Batman was waiting patiently for the last members of the Justice League to arrive.

In the process, he took a quick look around the meeting room. It was located at the top of the Watchtower. It was a huge room where in the middle was a long table with many chairs, each belonging to a Justice League member. In the center of the table was the League symbol.

Just then Hawkgirl, Nightwing and Wonder Woman arrived, all three laughing at something. The two superheroines looked at him coldly before the three broke away and each went to their seats.

Great. The most overprotective women toward Dick are pissed as hell at me. Thank you, son.

His first partner sat down beside him, his smile faltering as soon as he saw him. Batman gave him the smallest of smiles, knowing that only his son was able to see it.

And in fact he was.

Nightwing looked at him.

We need to talk later.

The Dark Knight nodded. Taking a quick glance at his son, the Caped Crusader caught a glimpse of a hickey on his neck and almost choked.

Key word: almost.

It would not have been a pretty picture to see The Batman choke.

Be that as it may, as he waited for the last one to arrive, he became lost in thought.

Was Catwoman a good woman for his son?

He looked at him out of the corner of his eye. He studied him for a few seconds.

He could tell that he was angry with John Stewart and didn't blame him at all. But other than that, he could see that Nightwing, no; Dick, was happy.

And Batman was sure that his first son's happiness was because of Selina.

He sighed to himself.

If she makes him happy, I will have to accept it. Who knows, someday maybe I will accept her happily.

Nightwing was relaxed.

And confused.

But mostly relaxed.

For some reason Batman smiled at him.

Maybe he had second thoughts about Catwoman?

He knew his father was studying. After all, he was taught by the best.

He hoped intensely that his father had changed his opinion about Selina.

At that moment the last member of the League who could come to the meeting arrived.

Barry Allen aka The Flash.

It was ironic, if you thought about it.

The fastest man in the world arriving late to every meeting?

"Why am I always last?" complained Flash as he took his seat.

Green Arrow, who was sitting next to him, elbowed him. "Maybe because you're an idiot." he smirked at him.

As the speedster became indignant, Nightwing looked at the participants of the meeting, knowing that not everyone was there.

Present were Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Arrow, two Green Lanterns -Hal Jordan and John Stewart- Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Zatanna, Flash, Arsenal, Troia and Martian Manhunter.

John Stewart cleared his throat, getting the attention of every member of the League. "Surely you are wondering why I have called this meeting." he began.

Nightwing mentally taunted him.

Yes, to talk about my love life with Catwoman.

Batman understood exactly what his son thought as he turned a small and amused smile on him.

The former Marine had a remote control in his hand and pressed a button, causing the big screen behind him to light up and show an image.

To be more specific, the image showed Nightwing and Catwoman, both sitting on the edge of a building rooftop, kissing.

Bludhaven's vigilante had to hold back a smirk that was creeping up on his face when he felt many pairs of eyes on him, and he chuckled when he saw them widen their eyes at the view of the hickey on his neck.

"Is that a hickey?" asked Barry with his mouth wide open.

"Man, I'm proud of you," nodded Hal dramatically.

"That's enough." angrily intervened John, who cleared his throat. "This photo was taken around 1 a.m. today. Some sources reveal that Nightwing and Catwoman have been working together for a few weeks, which makes me think their relationship started a few months ago." he spoke more calmly.

The first Robin clenched his fists in irritation.

"Wait! Are you telling me Nightwing got engaged to a criminal?" asked Hawkman, spitting out the last word as if it were poison.

Hawkgirl, sitting opposite him, looked at him grimly but he ignored her.

The two Thanagarians had broken up many years before. It was a tough breakup for both of them but their past relationship never affected their work in the field.

"Former criminal." Nightwing coldly corrected him, looking at him hard.

There is something to be said. Everyone, and it is emphasized everyone, has a soft spot for Nightwing having known him when he was nine years old and was nothing short of adorable.

Well, all but one.

Hawkman.

The Thanagarian has always despised him, saying he was just a kid at the time and would do nothing in crime fighting (needless to say, he got a hard lesson from Batman. And by hard lesson we mean beating him hard but that is another story).

And even as he was growing up, Carter Hall never recognized him as a true hero. And this has gotten worse since Shayera left him.

Hawkman waved his hand dismissively. "Same thing."

The slits in Nightwing's mask narrowed menacingly. "No, it's not."

Before the discussion could turn into a fight, Superman interjected peacefully. "All right, that's enough. I say it should be none of our business who Nightwing gets engaged to. It's a gross violation of his privacy and it's not fair to him."

Nightwing smiled at his uncle Clark's words. He could always count on him.

"Any other comments?" the Man of Steel continued, turning to the other members of the League.

"How long have you been together?" asked Zatanna looking at the former Boy Wonder.

The first Robin frowned. He had known Zatanna since he was fourteen since she was one of the last additions to Young Justice.

He knew the sorceress had had a (unrequited) crush on him for years. He could clearly see in her eyes a hint of anger but mostly jealousy.

"It's not important." replied the 19 year old looking her in the eye, silently daring her to say otherwise. "Rather," he turned to John and pointed to the room. "all this was unnecessary. You are merely exaggerating, as you usually do." he stated bluntly, crossing his arms.

The aforementioned Green Lantern scowled. "I'm not overreacting. I'm just taking precautions about your criminal girlfriend-"

"Ex criminal!"

"-as a good member of a superhero team would." the older man continued, ignoring the interruption.

"A good member would not have called an emergency meeting just to talk about my love life. He would have talked to me alone, without involving anyone else." stated Nightwing coldly.

"Nightwing is right, none of this was necessary." Wonder Woman intervened.

"You're only saying that because you're Nightwing's mother figure." John retorted.

Diana gritted her teeth, staring at him hard. "Are you questioning my ability to keep my emotions out? Because you should know very well that my thinking has nothing to do with my maternal instincts about Nightwing." she asserted through gritted teeth.

The former Marine raised his hands in a sign of peace. "I'm just saying that your emotions may be clouding your judgment."

The Amazon was about to retort but one look at her son was enough to silence her.

Not worth the effort.

The woman understood the message the 19 year old was conveying to her.

"Personally, I agree with Green Lantern." Plastic Man affirmed. At the grim look of the Princess of Themyscira on him, he explained himself further "I mean, who's to say that Catwoman is not actually a criminal anymore?"

"She stopped stealing weeks ago. She hasn't carried out any kind of theft." Nightwing replied.

"Okay, but have you calculated that there is a possibility that Catwoman has stopped stealing just to convince you of that and in the meantime is exploiting your relationship to access the information of every member of the League and sell it back to someone else to weaken us?" reasoned Plastic Man lazily, distractedly craning his neck.

"Exactly my point. I couldn't have explained it better." John nodded in agreement with him.

Nightwing clenched his fists. How dare they say that about Catwoman?

"I'd like to ask you a question John." Hawkgirl began. "I assume that at the end of the debate there will be a show of hands vote, right?" he nodded. "Let's say in case the vote in your favor prevails, what will be your precautions?" she mimicked the quotation marks at the last term.

"Simple, we will put Catwoman in a holding cell here at the Watchtower until we find evidence either against or for her. In the search for that evidence we will temporarily suspend Nightwing from the Justice League."

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T RESTRAIN CATWOMAN IN A CELL!" shouted Nightwing as he got up from his chair. He didn't care if he was temporarily suspended but he sure as hell wasn't going to approve of his girlfriend being imprisoned. Not over his dead body.

"It would only be temporary." John tried to calm him down by putting his hands in front of him in an attempt at comfort.

He achieved the opposite effect.

"Knowing you, you'd prolong the search for years and in that time my fiancée would remain in prison." Nightwing declared coldly as he sat back down.

Stewart's face turned red with anger. "I wouldn't!" he denied indignantly.

"Maybe I could get inside her mind to see if her emotions toward Nightwing are real or if she actually has an ulterior motive." volunteered Martian Manhunter.

The Bludhaven vigilante shook his head. "As much as I would like to do that so this story would end once and for all, I will not allow it. It would be a great violation of her privacy. Besides, I trust her and I certainly won't prove it by violating her thoughts. In any case, thank you for the offer."

The Martian nodded. "Understandable."

Hawkman sneered. "What? Worried that you might find out that your little girlfriend doesn't love you and is just exploiting you?"

Nightwing growled dangerously. "Shut the hell up, bird head! No offense, aunt." he added quickly to Shayera who smiled at him, not at all upset.

Hawkman gripped his mace. "You want to say that again, kid?"

In less than a second (which is inhuman but normal for Nightwing) the former Robin picked up and threw a wing-ding at the Thanagarian, disarming him and inflicting damage to his hand. "You want to challenge me?" he hissed menacingly in an emotionless voice that gave every member of the League (except Batman) chills.

Carter took his injured hand and looked at Nightwing with a mixture of fear and anger.

Hawkgirl smiled amused and satisfied.

It was about time someone inflicted a hard lesson on that idiot Carter.

"Nightwing, calm down." ordered Batman in a firm and authoritative voice.

The hero snorted but did as his father said.

Flash whistled impressed. "Nice move, 'Wing."

Green Arrow nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.

The boy smiled at his uncles in response.

"Um, after this, uh, inconvenience." Superman began uncertainly and slightly amused by the Dark Knight's first protege. "does anyone else want to say anything before we move to a vote?"

"In my opinion, we're going too far on this issue. I mean, we're talking about Nightwing, Batman's first partner. If anyone should figure out whether Catwoman is lying to him or not, it would be him." commented Arsenal who was secretly clenching his fists furiously at the way John was treating his best friend.

"Arsenal is right. This is a damn waste of time!" growled Donna protectively at her best friend, her Wonder Twin.

Nightwing smiled to himself at his best friends' comments. He could never doubt them.

"I agree with them. I mean, this whole thing is complete bullshit and a waste of time. It's none of our business who Nightwing gets engaged to, rather, we should be happy for him." firmly declared the other Green Lantern present, Hal Jordan. "I have more important things to do."

"Like what? Playing some new space video game?" teased Green Arrow.

"Yes." he replied impassively.

"Ehy! You didn't invite me and 'Wing!" indignantly snapped Flash.

"In fact!" the Bludhaven hero crossed his arms, looking at his Uncle Hal with half-closed eyes.

"I want to first play it in preview then I'll invite you!" the Green Lantern defended himself.

The three League members received bat-glares as a warning. Nightwing smiled cheekily at Batman. "What, three good friends can't spend time together?"

The bat-glare increased a notch in intensity and the first Robin raised his hands with a playful smile, surrendering, even though everyone knew he was not at all affected by Batman's stares

The hero of Metropolis chuckled briefly but before he could say anything John interrupted him. "All right...back to the main topic. Anyone else want to add anything?" silence. "Well, we can vote, All those who think that action should be taken against Catwoman, raise your hands."

John Stewart, Zatanna, Plastic Man and Hawkman raised their hands.

Nightwing did not hide his smirk. Most people felt the same way.

John was visibly surprised by the vote and turned to Batman. "You didn't vote."

Batman raised an eyebrow under his cowl. "I noticed that." he replied dryly.

His son managed to hold back a giggle.

"You really think Catwoman won't be a problem for the League?"

The Caped Crusader gave him a dirty look. "Don't be an idiot, Stewart. You've really gone too far with this meeting. You're lucky I didn't get out of my chair to punch you in the face for the way you treated my son." he growled.

Before Batman could beat John to death Wonder Woman clapped her hands, getting attention from everyone. "Well, since the meeting is over, we can go."

Everyone got up and some headed for the zeta tube, while others headed for the main room to talk among themselves.

Nightwing was chatting with Hal Jordan, Flash, and Green Arrow when he saw Batman hiding in the darkness in the corner of the room. He greeted his three uncles and walked toward him.

"Batman."

"Nightwing."

A few seconds of silence passed. "So you really changed your mind about Catwoman?"

His father nodded, "Yes. Your siblings talked some sense into me." Dick smiled at the mention of his siblings. "And I'd like to apologize." he began by removing his cowl, becoming Bruce Wayne.

Nightwing did not know what had upset him most: the fact that the Dark Knight had taken off his hood in the Watchtower (rarer than a solar eclipse) or that he had apologized.

Bruce has always apologized.

Batman never (at most he apologized with a grunt).

The firstborn looked at him, urging him to continue. "I'm sorry for everything I said about Catwoman. I should have trusted you from the start."

Nightwing smiled and took off his mask, becoming Dick Grayson. "I have to apologize too. For what I said to you. You didn't deserve it. You are not like Ra's al Ghul, not even close. You are..." he swallowed hard before continuing to speak. "You are the best father a boy could want."

Bruce, for the first time in his life, was speechless. He looked at his son who had looked away.

He knew what he was thinking.

He was not regretting what he said but rather he felt like he had betrayed John Grayson.

You are the best father a boy could wish for.

This phrase echoed in his mind over and over and over again.

It warmed his heart, coming from the person who was seen as a light to him chasing away the darkness of Batman.

Bruce pulled his son into a big hug. He felt him reciprocate immediately.

The embrace lasted for a minute or so before they broke away. They both donned the cowl/mask.

Dick understood the message of that affectionate gesture.

You didn't betray him. Don't worry; my son.

"Thanks, dad." whispered Nightwing. Batman grunted in assent, causing his son to laugh. " Geez, you know how to ruin a moment full of sentimentality."

His father's lips lifted a few inches "So we're okay?" he asked in his emotionless voice.

Dick nodded and they both approached the zeta beam. They were the last to leave.

"Ah, I'd also like to apologize for your arm." said Nightwing embarrassed but Batman stopped him.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, good grip." he smiled briefly at him before the light hit him.

Recognized: Batman 02

Nightwing shook his head with a small smile on his face.

Recognized: Nightwing B-01

As soon as Dick stepped into the Nightcave and removed his mask, Selina jumped on him. Instinctively he supported her by the butt and she wrapped her legs around his torso and kissed him deeply.

Dick opened his eyes wide in surprise but slowly closed them again, enjoying the heavenly feeling. His legs were turning to jelly from the intensity of the kiss.

Only she could make him weak with even a smile.

Selina slipped her tongue into his mouth, savoring every inch before colliding with her boyfriend's.

It seemed like years had passed but in reality it was only minutes. They pulled away slowly, with Dick supporting his girlfriend. He had his eyes closed, still stunned from the kiss.

Selina smiled proudly. She was more than happy knowing that the reason for his daze was because of her.

And that only she and no other woman could realize it.

Richard slowly opened his eyes and Selina had to remember how to breathe as soon as she saw the blue eyes she had fallen deeply in love with slightly clouded, hazy; still stunned from the kiss.

She could read some emotions behind them.

Happiness.

Bliss.

Lust.

And the most important of all: love.

Dick smiled at her with his typical smile. Not with a smirk, not with a fake smile reserved for Brucie's wealthy "friends"; but with the sweet, love-filled smile that always made her heart beat faster and that able to take her breath away.

And Selina was glad that her smiles also had the same effects on Dick.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but is there any particular reason for this beautiful reception?" asked Richard as he looked lovingly at her.

The 21 year old, who was still supported by her boyfriend and still had her legs wrapped around his waist (nothing to complain about), returned the joy-filled smile. "There are two reasons: the first is because I love you." she began, giving him a gentle and light kiss on the nose making him giggle. "And the second, I saw the meeting."

Dick opened his eyes slightly wide. "How-"

"I managed just in time to hack the Justice League just before the meeting started. Thank you for standing up for me and always believing in me." she thanked him warmly.

He smiled sweetly at her and kissed her on the forehead. "I will always be there for you, never forget that." he declared as he sank his face into her soft black hair.

Selina smiled before snuggling even more into her boyfriend, loving the warmth he radiated.

And so the two lovers remained in this position for minutes, one in each other's arms.

Just as it should be.