances that matter most. Especially with Dick. Tim understands; I have no idea how and part of me is sick to my stomach that he does, but he understands. Dick doesn't and if I'm honest, I'm glad of that. For the most part.
Dick is both caring and forthright, but he wears his feelings on his sleeve around those he trusts. His solution is to talk, often to yell, until it's all out in the open. It's a method that couldn't be more different from anything I might find acceptable. Even so, he's family and his nature is one of the things that means so very much to me. Therefore, if the only way to keep him happy is to pretend to sleep, that's what I'll do. For tonight at least.
The master bedroom is on the third floor next to Dick's old room. Tim's is on the other side of the hall and two doors down. Out of habit, I stop to look in on Dick, and I frown when, even in the darkness, I can see that his bed is empty. He'd said he was going to bed, so where is he?
I'm tempted to check Tim's room, but he’ll be up shortly and I don't want to give him the wrong idea. Dick is a grown man and it's not like he can get into too much trouble in the manor-at least, I'd hope not. With Dick, anything is possible.
Coming to the large oak double doors that lead into the master suite, I open one side and step in.
Oh. It seems I've found Dick. He's lying on my bed, frowning at me. “About time you got here,” he says.
Tim
I have to be fast. Most of the armour is already in the dirty clothes hamper. I just have to sluice down and use enough soap to get the smell of the night off me. It's three minutes tops, but I have to hurry. Timing is everything for this.
It's really just habit that makes me move almost soundlessly as I race up the stairs, following Bruce's path. But I don't for a moment think he's unaware of my presence when I step into the third floor hallway. He is, however, preoccupied with looking into the master suite, where Dick is already in position.
There. He's taken a step back and is just about to turn, but I'm standing there dressed in my own pajamas, looking at him. I hope I don't have to speak. I don't want to speak, I'm not sure I can find the right words to make him listen. So I will him to see what Dick and I are trying to show him. He just looks at me blankly, hiding the stricken look I saw on his face a split second ago. Damn.
“Bruce, we're only asking you one thing. That you accept that we know what we're doing. And what we're asking,” I add in my best soothing voice. “I want you. I want to be with you. I've been in love with you since before I knew what that meant.”
“Ditto over here, boss,” Dick echoes from the bed. “You have no idea how long I've been wanting to be right here.”
There is that panicked light behind Bruce's steel eyes. I need to do something, say something. What is the right thing?
“When you're ready, Bruce, we're still going to be here. Do you understand that?” Please, please, I beg silently. I feel a great weight lift when he finally gives me a slow and somewhat hesitant nod. There is more, I know there is more. But this time, when I open my mouth, I have nothing. Thankfully Dick doesn't suffer that problem.
“We aren't talking sex, Bruce. We just-we need to be close to you. We need you to let yourself be close to us. We need you to stop running, Bruce. Can you do that for us?”
It's probably too much to hope for some sign of acceptance to that last one. The look of strangled panic behind Bruce's bland expression really says it all. We're pushing too hard, too fast. I think Dick knows that too, but he's not about to let up. Not when it took so much to get this far. I meet Dick's gaze, mutely asking him to back off, if only a little.
“I'll get some blankets,” the acrobat announces as he gets up from the bed. “Tim, do you want the arm chair or the settee?”
That's really not my idea of backing off. Carefully, I glance at Bruce to see how he's taking it. He large man breathes out and seems to relax by sheer force of will. I try to do the same, but I can't.
“I'm... Don't,” come the halting, deep tones of Bruce's voice. “I will be here. I'm not... I won't run.”
It would be impossibly childish to leap in the air and shout with triumph; yet in some small part of me that urge is there, even if I don’t act on it.
“But I can't...” he continues. “I need... time. Please.”
I've heard that word so seldom from him that I want-no, I need to give him what he asks.
He's looking at Dick. No, at Dick's hands, as he speaks. “Give me time to process this.”
I'm nodding. Dick is too. My older brother moves toward Bruce like he means to hug him, then decides (with obvious pain) against it. Okay, this I can do. I move behind Dick and propel him towards the door from behind. As we pass Bruce I say, “If you need us, we'll be in my room.”
“It's an open ended invitation, Boss,” Dick adds. “Even if all you want to do is talk.” Then we're out of the room and in the hall. Will it be enough? He did say he wouldn't run, but with Bruce-Batman-there are so many ways to run while still being physically present. I don't know if I can trust him.
Trust has to start somewhere. We head into my room, leaving the door ajar. Just in case.
Alfred
It hurts to see them so upset, but I can and will do whatever is in my power to alleviate some of the stress. Master Timothy and Master Dick hadn't told me explicitly what they planned to do once they managed to entice Master Bruce home, but it is easy enough to figure out when I see Timothy hovering in the Cave with my employer and original charge at the computer.
Some timely intervention is called for. There are advantages to having wiped someone's bottom as a child. A moderate amount of cajoling sends him upstairs.
Then it is time for me to hang back. I have long practice in observing from a distance, as well as my own password to the Cave's surveillance systems, which of course includes the manor itself.
There are some tense moments, but finally, I see it. It's not a solution. Rather, it's the beginning of something greater, of my family reaching out to each other; as they should, however tentatively. Closing the connection, I head up to find my own bed.
End
Now, in the author's notes I say that this is the end of the series. And it is. But....I'm thinking that maybe a oneshot is required to see how the boys progress....or don't as the case maybe. So we'll see. As always, C&C is ever appreciated.