Chapter Thirty Seven

Scarecrow

April 22nd

"Wait, so I'm not sneaking in, I'm going as a guest?" Morgan blinked at her mentor, not sure she was following.

"We are going as guests." He corrected her, pulling a paper from one of the pouches in his belt, handing it to her.

They were, as usual, seated on top of another roof, this one in Gotham, waiting for a specific shipment. However, unlike the last time they'd done this, it wasn't just any drugs. It was the kind Scarecrow used. And the straw man himself might appear too, Nightwing had warned her, leaving Morgan on edge. She'd been reading up on the man and what she'd learned gave her the chills. He used drugs and psychological tricks to frighten and drive people mad, all in the name of research.

"The guy has an obsession with fear." Nightwing had told her before going. "If he shows up, you leave him to me."

Morgan had readily agreed to let Nightwing deal with the deranged ex-professor.

If only Impulse hadn't told her about the fact that Scarecrow would send Nightwing into a coma for months. And that this would be part of the reason the Reach succeeded in taking over Earth. She felt dread pool in her stomach, doing her very best to squash the uncomfortable feeling down.

Pulling herself back to the present, Morgan slowly took the offered paper and briefly read it. "This is for Bruce Wayne." She pointed out.

"And since I'm his adopted son and he wasn't planning on going to the fundraiser anyway, I can represent him." Nightwing retaliated.

"Will they let you in when you're not him, though?"

He nodded. "It's a fundraiser. They can't exactly say no to the son of one of the wealthiest people in Gotham."

She read the rest of the invitation and noted the 'plus one' at the end. She'd be going as Nightwing's 'date'.

Pretending to not like him was so very complicated when she found herself in situations like this one.

"This is an uppity thing, right?" She sighed.

"It's for the Gotham elite, so, yeah." Nightwing agreed.

She handed the paper back to him and he quickly folded it up, stuffing it back into the pouch. "So that probably means I'm gonna have to wear a dress, right?" She asked, keeping her eyes firmly in front of her, pretending to watch the docks with a nonchalant air.

"Unless you want to stick out like the sorest thumb in the absolutely worst way possible, you are undoubtedly going to have to wear a dress." Her mentor answered.

She frowned, already ruing having to go find one. "Dammit. I hate dress shopping." She complained, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Why don't you just wear the one you got for the winter ball? That one was nice."

Morgan paused briefly, both taken aback by the kind-of compliment and the fact that he seemed to have forgotten that that dress had been blown up with the rest of the Cave. "Can't." She eventually debunked. "You had it blown to smithereens, remember?"

She couldn't resist the quip.

He sighed and slumped slightly. "You've never going to let me live that down, are you?" He questioned.

Morgan shook her head. "Nope. You're right, though." She admitted, sighing wistfully. "That dress was awesome."

"So, just buy an exact replica." He pointed out.

"I don't think you realize just how expensive that dress was." Morgan replied, tugging at the end of her braid. "The only reason I got it was because Rachel and Esmeralda bought it for me."

Nightwing suddenly perked up and leaned further over the railing. "They're here." He whispered, ducking down lower. Morgan crouched too, the top of her head the only thing visible as she watched the docks below them.

A group of seven men had appeared below. The night was dark and – to make matters creepier – a thick fog had settled over Gotham, obscuring their view greatly.

"Dammit." Nightwing hissed.

"What?" Morgan questioned as she shuffled closer to him, trying to follow his line of sight. She studied the group of men closer and finally noticed the small, unassuming man in the scarecrow costume. So Scarecrow was here. "Oh."

She felt a chill crawl along her spine, eyeing the man uncomfortably as she remembered all the horrible things she'd read about him doing. He might've looked small and unthreatening, but he was anything but. The guy didn't rely on brute strength or advanced fighting tricks, he relied on manipulating the mind of his opponents.

And he was going to hurt Nightwing. Her Nightwing. Or, you know, not her Nightwing because it wasn't like they were dating or any – oh, forget it.

"You leave him to me." Nightwing firmly reminded her.

"He's all yours." For once, Morgan didn't rebel. She'd keep a sharp eye on their fight to make sure nothing happened, but she'd let him deal with the creepy villain all he wanted. Morgan liked to know where she had her baddies. She would rather deal with a huge mountain of a man that was strong but dumb, than a small man that was smart but weak.

She knew how to deal with physical attacks.

She wasn't so sure if she could deal with psychological ones.

A small boat suddenly emerged from the fog and docked by the seven men. There was silence for several moments as the group waited for the people in the boat to come out.

"Shouldn't we be, like, attacking or something?" Morgan pointed out as her mentor still hadn't made a move.

"We don't know how many men are in that boat or if they carry guns." He responded. "Never jump into a fight until you know enough about your enemy to defeat them."

Morgan nodded thoughtfully and sat quietly again, waiting for him to give the go.

Three men appeared on deck. Two of them were lugging a crate between them, the third carrying a riffle.

They walked onto the dock and settled the crate in front of Scarecrow.

"There's six more crates on board." The man with the gun gruffly informed.

"Get them." Scarecrow ordered, the seven men behind him straightening their backs in attention before walking towards the boat. His voice was high-pitched for a man, but it held authority. Morgan shuddered at the sound.

Nightwing placed a hand on her shoulder and forced the two of them down and out of sight. "Look, we've got no way of knowing if Scarecrow is in possession of any of his toxin. And any number of his goons could be carrying hidden weapons. Maybe some of them even have the toxin too." He explained seriously. Morgan got the feeling that this was the most dangerous mission she'd been on yet. His serious tone and tense look made her nervous.

What was worse what that she knew that Scarecrow at least would have his toxin with him. And he'd use it to drug Nightwing.

It was all she could think about. All she could picture in her mind. She could already see his limp body in a hospital bed with several machines hooked to him, keeping him alive.

She wondered, not for the first time, why she hadn't just told him already. But, for all Morgan knew, telling him could make it worse. Maybe it would make him nervous and he'd be less attentive, and this would guarantee that Scarecrow won.

Eventually, she nodded at him to let him know she was listening, trying to ignore how close his face was.

"I promise I'll be careful." She assured him, trying for a small, confident smile. Please be careful too.

His lips twitched in a small smile too. "Good. I'll contact the police and then we'll get down there."

Morgan, not sure why, held up a hand with her fingers spread, as if asking for a high five. "Go us." She encouraged.

He eyed the hand for only a second before bringing his gloved, much larger hand up, placing it against hers and intertwining their fingers. He squeezed once in agreement. "Go us."

Morgan woke up with her head pounding more viciously than she'd ever tried before. She blinked twice and then another time for good measure as she groggily attempted to fully understand the magnitude of the pain. It was at the back of her skull she noted as she lay there, blinking.

Waking up even further, she realized that there was a black, green-eyed cat sitting in her hair, and Morgan knew that something was definitely off.

Because not only was she back in her old room – the room she'd used in her mom's apartment – she also had no idea how she'd gotten there.

A light by her left side made her squint her eyes as they slowly got used to this newfound brightness, compared to the dark, unconscious state she'd been in moments before.

Morgan, despite her head's adamant protesting, slowly sat up in her bed as she groggily rubbed at her eyes. The cat – Percy – hopped off her hair and instead sat next to her knees, head curiously tilted as he silently studied his human.

"Oh thank god." A voice spoke next to her.

Morgan, having previously been unaware of another presence in the room, jumped out of her skin at the sudden words.

"Mom!" She exclaimed as she recognized the voice, turning her head to spot the older woman.

Her mother smiled tiredly but happily at her daughter, wordlessly offering her daughter a glass of water and painkillers.

Morgan accepted the remedy to her pounding head and gulped the entire glass of water down in a matter of seconds, her throat dry as sand.

"What am I doing here?" She asked next, wanting to be brought up to speed. She got the feel she'd missed a lot. "What happened?"

"Well.. you were knocked unconscious, so I'm tending to you." Her mom explained. "As to what actually happened, I don't know." She crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes in a way that would've reminded anyone of her daughter. "He's been very tightlipped about what you two were doing."

Morgan found that her mom's explanation didn't really help much. "Wait.." She shut her eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to figure out which question she wanted to ask first. "How long had I been out? How did I get here? Who's he?"

Another painful throb coursed through the back of her head and Morgan winched, instinctively reaching behind her. She found a pretty decently sized lump at the back of her head, right at the center of the pain. The lump was incredibly tender and Morgan hissed at even the barest pressure applied.

She stiffened when, now fully awake, she was suddenly hit with realization as the previous happenings of the night came back to her in a flash.

"Nightwing, watch out!"

Her panicked shout rung in her own mind like an evil memory.

She'd been with Nightwing, fighting Scarecrow and his goons.

They had jumped into the fray, Nightwing immediately going after Scarecrow and the henchmen closest to him, leaving Morgan to deal with the other men at the dock.

She had taken down five of the men when she'd chanced a look at her mentor's progress. After all, Scarecrow wasn't simply any kind of criminal; he was one of the worst. Batman had fought against him several times and his victories had always been just barely. The Scarecrow had been locked up in Arkham as handful of times, but always managed to escape. And she'd promised Impulse to keep a close eye on Nightwing, protect him from getting injected with the fear toxin.

As she'd allowed a small peek at her mentor, she'd seen him facing down on of the bigger and most muscle-y men at the scene, unaware that Scarecrow was approaching him from behind, syringe with what was undoubtedly his toxin raised in a sneak attack. Her heart had given an involuntary squeeze as she realized that the moment of truth at arrived. This was when things could either go wrong or right.

"Nightwing, watch out!"

At her shout, Nightwing had turned his head and spotted the shorter man approaching, using his hold on his previous opponent to launch himself into the air and deliver a swift, knock-out kick to Scarecrow's head. Scarecrow had crumbled to the ground, syringe rolling harmlessly down the sidewalk. Morgan could've cried with relief.

Once Nightwing had thrown the other, much bigger man over his shoulder, he'd turned to her with an acknowledging nod of his head, to prove that she'd done good to alert him. The look had frozen on his face in an instant and he'd instinctively reached a hand out – though she was well out of his reach – looking alarmed.

"Sparrow!"

Crack!

And then darkness.

She'd been knocked out from behind, Morgan concluded. How embarrassing. But that absolutely didn't matter because she'd managed to save Nightwing from a really bad fate. She'd deal with the headache if it meant saving the world – and her mentor.

Didn't explain why she'd ended up in her old room with her mother looking down at her with tired eyes and worry lines on her face, though.

And where was Nightwing?

"We were fighting by the docks.." Morgan lowly said, mostly to herself. She trained her grey eyes onto her mother. "And I was knocked out."

Her mom nodded. "Nightwing came here with you twenty minutes ago. Said he was afraid you'd been seriously hurt and he needed my help." Her mom filled in the gaps in Morgan's story. "After a brief look over, I concluded you hadn't sustained any dangerous injuries. Just a lump at the back of your head after the blow. Nothing serious."

Morgan felt annoyance flare up in her. Nightwing knew she didn't like to give her mom any reason to worry. And yet he'd brought her straight to her mom when she'd gotten knocked out.

"I'm sorry for worrying you mom." Morgan frowned. "He's an idiot for bringing me here."

"Don't be too harsh on the boy." Her mom was quick to respond, a small, soft smile on her lips. "He was really worried. He came here, clutching you to him, eyes all wide and fearful."

Morgan forced down a blush at the thought of him carrying her in his arms, pretty blue eyes all wide with worry for her.

"Well, it's not my well-being but his own he's gonna have to worry about once I lay my hands on him." She grumbled, getting up slowly. No part of her body hurt, apart from her head, to Morgan's relief.

He must've dealt with the remaining brutes before they had the chance to further harm her.

Which Morgan would've been grateful for if she hadn't been annoyed by him bringing her mom into this.

"Is he still here?" Morgan asked, stretching her wings before folding them against her back.

Her mom nodded. "In the kitchen."

Morgan nodded as well, biting into her bottom lip thoughtfully before slowly walking out of the room.

She was still groggy and slightly uncertain on her feet, but she knew the hall so well she had no problem walking down it and into the kitchen where her mentor was.

He was standing against the counter with his arms crossed in front of him, unmoving. His masked faced pointed downwards as if he found the tacky, brown-tiled floor utterly fascinating.

Upon her entry, his still body sprang to life as he whipped his head up, mask-clad eyes coming into contact with hers.

"Morgan!" He exclaimed, taking a few steps forward. "Are you okay?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Demanding and bossy Nightwing was annoying.

Worried Nightwing..

Well, he was either even more annoying, or kind of flattering and cute. She hadn't decided yet.

Damn teenage hormones.

"I'm fine." She shrugged, grimacing slightly. "Sporting the goddamn headache of the century, but otherwise fine."

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, though she didn't put much fire behind the look. She was more annoyed than angry, to be honest. "What are we doing here?" She asked.

"Your mom's a nurse." Nightwing reminded her, choosing to ignore her halfhearted glare. "I needed someone to check your injury out."

Morgan wanted to argue further, but she held it in as her mom appeared in the doorway at that second. She didn't want Abigail to think she was intentionally excluding her or keeping things from her. Even though that was exactly what Morgan was doing.

"So what happened after I was sneak-attacked?" She walked further into the kitchen and pulled open a cupboard, fishing out one of her mom's glasses. Her throat was still dry. "Did you get the guy who did it?"

Nightwing frowned as if the mere memory of the thug angered him. "I broke the scumbag's arm." He growled out. Seeming to realize himself, he cleared his throat."Uh, I mean, I dealt with the rest of them, the police showed up, and they are now, hopefully on their way to jail." He informed her, watching as she filled and gulped down two full glasses of water.

"Awesome." Morgan nodded, satisfied with a job well-done, despite her own less-than helpful role. "So now what? Patrol over?"

He looked at her like that much was obvious. "Well, since you were knocked unconscious for half an hour and is currently sporting a lump the size of your own head-" Morgan snorted at his exaggeration, "- yeah, I'd say patrol is over."

She sighed and put her glass down onto the counter. "Fine. I guess we'll be heading home then."

He nodded in agreement.

Morgan turned to her mom and smiled fondly at her. "Thanks for your help mom." She said, "And we're sorry for bothering you this time of night."

"It's fine, sweetie." Her mom reassured her. "I hope I'll see you soon under less dramatic circumstances."

Morgan promised so and smiled, hugging her mom briefly.

"Thank you for your help, Miss Grant." Nightwing politely said as Morgan slipped out of the kitchen. Her mentor was standing in the doorway, nodding once at her mom in farewell.

Abigail smiled at the tall teenager. "Keep an eye on my daughter for me, will you? Lord knows she needs it." She said fondly.

"I resent that statement." Morgan pouted, though she knew it was pointless. She'd been knocked out by some goon only half an hour ago, nothing but Nightwing to defend her, she knew telling her mom she didn't need protection wouldn't seem particularly believable.

"I'll certainly do my best." Nightwing responded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Have a good night."

The two teenagers slipped out of the apartment, silently walking down the stairs to avoid alerting the neighbors.

Morgan walked out onto the street first, turning to watch her mentor slip shut the front door of the apartment building.

They walked down the street in silence.

Morgan kicked at a small stone on their path, wishing she had a pair of pockets to stuff her hands into. "I can't believe you brought me to my mom." She grumbled, gaining the dark haired teenager by her side's attention. "You know I want to keep her out of this superhero stuff as much as possible."

"You were unconscious." He defended himself. "And I didn't know how bad it was. Her apartment was fairly close and I didn't want to involve any hospitals unless it was strictly necessary. And since she's a nurse, your mom was perfectly qualified to examine you."

Morgan frowned, kicked at another stone. It skidded across the road and somehow managed to fall down a sewer hole. "I hate when you go all logical on me." She sighed.

He grinned to himself. "You'd think you would be used to it by now." He returned.

Despite her previous grumpy mood, she still quirked a lopsided smile at that. "So, what happened to Scarecrow?"

"He earned himself a one-way ticket to Arkham Asylum." Nightwing responded, sounding pleased. "A good thing too. Batman had been chasing him for weeks before he had to leave Earth."

"You know he's probably going to break out again, right? Just like the last five times?" Morgan said, ever the pessimistic one.

Nightwing curled the corner of his mouth in displeasure. "Probably."

"I swear, considering how many crazy psychopaths they house, Arkham has horrible security."

"It's a good thing they have us to recapture all of those escaped people then."

She nodded slowly, realizing that, if that if all the prisons and asylums upped their security, the superheroes would probably be out of a job.

They reached the nearest Zeta tube site and found themselves in Blüdhaven a second later.

"Well," Morgan turned to her mentor, pushing her lips together as she tried to think of something to say. "Good night."

"You too." He smiled, a small crooked thing, which looked very handsome on his stupid face. "I'm glad you're okay, Morgan. Try not to get yourself knocked out next time though, okay?"

She spluttered in protest. "Hey, I did that saving your ass!" She pointed out.

His small crooked smile turned into a full-blown look of amusement. "For which I am very grateful." He admitted. "Get some sleep. You've had a rough night."

Morgan shrugged with one shoulder. "Sure thing, boss man." She said, taking a step backwards, in the direction of the warehouse.

"And Morgan?" She turned around to find her mentor still standing in place. "Go buy that dress. I'll arrange some deal with the shop owner."

She nodded after a moment's hesitation, her eyes traveling out over the water, the crescent moon casting a silvery line in the waves.

Having said his parting words, Nightwing stepped through the Zeta tube again, leaving Morgan confused – Didn't he live in Blüdhaven? Where was he going now, then?

She shrugged it off as she walked down the docks, arriving back at the warehouse in five minutes time.

The rest of the residents were asleep when she got back, various degrees of snoring emitting from their corner of the room.

She slipped behind the blue curtains that separated her space from the rest of the room, pulling off her Sparrow get-up.

Sleep claimed her in a few minutes.

April 26th

Getting any homework done had gotten increasingly difficult after moving into the Warehouse.

There was the lack of privacy, which also meant a lack of silence. And Morgan needed silence to concentrate.

And then there was the lack of a desk in her 'room', meaning she had to do her work out in the open, at the table they ate dinner. Not that they ate a lot of dinner anymore. The Team was mostly living off of toast and takeout these days.

But it was the only table in the place, so Morgan was forced to use it.

Which only magnified her two previous problems: No privacy and no silence.

She was rereading her biology notes and trying to get at proper grasp on the problem she'd been presented with, scrambling to finish up before Cassie and Barbara got here.

They were going dress shopping.

Nightwing had approached her the day before and said he'd gotten that deal through with the shop owner, so now she was free to buy the dress she wanted. All she had to do was give them her name.

So, because Morgan honestly couldn't imagine going shopping for a dress alone – not only because she was utterly hopeless when it came to shopping, but also because that would just be sad and lonely – she had asked the two girls for help.

Both had accepted, probably because they all needed a bit of a free-hour. M'gann's disappearance was still a painful wound, though not as potent as it had been in the beginning. Most on the Team were starting to return somewhat to normal, wanting to get their heads back in the game.

Going shopping would be a relaxing and fun thing. Just what they needed to unwind.

Morgan had asked Karen if she wanted to come along too, but the other girl had been too busy at the lab to go with them. She practically lived in that laboratory these days, so Morgan hadn't expected any different.

So, yeah, she needed to finish up her studying so she could go with a good conscience.

But the Warehouse was noisy. And it smelled seriously funky – kind of exactly like you'd expect a place where several sweaty teenage boys lived with no one to tell them to clean would smell.

Morgan gritted her teeth and hunched further over her books, forcing herself to concentrate.

Thirty minutes later she sat up with a sigh, finally done. Snapping her books shut, she stretched her back with a groan, enjoying the liberating feeling as it popped in several places.

As she gathered her books and papers together, Cassie and Barbara entered the warehouse.

"Ready to go?" Barbara asked, hand resting on the strap of her purse. The two girls both smiled and Morgan quickly returned the look.

"Lemme just throw these on my bed and I'm ready to go." Morgan answered, dashing towards her own corner of the Warehouse. She dropped her books and papers onto the bed and grabbed hold of her jacket and pendant.

"let's go." She declared as she pulled on the charmed necklace, leather jacket slung over her shoulder.

"I'm so glad we're doing this, girls." Cassie admitted as they ducked back out of the Warehouse. "I really need a bit of girl-time."

Morgan was glad she could be of service. To be honest, she'd been fearing that the two girls only agreed to go out of loyalty and not wanting to hurt her feelings. She was happy that Cassie wanted it as much as she did.

"We all do." Barbara agreed, her red hair bouncing as she nodded her head.

"And I'm really grateful you guys want to help me out." Morgan spoke up. "I'd have been pretty lost otherwise."

"So, where are we going?" Barbara questioned, letting Morgan lead their small group towards the Zeta tube.

"Gotham." Morgan finally revealed. She'd been very vague about what they were doing, simply informing the two girls that she had to go shop for something and asked if they wanted to come along. "There's this specific shop that I need something from."

"Well, what is it?" Cassie innocently asked, looking imploringly at Morgan.

She stiffened slightly. She knew telling the girls she needed a dress would require an explanation. And she knew that simply telling them about the fundraiser didn't make sense.

No, Morgan would have to tell them everything. The truth about her wings, her dad, the fundraiser..

She wasn't even sure why she'd been keeping it from the Team. She just hadn't been ready to tell anyone yet.

But she was ready now. At least to tell Cassia and Barbara. She'd have to start somewhere, and the two girls seemed like the best place.

"I.." She sighed, tugging at a curl. "It's a very long story."

For the next several minutes, she launched into the story of how her dad had approached her weeks ago and told her the truth about her wings. She explained that Nightwing had helped her investigate. She told them that the two of them had tracked down her father's former colleague and was now infiltrating the party undercover to speak to the woman.

"It's the only way I can approach Doctor Robbins as Morgan and not Sparrow. And she can't know that we're the same person. It'd be weird if a superhero suddenly shows up at your doorstep and asks questions about your former colleague's daughter, right? So I have to approach her as that daughter. And this is my opportunity."

They'd travelled by Zeta tube at this point, the three girls now standing in front of the huge shopping mall Morgan had been in back in January with Esmeralda and Rachel.

"Wow.. Um.." Cassie was looking wide-eyed at Morgan, trying to find the right thing to say. "Wow. I'm sorry."

Morgan grimaced half heartedly and shrugged with one shoulder. "I think it's a rule that you have to have some kind of screwed up past or family relations to become a superhero."

"You've got a point there." Barbara said with good humor. She placed a hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Still. What happened to you was not okay. And we're here if you ever want to talk to anyone about it."

"Thanks, guys." Morgan accepted the offer gratefully, glad that someone other than her mentor now knew about all the shit in her life. It was getting old, going to him every time something was wrong.

Also, the fact that he was a dude – a dude that she was kinda crushing on – made it that much harder to talk to him about feelings and stuff. He gave good advice and helped her all he could, but sometimes, a girl just needed another girl to complain to.

"So why are we going to this very specific mall in Gotham? Couldn't any of the places in Blüdhaven do?" Cassie plowed on as the three girls entered the mall.

"It's because there's this specific dress I want." Morgan explained. "It holds.. sentimental value, I guess. But I lost it in the Mount Justice explosion. So I'm getting another one like it."

They entered the shop and Morgan found the right dress almost immediately. She was in incredible luck. They only had one dress in the right size and color left.

"This is the one." Morgan told them, holding it up. She was heading for the counter to buy the dress when Barbara stopped her in her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked.

Morgan frowned at her in confusion. "I'm, uh, buying the dress? That's why we're here, remember?"

"Well yes," Cassie agreed, "But you can't drag us to the mall and then not try on the dress we're here to get."

"Yeah, you have to show us how it looks on you, man." Barbara pointed out. "That's the whole point."

"But I already know it fits." Morgan protested.

"Yes, but the whole point of going shopping with your friends is to that you can try stuff out and then have them tell you what they think." Cassie explained. "We want to see what it looks like! It's obviously pretty if you go and buy an exact replica."

Morgan sighed and walked towards the changing rooms. "Fine! I'll show you the stupid dress."

Stepping into the dressing room, Morgan quickly changed. Just like last time, she stood for a moment to study her own reflection, running her hands along the smooth material by her hips.

She slowly walked out of the changing room, finding her two friends waiting patiently.

"It's really pretty, Morgan." Barbara complimented softly, smiling genuinely.

Cassie squealed. "It's a shame you're not going on a real date!" She said. "It's totally wasted on Nightwing."

Morgan smiled wryly. Cassie probably didn't realize that the one guy she said it would be wasted on was the only guy Morgan wanted to wear it for.

Barbara smirked. "I'm sure it won't be entirely wasted."

Morgan frowned at her cryptic words, ducking behind the doors to the dressing room again.

She came out a moment later in her own clothes. "Can I go buy it now?" She sarcastically asked.

The two girls nodded. "Sure."

Reaching the counter, Morgan gave the cashier her name. "I've got a deal with your boss." She elaborated.

The cashier clicked through a few documents on the computer screen in front of her. "Certainly. I'll tell him you've purchased your off-charge item."

Cassie frowned in confusion as the cashier folded the dress and put it in a paper bag. "Off charge? What deal?"

Accepting the bag and leading the way out of the shop, Morgan fought down her blush and forced on a cool façade, mostly because Barbara was studying her with an inquisitive look. "Uh, we need to look convincing at the fundraiser, so Nightwing made sure I could get a proper dress. He made the deal."

Cassie gaped at her. "Nightwing paid for your dress?"

"As I said," Barbara smirked, "Not entirely wasted."

Morgan glared slightly at the other girl, pretending she didn't understand what she was insinuating.

LOL, like I was actually going to tell you guys what Bart told Morgan right away. You're going to find out when Nightwing finds out.

Fifty reviews! This has got to be a record of some kind (for me)

Keep up the good work and I'll keep up my rapid posting ;)

(And just to encourage you even further, the next few chapters will be full of Morgan/Dick fluff and goodness and then some truths are going to be revealed!)

Fun fact: The reason Dick likes that dress of hers so much is because he's got such a weakness for her hips, even though he doesn't even realize it. (and the dress just shows them off really well, okay? Don't judge him.)