Since moving to Gotham, Barbara hadn't had many female friends. She'd spent so much time as Batgirl, largely in the company of men, that she'd sort of forgotten what having friendships with women could be like. After becoming Oracle, she was even more reclusive than she'd been before. She didn't make friendships with much of anyone at that point. Part of her was always a little afraid that people would see her as only a cripple, and she couldn't handle that. Being alone was easier than facing that judgment – or worse, facing pity.
She met Dinah in person for the first time under great duress. It wasn't how she'd have liked to meet face to face (though she hadn't exactly planned on meeting face to face at all), but it was what it was. At the time, she was just grateful to be alive, and grateful for the human contact. As time progressed, she became increasingly glad that circumstances had forced them to meet face to face. There was always a little bit of relief that came from not having to wear a mask constantly. And the closer she got to Dinah, the more she realized that having a friend that wasn't male was really enjoyable.
Friendship or not, though, Barbara wasn't good at going out places. Dinah was much more social than she was, and tended to want to go out and have fun. Barbara was largely of the opinion that the kind of fun Dinah liked and the kind of fun she liked weren't compatible, so they didn't often go out together. When they did, Dinah would sweep in and drag Barbara off for coffee or drinks. She never took no for an answer, despite whatever else was going on in either of their lives.
To her credit, though, she never took Barbara anywhere that wasn't wheelchair accessible, and she never asked her to do anything that would be awkward or make her feel like less for not being able to stand. Dinah wasn't always the most considerate person in the world, but she always did that without Barbara ever saying anything about it. Barbara, of course, never would have. But the fact that she never had to didn't escape her, and she found it touching.
One evening, Dinah showed up without notice, with a duffel bag and two grocery bags. She looked like she'd been crying, and Barbara was immediately on edge when she answered the door.
"Dinah? What are you doing here, are you all right? What's happened?"
"Men are scum," Dinah replied. "Can I stay here for the night?"
Barbara was ruffled by it, unsure of how to respond. "Of course, here, come in." She wheeled back to allow Dinah to pass, then followed her into the other room.
Dinah set the duffel bag down with a thump, and walked into the kitchen with the grocery bags. She came back a few moments later with two pints of ice cream and two spoons.
"Mint chocolate chip or rocky road?" the blonde asked.
Barbara stared at her, momentarily uncomprehending. Despite her high intellect, it had been years and years since she'd had anything resembling a sleepover, and she was confused by the whole situation.
"Dinah, what's going on?"
"Backwards intervention. I knew you'd never come to me, and I needed the company. I have ice cream and romantic comedy DVDs. I can go get another flavor if you want?"
Suddenly, it clicked for Barbara, and she smiled. She was flattered, in a way, that Dinah had come to her. They didn't really live all that close to each other, after all; it wasn't like she was just down the street. Still, of everyone she could have gone to with her troubles, she'd picked Barbara, and that meant something.
"Rocky road sounds fantastic," she said.
Dinah smiled back, looking almost relieved. "Great. How does Bridget Jones' Diary sound to you?"
"Amazing," Barbara said, though she already knew it wasn't her type of movie. She guessed Dinah knew that too, but it wasn't for her. She was fine just being company.
"Great. Oh. Hey, do you have any nail polish?"
"I...maybe? I'll look," Barbara said.
Dinah waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. Let's just do this movie," she said, settling on the couch. Barbara moved over to join her, though of course she didn't bother moving to the couch.
"Did something happen with Ollie?" Barbara ventured, carefully, as Dinah handed her the pint of rocky road and a spoon.
Dinah's features darkened. "Something always happens with Ollie," she said. Barbara was immediately sorry she asked, but Dinah continued. "You know, I've known him for so many years. You'd think I'd be used to him ruining my life by now. He can't keep his hands off other women to save his skin, but I always get so pissed when I realize it again."
Barbara frowned. "Why do you keep bothering with him? You deserve better than that."
Dinah laughed, bitterly, and pulled the lid off her ice cream. She dug in with the spoon, more viciously than was needed since it was slightly melted anyway, and shoved the bite into her mouth. She was quiet through a couple more bites. Barbara gave up on her for a moment and opened her own ice cream, though she was much calmer in eating it.
"Have you ever met anyone and you just think they're it, they're the one? But then they just can't get their crap together, and you're not sure you can wait around for them to change?"
Barbara stared into her ice cream, afraid of what might show on her face when she answered. "Yes," she said, softly, and left it at that. She hadn't really discussed Dick much when they'd gone out. She tried not to talk about him if she could avoid it, because it always seemed so complicated.
She almost jumped when Dinah placed a hand on her shoulder.
"See? That's why. I guess I just can't help myself. Whoever yours is, you deserve better too, you know?"
Barbara looked up, and forced a smile.
"Let's just watch this movie," she said.
Dinah was the first person Barbara called after Dick proposed to her. Although by then, Dinah was aware of the myriad problems that Dick had given Barbara over the years, she was there the next day with a bottle of champagne and a stack of wedding magazines, ready to play wedding planner at a moment's notice.
Dinah was also the first person Barbara called after she gave the ring back. She half-expected Dinah to scold her, which she did later on. Barbara felt bad enough giving the ring back in the first place, so the last thing she needed was a lecture about romance. But that night, Dinah was there with more ice cream and a documentary about LexCorp that she knew Barbara would at least laugh at (since half of it was fabricated nonsense).
They sat on the couch together. Barbara pulled herself onto it and moved her legs to curl beside her, leaning against Dinah as they shared a quart size with twin spoons.
"You know, I'm not even sure why I agreed to marry him in the first place," Barbara said, half-ignoring the tones of the overly cheerful narrator lauding Lex Luthor's praises on the TV.
"Because you love him," Dinah said, amiably.
"This isn't his first engagement, you know," Barbara continued.
"You told me. He was engaged to Starfire once, right?"
"Yes. So it's not like I was his first choice."
"Hey, don't think of it like that. He's younger than you, and men are immature anyway. So it's not like he was old enough to know what he really wanted. Sounds to me like he still doesn't."
Barbara made a sound that might have grudgingly become laughter if she'd let it. "That's why I couldn't go through with it. He's not ready. I don't know that he ever will be."
"You're better off, you know. Not questioning him all the time. Not dealing with that frustration. I know you love him, but maybe the freedom will be nice. Freedom to have someone who actually cares about what you need and want. Cares about how you feel."
Barbara looked at Dinah, searching her face, though she didn't know what she'd find there. Dinah was the best friend she'd ever had, but sometimes she was sure they were on different pages.
Dinah smiled, and her eyes sparkled back at Barbara.
Their spoons clinked together in the ice cream, and Barbara jumped a little. She hadn't realized how tense she'd been. What was wrong with her? She wasn't usually like that, especially not with Dinah.
Dinah laughed, and popped another spoonful in her mouth.
The documentary was awful, but Dinah's guess was right, and Barbara found it laugh-worthy. It was good to laugh.
Dinah's wedding to Ollie was a nightmare anyway, but for awhile their actual marriage seemed to work out. Barbara was happy for them, but still more than a little sad, as married life took Dinah away from her. She was often involved with JLA stuff anyway, but a (mostly) functional relationship with Ollie meant that she had even less free time than normal. Still, Barbara hoped it would work in the long-term.
It didn't.
When Dinah moved out, it was Barbara's turn to show up at her door. She'd gone back to her old apartment, which wasn't entirely accessible. There was an elevator big enough to accommodate furniture, so Barbara's wheelchair fit just fine, but the building wasn't really designed for anyone in a wheelchair. Dinah had done her best to make her own apartment wheelchair navigable, but today, there wasn't really a place for anyone's feet, let alone Barbara's wheels.
Dinah had taken her break up much harder than Barbara had taken it when she'd given Dick's ring back. There were clothes and furniture all over the place, and broken bits of things that might have been vases or cups. When Dinah opened the door, her eyes were dry, though swollen from crying. She looked more than a little surprised to see Barbara.
"Rough day, Canary?" Barbara asked, wryly.
Dinah stared at her for a second, then wordlessly stepped away from the door and started picking up enough of the mess for Barbara to have somewhere to be. Barbara waited patiently in the doorway while Dinah cleaned up. Eventually, there was enough room for them to both get to the couch, though Barbara decided to stay in her chair and not on the couch proper.
Dinah collapsed onto the space she'd cleared on the couch and buried her face in her hands. Barbara reached over and put a hand on her back while she cried again.
When that blew over, Barbara pulled out ice cream of her own. She'd brought it in a bag designed to keep things cold, so it was mostly unmelted. She'd also brought Moulin Rouge, so they could both cry about something that wasn't their lives. It was a compromise – a movie they'd both enjoy in some way.
"I don't know why I thought it would last just because he took a vow," Dinah said, skimming her spoon over the chocolate section of the Neapolitan, but not actually eating any of it.
"Well, you hoped it would. I hoped it would, too. I want you to be happy."
"I was happy, at least for awhile. I thought I was happy, but...Ollie will always be Ollie."
"And you'll always love him, in spite of that, and because of that," Barbara said. "But that doesn't mean you have to be at his emotional mercy, either. Take it from me."
"I ought to have learned it from you earlier," Dinah said, with a wry smile. She finally put a bite of ice cream in her mouth, and the opening tones of "Nature Boy" began, sad and haunting in the background.
Barbara shook her head. "I'm a lousy teacher when it comes to relationships, you know that."
"Yeah, but at least you had the good sense to give the ring back before the ceremony," Dinah argued, but there was no heat in it. "You know, I think in all the relationships I've had, there's only been one that's never let me down or burned me," she continued.
"Oh yeah? How come I've never heard about this guy?" Barbara said, half-teasing.
"Because you already know him."
"Do I?"
"His name is Barbara."
Barbara looked up from the ice cream and stared at her friend. "Oh," she said, unable to manage more than that.
"I guess that's silly, isn't it," Dinah said, not actually asking, and looked back down at the spoon she was still playing with more than using.
Barbara reached out and put her hand over Dinah's, effectively stilling her. "It's not silly at all," she said, smiling as their eyes met. "Before I came over here, I was thinking almost the exact same thing."
Dinah dropped her spoon and turned her hand to twine her fingers with Barbara's. "Would you...care to stay the night? I know it's a mess, but the bed is clean, and comfortable."
Barbara's hand tightened in Dinah's. "I'd love to."