Title: Paparazzi
By: Xmarksthespot
Disclaimer: I don't own YJ & I don't own this plot. The plot is originally from GraysonsGirl and her Teen Titan's story "Drive By Media". I have asked for permission to use the plot for my own Young Justice story.
Words: 2,300+
Notes: Thank you so much for the feedback guys! I really appreciate it!
X-X-X-
"And it's asking us to be the bodyguards at the wedding of Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon."
There was an initial look of confusion spread across Nightwing's face, but it didn't last very long. Within a few seconds to regain composure, he gave his trademark grin at the circumstances. "Really now?" he said, and could feel the anger radiating off of Barbara behind him.
"Nightwing, don't turn this into a game," she lectured, only to be ignored. "Someone knows about the team."
"Come on, Batgirl, I'm sure whoever sent this is a good person. They probably know how much you idolize the Richard Grayson," Nightwing said with a snicker, and was about to be yelled at before Robin spoke up.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt your latest romantic moment guys," said Robin, "but I'm going to send you the details right now. Maybe the bat-computer could locate its origins." The young boy was seen typing furiously on the Mount Justice software before the screen turned blue with details about the fax, including a copy of the letter itself.
"Right," Nightwing responded and cleared his throat, "Batgirl, Robin, and I will look at this first and see if there's anything suspicious about it. We'll get back to you later. Thanks, Superboy." With that, their video conversation had ended.
As Barbara made her way to the computer chair, Nightwing found himself staring at the mysterious letter that was on the screen in front of him, concentrating deeply on its contents and ignoring the tapping noises Barbara was making with her nails as she typed on the keyboard. He tried to connecting the dots to the security cameras in his own room, which had showed no sign of a break in; Dick still didn't know how his mother's engagement ring made it all the way to Barbara's mailbox.
It wasn't until Tim arrived at the cave that Nightwing was reminded to take his mask off. He turned his head away from the screen.
"Does the team know?" He asked the young hero.
Tim shook his head. "Not yet. Conner and M'gann were the only ones to know about it – I found out almost after cause I was about to head home when I caught them reading the letter."
Nodding, Dick looked back at the screen. Whoever had sent it had managed to get the letterhead of Wayne Industries and forged his and Barbara's signatures at the bottom. He glanced at the redhead sitting in front of the computer who seemed to be equally troubled.
"Found anything yet, Babs?"
She was silent at first, and then spun around on her chair to face them. "I've managed to locate where the fax came from by connecting to the computers at the mountain, but… It's at the postal office on the intersection of Second and King Street here in Gotham. The thing is hundreds of people go through that building each day in order to send deliveries and fax messages."
"Hmm, alright. Tim, see if you can find out when exactly that fax was sent from the office, so we can limit our search," the older hero said, then turned to face Barbara. "Babs, come with me."
Getting up from her seat, Barbara raised an eyebrow as she stared back at Dick. "And where exactly am I going?"
The former acrobat grinned. "I think it's time to introduce the world to my fiancée."
"My dad's going to have a heart attack, Dick."
"Which is why we're telling him the truth. Well, most of it," Dick replied, staring out of the black tinted windows of the car. Luckily, the reporters hadn't surrounded the entire manor, so Alfred was able to drive them out of one of the hidden garages out back.
Barbara glared at him. "Why can't we just deny our engagement to the press?"
"Because whoever's doing this knows about our other identities, Barbara. This isn't some rumour anymore – someone's out to get us, and we can't find out who unless we keep this rumour afloat. We won't confirm the rumours, but we technically won't deny it either. And it also means we need to get the team involved."
"You're not actually serious about getting the team involved, are you? Bruce is going to flip if he finds out our identities are blown. He already looked like he had an aneurysm when I found out who you guys were. And must I really remind you about his reaction to Tim?" Barbara frowned. She turned her head slightly to view the slow pace of the car, most likely trying to make its way through the heavy crowds surrounding her house; she was already dreading having to go inside.
"We're not going to tell them who we are, Babs. And it's not like I'm going to get all of them involved. Besides, if the team's involved, then we're falling right into their plans, whoever they are, and it'll just help us with figuring this all out," Dick explained before cracking another smile. "Looks like this is our stop," he casually mentioned the moment Alfred had pulled over.
He turned to face the redhead sitting next to him. "Are you ready for the press?"
Barbara sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be," she said before opening the car door and being enveloped by a series of flashes.
Dick got out of the car just as quickly, shutting the door behind him and allowing Alfred to drive away in peace. He wrapped his arm protectively around Barbara's shoulder to guide her into the building and raised his other arm to try to block their faces from being captured in the photographs. He ignored any questions targeted at him concerning his hidden relationship and his future marriage plans.
"Remind me in the future that if I ever get married," he whispered jokingly in her ear while heading towards the doorway of the Gordon residence, "to do it on another planet."
The two men sat directly across from each other around the dining room table, which Dick remembered almost snapping in half in attempt to do a flip off of the kitchen counters as a child. There had been silence between the two as Jim Gordon glared demonically at the young man before him, one hand on his lap which was tempted to reach for the gun in his holster. Even Barbara, sitting in between the two, was too caught up in the staring contest to do anything.
To break the tension, Dick gave another sheepish grin. "So…"
The officer gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before closing his eyes. "You're telling me, young man, that someone is out to get Bruce and his company through you and my daughter? Shouldn't the cops be involved with this?"
Dick nodded. "Yes, we think that the culprit is trying to distract Bruce and his employees through this scheme and then expose someone or something from the company. But we also realized that if the cops were involved, not only would the public grow crazy, but the person behind this will take more dangerous risks to ensure the downfall of Wayne Industries. But I assure you, I definitely didn't want Barbara involved in this kind of situation," Dick explained, but when his eyes momentarily connected with Barbara's stare, he continued, "Er, not that being engaged to your daughter's a bad thing, but uh, I just don't feel that way – wait, she's a great person, but we're not…"
"I think what Dick is trying to say, daddy," Barbara interrupted, "is that you can be at rest because this whole thing is just a hoax. I'm not engaged to Dick, and I'm definitely not dating him." She ignored the offended look on Dick's face.
Jim remained stern, despite his daughter's and Dick's explanations. He continued to stare in Dick's direction before saying something. "And where is Bruce in all this?"
Scratching the back of his head, Dick tried to explain. "Out on a business trip," he said, but with the suspicious look on the Commissioner's face, he continued. "You see, Alzheimer's runs in Alfred's family, and Bruce wanted to find a cure for it in case it kicks in soon – Alfred's been forgetting a lot of stuff lately and it's worrying all of us, especially Bruce since the old guy's been like a father to him. He's leading a team of researchers in the Amazonian rainforest now in hopes of finding something for the cure. There's limited tech with them, so I guess the news here has been delayed getting to him. I'm in charge of the company until then."
Jim finally gave a sigh, which allowed Dick to relax a little. "I still don't like how you kids are being secretive about this. I should at least –"
"No need, Mr. Gordon. Bruce has his connections, and I've already contacted them. They're trying to figure all this out from inside the company first, before we get anyone else involved. However, I'll make sure you're informed with anything that we find out. Barbara's safety is top priority – again, I'm sorry for having her involved."
The edge of Dick's lips twitched somewhat as Jim was the least bit phased by his explanations. But he was somewhat of a pathological liar – not as great as Tim, though – and hoped that his response to the older man seemed natural enough to convince him.
Finally lifting the hand that was secured around his gun (Dick released a sigh of relief), Jim reached it out to shake Dick's hand.
"Alright, son. Good luck with handling these affairs of yours," he said, but then turned to his daughter, "Barbara, a word please?"
Getting up from her seat, Barbara noticed Dick giving her a questioning glance before following her father into the living room; her father kept his voice low to prevent the heir of Wayne Industries from hearing anything.
"Barbara, remember that birthday present that I gave you earlier this year?"
Barbara's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes, daddy."
"Use it."
Her lips parted slightly, gasping at her father's insinuation, but nodded obediently anyway. When she met up with Dick later on, she shook her head, already slightly blushing at the idea of digging through her closet for the gift: a chastity belt.
"Here we can see Dick Grayson leading his fiancée, Barbara Gordon, inside of the Gordon house a little over three hours ago. No word yet from the couple on this surprising turn of events…"
"You're still watching that?" Robin asked, surprising his teammates who had been focused attentively on the big screen since he left earlier that day.
"Robin! You have got to stop popping up like that! Even Conner freaks out because he can't hear you," Cassie said furiously, crossing her arms. She ignored Superboy's mutterings on how he was capable of hearing the Bats' arrival and how she was wrong. "And duh!"
Robin rolled his eyes, though no one noticed due to his mask. He proceeded to sit down next to Jaime.
"Don't tell me you're interested by this stuff too, Jaime?" Robin asked, leaning his head sideways to rest on the palm of his hands. The reporter was now going through the history of the Wayne family – he tried to ignore the images of himself and Dick at their last social gathering.
"No way, Hermano," Jaime said, but his leering eyes towards the TV told Robin differently; it was just too focused on the image of Barbara Gordon. "But you should've seen La'gaan jump like a flying fish earlier when he tried to take the remote away from his girl – no! I told you, those are not wanted criminals. No, we are not going to go after them. I – urgh. One sec, Robin," Jaime said, getting up to go battle with his inner demons in peace where no one could hear him.
Watching him leave, and turning his attention back to his teammates, Robin sighed. I wonder how Dick and Barbara are –
Nightwing: B-0-1, Batgirl: B-1-6
Everyone turned and watched as the duo stepped into the room; Nightwing somewhat reacted to what he saw on the TV screen again, but Batgirl just crossed her arms at the sight. All in all, they looked too serious to be in a joking mood, so no one bothered to tease at their arrival together.
"We need Superboy, Miss Martian, and Robin to come with us. Everyone else…I expect you back in the training room in thirty minutes," Nightwing instructed.
"What is it, Nightwing?" M'gann asked curiously, wondering why they were pulled aside.
"Robin, Batgirl, and I have something to do in Gotham, but in the meantime, you and Conner are going to go on a different mission: an undercover mission."
"What kind of undercover?" Conner asked.
Nightwing pulled up the images of two familiar faces onto the screen.
"You two will be the bodyguards of Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon for the –" Nightwing was cut off when he realized there was shuffling noises outside of the room. Lips pressed in a firm line, he made his way towards the door.
"Oof! Girl, get off of me!"
"You're the one who's in the way, Karen!"
"Shh, guys, I can't hear anything, I –"
"What's going on? What did they say about Dick Grayson?"
Nightwing opened the door, and the rest of the team spilled into the room. He sighed and wondered just how many more rumours he could take before packing up his bags and moving to space.
"I bet," he started, disappointed at how covert his covert ops team was, "you're all here for the mission regarding Dick Grayson, aren't you?"
"Uh, YEAH," everyone chorused.
Nightwing tried really hard not to be disturbed by their enthusiasm at the sound of his civilian name.
A/N: Updates will be slow, unfortunately. I don't really have a set plan for this story yet, so just struggling to think about how I want things to go is going to take some time. Please be patient and I'll try to update when I can.
And as always, please review (more reviews = quicker updates).