Yesterday was a long, but successful day. With the fight at the Reach/Light summit, to getting Artemis and Kaldur back, it was a general success. Even if Kaldur wasn't so sure. Once Kaldur was put back in charge, which Dick was all too happy to let happen, he let the team have a day off. Which was nice of him but Dick didn't really know what to do with himself if he wasn't putting together something for the team to do.
So, he was just in the make-shift 'cave,' talking with Kaldur about everything and nothing when Barbara comes in with her mask off but costume still on. He looks up at her as she walks over to the table and stands next to him.
"Hey, are you not coming with us tonight?" She looks at him confused.
He doesn't understand why she looks so confused when he has no idea what she is talking about. "Um, coming with who and where?"
Babs just rolls her eyes and lets out a huff. "Tim didn't mention it to you did he? That Bruce wants us to all sit down and have dinner tonight at his place?" Dick just shakes his head at her. She turns to the hallway where she came from "Tim! You didn't mention it to him?!"
Like he was just waiting there in the hallway he walks out and responds, "I was going to. Seriously Babs, you have no faith in me." He turns to Dick and Kaldur, shrugs and mouths women. And with that Babs swats the back of his head. Both Dick and Kaldur laugh. "So, will you be joining us then?" Tim asks.
Dick looks at them both, "Well why not. It's been a while since we've done anything as a Bat family." Tim looks pleased and Babs smiles at him.
"Perfect." She says.
Dick is back in his old room at Bruce's place changing for supper. When Bruce has sit-down dinners with the whole family it tends to be more of a semi-formal thing.
I guess the Batman doesn't know how to do things casually.
He's looking at himself in the mirror. It's amazing how much he's changed since being under Bruce's' wing. And not just physically. Although, that was a great bonus. A knock on his door shakes him from his thoughts.
He opens his door to see Alfred standing there, "Supper will soon be ready master Richard."
"Thanks for the heads up Alfred." The butler just nods as he turns to walk away. "Hey Alfred?"
Alfred turns and faces him again. "Yes, master Richard?"
Dick puts his hand on the old butler's shoulder and squeezes it a little. "It's been too long old friend." Dick notices Alfreds mouth turn up a little at the corners.
"Yes, it's been too long." He brings his hand up and pats Dicks hand before walking back down the hallway, calling behind him, "10 minutes until supper."
Dick just laughs and goes back into his room to get dressed for supper. He slips on a pair of black dress pants, puts on a button up blue shirt and finishes off his look with a matching black dinner jacket. If it was a more formal event he'd go for a bow tie but he figures that this dinner isn't that formal.
Just before he leaves his room he runs some product through his hair to give it some shape. It feels good and different to be in normal clothes. He's spent so much time in his uniform for the last little bit that it just felt natural to him. And with one last look at himself he walks out of his room and to the dining hall for supper.
When he gets in the room, Bruce is sitting at the head of the table, with Tim two seats down form him. Obviously leaving a chair for Dick between the two. He notices that Babs isn't here yet. He makes his way to his seat and the table, interrupting Tim and Bruce's' conversation about Tim being on the team.
"Sorry to interrupt," he says Alfred pours some water into the glass sitting on the table in front of him. "Thanks man."
Bruce looks at him, "Not a problem. Tim was just updating me on all the highlights of your previous mission. It sounds like it was successful."
Dick takes a sip from his water and nods. "It really was. It was a great night." He looks at Tim as he says this. Tim says something to Bruce but Dick doesn't hear it because Babs has entered the room. She walks in from the back and sits down across from him, next to Bruce on the other side of the table. She smiles up at Alfred as he pours her some water.
Dick feels like he's frozen and can't move or speak. He's too busy watching her, looking at her. She has a knee length dress on that is the most flattering shade of green he has ever seen on a woman. The dress is tight on her upper torso but then flares out around her waist. Her red hair is big and curly, just the way he likes it. And it's pinned back to one side.
He has to stop himself from smiling at the pin. A couple of years ago she was complaining about how her hair would never stay in one place so he got her that silver pin for her birthday. And here she is today, still using it.
It must've become obvious that he was staring at her because Tim shoves his elbow into Dicks arm. He can hear a slight snicker come from the kid when Dick shakes his head slightly.
Tim leans over to him and whispers, "Drool much?"
Dick glares at him, "Shut up." He looks back at Babs quickly; luckily she didn't seem to notice his staring because she's still talking to Bruce. Before he has a chance to look away they make eye contact and she smiles at him. He smiles back at her and gets the aching feeling in his stomach that he only gets when Babs smiles at him like that.
After Alfred has served all their food and sat down next to Babs they start the meal. It feels good to be sitting down at this table with these four people. It's been so long since he's had an actual meal like this. It would probably feel more normal if they were in casual clothes.
They spend a good part of the meal getting Bruce all caught up on the team's adventures lately. After dessert, Bruce announces that he has a meeting to go to. Normally Dick would question Bruce when he claims he has a 'meeting' to go to but he's so relaxed and glad to be doing something normal for once that he doesn't bother to figure out what's going on. He just lets it happen.
After Bruce leaves, Dick, Babs and Tim help Alfred in the kitchen, much to Alfred's dismay. Alfred is the kind of man to do things his own way. Dick can't help but laugh at Babs elbow deep in soapy water while still wearing her dress and heels. She catches him and flicks water his way. Tim laughs at them and Alfred smiles slightly at the antics. Before long the three of them are flicking one another with soapy dish water as Alfred cringes at the mess they make.
It had been a while since they finished cleaning and he hasn't noticed Babs around. Tim is in the lounge watching TV of course. When Dick asks Tim if he knows where Babs is, Tim just wiggles his eyebrows at him but tells him he doesn't know. Dick wanders around a little more, wondering if she went to bed early when he notices one of the balcony doors is open to the night sky.
He goes to close it when he notices Babs leaning on the railing looking up at the sky, with her back to him. He just stands there for a moment, watching her before he goes to stand next to her. She looks up at him startled, obviously not hearing him before. "Jeez, I didn't know you were there." She says to him.
Putting his hands up he says, "Sorry. I just assumed that you're hearing would be sharp since you're part of the Bat family. I guess you're not at my level." He leans back down on the railing, smirking. He can practically feel her eyes narrowing.
"Oh please. I could sooooo take you." She rolls her eyes as she swats his arm with her hand. They both laugh. Their laughter fades to silence as they both look out over the grounds. A few minutes go by without either of them saying anything.
Finally, Dick breaks the silence, "Dinner was a nice surprise. It was relaxing and just like old times."
"Yeah, it was great. I feel like I haven't seen you or Tim in so long. We'll, I've seen you but we haven't really spoken. Do you know what I mean?"
"I do know what you mean. Things have been a bit crazy lately." Another moment of silence between the two. "Oh, and you look fantastic tonight by the way."
She looks over at him and smiles, "Thank you."
"I especially like the hair pin." He says, winking at her slightly.
"Oh, you do, do you? An old friend gave it to me." They're facing one another now. He lifts his hand up slightly to touch the hair pin but pauses. After a second of questioning, he lifts his hand all the way to feel the smooth silver of the pin. Barbara just stares at him as Dick brings his eyes from the pin to meet her gaze. She inhales slightly.
"You know, whenever you did your hair like this it always drove me crazy."
She smirks at him, "I know. Why do you think I do it?" It's been too long since they've been together. They have unfinished business that has been put on the shelf too many times. He's been waiting for a moment like this to come up for a while. Dick brought both his hands up to hold her face in his hands. They lean into each other perfectly. Her arms instinctively wrap around his neck. Just as he's leaning down to kiss her, she leans up toward him.
At first, the kiss is tentative and soft. It's been a long time coming and he doesn't want to screw it up by being too intense with her. But after a moment he can't control himself any longer and he wraps his arms around her waist to pull her up to him. He needs her to be closer to him. As close as she can possibly get. They break apart a moment later and just stare at each other; both slightly out of breath. Barbara looks down at her feet and they both laugh as they realize her feet aren't touching the ground anymore.
He lowers her to the ground but doesn't let go of her. Wanting to feel her as long as possible. She smiles at him, "Well, that turned out well."
Dick lowers his face to meet hers so his forehead is pressed against hers. "I'd say so."
"I must admit, I was hoping the night would end up this way. I wasn't sure if it would, but I was hoping."
He smiled at her. "Me too." And he kissed her again, lightly. He couldn't help but take note of her scent. Cherries. Just like always. Without meaning to, Dick says something that was always on his mind but didn't intend to share just yet. "I love you Barbara."
Barbara leans back from him just slightly, obviously taken aback by his statement. Just when Dick starts to get worried that he has freaked her out; a small smiles comes across her face and a few tears build up in the corner of her eyes.
"I love you too Dick." Dick has never felt more relieved and content in his entire life. He grabs her face and kisses her again. This time letting all the passion that's been building up inside him, finally come out. Barbara's hands come up to grab the back of his neck while his fingers play with her hair. A slight moan comes from the back of her throat and it triggers a moan from him too. He's just about to pull her closer when he hears a voice from the doorway.
They both turn to look at the person who had joined them on the balcony. It was Tim. Of course. He has the worst timing. "Oh come on you two. You're not the only ones in this place you know." Dick and Barbara just laugh at his expression of pure disgust. "I went looking for you when I saw that there was an Indiana Jones marathon on TV. But it looks like you've found other ways to pass the time.
Barbara steps back a bit. "Sounds great Tim, we'll be there in a few minutes." Tim just rolls his eyes and leaves again. "I'm going to get changed into something a little more movie-marathon-friendly." Barbara leans on her tip toes to kiss him again.
She turns to leave but he playfully tickles her sides. He laughs as she squeals and tries to get away but he grabs her hand and leans close to her ear. "It'd go a lot faster if I joined you." She just laughs, swats his arm and runs through the door.
"You'll have to try and catch me then!" He hears her yell as she runs away. Dick laughs and chases after her.
Now that's a challenge he'll accept.