The Memoirs

 

Lex's laptop was broken. Really… really broken. Dominic didn’t mean to, but as soon as the shock had disspitated, he let out a shattering whoop, raced down the steps, and he was out of the mansion in exactly a minute and a half.

 

Another five to get to the hospital...he ran past the ER doors...stopped...looked in. Toni. Standing there. Looking gorgeous. First day back? Didn’t matter.

 

He ran in, lifted her bodily off the ground, spun her around, and lay a huge, smacking kiss on her lips. "HE CAN SEE! YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAH!!!!!"

 

He dropped her, hugged her again, and ran all the way to the elevators.

 

Lionel could hear his lover all the way down two floors.  He knew that he should be testy about the other patients being disturbed, but he couldn't bring himself to be.  "Do you hear your uncle Dominic, Shane?  He's very happy."

 

Shane blew a spit bubble...squealed, and giggled.

 

Thumping footfalls from two halls down...then one hall...then Dominic raced past the room, stopped, grabbed onto the door frame, and hauled himself in. Past his brother, all but squished the baby, and he lay a kiss so hard and thick on his lovers mouth that he could barely breathe. "Christ. Oh, God, how I love you."

 

Lionel's hand fisted in Dominic's hair as he moved to protect the baby, kissing his beloved back just as hard.  "Not as much as I love you," he whispered, and then slid his hand over Dominic's cheek.  "You're the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my life."

 

Dammit. DAMMIT. He was overly emotional, always had been, and he was blubbering and holding him close and trying not to cry as he hugged him, but oh.

 

Vital things getting squished here, people! Shaneroo tugged and pushed...kicked his uncle in the ribs, and glared as if to say, 'hello. cartoons.'

 

He oomphed… laughed, then cupped his lovers face in his hands as he sat next to the bed. "See? I told you. I told YOU. I’m so good. Didn’t I tell you you'd get your sight back? And here you are, and you're the loveliest sight I’ve ever seen."

 

"Shane... I need a moment alone with your uncle Dominic.  Please." 

 

"Right.  C'mere, Shaney.  We need to go to the bathroom."  Graham collected his squished son, soothing him.  "We'll be back to the cartoons in just a minute."

 

As soon as Shane was gone, Lionel pulled Dominic back down beside him, holding his lover as close as he possibly could.  "You did.  You told me, I didn't believe you, I'm sorry, but you were right.  Oh, God, Dominic... you don't know.  You don't know how... how happy I am to see you again."  He blinked, and shook his head.  "Takes a bit to focus, but... you are so beautiful." 

 

His smile lit his whole face up, and he gently touched his lovers hair… soothing it between his fingers. Stroked, over stitches and new scars, over yellowed and black bruises...skimmed his lips, where the hair was beginning to grow back. Touched his face, held his hand to his own, and just...grinned. "I love you. I love you, Lionel, so very much, I adore you."

 

Lionel kissed the smile.  "I saw that smile so many times in my mind, touched it with my fingertips, and never dreamed I'd see it again."  He slipped his fingers through his lover's.  "Marry me, Dominic.  Please."

 

"Well duh." But he couldn’t help smiling wider, leaning in and gently kissing him… once… twice… three times. "Baby, good God." Between gentle kisses that peppered his face. "Now you're going to see.." Kiss, kiss, kiss. "How very bad we're growing our beards," Kiss, kiss, KISS, "Back.." Kiiiiiiisss.

 

"As long as it grows back, I don't care," he answered back, between kisses.  "Just... now.  As soon as possible.  I remember something about Venice, was it?"

 

"Venice. Beach." He kept kissing, softly, as if making sure his lover was still there, still seeing him, and he kept meeting his eyes every few seconds, and the life he saw in them warmed his heart to brimming.

 

"Call the airstrip.  Have the jet ready.  File the flight plan, and I'll have Rico flown to make clothes for us."  Lionel caught Dominic's face in his hands, and just stared into his eyes, memorizing them.

 

"Baby." He couldn’t help laughing, touching Lionel’s face, keeping it close. "Baby, we stink. You stink, I stink, we all stink. Lets go home, shower, and then..." Alright. So. This was part of the fantasy, okay? "You whisk me away in the middle of the night to fly off to Venice and get married."

 

Lionel nodded.  "All right.  I can elope with you in the middle of the night.  I won't... I won't be able to carry you off, like I'd hoped, but, some things must give in the heat of the moment."

 

"I’ve thought about it too much, I know." Color rose in his cheeks. "I just… yep. I love you. Be my husband, love. Run away with me."

 

"Of course I will.  I will be your husband, I will run away with you, take you away in the middle of the night and bring you back as mine."

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

"He always was a bit slow, wasn’t he?" Bruce murmured conversationally to his butler. They were still in the same room, unfortunately, and Bruce had read through the Times, the Daily Planet, and half a magazine of GQ before he got irritated. He was a patient man by nature, but there was something about the rich tones of the room the airport had assured them would be interruption free that rubbed him wrong.

 

"You're merely impatient, Master Bruce."  Cool and calm as always, Alfred Pennyworth was ever the loyal servant.  That didn't mean, however, that he let Bruce walk all over him.  He'd all but raised the boy after his parents' deaths.  "Considering the weather and his usual mode of transportation, I would find it prudent for him to go a little slower than the usual one hundred and fifty miles per hour he seems to favor."

 

Oh, and he grinned at that, and sideglanced his old friend. "You're still irritated over him crashing the living room all those years ago, aren’t you?" And he huffed. "I’m not impatient. "

 

"Irritated is such a harsh word, sir."  He crossed his arms over his chest.  "Yes, sir, you are."

 

"Alright, Alfred, I’m indecently impatient, I’m cold, this room is making me sick, and I want very badly to find Dick. That about sums up my mood as of now." He was bitter. ...More then a little bit.

 

Alfred sighed, and laid down his copy of the Daily Planet.  "We will find Master Dick, sir.  I know that makes it difficult to be patient, but I've yet to see you tackle a problem you've not been able to solve."

 

"Except this one. Four months, Alfred. He's been gone for four months. He could be dead. The cops have no leads. Not even… not even Batman does. This....he could be dead in some ditch, Alfred, or in the woods, or in China for all we know."

 

"Just because Batman has been unable to find Master Dick is no reason to give up hope," Alfred said cautiously.  "Lex has proven to be rather resourceful in the past, and perhaps the three of you can find our missing young man."  He squeezed his employer's shoulder in a fatherly manner.  "I know how you feel about him, Master Bruce.  He feels the same for you, I don't doubt it.  He is just waiting to be found."

 

Dick you don’t understand!"

"Yes, I do! I understand just fine! You can’t stand being around me... you don’t trust me enough to help you!"

"No, I don’t, goddammit!"

"Why? Am I not good enough? Am I just your little fuck toy?"

 

"Yes." Bruce murmured softly, and he nodded absently as his friend before picking his magazine back up.

 

Alfred shook his head sadly.  Young Dick's disappearance was wearing on the other man, and on himself as well.  "I have faith in you, sir."

 

"Its more then I’ve got for myself, Alfred." Bruce gently pet his hand, and kept on reading.

 

"So...erm..." Chloe was terrified. It wasn’t often she said that, but in this instance...oh, yeah. She had her hand locked through Lex's, and she walked close to him through the airport. Lots of weird people roving around. "Where are we going again?"

 

Lex's hand was reassuringly firm and warm.  "We're going to the private lounge.  There's only a few of us that have keys, and Bruce has a copy of mine."

 

"I feel like I shouldn’t be here, Lex. Maybe I should have waited in the car." ....cold feet? Chloe Sullivan? Never.

 

"No.  You're right where you're supposed to be."  He tugged her along after him, and as they paused in front of a casually concealed door, he pulled a key out of his pocket and slipped it into the lock.  Before he turned it, he looked over his shoulder. "Just remember, he's a man just like me."

 

"A very, very, very sexy man." Cough.

 

"And you're saying I'm not?  I'm very hurt, Chloe.  To the quick."  As they were speaking, Lex casually opened the door and dragged her into the room behind him. 

 

The two people talking had alerted him… his old friend, and a female. Probably the friend woman, who by the sounds of it, wasn’t a friend at all. The rattle in the lock alerted Alfred, but Bruce stayed cool, turning another page in the newspaper he was reading. This Lois Lane woman sure had a bite, and he winced internally for Bill Gates and the ass chewing he was getting in words. He spoke without looking up, and acknowledged their presence with a brow raised. "Slow as always."

 

Oh. Yes. Well. She was going to swoon. She grabbed Lex's arm tightly... swallowed around the lump… and looked at the man in the flesh. God, he was sexier in real life then on paper.

 

"If I didn't think you'd enjoy it, Bruce, I'd tell you to bite my ass."  He looked down at the fingernails in his arm.  "Bruce Wayne, I'd like you to meet my friend, Chloe Sullivan.  Chloe... this is Bruce Wayne."  He looked over.  "Alfred... you haven't killed him yet?"

 

"Only because I've nowhere to hide the body, Mr. Luthor."

 

Bruce glanced up...gasped. Oh. Wow. Both eyebrows rose, the charming, womanizing smile took over his face, and he immediately rose. "Lex, how can you have this beautiful woman on your arm and not call her girlfriend?" He took a slim, long fingered hand and kissed the back. "Its truly a pleasure, Ms. Sullivan. Lex tells me you'd like an interview?"

 

She just. Stared. He... Lips… soft... hand. She was never washing it again. "I...I-I..."

 

"Smooth, Bruce.  Very smooth."  Lex rolled his eyes.  "Don't fall for it, Chloe.  Bruce has been trying that same trick since he was fifteen."

 

"Hasn’t stopped working, has it?" Debonair smile. "You really are quite beautiful, Ms. Sullivan. Have you ever thought of modeling?"

 

"I....I-I...n....n-no. Um. No."

 

"You should. Alfred, make a note to call Seventeen, will you? We might have the next face of Paris right here on the arm of the most ungrateful, barbarian man on the face of the planet."

 

She was going to faint. She was. Except she couldn’t stop grinning, her cheeks flushed, and her belly was like water.

 

"Right away, sir.  I'll pencil in the call after your meeting with the president of SC Johnson.  Perhaps this young lady would be interested in the new line of skin care products?"  Alfred was already withdrawing Bruce's day planner to make the notations.

 

Lex took the opportunity to stomp, hard, on Chloe's left foot.  "Bruce, you're being too charming.  Come on, the car's out front.  You don't mind waiting at the coffee shop for me, do you?"

 

"Definitely. And put in that favor with Versace, while you're at it." And he was still smiling, but now that the initial charm was over, the lines in his face were evident. Exhaustion, depression, worry. Agitation and anxiety were coming off of him in waves, and he swallowed a little, shaking his head. "Not at all, Lex." He turned back around, gathered his brief case, and the single suitcase. He traveled light, after all.

 

Oh! OW! Pain! ...OH! She was acting a fool. She cleared her throat, got his total rugged sexiness out of her mind, and let go of Lex's hand. "Mr. Wayne, you look exhausted. Are you sure there's no way you guys can stop over for a while...take in the sights? Granted, the place is called Smallville, but its a cheery, nice place to live."

 

"Come on, Chloe... let's get Bruce out to the car before you start playing tour guide."  He handed her the keys.  "I'm going to help Bruce and Alfred with their things; you'll have to get the car open for me, can you do that?"

 

Oh. Condescending. She glared at him, snatched the keys from his hand, and gave him murder in her eyes. "I’m not ten; I’m pretty sure I can handle it, yes." Then a dazzling smile, and she turned to leave. "I'll bring the car around, in front of United Airlines."

 

"That's my girl!" Lex called out behind her.

 

"Thank you, dear lady, all your trouble is much appreciated," Alfred said gallantly, bowing and turning for the third carry-on case.  It held the Batsuit, and Robin's as well, though no one but Bruce and Alfred knew it's true contents.

 

"I thought I taught you better then that." But he shook his head, picking up his things tiredly and sighing. "Thanks for this, Lex."

 

"Here, let me."  He watched for Chloe to disappear.  "Bruce... you look like shit."  He hugged his ex-lover tightly.  "Come on.  Give me those cases.  We'll get you to the coffeehouse, I'll go collect Clark, we'll meet back up there, and regroup.  You need to sleep."

 

He embraced his long time friend and ex boyfriend, tightly at that, and allowed himself the luxury of burying his face in--

 

"What the bloodiest of fuck is on your face?"

 

"A goatee."  He snickered.  "You just noticed?"

 

"You've got...Yes, I just noticed! You… and hair? You've been hairless since you were like, what, 10? And suddenly...damn that’s odd." But he shook his head. If anything, he was the master of odd, and he started walking with him...making sure Alfred was coming, and sighing. "I'd like to meet Clark....he's won your fancy, and that’s a difficult thing to do." And he was silent and dark as they walked, unnoticing of the women who were all but swooning over him and the red headed mystery man.

 

"You're excused; you've got a lot on your mind."  He took the cases from Bruce, and started walking.  "You will meet Clark; I think you'll like him.  Even my father does, and that's definitely a miracle unto itself."  A shake of his head that sent the ponytail rippling.  "I have no clue how or why, yet.  One of the many mysteries I'm working on."

 

He was still silent, stony and hard, and his Armani shoes were whisper quiet on the used linoleum of MEX. God, he hated Metropolis. Why Lex had ever decided to live near it would always be a mystery to him. Sure, his dad, but there were ways to get around family traditions.

 

He should know.

 

"How's LuthorCorp?"

 

"Doing as well as ever; between Dominic being hurt and my father being blinded--at least temporarily--the headquarters have unofficially moved to Smallville.  When we rebuild the plant, we're going to refurbish the third level as new office spaces for the new satellite headquarters."  He slanted a look at Bruce.  "Didn't Waynetech Electronics win the contracting bid for that work?"

 

"Last month." Softly. He nodded to the doorman and stuck his hands in his pocket at once...god, it was cold. He shuddered and set his briefcase down a moment, slipping into the suede gloves he'd bought for himself just last week. "It looks like a good project, and I was happy to sign off on it. The foreman of the project...Mr. Ackermen. Good man, hard working...old school. You'll like him."

 

Lex nodded.  "I'm sure I will.  If you trust him, then I've no reason not to."  He nodded to where Chloe waited with the SUV.  "Come on."  But before they did, Lex put his hand on Bruce's arm.  "I will do everything I can to help you find him, Bruce."

 

He shrugged Lex's hand away, as was his way, and straightened without meeting Lex in the eyes.  "It’s just a matter if he wants to be found or not. And I don’t think he does." He turned to Alfred, and took the suitcase the older man had been carrying. "To the car." Then, to Lex, without looking at him again. "Your young friend looks murderous."

 

First free minute, and she was going to yank Lex's balls off, each at a single time.

 

"She'll get over it; she's a little um... star-struck.  Your lines didn't help matters either, and if keeping her pissed off at me lets her operate around you then that's a risk I'm willing to take."  He carried the cases to the car, and slid them in the back.  "Thanks, Alfred."

 

"My pleasure, sir."  He caught Lex's arm.  "Forgive the intrusion, Master Lex, but Master Bruce hasn't been at all himself lately.  Don't take anything he says personally; he needs rest and he refuses until Master Dick's been found."

 

Lex's smile was slightly enigmatic.  "You haven't met Ms. Bird yet, Alfred.  She bullies my father; I think she can handle Bruce."

 

"Is she really that enamored?" A soft smile... he had a weakness for beautiful women, and he'd never made pretenses over it. Sure, he didn’t like to fuck them… but looking at them, worshipping them, was just enough for him. "She's really beautiful, Lex. I wasn’t lying about her going and doing some modeling for my magazine. She'd be perfect on the cover." And then Lex was gone, with the suitcases, and Bruce strolled over to the pretty blond. "I’m sorry Lex's egomaniacal tendencies, Ms. Sullivan."

 

"He's such a creep. I don’t know how you guys are friends. Before ours is over I’m going to have him killed." But she smiled.

 

Then swooned, when Bruce opened the door for her. "T...thank you." And she slid into the back seat, her eyes bright with giddiness.

 

Lex rolled his eyes from the back of the SUV as he packed the suitcases in, making sure to conceal the case with the Batsuit in the bottom.  "I'd better go and rescue Chloe."  He cleared his throat loudly as he came around.  "What's this about having me killed, Chloe?"

 

"Of course, sir."  Alfred merely climbed into the third seat, old bones creaking slightly as he settled in.  "Do make sure you get us home in one piece, Master Lex?"

 

"Which part, Lex? The killing you and burying you in a shallow grave part? The tearing you, limb from limb part?" Sweet, sugary smile. "You know I’m too original for that."

 

"Feisty." And Bruce smiled a little as he settled, long limbed and heavy lidded, into the front passenger seat. "Alright, Alfred?"

 

"I'm quite well, Master Bruce.  Don't concern yourself with me."

 

Lex stifled the snicker.  "Be nice, Chloe, or Bruce will think you don't like me."  He cranked the vehicle, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.  "Besides, if you kill me, you won't get the exclusive interview cause you'll be in jail... Kansas law enforcement frowns upon killing their businessmen, and I've got Sheriff Ethan on my side."

 

"That’s only cause you promised him heaps of money for the children’s charity next week." Sweet smile... and how did she know? Well, she was a reporter now, wasn’t she?

 

He was silent... there wasn’t much in him to banter. The joy of seeing his friend was always new, but even then, it felt like it wasn’t Lex. The hair was strange… he didn’t like it. He'd much rather him bald and hairless; where he could count the veins on his head and see the eager eyed youth of yesteryear. Not the… the almost twenty four year old man. God, they were old. "Has he contacted you at all?"

 

"No, he hasn't.  I haven't heard from him since the last time we were all together."  His eyes fell to his worried friend.  "Bruce... what happened?"

 

He shook his head and looked out the window.

 

"If you're worried about Chloe... anything you say here is off the record."  He flicked his eyes at her in the rearview mirror, pleading for her agreement.  "But... if you don't tell me what happened... then I won't know where to start looking."

 

"Oh, yeah, totally. I won't tell a soul. Well, maybe my diary, but probably not even then." Chloe nodded from the back seat, and glanced shyly at Alfred.

 

"Its private." Hidden meaning... don’t make me tell this story in front of a complete stranger and who is basically my father.

 

Message received.  "All right.  I understand.  Then we'll start looking in the quiet places... places that you don't have access to.  I told years ago that my misspent youth would come in handy.  We'll start tomorrow night, canvassing the crawls in Metropolis, and if that doesn't turn up something, then I'll branch out to the Babylon in Philadelphia.  There's a friend there--Brian Kinney--who can help us."

 

"I'd appreciate it, Lex." Softly spoken, and he turned a glance at him. "I’ve employed everyone at my disposal...the police, some friends from the bureau. There’s nothing, Lex. Nothing. He's disappeared off the face of the planet, and I swear to any God who might be listening, when I get my hands on him.." The threat petered out, and turned soft. "Im never going to let him go again."

 

"He hasn't disappeared, Bruce... just gone to ground somewhere.  You don't have the underground connections that I do, and that's why I'm going to help you."  He squeezed Bruce's hand.  "Now you know how I feel about Clark; I don't think I'd be nearly so calm as you if anything happened to him."

 

"I’ve had a couple of months to freak out."

 

"Wait. You and Dick? You guys are....ohhhhh. Everything’s suddenly so much clearer." Chloe nodded, and she smiled a little. "Lex is a freak too, Mr. Wayne. Don’t worry about finding Dick now...Lex has bald, ugly freak friends, and they probably have him stashed in hiding in their burrows. Lex knows all about the burrows."

 

Alright, see? That gave him a laugh. He chuckled, glancing at Chloe over his shoulder. "Call me Bruce, Ms. Sullivan. You've won all of my respect. It takes a smart woman to insult Lex not once, not twice, but three times in a single sentence. Bravo."

 

She beamed and flashed her teeth. "Well thank you, Bruce. And you can call me Chloe."

 

Lex merely shook his head.  "As unflatteringly as she put it... I'm afraid she's also correct.  I do have friends who are... on the freakish side, and if anyone can help you find Dick, they can."  He glared teasingly at Chloe in the mirror.  "Remind me to call in a favor with those friends once Dick is safely found."

 

"Pfft. Threats, threats." She waved a hand.

 

And they grew silent for a while… the endless farm lands spanning on either side of the highway, where a lot of people had decided to be this particular day. Infuriating. But he was both too tired and to emotionally zapped to feel either, so he just watched the corn stalks go by.

 

"Dick, I love you. Please. Don’t do this."

"You don’t love me. If you loved me, you'd trust me. You'd let me be a part of your life. You're really fucked up, Bruce, and your priorities are even more fucked up."

 

Quietly. "He said I was just using him."

 

Lex's head snapped to look at his friend.  "Because you wouldn't let him get... involved in things?" he asked carefully.

 

"Yes." Another long silence. "He said I didn’t trust him… I was using him for pleasure and then dumping him to the side. I’m an old man, and I’ve been through a lot. I didn’t really think anything could hurt me anymore... but he did. He cut me to the quick."

 

"The people we love the most know how to hit us where it hurts," Lex said softly.  "Bruce... in a way, he's right.  But I understand why you did it.  If it helps, I'd have done the same thing if I were in your position."

 

"He can't be a part of my life, Lex." And he was wishing, desperately, that Chloe wasn’t there. "I won't let him get hurt."

 

"If you haven't noticed... you've hurt him already," Lex said softly.  "And maybe that's why he ran." 

 

"I know that’s why. The fight...it...everything had built up to that moment. I know that’s why he left." Quiet, for a moment. "Alexander, there was no one since you...not until he came into my life. And since that first moment, when I lay eyes on him...that was it. I’m not a man prone to emotional outbursts, but he moves me to them, day in and day out. He brings out the humanity in me I thought had been lost forever."

 

Move over, Johnny Depp. Don’t even blink, Keanu Reeves. Nice try, David Borneaz, but this man is a better fallen angel than you.

 

Lex studied Bruce for a very long moment.  "You and I are very much alike in that, my friend.  You know that for me... there were endless fucks every day, but until the day Clark fished me out of the river... I've never been more human since I met him that day.  I have laughed and I have cried.  I have smiled, hated, yelled, detested, teased, and endured, and it's all for his sake.  I have... even allowed him to call me AJ, just because it makes him smile."  He pulled the big SUV onto the Smallville exit ramp.  "I can't imagine what it would be to lose that; you have my word.  I'll do anything it takes to get Dick back for you."

 

"I’m losing my mind." Quietly. "I can't concentrate. I can't do business. My company has suffered, and I’m sure will suffer for the year to come. Even Alfred’s health is suffering. The mansion... its empty without him. My... my nights are lonely...lonelier then they’ve ever been, and that’s honestly saying something. Lex, I have to find him, and beg his forgiveness."

 

"Why didn't you come to me earlier?"  Lex moved his free arm around Bruce's shoulders, and squeezed.  "I'll talk to my father, and see which of the vices we've got that we can lend to you until you get back on your feet.  I'd send Dominic, but I know my father won't part with him, and I don't know what other qualified men we have.  My father's doctor will take care of Alfred as long as he's here--no arguments, old man, you're a guest in my home, and you'll be treated as such!--and you, Bruce... I'm going to make sure you get Dick back."

 

"He's resourceful, Lex." Softly, as he watched the tiny town come into view. "If he doesn’t want to be found, he won’t. I taught him that much."

 

"We'll see about that."  He flicked his eyes up at Chloe.  "Come on, Bruce... plans are changing.  We'll get coffee first, and then go back to the mansion to clean up and pack.  We'll need the caffeine to hold us until we get off the ground."  He kept his eyes on Chloe's.  "Do you want to come with us to Philadelphia, Chloe?"

 

She shot him a little grin in the rearview mirror. "I’m sure my father, and Whitney, and my school teachers would appreciate that so much."

 

"I’ve got more coffee in my veins then blood." But he shrugged and nodded, straightening up a little.

 

"Right. School.  I forgot it's just the break."  Lex heaved a sigh.  "That means Clark won't be coming along with us either."

 

"I'll be more than happy to accompany you sirs," Alfred piped in from the back seat.  "Master Dick is my responsibility as well."

 

"Trust me, Bruce.  You look dead on your feet; there's no way you can function like this.  Coffee, then hot shower, then back to the airstrip.  I'll call for the helicopter at the house, and that'll take us back to the private strip and the LuthorCorp jet."

 

He nodded but was silent, as they drove through the small town. Lovely and quaint, and it reminded him of little villages his mother had adored getting treasures at. An old, hollow pang, but as was his way he kept silent, watching the post-Christmas cheer as the people strolled the snow covered streets, racing to get in. "The airline said something about a storm coming?"

 

"There's supposed to be a front coming in in a few hours, a bad one.  Blizzard strength, so they're calling."  Lex pulled to a stop in front of the Talon.  "Come on in.  We'll get you something hot to drink."

 

Bruce nodded a little bit, and tugged his gloves back on. His brief case would be safe in the car... as strong and durable as it was, and he got out, stepping onto snow and looking up. The sky… was beginning to darken on the eastern horizon, and it looked nasty to the north. "Mmm." He opened the door for Chloe, helping her out of the SUV.

 

She beamed, eyes dancing, and her boots crunched on the salt on the road as she went around the car to Lex.

 

Inside the Talon, Shayla was sitting in Sam's corner seat, having persuaded him to give it up so she could watch the snow flurries through the Talon window.  She squealed when she saw Lex's fancy car pull up to the front.  "It's AJ!!!" she shrieked, almost spilling her coffee over her newly-acquired toys.

 

"Oh, fuckin' great," Sam growled under his breath, and then turned a charming smile to Pete.  "You know... this coffee's set my teeth floating... I gotta hit the bathroom for a little... privacy," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

 

Lex slid out and waited to make sure Alfred was out safely as well, and then walked around to meet the rest of them on the sidewalk.  "Come on inside, it's warm, and we'll get one of the waitresses to take our order."

 

All Pete could do was grin, and he nodded at his lover... squeezing his arm, and letting him out of the booth. "Hurry back, kay?"

 

Bruce stepped around the large car and helped Alfred on the ice too… he wasn’t weak, but he was old, and a broken hip could mean permanent damage for his lifelong friend. So he offered an arm, helping him across the slick side walk, and stamped his feet as soon as he stepped into the coffee house behind Chloe. It smelled like sin...cinnamon and nutmeg, and his life’s blood, coffee. "This...is very nice, Lex."

 

Oh. Dammit.

 

Chloe's mood went down like a sinking ship, as soon as she caught sight of pinky. Fuck.

 

Sam nodded, and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.  "If I'm in there too long, you gonna come look for me?" 

 

"AJ!!!"  Shayla stood up in the booth, waving her arms for attention... as though the pink hair weren't grabbing enough.

 

"Shayla," he said, linking his arm through Chloe's.  "Behave, Chloe... the misunderstanding's been cleared up, and everything's taken care of."  He looked over at Bruce.  "Be prepared, Bruce... she'll hit on you.  With a sledgehammer."

 

At Shayla's ear-piercing shriek, Sam straightened, turning around to look.  And instantly... wished he hadn't.  His hand tightened on Pete's shoulder, short nails digging into his lover's chocolate skin.  "Pete... I gotta get out of here... is there a back way?"

 

It was too late. Way too late. So late in fact, that Bruce's heart leapt into his throat...and the ball of tension in his belly became a physical ache. Night after night, he'd envisioned this, what would happen when they met again. But nothing prepared him for the utter horror of what he felt. Pain, guilt, love, ache, all in a tight fist punching at the walls of his gut. His breath escaped him....and all he could do was sit there, and stare.

 

"S..." He blinked… glanced at Lex, some tall guy, and Chloe. "Yeah, I mean....are ya suddenly allergic to Luthors? 's wrong?"

 

She grit her teeth. Hard. Chloe was a companionable sort, so she tried to smile. Really.

 

"Just somebody here I don't wanna deal with, baby."  He couldn't stop staring at Bruce.  He looked like hell warmed over, and the guilt he'd been successfully fighting off for the last six months just suddenly slammed into his gut, and his grip tightened further on Pete's shoulder.  Everything he'd tried so hard to forget... was standing right in front of him.  Fuck.  "I gotta get out of here, Pete... now."

 

"Yeah....alright, man, c'mon." Pete took his arm, and began to lead him through the rows of tables.

 

"Dick." He said it, so softly, and stretched out a single hand to him, but only part way...as if he knew he wasn’t welcome.

 

"No...Bruce, that’s Sam." Chloe nodded...then wished she hadn’t as she squeaked out a little "Oh."

 

The soft whisper stopped him in his tracks.  "Bruce."

 

I love you, I miss you, please come be by my side. "Hey." Said whisper quiet over the drone, and thankfully there weren’t too many people in the coffee house. Not that he'd notice.

 

"Ya know 'im, baby?" Dread began to creep up into Pete's gut.

 

"Yeah, I know him."  A step back to stand closer to Pete than propriety allowed, making a bigger statement with that than he could with anything else.  "He's what I've been runnin' from."  He didn't take his eyes from Bruce, however.  "What do you want?"

 

Wrong, wrong, it was going wrong, and his heart, his dark, warriors heart, began to patter in fear. "I've been looking for you."

 

Chloe glanced at Shayla a little... the girl was keeping her trap shut, for once. Then a glance up to Lex, and she winced.

 

"Didn't wanna be found."  A pause.  "Still don't."

 

"I miss you." Softly.

 

In those three words there was enough heart to stop Pete from tugging Sam out, and he swallowed as he looked at the well dressed man.

 

Hard lump in his throat, and he wanted to lie.  But he couldn't.  "I missed you too... but I ain't going back, Bruce."

 

Lex couldn't believe it.  Dick Grayson... right under his nose.  And he'd never known it because he'd never met the boy.  The pain in Bruce's tone was shattering, and his heart hurt for his friend.

 

Shayla... was speechless.  No idea what was going down here, only... she didn't like it.  Didn't like the hard swallows going down Sam's throat, or Pete's, didn't like the big man comin' in like he owned everything.  Didn't like it a bit, and she scooted down the booth to sit on the edge.

 

Please, God, if you have any mercy on me after all this time, please make it a lie. "I...I didn’t… didn’t come looking for you for that. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead, in some ditch somewhere."

 

"Well... I'm not.  Go home, Bruce."

 

Yeah. Just...yeah. But Chloe saw the immediate defense in pinkies eyes, and she slid discreetly into the booth, and touched her hand. A little shake of her head, and she swallowed too.

 

"Its not home anymore." Were Bruce's soft, subdued words.

 

Oh, God. This... this... it made... oh, Christ. Dick Grayson. Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne's Dick Grayson. Pete's funny, fun loving, sexy boyfriend... was Dick Grayson. He swallowed, looking at his profile as he spoke to the man, and his fingers unconsciously squeezed around Sa--Dick’s.

 

Forgotten in the exchange, Alfred stepped forward.  "Master Dick... please.  Listen to him."

 

Shayla started, almost jumped out of the booth, but something in the little headshake told her not to, and she gripped Chloe's hand tightly, not at all liking where this was going.

 

Fuck and double fuck.  Alfred, and then Bruce, and it wasn't fucking fair.  "Al... you didn't have to come all this way to find me.  You knew I could handle myself."

 

Alfred shook his head.  "You have it wrong, Master Dick.  It's not you I'm worried about," came the soft reply.  "It's Master Bruce."

 

Dick took another step back into Pete, and almost knocked him over.  "Go home," he said again, but softer this time, almost choking on the words.

 

"I already told you, Dick. Without you there, its not home. Since the morning I woke up and found you gone… all your things...its not home. It'll never be home again, not if you're not there. Please… I understand, I know what I did was wrong. I thought once I wouldn’t beg for you... I was so wrong. I beg of you, Dick. Come home with me. Work things out. Don’t tell me to go to hell."

 

Chloe just sort of turned her palm over, and linked fingers with Shayla, swallowing hard at the raw pain in the older mans words...and her eyes filled with tears.

 

"S...Sam." Heart. Shattering. In. His. Chest. "Sam."

 

Dick's grip on Pete's hand tightened, nearly breaking it.  "Bruce--"  He broke away from Pete and went to Bruce.  He kissed him, hard, deep, batting his hands away, and then stepped back.  "No, Bruce... it's too late, gone too far."  And then he ran.  Out the door, into the snow, and was gone.

 

Shayla blinked as Sam ran out, and she tightened her grip on Chloe.  "What's goin' on?" she whispered.

 

Lex tried to catch Sam on the way out, but Sam shoved him aside.

 

Dick leaned against the side of the building, sucking in huge gulps of cold, frosty air.  He shoved his hands in his pockets, body bent almost double around the ache in his belly and his chest.  Bruce.  Had come.  For him.  Begging for him, and it was a knife twisting inside him.

 

It broke his heart. Bruce felt it smash into shards, piercing his insides on their way down, to pool at the base of his belly and anger the snakes living there. They twisted and writhed, and he felt the cup of coffee he'd drunk at the airport try to come back up.

 

Sweet. Tasted the same. Always tasted like strawberries and cream at night.

 

Then gone, and he raced the boy he loved more then life itself tell him now.

 

Chloe winced and squeezed Shayla's hand. "Long story."

 

"Sam! SAM!" Pete snarled at the two older men...shoving past Lex, and racing outside. The cold hit him like a fist, and he gasped, shuddering, and calling out. "Sam! Sam!!"

 

"Over... over here, Pete."  Dick was still in the alleyway, doubled over and leaning against the wall, drawing in long, stinging breaths of cold air and breathing out hot clouds of crystallized breath.  "Over here, baby."

 

Shayla's head bounced from Chloe, to AJ, to the guy that Sam'd called Bruce, then to the door where Pete had gone after Sam.  "Everything's gonna be okay though, right?  I mean, Sam and Pete are gonna still be together, right?"

 

Alfred stepped up behind Bruce.  "Go, Master Bruce.  Quickly so."

 

"Sam...Sam?" He walked through the snow boughs quickly, over a pile of garbage, before reaching out and wrapping his arms around his friend...and his lover. "Sam, what’s wrong? Sam, why didn’t you tell me? Why? He's the reason you're here... why didn’t you just tell me?"

 

She winced just a little bit, and shrugged petite shoulders. "I don’t really know. It....Bruce and Dick...Sam. They...Bruce was looking for him."

 

"I..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I can't, Alfred."

 

Sam gripped his lover tightly.  "Lotta things I didn't tell you, Petey... lotta things."  He looked up into Pete's deep brown eyes.  "I'm sorry, baby.  Shoulda told you, but... was tryin' to push it all away.  I'm sorry."  He rubbed his hands over his arms.  "I'm sorry."

 

"But you must," Alfred said quietly.  "If you don't go to him now, then you've shown him that you've given up on him.  If you don't want to lose him, then swallow what is left of your pride and go to him."

 

Shayla shook her head.  "It's not fair.  They just got together."

 

He was so right. So right. He couldn’t let Dick go... not now. Not after… not after this. No. He handed Alfred his brief case and turned, following the path the young black man had taken out the door. The wind nipped as it slid down his neck, but he could barely feel it… just rushing down the small walk and looking every which way. Terror, anxiety… fear. "Dick!"

 

"B... but, I don’t... I don’t understand?" Pete’s throat swallowed reflexively, and he shifted from foot to foot. "Don’t be sorry… its okay, but....you and Bruce Wayne?"

 

Okay, what? Chloe’s eyes snapped to pinky, and both brows shot up to her hairline. "Huh?"

 

Dick thumped his head on the brick wall.  "My name's not Sam Menkins, Pete... it's Dick Grayson," he said quietly, as though it explained everything.  "That fake ID?  Isn't fake; it's my real license.  I changed my name and my age when I came here... smallest town I could find.  Even with Lex here... knew there was a good chance that I could stay out of his radar if I stayed with the high school crowd, but... that's before I found out 'bout him and Clark."  Another thump of his head on the bricks.

 

"Sam and Pete," she said, still staring as the handsome man tore out of the shop.  "They just figured it out, that they love each other, and it's not fair.  It was just this afternoon, they haven't even had a chance to enjoy it yet."

 

Dick tightened his grip on Pete when he heard Bruce.  "Leave me alone, Bruce!" he yelled, pulling Pete close and resting his head on Pete's shoulder.  "Just leave me the fuck alone."

 

"S...so everything... everything’s been... a lie?" Softly, and Pete dropped their G-dawg talk, the slang, the bullshit. And just stood there, bared, as his chest and throat tightened. "You.... I was your cover?"

 

"Sam? And Pete? Talking about the same Pete here, right? The very straight one?" Chloe continued to stare at Shayla, and felt Lex move closer to them, so she glanced up. "Sam? And Pete?"

 

He was there. Following the voice, Bruce stepped around the large trash receptacle and boxes... and saw his lover. With his arms around this boy. Whatever was left of his heart disintegrated, and he felt himself go cold. "I can't."

 

"No.  You... you were actually the one good thing that I found."  He looked up at Pete, just himself now and not Sam.  "You weren't a lie, Pete.  Not what I feel for you, not how much I care about you, nothing.  That's not a lie.  It never was.  Jesus... why do you think I didn't want to tell you how I felt, didn't want to tell you that I loved you?  Cause of this... shit.  Cause I didn't want to hurt you but baby... I couldn't stop the way I felt.  I wanted to; damn, but I wanted to.  I wanted it to be just fun and friendship with damn good benefits but it could never be that way, not with us."  He didn't let go, but he turned to look at Bruce.  "Yeah, you can.  You did fine without lettin' me in before, you can keep on doin' fine now.  Didn't need me then, and don't need me now."

 

"Well yeah, duh."  Shayla looked up at AJ.  "Who's the new guy with the old geezer?"

 

Lex sat down in the booth, beside Chloe.  "That's Bruce Wayne, an old friend of mine.  The old geezer, as you put it, is his butler, Alfred."

 

He flinched back… as if physically assaulted. The words of love for someone other then himself had his voice gruff, and his chest aching. "Dick... please, hear me out. Please. Don’t push me away. Please, for the love of God."

 

Pete didn’t know what to do. His throat was tight, and he squeezed Dick's hands tightly...looking up into his eyes, before the older man. Oh, Christ. He didn’t want to let go, please God, don’t make me let him go. "I love you, S...Dick."

 

"Hottie, huh?" She waved Alfred over, and tugged Shayla's hand to get her to move over. "Shayla, meet Alfred. Alfred, Shayla. Our resident pinky."

 

Dick held tightly to Pete as hard as he could.  "I love you, Pete.  Don't ever think I don't."  He looked over at Bruce.  "You ain't got nothin' I wanna hear, Bruce.  Not now.  Not ever.  You got your life and your mission, and I got mine.  Thought they could go together but I guess not." 

 

"Yeah, but... he's not quite the guy that AJ is," Shayla said, googling at him.

 

Lex merely replied with an eye roll.

 

"How do you do, Miss?"  Alfred bowed his head, and slowly creaked his old bones down into the seat across from them.  "Might I say that your hair color makes your eyes look an extremely unique shade of blue?"

 

"I didn’t...Dick, I couldn’t tell you the things you needed to hear. I couldn’t..." He was at a loss for words. Five months looking for him, and Bruce was at a lose for words. "Dick, please."

 

Chloe couldn’t help the second eye roll and the grin was bright and flashing across her face. "You know, Alfred, they have places where you can use that skill."

 

"Dick..." Softly. He… he was being cheapened, here. "Dick... talk to him. Don’t...don’t use me as your nyeh nyeh. Talk to him, man. He looks like he needs it, and...and you do too." A nod, and Pete let go of him, swallowing. "I'll...I'll be around."

 

"The manure factory, perhaps?  I've heard quite a bit about that small factory from Mr. Wayne."  His smile was just as charming as his compliment had been.

 

Dick dropped his arms when Pete did, and stepped a step deeper into the dark alley.  Robin, at home in the shadows and darkness.  "I'm not using you, Pete."  His eyes darkened, and then shuttered completely at the accusation.  "Fine.  I'll talk to him.  Bruce, you wanna talk, I'm going home.  You can either follow me or not."  He held his hand out to Pete.  "Keys, please?"

 

She barely kept the laugh in. Barely. "You could really stretch your wings there, Alfred. Make some money, have some time off, let Bruce try and survive without you for a while."

 

"You...you want your keys back?" Oh, God. His mouth opened and closed...unbelieving, and his eyes got bright as he dug into his pocket for them. "Its cool."

 

His little house key was attached to the chain.

 

His throat worked...violently, and he dug his hands into his pockets, lowering his head. "I'll follow you." To the ends of the earth.

 

"No, baby... just the keys to my car.  You drove us back, remember?  All I want is the car keys."  Dick's face softened.  "Keep the house key; you'll need it after Bruce is gone when you come over to hang out with me."  He glared at Bruce. "You can go to hell, Bruce, you know that?  I was there for you for how long?  By your side, and you didn't care.  Now that nobody's there to kiss your ass--and I mean that literally--you decide that you wanna come lookin' for me.  Just go to hell."

 

Alfred gave a small laugh, and Lex chuckled.  "I don't believe Master Bruce would know how to survive without me, Miss Chloe."

 

He was a calm man by nature. But when exasperated.... his temper lashed out, and his strides were long as he moved down the alley. Swept Dick up in a single movement... hard hands on his biceps, squeezing tight. Bruce shook him, hard, swept him around so his back was facing the ally entrance. "Do you think, Dick, that I would have come all the way to fucking Metropolis, out here to the middle of nowhere, if I didn’t love you? God dammit, god dammit. I cared so much I couldn’t tell you...I love you so much, and I didn’t want you to get hurt!"

 

Oh, God. Pete backed up a few steps, swallowed... and the love, the commitment, the terror was in the older mans voice. Oh, shit. "Dick… its alright, man, just go."

 

"He'd go out and buy towels when he ran out of clean ones."

 

"Take your fuckin' hands off me, man," Dick growled, just about two seconds before his Robin training kicked in, and he planted one foot in the middle of Bruce's chest and shoved, flipping himself out of Bruce's grip to land on top of one of the shipping crates.  "Don't you ever touch me like that again, Bruce.  EVER."

 

"Now that sounds like a man of reason," Lex interjected quietly.  "Alfred... do you think... should we check on them?"

 

"Master Bruce has been known to go out and a buy a new wardrobe, in fact, when one article of clothing is worn out.  I do not believe he would comprehend the intricacies of... a washing machine."  He shook his head at Lex's question.  "No, young sir.  They must work this out themselves."

 

He didn’t have the energy to fight back. So he just stumbled...fell to a single knee...and slowly got himself back up. "I’m sorry."

 

"By working this out, are we talking blood?" Chloe questioned.

 

"You aren’t listening to me. You never listen to me. I’m not an articulate man, Dick, you know that. And every time I try to tell you something...you turn it around, so its my fault. This time it is my fault, but not for the reasons you'd think. Just please, talk to me. And if things don’t go the way they need to go...I'll leave."

 

That was it. Pete glared, and reached over, snagging Dicks hand and tugging. "Maybe you and I should just leave, Sam. --Dick. Lets go home."

 

"It would not surprise me at all, Miss Chloe," Alfred said softly.

 

"I'm listening to you, Bruce.  And if you'd said this before I left... then you'd have made me the happiest person on the face of this earth."  Dick's voice was soft, swallowing hard.  "But... but it's too late now.  You're the one not listening to me.  I don't--I don't need to hear that from you anymore because it's done.  I'll take your secret to my grave, but there are other people who do want me in their lives--all parts of it--and I want to be there."

 

He straightened...ramrod straight, in fact, and his voice was gruff and dark when we spoke. "You never listened to me, Dick. Never understood. And I’m sorry you want to throw the last four years of our lives away. I just wish that someday...you'll understand, and you'll come back to me." Quietly, and he turned and left.

 

"Dick...man." He tugged lightly on Sam’s hand and winced. "You kay?"

 

"No, man... I'm not okay."  He looked up at Pete.  "I'm sorry, baby... never meant for any of this to hurt you."  He sighed.  "Fucking asshole... I waited, Pete.  I waited four goddamned years for him to say those things to me, and he couldn't.  I was never good enough until I left."

 

"Maybe.." He tugged on the hand, and led him down the other way, where the exit on Crawford street opened up. "Maybe, Dick, they were there all along, man. And you just didn’t see um."

 

"You don't know him, Pete.  You don't know all the things I know about him.  Bruce loved me... I don't have any doubt about that, but he shut me out of the most important thing in his life--and I can't forgive that."

 

"Then you didn’t really love him in the first place." Softly, as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Wanna stop by Ben Wa and get some noodles?"

 

"Its... its been a while. Should we... we check on them?" Chloe winced slightly as she took a sip pf her espresso.

 

"I did love him, Pete--part of me still does.  But... you don't know what it's like."  For the first time, he wanted to tell someone Bruce's secret.  "He's... he's got this really dangerous hobby."  Crime fighting in a black rubber suit.  "And he won't let me be a part of it.  He doesn't get that it kills me sitting at home and waiting... that I have nightmares about talking to his headstone and asking if things would have been different if I'd been there."  He stopped at the end of the alley, and looked at Pete.  "I wish I could tell you everything, Pete... then you would understand."

 

Alfred shook his head.  "No, Miss.  If I know both my young masters, Master Dick is right about now telling Master Bruce to go to hell, if you will excuse my language, and Master Bruce will be storming angrily back in here with his wounded pride in the next... I will say five minutes."

 

"You're still not telling me everything, man?" He stopped...let go of Sam’s hand, and tucked both of them into his pockets. "Dick… you’re not seein' it from his perspective. By dangerous hobby I know you mean real dangerous, right? Well maybe he didn’t want you out there… cause you could get hurt. Ya know? That'd be my thinkin'."

 

Except Bruce was, if anything, unpredictable. He'd come, so far, all this way just to lose his lover all over again. Only this time, there wasn’t hope that he'd suddenly wake up with Dick in bed with him again, like nothing had happened. There was no looking forward to seeing him again. He'd seen him....the beauty in that young face had punched him in the gut. How could he forget, how Dicks mouth quirked when he was smiling? The fire that lit in his eyes when he was angry? How could he think he'd ever come back to him?

 

There was nothing left. But so was his life. There never was.

 

"By dangerous, man... by dangerous I mean he's come home beaten, shot, had his back broken, been kidnapped, gassed, drugged... I mean you name it, he's been that."  Didn't mention that he'd been done that to as well.  "It's just... I'm not a possession that can be put up on a pedestal, Pete.  I've been hurt--he knows that--and I can't get why he expects me to stand by and just let that shit happen.  Me and Alfred--hell, if it wasn't for Alfred, I wouldn't have a clue in hell of what Bruce's little hobby even was."

 

Shayla was surprisingly quiet.  "Wow... you guys must be great friends, Alfie."

 

"We are, Miss.  We're very good friends."

 

Lex pushed his chair back.  "Sorry, Alfred... I'm not waiting any longer.  I'm going to go butt in, and if they tell me to leave then I will."  Lex squeezed Chloe's hand.  "Stand by, Chloe... he may need a soft shoulder."  That said, he slipped out of the booth, wove quickly through the tables, and out the door.  "Bruce?" he called out loudly, wrapping his coat around his waist.  "Bruce!"

 

"So, he's Batman, huh?"

 

"Yeah, yeah. what am I but a soft shoulder, right?" She smiled as he left, then propped her chin in her hand and beamed at Alfred. "So. Alfred. How do you feel about reporters?"

 

Dick's head shot up.  "What?"

 

"I find reporters endlessly amusing, Miss Chloe.  Most of them are not intelligent enough to realize that I've been with Master Bruce too long to consider betraying his confidences, and the ones who do realize that spend too much time plying me with gifts and innuendo so that I will intercede on their behalves to get them in to see Master Bruce."  He smiled.  "As a general rule, I've yet to meet a reporter I'd call a friend--except for you, Miss."

 

"I’m not as stupid as everyone thinks I am." He said it softly. "I can put two and two together, Dick. Its okay... I’m cool with keeping secrets, man, you know that. But I can see why you're angry. He fights, and he leaves you out of it. Know why? He loves you. Its not hard to see that either, unless you're trying not to see."

 

She fluttered her lashes, and her smile was blinding. "Would you mind if maybe I interviewed you sometime? Though you won't give me any juiciness, it would still be nice to know what Bruce Wayne's butler does all day.

 

"Then you should know something else, Petey... You know Robin?"  He sighed.  "You're lookin' at him.  If it wasn't for Alfred... wouldn't even be that much."

 

Alfred smiled lightly.  "It would be my honor."

 

Pete stared for about five and a half seconds...before pinching his nose and sighing heavily. "Too old for this shit, yo." They got to the car parked on the street, and Pete took his hand again, lacing their fingers and squeezing. "You love him?"

 

"Yeah... yeah, I do.  Always have, man."  He squeezed Pete's fingers too.  "And I love you.  Didn't mean to... just happened.  Bruce is just... he can't give me what I want."

 

"Not what I asked.  Do you love him? Love him, love him? Live the rest of your life love him?"

 

Lex was getting thoroughly pissed.  "Thomas Bruce Wayne!" he bellowed.  "It's too cold to play hide and bloody seek!"

 

A little old biddy and her husband stared as Lex walked by.

 

"You know, Lex, as the years pass you're becoming more and more obnoxious. Here I thought it would be the other way around." Bruce sighed it, as he stepped out of Nell's flower shop with about three dozen roses in his hand, and more ordered to be sent to Dicks apartment that the illustrious woman at the counter had been more then pleased to supply.

 

Lex glared at the couple, and then whirled around on Bruce.  "Where the--what the hell?"

 

"Don't know about that one, Pete.  There was a time, before all this?  I'da said hell yes to the rest of my life with him.  Now?  I can't see me with him for more than five seconds."

 

"He kicked me to the curb... Literally." He rubbed his chest absently. "I’m trying again."

 

Cause you kicked him on his ass. "Its cool. Lets get some Chinese, and go to your place. Want to?"

 

"And after that, I’m going to try again. And after that? Again. And I’m not coming back until I have him again." Pure stubborn Wayne pride in his voice, as he strode back to where the SUV was parked. "Give me a lift? I don’t even know where he lives....that feisty woman in there gave me an address."

 

"Of course.  I'll take you anywhere; let me duck in and tell Chloe we're leaving.  I'll drop you off, come back and take Chloe home and Alfred to the estate, and then come back for you at Dick's."

 

Dick nodded.  "Yeah... that sounds great.  Chinese and my place.  Yeah."  He tugged Pete's arm.  "Listen, Pete... I'm sorry it sounded like I was askin' for your key back; I want you to keep that.  Like I said, you'll need it."  He squeezed gently.  "Can you drive?  I'm just... not up to it."

 

"That’s fine. You won't need to come back to get me... I doubt I’m going to be going anywhere, tonight." But he got into the SUV, all whisking black duster and hair...dark blue eyes in a strong jawed face. "I’m going to get him back, Lex. I swear that."

 

"It's cool. We can hit the drive through, whatcha think?" Pete took the keys and shrugged off the other part of the comment… though his belly was happy once more. "Some rice...beef and broccoli?" The car beeped, and he slipped into the drivers seat.

 

"I know you will, Bruce."  He threw the keys to his friend.  "Here... crank it up and get it warm, I'll be right back."

 

Walking back into the coffee house, Lex made his way to their table.  "Chloe... I'm going to call for a car to take you home, and Alfred and Shayla back to the estate; Dick's walked out and Bruce is going after him.  Only he doesn't know the way, so I'm playing chauffeur."  He slid his hand through the headful of red hair, and shook it, exasperated with it.  "Can you make sure that everybody gets where they're supposed to be?"  He picked up a napkin and scrawled a phone number on it.  "That's my cell phone; if you need me, call me on it."

 

"Rice sounds good... no broccoli.  Chicken and cashews.  wonton soup... honey sesame noodles..."  And nothing sounded like it'd stay down for long.  "Yeah.  Cashew Chicken and wontons."

 

-fin-

 

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