A/N: First I'd like to thank TheNextBatgirl for inspiring this story! This is basically a spin-off of her awesome stories Shattered and Find a Way so check out her stuff! It's really good!
Chapter 1
"Dick, please!" Barbara cried, hot tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"No, Barbara. I'm not putting up with Bruce anymore." Dick said as he packed his things.
"But, Dick, there's something I need to tell you," Barbara started.
"No," Dick said looking at Barbara, "Nothing you say will make me stay."
Then he walked away and the tears began to flow.
When Bruce found out Dick left, he found her in Dick's apartment on the bed crying. He took her back to her father's apartment. When Dick left, Barbara was broken. It was as if she shattered into a million pieces.
"Nothing," he said. Nothing would make him stay. Not even their child. Eventually, with the help of Bruce, Alfred, and her Dad, Barbara got back on her feet. When the baby, Mary Grace Gordon, was born, Bruce bought Barbara a house in a small town with a population of about two thousand outside of Gotham.
In Bellside, Barbara was happy. Everyone treated her like family. When Mary was nine months, Barbara was able to pull her out of daycare and take her to her job at the local flower shop. But as much as Barbara loved Bellside, she missed Dick. She told Mary stories about her daddy, the hero Nightwing, who was always there to save the day.
Barbara told her about how someday, she knew he would come back. She asked the Team if they knew where he was, but none of them knew.
But still. Barbara dreamt and dreamt of Dick coming to find her and take somewhere where she wasn't treated like glass. Somewhere where they could be a family.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"Wally, get the phone." Artemis mumbled.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"WALLY! GET THE GODDAMN PHONE!" Artemis yelled at her sleeping partner.
Thud.
"Ow!" Wally said getting up of the floor.
"Wally, get the phone."
"I'm going, I'm going!" he said speeding off. "Hello?" he answered the phone with a sleepy/annoyed tone.
"Sorry to wake you up this early, Wally, but I need to talk to you. Meet me at Keystone Coffee?"
Wally was speechless. It was Dick, the same Dick who went off the radar four years ago.
"Y-yeah." Wally stumbled, "I'll see you there, Dick."
"Thanks, Wally."
Wally hung up the phone and returned to his bedroom. "Hey, babe," Wally said waking Artemis, "It was Dick. I'm going to go meet him."
"Okay." She mumbled.
Wally got dressed and sped off to Keystone Coffee, a twenty-four hour coffee place in Central City near Keystone High.
When Wally walked through the door off the small coffee shop, it was almost eleven. He saw Dick sitting at one of the two person tables on the far right. He looked exhausted. And not just because it was late, it looked like he had been dragging a ton of bricks around since he left.
"You wanted to talk?" Wally asked with a solemn face as he sat down.
"Yeah." He said looking down into his black espresso, "I've been thinking about Barbara an awful lot lately. I want to see her again, but I don't know if she wants to see me. Especially the way I stormed out on her all those years ago."
Wally sighed, "She misses you, man. She still believes you'll come back."
Dick looked up at Wally surprised, "R-really?"
"Yeah, I don't think she's even gotten passed a first date with anyone she's been set up with." Wally replied.
"She should have moved on, I'm not worth crying over," he said guiltily.
"That's what everyone told her, but she's only got eyes for you." Wally said giving Dick a light smile.
"Do you know where I can find her?" Dick asked eagerly.
"Yeah, one second." He said getting up and asking for a pen at the register. When he got back he wrote out Barbara's address on a napkin. "I think that's right." Wally said handing Dick the napkin. "She lives in Bellside, it's half an hour south of Gotham on the coast.
Dick looked down at the address. "Thanks, man. I better get going" he said getting up and putting money for the coffee on the table.
"Good luck." Wally said as they parted ways in the parking lot.
Dick nodded and got into his dark blue 2013 Ford Mustang convertible and started driving. Bellside was a long ways away.
"Mary! Time for bed!" Barbara called and she climbed up the white wooden stairs to the second story of the house she shared with her daughter to find Mary playing dollhouse in her room.
"Ok, Momma." Mary said putting her toys away while Barbara picked out her pajamas for her four year old daughter.
"Will this do?" Barbara asked holding up a purple Disney princess nightgown.
"No, Momma! Nightwing jammies! Nightwing jammies! Nightwing jammies!" the bubbly little girl chanted.
"Ok, Ok, Hun," Barbara said in defeat smiling to herself as she pulled out a pair of grey pajama shorts and a matching tee shirt with the Nightwing logo on it.
Barbara then proceeded to put Mary in her pajamas, put her hair in two identical braids, brush her teeth, and get her into bed.
"Ok, Mary," Barbara said kneeling beside her daughter's bed, "What are having for breakfast tomorrow?"
"Hm." The four year old thought, "Pancakes! With pineapple and OJ!"
"Sounds good," Barbara agreed. "Do you want a story?"
"Yes!" Mary exclaimed, "One about Daddy!"
Barbara expression dropped for a second while her heart flip flopped. "All right, when he faced which villain?"
"No, no, tell me about when you first met him." Mary explained.
"He wasn't Nightwing then, or Robin," Barbara warned.
"It's okay. Tell me." Mary said looking at her mom with big puppy dog eyes. She looked just like her father other than the being a girl part and her freckles, which she got from Barbara.
She looked into her daughter's eyes, his eyes, and sighed. "Well, it all started when the circus came to town…"
Eight year old Barbara Gordon was extremely excited. Her dad was taking her to the circus! And not just any circus, Haley's Circus, home to the world famous Flying Graysons. She even heard there was a boy her age in the act! And that the circus had elephants! Elephants were Barbara's favorite animal.
As she walked up to the circus tent holding her dad's hand with one hand and a bag of pink cotton candy in the other, she saw Bruce Wayne and Vicky Vale walk up to the tent. So of course her dad had to go say hi because they were friends or something.
"Bruce!" her dad greeted. Barbara groaned. She wanted to see the elephant.
"Jim!" Bruce replied walking over with Vicky on her arm. "Long time no see!"
"Yeah," her dad said smiling, "I hear you're funding the circus."
"Indeed," Bruce confirmed nodding.
"Daddy!" Barbara complained pulling on the Commissioner's arm.
"An inpatient one," Vicky mused.
"You have no idea," Jim agreed, making Barbara pout more.
"I want to see the elephant!" Barbara announced.
"Well it was good seeing you, Bruce." Jim said, "I guess we'll be going."
He waved to Bruce and his date as Barbara pulled him to the circus tent's entrance wear a clown was taking tickets. Jim handed over the tickets. When they got in they took their seats and waited for the show to start. The two also saw the elephant in the preshow when Barbara stole her dad's phone to take a picture of the elephant that she had been dying to see.
Then the tent darkened. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," and deep masculine voice boomed over the speakers and a spotlight shined on the ring master in the center of the tent, "Welcome to Haley's Circus!" Then colorful lights shined around the tent as cannons shot out glitter, confetti, and streamers. Barbara clapped furiously in delight and her dad smiled at his daughter's delight.
"And now," The ringmaster said, he had on a green vest that matched his boots and a lighter shade of green for his pants with a violet jacket with a long tail and a purple top hat. He held in his hand a yellow-gold baton as he motioned to six people in matching leotards, "The Flying Graysons!"
The six did a short act before the ring master began talking, "And a special thanks to our generous donor, Bruce Wayne!" a spotlight was directed to where Bruce and Vicky sat. Bruce stood up to wave to the crowd, in the process causing his popcorn to fall and the crowd to laugh. But Bruce just gave it a 'what can you do?' smile. "Now, the Flying Graysons's will perform a very dangerous stunt, without the net!" Then the net dropped kicking up small puffs of sand, "Now because this stunt is so dangerous, the youngest member of the troupe will have to sit out. And here they go!" Haley said pointing to the fabulous acrobats position themselves for the famous stunt. Barbara watched in awe, hardly noticing a young boy, about her age, sitting out on the platform on one end of the trapeze, high in the air.
It was all so amazing, then…
Snap!
The five acrobats fell in a jumble of bodies to the ground with a smack and crack.
Everyone was silent in horror as the little boy at the top of the trapeze climbed down the rope ladder with wide eyes.
Then there was a scream.
Barbara buried her head in her dad's chest and he wrapped his arms around her.
There was a funeral a couple days later.
Barbara and Jim went. It was all paid for by Bruce Wayne. It was rumored he was even going to take the boy in.
Barbara saw the boy, Dick, standing by his family's graves. She walked over to him and took his hand and smiled when he looked at her, "Hi, I'm Barbara. I know how you feel," she said frowning, "Well, sort of, my mom left me and my dad last year. If you need a friend, I'll be here for you."
Dick smiled, "Thank you, Babs."
"Babs?"
"I like the sound of it."
They laughed.
Barbara smiled at the sleeping for of her daughter and stroked the child's braided hair. "Good night, my darling." She whispered kissing her one the forehead and tiptoeing to her own room.
A/N: Okay so review and let me know what you think! I'm sure about when I'm updating Our Adventure since the first chapter was really the only one with a plot. And remember, constructive criticism and your thoughts are welcome! Especially since I'm really bad about rereading my writing. Just don't be mean about it. And I'm about a third of the way through the second chapter for those of you who actually bother to read the Author's note.