Chapter Text
Chapter 2: Babs
Barbara was the only one in the clocktower when Dick pulled into the garage. She felt a brief moment of panic when she saw him arrive, which she quickly tried to suppress. They were professionals, damnit. Not sixteen year olds trying to sneak in a makeout session during their patrol. Well, not anymore anyway. Not that her body seemed to recognize that that was a not anymore sort of thing. Damn it.
Still, she was an adult and she could handle this. Really. Truly. She hoped. Now if only her hormones would get the message.
She forced her 16 year old self into the background and barely managed to pull herself together by the time that the elevator arrived in the penthouse. Somehow, though she never would be able to tell you how, she was able to appear professional when Dick stepped through the door.
“Dick.” She nodded at him, and decidedly did not notice the fact that he was still as handsome as ever in his jeans and motorcycle jacket. “Glad you could make it.”
“Babs.” He returned her greeting. “Of course I came. My sister needed me. How could I not?”
Gods, Babs hoped that he was referring to Helena as his sister, not her. Because the feelings he brought up were decidedly not familiar.
An awkward silence descended upon the pair.
Dick broke it. “So, how you been?” Barbara remembered that he had never been good at silence. Nice to see that hadn’t changed.
“Alright.” She answered. Truth was she had never been all that good at silence either. Not as bad as the Robins or Steph, but definitely bad enough to drive Bruce nuts. “It was rough for a while after the Pulse, but we adapted in time.”
“”You’ve been working with the new Canary and Hawk, right?” He asked.
She nodded, pleased that he at least knew that much. “Dinah Lance and Jesse Reese, yes. Dinah has the Cry, as well as touch based telepathy. Reese is a mundane, but considering our family that’s not really much of a handicap.”
Dick snorted. “No, I don’t suppose it would be.” He paused, “Still seems weird to have a Hawk and not a Dove though.”
“Hawke is actually the last name of his biological father.” She explained. “The man was a mob boss, and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Reese feels like he’s thumbing his nose at the man’s memory by using the name when he saves lives.”
“That makes sense.” The awkward silence returned.
The pair were saved from it when the elevator opened once more, disgorging Dinah, Reese and Alfred.
“Master Dick!” Alfred said, clearly surprised at the other man’s presence. “You’ve arrived.”
Dick didn’t so much as glance the butler’s way. “And who might you be?” He said, turning his most Richie Wayne-esque smile on Reese and Dinah.
Babs took that as her cue, “Dick, I’d like you to meet Jesse Reese and Dinah Lance. Reese, Dinah, this is Dick Grayson, a very old friend of mine.”
“Good to meet you,” Dick said, still with that same airheaded smile on his face. Babs had always loathed that smile, though not as much as she had loathed Bruce’s bubble-headed persona.
“Were you really Nightwing?” Dinah burst out, her curiosity getting the best of her.
Dick’s smile grew a little more genuine. “I was. And you must be Carolyn’s daughter.” Seeing Dinah’s small nod at that he continued. “I worked with your mother several times, and I was always impressed. The Black Canary really was one of the best.”
“Thank you.” Dinah blushed, still unused to hearing people praise her mother.
Unseen by Dinah, Dick gave Babs a questioning look. Their long years working together allowed Babs to hear the unspoken ‘Is she Ollie’s?’ as clearly as if he had said it aloud. Babs could only give him an unamused glare in return. Of course, Dinah was Ollie’s. Who else had the Canary been close enough to to have a child with?
Seeing her reaction, Dick gave a slight grimace of distaste. As far as bad parents/superhero mentors went, Oliver Queen might have been the only one worse than Bruce. Dick had never forgiven Oliver for the way he had treated Dick’s best friend Roy Harper. The fact that the two had never completely reconciled before Roy’s death only made it worse. Truth was, Dinah was quite possibly better off having been raised in foster care than she would have been in Oliver’s custody.
None of this was said aloud, and Babs really wasn’t sure that any of the others even caught it. Well, Alfred probably had, but he had spent enough time around the Bats that he was as fluent in their unspoken language as any of them. But he was also enough of a professional not to say anything.
‘At least,’ Babs thought, ‘He’s professional about that.’ Even if he hadn’t been about other things.
Barbara determinedly did not let any of her thoughts show on her face. Her anger wasn’t Alfred’s fault. Yes, it had hurt, but his first loyalty had always been to Bruce. If Bruce called, he was going to answer. Just like the rest of them. (Not that Babs would ever voice that thought in front of Dick. Dick was justifiably angry at Bruce and the fact that he would still go to his father’s side in a heartbeat if he were summoned had never sat well with him.)
While she had been thinking, Dick had turned to Reese. “Jesse Reese, right? I’ve heard good things about you.”
Reese starred, clearly a bit starstruck. “Lieutenant Grayson, sir. It’s an honor.”
Dick laughed. “None of that. I’m just Dick. And really, the honor’s mine. I understand you’re making great strides in cleaning up this city, which is more than I ever managed to do.” Babs thought she could detect a hint of a flush to Reese’s cheeks at the compliment from his hero.
Introductions made, Dick instantly became all business. It had always impressed Babs how easily he could flip the switch like that. His ability to do so was a big part of what had made him so great at leading the Titans. “So what’s the plan?”
“May I?” Alfred said, stepping forward. Babs moved back to allow him access to the computers. With a few keystrokes he began to pull up information.“The jet is ready and waiting at the Gotham airfield. When everyone is on board we will depart. Flight time will be approximately 6 hours.” He switched to a new screen, “I’ve procured a penthouse for our use while in Seattle. It was recently abandoned by its previous owner, so I was able to acquire it cheaply.”
“Thank you Alfred,” Babs said, moving to take back the keyboard. “In Seattle we will attempt to make contact with Helena and determine what we can do to assist her.” She pulled up digital copies of two police transfer orders, “Dick, Reese, the paperwork has already gone through loaning the two of you to the Seattle Police Department for the duration of the Transgenic crisis. Officially it’s because of your expertise in regards to metahumans.”
“Sounds good.” Dick turned to the two younger members of their group. “Are you ready to head off?” He didn’t need to ask her or Alfred. Their stuff was already waiting on the plane, and he knew it.
“Give us 5 minutes to grab our bags and suits, and we’ll be ready to go,” Reese said. Beside him Dinah nodded her agreement.
“5 minutes,” Dick said. Barbara felt a rush of nostalgia as the two ran off to collect their things. “Alfred?”
The aged butler was already heading for the elevator. “I shall prepare the car.” He turned back to look at Dick. “And Master Dick? It’s good to have you home.”
“Good to be home, Alfred.” Dick said, tiredly closing his eyes. “Good to be home.”