Taking place in Part Three, Chapter Thirty-Five: 'Happy', during Dick's errands.

Dick shuffled his heavy boots a bit on the concrete. He'd already gotten most of the groceries, and he'd run through the rest of the things on his list. All that was left was one thing.

A ring.

"Hey you!" he looked up in surprise to see Selina walk towards him, a hop in her step. Barbara trailed behind her.

"Oh. Hey, Selina," Dick broke into a smile, but it faltered when he saw Barbara. She blushed and looked down, tucking her hair behind her ear with a smile. Selina slapped her hand.

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what!?" She cried, and Dick laughed.

"Doing that thing. Both of you. That's going to piss Harley off someday," she warned. Dick laughed a bit awkwardly. Selina smiled. "So you needed my expertise, I hear," she elbowed him. He laughed.

"Yeah," Dick looked up at the jewelry store sign behind him. Selina beamed.

"Well I may not be able to hack into the Batcomputer, but I do know diamonds, boy," she kissed his cheek and then walked into the store. Dick held the door open for Barbara, and they went inside. "Ivy should be meeting us here…" Selina trailed off at the sight of Jason. He was leaning against a glass counter of diamond bracelets popping pieces of popcorn in his mouth from a large bag as the girl behind the counter watched him with distaste.

"Sorry," Jason smirked, "she had a thing at work -something about Amazon plants I guess- but I decided this would be fun."

"What? Jason, you're- Why would you think- Why are you here?" Dick stuttered, blushing hard, his cheeks going redder.

"For the sheer joy of your embarrassment." He tossed another piece into his mouth.

"That's kinda shitty, Jason," Barbara crossed her arms. Selina waved a hand.

"That's okay because he's lying," she grinned and sauntered over to Jason, pinching a cheek and ruffling his short hair. "He's here because his big brother is taking a big step, and he's lying if he says he doesn't want to help or be a part of it."

"Right. He's probably just trying to nose his way into best man," Barbara laughed and elbowed Dick. "And we both know that's gonna be me."

Dick laughed merrily, putting his hands into his pockets.

"In reality, both of you are wrong, and I'm here because it's really going to piss Damian off." Jason grinned.

"Why would Dam be mad?" Dick asked casually, walking past Jason. He kicked his shoe out from under him, making him lose his balance a bit. "I asked him to come. He said no. Don't act like you don't want to help me, Little Bro. Come on, Robin," he laughed, and then smiled at the woman at the counter. "Um, hello," he cleared his throat a bit.

"Don't worry," Jason told the lady, "he's delusional. We're here to humor him. He also thinks he'll marry Harley Quinn," he whispered. "Crazy right?"

The woman looked between them with a disturbed smile plastered unsurely on her face.

"He's kidding," Dick assured her quickly. "But I'll be the one you're helping today, Ma'am." He nodded politely, pushing some of his dark hair away from his face.

"Actually, you two will probably do most of the talking," Jason pointed between the lady and Selina.

"I'm not an expert, yeah," Dick laughed. Selina beamed at the woman at the counter.

"I am, of course," she giggled.

"But maybe take anything she says and tone it down a notch," Barbara suggested.

"I… are all of you one… I mean, of course," the woman smiled awkwardly. "I'm just going to get my manager to help you, he'll most likely know more, um… Dave?" She called to a man across the room, and he looked up in response to her voice.

"Of course. How may I help?" Dave asked, crisply dressed in a light gray suit.

"I… I may be looking for a ring," Dick shrugged. Barbara crossed her arms.

"Wow. Incredibly intelligently worded, Dick."

"Oh my," the man frowned, looking at Barbara distastefully.

"No, that's my name," Dick laughed. "Dick Grayson. I'm looking for an engagement ring."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, Sir." Dave smiled. "We have a wide selection of rings, if you'd just follow me."

Selina and Dick looked at each other and followed him across the room. Barbara blew a strand of hair away from her face before looking at Jason with her arms crossed.

"Why are you here?" she asked quietly.

"Ivy wants details." He shrugged. "And I've been ordered to make sure Selina doesn't go too ostentatious. Besides, someone has to distract the buffoon, so he doesn't freak out." He walked over to them. "So what are we thinking? I swear to God, if you say pink, I'm leaving."

"I don't know, actually." Dick bit his lip. "Wait, if I say pink, you'll leave? This one has a pink band, and it's kind of nice," he pointed out with a smirk.

"Everyone raise your hand who thinks she'd want a pink ring!" Jason looked around. "Anyone?"

"Ugh! Why are you even here, Jay? I don't know what I want. I don't know what she'd want." He crossed his arms, his cheeks going pink again. Selina put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright," she assured him. "Let's just keep looking."

"Yes. We'll start with a price range," Dave smiled patiently.

"How much I want to spend on her doesn't have a cap," he shrugged.

"Yeah, he wants to spend forever," Jason mock gushed, leaning his elbows on the counter and batting his eyes. Barbara slapped the back of his head.

"Come here," she snapped as politely as possible. "Excuse us." Ruffling Jason's hair, she smiled widely and pulled his hair to guide him away.

"Don't harass him, Jason, come on!" She whined in a whisper. Barbara crossed her arms.

"What?!" Jason put his hands up in surrender. "That's something he'd say, right?"

"Yeah, he might, but he's open with his emotions. Better than having none at all," she glared at him through her glasses. "You don't need to be here, but since you are, you don't need to be such an ass." Barbara raised one eyebrow at him. She seemed touchier than usual. Something was bothering her, and it wasn't Jason.

"What's the matter with you, miss sunshine?" He crossed his arms. "Afraid he's going to get her a nicer ring than he got you?"

"No. But why do you think I was invited?" She looked at Jason pointedly, her voice lowered. "Selina knows jewelry. She's the only one of any use here. I know how Dick thinks." Barbara looked at him, then down at the floor. "I'm here because, whatever he did to screw up our relationship, he doesn't want to do again. And that's fine. I get that, and he and Harley seem to be good together. It just hurts, y'know? It still stings."

"And I'm here because all of you are idiots." Jason shrugged. "Major idiots." He went back over to the group. "So," he grinned, "any decisions?"

"I don't know," Dick whined. "Nothing... Speaks to me."

"Well they're not alive, Dick. Try using your eyes instead of your ears." Selina smacked Jason on the back of the head and he cried out. "Will you people stop doing that?!"

"Calm down," Barbara smacked him with a smile and then looked over Dick's shoulder. "Well that one is pretty," she pointed at a silver setting with small sapphires and a diamond. Dick cocked his head. "It's too high. Too big..." He frowned.

"God, this is going to take forever," Jason whined. He turned to the man behind the counter. "Hey, Dave was it? Do you have anything red and black. That would save so much time."

"Just because she's-"

"-No red and black, that might be nice," Dick interrupted Barbara.

"We don't have anything in red and black, but we do have several customizable settings," Dave walked around the counter to lead Dick to a display. "These eight are the settings, any cut, any gemstone." Dick examined them. Selina smiled.

"If you're looking at a low setting you can pick from these four," she pointed, and Dick nodded.

"Now who's the helpful one?" Jason whispered to Barbara.

"Oh please," Barbara hissed. "Selina is still the only one." Dick smiled, leaning down on the counter. Behind him, Barbara and Jason cocked their heads a bit. Barbara elbowed Jason with a smirk. "You don't have those assets," she muttered and snorted.

"Perfect," Dick smiled. "I really do like this setting."

"Finally we're getting somewhere!" Jason cheered. "And Selina, keep Barbara over by you."

"What? Why?" Selina looked up at Jason confusedly.

"Because... So Dick," Jason changed the subject, "when are you gonna pop the question?"

"I don't know. I mean she's turned me down so many times..." Dick bit his lip. "'Maybe this isn't a good idea. She didn't like it before."

"Yeah she only left her last guy, died, saved the world, and is pregnant with your child. She totally doesn't like you."

"No I mean she didn't like it when I proposed before. Maybe Bruce is right..."

"Oh you boys," Selina shook her head. "He's practically trained you to think that. I hate to break it to you, but Bruce is wrong a lot. And this doesn't concern him. If he wants to mother hen you, fine, but this is your choice, Dick. Not his. It's not his place, even as your father, to tell you whether you're ready for this or not. Only you know."

"I know, but..."

"You'll be fine," Barbara said quietly. Dick looked at her, and she smiled reassuringly. Jason was counting on his fingers behind them.

"How long have you two been together?" He paused. "Do we count the time she was dead? What... like two months? Dang. I've been in a relationship with the same bottle of vodka longer than you two have been together... Okay that was a lie, but..."

"I know," Dick said, suddenly unsure again. He looked down at the small custom ring in his hand. "That is true..." Barbara punched Jason in the side with a glare.

"Say something," she hissed almost inaudibly. "He'll listen to you, he already is. Stop tearing him down, damn it, he's your brother." Jason glared at her.

"But I did get to see her sometimes when I visited Ivy, and she missed you a lot. No way she doesn't want to marry you." He punched Dick lightly in the arm. 'Happy?' he mouthed to Barbara. She glared at him as Dick shrugged and put the ring back down on the counter.

"I can't."

Jason groaned. "Don't you dare blame me for this," he warned Barbara. "Like I said, all of you, major idiots." He gestured to all of them. "For starters, don't bring your ex fiancee with you ring shopping. I don't care if she's your best friend. Also, you ever think how this makes Selina feel? Huh? She's been with Bruce since the dinosaurs, and you're here having her pick out a ring not for her. And you guys call me the jerk. Also, Harley loves you, and you obviously love her, you useless excuse for a Robin. When exactly have you asked her to marry you? She'd mentioned nothing to me about it a week ago, so I can only assume it was recently, and let's face it, no good proposal could have happened in that time. So. Let's all just take a deep breath, realize we almost all died only a little while ago, and stop being morons. Am I right or am I right Dave?"

"I... You weren't joking about marrying Harley Quinn...?" Dave stuttered, and Dick frowned.

"Well now that you've made me feel like total shit, Jason, it's all clear. I'm being too selfish. I don't need to worry about this right now," he snapped petulantly.

"God!" Jason cried in frustration. "You don't get it do you? I'm not going to baby you like they will." He gestured to Selina and Barbara. "You're my older brother for Pete's sake. Do you need me to spell it out for you? You like her. She likes you. You proposed like an ass. She said no. I want you to do this right. You're being an ass. Stop being an ass." He picked up the ring and put it back in Dick's hand. "You don't realize that she's not yours alone anymore; she's part of the family now. In fact, I kind of like her more than you right now. So stop fucking it up, or I'll have Ivy come down here." He picked his bag of popcorn back up and glared at all of them. Dick smiled a little.

"Jay... Thanks." He looked at the ring in his hand. "I do like this one."

"And you do like her," Jason added, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

"No, I'm pretty certain that I love her," Dick smiled at the glittering ring. "And pretty certain that she'll love this."

"Good. Finally." Jason mutter through a mouthful of popcorn before swallowing. "Now Selina can talk shop about the three Ks-"

"-Cs-"

"-or whatever letter it is and the red and black diamond things-"

"-Rubies and... oh, never mind," Selina sighed.

"I'll just get out of here and do something fun and useful with my time."

"Rubies, yeah. I think this will be perfect." Dick smiled at the ring. "Just perfect."