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There were no quiet nights in Gotham, not really. Sure, the city could seem peaceful from far above (when it wasn’t a battlefield) but even on the calmest nights the city was alive. The shadows here were dark and deep, and danger lurked in every place the light couldn’t reach.
Places like the narrow side-street Tim found himself on now, cleaning up the aftermath of the gang fight he’d interrupted. Nights like these for routine for Tim - disable the guns, toss the drugs in the river, drag unconscious gangsters into an alley and out of harm’s way. Patch up the bloodied forehead of the youngest fighter, a boy with a dirty shirt and knobby knees, not much older than Damian. He’d been knocked out cold by another gangster’s errant punch, Tim remembered hearing the impact, the whimpered cry, remembered seeing him fall to the curbside as the fight stormed on.
Of the seven men in the street that night, only Tim was left standing.
He let out a sigh.
There would be more, he knew. There would always be more - Gotham’s dark side was voracious, always aching for new blood - but not tonight. Tonight was calm.
He didn’t realize someone else had joined him until Jason’s voice shot through the silence.
“Fightin’ real pretty down there, Princess.”
Tim whirled - and when he found no one, he looked up.
How long Jason had been watching from the top of the fire escape, Tim couldn’t begin to guess, but knowing Jay, it had probably been awhile. Maybe even long enough to see the whole fight. It was impossible to tell with Jason silhouetted by the light of a thinning moon, but Tim was almost sure the other man was grinning - he could hear the lazy smirk in Jason’s voice.
Tim scowled.
“Way to finally show up, Hood,” Tim huffed, wiping the sweat from his brow and willing his heartbeat to slow back down again. The mere appearance of Jason Todd was nothing to fall to pieces over. “Could’ve made yourself useful if you’d been here ten minutes ago.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Jason asked. The metal frame of the fire escape trembled with his movement. “Can’t be the dashing hero if I never show up late.”
“Some hero you’d make,” Tim grumbled.
A rush of air. A metallic groan. A prickle of heat.
“You seem to think so,” Jason breathed, the words ghosting across the back of Tim’s neck.
Hands settled on Tim’s shoulders and he leaned into the touch, warmth curling down his spine as the scent of cordite and cigarette smoke cut through the cool night air. He could feel goosebumps rise along his skin as Jason traced over the lines of his neck and jaw with gloved fingers.
“You a little winded there, Babybird?” Jason murmured, relishing in the way Tim shivered as Jason brushed a thumb across his pulse, “…or is that just me?”
“You wish,” Tim muttered.
“Don’t have to,” Jason replied, coaxing Tim around to face him.
Jason dangled upside-down from the lowest level of the fire escape, his ankles catching the bar of the railing to allow him to reach Tim with ease. His hair hung in every direction, pulled by gravity into casual disarray, and his jacket bunched around his waist, leaving no doubt about the source of the strength that kept Jason suspended in midair.
“Todd, what the actual hell are you thinking?” Tim hissed, leaping back in alarm. Jason was one weak welding-job away from a broken neck - even if he had been a Robin once - and Tim wouldn’t put it past the builders to cut corners on the safety code. “Do you want to end up- ?”
He swallowed the last word before he could say it but Jason just grinned and pulled Tim back in close, so close that their foreheads touched.
“Dead?” Jason chuckled, finishing Tim’s question for him. “Death doesn’t like me very much.”
How saying such things could come so easily for Jay, Tim would never know.
“Besides, I like it up here,” Jason continued easily. “It makes it easy for me to do things like this.”
And with no further warning, Jason hooked a thumb under Tim’s chin and pulled him up for a kiss.
It started slow - slow by Jason’s standards, anyway - their lips slotting together crookedly as they searched for a familiar angle and found none. Jason’s teeth caught Tim’s upper lip instead of the bottom and the tip of Tim’s nose pressed into the rough stubble at Jason’s chin, making him snort.
“Like this,” Tim hissed, cupping Jason’s cheeks and tilting his head back enough so that suddenly they fit, and the slip-strike spaces between their kisses made Jason start to quake.
Like a lit match set to gasoline, the burn of their kisses flared fast and all-consuming, leaving any trace of gentleness to crumble in the heat. Adrenaline made their movements rough, their touches hard and desperate, bitten lips turning red and raw. Jason’s breathing turned harsh, the world spinning around him headily as the sound of his pulse thundered in his ears.
“This… this is harder than I thought it’d be,” Jason panted.
“It was your idea, not mine,” Tim replied.
“Oh yeah?” Jason twisted his fingers deeper into Tim’s hair, tugging just hard enough to pull the younger man back so Jason could look him in the eyes. “Then what would you suggest, Princess?”
“I think,” Tim bit out, “you should rethink… your angles.”
So he pressed his head into Jason’s hands and leaned back to allow Jason’s lips to slide over his chin and press a kiss into his neck.
Being kissed by Jay, Tim thought dizzily, was like playing with fire. It was hot and bright and dangerous, all-encompassing and raw. But he just couldn’t get enough of it, and Jason was more than willing to give, the sharp line of his jaw searing into the exposed curve of Tim’s throat as they fell apart under the streetlights, lighting fires beneath each other’s skin.
Tim just loved the way they burned.
“I… shit, Tim,” Jason rasped, the words warm and ragged on Tim’s jawline. There’d be bruises there tomorrow, Tim knew, stains of ash and soot to remind him of tonight when the scent of smoke had finally faded. Tim hummed at the thought.
“Feeling a little winded?” Tim mocked.
“...I’m gonna fall,” Jason replied.
Tim laughed, taking a couple steps back. “Well, get down from there.”
“Don’t want to.”
But he did, twisting hard in midair and landing on his feet, grinning as he pulled Tim back into his arms.
“Where are you headed after this?” Tim asked, his voice low and breathless, his pulse still riding high beneath his skin and crackling through him like electricity.
“Oh, you know, off to my lair to rest my weary bones.” Jason shrugged, an easy smile playing on his lips. “Time for me to call it a night, I think. And...” he paused. Caught his breath. Looked Tim in the eye. “And I was hoping you would come with me.”
Tim smiled.
“I think I’d like that,” he replied. “I’d like that a lot.”
~~~~~
They barely made it inside before they were burning again.
The door of Jason’s apartment closed with a loud slam as Jason turned and pinned Tim against the door-frame. His hands trailed down the younger man’s waist and searched purposefully for the buckles of his utility belt as Tim reached up to capture his lips in a hungry kiss.
“You’re in a very patient mood tonight,” Tim said wryly as his belt came loose and fell to the floor. He grinned when he felt Jason’s lips fall into a pout.
“Bite me,” Jason grumbled.
Before the words were even fully formed, Tim’s hands snapped up to grab Jason’s collar and pulled down firmly.
“Don’t tempt me,” Tim whispered, grazing his teeth along the hard line of Jason’s jaw.
Jason slowly threaded his fingers into Tim’s hair, scraping along his scalp. “What if I want to?”
If Tim had an answer, it was lost in their kiss - he was lost in their kiss, lost in the warmth of Jay’s body against his and in the flashfire of their urgency. They were safe now but their kisses were danger and desperation, high-explosives ready to ignite.
Just the way they liked it.
Leaving Tim’s cape and belt pooled in a rumpled pile on the floor, Jason wrapped strong hands around Tim’s thighs and pulled the younger man into his arms so they could move to the couch. They collapsed there in an artless tangle - legs jumbled together, hands knotted in hair, breath mingling in the little space left between them.
“You know, for such a small bird,” Jason began, running his fingers over the firm lines of Tim’s stomach, “you’re unusually heavy. How do you fly?”
“Physics,” Tim replied with a chuckle. “All physics.”
“Oh, really?” Jason teased. Tim hissed sharply as Jason’s nails scraped down his back, pulling chills along the cords of taut muscle under his hands. “Then what are these for?”
“Doing this,” Tim rasped.
And in one fluid movement, he flipped Jason backwards and pinned him to the couch, moving to straddle Jason’s hips with a satisfied smirk.
For Jason, the sudden change in perspective was dizzying - as was the sight of Tim above him, eyes alight, bitten lips all red and flushed, his hair a mess of wild tangles, the sloping curves of his neck and his collar-bones just barely out of reach...
Jason leaned up, straining against Tim’s weight to press his lips to Tim’s throat. “Is this how we’re gonna play?” Jason whispered, reaching higher to graze his teeth along Tim’s earlobe. “I figured since you were the one doing all the fighting tonight…” He lowered just enough to bite gently along Tim’s pulse-point, making him gasp. “I could focus on taking care of you…”
Tim shivered, lost for a moment in the spell of Jay’s promises. He could almost imagine it - Jason tipping him backwards, sharp teeth at his throat, warm hands on his ribs, every fiery touch reducing Tim to incoherence, his only thought the stuttered sound of Jason’s name… Consumed by the thought, when Tim felt Jason winding up to tip him backwards, he almost let it happen.
Almost.
“No,” Tim growled, coming back to himself and throwing all his weight into the pin. Jason fell back with a grin, his eyes gleaming as he sized Tim up to take on the challenge. While the Red Robin was a skillful and dangerous fighter in his own right, when it came right down to sheer power, Jason would win every time. He already had a game plan - cant his hips up, wrap his arms around Tim, and snap forward to pin his lover with a kiss or two or ten. Jason smiled.
It would be easy.
“You sure, Babybird?” Jason taunted, slowly planting his feet on the couch to launch a proper surprise attack. “I promise I’ll treat you right-”
His words cut off with a sharp groan as Tim rocked his hips downward, grinding against the heat of Jason’s half-hard cock.
“Let me,” Tim said with a smirk. “I’d much rather appreciate the view.”
“Suit yourself,” Jason replied.
“Oh, I will.”
With a little effort, Jason relented and relaxed under Tim, helping him remove his jacket and body-armor with a quiet, contented sigh. Soon Tim was sliding his hands under the hem of Jay’s shirt, tracing small circles along his stomach and his ribs and humming in satisfaction as he felt the tension slip from Jason’s body. Tim followed his touches with gentle, lingering kisses, pulling the shirt right over Jay’s head and tossing it carelessly to the floor so he could worship every bruise and scar, knowing instinctively where Jason had been broken.
“You’re a fucking sap, you know that, Drake?” Jason whispered when Tim finally reached his lips, kissing Jason slow and easy as the first weak streams of sunlight filtered in through the window.
Tim hummed happily. “And you love it, Todd.”
“I do,” Jason sighed, running his hands along Tim’s back, content with the feel of his lover so close, content with Tim’s presence. Content with the world. “I really do.”
They fell asleep like that, pressed against each other, their smoldering fires glowing softly as they shut out the world, happy to share a few moments of peace.