Disclaimer: Just borrowing characters and promise to return them in the condition received

Author's Note: Because has decided to automatically replace every double hyphen with a single hyphen, I've changed all my "-" to "==" Looks stupid, I know, but, it'll read better than coming to a part in the story that should have a double hyphen and you only get one. I used the best substitute I could think of, but if you have a better suggestion, please let me know. Thank you.

Gotham Memorial Hospital==Room 312

"Dad, I'm telling you, I'm fine," Barbara takes her father's hand in her own as he takes a seat on the edge of her bed. "I don't need to stay overnight."

Jim Gordon shakes his head adamantly, "I'm not taking any chances with that maniac. He could have slipped you something while you were unconscious."

"Dad..."

"Let them run some tests and monitor you overnight. Just to be safe." Jim gives his daughter's hand a pat and frowns at her annoyed expression.

"Humor an old man?" he asks and Barbara smiles, knowing she can't refuse her father's pleading look.

"Oh, Daddy," she says and sighs, "Okay. I'll stay for the night."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Jim smiles for a moment before jumping to his feet when the door bursts open.

"Barbara! Thank God you're all right!" Dick Grayson explodes into the room==Bruce casually following behind. "I was so worried about you!" he proclaims, taking quick strides to his girlfriend's side. "Are you all right?" Dick asks, taking his turn at sitting at her side and then touches her bandaged wrist, "Mr. Freeze didn't hurt you, did he?"

Barbara smiles, knowing the performance is for her father and plays along. "No, I'm all right." She says and then wraps her arms around Dick's neck, their foreheads touch, and she gazes into his loving blue eyes, "Batman and Robin rescued me just in time."

Jim watches the exchange and smiles, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "And it's a good thing, too! My men were searching miles of coastline, but we couldn't get a lead==according to Batman, Freeze was five miles out to sea on some abandoned oil derrick."

"Wow," Bruce says, flashing Jim's daughter a smile. "It's good to have you back with us, Barbara."

"Thanks, Mr. Wayne," Barbara replies absently and grins when Dick takes her hands in his.

Jim rubs the back of his neck and says, "Barbara, honey, I think I'm going to head out for the evening." Bending down, he plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Not too late, Dick==our girl here needs her rest." Gordon says while pulling opening the door.

"Yes, sir, Commissioner."

"I'll see you at home later, Dick," Bruce waves then follows Gordon into the hallway. "She seems to be doing fine, Jim, considering all she's been through."

Jim frowns and presses the elevator button, "Yeah, that's how it seems, but I've got a feeling she's not telling me everything."

"Try not to worry, Jim. I'm sure everything will be fine. Barbara's a strong young woman."

"That she is." Jim replies, his face beaming with pride.

Bruce pauses, "Got time to grab a cup of coffee?"

"I really should stop by the station; gonna be up to my eyebrows in paperwork after the events of tonight... " Jim chews the inside of his cheek for a moment and then, "Ah, what the hell== not like tonight's any different from any other night, in this city."

Bruce grins, "Just think of it as a coffee break," he says and looks up at the floor indicator above the elevator, and then adds, "I'll even let you buy."

Jim shoots Bruce an incredulous look as the elevator chimes and the doors open, "I see how you've made your millions."

Barbara waits for the door to her room to close before she scoots over in the bed, making room for Dick who slips in beside her. Taking his girl into his arms, Dick hugs her. The scent of her fills his senses and he breathes in deeply, closing his eyes. "Are you sure, you're okay? I didn't get a chance to check you over earlier."

Slipping her arms around Dick's waist, Barbara snuggles in, resting her head upon his chest and nods. "Mmhmm…, Dad had just about every doctor in the hospital doing just that for the past few hours"

"How's the wrist?"

"It's okay; just a mild sprain."

Dick thinks for a moment while rubbing her back with long, lazy strokes, "You okay with everything else?"

Barbara looks up at him, "How do you mean?"

"Well," he slips his fingers through her fiery, red hair, watching as the strands cascade over her shoulder, "You were put through a rough time and I'm wondering how you're doing..." Dick presses a gentle kiss to her forehead, "... in there."

"You can't be serious==" she sits back, "Dick, c'mon...," and begins to laugh off the question but then frowns at the look of concern in his eyes. "You are serious, aren't you?" Barbara places a hand to his chest, "Dick, how many times have we been through something like this? Seems like it's almost a weekly event that one of us is being taken, tied up or trapped. What happened tonight is nothing different."

"It is different, Barbara," Dick stresses, placing his hand over the one she's holding to his chest. "Fries didn't snatch Batgirl tonight. He took Barbara Gordon==completely unrelated to our vigilante activities==he took you to harvest one of your organs, and, Babs..." Dick gently tips her chin up and looks into her eyes, "...that's personal."

Barbara searches her lover's eyes for a moment before closing her own and breathes a deep sigh, shaking her head. "To be honest... I haven't really allowed myself to think about it. After the explosion, it was only a five-minute flight before we landed at the hospital and then my dad's been with me the whole time and you know how he worries..." Barbara trails off and closes her eyes when Dick presses a tender kiss to her temple and then guides her head to rest upon his chest again.

"You know," Dick says, "just because we deal with the scum of Gotham almost every night, and it's become common to us... doesn't mean we're not still human and can't admit to feeling scared from time to time. It doesn't mean we're weak," He pauses and begins to stroke her back again, "I don't mind telling you that I was afraid tonight."

"You were?" Barbara asks, knowing the question is redundant but needs to ask anyway.

"Mmhmm," Dick replies into her hair, kissing the top of her head. "After Fries shoved you in the van, I was able to pursue and I'd almost caught up to him== had my hand inches from the back door latch when he laid down a sheet of ice on the road. I lost control and the motorcycle went off the road. I didn't want to admit it then, but... it scared me when he drove out of sight and I couldn't get to you."

Dick is quiet for a moment then continues when Barbara remains silent, "And, when we first arrived on scene, I saw you run out a door and a few seconds later, Fries' bears came around a corner, they were hot on your trail, Babs, and I'll tell ya, that worried me."

"I didn't even have to look, to know that they were there," she says in a distant voice, "I swear I could feel the heat of their breath on my skin," and presses herself deeper into Dick's protective embrace, wrapping her arms around him again. "When that oil tank exploded==it was the first one that blew up; I think== it threw me into the handrail, and it broke... just came apart and, suddenly, I'm dangling by this broken rail three stories up without a jumpline... "

Dick holds Barbara as he continues, "Me and Batman had just ditched the bears, tricked them into jumping off the derrick, and I heard you scream for help. Definitely scared then==don't think I've ever heard you like that before."

Listening to Dick's heartbeat, she begins to relax, and it becomes easier to share the thoughts that had been running through the back of her mind, "They said they just wanted me for a blood transfusion for Fries' wife and I told them I'd help, but then they attacked me and dragged me into the room and tried to put me under. I knew then, they wanted much more than just my blood. Dick, if it wasn't for the boy that Fries had taken in, how he'd jumped at that doctor Belson and gave me the chance to get away...I think you and Batman would have been too late==that thought scares me."

Dick nods with his cheek resting against her soft hair, "I was scared when you were sliding down my line and another explosion went off and severed the cable. You must have fallen a good 15 feet before catching that pipe."

"I know," Barbara replies, sounding more excited now than haunted, "I tried to swing around it to slow my momentum, but it broke."

"I saw==and then I saw you hit the ground. Hard." Dick holds his girl tight, "And, at first you didn't move, Babs. That scared the shit out of me."

"Yeah, but...," Barbara sits up and turns to face Dick, "when I was up on that catwalk, I was trapped; didn't have anywhere I could go and Belson was about to shoot me and==all of a sudden==the Batwing ascends from out of nowhere. You have no idea what a relief that was."

Propping an elbow on the pillow behind her she gives Dick a dreamy look, "And, I have to tell you, Mr. Grayson... watching you jump out of the jet==mid air== and tackling that quack of a doctor to the ground== very sexy."

Dick's eyebrows rise up as she practically purrs those last two words. "Oh, really?"

"Mmhmm..." she nods, hooded eyes flashing a come-hither look.

Grinning hungrily, Dick takes Barbara's face in his hands and, stroking her cheek with his thumb, nuzzles noses with her momentarily before pressing a tender kiss to her lips. "Can't tell you enough, how glad I am you're okay."

"Feeling's mutual, Boy Wonder," Barbara speaks against Dick's lips before continuing the kiss. Running her fingers through his hair, she savors his taste and, in their passion, releases the anxiety she never realized was there.

The End.