Chapter Text
Bart walked over to the ginormous windows and reflected on the grey sky. He had always hated Gotham, reminded him too much of the future. In which skies were always grey and the people were in constant danger. That’s why he loved Central City so much. Because there people could smile and feel safe. Where, often, the sun shined. A thing he’s come to miss for the past few days.
“They cancelled all flights again,” a voice behind him called. Bart turned around and dejectedly accepted one of the festive, red cups Jaime was holding. “I think we’ll be stuck here again for a few days. Till it passes,” Jaime hums.
“Gee, I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks Captain Obvious,” Bart sassed.
“Ouch-- Rude.” He gave Bart a light shove, careful enough so Bart’s cup wouldn’t spill. “I can get why you’re annoyed, but please don’t abreact it at me ese.”
“Ugh, I know… Listen, I’m sorry, okay? It’s just that—Argh! I’m sick of waiting and being stuck here all the damn time!” Jaime could understand why Bart was getting all fussy by staying cooped here. They were supposed to leave today after being here for almost an entire week. The speedster had been pacing around the entire airport trying not to blow his cover. Trying not to run. Which Jaime admired, of course, but he didn’t quite understand why he’d go through this all when he could just be home within a few minutes.
“Cariño.. If it’s really bothering you so much we could always get out of here in no time,” Jaime offered. But Bart shook off the idea.
“No blue. We planned this trip to escape the usual hero gig. So, we should end it the same way. Like normal people do.”
Bart’s statement felt final, but Jaime still tried to shake some sense in the young speedster. “We’re not quite normal, Bart. Haven’t you ever heard of a cheat day?” Bart ignored the last comment and sat in his usual seat for the past few days. After almost a week being stuck here, they were lucky that the airport had a built-in hotel. It’s probably the only reason Bart lasted this long without running off. Jaime was used to this kind of thing, he used to travel a lot with his family before he got Khaji Da, but for Bart this must have been a horrible trip back.
“How’s the cocoa?” Jaime asked to change the subject. He sat next to Bart in one of the grey, worn seats and looked around him. The airport was humongous and equipped with the latest tech. A little gift from Mister Wayne himself. Probably since he had to use the airport often, but what did Jaime know. It was probably the cleanest place he had ever seen in Gotham, besides maybe Diamond District. Where, of course, the Wayne family lived. So, it didn’t quite come as a surprise.
He glanced at his reflection in the windows and noticed that the storm was still blazing. And Bart seemed to ignore him.
Lovely.
He rolled his eyes. “Anything new in the newspapers?” He asked mockingly.
“No. I’ve been reading the same one for the past wee—oh. You didn’t mean it,” he hypothesized. “I’m going for a walk.”
Jaime looked as Bart promptly stood up and left. He’d be back in thirty… forty minutes perhaps. It left him pondering about Bart and how he had left. Leaving a sick feeling in Jaime’s stomach, like the two were fighting or something. Which was insane, since the two rarely fought. The last time they had a huge fight was during a mission, because Bart took a hit to protect Jaime. That had pissed him off royally. They fought for days. But that was months ago, and everything had been fine since then.
Jaime thought of Bart’s blank face, it really had been a while since he saw Bart like that. But he didn’t quite know what to do to fix it. It’s not like he could stop making it snow. And Bart refused to use his powers. Which left little options left—none actually. Since no one was stupid enough to drive during a storm or even to go outside for that matter.
Jaime sighed and collected the, by now crumpled, newspaper Bart had been fumbling with for the past few days. It was the exact same mumbo jumbo Jaime had been reading. But then again, Jaime had read about every brochure there was inside this damn airport. He had now more useless information chiselled in his head than he had in high school. And that said something. He looked at the puzzle section and could see that Bart had already filled it in. Seven times.
Talk about overkill.
The headline was an alert warning for snow storms that would haunt them for over a week. Ain’t that ironic? This was published just before the storm had hit them. The next pages were filled with either celebrity gossip or villainous acts committed by Gotham’s infamous (and unlimited) bad guys. And of course, with the heroes who stopped them. And by the judge of it, it seemed that Red Robin had been in town. Was he still here? He would probably not be in his penthouse, right now. Much rather at Nightwing’s place. Knowing Tim’s older brother, he wouldn’t want him to be alone during a snowstorm. Or at all.
Then again, knowing Tim, he could be everywhere and you’d never notice in the first place. For all Jaime knew he could be at the other side of the world.
Kind of where Jaime wanted to be right now, but not because of the reasons one might assume. It’s because of the destination ahead of them. Bart and he had been moving from Jaime’s place in El Paso to Bart’s place in Central City in a continuous, dreadful cycle. Both still lived with their families and at this point it was becoming simply pathetic. It’s not like they didn’t have the money either, they were secured financial wise. It was simply because they couldn’t agree on a place to live. Even though Bart was the fastest man alive (In Jaime’s opinion. Flash could bite him) and could easily run home in a matter of seconds, he didn’t like living far away from his family. He always had that eerie feeling that something bad was going to happen if he wasn’t nearby.
And Jaime would miss his parents’ place in El Paso. His friends, his work, the people, everything really. They were headed to Central City for now, much to Jaime’s dismay.
He slumped into his seat and let out a heavy sigh. He stared at the ceiling, trying to think of a solution for when Bart returns all grumpy. And for how to survive the Allen’s. It’s not like Jaime didn’t like them, he just needed his own place after a while with anyone’s family. Really.
A page of the newspaper glided over to the floor and Jaime rolled his eyes. With a grunt, he stretched out for it and grabbed a hold of it. Surprised, he looked at the pages. He had read this thing to the end and back, but Jaime had never seen this page. Houses, apartments and flats were viewed on the newspaper with an estimated price circled around them. And then the realisation hit Jaime; Bart had done this. He was eyeing places to live together. Up to this point, Jaime thought that Bart hadn’t spent any time on finding a place of their own. For some reason, it made him feel a bit sick. He hadn’t trusted Bart at all… Maybe that was why Bart was just done with today.
In that moment Jaime had made a decision. One he knew was the right one. He grabbed his phone, unlocked his broken screen and started tapping vigorously on it. He sent a few texts and quickly started calling someone. He hadn’t noticed how much time was gone with texting and calling until Bart was in his sights again. He immediately hung up and waited for Bart, who looked like he was dying to say something.
His hair was tussled up and his clothes looked messy. Like he had been running around.
“Hey,” Bart panted. He doubled over and put his hands on his knees, taking a few deep breaths.
“Did you come back from war? What happened?”
“Had a running contest with the kids at terminal F,” Bart smiled. His cheeks were tinted red, and he wiped his hand over his forehead, collecting the sweat that was gathering there. “One of them came actually close to beating me!”
It put a genuine smile on Jaime’s face. He felt glad that Bart seemed to feel better know. Like a hefty weight eased off his stomach and allowed him to breathe again. “That’s amazing, think we should get him on the team?” He joked.
“Hey, there can only be one speedster!” Bart laughed and gave Jaime a small push. “So, what have you been doing while I was gone?”
“About that, I need to tell you something…” He grabbed Bart’s hands and looked him straight in the eye. But a more evil streak got the best of him and he quickly changed his mind. “I think I’ll just show you,” he smirked as he started walking to where they had dropped off their backpacks.
“Show me what?” Bart questioned, but Jaime didn’t answer. Jaime grabbed their bags and just pulled him hurriedly along. “We’re not going out, are we? It’s still snowing!”
“That’s fine.”
“No, it’s not.” Bart pulled himself free from Jaime’s hold and frowned. “We promised we wouldn’t do anything normal people wouldn’t be able to do either.”
“It has nothing to do with the team, Bart. I promise,” He grabbed a hold of Bart’s hands again, but this time intertwined their fingers. “But you have to trust me, cariño.”
Bart huffed, but managed to give Jaime a weak smile anyway. He grumbled a ‘fine’ and walked along to where Jaime was heading them. As he was heading through the many halls, and down the escalators and elevators, they finally arrived at the parking lot. A black car had just driven in and parked right in front of them. Jaime turned to Bart and gave him the biggest grin he could manage before he held the door open for his boyfriend. Bart raised an eyebrow and tried to fake disinterest, but he was dying to know what the hell was happening.
“Are you sure that driving during a snowstorm is a good idea?”
“It’s okay, our driver’s got a lot of experience under his belt,” Jaime whispered back. They fastened their seatbelts and soon they were driving onto the road. Bart felt a little uneasy not being able to see jackshit, but the driver seemed to have it handled just fine. Bart wished he could see where they were going, so he could find out what Jaime was planning, but it was all left as a surprised thanks to Mother Nature.
Thanks, you bitch.
Soon after, the car drove into a parking lot under, what looked like, a huge apartment building. They stepped out of the car and before Bart managed to sneak a glance at their driver, he was pulled along with his boyfriend to the elevators. Jaime pressed on the highest button and the doors started to close. He could see his boyfriend’s excitement grow bigger and Bart was left to wonder what was so special about this place. The doors opened and Bart gasped at the sight he saw. He was looking at a grade A, expensive-ass penthouse that was furnished like one of those fancy catalogues Grandma Iris always gets.
“Why are we here?” Bart asked as he walked into the penthouse. He turned and turned until it felt like he was going to be dizzy, but there was just so much to see.
“While you were gone, I found the newspaper page you hid from me.”
“I didn’t hide it from you. I just didn’t show it to you. You could’ve gotten that anywhere,” Bart countered quickly.
Jaime puffed, but continued anyways. “I remembered that Tim doesn’t quite often need his penthouse. And we still needed a place.”
“...No way.” He looked abaft and his eyebrows started to furrow. “You didn’t…”
“I asked Tim if it was okay to borrow his place for the while. He was cool with it. So, for the time being, this place is ours.”
Bart managed another look around the place. Emotions started flashing across his face, from happiness to worry and from fear to relief. It was just… so out of the blue?
Ha. Blue.
Without warning Bart sped across to Jaime’s side and crashed their lips together. The speed knocked them over and both fell to the ground, but Bart didn’t let go. He moved his lips over his lover, giving him a strong and passionate kiss. Like he’d die if he let go.
It was awkward at best, but Jaime kissed him back with all he had. It was everything that Bart was and felt, and he’d take all of it. And he’d return the same. Breathless, they parted. Their lids half lidded and their clothes already dishevelled.
Bart held Jaime’s face with both hands and just smiled. “Thank you… for making this happen,” he whispered.
“You should probably thank Tim. He made everything possible,” Jaime smiled sweetly. He held Bart closed, pulled him in by his waist. “It’s about time we found a place.”
“Yeah… Thank God I hid that newspaper from you huh?” Cackles echoed from the walls as Bart laughed.
“So, you did hide it from me!” He mocked hurt and looked away. “Bart Allen, how could I ever trust you again?”
“Well… I can think of a few things.” He showed a wicked smile and Jaime knew he was in for a long, well-deserved night. This time in his own temporarily borrowed place.
...He’d fix that later.