Barbara opened her eyes.
She stared up at the ceiling of her room at Wayne Manor for a moment as she tried to remember how she had gotten there. She had a flash of memory of Zatanna with glowing eyes and a string of backwards words tumbling from her lips. And then, nothing.
She looked around. She was alone. All was quiet. And the slow burn she had gotten used to the past few mornings⦠was gone.
She held her breath and took inventory of her body. No tingling. No aching. No surge of desire. She felt more tired than anything else. She had just woke and couldn't remember a time where she desired a nap more than now.
Maybe there was something about the psychology of moments of survival. When you're compelled to do something because you feel you have no other choice, the social implications become secondary. When the compulsion has ended, the social implications come to the forefront. The result being embarrassment.
She thought it logical that there was probably a name for that feeling, but she hadn't read anything in her psychology textbook about it yet. Maybe that would be her next research project.
She laughed at how her mind went straight to her studies. As if there weren't more pressing matters at the moment. Like seeing where she stood with Bruce.
She found him in the cave, as always, tinkering with his gadgets and making minute changes that no one but him would even notice.
"You're awake."
She stopped short and tilted her head slightly. "Was I not supposed to be?"
Bruce looked up at her briefly before tossing a tool into a pile in the middle of his workspace and choosing another. "I wasn't sure how long you'd be out. It's been nearly 36 hours."
"I guess that explains why I'm hungry," she muttered toward the floor.
"You haven't eaten yet?"
She shrugged, certain he'd seen the gesture from his peripheral vision. "I didn't think about it. Kinda figured I should probably come down here first."
He sighed and yanked open a drawer from under his work station. A moment later, an object was flying toward her head, and she caught it mostly out of instinct.
A short puff of air passed through her nose as she realized what it was. A granola bar. He had similar things stashed away all over the cave. Little packets of emergency carbs. Something he picked up from Flash.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she tore open the package and bit off a corner.
"How are you feeling otherwise?" He had already returned to his work.
She shrugged again. "Fine, I guess." She swallowed. "Not like I did before, at least."
He paused. "So... it's passed?"
She sighed. "Yeah. Seems so."
"That's..." he continued his work. "Good news."
She bit her lip and glanced around the cave. She was used to him being mostly silent. But it was never awkward. This was awkward.
"We're okay, right?" The words burst from her lips before she could stop them.
His eyes finally moved up to meet hers. The first thing she noticed was the shock.
"Are we?" he repeated back. "It could be said I took advantage of you." He swallowed. "It has been."
She coughed in surprise. "Really?" His eyes remained grave. She laughed at how ridiculous that sounded to her. "I mean, I know I wasn't exactly myself, but I'm pretty sure I was the one that came to you."
He looked away. "I could have said 'no'."
"Would you have?" her voice became tiny. "Do you wish you would have?"
He sighed and braced himself against his work table. "It's not something I should have enjoyed. You were in need... and I... I wasn't..." The words didn't come.
The corner of her mouth twitched, and she had to bite her lips to stop it from forming into a full blown smile. "You enjoyed it?"
He pulled his hand roughly down over his face. "Do you really need to ask that?"
She shrugged and cast her eyes down to the ground, a smile flitting across her lips. "I'm flattered."
When his hands touched hers, she looked up. He had silently moved across the space (because of course he wouldn't make a noise) and stood in front of her with a calmer look on his face. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry any of this made you uncomfortable." He swallowed. "And I'm sorry there was... an element... of it that I enjoyed."
"I kind of liked it, too," she smirked up at him.
"Kind of?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. We could compare notes to see if we both liked the same parts."
"We could do that." He held the side of her face as he leaned down to kiss her lips.
"I knew it."
Bruce and Barbara quickly pulled apart to stare toward the cave entrance from the manor. On the stairs stood Tim, his mouth agape in shock. Next to him was the source of the exclamation: Garfield Logan. With a huge grin on his face.
"I told you there was something up with them."
The green boy elbowed his friend, who swayed with the force of the nudge, but made no noise despite his mouth moving with his thoughts.
