I don't know how avid you guys are on the Young Justice tag on Tumblr, but everyone seems to think Nightwing's going to come off a complete idiot when he tells Batman everything that's happened. It annoys me because I know Dick isn't a mess up, and he definitely wouldn't act the way they all depict him. He knows how bad the mess is, but he's been in worse. He can easily keep a level head and explain himself without getting chewed out.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the related/mentioned characters.

"Come on, Mr. Detective," the redhead chided with a delicate giggle, knocking on Dick's forehead like the wood frame of a door with a delicate blush lining her cheek bones, "Number sixteen. If you can't get this, you're going to flunk the final tomorrow!"

The nineteen year old warmly chuckled, raising a hand and encircling her thin wrist, tracing his fingers up around her palm and lowering it back to the table where he held onto it for a hovering moment with a brilliant gleam in his exposed navy eyes directed her way.

"Shut it, tomato head," he teased, the tip of his tongue tracing a faint rut in his bottom lip unknowingly, "I was out late on surveillance. Give me a sec."

He pulled his hand back, a shy grin settled over the chapped lips before he turned his gaze to the review packet, flipping his bangs back from his forehead and squinting over the problem. The grin hesitated as he bit the side of his lip firmly, eyebrows knotting before the work all seemed to clot over in his mind. His gaze rose to hers, the light bulb reflecting out of his irises.

"N squared times three XY cubed under the radical… over… two?" the ex-acrobat offered out, the strain of hope on his grin strong enough to bring the woman seated across from him to giggle again with a sharp nod.

She grabbed his hands and made his fists rock back and forth in a little dance of sorts, beaming proudly at him.

"Good job, Boy Wonderful!" she teased, releasing his hands and poking the tip of his nose.

It scrunched up almost instantly, the black head of hair shaking at the nickname before he penciled the answer within the margins in his neatest handwriting.

"Babs," he whined, sticking his tongue out her direction, "That's Wally's nickname, get your own."

She leaned close and blew in his ear, something she knew he hated as he recoiled back, giving a cry of surprise that earned him a lot of aggravated hushes from the occupants of the library. The navy gaze narrowed carefully and he lightly struck her arm, lips pursing together as he tried his hardest to keep from smiling. He was mad at her; she didn't deserve that smile.

"Wally has a million nicknames for you! There aren't any left," she poked back, her blue eyes twinkling mischievously, "He even has McDreamy booked. I'm running out of options here."

Dick casually shrugged, the grin betraying him as it split his cheeks, a small laugh peeking out at the memory.

"You're just jealous that he got some. You want it," he discretely gestured to his name atop the paper, bugging her eyes and earning him a quick jab to the shoulder that he caught before she could pull away, tauntingly kissing the knuckle of her middle finger.

"I definitely don't want that," it was her turn to scrunch up her nose, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her indefinitely.

He nodded with a look that called her out on that, offering his best version of the smolder that his best friend had tried teaching him a while ago, but he only got snickered at and received a sharp tug to his black locks.

"You can't deny me… 'specially when I use my… sexy R&B voice[1]," he waggled his eyebrows and lowered his voice to a certain kind of rhythm, "Girl…"

Babs bit her smirk gently, pulling her hand back and covering her snicker, averting her eyes and swaying her shoulders lightly before pretending to swoon.

"Oh Lord, your power-," she pressed her palm to the start of her forehead, turning and falling back so the nape of her neck hit his shoulder, making her eyelids flutter.

Dick grinned, putting his arms around her waist before smirking and dancing his fingers mischievously along her sides in a way that straightened her with frantic laughter she had to violently cup her grin to muffle.

"That's fighting dirty, Grayson," she pretended to snarl, eyes narrowing and mockingly baring her teeth.

She never got a chance to exact her revenge though as a well manicured hand touched down on the nineteen year old's shoulder, curiously turning his head. Behind him stood a short brunette girl who couldn't be too much older than himself with thick rimmed glasses but a stunning complexion nevertheless.

"Pardon, but are you Richard Grayson?" she shyly asked, teetering on the toes of her heels, tucking a loose strand of her lengthy locks back behind her ear as she met his eyes.

Dick was hesitant, but she didn't look to be much harm, so he nodded carefully, "You can call me Dick if you'd like. How can I help you?"

She rubbed her elbow tenderly, averting her gaze before remembering she had the ability to speak.

"Y-You have a long distance call at the office," she stuttered with a small smile, looking up at him through her thick eyelashes.

That tensed the ebony, raising one of his eyebrows with a slight cock to his head.

"Did they mention a name?" his mind frantically searched for even the slightest hint at who he knew long distance that would call.

Alfred and the rest of the Wayne Manor weren't considered long distance at the college; Wally was currently in a murderous mindset towards him and no one else knew he was here. There could always be another Richard Grayson in the school; the campus was very large. He just struggled to find that possible.

"I uh… I think he said he was your dad?" she shrugged slowly, her grin still sheepish and shy.

The next decibel to leave her lips was one of horror as she found the neck of her hoodie being pulled into two tightly drawn fists, a dark glare burning straight through the glass of the frames encircling her wide brown eyes.

"You think that's funny?" his grin was ironic, near psychotic from how tight his back teeth ground up against each other.

Her eyes were thin dinner plates trembling against the shelf, a small whimper parting her glossy lips, trembling under his hold.

"W-Wha… N-no! He uh, he also mentioned uh, something about a… a bird's funeral…" she added, hoping something in her words would remove her from the death sentence.

It seemed to be just the thing as Dick stepped back, shock filling his expression and a tense running his torso as he glanced back at Babs.

"It's Bruce," he mouthed before nodding an apology at the trembling girl and darting off to the phones before anyone could catch him taking his first step.

The brunette was frozen in place, staring forward in that same horror before the redhead in the chair stood up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Dick's dad died when he was little. He's been teased about it before. I know he's sorry," and then she too was gone before the trembling brunette could even manage a blink.

His hands clutched to the phone within the glass encasement as if it was one of his parent's hands and he was still in overalls, eyes wide with amazement and a small grin to his lips.

"Is it really you?" he cautiously asked in a near whisper, choking on a swallow.

He heard a small grunt, Bruce's sign that their identities were number one on the list of priorities, something Dick was well accustomed to.

"The connection is make-shift, won't last more than a few minutes," was the greeting the gravelly voice offered his direction.

"Of course. Is uh, is everything okay?" he tried again, moving one hand to scratch at the back of his neck.

He could almost see the Dark Knight's curt nod despite the mind-splitting distance that separated them.

"Fine. I have faith we'll make it out of here innocent," Batman blurted out a bit too quickly for comfort, their awkward silence hovering like a raincloud, "I uh… I…" the voice dropped to a mere whisper, to the point Dick had to strain to hear it, "I really miss you guys. How are things back on Earth?"

The question stopped the hero's heart in his chest and he averted his eyes, his mind darting for a stalling topic to avoid the inevitable.

"You never show verbal affection. Or affection in that matter. You're scared."

He couldn't help but grin as he swore he heard the Batman scoff at the accusation, feeling the infamous eye roll with his ex-Robin-senses.

"I don't know fear. You on the other hand never deny my affection. You're scared."

The silence returned again, the thunder crackling the speakers and averting the Earth bound navy eyes fearfully, just in time to see Babs sneak up.

"I… If I tell you, you promise to tell me?" he murmured, coughing to cover it discretely, putting his hand back to cup the mouthpiece.

The silence was enough for Dick to know that Batman agreed to the deal, still hesitating a breath before he was reminded that the call had a limited time and he had a lot to get out before it cut out. There had to be a way to say it all without coming out sounding like Jinx.

"The Cave… the Hall of Justice… and… Kaldur's mind… are all… in ruin," he started slowly, wincing as he heard the sharp gasp on the other end, "The civvies side with the baddies and we're public enemy number one."

He heard the gruff sigh and it hit him like a relentless tidal wave, leaving him to wait for the aggravated scolding, but he was shocked to not receive it.

"Excellent… There… there isn't a soul on the jury who finds us innocent," the voice that slipped out was the complete opposite of aggravated, more afraid and hesitant than anything.

Dick would never comment on the fear, especially when his mentor of all people felt it, because that was just a reminder something was horribly wrong. It made his stomach, in turn, steal the lightning bolts from the rainclouds and consume the voltage they unleashed, snaking his arm unconsciously around it.

"We all really miss you, too… good luck," the ebony muttered, his hand shaking lightly as he heard the line click dead in his ear.

He put it back on the dock and stood there blindly, the fear in his mentor's tone unable to escape his mind before he staggered out and felt Babs' embrace tight around his torso. The bird was quick to return it, tangling his left hand in her scarlet locks, his eyes squeezed as tight as he could force them.

"You're worrying me, Dick… is… how are things going with the trial?" she murmured against his chest, looking up at the pain in his expression.

A lie seemed the most appropriate to the situation, begging release as to not worry her, but he couldn't bring it past his tight frown, a halted breath instead passing.

"Well… I don't know when Daddy's coming home from his business trip… but we can assume… it won't be for a while," he instead managed out.

The horror flooded quick to her features and she hid her face in his chest, shivering with a dread-drenched groan and fingers tightening in the back of his shirt. His features turned skyward and he stroked her hair comfortingly, trying to imagine where it would be that Bruce was worriedly standing amongst the others, struggling to make sense of their case without coming off even the slightest bit of afraid.

"Come out of this one alive, Wayne," he breathed.

[1] Reference to Raaaaaaaandy (yes, with eight A's).

I hope this wasn't too bad. I know Babs was horribly out of character, but I was feeling plenty mushy tonight and I had to do something to fight the butterflies. Happy birthday to Maddie! Alright, um yeah, just uh. Gonna leave that there.

-F.J. III