sylph_fics (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sylph_fics) wrote2007-03-26 01:09 am
sylph_fics) wrote2007-03-26 01:09 am
Entry tags:
- dc,
- dick,
- dick/roy,
- dinah,
- duncanverse,
- fanfic,
- roy,
- slade,
- slade/dinah
Duncanverse Finale
((I love Spring Break))
Title: Facing the Future
CoWriter:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
merfilly
Characters: Ensemble, Slade/Dinah, Dick/Roy, Original offspring characters
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4010
Continuity: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven , Part eight
Disclaimer: DC Comics owns
Notes: Finally done!
Worn out from the workout Lian had put him through, Duncan lay there staring at the ceiling, thinking over what he'd heard. He just kept running into all of the same problems. Mom could die trying this--but she could have died just as easily on that mission. It might not kill her but just make her crazy, the way it had his father's first wife--but Dad sounded so certain it wouldn't. They would be taking such a chance--but Mom was getting older, even faster now, and Dad... Dad was Dad. And if he had to live through losing Mom... the black-haired boy shook his head hard. That was going to be very, very not good.
The choice wasn't his, anyway. The choice was Mom's, the risk was hers... and the sooner she did it, if she was really going to--and it sounded like she was--the better. Not that he expected her to go downhill fast now--//please Gods no//--but.
//It's better if she does this now, if she's going to... Which means I've gotta talk to her.// He sighed. //In the morning. Once I've gotten some sleep. If I don't decide I'm insane and she shouldn't even consider doing this while I'm asleep. Which might be better anyway.// He rolled over, buried his face in the pillow, and tried to go to sleep.
*~*~*~
//Okay, mom... where are you?// Duncan moved through the apartment, looking for his mother. The door leading down to the shop was open, and he could catch the sound of her talking pleasantly to the delivery men bringing in the exotics. //Ah-ha. Shoulda known.// He headed that way, leaning on the wall.
Dinah finished signing for everything, gathering the invoices, and headed for her office to make sure everything was entered correctly. One good thing about leaving the League had been a little more time to run her business personally.
Duncan trailed her into the office, leaning against the doorframe.
"Duncan." Her voice was cheerful, not showing any sign of the pain she had to still be feeling.
"Hey mama..." he tried not to look guilty over the eavesdropping that he really hadn't intended, but seemed to be making a habit of. "Can I talk to you?"
"Of course." She settled in behind her desk, laying the invoices down and giving him her undivided attention. "What is it?"
"I came to talk to you yesterday, but you and dad were already talking..."
A flicker of emotion crossed her eyes. "Yes, we had a long talk yesterday."
Duncan nodded. "Mom... I'm not a kid anymore, really. I've got my team and everything, and... I was kind-of thinking about going ahead and moving out to the Tower soon..."
She cocked her head to one side, not looking especially pleased. "Why?"
Duncan sighed softly. "I know it's not like 'Ry or Hermes couldn't have me to the Tower in a couple minutes at most, but... you and dad deserve the chance to really be together, now that he's cleared, without me being in the way, and Cer's been pushing me to take more on, now that he's not so suspicious of me. And..." he let himself flush slightly, looking at his mother from half-dropped eyes, "it's kind-of... weird... to have my girl in the house with my parents, and..."
Dinah took a long, deep breath. "You're only sixteen," she said, trying to be steady, but her voice broke. "Didn't expect this just yet...but, I should have..."
Duncan went to his mother, pulling her tight into his arms. "It's okay, momma, it's okay... You know I'm not like most kids my age..."
She gave a small laugh, fighting back the tears that wanted to spill. "I know. I know." She pulled herself together and away enough to look at him. "You want to go...you go. It's not like you wouldn't have a room here anyway."
He held on to her, hugging her. "I know I will, momma. It'll be like you've got another college kid, dropping in on the weekends and stuff, like sis used to."
"True. Only...try to be around a little more often than she did? At least at first?" She loved Lian as much as if she were Lian's birth mother, but the bond to her son ran deeper, forged in the years of hiding him from his father.
"Sure mama. I can make the trip quicker, after all, long as my girl's not mad at me..."
Dinah laughed softly, before hugging him very tight, holding onto him.
He settled against her, holding her close. "I love you, mom. ...'S wierd. I might see more of dad than you, if he keeps coming out to run us ragged..."
"He will." She ran her hand over his hair. "Go on, Duncan. You need to get your buddies to help you pack, and I've got invoices and payroll."
"Okay, mama." He pulled away, kissed her cheek, and headed back upstairs, breathing a sigh of relief. //Didn't have to tell her I was eavesdropping... but I think I'd better go find dad.//
Dinah settled back to work, trying very hard to ignore the tears tat kept blurring her vision, as she realized her only baby bird was leaving the nest.
Duncan went looking for his father, hoping he was actually still home for a change, and found the man cleaning one of his guns, a task Slade often saved for when Dinah was down in her shop. "Dad?"
"Duncan."
"I... went to talk to mom about maybe moving out to the Tower with my team, and I think I upset her..."
Slade's steps carried him down to the shop and directly into the office, where he closed the door, and went directly to Dinah's side, drawing her close when he saw the tears. She leaned into him, holding on tightly, as she let herself just be a mother for a few minutes.
Slade's hand ran over her back, her hair, keeping her close while he considered how best to deal with his son about this later.
She finally got herself under control and looked up. "Duncan is moving out, Slade. Wants to be near his team, mostly."
"He mentioned as much." Slade didn't sound particularly impressed, either.
She smiled softly. "Was wondering if you had gotten telepathy on top of all the things you can do," she told him, voice softly teasing, even though her head was starting to hurt from being upset while controlling the pain at sitting up. "Well, he's more than mature enough."
"Apparently not, and hardly."
Dinah gave a sniff, but smiled. "I can't stand in his way, Slade. And he'll be here to visit...but most of his life is there."
"I know that, Dinah. All it takes is seeing him with them to understand that... and I also know you won't stand in his way. Neither will I." //We're just going to discuss his sense of the appropriate.//
She nodded, running her fingers over his chest briefly. "Well, let me finish this mess, so I can go lay back down."
Slade nodded and released her, settling back against the wall of the office until she finished.
She turned back to the computer, putting the last of the numbers in, then dealing with payroll. A whimsical thought crossed her mind, bringing a smile to her lips, that with Duncan living at the Tower, she could afford to give her clerks a raise off what she'd save on food. Slade saw the smile curve her lips and wondered, but didn't ask, waiting for her to finish her work.
When she turned the computer to standby, she turned and reached toward him, indulging herself in having him back in her life by letting him help her get up.
He moved to her, easily helping her up. "Are you going to be stubborn and insist on climbing the stairs by yourself, or let me help you?"
Dinah gave him a look of complete amusement. "Slade, when has my being stubborn ever kept you from doing just what you intended in the first place?"
"Most of the last fifteen years." The words were out before he could bite them back.
She faltered, then moved very close to him, her face burying in his chest. "I didn't know then..." //Didn't know I could be this free with you, that you really, truly loved me like this, that you'd fight tooth and nail to protect another child from ever being harmed like the others.//
His hand stroked down her hair, "I know, Dinah. I... am sorry. Thoughtless of me, if true." He kept her close, holding her possessively against him for long moments before lifting her into his arms.
She curled into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder, as she let her eyes close and just accepted that she could never, ever make up to him what she had stolen from him.
He carried her up to bed, completely ignoring his son's presence, and laid down with her, kissing her gently. "Dinah... I've apparently become a little too accustomed to giving you the truth. You didn't need to hear that."
"Yes, I did. I need to be reminded of what I did to us," she said, her voice soft. "All the time I stole from us, when I have so little to give you..."
He shook his head once, firmly, fingers laying lightly over her lips. "You were doing your best to protect our son. I do understand."
She kissed his finger, his conversation with her the day before preying on her mind. As she tumbled over her answer to him, her eyes went wide. "Oh, Slade! That little...." She broke off into half amused, half angry cursing in Vietnamese at their son.
Slade cocked his head curiously, his lips curving at a few of the more interesting insults. "What, Dinah?"
"He heard me! He heard what I told you!" It clicked fully in place that Duncan's sudden push to move out had to be prompted by her promise to consider Slade's option when their son was grown.
"And decided to push, apparently..." A few interesting German phrases ran through his own mind. "The boy makes a habit of interfering. Is he that much of a meddler in everyone's lives, or just his parents?"
Dinah laughed softly. "Comes by it honestly." She met his gaze. "Look at all the meddling you did in Titans' lives."
//I did not.// "Testing. Not meddling."
"Riiight."
Slade snorted dismissively. "I can think of a few times in your own history, little bird..."
"Me?" She touched her hand to her chest, looking as innocent as she could, before laughing with a deep rich sound, until her mending guts protested.
"Yes, you." He smiled with her, relieved to see her coming out of the depression he and his son had put her into, then stroked his hand over her side gently as she tried to stop laughing.
She snuggled into him once the pain subsided, her eyes closing. "Tired, my love," she murmured. "Still so very tired."
"Go to sleep, love. I'm here."
She relaxed slowly, making sure to touch him even as she shifted to find a comfortable, flat way to lie so her healing could continue. Slade settled with her, hand on her.
***
Getting Duncan moved was fairly easy, between his family and his team. Dinah was visibly strong, accepting the need to move as part of growing up. The fact Duncan had been sore as hell the day after that little talk had been a subject of discussion between her and Slade, but she had at last conceded his right to counsel their child on appropriate timing, while carefully not calling Slade on his upsetting her two days running.
The kid in question hadn't minded the lesson, though it had been less about timing by that point than about his meddling in his parents' affairs again. Those vietnamese curses of his mother's had carried fairly well, after all. He hadn't even made the arguments defending himself he'd thought up during the rest of the day.
When the door shut on the last of the hugs they had passed, Dinah turned away from the door and started back toward the bedroom. She was grateful Slade had decided, under her strong urging, to go help Duncan settle in, so she could be alone, and just spend the rest of the day looking over the memory books she had made over the years.
***
Duncan had been settled in at the Tower for almost three months, and Dinah back on active duty for two, when she came home very early one morning and went straight to him. He could smell the blood and sweat f a fight on her, could see the shaken look in her eyes, as she moved to sit on his lap, knowing he would forgive her for the muck still on her armor.
"What is it, my little bird?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her, body language suddenly radiating possessiveness.
"Gypsy..." She had taught the younger illusionist so much over the years Gypsy had run with her team, had been fond of her for the fact that J'onn adored her. "She got hurt, so badly, tonight."
His hand stroked down her back, keeping her close, understanding the bond there. "Tell me."
Dinah looked down, and her entire body language was one of failure. "Didn't move fast enough..."
"Dinah..." the tone was mildly chiding as he stroked down her back. "The girl is going to recover?"
"She's stable now," Dinah said softly, a far away look in her eyes. "I had to tell J'onn. I had to watch him pace in the corridor, not knowing if she'd survive, watch him try so hard to keep her mind tied to his so she wouldn't slip away from him."
"It is not your fault," he told her calmly. "Your team is professional, and the girl not inexperienced. People get hurt in this lifestyle. You know this."
She looked back at him. "When I saw J'onn, I thought of you, of us. He's going to outlive us all, from my team, unless his noble impulses get him killed. But seeing him worry over Gypsy...I know when he loses her, going on will be harder than when he lost Barry or Ollie or any of his teammates."
"From what I know, he practically considers her a child... that does hit much harder than the loss of friends or allies." His voice was almost disturbingly level.
She laid her hand on his face, meeting his eyes levelly. "I want your offer. Not for myself, not for Duncan, not even for my Boy-o, though god knows that is a factor." She leaned into him then. "I don't ever want to leave you alone again, if there is any way to head it off."
He folded his hand up over hers, sliding his fingers through hers, nodding. "All right, Dinah. We'll see it done."
She then pressed close to him, closing her eyes against it all.
He held her close, mildly regretting that the girl had been hurt, but well pleased with the fact that Dinah had accepted the offer he made her. Eventually he lifted her and carried her to the shower, stripping away the bloodied costume and pulling her into the spray.
She gave herself over to him, letting him get her clean. About the time he rinsed her hair, she seemed to shake it free, and then her impulses turned to reminding herself just how alive they both were, which suited him perfectly well.
***
The day the League finally sucked up their collective pride to come ask her to reconsider her resignation, was the day after Dinah and Slade returned from an extended honeymoon. She was still very bright and cheerful as she opened the door to admit Starfire, just as glad Slade had gone to see Joey for the day. She watched Starfire take in the pale, pale hair, felt her watching the way she moved, and almost smiled as she picked up half a dozen other indications that Starfire could see the changes.
Starfire studied the woman that was her daughter's favorite aunt with wary concern. "Dinah?"
"Yes, Kory?" Dinah met her eyes evenly.
"Is... all well?"
"Very." She smiled then. "Come on, I'll tell you over lemonade."
Kory followed her in, unable to keep from watching her warily, but the offer was as familiar as the smile, and there seemed to be no madness in her eyes.
Dinah poured them both a glass, pulled out the kind of cookies Kory preferred and sat opposite her. "You heard about Gypsy last month? And me, three months before that?"
"And Duncan before that, yes, of course."
Dinah nodded. "I was faced with just how Slade was going to handle my mortality. And he... had been researching his serum."
Kory gave a soft sigh, shaking her head. "Insane. The man is insane--I don't care if it was successful, it was still insane."
"Possibly. But he was very sure, before he ever offered it to me, that I would be okay," she stressed. "And between not being fast enough for Gypsy, and seeing how it shook J'onn...I couldn't say no."
Kory sighed, reaching across the table to take one of her hands. "All right. I... can see why..." Watching her own friends aging so quickly compared to her people was beginning to be a source of pain, but at least her daughter's fathers were not leaving her so swiftly, and she had Donna.
Dinah squeezed, already careful of the strength involved. "And, as he so eloquently put it, I'll be around to keep him in check, with at least my smart mouth if nothing else."
That made Kory laugh, rippling amusement rolling through the room. "You do seem good at that."
"So, how have the kids been? We only just got back from the honeymoon yesterday."
"They've been fine. Handling themselves very well."
Dinah nodded, settling back to talk to the other woman, reassuring Kory that she was, very much in control of her new gifts, until Kory finally remembered why she had come, to reinvite her to the League.
Kory tilted her head at her, "I did have more of a reason for coming than to offer my congratulations on your wedding again..."
"Oh?" Dinah got more guarded. "Why then?"
"I was asked to come and ask you to come back to the League."
Dinah snorted. "I resigned, remember? My choice to leave."
"I know. And I was asked to ask you to come back, so I have."
The small woman considered, then shook her head. "Tell them...tell them no, that I have a life with too many calls on it right now anyway."
"All right. I do wish you would come back, but... I can understand."
"Thank you, Kory. I'll be there in a pinch...but the League is more than strong enough these days."
"True enough... but your skill is missed. I will let them know," as she reached for another cookie.
"Thank you." Dinah was just as pleased to have free time, considering Slade and she were hammering out a compromise between their ideals that involved work a lot like what the Birds did, for profit, once his contract with the government was up.
Kory dropped that topic, turning the conversation back towards the children.
*~*~*~*~
'Ry skidded to a halt at the building door, Duncan in her arms, and the two headed back through the shop and up--he'd missed his parents more than he'd really thought he would. He called out as he unlocked the door, "Mom, Dad? Decent? Or should we go away for a bit?"
"In here, Duncan," his mother called from the gym. They headed that way, and Duncan froze in his tracks in the doorway.
Dinah looked at the pair, a soft smile touching her lips at the shock on her son's face. "Something wrong, Duncan?"
"No... no." He was back into motion in another moment, going to his mother with a smile on his lips as he hugged her tightly. "I guess I shoulda known when you were gone so long..."
"Yeah, considering your little manipulation of events," she teased him, hugging him tight.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, mom..." smile on his lips completely ruining the attempt at an innocent look. As did the fact that he pulled her tighter against him for a moment. "So glad you're okay, mama..."
"Perfectly fine, Duncan. Your father took damn good care." She let go of him to look at Mercury. "So, should I keep the hair, or darken it?"
'Ry giggled, "Streak it, mom. You know... orange and blue. Tweak the League a little more."
That sent Dinah into a long fit of laughter, showing just how happy and de-stressed she really was now. Slade chuckled, flashing an amused smile at the girl that would very likely be his daughter-in-law, and Duncan followed his mom right into that fit of laughter.
"I think, 'Ry, I'll leave that to the new armor I had made up," Dinah finally said.
'Ry shrugged. "Okay. Leave the streaks to me."
"Good idea."
***
Dinah hoped Kory had not gotten to Roy in the three days since her return as she stood on the porch and knocked. Roy pulled the door open after a couple moments, stopped, stared at her, and his lips thinned at the pretty unmistakable proof of how thoroughly she belonged to the man he still really didn't like.
"Hi, boy-o," she said softly.
"...Hi, Dinah." //And he'd thought the orange-and-blue of the flowers at the wedding was bad!// "C'mon in. You look happy..."
She walked with him, slipping against his waist just like things were normal. "Damn happy, Boy-o. Saw D yesterday and he's doing great."
He wrapped his arm down around her, pulling her close, stopping to turn and run his other hand through her much paler hair. "Di, this... Weren't you taking a hell of a risk?"
She hugged him tight. "Maybe. But not without him being pretty damn sure it wasn't that bad of one. Roy, he let scientists analyze the stuff."
"He... what?" Roy was... stunned would be putting it mildly.
"He had a theory, got a scientist who owed him, ran the theory through some tests...all under his eye, and all notes absolutely destroyed."
"Been busy with that, then..." Roy just shook his head, holding her close, refusing to be relieved by this.
She nuzzled into him. "Roy...after seeing what Gypsy's close call did to J'onn's frame of mind...I could not risk doing that to him, to Duncan...to you."
Roy sighed and pulled her closer, somehow. "Not gonna argue with you, just... I... I'm glad you came through it okay..."
"Perfectly fine..." she told him. "So, catch me up from while I was gone?"
Roy nodded, let her go long enough for them both to sit down, and started filling her back in.
It did not take them long before she was curled up against his chest, and they were just telling each other stories. Dick wandered in before long and settled against Roy, just listening.
When Dinah was ready to go, she had to pause, and then hug both her boys tight. "Just think where we've wound up, from me running blind all those years ago..."
Dick hugged her close, "Turned out pretty good... and we turned out a few damn good heroes, too." //Lian, Duncan, Mar'i...// The daughters of his heart and the boy he loved like the son he'd never had.
"Including one who will still claim not to be," she teased, kissing Roy's cheek.
Dick just shook his head, laughing. "Of course."
The small woman walked out then, leaving Roy to pull his lover close. "It's damned insane," he murmured against Dick's ear. "But it's done."
"Yeah, it is... Never would have seen this coming, all those years ago, but it looks like it's worked out..."
Title: Facing the Future
CoWriter:
merfilly Characters: Ensemble, Slade/Dinah, Dick/Roy, Original offspring characters
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4010
Continuity: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven , Part eight
Disclaimer: DC Comics owns
Notes: Finally done!
Worn out from the workout Lian had put him through, Duncan lay there staring at the ceiling, thinking over what he'd heard. He just kept running into all of the same problems. Mom could die trying this--but she could have died just as easily on that mission. It might not kill her but just make her crazy, the way it had his father's first wife--but Dad sounded so certain it wouldn't. They would be taking such a chance--but Mom was getting older, even faster now, and Dad... Dad was Dad. And if he had to live through losing Mom... the black-haired boy shook his head hard. That was going to be very, very not good.
The choice wasn't his, anyway. The choice was Mom's, the risk was hers... and the sooner she did it, if she was really going to--and it sounded like she was--the better. Not that he expected her to go downhill fast now--//please Gods no//--but.
//It's better if she does this now, if she's going to... Which means I've gotta talk to her.// He sighed. //In the morning. Once I've gotten some sleep. If I don't decide I'm insane and she shouldn't even consider doing this while I'm asleep. Which might be better anyway.// He rolled over, buried his face in the pillow, and tried to go to sleep.
*~*~*~
//Okay, mom... where are you?// Duncan moved through the apartment, looking for his mother. The door leading down to the shop was open, and he could catch the sound of her talking pleasantly to the delivery men bringing in the exotics. //Ah-ha. Shoulda known.// He headed that way, leaning on the wall.
Dinah finished signing for everything, gathering the invoices, and headed for her office to make sure everything was entered correctly. One good thing about leaving the League had been a little more time to run her business personally.
Duncan trailed her into the office, leaning against the doorframe.
"Duncan." Her voice was cheerful, not showing any sign of the pain she had to still be feeling.
"Hey mama..." he tried not to look guilty over the eavesdropping that he really hadn't intended, but seemed to be making a habit of. "Can I talk to you?"
"Of course." She settled in behind her desk, laying the invoices down and giving him her undivided attention. "What is it?"
"I came to talk to you yesterday, but you and dad were already talking..."
A flicker of emotion crossed her eyes. "Yes, we had a long talk yesterday."
Duncan nodded. "Mom... I'm not a kid anymore, really. I've got my team and everything, and... I was kind-of thinking about going ahead and moving out to the Tower soon..."
She cocked her head to one side, not looking especially pleased. "Why?"
Duncan sighed softly. "I know it's not like 'Ry or Hermes couldn't have me to the Tower in a couple minutes at most, but... you and dad deserve the chance to really be together, now that he's cleared, without me being in the way, and Cer's been pushing me to take more on, now that he's not so suspicious of me. And..." he let himself flush slightly, looking at his mother from half-dropped eyes, "it's kind-of... weird... to have my girl in the house with my parents, and..."
Dinah took a long, deep breath. "You're only sixteen," she said, trying to be steady, but her voice broke. "Didn't expect this just yet...but, I should have..."
Duncan went to his mother, pulling her tight into his arms. "It's okay, momma, it's okay... You know I'm not like most kids my age..."
She gave a small laugh, fighting back the tears that wanted to spill. "I know. I know." She pulled herself together and away enough to look at him. "You want to go...you go. It's not like you wouldn't have a room here anyway."
He held on to her, hugging her. "I know I will, momma. It'll be like you've got another college kid, dropping in on the weekends and stuff, like sis used to."
"True. Only...try to be around a little more often than she did? At least at first?" She loved Lian as much as if she were Lian's birth mother, but the bond to her son ran deeper, forged in the years of hiding him from his father.
"Sure mama. I can make the trip quicker, after all, long as my girl's not mad at me..."
Dinah laughed softly, before hugging him very tight, holding onto him.
He settled against her, holding her close. "I love you, mom. ...'S wierd. I might see more of dad than you, if he keeps coming out to run us ragged..."
"He will." She ran her hand over his hair. "Go on, Duncan. You need to get your buddies to help you pack, and I've got invoices and payroll."
"Okay, mama." He pulled away, kissed her cheek, and headed back upstairs, breathing a sigh of relief. //Didn't have to tell her I was eavesdropping... but I think I'd better go find dad.//
Dinah settled back to work, trying very hard to ignore the tears tat kept blurring her vision, as she realized her only baby bird was leaving the nest.
Duncan went looking for his father, hoping he was actually still home for a change, and found the man cleaning one of his guns, a task Slade often saved for when Dinah was down in her shop. "Dad?"
"Duncan."
"I... went to talk to mom about maybe moving out to the Tower with my team, and I think I upset her..."
Slade's steps carried him down to the shop and directly into the office, where he closed the door, and went directly to Dinah's side, drawing her close when he saw the tears. She leaned into him, holding on tightly, as she let herself just be a mother for a few minutes.
Slade's hand ran over her back, her hair, keeping her close while he considered how best to deal with his son about this later.
She finally got herself under control and looked up. "Duncan is moving out, Slade. Wants to be near his team, mostly."
"He mentioned as much." Slade didn't sound particularly impressed, either.
She smiled softly. "Was wondering if you had gotten telepathy on top of all the things you can do," she told him, voice softly teasing, even though her head was starting to hurt from being upset while controlling the pain at sitting up. "Well, he's more than mature enough."
"Apparently not, and hardly."
Dinah gave a sniff, but smiled. "I can't stand in his way, Slade. And he'll be here to visit...but most of his life is there."
"I know that, Dinah. All it takes is seeing him with them to understand that... and I also know you won't stand in his way. Neither will I." //We're just going to discuss his sense of the appropriate.//
She nodded, running her fingers over his chest briefly. "Well, let me finish this mess, so I can go lay back down."
Slade nodded and released her, settling back against the wall of the office until she finished.
She turned back to the computer, putting the last of the numbers in, then dealing with payroll. A whimsical thought crossed her mind, bringing a smile to her lips, that with Duncan living at the Tower, she could afford to give her clerks a raise off what she'd save on food. Slade saw the smile curve her lips and wondered, but didn't ask, waiting for her to finish her work.
When she turned the computer to standby, she turned and reached toward him, indulging herself in having him back in her life by letting him help her get up.
He moved to her, easily helping her up. "Are you going to be stubborn and insist on climbing the stairs by yourself, or let me help you?"
Dinah gave him a look of complete amusement. "Slade, when has my being stubborn ever kept you from doing just what you intended in the first place?"
"Most of the last fifteen years." The words were out before he could bite them back.
She faltered, then moved very close to him, her face burying in his chest. "I didn't know then..." //Didn't know I could be this free with you, that you really, truly loved me like this, that you'd fight tooth and nail to protect another child from ever being harmed like the others.//
His hand stroked down her hair, "I know, Dinah. I... am sorry. Thoughtless of me, if true." He kept her close, holding her possessively against him for long moments before lifting her into his arms.
She curled into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder, as she let her eyes close and just accepted that she could never, ever make up to him what she had stolen from him.
He carried her up to bed, completely ignoring his son's presence, and laid down with her, kissing her gently. "Dinah... I've apparently become a little too accustomed to giving you the truth. You didn't need to hear that."
"Yes, I did. I need to be reminded of what I did to us," she said, her voice soft. "All the time I stole from us, when I have so little to give you..."
He shook his head once, firmly, fingers laying lightly over her lips. "You were doing your best to protect our son. I do understand."
She kissed his finger, his conversation with her the day before preying on her mind. As she tumbled over her answer to him, her eyes went wide. "Oh, Slade! That little...." She broke off into half amused, half angry cursing in Vietnamese at their son.
Slade cocked his head curiously, his lips curving at a few of the more interesting insults. "What, Dinah?"
"He heard me! He heard what I told you!" It clicked fully in place that Duncan's sudden push to move out had to be prompted by her promise to consider Slade's option when their son was grown.
"And decided to push, apparently..." A few interesting German phrases ran through his own mind. "The boy makes a habit of interfering. Is he that much of a meddler in everyone's lives, or just his parents?"
Dinah laughed softly. "Comes by it honestly." She met his gaze. "Look at all the meddling you did in Titans' lives."
//I did not.// "Testing. Not meddling."
"Riiight."
Slade snorted dismissively. "I can think of a few times in your own history, little bird..."
"Me?" She touched her hand to her chest, looking as innocent as she could, before laughing with a deep rich sound, until her mending guts protested.
"Yes, you." He smiled with her, relieved to see her coming out of the depression he and his son had put her into, then stroked his hand over her side gently as she tried to stop laughing.
She snuggled into him once the pain subsided, her eyes closing. "Tired, my love," she murmured. "Still so very tired."
"Go to sleep, love. I'm here."
She relaxed slowly, making sure to touch him even as she shifted to find a comfortable, flat way to lie so her healing could continue. Slade settled with her, hand on her.
***
Getting Duncan moved was fairly easy, between his family and his team. Dinah was visibly strong, accepting the need to move as part of growing up. The fact Duncan had been sore as hell the day after that little talk had been a subject of discussion between her and Slade, but she had at last conceded his right to counsel their child on appropriate timing, while carefully not calling Slade on his upsetting her two days running.
The kid in question hadn't minded the lesson, though it had been less about timing by that point than about his meddling in his parents' affairs again. Those vietnamese curses of his mother's had carried fairly well, after all. He hadn't even made the arguments defending himself he'd thought up during the rest of the day.
When the door shut on the last of the hugs they had passed, Dinah turned away from the door and started back toward the bedroom. She was grateful Slade had decided, under her strong urging, to go help Duncan settle in, so she could be alone, and just spend the rest of the day looking over the memory books she had made over the years.
***
Duncan had been settled in at the Tower for almost three months, and Dinah back on active duty for two, when she came home very early one morning and went straight to him. He could smell the blood and sweat f a fight on her, could see the shaken look in her eyes, as she moved to sit on his lap, knowing he would forgive her for the muck still on her armor.
"What is it, my little bird?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her, body language suddenly radiating possessiveness.
"Gypsy..." She had taught the younger illusionist so much over the years Gypsy had run with her team, had been fond of her for the fact that J'onn adored her. "She got hurt, so badly, tonight."
His hand stroked down her back, keeping her close, understanding the bond there. "Tell me."
Dinah looked down, and her entire body language was one of failure. "Didn't move fast enough..."
"Dinah..." the tone was mildly chiding as he stroked down her back. "The girl is going to recover?"
"She's stable now," Dinah said softly, a far away look in her eyes. "I had to tell J'onn. I had to watch him pace in the corridor, not knowing if she'd survive, watch him try so hard to keep her mind tied to his so she wouldn't slip away from him."
"It is not your fault," he told her calmly. "Your team is professional, and the girl not inexperienced. People get hurt in this lifestyle. You know this."
She looked back at him. "When I saw J'onn, I thought of you, of us. He's going to outlive us all, from my team, unless his noble impulses get him killed. But seeing him worry over Gypsy...I know when he loses her, going on will be harder than when he lost Barry or Ollie or any of his teammates."
"From what I know, he practically considers her a child... that does hit much harder than the loss of friends or allies." His voice was almost disturbingly level.
She laid her hand on his face, meeting his eyes levelly. "I want your offer. Not for myself, not for Duncan, not even for my Boy-o, though god knows that is a factor." She leaned into him then. "I don't ever want to leave you alone again, if there is any way to head it off."
He folded his hand up over hers, sliding his fingers through hers, nodding. "All right, Dinah. We'll see it done."
She then pressed close to him, closing her eyes against it all.
He held her close, mildly regretting that the girl had been hurt, but well pleased with the fact that Dinah had accepted the offer he made her. Eventually he lifted her and carried her to the shower, stripping away the bloodied costume and pulling her into the spray.
She gave herself over to him, letting him get her clean. About the time he rinsed her hair, she seemed to shake it free, and then her impulses turned to reminding herself just how alive they both were, which suited him perfectly well.
***
The day the League finally sucked up their collective pride to come ask her to reconsider her resignation, was the day after Dinah and Slade returned from an extended honeymoon. She was still very bright and cheerful as she opened the door to admit Starfire, just as glad Slade had gone to see Joey for the day. She watched Starfire take in the pale, pale hair, felt her watching the way she moved, and almost smiled as she picked up half a dozen other indications that Starfire could see the changes.
Starfire studied the woman that was her daughter's favorite aunt with wary concern. "Dinah?"
"Yes, Kory?" Dinah met her eyes evenly.
"Is... all well?"
"Very." She smiled then. "Come on, I'll tell you over lemonade."
Kory followed her in, unable to keep from watching her warily, but the offer was as familiar as the smile, and there seemed to be no madness in her eyes.
Dinah poured them both a glass, pulled out the kind of cookies Kory preferred and sat opposite her. "You heard about Gypsy last month? And me, three months before that?"
"And Duncan before that, yes, of course."
Dinah nodded. "I was faced with just how Slade was going to handle my mortality. And he... had been researching his serum."
Kory gave a soft sigh, shaking her head. "Insane. The man is insane--I don't care if it was successful, it was still insane."
"Possibly. But he was very sure, before he ever offered it to me, that I would be okay," she stressed. "And between not being fast enough for Gypsy, and seeing how it shook J'onn...I couldn't say no."
Kory sighed, reaching across the table to take one of her hands. "All right. I... can see why..." Watching her own friends aging so quickly compared to her people was beginning to be a source of pain, but at least her daughter's fathers were not leaving her so swiftly, and she had Donna.
Dinah squeezed, already careful of the strength involved. "And, as he so eloquently put it, I'll be around to keep him in check, with at least my smart mouth if nothing else."
That made Kory laugh, rippling amusement rolling through the room. "You do seem good at that."
"So, how have the kids been? We only just got back from the honeymoon yesterday."
"They've been fine. Handling themselves very well."
Dinah nodded, settling back to talk to the other woman, reassuring Kory that she was, very much in control of her new gifts, until Kory finally remembered why she had come, to reinvite her to the League.
Kory tilted her head at her, "I did have more of a reason for coming than to offer my congratulations on your wedding again..."
"Oh?" Dinah got more guarded. "Why then?"
"I was asked to come and ask you to come back to the League."
Dinah snorted. "I resigned, remember? My choice to leave."
"I know. And I was asked to ask you to come back, so I have."
The small woman considered, then shook her head. "Tell them...tell them no, that I have a life with too many calls on it right now anyway."
"All right. I do wish you would come back, but... I can understand."
"Thank you, Kory. I'll be there in a pinch...but the League is more than strong enough these days."
"True enough... but your skill is missed. I will let them know," as she reached for another cookie.
"Thank you." Dinah was just as pleased to have free time, considering Slade and she were hammering out a compromise between their ideals that involved work a lot like what the Birds did, for profit, once his contract with the government was up.
Kory dropped that topic, turning the conversation back towards the children.
*~*~*~*~
'Ry skidded to a halt at the building door, Duncan in her arms, and the two headed back through the shop and up--he'd missed his parents more than he'd really thought he would. He called out as he unlocked the door, "Mom, Dad? Decent? Or should we go away for a bit?"
"In here, Duncan," his mother called from the gym. They headed that way, and Duncan froze in his tracks in the doorway.
Dinah looked at the pair, a soft smile touching her lips at the shock on her son's face. "Something wrong, Duncan?"
"No... no." He was back into motion in another moment, going to his mother with a smile on his lips as he hugged her tightly. "I guess I shoulda known when you were gone so long..."
"Yeah, considering your little manipulation of events," she teased him, hugging him tight.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, mom..." smile on his lips completely ruining the attempt at an innocent look. As did the fact that he pulled her tighter against him for a moment. "So glad you're okay, mama..."
"Perfectly fine, Duncan. Your father took damn good care." She let go of him to look at Mercury. "So, should I keep the hair, or darken it?"
'Ry giggled, "Streak it, mom. You know... orange and blue. Tweak the League a little more."
That sent Dinah into a long fit of laughter, showing just how happy and de-stressed she really was now. Slade chuckled, flashing an amused smile at the girl that would very likely be his daughter-in-law, and Duncan followed his mom right into that fit of laughter.
"I think, 'Ry, I'll leave that to the new armor I had made up," Dinah finally said.
'Ry shrugged. "Okay. Leave the streaks to me."
"Good idea."
***
Dinah hoped Kory had not gotten to Roy in the three days since her return as she stood on the porch and knocked. Roy pulled the door open after a couple moments, stopped, stared at her, and his lips thinned at the pretty unmistakable proof of how thoroughly she belonged to the man he still really didn't like.
"Hi, boy-o," she said softly.
"...Hi, Dinah." //And he'd thought the orange-and-blue of the flowers at the wedding was bad!// "C'mon in. You look happy..."
She walked with him, slipping against his waist just like things were normal. "Damn happy, Boy-o. Saw D yesterday and he's doing great."
He wrapped his arm down around her, pulling her close, stopping to turn and run his other hand through her much paler hair. "Di, this... Weren't you taking a hell of a risk?"
She hugged him tight. "Maybe. But not without him being pretty damn sure it wasn't that bad of one. Roy, he let scientists analyze the stuff."
"He... what?" Roy was... stunned would be putting it mildly.
"He had a theory, got a scientist who owed him, ran the theory through some tests...all under his eye, and all notes absolutely destroyed."
"Been busy with that, then..." Roy just shook his head, holding her close, refusing to be relieved by this.
She nuzzled into him. "Roy...after seeing what Gypsy's close call did to J'onn's frame of mind...I could not risk doing that to him, to Duncan...to you."
Roy sighed and pulled her closer, somehow. "Not gonna argue with you, just... I... I'm glad you came through it okay..."
"Perfectly fine..." she told him. "So, catch me up from while I was gone?"
Roy nodded, let her go long enough for them both to sit down, and started filling her back in.
It did not take them long before she was curled up against his chest, and they were just telling each other stories. Dick wandered in before long and settled against Roy, just listening.
When Dinah was ready to go, she had to pause, and then hug both her boys tight. "Just think where we've wound up, from me running blind all those years ago..."
Dick hugged her close, "Turned out pretty good... and we turned out a few damn good heroes, too." //Lian, Duncan, Mar'i...// The daughters of his heart and the boy he loved like the son he'd never had.
"Including one who will still claim not to be," she teased, kissing Roy's cheek.
Dick just shook his head, laughing. "Of course."
The small woman walked out then, leaving Roy to pull his lover close. "It's damned insane," he murmured against Dick's ear. "But it's done."
"Yeah, it is... Never would have seen this coming, all those years ago, but it looks like it's worked out..."