TITLE: Welcome Back

TITLE: Welcome Back

TIME: 20 years before Batman Beyond

COMMENTS: Watching BB, I had always figured that they had just ignored the comic book canon as far as Barbara Gordon was concerned. They in one episode they made reference to the bullet holes being taken out of her Batgirl costume, and I thought, hey, maybe they didn't ignore the whole Oracle period. And so I meshed that with something I've wanted to write for a while and here it is. Hope you like it.

FEEDBACK: Yes! Please! Crystal@SunnydaleHigh.zzn.com

DICLAIMER: I don't own these characters. If I did, I wouldn't be posting on the web, trust me.

She kept hearing the conversation in her mind over and over as she drove. It seemed like something unreal. There she was, just casually watching television, eating dinner, as the phone rang. She picked it up and heard a familiar voice.

"Barbara… its Tim." Tim. Tim Drake. But he wasn't Tim Drake to her; he was the third Robin. The young-un. Sure, it had been 8 years since he had hung up his cape, opting for a college education… and a real life. And it had been a decade since she had turned hers in, but it was forever her realm of identification. She knew that he saw her as Batgirl, as well.

"Tim, how are you?

He took a deep breath. "Not good." Barbara's heart sank as she thought of what could be wrong. "Listen, I know you're not on the best terms with Bruce, but…"

Barbara cut him off. "No, Tim. I have nothing to say to him."

"He's had a heart attack, Barbara."

The words cut her like a knife. "A hear… is he…. How is he?"

"He's in Gotham General. Listen, he's doing better, but he needs someone to be there. I can't get home and you're the closest thing he has to kin there."

Barbara swallowed hard.

"Listen, I know what I'm asking of you, but he needs you. You're all he has there."

She took a deep breath. "Gotham General?"

"Yes. They're only letting a few people in because they're trying to keep it quiet, so I'll call them and tell them you're coming."

"All right."

"Thank you, Barbara. You have no idea how much this means to me, or him for that matter. He misses you."

"I'm only going because you asked, as long as we have that clear."

"I know. I guess it's too much to expect a major reconciliation by the time I get there, huh?"

"Yes. Far too much."

Now Barbara was on her way to see Bruce. The man she had been avoiding for the past, oh, four years. The only way she even knew what was going on with him was either through the society pages of the Gotham Times, which she tried to avoid like the plague, and through Tim.

She was proud of Tim for sticking by him, she had to admit that. One by one, he had driven all of them away. First Dick, the first Robin, then after Jason Todd's death, he was never the same as far as Barbara was concerned. After she was shot by the Joker, their relationship changed even further, and then after she had introduced him to the last Batgirl, he began to close her off. He had always been reclusive, but he now cut her off completely. Maybe he just learned better with Tim… or maybe Tim just had a more forgiving temperament than she and Dick had had.

But that wasn't the straw that broke her back, so to speak. It was when he tracked Jason down, that was when it all went to hell. Jason Bard had been the first man she had actually loved since… well, since Dick, irony of all ironies. He had gone up to the mountains to go on a ski holiday, when his cabin was destroyed in an avalanche. However, when Batman heard from Nightwing that Jason Bard had set up home in Bludhaven, he couldn't help but go find out. Turns out, Jason wasn't all he seemed. She had felt distance growing between them ever since she had been paralyzed, but it was more than just that. Jason had found someone new and instead of hurting Barbara and just right out leaving her, he chose to fake his own death. "A kinder way," he had told her when she had found him. She found it easier to forgive Jason than Bruce, though. She still thought of the day when she went to his offices. Bruce was happy to see her, at first, she didn't usually venture out much in the wheelchair… more of an inconvience thing than of pride.

"That is it, Bruce! That is the final straw. Jason was gone from my life. I was finally starting to forget him, and you have to go and do this. It's done, now. I'm not your little do-girl anymore and I want you out of my life!"

She could see he was shaken by her harsh words to him. "Barbara, I was just trying…"

"No!" She cut him off sharply. "No more. Stay away from me, and stay out of my life. And that's the final word on the subject." With that she turned around and wheeled out.

In the past few years, she had seen him very little. He had tried to see her at first, but after a while, finally got the idea that she was serious… that he had pushed yet another person away from him. Since then, she had only seen him a few times, never of her own doing. Time, forever the optimist, would try to reconcile them, every so often. He just couldn't understand. He couldn't understand that after so long, Bruce began to think that he ran your life. That whatever happened, he was responsible for righting. And when all you wanted to do was move on… there he was, keeping you in the past. Other than those times, and a few society events she had ventured out for, she only saw him once… at her father's funeral.

She arrived at the hospital and was escorted up to his room. He was sleeping when she entered, a good thing considering she really didn't know what she'd say had he been awake. He'll probably ask me what I'm doing here. What do I say? Because Tim asked me? Because I care? Because I wanted to see if it was possible for the great Bruce Wayne to fall? I'll just sit here and wait and hopefully, Tim will get here sometime tomorrow.

"Barbara?"

She stirred from her awkward position in the chair when she heard a voice weakly calling her name. She almost didn't recognize that it was Bruce calling her, as he had woken up. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Yeah. Do you need something?"

He inched himself up more to look at her, and she got a good look at him for the first time. This wasn't the Bruce she had known. This Bruce was pale, with large bags under his eyes. Probably from working too much… but which job, if not both. He looked thin, too, like he hadn't been keeping himself as well.

"What are you doing, here, Barbara?"

She stood and walked over by his bed. "Tim can't get into the city, so he called me and asked me to stay with you."

"And you came?"

She sighed. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"He paid you, didn't he?" Bruce managed to smile weakly.

Barbara laughed softly. "No, Bruce, he didn't."

He reached over and took her hand. "Well, at any case, I'm glad you came. It means a lot."

She swallowed and nodded. "Yeah. Well, Tim asked, so…" She let go of his hand and shifted uncomfortably. "So, how'd it happen?"

"During a meeting, it just happened. Overwork."

"You do work too much, Bruce. You always have. Maybe this is a good thing… it'll give you a chance to rest… take a break. From everything."

He sighed. "I can't do that, Barbara. This city needs me. Especially now that…" he trailed off, but Barbara knew what the end of the sentence was. "Especially now that your father's gone."

"Well, you're going to have to for a while, so deal with it."

Bruce was about to protest as a nurse walked in. "Miss Gordon, there's a phone call for you."

"Thanks," she said to the nurse before turning to Bruce. "We'll continue this discussion later."

Bruce walked Barbara out of the room and breathed a sigh. I knew that she still cared. I knew it.

­­­

Barbara stepped out into the outer room and picked up the phone. "Barbara Gordon speaking."

"It's Tim. How's he doing?

"He seems fine. Weak, but fine."

"That's good. I got a flight for tomorrow night, so I should be there day after. Are you okay with him until then?"

Barbara sighed. "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you when you get here."

"Yeah. Thanks again, Barbara."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

She hung up the phone and looked at her watch. It was only a quarter after one in the morning. She had left her house around nine. To her, it seemed like she'd been there forever. Barbara walked back to the door of Bruce's room and saw that he was already fast asleep again. She walked in and pulled the blanket over him. That's good. Rest. You deserve to.

She tried to sleep, but couldn't. There were too many thoughts going through her mind, too many memories. She stood, looking out the window at the Gotham skyline, sorting out her emotions.

I've hated him for so long. Hated him for trying to control my life. For trying to fix every wrong. But to see him there, helpless, weak. Can you really forgive someone for a world of wrongs in one moment?

Her mind went back to the last time she had seen him. Her father's funeral, only three months before. He went the same way, a heart attack... only his was fatal. She hadn't seen him during the service, and was a mixture of glad and furious at that. As much as she didn't want to see him, he should have been there. As she stood at the gravesite after the burial, and after everyone else had left, she heard a voice behind her.

"Barbara… I'm so sorry."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she casually brushed it off as she turned around to face him. "For what? It was a heart attack, Bruce. There are some things even you don't have control over." Those words seemed oddly foreshadowing now.

"If there's anything I can do…" he offered kindly.

"Oh, like finding him still alive and taking pictures and flaunting them in my face? Is that what you can do?" She realized that she came off a bit harshly, but at the time she didn't care.

He lowered his head. "I thought I was doing something good. I was wrong. Are you going to hold that against me for the rest of my life?"

Barbara shook her head. "This is my father's funeral, damnnit! I am not doing this here." And with that, she walked away as he called after her. She hadn't seen him since then… even though Tim had tried to reconcile the two numerous times.

While she stood in the outer room of Bruce's hospital room, Barbara brushed her hair back as a man entered.

A tall man, around thirty entered the room and saw a woman standing by the window. The floor nurses let him in with no problem, so he came to the assumption that Tim must have called and cleared him. Surprising, considering the hard time the kid had given him when he called the first time. The woman stood about five feet, eight inches, he guessed. He wondered who she was… he hadn't heard about Bruce getting a new girlfriend.

"Excuse me, ma'am…."

Barbara stood straighter as she heard the voice behind her. It can't be…

"Excuse me, ma'am… are you Mr. Wayne's nurse?"

It is…. I can't believe it, but it's him. She responded, still looking at the window. "Dick?"

The woman at the window paused a moment before saying, almost shaking, "Dick?"

Who is this woman? How does she know my name?

He took another step into the room. "Yes, and you are?"

Barbara couldn't believe that he didn't recognize her voice. She turned around slowly, silently as she watched Dick's face.

Dick sucked in a breath. "Bar… wow. It's been…. A while."

She said nothing, but scoffed quietly as she walked toward him.

"Barbara, I… I don't know what to say… I…"

He stopped as she reached him. She looked at him for a second, and took in a breath before pulling back her arm and landing a punch square in his jaw.

Dick fell onto one of the chairs in the room. Yep, she's still strong. It wasn't the impact, really, but just the fact that it completely caught him off guard. He stood back up, rubbing his jaw. "Damn, Barbara…"

"Sorry." She said coldly as she walked back to the window. Somehow, he didn't think that it was completely sincere.

He walked to a seat near her. "So, how are…."

Barbara turned on him and cut him off sharply. "What are you doing here?"

Dick laughed haughtily. "Oh, I just like to make trips up here to walk around the hospital and see if I know anyone," he answered with a smile.

She frowned. "You don't need to be sarcastic."

"And you don't need to be a bitch." He came back quickly. Not five minutes here and we're already back into it.

Barbara almost laughed and sat down across from him. She was going to try to be civil. "So, what are you doing here? Or moreover, I guess, how'd you hear about it?"

"I noticed that the Dark Knight was missing in action last night. So, I came went down to the manor to see what was going on and no one was there. I called Tim Drake and he told me what happened… albeit begrudgingly." He smiled. "So, what about you?"

"Tim asked me to stay with him, until Tim gets here, that's why," she answered matter-of-factly, as she got up and walked over to the window again.

Dick looked at her standing in awe. The last time he had seen her, she was still confined to her wheelchair. To see her standing there, looking strong again, and more beautiful than ever… and knowing that of all the people on the earth, she probably hated him the most. It was killing him.

"So… you're walking… that's… wow."

She laughed bitterly. "Yeah. I forgot to thank you for the get well card. It was sweet." She replied sharply.

"How…? I mean I thought that your spinal cord was…"

She turned to face him. "Shot completely through? Yeah… it was."

He got up and went to her. "I wanted to come see you… but I…" he resisted the urge to hold her to him. "I don't know. I just couldn't. So, how? I mean, you're walking, Barbara. How's it possible?"

She turned away again. "Doctors can do amazing things with now a days."

He decided to drop the subject and leave it at that. "I… I heard about your father. I'm sorry. I was going to come for the funeral, but I figured you didn't really want me there."

She was silent a moment. "No, you could have come. You had a right to be there. You were like a son to him." She said this all facing away.

Dick decided to change the subject. "How's Bruce doing?"

She turned back and sat down. "Well, he had a heart attack, but he seems to be recovering. He's working too much, that's the simple fact. And he's not as young as he used to be. He needs to hang up the cape."

Dick laughed. "But he won't. You know that. Especially now that your father…" Dick stopped as he realized what he was saying. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're right. From what I've noticed, he's been working double time since Dad died. He needs to slow down… Quit," she answered decisively.

Dick leaned back and shook his head. "You know as well as I do that he can't. This town needs him… he knows that. And more than that even, that cape… that's who he is. I think he forgets sometimes where the bat ends and Bruce begins. If there is a line of definition. It's in his blood now… he can't just leave it, just like I couldn't… and neither could you."

She stood up again and walked away. "I did leave it, remember? I got shot. I couldn't do it anymore even if I had wanted to."

He stood up and followed her. "Exactly!"

She turned to him. "Exactly what?"

"Exactly what you just said," he threw back at her with a laugh. "You got shot. You couldn't do it, even if you had wanted to." He paused for a moment and then continued. "Remember Black Canary? And then Cassandra Cain? If you couldn't fight yourself, then you sure as hell were going to help someone else do it."

She sat, rigid in her chair, residue of her days in the wheelchair. After being in it for so long, she found it hard to even slouch a little now. She turned her head away from Dick… away from the truth as he continued.

"We're all the same, Babs. You, me, Bruce – all cut from the same cloth."

"NO!" she snapped at him. "I am nothing like you two."

"Of course not, Oracle," he said with a snide tone.

She stood up to walk over to him and face him. "How would you like it if I told you the exact same thing? Huh?" He made no motion as she continued. "If I stood here and said to you that you are exactly the same as Bruce. That everything you hate and despise about him you embody yourself. You're no different, either."

His chin held taught, he looked her straight in the eyes. For a moment, she was sure he was about to hit her, but she knew that he couldn't. "Damn it, Barbara…" he started softly. "Why do we do this?"

She looked closely at him for a moment before averting her eyes. "I don't know…" she started to turn away, but he took hold of her arm tightly. "What…. Let go, Dick."

"No," he said through clenched teeth. "We are going to finish this. Right here and now."

Dick started pulling her over to the chairs in the room. "Finish what?"

He sat her down and then took the seat across from her. "This…" he stated, pointing at the both of them. "This thing that always happens whenever we get within fifty feet of each other. It's been this way for almost ten years, Barbara… we need to grow up and move on… both of us."

She stood up. "Move on? Move on? Grow up? You're the one who decide that since I had moved on that you would dredge up my past and throw it in my face."

He hung his head. "I thought you should know. He was playing you. You loved him…"

"I loved you." She interrupted without thinking. A split second later, she realized what she had said and the two were silent. Barbara slowly sunk back into the chair. "Can I take that back?"

He shook his head slowly. "No… never."

"I… I did love him," she began, he head turned away, her voice that of a scared little girl. "I did love Jason. And I did mourn when he died… but he was out of my life. Gone. And you, of all people had to bring it back up. Why, Dick? Did you want to hurt me? Did you want to see how much I could take? It wasn't enough that I couldn't walk… that I couldn't do what had become so much a part of my life… that my boyfriend, had died… no, that wasn't enough for you was it? You really wanted to see me suffer, didn't you?" She looked up at him for the first time since she had started speaking. "Why? What did I do to you that was so horrible that it deserved that kind of punishment?"

He paused a moment, before answering quietly, "You moved on."

"What?" she asked, tilting her head to try and get a look at his face.

"You moved on… you found someone. Someone who wasn't me. Someone who made you happier than I ever did. And it ate me up every single day. And I heard that he had died, and I was happy… not for you, but for… for the possibility that somehow, someway, I could mend the rift that had already grown between us. Make up for leaving you. That was the biggest mistake of my life, Barbara, next to what I did when I found Bard, but I thought that was for the best. I thought you should know what kind of man you had fallen in love with. He was the kind of man who would leave you when you were truly in need."

"I guess I just like the leaving kind then, don't I?" she interjected smartly.

He stepped out of the chair and knelt by hers, taking her by both arms. "Damnit, Barbara… don't start! Not now. Not again."

She looked him in the eyes. "What do you want me to do, Dick? Forget about everything? Forget about you leaving and never even saying goodbye. Forget about never hearing from you, except when you were ruining my life?"

He shook his head. "No…"

"Then what? What do you want, Dick?"

"I want not to come home to an empty apartment and know that I ruined the only good thing I ever had. I want that good thing back."

Barbara's eye began to tear as she shook her head. "Dick, I can't just…"

"Even just as a friend… That's how we started, Barbara, remember. Not even as friends… we couldn't stand each other."

"I can't just forget it all…"

"Why not? Why can't you?"

"Because I wouldn't have expected it from you." She said haltingly. "Anyone else, I could forgive, but not you. You know what it would do to me. And you did it in spite of that… most likely because of that."

"No… I did it because… I don't know why. Yes, I knew it would hurt you, but I didn't care. All I wanted was you back. That's all. I've never loved anyone since you, not the same way as I loved you."

"I know…"

"Then say it!"

"I can't! I just can't!"

"Then say the opposite… Say that you loved Bard even a fraction as much as you loved me and I'll go away again. I'll never bother you again. Go ahead… say it…"

He waited as she looked down at him, tears filling her eyes. "I… I…Dick… don't make me do this…"

"Say it," he said softly. "Say what your heart tells you. That's all I ask."

She swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. She was so confused and didn't know what to say. She sat there for what seemed like an eternity before she heard a loud buzzing coming from Bruce's hospital room. She stood up and looked over to the room as nurses and doctors rushed in. Her face paled, as did Dick's and the two slowly walked to the door amidst the chaos and looked in. Barbara, looking as the doctors tried to revive Bruce, placed a hand on the doorjamb for support. Dick, almost unconsciously, wrapped his arms around her waist, protecting her from whatever he could. Barbara took her free hand and placed it on his, holding on for dear life.

To Be Continued…