AN: Chapter 2, already?! Yup. :) Enjoy, rate, and review if you'd like!

Disclaimer: See 1st Chapter Disclaimer

By 6:30 the next evening, Caroline was already getting dressed in her one strapped, royal blue silk evening gown. By 7:45, she was dressed and ready and she sat on the couch, not allowing herself to move until the clock struck 8. She felt like a teenager again, nervously awaiting her first date.

At that exact moment, there was a sharp rapping on the door. Caroline jumped in surprise, nervously fumbling to pick up her silk pocketbook. Taking a deep breath, tossing her honey blonde curls back over her shoulders and fixing her earrings and gold R pendant, she opened the door.

"Wow…" She looked up into a startled pair of blue eyes that were so warm and familiar, she actually felt a little light-headed. He was much taller than her now; maybe a little over 6'2 and handsome as the devil in his tuxedo. "You look…wow. Positively…radiant."

"…Thank you!" She smiled, enjoying his embarrassment.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded, taking his hand. "Born ready."

They headed out to the front of the building and she grinned at him when she spotted a long black limousine parked by the curb. "Might as well arrive in style, right?"

She giggled. "Might as well."

The two slid into the back seat. "Wayne Manor, please. And step on it." They arrived about 10 minutes past 8 o clock, as the guests were just starting to arrive. A crowd of paparazzi had gathered at the steps, and when the driver opened the door to the limo, what looked like a thousand flashbulbs went off.

"Miss Blusteeyl! Miss Blusteeyl!" They cried, and scrambled about, snapping pictures.

"Evening, everyone." She said, smiling up at Richie when he held his arm out for her. She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and they headed up the stairs together. She could hear the muttered questions being tossed about as they entered over who the mystery man she was with was. Alfred was at the door doing coat check. "Mistress Blusteeyl." He smiled.

"Alfred." She said warmly, hugging him. "How is everything? I've missed you both."

"Everything is just fine, Mistress. Master Wayne is much looking forward to the gala tonight." At this, Alfred glanced at the stranger at her side. "I do apologize. I seem to have forgotten my manners. Alfred Pennyworth, at your service."

Richie smiled. "Grayson. Dick Grayson." Alfred smiled, but then a look of confusion crossed his face.

"Grayson? My, I haven't heard that name since…" Alfred paused and looked back at him. "It couldn't be..."

"Alfred." He smiled.

"Master Grayson! It is a delight to see you again...!" "Oh, loosen up, Al!" He laughed, hugging him. "I've missed you."

"And I you, sir. Very, very much."

"Where's Bruce at tonight?"

"Master Wayne will be here shortly, I presume. I am sure he will be overjoyed to see you"

"I hope so, Al, I hope so."

"Please, enjoy the gala. I hope I will see you both soon."

"You can count on it, 'Al'." Caroline said, taking Richie's arm again, smiling at Al as they headed into the grand ballroom; a large, marble floored room with a dome made of white decorated with shimmering gold. Caroline glanced around it; waving to a few friends of the company and a few personal friends as well.

A tall, tan lady in a bright green dress with a wild mess of cherry red hair and orange skin caught Caroline's attention. Her eyes were a brilliant emerald green and almost seemed luminescent.

"There's no way…"

"What is it?"

"Starfire!" She cried. The pretty young Tamaranian spun around to face her. Although the Team had broken up, Caroline had still kept in touch via phone calls, texts, and emails. It'd been years since they'd seen each other in person, especially Starfire. At first, she didn't seem to recognize Caroline or the handsome, dark haired young man standing next to her. But when Caroline waved to her and smiled, she spied recognition in her eyes. She smiled her pretty white smile as Caroline hurried over to her.

"Caroline!" She sighed, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tight.

"Star! It's great to see you."

She held me back at arms width to just look. "I don't believe it." She said. "You've gotten even prettier."

"Star, where do I start with you? You always have outshone me. Now it's just plain unfair." Caroline said, stroking her friend's long, fluffy hair. Star laughed a twinkle of a laugh. "Who's your friend?" She asked, glancing back and forth between Richie and Caroline.

"Starfire." He said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, have we met?"

He shook his head. "I thought you might say that."

He reached into his pocket, taking out two things that made both young women gasp; a startlingly familiar yellow communicator and a black mask that was instantly recognizable. Making sure no one was looking, he quickly put it on and grinned at her. She burst into a big smile.

"No way. No WAY! Dick, you're… you're…alive!"

He pulled off the mask, still smiling. "So I am."

"It's so great to see you both. I can't believe this!"

"Do you know if the others are here?" Caroline asked, glancing around.

"Actually…" She smiled over her shoulder, "Victor, dearest! Come say hello!" A tall, muscled man with dark brown skin looked over from a table. Richie and Caroline grinned at each other.

"There's no way." He said, "That can't be…"

Star kissed the man's cheek as he came over next to her. "Darling, you'll never guess who these two are." The man, who was 100% human, no cyborg in site, looked confused for a moment.

"Hey Cy." Richie grinned at him.

"Is that…no way?! Dick?! Hey!" He wrapped him in a big bear hug. "How are ya, man? It's been ages!"

"Tell me about it! It's so great to see you. And look at you! No robot in sight!"

"That doc's really worked wonders." Cy looked over at Caroline. "Who's this?" Caroline beamed and opened her clutch, holding out her classic silver pendant shaped like a raven. A wide grin spread slowly across his face. "I knew you looked familiar!" He said, hugging her tightly.

"It's so good to see you, Cy."

"You can call me Victor now, if you'd like." He said with a smile.

"Ok, then, Victor." Caroline said with a grin. "I can't believe it's really you!"

"Isn't it marvelous how we've all managed to find each other? It must be fate." Star said. Turning over her shoulder, she waved to another couple that had just arrived. "Excuse us a moment, dear friends! We'll talk more soon!" Star said, dragging Victor off to talk to the couple that had arrived.

"I can't believe how lucky I am. It's almost like I never left." Richie said quietly, glancing around the ballroom, which had begun to fill with people, including a group of musicians, who took their place on the raised stage at the ballrooms far end.

"Looks like Bruce just got here." She thought, noticing her good friend, and boss, talking with a woman in a slinky blank evening gown with a cloud of dark brown hair. "That'd be Selena. I guess the reunion of the Dynamic Duo will have to wait." At that moment, the musicians had finished their rapid setup and begun to play an up-tempo jazz number. Slowly, a few couples began to filter onto the floor.

A strange look had crossed the blue eyes of her sweet Richie. Concerned, she gently put her hand in his and looked at what had caught his attention. Bruce had sat at a table with some other guests, who talked amongst themselves. Bruce had spotted him and, if Caroline knew the world's greatest detective, he had been quick to identify her date as his previous partner.

"You don't have to force yourself to talk with him, you know." She said quietly so just he could hear.

"I almost feel obligated to. It's been such a long time…But…I think you're right, Caroline. Too many people." He gave her hand a squeeze and smiled. "Besides, this night's too special to ruin it now!" A moment later, the musicians finished the up-tempo song and moved on to a lovely waltz.

"Would you care to dance?" He asked sweetly.

Caroline grinned and pulled him towards the dance floor. "I thought you'd never ask."

"You know, you're actually a really good dancer." She said with a giggle as they twirled and stepped in time to the lovely music.

"And Bruce thought those ballroom dancing lessons were foolish!" He said, laughing.

Caroline looked up at him with a smile and, to her surprise, her eyes began to fill with tears.

"What? Did I say something…?" Richie asked, suddenly worried.

"No, no! I'm just…so happy. It's like you went away for a week and came back again." Happily, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest as the music filled the darkening ballroom.

"So, can you tell me where you've been all this time? Or what you did?" She pressed gently. "You've certainly changed since I last saw you. Not to mention the fact that you've grown about 5 inches since then." She said, looking up at him with a tiny smile.

"I'm not so sure I should tell you, sweetheart." He said with a guilty half-smile.

"You can tell me anything. You know that."

"If you're really sure you want to know…" Sighing, he looked away from her. "I've…uh…I've been in Blüdhaven."

Caroline lifted her head from his chest and pulled away from him, mouth slightly agape. She just stared at him in shock before her senses came back to her and she remembered to speak.

"You...you've been this close…the entire time. For all these years. I could have just…" Caroline shook her head quickly and released him. "I don't believe it…" She muttered, more to herself. "Excuse me. I have to go." She said quietly.

"Caroline, wait, please." He said, reaching for her hand. But, Caroline, heartbroken and disappointed, hurried away before he could stop her.

Caroline dashed into the nearest restroom and pulled her blue gown over her head to reveal her black dress beneath. Slipping on her mask, she snuck out of the gala via an open window in the ceiling. She flew up to the roof of Wayne Manor, the sparkling skyline of Gotham as dazzling as always. Hiding near the edge of a chimney, she hugged her knees and looked out at the city, a few tears escaping her dark eyes as a gentle breeze tossed her curls about.

She couldn't believe her own stupidity. All these years of being miserable with worry. All these years of wondering, waiting, hoping, wishing, begging, and praying that he would come back. And now, he had. But, he had been only a handful of miles away the entire time.

"It was all for nothing. I can't believe it was all for nothing. He was so close all this time…" With a furious groan, she grasped the delicate gold R pendant she had worn all this time with so much devotion. Giving it one last angry look, she threw it out over the mansion and into the night sky, where it glinted briefly in the light before vanishing. With a sob, she buried her face in her arms as the music and laughter of the gala spilled out into the night.

She didn't know how long it had been when she heard a faint scraping noise that made her lift her tearstained face from her knees. Thinking nothing of it, she stood up, sniffed, and began to slowly walk along the rooftop, deep in thought. She stopped at another chimney and sat down against it. Looking to either side and seeing no one there with her enacted a feeling of deep rooted loneliness that she hadn't felt since he had left. Sighing, she closed her eyes to reminisce on the pleasant past memories that seemed so long ago. She could see everything, almost as if she was living the memories again. She could see the day they had first met and his almost violent reaction to the "intruder" in the Bat Cave, their first trip to the pizza parlor together, days at the movies and at the boardwalk with the team…

Before she remember further and drag herself deeper into her heartache, there was a sudden snap right near her ear, as if a magician had snapped their fingers to suddenly wake her from hypnosis. She glanced around quickly to locate the sound when suddenly her Nightwing was there at her side, the sky blue eagle across his chest nearly luminescent in the moonlight.

"Hi." He said quietly, sitting down next to her. "You've been up here quite a while."

"What do you care?" She mumbled, staring at her hands in her lap. She didn't feel like talking; not now.

"Hey… Don't talk like that…" He said, taking her hand. "I wish…I wish it was easier for me to tell you why I left. But, it's hard to explain."

"But, why? Why would you come back?! Why not just leave me? And spare me the hurt…"

"Obsi, look at me. Please."

She reluctantly turned to face him.

"It was never my intention to hurt you. Don't you know by now that I never could live it down if I did?"

"I just…wanted to see you. I thought about you so much…" She said, her eyes twinkling with tears. "And to think that you were so close this entire time…"

"Give me a chance to make it up to you!" He interrupted suddenly, taking her hands in his. "I'll… make up for all that lost time! I swear to you, I will. If you'll just give me this chance to make you happy. I can… at least I can try to make you happy again." He said, his voice somewhat choked with a surprising amount of emotion.

Obsi sniffed and wiped away the tears from her cheeks. The earnest quality in his voice reminded her so much of the fiery spirited leader of the Titans she had fallen in love with. He really meant this. He truly wanted to make her happy again. To her own surprise, she started to smile. He smiled back much bigger.

"Is that a yes?" He said, failing to hide the excitement from his voice.

Obsi couldn't help but laugh. "Of course it is." She said, now beaming.

He hugged her tightly, making her flush. "Thank you! Thank you, Obsi. I promise you, things will be different from now on!"

"I know they will."

The rest of the night passed quickly. They spent nearly the whole night just talking with each other on the roof of Wayne Manor. They talked about everything and anything, just like they used to years before. They talked about what they'd done in the past five years; who they'd seen, where they'd gone, the villains they'd fought, the victories and the defeats. She talked about her last few weeks as a Titan, and her job at Wayne Enterprises. Richie even asked about Bruce, who he hadn't seen since their angry split before he left.

Shortly before sunrise, he dropped her off back at her apartment. "Can I see you tomorrow?" She asked, their hands linked. His bright smile told her she didn't even need to wait for an answer.

"How does 7:30 sound?"

"I'll be waiting." She said sweetly.

He gently kissed her cheek and she smiled shyly.

"See you then."

AN: Next chapter will be up soon! :) I've got plenty more to share with you all. Ciao~