Making Waves

Chapter 23

"I think we did pretty well tonight," Dick said, leaning his elbows on his knees.

His feet dangled off the edge of the brick railing as he peered down to the street for any lingering criminals. Percy brought her legs in to sit crisscross, choosing to look up instead.

"We usually do," she hummed, a thread of confusion in her voice.

"At keeping it professional, I mean," Dick clarified, with a slight smile.

"Except for when you asked me if I had Friday night plans in front of that drug dealer."

"Except for that," he winced. When he glanced over, she was still gazing at the dusty gray sky. "Do you?"

Percy blinked, bringing her face back down. "No, why?"

"We haven't been on an actual date yet," Dick pointed out.

"This doesn't count?" she laughed.

"A proper one."

Percy brought her knees into her chest, an amused smile at her lips. "As in, get all dressed up, go to a fancy restaurant, and try to figure out which fork is for what food?"

"On the left, the outside one is for salad and the one closer to the plate is for the main course. The one on top is for dessert and if there's a fork on the right, it's for oysters," Dick dutifully recited from memory, with a false accent.

Percy burst into laughter, making all those years of galas and dinners worth it.

"Socialite mathlete," she snickered, and he shoved her lightly with his shoulder.

"Let's hear your ideas then," he shot back, "I'm vetoing anything that involves colored flags."

Percy closed her previously open mouth, pouting, but accepted the terms. She glanced briefly above her.

"Stargazing?" she suggested, "There's so much light pollution here, I haven't seen them in a while."

Dick thought about it for a second. Laying down on a soft blanket in the middle of nowhere, Percy curled up by his side, pointing out mythological constellations, telling each of their stories as if she had lived them. Knowing her, he wouldn't be surprised if she had.

"Yeah," he breathed, warmth spreading across his chest, "Let's do it."

Percy rested her head sideways, using her crossed arms as a pillow, and smiled at him. The wind whipped a thick strand of her hair to the opposite side, and Dick reached out to flip it back. He could have been content to sit there for the rest of the night, but he checked his watch for the time, knowing they had places to be.

"Come on," he said, reluctantly, "The others should be finishing patrol soon too."

LINEBREAK

Flashing straight into the cave, still in their uniforms, Percy followed Dick into the main area. She leaned against the wall, watching him restock his utility belt, endless extra supplies going in like it had the properties of Leo's magical toolbelt. After snatching a few miniature explosives, Dick pulled a sharp, bat-shaped projectile out of a drawer clearly labeled Do Not Touch and handed it over.

"Evidence," he grinned.

Percy heard the faint thrum of an engine in the distance, and plucked the batarang from his fingers, shoving it into her pocket just as a sleek black car pulled into the mouth of one of the larger tunnels.

The doors hissed open, raising upwards to the roof, and a gaggle of vigilantes spilled out, tumbling and yelling all over each other. They were still in their suits, though Percy now knew their names, having met nearly all of them separately, in and out of the masks.