#dick&babs

Batgirl stood on the top of the Gotham bridge looking down at the city.

"I was starting to think you weren't coming." She said, hearing someone gracefully land on the metal bridge.

She turned around to face Nightwing, he was out of breath, "Sorry Babs…had to run to…the jewellery store...robbery...guy's with police now." He panted, Batgirl laughed, "You ran all the way from the store?" She asked, he nodded "Pretty much."

He laid down on the bridge, his hands above his head letting the cool night air cover his body. Batgirl laid down next to him, she put her hand on his chest, feeling how fast his heart was beating.

"By the way, I'd never not show up for something like this." He said, kissing the top of her head as they looked up at the full moon, it was surrounded by twinkling stars. "I know." She said, wrapping her arm around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You've never let me down, Dick." She said, he smiled. "And you've never let me down, Babs." He replied.

"I was at Charlie's Café this morning with Jason. It was busy, and we were waiting in line for about 15 minutes. We were stood next to a table, and I heard this guy talking to this woman; we were a bit late to the conversation so I didn't really know what they were talking about, but he said to her 'if the world's going to end, I want us to be together.'" He said. "Aww, that was sweet." She replied.

"That's not all." Dick said, Barbara looked up at him, "I was thinking about it for a while, you know it was one of those little things that seem like they don't mean anything, but you think about it all day." He said, "So, anyway, I realised that you never know when the world is going to end; it could be years, months, weeks, days, maybe even in the next few seconds, my point is, I want to be with you everyday of my life until the world ends."

"Dick, that's sweet. I'd love to spend the rest of my life with you." She said pressing her lips to his cheek, she settled again so her head was back on his shoulder, "I love you." She said softly as they looked up at the moon. "I love you too, Babs." He replied.

There was a growling sound, "Hungry?" Dick asked. "Starving." She replied. "Want to get a pizza?" He asked. "Absolutely." She said, getting to her feet. "I'll race you home." He said. "You're on, Boy Wonder." She said, pulling out her grapple gun. "Looser pays for pizza." He said. She shot him a look before she jumped off the bridge.

"What do you think he's up to?" Nightwing asked. He and Batgirl stood on the roof of the Laffco To Factory, looking down through the skylight.

Once again, the Joker had escaped from Arkham Asylum, but Batman was out of Earth in the Justice League Watch Tower, and the others were busy, so it was up to Batgirl and Nightwing to stop whatever insane plan the Joker had up his sleeve.

They'd followed the Joker's tracks to the Laffco Toy Factory, which was his usual hideout/headquarters. A group of beefy henchmen stood in front of him, and the Joker seemed to be giving them a speech.

"I don't know, but he knows that Batman is out of Gotham, so it'll probably be something big." Batgirl said, "If only we could hear what he was saying."

"Do you think he knows we're here?" Nightwing asked. "I bet he does. Batman's usually hot on his tail by now, I'm sure he knows someone is watching him." Batgirl said.

"But I know something that he doesn't know." Batgirl said, Nightwing gave her a confused look.

"We're gonna kick his ass and drag it straight back to Arkham." She said, determination in her voice, that's one of the things that Dick liked about Barbara; along with many other things.

He chuckled, "It's usually Batman who throws the Joker into Arkham."

"Yeah but Batman's not here, so it's up to us." Batgirl said, she looked into his eyes, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said.

"Dick." She began, "I've known you for years, I know when you're lying to me and when you're hiding things from me. What's the matter?"

He sighed, "Babs." He ran a hand through his hair, looking away from her, his eyes caught the Joker punching one of his henchmen, Dick sighed again. "What is it?" She asked.

"I'm scared." He admitted. "Scared of what?" She asked.

"Scared of everything going wrong down there." He said.

"We've fought the Joker before, Dick." She said.

"I know, I know. He usually gets away, or Batman takes him out. Barbara, we don't even know what he's planning, for all we know there could be a bomb in that building." Dick said.

"Dick, we'll be-"

"Remember when the Joker shot you?" He asked, her heart suddenly stopped, and her hand ran along her abdomen to where the bullet scar was hidden under her costume. She'd recently had a nightmare about getting shot by the Joker. Dick was woken in the middle of the night to her screaming.

"I told myself that when I found him, I'd hurt him the way he hurt you and I'd leave him to die." Dick said, "I should have been there to protect you, but I wasn't. I'm sorry." Barbara felt as if a knife had struck her heart; he'd never told her this before, she didn't realise he held so much guilt for what had happened, but it wasn't his fault.

"Dick. It's not your fault. You didn't shoot me, the Joker did. He didn't do it because of you. Don't blame yourself." She said, softy.

"I could've lost you, Babs." He said, his words filled with guilt.

Barbara leant up and gently pressed her lips to his cheek, "I'm here." She whispered and Dick squeezed her hand.

"Now, let's kick some Joker ass." She said, he smiled.

It was a slow night so Nightwing finish patrol early and headed home; which was lucky because tonight is pizza night.

He climbed through the window of the apartment he lived in with Barbara. "Babs, I'm home." He called and began taking off his costume and into his pyjamas.

"Babs?" He called as he stepped into the living room, she was sitting on the couch, he instantly noticed that she didn't look happy about something. "What is it, Babs?" He sat next to her on the couch and she sighed.

"What's up?" He asked. "Nothing." She said, "Nothing to worry about."

Obviously, he didn't believe her, "Barbara, I know you. I know when you're hiding something from me, and I know when you're feeling crap about something. What is it?" He asked, Barbara sighed and quickly reached for something on the coffee table. "I just finished reading this book, and it's so sad Dick!" She exclaimed.

He looked at the book she was holding, 'Our Castle by the Sea'.

"I know it doesn't look it, but it is a sad book!" She exclaimed, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him, "Tell me about it." He said softly, she sighed.

"It's about this girl in World War 2, and she lives in a lighthouse, her mom is German gets taken away by the police for being a possible threat to the country, then one bad thing happens after another and she begins to lose everything, and it's just so sad!" She cried. "Sshh, it's OK." He said, reassuringly," Remember, it's just a book." He said," We have this discussion every time, Babs." She nodded.

"I tell you what, I'll read this book, then if it is sad then we can be sad together." He said, trying to cheer her up; it worked. She smiled, "You don't have to do that Dick." She said. "I will." He said, taking the book from her to study the cover. "OK." She said.

"But there is something that I need to read first." He said. "What's that?" She asked. "The pizza menu, I'm starving." He said, Barbara laughed as Dick reached for the menu.

It was just Batgirl and Nightwing.

Damian had been injured in on a mission last week, he was back at the Cave with Alfred; and his arm in a cast. Batman was at the Watch Tower with the Justice League, Jason had been away from Gotham for a few days, following in argument with Bruce, and Tim was away with the Titans.

It was up to Batgirl and Nightwing to stop the Scarecrow. He had broken out of Arkham Asylum and managed to hide from them for 2 days, until there was a break-in at Gotham University and several chemicals had been stole.

Batgirl had suspected that he'd be targeting Ace Chemicals, they informed the police who warned the chemical plant of a possible attack, but nothing happened; still the police kept on high alert, the Scarecrow was one of the most dangerous villains in Gotham City.

"Penny-One." Nightwing said through comms, "GCPD have 4 armed officers outside Ace Chemicals, so far nothing."

"Dick, maybe the Scarecrow doesn't have plans for Ace?" Batgirl suggested. "I agree with Miss Gordon on that one Master Dick." Alfred said, "There is movement at Laffco Toy Factory."

"Laffco? But the Joker's in Arkham." Nightwing said. "Laffco's an abandoned building, the Scarecrow knows that the Joker's locked up, he knows we're looking for him, so he'd be expecting us to go to one of his known locations." Batgirl said.

"She's quite right, Master Dick." Alfred said. "Alright, let's go." Nightwing said.

They arrived at Laffco Toy Factory; the huge dark building stood on the top of a hill, abandoned for years, the Joker had used the factory as his base several times, before Batman and Robin threw hm back into Arkham.

They stood on the roof, looking down into the factory through the skylight. "It's a little weird isn't it." Nightwing whispered, "That the Scarecrow is here."

"Agreed." Batgirl said, "But he's obviously up to something big, he's using a factory he's probably never been to before, and probably to throw us off track." She whispered, Nightwing nodded.

"There is something else, Babs." He said, his voice changed, "I was thinking about it on the way over here." He said, looking deep into her eyes, "How do we know that the Scarecrow's alone in there? I mean, this factory is unusual for him, he might be meeting someone else, or maybe a whole bunch of people."

She hadn't thought of that. What if he was alone in there, or what if there were a dozen guys with guns waiting for them. "We won't know until we get in there." She said, reaching out to take his hand, when she did, she squeezed it tightly. "I've got your back, Dick, I promise." She said, giving him a reassuring smile, he smiled back, gently squeezing her hand. "I'll have yours to, Babs."

"Right, then let's go." She said as she gently opened the skylight with a tip of a baterang; the skylight swung open, Batgirl caught it before it could make a noise and alert the Scarecrow of their presence.

Wrapping her grapple hook around a metal ladder, they carefully climbed into the factory.

If the Joker was in the factory, they'd already be dodging toy planes and fighting off toy robots; Batgirl and Nightwing had been inside the factory, hunting for the Joker so many times, they knew every turn, every exit and every dead-end; question is, did the Scarecrow know them too?

They heard a door creaking; it was close to them, but they couldn't see where it was coming from. Then there was a metal CLANG. Nightwing looked ahead, trying to figure out where the sound came from, and Batgirl slowly turned around and came face-to-face with the Scarecrow.

"Nightw-" The Scarecrow sprayed some green gas in her face; the fear toxin. "Batgirl!" Nightwing exclaimed, he punched the Scarecrow and sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Batgirl, are you ok?" He asked, gently shaking her, she rubbed her eyes. The Scarecrow groaned on the floor, Batgirl looked at him, her eyes widened with fear. "Joker." She gasped.

"Oh no." Nighwing muttered, Batgirl looked at him, he could see the fear in her eyes as she backed away from him, looking between him and the Scarecrow.

"Batgirl!" Nightwing exclaimed, "It's me." She shook her head, "I know who you are, Joker!" She exclaimed, pulling a baterang out of her utility belt.

"No! No!" Nightwing exclaimed, "It's me, Nightwing."

She scowled, "No!" She exclaimed, she threw her baterang at him, Nightwing jumped out of its way, the baterang hit the wall and in a few seconds, it blew up.

"Babs." Nightwing gasped, looking at the wall which now had a hole in the middle of it, the Scarecrow got to his feet, Batgirl looked at him, she pulled out another baterang but Nightwing grabbed her wrist, snatching the baterang.

"Let go of me!" She exclaimed, attempting to yank her wrist out of his grasp, but Nightwing held on tighter, the Scarecrow began laughing as Batgirl's fear grew.

The Scarecrow headed to a door, laughing as he ran away from the two vigilantes.

"Penny-One!" Nightwing exclaimed, "I need back up!"

"Help will be arriving soon, Commissioner Gordon is on his way with back-up." Alfred said. "Penny-One, I got this." A familiar voice said, Nightwing looked away from Batgirl just as Red Hood ran past him.

"Um, was that Master Jason?" Alfred asked. "It was indeed." Nightwing said.

"Batgirl!" Nightwing exclaimed, Batgirl was still fighting him, "Babs! Barbara!" He looked into her eyes, filled with fear, he grabbed her other wrist. "Let me go, Joker!" She exclaimed, her voice wavered, and tears filled in her eyes.

"Barbara, it's me." Nightwing said, gently loosening the pressure on her wrists. "It's me, Dick." He said, as he pulled off his mask. A few seconds past and Batgirl stopped struggling. "No, you're the J-Joker." She stuttered.

"No, Barbara, it's me. It's Dick." He said, her breathing evened out, "You've known me since we were kids, remember? We've come a long way, you and me, Babs." He said.

"Dick?" She asked, she pulled her wrist out of his hand and rubbed her eyes. "Dick." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck, sobbing gently onto his shoulder. "It's ok, Barbara." He said, rubbing her back.

"It's ok, guys." Red Hood said, Nightwing quickly put is mask back on, he turned around to see Red Hood strutting through the doorway, dragging the Scarecrow along the floor behind him; he was tied up with a rope and what appeared to be a dolls head in his mouth.

The GCPD arrived within minutes, along with a van which took the Scarecrow back to Arkham. "What was he planning?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"He was planning on filling toy planes up with his fear-toxin, flying them over the city and releasing the toxin." Red Hood said, "Spreading fear and chaos throughout Gotham."

"Hmm, great job at catching him." The Commissioner said, "Is she going to be ok?" He asked, looking over at Batgirl who sat on the doorstep of the factory, "She'll be fine Commissioner the toxin will wear off in a couple of hours." Nightwing said, the Commissioner nodded and climbed into his car, driving back into the city.

Red Hood chuckled, "It's weird, the Commissioner doesn't even know that's his daughter." He said, Nightwing rolled his eyes. "Why are you back Jason?" He asked.

"Can't a guy miss his brother?" Red Hood said, Nightwing said nothing, he just stared at Red Hood, waiting for an answer; Red Hood sighed. "Alright," He said, "Alfred called me, told me Bruce was at the Tower, and you and Babs were going after the Scarecrow. He said things seems a stranger than usual, so he asked me to come back and help you."

"Thanks for coming Jason." Nightwing said. "No problem, I'm heading back to the Manor, Alfred's ordering pizza." Red Hood said, he jumped onto his motorbike, and disappeared.

Nightwing sat on the doorstep next to Batgirl. "Feeling ok?" He asked, she nodded, "A little better."

Nightwing wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "It'll be ok." He said. "Dick, I threw an exploding baterang at you." She said, guiltily. "You didn't know it was me though, did you." He said, she shook her head.

"No, but I guess we know that I'm still scared of the Joker." She sighed, she pulled her cowl off and ran a hand through her hair. "Hey, it's not your fault." Nightwing said, pulling his mask off. "After what the Joker did, I don't blame you for still being scared of him." He said.

"It's just…it's been years Dick, I thought that I wouldn't be so scared of him anymore." She said, wiping her eyes. "It'll take time, Barbara. You're not the only one who's scared of him, I know Jason still is a bit; don't tell him that though." Dick said, Barbara smiled.

"Do you think I'll ever stop being scared of him?" She asked, Dick shrugged, "I suppose, you just have to try your best to move on from what he did to you, and focus more on taking him down, and scum like him." He said, she settled her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks for having my back, Dick." She said. "Anytime, Babs." He said, pressing lips to her head.

"Come on, let's head back to the cave, I've been thinking about pizza all night." Dick said, standing up and reach out for Barbara's hand to pull her up.

"Good idea." She said, "Are you up for a race?"

"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.

Dick’s POV

It had been a long few days, everyone agreed. So it was nice to finally relax.

Barbara and I headed up to Wayne Manor, where Bruce was holding a ‘celebratory dinner’. It wasn’t a big dinner, just me, Babrara, Jason, Damian, Tim, Kate and Cassandra.

The Joker escaped from Arkham Asylum with the Mad Hatter and the Scarecrow, and planned, once again, to take over the city.

They’d mixed the Joker’s laughing gas with the Scarecrow’s fear toxin. Using the gas, they attacked City Hall and held the Mayor and some of his staff hostage. Not only did we have to save the Mayor, we also had to deal with the chaos unfolding in the city. The Mad Hatter had also hypnotized some of the police officers, so we had also had to save the city from the hypnotized police officers roaming the city, as well as stopping the crazy criminals.

By the time they’d thrown Joker, Scarecrow and Mad Hatter into Arkham, and returned the city to it’s ‘normal crazy’, three days had past.

We sat around the dining table, Bruce insisted that Alfred joined us for dinner as he also made a great contribution to capturing the Joker and his ‘friends’.

It was an amazing evening so far, we’d all had a few drinks; Bruce had a nice wine imported from France, and Kate brought a bottle of wine, which she’d bought when she visited Portugal. And on top of all the drink Jason had brought; the evening seemed to be getting funnier.

Obviously, Bruce had Cassandra and Damian drinking non-alcoholic drinks, and Tim wasn’t much of a drinker, so he stuck to the Diet Coke with Cass and Damian.

Barbara had only had two glasses of wine, and she was laughing with Kate about something Bruce said earlier. I noticed that I hadn’t seen Barbara laugh like this in a long time.

It was probably the work overload, but whenever we faced the Joker, Barbara seemed nervous. I couldn’t blame her, it had been a few years since she started being Batgirl again, but I imagine that she was scared of the Joker; nobody could blame her though.

“So, Kate you said you’re going to Germany in October.” Bruce asked, it wasn’t a formal dinner, but Bruce spoke as if he was hosting one of the Wayne Charity Galas. “Yep.” Kate replied, slightly drunk, “I’m going with Renée for the Oktoberfest.”

“Obviously.” Damian muttered, as he picked up his plate, and he and Cassandra began clearing the table. Alfred got up to help, but Damian insisted that he take the night off from cleaning, and relax.

“Anyone ready for dessert?” Alfred asked, “I bake a lovely cheesecake this morning.”

Though we were still full from dinner, as well as the alcohol, nobody would resist Alfred’s vanilla cheesecake.

Damian and Cassandra returned with clean plates and spoons, and laid them out. And Alfred stepped into the dining room with his famous cheesecake.

The cheesecake was delicious, but nobody could eat another bite. It was coming up to 8 o’clock.

Jason was on his third glass of whisky of the evening. Bruce insisted that he at least, taste the wine. Jason did, and he hated it, agreeing that the whisky was better. Jason would probably go out to a bar when the evening was over, or he’d go back to his apartment and carry on drinking.

“So, Kate, are you and Renée going to wear one of those Dirndl outfits?” Barbara asked. “Or a lederhosen?” Jason muttered, suddenly everyone burst into a fit of laughter at the thought of Kate wearing one of those traditional Oktoberfest outfits; the alcohol made it seem funnier than it probably was.

“Excuse me.” I said, I got up to use the bathroom. As I walked through the halls, I looked at the paintings on the walls that I always admired. And then further down the hall towards the bathroom, I passed a cabinet; a large vase of fresh flowers stood on top, and scattered around on the cabinet were photographs.

My first school photograph and then my graduation photograph, Tim’s graduation photograph. A photograph of me and Barbara, some of Cassandra, one of Kate and Bruce and one of Jason and one of Damian. The one that stood out the most was the family photograph that was taken in the Summer last year.

I remember it was so hot, so Bruce invited us all over to spend the day in the heat. Alfred manned the barbeque, Bruce was in charge of judging the diving competition, which Cassandra won. It was a great day.

After I finished, and when I was walking back down to the dining room, I saw Jason step outside for a cigarette, I followed him.

“Not giving that up then?” I asked, Jason chuckled as he lit a cigarette and began smoking it, he offered one to me but I refused; not only was it bad for health, but I wouldn’t hear the end of it from Babrara if she smelt it on me.

“Barbara seems to be having a great night.” Jason said, blowing the smoke into the air. “Yea, she sure it. It was so good to see her laugh tonight, I haven’t seen her laugh like that in a long time.” I said. “You know after the chaos over the last few days, and all the crime fighting we’ve done the last few years, it’s times like this that I really appreciate having you guys; having someone who knows what it’s like.” I said.

Jason rolled his eyes, “Don’t get all emotional on me, Grayson.” He said. “You know what I mean.” I said, Jason nodded, “I do.” He said.

“Jason, do you ever get...scared of the Joker?” I asked, he’d probably give me a response like ‘I’m not discussing my feelings with you Grayson’, or ‘No, I’ve a stone cold heart, I don’t feel anything’.

Jason looked at me, he took one last puff of his cigarette before he put it out. “Yes I do.” He said, my eyes narrowed as I looked into his. “He killed me, Dick, literally. It’s not something that I’ll ever forget. The first time I saw him when I returned to Gotham, I thought I was going to be sick, I couldn’t handle it, I was going to kill him for killing me, but I couldn’t do it.” He said. “Why?”

I shrugged, “I just worry about Barbara everytime she faces him. You remember, he shot her a few weeks before you died.” Jason nodded, I saw the hairs on his arms stand up, “It’s getting cold, let’s go back inside.” He said quickly, pulling open the door. It wasn’t cold at all, it was the Summer and it was a little bit breezy, but it was nice. He was just trying to get away from the conversation. “Jason, I’m sorry if I said anything.” I said, he shook his head. “You didn’t.” He said.

The rest of the evening continued as if the conversation Jason and I had outside didn’t happen.

I knew it was getting late, Cassandra and Damian were falling asleep at the table, so we decided to call it a night. Bruce called us all cabs to take us home.

When we got back to our apartment, Barbara changed into her pyjamas, climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep. I climbed into bed with her, watching her sleep for a few minutes, before I closed my eyes. She turned to face me, wrapping her arms around me and settling her head on my shoulder. “I love you.” She muttered, sleepily.

finaly I finished this one.