Selina stared out the windows at the midday sun. Her stomach turned, and her hand twisted in the pillowcase. She focused on the sunlight warming her face. Her eyes closed, and her stomach knotted again. The more anxious she got, the more she became frustrated with herself for being that way. Opening her eyes again, she stared out at the Gotham skyline. The windows had some kind of tint to them, and she found herself wondering how it worked. How the glass could be so transparent, yet block out all light.

Bruce shifted behind her, and Selina closed her eyes again. She felt his arm slide around her waist. "I dozed off. Why didn't you wake me?" he asked, and Selina didn't move. He took a deep breath. "Selina?"

"I didn't take my pill," she blurted, relieved and terrified at her own little secret truth. She held her breath, stiff in his arms.

"Selina," he sighed and sat up. "We talked about this. You can't just… What were you thinking?"

"I don't know," she sighed slowly, pinching her eyes closed.

"You…" He wrapped his arms back around her waist and pulled her up against his chest. "You can't just do that. Not because I'm telling you what to do, but because it's my decision too."

"Just like it will be your decision when you die," Selina breathed, her muscles tensing as she stared at the windows. "And leave me all alone."

"Hey," he lifted her chin up to make her look at him, "how many times do I have to say it? I'm not going anywhere."

"You can't know that for sure!" She snapped, turning away from him. "I just… I feel so… empty. This is never going to end. And you're going to leave me again, and you'll get hurt, and then you'll die, and I won't be able to do a damn thing to help you. I'm utterly useless in the state I'm in, and I just-" her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes- "I want something I can be good at. I'm so far behind all of you, saving the world, I just don't want to be stuck in your shadows alone. I want a part of you with me so I can… Can…. Can be a terrible mother and ruin his life too-" she burst into tears, burying her face in the pillow as she cried. Her depression came and went, but it hadn't been this bad since she tried taking her own life. He pulled her back against him, cradling her in his arms.

"It's okay," he breathed. "And you could never be considered useless." He stroked her hair. "I know you really want a baby, but that's just so much added worry. And you know how dangerous being pregnant is with the world the way it is." She cried harder, rolling over and burying her face in his neck.

"I can't stop you, I can't help you, and I can't save you," she whispered. "What use am I?"

This was always- and never- about a baby. The necklace was still around her throat, glittering in the dim sunlight. It had been a year. A whole year. They'd gotten married after all of this misery had begun, and she hadn't realized it had been a year; living day to day, always worrying about him, about everyone she loved, without reprieve. Day in and day out; anxiety that one of them wouldn't come home. After all that time, what felt like ages worrying, it had only been a year. Now Tim was Infected, and it had only been one year. She hadn't thought about it until he brought up their anniversary. "How many more years will I have to spend waiting to hear that you've been killed? That any of us have?" she asked, voicing her thoughts quietly, her throat burning. "I just want it all to end."

"I'm sorry," he told her, holding her tight. "I'm so sorry." He kissed the top of her head. He hated that he couldn't just fix what was making her sad. "I hate that there's nothing I can do. Until there's a cure, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this."

"What if we never do? You won't have a baby with me- Humanity is going to die with our generation," she breathed, trembling. "What if this is really it?"

"It isn't." He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back to stare at her. "If you know anything about me, you know I won't let that happen."

"Maybe it's not up to you," she stared at him, pale eyes wide and hollow. Selina looked down. "The League, Alfred, Maggie, now Tim- how many civilians- we're just dying slowly. You couldn't stop it before. We're disappearing, Bruce," she breathed.

"Selina." He tilted her chin up to look at her. "I won't let anything happen to me or to you. I won't."

"I'm sorry," she looked away from him again, sitting up. "I know it's our anniversary, I know we don't see each other often… but I just want to be alone right now."

"Nope." He laid down and pulled her on top of of him. "I don't want to be alone. I have to leave much too soon and I refuse to let you leave."

"Bruce, I'm not joking," she warned, watching him in confusion.

"Neither am I," he said completely seriously. "The next time you complain that we don't see each other enough or get sad when I have to leave, I'll remind you of this moment."

"I don't complain that much," she said quietly, knowing she was lying. Still, she wanted to pretend it was true.

"Well not nearly as much as Dick when he was eleven," Bruce agreed. "Or Jason when he came back from the dead."

Selina smiled a little, tucking her head under his chin. "Tell me more about what it was like when they were younger," she closed her eyes.

"If I had to pick one word to describe all of them when I first met them… Dick was chatty. Jason was… scrappy." He chucked at the word. "Tim was determined, and Damian was surly." He rested his head against hers. "The girls were a completely different story and I'm not sure I understand even now." He kissed her head. "And you were special," he whispered. Selina sighed slowly. The anxiety in her stomach was gone, and she shook her head.

"I don't know how you do that," she muttered. She was calm again, her grim mood lifting in his arms. "Bruce?" He brushed her hair out of her face and tilted his head to look at her.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I know you will save us." She looked in his eyes, pursing her lips. "And whatever happens, we'll be okay, right?"

"I promise." He leaned in to kiss her, savoring every second of it before leaning away again. "And you weren't lying when you said you weren't taking that necklace off."

"I don't lie, Batman," she muttered, just a hint of her old self in her voice again. She detected it as well, looking away shyly as she smiled a little and ran her hand over his chest hair. The necklace sparkled in the daylight, the color making her light skin seem lighter and her tousled dark hair seem darker. "Why. Do you want me to take it off?" She smiled up at him. It was forced, but she was trying.

"Not so long as nothing else is being put on." He kissed her cheek. "I want to make you happy without you having to try so hard," he added, his lips on her skin.

"It takes effort just to smile, sweetheart," she closed her eyes, stroking his cheek. "But you do make it easier."

"I guess that's all I can ask for," he sighed. He laced his fingers with hers. "Anything else I can do to make it easier?"

"You do just fine," Selina sighed quietly, laying her head on his shoulder. She watched a bird fly past the windows.

"What about Ivy? You could take a shift off and spend some time with her," he suggested.

"No, she and Jason spend most of their time together." She suddenly perked up a bit. "But Dick let me see Harley," she told him, smiling. "That was nice." Bruce leaned his head back.

"Of course he did." He glanced back up at her. "And how was she?"

"She was… different. I've never seen her like that Bruce. You should see her, it's like she's really… I don't know- she's changed. I think she needs him." Selina watched Bruce's face, tracing little circles on his chest with her finger.

"I hope you're right." He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. "But if it's alright with you, I don't think I'll trust her. Lot of past experience."

"You had a lot of past experience with me," she reminded him, watching his face as she smiled.

"I'd like to think we have a lot of good past experience," he defended. He lifted her hand up and kissed the inside of her wrist. Selina closed her eyes.

"But not before. We were just like them, once," she breathed. Her hand slid into his hair.

"Minus the one small detail of the Joker. Unless there's something you want to tell me?" He gave her an amused smile, his hand running down her side to her hip. Her heart leapt when he smiled.

"You know, I did have a guy on the side for a while, back when we were just fooling around- but I don't think Jason's into that anymore," she laughed, smirking at him. He shot her a look.

"That's not funny."

"Oh, it's a little funny, sourpuss," she purred, tracing his lips with her finger. "I promise I never laid a hand on your little angels. There were others, but none of them like you." Even now, their chemistry was palpable in the air. It always had been. There was too much between them to ignore; a lust that had been there since they'd first laid eyes on each other, and a love that had been there since they'd first shared a bed. "There is no one like you, Bruce Wayne." He kissed her finger.

"And there's no one like you, Selina Wayne. I love you."

"I love you too, I suppose," she smiled a little, and then took his face in her hands and kissed him slowly.

"Then I suppose that'll have to do." He pulled her close and smiled against her lips. Selina kept her eyes closed, her hands trailing up his shoulders and into his hair. Her necklace fell against his chest where she lay on him.

"I never tire of hearing you say that, either," she smiled, giving him a quick kiss, and then another.

"Wait." He leaned his face back. "Didn't you want to be alone?"

"You changed my mind," she smiled, but then she stood and plucked her robe off of the floor. Sheer, deep violet silk fell over her curves, hiding her pale skin from the daylight.

"It doesn't seem like I changed your mind." Bruce propped himself up on his elbows as he watched her. She smiled slyly and turned towards him, reaching a hand out to take his. She pulled him into a sitting position and bent over to kiss his lips for a moment before smiling again.

"I'm getting hungry, and I think we could do with an early anniversary dinner," she said quietly. The robe was tied loosely, hardly covering her chest, and the length barely met the top of her legs.

"And what are we having?" He stood up with her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Dunno," she shrugged a bit. "But I had three hours while you slept to make something, so I think you'll be surprised," Selina giggled a bit, walking to the door and leaving him standing by the windows. "Put… something on, if you want to, and come out here," she smiled, her eyes hungrily looking his body up and down before she disappeared through the door. Bruce went over to the closet and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before following her out.

"Selina?"

"Over here," she called from the small kitchen in their penthouse. When he walked in the door, the smell hit him first. It was like coming home when he was young, bruised from another schoolyard fight, only to have Alfred set him on the kitchen counter to clean him up; it was walking into the Batcave after a long night, Alfred usually nowhere to be seen, with a covered dish placed on his computer console… "I know it's not steak, and it may not be great. I've never made tomato soup from scratch before?" She chuckled nervously, her hands clasped in front of her chest. "But it was… here." She slid a small book across the island towards him, still smiling. "I found it in the kitchen when Damian and I went back."

Bruce wordlessly picked up Alfred's cookbook, flipping through the pages of neat handwriting until he came to the tomato soup recipe. The words 'Wayne family favorite' with two stars were scrawled across the top of the page.

"I hope it's okay," she smiled again, watching him carefully. The preparation time on the top of the page said an hour. She hadn't slept at all. He pulled her into his arms, holding her close.

"Thank you," he murmured into her hair. Selina smiled gently and held him tight.

"You're welcome my love," she breathed. "Now come on, I'm hungry," she pulled him to the barstools at the island, spooning soup into a bowl for him. After getting one for herself, she circled around and sat beside him, scooting her stool closer. "I thought he'd want to celebrate our anniversary, too. Even if he wasn't there for the wedding," she smiled a little, tasting it.

"This is perfect." He kissed her cheek. "Thank you," he said again as he ate a couple more bites.

"You're welcome," she smiled lovingly at him. It tasted just like Alfred had made it.

"It reminds me of him. It reminds me of before the world was like this," he told her. "And so do you. You remind me of all the reasons I need to stay strong, Selina, and I couldn't save the world without you. Thank you," he said seriously. Selina smiled sheepishly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Good. I need you to stay strong, too, and I wish I could be stronger for you," she watched him happily.

"I don't need you to be stronger. I just need you." He kissed her cheek again. "And maybe this soup every now and again."

"Well I'll provide any way I can," she giggled, standing to wrap her arms around his shoulders. "Have to keep my Batman strong to save the world." Selina kissed his neck gently, closing her eyes. She liked feeling this way. It was safe. Homey. He pulled her onto his lap.

"You also need to keep me strong enough to boss me around."

"Of course," she grinned. "After all, I am the only one who knows that Batman needs a firm handler," she giggled, her hands twisting in his hair.

"I don't think anyone else would be up for the job," he agreed. Selina shifted so that her legs hung around his waist from where she sat on his lap, and she kissed his neck gently before resting her head on his shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered, closing her eyes. He shifted her so he could still eat his soup.

"I love you too." He set his spoon down to brush her hair behind her ear. "And happy anniversary."

Selina smiled happily, tucking her face into his neck. She couldn't stop herself from wondering how many more they would have. "Happy anniversary, Bruce."

Harley finished toweling off after her bath. She could hear the water running down the drain as she dried her hair. She was about to wrap the towel around her when she hesitated. Lowering it, she looked at herself in the mirror. Dark bruises peppered over the older ones on her hips and thighs, and there was a collection of bite marks and hickeys up her chest and neck. The J carved above her heart was healed enough to no longer need a bandage, and she's cut the stitches out. The wound looked still jagged and a little swollen, but she had a feeling that'd be a permanent byproduct of the infection. She'd used all the medication Dick had given her despite being tempted to not bother with them once the symptoms had subsided. She sighed and covered herself with the towel.

Humming to herself as she went into the bedroom, she started getting dressed. She paused again when she noticed her old jester costume was missing. After a second, she went back to digging around for clean clothes. The elevator rattled in the living room, and she guessed Crane had just arrived. She started pulling her hair up into its signature pigtails when she could hear the voices swell in the living room. Frowning, she finished with her hair and peeked out of the bedroom.

"What's goin on?"

"I mean, this is insane, even for y-" Crane looked up at Harley, glancing at Joker to discern if he would allow him to speak.

"We found the connection in the sewers," Joker beamed. Today seemed to be a natural day, his colorless face flushed in the cheeks a bit, green hair falling back from his face. He seemed less… Villainous in the daylight. The sleeves of his jumpsuit were tied around his waist, and his purple tank top contrasted his light skin pleasantly. He seemed… Human. "We found it, Harley."

"That sounds… fun." She didn't get the appeal. She wouldn't be allowed to use it anyway. Joker looked disappointed at her lack of enthusiasm.

"Finish getting dressed, and I'll explain," he waved a hand at her. Harley went and grabbed a hoodie, zipping it up as she headed back into the living room.

"So what are you gonna do?"

"He's not going to do anything," Crane snapped, looking pointedly at Joker. "This is crazy. Out of your league crazy, even," he insisted. Joker ignored him, rubbing his hands together gleefully as he laughed.

"We're going to attack them. I want that decay inhibitor," he grinned. Harley stared at him.

"But we don't even know if it works!"

"They invented it. Whether it works or not, they're going to figure it out, and I want to slow them down. If it does work, then bully for us," he grinned. Crane cried out in exasperation.

"No! What you want to do is insane! The zombies are nowhere near ready, I've only scratched the surface with the hypnosis, and this is just plain reckless! It's too dangerous!" he shouted, and Joker rolled his eyes.

"Don't get so dramatic, Scarecrow. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were afraid," he laughed.

"Damn straight I'm afraid," he muttered, crossing his arms. "This is never going to work."

"And," Harley chimed in, "what if it's a trap? They've been looking for the opening too. What if they found it and are waiting for us to try something?"

"If they'd already found it, we'd have known," he assured her with a sly smile. "And we will know if they do before I can put my plan into action."

"Okay," Harley couldn't help but smile. His excitement got infectious when he had a plan, "and how will you know?"

"If Nightwing asks you about it, then they found it," Joker assured her. "Now. Crane-"

"-no," Scarecrow snapped. Joker's jaw tightened and he took a deep breath. Crane remained unmoved, watching Joker evenly. "This will not work."

"You're trying my patience now," Joker hissed, his hands clenching into fists.

"If Nightwing asks?" Harley drew his attention back. "What is he asking? And…" she trailed off. "Today?" She glanced out the window. It was still dark, but sunrise wouldn't be too far off. Then it was Dick's break day.

"You'll know, Doll," he chuckled. "But I need you to do something next time you see him."

"Anything," she agreed readily before instantly regretting it.

"We need information from him," he insisted carefully, watching her. "And you have to incapacitate him. Tie him up, kill him, exhaust him- whatever you have to do. You see him in two days, correct?"

"No. He, uh, wants to meet today." She glanced at Crane before back at him. "Do I have to?"

"Today?!" Joker cried in surprise, and he ran his hands through his hair. "Oh, we'll have to push up our schedule- we'll have to go tonight- I have to get to work-" he muttered, biting his nails a bit and grinning excitedly.

"What- tonight!?" Crane snapped, balling his fists. "No. No way."

"They'll be ready. Everyone will be ready," Joker pressed, and Scarecrow shook his head. "We have the sewer plans. We'll be fine."

"Do I have to go see Nightwing? Can I stay here and help instead?" Harley asked. She wanted to help Joker, but she didn't want to betray Dick. She'd already told Joker about the decay inhibitor that was driving this plan, and that would hurt Dick enough when he found out.

"Yes, Harley," Joker insisted in exasperation. "If you get him out of the way, Batman and the Red Hood are out of the way as well. If we attack at sunset, they'll both be well into their distractions, and by the time they've realized what we're doing, they'll be scrambling to catch up!" he laughed, beaming at her, before his face contorted angrily. "And you'll do as you're told," he added. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked down.

"You know it's not fair ta ask me ta do this," she breathed.

"Fair? Asking you?" Joker laughed out loud. "Doll, I'm telling you. I'm telling you that you aren't going to like the consequences if you betray me any more than you already have," he snapped. Harley turned away. She set her jaw and tried not to let her eyes water.

"What…" she paused to make sure her voice wouldn't crack, "information am I supposed to get?"

"Learn whether they've found the tunnel. And make sure he doesn't get back up. For the night or for the rest of time, I don't care." He watched her, eyes narrowed. "And Harley." She took a deep breath and turned to look at him, her face impassive. "I'm proud of you," he looked at her, crossing his arms. "Your love clearly isn't mine anymore, and though I don't like it, I can imagine how- difficult- this is. Not to say that I don't enjoy it. I can just see the difficulty."

"Oh you're proud of me?" Harley laughed. "Well that makes one of us." She didn't look at him or Crane as she walked back into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Batgirl sat up suddenly, hastily wiping drool off of her face. She glanced at her notes taken in ink, and she wiped her face even more in hopes that she hadn't gotten the writing on her face.

"Ugh, I need to sleep," she muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes under her cowl. She pulled it off in annoyance and put her glasses on, hiding her face in her hair. She blinked as she tried to focus on what she'd been working on. It was the analysis of the initial Infected they'd used as test subjects for the decay inhibitor. I'd taken a while for them to notice that Tim wasn't decaying, and by the time they had and been able to recreate enough the serum to begin testing, it had been weeks, and the initial reports were just getting in despite them using the decay inhibitor on most of the Infected. They'd been hopeful Tim wasn't a fluke, and so far it was looking positive.

The only hiccup they were running into was the fact that when the Infected decayed, they were metabolizing their own muscles and fat. By stopping them from decaying, the Infected needed to eat that much more, and they didn't exactly have an easy food source for them.

"Did I get the second report?" Barbara muttered to herself as she leafed through the pages on her desk.

"No, but that's because I was afraid you'd drool on it." TJ set the report on her desk as he grinned. Barbara blushed. Since Tim had been Infected, TJ had been helping her out by trying to pick up where he'd left off. She appreciated him helping to cover the work, but unlike Tim, he'd answer her when she talked to herself.

"Oh thanks."

"You don't take your mask off that often," he commented, and she instinctively hid behind her hair.

"Yeah, we're… Not supposed to," she frowned, taking it into her hands and looking at it. "Do you have the second report for me? Now that I'm not… Drooling," she yawned and looked up at him.

"You should take a break because I literally just set it on your desk in front of you." He pointed at the file. "How long has it been since you slept?"

"I don't know. I don't remember the last time I ate, even," she sighed.

"You work yourself too hard," he told her. "Is that a thing for you Bats?"

"Essentially, yeah," Barbara chuckled. "What about you? You always seem to be here when I am, too."

"Yeah well… uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, there's not much else to do."

Barbara watched him, smiling a little. "That is true," she amended, smiling as she leaned forward against her desk. "Where are you from, TJ?"

"Gotham born and raised." He shrugged. "Never lived anywhere else and never wanted to."

"Nice," she chuckled, watching him again. "My name is Barbara. Its nice to meet you, TJ."

"Just because I didn't know your name doesn't mean I don't know you," he laughed. "You're the same person."

"You don't… know me," she blushed, smiling as he leaned against her desk.

"Fine I don't know you," he grinned. "But we both need to eat, so how about we go-"

"-Babs! Er- Batgirl," Nightwing called as he crossed the labs towards them. He looked out of breath, his hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Right." TJ looked at Dick before glancing back at Barbara. "You two… uh, have fun." His cheeks were a little pink as he headed back to his station. Dick glanced at him, and then back at Barbara.

"Was I interrupting something? I mean, I don't want to interrupt, if you're busy," he bit his lip, stopping beside her desk.

"No…" She watched TJ for a second before refocusing on Dick, "it's nothing. What do you want?" She leaned back in her chair and stretched, yawning a little.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said quietly, and his brow furrowed. "You look tired."

"Surprisingly, girls don't want to hear that," she told him.

"I just mean you should rest," he sighed and shook his head. "I'll just go, if you don't want to see me. It's not like you've been avoiding me, or anything. But… We should talk. And you should get some sleep."

"No, no it's fine." She sat back up. "What's going on?"

"That's what I was going to ask you," Dick said quietly, sitting down in a chair beside her desk.

"The, uh, primary reports on the decay inhibitor are looking good," she gestured to the papers scattered across her desk, "but we're not any closer to the cure." She rubbed her eyes behind her glasses.

"I'm sure you'll get it," he said with a sigh. "Are you okay? Are we?"

"Yeah, I think. I just… It's weird." She shuffled the papers around on her desk.

"What is?" Dick watched her, tempted to take his mask off, but he sat still.

"I don't know," she sighed. "You're seeing the Joker's girlfriend. You're sleeping with the enemy. What do you even expect to happen with that relationship?"

"I don't know, Babs," he said truthfully, his eyes still fixed on her.

"It's just weird, okay? I just expect you to show up dead everytime you go see her."

"I know. Maybe I do, too," he confessed, looking down. "I think… I think some part of me feels like she can be saved. Maybe if I just… Maybe it will turn out like Selina and Bruce, or like Jason and Ivy. It worked for them… Maybe it could work for me too."

"She already has the Joker, Dick," Barbara reminded him. "She's not looking to be saved."

"Don't say that," he shook his head, leaning back in his chair. He knew that already, he just didn't want to admit it. Hearing it out loud was even worse.

"I don't know what you want me to say." She sighed. "Did you want something? Or are you just here for this painful conversation?"

"I just… My feelings aside- how are you? I want to know if you're ok. I mean… none of us have had a chance to really think about what happened to Tim. You're stuck here…" He looked around the lab. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Barbara assured him. "It sucks, but it only makes me more determined. And with Batman in here more often, everyone is working as hard as they can. I may be a little overworked, but so is anyone."

Dick looked down guiltily, biting his lip. "Yeah. I guess we all are."

"Is that pained expression because Selina is covering your shifts? You slacker." She smiled a little.

"I know. Yeah, I do, I feel like shit, honestly. I'm trying," he shrugged, and then covered his face.

"What?" she demanded. "You can't come in here and interrogate me without getting the third degree in return. What's going on?"

Dick looked taken aback, opening his mouth to answer before looking down at his hands. "I do feel awful, yes, trying to do my job and keep shifts up when we're all stretched so thin," he admitted quickly, his cheeks burning.

"Well I know Bruce feels the same. Just look how rarely he takes his breaks." Barbara shrugged. "And you been on break for what, five whole minutes? Relax."

"I'm sorry," he looked away, his eyes trailing around the labs. "I just feel like I'm failing you all," he sighed, leaning his head in his hands again.

"Why?" She laughed a little. "No seriously. Why? Why do you feel like you're failing us? How does that even cross your mind?"

"Because I abandon my shifts for- for a girl that you all tell me is bad news, that I know is bad news- I shouldn't abandon my family for that," he watched her, his lips twisting in a frown. "Why- is that funny?"

"Because do you know how long your brothers have been waiting for you to finally do something wrong? Everyone feels like a screw up compared to you, so no one really minds if you make a few mistakes. It's almost unnatural how perfect you are sometimes."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," he smirked.

"No. Just know that no one thinks any less of you when you mess up." She smiled at him.

"Except when I mess up, I mess up royally," he rubbed the back of his neck. Dick smiled back at her. "Oh!" he gasped, smiling broader. "I do have something for you, in case you were still angry with me-" he pulled several Kit-Kat bars out of his belt pocket.

"Suck up," she muttered as she snatched one from him and ripped it open. "Who says I can be bribed?" she asked as smiled and popped a piece into her mouth.

"It's not a bribe, it's a peace offering. Which is both the same and different, if you think about it. Fun fact, the Nazis were offered Kit-Kats for a cease fire. I don't think they took them," he smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"So I'm better than a Nazi? Sweet." She finished off the rest of the Kit-Kat pieces and threw the wrapper away.

"Only by a little," Dick smirked at her, emptying another pocket of candy onto her desk.

"I thought you wanted me not to be mad at you," she reminded him with a smile. "And this is most certainly bribery."

"Okay so it's bribery," he laughed a little, watching her.

"Well it's working," she laughed.

"Good," Dick smiled, looking around the labs. "I don't know how you do it, cooped up in here. When was the last time you saw daylight?"

"Oh didn't you know? I turned into a vampire weeks ago." She smiled before yawning again. Dick frowned a little.

"You really should take a break," he pressed. "You don't look so good. Some sleep would be good for you- just grab a couple hours," Dick leaned forward, taking her glasses off and examining her eyes.

"Well aren't you supposed to be on break?" she reminded him. "I'll grab a couple hours if you do."

"I think I can do that," he stood and then kissed her head. "Promise me you'll get some rest, Babs," he said quietly, looking down at her.

"What? You're not going to make sure I do?" she teased. Dick bit his lip.

"No, I um… I'm going to see Harley on my breaks now," he said awkwardly. "To cut down on my time spent away in shifts." I hate this. I hate this so much, he thought, gnawing on his lip anxiously. "Just get some sleep, ok?"

"Right." She ducked her face behind her hair to try and hide her blushing. "Yeah, okay."

He wanted to apologize, but he didn't know what he'd be apologizing for. He wanted to stay with her, but Harley was waiting. Dick closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "See you later, Babs," he smiled a little, before kissing her head again and walking to the lab doors. She played with the ends of her hair as she watched him go. Wanting to follow after him, she forced herself to stay in her seat. She glanced over at TJ, but he was looking determinedly at his work. Sighing, she leaned her elbows on the table and put her face in her hands.

"Just be careful, Dick," she muttered to herself.