Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
By Lyssa
***
Like a whisper, he
swung onto the building. He stood near the ledge, staring out at the city
for a moment, as if he were a painter contemplating his work of art.
Stepping out of the shadows, I took two running steps and then flew at him.
I was rather proud of myself, my form perfect, my weight in the best possible
spot to do the most damage, and my aim right on. A tackle worthy of any
football player. It was beautiful, I tell you. Or rather, it would
have been if he hadn’t turned around and kicked me in the midsection.
Dumb, dumb, dumb, I thought as I slammed
into a wall five feet behind where he’d been standing. Surprisingly, I
didn’t see stars or hear any bones crack as I landed, but I sure as hell got
the wind knocked out of me. As I caught my breath, I looked up to see him
glaring at me in an all-too-familiar way. I sat up and tried to smile,
pointless since he couldn’t see my face through my mask.
“You’re not
supposed to hit girls,” I said. I winced and shifted my weight to avoid
sitting on a tender spot on my rear.
“I’m allowed when
they try to attack me from behind for no good reason.”
I couldn’t feel his
voice through my chest like I could Tall Dark and Grumpy’s, but I knew that
tone. He wasn’t happy with me and if I didn’t explain myself or go home
with my cape between my legs, or both, I’d get spanked. Hard. And
not in the sexy, kinky, Cinemax After Dark sort of way, either.
“Sorry. I
wanted to know something.”
He crossed his arms
and scowled even more. Lord, I didn’t know he could be so scary. If
that furrow in between his eyebrows got any deeper, it would have cracked his
face in half. I tried to sit up a little more but my hand slipped.
Suddenly my whole body was slipping and I slid down the wall and onto my back
on the ground. I stared up at the night sky in disbelief, and then his
head poked into my view. He stood over me, looking concerned and more
than slightly amused. I sighed heavily.
“I wanted to see if
I could take you.”
I think he snorted
at me. It sounded like a laugh, but he was spooky and serious like the
Big Guy, right? He didn’t...*do* that... did he? Nah....
“Take me?”
“Take you down...
kick your butt... prove my grappling hook was bigger than yours. See if I
could show you up, I guess.”
“You didn’t.”
“Yeah, *thanks* for
pointing that out. I’d still be *lying* here on the ground thinking I’d
succeeded if you hadn’t pointed that out.”
“You need to work
on your stealth skills. I knew you were there the second I landed.”
“Yes, thank you
Captain Obvious. Now would you like to talk about how you caught my scent
or are you done extolling your vigilante skills and pointing out my
inadequacies?”
He made that
snorting noise again. I hoped he wasn’t about to hock up a loogy.
“So you wanted to
see if you could 'take' me, eh? And what would you have done with me once
you got me?”
I grinned what I
hoped was a sexy grin (which he still couldn’t see) and started to sit up.
“I’m sure I could
think of a few things...”
It was a damn
shame. Such a great line and I ruined it by cracking my head on a pipe
that magically appeared out of nowhere in the wall above me. I moaned,
more in embarrassment than pain and laid my head back on the gravel. He
snorted and made a couple of choking noises. I kept my eyes closed and
vaguely wondered if he had allergies or something because he made that noise an
awful lot. I mean, he couldn’t be... he wouldn’t dare...
I opened my eyes
and squinted up at him in the dim light. Yep. He was laughing at
me. I decided I hated him a whole whole lot and then closed my eyes
again. A few seconds later I felt a slight breeze across my face. I
opened my eyes to see a rather large glove inches from my nose. I looked
past the glove to the person it was attached to squatting down next to
me. His dark hair fluttered in the slight breeze as he looked down at me,
grinning like I had told the best joke he’d heard in years. Whoa, I
thought, This was the same guy who a minute ago looked like he wanted to
throw me over the ledge??
“I don’t think
we’ve officially met. Nightwing. The guy you tried to body slam
over there?”
I put my hand in
his. He had a strong, confident grip like Robin’s.
“Spoiler. The
chick you kicked into a wall?”
He winced. “I’m
sorry about that. You’re lighter than I thought. I didn’t pull back
enough.”
He kicks me,
laughs at me and THEN he calls me fat? Oh yeah, I hate him, I thought to myself. What’s
next, calling me a bottle blonde??
I then remembered
that I had my mask and hood still on. I carefully pushed myself into a
sitting position, mindful of the evil pipe and that damn gravel, and pulled off
my mask. Nightwing frowned.
“I hope you don’t
think I’m doing you the same favor.”
“Don’t get your
tights in a knot. I just want to feel my head. I thought I felt
blood.”
Nightwing suddenly
became all business and checked my head for me.
“Nah. No cuts
or bumps. Surprising, you whacked that...” He guffawed and then tried to
cover it with a cough but I *heard* him. The dirty dog....
“...’scuse me...
the pipe pretty hard.”
“I didn’t see
it...” I muttered.
“I noticed.”
To his credit he didn’t even crack a smile. I got the feeling that he had
to keep the urge to giggle and point tightly reined in.
Nightwing held out
a hand, but I waved it away as my pride kicked in. I made a move to get
up but quickly sat still. Ooo, my butt. This was not going to be
graceful.
“Um, turn
around.” He flashed that grin again. Goodness, he was gorgeous.
“Why? Rip
your britches?”
I sighed. If
only he would keep his mouth shut.
“NO. I
just... Ooooo, just turn around please.”
He grinned again
and stood, turning his back and walking a few steps away. He’s
laughing at me again, I know it, I thought.
Making faces, I
slowly sat up the rest of the way and started to stand. I wasn’t hurt all
that bad; I just didn’t want to slip again and give Giggles over there any more
reasons to find amusement at my expense. I was irritated with myself. I
usually wasn’t that clumsy. I dusted my butt off and straightened my
costume as I stared at Nightwing. He was tall and really ripped. I could
tell that even in the dim light atop the roof. I knew I shouldn’t be
checking him out, I was totally into Robin, but a little look never hurt
nobody. I briefly wondered what Robin would say if he knew what I was
doing. He certainly had enough to say about my Superboy posters... But
Steph, I thought, This is a friend of his! Someone he obviously
greatly admires. Someone he trusts. Someone with a niiiiiiiice
butt. Near about makes a body’s teeth hurt....
Suddenly Nightwing
turned around and grinned.
OhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgod, I thought. Did I
just say that out loud? Oh PLEASE don’t let me have said that out
loud. Maybe he’s a telepath. Maybe he’s one of those metahumans and
he read my thoughts. The metahuman part would explain that body from
hell... ACK! If he’s a telepath that means he just read that thought,
too! OhgodOhgodOhgod...
“Steph?”
I looked up.
He called me by my name. Robin *must* have talked about me. I was
automatically chagrined that no one seemed to feel any need to respect my
secret identity, but one glance at him and I forgot why I was irritated.
Amazing how you become adept at reading body language when you can’t read the
expressions in other’s eyes. The tilt of Nightwing’s head showed concern
and compassion, and the slight quirk of the right side of his mouth was
probably amusement.
“All better,
Steph?”
He stepped a bit
closer and tipped my head up like a mother examining her child’s mouth for
chocolate smears. Though I knew he was looking in my eyes for signs of a
concussion, having him that close still made my heart beat a bit faster.
He was definitely easy on the eyes. Something about him reminded me of
Robin... The calm strength, the feeling that he’d look after me, the way
I felt tiny near him even though I’m rather tall and muscular for a girl.
Like some hero out of a romance novel or comic book. Standing there, our bodies
inches apart, his hand on my chin, I felt something Robin never made me
feel. With Nightwing I felt...
...15. I felt
like the teenager I was, awkward, clumsy, gawky, not good enough. Nothing
like I felt when I was with Robin. With him it was like I was invincible,
like I could beat the hell out of Two-Face and still be beautiful. I
sighed and thought to myself, Damn, Steph, you’ve got it so bad for Robin,
you can’t even feed a nice healthy fantasy.
“Just peachy,” I
said. I stepped back and took a deep breath.
“So.” Nightwing
crossed his arms and planted his feet in the official male “I mean business”
stance.
“So.” I copied him
and stared back.
“You go around
tackling vigilantes every night, or am I special?”
“I need some info.”
“Uh huh.”
“On Robin.” I
was holding myself so tense I thought I would start to shake. All the
humor went out of Nightwing’s face.
“Oh really.”
Ooo, not a nice tone. Better tread lightly Steph, I told myself, you’re
no longer amusing him.
“Well, yeah.
See, I heard you were gonna be in town, and I knew you were going to meet Robin
at Milton’s Tower and the only way to get up there is from here and I thought
maybe I could catch you so we could talk and I... well...” Outside I was at a
loss for words, but inside I was screaming at myself to stop babbling and just
spit it out. I felt like my body had been taken over by a complete
dork. Nightwing still stood there, looking about as pliable as a concrete
block. I had no choice but to continue. I’d dug my hole this far...
“And uh, that’s why
I was waiting here for you and that’s when I decided to surprise--”
“Tackle.”
“...tackle
you. I... I just wanted to... to talk.”
“About Robin.”
“Well, yeah,
mostly.” Nightwing scowled some more at me. Oh boy, maybe it wasn’t such a
good idea after all.
“Personal
questions,” he said, making it a statement instead of a question.
“Sort of.”
“Why didn’t you go
to any of the members of Young Justice?”
“Because he trusts
you. Because the little he does say about you is so complimentary I’m
surprised you don’t have a halo. Buuuut, mostly because uh, I didn’t
think about it.” At his reaction I felt a small glimmer of hope. Oh good,
that got a smile. Wear him down Steph.
“Come on,
'Wing. You probably know how hard it is for us costumed freaks to have a
relationship. I mean, those Titans you worked with are gorgeous, you
*had* to have dated at least one of them. Wonder Girl maybe? Or
that alien with the big hair and even bigger boobs....”
“Spoiler....”
“You seem pretty
tight with the Bat people, maybe Batgirl. I haven’t heard about her since I was
a kid though, but I hear she’s a hottie!”
“Stephanie...
“Or Huntress!
She acts like she’s got some major pent-up sexual aggression. I’d be
scared if I were you though, she looks like she would rip your--”
“STEPH.” He
stuck his hand over my mouth. “I get the point.” I tried to bite him but
all I got was a mouthful of glove that tasted like he’d been playing in the
sewers. He smirked as I pushed it away and wiped my mouth on my sleeve.
“Serves you right.”
“Aww, did I hit a
nerve, Nightwing?”
“And what makes you
think that?”
“You stopped me on
Huntress.”
“That doesn’t mean
a thi--”
“Don’t you ever
watch TV? People always revert to extreme reactions when a detail is
mentioned that they don’t want discussed.”
“Maybe I just got
tired of hearing you babble.”
“And maybe you and
Huntress did the
“And maybe you’re
getting on my last nerve,” he said, giving me the same look Robin gave me
whenever I’d crossed the line between cute and annoying. I smirked.
“I knew it,” I
said, feeling rather smug.
Nightwing bent over
and leaned in my face.
“And maybe I *know*
the cliché of someone interrupting the accuser when they get too close to the
truth and I did on purpose when you named the least likely subject just to
throw you off.”
“Oh yeah, well...
shut up.” I blew in his face. He straightened up and smirked at
me. I briefly wondered if he had any idea how obnoxious he was.
“Awww, I hit a
nerve?” I had to laugh. Oh yeah. He knew.
We stood there a
few minutes in silence. I knew it was time to get to the point.
“Look. I need
you to help me out here, Nightwing, because I’ve got no one else. I’m in
a relationship with a guy who I can only see at night in hidden areas with his
mask on. I mean, I don’t even know what his hands feel like because he
needs to keep his gloves on in case Killer Croc surprises us or
something. The quality time I *do* spend with him is usually used up
fighting some baddie and saving the city. Sure, that’s a rush, but it’s not
exactly dinner and a movie. It’s not a situation I can talk about to Mom or
*anyone* about. I know what you’re thinking, you fought long and hard for
Robin and now you’re bitching? I’m not, I swear I’m not. It’s
just...”
I sighed and shoved
my hand through my hair. This soul-baring stuff was nerve wracking.
I gathered strength and continued.
“Robin is about the
only good thing I’ve got in my life right now and I plan to hang on as long as
possible. At first I thought it was because he was cute and the direct
opposite of my dad, but somewhere along the way it became more than that.
I’m not going to say I love him, but it’s damn close and I don’t even know his
first name!”
“You know he can’t
tell you that.”
“Yeah, I know, I
know. I would never even ask him. But to feel that strongly for
someone and not even know what kind of music they listen to or what their
favorite food is... that’s just *asking* for therapy bills!”
The right side of
Nightwing’s mouth quirked up.
“Why haven’t you
asked *him* all of this?”
“Weeeell... I mean
to, but something always comes up.”
“Too busy playing
tonsil hockey?”
I shot him a look
but his expression didn’t change. Robin was SO dead. I flushed,
more in embarrassment than anger.
“NO, not
always. *You* try stopping crazy thugs on snowmobiles while some creature
eats the sun or escaping getting blown to bits by my father’s idiot henchman
and see how often it comes up! What am I supposed to do, stop him in the
middle of a battle with Lynx and go, 'Hey Rob! Elvis or The Beatles?'”
We both grinned at
the image and stood there a moment. I took a step forward.
“Please,
Nightwing? Even if we did talk, there are some things I can’t ask him and
I... I need someone to talk to. Please?”
Nightwing turned to
look at the
“Huh?”
“I said I can’t,
Steph.”
I told myself, “I’m
not gonna cry, I’m not gonna cry...” You know how you never realize how
bad you need something until you can’t have it, like air or water or Dove
chocolate? I didn’t know how much I needed him to say yes until he turned
me down. I realized I wasn’t just asking for love advice, I was asking
for a friend. I looked down as he continued.
“It’s not that I
don’t want to tell you things about Robin, though I doubt I’d be much
good. I just can’t take the risk. Not just for Robin’s sake, but
yours. You can’t pretend this is like a normal relationship where you can
come to me as his big brother of sorts and have me give you advice. Me
letting you know anything that he hasn’t told you already not only breaches
whatever trust he has in me, but presents a serious security risk to him,
Batman, even me.”
“But I wouldn’t...”
Nightwing smiled at me like you would an eager but ignorant child.
“I know you
wouldn’t, not intentionally. But say I tell you something he likes or
some other personal detail. You could take that and figure out who he
really is and put him in danger.” I blushed.
“I’m not *that*
good of a detective.”
“I know you’re
not. But you do seem to have a rather large supply of dumb luck.”
“The more I talk to
you the more I wish I’d clobbered you earlier.”
Nightwing grinned
and then grew serious again.
“It shows Robin
cares a lot about you if he’s let you in this far, Steph. Let him go at his own
pace. If you force his hand, he might have to choose and there’s a chance
he’ll pick the job over you. You of all people know how much being Robin
means to him. You knew the rules when you entered the game, Steph.
You either play by them or take your ball and go home.”
I stared at him for
a few long moments. Then, I took a deep breath and blew a raspberry as I
exhaled.
"Nightwing,
did I ever tell you how much I hate it when men use sports references to prove
a point in serious discussions?”
“I’ll keep that in
mind during our next heart to heart.”
“Well. I just
wasted about 30 minutes of your life, didn’t I?”
“Nah. I
figure seeing you whack your head on that pipe makes up for everything.”
“I thought all you
heroes were supposed to be gentlemen,” I said as I scowled at him.
“Nope, just a
vicious rumor. But shhh, don’t tell or I’ll never get a date again.”
I held out my hand
to shake. Nightwing leaned over and, in a gesture worthy of any medieval
knight, kissed the back of my hand. Ohhhh, I thought, I don’t think
he has to worry about not getting any dates... ever.
Still bent over,
Nightwing looked up at me and smiled in a slow, sexy way that about singed my
eyelashes. Suddenly I thought, Oh no, did I say that out loud?
Or is he doing that mind-reading thing? OhgodOhgodOhgodOhgod...
Straightening up,
he let go of my hand and smoothed back his hair.
“Well Steph, I’ve
got a date with your boyfriend and you should get to bed.” I bit back a
naughty reply.
“Not hardly.”
“I tried.”
Walking to the edge of the roof, he got ready to shoot off a grappling hook and
fly off into the night.
“Nightwing?!?” I
exclaimed, suddenly desperate to catch him before he left. He lowered his
arm.
“Yes?”
“One
question? Please?”
“Steph, I
thought...”
“I know, just one
thing? You don’t have to answer, okay?”
“All right.
One question.”
I took a deep
breath.
“What color are his
eyes?”
Nightwing stared at
me for such a long time I had to control the urge to squirm. I tensed
myself, waiting for the answer, expecting him to say he couldn’t tell me, it
was too much of a risk, I might see him one day and knowing the color of his
eyes would make all the difference and I’d recognize him and...
“They’re blue.”
“Thank you,
Nightwing.”
“You’re welcome,
Steph.”
He reached over and
ruffled my hair in a brotherly gesture that made me want to cry.
“If you need me,
just to talk about life in general...”
“Don’t worry
Nightwing, I’ll find you.”
“You do that.
Well, I need to make my exit. Normally this is where I’d utter those
overused Bogart lines, but for you I’ll show some class for once and just
leave.”
He flashed that
grin one more time and then slipped away into the darkness. Oh yeah,
I thought, niiiiiiice butt.