Massive thanks to Supergirl406 on this one because they helped out a lot and answered my dumbass questions

I hardly do Babs x Dick so time to rectify that 

"Nightwing, for the last time, concentrate on your mission and stop asking me to play Minecraft parodies through your earpiece," Barbara said in exasperation. Nightwing cackled at her tone, grinning from ear to ear. 

"C' mon, there's nothing happening here. It's a simple check and I've checked this place. There's not a soul around," he responded. Check up missions were so exceedingly dull. Who could blame him wanting something to entertain him. 

"You would do it if you loved me," he added coyly. She huffed loudly and he could almost hear her eye roll. "Alright, I won't ask anymore. What's got you so tense?" he asked. She normally played along a little longer than this. He was rather looking forward to the banter they shared since this would be so boring. 

"I'm not tense!" He kicked over a piece of shrapnel, wondering if he would find anything, but found nothing. Of course, he wouldn't find anything there. This Island had been empty for months! Yet here he was wandering about during the night when he could be at home patrolling his city which was ten times more fun. "Sure you're not," he said sarcastically, throwing a stone across the lot he was walking through. There used to be a small factory but it was little more than rubble now. The Young Justice team tended to have that effect on buildings. It ran through the generations. He sometimes wondered if they had a secret handbook that he didn't remember creating when he was part of the earlier group. Number one priority would be to blow up the building at some point. "Just sometimes I wish I was out there with you," she admitted.

"Oh, Babs. I didn't mean to-"

"No no, it feels better now that I've said it." There was radio silence as they both took in the gravity of her statement. It was no secret that adapting to life in a wheelchair was difficult for someone who'd been so active. Sure she'd found a new life in tech and was able to maintain her hero status but there were some things she was bound to miss. Like sitting on top of a rooftop at dawn drinking coffee whilst Nightwing showered her with praise. She missed that. Their alone time above the ground. "We could find a way to have you join me. We could make a suit or something."

"Like an Ironman suit?" she asked, partially laughing.

"Yeah! I'm sure Bats and I can get enough money together for it. We could get you little bat missiles and and-"

"Stop!" He stopped talking but that's not what she wanted to stop. He'd carried on walking. Right towards a bomb that she'd only just found.

The explosion was almost deafening on her end. Audio and visuals cut out. She gasped harshly, bring her hand up to her face and covering her mouth. Tears began to fall down her face. Could he? No this was Nightwing. He could survive it. No, he would survive it. Or else she'd kill him. "N-Nightwing?" she croaked, not ready to hear the static. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. "Dick please." Another bout of ominous silence. She felt paralyzed. Was she supposed to call this in? How could she explain that he'd died whilst trying to cheer her up? If she'd just been there in person to physically make him stop he'd be fine right now. They'd be laughing about how dumb he was to not notice the bomb. He'd be doing that cackle she loved dearly. There wouldn't be static. There wouldn't be no visuals. She'd be able to see exactly what happened to the person she loved. "This is officially worse than a hangover," he slurred. She laughed in relief and rolled closer to her desk, quickly composing herself. 

"Oh, I'm going to kiss your stupid face when you come home!" He hissed at her shout, making her regret it immediately. She couldn't help but shout when only a few minutes ago she thought her boyfriend was dead. "Give me a minute to fix things. The explosion knocked out the visual," she explained. He grunted in response. 

"When it's back on, tell me what's up with everything." She halted for a second. 

"What do you mean?"

"I can't see anything. It's all blurry. Do I need to wipe the lenses or something?" he asked, referring to the goggles he wore that doubled as cameras.

After some reworking, the cameras were back online. She saw that Nightwing had been thrown back and most likely was stopped by the brick wall they'd passed earlier. By the angle of the camera, he was propped up against it. She could see that bits of his suit had been ripped open and his foot was bent at an odd angle. Internally, Barbara cringed at the sight of it. He would be housebound for a while. But that wasn't her main problem. Despite the explosion, the camera was mostly fine. There was no reason for him to describe the world as blurry. "Did you hit your head at any point?" she asked, fearing the answer. He hesitated to respond.

"Y-yeah, I think so." She got the answer she feared. There could be head trauma which could be causing the blurriness.

"How blurry is it?"

"Remember in Scooby-Doo where Velma loses her glasses and can't see the obvious bad guy standing right in front of her? That." Of course, he was still making jokes in this situation, she should've known better. "So is there something wrong with the lens?" Nightwing didn't get an answer which was all too telling. His heart rate picked up. Throughout his years as a hero, he'd dealt with a lot of things. Broken limbs, temporary deafness, concussions, migraines, nightmares, gunshots, cuts, lacerations, stab wounds and much more but he'd never dealt with blindness before. At least when a blindfold was stopping him from seeing, he knew how to end it. He just had to take the fabric off. How was he supposed to end the blurry view that made it impossible to see anything? "Babs, tell me there's something wrong with the lens." If that were the case, he could just clean it or take it off. He wanted it to be the case. "You still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here. Just keep calm for me, I'm sending a rescue team."

"That's because of my ankle right? Not because I can't see? Because I can solve that right now? Can't I?" he rambled. She didn't like to hear him fretting but what could she do? If she told him it wasn't a simple quick fixable problem he'd be panicking even more. God things would be so much easier if she was just there. "Please don't do that," he begged suddenly.

"Do what?"

"Go silent. I-I really don't like it."

"Okay. I won't. How about I play those Minecraft parodies, yeah?"

Barbara played the first one that came up when she googled the topic and heard him sigh. She took it as him relaxing and relaxed a little herself. She sent out a call for any free heroes to contact her but for now, all they could do was wait. If she were there, Nightwing would be on his way home. He'd be joking with her since her presence wouldn't have him so shaken up. "Did I do something to my ankle?" Nightwing asked. He sounded as though he didn't really want to know the answer but she had to tell him in order to prevent him from attempting to walk on it. She knew him well enough to know that he'd pull a stunt like that. "It looks broken. Try not to move it."

"No need to tell me twice. Feels like it's been run over." She tutted at him but was grateful for his sense of humour returning. "I'm expecting a lot of love and affection when I get home, you know?"

"As though I'm going to let you out of my sight for the next few days." He laughed weakly but it was a laugh all the same. She didn't know how much she needed to hear it. A ding caught both their attention. "Wonder Woman is free to pick you up. She'll be there in ten."

"And you'll keep talking to me till then?"

"Of course."

"Cool, now as I was saying about the bat missiles-"

Whilst waiting for Wonder Woman to return her boyfriend, Barbara couldn't help but dwell on a few thoughts she mostly hid away. If she'd just been there. She could've saved him. He wouldn't be having to wait in the cold on an Island in the middle of the ocean at three in the morning, unable to see a thing and being completely alone since he only had his girlfriend's voice to keep him company. She knew how much he needed some sort of physical comfort but she couldn't give it. She was just stuck in her chair. "This is my fault," Nightwing sighed, gaining her attention.

"How so?" she asked as she raised a curious eyebrow.

"I should've been paying attention. Now I'm blinded and can't move without hurting," he continued. 

"If I'd just been there, this wouldn't have happened," Barbara replied defeatedly. She busied herself with other work, checking for good landing areas and beginning a router of heroes who'd be able to take over Nightwing's patrol whilst he recovered. Hopefully, he'd actually ride out his bed rest but she doubted it. He always began too early, nearly hurt himself then decided to rest for a little longer. "If you'd never been a hero, this wouldn't have happened," Nightwing stated. "If I'd never met you this wouldn't have happened." She remained silent, waiting for him to explain himself. "Point is, if all of that didn't happen, I wouldn't be sitting here blind. But I also wouldn't have you. All in all, it's worth being blinded because I love you." He heard her sniffle. "Babs, are you okay?"

"I love you too, you dumbass," she said, wiping her tears that had bubbled up. He laughed tiredly. 

"Could've done without the insult but I'll accept it."

Wonder Woman returned Nightwing shortly after and left him in the bedroom since there was no way he was walking around that evening. Luckily for everyone involved in the situation, Babara knew first aid and had the materials needed to safely put Dick's foot in a cast. That was after having to cut off part of the pant leg since he wouldn't have been able to take them off otherwise. Wonder Woman left after giving him a kiss on the forehead, which made him jump at first but he soon relaxed. "Alright, let's get you out of your suit," Barbara announced once the female hero had left the room. She wheeled over to his side and helped him sit up which came with a groan. "What hurts?" she asked in concern. He hadn't mentioned any other injuries. Typical, of course, he wouldn't. 

"Just aching," he replied with a smile. She hummed and pulled off his goggles. It was the first time she'd seen his eyes. They were unfocused and tears were building up in them. Fearful was how she'd describe them. "Oh Dickie," she whispered, putting a hand on his face. He flinched then leaned into her touch. 

"It's okay. Head trauma does fun things," he assured her but now he couldn't hide behind the goggles. Those frightened blue eyes were betraying him. "I'll be able to see soon. I'm hoping you'll give me a sight to look at," he added with a wink. 

"What am I going to do with you?"

Once his shirt was pulled off, the gravity of being flung through the air like a rag doll came to be. His chest was covered in painful-looking bruises and cuts from where rocks and debris had hit him. She ran her hand along his skin, drawing a pained hiss from him. "Is it bad?" he asked.

"Bruises and cuts. You'll be pretty sore in the morning."

"Pretty sore without all the fun, what a bummer," he replied, struggling to take off his utility belt. The stupid buckle was so hard to maneuver when he couldn't see it. When he got his sight back, he was going to find out how to make it much easier to take it off. His hands were batted away by Barbara, much to his discontent. He didn't want to depend on her that much. "Stop whining. If I don't help you, you'll be still trying to get it off in the morning," she taunted. He grumbled and fell back on the bed, pretend pouting. "You're a big baby, you know that?"

"And yet you love me anyway."

"I must, considering I have to deal with you kicking me every other night." She cringed at her own words. Saying that wasn't the best thing she'd ever done. Especially considering he was in a rather vulnerable place being blind and all. "Sorry," he mumbled, sitting back up. 

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"I-I can sleep somewhere else tonight-"

"Richard Grayson, you are not going anywhere. You put up with me always working, it's only fair that I put up with you lightly kicking me. It's not like I can feel most of it anyway." She cupped his face and brought him down to her, pressing their lips together comfortingly. "Stop fretting about the things you can't control."

"Says you," he countered. "You were fretting about something you couldn't control."

"And we both need to stop."

Barbara got in bed beside Dick and held him close, running her fingers through his hair. He cursed at himself whenever he tensed at her touching him. It didn't feel right to tense under the touch of someone who held so dearly. "It's alright. I'm here," she told him. 

"If this doesn't go away, I guess I could still be a hero. I could be like Daredevil," Dick rambled, trying to calm himself down. He really didn't want to go to sleep. What if he had a nightmare? He'd just be thrusting himself from one nightmare to another. Barbara chuckled. "Yeah, you could. Or you could be like a literal Bat. You know, with echolocation? Batboy."

"Batboy?" he repeated through a cackle.

"Hey, I was Batgirl! I'm not exactly creative when it comes to names."

"I'll keep Batboy in mind."