CHAPTER 14
GUYS LIKE HIM

DICK and Iris were similar in a lot of aspects, but most of all, they were both incredibly good at pretending.

The two coworkers managed to completely ignore the almost-kiss that occurred in Iris' apartment just days ago. It was as if it never happened. They never brushed their lips against each other. They never tasted spearmint on the other's breath. Nothing ever happened. If they couldn't ignore the shitstorm that was brewing with the Coatls, they could at least pretend that they never almost-kissed. Easy as pie.

So easy that Dick found the courage to ask Iris to join him and a friend that Thursday night for coffee. He invited her as a friend. She was his friend now. The whole situation seemed extremely friendly, and not at all like a date. (You can't imagine the anxiety she felt when he walked over after work to ask her this. She could've sworn the word, date, hung off the edge of his tongue.) It was just going to be three friends ... having coffee ... and friendly conversation. At least, that's what she hoped.

He asked her to meet him at Jillian's Coffee after work – big surprise there. Lucky for her, Jillian's was right near the first train stop on her way home. She left around six, per usual, and hopped on the same train cart at sixty-thirty. If she were being honest, Iris had been a little apprehensive about the trains since her ... incident just a week ago. She almost didn't ride it the day after it happened. But since that train, the sixty-thirty train home has been nothing but packed, as it should be. There hadn't been any short, bald men in sight, at least none that were familiar to her. No weird men with turquoise necklaces approaching her. She was pretty sure that no one had ever found a body in the underground system. It was like it all happened in her head, but it didn't. She knew it was real. Something like that couldn't have been more real, and yet, there wasn't a trace of the man's existence.

Iris tended to think about the disturbance on her ride home every evening, although she tried her best to keep her mind off of it. She almost missed her stop tonight because she had been lost in her head, but when they called, "First stop: Hemmond Street," her conscious was awakened. Iris sprung up and walked off the platform, already spotting the dim lighting of Jillian's Coffee on the side street next to Hemmond.

For a Thursday night, Jillian's was pretty packed. Iris took a guess that there may be some poetry reading or acoustic band playing tonight. Couples and best friends surrounded the small tables littering the local coffee joint, giggling and sipping the hot liquid that teetered on the edge of their cups. Warm steam wafted into the air and mixed with the sweet tones of jazz music from a Spotify playlist. Iris tilted her head to the side as she approached one of the foggy windows, burrowing herself deeper into her scarf. In the far corner of the coffee shop, she spotted Dick sitting with a pretty brunette, her red lips quirked into an impish grin.

They looked close. Iris wondered how long they knew each other, if she knew about his secret. From the way they were both leaning into the table, sharing a joke that probably only they would understand, Iris assumed they had known each other for years. She almost felt rude for intruding on their meetup, but Dick had invited her.

This was definitely weird. Did he not understand social cues? Maybe she'd save them both the embarrassment and leave ...

Iris had turned on her heel to walk back to the train station, and then stopped in place. She looked at the thin blanket of snowflakes on the ground and began to draw a flower with her foot as a distraction. Man up, Kingsley, she told herself. You've been through far worse in the past months to cower away at a dumb coffee shop conversation. With one look over her shoulder, Iris released an annoyed groan and made her way inside of Jillian's.

As the bell rang at her arrival, Dick's head snapped up, immediately finding Iris at the door. He grinned big and beckoned her over with a wave of his head. Sending him a soft smile, Iris took in a deep breath and strode over to the small booth.

As she approached the coat rack next to Dick's table, she found the brunette's eyes suddenly on her with an acute intensity, like she was internally debating if Iris was real. Iris shed off her coat and hung it up, and then noticed how damn small the booth was. She'd have to sit on one of their sides, or she could totally insult both of them by dragging another chair over.

She was taking too long to decide. She hadn't even introduced herself. God, she wasn't cut out for this –

Iris' hand sprung to life. "Um – hi," she said, directing her hand towards the brunette. "I'm Iris."

"I know," she smirked, glancing at Dick for a moment, before shaking Iris' trembling hand. "Dick has told me a lot about you. I'm Donna. Donna Troy."

Dick moved in and squished himself into the side of the booth, leaving Iris with no choice but to sit with him. She cleared her throat, shoving herself onto the end of the cushioned booth, and tried to ignore that their legs were pressing right next to each other.

"Donna and I have known each other since we were kids. She's like me. Former protégé." He said, earning a brow raise from Donna. Iris looked between them with heightened curiosity. "You ever heard of Wonder Girl?"

Iris scratched the top of her head. "Once or twice, I think. Wonder Woman's sidekick, right?" She glanced towards Donna. "I'm not good with all of this ... hero stuff."

"Sidekick? For once, Dick was right. I was a protégé." She punched Dick's arm from across the table.

He rubbed at the spot where she hit him, looking to a confused Iris. Dick gestured from him to Donna. "We're practically siblings," he explained. "I know it's a hard concept to grasp that I've had a friend this long. I tend to be an asshole."

Iris snorted, "You're telling me."

Donna tapped her hand, agreeing with a firm nod. Iris found herself smiling along with her. "Such an asshole that he hardly calls. He's always busy with 'work.'" She rolled her eyes and glared towards Dick. "But, of course, I finally received a call back when he needed someone to convince his girlfriend to become a crime fighter with him."

Iris blinked. "Um –"

"Do you know how annoying that is?" Donna scoffed, narrowing her brows in Dick's direction. "I've barely heard from you since you left Gotham!"

"Hey, just – wait a second," Dick said with two hands held up. "We ... Iris and I ..." He shook his head, looking to her for help, but Iris was visibly stunned by Donna's outburst. "We aren't dating. We're friends, and we work together."

Friends who just so happen to almost kiss, her conscious reminded.

Donna was still scowling at him. Her expression wouldn't break, and she knew one simple glare could break Dick Grayson down like fragile china. He could be so easy sometimes.

"Well, I'm – uh ..." He avoided both of their gazes. "I'll go get us three coffees."

Iris moved out of the booth, pressing herself firmly against the wall as Dick's back softly brushed against her chest. She held her breath the entire time before sitting back down into the booth. Donna held up a finger as he walked off and called out, "Don't forget almond milk in mine!" Dick nodded in affirmation and got in line at the register station.

Once she knew he was farther away, Iris let her face fall into her hands. "Did he really make you come tonight for this?" She asked, voice slightly muffled.

"It was definitely the main topic of his call," Donna replied.

Iris exhaled loudly. For a moment, Donna was quiet, and wondered why Dick was so adamant about recruiting this supposed "friend." He had said she was powerful – and Donna had no issue with seeing that from the glowing pendant on her chest – but the Titans had been disbanded for years. Out of all people, Dick Grayson was the last person she thought would want to restart it. But then, Donna remembered that under his harden armor and stubbornness, Dick had a heart of gold. He liked helping gifted people discover the true power inside of them, and he was lonely in Detroit. She knew it from the moment she arrived. Iris Kingsley was something solid to lean against here, and he was just as dependent on her as she secretly was with him.

With a soft sigh, Donna pried Iris' hands away from her face, holding them together in her firm grip. Iris felt a sense of comfort in Donna's piercing gaze. "He has good intentions. You know that, right?"

"Guys like him always do," Iris quipped, leaning back into her seat.

"He told me that necklace gave you some pretty amazing powers. So why don't you want to release them, or harness them?" Donna inquired, trying to search deeper into the depths of this woman's paranoia. Iris simply shrugged. "Let me rephrase that: what's scaring you about working with Dick? You both already work together at the station, he's said."

Iris pushed a wild strand of hair behind her ear. "That's different. That's a professional setting." She paused, debating that sentence, but decided not to dwell on the odd environment of the Detroit Police Station. "All of this ... vigilante stuff – it's not my thing. It's too much for me. Ever since I was given this burden of a necklace, my life has gone off the rails, and I just want it to be normal again. Venturing into the night in some weird costume and fighting crime with Dick Grayson is the farthest from normal."

"But don't you already do that as a detective?" Donna quirked a brow upward. "Minus the costume part, which can be kinda fun sometimes."

"Not gonna happen."

Donna cocked her head to the side. "And you're sure you guys aren't dating too?"

Iris swallowed hard. She hoped Donna didn't notice. "No."

Dick suddenly swung around the corner, balancing a tray of cups filled to the brink with steaming coffee. "Got those drinks –" He stopped short when he realized Iris and Donna immediately halted their conversation at his arrival. Placing the tray on the table, he asked, "Did I interrupt something?"

"Nope," the two chorused, sending each other a wary glance. That alone told Donna all that she needed to know.

•••

After a thorough conversation noting Dick Grayson's terrible social behavior shared over three cups of dark roast coffee, Iris checked the time on her phone and decided that maybe it was time to head home. She at least wanted to make the eight-thirty train home, knowing very well that the next train wasn't until ten PM. Dick offered to drive her home, but Iris was getting a little sick and tired of him being her knight in shining armor, and Donna even mentioned that fact as Iris declined. With a small wave, Iris exited Jillian's and headed for the train platform.

Once the dark-haired woman had walked off, Donna slowly turned to face Dick in her chair, a big smile plastered on her rosy lips. "I like her," she said wistfully. "She calls you out on your bullshit."

"Yeah, yeah," Dick mumbled, sipping the second cup of coffee he ordered that night. He wondered how he'd be able to sleep tonight. (Not like he slept much at all.)

"I did manage to talk to her a little bit while you were away," Donna replied. Her phone lit up with a text message and she looked at the time with interest. She needed to leave soon, especially since they were the only too left in the coffee shop. "You know, the whole 'convincing' thing."

He lifted a bushy brow. "And?"

"She wasn't convinced."

Dick sunk into the booth, tapping the rim of his cup. "Can't say I'm surprised."

"That Iris Kingsley certainly is a tough egg to crack," Donna agreed. She paused for a moment, words clogged in her throat, and Dick glanced at her with concern. Eventually, Donna shrugged and said, "Hey, um – Dick, if you really want to spend time with her so badly, why don't you just ask her on a date?"

Dick's back went rigid, while his eyes narrowed in her direction. "What?"

"Do you suddenly have hearing problems or something?" She asked, deadpanned. "I told you to ask her out on a date."

"Iris and I are frien –"

Donna held up a finger. "If you say the F word, so help me God, I will end you, Dick Grayson." She settled back into her seat, frowning towards him. "Seriously, why haven't you asked her out? You obviously like each other."

"Why do you always think that you know everything?"

"Older, smarter, prettier, remember?"

Dick tried to hide the grin playing at his lips. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Donna."

"Another time, then?" She asked, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I should go and get my beauty sleep. Have to meet some important people tomorrow before I head back home. We'll continue this convo soon, okay?"

He looked away, but nodded nonetheless.

"And, Dick?"

His chin lifted, and he met her dark, whimsical stare from across the shop. Employees were washing down tables around her, but Donna Troy stood out like a bright light amongst the darkness. She snapped in his direction, "Remember to call me more often, Boy Wonder."

Dick smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

•••

A/N: DONNA TROY IS BEST GIRL 💘 I WILL NOT SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS!!!!!

thank you guys SO MUCH for getting this story to 20k!!!!! I know this is one of my less popular fics, but I honestly love writing the story so much and I'm so glad you guys are liking it too 💞 thank you again!!!