I Always Knew...

Nightwing X Batgirl

(dick X barbara)

Barbara Gordon(batgirl), Dick Grayson(nightwing), Bruce Wayne(batman), Dr. Crane(scarecrow), Commissioner Jim Gordon © DC comics

I only write the stories, I don't own anything but the idea :)

His adrenaline was rushing, his blood throbbing. The sound of sirens and gun shots made him twitch. He revved his engine again, and sped off faster and faster, hoping to get there in time...

He could feel the drops of sweat running over his face and his muscles becoming tense.

Nightwing had finally become his own hero, in hopes of escaping out of the shadow of the Batman. But no such luck... As soon as Dick had returned to Gotham several months ago, Batman had him running around after him fighting the same old criminals as he did when he was a boy. It was like he was a sidekick all over again.

He arrived at Gotham's pier, police tape and SWAT teams surrounded the premisses.

A familiar face greeted him, commissioner Gordon led him under the police tape and out to where a dark shadowed figure was standing. Gordon nodded his head, but said nothing as he left the two talk.

"What's the problem?" Dick asked, as he sensed no immediate danger.

"Dr. Crane, he was here, he was just here, and he disappeared..." The dark knight spoke in his raspy voice. He clenched his fists crumpling a small piece of paper in his hands.

"Whats that?" Dick said noticing the paper

"Its a note, he's taunting me..." A deep scowl appeared on his face. "He knows I can't catch him unless I give him what he wants..."

"What does he want?"

"He wants his doctor's license to be returned so he can 'help' others again... what a fool... he only wants to expose the nightmares of innocent people so he can control them." His voice quivered with anger. To Batman, Bruce Wayne, there were two types of villains... the dumb ones, and the crazy ones. Some villains only became villains for money and material things... those were the dumb ones. But then there were the crazy ones, the villains who wanted no reward or payment, only to corrupt innocent people and make them suffer the same way that they themselves had suffered. These, needless to say, were the crazy villains, these villains were the kind that Bruce Wayne feared most, the ones that Batman could never truly defeat.

"Batman!" A voice called from behind them. It was the voice of Barbara Gordon, who had taken on the identity of Batgirl to assist Batman and Nightwing in protecting Gotham. Batman didn't ever think much of her, even though she was strong, smart and brave, he always thought of her as a wanna be hero that would never gain his approval. But Dick, Dick saw her as the only woman that he would ever lay his eyes on. The only hero that was brave enough to enter his heart and love and care for him, despite his flaws. He loved her, more than a friend, even more than a lover. He knew it, Bruce knew it. Heck, everyone knew it, except Barbara.

"What is it?" Bruce said coldly...

"I know where Scarecrow is hiding!" She belted excitedly

"Where..." He scowled at her...

"He didn't disappear!" She stated "He just used a trap door to vanish underneath the pier!"

"Wouldn't he drown?" Dick asked.

"No, the tides this time of year are far too low, there would be at least twenty feet between the water and the bottom of the pier."

And at that, Batman dove head first off the pier and into the cold ocean waters.

"That's his way of saying thank you..." Dick assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder

"...yeah..." Barbara shrugged, she tried her very best to please Batman, but it was never enough.

There was a moment of peace and quite, as the waves slummed up against the shore, and the breeze rustled Barbara's hair, sending a chill underneath her costume.

But the silence was abruptly broken by the sound of gun shots firing again. The trap door that the scarecrow had escaped through swung open, and Scarecrow dove out, armed with his machine gun, and ready to fire. Batman followed immediately after him, throwing punches, trying to slow him down. Scarecrow fired several shots, but Batman dodged him, and continued chasing after him. After several minutes of a wild goose chase around the pier, Batman managed to back Scarecrow into a corner and grab him from behind. But before Batman could take his gun, he shot the last of his ammo in Nightwing's direction. Missing him every time. Nightwing sighed a breath of relief, until he glanced over at Barbara, who was holding her stomach, her hands red with blood. The bullet had missed Nightwing, but one bullet made its way right into Barbara's stomach, she fell to her knees, blood gushing out of her stomach. Dick's heart sank as he swooped down to pick her up. The shots distracted Bruce, making his grip loosen on Scarecrow, and just like that, he was gone again. He let out a scream of rage, he let Scarecrow escape again! His mind flooded with thoughts, where he might have gone, what was his plan... this was all Barbara's fault he thought to himself.

Dick ran to Batman, carrying Barbara in his arms "She's hurt Bruce, she needs help.."

"We need to find Scarecrow first..." He yelled.

"If I don't get her help, she could die!" He rebutted

"And Scarecrow could escape, and we may never find him..."

"You don't even care if she dies do you!" Dick yelled

"She's not my problem to worry about..." He yelled back.

At that moment, Dick was so angry at Bruce, he couldn't even think of the words he felt like saying to his face. So he turned away and ran to his motorcycle, strapping Barbara securely on, and speeding off to Gotham's hospital.

When they arrived in front of the hospital doctors and nurses, shoved Dick out of the way, and strapped Barbara to a hospital bed, taking her directly into the operation room to remove the bullet from her stomach. Dick ran after her, wanting to follow her onto the operating table just to make sure every thing went okay. But they pushed him away, forcing him to wait in the waiting room.

He paced back and forth, sweating like he was on the face of the sun. The sweat made his costume stick to his skin like glue. His thoughts were flooded with all of the possibilities that could go wrong! What if they messed up during the operation, what if she gets an infection. What if she died on the operating table? So many things that could go wrong, and there was nothing he could do about it. He was so afraid that he would lose her, he thought he would pass out. Hours past, and he refused to go home. A nurse with a smile on her face finally came out and told him that she would be awake any minute. She calmly motioned him to follow her through a pair of swinging doors that led to the intensive care unit. Barbara lay there on the bed, drifting away in sleep, a large bandage was taped over her mid section, it was lightly stained with blood.

"We can dismiss her by morning, you best go home and get some sleep..." The nurse spoke sweetly.

"That won't be necessary..." He said in a frustrated tone. "I am highly trained in medical care, you can release her under my care..." He said.

"Are all super heros doctors nowadays?" The nurse asked in a sarcastic tone, crossing her arms.

"Its something they teach you in super school.." He rolled his eyes sarcastically, as he signed a release form. The nurse took the form and left the room, allowing them to leave.

Dick knelt down to Barbara's side, and cupped her face. Her eyes fluttered open as she scanned the room.

"What happened..." She asked, her tone growing fearful.

"You were shot, they had to remove a bullet in your stomach.."

"Am I gonna be okay?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah, your gonna be fine, I'm gonna take good care of you." He said, picking her up bridal style and carrying her out to the hallway. He found a wheelchair, and placed her in it, rolling her to the exit of the hospital. The nurse waved goodbye as they walked out.

"Ahhh.. love" She said to herself, "You can see it in his eyes."

Dick rolled all the way to his motorcycle, he picked Barbara up out of the chair, and secured her on the motorcycle in such position that she would not be in any discomfort. He then climbed in front of her, and started off towards his house. Dick lived only 7 minutes and 32 seconds away from Gotham's hospital. He had been there many times in his life, so many times that he had actually taken notice of exactly how long it takes him to get there every time. His parents were taken there when they died, every friend ally or enemy that Dick had ever known was always taken to that hospital.

Barbara slowly tied her arms around Dick's waste, resting her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and placing her trust in him. She had always been able to count on Dick, he was always there for her when she needed him. He believed in her when no one else did, she knew Dick better than any other person.

Her body jolted when the motorcycle came to a complete stop in Dick's driveway. Dick had his own mansion by the time he was 19. He inherited money from Bruce Wayne all the time, since Bruce was his legal guardian for a huge part of his life. After that, Dick went on to join the Gotham city police department, they paid him very well for a cop. And then of course, there was his super hero salary, he received plenty of awards from the city for fighting crime. The money added up quickly. Dick bought himself a nice house, a car or two, and he kept his house decorated with the most expensive tastes.

Barbara had only really seen the house from the outside. Bruce disapproved of the two of them spending much time too close with each other. Barbara blushed at this thought.

Dick helped her off the motorcycle, and just as she was about to make her way to the door. Dick swopped her up in his arms and insisted on carrying her.

"I got shot in the stomach, not the leg, Dick" She laughed

"You're weak, you need to get as much rest as possible if we're gonna get you healthy again.." He smiled at her.

She forced her way out of Dick's strong grasp "I'm not weak" She said slyly as she opened the door and let herself in.

Dick closed the door behind her and took off his jacket.

"I'm gonna go change" He said. His costume was starting to agitate him, he needed to change into something more comfortable.

"Wait, you get to change into some normal clothes, and I'm stuck in my costume, thats not fair!"

"Well, you should have kept that nifty hospital gown they gave you!" Dick laughed.

Barbara shot him a dirty look

"Okay, okay, wait here, I have something you can change into."

Dick ran up the stairs to his bedroom. Leaving Barbara downstairs alone. She stood there, taking in the scent that was so familiar, his whole house smelled like his cologne. Musky, but clean. It was a scent that Barbara had become addicted to over the years, whenever she felt sad or angry, the very smell of him could cheer her right up. It was little things like that, that made Barbara feel like such a dork, how she was so dependent on Dick, she craved to see him. Something that she had so well hid from the rest of the world.

Dick rummaged through his closet, he found a dark grey tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans, a pair of jeans that he remembered Barbara had told him that she liked on him. So he particularly wore them when she was around. He quickly changed out of his costume and into his comfort clothes. He then returned to his closet to look for something that Barbara could wear. He suddenly remembered a pair of clothes that she had left here, the very first time that she visited him. He never returned them to her, he had always kept them in the back of his closet incase she were to ever need them. He grabbed them out of the closet. It was a pair of dark blue jeans and a black tank top. He walked out down the stairs to give the clothes to her.

She stood in front of the fire place, looking at the arrangement of pictures that he had set up on the mantle.

"Here are your clothes.." He called out to her.

"Thanks!.. hey wait, these are MY clothes..." She said, taking the clothes from his hands and examining them.

"Y-yeah, you left them here once.." He shrugged

"And you never cared to return them to me?" She laughed a little.

"I decided to keep them.. y'know, in case you ever needed them..."

"Well i certainly do need them now!" She said, she smiled at him, raising herself to her tippy toes to kiss him on the cheek.

He blushed a bright red, as Barbara walked past him into the bathroom to change.

Dick regained his composure, bringing his hand to his cheek, feeling the tingling sensation that her lips left behind. She returned from the bathroom a moment later, and stood next to Dick, he was still standing in front of the mantle, admiring the photographs.

"This is my favorite picture..." Barbara said, linking her arm with Dick's. She pointed to a picture of her and Dick when they were in middle school, when Barbara had glasses and freckles, and Dick had pimples and braces. But those were the best days of their lives. They were best friends, learning how to be super heros along side Batman.

"Mine too..." He said calmly.

"I can't believe how dorky I looked!" She laughed

"I always thought you were cute..." Dick said, laughing along with her, but secretly blushing, he had liked her even before middle school. He secretly knew that some day, he would end up with Barbara.

Barbara let out a heavy yawn, and she stretched her arms out. "What a long day..."

"Yeah, I bet your tired..." He agreed.

"Well of course!" She proclaimed. "I spent all day putting one of Gotham's worst criminals behind bars, and then all night in the hospital with a bullet in my stomach!!"

Dick sighed a sad breath....

"What's wrong?" She looked at him with worry in her eyes.

"We didn't catch the Scarecrow, he got away..." He said sadly.

"HOW!?" She shouted, grabbing her hair through her fingers.

"He shot his gun, Bruce got distracted, and he managed to fight his way out and escape..." We'll catch him though, don't worry.

"Bruce thinks this is all my fault doesn't he!? He's never gonna let me fight in Gotham again!" She was hysterical, she couldn't imagine not being able to fight as Batgirl.

"Shh, shh, calm down! Its gonna be ok! He's not going to blame you!"

"How do you know!? If I hadn't gotten shot, Scarecrow wouldn't have escaped...." Barbara fell to her knees in tears. The sobbing made her wound throb in pain, but it was no pain in comparison to the pain of losing her ability to protect Gotham...

"Shh, shh, don't cry" Dick said, kneeling next to her. "You'll be able to fight again soon..."

"But we lost Scarecrow, how are we supposed to find him!?"

Dick pressed his hand against her face, drying several tears..."First things first... We need to get you better..." He helped her to her feet and brought her into a tight hug.

She embraced him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and drying her last tears on his shirt.

"Why are you always so nice to me.." She whispered into his ear.

Goose bumps ran over his skin as he heard those words. Before he could think of any words to answer her question, she spoke again.

"You are the only one who has ever treated me so well, my whole life, I have never met anyone who treats me as special as you do..." She stared directly into his eyes, making his heart race with anxiety.

"You're just a special person to me, thats all..." He replied as best he could, saying few words so that his voice would not crack from embarrassment.

"Why am I so special?" She asked, he feared this question...

"Because your beautiful...." He said, looking down at his feet, blushing a bright red.

"Y-you really think so?" She blushed at his response, and was now afraid to keep asking questions, yet her curiosity wouldn't allow her to stop.

"I've always thought so... ever since the day I met you... I knew...." He paused

"Knew what!" He had her on the tips of her toes, her heart beating at a million beats a minute, and her eyes staring directly into his with rabid anticipation.

"You were the only woman I would ever love..." The words rolled off his tongue as smooth as silk. All those years of rehearsing this moment in his head had really paid off...

Barbara's face looked like she had just been scared by Scarecrow himself, but it was instantly changed by that same cheeky smile that Dick had always fallen for... Barbara reached up and wrapped her arms around Dick's neck... she whispered softly "Then I guess you were right" Then she reached up and pressed her soft pink lips against his. He took note that her lips were smooth and tasted like strawberry ice cream... And her hair smelled like pomegranate. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, working his hards around her wound so not to hurt her, then bringing her in deeper to the kiss. Barbara pulled away from the kiss first, she shot Dick her ear to ear grin and bit her lip slightly.

"I've wanted that for a long time..." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"And there's plenty more where that came from!" She said playfully, grabbing his hands and wrapping them around her waist.

__

That was the first time Dick experienced almost losing Barbara to one of Gotham's notorious villains, but it wouldn't be the last time...

End

Hey, I really hope this story turned out okay! It took me several days to write, and I didn't fully proof read where I left off, so it may be a bit chunky, and the ending is... well not much of an ending, more of a cliff hanger, but I don't write R rated scenes, sorry!

I hope you all enjoyed it, nonetheless!

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