"No, I don't have the location up yet and if you don't….I what? Oh, right…'cause that will get you completely off the…well no I don't have any idea…what? Ok…ok, hold on." Barbara swiveled around to type in a few commands and … "gaah! Do you have to do that?"
"Of course." Nightwing dropped easily into a chair that had been left in the room from the last time he'd been by.
"Aren't you supposed to be in Blϋdhaven? I swear, you spend more time here than…"
"What, aren't you glad to see me?" He gave her a puppy-dog look. Despite herself, she laughed. He grinned at her and she shook her head.
"Of course I'm glad to see you. I'm just…what? Oh, sorry. No, it's…yeah. Heh. No…you sure? Makes sense." Nightwing shook his head as she turned her attention back to her headset. "Oh! Haha, yeah, ok. See ya when you get back." She pulled the set off her head and turned back to him. "Sorry, Dinah was lost in Panama."
"Cool." She raised an eyebrow at the short answer.
"As I was about to say…whatever happened to 'your own city' and not wanting to live 'under His shadow'? I mean, I thought…" Nightwing sighed and removed his mask.
"Yeah, well…y'know…" he broke off, rubbing his hand over his face. Babs frowned at him, concerned.
"Dick, are you ok? You look…"the word great popped into her head, though that was normal. But also… "a little, um, tense." And he did. The normal buoyancy she usually associated with him was gone…a harder, more ragged edge had taken up residence.
"I'm fine." But he didn't even sound convinced of that himself.
"Dick…." Her voice held a warning tone.
"Ok, ok. It's just, Blockbuster, y'know. He's been…well, he's really getting….he…I dunno." But Babs knew. She hadn't seen him in awhile, but she kept tabs on all her "people". Blockbuster had been trying to destroy bits and pieces of Nightwing's life…and sometimes succeeding. He had caused a fire at Haley's Circus, managed to blow up the storage building where Nightwing's equipment was kept…it was obvious the man knew entirely too much about the man behind Nightwing's mask. And in typical Bat fashion, Dick had refused to ask for help, accept help, or even acknowledge that he may need help! All this had happened since Dick had been in town a month ago to try to help take down Joker on his latest rampage. Babs had a feeling it was only a matter of time before Blockbuster struck in such a way that could destroy Dick…physically, mentally, or both.
"Dick, why don't you let…"
"No!" He sat back, forcing a relaxed tone to his voice. "No, Babs. It's fine. And don't forget what happened last time you messed with Roland. We don't need him going after you too!" She glared at him, but couldn't really come up with a good retort. He had a point. She had managed to hold her own against Blockbuster and his goons for awhile, but in the end, she'd had to be rescued…an experience she wasn't in a hurry to repeat.
"I still think that you should…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Babs sighed and wheeled towards him.
"Dick?"
"Uh…..yeah?" His eyes sort of crossed as she walked her fingers across one of his knees.
"Promise me you'll call for backup if things get out of hand."
"I…whoa, what?" He stood up, pacing restlessly. "What is this? You don't think I can…I can't believe you would…arguh!" She wheeled towards him, needing to catch him before he decided to take off.
"Dick...Dick….Richard Grayson, sit down this instant!" Apparently her Alfred impression was up to par, because he sat. "I am not disparaging your fighting abilities, or your intelligence, or anything else! I'm just trying to make sure you don't get so caught up in something that you forget you're not in this alone. Just…ask for help if you need it. Don't let your pride get in the way. That's all I'm asking." He considered her words, rather enjoying her impassioned outburst.
"Ok, ok. I promise." He reached towards her, and she batted his hand away.
"I have work to do!"
"Tell Dinah to take the night off." He flashed her a wicked grin, the twinkle back in his eye.
"I am not going to do any such thing!" She tried to look stern, but failed, her resolve faltering. She cleared her throat and tried again. "If you want to play, you'll have to wait. I have stuff to do!"
"But…"
"No buts. Go burn off some steam out there or something." She waved absently towards the window. "Come to think of it, I'm sure you haven't tormented either of the 'kids' lately…have you?" He sighed as if the world was coming to an end, then grinned.
"Why, Miss Gordon, that is an excellent suggestion!" He replaced his mask and in one fluid move was back at the window. "See you in an hour?" He tumbled backwards before she could reply, but she yelled after him anyways.
"Two! I won't be…oh, never mind." She shook her head fondly, but soon put him out of her head as she resumed her research.
A dark shadow slid through the night, easing through the blackness like a shark through deep waters…like a panther stalking its prey…like a…
"You are so weird."
"Eep!" Robin would have sworn he jumped a mile rather than simply starting at the sound of her voice. He was quite grateful for the darkness that hid the deep red hue he was sure was quickly covering his face. "Do you have to do that?" he asked peevishly.
"Was funny." Batgirl shrugged. "You were being…"
"Ok, ok…I know. 'Weird'". Well, he couldn't help it, really. His first night out in over a month had ended up with him being shot and kept off the streets for another two weeks! Six weeks was more than enough time to go stir crazy, and so if he was in high spirits…acting a little "weird"…well, so be it. At least he was free! He grinned at Batgirl, not really caring at the moment if she thought he was crazy, ill, or just plain nuts. She shook her head.
"We-eird." He just laughed. She turned to look out over the city. "You find someone to hunt?" He glanced over at her quizzically, not sure what she was talking about.
"Huh?"
"You were…hunting…stalking…being weird…" he laughed, "like you saw someone or something to go after." He straightened and looked around, remembering his "prey".
"I wasn't being weird. I was just…"
"Happy?" He peeked back at her. Of course he knew she could read body language…but sometimes it still freaked him out when she did so.
"Yeah…happy." And he was. He was back out at night as Robin, he had managed to go five minutes without being shot, and…and he had squeezed in a conversation with his dad without either of them managing to kill the other! Of course, it had been a very short conversation…along the lines of:
"Hi."
"Hi."
"So…how was your day?"
"Fine. Yours?"
"Same."
"Ok."
"Ok."
But…it was a start. A small one, but still…apparently his thought process was taking too long, as Batgirl shifted a bit and nudged him with her elbow. Her very sharp elbow.
"Ow. What?"
"Wake up."
"I am awake…I…" he sighed, realizing she was just teasing him. "Sorry. You asked a question?" She cocked her head to the side, studying him for a moment.
"Yeah. You were going after someone. But now they are gone, I'm sure." There was a hint of accusation in her tone, but just a tiny hint…as if she would be upset that a potential target got away, but only if there wasn't some bigger problem bothering Robin. He grinned.
"Oh yeah! It wasn't what you're thinking…I was just hoppin' over the rooftops and I saw a familiar face…one that has been rather scarce around here lately. I had thought to catch up with him…give him a bit of a scare…but…well, like you said." She thought about it for a second and he could picture in his mind the look on her face as she worked through the problem…first she'd scowl, just a small one, then her face would clear, becoming expressionless as she wouldn't want anyone to know what she was thinking, and finally she'd smile…and that was the part he wished he could see. Because, as she did with everything else, when Cass smiled she threw her whole being into it, and for just a second he could feel like he could read her thoughts, and they were happy and funny and light and…
"Nightwing!" He blinked. Well…that wasn't exactly what…oh, yeah.
"Hm? Yeah…I thought it was weird for him to be out here…didn't even call to let us know he was coming!" She giggled at his affronted tone. "Since he was heading in the opposite direction from the clock tower, I'd suspect Babs has already seen him…probably too busy right now…so I'd guess he's looking for one of us to bug. So I'd thought to get to him first, and bug him for a change." He grinned and she laughed again.
"You want to…find him?" He glanced at her in surprise and she shook her head. "Why do you keep thinking I don't…have fun? I have fun! I…" he reached out, placing one gloved finger against her mask, cutting off her outburst.
"That's not what I was thinking. I know you have fun…you're very fun…I mean… ahem." She found herself glad her mask hid her face, as she couldn't help grinning at the bright red flush creeping up his face. "I was just…I thought maybe you'd rather get to work…I mean I hadn't thought you'd want to play pranks while on…I mean." She couldn't help it. She laughed…loudly and with great delight.
"You're silly." He pulled back, offended.
"Well I didn't…" She grabbed his arm, pulling him into a darker patch of shadow.
"Shh!" He fell silent instantly, relying on years of training and instinct to determine what the danger was and where it was coming from. One shadow detached itself from the others, easing forward, seeking to discover to where they had disappeared. As the figure slid into the light, Robin tensed. Why that little…
"Gotcha!" Batgirl sprang from the shadows completely catching her target off guard. He thrust up one arm to ward off her attack, trying to drop into a sweeping kick stance. But she was better…of course. She knocked him down, cuffed him, and sat on him…grinning back triumphantly, though he wouldn't be able to tell through her cowl, at Robin who'd emerged from their hiding place to watch and was leaning casually against a wall, arms folded across his chest.
"I would say nice work…but as I wouldn't want to distract you from the scary villain…" she looked back down at her captive and shrugged.
"Not scary. Rather…puny. We should…throw him back?" This startled a laugh out of Robin...he wondered where she'd been exposed to fishing concepts…and he strode forward to examine her "catch".
"I don't know…maybe tossing him in the river would be too good for him. I know! We could publish pictures of him in compromising situations with…um…lessee…Poison Ivy, maybe….or, ooh! Tarantula, or Huntress, or…" Batgirl was laughing too hard to keep a good hold on her captive and he managed to knock her over and rise.
"Very funny. Very funny." Nightwing made a show of dusting himself off.
"What?" Robin grinned at him innocently. "You woulda done the same to us, I'm sure!"
"I wouldn't have threatened you with potentially life-threatening retribution!"
"Life-threatening?" Batgirl cocked her head. Nightwing leveled a look at Robin, which he could plainly interpret, and he felt his face heat up again. Well…it wasn't as if he and Cass were…
"Let's just say…when one's dating an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-controlling being…it's best not to upset them overly much with rumors and innuendo." He grinned, though, letting them know he forgave them their prank…that, or simply anticipating revenge.
"So…slow night?" Robin tilted his head in the general direction of the clock tower with a smirk, letting Nightwing know that he knew exactly what brought his "big brother" to town. Nightwing shrugged.
"Well, you know how it is…forget to bring flowers and you're in the dog house." He heaved an exaggerated sigh. Batgirl shook her head and gave him a shove.
"You're silly." She looked between the two of them, examining them. "You're silly, and he's weird…and I am leaving. You patrol…have fun…" she shook her head at them in mock, or so Robin hoped, disgust and leapt off the building. Nightwing laughed and clapped Robin on the back.
"Someone's been spending too much time with Oracle, I think." Robin looked at him quizzically, so he elaborated. "She's learning the art of true womanhood, Bro…completely baffling the members of the opposite sex!"
To Be Continued
