Where She Belongs
by Taijutsudemonslayer
Dinah and Barbara struggle to find their places after they each suffer a heartbreaking loss
One
"Ugh, I can't believe him, how could he just toy with my emotions like that and toss me aside when he got bored with me?" Barbara Gordon asked herself as she stared into her champagne glass, seated at the bar the redhead gently tapped the glass with a well-manicured hand, none of what happened earlier that evening seemed real to Barbara.
(Flashback)
Barbara knocked on the door to Dick Grayson's brownstone, feeling a twinge of nerves as she wondered what Dick had asked to see her about, after five minutes or so, the door opened.
Dick Grayson wasn't the one standing inside the door when it opened, it was Starfire.
"Starfire? Why are you answering Dick's door?" the redhead asked, confused.
"Dick did not tell you?" the redheaded Alien Princess inquired.
"Tell me what?"
"Starfire and I are engaged." Dick Grayson said as he stepped out of his bedroom, shirtless, wearing a pair of workout pants.
Barbara was crushed, Dick had played her, he had led the red haired crimefighter on for four years, promising Barbara that he'd marry her. Tears welled up in Barbara's blue eyes as she turns and runs away, heartbroken.
(End Flashback)
"You did what?!" Dinah Lance shouts as she hurls a table at her cheating boyfriend, Oliver Queen, who has just admitted to Dinah that he'd gotten a college classmate named Sandra Hawke pregnant and she had recently given birth to a Son, who she named Connor.
"So, what are you going to do?" the blonde asked angrily.
"I'm going to take care of Sandra and my Son." Oliver said, sounding offended at the insinuation that Dinah had made.
"And where does that leave me, Oliver?" Dinah inquired, tearing up.
"You could always join Sandra and I in a polyamorous relationship." he said with a wry smile.
This earned Oliver a roundhouse kick to his face that fractured his left jaw.
The next day, Barbara walked into the gym not far from her apartment for her morning workout, there is hardly anyone there on this particular morning except for Dinah Lance, who was furiously laying into a heavy bag with vicious kicks, punches, knee strikes, and elbows. The blonde's ferocity had shredded the bag, leaving a huge pile of sand on the floor.
'I don't know who or what made her mad, and l don't intend to find out.' thought Barbara as she put her duffel bag in the locker room.
When Barbara came out of the locker room she saw Dinah sweeping up the sand from the floor, deciding that her workout could wait, Barbara quickly grabbed a broom and dust pan before going to help the blonde out.
It takes Dinah and Barbara forty-five minutes to clean up all the sand and replace the punching bag, the blonde eyes the empty ring before turning to Barbara.
"Care to spar with me, Barbara?"
"Yes Dinah, I would rather enjoy having a decent spar with you." Barbara said, her blue eyes lighting up with exuberant joy.
The pair remove their shoes and socks before entering the ring.
Barbara and Dinah squared off in the center of the ring, each in the fighting stance that best suited them. Barbara decided to make the first move. The redhead threw a roundhouse kick which Dinah side-stepped and used a haymaker counter-punch that landed flush on the redhead's left temple, staggering Barbara.
'Damn, Barbara thought. 'Still too slow. I'm pausing too long to consider my attacks, instead of shifting fluidly from one strike to the next.' instinctively deciding. Barbara knew that she had to throw something at the blonde that she wasn't ready for.
Barbara turned her head slightly to watch Dinah out of the corner of her eyes, pushing aside her frustration.
As subtle as Barbara's motion was, Dinah spotted it and realized that Barbara had something planned. Dinah ran forward, trying to take advantage of what little surprise she had left. Barbara hastily whipped around, deflecting an attempted grab of some sort. Barbara slipped away from Dinah and into her familiar ready stance.
Barbara soon realizes that she can't beat Dinah at striking, but maybe she could find an opening in the blonde's defenses and possibly figure out a way to beat Dinah.