Love Story

Chapter One-The Balcony

Barbara Gordon was in her early teen years when her father dragged her to a GCPD fundraiser at the Wayne Mansion. She was annoyed that he dragged her along, but her father had said it would look better if his family were with him for this important event. Her father started to mingle and that was the worst part. He took her around to meet all the important people, including the man hosting this event, Bruce Wayne. She sighed and greeted him with a smile, trying not to look as board as she was. He smiled and greeted her with kindness. She sighed and looked at her father.

"Dad I will be back in a bit. I am going to go to the balcony and get some fresh air."

"Alright Barbara, be careful."

She sighed and walked out to the large balcony and leaned on the railing overlooking Wayne's large yard. She sat there looking at it trying to spot her father's car in the vast sea of cars on the lawn. She looked and looked and finally found it in the middle section towards the end of the rows. She had been so soaked up in looking for the car she did not hear the young man come up behind her. She jumped when she felt him tap her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you…I just saw you standing out here and thought you might like some company." The voice belonged to none other than Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's young, and quite handsome, ward.

"Oh, yah, I came out here to get some fresh air." She sighed and leaned on the railing. "What brought you out here?"

"Party got boring to me…I am at these things so often, they all seem so much alike. What brought you here? To the party I mean…"

"My father is Commissioner Gordon, he thought it would look best if he had his family at the party, maybe impress Mr. Wayne." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I take it you are not having much fun then?"

"No, not really…So, you never said, what brings you here?"

I was really surprised to see him blush. He looked up trying to hide it and replied, "Well, I uh, I was across the room when I saw you making your way over here to the balcony. I uh…I wondered why uh…Why such a…..nice girl like you would be running away from a party." He blushed again and I smirked, it was not often you found Mr. Dick Grayson so off guard like this, even in the papers and tabloids he always seemed so composed. "I just figured that you would be dancing at this party with some…nice young man…" His blush deepened from a light rose color to a deep crimson color and I smiled.

"Well," I said, "no 'nice young man' has asked me to dance…If there had been one, I might have agreed." I smiled sweetly at him sweetly as he had recomposed himself on the outside, but on the inside I could tell he was still blushing. He was just about to ask me something when my father stepped out and I groaned. My dad always had a way of ruining the moment.

"Barbara, I have been looking everywhere for you. There are still some people inside I have not introduced you to yet and they want to meet my beautiful daughter." He smiled at me and turned his back on Dick, I sighed.

"Well actually daddy, I think that Dick was just about to ask me to dance with him. If he would I was going to say yes to him." I smiled at him and I expected dad to smile too. After all Dick was Bruce Wayne's ward, his adopted son. What better way to impress Mr. Wayne then that, right? But dad I guess did not see it that way. He frowned slightly at Dick and looked from me to him.

"Barbara, I want you to go in and get a cup of punch to drink, I will be along shortly. I need to have a little talk with Mr. Grayson." Uh oh, I thought, dad needed to have a talk with a boy my age, which could only mean one thing, he was going to give Dick the "she is my only daughter" speech. I sighed and started to object, but then saw the look on my dad's stern face and sighed.

"It was nice to have met you, Dick," I said trying to convey with my eyes how sorry I was that I could not give him the dance I wanted to give him.

"Yes, it was nice to have met you too Miss Gordon," He said and smiled at me as I walked off. I stayed close enough to ease drop on what they were saying to each other so I knew whether to be mad at my father later or not.

Dad looked at Dick, now that I was gone, with more of a scowl. Dick stammered out as respectfully as he could, now that he was caught off guard by dad, "Hello Mr. Gordon. I…I am really glad to meet you tonight." He smiled at dad and dad returned it with a frown.

"Listen Mr. Grayson, I understand that Bruce Wayne is your father, but I am Barbara's. She is too young to be dating and you should know that. She is my only daughter and I will protect her, and that includes protecting her form excited young men such as yourself. Do I make myself clear?"

Dick sighed. "I was only going to ask her to dance with me. She looked really bored so I thought I would help her wit…." Dick stopped mid sentence when he got a glimpse of the look my father was giving him, "never mind." He sighed and I did too. Dad was too overprotective.

When dad was done talking he moved his hands in front of him, motioning for Dick to go in first. He walked past me with his head held low and then dad walked in. I sighed, knowing that it was unlikely that I would get that dance with him because my father had just laid down the law, his law, and no boy, ever, broke that law. Sometimes it stunk being the commissioner's daughter.