Nightmares

[cauchemal]

Who: Dick Grayson, Bill Costigan, Mal Cobb
What: Little Dick is having nightmares. Bill can't handle kids. Guess who he calls?
Where: Dick's cabin.
When: Monday night, on either side of this thread.
Warnings: Possibly allusions to past badness for Mal and Costigan, but probably not much else.

[Threads to follow in two parts: Thread 1 will be Dick

Comments

[batmanschmatman]

Aside from being totally freaked out by... just about everything, Dick had managed to get through the day relatively okay. He'd become pretty good at just quietly accepting the things that were happening to him and moping quietly when things were getting him down, so this wasn't all that different our beyond his ability to sort of cope. Getting to sleep hadn't even been all that hard, even if he still wasn't really sure of what to make of the guy who'd been keeping an eye on him almost all day. At least he didn't ignore him like Bruce did

[lost_undercover]

Costigan had been in his room for some time, but had not yet gotten to sleep. He was dressed down to just his jeans and medallion, sitting on the edge of the couch in silence and trying to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do for a couple more days or however long this thing would last.

His head snapped up the instant he heard the screaming and the inmate grabbed his knife and a t-shirt as he ran for the kid's room. The weapon was already at the small of his back and he was sliding the t-shirt on as he walked in, eyes immediately searching around the room for some sign of threat. "What is it?"

[batmanschmatman]

Dick had stopped screaming by the time Costigan entered, instead just shakily gasping for breath and trying to remember why he was here and why he wasn't at home in his parent's trailer or at the Manor, eyes searching the room for something familiar and reassuring. He stared at the inmate for several seconds before answering, recognizing him, but still scared. He wanted to go home. He opened his mouth to start answering -

And burst into tears instead.

[lost_undercover]

"Relax, kid. There's nothing here." It was about as reassuring as Costigan usually got. Guys weren't meant to cry. Even at a young age, his dad had taught him that, to tough it out. Of course, his mom had been different and he'd cried when she had passed in the hospital that day, but this was different. He'd never dealt with it with anyone else, especially a kid as old as Dick was, and he had no idea what to do.

As if in a show of how harmless the room was, Costigan began opening the closet and rifling around a little, then eyed the bed, wondering if he would have to look under it to convince him there weren't any monsters or something. "See?"

The inmate stood pretty helplessly halfway between the bed and the closet, staring at the sobbing boy.

[cauchemal]

Having made sure that Angelica was settled and asleep, Mal hurried to Dick's room and knocked softly. The walk, unfortunately, gave her time to be surprised by the fact that Costigan had called, and also gave her time to worry and for her stomach to twist up in anxious knots at the prospect of seeing him again. Still ... there was the child, and so she tried to concentrate on that.

[lost_undercover]

Costigan's head snapped up from Dick toward the doorway of the bedroom. He smiled down at Dick, knowing it was Mal and not wanting him to be afraid. The inmate's arms slowly loosened from around the warden as Costigan tried to lay the kid back down without completely forcing him. At least the worst of it seemed to be over, but of course, now Mal was here. "Stay here, alright? I'll be right back."

He didn't really wait for Dick to reply, though he gave him a reassuring nod before standing and moving out toward the main section of the penthouse. He took in a deep breath as he strode over, pausing before reaching up to undo the two locks on the door. Costigan waited another second before opening the door a crack, oblivious to the fact that Dick had not stayed put.

"Thanks for coming, but I think he's okay now," he said to Mal before any sort of greeting. The former undercover leaned on the door, barely leaving much space between he and the door frame. Now that the panic was gone, he realized what a bad idea it had been, calling her.

[batmanschmatman]

He let Costigan try to get him settled back on the bed, watching him with wide eyes, still cautious even though he trusted him. He knew he'd come back, but he didn't actually really want him to leave. "Okay."

He lay there quietly for maybe a minute - still sniffing a little and rubbing a hand over his face to wipe some of the tears off, trying to get comfortable without getting too comfortable so he wouldn't fall asleep before Costigan came back - before pushing himself up and sort of cautiously following Bill out of the room. He was still sort of shaken, and he didn't want to be alone right now, even if he wasn't following instructions. Not that that had ever really stopped him before.

He stopped a slight distant from the inmate and considered asking who was out in the hall, but wasn't sure he wanted to actually announce he was out of bed, so kept quiet. But he was still breathing a little shakily, so it was really only a matter of time before a residual sob gave him away.

[cauchemal]

Her throat closed up when Costigan opened the door and she thrust her hands in her pockets, reaching for her totem. The ridged metal under her fingers restored some sense of calm.

At his words, she tried not to look disappointed. "Oh. Well ... all right. I'm glad you were able to get him settled, then." An awkward pause. "Shall I-" Leave? Stay? Her gaze dropped to the floor. "I should probably let you-"

From somewhere behind Costigan was a faint childish sniffle or sob. At the sound, Mal's head snapped straight up, maternal instincts taking over before reason or logic could get her out of the way.