A/N: written for YJAM back in 2015. posting here because I don't want to lose it.
It's hard to go back, but the work never stops. Where would they be if it did? What would she be without the mask?
Not freezing, she thinks, rubbing her stiff hands against her thighs furiously. The snow mobile she's driving stays on course until she takes control again and hones in on her target. Once the camp is in sight, she stops the vehicle and continues on foot. No one should be out here- any time of the year. She carefully approaches the entrance to the lone, red tent that sticks out in the frozen landscape. She inhales an icy breath and lets herself in.
"You put a tracer on me?" He asks, immediately turning around in his chair. His mask is on. His hair is longer than she remembers. The desk is piled high with books and notes and it's a such a mess.
Barbara swallows down her emotions and replies, "I didn't need to."
He's silent for a long moment, holding her gaze before he asks, "Does Batman know you're here?"
"He knows you're here," she quips quickly.
Nightwing turns back towards his desk and sighs, "Batgirl, if Batman wanted to send me a message, he could have just-"
"I'm no messenger. He doesn't know I'm here… What are you doing, Dick?" Barbara slips off her cowl and takes a bold step towards him. "What are you hoping to find?"
"A sign- A clue- Anything, at this point!" He takes a ragged breath and she can imagine the pain in his eyes behind the mask. The holographic screen in front of him flickers when he drops his hand on the desk. He still won't face her.
It has been six months since Nightwing took a leave of absence from the Team. Dark forces are rising again, and the League needs the Team at full strength.
Barbara pulls his chair back, forcing him to face her. She carefully removes his mask, revealing the red-rimmed eyes she knew she'd find.
His lip trembles when he whispers, "People don't just cease, Barbara."
She has no words. The embrace she pulls him into has to be enough. It has to. She eases him out of the chair and onto the cold floor with her. He collapses into her snow-flecked gear and wraps his arm around her, grabbing fistfuls of her cape.
"Babs-" he croaks with his head on her shoulder, and she's brought back to the summer night he spent at her apartment before he went off grid. There's nothing new she can say to comfort him. There are no new clues, no breadcrumbs to follow, nothing that would lead them to the person that had left such a deep hole in the hearts of the entire Team- but Dick is right.
People don't just disappear. Even magicians have to reappear sometime.
Barbara closes her eyes and does the only thing she can do: hold him tighter.