Authors Note: This story is going to be my guilty pleasure story. It was thought up in school and was brought on by my disgust that there weren't more Terra/Rob fics out there (Terra/Rob is love :D) This story is meant to be enjoyed, if you want to moan about pairings go somewhere else. I know there's a lot of Rob/Star fans out there nowadays – but I'm one, I'm also a BB/Terra supporter. In fact, I support all pairings. So, yeah, if you could try and enjoy this story without moaning about the pairing that would be great.
Rating: T (May Go Up)
Pairings: Terra/Rob, BB/Rae, Star/Red X (Implied Rob/Batgirl)
Summary: AU. Richard Grayson's an ordinary man with a failing marriage; Tara Markov's a fire dancer in the slums of Gotham. The only thing these two have in common is there love for the circus. Terra/Rob
Disclaimer: I only own Vesta. All other mentioned characters belong to DC Comics.
It Takes Two To Tango
Chapter One
"So how do you contro-" the question was slightly out of character for the man.
"For the last time Garfield," there was an unusual amount of spite in her voice when she announced his name, "I do not control the fire, I only manipulate it. Now will you leave me alone?"
There was silence in the back of the taxi for a moment. The bright lights of Gotham made colourful patterns along the backseat. Terra distracted herself for a moment by tracing each separate line out with her little finger. It was hard and took longer than she had expected. The line that she had been tracing a moment before disappeared as the neon light that had cast it moved out of sight. With a sigh, she folded her arms and leaned back into the cushioned seats.
Shaking her head to remove the hair that had flocked to the front, she cast her gaze out of the window, ears lighting up as she saw the rain beginning to die down. Quickly, she nudged Garfield out of his daydream and pulled him towards her window.
"Excellent," she gasped, her foreign accent shining through for a moment, "That means I can do the show outside tonight. It's much better out than in."
Gar only nodded, letting his attention roam to the front seat of the car once again.
"Aren't you even a little bit excited? I mean, there's no safety rules once your outside. We won't have anyone telling us what to do."
The man next to her grunted. "Think of it Tar – who in their right mind is going to want to stand outside and watch you twirl colourful sticks around? No one, that's who."
Terra let out an exasperated breath, "There not just colourful sticks Gar and anyways – there aren't even sticks, there-"
Gar held a gloved hand up against her mouth, "I know, I know. We've been through this a thousand times. They're Poi's, not sticks. God woman, anyone would think you were obsessed."
Terra narrowed her eyes, "Don't make me hurt you," She glanced out of the window for a second time just to make sure the rain hadn't crept back and reclaimed it's place in the sky. "I don't know why you aren't more exited about this – I mean, we've finally got a licence for it! No more ducking and diving when the police come round. We finally got the costumes finished! Granted, mine could do with a bit more tweaking – how much skin are you planning on me showing Gar- and we've got some great deals in some clubs. What's your problem?"
Gar squinted his eyes shut for a moment, as if willing himself not to answer. "It's nothing," he finally grunted out.
Terra frowned, "No, go on. There's obviously something wrong. What is it?"
"It's noth-"
"No, go ahead, there's obviously something wrong with this whole setup. Though, I don't know what because you were the one who wanted to start this whole thing in the first place!" She gasped for breath at the end of her sentence. She was beginning to get hysterical and Gar knew he had to choose his next words carefully.
"Tar, it's nothing against you-" the woman nodded, "It's just that I don't think this is the career for me."
She turned to him, "What?"
"Think about it babe, we've had some laughs in the past right," She nodded, "But face it, we've been doing this for three years now and what's the most we've earned? Hundred quid, that's right. And what was all that spent on? Those stupid Poi's and the frigging costumes. No offence, if this is what you want then you keep on doing it. As for me, well, I'll do one last show then I'm done with the whole thing."
"What do you mean?" she muttered.
Gar sighed, "It's over Terra. You might as well refund everything. Well, ok, maybe not the costume, keep it for when you bring a fella round. But everything else? Leave it, give it up."
The blonde grabbed her partners arm. "Nu uh, you can't quite on me now! The acts nothing without you!"
Gar shrugged her off, "Exactly. If you know what's good for you, you'll quit this whole thing as well."
Terra frowned, wiping her eyes with the arm of her sleeve. "Well, fine, forget what I just said. I don't need you! I'll find another partner." She smiled, "Yeah, that's what I'll do."
He scoffed, "Oh dear god. Who do you think is going to be crazy enough to waste their life travelling round with flaming Poi's every night? No one babe. Quit while you've still got some money."
"I don't need to hear this. Stop the car please."
"What are you-?"
She stepped out of the taxi and slammed the door shut. "Proving that I can make it doing this. I don't need you to make this work. Good bye Garfield."
Terra stomped down the alleyway, only stopping when she heard Garfield's voice calling her back.
"We still on for Saturday?"
Reaching down, she picked up a rock and hurled it at him. It hit the right side of the taxi, hard enough to prove a point, not hard enough for the driver to sue.
"Hey! No need to be like that!"
oOoOo
Richard carefully scooped a small spoonful of peanut butter into his daughter's mouth.
"Mmm, that's good," He cooed, "Lovely peanut butter."
The baby giggled and mashed up the thick substance with her gums.
"That's it, good Vesta. See, we can manage without mummy for a night. Yes we can, yes we can!"
"Cute," Richard spluttered and dropped the spoon.
Barbra laughed, "You really are a klutz. Why in the world I'm trusting you with her for two weeks I don't know. You don't know your own arse from your elbow."
"Hey! I resent that, and" he clutched the two year old close to him, "No foul language in front of the baby."
The red head scoffed, "Anyway, I've got to catch the plane a little earlier than planned."
"Oh," Richard picked up the spoon, wiped it on his shirt and scooped some more peanut butter onto it. Thrusting it into Vesta's mouth gently, he finished his sentence. "How much more earlier?"
"About five hours," Barbra turned to the cabinet and pulled down a box of crackers.
"Five hours?" Dick once again dropped the feeding utensil. "But I thought we agreed on no earlier than five am?"
"We did darling, and I'm so sorry, but Sophie –you remember Sophie, the large one who called Martha a slut?- well, she's arranged a little treat for the girls. A night's stay in a luxurious spar."
Dick frowned, once again bending down for the spoon, "But I thought you had to be at that fancy place in the morning?"
"Exactly," she munched on the cracker, "Their times different than our don't forget. If I leave a few hours earlier that means I can go to the spar and be in London in time for the meeting."
Dick sighed as Barbra reached down into the fridge, searching for the butter. "I know, but, I thought we agreed no last minute changes. We went through it a thousand times. I'm supposed to be going out with Vic tonight!"
"Well I suppose you'll just have to cancel, oh snap, we're out of butter. Would you be a dear and pop out and get some?" She pointed to the empty butter pot with a pointy nail and smiled.
Dick sighed, protests dying on his lips. He reached for his coat. "Of course love."
Barbra giggled and clapped her hands together, "Thank you honey," she reached towards him and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Slipping his house keys into his pocket, Dick gave Vesta one last wave and exited the tiny apartment.
End Chapter One
Authors Note: Well, there we go. Chapter one done. I think I may have made Gar a bit OOC, but, he's a poor man in Gotham – I think we can let him be grumpy for a little while – anyway, he'll get better when he meets Rachel.
Yup, you all thought I was going to make Dick marry Kori didn't you? Well, nah, I used to love the Batgirl/Robin pairing so I had to have it in here somewhere. Oh yeah, Babs isn't a ditz in this, she's a hard working business woman, she just comes off a bit giddy.