Chapter 23

Barbara sighed as she looked around the Batcave

It had been two weeks since Ivy had saved Wonder Woman, and planted herself to slow the poison that was no flowing through her veins. Her and Harley had settled into a...she wasn't prepared to call it friendship, truce was a better word, over their shared worry about Ivy. But while Harley had her new relationship with Hermione to distract her, Barbara didn't.

She had spent most of her free time either working on her occlumency, working to get back into the shape she had been in before Joker had paralyzed her, or on her computer trying to track Cheetah down.

The redhead still hadn't gone to see her father.

But Bruce had asked to speak to her. Or rather he had demanded she speak to him when she saw him during her last trip to the Watchtower to check on the progress tracking Cheetah down. Surprisingly, Diana was a wonderful advocate for tracking down the villain as fast as possible. It seemed that saving the Amazon's life had earned, if not friendship, then at least the warrior's respect and gratitude. But it typically wasn't a good idea to ignore Batman, even under the best of circumstances.

Which was why she had reluctantly followed the man into the teleporter and down to cave.

Promptly upon he arrival, Bruce had poked her with a needle and taken a blood sample. What followed was a brief argument about boundaries, which was actually a one sided rant as Bruce ignored her, as Bruce began analyzing her blood. Finally Barbara stopped yelling at the man, knowing she wouldn't get a response, and just let her eyes drift around the cave.

Already standing in the cave for over half an hour she asked, rather irritably, "Are you done yet?"

"You're DNA has been altered similarly to Harley Quinn's," Bruce said, not looking away from the computer. "Aside from an immunity to most toxins, I can't find anything else it affected. I'm still checking for signs of pheromones."

"For the love of..." Barbara muttered as she rubbed her forehead. "Ivy hasn't forced me to do anything," she explained. "The immunity to toxins and poisons was a favor in exchange for some advice, and we made a deal for her to heal my legs."

"What did Ivy want advice on? And what were the particulars of your deal with her?" he asked without looking at her.

The redhead snorted. She liked Bruce, but he was a paranoid bastard. And when he got into one of those moods, he was an ass. "None of your goddamned business Bruce."

That got the man to turn and look at her. And while his glare was intimidating, she'd been dealing with it for a few years now.

"How about you trust that, as much as I want my legs back, I would never help Ivy harm others," she snapped. "Or is your paranoia finally spreading to those you call allies."

There was silence between the two for several moments. That silence was broken by a cultured British voice saying cheerfully, "Miss Barbara, it's such a wonderful surprise to see you walking again. The two turned to find a smiling Alfred standing at the bottom of the steps that led up to Wayne Manor. The butler had a wide smile on his face. "It is an even greater sight to see you visiting."

"It's great to you too Alfred, though I wish it was voluntary," she added, sending a brief glare at Bruce.

Alfred merely raised an eyebrow as he looked over at employer/godson. Bruce looked away, back at his computer. When he did, Alfred said, "Master Richard has returned."

"And he didn't come down?" Bruce asked.

"He said he would rather wait in the foyer," Alfred informed him. "I believe he once more wishes to inquire as to the whereabouts of Miss Barbara."

"Dick want to see me?" the redhead asked, confused.

"Indeed," the butler informed her. "I believe during his last visit he tried talking to your father."

Barbara grinned. She knew that, while her father didn't mind Nightwing, or Robin before Dick changed his identity, he had never liked Dick Grayson. She supposed that a large part of that was the disbelief that a rich boy (he was Bruce's heir after-all) like him could want anything from his admittedly attractive daughter beyond sex. James Gordon had always been convinced Dick would 'use' Barbara until she got knocked up, before discarding her for the next pair of tits to walk his way.

The redhead understood that Bruce's own rich playboy persona probably hadn't helped Dick's case.

When they were dating, Barbara admitted to being amused at her father's reactions to the two different sides of Dick. After she broke up with Dick however, Barbara actually came to appreciate her father's opinion of the young man. While he hadn't been born rich, Robin had gotten used to rich lifestyle.

In other words, he got used to being listened to because he had access to the most money.

He had wanted to pamper the redhead after her injury, and for the young woman that, at the time, had had her life and dreams shattered, that had been the last thing she wanted. Their argument had been immense. And in the end, Barbara still didn't think she'd gotten her point through to Dick.

Since then, they'd only spoken in their roles as Oracle and Nightwing. And since Dick operated out of Bludhaven, that wasn't all that often.

Still, the one person she had actually confided in about her breakup was her father. And if anything, it just proved to the Police Commissioner that the man was unworthy of his only daughter.

She doubted Dick's conversation with James Gordon had been pleasant for the former acrobat.

"Well if he want's to see me, I suppose I'll go see him," Barbara said.

"Shall we take the Elevator Miss Barbara?" Alfred asked, even as he stepped towards it. The Butler may have no problems coming down the stairs to the Batcave, but he was getting older and preferred taking the elevator back up, even if he took the stairs down to help him stay somewhat in shape.

"You can Alfred," she assured. "But I think I'll take the stairs. I haven't walked them since I got my legs back, and I want to see if they're still as terrible as I remember."

"Of course," the butler replied, a slight smirk on his face.

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The stairs were just as bad as she remembered, but she had never been happier to feel the burn in her thighs after climbing the numerous steps that led from the Batcave to the manor proper.

Still, Barbara was in the manor for a reason. Making her way to the foyer, she saw Dick examining a painting. It was probably new, as Barbara hadn't seen it herself. Not to mention that Bruce occasionally made spontaneous purchases to maintain his playboy image. In truth, he was actually rather fiscally responsible.

Bruce spontaneous purchases were never as truly spontaneous as they seemed to the public at large.

Seeing that the her ex hadn't noticed her yet, she greeted, "Hello Dick."

Grayson turned, clearly surprised to see her and smiled. "Barbara," he greeted, before letting his eyes drift down to her legs. Looking back up at her face he said, "I see your walking again."

"Yup," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Leaning up against the doorway she was standing in she asked, "Alfred mentioned you'd been looking for me."

Dick sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I...I want to apologize, for what happened between us. I had no right to dictate your life, especially after what happened."

"You're right, you didn't," the redhead conceded. "But you could have called and apologized. Even if I didn't answer, I do have voice mail."

"I was also hoping you'd consider giving me another chance," he admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

Barbara looked at Dick in disbelief. He wanted her to give him another chance. After the way they broke up, and having only just apologized for it, he wanted her to take him back.

She was silent for a moment. Even if she was still interested in him, his timing was terrible. Of course, considering he had little to no contact with the League, for his own reasons, she doubted he was at all aware of the drama currently going on in her life.

As it was, she was in love with Ivy and...

Barbara stopped thinking, was she actually in love with Ivy?

She knew she was attracted to Ivy, you'd have to be a completely straight woman or gay man not to be. Physically, there were few women that could compare to Ivy. But emotionally, Ivy had done so much her. Not only had she given her her legs back, and a pair of twins currently growing in her strange pod creation, but she had treated Barbara with nothing but respect. And while she did tease Barbara, she hadn't pushed the other woman to go beyond her comfort zone. Plus it was clear that she'd do everything in her power to protect those she cared for, that was evidenced by how she treated Harley.

And Ivy had already admitted to loving Barbara.

She loved Barbara enough to agree to investigate Wonder Woman's poisoning, and then to heal the hero. A process that put Ivy's own life in danger.

In fact, Ivy still might not make it...And Barbara realized in that moment, that she didn't know what she would do if Ivy did die. Sure, she'd care for the twins when they came out of the pod...but she realized that if Ivy didn't survive, she'd be heartbroken. In her time at Ivy's manor, the green skinned woman had managed to accomplish just what she had set out to do.

She had stolen Barbara's heart.

Acknowledging that fact, Barbara said, "I can't."

"Barbara...," Dick began to protest, but was cut off when Barbara held up her hand.

"I can't, because, even if I wanted to, I'm in love with someone else," she explained. "And that's all the answer you're really entitled to Dick." Turning to head back to cave so that she could use the teleporter to return back the Forest, she had a Cheetah to track down.

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"You're pregnant?" Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent, said, shock clear on his face.

Hermione looked at her uncle and nodded a bit sheepishly. While Barbara had gone to check on the League's progress tracking down Cheetah. Hermione had called and arranged a meeting with her parents and uncle. So after telling her parents, who took the news rather well all things considered (her father had fainted after hearing that Harley Quinn herself was the father of said child), she had apparated herself and Harley to the alleyway behind the bar her uncle used the backroom of for their meetings.

"And Harley Quinn is the father?" her uncle asked.

Hermione nodded again.

Two-Face growled lightly, before turning his gaze at the blonde standing beside his niece. "Hurt her or that kid in any way, or let Joker her her or that kid in any way, and we promise you will beg for death. And we won't even need to flip a coin before we act," he threatened her. "Understand?"

Harley nodded, not trusting herself to speak. It was rare that Two-Face's two personalities were in agreement. If they were...well, that scared her. She knew that most of the crime bosses failed schemes came from his two sides arguing, and not poor planning. And if both sides were in agreement, she knew he was just as, if not more dangerous than Joker.

Two-Face didn't have the need to be seen Joker did, not unless he was setting up a trap of some kind or wanted to remind others he was out and about.

Harvey looked at the blonde for a moment before looking back at his niece. Sounding a bit more cheerful he said, "If you need any help with anything during your pregnancy, don't hesitate to call."

"Of course not Uncle," Hermione said grinning slightly, relieved that he seemed to be taking things well. "I have to say, you're taking this news better then my parents."

Harvey snorted. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a gun, "We can't exactly throw stones now, can we?" he asked rhetorically, before placing the gun back in it's holster.

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Sorry for the long wait. Outside of One-Shots, I haven't been too motivated to write. Back in November my father was in the hospital for about a month, and he got diagnosed with cancer. Between his chemo (which is still on-going), work, and the CENA classes I've started, my life has been rather busy. I've spent most of my days off from everything just reading or playing video games to relax.

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