A/N: So this is my first ever fanfic, I actually started writing it for a school application in which I had to include a short story. This is something I threw together real quick, I realize some of the characters may be off and I apologize ahead of time for any errors. Please please please leave reviews with any positive or negative criticism, even if it's all bad- I want to hear about it so I can learn from it for the next time! This story will be about 3-4 chapters long. Rated T for violence. Enjoy!
My toes are hanging off the edge of the building, my hair whipping circles around my body, encompassing me in a halo of brilliant red in the Gotham night. I inch closer to the edge. Three inches. One sudden shift of my weight and I'll start free falling towards the ground- 10 stories down. The air is crisp, persistently reminding me that I am in fact still alive with every breath I take. Alive. That's exact how he must've felt in those last few moments, right before everything went wrong, back when he still had faith in me and he was so sure of what would happen next. Four inches. He was always so damn sure of what would happen next and at the time, I hated him for it. Now I would do anything just to see that confident smile just one more time. To stare into his brilliant indigo eyes. To hold his hand. But he is gone and it is all because of me. Five inches. Because he trusted me when he shouldn't have, because for the fist time in his life, he was wrong about what was to come next and it costed him his life. Six inches. Just like his parents. And I'm falling. Free falling down, down, down. The wind is tearing at my suit and pulling my skin back from my skeleton. The ground is rushing towards me at an alarming rate but it's too late to make it stop, too late to take it back. Everything goes black.
Barbara
48 Hours Earlier
I'm walking up the front steps to the enormous oak doors that mark the entrance to Wayne Manor. This is the night- my night- and I can already tell that it's going to be perfect. I knock on the door.
"Ah Mistress Barbara. Come in." Alfred stands to the side, holding the door for me as I walk in, my golden dress that squeezes my body in all the right places brushing against the marble floors of the foyer. And that's when I see him. Dick Grayson. He leans casually against the banister of the master stairs, his tuxedo making his legs look longer and his shoulders look broader. His hair is perfectly gelled, a mixture of his civilian and superhero styles expertly combined to create a devilishly handsome 80's bad boy look. His indigo eyes pop like a lit candle in a dark room and I can't take my eyes off of him. I'm staring him down like a vulture hunting prey and I don't even care. When did these feelings even start? I wonder. It feels like just yesterday that he was my best friend and only my best friend. It's odd how much things can change in such a short period of time.
"Babs," He says, knocking me out of my thoughts and drawing me back to reality. "You look... Gorgeous. You look gorgeous." He's stuttering, his face is flooding with color and I imagine mine is as well. He walks up to me and takes my hands in his, the feel of his skin sending butterflies shooting through my stomach at an alarming rate. I want to explode, I want to lean up and kiss him like my life was ending tomorrow, I want him in a way that I have never wanted anyone else in my entire life. I gaze into his eyes and I get lost. I am so hopelessly in love with this boy and he has no idea- not that it would make a difference if he did, considering our 'extracurricular activities'. We could never be together.
"Ahmm," Alfred clears his throat. " I hate to interrupt Master Richard, however, we should be leaving about now if you wish to arrive on time to the Charity Ball." We turn to leave to Manor but Dick still holds on to my right hand. It is warm and soft and strong, his hand is my lifeline and I never want to let it go.
Barbara
47 Hours
We are in the limo. Dick sits next to me, his thigh is squeezed against mine,my hand enveloped In his, his arm around me. And this it is perfect. This is what bliss is and I'm thinking of nothing but my inability to capture this moment and live inside of it forever, to always have his body melding into mine. But we are Nightwing and Batgirl. I know better than to be so foolish, to even believe for a second that we could ever be together, that it could ever actually work out. Bruce once told me that the second we give in to love is the second that our lives are put in danger, love is how people in our line of work get killed. And dead is not an option. The limo slows to a stop outside of a brilliant hotel. The Hilton. He's laughing hysterically at something I said as we get out of the car, we ascend the grand steps into the ballroom- the perfect couple.
Barbara
45 Hours
We have been dancing around and around for hours. Laughter tosses easily between us and the champagne bubbling in my stomach makes it that much easier to just forget about the real world. The two of us are the world right now and nothing else matters. We don't care about the $500,000 chandelier that hangs over our heads, we don't care about the granite floors we glide across, we don't care about the fake people with their fake smiles and pockets full of money, and we don't care about the breathtaking three story wall of windows paned in gold that lets the enormous moon and sky full stars bleed into the room like a virus. Until it shatters into a million pieces, showering hundreds of snotty millionaires with shards of glass. There are screams and people are running in every direction. The music has suddenly stopped and now we care. Nightwing and Batgirl. Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. We are the only people standing still in the whole ballroom. We look at each other and turn around, facing the now three story whole in the wall, at the same time. "I have a bad feeling about this Babs," he says to me.
"And what could've possibly prompted that?" And that's when we see him. Joker. Standing in the middle of where the window used to be, Harley Quinn beside him and that twisted grin planted across his face. My heart stops and I grasp for Dick's hand. Jason.
" HAHHAHAHA. Dick Grayson," Joker shouts. NO. " OH DICKY! Come out, come out wherever you are!." My hand tightens around Dicks and I turn to run. But he doesn't follow. He's starting to move forward, towards Joker. Nonononono. No!
" Dick!" I hiss quietly so only he hears," What in the heck do you think you're doing? I am NOT letting you go!" I try moving again and this time he follows me, but only for a few yards.
"You have 10 seconds to come out or I'll blow this entire place to the ground HAHAHA," Joker screams and Harley pulls out a round object from behind her back with one hand, her other hand has a bright red button. He is not kidding. Not this time. "TEN!"
He leans down to whisper in my ear, his breath hot and moist against my neck, " We need Batgirl." He looks into my eyes and I nod.
"NINE!" We were trained to always put the city and its people's safety above our own. We were trained in the art of sacrifice and as much as it pains me to admit, he is right. He is always right. "EIGHT!" His eyes lock with mine one more time and I cling to his hand. I nod in understanding of the plan. He will give himself up to save these people and I will be Batgirl, not Barbara Gordon, "SEVEN!" and I will do my best to ensure the safety of these people and once that is done, I will find him. I will save him. I will bring him home. I hold onto his hand though, I don't let it go- I can't let it go. "SIX!" The last time I let someone sack rice themselves to the Joker for the sake of others, they ended up dead and I can't stand for that to happen again. Especially not with him. "FIVE! What's wrong Dicky? Is our little baby scared of daddy? HAHAHAH." Dick turns back and kisses me. It is hard and sweet and too quick. The kind of kiss that is not kind at all, but desperate and hungry. "FOUR!" And he leaves me with that, walks back towards the Joker and throws his hands up in the air.
" Here!" Dick shouts, " I'm here. Take me, just leave these people alone." In one swift movement Joker pulls out a pistol and shoots Dick in the leg. The room is filled with screams and then a white gas. I'm left screaming Dick's name as the world starts to spin and then goes black.
Barbara
44 Hours
It is impossible to understand loss until you have experienced it. The pain that accompanies it, the gaping hole it leaves behind that is unable to be filled. It is constant pain and grief and it never lessens, just dulls a little bit. One year ago today, Jason Todd was taken by the Joker and he was murdered. Beaten to death with a crow bar. Jason was like a brother to me, I felt responsible for his safety and after he was gone, I could hardly live with myself. I was the one out on patrol with him that night, I was supposed to have his back at all times but I let him go off by himself, I let him go walk right into Joker's trap and he was murdered because of it. Because of me. How am I supposed to live with that? With the fact that I am responsible for my brother's death? The night after it happened I went to the top of a building and stood on the very edge with half my foot hanging over. I wondered if he fear I felt was the same Jason felt right before it happened- only I wasn't feeling any fear, it was all adrenaline. What I hated most of all was how everyone talked about his death. Jason was dead but it was as if everyone was afraid to actually say the word, they would use phrases like passed away and lost his life. I hated it. I wanted to hear them say that Jason Todd was dead, Jason Todd was murdered in cold blood by the Joker. The same man who the city is seemingly incapable of keeping locked up. So now the same thing has happened to Dick Grayson. He has been taken and it is only a matter of time before he is murdered. I may be Batgirl and I may do everything in my power to find him and save his life, but honestly, what are my chances against a mass murderer? Someone who kills for the heck of it, without any real reason or motive. He can't even give us that- a solid reason for the murder of Jason Todd. So here I am, the city's savior is standing in the cold, dark, rainy night all alone, crying. The city's savior is standing here like a helpless little coward instead of doing the only thing she knows how to do- save people. But what's the use in trying to save a person when you know that they are already gone?