FIC: I'll Take Manicotti over Rationality, and Maybe a Kiss or Two
Title: I’ll Take Manicotti over Rationality, and Maybe a Kiss or Two
Fandom: Birds of Prey/DC Universe
Pairing: Barbara Gordon/Dinah Lance
Rating: PG
Word count: 2777
Warnings: reference to offscreen violence
Summary: After Dinah returns from her sensei’s funeral, Barbara is in a notably bad mood.
Notes: Written for
femslash10 for second_batgirl. Set in between Sensei and Student and with a scene from Between Dusk and Dawn.
Babs is cross. Dinah mused, paying the clerk for the package that sat tantalizingly on the counter. She doesn’t hide her moods as well as she thinks she does. At least, not from me.
Dinah didn’t begrudge Barbara a little irritability, given the beyond shitty week they’d both had. Hell, beyond shitty month might cover it. The clocktower infiltrated, her computers’ security systems breached. Batman was still grousing about being sent to the wrong place during a case, even though he and everyone else were now well aware that Oracle had been hacked by a genius, technopathic autistic kid at the time. (And Dinah wouldn’t be surprised if Barbara were hatching a little plan to recruit him, if the opportunity happened to arise.)
And of course, the capture. Few knew better than Dinah how getting snagged could mess you up, make you question yourself. And when Barbara saw someone on her team snagged, she took it personally.
Taking her time up the stairs, Dinah dismissed that as the source for Barbara’s recent ruffled feathers. This didn’t feel like that. Barbara had been working with Batman long enough to learn how to deal with his temperament, and really, of all the heroes Dinah knew, Oracle was the least likely to get rattled when an opponent tried to physically intimidate her. Heh. If only the Joker had know what he’d been creating that night.
No, Barbara’s mood felt more like whenever Dinah brought up Green Arrow. Only, Dinah was pretty sure she hadn’t done so in a while. For that very reason.
“I come bearing cannolis of peace!” Dinah announced.
Barbara didn’t turn. A moment later, as Dinah was about to speak again, Barbara issued directions into her comm: “Your friend has backup coming. I’ve tapped into the security cameras. There are at least four of them.”
“Thanks, Oracle. I think we can handle it, though. Are they armed?” Robin’s voice came in through the communicator, and Dinah raised a brow.
“Heavily,” Oracle replied. “Three with guns that I can see. One with just a pipe.”
“That’s not funny,” Robin said after a moment. Probably to whoever he was working with. “Hold on a second, Oracle.”
“Take your time,” she said with a smile.
This was Barbara at her best. Mentoring the new and upcoming masks, guiding and directing, all with the world at her fingertips. Oracle could be truly scary, if she ever lost her way. Lucky Dinah trusted her to make the right choices. Usually.
“Cannoli?” Dinah offered again. This time she was rewarded with a small but genuine smile as Barbara looked up.
“Is this part of the new training regime?”
“Absolutely.” Dinah leaned over her and took out one cannoli, stuffed with sweetened ricotta, cinnamon, and tiny chocolate chips and dusted with powdered sugar. Waving it in front of Barbara’s face with a wicked half-smile, Dinah knew she deserved a bit of a smack, but instead she got a soft laugh as some of the filling got on Barbara’s nose.
Barbara wiped the sugary filling off her nose and sucked it off her fingers. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to butter me up for something.”
“Me?” Dinah grinned. “I just wanted to cheer you up. You’ve not seemed happy with me lately.”
“Haven’t I?” Barbara evaded by taking a cannoli and biting into it. Her eyes closed as she mmmed appreciatively.
“You aren’t fooling me.” Dinah pointed at Barbara with the other cannoli and sighed. “Look, if I’ve done something, just let me know. I can’t fix it if you won’t tell me.”
Barbara wiped her mouth. “I’m not angry with you, Dinah.”
“You’re something with me.”
With no ceremony, Barbara turned back to her computers, ostensibly to check on Robin, who seemed to be doing just fine with the aid of Superboy at his side taking care of the backup that had been heading that way a moment ago.
“It’s not you. It’s Shiva,” she said finally.
Shiva. There was a complication that Dinah hadn’t expected in her life. Now she knew how Roy felt with Cheshire or Batman with his Catwoman (although Selina wasn’t a sociopath, really, just had super sticky fingers). Never mind that Dinah had learned as much from Shiva sparring once or twice as she had while studying with her sensei; her recent mission had gotten tangled up with Shiva in a way that really changed everything. Before, Dinah could have honestly said that she would avoid the woman at almost any cost. But now?
Now she’d fought side by side with the woman. They’d had to trust one another (minimally) to survive. And when it was all over, they’d mourned their sensei together, a man who had meant so much to the both of them. A man whose dying wishes were that they would neither kill nor bind one another. And then...
Even though the thought of becoming like Shiva was abhorrent to Dinah, and even though the thought that Shiva would not easily relent on the matter of Dinah coming to train with her was more than unnerving, Dinah had felt herself drawn to Shiva that night.
Dinah shuddered and ran her finger over the crisp pastry of the cannoli. “I told you I turned down her training.”
“I’m not angry with you,” Barbara said again.
I’m not sure I believe you. Dinah set the box of cannolis down and headed for the balcony. She needed air.
***
Even to herself, Barbara seemed to get over Helena sleeping with Dick rather quickly, able once again to view management of Huntress as an agent rationally instead of emotionally. Only she knew why that was, however.
It was true what Dinah had said of Green Arrow: To hold a grudge with every woman he’d slept with would be to hold one with the bulk of the population in Star City as well as many other metropolitan areas. Whether she liked it or not, the same charge might be levied against Nightwing with regard to Gotham and Bludhaven. But logical application of the facts hadn’t gotten Barbara past her jealousy. Not at all.
Dinah had returned to her before from emotionally charged events. Barbara could and had handled that. It was to be expected, going to visit her dying sensei. What Barbara hadn’t expected was that Dinah had gotten comfort elsewhere.
Somewhere, somehow, with Shiva. Not with Barbara.
It was easy not to be jealous over Dick when there were more pressing reasons to be jealous.
Barbara pushed herself up from the weight bench and then lifted herself back into her chair. The never ending element of surprise certainly helped when she had to fight hand to hand, but there was no reason to get soft.
Wiping the sweat from her shoulders, Barbara closed her eyes and pictured her little bird, her Dinah, brought back from captivity broken. But not in spirit. No, this time Dinah was stronger, she was ready. Barbara knew what she really feared would happen with Shiva. Not that Shiva would hurt Dinah and Barbara would have to pick up the pieces.
No. She feared that Dinah would be just fine, and she would train under Shiva’s steady, dangerous hand. Dinah would bend, but not break. Shiva would remake Dinah into a woman unstoppable. Shiva would be the one who Dinah connected with, the one with whom her heart was closest, regardless of their status as bedmates.
And Barbara was jealous, and she was scared. Fear wasn’t a great motivator for her normally. She’d been through things that had wrought her soul like damascus steel. Dinah made her weak, though. Dinah’s closeness to people who would hurt her made Barbara afraid.
That Dinah might be hurt... that made her afraid. But Dinah knew that now.
Accepting this fact had not been easy, and as she wheeled herself back to grab a quick shower, Barbara wondered how long she could keep this a secret from Dinah. It wasn’t really a question of “if.” Dinah always pried things out of her sooner or later.
***
“What I want to know is why you can be so mad at me, when I should be mad at you for hiring Savant?”
Barbara raised a brow and pursed her lips curiously. “For starters, I’m not mad. And you aren’t either, because you know that my options were limited, and you’re really too forgiving with me regardless of the circumstances.”
“Damn.” Dinah shredded the napkin between her thumbs. “And I guess I know if anyone is going to train and rehabilitate him, it’ll be you. No one else has the patience.”
Plump cupid’s bow lips curved into a smirk. “You make it sound like I’m gonna make it easy on him.”
“This is why I love you.”
Barbara dipped her head. Her glasses slipped down her nose, and she paused a moment before pushing them back up.
“But I still hope he gets skinned alive.”
“You know that all you have to do is say no?”
“I’m not saying no. But I am wondering why I persist on trusting your judgment on this when all my instincts scream to throw him trussed up and bloody into the river in a burlap sack.”
“I appreciate your lapse of judgment.”
“Hm.”
***
The world was spinning around Dinah as she scrabbled around the control room. She couldn’t think. Could barely breath, but she had to move, and she had to save Barbara no matter what, even if she had no idea what she was saving her from.
Her final stray thought before storming into the fire again was that Barbara had lead her away, just to save her from whatever whatever it was that had now enveloped Barbara’s arms and was practically merging her with the computer.
The picture of her father first. That was important. Barbara’s oldest, most real family, and then Nightwing, who was probably the person she loved the most.
The world went black as electricity shot through Dinah’s body.
***
Remember when we met...
Even then I knew...
...the truest friend I’d ever have...
The next few seconds were a blur. And they were mere seconds, or nanoseconds, perhaps. Oh, she’d recall the memories momentarily, but her waking mind would have struggled to process the final power struggle, the death throws of the most advanced artificial intelligence in perhaps the universe.
It may have been humanistic of her to believe in the power of a human brain over that of a machine, even if the human brain had once belonged to a librarian. Faith seemed to be the question of the day.
“Catch your breath... that’s it.”
Plink. Plink. Plink.
Bits of metal dropped off her skin, no longer animated and fused to her flesh. She drew in a deep breath, feeling her body move under her own power once again.
“Never again will I mock a taser, by the way.”
Barbara wished that she had the strength to laugh. Dinah held her close, and so tightly, with one hand cupping Barbara’s face with a desperate tenderness. Fresh blood streaked down the side of her face, over her left eye, and dripped from her lips, but the concern in her eyes was all for Barbara.
“It’s me, Dinah,” Barbara said in a breathless voice. Gaining strength, she managed in short, staccato bursts, “I’m back. I’m good. It’s over. Thank you.”
Dinah looked dubious, but twisted her bruised lips to the side. “Yeah, well, I’m sleeping here on the couch tonight,” she vowed. “Just in case you still need pest control. And if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what the hell just happened?”
Barbara didn’t reply right away. She was busy enjoying the feeling of her own warm body, and Dinah’s warm body against hers.
“Say something, Babs,” Dinah begged. Her fingers pressed more firmly against Barbara’s cheek.
Barbara closed her eyes slowly, then looked up at Dinah again and pressed their lips together. Dinah seemed surprised, but didn’t pull away. Blood and saliva mingled, and Barbara shook a little in Dinah’s arms. The last of the chill from Brainiac melted away.
“Bar-”
“It’s me. You don’t have to stay on the couch.” Barbara creased her brow and looked at Dinah seriously. “Thank you for bringing me back.”
“I brought you manicotti, too.”
A pearl of laughter bubbled up through Barbara’s lips. “I remember you saying so. Not sure if I’m hungry anymore, but I’d hate for divine pasta to go to waste.”
“Italian food is something, personally, I can believe in,” Dinah replied with a weary cheer as she lifted Barbara into her arms and took her to the couch to lay her down.
***
Okay, so maybe Babs hides better than I thought.
Dinah slipped her nightgown over her head and walked toward the bed, where Barbara was already lifting herself in. So stubbornly self-sufficient even after being mind-raped by Brainiac himself. Dinah put her hand on her hip and watched as Barbara paused in taking off her glasses.
“Is something wrong?”
Dinah shook her head. “No.”
But she still can’t lie to me.
Initially, she’d thought Barbara had been suggesting that she shouldn’t stay over at all, not that she should stay in her bed with her. Dinah didn’t think that Barbara was scared. Though she had plenty of reason to be. Dinah would be terrified, after something like that. Computers, on principle, were evil anyway.
The best proof was, however, was that Dinah suspected that she would genuinely be sent away if Barbara were scared by the encounter with Brainiac.
“You aren’t allowed to do that anymore.” Dinah flopped onto her side next to Barbara.
Barbara reached for her glasses once again, then peered at Dinah through them. “Be possessed by Brainiac?”
“No.” Dinah cupped her face and leaned on her elbow as she watched Barbara’s confusion. “Push me away. You keep doing that. I’m not like Nightwing. You can’t tell me to go, and just expect me to stay away.”
“I can’t help it. Brainiac would have killed you,” Barbara protested.
“And look, here I am, ready to steal your covers.” Dinah leaned closer to her. “We’re a team. You remember that with your perfect memory, don’t you? I’m your partner? That doesn’t just mean that you look out for me.”
Barbara lay her head on the pillow. “I’m tired, Dinah.”
“Yeah.” Dinah placed her hand on Barbara’s stomach and kissed her cheek gently, then her lips. “You think you’d die if something happened to me? Ditto.”
Barbara blinked twice before her serious expression began to open. Dinah didn’t know how many people could still see that look on her face. Maybe her father. Maybe Batman, when he wasn’t being completely grumpy (if that ever happened). Dinah curled her arm around Barbara’s waist, pulling her body flush to her own. She was glad they were in the bed together tonight. She knew she wouldn’t have slept a wink without Barbara’s heartbeat strong and sound. Now Dinah just had a front row seat to it.
She felt a little overwrought, almost losing Barbara like that, and in the worst way possible. Maybe she felt a little emotional. But she kissed Barbara again, and wordlessly they shared a few more kisses before Dinah took Barbara’s glasses off and turned off the light. They could be rational and sort through labels in the morning (or better yet, afternoon with some nice brunch). For the moment, all Dinah really wanted was to feel the heartbeat and share the bed of the one who her own heart was closest to. A rest between battles, with the sweetest comfort they had available to them.
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
comments posted there. Please comment there using OpenID or your DW account.
Fandom: Birds of Prey/DC Universe
Pairing: Barbara Gordon/Dinah Lance
Rating: PG
Word count: 2777
Warnings: reference to offscreen violence
Summary: After Dinah returns from her sensei’s funeral, Barbara is in a notably bad mood.
Notes: Written for
femslash10 for second_batgirl. Set in between Sensei and Student and with a scene from Between Dusk and Dawn.
Babs is cross. Dinah mused, paying the clerk for the package that sat tantalizingly on the counter. She doesn’t hide her moods as well as she thinks she does. At least, not from me.
Dinah didn’t begrudge Barbara a little irritability, given the beyond shitty week they’d both had. Hell, beyond shitty month might cover it. The clocktower infiltrated, her computers’ security systems breached. Batman was still grousing about being sent to the wrong place during a case, even though he and everyone else were now well aware that Oracle had been hacked by a genius, technopathic autistic kid at the time. (And Dinah wouldn’t be surprised if Barbara were hatching a little plan to recruit him, if the opportunity happened to arise.)
And of course, the capture. Few knew better than Dinah how getting snagged could mess you up, make you question yourself. And when Barbara saw someone on her team snagged, she took it personally.
Taking her time up the stairs, Dinah dismissed that as the source for Barbara’s recent ruffled feathers. This didn’t feel like that. Barbara had been working with Batman long enough to learn how to deal with his temperament, and really, of all the heroes Dinah knew, Oracle was the least likely to get rattled when an opponent tried to physically intimidate her. Heh. If only the Joker had know what he’d been creating that night.
No, Barbara’s mood felt more like whenever Dinah brought up Green Arrow. Only, Dinah was pretty sure she hadn’t done so in a while. For that very reason.
“I come bearing cannolis of peace!” Dinah announced.
Barbara didn’t turn. A moment later, as Dinah was about to speak again, Barbara issued directions into her comm: “Your friend has backup coming. I’ve tapped into the security cameras. There are at least four of them.”
“Thanks, Oracle. I think we can handle it, though. Are they armed?” Robin’s voice came in through the communicator, and Dinah raised a brow.
“Heavily,” Oracle replied. “Three with guns that I can see. One with just a pipe.”
“That’s not funny,” Robin said after a moment. Probably to whoever he was working with. “Hold on a second, Oracle.”
“Take your time,” she said with a smile.
This was Barbara at her best. Mentoring the new and upcoming masks, guiding and directing, all with the world at her fingertips. Oracle could be truly scary, if she ever lost her way. Lucky Dinah trusted her to make the right choices. Usually.
“Cannoli?” Dinah offered again. This time she was rewarded with a small but genuine smile as Barbara looked up.
“Is this part of the new training regime?”
“Absolutely.” Dinah leaned over her and took out one cannoli, stuffed with sweetened ricotta, cinnamon, and tiny chocolate chips and dusted with powdered sugar. Waving it in front of Barbara’s face with a wicked half-smile, Dinah knew she deserved a bit of a smack, but instead she got a soft laugh as some of the filling got on Barbara’s nose.
Barbara wiped the sugary filling off her nose and sucked it off her fingers. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to butter me up for something.”
“Me?” Dinah grinned. “I just wanted to cheer you up. You’ve not seemed happy with me lately.”
“Haven’t I?” Barbara evaded by taking a cannoli and biting into it. Her eyes closed as she mmmed appreciatively.
“You aren’t fooling me.” Dinah pointed at Barbara with the other cannoli and sighed. “Look, if I’ve done something, just let me know. I can’t fix it if you won’t tell me.”
Barbara wiped her mouth. “I’m not angry with you, Dinah.”
“You’re something with me.”
With no ceremony, Barbara turned back to her computers, ostensibly to check on Robin, who seemed to be doing just fine with the aid of Superboy at his side taking care of the backup that had been heading that way a moment ago.
“It’s not you. It’s Shiva,” she said finally.
Shiva. There was a complication that Dinah hadn’t expected in her life. Now she knew how Roy felt with Cheshire or Batman with his Catwoman (although Selina wasn’t a sociopath, really, just had super sticky fingers). Never mind that Dinah had learned as much from Shiva sparring once or twice as she had while studying with her sensei; her recent mission had gotten tangled up with Shiva in a way that really changed everything. Before, Dinah could have honestly said that she would avoid the woman at almost any cost. But now?
Now she’d fought side by side with the woman. They’d had to trust one another (minimally) to survive. And when it was all over, they’d mourned their sensei together, a man who had meant so much to the both of them. A man whose dying wishes were that they would neither kill nor bind one another. And then...
Even though the thought of becoming like Shiva was abhorrent to Dinah, and even though the thought that Shiva would not easily relent on the matter of Dinah coming to train with her was more than unnerving, Dinah had felt herself drawn to Shiva that night.
Dinah shuddered and ran her finger over the crisp pastry of the cannoli. “I told you I turned down her training.”
“I’m not angry with you,” Barbara said again.
I’m not sure I believe you. Dinah set the box of cannolis down and headed for the balcony. She needed air.
***
Even to herself, Barbara seemed to get over Helena sleeping with Dick rather quickly, able once again to view management of Huntress as an agent rationally instead of emotionally. Only she knew why that was, however.
It was true what Dinah had said of Green Arrow: To hold a grudge with every woman he’d slept with would be to hold one with the bulk of the population in Star City as well as many other metropolitan areas. Whether she liked it or not, the same charge might be levied against Nightwing with regard to Gotham and Bludhaven. But logical application of the facts hadn’t gotten Barbara past her jealousy. Not at all.
Dinah had returned to her before from emotionally charged events. Barbara could and had handled that. It was to be expected, going to visit her dying sensei. What Barbara hadn’t expected was that Dinah had gotten comfort elsewhere.
Somewhere, somehow, with Shiva. Not with Barbara.
It was easy not to be jealous over Dick when there were more pressing reasons to be jealous.
Barbara pushed herself up from the weight bench and then lifted herself back into her chair. The never ending element of surprise certainly helped when she had to fight hand to hand, but there was no reason to get soft.
Wiping the sweat from her shoulders, Barbara closed her eyes and pictured her little bird, her Dinah, brought back from captivity broken. But not in spirit. No, this time Dinah was stronger, she was ready. Barbara knew what she really feared would happen with Shiva. Not that Shiva would hurt Dinah and Barbara would have to pick up the pieces.
No. She feared that Dinah would be just fine, and she would train under Shiva’s steady, dangerous hand. Dinah would bend, but not break. Shiva would remake Dinah into a woman unstoppable. Shiva would be the one who Dinah connected with, the one with whom her heart was closest, regardless of their status as bedmates.
And Barbara was jealous, and she was scared. Fear wasn’t a great motivator for her normally. She’d been through things that had wrought her soul like damascus steel. Dinah made her weak, though. Dinah’s closeness to people who would hurt her made Barbara afraid.
That Dinah might be hurt... that made her afraid. But Dinah knew that now.
Accepting this fact had not been easy, and as she wheeled herself back to grab a quick shower, Barbara wondered how long she could keep this a secret from Dinah. It wasn’t really a question of “if.” Dinah always pried things out of her sooner or later.
***
“What I want to know is why you can be so mad at me, when I should be mad at you for hiring Savant?”
Barbara raised a brow and pursed her lips curiously. “For starters, I’m not mad. And you aren’t either, because you know that my options were limited, and you’re really too forgiving with me regardless of the circumstances.”
“Damn.” Dinah shredded the napkin between her thumbs. “And I guess I know if anyone is going to train and rehabilitate him, it’ll be you. No one else has the patience.”
Plump cupid’s bow lips curved into a smirk. “You make it sound like I’m gonna make it easy on him.”
“This is why I love you.”
Barbara dipped her head. Her glasses slipped down her nose, and she paused a moment before pushing them back up.
“But I still hope he gets skinned alive.”
“You know that all you have to do is say no?”
“I’m not saying no. But I am wondering why I persist on trusting your judgment on this when all my instincts scream to throw him trussed up and bloody into the river in a burlap sack.”
“I appreciate your lapse of judgment.”
“Hm.”
***
The world was spinning around Dinah as she scrabbled around the control room. She couldn’t think. Could barely breath, but she had to move, and she had to save Barbara no matter what, even if she had no idea what she was saving her from.
Her final stray thought before storming into the fire again was that Barbara had lead her away, just to save her from whatever whatever it was that had now enveloped Barbara’s arms and was practically merging her with the computer.
The picture of her father first. That was important. Barbara’s oldest, most real family, and then Nightwing, who was probably the person she loved the most.
The world went black as electricity shot through Dinah’s body.
***
Remember when we met...
Even then I knew...
...the truest friend I’d ever have...
The next few seconds were a blur. And they were mere seconds, or nanoseconds, perhaps. Oh, she’d recall the memories momentarily, but her waking mind would have struggled to process the final power struggle, the death throws of the most advanced artificial intelligence in perhaps the universe.
It may have been humanistic of her to believe in the power of a human brain over that of a machine, even if the human brain had once belonged to a librarian. Faith seemed to be the question of the day.
“Catch your breath... that’s it.”
Plink. Plink. Plink.
Bits of metal dropped off her skin, no longer animated and fused to her flesh. She drew in a deep breath, feeling her body move under her own power once again.
“Never again will I mock a taser, by the way.”
Barbara wished that she had the strength to laugh. Dinah held her close, and so tightly, with one hand cupping Barbara’s face with a desperate tenderness. Fresh blood streaked down the side of her face, over her left eye, and dripped from her lips, but the concern in her eyes was all for Barbara.
“It’s me, Dinah,” Barbara said in a breathless voice. Gaining strength, she managed in short, staccato bursts, “I’m back. I’m good. It’s over. Thank you.”
Dinah looked dubious, but twisted her bruised lips to the side. “Yeah, well, I’m sleeping here on the couch tonight,” she vowed. “Just in case you still need pest control. And if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what the hell just happened?”
Barbara didn’t reply right away. She was busy enjoying the feeling of her own warm body, and Dinah’s warm body against hers.
“Say something, Babs,” Dinah begged. Her fingers pressed more firmly against Barbara’s cheek.
Barbara closed her eyes slowly, then looked up at Dinah again and pressed their lips together. Dinah seemed surprised, but didn’t pull away. Blood and saliva mingled, and Barbara shook a little in Dinah’s arms. The last of the chill from Brainiac melted away.
“Bar-”
“It’s me. You don’t have to stay on the couch.” Barbara creased her brow and looked at Dinah seriously. “Thank you for bringing me back.”
“I brought you manicotti, too.”
A pearl of laughter bubbled up through Barbara’s lips. “I remember you saying so. Not sure if I’m hungry anymore, but I’d hate for divine pasta to go to waste.”
“Italian food is something, personally, I can believe in,” Dinah replied with a weary cheer as she lifted Barbara into her arms and took her to the couch to lay her down.
***
Okay, so maybe Babs hides better than I thought.
Dinah slipped her nightgown over her head and walked toward the bed, where Barbara was already lifting herself in. So stubbornly self-sufficient even after being mind-raped by Brainiac himself. Dinah put her hand on her hip and watched as Barbara paused in taking off her glasses.
“Is something wrong?”
Dinah shook her head. “No.”
But she still can’t lie to me.
Initially, she’d thought Barbara had been suggesting that she shouldn’t stay over at all, not that she should stay in her bed with her. Dinah didn’t think that Barbara was scared. Though she had plenty of reason to be. Dinah would be terrified, after something like that. Computers, on principle, were evil anyway.
The best proof was, however, was that Dinah suspected that she would genuinely be sent away if Barbara were scared by the encounter with Brainiac.
“You aren’t allowed to do that anymore.” Dinah flopped onto her side next to Barbara.
Barbara reached for her glasses once again, then peered at Dinah through them. “Be possessed by Brainiac?”
“No.” Dinah cupped her face and leaned on her elbow as she watched Barbara’s confusion. “Push me away. You keep doing that. I’m not like Nightwing. You can’t tell me to go, and just expect me to stay away.”
“I can’t help it. Brainiac would have killed you,” Barbara protested.
“And look, here I am, ready to steal your covers.” Dinah leaned closer to her. “We’re a team. You remember that with your perfect memory, don’t you? I’m your partner? That doesn’t just mean that you look out for me.”
Barbara lay her head on the pillow. “I’m tired, Dinah.”
“Yeah.” Dinah placed her hand on Barbara’s stomach and kissed her cheek gently, then her lips. “You think you’d die if something happened to me? Ditto.”
Barbara blinked twice before her serious expression began to open. Dinah didn’t know how many people could still see that look on her face. Maybe her father. Maybe Batman, when he wasn’t being completely grumpy (if that ever happened). Dinah curled her arm around Barbara’s waist, pulling her body flush to her own. She was glad they were in the bed together tonight. She knew she wouldn’t have slept a wink without Barbara’s heartbeat strong and sound. Now Dinah just had a front row seat to it.
She felt a little overwrought, almost losing Barbara like that, and in the worst way possible. Maybe she felt a little emotional. But she kissed Barbara again, and wordlessly they shared a few more kisses before Dinah took Barbara’s glasses off and turned off the light. They could be rational and sort through labels in the morning (or better yet, afternoon with some nice brunch). For the moment, all Dinah really wanted was to feel the heartbeat and share the bed of the one who her own heart was closest to. A rest between battles, with the sweetest comfort they had available to them.
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.
comments posted there. Please comment there using OpenID or your DW account.