Summary: Damian gets his first crush. DickBabs.

Rated: T

Word count: 1,189

Of Bowties and Batarangs

"Dick?" Barbara called from where she sat at her computers, "that you?"

No response in reply. After a moment, she heard soft footsteps coming closer. Her pulse began to speed up, adrenaline pumping through like in the good old days when she was Batgirl. Reaching under her desk where she kept a stash of batarang and daggers hidden inside a groove she had made for this exact purpose, she selected a long blade. She tried to make it appear as if she was still working at her computer, busying herself with her notes so not to alert the enemy she knew they were there.

The handle curly firmly in her palm, she waited until she knew the enemy was close, maybe two or three feet away, before she used her left hand to maneuver her chair back and to the left, raising her arm to strike.

"Damian?" she said, her heart racing. Standing before her was none other than Bruce Wayne's son, decked out in his Robin costume and, was that a bowtie around his neck?

"Hello, Ms. Gordon," he said, his voice solemn as it always was.

"Jesus, Damian, you nearly gave me a heart attack just now."

"I'm sorry," he said. Did he just apologize to me? Has Damian every apologized to someone out of his own volition? "That was not my intent."

"It's okay," Barbara said, slipping the dagger back into its place under her desk. "Just next time, tell me it's you, okay? I don't feel right raising a weapon on an ally."

"I will keep that in mind in the future, Ms. Gordon."

What's with this 'Ms. Gordon' nonsense? He never addresses me like that when he speaks to me. Something must be up.

Unsure of what to say next, Barbara leaned back in her chair, her brow a bit furrowed. She forced herself to smile at the boy.

And, of all things, Damian smiled back. Barbara had to force herself from doing a double-take. It was just so bizarre to see a smile on his typically scowling face that she hardly recognized him.

"Despite being handicapped, your form was excellent. Bruce has told me stories about your days as Batgirl," Damian said after a moment.

This time Barbara smiled genuinely. She had an idea of what just might be going on, though it really surprised her coming from Damian.

"Thanks, Damian. I try to work out every day."

"It…it pays off," he said, looking down at her legs briefly before his eyes snapped back to her face. A deep red was forming on his cheeks, and it took all Barbara had in her not to laugh. He just looked so adorable. But she remember what it had been like at that age, how much being laughed at hurt, so she held it inside, playing it off as a slight cough.

"Thank you," she said again, and they found themselves in another lull of silence.

"Oh," Damian said suddenly, "these are for you."

He thrust a buddle of plants at her. Most of them looked like the weeds found on the outer edges of Wayne Manor that occasionally cropped up. However, some of them were definitely some of the Manor's prized plants. Alfred wouldn't be happy once he realized they were gone.

Barbara leaned down to smell them, and felt clods of dirt fall onto her lap. Examining the stems, it looked like Damian had simply uprooted entire plants rather than cut the stems.

"They're lovely, Damian. They'll really brighten the place up. It gets sort of gloomy here sometimes." She smiled at him. "Why don't we go to the kitchen and I'll find something to put them in, and then I'll make us some food, okay?"

Damian nodded before marching out of the room. Barbara paused to shake out some of the dirt over a trashcan. She laid the flowers on her lap and followed Damian from the room.

Later, as they sat at the table devouring bowls of pasta, Barbara paused, setting her fork down. She really didn't want to do what she was about to do, but it wouldn't have been right for Damian to misinterpret her kindness.

"Damian," she began, "you know that Dick's my, um, boyfriend, right?"

Damian nodded solemnly. "Yes, I know that you have relations with Grayson."

Barbara smiled wryly, unsure if he even knew what 'relations' were. Probably something he overheard Alfred say at some point.

"But just because I have a boyfriend, it doesn't mean that we can't be friends. Good friends even."

"Friends," Damian repeated, seeming to ponder it over.

"Yes, friends. And you have to know by now how much I care about all my friends."

"You mean like Black Canary and Huntress?" he asked.

Things with Huntress were still sometimes touch-and-go, but she nodded. "Exactly. And if we're friends, I'll care about you like that too. I care a lot about my friends, especially the ones I work with."

Again, he was silent, mulling her words over before nodding. "I would like to be your friend very much, Ms. Gordon."

Barbara laughed. "Okay, but I have one rule that you have to follow if we're going to be friends."

Damian looked worried.

"You have to call me Barbara."

"Then I would like to be your friend…Barbara."

"I'm really glad, Damian. By the way, you look really nice in that tie."

Barbara thought she'd go into shock because of how wide Damian smiled at her.

Damian and Barbara talked in the kitchen for a while before Dick showed up. When he entered the room, Damian stood up quickly. "I'll be taking my leave now, Ms. Gor…uh, Barbara."

"I'm really glad you stopped by, Damian. Thanks again for the flowers."

"Hey Damian," Dick said as he entered the room.

Damian scowled up at him. "Grayson," he muttered and left.

Dick managed to hold in his laughter long enough for Damian to be out of earshot.

"What's so funny, Boy Wonder?" Barbara asked, her brow furrowed.

Dick leaned down, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. When he pulled away, she saw he was smiling. "I had no idea he was talking about you, Babs."

Barbara raised an eyebrow.

Holding her hand, Dick leaned against the table. "Last night, Damian came to ask me something…"

"Grayson," Damian said, standing over him. He had been reading a book Barbara loaned him.

"Yes, Damian?" he asked, readjusting his position so he could talk to the boy.

"I need you to tell me something."

Dick frowned, unsure of where this was going. "Okay."

"I considered all the men I could talk to on this issue, and you seemed the most satisfactory choice."

Dick could feel his apprehension rising.

"I need you to tell me how…to talk to girls."

Dick's relief was so palpable that he actually sighed.

Though Damian had come to the right place. He could only imagine how it would go if he'd tried talking to Bruce or Alfred or Tim.

"See Damian, the thing you have to know about girls is…"

The end.

Author's notes: This was just a little plot bunny that I couldn't get out of my head. The thought of Damian having a crush on Barbara was just too funny to me. This story can also be found on my tumblr account at .com, along with some other fanfiction. :)