Author's Note: Wrote this on a whim. As usual, I have not put much thought about how old they are; so whatever works for you works for me.
Disclaimer: In no way, shape or form do I own Batman—not even a triangle.
Always Been You & Me
"Babs! Come on! Hurry!"
Barbara Gordon turned around at the sound of her best friend's voice.
"What's the problem Dick?"
She knew full well what it was—what it always was.
"Just come on!" He pleaded while looking around. His blue eyes searched every corner.
He was acting like he was being chased by the mob instead of a girl.
"Shoot! Too late."
He ran over towards her and yanked her down behind the couch. The book that was in her hand scattered across the floor.
Dick grimaced at the glare he received from her.
"Sorry." He mouthed.
At the sound of footsteps both of them went silent.
"Dickie?"
Barbara put her hands over her face to smother the snort that escaped her nose.
Dick rolled his eyes and put a finger to his lips begging her to be quite.
Barbara sunk down closer against the ground so that she could glance underneath the couch.
All she could see was the girl's shoes, but going by her voice, she was guessing that it was Stacy Milford.
The pair of shoes walked out.
Barbara sat back up.
"She's gone Dicki . . ."
"Don't even start." Dick hissed at her.
Barbara tried not to laugh, but it was kind of hard not to.
Dick stuck his head carefully over the couch. Seeing that the coast was clear, he stood all the way up.
"My book!" Barbara cried as she remembered. She stood up quickly and picked it up off the floor.
"It's not even yours." Dick said as he watched her carefully look it over. She huffed at him.
"It's still a book regardless." She said stiffly.
She then turned her attention to her dress as she brushed it off.
"I had to iron this you know!" She said indignantly.
"Sorry." He said again.
Barbara ran a hand through her red hair.
"It's okay I guess." She said after a moment. It really was.
He stood there a moment longer and then carefully made his way over to the door. The sounds from the party down the hall floated passed the room.
"I think it's clear." He told her as she walked towards him.
"I'm glad that all that training has paid off and has made you able to avoid girls."
Dick rolled his eyes at her sarcasm.
"It has helped actually." He said after thinking about it. "It's harder than you might think."
Barbara could not think of any of the girls at school that could be that hard to get rid of, but maybe he had a point.
"Come on." He said waving his hand.
"Do you want me to go first?" Barbara offered.
Dick bit his lip and looked further down the hall.
"Maybe."
Barbara sighed.
That was her lot in life lately—Dick's lookout.
"Thanks Babs." He said with a warm smile.
She pushed him aside and walked out into the hall.
"Good so far." She called around a corner.
Dick crept along the wall. It was more like he was on a mission in a dark warehouse than in a well-lit hall in Wayne Manor.
"Barbara!"
Dick froze around the corner at the sound of a girl's voice.
"Hey." Barbara said casually as she gestured behind her back for Dick to back track a bit.
"Have you seen Dick?"
Barbara pretended to give it a moment of thought as the blond girl stood waiting.
"You, know. I haven't."
The girl looked disappointed.
"Oh. I didn't see him in the ballroom anywhere."
"You should try looking again." Barbara suggested. "Maybe asked Becky. I thought I saw him talking to her earlier."
"Okay. Thanks."
The girl walked away.
"All clear." Barbara called behind her back.
"I have got to get out of here." Dick muttered. He ran a hand through his coal black hair.
He looked up and down the hall. Where could he go where there already weren't tons of people?
"Come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her further down the hall.
"Dick, you can't leave. Bruce would . . ."
Barbara stopped talking as Dick opened the door to the coat closet and pulled her inside.
Barbara turned on the light.
"Richard Grayson. Are you going to keep running from girls your entire life?"
"No . . . maybe." He said sounding unsure.
Barbara leaned against the side of the closet and eyed all the coats hanging there.
"There sure are a lot of people in here aren't there?"
"Yep."
The sound of more feet caused Dick to freeze. The sound kept moving.
Barbara gave a snort.
"What?" Dick asked turning to her.
"I'm sorry." She said starting to laugh. "She called you . . ."
"Don't bring this up." Dick ordered.
Barbara shook her head with a smile.
Every girl within a fourteen square miles radius wanted to meet him, and the others were trying to figure out who he was interested in.
Dick and Babs had always had the most fun making fun of everyone's guesses. Most days, they weren't even sure who the girl the world picked was. Even if Dick
talked to a girl she was automatically put onto some sort of "list" of potential suspects. The only problem for them was an obvious one for anybody else—Dick wasn't
interested in anyone.
But something had changed—even Barbara had noticed it. Dick would no longer laugh with her about whoever the world had decided he was with. He had even been
getting testy about it. Which meant one thing—there really was someone this time.
She had tried to figure it out herself, but she was getting no further than anyone else. There were the obvious girls whose names she could toss out of the running,
but tons of names remained.
Everyone at school was still trying to decide as well. Daughters of bankers, lawyers, government officials, doctors, ambassadors, business owners—if her family was
rich she was the "list". Which meant that practically every girl's name in the school had once been on it at one point or another.
A lowly commissioner's daughters name never had a chance.
Barbara was never quite sure if she should be honored or insulted that her name had never been mentioned. She didn't necessarily want to be put in the same
category as those girls, but lately she had been feeling the latter.
"Sorry I always drag you into this." Dick said softly as he stared at her with his deep blue eyes.
She shrugged.
She really didn't mind. It meant that she got to spend more time with him alone—even if they did have to be on the run.
Dick sighed and slumped to the floor. Barbara did the same.
"What are you doing?" Dick asked sharply as Barbara started to rummage the coat pockets.
"Just looking for . . . aha!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a deck of cards. "Something to do."
"Are we going to be in here for that long?"
"That's up to you now isn't it, Boy Wonder?" Barbara said shuffling the cards.
They both froze as the sound of shoes came into the hall and right up to the door.
It opened.
"Master Dick? Miss Gordon?"
They both grinned sheepishly as Alfred stared down at them. "To what do I owe this pleasure of running into you in here?
"Just getting away from everything." Dick explained.
"Ah." Alfred said with a knowing nod. "If anyone asks, I haven't seen you." He assured him. "Miss Gordon could you hand me that tan coat behind you?"
Barbara stood up and took it off the hanger.
"Thank you." He said as she shut the door.
Dick picked up the cards that Barbara had passed out.
"Got any twos?" She asked him.
"No." Dick said softly.
He stared over at Barbara who glanced lazily at her cards.
He was glad that she put up with him.
Sometimes, he was worried that she would be tired of the hassle, but all in all, she seemed to be okay with it. She laughed it all off with him easily. She never
seemed frustrated or jealous or . . . anything.
Dick sighed.
That was the problem. Maybe she didn't mind. Maybe she didn't care. Maybe all his hopes were for nothing. Maybe she couldn't think of him in that way.
He couldn't stand when everyone else tried to put her down—not that she let them. Barbara wasn't the kind of person to let what other people thought bug her—but
he was.
For some reason, no one seemed to be able to understand why he hung out with her. Most everyone had decided that it was a "quirk" of some sort.
Why did they always write her off? How did they not see that she was the most amazing person ever?
"Dick? What do you want here?"
"Got any sevens?" He asked coming out of his thoughts soon enough to hear her question.
She tossed him a card.
He picked it off the floor and added it to his hand
Some footsteps passed the hall, but their game continued uninterrupted.
That is until another set of footsteps were heard.
"Dickie?" A voice called.
Barbara tried really hard not to laugh at the expression that crossed Dick's face.
But then an idea popped into her head.
Barbara stood up and slightly opened the door a crack. Dick's hand quickly fell onto hers as he shot her a look.
Giving an innocent smile, she peeked out the door. The girl walked away.
"Oh come on Grayson, just go out there and face her. You are going to run into her at school sometime you know?" She reminded him.
"I'll handle that when the time comes." He said firmly.
"Oh, come on. I'll help you." Barbara said with a mischievous smile.
Dick reached over and pulled the door shut before she could call out.
"Don't you dare." He hissed loudly.
"Dick?" The girl's voice called out.
"Just go out there." Barbara said.
"No way. Be quiet." He hissed again.
Barbara reached for the door knob.
"Don't!" He ordered. "Seriously Babs. Don't. I swear, I'll do anything."
The magic words tumbled out of his mouth.
"Okay then." She said as she removed her hand from the doorknob. "I want to know the name of the girl you like."
Dick looked shocked.
What? Why would she ask that?
"Ba . . ."
"Name Dick." Barbara interrupted. She ordered it a little more testily that she wanted to.
Dick bit his lip.
"Why do you care?"
Barbara's shoulder's sagged. He didn't even try to deny it.
Did he not even think that she cared enough to care?
"Just curious." She explained.
Dick leaned his back against the side of the closet in thought.
He should just tell her a name—any name. Jessica, Felicity, Violet—he could make up some story about who they were later.
"And don't lie. I can tell when you're lying."
Dick looked over at her wide-eyed. She could always tell.
He couldn't tell her the truth though. That would mess everything up if she didn't . . . He couldn't bear to have her reject him.
"Name? Oh, ah . . ." Dick scratched his head as he tried to think of a way out of this.
Barbara stood there impatiently.
She wanted to know. She had to know and as much as she tried to tell herself that she wouldn't hate the girl no matter who she was—Barbara knew that she was
lying to herself.
There was no way that she was going to like the girl who had somehow snuck in and stolen Dick's heart from right underneath her.
"Ah . . ." Dick closed his eyes and tried to pick one of the given options.
Barbara eyed him carefully as she waited for an answer.
"Her name is . . . B . . . Barbara." He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. He kept his eyes clamped shut.
Barbara couldn't think of any girl at school who shared her name.
"Barbara who?" She questioned.
Dick's closed eyes seemed to scrunch together even more if it was possible.
"Barbara—you." He stated.
He heard no noise.
Opening his eyes, he found that she was gone.
"What? No!" He hurried out of the closet as the playing cards still lay scattered across the floor.
He raced down the hall trying to figure out where she went. He slowed his feet down to a walk as he entered the ballroom.
"Dick?"
He pivoted to see Stacy standing there.
"Hey, can you hold on a moment? Thanks." He said as hurriedly as possible before walking quickly away.
Weaving around groups of people, he didn't catch a glimpse of her. He finally spotted Alfred.
"Alfred!" Dick called out as quickly as he could reach him.
"Master Dick, what have I said about running? It is not seemly for a . . ."
"Sorry, but it's an emergency. Have you seen Barbara?"
Alfred pondered this.
"If I saw her, was I supposed to have?"
"Uh, yes." Dick confirmed.
"Excellent. Yes, I did see her head towards the balcony. What is the emergency? Is everythi . . .?"
Dick took off again before Alfred could finish.
He had to find her.
Walking out on the balcony, he didn't immediately see her. That is until he saw a bit of her dress being pushed by the breeze. She was standing behind one of the
columns.
He quietly walked over and leaned up against the column on the opposite side facing back in to the ballroom.
He knew she knew that he was there.
"I'm sorry." Barbara said abruptly walking around to face him. "I totally thought you meant me."
Dick bit his lip. She thought she had misheard; there was still time to go back. He chose not to.
"I did."
Barbara's mouth formed an "o" and no sound came out.
A few awkward moments passed.
"Dick, you never . . . said anything before."
"I didn't know how." He explained hoping that she would understand.
She was still not looking at him.
"It's always been you and me Babs. I just never knew if you could ever see it the same way I did."
Barbara couldn't believe what she was hearing. How was this even possible?
Dick frowned. She wasn't saying anything. This was bad. He should have just kept his mouth shut. The truth was just messing things up.
"Just forget that I said anything okay?" He told her. "That's why I never told you. I knew it would just mess stuff up between us—so just pretend I didn't say
anything."
"But what if I was okay with it? She asked hesitantly as she picked up on his worry.
Dick's eyes widened.
"You mean you're . . . you like me?"
"Do you think I'm just running around letting you drag me into closets, behind fountains, in shrubs, and under cars because I have nothing else to do?" Barbara said
with a slight smile on her face.
"I forgot about the car thing." Dick muttered. There had seriously been no other place to hide that time.
"A girl doesn't get car grease on her dress just for anyone. My hair wouldn't stop smelling like gasoline."
"Yea, sorry." Dick said with a grimace. He really did drag her everywhere.
"I didn't really mind, because if you were with me you weren't with anyone else."
She knew it sounded selfish, but it was how she felt.
"I had no idea." Dick said looking a bit stunned.
"Well, of course not. I . . . never knew how to say anything either." She admitted.
"So does that mean that . . .?"
"Dick?" A voice called out into the night.
He grabbed Barbara's hand and tugged her around to the other side of the column.
"Do you think that she saw me?" He whispered.
"Shh." Quieted Barbara as she pulled him closer. "She'll hear you."
And with that, she pressed her lips onto his.
It didn't take long for him to respond.
He carefully placed his hands onto her hips as he kissed her back.
"Dickie?" She called out again.
He felt Barbara start to laugh and he pulled away.
He tried to glare at her, but couldn't. She smiled back at him so invitingly. He ached to kiss her again.
"Don't you ever dare tell anyone." Dick said trying to be serious. "Or I will totally . . . do something that you will regret sometime."
"There are worst names in the world Pixie Boots."
"You are always there to remind me of that aren't you?"
She shrugged.
"Somebody has to, and I'm the only girl that you won't run from."
Dick had to smile at her comment. He gazed up at the column.
"I wish I had my grappling hook on me. That way we could just swing up to the next level."
Barbara followed his gaze.
"She might be gone." Barbara whispered. "I'll check."
Dick watched as she carefully crept alongside of the massive column and peeked around it as in obvious as possible.
"She is." Barbara announced, now taking no precaution to hide herself. "For now."
"Let's go back inside." Dick said firmly as he found new resolve.
"If you want to." Barbara said.
Dick and she walked over to the edge of the ballroom.
Dick reached out and offered his hand to her.
She stared at it for a moment. They had never really held hands. Not in that way before. It was usually just when he was pulling her somewhere. She tentatively
touched his palm with her fingers and then pressed her hand into his.
He firmly clasped it in his own giving her a smile.
"Ready?" He asked her.
"Why are you asking me? You are always the one on the run." She pointed out.
Dick had to admit that this was true.
"Well, I'm ready now."
They walked in.
Barbara had to smile as she realized something.
"What are you grinning about?" Dick asked noticing her expression.
"I've just realized that I'm probably going to be on the list after tonight."
Dick looked confused.
"What are you talking about?"
Barbara waved off his question with her hand.
"Never mind. Just something silly."
He didn't look convinced.
Suddenly, he gave a look like he understood what she was talking about. He rolled his eyes.
"Well, not that my opinion is ever considered in this matter, but you were always on mine. In fact . . ." He said with a pause. "You were the only name on it."
Barbara's grin widened.
Then nothing else mattered.
Random End Notes: Bad whim? Good whim? Plain-old ridiculous, but sweet whim? Let me know.
{Dick/Babs because, HELLO! They are perfect for each other!}
Alright you know the drill. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.