GrayBat - Simple Perfection

The Past Uncovered

Being Batgirl and Robin was easy. Fun, even.

The day Dick had stormed out of the Batcave and left nothing more than a stuffed elephant and a note in her room was the worst day of Barbara Gordon's life. Worse than when Jason or Blair or Damian died. Worse than finding out Dick was engaged to Kory. Worse than being shot by the damn clown. 

Why can't they be like that again?

It's not fair. Nightwing and Starfire's relationship was possibly even more public than Superman and Lois Lane's. Even when Dick took over being the Team's leader for a few weeks when Kaldur had been captured, he didn't hide his relationship with Zatanna. If you can even call a series of one night stands a relationship. But now all Barbara got were stolen kisses late night in the Watchtower's training room, and innuendos snuck into mission orders. 

There were moments that they wished would last forever.

They were each other's first kisses, on the roof of Wayne Manor when they were both thirteen, at midnight on New Year's Eve. Their short-lived relationship, before Dick quit the Robin mantle and didn't want to see anything Bat-related. That wasn't exactly true. He didn't want to see anything Bruce-related. He would've given his right-arm and a half to be back with Barbara. And when they were almost married...they both could've cried tears of joy for days, weeks, even. It didn't matter that Barbara couldn't walk, or that Dick could've been killed at any given moment. It didn't even matter that their entire universe could implode in on itself thanks to one very-pissed off SuperBoy Prime. They had each other, and that's all either of them needed. Or wanted.

Then there were the moments that broke their hearts completely. And they would do anything to stop the pain.

I'm not talking about losing Damian, or Jason, or Blair, who were all like siblings to them. But when they had lost each other, and dulled the pain through relationships with people who were the other's opposites, like Kory or Luke. Like when Dick had quit the Robin mantle, or when he announced his engagement to a certain alien princess after sleeping with Barbara and telling her 'I love you'. When Barbara had been shot, and lost the ability to use her legs, and the one person she needed more than anything was on another planet. And when Dick saw Barbara-strong, defiant, unstoppable Barbara-confined to that chair for the first time...he could barely breathe. How badly he just wanted to call off his engagement with Kory and just stay there in that bed with Barbara and somehow make everything okay. But the worst feeling wasn't even when Barbara watched Dick die on live television, and knowing that she hadn't saved him, that she hadn't even told him how much she loves him. Or when Dick found her with Luke, saying the same things that she had once said to him. 

Guild eats at them, failure gnaws at their boots.

The worst feeling was the betrayal, the distrust, the guilt that filled the air between them, ever since Dick when back to being Nightwing after a year of filling in as Batman. He had been consumed by that symbol...he had become the thing that he and Barbara had promised each other they'd never be. He was obsessed with completing the mission, even if it meant the sacrifice of others. And after Dick had left Barbara to die for the mission...he hadn't forgiven himself. Barbara couldn't forgive him until she thought that she'd lost him forever. 

But like a flashlight in a dark cave, there's still a spark between them, as there was all those years ago.

And yet, as Barbara and Dick walk into the Batcave, after months of not speaking to each other, they lock eyes for just a second, and he could swear she gave him the tiniest smile. And as they lined up, somehow they ended up next to each other. Luke was watching them, and in his mind, he could practically see the sparks between them. Just as Bruce finished the briefing, Barbara felt a familiar hand touch hers, and unlike every other time something like this had happened, she didn't pull away from Dick's grip. Neither of them looked away from the Batcomputer, but both of them had a faint smile playing at their lips. And as everyone turned towards the exit, before Barbara could stop him, she felt Dick's lips on hers. She had her Boy Blunder back.

And this time, maybe it would be forever.