Nightwing does not often take much precaution while he is in the Batcave. Who knows what can be overheard… A little thought sort of inspired by chapter 7 of my story Gone. Oneshot.

Disclaimer: I have no ownership over these characters. That won't stop me from dreaming I do.

Barbara Gordon began her descent down the long path of stairs to the cave to get in some training before leaving for her night patrol. She expected to go out alone since Tim was stuck at home, involved with a lot of homework to catch up. As she reached the bottom, Babs overhear a couple of voices talking. Peering around the corner, she saw Dick on the computer on a video chat with Wally. She smiled, happy to see them sort of talking to each other at least. It had been almost a month since Artemis' death.

"So you're doing alright then?" Dick asked.

Wally looked down and partially frowned. "I still miss her and wonder if she's doing alright."

At this point, Babs was on her way back upstairs to give privacy, but stops, a little confused.

"She's tough and knows how to take care of herself, since she was trained most of her life." Dick answered lightly.

Now Babs couldn't help going closer, making sure she heard right.

Wally paused before replying, "Yeah, but I can't help being worried about her."

"He'll make sure to keep her safe Wally. You can trust me on that."

"I've always trusted you Dick. It's just some of your plans can be questionable. I'm still a little ticked that you sent Artemis off. She's supposed to be here."

"But we needed her, you know that. And she was the one who volunteered to do it."

An audible sigh is heard before Wally adds, "I just hope that this doesn't last as long as some of your bright ideas."

"Remember, we all agreed to this, but I hope so too."

Wally soon said goodbye to try to work on his Vietnamese term paper which would have been easier to do if Artemis was there.

Dick chuckled as he added, "You picked the class."

"Because I knew I'd have a hot tutor with me."

Dick rolled his eyes and said goodbye. The transmission ended and Nightwing immediately went back to work on his little project. Babs took this time to walk in.

"So it seems like you and Wally are working it out now." Dick slightly jumped in his seat as he turned to face her.

"Babs, what are you doing here?"

You wanted me to do patrol tonight." She answered matter-of-factly.

"But you're early."

"I finished my homework and thought we could hang out since we haven't in a while." She replied, folding her arms in front of her.

"I have to keep up on everything while Bruce is away."

"You could lighten the load a bit too." Babs pointed out. Dick shrugged as he focused back on his little project. Babs curiosity was eating at her.

"What have you been up to Dick? You've been so distant lately."

"I told you, I have a lot of work now to deal with."

"There's something else bothering you though." He looked at her as she studied him carefully before she replied, "We both have had training from the best detective there is. You pick up on things."

Dick gave her his full attention. "Alright then. What have you come up with?"

She explained how for the past month, he'd been really avoiding everyone. At first, she thought he felt bad for what happened in Cape Canaveral, but after his conversation with Wally, she doesn't think that anymore. He tried to keep a straight face as she continued.

"You talked as if Artemis was still alive. I can understand that Wally would try to keep her alive in his memories for him to cope, but it is like she is literally alive and well. Please tell me what's going on. I hate being kept in the dark about things. I thought you were different than Batman."

Nightwing cringed a tiny bit before sighing and giving in.

"Your skills are improving. Bruce would be proud." He paused before continuing. "Fine I will tell you, but you cannot under any circumstances tell anyone about this. Not even the League."

Babs sat down across from him as she patiently waited for him to explain.

"Artemis is dead."

Babs looked at him very confused. "Wait a minute. I thought by the way you were talking, she was still alive."

He added more emphasis this time. "But Artemis is dead."

She sat up straight, wondering if her thoughts were correct. He gave a quick scan of the room to make sure they were alone before continuing.

"A few of us came up with a plan to have someone go deep undercover to figure out who the Light is and their plans since they tried to do the same with us using a clone of Roy Harper. We wanted to keep it completely quiet so not to rise ant sort of suspicions. It has been working so far."

"And I assume Wally and Artemis are part of your secret group."

"Yes, Wally found out and Artemis wanted to be part of it. We were going to have only the original team in this, but it would have been a little difficult on the others." Dick leaned up closer to his old partner and looked her straight in the eyes as he pleaded, "Barbara, you have to promise me that you will tell no one about this."

She nods in understanding. "I promise."

Dick glanced at the clock. "So you ready to go on patrol?"

Batgirl smirks. "Only if you go with me." He frowned. Before he could come up with an excuse, she added, "Come on, like old times. You know that Tim has his five page history report to work on tonight."

Dick gave in and the two suited up to go out. Before leaving on the cycles, Babs replied, "Thanks for trusting me with this secret."

He rolled his eyes. "You would have pestered me until I said something."

She smirked. "Maybe."

As they mounted their bikes and got ready to turn on the ignition, the gears whirling in her head told her that something didn't add up. Her question caused Nightwing to freeze and widen his eyes.

"Wait, what about Kaldur?"

Yup, now he's going to have to explain that little part as well. If Artemis' death was faked, Kaldur had to be in on the plan since he was the one that "killed" her… ;) Yeah, like I said before, this was a random thought I had to put up since the little bunnies were running around in my head so much. This is the most dialogue I've used in this little of a piece. Please review and tell me what you think, even if it was a little lame.

By the way, check out my story Gone. I promise you, it is a lot better than this piece.