Big Damn Table Fics #1-50

Merfilly

FANDOM: Birds of Prey Comic

PAIRING: Black Canary/Oracle

RATINGS: G to NC-17

DISCLAIMER: All characters, places, etc copyrighted by DC Comics, and used here strictly for non-commercial entertainment.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm fiddling around with some different dynamics.

FICATHON: Written for FanFic100's Big Damn Table at http://community.livejournal.com/fanfic100/profile.

ARCHIVING: at Big Damn Table and tag - fanfic100.

E-MAIL: stephvickers@hotmail.com or feedback at merfilly's LJ @ http://merfilly.livejournal.com/.

---

She would never be able to fully share why she agreed. She could never tell anyone what it was about the call that finally made her leave her wreck of a life there and come back to where it had begun.

Was it the difficulty of keeping going, day after day? The unpleasant memories of all that had gone wrong? Or, worse, the reminders of what had been right, at least at the time?

No, those might have added to it, but they were not the reasons.

The reason was the voice: a voice as lonely as her own was.

---

Dinah finished laying out the ice cream and the obligatory bag of Chocos, a holdover from the days of working with J’onn J’onzz. Barbara raised an eyebrow at them, not knowing the significance and thinking that two pints of ice cream plus sodas should have been sufficient comfort foods.

“Oh, don’t mind them. I always have a bag out, even if I don’t get into them. Back in the League days, whenever I’d be going over the mission logs, I never knew when Martian Manhunter would appear to share my snacks."

“I see." The red head smiled, remembering that for all Dinah was now BatFamily, she had grown up in the superhero community, and forged a new, modern superhero family for herself. “So, how does the Martian Manhunter eat his Chocos?" Dinah actually grinned, a nice change from her too serious look following all that happened in Gorilla City and the days prior to it.

“He’s a total prude. Actually eats them in the normal, one bite at a time fashion." The Black Canary reached over and took a cookie from the bag. “We tried to teach him the right way."

“Which is?" Barbara prompted. She watched as Dinah’s eyes seemed to darken mysteriously, a prelude to the proper way to eat a Choco cookie.

“You always eat the middle first," Dinah purred, taking the cookie and pulling the top of it off. She kept her eyes fully on Barbara’s, not letting the other woman look away. Devilishly slow, she licked at the white icing, her pink tongue savoring the sweetness. When Barbara’s breath caught just slightly, Dinah knew which way she could take this, and almost smiled, finishing her icing. “The middle always comes first," she repeated, keeping her voice low and soft as she handed Barbara a cookie.

---

Dinah looked around the apartment, noting the emptiness. This place, the place Connor had told her he was gone...this was one end she had no misgivings over. Even if it meant returning to Gotham, she could turn her back on this place easily.

Barbara glanced around the new equipment in the clocktower. It all looked barren to her, but in her mind she could feel the end of her uselessness in her own eyes. This plan to coordinate efforts, to have one special agent was right for her. It would end the loss of Batgirl once and for all.

---

She watched from just out of sight of her partner as the drama unfolded. The watcher knew she should not be judging. She was not on the inside of this particular drama fest. She was not one of the prime movers in it. Yet. A small smile touched her lips. She would not make the woman cry. She could make the man see what a fool he had been, to neglect or disregard the wonderful woman he had ensnared. It was just a matter of time, until she was the one on the inside, and he would be looking in.

---

Dinah sighed softly as she tried again to find something to wear. It was getting pretty close to time to go, and she still had not chosen her outfit. She could not believe she was actually looking at her costume longingly; it was at least completely color coordinated and ready to go. She sighed yet again, and found a pair of blue jeans, in the ever so popular hip hugger variety, and a pink half shirt with Supergirl’s emblem on it. Once a fan of the heroes, always a fan of the heroes. She had to grin at her reflection; no matter how many years she carried the torch, she would always still be the little girl looking on as the JSA saved the day, or the All-Star Squadron led a parade. A pair of sunglasses and a broad brimmed hat completed her look, before she slipped into some sensible tennis shoes. Sling backs might look nice, but she did not want to break an ankle if things went south. With a last minute grab for her kit bag, she left the apartment to go see just what Gotham had become in her long absence.

Her eyes saw a city putting on a façade of wealth in some areas, despairing poverty in others, and still clinging to the past overall. No matter how modern the new areas looked, it was still easy to envision olden days with gangsters and cops fighting it out, straight out of one of her dad’s bedtime stories. She made her stroll a leisurely one, using mass transit at some areas, but mostly walking. She came at last to a park in a more upscale neighborhood, and decided it was best to unwind from a day that had held many nostalgic moments in the relative peace of the outdoors. From where she sat on a park bench, eating a Gotham original hot dog, she could see the huge clock tower that seemed to dominate part of the skyline.

“Well, dad, you were right. You can walk out of the town, but it stays in you," she murmured to herself. She had found her way around with ease, and she knew, no matter how global things got for her in this new job, that she would lend a hand locally...even if the Bat protested. As if on cue, the sirens started wailing insistently, none too far from where she was. “Welcome back, Dinah. Time to get dirty again."

---

Patience is a virtue relatively unknown to Black Canary. Jumping in feet first and regretting the consequences has always been her style. It had led to one brief marriage, one rocky relationship, and so many casual encounters she just did not want to remember.

But today, she is patient. She has to be, to keep her nerves from turning on herself. Today her partner, on so many levels, is under the knife, fighting for her life. It will be hours before they know anything. Hours until she learns if she will have a partner to continue to lean on.

Patience.

---

Calling on Jason had been hard. In all the time that had passed, there were still feelings, on both sides. Granted, Jason’s were hopeful, looking for old roads to travel down. Barbara’s, on the other hand, were all about moving on, putting the past cleanly behind her. She probably never would have gone, if it had not been days since Canary had left, gone to lose herself from losing a man she never should have even had to meet.

It was just professional concern, Barbara told herself, but that little voice in her mind pointed out the lie. Her concern for the blond was as real as the concern she had over Dick. And that, she realized, was why she put aside her ghosts and went to Jason.

After all, too many days in the game of superheroes, and there might be nasty repercussions. Dinah’s well-known tastes in men, the rebound effect of having lost a lover, and the very gray area of her relationship with Pieter Cross would set her up for far too many scams by well-built but bad-meaning men. And Barbara intended to protect her from that. Dinah was far too important for her to lose now.

---

It had been weeks since he had talked to the woman that worked for Barbara. He knew of Black Canary...knew a lot about her, through his best friend Roy. Like Batman, he had felt she was wasting her potential by being chained to the raving Liberal. Then, she more or less vanished off the hero radar for a time, which Connor had said was due to a self-searching period, as well as grieving for the man she had loved. Nightwing had been pleased to see an old pro return to duty, and to do it so well. He had also been pleased that Barbara finally had a focus outside the ‘family’, and a friend.

Then the awful escapade of Blockbuster hunting Barbara had brought the woman he loved into dire peril, and he had arrived too late to save her. Instead, Black Canary had been the knight in Shining Armor, whisking in and drawing Barbara out of the water. Strangers by sight, professionals by voice, and yet Black Canary had unhesitatingly walked into danger for Barbara. From all Nightwing knew of the woman, that had been unusual. Normally she would have fought it out, protecting Barbara until the cavalry arrived. Using her wits to switch identities so swiftly, risking her own life for a woman that was no more than her employer had shown something else of Black Canary to Nightwing.

It had shown him a woman who cherished Barbara.

And now he did not know how to take it.

---

The women were sitting back from their Szechwan meal, feeling quite content to just relax and hope for no alerts. Blue eyes met green, and then a mischievous smile lit the face of the blond.

“So..."

“So what, oh woman of the mysterious smile?" The redhead was completely at a loss for what her partner was thinking right now.

“How goes things with Nightwing these days? It’s been a few months since the whole Tom thing." If there was any jealousy in her voice, she was sure Barbara would interpret it wrong. “I got the impression then that he..."

“He and I have set boundaries." Barbara’s warm mood was dissipating. “The months you refer to have been too back and forth for me to take him or our relationship seriously anymore."

“Sorry." Dinah did actually look penitent, for a moment. That was broken by Barbara’s return thrust.

“How’s Oliver Queen these days? It’s been at least six months on his reappearance, a story you still have not shared."

Dinah shrugged. “It’s Ollie. And with heroes, nothing ever lasts. Not life, death, or relationships." She stood to tidy up the clock tower, her mood sinking until Barbara suddenly caught her wrist.

“We’ll last, Dinah. I promise you."

---

The odd man in the suit and derby with glasses gave Dinah pause as she rode along the streets on her new motorcycle. She noted his cane, shaped much like a hand on a clock and felt an eerie prescience that she should not ignore him. She was on her way to congratulate, no matter how poorly she felt, the woman who had been her best friend for several years. After all, it was not everyday a friend like that got engaged to a man she had been involved with most of her adult life, off and on.

The bike came to a stop at a red light, the rider’s attention still on the odd man. In Gotham, one did not ignore the unusual or that little creepy feeling. Metropolis had not stripped her of her survival instincts yet. When the man raised a device in his hand, pointing it across the busy road toward a gathering of Gotham officials, Dinah went into mission mode. She kicked free of her bike and launched across the air to try and disrupt him.

“Not at this time, Black Canary." His voice was metered out perfectly like a metronome set in four/four rhythm. She did not care who exactly he was; his recognition of her fueled her belief of his evil intent.

“Oh yes, Mister Derby, right now!" she declared, landing and swinging her hand out to turn aside the device he was now aiming at her. She was a shade too slow for his precision; the blow never landed on him, as a wave of temporal energy slammed into her.

She did not notice the paralysis at first. She could not know she was frozen still as a statue in the streets of Gotham’s busiest sector, just across from the opening gala for a new public building, where the judges and politicians were now at the mercy of the Clock King. Lucky for them, other Bats were about that day, but Canary could not know that either. All she could know was the blast of imagery she was overloading on, the key events of her years of life.

She saw her mother and father, the arguments and the coming out on her superheroing stunts. She felt the pain and agony of realizing she had hurt both of them the first time her Cry came out. Al the emotions of losing her father and then her mother came to the forefront. The anger she had boiled with over learning about the affair between Starman and her mother blasted the grief away. The fierce neediness and passion of her early, abortive marriage was swiftly replaced with the dependent emotional tides of Oliver Queen’s presence in her life. As it continued on and on, she could feel her mind swaying, threatening to break under the assault of a lifetime of emotions and experiences in the space of minutes. Her years, few as they were, had been crammed with intense highs and lows. When the grief of Ollie’s death came, her knees broke down and she collapsed, tears streaming unnoticed by their owner.

Then, she felt the calm that she had come to associate with her more recent years. No matter how bad things seemed in life, there had been a solid support there. An emotional barrier to the bad things in life. And her name was Barbara Gordon. The world was normalizing for Dinah, coming to the present not crippled by the intense emotional buffeting, but renewed in the sense that no matter what, Barbara was her rock. Forcing her way through the latest emotional storm of Barbara’s engagement, Dinah rose and immediately sought the culprit. Seeing Azrael enjoying himself in the process of beating him down, the Black Canary opted to go to more important things. Such as making sure Barbara knew she had Dinah’s full support.

---

When she sees red, she sees the reflection of seemingly hundreds of images. Red brings her pictures of shy smiles and surprisingly soul-felt laughter. It is the color of silken tresses, so often tucked behind an ear or errantly falling on either side of the gamin face she has come to know as well as her own. For her, red no longer draws bad memories of being helpless and dependent. It brings the satisfaction of knowing she is never alone, for red is the color of her truest friendship. Red will be the reason she smiles through the pain forever.

http://merfilly.livejournal.com/57101.html

---

Barbara was not quite sure how to take her partner at times. Since they had come to an understanding of equals, and admitted they had a deep connection as friends, Dinah was by turns playful and then withdrawn with Barbara. Today, the techno wiz decided, was a playful day. The blond was perched against a console, a peeled orange at hand, just on the periphery of Barbara’s vision. Barbara tried hard to stay focused on giving Huntress accurate details, but too much of her mind was occupied by seeing even, white teeth between pink lips, devouring the succulent fruit oh so slowly. Barbara had caught quite a few Freudian slips already, and was sure her cheeks had to be flushed, but she would not turn and acknowledge her partner’s seductive art of eating. If she did, she had no idea where it might lead, and that was enough to give the former Batgirl pause. When one had walked where angels feared to tread, it seemed so odd to be afraid of the intimate, personal details of living. And yet, as another slice of orange was devoured, Barbara knew she did not dare learn if Dinah did such things on purpose.

---

The long flaxen hair often hid the flash of yellow at her ears and throat, but when she was sailing through the air, they seemed to blaze. Barbara had long stopped resenting the flawless martial arts of Canary, and often drew her into training sessions against the young Bat-family members. Today, it was Robin, being tested to the utmost of his ability. Batgirl watched with young-old eyes, silently critiquing a form she had watched many times by another woman. Neither young hero realized that Barbara only watched to appreciate the beauty, and that set just perfect with the all-seeing Oracle.

---

Her workout has left her somewhat winded, and she knows she pushed herself too hard. She never should have checked the view of her partner, the night before in Star City. Despite all the hardships, the cold, hard truth of how bad they were together, her partner was falling for the archer again. It was all too obvious which direction things were headed, when she clicked it off, having seen a long kiss. A night of restlessness and a hard workout had not exorcised her feelings. That was too hard to do with a little green monster on her shoulder.

---

“Why blue?" The questioner was sprawled across the foot of the bed, idly playing with a plush Batgirl toy.

“What?" The one being questioned paused in pulling a sweater over her thin shirt.

“The cape." The lounging blond held out the garment on the plush, indicating the interior of the cape.

“Why?"

“Curious. It’s not bat-coda."

“Exactly. It was my statement of me."

“A statement of you, or of the little girl who wanted to be a cop?"

“How...?"

“Daddy was a cop too." She smiled at the consternation on her partner’s face. “You’re not the only smarty in here."

---

There were a flash of green and a blaze of purple, she always remembered. Then the flash, the noise, and the pain...just before the cold and the blood registered. Most people would have called it quits and given up. For a time, she did. Now, it only haunts her dreams, and she fights to banish even that. As the purple looms once more, she instinctively reaches out, and a hand is placed in hers. The hand is graceful and slender, and evokes peace. The purple fades away, replaced in the serenity of black Kevlar, golden birds, and blond silken hair.

---

Oracle had to wince as the kick connected right against the transmitter in Canary’s ear. The cursing she heard over the mic told Oracle that her operative had gotten feedback off the transmitter being crushed. Oracle keyed security cameras for the area Canary was in to see her fighting a very large freakish Man Bat. The brown fur was mottled and patchy, leading Oracle to wonder what had happened to Langstrom. It was about to be a point that was moot, as Canary dropped one of her pellets that erupted into a Canary Cry, albeit an ultrasonic one. It was enough to give the blonde vigilante a chance to get her feet solidly under herself before launching a vicious martial arts volley. As oracle watched her operative move through the forms, she had to suppress an urge to cheer. Without a doubt, Canary was one of the top form fighters for a strict human.

“She’s good."

Oracle was used to the voice and the presence. She did not even look at him. “Better than I was."

No response on that assessment, which meant he agreed. But then, Batgirl had been one to have to work at everything. It was not her natural calling.

“There. She’s got him down and cuffed. Arkham can retrieve him," Oracle said.

“Keep her in line, Oracle." The soft whoosh of him leaving made her bite back her retort, as she turned to view the blond again.

“Keeping her in line is not that easy," she murmured to herself, as the crime fighter on the street stood guard over the brown mass of Man Bat. “But then, maybe I don’t want her in line."

---

She could taste her own blood from the last blow Savant had landed. Her body felt useless, one fireball of pain. The big guy, Creote, was a brutal man, but Savant’s cruelty was on par with the little boy who gleefully pulled butterfly wings off. She could barely control her fall as the blackness threatened to take her down. She felt the need to throw up, the need to pass out, and the urge to flee, but only one of these urges could win. In the end, it was the blackness that won.

Her mind retreated from the pain, trying to shield her from the harsh reality that she was a victim again. She had jumped back in the game of heroes, and look what it had brought her, again. Pain, suffering, and helplessness.

“You’re not helpless, you know." There before her, clad in tight fitting black Kevlar was Batgirl. A cloud of red hair beneath the cowl, a piercing yellow bat across her nicely rounded bosom, and the oh-so-unBatlike blue cape. “You have her. She’ll move heaven and earth for you, Birdy."

“You’re a figment of my imagination," Canary retorted, appalled to find herself in her Olivia Newton John look. “And she can’t find me if they destroy my transmitters."

“You underestimate the power of the Oracle." Batgirl winked at her. “Especially where it concerns you."

Canary rolled her eyes. “Shyeah, and monkeys...god, was I about to say that?!" She touched her head. “Must have a concussion."

“That and a few other injuries, Birdy." Batgirl came and perched on a countertop, peering at her. Canary blinked; it was her apartment in Seattle now. “But she’ll come. You’ll see." The scene faded out as pain returned.

---

Dinah could see it now, in blinding clarity and heartbreaking detail. Barbara would be in white, her chair decorated to match. Dick would be standing tall in his tux, while their two fathers looked on proudly. Dinah herself would be there to support her friend, even as she grieved the end of an opportunity unmet. There would be no happy ending for the bridesmaid in this picture.

“Earth to Black Canary," came the briskly rude voice of the Huntress.

“Sorry, Huntress." The blond gave a false smile. “Look, I have to go...tell Oracle...tell her good luck and best of wishes." She could not stand by, could not watch this love go away in such a manner.

“Canary, don’t." The Huntress’s voice softened, becoming Helena the concerned friend. “It’s the wedding, isn’t it? You think it is a mistake."

“Helena, you don’t know the half of it." Canary looked up to the tower they had moved their operations to here in Metropolis. “She and Dick have made their choice. Who knows; if it all works out like the story books, me and Ollie might get hitched before it is all said and done." She revved her motorcycle. “Give Babs my love, but I’m going to follow up on this other case of mine." The Huntress watched her speed off, shaking her head at the mistakes being compounded now.

---

Dinah threw a piece of popcorn at Barbara, laughing. “Okay, you’re the uber-geek! It was ‘odorless’, not ‘colourless’."

“Never doubt a librarian turned information broker about a cult movie line," Barbara intoned haughtily, gaining another shower of popcorn from her hostess. That prompted a laugh and giggle fest, until Barbara’s cell rang. “Hello? Dick, hi! Oh. I didn’t know." The pretty redhead was too distracted by the phone call to see its effect on the blond. “Yes, we just finished up a movie. Dinah. At her place. No, I don’t want to push my luck; she keeps assaulting me with popcorn." A small laugh followed. “Alright, see you at 8."

Dinah had closed in on herself the more she heard Barbara’s side of the conversation. When Barbara hung up, she pasted on her best smile and laughed, hoping it did not sound forced. “So Romeo’s in town, huh?"

“Yes." Barbara leaned down and gathered the stray popcorn, placing it in her own empty bowl. She then smiled at Dinah as she made the transfer to her chair from the couch. “So, who’s the stud of the week with you?"

“Oh, I have my little black book to check." Dinah started tidying her place up, hiding her true feelings as she had for the duration of this partnership. Days like today could take her so high, just enjoying Babs’ company, and then reality would crash in as a super villain or a boyfriend rained on their parade.

“Need help, Dinah?" Barbara watched the blond putter in the kitchen.

“No, Babs; you go get ready for your stud." That laugh came easier; she had so many stories of Dick that she could have entertained Babs for weeks on them.

“Okay. Thanks again...I had fun." The redhead rolled on her way, out the door, and out of Dinah’s personal hell.

---

"Pretty bird, something’s eating at you." Ollie and Dinah were walking away from the mess they had just delivered; one hog waste truck right into Boss Verrick’s pool. The unconscious goons littering the grounds would never be believed that Green Arrow and the Black Canary had done such an amateur prank, even if they had been of a mind to talk about it to anyone.

"Really, Ollie, I may want things at peace between us, but there’s no need to get all concerned and fuzzy on me," she replied in a light-hearted vein.

He gave a warm, robust laugh, and she knew she had done right to renew their friendship, placing all the old heartaches in the past. Her pretty blue eyes looked him over, and saw he may have laughed, but he was not going to let it go.

"Alright, rogue archer; I’ve got something on my mind beyond training under Shiva." She took a deep breath.

"I can guess already. Relationship, right?" He did well, she had to admit. No sign of jealousy, only genuine concern for her welfare was in his voice. "Is it that JSA fellow again? Or have you run into that Nightwing guy from Bludhaven?" He paused. "No, he’s too young, right?" At that, he waggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh now.

"No, on both of them, Ollie." She sighed softly. "It is someone close to my age, but I really can’t tell if it is a two way street." She winked at him. "You have me spoiled; no guesswork on the attraction there." He chuckled as she moved close enough for him to hold around the waist. "I can’t tell where I stand, what my shots are, and because it is a friend, I’m too afraid to push the envelope."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Now, that is not like you at all. This is the girl that told four other heroes to get off their butts and help you form a Justice League. The woman that took out that speedster from another world with one shout. You usually jump, then look back to see how far you went, Pretty Bird. And no one has ever managed to stay mad or walk away from you."

"This is different, Ollie. I won’t risk losing what I have. I’ve had to build myself up too far this time." She quickly leaned into him, to take away any insult. "Not your fault, Ollie. I let myself fall after we ended in Seattle."

"Doesn’t change why you did not have a net," he said gruffly. "But, hey, all water under the bridge, right?"

"Yeah." After that, they walked in companionable silence, with so many shared memories that the future could find no foothold.

---

Canary was in trouble. She was in some god-forsaken, no embassy country with no communication, no allies in sight, and there was a very painful hole in her leg. She looked up from tightening her makeshift bandage, and grimaced; she also had some angry mob hunting her for some relatively unimportant reason.

“Except it is important…they want to kill me because I helped save the world from the end their religion deemed necessary." Her sigh now was for the haunting of her current life by a really, really stupid mistake. “Never date a man without running his credentials past Oracle, Dinah." She picked up her pace as she tried to get some distance between her and the search parties. “And don’t go offline with her, just because you want to check out the local beef, either." She reached up and tried to get her communicator to work by fiddling with it. “Come on Oracle! Figure out why I can’t talk to you!" She could feel the blood seeping again, but she pressed on, invoking lessons learned long ago from Sensei.

“I CAN HEAR YOU!" The irate voice on the other end of the dysfunctional link was practically screaming. The pretty red head had endured about all she could of hearing her agent in distress, and not be able to do much about it. The GPS function in the circuitry had been fried by whatever had killed Dinah’s mic. And, as usual, Canary had hared off on some personal hijink, going offline on purpose, so as not be ‘spied’ on. “Damnit, Black Canary, I am going to microchip your pretty little…" her voice trailed off as she had to take a call for assistance on the WatchTower frequency.

“So then Ollie says ‘I think it needs more spice’, and I just rolled my eyes. J’onn never knew what hit him…" Canary was talking to herself, fighting back nausea, blood loss, and steady dehydration. She had found a small hiding place, thanking her mother for giving her small sized genes. “Of course, I bought him loads of Chocos after that…poor guy." She grew quiet again, hearing someone pass close by. Without even realizing it, she closed her eyes, willing them to move on by her place.

“Canary, you have to keep talking!" Oracle sounded determined rather than frantic. The communicator she had given to Black Canary activated the instant it detected voices, but was cutting off in between, making tracking its signal difficult. Every word the agent said gave the computers more time to search for the frequency, to triangulate to a specific region. And she had a plan…if only the Canary would sing long enough.

Once the patrols were past her, or so she assumed due to a long silence outside her hiding spot, Canary eased herself out of the cramped hiding place. She felt woozy, and suspected that she had dozed off while hiding…. neither thing very safe for her in her condition. She had to be thankful that, for whatever reason, her constitution was on par with the average Olympic athlete. Otherwise, she would long since have passed out from the seepage on her leg.

“Okay, Dinah…let’s trek to a more hospitable locale…with wheels. God, I’m going to have to steal a pair of wheels…if Dad could see me now!" She looked around, remembering the way she had come, and moving within the shadows. At least the Bat’s lessons are coming to mind. If anyone can sneak, he can…well, J’onn, but he does the whole bend-light-around-me-and-go-ghostly routine." She was keeping her voice low, but the effort to talk, to put coherent thoughts together was helping her push a growing gray haze back from her mind.

“She must be hurt in a serious fashion," Oracle muttered. “Come on…." Her eyes never left the narrowing grid search, even as she listened to her agent’s meandering words.

“…girl has got to be gorgeous. I mean, that voice is so prim but…. I don’t know, she sounds sexy." Canary giggled, the grayness a bit too close to ignore. “Prob’ly never know. Darn girl thinks a computer is a girl’s best friend. Oh well…I can dream her up…. Say a little bitty thing like me, curved in the right spots. I bet she’s in shape. She might be a nerd, but all that Oracle does…got to be a high nerves, high metabolism little thing. I’ll bet she has glasses too…"

Oracle was startled out of watching the grid narrow when she realized abruptly that her agent was beginning to paint a picture of her. And the more she listened, the more she realized that her file on the Black Canary had only scratched the tip of the iceberg. She felt her cheeks flush hotly as Canary’s loquaciousness combined with some very bawdy speculations on Oracle’s body and abilities. She was quite relieved when the search pinged a location…and not just because it meant being able to retrieve her agent.

“So how’d you find me?" Canary was at home, her leg up and resting from the recent trip to the WatchTower, via Wonder Woman’s capable assistance. “I mean, I was incommunicado and all."

There was a slight pause on the new link. Oracle flushed again, remembering the things she had heard from Canary’s fantasizing. Rather than open that pit, she opted to prevaricate.

“Your GPS came back online…once I had it tracked, I called in help for you." (“But who will help me from these thoughts I have, about you, now?") she thought to herself, as she launched into a berating on how Canary never should have been offline to begin with.

---

Dinah sat quietly in the background while Oracle coordinated Huntress’s mission in Bludhaven. She was not needed for this run, a simple surveillance exercise. Zinda had Huntress’s back today, leaving Dinah far too much time to watch over her best friend.

She knew Nightwing had been trying to mend fences with Barbara lately. In her gut, she knew she did not stand a chance at acquiring the closeness she had found herself wishing for. Barbara had given her no indication that she would consider herself open to an advance from another woman. Dinah had wondered if Barbara ever had an experimental phase, or if she was just closed to anything but heterosexual encounters. To be honest, Dinah was surprised by how intensely she had come to want to share that aspect of life with Barbara. Her casual attitude toward men was a reflection of her view on sex in general. It was fun, but it was not the end-all, be-all of life.

Just once, though, she’d love to take the redhead to her bed and explore her body. She had imagined the taste of Barbara’s mouth, envisioned the swell of her breast, and daydreamed over the scent of the woman. In short, she felt somewhat obsessed by her friend. The whole thing defied Dinah’s take on the world, that relationships were always temporary and there was no such thing as true devotion anymore. She knew, though, that if Barbara gave her the least encouragement, she would be more than happy to settle into a life long pattern at her side. No one in all her life, not even Ollie in those first months after her ordeal, had come close to connecting so firmly on such a basic level. Barbara had the knack for knowing what exactly was on her mind...except for this private obsession. And Dinah would not let her know, because to aim for being her lover might make their friendship too awkward.

---

"Siu jerk jai." The almost teasing lilt in Shiva’s voice did garner a smile from Dinah as she looked up from her menu. The gracefully deadly Asian took a seat, looking her ‘date’ over.

"Paper monkey." The pair had crossed paths as enemies, but the loss of Sensei had set them on a path that had led to an almost family-like connection. Dinah kept her business as far from Shiva as possible, to keep her promise to not try and arrest her, while Shiva, likewise, seemed willing to steer clear and not try to kill Dinah. However, Shiva had taken to teaching her ‘little’ sister more of the martial arts they shared, and they did occasionally meet for their own personal reasons.

Dinah’s eyes met Shiva’s for a long moment, and both read something of the other that disturbed them. The blond took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"Rumor has it you saw Cassandra recently."

"I do not wish to speak of the girl." Shiva’s voice was not hard, merely truthful. "You are a long way from Metropolis. And you do not wear your earrings."

"I have a mission to attend soon. And after, if we survive it, I have some searching to do." Blue eyes were saddened, which led Shiva to frown.

"The woman...the one you love, something has changed." Before Dinah could protest, Shiva gave her a hard look. "Do not deny it. You would still wear the jewelry if this were just a mission. I have heard it in your voice, seen it in your letters, that this Oracle woman means a great deal to you. More than that rutting male I first met you with."

Dinah blushed furiously, but did not refute her. "She is getting married soon. And Batman...yes, him, has a job for me. You’ve heard of recent events among the bad guy brigades? And the attacks on metahumans?"

"Yes. I take it you are to help him with one aspect or the other?"

"Yeah, the attacks part. But I wanted to meet with you first." Dinah matched the Asian’s gaze. "I came to ask you not to join the Society. If they have not spoken to you yet, they will soon. I don’t want to see you in their numbers."

"They have nothing to offer me, nor anything to hold over me, as they have done to others." Shiva leaned her head to one side, curious now. "You fear if I joined, Sensei’s promises would be broken?"

"No." Dinah shook her head. "I know you could kill me if you saw any reason to. But, I just don’t want to see you on their side. Rumor has Luthor running it, and he’s the type to get people killed if he decides they are useless."

"Your concern touches me." Shiva’s voice was ironic, and then they both smiled. "I will go one step further, Siu jerk jai. I have chosen to walk a new path. And I believe that path will take me to where your place has been."

"What...why?"

"To guard the one you love, and to see who I may test myself against now. With so many vipers in a nest, this Society is likely to give me enough ground for breaking weak fighters."

"If you go work for Oracle, she will not accept lethal measures."

"Then I promise not to avail myself of them." The two women measured one another, and then nodded to each other. "Be strong." She stood to go her own way.

"Be safe," Dinah said. She would have to get word back to Oracle, to accept this offer of help. She would see if Robin would deliver the message when she got back to Gotham.

---

Barbara can only think that the Dinah of recent months was nothing but a stranger to her. Yes, she knew Batman had made plans for her, but that did not excuse her disappearing into thin air. It did not excuse the return of several pieces of technology, most notably the earrings and necklace that kept them linked. Barbara was too proud to ask for ideas from her other operatives, even when Robin came to say Dinah had asked her to take Shiva on in her place. She just reviewed the events that had led to this disappearance.

There had been the horrid mess of Sue Dibny and the related fallout. Dinah had been called back up to full JLA status to handle a good bit of it. Though Dinah had known Sue, that had not been the cause. If anything, Dinah had been quite open with Barbara in discussing the horrid debates and subsequent bad choices made.

As Barbara analyzed the timeline, she could see where Dinah had reached out to her for support from time to time, as she handled her League duties and still put in a good bit of time for Oracle as a Bird of Prey. She focused on that, correlating when that reaching had fallen off, and other things going on. It had nothing to do with heroics, Barbara was sure. She ran over all the other interactions she had been having, trying to see if it was just Dinah, or if others had changed too. The way everyone treated her seemed the same, except for Dick, who had finally put the wheels in motion and proposed to her.

Like a puzzle piece snapping into place, it slowly dawned on her that Dinah’s withdrawal had begun the same day she told the Birds about that. It had been slow, but steady. And then she recalled all those little incidents of seeing Dinah watch her, or the slightly provocative things Dinah had done over their friendship. And with that came the knowledge that Dinah had remained single and not been preoccupied with chasing men for quite some time now. It gave her pause, and cause to grieve the absence of her valued friend, just as she was coming to understand the extra layer of their relationship.

---

Oracle watched the flow of action from the vid chip she had given Huntress, as the de facto senior operative on the mission. She saw as Zinda kept the retreat open, knew when their more elusive teammate slipped by and into the waiting bird. She could see Jade Canary move through the mob with the ease of a hot knife in butter. The team worked well, despite wide background and methodology differences. But, in the end, they were not teammates. They did not have each other’s welfare at the back of every move they made. That synchronicity was lacking, no matter how they accomplished the missions. Without even meaning to, she found herself looking at the heart of her team, the one no there, and the one thing that could have melded them.

"Come home to me, " she whispered, her hand touching the frame a picture of her and Black Canary together. "Soon."

---

She dreamed. There were children in the dream, practicing their archery skills. Blond and black hair mingled among the Clan of the Arrow, as some called them. She saw her almost son, almost brother, with his red hair and seriously hard life etched on his face, calmly explaining to his daughter how to string a bow. She saw a young girl, Olympic level ability, earnestly drawing back her bow, as a mixed ethnic man coached her. To one side, a silent child that seemed wholly Asian worked diligently at his fletching. And over it all, there was the patriarch, not as old as he should be, holding her around the waist as her stomach jutted out in front of her.

"This is not yours any longer." She glanced to one side, but the shimmer of gold, the flash of blue, and the sepulchral tones said that it was Fate. He removed his helm, showing the face of her friend and former teammate, Hector.

"I can have children again, Hector. I can be a parent to my own, pass my legacy on as well."

"That is not the fate I refer to." He merely smiled, and it all faded away, save an impression of red hair flowing past her.

---

Dinah never got enough of seeing the policemen in their spiffy dress uniforms, even if it did mean she had to be in an itchy, scratchy dress. Having her mama and daddy together, with him dressed in his best uniform, and her in a pretty dress was wonderful in the small girl's eyes. Being at the center of attention just made it all the more fun. After all, it was not every day that somebody's daddy took home a medal of courage, or honor, or anything at all like that.

She listened to the big speeches about bravery and honor and everything, while discreetly looking around. There were not many children here; she would not have been if it had not been her father getting an award. She did see the new lieutenant, and his children. The pretty little red head looked very interested, but her brother kept fidgeting, much like the woman at the lieutenant's side. Dinah's mama had said that Mrs. Gordon was not cut out to be a cop's wife, and Dinah believed her. After all, her mama was a superhero and knew all about reading people's characters.

As the talking drew on and on, Dinah felt the effect of all the soda she had been drinking with her dinner. She caught her daddy's eye and got a nod that she could go use the bathroom. Quietly, and without a lot of fuss, the petite girl slipped away to use the restroom. So intent on her course was she that she almost ran into the red head from the lieutenant's table.

"Oh!" the other girl exclaimed, and then smiled. "I'm Barbara," she introduced.

"Dinah." The ebon-haired child smiled back. "Going to the bathroom?"

"Yes, but I don't know where it is," she admitted. "Do you?"

"Oh, yes. I've been here a lot." She had been part of the crowds honoring the JSA, of which her mother was really a member. And she had come here for dinners when her daddy had been decorated. "I'll show you the way."

"Thank you." Barbara followed the lead of the other girl, glad to know at least one other child in Gotham was nice.

---

"Hello?" Irena answered the phone as she nursed her infant Helena, hoping it had not disturbed the girl out of her sleepiness.

"S...Irena." The new mother instantly knew the voice on the other side.

"Oracle." A smile crept into her voice; she was fond of the information broker. "Two fly-by visits in one night, my my."

"Oh?" Hope flared in her voice before she could clamp down on it. "Did Canary come by?" She tried, very hard, to sound casual.

"No, pretty one. Not your fair bird; the dark and handsome bat darkened my doorstep." Irena had a bit of fun even in her weariness puzzling through why Oracle would not ‘know’ if Canary had been by.

"Ahh." Oracle felt hope crash apart within her. "I merely wanted to add my congratulations, on the birth of your daughter. And add that I will be watching out for you and yours."

"Thank you, Oracle...the sentiment is most appreciated, all things between us in the past now."

"For what it is worth...I believed in you." Oracle left it at that, so that Irena would not dwell on the murder. "You have my number."

"Always."

---

The world had fallen apart, and a friend had died. There had been too many deaths of late, but guilt plagued her over this death. Silently, she slumped forward, her red hair falling over her face as she wept for Ted. If only she had paid attention...

The arms were strong but gentle as they encircled her, drawing her into a safe place. She rested her cheek on the leather, inhaled the familiar scents, and just cried. Blond hair mingled on red as hot tears came from both, but Dinah said nothing as she held Barbara and let her grieve.

---

It was still dark, indicating the sun had not cleared her level of the city skyline. Without much thought to it, she rolled herself into the kitchen to make herself a cup of something hot and stimulating. By the time the mug was in her hand, she was almost fully coherent. A few sips, and then she made her way toward her computers, noting that the growing light in the apartment indicated she had not beat the dawn by much. Her movement into the living room was halted as she caught the wisp of a shadow reflecting in from the eastern windows. She turned her head, expecting one of her more unnerving operatives, and was completely unprepared for the sight of her first partner in this team standing at the window. The sun had just peaked enough to provide a halo effect around her long blonde hair and slender silhouette. The part of her mind that functioned told her that the apparition made by light and human was artistically beautiful. The rest of her mind merely froze in the sunrise, unable to put the realizations she had come to with the reappearance.

"Hello Babs. I've come home," Dinah told her.

---

Dinah remembered the last time she had seen the sky lit in the colors that it now was. The sunset had shaded slowly from iridescent reds and purples to black, and she had left. Simply, in the middle of the night, and without a word to any, she had proceeded through the jungle to the civilized world. Her training, her exorcism of her demons had gone as far as she could take them there, and now she had come home. She turned and told Barbara that, sure only that she belonged wherever the redhead was.

"It's about time," Barbara retorted.

---

The pair of women just watched each other for close to a minute, not speaking. Dinah had many things she wished to say, but was treading lightly, to avoid saying too much. Barbara, ready to ramble through all the things she had realized, held back for the pensive look on her friend's face. Then Dinah moved, coming across the floor. Barbara's heart started hammering, and she tilted her head back to better see the woman now standing in arm's distance. She wanted to be brave enough to bring the truth into the open.

Dinah had words rehearsed in her mind, so many things she needed to tell Barbara. Their time apart had been harsh for her, and she only had herself to blame. Still, as she looked down into Barbara's eyes, she caught a glimpse of the change there, of knowledge that Barbara had gained. Suddenly the idea that what she might say could be too much translated into something different, and she knelt on the floor, laying her head on Barbara's legs, her arms going up around her waist. The gesture spoke far louder than any words they could have said, as Barbara started stroking Dinah's hair in silence.

---

When he proposed, it seemed like a good idea. She had seen this as the logical outcome some time before. No matter how he strayed or she doubted, Batgirl was meant to be with Robin. The fact they had long outgrown both identities did not matter; they had originated them. Dick Grayson would float from frail flower to raging Amazon, but in the end he was meant for Barbara Gordon. Now, the proposal was there.

Fate had come full circle for them.

But she would refuse, in the end.

It just was not enough.

She dreamed of blond hair instead.

---

The reunion was doomed to be brief. The Oracle Alarm went off just as Barbara began to tell Dinah that she had feelings and thought Dinah had them too. Her half formed declaration of love became a small litany of techno curses, but even preoccupied by the alarm and moving to answer it, she was struck by the fluidity of Dinah's reactions. If the woman had been poetry in motion before, she was now a masterpiece brought to life. The blond was at the console with her partner, waiting in silence still. The silence, Barbara noted, was yet another of the changes she sensed as being etched into her friend.

The tactical situation looked bleak for Huntress and Shiva, both holed up and cut off from Zinda and Gypsy. Barbara turned to ask Dinah if she could lend her weight, but the operative was already gone, having noted the coordinates. She had been slow to come up to speed on technology, but she could read a city grid map on sight, showing her where the two halves of the team were. Barbara cursed a bit again, muttering about going off without a net until a new locator beacon flared to life, leaving her building at high speed.

"Where'd you get a new set?" Barbara asked with a smile.

"You left them by my picture," Dinah replied, the noise of her motorcycle filtering in slightly on the mic.

"Humph. Just never got around to redesigning the carrier jewelry for another operative." Barbara tried to keep her tone light, then realized that Dinah's mic and receivers were on an older frequency, unsynched to Shiva or the others. "I'll have to fix them for the team's latest specs," she added, noting uncomfortably that Dinah had not replied to her teasing thrust. "You did say you had come home." That last came out with the fear and foreboding that she had erred, that Dinah only meant the city, not her.

"Tell me I have my place with you," Dinah murmured into the mic, controlling the bike in a very deep ninety-degree turn. Her phrasing caught Barbara in the throat. ‘My place', not ‘a place' spoke volumes that had still been unsaid for them.

"Mission," Barbara said, firmly, more for herself than Dinah, but it was the confirmation the blond needed. When Barbara hit her emotional walls, when she was truly feeling, she made herself work, and those around her. What could be between them would be seen, in due time. Dinah knew it, with that sense of hers that defied the wrong choices she made through life. She had known the world needed the League. Likewise, she had felt the need for the Society, just before Alan and Jay had approached her. And now, she sensed that Barbara needed her in the same way she needed the redhead.

---

The smell of leather and fuel was the first indication that Black Canary had returned. Barbara had monitored the fight, and been surprised when Dinah merely cleared the outlying goons and left, so that Huntress and Shiva never actually saw who had removed the obstacle for them to reach their pickup point. Now, she thought she understood, thought that Dinah wanted the situation between them resolved before she confronted her teammates. She continued to monitor her operatives as Dinah came to stand behind her. The silence was there again, and Barbara hated for someone to loom but she felt that Dinah was biding her time.

As soon as the Birds were together, in the air, Barbara cut her side of communications to turn her face up to see her partner, to try and read her expression. As soon as she tilted her face up, the smell of leather and fuel was replaced by the soft tones of floral essences as Dinah bent down and claimed her mouth. Barbara's surprise caused her to open her lips, and Dinah pressed, not with force, but with a gently questing tongue. And Barbara surrendered, lost in the scents that had been absent for too long, her eyes closed, and her entire body yielding to the hungry, aching kiss.

---

It took the sound of the helicopter landing to force Dinah to move away from Barbara. Blue eyes and green met, then the blond walked away from the flustered redhead. She returned to the spot by the eastern windows, as the team filed in, standing so still that only Shiva noted her. It was also Shiva who noticed that Barbara was discomfited, and that her one time student was letting the others brief Barbara without making any interjections at all. For one who used her voice as a weapon and who had been very vocal most of her life, Canary's silence was the strangest sound Shiva had ever heard.

"Siu jerk jai," she said, when the debrief ended. Her words caused the others to look where her attention was focused.

"Lordy, lordy, look what the cat drug in," Zinda said.

"Canary was who covered our butts," Huntress said, smiling to have figured that detail out.

"I thought I saw a motorcycle leaving the scene," Gypsy added, smiling at the longtime friend of her surrogate father. Dinah merely nodded to them all, then calmly walked over and took a chair near Barbara.

"I hear you all are doing a wonderful job." Her words were even, carefully spaced, and Shiva's eyes narrowed at the cadence of them.

"They do, but don't think you're off the hook," Barbara warned. "Two canaries are better than one." Her voice was forced, by the sound of it, Shiva noted. She studied her employer, then her friend, and a small smile touched her lips. There was more to be said than had aired here, and she would assist her sister/friend/student.

"I think we all deserve our rest, now that our stakeout has been successful," Shiva said succinctly. "Gypsy, come...you have training before you may sleep." She took the young woman's hand and led her out of Oracle's apartment to the training room. Zinda yawned mightily as the suggestion of rest triggered her own sense of fatigue.

"See you all after forty."

Only Huntress lingered, looking at Dinah, then Barbara. "You two aren't going to kill each other, are you?"

"Helena, it is the furthest thing from my mind," Barbara replied honestly. That seemed good enough for the crossbow mistress, and she too left.

---

They were alone, neither moving yet. Dinah wanted to weigh the reaction to the kiss, and Barbara did not know how to go forward from it. She brought her hand up, lightly touching her lips, and Dinah drew in a silent breath.

"You kissed me."

"I've wanted to for a long time." The blond was guarded, but honest. She held Barbara's eyes a long moment. "And I think you wanted me to."

"Think, not know?"

"I'm not J'onn." She smiled then, finding her stride. "You can either let it be a one time thing, and we go back to pretending that I'm not head over heels for you, or..." She let her sentence fall away as Barbara's breathing became somewhat erratic.

"How can I do this? Jason, Dick..."

"Weren't right for you. Just like Craig, Ollie, Pieter weren't for me." Dinah stood up and came over to crouch in front of her partner again. "I'm not saying that I won't notice the boys. Or that you would ever consider me your one and only. I just want a chance, a chance to show you how I do feel, to give you all I have to offer." Blue eyes were earnest as they captured green. "I have never felt the way I do about you for anyone else. Anyone. I felt it before I had ever seen your face, Babs. I walked into hell for you five minutes after I did see you."

"You left," Barbara whispered, laying her hand flat on the side of Dinah's face.

"Because I knew Dick was wrong, but I knew you would never hear it from me. And I thought you'd chalk it up to jealousy, if I did come out to you about how I felt." She took a deep breath, pressing her cheek into Barbara's palm. "Then it took me awhile to truly find myself, and find the strength to come back, to tell you what I should have years ago."

Barbara stared into the woman's face, remembering so many shared moments, and then she closed her eyes. "I don't want to be hurt again."

"Then let me be here always." The other woman was quite serious. "I'll be discreet, if that is your choice. Doubt anyone would believe it anyway, with my reputation." That made Barbara laugh, and they both grinned at one another.

"You're right."

---

Oracle was very much in demand as the day progressed, while Canary withdrew to the sofa to sleep. She was not upset anymore; a strange giddiness about having someone she knew to be devoted to her had descended. When lunch rolled around, she was between briefing Superman on the latest journals concerning Kryptonite poisoning, and briefing Booster Gold on how to handle a young Latino's pride. She was not looking forward to playing psyche professor, but she was trying to do all she could for Ted's successor, even if it meant dealing with Booster more often.

"Booster, go talk to J'onn," Dinah said, cutting in on the conversation.

"Canary?!" both members of the conference said in surprise.

"Yes, Michael," Canary said in a slightly amused voice. "If J'onn can cope with Vibe's histrionics, he can teach you how to better handle Jaime. Now go away and quit wasting Oracle's time." She turned the channel off for emphasis, grinning at her partner. "You need to eat. I interrupted breakfast, and then the mission, so you will eat lunch, and take the time to taste it."

"Yes ma'am," Barbara mocked, but she was relieved that she was excused from the call. She reached out, stopping Dinah's progress to the kitchen by grabbing her wrist. "Dinah."

"Yes?"

"I hope it tastes as good as you did this morning." She blushed a bit, but Dinah merely smiled.

---

The day had been long, but now, she ccould relax, and take it all in. Her eyes trailed to the other body in her bed, amazed that she was not sleeping alone for a change. She was still riding a high, as she drank in the sight of blond tresses on the pillow. The day had ended chastely, though Dinah had kissed her a few times through the day, just for reassurance. When they had decided she would stay, Barbara had not considered the bed issue.

Dinah had merely assumed, and for once, Barbara thought that was the best thing.

---

Barbara roused to the feeling of a finger lightly tracing in patterns on her thigh. She sleepily looked at her bedmate in puzzlement, and was rewarded with a bright smile in turn.

"I'm afraid my curiosity got the better of me," Dinah murmured, snuggling close and turning her fingers to stroking Barbara's back through her pajama top. The redhead felt like there was a recognizable pattern in the way she touched, like she was drawing shapes on her skin.

"A lot of sensitivity has returned, though I'm a long way from using my legs the way I used to," Barbara replied, distracted by trying to figure out the pattern.

"I see that." The blond moved to nuzzle Barbara's neck lazily. "I woke up and it was so nice being so close, but...well," she stammered.

"You've worried how you could possibly show me everything you want to?" Barbara kept her voice low, actually touched that Dinah had thought enough about it without even having a go-ahead to be with her.

"Pretty much." Dinah's fingers moved their maddening pattern over her shoulder and down her side.

"What are you tracing when you do that?" the redhead asked, feeling a shiver of appreciation for just how delicately Dinah could touch her.

Now Dinah smiled more softly, taking Barbara's hand and showing her by tracing it in her palm. "Us, the bat and the bird."

"The bat and the bird..."

---

She had been expecting it. Just because there was no ring, because it was Gordon, and not Grayson, it did not mean she did not still care or watch over him. Dinah stayed in the bed as her partner went to answer the call, contemplating how this triangle could work. For her part, she had no problem sharing; she was not going to lose a lover through jealousy. The worst thing she had ever done was let go of Ollie because he was not hers alone. Now, she would just have to find out Barbara's wishes, and go from there.

---

Huntress let herself into the apartment as usual. Ever since the Birds had expanded the women had managed to at least keep rooms near wherever Babs set herself up at. The move back to Gotham had not changed that pattern, as it made since to be able to crash, change, or get medical aid there at her place. It was more secure than Fort Knox ever had been. She heard Babs coming out of her bedroom, still in ‘comfy' clothes. She was about to say hello as Babs smiled back, only to be struck speechless as Dinah came out, wrapped in a towel, and leaned down to kiss Babs on the cheek. In that moment, Helena suddenly remembered all over how it felt to be the square peg in the round hole. She was intruding on her two best friends, and they had evidently moved past friends for one another.

"Umm, hi?"

At her voice, Dinah looked up and flashed one of her best smiles. The blonde definitely knew how to ignite warmth in all those she wanted to, male or female.

"Hey Huntress! Be out in a few. I really need a shower." She vanished back into the bedroom.

---

Thoughts that ran in circles were not good ones. They made for bad days. She sat there, though, one thought chasing another in a vicious ourobouros cycle. Dinah loved her, she loved Dinah, but the whole thing felt surreal. After all Dinah had gone off on the Brother Eye mission, then made a deal with the devil and vanished. Now, after a shower and embarrassing her by Huntress seeing them in a casually intimate setting, the infuriating vigilante had gone shopping. With the aforementioned devil, Shiva. Barbara could only roll her eyes, and hope she made sense of it eventually.

---

Dinah nodded in passing to Zinda, and then grinned at Huntress. "Fall down on the sit-up routine?" she teased. Huntress looked down at her latest costume, and remembered explaining her last one to Black Canary. She casually brushed off some lint from the moon clasp on her left shoulder, and then looked up at the blonde.

"Thought this fit more with my new partner, and her fully clothed look." The Italian waited until Zinda had left them alone, then pinned Dinah with a searching look. "You left, and from this morning, I'm betting it was because of her."

"No, because of me, and the fact I did not want to push past what her engagement meant," the smaller woman said with blunt honesty. "Helena, I ..."

"You could have told me, Dinah. I may be Catholic, but I'm not condemning anyone for those kind of choices. I just don't see where God has that much interest in our sex lives." Her own words made a small blush light Dinah's cheeks.

"We haven't yet," she replied.

"No details please. Bad enough I'm one BatTumble from her as it is." Helena shook her head. "Our last conversation, before you took off...you should have opened up to me. Would have saved us all some grief."

"The grief's not over yet, I'm sure. Babs is not the type to just walk into what I've been dwelling on for years without a few false starts." Dinah looked down at her hands to hide her troubled, stormy eyes. "I won't walk again, unless it is for good. And if I think things are bad, I'll come talk to you, Helena."

"Good; it's what friends do."

---

Dinah did not have to see Barbara to know she was fuming mad. She could hear it in the angry keyboard clicking, the harsh voice going into the mixer to be disguised. She went into the op center to see what had happened, but about then she heard Barbara say a few choice curses offline, and chose to hang back. When the name ‘Starfire' registered, she thought she understood. Arsenal had mentioned the Tamaranian had returned to Earth. When Dick's name got thrown in the mix, she knew she understood, and quietly left the Tower.

When she returned, it was with dim sum, ice cream, and a whole slew of understanding. If there was one thing Dinah knew better than kicking butt, it was cheating men.

---

Barbara looked up as Huntress came into the room with her, and cleared her throat. The information specialist tried not to flush as she looked up, remembering that Huntress had seen the very casual way Dinah had flaunted their changing relationship the day before.

"Barbara," the older woman began. "I just wanted to say that if this is what will heal your heart and hers, you both have my fondest wishes for your happiness." The Italian crossed her arms in front of her. "But, if you or she has the slightest doubt...you both need to go slow. I don't want either of you hurt in this."

"I'm not an addled teenager going through some experimental phase," Barbara began, a little hotly.

"No, you're a woman that has been through some devastating life events, including being in Dick Grayson's little black book," Huntress told her bluntly. "At least you and she have that in common...men with fidelity issues." That made Barbara sigh and smile, realizing Helena was just trying to look out for her friends. They rarely brought Dick up, because of the shared history in that court. "I just want my two best friends to be careful with each other."

"Reading you loud and clear, Capo," Barbara told her, nodding. Huntress considered her a moment, then nodded in turn and left to go find Zinda.

---

There had been tragedy associated with jewels from time immemorial as far as Dinah knew. When she was trying to find the right gift for Barbara, after just a few weeks back in the swing of things, living entirely in the redhead's apartment, she knew one thing for certain; there would be no diamonds. The clear stones were poignant reminders. The only thing she thought of when she saw diamonds now was that she had almost lost Babs without ever opening her mouth. That, she decided, would be the last time she ever restrained her impulse where Barbara was concerned. The clear stones were poignant reminders.

---

Dinah still could not believe that Barbara had agreed to go out. She also could not believe the redhead was having more luck and more fun than she was. She did not want all the fun, but she would have liked some of it. Still, as she watched the computer hacker enjoying the company of the man, she felt she had gained one small gift. Barbara was smiling, and not trying frantically to right the world's wrongs with a team of borderline basket cases.

Of course, the jealousy that Barbara was not smiling at her just would not die away.

---

"You hurt her." The angry voice was low and menacing. "You, who chastised me?"

"The spade calls me one, huh?" She faced off against him. "I realized my error without having to be called on it." She held her ground, still unimpressed by his attempts to menace her.

"That makes this okay?" he growled.

"No, the fact she chose to let me in does." She tossed her hair back flippantly. "The fact that she lets me share her life now. Completely, and with full knowledge of what I want." The implication slowly sank in, and the menacing Bat faded away.

~ ~ ~

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