Sea and Sky AU: An Oracle Interlude She shouldn't do this. It was wrong. She shouldn't *do* this! She heard their voices coming closer to the receiver and reached out with all intention to shut it off, break the connection, respect their privacy. She instead watched her own hand--seemingly of its own accord--hover over the controls, then drop again. Leaving the link open. Now the videocam picked up their image, tumbling into the room all haste and passion, and Barbara Gordon's eyes widened in fascination even as her treacherous hand refused again to do the *right* thing, the *honorable* thing, and cut the feed. She was Oracle. She had a duty to uphold, and a reputation to maintain, and self-appointed responsibilities that emphatically did *not* include spying--because that's what she was doing now, she told herself admonishingly--on those who trusted her. Especially the one who'd willingly taken her camera into his apartment in accordance with that trust. Still. And still. She'd spied on him often enough, it was true. A glimpse here and there, always "by chance" catching him out of the shower, or in the middle of changing clothes, or unguarded waking in the morning with the sheets falling away before he remembered the camera. "He could have moved it to the living room," she muttered aloud, then clapped her hand over her mouth, horrified that they might have heard her. A furtive glance showed there was no chance of that, not the way they were-- The glance caught on the image, held, and she was entranced. Beautiful. Absolutely, utterly beautiful, these two men. Old friends, new lovers, still enthralled with the discovery of each others' bodies. Two men she'd known for years. And one... She bit her lip even as her trembling hand reached out to the controls, sharpening the image even as she damped the outgoing audio in case of another involuntary exclamation. She could still hear *them,* though the picture was more than enough. The sight of Dick Grayson, a man she'd...loved...in one way or another for years, losing his control in passion. Her view of the Atlantean mage expanding to see him not just as a colleague, but as an intensely desirable man. The vision of Nightwing and Tempest, fellow Titans and heroes both, tearing at each other's clothes in a flurry of haste that would have been comical if it hadn't been so obviously driven by raw desire. "You promised," her conscience whispered, and she told it to take a flying leap. She saw Garth catch Dick's hands and hold them in one of his own, pinning Nightwing against the nearest wall while his other hand stripped Dick of his remaining clothing. He leaned in for a kiss that quickly deepened, their hurriedness transmuting to something more languid, more...loving. That it definitely was, clear even over her screen. The way they pulled back to look at each other, Garth's hand coming up to run lingeringly through Dick's hair and down his cheek. The way Dick turned his head to kiss Garth's palm, then leaned forward Dick's head was thrown back, the fine line of his neck standing out in sharp relief as he gasped, and she along with him. [Dick in bathroom] "Barbara." She started, heart pounding, and saw Garth looking directly at the monitor. Though his screen was dark, she felt as if he was looking through the miles of connecting cables and right into her eyes. "You forget," he said softly. "You forget my hearing is better than human, adapted for a thicker medium than air." Shame rushed through her, much too late to do any good. And then, according to her nature, a burning curiosity as to *why* he hadn't done anything if he'd known. She turned up the audio feed, but left the video alone. "You heard me. When you came in." It wasn't a question, but an acknowledgement. Bad enough to have betrayed a trust; she would not compound it with a lie. But the return of her good sense didn't extend to looking him in the eye, not yet. "Yes." Just that and nothing more, leaving her to offer explanation or apology, or both. His expression was calm, waiting for her reply, and she didn't know him well enough to judge if that calm hid anger or disapproval. "I--I'm sorry, I..." she shook her head, at a loss. "I'm sorry." Sudden terror swept through her at the thought of what would happen if Dick knew. He'd hate her, she couldn't stand that, he'd never trust her again! Garth's voice, pitched low to avoid alerting Dick, cut through her panic. "Let us say, that you were concerned for him. That you needed to be sure that I loved him and was not simply using him as a convenient bed-partner. Are you now satisfied this is the truth?" "Y-yes." My God, she thought, he isn't--he won't-- "Then the matter is settled, and ends here. Agreed?" "Yes! Absolutely. I won't ever, I'll leave the connection closed unless he calls, I--" He interrupted with a shake of his head. "Do whatever is necessary, as always. But the rest..." he smiled ever so slightly, "the rest, leave to us." She turned on the video so he could see her eyes. "I promise." He nodded and said, "Good night, then," as if they had done no more than exchanged pleasantries. "Thank you, Garth." She cut the connection, completely this time, and leaned back in her chair. She still wondered why he'd let her watch.