Fic: The Cacophony of Bats Wings (2/13)

[starsandsea]

Title: The Cacophony of Bats Wings (2/13)
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairing: Bruce/Kal, Harvey, Cass, Tim - some Harvey/Bruce
Word Count: 2168
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: Previous parts can be found here. Thanks to the great mithen for the beta! *glomps*



"Bruce!" Harvey was standing in front of him, a massive grin on his face. Bruce could feel it being echoed on his own face.

"Ah, forgive me," Harvey's face turned serious, and he bowed deeply. "Your Majesty."

"Harvey," Bruce stepped forward and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You do not have to call me that."

Harvey straightened. "Ah, but appearances must be maintained." He was smiling again, his eyes twinkling, and took Bruce's hand between his own, raising it to his mouth to kiss it, when he paused.

Kal's ring glinted in the torchlight, the gems sparkling. Harvey's eyes flickered to his face in question.

Bruce slowly freed his hand from Harvey's hold and turned to Cassandra, who had been silently watching the exchange. "You remember my sister, Cassandra."

"Of course." Harvey moved so he was standing before her, and bowed, kissing her hand. "My Lady," he murmured.

A shadow flickered across her face, and her eyes grew troubled, but as Harvey rose from his bow it disappeared, leaving Bruce wondering if he had really seen the expression or not.

Ace whined, bumping his leg with his nose, wanting to be at dinner. Bruce petted his dog absently. "Where have you been, Harvey? I thought..." Harvey had been gone when Bruce and his brothers and sisters had returned. He had been too distracted by his Father's death and the rift between his siblings and himself to truly wonder why Harvey was not there.

Harvey smiled sadly now. "I left. To look for you."

Bruce closed his eyes for a moment, pain entering his chest. Harvey...

Cass cleared her throat, startling them both. "Dinner."

Bruce nodded. "We were just going to dinner. Will you join us, Harvey?"

Harvey's face was half swathed in shadow. "It would be my honor."

*****

Alfred had set an extra place for Harvey. Somehow, he had known before any of them that Harvey had returned, and would be joining them. After the greetings were over, and they started to eat, Bruce questioned Harvey again. "You left...?"

Harvey nodded, taking a drink of wine. "There were rumours that you were alive, Bruce. Things here got... bad. I tried to do the best I could, but..." Harvey sighed deeply and bowed his head. "I decided the best thing I could do was try and find you, wherever you were. I spent the next four years looking for you... but I never heard of, or saw anyone who looked like you. Then, two weeks ago, I heard that you - and your siblings - had returned. I came back as soon as I could."

Harvey paused. "I was very sorry to learn of your Father's death. And, to have missed your crowning."

Bruce nodded. "It is all right." Near the end of the table, Cass was saying something quietly to Jason. Bruce hid his frown as Jason looked sharply over at him, at Harvey. He looked at his other brothers and sisters, but they showed no sign of noticing Jason and Cass. In the shadows, Tim was eating, Stephy close at his side. Dick, at his right side, was nodding at Harvey's story, as was Babs. Ace was chewing at his own meal to the side of the table.

He wondered where Kal was, if he was thinking of him. The thought that they were both thinking of each other at that exact moment made him smile, made the lingering sadness a little lighter. They were still together, no matter how many miles apart.

"Where were you?" Harvey asked, bringing Bruce back from his thoughts.

"Metropolis."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "I looked for you there."

Bruce smiled softly. "You were unlikely to find me, Harvey. The first winter I was in a cave-"

"A cave?" Harvey interrupted, voice incredulous, looking outraged on behalf of his past self.

Bruce nodded. "Before Kal found me, and took me in," he continued.

"We had been cursed," Dick started. "Our stepmother," the word was snarled, "turned us into giant bats. Zatanna was able to save Bruce from the spell."

"In order to free us, Bruce had to make us each shirts from Nettles and Starwart, and not utter a single word or sound until the spell was broken, and we were human again." Barbara finished the tale.

Harvey was frowning, deep furrows in his brow. He had stopped eating. Bruce saw him glance down the table at Tim, then back to him, at his hands. "Is that why your hands are..?"

Bruce nodded, hardly seeing the damage himself anymore. But he saw Dick wince out the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything to his brother, Harvey was speaking again.

"Kal... this is the Prince of Metropolis?"

Bruce nodded again, his thoughts returning to his lover again. He touched his ring with his thumb. "Yes. He did not know who I was until the curse was lifted. He had to leave this morning, to spend Winter in Metropolis."

Harvey nodded slowly. "You are betrothed to him?"

Bruce did smile now. "Yes."

Shadows flickered across Harvey's face as he sat back from the table, his food finished. There was movement down the end of the table; Jason had started to stand, but Cass pulled him back down to his seat. Bruce thought nothing more of it. Jason was always doing things like that.

"And now you are Gotham's King," Harvey said musingly.

Bruce glanced for a moment at Dick, but he was saying something to Babs, a happy smile on his face. "Yes."

Harvey sat forward again, coming back into the light. "Whatever I can do to help, just let me know, Bruce."

Bruce smiled. "Thank you, my friend."

*****

Bruce was just about to crawl into bed when there was a knock at his door, moments after Ace started barking. Somewhat warily, Bruce opened the door a crack to see Harvey. He opened the door fully, and gestured with his hand for Ace for stop barking.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Bruce, but I was hoping we could... talk."

"It is late, Harvey." Shadows flickered across his friend's face and he turned to leave. Bruce sighed. "All right."

Harvey's smile as he let him in was brilliant.

They sat in front of the fire, and Bruce felt something twist inside him at the sight of Harvey sitting in what had become Kal's chair, to have Harvey here, in this room, that had truly become his and Kal's. It... did not feel right, but by having someone else here, the sanctity of it, of those moments and shared memories between him and Kal were somehow... shattered.

"I didn't expect to find you here."

Bruce frowned at Harvey's words, not understanding, until he realized he meant this room. "I could not yet face moving into my Father's room," he responded, keeping an eye on Ace, who was sitting, alert, at his side.

"Of course. I understand."

There was silence for several moments; Harvey was just looking at him, making Bruce feel vaguely uncomfortable. "Why are you here, Harvey?" He asked at last.

Harvey started, and finally looked away from him. "I'm sorry, it's just... been so long since I last saw you..." He trailed off, and leaned forward. "Bruce... do you..." His eyes were intense, and Bruce felt an emotion too complex to analyze twist within him. "This Kal, do you really... love him?" Harvey continued, and Bruce finally figured out what this was about.

"Harvey..."

Harvey leaned forward even more in his chair. "Bruce, you know how I feel about you. It hasn't changed, though all these years have gone by..."

Bruce sighed, and Ace growled, reacting to his sudden uneasiness. Damn it. "Harvey, you knew, we both knew, even then, that nothing would come of..." He trailed off, trying to find the right words. It was still so difficult, after going so long without any, speaking out loud, finding the right words was enormously hard.

"Any relationship we had beyond sex was never going to come to anything, Harvey," he said at last. That was the bleak truth to it, even before everything that had happened, and they both knew that. Because Bruce had been the Prince, the heir to the throne, and Harvey was only minor nobility. Even then, when the negotiations for him and Kal to become betrothed were just starting... any relationship he and Harvey had beyond friendship was doomed from the start.

"But..." Harvey protested, and Bruce felt his heart break. After everything that his friend had done for him, sacrificed for him, this was what he got in return?

"I am sorry, Harvey, I really am, but..." He leaned forward and touched his friends arm.

"Don't touch me." Harvey snarled, batting his arm away harshly, his voice unrecognizable for a moment, and Bruce blinked in shock.

Ace was standing between them now, his teeth barred, growling loudly.

"Bruce... I... I'm sorry," Harvey whispered, looking horrified, and shrunk back in the chair, hands in his hair, covering his eyes.

Bruce pulled Ace back to his side by his collar and petted him until he calmed down again.

"I'm sorry, it's late, I should go."

Before Bruce could react, Harvey was moving and standing next to the door. He turned, though, before he left. "Do you really love him, Bruce?"

Bruce touched Kal's ring with his thumb again, remembering his lover placing it there, the look in his eyes. He nodded. "Yes."

Harvey was too far away for him to see his eyes; shadow covered his face again. But he could see him bow his head, and nod unsteadily. "Well then. Good night." Harvey closed the door before Bruce could utter a word of comfort or farewell.

*****

Just as he was about to crawl into bed again, there was another knock on the door. Cursing silently - it had been a very long day - Bruce got up and opened it with more force than necessary. Ace had not barked, had only raised his head, so he was not worried this time.

Cass stood before him, Tim lurking in the shadows just behind her. Bruce sighed, feeling his anger cool. It was not their fault his talk with Harvey had gone the way it had.

They silently stepped into the room and Bruce closed the door behind them. They did not sit, and neither did he, though Ace got up and nudged their legs with his nose, getting pets in return.

Bruce tilted his head at them in question. Of all his siblings - of all the people here, save maybe Alfred and Leslie - Cassandra and Tim could understand him best now, understand him without needing words.

"He is... not right." Cassandra said at last, a frown on her face.

"Who is not?" He was tired and just wanted to be alone. If Kal were here... Bruce's heart ached.

"Harvey," Tim answered quietly, but his eyes were intense, watching him closely. Bruce looked at his sister for explanation.

"He.... not right. Almost, when he looks at you, but..." Cass sighed, obviously deeply annoyed that she could not put it into words better.

"If you saw him just now-"

"No. Before. At dinner. Something... wrong."

"He has been away for many years.... Are you sure it is not just-"

"Yes," Tim and Cass said at the same time, not looking at each other, their eyes watchful, watching him.

Bruce sighed. "All right. I will keep it in mind." Tim and Cass did look at each other now. "Please. It is late." He added, when it looked like they were going to say more.

Cassandra frowned, then nodded. She and Tim moved towards the door. They paused, however, as Harvey had done before, exchanging another look. "Bruce. Be careful." Tim's eyes were grave.

Bruce glanced down at his brother's wing, then nodded.

They left, and he closed and latched the door, sighing, then yawned suddenly. Ace whined and licked his fingers. Bruce petted him, then finally crawled into bed, half expecting another knock on the door. None came. But Ace did whine again, until Bruce patted the blanket, and he jumped up onto the bed, taking up most of the space, of course.

Bruce rolled his eyes, but his heart was troubled. He kept thinking of all the things he should have said to Harvey, to try and... soften the blow. He had not truly realized that Harvey's feelings ran so deep for him. He loved him, and maybe, before everything had changed, before he met Kal, things might have been different, but...

He sighed again. He wished Kal were here. He would be able to talk to him, with and without words, get his input, his ideas, just to have him here.

It took Bruce a very long time to fall asleep.