The room was dotted with couples, people who just met and fell under the city's enchantment, or people who had been together for years and were still in love. Dresses twirled around whimsically and women laughed flirtatiously, their voices rising octaves above normal and floating up to the rafters. The ballroom was well lit and the floor gleamed, reflecting the chatting people. But somehow, Barbara Gordon managed to hate it all.

She hated the couples and she hated the romance and she hated the fact that she was in this stunning dress in Paris on a date with Jason freaking Todd. But what she hated even more was that Dick and Kori were having a wonderful time dancing away.

Barbara didn't hate Kori. She really didn't. Kori was a sweetheart (if you were on her good side, at least) and she really looked beautiful tonight. She had her flaming (literally flaming) hair up in a bun, which really must've taken hours, even though it looked messy. There were burning strands falling into her face and around the back of her neck and it looked good. And the dress she wore looked even better. It was a pink, strapless gown. It had two layers: the bottom white and the top glittering, transparent pink. The bottom layer ended just where her thigh met her butt, and it looked very short but very sexy. The pink layer swooped elegantly down to the floor and stopped just above her ankles, then moving back upwards and ending just above the bottom layer. The dress hugged her curves and honestly she looked fabulous.

What Barbara hated was that Dick Grayson organized this mission, and he chose to make it an undercover mission. Meaning they had to act as though they were just civilians, young and in love on the dance floor and every now and then talking up Bruce Wayne.

Barbara's anger was truly misplaced. Dick didn't know how she felt about him, and he thought everything was okay. But she was having a bad time and she just wanted to go home and take a shower.

"Don't look so sour, Barbie." Jason said, walking up behind her and placing a hand on her waist. With his free hand he gave her one of two champagne glasses. Barbara curtly took his hand and removed it from her waist.

"Not in the mood, Todd." She said shortly.

Jason scoffed. "You were 'in the mood' last time we worked a case together," he said, wiggling his eye brows suggestively as her. Barbara blushed as thoughts of the last time they worked a case came to the forefront of her mind.

Not necessarily the case, but what happened after they worked the case. Images of Jason Todd on top of her and making her scream in pleasure over and over were not what Barbara wanted to think about right now. That had been a one-time thing… or so she kept telling herself. She couldn't deny that new images of him fucking her in one of the many rooms up the stairs of the ball room were swarming her mind, and she kind of wanted it. But not today. They were working a case, and they had to be professional.

She almost replied until she saw the way he was eyeing her.

His eyes moved up and down Barbara's figure. She'd been envying Kori's apparel, but she was the most stunning girl in the room in Jason's opinion. Her dress was pure white and made of silky material, as though she had wrapped her body in cream. The fabric folded perfectly to cup her breasts, with little ruffles to accentuate them. Though the front cut off near her mid-thigh, the back went down and flowed around her feet. The dress was strapless and the back swooped low – showing all of her back and stopping at the curve where her bottom began. She had curled her hair just barely, leaving it wavy and flowing with the bangs swooping just above her left eye.

Barbara blushed as Jason all but checked her out. Her sour mood, however, had not changed. Her ear buzzed as Tim tried to talk to her. She reached up and tapped the diamond stud in her earring. "Yeah?" she answered.

"There's a guy kind of close to you guys. He's near the windows on the east side." Tim said officially. He was perched somewhere in the rafters, acting as the eye in the sky for the undercover agents.

Barbara looked around. "Any distinguishing details? There are tons of 'guys' near the windows." Jason smiled at Barbara's 'done with your shit' tone.

"Yeah, he's wearing a suit with a green and purple tie." Tim said.

She froze, instantly suspecting something was amiss. "Wait, you mean like Joker green and purple, or just green and purple?" She glanced at Jason, who was rigid as a board and looking at her as though she was bleeding from every pore in her body. "Because if it's Joker green and purple then we're going to need a lot more back up than Dick and Kori."

"No, I think it's just green and purple. But you never know with that guy, so be careful."

Barbara nodded, still scanning the room for a man in a green and purple tie. "Why is he a suspect anyways?" she asked as she looked.

"He's dancing with Cheshire."

"So it's definitely not Joker." Barbara said. "Even if Joker was willing, Cheshire isn't nearly stupid enough to make a business arrangement with that lunatic."

"Whatever you say." Tim said, sounding unsure. "Just check it out, okay?"

Barbara nodded without answering and shut off her earring. Jason looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell him the new information. "You want to dance?" she asked, offering him her hand.

He seemed confused at first. "Not really. I'm more of a stand and watch kind of guy." He said through his dismay. "What'd the replacement say anyways?"

Barbara was about to reply when she saw Dick and Kori dancing over Jason's shoulder. Dick threw his head back in laughter and Kori rested her own head on his shoulder, giggling herself. Dick's hand rubbed Kori's back gently as they swayed slowly to the beat of the music. A sickly feeling washed over Barbara and suddenly she had Jason's hand in her own as she pulled him toward the windows. "He said we should dance." She said, her voice about an octave higher than usual.

She swung him around and elegantly laid her hand on his shoulder while holding his hand up in a perfect dance posture. He reluctantly laid his hand on her hip and began dancing across the room, slowly and subtly.

"You doin' okay, Barbie?" Jason asked, his hair falling in front of his eyes. He had combed it so that his bangs curved just over his eyes, the silver intertwining with the black. All jealousy aside, Jason Todd looked damn good in a suit. Despite the two year age gap, the boy had been blessed by the puberty gods. He had broad shoulders and sculpted arms, and from what Barbara remembered from their last case, a very well sculpted chest. People wouldn't even notice how he was undead, or younger than his 'date'.

Barbara nodded, glancing over his shoulder once more. Dick and Kori were gone, it was safe. "Yeah," she lied. "Tim just wanted us over here. Some guy with a tie and Cheshire are supposedly by the windows."

Jason starred at her for a long moment. He examined her features: her green eyes, her long lashes, her pencil thin eye brows, the way her cherry red lipstick was drawn on, the light pink she'd put on her cheeks. She was entirely stunning. Except for the sad expression she wore.

"You deserve better than that, you know." He said quietly. Jason wasn't looking directly at her anymore, but gazing somewhere over her head instead. If they hadn't been so close, Barbara didn't think she would've even heard him.

She looked at his face and followed his eyes. He stared over her shoulder, watching couples dance and laugh together. They all led such normal lives, such uncomplicated lives, and they would never know that five superheroes were in the room right now, just in case. For just a moment, all the sass that had built up over years behind Jason's eyes was gone and he looked as though he longed to be like them. He longed to be innocent and normal. It occurred to Barbara that Jason had never quite had a chance at normality, not as the rest of them had. Jason had been born into a criminal's life, and had been orphaned only to become a thief. He'd never gotten tucked into bed at night; he'd never lived as a child should.

Barbara pitied him even though she knew that was the last thing he wanted. "I don't know what you mean." She said softly. He looked down at her and for the first time in a long time she noticed how pretty his eyes were: the shade of the Caribbean Sea and equally wild. He smiled now. Not smirk, but actually smiled.

"Yes you do." He said before sighing over his next sentence. "I mean you deserve someone who will treat you like a goddess. Even if you aren't together."

It was Barbara's turn to smile. "Jason Todd, I never knew you were such a sweet heart." She laughed as Jason smirked and blushed a little.

"Shut up," he said smiling. "You know you like it." Barbara sighed and rested her head on Jason's chest as they swayed ever closer to the windows and Tim's apparent find. "Besides," he said. "Sometimes being a total bad ass doesn't get the girls, so I have to be a gentleman too." He laid his chin on the top of her head and she listened to his heart beating. It was steady and almost perfectly in sync to the music.

She felt his hand slide lower and lower on her body until he was cupping her ass. And despite Barbara's sexual frustration at not having been laid in a few weeks, and the way he had significantly lightened her evening, she glared up at him. "Still not in the mood." She said, grabbing his hand and moving it back to her hip. "And I thought we were having a moment until you ruined it, Perve Wonder."

Jason chuckled slightly, his chest rumbling against her own which certainly did not quell the heat growing in her belly. "Hey, I'm just playing the part." He reminded her. "We're supposed to be in love, remember?"

Barbara rolled her eyes and grunted in disgust. "Jason Todd in love? Yeah right." She said with a smirk.

"Hey, it could happen!" he said.

Barbara laughed at his defensive tone and faux hurt expression. "Yeah, sure. Maybe in your dreams Bird Boy." They were near the windows now and she removed one hand from Jason's shoulders and tapped her earring once more. "Are we in the ball park, Tim?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a little bit to the left." He said through the comm.

Barbara pulled Jason slightly to the left, then forward and backward until Tim said they were right next to the couple.

"He's literally right behind you guys." Tim said. Barbara glanced up, hoping to maybe see the boy but the effort was hopeless. The rafters were possibly fifty feet over their heads, and concealed in shadows.

"Alright," she said in response clicking off the earring. "Tim says he is right behind us." She whispered to Jason. He looked her Barbara's shoulder and nodded. Then he gently pushed Barbara back so that she 'accidentally' danced into the man with the tie.

Barbara, catching on, turned around as though she was completely shocked. "Oh my god, sir I am so sorry." She said. Jason would have to remember to compliment her on her acting skills some time later. "Are you alright? Did you spill your champagne?" she said before looking to Jason. "Jason, go get him some more champagne." She ordered. Jason took off to get another glass while Barbara talked to the couple.

The man looked at her with a smile on his face. "Oh no, madam, it is all right." He said. His French accent was thick, but definitely real. He reached for Barbara's hand and kissed it. "Are you okay, milady?" Barbara giggled and nodded before her eyes floated over to the man's date, who looked furious that he still had a hold of Barbara's hand.

She began rapidly talking in French while angrily gesturing about with her hands. This girl was definitely not Cheshire.

"What…" Jason said as he approached the scene with a glass of champagne in his hand. Barbara grabbed his arm, handed the man his champagne and pulled her 'date' away from the scene. "So I guess Tim was wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, definitely." She muttered as she quickly walked away with Jason in tow.

***********************************LINE BREAKER!*****************************

So this chapter was DEFINITELY longer. Also, Jason and Barbara had hooked up ONCE before this story took place. Just clarifying in case you didn't get that.

REVIEW!

~Charlie~