Chapter Text
To call patrol fun that night would have been an understatement. Major crimes seemed to be on a break for the moment, so a few attempted muggings, a convenience store robbery and a few drug deals thwarted without incident felt good. Most of the time the Batclan was occupied with the heavy hitters and the psychopaths. It felt like they were all so busy flying from calamity to disaster and back again that they never really had the chance to fulfill the actual Mission - cleaning up Gotham.
Dick knew that they did good work - important work - but sometimes...
Sometimes it was nice to have a night where nothing went terribly wrong, nobody really got hurt and Nightwing wasn't really needed.
He was smiling and watching the sun rise, sitting on one of Gotham's sky scrapers with his feet dangling over the edge, leaning on a gargoyle. It had been an easy, fun night and he could feel the excess energy tingling pleasantly under his skin. He heard the slight whoosh of a cape and the gentle 'click-Click' of high heels.
"Almost looks hopeful like this, doesn't it, Batgirl?" He asked. Rather than turning to face her, he leaned backwards a bit and rolled his head until he was looking at her upside down. He could feel that his smile was a bit goofy, maybe a little punchy even with that sappy blend of a good patrol, too much energy and greeting six-o-clock from the wrong side.
She giggled. It was a bright, happy sound. As the only other member of the Batclan prone to giggling, Dick approved. Bruce hardly laughed at all, Tim laughed in startled, almost forced bursts, Jason rarely laughed with pleasure, and Damian didn't laugh. At all. Bab's laughs were open and true, but Dick wasn't certain he'd ever heard her let out anything that could be called a giggle. Giggles were small, silly, childish noises and Babs had always been more mature than him.
"You look like an alien like that." She walked over and sat next to him. There wasn't really enough room between his gargoyle and the next for two people to maintain any real distance, but Dick didn't really mind. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching as the sun peeked over some of the lower sky scrapers.
Dick always liked watching from up high, because sometimes when the sun caught Gotham City Bank from just the right angle, it lit up the surrounding buildings with rainbows. It reminded him of the crystal his mother used to hang above the windows in their trailer. She made sure it was always on the side with the best light so the light would scatter over all of the walls. She'd told him when he was little that they were fairies. He used to try to catch them, but his mother had explained that they liked to fly free, just like her little Robin and that if you try to catch them they lose their magic. Instead, he drew pictures of rainbows and plastered them all over their trailer. He now knew that it was refracted light, but he still remembered the quiet, love filled mornings before the momentum of Haly's worked into their tiny home.
He could feel Batgirl next to him. Most of her body was shielded by Kevlar thick enough that it was cool to the touch. Dick, however, favored a much, much lighter suit and could feel the tiny breaks in the plating that let her body heat seep through. He was still smiling, warm and content in his city. Even though the top of her face was covered, he could see the same quiet pleasure in her relaxed expression (he was, after all, the most experienced person in the world at reading cowled faces).
He tilted his head toward her to share his smile and some happy eye contact. The only thing better than this bubbly, joyous feeling was sharing it with someone else. She lolled her head to the side and they sat for a moment, sharing their contentment. It was rare that Dick got the opportunity to just be happy with someone else, so he took full advantage, reveling in the moment.
It actually took him a moment to realize that someone had spoken in his ear. "Kiss her."
His eyes widened and he froze. He cleared his throat, about to speak. "Kiss her. Take care of my girl, hunk wonder."
He was stunned. Babs - definitely not Oracle right now - was whispering in his ear low and sultry. There was warmth there, and love, but also just a hint of command coming through the comm. "No questions, babe. Just go with it. Share with her, make her happy like you make me happy."
Stephanie had tensed beside him, slowly drawing back as though she were reluctant to sever their contact, but she had noticed his sudden withdrawal. "Nightwing -"
"Go on, sweet heart." Babs was almost whispering now, her voice quiet and intimate in his ear. She was speaking through his com and there was no way the girl next to him could hear her, but the moment was too fragile for spoken word. "Gentle and slow, make her feel special."
Dick hadn't thought about Stephanie like that, not at all, but between the magical, surreal feeling of the dawn and the soothing, hypnotic voice in his ear he was certainly thinking about it now. Images flew through his mind; him kneeling over her as she laughed and arched into his touch, her warm giggles as they lay in bed post coitus touching and tickling each other, her startled gasp as she comes all over his tongue, serious for the moment orgasm over takes her and then laughing in release as she rides him to the ground to return the favor.
He reached slowly for her, his hand gentle on the side of her soft warm cheek, and he felt the hitch in her breath more than he heard it as he lowered his face to hers to press a gentle kiss to the corner of her mouth. The lenses on his mask were retracted and he opened his eyes from the kiss slowly, searched the empty whites of her mask for a clue to her thoughts. Her mouth was slack with shock, but he felt the quickening of her pulse under his hand and the gentle puffs of her breath on his face.
"Take good care of my girl," Babs repeated. "Oracle out."
“Night-” Stephanie started, corrected herself, “Dick, what-”
“No pressure,” he whispered as he rubbed his lips against hers. He wasn't pushing against her mouth, just enjoying the smooth slide of her lips barely touching his. “Just... If you want.” He knew he could be much smoother than this – has been in the past – but he knew just as certainly that anything more than a gentle, friendly offer would scare Batgirl away. They had worked together in the past but nowhere near enough for something like this to be anything other than completely honest. It wasn't just an offer for tawdry sex on the roof top (and Dick definitely got the impression that Babs would be pissed if that was all it turned out to be), but an offer of friendship; another way of Barbara taking care of the people around her. He smiled at the pleasant thought.
“Did... Oracle put you up to this?” Stephanie whispered, not pulling away, not appearing concerned with the closeness.
“A little,” Dick admitted. “The thought hadn't occurred to me until just now when she said something, but I like it. I like you.” He rubbed his thumb along the line where cowl turned to flesh. He knew his fingers were callused and rough, but her cheek felt like silk and he enjoyed the texture.
Stephanie leaned into his hand, not quite a nuzzle. “What did she say?”
“She told me to make you happy, make you feel special. Said to take care of her girl.” This time, his voice was a little hesitant. “I'd like that. If...” He cleared his throat a little. “If you want to, that is.”
He could tell by the minute ticks of her head that she was searching his face. “I...”
He stilled, not frozen, but waiting. In this peaceful limbo, with the warm, thick hum of anticipation and the soft hopeful feel of the morning, he felt like he could wait here forever. The sun had risen halfway above one of the buildings now, golden and warm. The sky was rosy and yellow with pollution, but still beautiful as it filled the places between the sky scrapers and lit the top most levels of the city. There were a couple of rainbows dancing on the side of the municipal tower, slowly dropping toward the gargoyles in the upper levels of the city as the angle of the sun's rays fell.
“Okay.” Stephanie said, leaning into Dick's hand for a moment, before pressing forward to close the distance between them. This kiss was the older, more worldly cousin of their previous kiss. Still gentle and fairly innocent, but with more purpose. Dick let her lead the kiss, encouraged her to explore and enjoy him as much as he was enjoying her.
There was a faint taste of strawberries on her lips, and he smiled against her mouth as he pictured her pausing to put lip balm on in the middle of patrol. He would never admit it under penalty of death, but he carried around a small sphere of lip balm in his gauntlet. His face had toughened enough over time that he didn't get wind burn often any more (even though he had to moisturize like a 90 year old woman to keep his skin from feeling like leather), but his lips still chapped if he didn't take a couple of seconds out of his patrol for a quick swipe of chapstick. He'd used mint since the first time Jason had caught him using a soda flavored balm and hadn't let him hear the end of it.
He sighed into her mouth and she pressed her tongue into his, running along his teeth and feeling his gums. He wrapped his hand behind her neck and pulled her a little closer, sealing their mouths together and sucking on her tongue in invitation. He could feel the sub vocal vibrations as she moaned, too quietly to hear, into their kiss. He shivered and squeezed his eyes a little tighter shut. He liked the taste of her, sweet and airy and he licked into her mouth to chase more of the flavor.
She giggled and pulled back, pressing a button in her mask. The white lenses retracted and her eyes were sparkling, crinkled slightly at the corners from her wide smile.
“Ticklish.” Her voice was cheerful but thick, honeyed and aroused. He couldn't help but to smile back.
“Is that the only place you're ticklish?” he asked. His grin was impish and joyful, with a touch of wicked to it.
She threw her head back and her arms around his shoulders. Her laugh was loud and joyous. “Why don't we head back to my place and you can find out?” She gave him a quick squeeze, then pushed out of his arms and off the building. He heard the discharge, whoosh and clink of a grappling hook being deployed, and her laugh trailing behind her as she darted along her decel-line. “Catch me if you can!”
Dick laughed and dove off the building after her, flying into the sunrise.
~*~
They reached her apartment at the same time, and Dick timed his approach to catch her in a flying tackle as she climbed in her window. She squealed and they grappled playfully for a few minutes, rolling to a stop with his head pressed awkwardly against her bed post. She was straddling his waist, pinning his arms above his head and smiling broadly. Her chest was heaving with exertion and excitement and Dick couldn't really stop himself from sitting up and pressing a kiss against her grin. She was smiling widely enough that he wound up mainly kissing her teeth, but she returned the favor quickly enough, giggling against his mouth.
She released his arms, instead running her hands along his chest and feeling the dips and creases in his muscles. He took the opportunity to reach up and remove her cowl, disabling the traps and safeguards like they were second nature. He wrapped his fingers in her hair – slightly sweaty from being stuffed into the cowl all night, but still soft and smelling of apples. He dug his fingers into her scalp, rubbed the tension and stress away as they kissed and enjoyed her moan and the weight of her on his hips. He sat up against her and shivered at the shift in her weight across his lap.
She was slender but had weight to her, wide hips and strong thighs. He liked how she felt in his lap, powerful and beautiful. He broke their kiss for a moment to fiddle with his mask, throwing the domino aside as soon as he unstuck the spirit gum from his face. He let his eyes wander over her, making no effort to hide her effect on him as he traced her curves with his eyes and hands.
Her eyes softened and she wrapped her fingers in his hair, ran her thumbs along his cheek bones. The skin was especially sensitive, not toughened by years of harsh weather, instead shielded by his mask. He opened his mouth in a small pant, feeling dizzy like being out on a zip line. She gave him another kiss and a quick squeeze before standing, his lap feeling suddenly cold and too light without her draped over his thighs.
He took the hint though and started disabling his costume as she did, smiling at the dare in her eyes as they raced to see who could reach skin the fastest. Dick had perfected the speed strip, however, and was nude before she had finished removing her costume to stand in front of him in her bra and underwear. He smiled as he traced the pink superman logo on the front of her panties with his finger. Her breath caught and he looked up with a playful smirk.
“Its okay, Steph. I have a pair too.”
Her voice was deeper this time, not much but noticeably huskier as she responded. “In pink? I think I'd like to see that some time.”
He walked closer and sunk to his knees in front of her. “I think I'd like to show you some time” He ran his hands up the back of her thighs. She twitched and gave a small huff of laughter. One ticklish spot down, Dick thought with an internal grin. He could feel the smoothness of her skin with the very slight catch of stubble.
He liked that detail, that she hadn't shaved her legs before going out on patrol the previous night. He liked that this was as spontaneous and exciting for her as it was for him. That it hadn't been planned. Except by Oracle, he thought with a dopey smile. He pressed a kiss to the front of Stephanie's thighs and gave a small lick. He could feel the tension in her muscles, hear the catch in her breath as she got an idea of what he had planned.
She was beautiful, and Dick was happy to be here right now. Happy to be sharing this morning with this woman, happy to be sharing this part of himself with her. He rubbed his forehead against her lower stomach, loving the way her muscled stomach twitched and her thighs tensed as his warm breath ghosted over the front of her panties. This close he could smell her, and he took a deep breath in, let it out slowly and enjoyed the feel of goose flesh rising over her skin under his hands.
He kissed her first though her briefs, rubbing his lips over the smooth cotton. The cloth was warm from her body heat. He licked a firm stripe from the juncture of her thighs over her mons and she sighed. He opened his mouth against her and worked his lips, helped stabilize her as she spread her legs to allow him better access. He could taste her where she'd dampened the cloth, licked at the damp, musky patch until he couldn't taste her anymore and she was shaking above him. He ran his hands up the backs of her legs, part support part hedonism and cupped the swell of her ass.
He risked a little firmer touch, bit down just a bit through her now soaking panties and she gasped pushing against him. He held just a little tighter to the flesh in his teeth, gave a suck and released. She was breathing heavy now, her hair falling into her face as she panted over him. She had a small, pleased smile around her eyes. He returned it with a goofy grin of his own and slid his fingers under the elastic of her briefs. She gave a nod and he tugged them down her legs, helping stabilize her with a hand on her ankle as she stepped out and kicked her panties across the room. They made a perfect arc and landed on top of the laundry hamper. A laugh startled out of her when he started making crowd noises.
“And the crowd goes wild!” He cheered, and she squealed as he wrapped his arms between her thighs and hoisted her suddenly onto his shoulders. He gave a quick spin before she could truly over balance and let her flop onto the bed.
Her torso was settled on the mattress now, hair in a gold fan spread around her head and her legs akimbo over his shoulders. She was laughing now, and it was amazing to Dick to see from his position between her thighs. He could feel the strength in her legs and see the coiling muscles in her stomach as she enjoyed herself. He rested his forehead on her thigh and laughed with her. He felt giddy and pressed happy little kisses to the inside of her thigh while she controlled her mirth. He loved hearing her laugh, brighter than her hair and more cheerful than anything in Gotham had any right to be.
He wanted to get his mouth back on her, wanted to hear her making happy noises of a different kind, so he did. Gentle little licks along her soft, slightly stubbled skin. He liked the texture and pressed a little closer. There was a definite hitch to her laughter, a husky undertone that indicated her arousal. Dick liked that laughter even better. He ran his hands along her mostly smooth, taut stomach. There were puckers and dimples here and there across her skin from her vigilante work. He was proud of her, reading the story written across her skin, to see her on the other side, beaten but not broken, still willing to love and laugh and live.
It was a rare trait, that lightness of spirit and he kissed his thankfulness into her. He lapped up her arousal and licked his way into her, flicked his tongue along her hole, nibbled at her lips, sucked on her clit. Her laugh tapered into a low moan as Dick made long strokes with his tongue. She arched her back and he pressed against her, curling his tongue around the bundle of nerves there, pressing gently inside.
“Oh!” Her voice was breathy and rough as he curled his tongue inside her. “Oh! Thats -”
He could feel her tightening around him. Her thighs squeezing around his shoulders, her pelvic muscles fluttering gently around his tongue. He kept at it, long strokes in that drug their way out of her as her moans increased in volume and urgency. He shifted back up to her clit and sucked it into his mouth, gave just the tiniest, gentlest of bites and watches as she flew apart with a cry. He could feel the rush of her orgasm against his chin and he licked it up, savoring the fresh, womanly taste as she started to come back down. He gentled her through it, soft kisses and gentle pressure, and waited until he felt her relax before starting in again.
He felt like he could do this all day. Like he could happily stay here on his knees and watch this beautiful woman fall apart in his arms over and over again. She was so responsive, so obviously appreciative that Dick couldn't help himself. He wanted this again, and again -
She was much quicker to go off the second time. He hadn't let her fall too far before he started working her up again. She was more sensitized, he could feel the changes in her. Her clit had grown, the gentle pink of her had darkened, swollen with arousal.
“That's – oh!” She gasped, reaching down to tangle her fingers in his hair. “That's enough, that's -” She was panting, smiling and staring down her body at him with half lidded eyes. “Geeze, Dick.” Her chuckle as she pulled him up for a wet, sloppy kiss was deep and husky, her throat tight and hoarse from moaning. Listening to her pleasure was heady for Dick, a joy in its own right, but also the sign of a job well done. He appreciated positive feed back in all its forms, but especially when it came in the form of beautiful naked women coming apart in his arms. “Just, wow,” she said and kissed him deeply. She sucked on his tongue and tasted the corners of his mouth and he moaned into the kiss.
This time he smiled into her mouth, pleased to share the flavor with her. He'd yet to be with a woman who was unwilling to kiss afterward, but he had heard it happened. He was always glad when the women he was with wanted to share the experience with him. Stephanie was eager for it, pulling her flavor into her own mouth with a moan and a sigh, and Dick wondered suddenly if she had ever been with another woman. He had an image of Stephanie kneeling, face buried between Babs' thighs while she writhed and moaned for it. Dick's eyes went wide and he gasped at the thought.
Stephanie pulled back, her hair fanning around her head on the mattress, a dopey smile on her face and gleam in her eye. “What just went through your head, bird boy?” She was smiling and didn't seem to be expecting an answer.
Dick could feel the color rising in his cheeks. He wasn't sure how well he would be able to articulate the dirty thoughts racing through his mind under the best of circumstances. Right now he was so turned on it was painful, even without the added pressure clothing would bring. He wasn't quite past speech, but he knew it would be more effort than he felt the situation was worth. He was nestled in be tween her strong thighs and he could feel the wetness of her (and some of his own assistance, he supposed) against his pelvis. He tried very hard not to think about how close he was to her, how easy it would be to slip inside and be surrounded by that heat.
He tongued at her collar bone and could feel the irregularity there, the place where it had been broken once before. He nipped there, sucked hard enough to raise color but not hard enough for a more lasting mark. He licked and nibbled on her neck, feeling her pulse under his teeth and the silky smooth skin of her throat. He ran his cheek along that same skin, nuzzled into her hair and inhaled. He could smell the distinctive 'bat' scent mixing with her shampoo – Kevlar, sweat and the grime of Gotham overlaid with the scent of cheap apple shampoo. He tongued behind her ear, took the lobe between his teeth and tugged gently.
He ran his hands along her body. Her skin was a road map of her work, rough and smooth in different patches, puckered here with gun shot, slashed here with a knife. There were several broad rough areas, abrasions that had healed in uneven patches. He moved his hands, cupping her breast for the first time. It was warm and heavy in his hand. He gave a squeeze and she moaned and pressed up into his touch. They were denser than he anticipated, still yielding but with unexpected weight. Her nipples were dusky, peaked into hard points and he ran his fingers in a circle around the one in his hand, rubbing gently at the skin around the areola before palming the whole thing, pinching the nipple gently between his fingers as he squeezed.
“Oh!” She arched up into him, her hand covering his and pressing it harder into her chest. He could feel his eyes crossing as her hips met his, his vision blurring for a moment. He shifted his legs, no longer completely between her things, but now straddling one of her legs. He pressed his own leg against her and rubbed against her hip. He could feel her wetness leaving a patch of dampness on his skin. She ground down onto his thigh as he squeezed again. “Yes, that! That's -”
He ground down against the hollow of her hip, mouthing messy, open mouthed kisses against her throat before pressing his mouth against her other breast. He took her nipple into his mouth and moaned with her as she writhed against him. He could feel her thighs shaking again, her fingers spasming over his hand on her chest and tangling in his hair.
“So beautiful. Can you? Again?” He was babbling against her skin now, breathing ragged and words muffled around the flesh in his mouth. “Wanna see you, wanna feel -” The words were escaping him in a rush as her cries crescendo-ed again. “Come on, just-”
Stephanie clamped her thighs around him and thrust her hips up as she came again. Dick gave a shudder and a startled gasp at the sudden increase of pressure and finally came himself. He clamped his eyes shut and shuddered helplessly as he gasped against her breast. He was still spurting a little, sensation rushing through him, making his skin tingle and goose flesh to rise over his skin in waves.
They were in a decreasing spiral now, each of her shudders shooting through him and making him shake as they prolonged his own orgasm, and each of his jerks making her clench against him.
Dick took deep gulping breaths in an attempt to slow his breathing. Steph was no better, breathing raggedly (but with a dopey smile) with her head tilted backwards against the pillows of her bed.
The sun had well and truly risen now, shining through Stephanie's room and illuminating her skin and hair. She was beautiful like that, shaky but satisfied and sprawled over her bed, cheeks high with color and mouth parted slightly. Dick couldn't refrain from one more kiss before he levered himself off of her just enough to snuggle into her side.
She huffed out a lazy laugh, but pulled him close. He felt her breathing start to even out and he smiled to himself for a 'job well done.' She ran her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes in contentment, vowing to get up for a cloth to clean up. In just a moment. He relaxed there until her fingers slowed, finally fell away and she settled into sleep with a small smile on her face. He thought a moment about getting up now, moving away from the warm sleepy woman in his arms to get a rag from the bathroom, but decided against it, instead pulling one of her spare blankets over the two of them and drifting to sleep with her in the hopeful morning light.