Epilogue: I Am Oracle

Some months later...

In Greek legends, there were stories of the Oracles, believed to be portals through which the gods of spoke directly to the mortal man.

Almost like a hotline of sorts, Barbara thinks.

But such a word doesn't seem to fit.

There was a story she remembers hearing. The god Apollo had granted a young priestess the power to see the future.

She became his Oracle on the condition that she always told the truth. However, she was not to be too specific in her answers.

People came to the Oracle, seeking the answers to their questions, and among them one day was a king.

He was preparing to lead his people into battle, but before he did so, he sought to receive reassurance from the gods.

The king asked the Oracle if he would win the battle.

The Oracle smiled sweetly and told him that a great king could be sure of winning the battle.

Thrilled, the king had departed with a light heart, leaving behind many gifts as a token of his gratitude.

The king's people lost the battle.

The king himself died that day.

As the Oracle always told the truth, it stood to reason that the king had not been a great one.

Pride had been his downfall.

The Oracle had spoken the truth, and the king had, in his arrogance, assumed that she spoke referring to him.

Barbara sighs, wondering why it was that particular story had come to mind, and shoves some of the papers off her desk, clearing off some workspace.

She'll have to pick them up later, of course, but right now she just wants them off her desk.

She reaches up, using her sleeve to wipe off a computer monitor.

It's brand new, so it doesn't need it, but she does it anyways.

Barbara's somewhat proud of this setup.

She wheels the chair back several inches and eyes it critically.

Not a scratch, not a streak.

Several others adorn her workspace and, briefly, she wonders what her dad would think if he saw it.

She runs a hand through her hair. It's been tied back into a loose bun, keeping it out of her face, but a few tendrils have escaped.

One of them tickles her ear and, annoyed, she brushes it back.

It's back again almost immediately and she huffs, giving it up.

"Babs?"

Dick's voice reaches her ears and she starts a little.

Dick is standing at the door, one hand gripping the wooden frame. He's still outfitted in his Nightwing garb, minus the mask, and his hair is a tousled mess.

His eyes roam over the setup, before flitting back to her face.

"So… you like?" he asks.

"I like." Barbara nods.

"Great."

Dick comes into the room, plopping himself down on the desk.

"Hey!" Barbara yelps. "Get off of that! That's sensitive equipment. Or did you forget?"

Dick quirks an eyebrow, but he slides back to his feet anyways.

"We really need to bring some chairs in here. There's nowhere to sit," he laments.

Barbara crosses her arms, refusing to give in that easily.

"How about the floor?" she asks, smirking. "Because you're not sitting in my lap."

Dick's eyebrow arches higher. He looks amused.

"Right," he says, but then he sweeps closer, planting a brief kiss on the top of her head.

Barbara smiles and Dick crouches down beside her.

His hand reaches out, cupping her cheek, with the intent to pull her closer, but she catches his wrist playfully.

"Hang on," she teases him. "You're not coming any closer until you at least take a shower. You stink! Did you chase Killer Croc down the sewer or something."

"It's not that bad!" Dick protests.

Barbara answers by pinching her nose shut. "It's bad enough."

Dick grins somewhat sheepishly and stands. "I don't suppose you mind waiting another few moments then?"

Barbara tilts her head. "I'm not going anywhere." She waves her hand. "Now shoo before I have to find something to throw at you."

Dick laughs, folding his body into a somersault as he sails over her head.

Barbara yelps, ducking her head instinctively, but of course, he lands perfectly just outside the door.

She shoots him a disapproving glare. "Not inside!" she tells him.

Dick laughs and winks, before disappearing.

Barbara rolls her eyes, turning back to her computers.

Ten minutes later and Dick is at her side again.

He had dressed in sweatpants and a blue T-shirt. His hair is still damp, several strands of it plastered unbecomingly to the side of his face.

Barbara laughs at him and brushes the strands aside. They end up sticking out to the side, but she decides not to tell him that.

"Better?" he asks her.

"Much," she answers. A small smile plays at the corner of her lips.

Dick smiles back.

His eyes fall on the scattered papers on the ground.

"You need help with those?"

Without waiting for an answers, he stoops to collect them, dumping them all back on her desk.

Barbara bites back a groan.

"Dick, I knocked those off my desk to begin with!"
"Oh." Dick looks back down at them. "Well, then," he announces gallantly, straightening his shoulders and raising his chin as if he were a knight accepting a quest from his fair lady. "Would you like me to knock them back down for you, my lady?"

"No, put them in the drawers over there if you want to be helpful."

Dick grins, but takes the papers over the filing cabinets. "Top or bottom?"

"I…" Barbara honestly doesn't have a clue.

"Top," she decides. "I'll sort them later."

"As you wish." With a flourish, Dick opens the top drawer, dumping the pile inside and finishing with a bow.

Barbara grins.

He certainly knows how to be charming.

Dick steps away from the filing cabinet, sliding the drawer shut.

He takes a look at the setup.

"Oracle, huh?" he asks.

Barbara has already told him the name she's chosen for herself.

"Yes." Barbara suddenly feels self-conscious about her choice, but she isn't going to quit.

Barbara can't fly, but she doesn't have to quit.

She's taking a new name, a new identity, following Dick's suggestion.

She's the Oracle, the voice in their ear. Telling them where to go, what they need to find.

Maybe it's not quite the same, but she feels as if it fits.

Dick meets her eyes.

"I like it."

And Barbara smiles again.

"I do too."

Note: Wow... this did take a while to get out, but I'm glad that it's longer than the past few chapters.

Thank you all for sticking with me on this story. I had a lot of fun writing about my favorite DC couple, even if this wasn't really a romance... and I started out with the idea that romance wouldn't be touched upon at all, but then my muse decided it wanted Dick/Babs fluff... particularly in this epilogue and... well... I'm not really sure who won. I guess we had a compromise.

And... as it says at the top, I imagine this to take place several months after the previous chapter. Babs is just starting her career as Oracle now and I figured the transition wouldn't be immediate.

Just one further note: I'm no expert on Greek mythology, so if I got the story of the Oracle wrong, I apologize profusely.