Hi Kajyn!  This little scene hit me at two in the
morning and I thought you'd like it.  :)  Happy
Birthday!!!

Disclaimer:  Once more I have stolen these characters
in the night and made off with them.  They belong to
DC/Time Warner, but I'm taking them permanently if
TPTB don't catch a clue and write this scene soon…

***

Time Enough
by Smitty (smittywing@yahoo.com)

***

     "If I cover your eyes and say 'Guess Who?' are
you going to whack me with your sticks?"

     Barbara Gordon grinned at the masculine voice
behind her.  He'd given her enough 'shuffling curtain'
notice to let her know he was there, but it was still
considerate of him to announce himself.

     "Go ahead," she told him.  "I'll try to restrain
myself."

     "Oh, good, I feel safer now," he said, placing a
large, callused palm in front of her yes, the side of
his hand brushing her nose.  "Guess who?"

     "Hmm…" Barbara put her hand to her mouth,
pretending to think.  "Aquaman!"

     "Nope."

     "Speedy?"

     "Please!"

     "It wouldn't be my favorite superhero in short
pants, would it?"

     "You're never going to forget that, are you?"
Dick Grayson lamented, dropping his hand.  "Here I go
and bring you a birthday present, and you bring up the
short pants."

     "A present?"  Barbara smiled winningly as she
spun her chair to face him.  "I get a present?"

     "Only if you apologize for the short pants
remark," Dick threatened, holding his hand behind his
back.  "That was mean."

     "I'm sorry those short pants were indelibly
burned into my memory," Barbara admitted.  "Is that
good enough?"

     "I guess," Dick relented, bringing out a
rectangular box from behind his back.  "Happy
Birthday, Gorgeous.  I hope you appreciate all I've
done to bring you this…threw my balance off like a
dead weight.  Oh wait…it *is* a dead weight."

     Barbara giggled.  "Well, thank you very much. 
Should we go into the other room to open it?  That way
the computers won't bother us…much."

     "Sure."  Dick followed her into the living room
and helped her move to the more comfortable couch.  He
waited anxiously as she peeled the tape from the pale,
flowery paper.

     "Nice paper," she said, smiling.  "Not like the
fancy sports car and baseball wrappings I used to get.
 Although I do rather miss the funnies…you were the
richest nine-year-old in town, and you still used the
newspaper comics to wrap my birthday present."

     "That was wrapped with love," Dick grumbled. 
"And I think I'm going to use the rest of that girly
paper on Bruce and see if he even notices."

     "That should be a picture," Babs smiled.

     "Did you do anything special today?" Dick asked,
trying to distract himself from her slow-as-molasses
opening of her gift.

     "Dinah and I went shopping and she treated me to
lunch," Barbara replied.  "And Daddy and I went out to
dinner this evening."

     "I wish I could have been there," Dick admitted. 
"I was on duty though.  I'm sorry."

     "You wanted to be at dinner with my father?" Babs
asked, barely smothering her giggles.  "Don't be
sorry, I think you saved us both a lot of unnecessary
pain!"

     "Speaking of unnecessary pain," Dick grumbled. 
"Would you open that like a real person?  Some of us
are getting gray hair over here!"  He reached over and
ripped some of the paper.

     Barbara grinned wickedly and happily tore the
rest of the paper from the package.  "Hmm…no markings
on the box," she mused, turning it around.  "Guess
I'll have to open it."  She pulled open the cardboard
flap and tossed some tissue paper over her shoulder. 
Then, she reached in and drew out a beautiful crystal
clock.       "Oh, Dick…" she breathed.  "This is…"

     "You said you wanted time," he said, softly.  "So
I'm giving you all the time in the world."

     Barbara bit her lip and stared at the small
clock, ticking cheerfully away.  She saw little bits
of her face and red hair reflected in the crystal, and
looking over it, she saw bits of Dick's own face and
hair.  She tilted it, just a little, and watched in
fascination as all the bits ran together and blended
into a beautiful rainbow.  She smiled, a secret little
smile that Dick couldn't interpret and carefully set
the clock aside on a nearby table.

     "Dick," she began.  "The clock is beautiful, and
I'll treasure it always.  But I've got all the time I
need.  See, I've thought about us a lot in the time
we've had apart…and I've realized that you're the only
man I'm ever going to love and if you're too stubborn
to take all the outs I've given you…well, then it's
time for you to come down here and pay your dues,
because all I need for my birthday is you."  Her voice
caught a little in her throat as she finished and she
was suddenly shocked to find tears welling up in her
eyes.

     "Babs?"  Dick leaned forward and captured a piece
of her hair between his fingers, brushing it across
her face.  "Are you saying…?"

     "I'm saying get down here, already," she said
with a smile, grabbing him by the front of his Kevlar
and pulling him down to the couch with her.

     "Whoa!"  Dick hit the back of the couch, knocking
the heavy piece of furniture backward and taking a
floor lamp with them.

     Dick and Babs lay on the back of the sofa, which
was now flush with the floor.  Dick lifted himself and
looked down at the woman trapped beneath him.

     "Um, I should-" he started.

     "You should get down here and finish what you
started," Babs informed him, dragging him back down to
meet her mouth.

     "Yes, ma'am," Dick grinned, before covering her
mouth with his own.

     In the other room, the computer beeped.

     "Babs?  Babs, where are you?"

     Dick's hand reached out and waved around until he
found the switch to the upturned lamp.

     And the room went dark.

***

The End