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“Well,” Dick began, knowing he needed to get the team off and finding their bad guy before he gave himself away to the members that didn't know who he was. “If you're looking for criminals, you're in the wrong side of town. This part of Blüdhaven has been abandoned even by them. Mostly industrial waste around here. Try four blocks up and three west. That's where the newest drug dealers get their start.”
“Why, Rookie, I didn't know you knew all that about this place. Aren't you supposed to be new?” Amy asked, and Dick almost flinched. He'd given a bit too much away from his time here as Nightwing, and he needed to be more careful about that.
“I did some homework,” he said, trying to brush it off. “Needed to know a bit about where I was working, after all.”
“That's actually impressive—and lame all at the same time,” Amy told him, reaching over to give his hair a ruffle. “Though I think you might be telling them too much.”
Dick shrugged. “It is our duty as officers of the law to keep the peace—and kids out of trouble, right? Maybe we should supervise them. I could help... Oh, how about the lady bat? Would you like a map or perhaps a guided tour of our fair city?”
“What about this place is fair?” Wally asked. He was fortunate he healed fast because Artemis had just elbowed him again, and she had to be doing some damage. Others gave him a look, and Dick wondered why there wasn't more telepathic conversations going on to stop him. “Come on, babe. You know you don't like this place any more than I do.”
She put a hand on her hip. Wally was right, no one liked spending time with Dick here, but that didn't mean he should be discussing it. “Enough, okay? We don't need to go upsetting the natives.”
“We might need their help,” Babs agreed, getting a frown from some of the others as she moved toward Dick. He stepped away from the car, not wanting Amy to hear any of what Babs might say. She came up to him, giving the front of his shirt a slight tug. “Your uniform doesn't fit you.”
“It's Blüdhaven. Cops are corrupt and partial to doughnuts.”
Babs tried not to laugh, but she was giving too much away with her smile. Not that he was much better, but still, who was really going to buy her allowing some random guy to just come onto her? “You and your partner are cute.”
“Yeah, Amy's great,” Dick agreed, because he really did think she was. She'd been a good mentor, taking him under her wing as soon as he got his assignment—and a part of him wondered if she'd pushed for it after the day he'd shadowed her during his stint at the academy.
“Amy?”
“She's a good cop,” Dick said. At Babs' look, he shook his head. “Who is married, with kids. What exactly do you take me for?”
Babs pretended to consider that. “I don't know. You do have a reputation, after all, Dick Grayson.”
“And supposedly you know all about it,” he countered, tempted to take this bit of banter too far. She was almost daring him to kiss her. “Or are you saying you're finally ready to find out?”
She rolled her eyes. “You're supposed to be giving me information.”
“You have access to the files on the batcomputer. You know as much as I do,” he said, though he knew some of his personal observations might help but hadn't been put in anything close to a computer. He didn't even write them down. “Well, almost.”
“Come on,” she said, giving his shirt another tug. “You have something for me. I know you do, because I know you. So quit smirking and tell me what it is.”
“Do I get a kiss?”
“Batgirl isn't that kind of girl.”
He almost asked her if Barbara Gordon was, but Amy cleared her throat pointedly, and he swore she wasn't the only one—he thought maybe M'gann had just probed his mind, and he hoped and yet didn't hope that all she got was dirty thoughts about Babs. Otherwise he was in trouble.
He was in trouble no matter what, he couldn't help thinking.
He cleared his throat, raising his voice. “Anyway, that's about all this rookie can tell you. Might be able to show you a few things or a few places—”
“I have your badge number, officer,” she told him, reaching up to tap it. “I'm sure I can find you if I need you.”
Babs sauntered back toward the others. He watched her as she did, appreciating the view and telling himself it was all for their cover. It was a good one. It was in place. It seemed to be working. He would keep it, and Babs would keep it, and everyone on the team would continue unaware that Dick Grayson was Nightwing.
“You need a napkin, Grayson? I think you might be drooling a little.”
Dick shrugged. “I guess I have a thing for kick ass girls in kevlar.”
“Ah ha. Now I understand,” Rohrbach said, and he turned to her with a frown. “The truth comes out, and I know why you really became a cop.”
Dick couldn't help it. He laughed.