TITLE: Villian
Chapter One: A Night Like
This…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Final
Part in my trilogy of Babs/Dick stories. This follows "Welcome Back" and
"Promises, Promises." I meant to get this done earlier, but real life got in
the way. Sorry… thanks for the wait and I hope you enjoy.
THE STORY SO FAR: After
Bruce Wayne was sent to the hospital after a heart attack, Barbara Gordon and
Dick Grayson reunited after many years of estrangement. Almost two years after
this, with the entire "family" now on speaking terms once again, Dick surprised
Barbara on their anniversary by proposing marriage. Unfortunately, while trying
to find her mother's old wedding dress, Dick stormed out after uncovering the
secret affair between Bruce and Barbara years earlier. While trying to find
Dick, Barbara uncovered his little secret as well… the fact that, although he
promised that he would hang up the cape, he not only continued crime fighting,
but also continued wearing the mantle of the bat. She confronted him, and
uneasily told him that she never wanted to see him again. He left that night,
returning to Bludhaven, where Barbara hadn't heard from him since.
In the meantime, Barbara
Gordon met a young District Attorney named Sam Young, and eventually married
him. She has taken over her father's position as Police Commissioner. Recently,
a new caped crusader has come onto the scene, an employee of Bruce's named
Terry McGinnis.
TIME: Batman Beyond Time
Frame, or roughly 18 years after "Promises, Promises" and 20 after "Welcome
Back"
DISCLAIMER: I don't own
these characters… I'm just a poor college student. Please don't sue me.
"It's a deal with the
devil, Barbara… a deal with the devil, but it's necessary."
James Gordon's words
haunted Commissioner Barbara Gordon as she sat in her office late one night
sorting out internal affairs papers. This was one of those nights when she
thought she could practically hear him rolling over in his grave. One of the
largest IA nightmares had just gone down; a group of 4 police officers in
league with some of the wardens and doctors over at New Arkham. New Arkham's
cells were filled to the brim, and they had schemed to release patients early,
allowing more room for others. Tampering files, changing records… it was all
out, and it looked horrible for the Gotham City Police Department, already
known as one of the most corrupt departments in recent history. Not that Arkham
was all that clean itself. Once, Arkham Asylum was a place for rehabilitation
of criminals, notorious for holding some of the most insane, depraved villains
ever to walk the street. Two-Face, Penguin, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Bane… The
Joker. The list went on and on. And whether they would be released, or
sometimes breakout of the supposedly Maximum-Security prison, they would always
end up back on the streets. At least that part hadn't changed. Now, however,
Arkham was just plain over-crowded, with not enough cells and not enough
doctors to treat the patients there.
As she scanned the IA
reports, she thought back to when her father was commissioner. He would come
home, griping about the crooked cops and "that damn bat," but she never truly
realized how bad it was until she became Commissioner. And she had no "damn
bat." A year before she was elected to her position, Batman had mysteriously
stopped working. She was one of the only people who noticed the coincidence
that at the same time as Batman seemingly retired, Bruce Wayne also started to
fade away from his company. In press reports, Dr. Leslie had attributed his
disappearance from the public as a small stroke, which, neatly, also covered up
for the time Bruce had spent in the hospital undergoing Leslie's psychiatric
evaluation that had, in actuality, been what caused Batman to shy away from the
scene. Barbara put two and two together, but deep down inside, she had to admit
that she was glad when Bruce had put up the cape and cowl. She had seen him in
action shortly before that, and the truth was, he was getting sloppy. His age
was starting to show, not only on his face, but in his fighting, as well.
Frankly, she was soon expecting the day when one criminal could boast, "I
killed the Bat."
The next year when
Barbara was elected Commissioner, she made an astounding declaration. "I am not
my father," she decided and announced to the police force. "So, don't expect me
to be." And in her first press conference, she announced to the general public
the same sentiment. "The days of masked vigilantes are over. This city does not
need a Batman cowering in the shadows anymore."
When she arrived home
that night, Sam handed her a letter. "Someone came and dropped this off for
you. I think they said they worked for Mr. Wayne."
Barbara frowned and took
the letter. She had never really told Sam much about her relationship to Bruce
Wayne, other than what he knew from papers and gossip. He wasn't from Gotham,
but he went to Law School at Gotham City University, so he did know that Bruce
was a friend of Barbara's father. And she assumed that he had at least heard
the rumors of their involvement, though he had never brought the subject up.
All she had basically told him was that they once were good friends, and they
had a falling out and hadn't spoken since. He understood not to press her for
more information.
Barbara took the letter
and went into the small den to read it. It was short and simple… just Bruce's
style.
Barbara,
Nice speech.
Best of luck as Commissioner.
- Bruce.
To the average person,
she gathered, the letter might simply look like an old friend wishing
congratulations to her. Hell, it may have even looked like a plea for
reconciliation. But Barbara knew him better. Her speech had stung him deeply,
and whereas he would occasionally try to contact her… find out how she was
doing in the years since Dick had left her, after that speech he stopped doing
that.
She often thought of him
on nights like this. Nights when she sat embroiled in paper work and looked out
the window only to see that flash of black across the night sky. Bruce's new
Batman… that McGinnis boy. She now understood what her father had known. The
city needed a Batman. Sometimes she wondered why, though. During the years
between Bruce's shooting and McGinnis wearing the suit, there had been no
Jokers… no Penguins… no Scarecrows. Yeah, simple petty crimes and muggings and
such rose but there wasn't a homicidal maniac trying to destroy the whole city
every week. It was almost like having a Batman was a magnet for these
psychopaths. Blight… Spellbinder… Shriek… Inque. New versions of the same old
story. But McGinnis did keep them in line.
She now truly realized
that her father was right. Batman was a necessary evil.
Terry McGinnis sat atop a
skyscraper looking downward at Gotham. Wow, he thought. What was my
life like a year ago? Was I really just a normal kid whose biggest problem was
trying to wear the right clothes to class? And now I'm the Batman. And nobody
knows. No one would suspect that that annoying, arrogant creep Terry McGinnis
is the Batman.
Batman looked downward
and scanned the streets for any activity. Word was the Royal Flush Gang was
going to be making an appearance tonight. And he never missed a reunion. His
ear faintly registered the police scanner squawking in his ear, only listening
for words to indicate that the gang was out and about. As his eyes continued to
look out at the night sky, words jumped out at him from the police frequency.
"…. Bank at Third and
Robinson…. Armed and armored, it seems… One of those suited freaks…"
Just my style… a
suited freak, Batman thought with
a smile as the Batjet careened overhead and flew him to Third and Robinson.
When Batman arrived at
the scene, the suited menace had holed himself up in the bank.
"You will not take
me down until I have attended to my business here in Gotham!"
Business? Batman thought. Who was this guy? Batman
spoke into the mike that was part of his Batsuit. "You getting this?"
The voice of Bruce Wayne
came through the earphone. "Yes… I don't recognize the costume, but it sounds
like he's from out of town anyway. I'll start looking into Metropolis Police
Files."
"You police!" The
suit yelled. "You inept police who think you're doing something good for the
world! You don't know your ass from a hole in the ground and you wouldn't know
a real villain if he stood among you! You call me Vengeance… for I am Vengeance
for the wrongs that you all do."
Yeah, that's enough of
that hot air, Batman thought as
he shot a boomerang through the window to the back and followed it, kicking
Vengeance (if that was what this guy wanted to be called) square in the chest,
knocking him backwards. Vengeance rolled back up and gazed at Batman.
"Another one of them… and
you are the Bat… do you also seek vengeance for a wrong?"
Batman shook his head.
"You're mistaken buster. I'm the only one around here."
As he said this, a figure
came out from the side and knocked Batman to the ground. "Stay down!" the
figure harshly whispered.
Batman looked up and saw
the figure attack Vengeance. His fighting style was good, Batman noticed.
Similar to what Bruce had taught him. And yet, different… more… lively. Batman
got back to his feet and charged Vengeance as well, throwing off this second
figure. After a struggle, Vengeance managed to reach on of the higher up
windows and escape, but not before yelling down one last time. "Go home,
Nightwing… this is not your home."
The figure stood…
watching Vengeance escape before pushing Batman up against the wall. "I told
you to stay down!"
Batman pushed the
stranger off. Vengeance had called out to Nightwing… was this figure Nightwing?
"I don't know who the hell you are, but I don't take orders from you."
The figure bent down into
his face. "You should, because I know more about this job than you'll ever
know. Stay out of my way next time." The figure started walking away, but
turned around. "Oh, and by the way… nice suit, kid. Just don't go thinking that
you're the Bat... cause you're not the Bat… and you never will be."
The figure used something
much like a grappling hook and disappeared through a hole in the ceiling, as
Batman stood there speechless.
"… and then he said 'and
you'll never be the Bat.' I mean… who does this guy think he is?"
Ever since Terry had
arrived back at the Batcave, he had been talking nonstop of the second figure
he had encountered tonight.
"That Vengeance person
called the guy Nightwing, I think… or something like that."
Bruce, at the computer,
nodded. "Yes… Nightwing. Our friends are from Bludhaven, about an hour up the
coast. Vengeance is a pretty new addition to their menagerie up there, but I'll
try to get some information on him. I don't know why they're down here. You
should go get sleep now… tomorrow's a schoolday."
Terry narrowed his eyes
at Bruce. The old man had never been concerned about keeping him up late on a
school night before. Why start now? Bruce had kept his eyes glued to the screen
the entire time, not even glancing up at Terry. He knew something. Terry didn't
know what… but he knew something.
The next day, the police
officers of the GCPD gathered around the television watching the mid day news
report.
"A new masked criminal,
apparently calling himself 'Vengeance,' arrived upon the scene here in Gotham
last night. No one knows where this masked vigilante came from, but he was
accompanied by another masked figure. Cameras at the scene managed to get this
glimpse at the newst additions to Gotham's directory of…"
The television snapped
off as Barbara Gordon walked up behind one of the officers and grabbed the
remote. "Don't we have some work to be getting done, gentlemen? Some crime out
there to be stopping?"
The officers dispersed
and mumbled under their breaths. "Why should we do it when we got costumed
freaks out there doing it for us?" she heard one of them ask under her breath.
Barbara sighed and walked
into her office. Don't think it's a question I haven't asked myself,
Santoro. As she sat down at her desk, her husband, District Attorney Sam
Young, walked in and sat down. She looked up at him quizzically. "What are you
doing here?"
He smiled and chuckled
jovially. One of the traits about his wife he had grown to love was the fact
that she had no memory for dates when she was under stress. And she absolutely
refused to use one of those old fashioned day planner things, no matter how
much he insisted that it would help manage her busy schedule some. "Thursday?
Lunch date?"
She closed her eyes and
groaned. "Sam… I completely…"
"Forgot." Sam finished
for her with another kind smile.
She nodded. "Yeah… and I
can't get away from the office today. You saw the news… I've got two new faces
to deal with…" she sighed. "I'm sorry, hun."
He stood and walked over
to her, giving her and kiss and a hug. "It's okay… you get your work done. But
some guys in jail for me," he said as he walked out.
She smiled as he left,
but her smile quickly returned to a frown as her mind returned to where it
previously had been. Even if she had gone to lunch, she wouldn't have been good
company. There was simply too much on her mind today.
Barbara saw the news that
morning and the pictures she had seen had disturbed her. It wasn't the clear
ineptitude of the cops on duty that disturbed her. Nor was it this Vengeance
person, nor the fact that they got away. It was the other person. Barbara
recognized the metallic black and blue of the costume… or at least… she thought
she did. But it couldn't be… it just couldn't. Why would he come back here?
On her computer, Barbara brought up the Bludhaven police records. Finding a
still shot of Vengeance from the news stations, she managed to match the
descriptions and discover that her hunch was right… there was a visitor in
Gotham. Going back to the still shots, she found one of the second visitor to
Gotham City and blew the picture up. Barbara bit her bottom lip and leaned back
in her chair, staring at the picture on her computer screen.
She stared at the picture
for a good fifteen minutes.
That son of a bitch. I thought he'd never have the balls to show his face here again… not after what he did last time.
The black and blue suit
should have been a dead giveaway, but Barbara convinced herself that many other
crimefighters chasing criminals from Bludhaven wore black and blue suits. What
convinced her was the face.
Even covered by the mask,
darkened around the eyes and aged almost twenty years she still recognized that
face… those eyes.
Nightwing was in town…
Dick Grayson was back in
her life.