DISCLAIMER: All characters contained within are copyright (c)2000 by DC Comics 
Inc. and are used for non-profit, fan fiction entertainment purposes only. No 
copyright infringement is intended. This original piece of fan fiction is 
copyright (c)2000 by C.W. Blaine. All questions and comments should be directed 
to the address above.

Author's note: This piece of fiction relies heavily on, and borrows from, New 
Titans #100, published in August, 1993, which was written by the supremely 
talented Marv Wolfman. It is not the author's intention to infringe upon Mr. 
Wolfman's intellectual property rights.

***

GOTHAM TALES: My Heart Goes Out To You
by C. W. Blaine (darth_yoshi@yahoo.com)

***

The man, dressed in the chauffeur's outfit stood straight and proper, but there 
was a troubling look on his face. Alfred Pennyworth handed the yellow envelope 
to Barbara Gordon and then declined an invitation to come inside for tea. "I 
have to get back to Master Bruce...he is not feeling well today," he said 
softly.

'Not feeling well' was a polite way of saying that Bruce Wayne's back was broken 
and perhaps his spirit. The villain Bane, in his campaign to take control of 
Gotham City, had managed to defeat an exhausted Batman in combat. Barbara stared 
down at the wheelchair that contained her once athletic frame and pondered what 
sort of support she could provide her friend. She decided that it would be 
best to wait, to allow the gravity of his situation to sink in, before offering 
any words of encouragement.

Barbara thanked Alfred and closed the door. She wheeled over to the special 
elevator that would take her to the top of her townhouse and examined the 
envelope. It was an invitation, she could tell, and an expensive one at that. 
Perhaps an old congressional colleague was inviting her to a ball or something. 
She saw her name imprinted on the front, flipped it over and used her thumbnail 
to unseal it. She pulled out the invitation, unfolded it and then gasped as she 
read it:

You are cordially invited to
attend the wedding of Koriand'r
of Tamaran, and Richard
Grayson of Gotham City to be
held at Twelve o'Clock Noon at
the home of Terrance and Donna
Troy-Long, 14218 Athena Dr.,
Princeton, N.J.
Reception and dinner will
immediately follow the ceremony.
R.S.V.P.

She felt slightly ill and once the elevator reached the top floor, she hurriedly 
opened the gate and wheeled for the bathroom where the contents of her stomach 
ended up on the floor.

***

Barbara had been locked away in her home for days, trying to isolate herself 
from what was going on outside and around her. She had heard through her father 
that the Batman was back after being absent for several nights. Barbara knew 
better. It was not Bruce Wayne who was stalking the rooftops of Gotham City, but 
a virtual unknown, not even a member of the "family". She shook her head; she 
doubted Dick even knew what was going on, and if he did, he apparently did not 
care. 

What was it that had driven such a wedge between father and son that even when 
the father might be dying, he still would not reach out. Was it just a 
difference in philosophies, as Dick had told her, or was it something more? Did 
Bruce really disagree with Dick's relationship with Kory, and that was the 
reason he was not speaking to Dick? Deep inside, Barbara knew that it was that 
relationship, the much publicized coupling of Dick Grayson with the alien 
supermodel, that had made her stop talking to him.

Occasionally, yes, he would send her an e-mail from his computer at Titans 
Tower, but that was about the extent of their relationship now. Their chance had 
passed them by when she chose to ignore his attempts, feeling that there would 
be plenty of time for romance at a later point. She had wanted her doctorate so 
badly, but when she got it, she could only celebrate with her father. Her 
current boyfriend, at the time, was too busy cheating on her to attend a victory 
celebration.

She hit the button on the remote control and switched to the local news channel, 
which was broadcasting the wedding live. Richard Grayson, heir to the Wayne 
Fortune, was big news for Gotham. Between his unusual relationship with, 
arguably, the most beautiful super-hero in the free world and his father's 
gallivanting from woman to woman; Gotham society had long ago become addicted to 
the pair. As the camera panned through the crowd, Barbara saw Alfred and Tim 
Drake, the new Robin, seated near the back. 

Dick's identity of Nightwing, the leader of the New Titans, was a closely 
guarded secret and he had gone to a lot of effort to convince the world that 
Kory, Koriand'r, was in love with Dick and not Nightwing, even though Starfire 
and Nightwing had been a couple at one time. Barbara saw Wally West, the famous 
Flash, seated next to Roy Harper, the Titan once known as Speedy. The super-
heroes present would not be considered unusual, since Kory was a Titan. There 
were very few people there for Dick, besides Alfred and Tim.

Bruce had been in no condition to make it.

Barbara waited for the wedding to start and chewed on a particularly disturbing 
hangnail. She was doing her best to seem uninterested, to be distant, in an 
effort to convince herself that this did not bother her. Deep inside, though, 
she knew she wanted to be the one walking down the aisle to the young man with 
the charming smile and passionate eyes. But it wouldn't be, and it was her 
fault.

Not because she wanted a career or to go to school, but because she had 
convinced herself a long time ago that Dick's attraction had been to Batgirl, 
not Barbara Gordon. It was the costume, with the big yellow bat on the chest, 
the knee high boots with the 4 inch heels; all of it part of some young super-
hero's wet dream. He had never wanted her.

Then she remembered how he would find excuses to come over at night to ask for 
tutoring on subjects she knew, just knew, he was having no trouble in. The 
valentines from a "secret admirer" when she was still in high school, complete 
with flowers and a man in a gorilla suit reading her poetry. The long nights 
standing watch on the waterfront when he would give her his cape to keep her 
warm and she would always suggest they would do better if they huddled together. 
The night they made love for the first time....

She sighed and wiped a tear from her eye, cursing herself for trying to lay the 
blame on him. It hadn't been that way at all, had it, she told herself. No, it 
was when the Joker shot him and Batman had forbid him from being Robin. She knew 
he wouldn't give it up for long. But, he had been shot, and she had always 
thought of him as being invincible. She couldn't bear to lose someone else she 
loved....

The announcer stated that the wedding was about to start and Barbara heard the 
wedding march begin. Dick stood at one end, clad in a dark blue tuxedo, his hair 
slightly mussed by the wind. Then the camera panned to the bride.

Barbara had to remind herself to breathe.

Kory was from the planet Tamaran and was of golden skin and solid green eyes. 
Her hair, which hung down her back, was the color of autumn leaves. She was 
tall, as tall as the Batman and had a figure that was so perfect, it could only 
be alien. She was beautiful in such a way that it defied word or reason. If 
there was ever a woman that looked like she belonged with the handsome Richard 
Grayson, it was this one.

The camera zoomed in on the Tamaran princess's face and Barbara could see her 
lip was trembling. As she approached Dick, she saw her mouth the words I love 
you, Dick.

He didn't respond.

The minister began the ceremony and Barbara occupied her thoughts with computer 
problems, just to avoid hearing it. She could just turn the television off, she 
knew, but wouldn't that be a disservice to her friend? Was it his fault that she 
was feeling guilty about not having pursued a relationship with this man?

As she tried to answer the questions raging through her skull, she was shocked 
to see the minister explode into flames as he was attacked from above. The 
camera swung into the air and just before it cut out, Barbara saw a red skinned 
woman with flowing black hair, clad, barely, in a leather dominatrix outfit. The 
woman, despite her hellish appearance, was quite beautiful; though not near as 
lovely as Kory. The screen immediately went black and cut to the local news 
desk.

Barbara searched her mind for who the red skinned woman was and the thought hit 
her with suddenness. Raven. The former Titan whose father was the demon Trigon. 
The one who had reformed the Titans after the original group had disbanded.

Barbara cued up the sound to see if she could catch anymore of what was going on 
and silently prayed that Dick would be okay.


He sat there, with his mask off, running his hand through his long hair. Barbara 
tried to remain calm, but every fiber of her being was telling her to proclaim 
her love for him. "So, we don't know how serious her condition is yet. The 
doctors aren't sure of what to do because of her alien physiology. I've hired 
some S.T.A.R Labs people to step in."

Barbara nodded and wheeled a little closer. "That's a smart thing to do."

He looked at her, the small wet formations in his eyes growing larger with each 
passing minute. "Roy Harper called me this morning, saying that the government 
wants me out of the Titans; they want Roy to replace me."

"Is that so bad? Couldn't you use the time off?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, but that's not the point. Why Roy? Why not Wally?"

"You don't think Roy is good enough?"

Dick sighed. "Yes, he's good enough, its just..." he never finished the thought.

"I think it would do you some good to get away from the Titans for awhile," 
Barbara said, inching even closer.

"Then Bruce goes and gives the mantle to a nobody; he doesn't even ask me."

Barbara got close enough to where she could lay a supporting hand on his. "You 
need to be strong for Kory." It was hard to say those words.

"You know what really bothers me, Babs? Its not that I didn't get married, its 
that I'm not as upset as I thought I would be. I want Kory to be safe, I love 
her...I don't know if I'm in love with her." He squeezed Barbara's hand. 

He then got up and kissed her on the cheek and she felt the hot splash of a tear 
as it hit her cheek. It cooled as it ran down the side of her face and she 
watched him step onto the window ledge and then jump.

She wheeled over to the window and saw him swing over to the next window. "Good-
bye my little, Robin. My heart goes out to you."

The End