A/N Exactly a week later...

Also, thank you so much to the guests who have left reviews! I can't PM my thanks to you guys, but I love hearing from you all!

This chapter is a follow up from last week's... I apologize for how short it is, but next week's chapter should make up for the length.

Please enjoy!

XxX

"So Jason just let you take Ace with us?" Barbara asked, raising an eyebrow. The German Shepherd trotted alongside Dick.

"It took a little bit of bribing," Dick answered, "but he came around." He grinned at her knowingly, Ace's leash firmly in hand.

"Right." Barbara rolled her eyes, but smiled along with him, and tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

They were strolling along one of the many paved walkways in the Martha Wayne Memorial Park mind-morning. There weren't very many people out at this time, a few joggers, even a girl on roller skates and an elderly couple feeding the ducks.

"Hey, I can be persuasive when I want to be!" Dick protested.

"Mm-hmm. How'd you convince him this time?"

Dick laughed. "I may have had to agree to take his turn washing the cars."

"Dick!" Barbara shook her head, amused.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Dick asked. "Aren't you happy we have Ace?"

"I'm always happy we have Ace," Barbara snorted and knelt down to rub the dog between his ears. "Who wouldn't be?"

Dick sat on the grass next to her. "Fair point, but I'm pretty sure Catwoman might have something to say about that."

Ace rested his head in Barbara's lap and she ran her fingers through his fur. "True," Barbara acknowledged. "But we know better don't we?" she asked, addressing Ace.

Dick shook his head, amused. "Somebody's gonna think you're crazy one of these days, Babs."

Barbara raised an eyebrow playfully. "You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?"

"You suggesting I have blackmail material right now?"

"A lot of people talk to dogs!" Barbara laughed. "And do I need to remind you that blackmail is illegal and that you're talking to the daughter of the police commissioner? I could testify against you, you know."

Dick chuckled and tossed a blade of grass at her. "Relax. Jason's more of a blackmailer than I am." He glanced at her. "Did I ever tell you I caught him talking to a squirrel?"

"No!" Barbara gasped, trying unsuccessfully to stifle her sudden outburst of giggles. "I think I would have remembered that!"

"He was trying to help it." Dick tilted his head back, smiling fondly at the memory. "Then it got loose in the Manor, but that was partially my fault."

Barbara leaned forward. "Okay, this I need to hear."

"All I did was hold the door open. I didn't think he had a squirrel in there."

"And so it got loose," Barbara finished for him. "Alfred was probably thrilled."

"Actually, it was Bruce who found us out." He paused. "Though it turned out that Alfred already knew about it. Sometimes I wonder which one of them is actually… you know." He doesn't say the name, despite the fact that there was no one else close enough to hear. Family protocol. He grinned anyway.

"Not surprising," Barbara observed. "Alfred raised him, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Dick frowned, catching sight of Barbara's arm. "Babs… your arm… you didn't tell me."

"Dick!" Barbara protested as Dick took her arm gently. The scratches left there a few days ago were already healed for the most part, having not been all that serious, but they were still present. That didn't mean she wanted attention drawn to them though!

Dick scowled at the marks. "You didn't tell me one of them had hurt you."

Barbara carefully withdrew her arm, resting it across Ace's neck. "It's fine now, Dick," she told him.

"And what if they'd really hurt you, Babs?" Dick asked unhappily, looking grim. "What if it had been more than just a scratch?"

"They didn't and it wasn't," Barbara said firmly. She reached out, her fingers brushing against his. "I can take care of myself, remember?"

"Yeah." Dick smiled gently and gave her hand a squeeze, before letting go. "Pity the poor thug who thinks he can take on Batgirl."

Barbara smiled in return and chose not to comment on the fact that he had just broken protocol.

After all, who was there to hear but them?