Summary:

Conning Dick into a night out on the town with him and Artemis, Wally also invites Barbara along to try and play matchmaker with his best friend and 'Bat-babe.' Artemis tries to keep her overly eager boyfriend in check, not seeing any spark between Babs and Dick herself. Still, they may all be in for a surprise before the night is over.

But that's the forbidden dance! (Dick/Babs, Wally/Artemis. Young Justice Invasion.)

Chapter I

Mount Justice, Happy Harbour: Friday March 19th 2016. 17:59

Richard 'Dick' Grayson, a day away from his ninetieth birthday, was seated up on a stool in the Young Justice lab, hunched over a microscope.

Still clad in his Nightwing uniform–but with the mask removed–the broad-shouldered, muscular young superhero had one blue eye shut tightly and the other peering down through the lens at the bacterial sample on the slide below it. Adjusting the zoom, Dick bent down slightly closer out of habit, his dark, longish bangs falling forward and over the sides of the microscope tube.

Recognized: Kid Flash B03

Dick didn't lift his gaze from the microscope lens as the zeta-tube announced the arrival of his best friend, the light dispersed and Wallace 'Wally' West stood at the entrance of the lab-tube entrance.

"Don't you think it's about time you changed that? I'm not Kid Flash anymore, bro."

Shrugging his shoulders, Dick reached out and adjusted the zoom again on his microscope, "I'll change it to: 'Ordinary College-man' when I get the time. I told you that months ago."

Running his hand through his short red hair, Wally–dressed casually in khakis, a white t-shirt and a brown leather jacket–made his way over to the lab table where Dick was working; and rested his arm on his long-time best friend's Kevlar covered shoulder. "Hey Dick, how–"

"No." Grayson interrupted bluntly, pulling out the slide beneath his microscope and picking up another from the box beside him, sliding it into place and adjusting his view again.

Wally pulled back his arm and folded his arms across his chest indignantly, "I was just going to ask you how you're doing, bro. Where's the: 'Hey, Wal-man,' or maybe the infamous bat-clan: 'Hnn' ; or whatever other grunt in replace of greeting you do nowadays, mini-Bats–"

Lifting up his gaze sharply from his microscope, Dick turned around on his swivel-stool to look up at Wally, pointing his finger in the older young man's face, "I told you not to call me that!"

West threw up his arms, "It's the only way I can get a reaction from you lately, bud!" He defended himself, Dick narrowed his blue eyes before turning back around and returning his gaze to his microscope.

Wally kicked the floor before jamming his hands into his jacket pockets, eyeing off Dick before letting out a sigh of resignation. Sometimes Wally swore he and Dick became best friends, because they were the only ones in their age-group, who matched each other temper-for-temper.

It used to be humour-for-humour too. Maybe Uncle Barry is right, I shouldn't have left Dick in the lurch, so to speak. I should come around more often, despite giving up the hero gig.

"Anyway, what I was going to say, Dick, was that–"

Grayson lifted his head up again and turned it to the side, regarding Wally solemnly as he interrupted, "You want me to go out with you and Artemis. No. Thank-you. I'm busy," Dick declined, his gaze turned back to his microscope, not noticing Wally stepping around and picking up the slide-storage container.

"There are bacterial samples that need to be catalogued for reference–"

"Bull," Wally interrupted, pulling away the microscope and shoving the container under his best friend's eyes instead, tapping on the label, "these are Professor Carr's sample slides for Gar's science class on Monday." He tossed down the container and eyed Dick, who folded his arms across his blue-bird symbol emblazoned chest with a scowl.

"Somebody has to organize them. Carr is a barely competent science teacher." Grayson struggled to defend himself, half-mumbling his response into his chest with his head pointed down.

Wally put his arm around Dick's shoulders and sighed heavily, "When was the last time you had a Friday night date with a living organism, that wasn't a strain of viral bacterium?" He questioned empathetically.

Grayson groaned and threw his head back, looking up at the cave ceiling, "I don't know…"

"Zatanna?" Wally supplied.

"Not really an official thing, but ended when I was about seventeen. Going undercover in a teenage gang and sleeping with the gang-leader's girlfriend, kinda put a damper on things when Zee found out," Dick turned his gaze aside, "I swear I told you that."

Wally shrugged and scratched the back of his head, "The vampire girl?"

Dick shook his head, pushing back his hair from his forehead, "Only lasted a few months….that was…November? When we broke it off…or sometime before Christmas…."

West grabbed Dick's shoulders and turned him around to face him, "Dude! Tell me you have not been without a girl for four months. Surely there must have been a couple of indiscretions on the side? I know how the ladies are around you." Wally pointed out, "I've known you for years, remember?"

Dick shrugged, "Maybe…Damn, Wally, I am a little busy leading this outfit! Maybe I've had other things on my mind," he shrugged off Wally's grip and got to his feet, looking down slightly at his friend poignantly.

Wally folded his arms and tapped his fingers against his upper arms, "Or someone." He shot back, Dick growled and turned around, moving around the lab area and packing up lab supplies idlely as West tailed him.

"Let me guess…red-head? About five-six…no…five-seven. Curvy, blue eyes; wears a big, black bat across her chest?" Wally used his limitedly used super-speed to dart around his heavily scowling friend and sit up on the bench in front of him. "Am I close? Warm, even?"

Dick glared up at Wally, pointing his index finger from his free hand up at West, "Far off and cold, twinkle-toes. Very, very cold," he tossed the supplies in his arms onto the bench beside Wally, "Babs is my best female friend. She doesn't feel that way about me and I…" Grayson trailed off, before catching himself and pointing again at his smirking friend, "…no."

Wally pointed his hands to his chest with a mock expression of surprise, "Hey, don't go blaming the messenger. De-nile ain't just a river in Egypt, Bat Boy," he swung his legs back and forth.

Dick frowned even more heavily–if that were possible– and was about to move to shove Wally off of the bench, when a couple of heeled footsteps interrupted their argument and a voice called out from the doorway.

"Hey ex-Boy-Wonder," it was Barbara Gordon, out of her Batgirl gear and dressed in a fitted, light brown pencil skirt and cream, pussy-bow blouse. Her feet were encased in a pair of sensible black pumps; and her red hair piled up into a bun and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. "Oh hey, Wally."

Wally waved his hand enthusiastically, "Hey Bat-babe," he greeted, nudging Dick with his right foot and Grayson glared at him, before turning and smiling over at Barbara.

"Hey Babs, what's up?"

Barbara thumbed behind her, "I'm just heading out to the library to do some cataloguing. The staff said they're okay, but I don't mind helping out," she flashed a white smile, "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye, Wally."

The former Kid Flash shot his friend a knowing look, before jumping to his brown loafer covered feet and rushing towards the about to depart Miss Gordon, grabbing her hand. "Whoa, Babs. Honey, are you telling me that you're volunteering to spend your Friday night in the musty, old Gotham Library?"

Dick wondered over as Wally waited expectantly for Barbara to reply.

Batgirl blinked her blue eyes, "Well…yeah. I don't have anything better to do. The team are all busy and my college girlfriends are too." She explained, glancing up at Dick, "Why?"

Wally patted Gordon's pale hand with a smile, "Because, Artemis and I are going out tonight and we want you and Dick to come along? What do you say? We've gotta be better company than mounds of dusty, old books…well jury's out on ol' Big Bird here," West nudged Dick with his elbow.

Babs glanced between Dick and Wally, before shrugging. "Sure, I haven't seen Artemis in ages. It sounds like fun," she nodded, "I'll go change…you're not going out in your uniform, are you Dick?" She questioned.

Rolling his eyes to the side to glare at the smirking Wally West, Grayson knew he was trapped and sighed heavily, smiling back at Babs, "No. Wally just let me know, I've gotta go get change too." He replied, Barbara nodded.

"Good. Wear that black, suede, Armani coat I helped you pick out last week, I still haven't seen you in it," Gordon requested, turning around and smiling over her shoulder as she walked back down the hall, "this woman doesn't just hang off the arm of any superhero. She likes the best dressed ones…who look just as good going , as well as coming."

Dick's mouth dropped open slightly as Babs rounded the corner and he glared over at Wally, who let out a loud chuckle and rested his arm on his friend's shoulder.

"Whoo hoo hoo! Oh man…I like that girl. I like her a lot. If I didn't have Arty–"

With a –slightly more-than-jealous sounding– growl, Grayson put his hand over Wally's mouth, "Finish that sentence and you're a dead 'Ordinary College-man', comprende?"

That's a quick Chapter I done and dusted, just to give everyone a taste of what is to come. (Artemis will be in the next part. Along with some shenanigans.) If you enjoyed or whatever leave me a review and regardless, a much longer Chapter II will be up in a couple of days.