For Appearance's Sake

By Teala373

Chapter 9

In our last chapter: Batman, Batgirl and Nightwing continue investigating suspects, but only seem to come up with a lot of suspiciously squeaky-clean reformed criminals. Their suspicions lead nowhere, but Batgirl has a hunch and won't back down until she has some answers. She promises Batman to check in every fifteen minutes while she does a routine investigation on how Riddler and Clayface's parole is panning out.

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Having found nothing but dead-ends, Nightwing jumped on his cycle and began the trek back to Gotham. As he drove, he tried to think of what his plan of attack would be for winning back Barbara. He had to be careful, for he knew if he let his emotions run away with him, he would risk losing her. He had to be smart, confident and in control.

He began to think about what it would be that Bruce would have as an advantage over him.

"Ok… maturity… intelligence… take charge kind of guy… cool car…" he mumbled to himself as he rode at breakneck speeds down the interstate highway. "I guess he's okay looking…"

And then, he began to think about what he and Barbara had in common. It was much more that he thought she had with Bruce. They loved to laugh and watch movies. They loved campfires and burnt marshmallows. She liked being dipped when they danced, and he was always more than happy to oblige her. They both loved food, even if she was much more careful about her eating habits than he was. She laughed at all his bad jokes and even told a few, herself. They both enjoyed mythology and astronomy. When they dated, they had season tickets to all the Gotham Knights games and owned several articles of clothing with the team's logo on it.

There was the way a simple touch or look from her would make his insides quiver in a way that made him dizzy and feel like he was free falling; she had once told him he did the same to her. He liked twirling a piece of her hair in his fingers when he had his arm around her while they watched TV. He liked laughing with her when they took all the goofy quizzes in the magazines while they waited in the checkout line to buy cheap wine, Doritos and a really bad DVD from the $6.99 rack. He missed going on picnics in the park and blowing raspberries on her stomach just as she would drift off to sleep after dessert. Most of all, he missed flying through the sky with her, their jump lines parallel, capes fluttering behind them. He loved the way her eyes sparkled through her mask. He loved when she would perform a quadruple somersault in the air – a feat only he had been able to perform for a long time. He loved the talks they would have after patrols. He loved laying his head in her lap and talking to her seriously about his inner most thoughts and feelings.

He missed her.

"What do the two of them talk about? What do they do for fun when they're just hanging out?" he mumbled again to himself. He felt himself pale as he began to worry that they didn't do much talking because they were only doing one particular thing when hanging out.

He flushed hot, then cold, then hot again as jealousy, possessiveness and anger overtook him. He gritted his teeth together so hard, that he was surprised when he found his jaw aching, snapping him from his reverie.

"No! No, no, no, no!" he muttered. "There's something else…"

He stewed in his thoughts all the way to the end of the highway, where he took the first of the many Gotham exits. He was halfway to the mansion when it finally dawned on him what the connection was that Bruce and Barbara were sharing.

"I gotcha, old man," he murmured triumphantly as he turned onto a street that would lead him to the forest hiding one of the many secret bat cave entrances. A sly smirked overtook his face as his eyes glittered dangerously behind his mask. "You don't stand a chance now!"

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Bruce pushed back his cowl as he sat in front of the main terminal in the bat cave. He rapped his gloved hands on the armrest while clenching and unclenching his jaw. Barbara had checked in every fifteen minutes, as promised. He continued monitoring her GPS and was upset to discover a location she managed to investigate between her check-ins. And then, he became angry upon discovering that she was backtracking their previous investigations.

He absently rubbed his chin as he heard her cycle enter the cave. He didn't bother to look up as he heard her walk towards him, even as he began realizing what she was carrying.

"She'll find out."

Barbara elicited a small laugh. "I think she's a little too busy.

Bruce turned to look at Barbara, who was holding Isis, Selina Kyle's much beloved cat. As she stroked the purring cat under its chin, a very wise, very challenging look was set in her eyes.

"I know you're mad, but I'm on to something."

He gave a slight nod for her to go ahead with her findings.

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Dick came roaring into the cave. He quickly took off his helmet and jogged over to the main terminal, where Bruce and Barbara were standing, with a new vigor. His spirits were high as he felt he had a solid game plan to win back his ladylove.

He stopped short at the scene before him.

Bruce was furiously typing on the keyboard as Barbara continually rattled off what appeared to be random words. She was holding a black cat that Dick didn't fail to recognize.

"Admit it," Barbara finally said once she was done giving Bruce directions, "I'm good."

While analyzing the screen in front of him, Bruce smirked. "You're something, alright, but Selina is still off limits."

"Please," Barbara rolled her eyes. "Isis likes me better, don't you, baby?" She scratched the loudly purring cat behind the ears, eliciting a neck nuzzle.

"What's going on?" Dick asked, annoyed they seemed to be ignoring him.

"I'm the new world's greatest detective," Barbara responded, still looking ahead at the screen.

Bruce slammed a fist down on the console. "I specifically asked you not to…" he began shouting.

"She's working with the nine!" Barbara interrupted loudly. "Besides, I caught her in a lie! I'm the one who pieced this whole thing together!"

"Behind my back!" Bruce countered.

Barbara stooped down to set Isis on the floor before coming to stand directly behind Bruce's chair. "You know, you're always chastising Dick and I about not letting emotions or anything personal get in the way of what we do, but apparently that rule doesn't apply to you."

Dick took a step back as Bruce quickly got up from his chair and turned to stare Barbara down. Barbara, however, wasn't intimidated and cut him off before he could get a word in edge-wise.

"I'm not saying they can't be saved. I'm not saying they can't be rehabilitated," she began, "I'm not saying they can never be who you want them to be. All I'm saying is that right now they are breaking parole and involved in something very big and very dangerous. You know that everyone is in over their heads on this one. They're all going to double cross each other. Harvey and Selina stand to get in a lot of trouble, and a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt."

Bruce's jaw slowly relaxed as he took in her words. The two stared at each other for several moments, still ignoring Dick's presence.

"Listen," Barbara continued, "if you want to be mad at me, that's fine, but this is my city, too, and I want to protect it. I'm really sorry about what happened to your best friend and your ex-girlfriend because deep down, I think they really are good people. However, this is big. Really big."

The tension in the air was thick as Bruce continued to stare Barbara down. Finally, he turned, heading to a section of the cave where he had installed a large bathroom with a shower and changing area.

"We'll go to the ball tomorrow and see what we can find out," he finally commanded before disappearing down the rocky hallway.

Dick stepped forward in front of Barbara's line of sight. "What's going on?"

Sighing, Barbara rubbed the back of her neck. "This one's bad."

"What do we got?"

She sat down at the terminal and began bringing up data. "That company, Two Vines, that's buying up Westford left and right appears to be a front for the nine."

Ripping off his mask, Dick stared wide-eyed at the screen. "All nine of them? Are you serious?"

"All nine, plus some. Look at this," Barbara began as she brought up her data. "Harley and Pamela's video e-mail to their parole officer was a complete fake. They're not in the rain forest at all. Harvey isn't in a secured medical facility; there's a very convincing fake standing in for him."

Dick watched in awe as she brought up all her evidence showing the true whereabouts of Penguin, Riddler, Killer Croc, Clayface and Firefly. She then showed how Catwoman and Bane were also involved.

"Bane?!" Dick asked incredulously. "How is he smart enough to get his ankle bracelet off without anyone knowing?"

Barbara smiled. "Because they're all working together, organized by a very clever man."

"A very clever man? Only Riddler is smart enough for an organization of this multitude and none of them respect him enough."

Barbara sighed. "It's not Nygma. It's Crane."

"Crane? Johnathon Crane? The Scarecrow?"

"I don't know how, yet, but he faked his death. He's running this whole operation. I think there might be more involved."

Dick shook his head in disbelief. "So, what's the plan?"

"There's a ball at the top of the plaza tomorrow night. Bruce and I will go and see if we can dig anything up on a civilian level, especially from Pierce Montague." She continued typing, organizing the information and setting up new queries. "Can you check on something for me while we're there? I'll be in communication with you and may call you in depending on how things go."

He elicited a laugh. "You're calling the shots?"

Turning around, she smiled. "It's like archeology. It's my find, my case."

Widening his smile, he laughed along with her. "You're something else, Babs, you know that?"

Her smile began to dwindle and she licked her lips nervously. "You… you still have some spirit gum on your face… from your mask…"

"Oh." He began feeling around his temples for it.

She repositioned herself so that she was kneeling on the chair. Leaning towards him, she began silently picking off the excess adhesive.

"You know," he began softly, his pulse racing from how close they were to each other, "I was thinking about that time when we went up to Niagara Falls."

"The time you threatened to throw me overboard on the Maid of the Mist, or the time you threatened to throw me overboard on the Maid of the Mist?"

"Definitely the time I threatened to throw you overboard on the Maid of the Mist," he chuckled.

"The time you spilled your soda all over me, or the time you got fudge in my hair?"

"Fudge. I also tried to purposely lose you in the maze and scare you."

She smiled softly as she picked at a particularly stubborn piece of spirit gum. "Yeah, you didn't know I was Batgirl, then."

A corner of his mouth rose. "Yeah, and afterwards, you bought me those really great fries."

She snorted. "Really great fries? They were from Burger King!"

"Yeah, but they had gravy and cheese on them. You can't get those here."

She eased her self off the chair and leaned against the console. "I still have that cute figurine you bought me at the fudge shop"

"I was trying to distract you from seeing what I was doing, that's how I got fudge in your hair."

Laughing lightly, she bent down to scoop a purring Isis into her arms. The black cat was content to curl up while having the spot behind both ears scratched. "What made you think about that?"

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Bruce stood in front of the cave's bathroom sink for a several minutes, gripping the porcelain sides. While he had cleaned up and changed, he thought hard about Barbara's words. She was right, she was always right, but he was having a hard time coming to terms with it.

As much as he tried to fight it, he had a strong urge to always be in control. Control was what kept him sane. Control was what kept him alive. Control was what kept others alive. When he felt he was losing that control, he knew it opened a door he wasn't prepared for; a door he both desperately wanted and desperately feared. Those who truly knew him would think he feared nothing, but there was very much that he feared, and that drove him even harder.

Barbara made him lose control and he liked it, but losing control also meant being selfish. As much as he did want a life of his own, being selfish made him feel guilty and feel that he was dishonoring his parents' memory. He also felt guilt because Barbara wasn't entirely his to have…

A sudden pain made him realize he was clenching his teeth. Flexing his jaw, he began to think about his relationship with Dick. When he had seen the Graysons fall, there wasn't a moment of hesitation in his heart to reach out to the young boy. When Dick discovered his secret, he wanted to protect him and teach him to be the person he couldn't be.

He knew that their relationship was falling apart, but he honestly thought it would pass. He honestly thought he could protect Dick. He honestly thought everything would go the way he thought it should be… Though he never showed it, he had been devastated when Dick had left. Dick was his son, his best friend…

…and now they were both in love with the same woman…

Splashing water on his face, Bruce prepared to go out and face Dick and Barbara. He didn't want to be the better person and do the right thing, but he knew he had to.

But, as Bruce walked back into the main area of the cave, several emotions overthrew his rational thought. A red haze slashed across his vision as he took in Barbara leaning against the console. Her head was cocked slightly, her eyes were bright, and her infectious smile was definitely laced with flirtation. Dick's smile was equally flirtatious as he leaned in closer to Barbara. He took a lock of her hair between his fingers and said something that made her laugh.

Bruce felt his blood boil in his veins. Suddenly, everything he had initially thought about flew out of his head. Now, he was ready to compete.