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The sky was red, heavy with storm clouds that did not move. Golden lightning flashed across the heavens in a display that would have been impressive, if it didn’t herald the end of the world. Despite the storm, Babs didn’t move. She sat on balcony of her apartment and watched the storm’s progress. Though a headache like a jackhammer throbbed at her temples, her gaze never faltered from her survey of the nearby rooftops. The air buzzed with an underlying current of electricity and held the promise of rain that would never come.
Behind her, the alerts on her computer continued to chime, but there was nothing she could do. For a first time in ages, this was a problem Oracle could play no part in solving. The storm covered the entire earth and threw tendrils of energy out into the time stream. All she could do was relay the same information over and over again—The world is coming to an end. Be with your family, your friends. Spend your last moments as you with them. The world will soon be reborn and all the cases and investigations will be for naught. Before the morning, it wouldn’t matter anymore, so leave it be. Be with those you love….
Relaying the message over and over again did nothing but depress her. She felt the tug of the changes to come, the rewriting of her history. Her life. Her family. Her love. And so, she recorded the message and put it on automative reply.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Babs’ gaze snapped back from where she’d been staring into the middle distance. Landing in a crouch, Dick Grayson joined her on the balcony. Despite the end of times, a smile flitted across her lips. He’d come. Of all the important people in his life, he’d chosen to spend his last moments with her. And, he’d come as himself. His Nightwing costume peeked out from under his civilian clothes. He’d left all traces of ‘Batman’ back at the Cave.
“I’m glad you’re here.” She reached across the distance and held his hand. He squeezed hers in return and allowed her to pull him close.
“How long do we have?” Dick asked. He found a seat beside her and leaned against her shoulder. She breathed in his scent—a combination of sweat, his shampoo, and Alfred’s laundry detergent.
“I don’t know. Last I checked, we have about two hours. But the rate keeps fluctuating—sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.” Babs didn’t often admit to not knowing, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. “And, there’s been signs of time dilation.”
Dick sighed heavily. “I should be out there. Keep looking for them….”
Babs bit her lip. Tim, Cass, Steph, and Damian had disappeared not long after the storm had begun. They weren’t the only ones in the superheroing community that had disappeared when the initial swell of temporal energy had swept across the globe, but there wasn’t anything she could do for any of the missing heroes. She didn’t have a time machine. Besides, even if she possessed such a device, she knew that it wouldn’t matter. Only the one responsible for creating the temporal storm could stop it. Even if someone was able to stop it, the world as they knew it was set on an irrevocable course for change. The process was too far along to stop completely.
Still, it wasn’t in Dick’s nature to not look for his family. She reached for the wheels of her chair. For him, she would return to the computers and the never ending barrage of questions. “Do you want to be out there? I can run some new scenarios on the computer…”
“No. If the world’s going to end, I want us to be together.” Dick nudged the front of her chair causing her to adjust her position so their knees touched. His fingers traced along the necklace chain half hidden under the collar of her blouse. He snagged the chain with deft fingers and undid the clasp. “I’ve missed you Babs.”
“I’ve missed you too.” She felt like she could finally admit it. Things had been so chaotic since his return from his trip with Bruce and Tim, that Dick and Babs never had a chance to reconnect. Their responsibilities as Oracle and Nightwing (then, Batman) had kept mounting until they became insurmountable obstacles. Neither of the heroes had felt as if they could indulge in themselves. What they wanted—what they needed—didn’t matter in comparison to what everyone else needed. Between the two of them, they were responsible for so much in the heroing community. And now, at the end of the world, it was just the two of them. Again. Like it had been in the beginning.
Unthreading the ring from the chain Dick examined the golden band and lone diamond. It was simple because Babs had never desired anything extravagant. It was simple because he had wanted to use money that he had earned. “I still love you Babs. With all my heart. That’s never changed.” The words were a whisper that she had to lean closer to hear.
As breathless as him, Babs responded, “I still love you too.”
“Do you think we’ve waited long enough? Do you think we can finally be together?” Lightning crackled in the sky. The brilliant glare left a stark afterimage dancing on their eyelids.
“Dick,” Babs swallowed thickly as she wrapped her hands around his, trapping the ring inside both sets of clasped hands. “There’s no time….”
“I don’t care. For the last while, I’ve put everything else before us. Our relationship. And now, I’m regretting it. I don’t want to spend our last moments separated. I don’t want to be divided from you anymore. I don’t want to wake up another morning not by your side.”
Babs nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. She felt the same way. Over the last few months, she’d sacrificed the last of her secret identities. Given up the last of who she was. Left with nothing but Barbara Gordon for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t certain who she was anymore. Her friends were all heroes. Her civilian life was shallow. Lonely. She didn’t want that anymore. It didn’t need to be that way.
As she unclasped her hands, the ring and chain pooled in the cusp of Dick’s palm. His hopeful blue eyes met her earnest green ones. They were finally on the same page. Hopefully it wasn’t too late.
If it were possible, if they could influence the changes that were about to be wrought upon them against their will…. Then, she wanted this. She wanted to be with Dick. Forever. Man and Wife. If they could ask for one thing in this new future, they asked to be together.
With a note of reverence in his voice, Dick slipped the ring onto Babs’ finger. “With this ring, I thee wed. In sickness or in health….”
Babs didn’t have a ring for him. Instead, she took the chain where the ring had waited all this time and looped it around his ring finger, entangling both their hands in the extra length. In a choked voice, she repeated the words. “With this ring, I thee wed. For better or for worse…”
“’Til death…” Dick began, while Babs finished, “…do we part.”
Never removing his hand from hers, Dick leaned in and kissed her. His free hand entangled in her hair, deft calloused fingers caressed her scalp and held her close. Her free hand grasped at his shirt, tugging him closer until he was practically on her lap. When they broke apart, both were breathing heavily, cheeks flushed and pulses beating rapidly. For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, though it could not have lasted more than a few seconds, the immensity of their actions hit them.
As if reading her thoughts, he lifted her from the chair and headed inside. His desire was marked in every movement. There was no time left to waste. In an urgent, hoarse whisper, Dick asked, “How much time do we have left?”
Her gaze brushed past the computer as they passed it. “Not much.”
“I want….I want you.”
“My—no, our bedroom,” she said cheekily, making him smile. Though it had been without officiant or witnesses, their half spoken vows had been very real. In their last minutes together in the timeline they knew, they wanted to consummate their vows. To make it real. To hope that it would make the passage with them….