Today is a TWO-FER! Watch for chapter 85 to be posted later this afternoon!

No Warnings . . .

Dick entered the apartment building. Being away from Bludhaven for so long, things tended to build up. He had been kept busy for most of the day and now he was late coming home. He checked his watch. He needed to head out in less than an hour. Just enough time to grab something to eat and change.

Elle had wanted him to stay home with her another night, although she never came right out and told him so. But it was obvious by her dismay, when he had mentioned it before, that she hadn't wanted him to go out. Dick might have given into her whim, after all her father had been buried just a few days ago, but Bruce had called him earlier with a request for backup in a huge raid going down by the docks tonight in Gotham. It was a case Bruce had been working on for several months that was finally coming to fruition.

Batman was to be working in tandem with Gordon and the GCPD. The plan was for Batman and Nightwing to go in first and take down the small army that was scheduled to accompany the major drug and illegal arms shipment, and to corral the big boss that was rumored to be present in order to oversee the unloading of this shipment personally. Batman suspected that there was something even bigger going on behind the scenes and had taken care to plan the raid out meticulously.

Dick couldn't let Bruce down. He would make it up to Elle tomorrow. Maybe dinner and dancing if she felt up to it. He was still a little concerned for her. He knew she hadn't been feeling well for over a week now, and was worried there might be something more wrong than a bit of bad Chinese food and her grief could account for. He was still a little upset with her that she didn't go to the hospital after her run in with Aiden and thought her occasional nausea and dizziness might be related to the concussion she had received that night.

He unlocked the door, and spotted Elle curled up on the couch with pizza and the TV remote. She smiled at him, and he felt a wave of happiness and warmth greeting him.

"Hey, babe! I'm sorry I'm late," he tossed his coat over the chair and leaned in for a kiss. "Mm, you taste like pepperoni and Italian sausage."

Elle chuckled, but it wasn't that full-bodied laughter that he had been expecting. He looked more closely. She seemed a little subdued.

"Uh oh. What's wrong," he asked.

"Nothing that can't wait until you've had a chance to sit down and eat first," she told him.

"Hm, not sure I like that sound of that," he commented. "Is it something that might ruin my appetite?"

He noted that three pieces of the large pizza was missing. The news couldn't be too terrible if Elle's appetite hadn't been affected adversely.

"Can it wait until tomorrow? I'm running behind," he asked as he picked up a slice of pizza and headed into the spare bedroom where he kept one of his Nightwing uniforms.

"But you just got here," Elle complained.

She got up and followed him in; watching Dick open the closet and press a hidden button. The back portion of one wall opened like a door and revealed his uniform and a small arsenal within.

"I know, but I'm running behind," he spoke around a mouthful of pizza.

Elle frowned. "You don't normally leave until nine or ten o'clock."

"I used to go out at eight until I met you," he told her, his voice muffled as he leaned behind the wall to restock the utility compartments hidden in his gloves and boots.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He heard the irritation in her voice and smiled. "Just that you are the kind of temptation that criminals love."

He turned around and almost ran into her. She was scowling at him now. He tapped her nose and smiled. "You make me want to ditch it all and climb in bed with you. To hell with the world! To hell with crime!"

He was a little surprised at the blush that raced up from her throat. Elle turned bright pink. She turned and walked away from him. It was his turn to frown. He hadn't meant to insult her. He had thought he was giving her a kind of compliment. What woman wouldn't love to know she was the ultimate distraction to her man?

"Hey," he reached out to grab her shoulder. "What did I say?"

Suddenly, Elle turned to him and hugged him; nuzzling his neck as she asked. "Is that all I am to you? A great lay?"

His arms slid around her. She still fit him to a tee; soft and curvy in all the right places; like she had been made especially for him.

"Don't knock it," he teased gently; laughing when she huffed with annoyance. "No." he assured her. "You are so much more than that. Why don't you tell me what's bugging you?"

"You're running behind," she repeated his earlier words with a pout.

"A couple of minutes won't hurt," he said.

Elle squeezed him tight. "A couple of minutes won't do."

Concerned again, he looked down at her seriously. "Okay, you need to explain what's wrong. Something's up."

Elle just shook her head; her gaze on his chest. "Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow," she told him.

He didn't miss the disappointment in her voice. "You're not trying to guilt me into staying in tonight, are you? Because I really can't . . ."

"No!" Her voice was sharp with sudden anger. "I promised you I wouldn't do that! But aren't I allowed to be disappointed sometimes when the greater good takes precedence over my wants and needs?"

He rubbed her shoulders. "What need do you have? If it is something serious . . ." he sighed; pausing to shake his head. "It would have to be pretty damned serious to keep me home tonight. Bruce needs me in Gotham City, sweetheart, and it's pretty important that I be there."

"You don't hear me begging, do you," she snapped, irritatedly. "Go on. Go do your shtick to save the world. We can get together and talk tomorrow."

"It's not the world," he corrected her. "Just our little section of it. Gotham City and Bludhaven."

She turned away again; shrugging. "It nothing that I can't handle by myself," she replied.

If she trying to not to make him feel guilty, she was doing a lousy job of it, he thought even as another wave of guilt flooded him.

"Elle, baby, I'm sorry," he said to her back.

He shoulders slumped as she sighed. "No," she murmured. "No, don't be sorry. Honest, it's okay. Tomorrow we can talk. Bruce needs you, you said. He wouldn't have asked if it weren't important. There is time," she assured him.

While her words made him feel better, it wasn't by much. "All right, then. Tomorrow, I promise. You'll have my undivided attention all day long. So much so that you'll probably be shoving me out the door to go on patrol just to be rid of me for a few hours."

Elle smiled at him from over her shoulder. "That sounds like a lot of attention. Are you certain you'll be up to it?"

"Baby, if there is one thing I am sure of," he kissed her behind her ear as one hand slipped around her waist, "it's your ability to make sure I am up for anything."

He tugged her back against him. "See what I mean?"

Elle laughed at his obvious innuendo; wiggling. Dick groaned in response.

"Wicked," he moaned, dropping his head down to press another kiss to her shoulder. ""I am so running late . . ."

She pulled away abruptly and shoved him back into the walk-in closet. "Go," she exclaimed, finally grinning at him. "Change! The sooner you go; the sooner you'll get back! Tell Bruce I said hello and good luck."

Dick, already stripping his shirt over his head, said, "Bruce doesn't believe in luck."

Elle rolled her eyes. "That's right! He's a bat scout! Then tell him to kick some bad guy butt for me."

Dick laughed as he tossed the shirt aside and prepared to pull on his armored tunic. "Now that I can do."

When he left through the kitchen window ten minutes later, Dick was feeling better about leaving her alone tonight. A twinge of discomfort remained, but he was sure that was merely because, although Elle had all but shoved him out of the window, she still harbored that sliver of disappointment.

But she wasn't heartbroken, he told himself. She'd survive, just as he was determined to do.

He made his way to a hidden shed behind a neighboring building where he had arranged for his bike to be hidden. The shadows were deeper than usual with only the crescent moon shining and a few stars bright enough to overcome the city's glow. In minutes he was on the road; heading out of Bludhaven toward Gotham City.

REACTIONS?

This had been a part of a larger chapter, but it works out better being short. Some of the action you've been waiting for begins in chapter 85 which will be posted this afternoon. I'm am too tired to finish editing it this morning after working all night, but I PROMISE that it will be waiting on you between 4 and 5 pm PST.

Today is a TWO-FER! Two chapters posted on the same day! Watch for both . . . And don't forget to review!