-Dick's POV-

It had been two months.

I was sitting on my couch in my new apartment. All the lights were off. It felt better that way. I was searching on my computer, doing research for a mission I had been working on.

The news was on, but I wasn't listening. The reports that Gotham star, Victoria Smith had gone missing were starting to die down. Bruce had given a speech saying she just went on vacation. Some tabloids still wrote conspiracy theories on where she really went.

There was a knock at the door. I ignored it.

But, the person on the other side had a key.

Barbara strolled in. She turned on the lights. She turned off the TV and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. I peeked at her from over my computer screen, then went back to what I was doing. She slammed the laptop closed, almost hitting my fingers.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her attitude showing through. I looked up at her. I had to squint to see her because the lights were so bright.

"I was working before you came in," I mumbled.

"You have been locked up in her for almost two months now!" Barbara glimpsed at my clothes. "You look like a mess and it smells like six year old Chinese take out in here!"

I rolled my eyes and stood up, going to my kitchen. "If you just came here to insult me..."

"Dick, everyone at the Team misses you. Tim misses you. Hell, even Bruce misses you!" Barbara joked, trying to get me to laugh.

"I'm working hard, okay? I need to find this guy," I grabbed a power bar and munched on it.

Barbara sighed. I could tell she was getting frustrated with me. "I know it hurts. We all feel bad from Athena's leaving. But, you can't just shut yourself out. This isn't you," she leaned back on my cluttered dining room table.

"This isn't about her. I'm okay."

Barbara laughed. It was a pity laugh. "Dick, a serial killer case usually takes you a week, maybe two at best to solve. You aren't okay."

I stared at her. She was right. But, I couldn't admit that. When Athena left, the first few days were horrible. After that though, I just wanted to shut everything out. I didn't want to think about her anymore. I threw myself into being Nightwing. The more cases I solved, the less I thought about her.

But, I hadn't been back to the Team since she left. Everything there reminded me of her. I missed my friends. I was lost. I had lost myself when I lost Athena...again.

"Barbara, the truth is that I feel lost and...lonely," I looked down at my feet, running my fingers through my dirty hair, "I trusted Athena and she betrayed me. Do you know what she said to me? She said everything that she ever said or did was all an act. I thought she...y'know..."

"You thought she loved you?" Barbara stepped closer to me, "I know that what she did hurt you, Dick. We all trusted her. But, she's gone. We can't change that. Bad things happen in life and we just have to move on. Relationships come and go.

"And if Athena felt that she needed to leave, then she wasn't that important in the first place. Do you understand, Dick?" Barbara put her hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her. I nodded, smiling.

"Thanks, Babs," I chuckled, "do you remember our breakup?"

Barbara laughed too. "Yeah, I ate so many tubs of ice cream."

"Do you remember that leather jacket I started wearing?"

"Of course I do!" We both laughed. "You totally went all biker-gang after I dumped you." Barbara smirked. I smirked right back.

"You dumped me? I dumped you," I poked her side, "You overreacted so I knew I had to get outta there!"

Barbara rolled her eyes, pouting her pink lips. "Oh yeah, I totally dumped you. You were too clingy and I knew I had to leave you and your messy hair!" She shook my hair, making me swat at her fingers.

"Well, we broke up because you wanted to be Batgirl again and look at you now! You're Batgirl anyway," I sighed, smiling at her. She tossed her beautiful red hair over her shoulder and stepped closer.

"Yeah...it's almost like our breakup was useless," she said, her eyes not exactly meeting mine.

"Yeah, almost like maybe we shouldn't of broken up in the first place," I took a step towards her.

"It's almost like we maybe should..." She stepped closer, her chest pressed up against mine, "...revive some things." Barbara was whispering, her voice raspy. She was close enough to me that I could still hear her.

I glanced down at her lips. Her eyes were on mine. Before I could even think, we were kissing. We were kissing...a lot. It felt like I was cheating. But, Athena was gone. I hated the guilty feeling but loved it at the same time. Neither of us stopped.

Later, Barbara and I went to the Watchtower together. Everyone cheered, welcoming me.

"Dick, you're back!" Wally shouted, running up to me and hugging me tightly. I laughed.

"Yep! I have returned from the dead!" I joked.

"We're glad you're back!" All the hero's almost said in unison.

Tim walked up to me, smiled, and hugged me. He was almost as tall as me. "I'm happy you're back, but may I ask why? Why now?"

I chuckled and looked at Barbara. She winked, making me blush. It was time for the truth. "This whole time I've been so...lonely, without her. You know, I always had this dream in the back of my head. I never wanted to grow up to be Batman. I wanted to retire from being a hero, like Wally and Artemis, and let other people solve my problems for once. I wanted to find a cozy, little suburban home outside of Gotham with the girl I married and raise some kids in a safe environment. So, when I met Athena, the girl I loved...the future I had been dreaming of for so long finally felt-"

"Closer? In reach?" Tim finished my sentences.

I chuckled at the thought. "Believe it or not, it actually felt further away. But, I liked it. I realized that now, now that I had this perfect girl who understood my lifestyle, I didn't have a reason to give it up anymore.

"Ever since she left, I had been thinking I found the villain in the hero, but I actually found the hero in the villain. I couldn't change who she was no matter how much I tried. But now, I pulled myself up and laughed. Theeny would've slapped me for lying around and dreaming about the normal, boring lives that could've been," I used her nickname. It stung, but it also made me feel better.

"But, she's not coming back," Bart said.

Wally elbowed Bart in the side, his mouth wide open. "Dude!"

"I know," I chuckled, "I wanted to believe that she was. I wanted to believe that she would come back, but she never did. And never will." It felt nice to finally admit it after two months.

"You'll probably run into her!" M'gann said, trying to be hopeful.

"Oh, I know I will. The world's too small not to. But Athena, the girl I...the girl I fell in love with, she'll never come back because she never existed. Victoria might, maybe even Francesca or Marie. But the girl I knew won't return. Athena Thomas is gone and I've accepted that."

~~~~~And it's done! Love Birds is over! This book has been going on for so long and it has so many chapters, but here you guys go! This has been a long journey (I think I started this over a year ago..?) And I still have a lot to go with the series! I hope you guys enjoyed this book. Thank you for reading it!~~~~~~~