So Sweet a Changeling by Petra (NC-17)

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

Fandom: DC COMICS
Characters/Pairing[s]: Barbara/Dick, Dick/Tim; Oracle/Robin,
Batman/Robin
Author on LJ: petronelle
Author Website: Dignity. Always dignity.
Why this must be read:

Because it's wonderful. OK, I'll try to be a little more specific than that.

petronelle being an excellent writer, any story that she wrote about the Batman/Robin dynamic would be well worth reading. So would Dick/Tim, Barbara/Dick, or a tale about the psyches of the Batfamily. So would any AU Petra wrote, since she adroitly follows changes out to their ramifications in a way that both shows the reader a new world and unobtrusively but clearly includes all the connections to and comments upon the old.

This story? Does all of the above, beautifully, and there's far more to it than even that.

"Show me how to use the Oracle," Dick says, when Batman's concussion is gone and he's not so snippy.

"It's not a matter of being shown." Batman frowns. "You'd need surgery."

Dick blinks at him. "Where?"

Batman takes his cowl off and taps the sweaty place behind his ear. "Here."

"I don't see any scars."

Sometimes Batman's smile reminds him of Bruce more than anything. "Mine healed cleanly. And yet."

Dick shrugs. "What kind of surgery is it?"

"You'd need an implant." Batman takes out a little silver thing -- about the size of a pill -- from one of his belt compartments. "One of these."

"Huh. It doesn't look that bad."

Batman raises an eyebrow at Dick. "It's not the implant itself that's -- problematic. It's the permanent interface with Oracle."

Dick grins. "It's not permanent if you need an implant for it. When I go home, you can just take it out again, right?"

Batman winces -- maybe he's remembering the surgery. "True." He starts for the clinic part of the cave. "All right."

So Sweet a Changeling and Part 2