"Lois, blinds are for people who want to sleep until late morning and hate to get up early during the week. You are someone who wants to live life to the fullest, not to sleep through it."

That was the mantra Clark had tried to instill in her. A futile attempt to ease her temper at the grim prospect of not having blinds when they moved into their new condo.

"Clark, I NEED darkness to sleep," she had said.

"Hon, the sun will help you wake up gradually and naturally, and--and you'll be more relaxed."

Frikkin' alien, always an answer for everything. And all because blinds on the windows were a diabolic impediment for him to get inside whenever he came home from saving the world in the middle of the night.

Peeping from under the covers Lois saw the alarm clock. Its digital screen read 06:45 am. She also realized that the first mocking sunbeams of the day were saluting directly on her face.

Great. He left the curtains open. Again. Curtains are to shut out light, won't he ever learn? It was the deal: ok, no blinds, but thick and opaque, very opaque dark curtains. And he goes and leaves them open. And what the hell's wrong with taking off from the living room anyway?

Letting out a groan, Lois took the pillow and placed it over her head. She still had fifteen minutes.

God, she missed her blinds.

"You have to get rid of those blinds."

"Why? Don't you like it here?" It wasn't a reproach; surrounded by pitch-black darkness, his voice betrayed the smirk on his lips.

"Albeit the pleasure I'm feeling right now, naked with you in this comfortable bed, it's harder to wake up in complete darkness. Natural light helps the system to awake naturally, as redundant as it sounds." The woman's hand groped for the light-switch and turned it on, making both squint their eyes at the sudden burst of light. "See? I'm already bothered."

He chuckled and rolled the round device to the left, gradually decreasing the intensity of the light. "See? I thought of that too."

"Yes. You always think of everything; always anticipating, don't you?"

"Is that unnerving for you?"

She tilted her head to look at him and smiled back, replying in a playful mode. "Only when it involves that time of the month. It was really disturbing having my boyfriend telling me that my period had already started those months without PMS to notice myself. FYI, that's why I started keeping track on the calendar." He snorted. "But I will admit this," She said moving her head in a 90º arc and looking at her surroundings. "I love the way you have anticipated me making all these changes in here."

"Only because they let you move around completely free."

"There is a reason I don't have handles in my wheelchair, Grayson."

"And I love every bit of that frisky, strong and independent side of you, Gordon," he said. "Nevertheless, I'm glad you like it, because it was about damn time you and I started living together."

"It's perfect, Dick." Barbara raised her head to engage with his lips in a soft, sweet, loving kiss. Then she pulled her 'I'm too cool for this' smirk and added, "Of course, Clocktower systems buying the top seven stories paved you the way to get the place."

"Yeah, nice strike, Babs, buying the thing under my nose."

"Hey, but I let you redecorate."

Dick rolled his eyes, never losing his smile. "Riiiight, because I love interior designing."

Looking again at the still closed blinds, Barbara stretched her arms and turned her head to the nightstand, suddenly noticing a conspicuously empty spot. "Dick..."

"Mmmm?"

"Where's the alarm clock?"

"...Hidden."

"Wha--? Dick!"

Barbara laid back on the mattress, rolling her eyes and mentally scolding herself for not having anticipated that Dick would attempt such a little act of betrayal. She breathed deeply before asking. "What's the time?" One look at him and she could see he was stalling. "Dick. Time."

Eventually, Dick gave in and opened the drawer of his nightstand, taking the clock with his hand. "It's 06:44," he said.

"Dick!"

Using her abdominal muscles and her arms, Barbara sat up on the bed in less than a second.

"I was supposed to be up hours ago! The Metropolis mission goes live tonight and I still have to tie up loose ends!"

"Hours ago?," asked Dick. "Come on, Babs!"

He then grabbed her hands before they could reach the rings she used to get out of bed. It was a soft yet firm hold. His sudden frown matched the sternness of his voice, enough to make Barbara look at him.

"You went to bed at two, after monitoring Huntress and Lady Blackhawk. Cooling down the adrenaline rush took me a 70 minute massage, you've barely slept three hours." Barbara looked away. "You need the rest, Babs, you have to take it easy."

The ever so excesively-caring-former-boy-wonder-yes-the-one-who-would-never-change-no-matter-what. Barbara tried to be comprehensive; after all, a tiny part of him was right. Not that she would acknowledge that aloud, of course.

"I am taking the steps towards that, Dick, we've talked about this, and you know I'm–."

With a swift move, Dick stood on his knees, face to face with Barbara.

"I don't see those steps right now."

Stretching towards her, he placed his left hand on the back of her head, the right on her back and forced her body to lay down again, following hers with his until he was literally on top.

"Trying to get a better perspective?," asked her with a cocky grin.

Clark loved the mornings, especially those in which he woke up in their bed, holding Lois in his arms. A big fire in an office building in Osaka had taken him out of bed early, but the watch from Reno's town hall showed him that it was 06:52 in Metropolis. Smiling, he sped home. He would still get to see her before she woke up.

"Dick..."

One of Barbara's erogenous zones was her ear lobe, and it always worked. Soon after he started licking, he noticed how Barbara's functioning body half tensed at the warm and wet sensation on her right ear. "Dick...what are you doing?"

Yes. The ears never failed.

"What does it look like I'm doing?," said Dick in between kisses, "I'm preparing your ears to support the comm link later, of course."

"Dick, you're going down the neck. I ain't wearing devices on the n–– neither on the breasts!"

He ignored her. All his attention was fixed on her breasts, more specifically on the hardened nipples.

Dick loved being the one giving her those body reactions. Barbara's paralysis was an incentive to find new ways of making her feel both sexual pleasure and response. The open communication they had developed when they started making love after the incident had led them to a new level of intimacy and trust in their relationship.

Ever since she was shot, Barbara had had to redefine her sexual identity. She could not have a hundred percent active role during penetration, and her range of sexual postures had been dramatically shrunk. She could still feel sexual pleasure, but in different ways, and Dick new all of them; he was making a damn good job at the moment. Then, when she was about to lose her sense of reality, Dick resumed their conversation about the mission. Talk about awkward.

"So tell me, original Batgirl. What are those loose ends yet to tie?," asked Dick as he kissed the tip of her nipple with his warm lips.

Barbara tried to focus, but to no avail. "I...uh...oh, Dick..I ne--need..."


"Yes?"

Dick increased the pressure of his tongue.

Barbara finally managed to mumble her answer. "I n--eed a team mem-- member. One." She hated losing control. God, he was good.

"I can help you with that. Right now." After her breasts, he went to his favorite spot in Barbara's body, her belly, kissing it softly and slowly, specially the area of skin surrounding her navel, all the way towards her groin. He smiled to himself when he noticed the slight spasms of her belly responding to his treatment.

"You are making me unable to focus, Grayson," Barbara conceded.

Dick smirked through his victory. "Take this as training, Babs. To keep your focus under dire circumstances."

"I would hardly call this dire --oh...mmmmm...God, Dick, you're so..." Instinctively, Barbara extended her hand downwards, but only reaching the bellybutton.

"Dick, I can't tell how are you doing," she said.

As considerate and annoyingly obliging as ever, which in this very situation reached the status of ridiculous, Dick mumbled an apology and stretched towards her face, so she could reach below his waistline. Directing her hand towards his penis, he let her touch it.

"I'd say I'm doing fairly well," he whispered.

"Looks like I don't have to help you this time," Barbara said as she took a gel tube from the drawer of her nightstand with her free hand and passed it to Dick.

"You're already helping, Babs," said Dick, taking the Astroglide lubricant.

"I'm passive enough during most of it, you know I like to make a real active contribution, Richard."

Dick arched an eyebrow. "Richard?"

"You know, when I'm getting acquainted with little you down there, calling you Dick..."

"Oh. Sure. Better Richard than former boy wonder right now, anyway."

Barbara chuckled. "See? I can also anticipate you."

Metropolis bathed by the red morning light of the sun was a beautiful sight. Airborne, Clark remained still, basking in the beauty of it. Then he did it again.

Letting the breeze gently make his cape dance to its rhythm, he closed his eyes and listened to her heartbeat. Steady, healthy, so full of life. Up there he felt as if his own heart only beat for that sound. If what humans called Heaven and Paradise existed, it had to be something like that.

The only thing better than that was seeing the bearer of that pumping muscle. Smiling to himself, Clark opened his eyes and flew back home.

When he saw Lois' head under the pillow he realized he had left the curtains open. Again. He landed carefully and remained still waiting for her to wake up; it wouldn't be long now.

"Looks like you're ready."

"You too," said Dick.

Barbara's paralysis had severed her reflex lubrication, so they needed the water-soluble lubricant. Also, no residual innervation was left on her pelvis to actually feel an orgasm, but the word 'Joker' had long ago left their minds when they were making love. They focused on other senses like tact, which had led them to notice more accurately the slightest changes in their body reactions, turning love making into a whole new sensorial experience.

Carefully, Dick opened Barbara's legs. "Shall I?"

Barbara nodded and rose to a sitting position. "You shouldn't be asking so much, Grayson." But she knew he would always ask.

Dick got closer to her body and embraced her, carefully placing her legs around his, lifting her body so she was sitting on him, in a way that his gluteus, abdominals and arms worked so he could penetrate and Barbara's legs were in a safe position, also enabling her to see everything she couldn't feel. Slowly, he slid inside his lover, letting her feel his rhythm so she could move in unison.

Inside. "So, the mission. I don't have to go to New York until the afternoon. Any chance I can help you with the missing member?" Ok, 'member' not the best word right now. Outside.

Inside. "Asides from the fact that I would rather you not going to socialize with your ex? You could give me some ideas, yeah." Outside. Oh if I could only feel it.

Inside. "Oh, come on," he protested, making Barbara laugh. "But no, I don't recommend you picking Kory for your mission. Too impetuous," Dick said in retaliation. Outside. "And by the way, mentioning her right now...you've got a twisted mind, you know?" Inside again. Hold it there.

"Just trying to cool you down a little to make this longer. And training your focus under dire circumstances. How about Gar?" Outside. Getting closer.

Inside. "Sure! He's best buddies with Impulse. You'll get lucky if those two together accomplish anything in the mission asides from breaking a record in repeating jokes. Bad ones, I might add." Coming...

Inside-Outide, Inside... "Impulse's role is circumstantial, Dick, grab and deliver. But yeah, better not leave anything to chance. Well, with Vic on another mission, hence you filling in his post with the Titans, that only leaves Donna. Superman is reserve, so another flying member as part of the team will come in handy." He's coming.

Dick's tone was tense, he found it harder to talk. "I'll contact her, I'm sure she will be pleased to help. And..." Ooh, ok. Perfect timing, "I'm...oh God, Babs..."

Dick's body started moving faster, his breath changed its rhythm. He let his body take control, letting himself lost in the wave of pleasure while kissing Barbara as hard as he could. She responded back, knowing what he needed for as long as it lasted. Suddenly he stopped and breathed deeply. They remained in silence, feeling each other's body heat, bathing in the tenderness and tranquil atmosphere that followed the reaching of climax. "You were awesome, Babs."

Gently, Dick disengaged and laid Barbara on her back. After kissing her, he took some antiseptic body-cleaning washcloth to use on her vagina. Barbara noticed him moving, and folded her arms using her forearms as support so she could see what she suspected Dick was doing.

Arched eyebrow, she made her observation. "Dick, that is a huge invasion of privacy."

"I didn't hear you protesting about my trespassing a minute ago," replied Dick with a smirk on his face; then, ignoring Barbara's remark, he finished cleaning her.

"You know what I mean. Invasion of certain very private moments? Personal hygiene is something I'm not willing to share with you, mister."

"I don't understand," he said jokingly, "I've never interrupted you when you're cleaning your wheelchair."

"Hardehar-har."

Dick sat behind Barbara, letting her back rest on his chest and embracing her with his arms.

"Hey, I helped you pick up the team and gave you an orgasm at the same time. Don't I get the right to be sarcastic?"

"After diligently cleaning my vagina? Sarcasm is weird."

"You are a geek and I don't complain."

"Well, I'll be the one pledging the grievance then." She turned her head to the side where Dick's face was, right by her shoulder. "Need to work out some more?," asked Barbara.

Dick looked puzzled. "Work out? What do you mean?"

"Look at the watch, Grayson. Only fifteen minutes."

Dick tried to remember how Gar's face looked whenever he needed to get himself out of embarrassing situations. The one that incredibly always worked. "You said you were busy."

Barbara snorted. "Lamest excuse ever, acrobat."

Maybe you have to be green to get it to work.

"You know, Babs? time is such a relative concept..."

Time is a bitch.

Lois' fifteen minutes were off too soon. The alarm clock started to sing. No, not a regular and annoying 'beep, beep, beeeeep'. No. Music. Clark had set it with music.

"Lois, the 'beep' is stressful. This will remind us that no matter what, a new day should be started with joy."

When the hell had he swallowed Dorothy and Snowhite altogether? And under her watch, no less! Love is making you sloppy, Lane. And a ukulele song. He had to use a ukulele song. What was wrong with some solid heavy metal? Wasn't also important to get up with energy? "Lois, you are a battery all on your own. If anything, relaxation is what you need to function at a normal pace." Again the alien with the swift responsive reflexes.

Apparently, Martha Kent's upbringing in Metropolis had left her not just a musical background sustained on north American folk and country, but also a liking for British rock, with Beatles and The Who on top of the list.

Clark had told her that Ma Kent used to sing this song in the mornings when he was a kid. She could totally imagine the daybreak bucolic scene in the Kent's kitchen. The thought drew a nostalgic smile on her face.

Nevertheless, she directed her hand towards the clock. If she just stopped the alarm, she would have nine extra minutes before--

"Ah, ah, ah. That's cheating Miss Lane."

Lois took the pillow from over her head and saw Clark standing, right by his side of their bed, beaming, smiling at her. To hell with musical therapy, this is what she needed to get all jaunty and sprightly to start a new day: Clark. Nothing else. No one else.

That smile of him would help her forget that today, May 29th, 2020, was Chloe's death anniversary. If only the sun kept shining, she would make it through the day.

Author's notes:

I tried to write Babs' and Dick's love-making scene with the utmost respect, so I hope its only flaws are lack of description and vocabulary –both, things I'm trying to improve–.

Feedback will be very much appreciated.

Music:

Songs are an important part of the whole tetralogy (Link, Knall, Inside, Parachutes). Some of them have served as prompts to certain scenes, as sound tracks to give ambience or as guides to help complete my take on certain characters. Clark's and Lois' arc mainly has been plotted with the song that gives title to the tetralogy and the last story as a compass.

I used two songs when writing this chapter:

Björk 'I see who you are' for the scene between Barbara and Dick. It's a very intimate song about love and sex. It went perfectly for the mood and the way I envision this couple.

The Who 'Blue, red and grey': Lois' and Clark's alarm clock. Yes, the damn ukulele song. It's so easy to imagine Ma Kent singing it around the house in the morning...

A version of the fic with links to direct download of the songs in the exact moments they should be listened to is being posted on my LJ. However, once finished I'll make a fanmix of the whole (around 23 songs) and will post the link, either in author's notes at the end of the fic (take into account it has 25 chapters and two epilogues) or in my profile.

Hope you enjoyed it. As the fic is already finished, the updates will come regularly, only delayed if I find reasons to improve it.

Thanks for reading.