-Dick's POV-

I returned to my apartment shortly after Athena had walked out. I ripped off my mask, tossing it across the room. Pulling out my escrima sticks, I hurdled those through the air in anger as well. They knocked against the couch with a bang.

Why wouldn't Athena ever corporate? I had low expectations of her already, but her refusal to give us any information only further dragged her down in my eyes.

I collapsed into the love seat, letting the cushions slowly eat me as I sunk into them. Letting out a loud sigh, I closed my eyes in the darkness.

"That bad, huh?" Barbara's voice called out. She flicked on the lamp and focused on me. I jerked my head up to see her. She was sitting across the room from me. I guess I hadn't noticed her in the dark when I came home.

I slowly went back to my reclined position. "You have no idea."

Barbara stood up and sat on the floor in front of me. She looked like a mess. Her red hair was messy and tangled and her red lipstick was smeared. She was wearing a satin dress that hung off her frame. Unusual for her nowadays, her glasses dangled off her nose, threatening to fall off. It always bothered me when she let them hang like that. Acting on instinct, I reached forward and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

A soft giggle bubbled out into the air. She pressed her cheek into my hand as I cupped her gorgeous face. "Tell me what happened," she cooed, kissing my finger tips. I could feel all the frustration slowly draining out of my body. It was amazing how Barbara could do that to me.

"We finally caught Nightingale and brought her in for questioning about her alliance with Red Hood," I explained, sitting up and bringing Barbara into my arms, "but she out right refused to give him up. She only said that she still loves and cares about the family."

"Maybe she does," Barbara said, looking up at me, "just because she cares about someone else now as well doesn't mean she ever stopped caring."

I knit my eyebrows together into confusion. Was I the only one who remembered what happened two years ago? "I think she stopped caring when she left me on that helicopter pad!"

Barbara sighed loudly. I felt her chest rise as she was pressed against me. "And it always comes back to here."

I groaned. "What do you mean?"

"Anytime we talk about Athena, and those times are rare, it always comes back to the fact that she left you behind," Barbara's voice sounded calm, with a hint of accusation and hurt, "when she left, we get it, it hurt you. But, it hurt all of us too. And we forgave her. Why are you still holding onto those feelings?"

"I'm not holding onto any feelings for her, Babs," I rolled my eyes, "how may times do I have to reassure you that there isn't a single ounce of love for her in me?"

Barbara turned around so we were face to face. "Dick, I know you really liked her and I know what she did really messed you up. But, for this to work out, you're going to have to let it go."

"I have let her go!"

"Dick," Barbara's emerald eyes bore into mine, "I'm tired of all the negativity that you are harboring. You need to move on. I thought us dating would help you with that. But, if you really care about me and the future of our relationship, you need to let Athena and everything she did go."

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Barbara's face stopped me in my tracks.

When we first got together, everything was so perfect. We told each other everything and we spent our days full of happiness and bliss. But, when Nightingale returned to Gotham, everything had went downhill for us. We talked less. The problems that consumed me were kept hidden from Barbara, especially the ones concerning Athena. I felt guilty when I talked to her about it. Fights between Babs and I were more frequent and we both went out more nowadays, rarely having time for each other.

I saw everything from Barbara's perspective. My ex -- who I had even told Barbara years ago I thought might be the "one" -- was back in town and I couldn't shut up about her. Barbara wasn't the jealous type, but I could tell I had hurt her. I had allowed Athena and my hatred for her to change me and our relationship. It wasn't fair to Barbs. I was so lucky to have her and I needed to start acting like it.

"You're right," I admitted, grabbing her hand, "I'm sorry I've been such a...well...dick these past few months."

Barbara grinned, but there was still something behind her eyes. "Okay, now it's my turn to tell you something." She took a deep breath and looked away from me.

Anxiety started to build. I patiently waited for her to finish while I studied her.

"I was feeling lonely all day. I was tired and I had been stranded at the office trying to organize Bruce's papers. When I got the call from Bruce that you had captured Athena, I felt annoyed and angry. So, when Luke came into my office asking if I wanted to go get dinner..." Barbara paused to look at me, "I kissed him. I'm so sorry."

I tried to feel angry, but the feeling just wasn't there. I actually felt kind of...relieved. I had been doing all this toxic stuff to our relationship while Barbara had remained innocent. It had made me feel like I wasn't worthy of her. But now...now I realized that I had been putting Babs on a pedestal, which had encouraged a slight resentment against her. Her kiss had shown me the error in my ways.

Barbara was one of the most loyal people I knew. If she had been driven to such lengths as cheating, then I had done something wrong.

"I-I didn't mean to, Dick, really. It was only for a few seconds before I broke it off. I feel so bad. Please forgive me," Barbara muttered, her voice quavering. I smiled and grabbed her head, pulling her lips to mine.

I cradled her face in one hand as my other hand wove it's way into her hair. Tilting my head, I deepened our kiss. She leaned forward against me, pressing me against the back of the chair. As we kissed, I could feel the tension between us both start to dwindle finally. Deep seeded lust and need started to heat things up.

Coming up for air, we broke apart. I rested my forehead on hers as we panted into the empty silence. Her arms were tangled around me.

"The night's still young," Barbara whispered. My fingers ran up and down her back, loving the feeling of the satin on my fingertips.

I leaned back, getting a better look at her. "Want to do something fun?" I smirked.

She nodded. "I think it's time for a little reunion."

-

We flew through the air, racing each other. I did acrobatic flips to try to impress her, but Babs just rolled her eyes.

It had been what seemed like forever since Batgirl and Nightwing went on patrol together. As we played games in the air, it felt just like old times. A warm, fuzzy feeling crept up into the pit of my stomach. Suddenly, I was twelve again, hoping that the newest female recruit of the Batfamily liked me just as much as I liked her. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. As I stared at Barbara spinning through the air, the same childlike crush I had on her all those years ago began to come back.

An alarm pierced the busy Gotham air. Barbara looked back at me, a smirk on her face. I nodded at her. We both dove down to source of the alarm.

A bank had been robbed. The two robbers were inside with guns, holding hostages in place. I made a gesture to Barbara, indicating that I would take the front door and distract them while she snuck around. Barbara blew a kiss at me and departed.

I walked up to the glass door, pushing it open and strolling in like I hadn't even noticed the robbers.

"Hey!" The man robber shouted, "Get out of here or I'll shoot!"

I raised my hands in fake surrender. "There's no need for that. I'm just here to make a deposit."

"Get out of here, Nightwing!" The other robber, a woman, yelled at me.

"A man can't drop off his paycheck in peace?"

"This is a fucking bank robbery! And you won't stop us!" The man replied, raising his gun at my chest. I grinned small to myself.

Taking a step closer to the two, I kept my hands in the air. "Alright, alright. Why don't you let these innocent people go and you and I can handle this?" I negotiated, looking at a scared bank teller who was cowering down in fear.

The woman stepped forward, the barrel of her gun actually touching me. "Do you think we're stupid? The cops are already here!"

I looked towards the door to see piles of cop cars outside. I distinctly saw Jim Gordon, watching from behind his car. I gave a little wave.

"Yeah, they are. So, how do you think you're gonna get out of this now?" Puzzlement crossed their faces, "Looks like if you want to get out, you're going to need my help. And I'm not going to help you until you let these people go."

The man glanced between the people and the cops and me. I could see the panic on his face. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down his cheek. "H-how would you help us get away?"

"I have sway over the police. They'd let me go if I really wanted to," I lied, crossing my arms over my chest. The woman still hadn't lowered her gun.

The man stepped forward, ready to negotiate. Quickly, the woman yanked him back by the arm and pulled a hostage up to their feet. She put her gun to the man's head.

"We ain't dumb! You better leave or this poor fool is gonna get a bullet to the head!" She screeched, holding the young man by his neck.

Right on time, Barbara smashed through the ceiling, landing on top of the woman. "Should've listened to Nightwing," she said into the woman's ear, pinning her to the ground.

"Get off of me!" The woman jerked around, but Barbs had her secured. She put handcuffs on her and rested her boot on her head.

The man went into a panic and fired his gun, missing every shot. I tackled him down and cuffed him similarly to Barbara. He began to cry as the woman continued to scream insults.

"You guys are free," I said to the hostages, pointing towards the door. They all nodded and dashed out as fast as possible. Police squads started to come in and collect the two robbers.

Jim walked up to us both. Barbara smiled. "Good work you two. Not a single person was injured," Jim explained, patting Barbara on the shoulder. I saluted him and grabbed Barb by the hip.

"We make a pretty good team, Rookie," I teased, pulling her into me.

"You're the one who's a year younger than me," Barbara retaliated. I kissed her.

~~~~~~~~~~Another chapter!!! I kind of burned my hand so this chapter was pretty hard to write lol. Before anyone asks, I was making a mug cake in a non-microwave safe mug and I pulled it out. It's not that bad, just a couple of blisters on my fingertips. I hope everyone is having a nice and fun summer!~~~~~~~~