Chapter 10

It only took Barbara two more days to finally leave the bedroom. Diana had come back to see her, and it was her promises of a flight around the countryside-and more importantly that Bruce was nowhere to be seen-that finally coaxed Barb free from the safety of the bedroom. The flight was breathtaking; they took the jet, but Barb persuaded Diana to hover and take her for a spin in the open air. As she clutched the strong body of the Amazon, she felt a laugh bubble up inside of her, bursting out into the wind and ripped away into the air. It was the most glorious thing Barb had ever felt. To soon they returned the jet and watched the sunset from above the ocean. Barb made Diana stay until the last purples faded from the darkening sky.

It was full dark by the time she walked back into the mansion, but Alfred was waiting for her as if this were her regular schedule.

"I took the curtsey of making you dinner Miss Gordon," Alfred said as she walked in. "Will Miss Prince not be joining you this evening?"

"No Alfred," Barb told him, the hint of a smile on her lips, "she has Watchtower duty tonight. What's for dinner?"

"It seemed an excellent night for spaghetti with meatballs."

"Oh, fancy," Barb teased him. It only took a little begging to get Alfred to stay and eat dinner with her, and her mouth was watering before he even finished loading up her plate. Her stomach was acutely aware of her limited diet the past few days, and seemed more than eager to get back to old eating habits.

By the time the meal was finished and cleaned up, Barb felt like her old self again, if only for a moment. The sound of Bruce's deep voice over the intercom was a bucket of ice cold salt water dumped over her head.

"Alfred can you bring me a ham sandwich on rye and my tuxedo please?"

"Right away, Sir," Alfred answered without hesitation and then paused to glance at her.

Barb cut him off before he could say anything. "Thank you for the food Alfred, it was wonderful. I think I'll head to bed now."

With a polite smile she excused her self and beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen, refusing to acknowledge the tingles in her body left behind by Bruce's voice.

Barb killed time in the library. She was too antsy to sleep, and too unwilling to see Bruce to train. She needed to wait until she was sure he was gone before she could have some peace with the punching bag. Looking at the clock she waited until 1:00 AM. He'd be in the thick of things now or patrolling the south side if it was a quiet night. She had a solid four hours before he would be back.

Jumping up and dropping her book on the chair, Barb nearly ran down to the cave. Within minutes she found her old workout clothes and changed. A few after that her hands were taped and she was lost to the rhythmic thumping of her hands and feet on the bag.

Her muscles were weak from disuse; it would take awhile to get back to where she needed to be. But with renewed purpose came the need to be out there, to be swinging through Gotham doing what she'd been trained to do.

Her muscles spasmed as she kept going, sweat was pouring down her face and neck. She would lift after this, then maybe some cardio. Would she still even be able to run a full ten miles? The burn of her muscles reminded her the pain of getting back in shape. She would stop soon, take a break, just a few more…

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and Barb spun acting on instinct. Her first punch was blocked and her second stopped as strong fingers wrapped around her wrist, using her momentum to pull her forward off-balance until she stumbled as was pulled carefully, but securely into a giant body. She brought her free hand up, but it was easily grabbed and crossed over her first one, pinning her against the body behind her with her own arms. She exhaled sharply as Bruce's scent assaulted her, and she wrenched her body to the side trying to get away from him.

"Shh, calm down," Bruce's deep voice vibrated in her ear. Her body responded, pain, rage, and shame suddenly funneling into arousal as it sought the familiar release. Instantly furious with herself, Barb snapped at his hands holding hers before snarling back at him.

"Let me go!"

"I will as soon as I know you're not going to attack me." He sounded so calm, so rational. As if it were her fault that she were upset. As if he were doing her a favor and protecting her. Barb felt a killing rage suffuse her; it was nothing like she had ever known before, aside from the pit. Her vision clouded as her heart rate jacked up and she went wild.

Bruce held on; he was bigger and better trained than her, never mind that he hadn't spent the last week starving himself, but Barb felt deep satisfaction as her head connected with his face. He gave a grunt, and shifted his hold, trying to get his head alongside hers without sacrificing his shins. Pulling her pelvis forward, Barb thrust back as hard as she could. That he wasn't expecting.

She felt him go rigid behind her, and she laughed-thrilled at the idea of his pain. But Bruce refused to let go, instead he fell backwards, taking her down with him. Keeping her on top, facing the ceiling, he brought his feet out and around hers, trapping each foot individually and tightened his hold on her torso effectively pasting her body to his.

Still out of her mind with anger, Barb started shouting at him.

"No! You do not get to protect me, do you understand? You do not get to just show up and act all high and mighty like I'm the one whose crazy! Do you hear me?"

"I'm sorry Barb," he said, his voice rumbling against her back. "If only I could fix this…"

"You cannot fix this!" she screamed at him. "And you didn't fix me! You didn't show up and see me! What am I? Damaged goods? Too much trouble?"

"Barb," he groaned against her shoulder, her name becoming a curse or a prayer. She couldn't tell which and wasn't sure she cared.

"You're an asshole," she spat out.

"I know." He said it so quietly, so dejectedly. Suddenly the anger was gone, replaced with a gnawing emptiness that never seemed to relent. Barb turned her face into her shoulder, going limp on top of him. She was just so god damned tired.

Bruce didn't let go, but he didn't say anything either.

She was going to leave tonight. She was going to leave and she was going to do her level best to never see him again. The realization was would have broken her heart if any of it were still whole enough to break. But she would have one more memory before she went. She would have Bruce one more time.

"Let go of my arms." He released her and started to push her up and off of him, but she reached back, stopping him. "No. Stay there."

She could feel the confusion in his body, but Barb kept her body pressed to his.

With the subtlest pressure she pushed her hips back, circling them slightly to rub him gently through his clothes. She heard his breath hiss in, and she reached up, caressing his mouth with her hand before turning her body enough to bring her face to his.

"Will you let me do this?" Her voice was a whisper. She could see the tension in his jaw, the way it ticked along the side as his eyes burned.

"I can't-"

Barb cut him off. "Yes or no? This is what I want."

He held her gaze for a moment longer, not stopping her as she reached one hand down and slowly caressed him through his pants. He threw his head back as her hand went up and down again, just the faintest trace of nail applying pressure through the material. Barb could feel him swelling under her hand and rubbed her thumb across the top, teasing him as she waited for his answer.

"Yes." His voice growled as he raised his head, catching her in a kiss.

Flipping all the way over, Barb straddled him pulling her face away from his as she rode him slowly through their clothes. Whipping her shirt off, she didn't stop him when his hands reached up and cupped her breasts. She threw her head back as his thumbs circled under the sports bra, teasing her until he brought a gasp from her lips. Reaching her hands back down she pulled up on his shirt, and he obliged, doing a half sit-up underneath her so she could pull the material up and over his head. He growled as he was forced to stop touching her, even for a second, and then sat all the way up, catching her torso to his as he mimicked her maneuver pulling her sports bra over her head.

As soon as she was bared, Bruce's mouth was on her, alternately suckling and nipping as he fondled and kissed her breasts. Barb buried her hands in his hair, holding his head to her chest as her hips moved spasmodically against his. She could feel him pushing against her through the thin gym shorts she wore and the need to have him inside her made her insane.

Standing up Barb shucked off her pants and underwear. Following her lead, Bruce leaned back and shoved his own pants down, kicking them away from his feet. Barb immediately sat back down, their bodies burning each other as she rubbed against him while he caught her in a kiss. Reaching down she took him in her hand, positioning him at her entrance and slowly sinking down on top of him. Bruce's face clenched with need as she engulfed him and Barb nearly came just from the feel of him inside her.

Controlling her weight with her knees, she clutched his head as he returned to his ministrations of her breasts and began to slide up and down setting a slow, torturous pace. Their harsh breaths seemed to echo around them as the pace became unbearable. Lowering one hand between them, Bruce found her clit with one hand, his mouth still concretely fastened to her nipple. Barb's body exploded as her hips shot up and down with renewed need. She was so close, god she had missed this, so close.

Letting go of her breast, Bruce brought his mouth up to her neck and gently bit her skin just below her ear. With a curse as he soothed the bite with his tongue, and Barb came hard, her body shuddering as it convulsed around him, her nails raking up his back.

Screaming Bruce pushed her off of him as he came, his release covering his stomach and thighs. That was Bruce, Barbara thought. Always so careful.

Neither said anything as their breath slowly returned to normal. Barbara lay next to him, not touching or looking at him in the aftermath. Once she felt like she could walk, Barbara stood and left Bruce confused and exhausted on the ground behind her as she silently got dressed and left the cave without ever looking back.