Dick and Elle suddenly recognize that the something special they had seen in one another is beginning to become something more; more than they could have hoped for, and maybe, just maybe, even more than they might have dreamed possible.
Elle stood gaping at the closet's contents. Sure, she had heard of Bruce Wayne's reputation with the ladies, but . . . Jeez!
"You should be able to find your size in a variety of colors and styles. Whatever you choose will be yours to keep, of course." Dick was saying.
There had to be a hundred different bathing suits lining the closet's racks. How many women had come in here before her? She didn't know what bothered her more: Dick's father's playboy status confirmed in spades or Dick's complete acceptance that keeping entire wardrobes of women's clothing in an entirely male household was normal!
Her eyes perused the size 2's and she swallowed. She would not be intimidated by this . . . Wait! There was a size 0? Oh my God! Who wore a size 0 anyway? Elle looked around, searching for her much larger size 9. She breathed a sigh of relief upon finding it. She was pleased to see that women that ran to size 12's and 14's were still in the running as well. Apparently, Bruce was an equal-opportunity playboy, she thought, amusement edging its way past her disturbance.
"Is something wrong," Dick asked.
"Do you always keep bathing suits and other clothing for female guests to choose from?"
Understanding lit his eyes. To her relief, he blushed. "I guess this kind of looks . . . um . . . uh . . ."
"Bad?" Elle wasn't above teasing him about it.
He rubbed the back of his neck. Dick's discomfort was plain to see. It would probably relieve him if she admitted that she didn't think his female guests were shown this room very often. But, somehow it had surprised her that Bruce probably did. Yeah, yeah, he had a reputation that she had already heard about; honestly, who, that ran in their circles, hadn't? But this didn't seem to fit the man she had met.
He seemed a lot quieter than Elle had expected . . . And sober! She had had a mildly disturbing moment when she considered that the man whose reputation had stretched around the globe might possibly hit on his son's girlfriend. She understood within a few minutes in his company that that level of depravity wasn't in him.
She frowned. In fact, the level of depravity that she had expected based upon the things she had heard in whispers during cocktails was nowhere to be found. The Bruce Wayne that Dick had introduced her to was a complete gentleman, not the drunkard and wastrel that had been described to her! He was far more intelligent than she had been led to believe as well. He took an interest in his children's lives, but didn't seem to feel the need to live it for them.
Wow! Her father could learn a thing or two from Mr. Wayne about fatherhood, she thought. But Elle was relieved that Cedric Hamilton didn't keep closets full of women's clothing that didn't belong to his daughter. While she didn't want her father to be alone for the rest of his life, she had always been impressed with his devotion to her mother's memory.
Taking pity on Dick, Elle shoved him out the door. "I'll pick something out, and meet you downstairs."
"If you want," he offered. "You could model a few, and I'll be glad to give you my honest opinion about them."
The flirtatious comment caught her completely by surprise, and Elle burst out laughing. "Oh, wow," she gasped after a few moments. "Does that actually work for you?"
Dick pretended to be offended. "Scads of women would fight for the chance to model bikinis for me," he stated.
She didn't doubt that a bit. "Perhaps, but some of these more complicated bathing suits would be difficult to put on after I scratch their eyes out," she purr into his ear.
He grinned down at her. "You'd really fight for me?"
The moment was a teasing one, but Elle suddenly felt the weight of the topic. She straightened, pulling back out of his arms. "If it were necessary; yes, I would. But I won't fight you," she said, seriously. "I just wanted to make that clear."
Dick frowned at the sudden change in tone. What was she trying to tell him? "I don't understand. You will never need to fight me. I wouldn't ever hurt you, Elle."
"What I mean is that I won't fight to keep someone who isn't faithful to me. I will fight to keep you safe; to keep you healthy; to protect your name and reputation, but I won't fight a woman for you that you go to freely." Elle sighed, leaning back against the door frame of the closet. "We've never really spoken of things like this, but I think that we've progressed far enough that certain expectations should be made clear for the both of us.
"I have no desire to see other men, Dick. I'm not sure I could see more than one man at a time. I'm just not made that way. You might consider me old-fashioned, but this is who I am. If you prefer to see other women while seeing me, then when we go back to Bludhaven we can say our goodbyes before anyone is hurt too badly."
Dick's eyes widened. He didn't know why, but no one else had ever laid it out on the line like that before. Faithfulness was always just a given when one started a new relationship. . . but funny, it often never stayed that way as the relationship progressed. As he thought about it, he was more than a little shocked to realize that he hadn't been completely faithful to any woman he had been with before Elle. Even Kori and Babs . . . But, hell, neither had they been completely faithful to him! Wow! He really was an asshole . . .
But he found that just the idea of Elle being with someone else made his blood pressure rise simply thinking about it. The idea that they would leave tomorrow, say goodbye, and never seeing one another again was abhorrent to him! A little ball of panic fluttered to life in his stomach.
She was searching his face and apparently not liking what she saw there because her smile turned sad. It hurt him, seeing that expression on her. It didn't belong there. He unconsciously lifted a hand to his chest; rubbing the spot over his heart.
"You want complete and utter faithfulness?" He wasn't sure why he phrased it like that, in a question. She hadn't been unclear when stating her expectations to him.
"Yes," she stated unequivocally. "Yes, I do. And you would receive the same from me. Total faithfulness, complete honesty, and absolute loyalty . . . I do not believe that is too much to ask for when I am more than willing to give you the same in return."
Dick blinked. What she asked for was impossible! Oh, not the faithfulness and loyalty part; the way he felt about her after a mere four weeks had him confident that he could give her that, despite his lousy track record. It was the complete honesty that had him hesitating. So far, his 'other' job hadn't been an issue. They didn't exactly live in each others' pockets. Although the more time he spent with Elle, the more he wanted to be with her. She wasn't clingy; however, so Dick felt reasonably sure it would be a long time before Nightwing would become an issue between them. But he knew that even before his night work became an issue that he would be forced to lie to her, even if only by omission.
She sighed, turning away from him; pretending to browse through the rainbow utopia of pool-wear. "I probably picked out the worst time to bring this up. It's okay, though. I mean, I'd rather know now before I grow . . . too . . . too f-fond of you."
Wait, what? Was she telling him . . . goodbye? No!
The panic grenade in his stomach just exploded. Dick stepped after her, grabbing her arm and pulling her against him. He didn't think about it, just acted. His mouth crushed hers. It wasn't a sweet kiss or even a passionate one. It was one of possession!
Mine! His heart called out. Mine! His body demanded. Mine! His mind commanded. She would not escape him! He would tell her whatever he had to in order to keep her with him. He would deal with the repercussions later.
Elle's arms slid around his neck. Her hands buried themselves in his black hair, drawing him down to her just as desperately as he felt. He had instigated the kiss, but she gave willingly everything that he demanded from her and took back all that was in him with equal fervency.
"It's already too late," he gasped against her mouth. "You are mine, Arabella Hamilton! You belong to me, and I will never let you go!"
Inside, he winced at his overdramatic statement, positive that his declaration would terrify her, but he couldn't have stopped the words even had he wanted to. But instead of pulling away from him, Elle seemed to cling to him all the more. She looked into his eyes with tearful ones.
"I don't want you to, Richard Grayson," Elle whispered against his lips.
He kissed her again, cupping her face in his hands like a treasure. His heart pounded and his head swam. Would it always be like this with this woman, he wondered? He turned so that he could fall back against the wall, pulling her with him against his chest. Hangers and tiny articles of clothing scattered to make room or be crushed. Neither noticed; although, even if they had, they wouldn't have cared.
"I will give you whatever you want so long as you stay with me," he promised her fiercely. "Stay with me, Elle!"
"I will," she promised him. "For as long as you want me, I will stay with you."
His blue, blue eyes met the deep, dark brown of hers, and his lips curved into a smile. "Okay. Forever it is, then."
Eventually Dick's hands slid down over her shoulders and to her waist, gentling as her willingness and acceptance of him reassured him that she wouldn't run from him. There would be no goodbyes; not tomorrow nor any day after that. His mind, caught up in the feel of her against him, likely didn't realize the finality in the ramblings of his heart – not yet, anyway. But there was time now; time to accept the inevitability of what fate had decreed in that moment he had first laid eyes upon her; what it had just reaffirmed the second her arms had accepted him and his lips had claimed hers.
He was doomed.
This one woman had the power to reduce his heart to rubble. At the same time, he knew it as well as he knew his own name that she had saved him. From what, he wasn't certain yet. Something powerful, but yet ambiguous . . . He couldn't name it, but now that he was safe from its shadowy grasp, Dick could feel himself relaxing; the tension flowing out of his body like water, revealing beneath the murky surface that elusive prize that he had only just begun to glimpse since meeting Elle.
Peace.