Is this a sorta part 2 of Tim reminding Dick he has options? Mayhaps...

Winter was one of the worst months to be a vigilante in skintight clothes and with a shitty building manager who took three to four business days to understand that the heating wasn't working and four more days to do something about it only for it to inevitably break. Safe to say, Nightwing wasn't having a great time during this season. Especially when he'd gone a week without heating in his flat and patrolled every night despite the weather. Another thing that didn't help was Haley going in for a check-up but having to be kept a few nights at the vet for various things. They assured him none of it was his fault but the guilt was something he was good at. "I'm sure she'll be okay and it's probably best she isn't there since they still haven't fixed the heating even after all this time which is just ridiculous," Oracle assured him when he complained about it.

"My sentiments exactly. He said he manages so many properties so we need to be patient but it's bullshit," he answered. His breath clouded in front of him as though to mock how cold he was. It wasn't below freezing that night but he hadn't felt warm in so long that it may as well have been. He only knew his toes and fingers were still there because he could see them. That and whenever he held a bowl of warm soup his fingers felt like they were on fire. 

"Can't you stay with Bats or will your pride turn you into a Nightwing icicle?" she joked. He tutted at her as he rubbed his hands together to generate heat. It didn't do anything but at least he was doing something. He was currently on a stakeout mission which meant waiting around for something interesting to happen. Not the best activity to do when it was snowing and he was shivering like a leaf in a hurricane. He was doing his best not to let the chatter translate over the comms because he knew she'd haul his ass home. 

"I can't stay with them. Got into a fight with B about Damian. I told him that he needs to be more encouraging but then he turns around and tells me I'm not the kid's father," he explained. They hadn't spoken in two weeks since the argument happened and he intended to keep the contact on the low until Bruce admitted he was wrong. It wasn't fair he palmed off his kid onto the acrobat whenever he felt like it but wouldn't give Dick the respect he deserved for doing the job. Frankly, he'd rather freeze than go over there. 

"Yeah that sucks," she concurred.

"Besides, he's in France for the weekend with Damian. Alfred went with them too. I can't just go into the house with nobody there after an argument. It's weird."

"You could stay with me? I've got the space and I wouldn't mind bossing you around."

"Oh, I'm just whinging. I survived winters in a caravan with the circus. Can't be much longer till they turn on the heating again and maybe it'll kill off the cockroaches," he assured her, not wanting to be a bother. She hummed sceptically and he had a feeling she'd repeat the offer when he was more worn down but he was too tired to think about that now. Wait, tired? He shouldn't be tired. He'd barely begun the night and he hadn't even gotten any action in! The most he got was on the way over telling some people smoking weed to do it on the other side of the street because the police patrolled around there. They didn't even make a fuss, they just thanked him. Why was he tired? The cold maybe? He shook his head and looked down at the street he was supposed to be watching. His eyelids felt heavy but resting his face against the snow for a moment gave him a boost. 

"Wing?"

"Yeah?" 

"Just checking you're still there. You weren't responding," she told him.

"Sorry I spaced out thinking about cockroaches," he lied. 

"Well look alive. Our dealer is here."

Nightwing couldn't quite remember the fight but that didn't matter considering everyone around him was knocked out. He must've just gotten in the zone. He huffed out a breath and furrowed his eyebrows when he found it hadn't fogged up in front of him despite how cold he felt. It had to be cold enough for him to see his breath. His body was wracked with another round of shivers as he thought about it. "Looks like you got them all," Oracle announced. He looked around to find where her voice had come from only to remember he had an earpiece in. Tutting at himself, he put away his escrima sticks and double checked they were all down for the count. "Tie them up. I've got police en route."

"Sure thing," he replied.

"What?"

"I said sure thing," he repeated. He grabbed the back of one man's collar and began to drag them to the entrance. They wouldn't be too close though unless he wanted them to get hypothermia which he frankly didn't. Not when Batman and he were already on bad terms. When weren't they on bad terms these days? If only he was good enough for the insufferable hero. Good enough didn't exist though. Not for Batman. He wanted inhuman perfection and surprisingly, Nightwing was very much human. Maybe if he was a robot he'd be good enough. That would take some finagling though and he doubted he'd look very good as a robot.

"Nightwing, repeat what you said." Oracle must be joking with him if she couldn't understand what he was saying. There wasn't even any background noise and she was coming through perfectly so he knew the issue wasn't with the comm unit. He sighed before repeating his repetition. "Did you get hit in the head?"

"No? What's gotten into you?" he answered with a huff. Had he been hitten in the head? He didn't remember the fight but his head didn't hurt. He'd had plenty of concussions and you knew when you'd been hit round the head hard enough. 

"Can you not hear yourself? You're slurring your words," she pointed out. Frowning, he muttered something under his breath and noticed that he did sound ever so slightly off. She had to be overreacting to it, right? 

"I'm just cold. It's nothing," he assured her. Was this her way of getting him to stay the night? He shouldn't have complained so much before about his flat being colder than Antarctica. Why did he do that? Now he'd have to reassure her he'd be fine there and she was as stubborn as every other hero out there which means incredibly stubborn. Way to go Nightwing.

"No, it was nothing before when you were slurring your words because you were outside but it's something now because you're somewhere warm combined with the heat packs you're wearing. You can't be cold." He laughed at her. He couldn't help it. Her tone was so stern yet she had to be joking! The feeling still hadn't returned to his fingers nor his toes. If it were warm, he'd certainly know about it.

"Are you kidding me? It's freezing in here!" He continued to move the bodies over to the entrance during the silence that he mistook for him winning. 

"It's not cold in there," Oracle said seriously. Very seriously.

"I know it's cold in here," he insisted with the same seriousness. "You're overreacting. So I slurred my words a bit and I've got a bit of a chill, it's nothing."

"Are you going back to your apartment after this?" she asked.

"I plan to. Why?"

"Final offer to come to stay with me is going. You're still close enough to get here before the ice comes in." He made a confused noise at her. "You know, the ice spell? We're getting another snowstorm." He groaned frustratedly at that. Great, another night of being cold. 

"I'm going to the apartment. Stop some crime whilst I get over there and I bet that'll warm me up." She hummed disapprovingly but he was never one to listen to reason. Stubborn. "Thanks for your help, O. I'll talk when I'm home."

"Alright. Don't freeze before you get there." 

"Can't make any promises."

Barbara waited until he signed off to contact someone. She knew it would piss him off to have someone get him out of that apartment but she was worried. If she had the time then she'd go out there and dogwalk him all the way back to her place but alas she had to help out with Tim's mission. Jason couldn't take him because he was being Jason God knows where with his designated ginger and himbo. Not that he'd take him in if he was in the country. Cass and Steph were off causing trouble somewhere and Duke didn't know Dick well enough to get past those puppy dog eyes he pulled to get out of something. Jerk and jerk jr had taken Alfred with them on their trip so they were out. She needed someone who knew Dick for a while and was dependable enough to actually get over there and get him somewhere warm without folding. Someone who cared but could also successfully guilt him if he tried to leave. She snapped her fingers. The ginger squad could handle this. Quickly, she looked for Kori's and Wally's contacts to check they were free before calling. "Barbara?"

"Hey, I need you to take Dick to Wally's." 

"Why? Please tell me he didn't eat from that Chinese place again, it's already made him sick three times," she sighed. She could hear her already getting ready and smirked to herself. The number of gingers Dick had to look after him was astounding. 

"No, he's being stubborn. The heating went out in his apartment and he was slurring his words when we last spoke. There's a storm coming soon and the dumbass might give himself hypothermia if he hasn't done so already."

"Hey, don't insult his ass." She laughed lightly at her. Their relationship wasn't one she could've ever predicted. Ex-girlfriends tended not to like one another especially when the man they'd been with kept going back to each of them. It wasn't until they all sat down one night and talked that they actually got along. Dick admitted that, although he loved each of them, he couldn't date either of them anymore. Something to do with what Tim had told him. They agreed that although they loved him, their relationships were always doomed to fail and it just hurt each of them every time. (I wish DC made these characters this mature.) They guessed his time of having his brain messed with changed his views on things. The next thing they knew, a ginger speedster was at his side. A lot of bets were won that day.

"You're right, you're right. Just make sure that ass isn't frozen."

"I will secure that ass in no time. Would you like an update when I drop him off?" 

"Yeah, if it's not too much." There was a hum then a click. She then switched over to Wally. 

"What did he do this time?" Wally answered. 

"Nearly give himself hypothermia. He's staying with you tonight."

"O-okay, I mean, are you cool with all that?" he asked. She could practically hear the blush through the phone. 

"We talked about it. I'm happy he's with you because honestly, your homoerotic friendship was getting too expensive to bet on."

"You bet on-"

"Anyway, are you okay to take him until I bully his landlord into fixing his apartment?"

"Yep!" She smiled at the enthusiasm and hung up. What would the world do without her?

It's silent in the apartment and Dick felt the weight of it climb onto his shoulders the moment he stepped inside. That and the sheer cold. He swore it was colder than the outside world which meant it would get even colder when the ice spell came. He groaned and faceplanted his bed, rolling himself into a blanket burrito to try and get as much heat as he could. It turned out to be very little. He felt tired though and the scraps of heat he could get would have to do even if he was still in his Nightwing uniform. Hopefully, a burglar didn't break in or something. He hummed softly at the idea and snuggled up to the soft pillow. He needed to sleep so bad. Why was he so exhausted? He'd barely done anything tonight. Was it the cold? Maybe or maybe he should just sleep. That would be nice. Some lovely dream to take him out of it. There was a knock on his door but he decided whoever it was could break in or use a key. Either one would do. He didn't care. He needed to just be out of the cold and asleep. Away from it all. There was a click of the lock and the door creaked open. Whoever it was is polite then but he couldn't hear footsteps. Did he imagine the noise? Was he so lonely that he imagined company? Perhaps he should call Wally. Nice warm Wally. "Dick!" Was that Kori? Why was she in his apartment? The titans could be in town but he wouldn't know why. A hand pressed against his shoulder to roll him onto his side but he was so exhausted. He didn't want to move. Sleep was a better idea. Sleep meant he wouldn't be cold anymore and he'd been cold for so long. "No, he's not waking up it has been twenty minutes! I have repeated his name so many times but he isn't stirring." Twenty minutes? No, it had barely been a minute. She sounded really worried but she had to be exaggerating because he hadn't heard her repeat his name. She said it once and that was it. 

"I'm fine," he answered to assure her.

"Dick? What did you say?"

"I'm fine," he repeated.

"He's mumbling something. Barbara, his lips are blue! You did not tell me he was hypothermic!"

"Not," he insisted. He was cold but he wasn't that cold. He would know if he were hypothermic. How could he not know if he were hypothermic?

"He's in his suit. His mask is still on. I'll take him. You get Wally." Where were they going? To see Wally? He didn't miss a date or anything so he couldn't be in trouble. That's nice. Not being in trouble. Maybe he wouldn't mess things up again like always did. Unless being cold was something he messed up? "It's gonna be okay Dick. Just hold on for me." She began to unfurl the blankets from around him and he shivered at the loss of heat. It hadn't been much in the first place but damn did he need it. There was weightlessness for a moment before something warm pressed against him.  It felt like lava was rushing over him but he didn't have the energy to escape the molten flow. At least he wasn't cold or was he? At this point, he couldn't tell. A whine escaped his throat at the pure discomfort of it all. Why did he have to be at the extremes? He just wanted to be comfortable. "It's okay I've got you." Kori. Starfire. She was safe. Always had been safe. Always will be safe. He wouldn't be hurt. 

Dick had no idea what happened next but the next thing he knew was being comfortable and warm. A nice warm that wasn't boiling him alive as though he were a lobster being cooked for a stupidly expensive meal. He had a mask on his face that warmed his lips up which had to be one of the oddest sensations he'd ever felt. There was something in his arm that from his years of multiple hospital trips he recognised as an IV. He furrowed his eyebrows as he stirred further, wanting to investigate his surroundings in greater detail. "Dick?" Wally called. "Are you waking up?" He hummed at the question and forced himself to open his eyes. They felt heavy but not the heaviness felt when he was waking up from anaesthesia. It was the heaviness he felt when he was exhausted but still needed to climb out of bed to do something dumb like a morning run or squats. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights of the hospital room. They really shouldn't put lights right above the patient's head. Hey, nice job surviving surgery let's hope your corneas survive being blinded. It took a few more blinks before he could make sense of the world around him and his eyes drifted over to a concerned looking speedster. 

"Hey handsome," he greeted croakily.

"Nuh-uh, don't think you can win me over with compliments. You stayed in that freezing apartment and gave yourself hypothermia," Wally grumbled. Still, his freckled hand was still holding Dick's hand so he couldn't be too mad at him. It was nice having him hold his hand. He'd done it when they were with the Teen Titans before they got embarrassed about the comments being made. Donna must've won a bet when they decided to give it a go. A lot of people probably did. 

"I'm sorry." The ginger sighed and kissed him on the forehead.

"Forgiven but you're staying with me until it's fixed which shouldn't be too long."

"What makes you say that?"

"Bruce found out and he got the first flight back," he answered. Dick groaned, knowing that it would only make his life hell later. He didn't want his billionaire foster dad rocking up to threaten a lawsuit every five minutes. It just pissed off the building manager and the next thing he knows the hot water suddenly stops working. "I know but he was really worried. If Haley had been there too then this could be a lot worse."

"Don't," Dick said, not wanting to even think about what could happen to his beloved pet. 

"She's okay by the way. The vets prescribed her something. We'll pick her up from the Manor when you get the go-ahead to go home. Well, come to my home. Unless you consider it your home which you're welcome to do-"

"Wally."

"Right, rambling. How do you feel?" He stuck his tongue out. "I thought so. Get some sleep. Star and Babs went to get coffee together so I'll wake you up when they're back." 

"Love you," he mumbled as he drifted back to sleep.

"Love you too frosty." He cackled quietly and let the darkness wash over him.