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“I thought we agreed to let Alfred do the cooking,” Dick said, and Barbara looked up at him with a smile, accepting a kiss before he sat down across from her. She tried not to react to the obvious signs of fatigue and the less obvious signs of injury. He was better at hiding things than he used to be, but she could still see it.
“I would have if I thought that you were actually going to be home any time in the next twelve hours. It's going to be a long night, and you need food now,” she said, letting him take her hand. “And while it's nice to hear your voice or watch over you from afar, if we're really going to do this, I we need to see each other outside of our... work.”
Dick turned her hand over in his before meeting her eyes. “I have to admit, having you take the lead in that department... kind of surprises me.”
She nodded. It surprised her, too, but agreeing to this in the first place had surprised her. How easy it had been to settle into old routines and the comfort of who they were together. “If we're going to do this, we need to do it right.”
“I would say there's no such thing as right and wrong in love, but we both know there is and we've done it,” Dick agreed. “With all we got going on, we must be crazy to start this now, but I want to be crazy. I don't ever want to lose you again.”
“Way to get mushy, Sentimental Wonder.”
He shrugged. “It's what I do.”
“Apparently so is bleeding onto the vinyl upholstery.”
“Damn,” Dick said, pulling on his shirt and finding where it had soaked through from his bandage. He was fortunate that the fabric was too dark for everyone to see it. He grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped the stain off the booth. “I'll be back in a minute. I just need to fix this.”
“Dick—”
“I swear I'm not dying. Alfred warned me it might do that, but I wanted to see you more than I wanted to rest at home in bed. I might have stayed there if I could have talked you into joining me...”
She rolled her eyes. “You are impossible. Go, but if you pass out in the bathroom, there will be consequences.”
He grinned, kissing her cheek before he headed back to the restroom. She shook her head, telling herself she'd know if it was worse than he'd said. She'd been on comms with him when that happened, and she knew a butler she could call if she was really paranoid about it.
“Barbara?”
She looked up from her phone, shoving it away with the message to Alfred half finished. “Dad. I didn't know you'd be here tonight.”
He smiled, taking the seat that had been Dick's a few minutes ago. “Neither did I. Things slowed down and I decided to take a quick break. I thought about asking you to join me, but I didn't know that you'd be able to come.”
I'd be tempted to refuse on principle, she thought to herself, after that trick you pulled in setting me up with Nick Gage. She smiled instead. “I'm actually here to meet someone.”
“And now you have.”
She laughed. “Dad, I love you, but I do have a date.”
“You do?”
She wanted to smack someone or something. Her father sounded pleased. Way too pleased. He probably assumed she meant Gage. This was going to be very awkward as soon as Dick got back. She didn't know if she should try and get her father to leave or warn Dick off. She took a deep breath, preparing herself. She hadn't told Dinah or Stephanie about this yet. As far as she knew, no one knew that she and Dick were back together.
“Dad, there is something you should—”
“I'm going to grab myself a coffee. Don't worry. When your date gets back, I won't intrude.”
Somehow she doubted that, but she didn't want to yell across the diner, either. This was awkward enough without making a scene.
“Well, I will live to fight another day,” Dick said, leaning over her chair, stopping just short of kissing her cheek. “Is it too much if I sit on this side with you? Because I think I'd like that if you don't mind. You can even sneak a peak at the bandage so that you can be sure I'm not going to bleed out on you in the middle of dinner.”
She sighed. “That should not be charming, Grayson.”
“Love covers plenty of faults. If it didn't, I'd never stand a chance,” he said, pushing back her chair and sliding in next to her. “Babs, what is it? If I did something—”
“No, it's just—”
“Barbara?”
She cringed. “Dad. You remember Dick, don't you?”
“That was just about the most awkward dinner of my life,” Dick said. “What did you tell him about the way we broke up? I swear he wanted to take me out and shoot me.”
Barbara snorted. “You're exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating? For a minute there, I thought I was dinner.”
She smiled wickedly. “Yes, you are dinner.”
“Kinky,” Dick said, leaning into her. “Though I am going to have to take a raincheck on that and desert—assuming I survive the night. I've been summoned.”
She nodded looking up at the sky. “Be careful.”
“Oh, I will. I'm not so sure that's not a trap,” Dick said, and she gave him a look. “I'm going to have to watch my back around him. You just watch—he'll be pushing Batman off the roof next.”
She laughed. “Now that would be funny.”
“Babs—”
“Relax, Dick. He'll come around.”
“What makes you so sure of that?”
“I did, didn't I?”
Dick grinned, leaning in to kiss her. “Yes, you did.”