Howdy!

Let me just say if your going to read this you might want to go back and read one of my other stories titled 'Robin!'. There are certain plot points that you will not understand if you don't read that one first. Think of this as an unofficial last chapter to that story!

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, but if I did, I'd have a new car by now!

Finally.

He had been able to distract himself at the watchtower… Holding back the painful emotions that were squeezing every fibre of his body, all to try and forget even for a moment that his best friend had just died.

He focused on the screen in front of him, half listening to Kaldur as he explained the situation with the Reach tech to the leaders of the world, assuring them that they had been destroyed, but at a cost. Kaldur had been the one who was doing most of the speaking, as Dick had a lump in his throat. His body was betraying his training. His eyes burned, his head pounded, and his heart was broken. Guilt swelled up inside him like a balloon that threatened to pop any minute.

Dick was trying very hard to ignore the painful wailing of Artemis down the hall, he had seen M'gann walk out after her, no doubt to try and soothe her friend, all the while trying her hardest to control her own emotions, and also ignore all of the others, which she was no doubt experiencing as well. He glanced to Conner whose face was downturned, he lent against the entrance to the hallway, he was more then likely listening in on M'gann, making sure she was ok. The rest of the team huddled over to the side, all consoling each other.

"As of right now we are shutting down all Reach warehouses and rounding up any stragglers," Focus on his words he told himself over and over trying Bruce's favourite grounding technique "We can reconvene once these have been completed. And once we have all had time to mourn." Kaldur spoke evenly, but Dick could hear the strain in his voice "Watchtower out." He finished, hitting a button on the keypad, the screen turning off. He looked over to Barry Allen who was sitting by himself in a dark corner, his head in his hands.

"Has he spoke to Iris and her family yet?" Kaldur asked Dick, who was also watching the distraught man. Dick hadn't known, he simply shrugged turning back to the screen and activating the Zeta beams. Someone walked up behind them. The one person's gaze he was actively avoiding.

"Artemis is going to…Wally's parents place, she insisted that she should be the one to tell them. She'll probably go soon, once she's…you know, calmed down a bit." Batgirl said quietly, her eyes fixated on Dick. He could feel her boring into the back of his head.

"Perhaps Barry should go with her?" Kaldur offered.

"No. She'll be fine." Dicks voice was harder than he had meant it to be. He had to leave. He couldn't stand to be in that room anymore, everyone's mourning reminding him of how much they had all grieved for Artemis after he had lied to them all…after he had dragged his best friends retired lover away from their safe and happy lives and back into the game.

Although they had both worried for the safely of the blonde archer, he would never have thought that it would be Wally who died. Wally who was planning on proposing to his girlfriend, Wally who was so happy with living a normal life, if it meant being with the one he loved. Dick's eyes stung.

Before he could be stopped, he shoved past his two friends and headed to the Zeta beams. He could hear her call after him, but he couldn't bare to look at her, if he did, he would fall apart; and that was something that he couldn't let happen. He didn't deserve her right now. Not after he had been instrumental in taking Artemis' love away. He stepped though the beams just wanting to be alone.

As soon as he returned to the Blüdhaven headquarters he collapsed to his knees. Punching the floor as memories of Wally assaulted his mind; images of them saving Conner from Cadmus and the day they all went on their first real mission, he remembered every laugh every prank and every good time he and Wally had shared together all at once, his brain feeling like it was about to explode.

Dick recalled when Wally had told him he and Artemis were moving in with each other and how happy and excited he was, and the day that the two of them announced their retirement after Wally had been involved in a particularly bad mission and had been hurt. Dick wasn't happy that he would no longer be working with his friend, he couldn't fathom living a normal life, inwardly knowing that he would be Nightwing until the day he died.

"Dick, I love her," Wally had said to him seriously "She's my everything man. I want to be able to buy a house and get married and I want to able to watch our kids grow up, without worrying that one or both of us will die because of our job." Dick had been about to fight back, insisting that those things were still obtainable while remaining on the team but Wally had stopped him "I know what you're going to say Dick, but I want to have a normal life with her, or at least try for one." Dick had nodded, he smiled at his friend.

"Marriage aye?" he had laughed "I remember when you flirted with everything with a pulse." Wally laughed

"Yeah well, that was before I realized she was the Spitfire that Kent was alluding to." He smiled to himself.

He had been happy for his friends, he really had. However, he couldn't ignore the small part of him that was jealous. Between watching Wally and Artemis, Conner and M'gann and then Kaldur and Tula, Dick felt a little lonesome. He would find himself gravitating to Barbara more and more.

Once she had joined the team, he was sure that they would be together, after all, they had discussed the possibility of it all those years ago,

"Mark my words Grayson, I'll come for you." Her words rung in his ears fondly. They had shared a few kisses here and there, and a few nights together and Dick really thought that it was their turn; But then came the death of Tula; they both watched as Kaldur suffered, and their relationship had ended before it could really start. Dick pushed her away. He couldn't put her though what Kaldur was experiencing. Barbara had fought him on it, but a few weeks later Conner and M'gann split up, and the missions suffered for it. Eventually she had agreed that it was for the best. Dick's heart broke a little when she said the words, inwardly hoping she could talk him out of it.

Wally, who had been their biggest supporter, had slapped him up the backside of the head.

"You're really going to let her get away?" he asked annoyed at his friend, "Dick, you love her!" he hadn't replied just shrugged his shoulders, "You know, just because Batman is alone, doesn't mean you have to be."

Thoughts of Wally snapped him back to reality. His best friend was dead. For a few moments he had forgotten the sad truth with thoughts of the woman he loved. Guilt swirled around in his gut. Grunting he punched the floor again, tears threatened to fall, his breath caught in his throat. He pulled of his glove, blood pooled in his knuckles, proof that he was alive, despite wishing it was him instead of Wally who was gone.

"Damn it." He muttered furiously wiping away a few stray tears that had fallen under his domino mask.

The Zeta beams whirled to life; another team member was on their way. not wanting to be found on the ground with a bloody hand and tears running down his face, Dick quickly made his way over to the computer and opened up a few of his researching links. Suddenly a pair of arms encircled themselves around his waist, and a forehead rested between his shoulder blades.

"You didn't need to come," he said softly, lightly touching her arm "I'm fine." Her arms tightened around him.

"Don't do this Dick." She had been crying "You're allowed to grieve" He was faltering, his teeth clenching and his eyes blurring over with tears again,

"I can't…I can't think about this right now Barbara." She sighed into his back.

"Dick…" she turned him around, he crunched up his eyes, squeezing them shut. He felt her hands on his cheeks trying to lift his head. "Dick, please—" one of her hands peeled off his mask. "Let me see your eyes." She whispered his words back to him. He sucked in a breath, he knew she could feel him shaking, holding back everything he was feeling. He slowly opened his blue eyes finally meeting hers. "Richard—It's just me." He broke. Sobbing he lent forward putting his head on her shoulder, her hand moved up into his hair, stroking it soothingly, tears falling from her own eyes. She felt him pull her closer to him his arms wrapping tightly around her back, she needed his closeness as much as he did. He clung to her as of she was the last thing holding him to the world. She whispered soothing words into his ear, every now and then pressing a kiss to his temple.

After a few minutes he had calmed down, his arms loosened around her, she immediately wished he was around her again. He pushed away from her walking to the sink in the kitchen and splashing his face with water. He stared downcast, one hand on opposite sides of the sink.

"I'm sorry." His voice was raspy "Sorry you had to see that." She scoffed

"You saw me crying like a maniac when you got stabbed, I'd say we're even." She joked lightly "You don't need to apologise to me for anything," he turned and gave her a pointed look "Anything like that I mean, don't think I'll let you get away with everything now, Boy Wonder." She quickly added.

"Damn, I thought I had you there." he chuckled softly. He moved away from the sink and towards his bed, slumping down heavily onto the mattress, resting his head in his hands "What have I done Babs?" he groaned. She followed after him, pulling the curtain around his 'bedroom' closed, wanting to give him some privacy if another team member was to return.

"What are you talking about?" she asked as she sat next to him placing a hand on his leg. Dick sighed loudly,

"I dragged them back into this life Babs." He lifted his head staring blankly ahead "They were safe, and I made them come back into danger. I've fucked everything up." Sighing again he moved back further onto the mattress leaning back into the wall against his bed. "Wally and I have been fighting a lot lately because of everything…something felt different between us…and now I don't have the chance to fix it." Barbara tuned to get a better look at him.

"When Artemis faked her own death, Wally was so mad at me, but I just kept thinking 'it's for of the good mission', 'we have to do this'. I lied to everyone…I lied to you." He swallowed heavily. Barbara shifted uncomfortably, she had been hurt when she found out the truth "I used to say that I didn't want to be like Batman anymore, but everything I have done this last year…how can I say that I'm not?" He sounded defeated. Barbara sighed,

"It was very Batman of you—" she started slowly "I'm not going to say that it didn't sting a little, I thought you didn't trust me enough," Dick went to interrupt her, she stopped him, moving up next to him "But I understand your reasoning, and even though it sucked and I don't fully agree with what you did, I get it. You did what you thought was right." She smiled at him "You're not like Batman Dick…you're better," she interlocked her hand with his.

"Does that mean you're not mad at me?" Dick asked with a small smile on his lips.

"I never could stay mad at you for long, even when you were acting like a stupid idiot." They both laughed at her favourite nickname for him.

She lent her head onto his shoulder. They didn't need to talk, just been in each other's company helped more then she could would have ever thought possible. When she had first heard the news about Kid Flash her immediate thoughts were to Richard. She had been angry with him about the secrets and lies but that anger soon dissipated into worry.

After a few minutes of silence, she noticed a tear slip down his cheek,

"I wish it was me," he whispered "God I wish it was me." She sat up, swinging herself over his lap. Dick jumped a little at the sudden movement, she cupped his face in her hands.

"Please don't say that Dick." She said softly gently wiping away his tears, her eyes shining with her own unshed ones, "you can't say those things to me, I almost lost you once…" she leaned forward resting her head on his shoulder again. "I still see it sometimes…you, standing in front of me as the sword ran you though." He felt her shudder "And I can still feel the warmth of your blood on my hands, and the taste in my mouth…" her tears dampened his shirt. His heart ached for her. The trauma of that night ran deeply with her, hell it ran deeply with him, he hadn't been so close to death before and hadn't since.

"I'm sorry Bab's…I'm sorry I didn't mean that." He had, and he knew that, that hadn't convinced the girl on top of him. It was his turn to cup her face in his hands, leaning forward he peppered kisses over her cheeks and eyelids. "Please stop crying Bab's," he whispered between kisses, he could tell her mind was still recalling that night in the warehouse, she was shaking under his touch. "Come back to me." He said lightly brushing his lips over hers. She responded, kissing him back slowly. They parted, resting their foreheads together. "Can I tell you something?" he asked in a whisper, she nodded. "The idea of losing you terrifies me." He quickly thought of Artemis, "but…what scares me more is going through life knowing that we never even tried." He kissed her lightly again "If today has taught me anything, it's that I don't want to be alone anymore, I want—I need you by my side…so even if I did die, I would die knowing I had the best life with you." A tear escaped her, he gently wiped it away with his thumb.

"Dick…" she moved forward capturing his mouth once more, kissing him desperately. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close, turning her so he could deepen their kiss. They broke apart panting, her face flushed. "Finally."

"Finally," he repeated, bring her mouth down to his again.

Silence filled the room, no one had been back yet. Both of them laid under the covers of Dicks small bed, in a comfortable silence. Her head was on his bare chest, listening to his heart beat, his arms around her protectively. Even though they had only slept together a few times before this, Dick had always missed the way she would press herself against him tightly, like she needed to be touching him, almost as a reminder that it was actually happening. He drew a patten on her back slowly, goose bumps popping up over her back and shoulders. She sighed into him.

"I feel a little guilty," she said softly, Dick's body turned towards her, his arm going over her waist. "Should we have done that…with everything that happened today…" Dick placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I know…It feels a little odd, but I think it was perfect." She raised her brows at him,

"You're a male, we could be in the middle of a battle zone and you would still say 'It's perfect'," she laughed impersonating him, he chuckled and shook his head,

"No, it's not like that. I needed you, even if it was just your presence, I wouldn't have been ok alone tonight." She pressed closer to him, closer than he thought possible.

"You're not just using me as a distraction, are you?" she said it light heartedly but Dick could hear the worry in her voice. He moved some hair out of her face, kissing her cheekbone,

"I meant every word." She gave him a smile that he knew would only ever be for him, "I'm really going to need you over the next few weeks," he pulled her over the top of him, the blanket pooling at her waist, her hair cascaded down, tickling his neck.

"I'm not going anywhere," she replied with a small smile. Her face turned serious.

"Don't you forget your promise." She whispered,

"Only if you don't forget yours." He replied bringing her down to him.

"Finally," she whispered their previous words into his mouth with a smile, he chuckled.

"Finally."

And done! What did you think! I hope you read 'Robin!' first!

The only reason why I didn't post this to that story was because it was written a LONG time ago, and I liked they way I had ended it, so adding another chapter seemed kind of wrong.

Just one thing, I know what your thinking, Kaldur and Tula weren't dating in the show, but for this it just worked so much better if they were. I try to keep to the main story as much as possible but this time I needed a little creative freedom. Sorry!

Feel free to drop me a review! I love getting feedback!

Cheers!