I have one New Year's Resolution this year - to finish things. It's June, so uh, I guess I better get to it. Here we go.

TEN

Given the tender silence of the apartment and the sun's absence, Dinah knew she'd missed their bedtime routine. Ollie insisted on referring to it as, "bedtime hygiene," another endearing parenting book addition to his expanding lexicon.

On the couch they slept, Olivia sprawled upon Ollie's chest. She rose and fell with his long steady breathing, like the swell and brea

k of a wave. Such a simple thing, yet from it sprung paralyzing joy bordering upon panic. This was her new normal: bursts of intense happiness, immediately followed by dread and fear. The fear of it ending, of this soft blonde ball of perfection snuffed out with one well-intentioned (weren't they always) but flawed decision.

Stop, she internally ordered, halting the snowballing future-fear.

Weeks ago, when Helena had opened the door to the safehouse, Dinah had quickly spotted Olivia, burying her face into Roy's neck, shyly sneaking glimpses of Dinah. She tried to temper her irrational hope for some magic connection that no longer existed. More than three hours had passed before she coaxed a smile from Olivia while deftly changing her diaper. "Front to back," Roy had directed. Dinah stifled a laugh, instead smiling gently, she had said to Olivia, "good thing Uncle Roy is here, isn't it?" When Olivia's face lifted in a return-smile, their eyes conjoined in amusement, relief had buzzed through Dinah. Olivia had no reason to love her back, but Dinah was certainly determined to earn it.

Ollie opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Hi," he whispered, blinking slowly.

"Hi," she returned, grateful for the instant distraction.

He secured Olivia in his arms and rolled her onto the couch as he stood, pulling the small pink velour blanket from the sofa arm and draping it over her in one smooth motion.

The apartment smelled of them, like Ollie and Olivia, like old and new collided into something familiar and comforting: baby powder and shoe polish.

He stretched his arms over his head, arching his back, releasing three audible pops, yawned silently and grinned at his sleeping girl before shuffling into the kitchen doorway. His fitted white tee pulled against his muscles with his movements, and Dinah caught him noticing her noticing him, and he suggestively widened his eyes. She rolled hers.

Flicking her shoes off, Dinah summoned her courage, crossed her arms and blurted, "we need to talk, Ollie."

He raised his eyebrows, "do we? All right, well then, lay it on me."

"We need to talk about living arrangements."

"I was thinking that very thing," he scratched his chin and situated himself across from her, mirroring her stance, "we need a bigger place."

She nearly gulped, "we need a bigger place?"

"You should see your face right now," Ollie taunted and shook his head.

"Oliver - "

"Now don't blow your top. Holy moses," he rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms, waving his right hand at her. "This is because I pissed in front of you. This is because I walked in on you this morning during your shower. You're flipping out over nothing. I had to take a whiz, and you were in the shower. It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. Where else was I supposed to go? I didn't want Olivia to wonder why her Papa was peeing in the sink again -"

"-again?"

"Now see, this is why we need a bigger place. Two bathrooms, so you don't lose your mind every time you accidentally sneak a peek at my junk."

He was right of course. When he had ambled into the bathroom that morning, it had been so natural, so comfortable, she didn't even consider it inappropriate. A good thirty seconds passed before she realized that she should be screaming at him to get out.

Weeks spent living in platonic bliss incubated those indefinable moments that would require eventual clarification. When he'd place his hand on the small of her back while he reached for a glass on the counter, when he comforted with a kiss to her forehead, when he lovingly mocked her anxiety, when he gazed at her with the perfect wordless understanding birthed from years of fighting and loving. Wonderful and painful and more than anything, it was confusing as hell. But reveling in Olivia's every move, sharing what only two parents could, they found themselves too contented to consider anything beyond loving their child.

Certainly Dinah didn't need labels for her relationships, but she did need boundaries, and Ollie traipsed across all of them like goddamned Genghis Khan. They'd fallen into their unique rhythm, as familiar as her own breathing. And yet, she had no idea how to go forward; no idea how to set those necessary boundaries. Really, she was terrified of the looming reality check. The one she knew would have to come from her. There was no way Ollie was going to broach the subject and rock their happy boat. So, she took a deep breath, and tackled the end of their most recent undefinable mess.

"You need to move out. We need to -"

"- do what's best for Olivia?"

"Yes, of course. But that doesn't mean we have to live in the same home. You and I. We can't."

"You mean, you can't."

"Okay, yes, I can't. It's not that this hasn't been...it's not because...I'm not saying that..."

She sighed quietly, glancing at her black ballet flats. They landed together, atop each other, nuzzling like cats. Her indelible instinct to protect him couldn't be skirted, so she tried formulating an explanation devoid of blame or exaggeration. She looked up and into his green eyes, and tried to communicate this without speaking.

He smiled, but his eyes were wistful, "I know Dinah. I'm just screwing with you. I didn't think this was a permanent arrangement, no matter how great it is. I can move into the apartment across the hall, if you can deal with me living that close. I've been talking to Oracle about it, and she signed off on it, pending your approval of course."

"What do you mean? Why exactly would Babs have to okay it?"

"It's her apartment. You know she owns this building, don't you?" He grinned. "How the hell do you not know that your landlord is Babs?"

"What do you mean? This building? My building?"

"No, her building."

"She owns this building? That can't be right. Why wouldn't she mention that?"

"You never noticed that no one actually lives in the other apartments on this floor?"

"I'm not home enough to notice."

"Well that's going to change. And as I was saying - I don't want to be a weekend dad. I've blown it over and over and over again with my kids. I don't want to blow it with Olivia. We can do this. Olivia needs us. Both of us. She needs stability. She needs routine. And with the tough beginning she's had, she's at risk for attachment disorder. I've been reading this Dr. Sears book, and I think if we...what?" he tilted his head. "What did I say? Why are you looking at me like that?"

She wanted to kiss him. That would be the wrong signal to send. The opposite of what she was trying to accomplish. He was just so damn sincere, so absolutely kind and beautiful that another tsunami of adoration slammed into her stupid sensibility.

"Nothing. You're just...I don't know. Nevermind. What about Star City? It's your home."

"My home is with you and Olivia. Where you go, I will follow. Even if it's in this godforsaken city of fucking lunatics."

"You're just going to keep being amazing, aren't you?"

He smiled, with teeth, "Yes, I am."

She laughed. She had laughed more in the last two weeks that she had in the whole of the previous year. Good lord, the man could decimate lives like a wrecking ball, but he could also revive laughter, EMT-style, from a heart of concrete.

"So, you're okay with me moving across the hall? It's three bedrooms, plenty of space. Olivia won't even notice she's being shuffled back and forth between us."

"Yes. Yes, of course, Oliver. It's a really great idea."

"And I thought I might ask Roy to be my roomie."

"You've been plotting."

"Yeah, well, I figured you'd kick my ass out eventually. You think Roy'd be game? It'd be good for him. Me too, actually. It'd be nice to be under the same roof. He's trying to get the Titans together again, so I'm not sure I'll be able to convince him, but, well...what do you think?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea. He needs us. We could use a little of Roy's perspective too."

He pulled the refrigerator open, stooped to sweep a bottle of Gotham Springs Water and turned to face her, "Good. That's settled. I got you that filter and glass water bottle for a reason. Quit drinking this shit. There's got to be a crapload of toxins in this, and I won't even go into what the discarded bottles are doing to our planet." He twisted free the cap, poured the water into a peace lily on her counter and deposited the bottle into the recycling bin.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off. "So what were you two up to while I was gone?"

"Little of this, little of that. Clark stopped by."

"Did he? Oh I'm sorry I missed him. I haven't seen him in awhile. Did he come to meet our little beauty?"

"Yeah. She loved him, of course. Kept grabbing his glasses off his mug and giggling like it was the most hilarious thing. Think she might be getting a molar in. She kept chewing on them."

"On what?"

"His glasses."

She smiled at the image this conjured until she noticed his hesitation, "and?"

"And he invited me back into the fold. The League."

"That's wonderful, Ollie!"

He scowled in response, "he wants to oversee my rehabilitation."

"No, you idiot, he doesn't see you like that."

"Or he just feels guilty. I said some pretty damning things under my breath at the trial, with the express purpose of guilting him. Must have worked."

"Oliver," she shook her head, "you are an asset to the League. Always have been, and Clark knows that. Everyone knows that."

He scoffed.

"Do you know what Diana said about you once?"

He shrugged with disinterest.

"She called you fearless."

"She's always had a crush on me."

"In your dreams. Do you know who told me what Diana said?"

"Haven't the foggiest."

"Clark did, you absolute knob. Clark agreed with her. You are respected and loved, and forgiven...you are forgiven."

He tilted his head back, gazing briefly at the ceiling. A move, she knew, to stifle arising tears. She watched him blink quickly.

"Oliver?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you tell Clark?"

"I told him I'd talk to you and get back to him."

"You have to."

"I really don't."

"We talked about this. We have to be our best. The only way we can protect her properly is to keep at the top of our game. Train harder, study harder and be better than the best of the worst. We will not leave her an orphan."

So many of her friends were orphans, and so much of their pain, their dysfunction stemmed from the loss. She closed her eyes, trying not to panic.

"Dinah," he chimed softly, "It's okay. She's going to be okay."

She inhaled a steadying breath, her healing trachea burning, she unconsciously ran her index finger up and down her neck and opened her eyes.

Ollie's eyes narrowed in concern, "I'll make you some tea."

"I can make it."

"Let me do it, Dinah," he was all ready reaching to click the electric kettle switch and pulled open a cupboard door. "You using that Arnica gel?"

"I have. It's helped a lot actually. Thanks," Dinah sighed quietly, "listen, you know the League keeps you on your toes."

"Yes, but what happens when some other freak from space or another timeline or even more likely, from Gotham..." he smirked over his shoulder at her, "wants to blow the planet up? We both go out there and stick our asses on the line, she's going to have a pretty good chance of losing us both at once."

"We'll flip for it. And when it's your turn to go kick ass, don't die."

"Hey, I haven't died in a dog's age. I think I'm on a roll."

She watched him thumb off the canister top, pull the teabag from it's paper envelope and drop it into a sturdy white coffee mug that proclaimed graffiti-style, "bitches get shit done."

"So one of us is with her at all times? We can make that work. I know we can make that work."

"You bet your boots we can make that work," he smiled at her. "Look at us. Co-parent geniuses. Aren't we the cat's pajamas?"

"I've always considered us so."

"Since we're wrangling the elephants and gorillas in the room..."

"Oh please no. Must we?"

"We must."

"I thought maybe we could just agree to never ever ever talk about this," she sighed.

He cleared his throat, peered at Olivia, then turned back to Dinah, "so, you and the ghoul? This is a thing that happened, past tense, or uh, is happening?"

"I've been wanting to tell you how much it means to me that you didn't completely melt down about it."

"Well don't thank me yet."

"Ollie. I know it's awkward..."

"Jesus, Dinah, couldn't you find some nice dull accountant?"

Dinah's eyes lifted briefly to the scrolled metal framed photo of Bruce Wayne on her top bookshelf, "I don't know any accountants."

"Then a teacher or the mailman," he suggested.

"And you wouldn't object to me romancing Mr. Lee?"

"Who the fuck is Mr. Lee?"

"The mailman."

"You know the mailman by name, but you don't notice that the building is half-deserted?"

"I figure it's a buyer's market, and the mailman cuts a fine figure. So you wouldn't mind me dating the mailman?"

"To be honest, I kind of want to strangle the shit out of Mr. Lee at the mere suggestion, but at least it wouldn't be the goddamned Batman!"

"Shhh..." she scowled, and they both watched Olivia stir and then settle back into sleep.

"Anyway," he sighed, pouring the boiling water over the teabag.

"Can we be done talking about this?"

"For now."

"Good."

"Answer me one more question?"

"As long as it doesn't have anything to do with Bruce or Mr. Lee."

"It doesn't."

"Well then shoot."

"So, look," he began, "you had a boatload of good reasons to divorce my ass, but I still, I need to know something. If you hadn't have been pregnant, if you hadn't needed to protect our girl, would you still have divorced me?"

"Oh my god, Oliver. We have so much to figure out. What can...what is the point in talking about things we can't change?"

"I just...I want to know. Please. Just tell me the truth. Would you have divorced me?"

She closed her eyes briefly, resigning herself to honesty and sighed, "no Oliver. I might have killed you by now, but I wouldn't have divorced you."

He nodded, handing her the steaming mug, "I thought so. Every time I've blown it, it isn't the shitty thing I did that ended us, was it? It was that I gave up. I didn't fight for us."

"That's...yes. Yes. I believe in you. I know the man you are. You make mistakes. Who doesn't? But yes, what breaks my heart is that you punish both of us, when you give up." She shook her head and took a quick sip of the tea. "Jesus, Ollie, it hardly matters now."

"Oh it matters. You know, you and me, we're forever. We are destined. Do what you need to do with Bruce, or Mr. Lee or whoever else, or even better, take a vow of celibacy, but I'll be waiting for you Dinah. I'll wait. This life or the next, you and I are endgame."

"Ollie," she sighed, "I don't..."

He waited for her to gather her thoughts, and when she didn't continue, he nudged her, "you don't what?"

It hurt to think it, but she needed to be honest with him, "I don't know that it will ever be like that again for us."

He shrugged, "this life or the next..."

She smirked, "you know who you sound like?"

"I hear it now, yeah -"

"Carter Hall."

"You didn't have to say it."

"You're quoting Hawkman, and you think I could resist?"

They smiled at each other for an uncomfortably long time, and Ollie repeated, "forever Dinah. I'll wait as long as it takes."

There was a time when that's all it would have taken. This was not that time.

Ollie broke their eye contact first, raising his to check on Olivia and then he asked, "so, what do you think Roy'll say?"

"About moving in with you?"

"Yeah."

"I think he'll say," Dinah squinted and in her best Oliver Queen impression grumbled, "what, so you can oversee my rehabilitation?"

Ollie chuckled, "yeah, yeah. Point taken."

"You two are so alike sometimes, it's scary."

Dinah's com beeped, startling her, and she jumped and then laughed at herself. She pulled the com from her pocket and pressed it in her ear, winking at Ollie.

"Well if it isn't Gotham's land baroness! What can I do for you, Oracle?"

"Bats in the belfry."

"Now?"

"Right now."

"Thanks."

"Yep."

"Ollie, I'm gonna run out. I'll be back in a few," she said, racing to the door.

He cocked his head, "without your shoes?"

"Don't need 'em," she called and sprinted to the end of the hall, pulled open the stairwell door and leapt up the three flights of cement stairs, to the top where a rust-edged white sign declared, "roof access." She pushed through the heavy metal door, her cracked ribs searing in response. A burst of cool air and rain that resembled ocean spray more than genuine drops greeted her. She put aside the pain radiating from her torso and scanned the rooftop.

She didn't see him, but spotted the dark corner she suspected Batman occupied.

"I suppose it's poetic that you're trying to end our relationship where it began," she said to the night.

He stepped into the moonlight, his glossy armor reflecting light like an oil beetle, "I suppose."

"I would've preferred a different response," she sighed, and closed the distance between them with slow deliberate strides. "You know this noble-stepping-aside thing you've traded in from the hurting-me-until-I-left thing is just as annoying. It's also predictably arrogant of you to decide that this is what's best for the both of us."

"Dinah - " he said softly, stepping towards her. She could see his eyes now, grateful for the emotion within them, and that he hadn't chosen instead to hide behind his usual white lenses.

"I love you, you fool. I'm in love with you. You get that, don't you?"

"Yes. I do," he hesitated, "...and Oliver?"

"And I love Oliver," she shrugged. "He will always be a part of me and my life, but we are divorced, and it's staying that way. Yes, it's a bit complicated, but you are not without your own baggage, good sir."

She was batting her eyes at him, but he deflected her attempt at lightening the mood, "that should be a consideration for you as well. You now have a child to think of, and as you said, I come with baggage. I come with...a good deal of baggage."

"Yes, that's pretty hard not to notice, and of course I've considered it. I know you're hellbent on jilting me, that's become painfully obvious, but we have this rare wonderful thing going on. I just don't understand how, with all the pain and loss, to get to feel something like this, with you, it's…it's a gift. I can't believe that you're willing to toss it away so easily."

"I do not find this to be, in any manner, easy."

"Olivia is stuck in this, you know? She didn't ask for this life, but it's hers now. I want to show her things; teach her things. I actually have something to give her. I want her to understand that if we don't hang on to joy and love, in the face of threats, then we distance ourselves from humanity, and forget what our purpose is. We have to live life to appreciate its worth. You and me, what we have...this is why we fight. So fight for me, Bruce. I'm well worth it."

"That's not in question, Dinah."

"Well, what is it then? And don't...just, don't tell me what you think we should do, okay? Just tell me what you want to do. What do you actually want, Bruce?"

He grit his teeth, "I want you, of course."

"So then, knock it off. I'm yours. Bring on the wooing."

The corner of his mouth quirked, and she knew she was close to winning.

"You make a valid argument; I'm just not certain that I can give you what you need. That I can give you...what you deserve."

"What do I deserve?"

"Happiness. Moreover, you deserve to be the priority in my life, and I cannot say with certainty that I will ever be able to do that."

"I know that," she smiled softly. "And I have to say: ditto. When have I ever asked you to be anything you aren't?"

"You...haven't."

She nodded, "you know as well as I do that I have obligations that are always going to take priority, and I just can't imagine you would have a problem with that, or take it as a slight. What makes you think I would feel any differently about your priorities?"

She extended her hand to him, "can we just move on now?"

"You are absolutely recalcitrant," he sighed, shaking his head, taking her proffered hand and pulling her to him.

"Yes, well, takes one to know one."

He placed his gloved hand on her hip, and gazed at her, his eyes bright. She flexed onto her toes, parting her lips and kissed him deeply.

When they separated, she whispered, "I've missed you."

He breathed, "and I, you."

"It's been weeks, Bruce."

"Two weeks and two days. How did you know I was up here?"

"Babs. Since the baby, she's installed crazy security all over this place. Motion detectors, weight-sensitive plate thingies, cameras...all kinds of geeky juju."

"Ah," he said scanning the concrete around them, "pressure sensitivity. I don't know how I overlooked it."

"So, yes, I know you've been eavesdropping nightly without so much as a howdy-do."

"I wanted to give you some time, to adjust, with Olivia."

"And you wanted to see if Ollie was still here."

"Yes," he admitted, ruefully.

She slid her hands down his muscled back and paused to round her fingers at the curve of his ass, "if there weren't cameras up here..."

He grinned, "I have to go anyway."

"Uh huh," she said, taking his lips in hers. He pressed into her, his hand cupping her head, his arm wrenching her against his hard armor, his mouth engulfing her own in a strong demanding kiss. He pulled from her, and she instantly ached.

"I have something for you," he whispered.

"Oh I know," she nearly moaned.

"Cameras, Dinah," he reminded, stepping from her and simultaneously pulled an envelope from his belt, holding it out for her.

"Killjoy," she mock-pouted, and pulled the papers from the envelope, unfolding them as she glared, "I guess we don't want another image of us out there though, do we?"

"Mm," his lips thinned into a stressed line.

Her eyes widened as she read over the information, "this...this is..."

"You've been exonerated. Shiva confessed to the murder for which you were accused. The police have dropped the charges, and this evening the media have received copies of both this and the letter drafted by Superman and signed by all current and reserve JLA members in support of your absolution."

Dinah looked over the letter, her eyes traveling down the signatures of her friends. Her eyes filled with tears, "you...you did this."

"I've been working on it since I've been back. It's taken a good deal longer than I would have expected to clear it up. Locating Shiva was challenging. She seems genuinely fond of you. I believe she was coerced; she refused to elaborate."

"Bruce. I...I'm...I don't know. Thank you," she stammered and threw her arms about his thick neck.

He smiled and squeezed her against him, "I'm only sorry I haven't yet found Shiva's motivation, and that I couldn't find a way to give you back your anonymity."

"There's no putting the cork back in that bottle," she sniffed and gazed at him in wonder, "I can't believe you did this for me."

"I want you to know that I was pursuing this before I fell in love with you; you've done important work, and no one should besmirch your name."

"What was that, now? You're in love with me? This is the first I'm hearing of it," she smiled and laughed sharply at his stony expression.

"You know how I feel about you, Dinah."

"Yes, but I didn't know you knew how you felt about me."

"I'm not as emotionally stunted as you seem to believe."

"Prove it."

"If it's necessary for you to hear me say it -"

"Necessary? Nope. Say it anyway."

He pulled a gauntlet from his hand, and cupped her face, running his warm thumb along her cheekbone, and then slowly, deliciously, he said, "I love you."

"Again," she felt a ridiculous tightening of her stomach, a fullness that made her nearly swoon, and she'd chide herself later for it.

He smiled, "I love you, Dinah."

"We're all ready on the proverbial rooftop, if you'd like to shout it..."

He pulled her back into his arms roughly and kissed her soundly.

"Good golly," she sighed when they parted.

"There is a benefit for the Children's Hospital on Saturday, a black and white ball."

Her eyes widened, "are you asking me out on a date? One minute you're kicking me to the curb and the next you want to go public?"

He smirked, "well, now that we don't have to worry about the GCPD arresting you for murder mid-appetizer, and since you've vetoed my trite attempt to end our relationship...maybe Bruce Wayne is involved with a superhero?"

"Listen you misfit, if you'll be in a tux, I'll date whichever of your personalities shows up at my door."

"Seven o'clock," he kissed her again. "I'll pick you up."

He strutted to the edge of the building, stepped on the concrete lip and glanced back at her briefly before diving off into the boundless black of the Gotham night.

"Yowzer," she sighed, her hand clutching the fabric of her shirt above her heart.

Her pocket beeped and she tucked it in her ear before pressing it once, "were you spying?"

"I'm sorry!" Oracle giggled in her ear, "I couldn't look away! That was the craziest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen some things!"

"Shut up," Dinah rolled her eyes and headed for the door.

"Maybe it could work," Oracle continued.

"Weirder things have happened."

"Not really."

"Babs!"

She laughed, too loudly.

"Have you been drinking, Oracle?"

"I happen to be off-duty."

"You're loaded! Without me!"

"I'm hardly loaded, Dinah. I've had a few glasses of merlot and am rereading Wuthering Heights."

"Ah, Heathcliff," she murmured dreamily.

"Yes, Heathcliff."

"Bruce is a bit of a Heathcliff, isn't he?"

"My Heathcliff fantasies are soiled forever."

Dinah laughed, "so I am two for two in the big-scary-talks-I've-been-dreading department. Is there anything we need to discuss? I'm thinking I could hit it out of the park right now. I'm thinking I should head for Vegas with the kind of luck I'm sporting at this very moment."

"I'm good."

"Well, okay then."

"Are you going to bring Olivia for a visit tomorrow?"

"Um, no, probably not tomorrow. How about you come over here?"

"You are going to have to take her out of your apartment sooner or later."

"I know. You know, getting out wouldn't hurt your mental health either."

"I get out."

"Pfft."

"I get out, Dinah."

"Mmm hmm."

"It's safe, she's going to be okay, you know? I mean, she has the whole of the superhero community looking out for her."

"Yeah," Dinah replied half-heartedly, and the silence was weighted by a little girl's ghost. Lian hung in their minds, emptying Oracle's words of reassurance.

"Olivia has me looking out for her," Oracle tried again. "And since I've managed to get you out of more than one tight spot, that should make you feel bitsy better. I mean, a bit better."

"It does, Babs. So much so, that I think we should pursue it. Legally. Just in case. Just in case me and Ollie, you know...in case something happens to both of us."

"Nothing's going to happen."

"But you'll do it?"

"Of course, Dinah. Of course."

"Thanks, Babs," she sighed.

"So I'll be by around one tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. And while you're here, you can tell me all about how you've bought up half of Gotham, including my building."

"You mean my building," Oracle snorted at her own joke. "Whatever it takes to play with the baby."

"All right. I'll let you go. I'm sure you want to get back to reading 50 Shades anyway."

She heard Babs choke on her wine and then clear her throat, "how did you know?!"

"I'm the Black Damn Canary. I know what you're going to do before you do."

"You had Zinda plant it!"

"I had Zinda plant it. Figured you could use some smut in your life. Thought it might inspire you."

"I get out, Dinah!"

"You betcha. I love you, Oracle."

"I love you too. Goodnight Black Canary."

Author's Notes:

I'm a come-full-circle kind of gal. Need me an epilogue to finish this up. I'll post it in a few days. Or in two years. Who can tell?