Okay! Back to the story instead of all the fun times! Before Psychiatrics. Been working on this one for weeks! So glad it's done. Now you get to see my feeble attempts at romance! Somewhat a review chapter and there were words I did not know how to spell right so please correct me. This scene had to be done. So yeah... enjoy! And please review.
Dick - 17 Damian - 3
All I Want
Honestly, Dick was bored. Bruce was at the office, Damian was down for a nap, Alfred was busy polishing the staircase (a task he trusted only to himself after the mess they made of it a few years back), and the rest were at school. House arrest sucked, and he'd only been at it a week.
Tired of working out in the gym and keeping his many skills sharp for the day, he decided to wander the manor until he could find something to do. Sitting down and watching TV on his own just didn't settle right with him anymore. He had to keep moving around, much like when he was a kid and first came to the manor. Well, after he learned the Bat secret that is and perked up. Before then didn't really count as living.
Done debating with himself, Dick tried to find something to do in the manor that wouldn't get him in trouble and get his extra energy out of him at last. Maybe he'd try that prototype kinex videogame or something. Just something to keep his anxiety down until Damian woke up and wanted to play again. Anything!
The stressing hunt for entertainment was thankfully cut short by a doorbell ring. Since Alfred was busy making sure old wood rails didn't burst or rot from their constant use, it was a perfect opportunity for the teen to finally answer the door himself. The only reporter allowed on Wayne Manor was Clark Kent, so there was no fear of tabloids trying to get a photo of him. He could answer the door! That was a great thing to do!
Excited, he ran to the foyer and gleefully went for the handle without peeking to see who it was. If he wasn't so desperate for something to do, he would have realized the timing was weird and should have sent off warning bells in his head. Oh well. Someone new to bug. YAY!
Dick started an excited greeting to whoever was at the door as he threw it open, caution in the wind. "Hey there! How can I-"
Everything left him in an instant when he saw who stood on the doorstep. Oh he was so not ready for this. Before him was a red haired beauty whose mere existence brought butterflies to his stomach. The last time he saw her was a sweet memory. The time he mistook someone for her though caused pain to so many others.
Before him was Barbara Gordon, college student, commissioner's daughter, and the only woman he could see himself with ten years down the road. At least that was her status five months ago. Now he wasn't so sure. "Babs...!"
Without warning, the brilliant redhead jumped the threshold, wrapping her arms around him as tight as she could. Stiff with shock, he didn't know what to do when she started murmuring in his ear. "Where the hell have you been Dick? I couldn't find you or get you home. I was scared I'd never-"
"I'm sorry," Dick murmured, cutting her off while finally hugging her back. He kept her as close to him as possible, his heart aching from all the time missed. During his imprisonment, he forced every thought of her out of his mind so he wouldn't feel any worse. Of all the people he loved, she was the only one safe from Slade's wrath and the one he had to worry about least. She was the strongest woman he knew. "I'm back now. I'm back. Everything's alright now."
"And I had to find out from my dad?" The anger in her voice made him freeze where he was, his stomach twisting in realization. He turned his head to look at her face, and was met with a very frustrated glare. He was in for it now.
"Uhh... OW!" Barbara slapped his shoulder before letting him go, swinging into the manor. "What was-"
"You could have called numbskull!" she chided him sharply. "Told me yourself! But no! I had to learn everything from my dad a week late!"
"Actually..." The young man rubbed his shoulder awkwardly. "I only got back to Gotham last week. They found me on the last of April. OW!" The ginger punched his other shoulder. "Abuse! How long have you been a sadist?"
"Why didn't you call?! Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?! I hacked into the FBI every week to see if they had any leads!" She threw her hands into the air in frustration. Personally Dick was impressed. He knew she was good at computers, but she never admitted she hacked anything. The FBI... wow...
A little uncomfortable though about the subject, he closed the front door and reprimanded her. "You really shouldn't be talking about hacking or cracking around here you know. You might give people ideas."
"I was beginning to think you were sold into a sex ring! And sent overseas!" That idea somewhat smacked him in the face. That was an option? She continued to rant out her scattered fears. "Or DEAD! There was nothing on you! Anywhere! Gone! Right off the face of the planet! And voila! You magically appear out of nowhere five months later!"
"Four months," he corrected, but clearly wasn't heard like his earlier statements. It'd been quite a while since he'd seen her temper like this. May as well get it all out. "We had some legal matters and paperwork in San Francisco to take care of before I could come home."
"San Francisco. How the hell did you get there?! What happened?!" She snapped her fiery green eyes on him, demanding answers. "What kept you from picking up the phone for five minutes just to tell me you were alright?! And... did you grow?"
Barbara's fury somehow managed to die down as she got a better look at him, finally taking in his physical condition. Dick couldn't help but smirk at the observation. She was so absorbed in confronting him about her feelings and frustration, demanding answers, that she didn't even notice he was half an inch taller than her now and mostly muscle. She should have at least noticed how long his hair was. It was pretty endearing to see her that worried about him. He only asked about her once back in San Fran, and Cass simply stated that she'd be happy to have him home again. Haplessly, he shrugged to answer her. "It's been five months Barb. Of course I've grown. Thanks for worrying about me and trying to help, but really, hacking the FBI wasn't your brightest move Babs."
She gave a huff, her eyes narrowing a fraction. "How else was I supposed to know what happened? Dad was kicked off the case when the feds took over, and then he was stonewalled whenever he made an inquiry! You completely fell off the planet Dick. I don't even know how you... What happened Dick? Where did you go? Who took you?"
When she finally stopped talking, Dick gave her a long, serious stare. Oh what to say... How to explain... Sighing slightly, he rubbed the back of his neck, he made a decision. He did not want to lose Barbara, to anyone or anything, especially his past. He had to tell her, at least the basics. "It's a long story. Better told sitting down. Believe me, you'll need to. Or I need to. Either or, better not talk about it in the foyer."
"Dick I don't-"
"Believe me," he started, begging in his voice, "even if you can handle it, I can't. Please?"
Seeing how uneasy he was, Barbara slowly nodded, starting towards the parlor so they could talk. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before following then leading to the room. When he caught sight of Alfred coming down the staircase to see what happened, he put on a smile. "Hey Alfred. I let Barbara in so don't worry about it. We'll be talking in the parlor if you need me."
The old man blinked at him for a moment, then at the redhead, before smiling to himself. "Of course Master Richard. Is there anything you need Ms. Gordon?"
"Water's fine," she insisted quickly. "I'm more interested in explanations. You guys said you'd keep me in the loop."
"There was hardly any information for a long time miss," the wise butler stated evenly. "And when there was, the vast enormity of it drove us into such a frenzy which has yet to quiet down. I am sure he will be able to explain matters better than I. My apologies for not notifying you of Master Richard's return."
"Has it really been that busy?" She looked between the two, taking her back a notch.
Dick shrugged helplessly, not sure how to answer her. "Kinda? A lot's been going on, and I only know half of it. C'mon."
Soon enough the two of them were in the parlor and he was encouraging her to sit on the couch. He wasn't ready to sit quite yet and Alfred was just getting some glasses and a pitcher for them to use. He knew the old man would give them plenty of privacy to talk. He paced around the room for a minute, trying to think of where to start, what to say. He had to say something, and talking to that shrink was pretty hard, about anything. But Barb knew him. He should find it easier to talk to her, shouldn't he?
"Well?"
He looked back to her, startled out of his thoughts while she was caught between glaring and worrying over him. How long had he been thinking? "Um... Well... You see..."
"Might I suggest starting at the warehouse?" The two nearly jumped out of their skins when Alfred came in with their drinks. Filling two glasses, he set them within arm's reach on the coffee table between them. The butler started out of the room almost as soon as he was done. "Or maybe with what led you to the place."
"Right... Thanks Alfie." Watching the man leave them, he let out a long breath and turned to face Barbara completely. "Okay, remember when I said I felt like someone was watching me? Back in November?"
She nodded, a thinking look on her face. "I thought we agreed that was Bruce."
"It wasn't. Someone else was stalking me. Sent me strange texts and put thugs and photographers on my hide too." Dick gave a long sigh then continued. "I got a bizarre text telling me to go to that warehouse or he's reveal my family's secret."
"Your secret being..." He gave her a shrewd look, forcing her to throw up her hands. "Fine. Keep it. Bet it's only embarrassing for rich people anyway."
"That's the thing," he insisted, "he didn't know anything. Neither did I. He just made enough of a reason to drag me out to that warehouse and start testing me. There was no secret. When I got there he..." Dick looked away for a moment collecting his thoughts as he told her what he told the police and FBI. "He made me believe I could save that lady's life, if I played his game. When I found her, I found him. And..."
He hesitated to say what came next. Barbara was now on Slade's radar after he mistook Starfire for her. What would happen when she knew about him? If she hacked the FBI to find Dick, it was only a matter of time before she hacked Interpol to get details on Slade. He had to stop her before she started. "Barb, promise me you won't go looking for this guy. Not even a little."
"Dick what are you-"
"Promise me!" The acrobat pled he would get through to her before she did something stupid. If she became even the slightest bit a threat to the assassin, she was dead. Being the commissioner's daughter made her a target already, and being connected to him only made it worse. He was not going to let anything bad happen to her, especially because of him.
She watched him for a minute in silence before grimly nodding. "Fine I promise. But why-"
"Because the guy who took me is a world class assassin." That caught the girl off guard. Rubbing his arm, Dick tried to explain exactly what Slade was. "His name is Slade Wilson, code name Deathstroke the Terminator. He wanted to make me his successor and would use any means necessary to do that. He saw me fighting on TV on Halloween and decided I was perfect. But he knew I wouldn't come quietly so he put nanoscopic probes in Jason, Cass, Tim, and Damian's bodies. He put some in that lady at the warehouse too."
"Shereen Macamyre," Barbara reminded him, starting to get the scope of things. He only heard the name in passing.
"Yeah, her. He put them in her and activated them to prove he was serious. He had cameras in the manor, and who knew where else. He promised to use them on Damian and the others if I didn't do what he said. He was going to kill them."
Making that statement, he moved around the coffee table and sat down in the couch with her, eyes to the floor. That was the part he hated most, his family's lives hanging over his head all the time. Sometimes it was suffocating having all those lives in his hands. It was this and not the door or locks that kept him prisoner. Fear for his family put bars all around him and shackles on his limbs. It paralyzed him. For four months he could do nothing but what he was told. Any time he tried to assert his independence, the threat was repeated, and a physical punishment followed. The memory of it all still terrorized him.
"Whoa..."
"So..." He shrugged. "I went with him. He took me out of state in the back of a semi, started training me, and..." He nearly cut off the circulation in his hands as he tried to gain courage and speak more. He really didn't want to remember all the things that happened to him while in captivity. Though the psychiatrist in San Francisco and Bruce assured him none of it was his fault, he still felt terrible about it.
A soft hand covered his clenched together, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "It's alright Dick. You're safe now. Anything he did to you... I won't think any less of you."
For some reason that made him laugh a little, sadly at that. "Babs... he didn't touch me. Not that way at least. It was... more like being a prisoner of war. My perception of time was warped, I was isolated, beaten, starved..." Dick shook his head, slightly surprised he was defending the man a bit. "The only thing he was not was a pervert. Slade's an evil guy..." He looked up to see her beautiful green eyes, so full of worry and thoughts of what could have happened. He had to put those fears to rest. "But he does have a code of honor. He was just trying to make me like him. Make me his loyal, obedient soldier. I think... he was trying to replace the son he lost."
"His son?" Barbara almost gaped at him, hearing all this information. "He has a son and he-"
"I know." He let go of his hands and rubbed his eyes with one of them. "Bruce had a field day grumbling about that back in Cali. According to the records, Slade has two sons and an ex-wife. One died doing something stupid and the other was hurt badly because of Slade's mercenary job. In some part of his mind he must have seen some of his son in me, because sometimes..." His eyes returned to the carpet as he remembered. "Sometimes he acted like a dad."
The statement left his girlfriend speechless, giving him a moment to gather his thoughts. Those times Slade was kind, caring, and supportive, they confused him to no end. If he hadn't gone nuts over a singular comment and thrown him in the cooler for a few days, Dick may have developed Stockholm syndrome.
After a breath or two, he started again. "Eventually we ended up in San Francisco and he had me steal for him. Got pretty good at it. Then I ran into the Teen Titans out there. Slade... has a personal vendetta against them. He put probes in them too, so I would know firsthand what was happening to the others if I ever refused to do something because of them. Or tried to talk to them.
"One night I did." He could feel her stiffen, her hand squeezing his unconsciously. So he gave her something to calm her down. "It was what let them find me. I was stealing from Bruce's branch there, and I was a real mental case so everything became a blur. At first I was fighting the Titans... Winning even... then I ran into Starfire. I was panicking, desperate, confused... I... I mistook her for you."
"Me?" That took her back in a second, blinking in confusion. No doubt she knew who Starfire was. There was an exposé on the Teen Titans not long after their debut. Guys around school taped her picture in their lockers. "Why? How?"
Dick shrugged, hardly seeing it now either. "Red hair, green eyes... you remember that purple outfit you wore last summer when we went dancing? When I caught just a glimpse of her in that mental state... I honestly thought you were flying right in front of me. And I couldn't hurt you. You were the one thing Slade couldn't hurt, and I sure wasn't going to shoot you."
"Shoot me?"
"He gave me this laser cannon thing. I powered down it for a minute and... he turned on the probes. Not for very long," he assured her quickly, "just long enough to get his point across. Everyone here went to the hospital, but the Titans were back on their feet in a few minutes. Bruce saw the security footage that day and got in contact with the Titans and authorities in San Fran. They learned about the probes, got rid of them, then rescued me. After that..." He shrugged helplessly. "There were a lot of legal things to take care of. I got off with house arrest and a lot of fines."
He wasn't about to go into the details of his deal with the DA in San Fran. Barbara was a smart girl. She knew what went down in courtrooms and sentencing. She probably already knew he'd have to see a shrink too. He just didn't feel like bringing it up. And amazing girl that she is, she didn't pry into any of it.
"Whoa..."
"Yeah..."
"That's... a lot." The surprised blinking on her face was almost endearing. A bit much to take in.
"I know."
"Are you okay?" Dick watched her from the corner of his eye, seeing how she took it. Barb had faced a few weird, complicated messes over the years, Cass being one of them. She was taking it rather well all things considered. If he could get her to be calm and rational about it all, maybe he could get others to keep cool heads about the entire problem.
But he had to be honest. Smirking sadly, he answered. "Not really. But I'm getting through it. Somehow."
"Need any help with that?"
The smirk became a smile. "I've got a house full of help here Babs, but you'd definitely be the best looking one."
"Is that a yes or a no?" She eyed him carefully, both assessing him and trying to kindly demand an answer. It was an interesting combination, one he suspected he'd get a lot in the near future. He wanted more than anything to make everyone feel better, but the logical part of his brain knew they wouldn't feel better until he did. Even then it was hit or miss. Things like this stuck for years.
He'd just have to work past it then. Taking both her hands in his, Dick gave her the best smile he could right then, looking her in the eye. "It's a 'please do. I'd enjoy it very much'." He brushed some hair out of her face, bringing a smile to hers. "You have no idea how much I missed you. I had to trick myself to not think about you. I couldn't stop thinking about... I was just glad you weren't in danger."
"Guess Bruce's attempts to break us up actually did some good huh?" Barbara's joke made both of them laugh a little.
"Yeah. Slade didn't know anything about you until that night. If he did..." He fell silent, not wanting to think of the things that could have happened. A smirk appeared on his face. "We should really thank those two later."
"They might put another embargo up," she noted quickly. Their foreheads were practically touching, hardly realizing how close they were getting during the conversation.
"Let them try." The lad closed the distance, lips barely touching for a moment before the sentiment was returned in full. He leaned in further, both of them occasionally coming up for air with practiced precision. It felt so good to be together again, and in a different way than with his siblings. Knowing now their feelings were just as strong for each other as before, Dick felt warmer and more complete. The aching pain within flowed out of him as the two of them reignited the passionate flame between them. How he missed her.
"Dick?"
With a jerk, Dick broke contact with his girlfriend and pulled himself upright, eyes swinging towards the voice he just heard. Right in the entrance to the parlor stood Damian and his trusty Bat-kitty, rubbing his tired eyes before them. Silently both he and Barbara (quickly straightening herself) thanked heaven that they didn't do much more than kissing right then. If the toddler came in during something else... "Dami! Hi..."
"What cha doin'?" The boy was still groggy from his nap, so he really had no clue what was going on.
"CPR practice." His lie was rewarded with a pillow smack to the head. "Oww... Abuse..."
"CPR practice my foot," she growled playfully, shaking her head.
Quickly he put on an innocent face. "What are you complaining about? I was the one you were performing on. Next time, you can be the dummy."
"Only if you lock the door." Dick's eyebrows shot up as he watched her greet the babe in the room. "Hi Damian."
"Hi Bawbawa." He turned his head to the side curiously. "Did you come to pway?"
"Ummm..."
"Did you?" A pleading look came into the young man's eyes. He didn't want her to leave just because Damian woke up from his nap. "We've got coloring books and blocks and movies. Plus Alfred's being really nice and letting us eat lots of popcorn."
Babs looked at him for a minute before laughing. "Well the rest of my day's clear so why not? Fun games, good company, and free food later right?"
"No outing's complete without free food. C'm on." The couple grinned impishly at each other as they stood up and followed Damian out of the room. Taking her hand in his, Dick silently reveled in their somewhat secret relationship. He was home with family and the best friend he could ever hope for. What more could he want?
A/N: So um... someone pointed out that I didn't have a lot of Barbara in the Sacrifice arc, at least not enough to qualify as those two having a relationship.. I'm gonna have to input some times when Dick starts thinking about Babs then shuts it out later to spare himself anymore pain. Don't know if I did her justice here so sorry if she's OOC. I do try but I probably miss the mark with her a lot more than I'd like.
Little FYI with my romance bits, they're not that indepth. When it comes to my couples, I tend to keep it G or PG rated. Mostly witty banter, cuddling, and some kissing. Anything else is implied but never shown. My violence is definitely more detailed. . Kids are such good cockblocks.
Three fics in three days... wow... haven't done that in a while. One was a one day thing, the other three days, this... forever! XP Still working on everything else, and a new class. the last one was evil, this one looks easy. TTFN!