For Appearance's Sake
By Teala373
Chapter 6
In our last chapter: Though they are still haunted by thoughts of Dick Grayson, Bruce and Barbara agree to slowly embark on a relationship. Bruce decides to make an appearance at the office while Barbara continues with case research.
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Veronica Vreeland had been up early, working on her latest charitable foundation when she decided to break for an early lunch. As her car stopped at a red light, she turned to see that she was alongside an Aston Martin with Bruce Wayne in the driver's seat.
"Brucie!" she called out the window, "You haven't accepted any of my dinner invitations. I told Alfred I'd watch out for you while he's off in England."
"Thanks, Ronnie, but Barbara's been taking of me."
Stiffening slightly, Veronica did her best to smile politely. "I'm sure she has, Brucie, dear, but you know I can take so much better care of you than she can."
He smiled slyly. "I don't think you can," the light turned green. "Gotta go, Ronnie; need to get to the office."
Veronica scowled as he sped off. She was not going to lose Gotham's greatest conquest to a lousy orphan adopted by a cop. Good breeding should be matched with good breeding, and Veronica did not consider Barbara Gordon good breeding.
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Most people knew that Bruce Wayne was a good businessman and philanderer, but he was still considered a flaky playboy that preferred pleasure over business. His great business sense and ideas seemed isolated only to his dealings of Wayne Enterprises, when he bothered to be involved. Most saw only his social accomplishments, letting the success of the Wayne empire be attributed to those he had take charge in his place, most notably Lucius Fox.
It was a surprise to everyone but Lucius when Bruce walked into Wayne Towers and ascended to his office. Lucius was no longer fazed or surprised by anything Bruce did anymore. As a matter of fact, Lucius had long since seen passed the façade. He knew that Bruce was smarter than anyone would ever give him credit for, and that he had a higher purpose that called him away.
Lucius wasn't entirely sure what that purpose was, but when Bruce made small talk with him about Barbara Gordon, Lucius could tell that Barbara was part of that higher purpose as well. Barbara was not arm candy, or a conquest, or something used to keep an image in tact. She was someone who also saw through the façade, but unlike Lucius, she knew exactly what lie beneath it.
"Did you have a chance to look over the proposal from Kord, Inc?"
A more serious look took hold of Bruce as he sat behind his desk. "While the proposal seems sound, I would like a meeting with members of Kord to discuss it further."
Lucius smiled knowingly. "Agreed. I will have something set up. I am glad our instincts match on this. I am not completely sold on the integrity of this proposal as well."
Nodding Bruce, removed a folder from his briefcase. "I also found some areas of concern in the R&D division I wanted to discuss with you."
Taking a seat opposite him, Lucius nodded. People could say what they wanted about Bruce Wayne, but he would always know that he truly was as sharp as they came. "Fire away."
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Barbara's research wasn't adding up as neatly as she would have liked. Compiling all of the data, she decided it would be best to take a break and go over her findings with Bruce when he returned.
As she prepared a light snack, she began to daydream. She thought about dressing again in one of Bruce's dress shirts and waiting for him in his room. She knew he would be home before dinnertime and they would have plenty of time before patrol. She knew what he wanted from her, and there was strong desire within her to give in to those feelings.
He had said they could take it slow, and she knew that was for her benefit, for the doubts he had picked up on. Yet, she thought she no longer had those doubts. Dick had moved on without her, and now she would move on without giving him another thought.
Lust and passion are very powerful forces, especially when a heart was filled with loneliness and sorrow. The usual patient and rational mind of Barbara Gordon was now eager and impulsive. As she made her way up to the master bedroom, she began to imagine what it would like to lie in Bruce's bed again, but this time not alone.
She managed to conjure up all kinds of erotic images as she entered the closet. It fueled the cravings within her as she hurried to the section where she remembered the white dress shirts were hanging.
Her body flushed warm as her imagination kept feeding her more and more sensual images. She took a shirt off the hanger just as a particularly wicked thought crossed her mind.
She walked into the bathroom and removed the simple pullover she had on, replacing it with the dress shirt. As she fastened each button, her thoughts continued to run a mile a minute. Suddenly, her daydream changed. As the Bruce in her daydreams lifted his head from her neck to look at her, her mind's eye saw that it wasn't Bruce at all.
The man she had been imagining making love to her was actually Dick Grayson.
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When Bruce returned home, he went straight upstairs to change into more comfortable clothes. He figured Barbara was still working in the cave and he could wait ten minutes before seeing her. As he entered his bedroom, he noted that the light to his bathroom was on. As he neared the door, he saw Barbara sitting on the floor. She was wearing one of his dress shirts again, the material of her short black skirt peeking beneath it.
"Barbara?"
She looked up, but she didn't quite meet his eyes. "I… I wanted to surprise you… I know you said we would take it slow, but I wanted to be with you… but… I'm not ready still…"
He knelt beside her and stroked the side of her face gently. "Hey," he began softly, "it's alright."
"I feel like such an idiot…"
He leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. "I'm just happy to find you in my shirt again."
She smiled. "I found out some interesting information on the Bard-Thorn case."
He settled on the floor next to her. "Well, this seems like a good as place as any to have a meeting."
It was still odd to her to see him so relaxed and laid back. She liked seeing this side of him and it brightened her smile.
"It took a lot of digging, but I found out that Jason Bard is actually a private investigator hired to infiltrate Thorn's gang and find out what their interest is in big corporations. However, Bard has his own beef with Thorn. Turns out that our dear Jason Bard did some digging on his own case, on the man that shot him when he was part of the Gotham police force. He traced the man who shot him back to Rupert Thorn's gang. I think Bard wants revenge as well as a paycheck."
"Do you know who it is that hired Bard?"
Barbara smiled knowingly. "You're going to love this: Ted Kord."
Bruce's brow furrowed. "This complicates matters considerably."
"You have no idea," Barbara continued, "I think we should use the proposal from Kord, Inc. to get closer to the source. There's more to Ted Kord than meets the eye. I think this is more than Kord wanting information on if Thorn is going to hit up his company again."
"Oh?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"I don't have definite proof, but I think Ted Kord practices a little vigilantism of his own. I just don't think he has quite the resources you do and hires a lot of outsiders for his information."
"What kind of vigilantism do you think he's involved in?"
Barbara smiled slyly. "Let's just say that he discovered a very interesting artifact on an archeological dig."
Now both of Bruce's eyebrows shot up. "Blue Beetle?"
"Yeah, I know."
Bruce stood and extended his hand to her. "Can you show me what you found?"
Standing, Barbara quickly tugged on her skirt before following him. "You had to pick my shortest skirt, didn't you?"
Bruce half turned to shoot her a devilish smile as he continued making his way down towards the cave.
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Bruce was highly impressed with what Barbara was unable to uncover. Her computer prowess surpassed his own and allowed for a large break in their case.
He stood behind her as she sat at the computer console and displayed her findings. It had initially been a bit distracting as he had a perfect view of Barbara looking especially tempting in his white shirt, matched with the short black skirt that allowed her long, alluring legs to be on display. He had spent years conditioning his mind to not be persuaded by distraction. It took adjusting for him to rebalance himself as new doors within him opened.
"If you engage Kord and his VPs in a meeting, I can see what else I can uncover from the hardcopy files in his office."
"Agreed. Tonight, we will pay a visit to his home office. He has tickets to the opera tonight, but we are going to pass our tickets off."
Before Barbara could respond, a series of beeps sounded, alerting them that the entrance to the cave from the woods surrounding Wayne manor was opening, and that there was an incoming vehicle. The both braced themselves, knowing what that meant.
No words passed between them as Barbara began updating their case file with their decision. She barely contained the shudder that ran through her as Nightwing's cycle pulled into the docking bay.
"I think I found something of yours," Nightwing began as he removed his helmet.
Bruce stood, arms crossed, blocking Nightwing from leaving the bay and crossing over into the main floor of the cave.
"How have you been?" he asked flatly.
"Fine," he replied just as flatly, removing a small disk from his utility belt. "Had some Thorn scum operating in Bludhaven. While investigating, I realized I was crossing paths with a case you had already started."
Sidestepping Bruce, Dick walked up to the terminal, ignoring Barbara, and reached over her to insert the disk into the console.
"What are you wearing?" he asked as he glanced down at her.
"Where have you been?" she asked dryly, not tearing her eyes away from the screen.
He opened his mouth, but Bruce stepped up behind Barbara's chair. "What did you find?"
Barbara slid her chair over, allowing Nightwing access to the controls. He showed that Thorn's men weren't actually getting their orders from Thorn. Someone else was running the operation and Thorn's whereabouts were unknown.
"They were working with a drug cartel that I've been after for a couple of months. I need to get back to Bludhaven to finish cleaning them out, but I at least wanted to give you this."
"You could have just sent this," Bruce half observed, half accused in his authoritative tone.
If Nightwing was sensing any hostility, he was choosing to ignore it. "I'm not sorry I left… it was time. However, I think it is time we worked together again."
Bruce knew that somewhere in there was a veiled apology and a thousand words of a conversation they should have had long ago. As complicated as the situation had become, he would not deny reconciliation with his son.
"Very well." Bruce filled in Nightwing on Barbara's findings before altering the original plan. "Batgirl will investigate Kord's home office, while I try to find out more information on Thorn within Gotham. As you know Bludhaven best, why don't you return there and see what else you can discover. If you need help with the drug cartel, contact me and I will come out."
"Alright," Nightwing pulled off his mask, wincing as the spirit gum that held it in place pulled at his skin. "I assume we're waiting for nightfall. Do you want to grab something to eat and, uh, catch up before we start?"
Barbara stood abruptly, smoothing out her skirt in an attempt to cover more of her legs. "I actually have a few errands to run first. You two catch up and I'll be at Kord's house after he leaves." Without waiting for a response, she disappeared up the cave stairs.
Sighing, Dick dropped into the chair she had been occupying. "Well, that went well."
Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Bruce tried to remain composed. "You barely acknowledged her, except to criticize her apparel. You could have at least said 'hello'."
Dick shrugged. "I didn't say hello to you."
"You don't have to with me. We may have our disagreements, but we also have our understandings."
"I thought Barbara and I had understandings…"
"You and Barbara had a different relationship."
Dick looked up at Bruce oddly when he put emphasis on the word 'had'. "Was that one of your shirts she was wearing?"
Unwavering, Bruce replied. "She stayed at the manor last night; she fell ill."
Concern flooded the younger man's face. "Is she alright?"
"She had an emotional evening. Part of it was a conversation we were having that led into her talking about her parents… her real parents."
"Yeah… that was probably pretty rough…"
The two men were silent for several moments.
"I'm sorry if I was too hard on you, and not more of a father figure. I was… very focused on your training and discipline because I was always afraid you would walk down a path I all too easily almost went down. I wanted something better for you."
Sighing, Dick began fiddling with the adjustments on the chair. "Hey, it's just as much my fault. I could have talked to you more about how I was feeling. I didn't mean to go so over the edge… I just whacked out when I saw how Barbara was involved and that you knew about her being Batgirl… I know this is gong to sound stupid, but… I felt like you were somehow taking her away from me. In my warped perception of reality, it was the last straw… I always got all crazy when it came to her…."
Bruce did not respond.
"Anyway," Dick continued, "I would at least like to have a working relationship. I know I've completely screwed up what we had, but I mean, we were like best friends for a really long time. I can't throw that away, you know."
Bruce nodded, but still did not respond.
"Well, enough of the heavy stuff," bouncing up from the chair, he began to head for the stairs, "let's order from that Thai place off Fourth, near Main. I have a lot of stuff to tell you."
Bruce numbly followed Dick upstairs and sat silently in one of the kitchen chairs as Dick ordered one of everything off the menu and then began chatting away about his exploits in Bludhaven.
"I've been pretty focused on my work, so no real time for play. I have this new workout routine to really increase my upper body strength for when I use the gliders," he sat down with a large glass of milk, and tipped the chair back on two legs, as he always did as a child. "I've kept up on most of your cases, but what's new on the Wayne front? Any new acquisitions? Dating anyone new?"
Bruce was almost positive that he felt himself pale considerably. "This case and a big proposal from Kord, Inc have been keeping me pretty busy."
The topic then changed, but the wheels in the back of Bruce's mind were turning. He knew he had to be honest with Dick, but he also knew that now wasn't exactly the best time, either.
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Barbara shook as she tried to put on her Kevlar gloves. She had not been prepared for seeing Dick Grayson so soon, and she was upset with herself for how she was reacting. She was angry with him still: angry that he had left and that he was so casual in his return. He had barely acknowledged her, let alone greeted her or apologized for how things had ended between them. She also couldn't stop the way his mere presence excited her as much as it angered her. He was still devilishly handsome, and she was happy to see that he had cut his hair. She had hated it grown out long.
She quickly shook the thoughts from her brain as she secured her gear and made her way to the rooftop of her building. She decided against using the batcycle and to instead hoof it over to Kord's house to work off her nervous energy.
Her nerves, however, were in for another beating.
"Hey!"
She nearly jumped as she spun around to see Nightwing standing a few feet away from her near the roof's ledge.
"I don't remember you ever being so jumpy," he smiled and stepped closer, "something on your mind?"
Her heart was thundering in her throat and she was having difficulty swallowing. "Nothing more than usual," she managed to say, "if you'll excuse me, I have to be going…"
"Wait, please."
She paused in her movements, but her insides were trembling. "Yes."
"Batgirl… I'm sorry about earlier… I didn't mean for it to go like that. I… I don't want it to be this way between us."
"It's fine." She prepared to fire her jump line when he came up behind her and gently placed his gloved hand over her own.
"It's not fine. I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."
"Neither did I."
He backed up a step. "What do you mean?"
She shot out her line and prepared to jump. "I have to go. Don't worry. We don't have to talk about it."
And then she disappeared into the night.
Nightwing sighed as he prepared to make his way back to Bludhaven. He would never know how many landings she almost missed, or how many buildings she almost crashed into that night over her wayward thoughts of him.