Young Justice -:- Fragility

Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment last chapter! I feel a lot better now and it's all thanks to you awesome people you! This story is going to be angsty than Identity was, with less physical whump happening to Robin (even though I have way too much fun torturing our little bird - and I know you love it too!) and a more emotional beating. But don't worry, I will have put him severely through the wringer by the end of this fic!

Part Four

Batman glared at the batmobile, wondering how in the world three of his tyres had just got jacked. The security system should have electrocuted anybody who even got within a metre of the vehicle. And yet, a young boy had somehow managed to not get zapped, and successfully steal and hide away his expensive custom tread tyres.

This was not the imposing impression that he was going for.

Batgirl glanced sideways at him, still unable to stand completely unaided, but coherent enough to start cracking one liners at any second. Admittedly, he had missed having Robin with him while he was down with his injury, but that did not mean that he wanted a teenage girl replacing him and his sarcasm. He was supposed to be scaring her away from this life, not entertaining her with car trouble.

"So... what bat-themed item do we have to solve this little issue?" Batgirl asked. "Tell me that there's a bat-toolkit in your utility belt. Because that would be awesome."

Batman ignored her, and silently began working on the problem. Batgirl was injured, and needed medical attention; that much was obvious. He was going to take her to the cave and patch him up himself, but he couldn't leave a weapon as powerful as the batmobile lying in Crime Alley when its defences were clearly working below optimum levels. He supposed that he could drop her off at home and let her father, the Commissioner, have a word with her. But that was a ever-so-slightly cruel, and he did have to admit that the girl had potential.

He activated his communicator. "Agent A?"

The butler was evidently not in his usual position while Batman was out on patrol, as it took a moment for the elder gentleman to answer, when usually it was instantaneous. "Yes, sir?"

"Send the batwing to my position," he ordered with less courtesy than usual, hoping to keep up appearances in front of the flagging Batgirl. He had to hold her up with an arm around her waist now as she struggled to remain upright.

"Is there something the matter with the car, sir?" Alfred replied even as he complied with the request. Over the radio Batman could hear the sound of the plane's engines starting up.

Batman ignored the question, not wanting to have to explain the rather embarrassing theft. Alfred had always warned him not to park in Crime Alley; he was not looking forward to the lecture he would receive on proper common sense when he eventually got home. "I am sending Batgirl ahead to the cave while I continue patrol. She requires medical attention for several burns and a possible concussion."

There came a pause. "Are you sure that is wise, sir?" the butler question. "I expect that the young miss would be able to identify me rather easily, even with a mask."

"She'll be sedated."

"Excuse me?!" Batgirl cried indignantly, wincing when the volume of her own voice irritated her headache. She slumped into Batman's grip with a groan, quite likely to pass out all by herself even without the assistance of sedatives.

"There is something else, sir," Alfred began, almost hesitantly. This instantly put Batman on guard. Alfred never beat around the bush when there was an issue. "Earlier this evening, Master Robin came home with injuries of his own, sir."

"Did something happen during training?" Batman questioned, his tone even, although someone that knew him would hear the concern and anger warring beneath his words. "Black Canary didn't report..."

"I do not have the full story, sir," Alfred interrupted, which again, was unusual. He sounded worried, and anything that could rattle the unflappable butler had to be serious. "The young master is resting now. But I believe it is safe to assume that a bullet wound is not an injury likely to be sustained in training."

Batman saw red. "He was shot?" Again, was silently tacked on the end. Robin had not long recovered from the last attempt on his life; and now someone else was shooting at him? He knew that Robin had been wearing the armour that he had insisted upon, even in civilian ID; and that the wound cannot have been near-fatal otherwise they would not be having this discussion so long after the event. But all he could see in his mind's eye was his son lying broken in that hospital bed... "Who?"

"I do not know, sir, but Mister West was present," Alfred answered. "I sent him off to report the day's events to the League. I assume that they will know what happened by now." There was a beat of silence as the butler checked something on his end. "The batwing is arriving at your location now, sir."

"Thank you, Agent A," Batman replied as he looked up to see the plane's ominous shadow lowering as far as it could in the cramped space. A line dropped down from the belly of the vehicle, thudding against the concrete a few feet to their right. "Take care of them both, A. I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Of course, sir."

"Do you really call your plane the batwing?" Batgirl asked, slurring slightly. Batman rolled his eyes beneath the cowl as he set the teen up in the harness and showed her how to work it. Once she was secure, she blinked slowly to clear some of the haze from her green eyes. "Am I really going to see the Batcave?"

Batman pressed a concealed button on his gauntlet, and the harness began to retract, carrying Batgirl slowly up towards the plane. Once she was out of sight and safely on her way to see Alfred, Batman reactivated his communicator. He didn't like not being in the know; and if the League had neglected to keep him informed of his own son's condition – heads would roll.

"Batman?" came Superman's greeting over the slight static of the radio. "Has something else happened?"

"What do you mean, something else?" Batman didn't like having to be caught up on a situation, especially not by the oversized boyscout; but he needed to know what was going on and apparently the Kryptonian was his only source of information. "Do you know what happened to Robin and Kid Flash?"

"Something happened to Robin and Kid Flash?" Superman asked, sounding close to panicked, which was not exactly soothing Batman's growing irritation. "Flash ran off when he got a call from Watch Tower while we were fighting, I didn't know it was about the kids."

Well, at least Flash was aware that something had happened and was now most likely taking care of Kid Flash, but that still didn't answer his question. "What were you fighting? I didn't receive an alert."

"Didn't get a chance to send one," Superman replied. The mechanical voice of the zeta beam sounded in the background, and the connection was cut for a moment as the Kryptonian teleported somewhere else. "Fastest responders only. There was an attack on the safe house."

"Artemis and her mother?"

"Relocated to the mountain for now," Superman responded vaguely. "We're still trying to figure out how they were found, and why out of everyone that could possibly want them dead, it was this guy that nearly got them."

"Who?"

"The Mad Hatter."

The Mad Hatter was at her front door.

Seriously? Artemis internally ranted. Is this for real?

It wasn't that she underestimated the villain. She was a Gothamite after all – she knew that it was the crazies that you really had to look out for. But the Alice in Wonderland themed villain just wasn't who she was expecting. Of all the people that could have come knocking, the Hatter simply hadn't been on the list.

He was kind of ridiculous, really. He was a short man with a fixation for lurid tweed jackets that constantly wore a replica top hat of his namesake. He looked almost exactly like the original illustrations for the Lewis Carroll story; which was either a case of unfortunate genetics, or more likely, a heck of a lot of plastic surgery. No one could say that he wasn't dedicated to his chosen character.

And he didn't seem in the slightest bit concerned by the knife held to his throat.

"Come along, Alice," the Hatter beckoned to Artemis as if he honestly believed that the archer would do whatever he wanted. "You know how the White Rabbit hates it when you're late. Come, come now."

Artemis pinned him with a look of complete disbelief. "Uh... no."

The Hatter sighed. "And here I was hoping that you might have learned some manners," he said forlornly, as if her attitude had truly disappointed him. He then called over is left shoulder: "Mr Lincoln!"

The front window exploded in a shower of shattered wood and glass. A dark shape barrelled through and rolled onto it's feet, revealing a tall man wearing a top hat and long coat. In each hand he brandished a gleaming butcher's cleaver. "A house divided against itself cannot stand!"

"Exactly. I couldn't have put it better myself, Mr Lincoln," the Hatter replied conversationally. And then he shouted "You heard him boys! Divide and conquer!"

The casual thumps against the walls of the safe house became frenzied crashes. Windows smashed, doors were kicked open, and suddenly they were surrounded on all sides. All the assailants were men of various ages; from barely out of high school to close to retirement. They all wore hats of some size, description or style, and they each carried a weapon of some kind. There were so many of them, it was as if they had literally come out of the woodwork.

The Lincoln impersonator went straight for Jade, spouting more phrases from the historical address as if he truly believed that he was giving the speech rather than trying to dice a ninja assassin. Jade quickly decided that Lincoln was the more immediate threat, and caught the downward swipe of a cleaver on the hilt of her knife. She then twisted Lincoln's wrist and spun, landing a powerful kick against his chest. With a blade no longer poised at his throat, the Hatter crossed the threshold and vanished into the chaos.

Artemis managed to keep an eye on him for all of three seconds before she was attacked by two men in matching fedoras. They flanked her on either side and hefted their baseball bats. "Such a dame," said one as he swung his bat at her head.

"Of all the gin joints in all the world," said the other, double-teaming her from the other side. She managed to deflect one blow with her crossbow, but the other she had to take with her forearm. With the alternative being her getting bludgeoned over the head, she figured that she could live with the bruise in the morning. She knocked both bats away from her, leaving them open for her to strike back. A leg sweep took out the first Casablanca fanatic as she simultaneously disarmed the second.

"Who are you really, and what were you before?" the one still standing said in surprise. And then his expression hardened. "Here's looking at you, kid."

"Crap," Artemis had time to mutter just as the guy launched himself at her. The momentum knocked them both to the floor, throwing her bow free from her grip. Her head and back smacked into the wooden floor, forcing all of the air out of her lungs in one fell swoop. With a frustrated grunt, she drove her knee home between his legs and flipped him up and over her head. She was back on her feet and ready to go another round when she realised that neither of the Casablanca guys were getting back up.

The one that she had downed with a leg sweep lay exactly where he had landed, his fedora knocked off and lying squashed a metre or so away from him. Blood trickled from his ear and nose, and his eyes were half open and glassy. He was still breathing, but he looked catatonic. The other hardly looked much better. Blood was smeared across his cheek from where he had wiped at his nose and he was sporting a bad case of hat-hair – but at least he was conscious.

He looked around at the continuing carnage that surrounded them. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Your a civilian," Artemis muttered, more to herself than to the Casablanca guy. He made some sort of indignant comment to that, but she ignored him as she studied the battlefield. All around them the attackers that had been subdued had their hats removed and were in various states of befuddled or unconscious. "Mind control. It's mind control through the hats."

It was fairly obvious when she remembered the Mad Hatter's M.O., but she was pretty sure that the guy usually used chemicals rather than tech. Why change it up and attack her safe house? She had never gone up against the Hatter before – they had never met as far as she knew – so why was he targeting her so specifically? And what was with the Alice thing?

One thing was for sure, there was a heck of a lot civilians in the middle of a fire fight, and it wouldn't be long before someone got seriously hurt. It was time to call for help.

"My word!" the butler exclaimed the moment that he laid eyes on the cave's intruders. He took one look at the thinly veiled expression of panic on Wally West's face and then at the boy half-conscious in his arms, and immediately led to the two teens to the small medical alcove. "This way, Mister West."

The speedster did as he was told, handling the bleeding Boy Wonder with care as he laid him down on the cot that sadly saw more use than Alfred would care to admit. He quickly had to hand any and all equipment and supplies that he would need and began to examine the wound. "What happened?" he asked calmly as he took off the temporary dressing that Wally must have applied. Beneath it blood pooled around the new crater that had been torn into the young master's chest.

Alfred hadn't even known that Dick was awake, but he wasn't overly surprised that it was him that answered with a short and to the point: "I got shot."

"Again?" Alfred replied, raising an eyebrow. He gestured for Wally to pass him the specially designed sheers for cutting through Kevlar and between the two of them they managed to divest Dick of his hoodie, shirt and life-saving vest. Alfred frowned disapprovingly. "This is starting to become an incredibly bad habit, Master Richard."

"Sorry Alfie," Dick muttered, wincing as the ruined clothes were dragged out from under him, leaving his upper body completely exposed. "I loved that hoodie..."

"I am sure that the budget can stretch to buying you a new one, sir," Alfred responded dryly. He gingerly began to inspect the area around the bullet hole that was rapidly beginning to turn a lurid shade of purple. When the young master attempted to hide his flinch at a particularly tender spot, Alfred hummed thoughtfully. "Hmmm."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Wally asked anxiously. His concerned green eyes watched the butler's ministrations with rapt attention, trying to figure out where he could help out.

"I'm fine, Wally," Dick insisted a little breathlessly.

"Again: you were just shot," Wally retorted, successfully keeping the young master distracted while Alfred injected him with a dose of strong painkillers. "I am allowed to be worried. There is a bullet in your chest and you've lost a lot of blood, so my question is valid. So Alfie, what's the verdict?"

"The bullet wound itself is not what concerns me, Mister West," Alfred replied as he began the less than pleasant task of removing the twisted lump of metal. "The armour did its job well and prevented a lot of damage. It is merely a flesh wound. The severity of the surrounding bruising, however, is going to be painful for a long while. I would recommend a period of bed rest and the immediate cessation of all arduous activities, but that is like telling a dog not to bark at the postman."

"I told you I was fine," Dick grumbled, his voice beginning to slur as the drugs took effect. And then he blinked. "Wait, did you just compare me to a disobedient dog?"

Wally laughed at the mildly confused look on Dick's face, the relief of knowing for sure that the Boy Wonder was going to be absolutely fine making the light hearted laugh sound a little hysterical. Alfred forgave the speedster his outburst, assuming that whatever had occurred to result in their current states could not have been enjoyable for either of them. But that was a story for another day.

"Mister West," Alfred called the boy's attention away from the dozing young master. "I am sure that you have other matters to attend to other than keeping Master Richard company. Would your uncle not need to know what happened?"

Wally furrowed his brow in confusion, and then his eyes widened in horror. "I've got to warn him that they know!" Alfred nodded encouragingly, even though he did not understand what Wally was referring to. The speedster made to run off, and then paused and turned back. "He's really going to be okay?"

"I promise you, Mister West," Alfred smiled reassuringly. "I will take the utmost care of him."

This time, Wally did leave, a slight breeze the only lingering evidence of his presence. Alfred looked after his vanished form for a moment before turning back to the sleeping boy in his care. "It was a wise decision," he told the young master, "choosing Wallace as your best friend. A wise decision indeed."

"This is starting to get ridiculous," Artemis announced as she backed-up beside her mother's wheelchair. The stairs were behind them, preventing them from going any further, and effectively leaving them cornered. She couldn't see either Roy or Jade; not since the latter of which had been corralled into the kitchen, which just left Artemis to protect her mother.

Not that Paula overly needed protection. She had been confined to a wheelchair long enough to adapt; but Artemis just thought that meant that she knew how to live life as close to normal as she could get. She didn't realise that it also meant her Mom had adapted her fighting style as well. Then again; once a highly skilled ninja assassin – always a highly skilled ninja assassin.

The mind-controlled bad guys were still coming at them; but now that Artemis knew that they were innocent civilians, she couldn't bring herself to truly take them down. Paula seemed to be following her lead, holding back from crippling blows – which must have been hard considering her weapon of choice was a kitchen knife. Artemis could only hope that Jade was holding back as well, though she suspected that Cheshire would be on her best behaviour with Roy around.

They were fast running out of real estate as Artemis' back hit the stair rail. If push came to shove she could carry her mother up the stairs, but she highly doubted Paula would appreciate that. She was incredibly relieved when she was kept from having to make the suggestion.

A streak of red zig-zagged across the entire bottom floor of the safe house, stealing weapons straight out of the grip of the assailants. As the red blur skidded to a stop and became visible as the Flash, Superman soared in through a broken window. A half second after that, the roof exploded, announcing the arrival of Wonder Woman as well. She smashed through the ceiling and landed in the middle of the front room in a crouch, glaring menacingly at anyone who dare to meet her gaze.

The Amazonian sure knew how to make an entrance.

"It's the Mad Hatter!" Artemis called out to them, trying to explain the situation as quickly and succinctly as possible. Judging by the looks of mild confusion her announcement was greeted with, she figured that the non-Gotham natives had no idea what she was getting at. Then again, she had forgotten the Hatter's style herself. "They're being controlled through the hats – they're just civilians!"

The Leaguers seemed to understand then as they launched into battle with a lot less gusto than usual. The tide quickly turned in their favour; but the two heroes with super-strength were having to consciously hold themselves back. If they had been against real bad guys that they could beat up with little consequence, they would have won the fight before it had even started, but as it was they were forced to take their time.

At some stage Flash vanished without explanation, but by which point Superman and Wonder Woman had it totally covered. Artemis actually paused in her own fight in order to watch them; which was such a rookie move that the would point blank deny that it happened later.

But it was all the opening that the Hatter needed.

She had no idea where he had been the entirety of the invasion, but right then he appeared behind her. He grabbed her hair and yanked her backwards, making her yelp in both surprise and pain. As he pulled her back he tripped her, and then he dragged her by her blond locks down the the corridor and towards the back door. By the time that she had got her feet back under her, the Hatter was slamming through the wrecked doorway and out onto the porch.

"Let me go you freak!" Artemis grunted. Her head burned from where he was practically tearing her hair from her scalp, and that just made the archer mad. She struck out with an elbow that caught the Hatter in the ribs, finally making him release his grip. She tried to follow up with a right hook, but he was shorter than she thought and as he ducked her fist simply knocked off his hat.

The Hatter looked mortified. "Alice!" he admonished, dancing out of her reach and stooping to pick up his hat. "Is that any way to behave?"

Artemis wasn't going to dignify that with a response. From within the house she could hear her mother calling for her, which probably meant that the battle was over. In seconds she would have Superman and Wonder Woman backing her up; and the Hatter seemed to know this too. He returned his hat to perch on his head, and then bowed courteously.

"Perhaps next time, my dear."

When Barbara awoke, she found herself eating cotton. She was lying flat on her stomach like a sunbather, one arm propped under her cheek and her face half-smushed into a pillow. Gradually, so as not to aggravate her growing headache or her burns, she pushed herself upright and swung her legs over the side of the cot. And that was when she got her first good look at the Batcave.

It was impressively huge, though not as sprawlingly endless as she had imagined. She could just see the main cavern from where she was currently sitting in what had to be the medical section of the cave. A supercomputer with several monitors and an extended keyboard was set against one wall, the towering form of a T-Rex (why there was a dinosaur in the Batcave, she had no idea) looming over the high-backed seat. She could just see the edge of a giant penny as well as several other souvenirs from where she was perched, reminding her of just how good the Batman really was.

Even if he did just get his tyres jacked.

She still wasn't entirely sure what had happened at the blazing electronics store; what had happened to the woman with the stolen cell phone collection? Who was the other person that she's pretty sure she saw Batman pull from the fire before the explosion? Was this connected to the jewellery store theft? But she put all those questions on the back burner for now. She was in the fricking Batcave, after all.

She was pleased to see that whoever had tended her wounds had left her costume mostly intact. Her leggings were drawn up to reveal that her calves were swathed in burn ointment and gauze which she quickly tucked back down. Her top was folded neatly on the bench beside her, along with her father's borrowed body armour, leaving her in a thin vest top that didn't reveal anything other than the wound on her shoulder. She decided to forgo the heavy Kevlar and simply pulled her top back on, wincing as every movement pulled at her injuries.

Her cowl had been left in place, which she was grateful for (she guessed that the Batman of all people would understand her want for anonymity), meaning that technically, she was still Batgirl.

It was then that she realised that she wasn't alone.

Lying on the cot beside her was a boy that was about her age, maybe a tad younger, with scruffy black hair and his face mostly concealed behind a domino mask. Although this was the only part of his costume that he was wearing, it didn't take a genius to figure out that this was Robin. He wore nothing else expect a pair of jeans, his bare chest wrapped tight in white bandages. He had an IV attached to his arm, so Batgirl figured that he probably wouldn't be waking up for a while, meaning that she could take a closer look.

She didn't take his mask off – she was pretty sure that was part of Vigilantism 101, but it was sorely tempting. He looked kind of familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. She couldn't help but notice that he was rather hot in his shirtless state, with his lean, well-toned muscles and pale skin tone… She was incredibly glad for the cowl that hid her blush as she had to force herself look away.

She had no idea how long she had been out for, and being in a cave didn't exactly help her tell the time, so Batgirl decided to get up and explore. The rest of her gear had been carefully piled near the door, and she rummaged through it until she found her cell phone. She was stunned to find that it was nearly 4am (she had been out for over four hours!). She was glad that she had told her dad that she was staying at a friends or he'd be worried sick by now.

Leaving her stuff behind, she crept out into the main part of the cave. The sudden change in temperature between the two spaces had her shivering, but she ignored the discomfort in favour of some good old fashioned snooping.

She figured that Batman would probably flail her alive if she even attempted to look at the computer, so despite how much she wanted to play with it, she purposely steered herself in the opposite direction. This was probably some sort of test in trust, and as she wanted to be in Batman's good book she would have to behave. Instead she headed towards a display of weapons and tools, and was immediately hit with equipment envy.

They had every toy that she could possibly imagine (and quite a few that she couldn't), from batarangs (of every conceivable variety) and grapple guns that put her climbing gear to shame; to high tech tasers (that could probably take down a giant) and tablet computers that she really, really wanted to play with.

Attached at the bottom of the rack were several yellow utility belts that came in two distinct styles, clearly for either Batman or Robin. She wondered how they could possibly fit all of their gear into what seemed to be impossibly small pockets. Perhaps it was like that British TV show with the telephone box that was bigger on the inside…? Her hand automatically reached towards the enticing conundrum before her. A quick peak couldn't hurt… right?

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," a voice announced ominously from behind her. Instantly, Batgirl spun around and dropped into a ready position, but found that there was nothing to attack other than a very tired looking Boy Wonder. He gestured at the utility belts. "There's a defensive mechanism built in to them. If you're not a recognised user you get a nasty electric shock. Makes your hair stand on end for weeks."

"Speaking from experience, I assume?" Batgirl asked with a smirk.

Robin grinned. "It's part of my job description as Batman's partner. Detective work. Beating up Bad Guys. And playing guinea pig for all his new gadgets," he deadpanned, making Batgirl smile and relax her stance. She knew that she was in the presence of the Robin, protégé of the Batman and perfectly capable of kicking her ass into next week, but there was something about him that made her feel comfortable around him. "So, you're trying out for the position then?"

"I'm thinking about it," Batgirl replied. Honestly, when she had started the gig she had wanted to work solo (despite the fact that she had painted a bat on her chest, automatically affiliating her with Batman). But now she was beginning to realise just how woefully unprepared she was; and on her budget (which was non-existent outside of her meagre allowance) she wasn't exactly able to buy herself an arsenal like these guys had. "What's the pay like? And do we get dental?"

Robin laughed softly, though it was cut short by a sharp intake of breath. He placed his hand on his bandaged chest, the first signs of red starting to seep through the white. "No pay, I'm afraid," he winced. "But we do have great health insurance."

"I can see that," Batgirl retorted. Part of her wanted to rush to the younger teen's side and make sure that he was okay, but she doubted that he would appreciate that. Stoicism was probably a required character trait or something. "What happened to you anyway?"

"I got shot."

"That was smart," Batgirl jibed lightly. "Don't they teach you how to avoid that in the training seminar?"

"I think I must have missed that lesson," Robin countered with a smirk. He looked her over appraisingly, quirking one eyebrow beneath his domino mask. "Nice outfit, by the way. Did you paint the bat on yourself? It's a little crooked."

"It's a work in progress," she defended, though her hand rose by itself to cover the slightly dodgy wing. She gestured at his mostly missing attire, trying not to look too closely at his half-nakedness for fear of embarrassing herself. "What about you? I see the Robin suit's changed since your last outing."

Robin smiled brightly and spread his arms, making his muscles ripple in a way that Batgirl totally did not notice, nor pay rapt attention to. "I'm trying a new look that shows off my abs. What do you think?"

Batgirl couldn't answer right away, which probably gave away the truthful answer that she really wanted to give; but when she did she managed to keep her voice completely level and unimpressed. "I'm underwhelmed."

For some reason, this response made Robin laugh. "And here I thought you were overwhelmed," he grinned slyly. "Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

"Probably because that isn't a word," Batgirl replied with an eye roll, deciding to ignore the part where he had picked up on her slight attraction to him. There was absolutely no way that she was crushing on the Boy Wonder, or Teen Wonder as she guessed she should say. She was just a little flustered by her first trip to the Batcave; that was all. Right…? She looked up to find that Robin was three shades paler than he had been two minutes ago and he was leaning heavily against a pillar. "Shouldn't you be lying down?"

"Probably," Robin shrugged, which was an idiotic thing to do as he immediately flinched in pain. "Okay, yeah. Definitely need to be horizontal right now."

"Boys," Batgirl huffed under her breath as she came to the younger teen's side and silently offered her assistance. Robin gratefully used her as a human crutch as they headed back to the room where they had started. Batgirl helped him back onto his cot and glared disapprovingly at the growing bloodstain on the once pristine bandage. Obviously, Robin wasn't meant to have gotten up in the first place, but she doubted telling him that would get her any response at all. "How do I call the doctor that patched you up? I think you've torn your stitches."

Robin wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "And here I was hoping that you would play nursemaid."

Batgirl rolled her eyes as she reached down to undo the bandages and fix him up herself.

Yeah Babs, she thought to herself, you're totally not crushing on the Teen Wonder. At all.

That is as close to romance as I will get methinks; just some harmless flirting between teen vigilantes :P They are not going to be a lovey-dovey couple by the end of the story or anything, so if DickxBabs isn't your thing, don't worry! And if you're thinking that Dick is terrible for flirting with Batgirl when technically he's still with Zatanna just remember; he has a reputation as a 'Dog' by season two for a reason :P