Thanks to Kathy for the beta!
Setting: No Man's Land, immediately after Bruce summons the rest of his team back to Gotham.
Disclaimer: DC owns all characters and locales. I own a lot of comics and TPBs. Somehow, that all works out pretty well.
Mute Appeal
Nightwing wasn't sure what to make of the newcomer. Bruce had given her a glowing endorsement—and for once, it actually had been glowing, rather than 'glowing... for him'. As he watched her from the shadows of Gotham's ruined edifices, he saw that the praise had been well-founded. She moved with a natural grace, breaking up a knife-fight here, stopping a mugging there.
It was when she looked around quickly—to see if anyone was observing her before she crumbled part of an energy bar for a hopeful sparrow—that he grinned.
"They like trail mix, too," he whispered, not wanting to startle girl or bird.
She betrayed no surprise as she turned to face him, her hands raised in silent inquiry. After a moment, he dropped down from his perch. The sparrow flew off. "He'll be back. Here." Into her outstretched palm, he poured a mix of dried fruit, nuts, and sunflower seeds. "They love sunflower seeds. But don't give them too much." He sighed. "There are a lot of hungry people in this city. And the birds can leave."
She nodded.
"The city's taken a pounding," he remarked. "I wish I could show you what it was like before the quake. Here, on the ground, it could get pretty dark; but once you hit the rooftops, it was like another world. It reminded me of the circus, all lit up from one end to the other. And the colors at Christmas time," his expression turned wistful. "It just felt so… alive. I wonder what Gotham's going to look like this December." He smiled at her. "I guess, to you, things seem busy here, but for me, this is… quiet."
She nodded, but Dick saw her shoulders slump. Now why…? He felt a surge of remorse. There he went again, running his mouth without thinking. "Hey, Batgirl? Quiet isn't a bad thing. It's just… different, you know?" He let his hands fall to his sides. "Actually, quiet can be peaceful, sometimes."
She waited, unmoving.
"I'll stop talking, now."
She shook her head. "No," she said softly, placing her hand on his arm. "Don't… stop."
"You sure?" Babs had said that she didn't have the greatest grasp of spoken language. Did she even understand a word he'd said?
She nodded. "Don't… stop."