SquidgeWorld Archive

I'll be the girl with the long blonde hair and the really pale skin, if you care. . .

I don't know why, but every time I hear that song on the radio, it makes me think of Chase. "Wayne". Irony's a kicker, isn't it? She's gone now. I heard that she set up her shrink shingle in Metropolis. They have nearly as many psychopathic bad guys as Gotham does, so I suppose she's doing all right. Lois Lane had better watch out, though - Chase has a weakness for men in capes.

I know exactly how she feels.

I think about that particular night a lot, not because I want to keep remembering Two-Face dying, or my capture - thank goodness that hasn't happened in a while, I'd rather be the rescuer than the rescued - but for what happened after the three of us got back to Wayne Manor. It was the night that we captured the Riddler, and - well, maybe I should go back a bit, to when Chase and I were being held by the Riddler. Yeah, let me start there. . .

**********

It's not even something that I should have been thinking about, I know. I was tied up, imprisoned, tricked by Two-Face and the Riddler. I should have been thinking of a way to get out of there and help him, help . . . her. I felt like an ass, too - for being stupid enough to be captured in the first place. A part of me was proud, sure, that I hadn't stooped to Two-Face's level and let him fall, even though it would have been easier. I knew that Bruce would understand, and be proud of me, too - if I survived.

I should have been focusing on surviving. But part of me, a part that I don't even want to acknowledge right at that moment, wondered who he would choose to save - Chase, or me?

It's a choice that he never had to make, in the end. And he probably never would have made it, even if forced. That's what he said - he was Bruce Wayne *and* Batman. It was enough that he called me his partner that night. It had to be enough.

And he *caught* me. I told him that I knew he would, but - no one's ever caught me before, except my family. I think I felt like him catching me, made him sort of - like *my* family, somehow. I didn't know how to explain it then, and I still don't. But it meant a lot to me.

**********

She slept in one of the thousands of spare bedrooms in this museum that night. Alone. She was exhausted from her kidnapping and the whole ordeal, so Bruce brought her home. I thought - not unexpectedly - that she would be staying in his room, and that bothered me, for some reason. *Some* reason. Yeah, Dick, think about it. But he had Alfred put her in the room beside his, to sleep. Just sleep.

We spent a long time down in the Batcave, just looking around. Riddler had really done a job on it - it was completely destroyed. Computers, monitoring systems, alarms - everything gone. But it could be repaired. It was going to take a lot of work, but we'd do it together. That's what partners do.

Finally, Al came down and politely suggested that we both go to bed, and get to work on it in the morning. That's as close to ordering around as he gets, but we always do whatever he suggests. We all walked up together, and I could feel Bruce watching me walk down the hall to my room, even though my back was turned. When I opened the door to go in, I glanced down, and he was still standing there in the doorway to his room. It made me smile.

**********

I lay in my room, splayed out on top of my bed, staring at the ceiling. I told myself that I was too wired to sleep. I was pumped from the adrenaline, and seeing Two-Face fall, *knowing* he was dead - Bruce was right about that. It wasn't what I thought it would be. I didn't feel vindicated. I didn't feel like I had gotten anything back from him for killing my parents. They were still gone. The only difference was, he wouldn't be able to do that to another kid. At the time, that wasn't very much condolence. I just felt empty.

I remember that I cried some. I hadn't cried a whole lot over them. I hadn't been in a place where I could do it since it happened. Now, with my revenge gone, I was left alone with my memories, and they weren't making me feel any better.

I didn't even realize that I'd fallen asleep until I opened my eyes and saw him there. "Bruce?"

His voice was so soft I could barely hear it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay, I was just dozing." It didn't even occur to me to cover myself up, although I was only wearing boxer shorts. I had developed a fondness for the fireplace in my room, especially at night. I could kick off my covers and still feel warm, even though this place is so big it's pretty drafty at times.

He came closer to me when I said that. "I just wanted to make sure that you were all right."

He was still too far away. I couldn't see his eyes - eyes that I had become very accustomed to seeing, although they were usually obscured - if not by the mask, then by what had hurt him so badly, so long ago. I held out my hand, and he came closer still, finally sitting down on the edge of my bed. I realized that that was the first time that he'd ever been in my bedroom. Al was the one to show me around the place, when I first came, and to help me pick out which room I wanted for my own. I grasped Bruce's hand. He was startled, but he didn't pull away. "I'm fine."

He nodded, and tried for a smile, but didn't quite make it. I realized for the first time that he was truly afraid that night - for Chase, *and* for me. I decided to go for it.

He seemed less startled by the hug than he was by the handclasp. Maybe was getting used to my touchy-feelyness. I've always been like that, still am. Little did he know. . .

For all the looks that he gets in that rubber suit - and I know that we both do, it's not only the car that the chicks dig - the way he looked that night is my favourite way to see him - a silk robe over drawstring pants, bare feet, bare chest, a bit of curly hair peeking through the folds of the robe. He has absolutely no idea what he does to me when I see him looking like that. It makes my knees weak.

My lips brushed gently against his left ear, only barely discernible. He'd only notice it if he wanted to. I was waiting for him to say something, so I'd know.

I moved my head, about two inches away from his incredible mouth. I was so close that I could tell exactly how soft those lips would be. I moved again - another inch and I'd know for sure.

The tiny electronic beep of his watch stopped me in my tracks. We both stopped moving at the same time - making me realize that *he* was moving, too. He was looking at me, and I thought for a moment that he might ignore the signal.

He didn't.

It was the Commissioner, who just wanted to talk to Batman over some business with the Riddler. He didn't need me to come along, so he sent me back to bed. I didn't protest. I was tired. Besides, the last thing that I needed to do that night was watch him get back into that anatomically correct rubber suit.

**********

Chase stayed for a little while after that. She and Bruce tried to make a go of it - they were even engaged for a while, but eventually she realized that she couldn't deal with a secret romance. It wasn't enough that she knew she was dating Batman, but couldn't tell anyone. And she worried about him a lot, too. It's terrible dating a superhero. It must be a lot like being a cop's wife.

They broke it off after a few months. I was willing to deal with it while she was here - I mean, I liked her and everything, and somewhere deep down, I think I probably knew that it wasn't going to last. The only thing that I've ever wanted for Bruce is for him to be happy. I thought he was going to lose it when Chase gave him the ring back, but, although he was sad for a while, he said he realized that it was for the best, for both of them.

So, like I said, it's just the two of us here now - I mean, the three of us. Al is still here, and he'd better say here for a good long time, too. I'd hate to think of what losing him would do to Bruce, and to me. They're both my family.

And one of these nights, when I hear that song, I'm going to tell Bruce exactly why it makes me smile. You see, if Chase hadn't left the way that she did, and if Bruce had been just a little bit more upset about it, I probably never would have gone to his bedroom that night and. . .

Well, that's another story.