Chapter Text
"Why do you want to watch this?"
"It's Tuesday"
"But it's Halloween. We should be watching a horror movie. It’s what we do."
"But it's still Tuesday. On Tuesday nights before patrol, I watch Buffy. You know this."
"But Halloween." Dick had always loved Halloween, and autumn in general. At the circus they didn’t trick or treat, but after that night’s performance or run-through, they had always had a big bonfire night with marshmallows and s’mores, sharing stories with everyone. It had been a real family affair. When he had moved into the manor he had missed it desperately, but quickly learned that other traditions could be fun too and he loved carving pumpkins with Alfred and trick or treating with Bruce. The past two years, he and Barbara spent the evening giving out candy to kids who ventured out to Wayne Manor and watched horror movies before patrol. The manor was always a favourite hot spot for Gotham kids to visit, with the creepy look of the exterior in the dusky autumn twilight, top notch decorations leading up the driveway to the door, and the fact that everyone knew that Bruce Wayne gave out full sized candy bars.
“On a Tuesday.” She laughed at him, but he knew that she wasn’t going to cave; she was far too stubborn for that. "How about this. You watch Buffy with me now and after patrol I'll come back here and watch whatever horror movie you want."
Dick gave her side eyed look, considering her proposal. "What about the Commish?"
"He's on nights this week. I'll let him know I'm staying with a friend." She brushed off his concern with a wave of her hand. "He's cool."
"He won't care that it's a guy friend’s house?"
"He won’t if I don't tell him."
"You’re lying to your dad?"
"I'm a teenage girl vigilante. Of course I'm lying to my dad. On the scale of what I lie to him about, sleeping at a male friend’s house is pretty low on the list. James is staying at a friend’s house tonight. Dad will just be glad I’m not home alone."
"Alright then. But I want it on record that I think this show is stupid." But Dick didn’t want it on record that he was a bit terrified of Commissioner Gordon finding out that his daughter was going to have a sleepover at his house. Gordon knew they were friends, but something about her father’s stare made Dick know that the policeman didn’t think that he was good enough to hang out with Barbara. Not for any specific reason other than no one would ever be good enough for his daughter, even if there was absolutely nothing going on between them. He even felt it when he was Robin. He was probably overreacting then though because he was 95% certain that Gordon didn’t know that Dick was Robin.
But the way the Commissioner looked at Dick sometimes…
"Have you ever watched it?" Dick shook his head and Barbara immediately looked like she wanted to hit him so he raised his hands in front of his face in mock defense. She jabbed him in the side instead making him let out a groan. Barbara had been gushing about this show since she started watching last year, but he just didn’t get it. It didn’t sound very interesting. "You can't say you don't like it if you haven't watched it!"
"Her name is stupid. And vampires are silly. I can't believe anyone takes it seriously"
"Says the guy named Dick who has fought with giant robots." She pointed out and he had to admit that she definitely had him there and his primary excuse had gone out the window. It just was weird. "Valid point. Fine. I’ll watch. What do I need to know about this?"
"Teenage girl who is the chosen one to fight demons and save the world. It's full of action, snappy dialogue and puns. I don't understand how you don't already watch it. It's practically made for you."
"Ok. For you, I will give this one chance. One. But if it sucks, I'm going to make you watch the goriest horror movie I can think of."
"And when you realize that it's awesome?"
"I'll let you pick the movie later. And I'll share my popcorn."
"You've got a deal, Boy Wonder. Prepare to lose."
65 minutes later…
"That was so good! Why didn't you make me watch this with you before?"
Dick still thought the premise was a little goofy - because vampires - but he was completely drawn in and wanted to know more. Why was Buffy THE Slayer? Who was the Slayer before her? Who was that Ethan Rayne guy and how did he know Giles? Why did people live in Sunnydale if crazy stuff kept happening? He had often thought the same thing about Gotham when he had first come to live here; why would people live here if they could just leave? He understood it now, the sense of hometown pride.
The characters were funny, but then you got hit in the gut with emotion when you weren’t expecting it. The fight scenes were well choreographed and even though he could hear himself thinking of better combat moves (like he often did watching action movies), he had loved every second of it. But why had Barbara shared this? She had even said that she knew that he’d love it. And she was always right.
She smiled a little at him, reading his facing and knowing where his thoughts probably were going. "I don't know. Maybe I was worried you wouldn't like it?" Barbara was curling her hands in to fists and releasing them repeatedly and Dick frowned at the action. It was her tell when she was nervous, and something she tended to do before she leapt into a fight outnumbered, but he couldn’t think of why she was mentally prepping herself for a battle now. It was just the two of them. "I think it's because it feels personal. There aren't a lot of shows with a kick ass female lead. I think I needed you to like it but didn't want to know if you thought it was too silly."
He grabbed her wrists to still the action, leaving his hands wrapped around them lightly and smiled when she mirrored his motion. Acrobat style safe hold. "Why would that matter to me? We know actual female heroes. We’re on first name terms with Wonder Woman.” He leans over and mock whispers at her, “I don't want to alarm you, but I'm sitting next to a girl superhero on this couch at this very moment."
"I know, but... part of me thought that if you thought it was dumb, that by extension you would think I am too. I know it’s stupid, but I’m projecting and that doesn’t have to be logical." She shook her head and looked towards their joined arms but something about her eyes made Dick think that she was looking through them. "Sometimes when I'm out there, I don't feel like I'm being taken seriously. When I show up to break something up, they look almost relieved that it's me and not one of the ‘real’ heroes. They think I’m a joke.”
Dick said nothing because even if he didn’t think that, he knew it was true. He had heard the thugs and criminals say it in the field; he had just always hoped that she didn't know that. He felt a little bit the same way sometimes when he was out with Batman because he was only Robin, but he knew that wasn’t really the same thing. When he got a bit older or grew a little taller, while he’d never be Batman, they’d hopefully stop thinking of him as a little kid. They’d always think of Barbara as just a ‘girl’. "Does it help to know that they don't usually think that way after you've kicked them in the face?"
"A little." She looked back up and him and gave him a half smile and that move made him smile back. "It's just nice to see on TV, you know? Little girls can see a strong female hero every week, even if they don't have one in their own city. We don’t always have to be the damsel in distress. We can kick ass without you guys.” Dick knew that, on both sides of the costumed coin; Babs had taken him down sparring more than once and he knew what sort of vicious things Harley was capable of in battle. He wasn’t ashamed when he got taken out by a woman. No more so than against the men anyway; no one ever likes losing, regardless of who they are fighting. “Helps that it’s a good show too. Wouldn’t be the same impact if it was terrible.”
"We saw a few little girls dressed up as Batgirl earlier trick or treating." He had seen some over the past couple years as well, but the number of Batgirls, Supergirls and Wonder Women that had shown up at the manor this afternoon had been astounding. At one point a group of about seven girls had shown up together, all dressed up as female superheroes, and Bruce had taken a few pictures of them to send to Diana. He had even convinced Barbara to pose in one, with a little Batgirl right in front of her. Barbara had looked sufficiently whelmed and Dick could barely contain his laughter. “You make a difference in more ways than you were meaning to when you started.”
“I saw some girls dressed up as Batman and Robin, too. They don’t need me to be inspired, but I can’t admit it isn’t nice.” Barbara glanced towards the clock, pulled in a slow steadying breath and pulled her hands away from Dick’s in order to stretch, shoulders making a popping sound. "Speaking of, it's about time for us to play dress up ourselves."
“Want to switch it up for Halloween? I can be Batgirl and you can be Robin?” Barbara laughed and Dick joined in. "I’ll take that as a no. Ready to run some rooftops?"
"Only if I get to kick some bad guys in the face."
"Wouldn't be a night out if you didn't." Barbara had got up and started to walk out of the room, towards the study, but Dick grabbed her wrist again gently before she could get too far. “I know I said I’d let you pick the movie, but can I make a request?”
“We aren’t watching ‘The Thing’ again.”
Dick shook his head in dissention. He wouldn’t have made her watch that one anyways, knowing that she hated it. “Can we watch more Buffy? I want to watch from the beginning.” Dick could already tell this was going to be a new obsession. He had so many questions that needed to be answered and he knew that he’d be thinking about it all through patrol. Knowing that he could watch more later would help him put the show temporarily out of his thoughts so he could focus on what was happening in Gotham that night. “I’m going to start watching it with you, but I need to catch up first. I need more.”
“We can’t watch all of the first season tonight.”
“We can start.”
“Of course. If only to prove that I was right about it being fantastic.”
“You usually are.”