"You know." The voice says out of nowhere, and Barbara hates to admit that she was so focused on her work that it did startle her. "I clearly remember someone promising to not work after midnight anymore."

"Dick." She greets with a tiny smile, slightly turning her head. "Unfortunately crime isn't willing to catch a break when I do." They stay silent a couple of seconds and she adds. "What are you doing here?"

He walks over to where she is and she can see his face has a confused frown on it through the reflection in one of the monitors.

"You're kidding, right?" He asks when he gets to her side.

Now she's confused. "Did we schedule something? I don't remember anything."

His eyebrows go up and then he sighs. "It's your birthday, Babs."

She looks at the bottom of her computer screen and sure enough it's 12:37 of her birthday date. "Oh."

He chuckles and moves closer. "So, how about you close it up for today and enjoy your birthday a little?"

"Shouldn't I do that tomorrow? You know, in day time?"

"Nope. You should do it the whole twenty-four hours of the day. Come on, we're already forty minutes behind."

She doesn't take her eyes out of the computer. "I can't. I'm… busy."

He stays quiet for a while and she knows he's not accepting that. When he speaks, though, it's not a reprimand.

"Did I do something, Babs?"

She finally looks at him. "What?"

"Did I do something wrong? Did I upset you somehow? Are you mad at me?"

"Why are you asking that?" She feels uneasy.

"Well, everything was fine and then suddenly you started avoiding me and diving into work and making lame excuses not to spend time with me. Tell me, what did I do?" He kneels in front of her chair and looks somewhat pleadingly at her.

She shakes her head but doesn't meet his eyes. "You didn't do anything."

"Then what's wrong?" He tries taking her hands but she doesn't let him.

"Nothing's wrong. I just… I think we're getting too old for this game, Dick."

"What game?"

"This… this thing!" She motions between them, frustrated. "This is teenage behavior."

He raises his eyebrows again. "Dating is teenage behavior?"

"We're not dating."

"What? Of course we are!" He exclaims but then considers for a second and adds. "Are you… seeing other people?"

She glares at him. "That's a ridiculous question, Dick."

"How so? It's the only explanation I can see as to why what we have isn't a relationship."

"So you don't go out with other people? Ever? Really?" She sounds sarcastic and he doesn't understand.

"Of course I don't. I thought… for me we were dating, Babs. I tell people I have a girlfriend."

That strikes her. "What?"

"We had that talk… at that dinner… I thought…" He goes quiet and she finally meets his gaze. "I see I misinterpreted things, though." He says seriously and gets up.

She holds his arm. "That's not… Of course I'm haven't been seeing anyone."

"Why, though? If you thought… if we aren't dating?"

"I thought you would… you know, I thought you were seeing other people. Why would you tie yourself to me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He asks still standing, and when her eyes lower he tries not to be angry. "Babs. If I went on a mission today and lost both my arms, would I lose me? Would you think people shouldn't like or love me because of it? Would I be less worthy?"

She keeps her eyes low. "Of course not."

He kneels again and this time secures her hands before she can stop him. "Then why do you think less of yourself?"

She doesn't answer and moves her hand slightly, trying to show she wants to set them free, but Dick doesn't let her. He just stays there, looking at her, and at some point her eyes water a little bit.

"You deserve more than this." Her voice is shaky and vulnerable and it's so out of place Dick is unsure his actions are actually right. Usually he's much more prone to being is that position, Barbara is much too fierce to fall into that part.

"Why? What is more to you? And what is this in your eyes? How is it so diminished?"

"I don't know, Dick, I just… look at us, look at me, this is-"

"Stop." He asked firmly. "Let me tell you this, I believe that to have a good and happy relationship a person needs two things: one, to love the person they're with, two, to be loved by the person they're with. That's all. And listen to me, I love you. I want you and I love you and that hasn't changed in the past years and it's not changing anytime soon either. So here's the deal: if you don't feel the same for me anymore or if you're in love with someone else or if you start hating me so much that the mere sight of me makes you nauseas, you tell me that and I'll never bother you again. But if you do love me back and want to be with me, then please be. Stop looking for excuses, Babs, stop with all the thinking. Let's just be happy, you and me."

She's quiet for several seconds and he can't for the life of him make her eyes meet his.

"How can you be sure we'll even be happy? You don't know how hard it is, Dick, it's not gonna be a walk in the park, okay, you'll have tocompromise and a lot of things we were used to doing we'll never get to do again, and-"

"Barbara." He interrupts her, his voice deep and serious. "You've been in this chair for a while now. I know your difficulties and you know I try to help you whenever I can. But to be honest I don't even see why you're bringing this up, I've never seen you asking for help. You're so independent and you can do everything that you set your eyes on. I know you. Don't play the defenseless maiden, Babs, because you and I both know that's bullshit."

"I'm not saying that I'll need you there twenty-four seven Dick, but you need to understand-"

"Why do you keep finding excuses?" He sighs and lets go of her hands to run his own hand through his hair. "I told you, I've been there the whole time since the accident, do you think I don't know how your life is right now? Every relationship needs compromising, Babs, and helping you is notwork. I'm gonna say this again and you need to understand it, okay? I truly want to be with you. Not just today, not for a while. I want the real deal." He tries lifting her head again and this time she finally obliges. Her eyes are still watery, but she hasn't let any tear fall. "Tell me, what do you want? No excuses, no reasons, no nothing. Just simply tell me what you want."

She takes a deep breath and casts her eyes down. "I want that, too."

Dick almost smiles, but he knows the battle is not completely won yet.

"Then why can't we have it? Why can't you have it? Haven't we been through enough?"

"Dick…" She breathes out again and he waits for more, but it doesn't come.

On an impulse, he moves forward and hugs her. She doesn't resist, instead she tightens her arms around his middle and hides her face in his chest.

"I'm not giving up on you, Barbara Gordon. But I need you to not give up on yourself."

She nods slightly and he feels himself relaxing for the first time that night.

They stay like that for a long time, no matter how uncomfortable the position is for Dick. When they part, he kneels once again in front of her chair and caresses her face, now completely free of the previous tears in her eyes.

"I need to be honest, Babs, because you're smart and you would've figured it out anyway. But don't freak out, okay?"

Her eyebrows shoot up at the abrupt change of subject, but she's known this boy – man – for years and she can read him even with her own eyes closed. So she sees right through his expression; she sees his anxious eyes and his soft hidden smile and she can feel his pulse where his hands are now meeting hers. She knows.

"Oh my God, Richard! I can't believe you."

He actually laughs at that. "You can't blame me, we were on a completely different place in my mind, and I just-"

"Are you kidding me, it's been a couple of weeks since that dinner, not years, you can't-"

"You need to consider all of our history, too, Babs, otherwise it's unfair." He says a little offended and she can't help her smile.

She actually chuckles and covers her mouth because honestly.

His smile grows so bigger she's afraid there might be a permanent damage. "So, is that a yes or…"

She shakes her head and laughs. "You honestly cannot be seriously proposing to me right now. You just convinced me into a relationship like fiveminutes ago. And you didn't even ask anything, seriously Dick, I can't believe you-"

"Well, okay, will you-"

"Dick!" She exclaims, but she's laughing. He stops middle sentence but doesn't lose his smile.

Barbara puts her finger on his lips, like she's stopping him from talking, and releases a shaky laughter. "I… baby steps, okay? It's not a no, it's… it's a promise that when you ask on the right time, it'll be yes. Okay?"

He looks at her like he can't believe she's real, and it sends shivers down her spine. Lastly, he grabs the hand that is still on his mouth and kisses it like an old knight. "Okay."

And with that, he finally kisses her. Short and sweet, just to seal the deal, and it's the best feeling in the world.

(And if she's convinced that he'll actually propose to her the next day at lunch it's only because she knows him and secretly craves to say yes)

(And when he does it at dinner is because he knows she was waiting for it)

(She says yes nonetheless)