Author's Note: Basically, this shows that I can write a Dick/Babs story about anything even if that includes my love of vintage pocket watches.

Disclaimer: The real Batman owners would probably look at me and cringe.

The Hands of Time

It was no bigger than a quarter really, but easily it was the most beautiful piece of jewelry that she had ever seen.

No, you couldn't really compare it to the diamonds and emeralds that hung around society women's necks, but Barbara knew its worth was far beyond price.

It was a pocket watch—Dick's mother's pocket watch. The watch that she had used to time the Flying Grayson's performances.

It was really the only possession that he had from her.

Barbara had seen it once when she had come over and had fallen in love with the little bronze watch. Its cover was a delicate scroll of leaf shapes that joined

in the center. When you pressed the top of the watch, the delicate cover would come down to reveal the glass face of the watch.

Even the back of the watch had a swirly design carved into the back of it.

It was perfect.

Dick glanced over his textbook and smiled as she stared at the watch. She felt his eyes on her.

"Oh. I guess we should be studying." She admitted as she handed the watch back to him with a sheepish expression on her face.

"It's okay." He told her with a shrug.

He gave a slight bounce off his bed and went over to his dresser. Opening the top drawer, he carefully laid it inside.

Barbara glanced down at her long forgotten book as Dick came and sat back down on his bed where they both were studying.

She was glad he didn't mind her staring at it. As she tried to focus back down on her book, she missed the smile that Dick shot her way.

Barbara had no idea that in a span of a week the little watch would be hers.

"Hey Barbara, do you have a moment?"

She turned around and gave Dick a smile. Looking around the crowded ballroom, she pretended to think about it.

"I don't know, I'm kind of busy having fun."

Dick gave her a grin and rolled his eyes.

"I can see that." He said dryly as he took her arm. "How long have we been here now?"

"Two hours at least." Barbara said glancing around.

"Seriously, how can you talk that long?" Dick wanted to know.

Barbara just gave a shrug.

"We all should be professionals by now."

Dick agreed as she followed him outside out onto the balcony. There were lots of people there too so Dick pulled her around more till they found a section

where no one was at.

Dick spun her around so that she faced him. There was a huge smile on his face and his blue eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"What is it?" She asked. Just the look on his face caused her to smile. "What did you do?"

"What? Nothing." He said shaking his head. "I have something for you. Your birthday present."

"Dick." Barbara said with a sigh. "You didn't need to get me anything."

She didn't want him to think that he had to get her anything, but he never listened.

"Yeah, Bruce says that's what all women say." Dick retorted sticking his tongue out at her.

Barbara took a swing at him which he easily avoided.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Giving her a momentary glance, he pressed a quick kiss to her lips and let her go.

"Don't worry. I didn't spend any money on it." He promised her. He paused to stick his hand into his jacket pocket. After a moment, he pulled out a black box

out of his pocket and held it out to her.

It took her a moment to focus on it and take it from his hand.

His kisses always made her head fuzzy for a few seconds.

He crossed his arms as he watched her tug at the gold ribbon that had been tied around the box.

She held the ribbon in her hand as she pulled off the lid and removed the top layer of tissue paper.

What was inside, made her breath catch.

She almost didn't recognize it. He had put it on a matching bronze chain so that it became a necklace.

"Oh Dick." She gasped. She was barely able to get his name out.

He gave a great big grin at her response.

"Dick, you can't give this to me." She insisted, as she cradled the watch in the palm of her hand.

"Why not?"

"Because it's one of the only things . . . you just can't!" She held it back out to him.

It took it out of her hand and put it over her head and around her neck before she could object further.

"Dick." She said firmly.

"Come on Babs. I want you to have it." He pleaded. "It just sits in my drawer all day. Someone needs to use it and I'm not going to." He added with a smile.

"So I want you to. Will you?"

Barbara fingered the watch that was on the end of the long chain.

"I . . . will." She said after thinking about it. Too be honest, she loved the idea of being able to keep it, but she knew how important it was to him.

His face lit up.

"Great!" He said cheerfully.

He pulled her into a hug and then laid his forehead against hers. They both stared down at the watch that hung at her waist.

"I love it." She whispered to him.

Dick squeezed her tighter and cupped her face in one of his hands. Leaning in, he gave her a long tender kiss. After he pulled back and brought his other hand

up to her face as well.

"Dick." She whispered as he pulled back a second time.

"Do you know that you have the prettiest eyes ever?" He told her with a smile.

Barbara shook her head as he ran his thumb across her bottom lip.

The sensation tickled.

"Well if you ever want it back let me know okay?"

"Why would I want it back if you have it?" He asked her.

"I don't know. Maybe you'll realize that you miss it or maybe you'll find someo . . ."

Dick kissed her before she could finish.

"Who am I going to find that is better than you?" He asked her with a smile.

Barbara shrugged and felt silly that she had said that.

Her non-response only made his smile grow.

For the next few minutes, he peppered her lips with kisses.

His phone beeped.

"Hold that thought." He whispered into her ear as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

He rested his chin on her shoulder as he looked at his phone behind her back.

"Hmm."

"Who is it?" Barbara asked turning her head slightly.

"Alfred. He's decided that it's easier just to text me when he can't find me. I think that's cheating."

Barbara laughed.

"Well if you haven't noticed it's a big house and you have a tendency to be anywhere in it." She pointed out.

"Oh, and your dad is looking for you too—your hair smells nice." He tacked on.

"It should," Barbara said with a grin. "I almost forgot about this party so I had to take a shower really quickly. It's probably still wet."

She ran a hand through her hair. It actually didn't feel too bad.

Dick lifted his head off her shoulder and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"I suppose we should go inside." He said reluctantly. "Although, I like it much more out here." He added flirtatiously.

"Careful." Barbara cautioned giving him shove back. "Or he'll have half the force chasing you."

Dick gave a grin that had a touch of seriousness to it.

"I'm kind of surprised that he doesn't already." He said.

It was Barbara's turn to grin.

"It must be because he likes you or something." She suggested before stole a kiss.

Dick's eyes slowly opened back up to reveal his deep blue eyes.

"Really? Oh . . . that's good."

Dick looked kind of relieved.

Barbara just laughed.

"Where have you been?" Her father asked as she walked to be by his side.

"Just outside with Dick." She answered easily.

Her father gave her a cautious glance before letting it turn into a smile.

"And what is this pretty thing?"

He reached his hand over and lifted up the pocket watch.

"Dick gave it to me—for my birthday."

"It's very nice." He commented as he let go of it.

"It's the one that I always liked." She commented. "Remember? The one that's his mother's?"

She could tell that her father was surprised.

"His mother's?" He repeated thoughtfully. "That is a precious gift."

Barbara smiled and fingered the chain. She glanced back up at her father and saw that a sad expression was now on his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing much." Her father replied. "Just my little girl is growing up. Here you are about to be sixteen, all grown up, you have a boyfriend . . ."

"Dad!" Barbara said, trying to snap him out of his trance. "Stop it please." She begged.

She hated when he got like this—acting like he was so old and she was about to leave him.

"You can't get rid of me yet; you'll have to put up with me for a while still."

He managed a smile and nudged her chin. He cleared his throat.

"That kid likes you a lot, you know that?"

Barbara tried not to blush as she followed her father's gaze over to Dick who was still talking to Bruce.

"Yeah I know."

Admitting it made her blush more.

It wasn't like it was a secret or anything, but talking about it always made her face grow warm.

Her father stared at her.

"Well the night it still young, go back over with him." He gave her a push in Dick's direction.

Barbara tried to protest but her father insisted. While glancing back at her father, she came over to Dick's side.

"Barbara." Bruce said with a nod of greeting.

Dick gave her a grin, but it faded slightly as if he could tell that something was wrong. He slipped his hand into hers.

"I was just telling Dick that we should probably go back and check over that factory again from last night's robbery, but we can't forget about the drug case

that . . ."

"We can sort out who will do what later." Dick interrupted. He pulled Barbara away.

"What's wrong Babs?" He asked once they had come to a stop in the hallway.

"Not really anything. It's just my dad. He acts so funny around my birthdays. I don't think that he wants me to grow up."

She leaned her back against the wall and stared up into the light on the ceiling.

"But I guess that's how a lot of parents are." She supposed out loud.

Dick shrugged as he leaned his back against the wall as well.

"I wouldn't know, but it sounds right."

He didn't say it sadly, but Barbara regretted saying it to him.

"Come on now don't be sad." He told her while giving her a smile. "He'll be okay."

Barbara went to school the next day hoping that someone would ask about her necklace so that she could tell them all about it—but no one did.

She supposed it wasn't flashy or anything, so no one probably even noticed it around her neck. She wanted to tell people the story . . . about everything—like

how she loved to try to picture Mary Grayson holding it. Barbara often wished that a stray fingerprint still remained somewhere on the little watch.

She sat down on an outside bench and stared at the little watch again.

A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Hey, Babs. Happy Birthday." Dick said, pressing a kiss to her head.

She gave a smile as his hand came down to meet hers that was holding the watch.

"Do you really think that she would want me to have it?"

Dick's hand froze over hers.

"What?"

"Your mother. Do you think that she would be okay with me having it?"

Dick gave her a funny look.

"Sure. She would love to know that someone appreciates it. She would probably even think that it was funny how much you like it. It was just a watch she

used to time our performance with—it was nothing really special to her."

"But she would probably want you to hang onto it—you know, keep it in the family?"

This time Dick gave her a grin.

"Oh don't worry about that. I have a plan."

"What's that?" Barbara asked skeptically.

Dick brought his head to hers and gave her a kiss. He then put his mouth to her ear.

"Don't tell your dad, but I'm going to marry you."

Barbara was too shocked to say anything as Dick scampered away.

Over the next few weeks, the necklace became the only one that she wore anywhere. Barbara couldn't imagine not being able to wear it. She loved to wear it

and she knew that it made Dick happy to see it on her.

It was silly, but she would find herself thinking about what he told her that day and feeling slightly lightheaded about it.

A knock came to her bedroom door.

"Hey Barb?" Her father's voice called out. "Don't forget about the dinner tonight."

Barbara huffed.

She already had.

"Okay." She called out as she opened her closet.

What was she going to wear? At this point anything would do.

Dinner parties were the worst in Dick and her opinion. The reason being was that they couldn't just leave. They had to sit at the dining room table for hours

and talk about boring stuff because there were people sitting on either side of them.

That wasn't to say that they never had any fun, but bored looks and funny expressions could only entertain you so many times.

Barbara threw on the first thing that her hand touched—a strapless green dress.

"You about ready?" Her father called out. "I'll go grab the car."

"Don't bother. I'll be there in a moment!" Barbara called out as she set her brush down.

Now all she needed was a necklace.

She went into the bathroom and reached onto the counter to grab the watch.

It wasn't there.

Frowning, she went back into her room and looked on her nightstand.

Where was it?

She tried to think back.

Did she take it off when she got home before she showered?

"Dad! Have you seen my watch necklace?" She called out in the direction of the front door.

"Ah . . . I don't think that I see it out here." He called back.

Barbara pressed her lips together. She walked out in the hall towards her father.

"Do you remember seeing it on me when I got home?" She asked.

Her father stood still and looked towards the ceiling.

"No." He said after a moment. He looked back down at her. "You didn't have it on."

Barbara knew that there was no point in doubting her father's memory.

A sob rose in the back of her throat.

"I had it on when I left for school."

Her father's face grew serious.

"Well, did you take it off there? For gym or something?"

Barbara shook her head as a tear fell.

Her father was instantly by her side.

"I'm sure that we can find it, okay? Don't worry." He said comfortingly. "I'm sure that someone picked it up."

Barbara shook her head violently.

"Barbara it will be . . . okay. We can look tomorrow all right? We are going to be late if we don't get leaving soon."

He added gently.

Barbara felt numb, but she followed anyway.

Once she was seated at the formal dining room table in Wayne Manor, she intentionally did not look Dick's way. It was hard because he was sitting across from

her like usual. Barbara tried just to stare at the food in front of her and to talk to the people sitting on her right and her left.

A few times, she could tell that he was trying to get her attention; she even felt him kick her foot under the table.

It was a dangerous thing to do since you were never quite sure who you would hit.

He tried twice.

He tried three times to start a conversation with her, but she always pretended to not notice.

She felt ice cold sitting in her seat.

Did he see that she wasn't wearing it? Was he going to ask her why she wasn't wearing the necklace?

She felt her hands start to shake so she clasped them in her lap.

She felt his eyes on her for the rest of the meal.

It was especially hard to swallow anything. The food sat horribly in her stomach. It was like she was going to be ill.

As soon as the meal was over, Dick grabbed her arm and pulled her out onto the empty deck.

It was a cool, clear night—not that she could appreciate it under the circumstances.

"Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?"

The questions he asked her didn't even register at first.

"What? No, that's . . . not it." She looked down at her feet.

"Then what?" He asked softly.

Barbara chanced a glance at him.

His face looked taunt with worry.

He was going to make her tell him? Barbara would prefer him to just accuse her, and be done with it. Why did she have to tell him?

She was so nervous. She never got nervous. She could chase down criminals not being nervous.

"I . . ." Her voice cracked. "I . . . lo . . ."

Dick looked alarmed as she started to cry.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, don't cry." He told as he pulled her close.

She didn't stop.

"Seriously, stop crying or your dad will think that I've done something." Dick said a bit more urgently.

He looked back into the house as if the Commissioner might be coming any moment.

Barbara tried to take a deep breath as she leaned into his shoulder. She faced him again.

"I . . . lost it."

Dick blinked.

"Lost what?"

Barbara swallowed a sob.

"The wa . . . your mother's watch."

She felt Dick's hands freeze around her waist. His face looked stunned, but in a moment the expression was gone.

"Oh, Babs . . . it's ok . . ."

"No it's not!" She said pushing him away. "I lost it Dick! I have no idea where it is!"

The confession caused more tears to fall and Dick quickly wrapped her back up into his arms.

"Please Babs, it's really okay. It wasn't worth anything remember?" He said breezily.

This did not help.

"Of course it was worth something Dick. It was the one of the few things that you had."

He had given her something that was priceless and she managed to lose it.

"Babs . . ." He muttered quietly. He rubbed her arms gently. "Don't be sad please. I'm not mad at you. I don't want you to be sad over this."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Barbara found that she couldn't talk. Her mouth was too locked up.

How could he be so forgiving?

Dick kept rubbing her back and trying to calm her down.

After a few moments, Barbara was relatively composed again but she still didn't speak.

Dick ran a hand through her hair and kissed the side of her head again.

Then he kissed her ear; then he trailed kisses down her neck.

"Stop, that tickles." Barbara said swatting as him with a slight smile.

"Are you going to be okay now?" He asked her as he pulled back.

Barbara rubbed the side of her neck—it still felt tingly from his lips being there.

"I just wish . . . where did I lose it? I went straight home after school." She bemoaned.

"Then it's somewhere at school. Maybe someone found it. Check the lost and found as soon as you get there. I'll look around anywhere I go too, okay?" He

promised.

She still felt awful.

"It's okay Babs really. Please believe me."

He stared at her for a moment longer.

"I know, I'll buy you something else . . . something better." He said with some excitement.

"I don't want something else!" Barbara snapped. She wasn't mad at him, she was still mad at herself.

"Okay, okay." He said grabbing her hand again.

"We'll just try to find it." He squeezed her and smiled. "And don't worry, I'll marry you even if you don't have it."

He was teasing, but she couldn't handle it right now.

Who was going to find her watch? What if they kept it?

The thought of someone else having Mary Grayson's watch made Barbara feel even sicker.

Dick watched her carefully.

"Come on Babs, let's go back inside." He said guiding her with his arm. "We'll find it. Don't worry too much."

Barbara waited at the bus stop with a heavy heart the next day.

The thought had already entered her head that she was never going to find it.

Last night during patrol, she hadn't spoken to Dick once. She knew that he understood why since he didn't press it.

But now here she was, waiting for the bus . . . trying not to be upset.

The bus came on time and the weather was sunny which usually made her happier, but now was only adding to her misery.

Anything that possibly made her happy only reminded her why she should be sad.

The bus ride to school was noisy and loud as always, but Barbara didn't even notice. The bus could have turned over and she wouldn't even have noticed.

She slowly stood up once the bus came to a stop outside of the school. While she waited for her turn to get off, she just kept thinking . . .

"Barbara? Barbara?"

She snapped to attention as the Mrs. Kettleson, the bus driver, called out her name.

"Sorry, what?" Barbara asked turning to face her.

"I almost forgot to ask you something. Is this yours?"

The sight stopped Barbara dead.

A small watch on a bronze chain hung in front of her face.

She grabbed it out of the drivers hand wordlessly.

"I suppose that that is a yes." The lady said with an amused smile.

"Where did you find it?" Barbara said as she finally was able to speak.

"On the floor of the bus. You stopped to help Kelly Stevens when her book bag spilled on the floor yesterday. I'm not sure how it fell off you but it did. I asked

Kelly this morning when I picked her up at her stop, but she said it wasn't hers."

Barbara could have hugged the women.

"Thank you so much. Really. So much." She exclaimed trying not to bubble over.

Mrs. Kettleson nodded and still looked amused.

"Well you better get going. Have a good day."

"I will. I will!" Barbara burst off the bus.

It was already a better than good day.

Barbara spotted Dick walking around the school yard. He kept scanning the ground and looking into shrubs.

Her feet couldn't run towards him fast enough.

"Dick! Dick!" She called out as she flew past everyone else.

"I haven't been able to . . ."

Her hug cut him off.

"I found it! I mean, the bus driver found it!"

Barbara hung it in his face for proof.

His face lit up.

"That's awesome Babs!" He picked her up and spun her around once.

"Here. I want you to have it back before I lose it again." She held it out to him.

He stared at it.

"Babs. I want you to have it." He told her firmly.

"I don't know."

"I want you to have it." He grabbed the watch out of her hand and put it over her head again.

She gave a sigh.

"Back to square one huh?" She said.

Dick gave her his trademark grin.

"I'm sure that you'll be more careful. But just remember that no matter what . . . you're more important to me than any piece of metal."

"It's not just a piece of metal Dick," Barbara corrected him.

"I know, I know." Dick said as he ran a hand through his hair. "But you understand what I'm saying right?"

She nodded.

"Good."

He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. He pulled back slightly with a smile. He leaned forward again.

"Dick." Barbara hissed quietly.

He blinked and looked around.

"Sorry, forgot where we were." He shrugged and looked away.

He cleared his throat and turned back to her.

"So . . . normal school day?"

Barbara grinned.

"Sure. Just another normal school day."

Lots of time gone by

Barbara felt a sharp tug at the chain around her neck.

"No, no, no . . . you have to let go." She gently pride the small fingers off the watch. "You can wear it sometime when you're older. It was your grandmother's

you know."

Barbara opened the watch up and stared at the moving hands.

"Babs?"

"In here Dick." Barbara called out.

Her husband's head soon appeared in the room.

"Ah, my two favorite red-haired, blue-eyed, intelligent, and beautiful women." He said as he plopped down on the couch next to her.

Barbara rolled her eyes as Dick kissed his baby daughter on the head.

"I think your mom is jealous of how much I like you." He whispered to the child.

Barbara slapped him on his back.

"I don't know why though." He added louder. "She's gorgeous."

He turned back to Barbara and gave her a passionate kiss.

His kisses still made her head fuzzy.

He picked up the watch and rubbed his thumb over the face.

Barbara leaned against him and closed her eyes.

"Told you I would get it back." Dick whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, you did."

"When is your dad going to be here?"

"Soon I think." Barbara responded opening her eyes up.

"Good." Dick said as he settled in next to her.

A quick glance at the baby showed that she was drifting off to sleep.

"Your dad is going to spoil her rotten. You realize that."

Barbara nodded.

Her dad was on cloud nine over this baby.

"Between him and Bruce she is going to be one spoiled girl. I still can't believe she's ours."

Dick wrapped an arm around her waist.

"It's pretty amazing."

Barbara leaned her head on his shoulder and fingered the pocket watch.

Time was an amazing thing.

Random End Notes: I hoped that this wasn't cheesy because I am trying to avoid cheese. How did I do? Also—someone should teach classes on how to write

summaries because I am having the hardest time writing them which is sad because it's like one to three lines. : }

{Dick/Babs because, HELLO! They are perfect for each other!}

Alright you know the drill. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one. Talk to ME! : )