I haven't published anything for ages - I lost my mojo a bit - so this is a little one-shot based upon the parallels between the TV series Arrow S4 E10-16 and Barbara Gordon's Oracle (my own personal heroine) from the DCU before she was cured of her paralysis. It's based upon events in the show, but deviates a lot and there is little in the way of dodgy content - a couple of curses but no explicit sex or violence (sorry if that's what you wanted) - it's all quite innocent.
No apologies for the bit of fluff here and there, please don't complain if you hate my version of events - write your own story how you like it if that's the case and there has been enough complaining about S4 of Arrow as well so don't bother with that either.
Constructive feedback about the writing is always welcome though.
Hope you like it!
Oracle and Overwatch
Barbara sighed once more and removed her glasses. Pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes to relieve the small ache that had crept into the skin where the glasses had been perched, she mumbled incoherently to herself.
This was all Barry Allen's fault. He couldn't resist messing with the space-time continuum!
Her watch beeped as it did every thirty minutes to remind her to move her butt a little to relieve the pressure on her skin. Another sigh emerged as she placed her palms on the wheels of her hi-tec titanium wheelchair and she lifted her hips up with an ease brought about by using her arms as her sole means of moving her body for almost a decade. She waited a good fifteen seconds before lowering herself back down and hissed as the discomfort of taking weight on the damaged part of her spine flashed across her lower back.
"This is useless," she mumbled, "and I have been staring at this screen so long, I'm going cross-eyed."
"Babs?"
"In here," she replied as The Black Canary, Laurel Lance emerged from the elevator in the clock tower and stripped the mask from her face. She wandered to the bank of computers and dropped the mask next to her long-time friend.
"What's going on?"
"Thanks for coming. I need some help and you were the first person I thought of."
They hadn't worked together in a while, but they were still the best of friends. Barbara didn't like Laurel's history with former boyfriend, Oliver Queen. It was the first time since Oliver had returned from the dead that they had seen each other and the older woman feared Laurel still loved him deep down even though she swore they were just friends now. When they spoke, he was usually the first topic of conversation.
They hugged, Laurel reaching down and grabbing Barbara's shoulders. "You look loved up, Babs. Where is Dick and how come you need me now that he's here all the time?"
The redhead chuckled. "I need someone who can tell one end of a computer from the other."
"And you called me? I know Dick's useless but I'm no Calculator either."
"How do you know the Calculator?"
"I know his daughter, long story. He was in Star City a couple of weeks ago."
"Daughter?"
"Felicity Smoak is his daughter. She's one of my closest friends."
"The Calculator is a dangerous man and I didn't know he had a daughter... Wait a minute, Felicity Smoak, I know that name. Why do I know that name?" Barbara didn't wait for an answer. "That's how I know her name. She was just engaged to the Archer, which means she was in the news because she got shot on the way home from their party."
"Damien Darhk arranged it," Laurel's face fell.
"She survived though, right?"
"Yeah but..." Laurel stalled.
"But what?"
A heavy sigh escaped Laurel's lips. She didn't really want to say it out loud, they were all still in shock about the consequences and although Babs would understand more than anyone, the words stuck in her throat.
"She's paralyzed, or she was, I guess she still is but there was this implant that a friend invented..."
"Curtis Holt, the neural stimulus implant. The recipient has so far remained anonymous." Babs remained unemotional.
"How did you...? Never mind, look who I'm talking to."
"I'm guessing it didn't work?"
"Not yet, they're still hopeful, but at the moment she still can't move or feel anything from the waist down."
"Oh," Barbara looked away for a moment as Laurel poked the tear from her eye. "Sorry, I didn't know." Turning back to her friend, she placed a hand on Laurel's. "She'll be okay. It will take time, but she'll adjust."
"I know, I'm just beginning to understand things. Felicity is coping, but sometimes I see her get a look in her eyes that says she's really sad. I didn't know how hard it was, I mean for you. We never really talked about what it was like before I knew you. I'm sorry I didn't ask more now."
Barbara shook her head. "I'm glad you didn't know me then. It wasn't pretty. I didn't cope too well either."
Laurel nodded. Barbara was always so adept and in charge that it must have been a nightmare of self-doubt.
"Anyway, what do you need me for?"
"Right... Well I need you to open a wormhole between two dimensions to allow me to repair a fracture in the space-time continuum and allow me to return to this one after I'm done."
Laurel's face scrunched up. "Right, Barbara. That sounds simple enough. There's just he one little problem, though. I haven't the faintest idea what the hell you just said."
Felicity was sore all over. Paul had worked her hard in therapy and now she was suffering for it. If she could walk down the aisle it would be worth it, though. It was such a small word and yet the 'if' was killing her. She still didn't know if it was working or not. Her legs were still useless and all she had felt so far was an annoying tingling sensation that drove her crazy and which the surgeon had warned might remain permanently even if she was able to walk again. There were still too many 'ifs' involving the implant that she had a headache just thinking about it. She pinched the bridge of her nose, lifting her glasses a fraction and squeezed her eyes closed for a moment to relieve the pressure, then her phone alarm beeped as it did every half hour to remind her to lift her butt from the chair and ease the pressure on her skin. She sighed and prayed to no one in particular, that she wouldn't need to do this for much longer.
"You okay?"
She wrinkled her nose as Oliver walked beside her on their way to get something to eat. "Yeah, just frustrated still that nothing seems to be happening yet."
"But you heard Paul tell you it would take time to heal and for the implant to start functioning properly."
"I know it's just... We moved the wedding forwards and now I'm worried that I won't be walking in time, at least not very well."
"Felicity, you told your mom yesterday not to make so much fuss about the wedding because it wasn't as important as being married."
"I know that..but, still...I let myself get carried away with what Curtis said and now I can't get the idea out of my head."
"So we'll postpone then if it means that much to you," he smiled.
"No, I don't want to wait. If I learned anything about life lately is that it's too short to put off the important things. I'll get over it. Besides, mom will decorate the chair so it's unrecognisable anyway," she joked.
He stroked her face and leaned in for a kiss. "You're amazing, Felicity."
She grinned at him and was going to make a reply but her her phone buzzed.
"It's Laurel," she announced and accepted the call. "Hey Laurel. What's up?"
"How soon can you get to Star Labs?"
The Archer was one of Barbara's least favourite people. He'd done a lot of killing and that hadn't been popular with her or her mentor. Their strict no killing rule had been adhered to, even in the face of unspeakable acts by those like the Joker.
Oliver anxiously walked into Star Labs hoping that the Oracle wasn't out to make him squirm. She usually took pleasure in embarrassing him, especially with Laurel.
Felicity hung back slightly, hearing voices.
"Seriously Babs, why'd you ask Queen here of all people? What's he going to give you apart from a headache?"
Oliver winced at the jibe from Dick Grayson.
"It's not him I need," she replied, busy coding instructions into the program she was writing.
"Then who?"
"I need his fiancé," Barbara responded. "She's basically mini-me."
Dick was confused by that but before he could make a come-back, the younger couple arrived.
"Someone in need of a spare genius?" Oliver announced, "because I happen the have the perfect one."
He bluffed his way into the lab.
Felicity wasn't able to see past him in the doorway but watched him shake hands, slightly awkwardly, to someone inside the door.
As Oliver continued into the lab, she saw the man in question and if she thought her fiancé had the most amazing body, the spandex-clad man in front was another level again. He had a gymnasts physique, with shaggy dark hair and piercing blue eyes. The costume she recognised from the database she now had access to thanks to the network of vigilantes operating across the country. The mysterious figure they had to thank for the database eluded her though. Even Felicity had struggled to get past the encryption, which was an indication of just how good they were.
The blue eyes behind the mask crinkled as his gaze met hers and a hand went straight out.
"You must be Nightwing," Felicity grinned. "Laurel told me not to stare at your butt or Oliver will get jealous ... and tell me I didn't say that out loud." She closed her eyes for a moment to calm the runaway words and cringing at her inability to stop them.
"Don't worry, she warned me about you too."
Felicity relaxed somewhat until Oliver moved aside to reveal a woman with long red hair sat at a massive bank of computers. It took a moment or two for the younger woman to recognise what she was sat in.
"Barbara."
The redhead didn't turn at the sound of the Archer's voice, but continued to type something, which Felicity found a little rude, but then Oliver had warned her that a warm welcome wasn't on the cards, though wouldn't elaborate why.
Eventually the wheelchair backed out and spun around to reveal a woman in her mid-30s, wearing athletic gear; running tights and a vest. The vest showed the upper body of a gymnast, not as heavily muscled as her male counterpart, but clearly the woman wouldn't struggle to do fifty pull ups at the gym. Her lower body was another matter; her legs and hips were incredibly thin and showed little muscle if any. Felicity tried not to stare at them but couldn't help thinking that was her own fate if the implant didn't start firing soon.
Oliver received a cool, impassive glance and a brief shake of the hand from the woman. Clearly no love lost there and she wondered if perhaps she wasn't another discarded female from his past.
"Felicity, this is Laurel's friend, Barbara."
"Oh my gosh, Barbara Gordon? Oliver, why didn't you tell me you knew Barbara Gordon?"
"Probably because the last time I saw him, I threatened to break his face," the redhead replied. Her face softened when she met Felicity's gaze. "It's nice to put a face to the name though. I like Overwatch as a code name." A hand emerged and the younger woman found herself rolling forwards to meet it.
"How did you... I mean we only just started...Oliver?"
He just laughed. "Barbara also has a code name, Felicity, meet the Oracle."
"I can't believe Barbara Gordon is the Oracle. I mean I can obviously, the eidetic memory and your father's influence. Did I mention that I love your dad, I mean not literally but everything he stands for but I thought the Oracle was an urban legend and no one actually knew for certain that you exist for real so ... Huge fan, really, huge... I'm babbling, sorry."
The redhead had a faint smile. "I would have said gushing personally." She raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Which is unnecessary if what Laurel tells me is true. I believe you are every bit as capable as me, or almost anyway. Didn't know you were the Calculator's daughter though. That was a surprise."
Felicity blushed a little. "Yeah well, he's where he belongs now."
"I heard." Barbara softened. "That took real guts, having your own father arrested. Not to mention total respect for what's right." Barbara turned her chair to Oliver and her eyes narrowed. "You must have changed a great deal or I can't see anyone that honourable falling for you. Don't screw it up this time."
Oliver hung his head briefly, but then raised it to meet the green eyes staring at him. "I won't. There's no one more important to me." He reached for Felicity's hand and squeezed it, receiving the kind of look from his fiancé that was reserved solely for him.
"Sorry, but why am I here again?" Felicity asked. "Tell me this isn't some kind of paraplegic convention because I'm really not down with that right now, no offence."
Barbara laughed again as did Dick.
"Hey that's a good one Babs, don't you think?"
She gave him a look that suggest he stop with the quips and returned her attention to the blonde. "As much as we have in common, I didn't bring you here for a pep talk. I figure you have that angle covered already. I brought you here because if we don't do something to stop it, we have a fracture in the space-time continuum that will destroy this world, or our version of it at least."
"Say what?" Felicity asked, totally confused, which amused Oliver because he so seldom found Felicity confused about anything intellectual.
Barbara sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.
"So let me get this straight," Felicity rubbed her temples. "There is more than one version of Earth and thus more than one of me? That's totally insane by the way. I wonder if I'm blonde in all of them, or maybe still a goth in some..." Her attention wandered off briefly. "Sorry. Refocusing on the task in hand, right. More than one Earth and something got the wires crossed between this one and another one and the more time goes on, the wider the fracture grows and eventually, boom!" She gesticulated with her hands and let them fall to her lap. "Totally need to fix that before I get married," she joked.
Oliver gave her a look that said he agreed. "Nothing is getting in our way of that. Barbara, what do you need me to do?"
"Nothing, it's Felicity I need. You can talk motorcycles with Dick for two days. I need to go into the fracture and place a device I created to stitch the fracture together, but I can only do that if someone can keep the portal open for me to return through afterwards, otherwise I would screw everything up and there would be no me here and two of me rolling around there, wherever there is." Her face looked confused even at that. "I hate messing with time, it totally gives me brain fuck."
Felicity laughed and then fell quiet. "In this other version of Earth, are we the same? I mean do we all exist there as well as here?"
Barbara shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe, maybe not. Everything is dependent upon the interactions of others."
Felicity's brow furrowed in thought. "You might still be playboy Oliver," she grinned at him.
"You could be brunette," he teased, "with bad personal style choices."
They both cast an amused glance at each other.
"Enough supposition, let's get to work Felicity."
Barbara turned away from the conversation to the computers.
"Olly, how about checking out Star Labs new gym with me?"
"Oh god, that's something I need to check out," Felicity mumbled, "why do 'end of the world as we know it' crises always get in the way of mindless entertainment like watching the pair of you beef it out with each other over free weights?"
Babs almost choked at Felicity's openness. "I see why he likes you so much."
Felicity gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle but then straightened her glasses for getting down to business. "Show me what I need to do."
"Barbara?" Dick approached the redhead who hadn't moved from the computers for a couple of hours. "I know you are planning to save the world but you need to eat and go to the bathroom or you aren't going to be saving anyone."
Babs slipped off her glasses and groaned. "Please don't act like my nursemaid."
"I'm not. I'm acting like someone who loves you and gets worried when you ignore your own reminders."
Felicity watched the interaction but stayed quiet. She didn't like overt sympathy either.
A heavy sigh followed again and Babs dropped her hands for another pressure lift. "Can you get us something to eat while I go to the bathroom," she conceded.
"Sandwiches okay?"
A nod from the two women gave Dick an out from the brief awkwardness and he departed with something to do.
"You had better do the same," the older woman suggested.
"I will. I completely lost track of time."
"Happens to me all the time; I set alarms for good reason."
Felicity nodded and looked away briefly. "You were shot too, right? I remember reading about it somewhere."
"By the Joker," she nodded. "Ten years ago now." There wasn't much emotion in her voice as she said it, just an acceptance.
Felicity wanted to ask her so many things, but couldn't make herself do it; they had an urgent problem to solve and finding help in someone else's advice would have to wait.
As if the other woman knew what she was thinking, Barbara reached out a hand and squeezed Felicity's arm. "When this is over, we'll talk more okay?"
Receiving a small smile in acceptance, Babs headed out to the bathroom.
It was a few minutes later that Dick arrived with food and placed the tray down on the desk. "She's gong to eat and work so might as well leave it here," he joked dropping into a redundant office chair afterwards so he was on eye level with Felicity.
"How are you holding up? If you need to lie down for a while, we have beds in another room."
"I'm okay thanks."
He nodded. "Tough like Babs too, but don't be so tough you forget to take care of yourself. Human bodies tend to fight back when we ignore stuff."
"You know that whole nursemaid thing? I'm kind of with Barbara on that one."
"That's why I'm saying it. She's amazing, Felicity, like you, but she's also paralysed and there's no getting away from the fact that she needs to work around it, not ignore it. It's not easy to convince her that she's too important to everyone to let herself get sick."
Felicity smiled a little. "Too important to everyone, or just too important to you?"
He lowered his eyes briefly and grinned. "It's no secret how I feel about her. She doesn't always like my concern, but she needs it. I just wish I could convince her that I still love her the same way I used to."
"What does that mean?"
He shrugged and stood. Moving to a window, he stared out at the sky, now dark and twinkling with lights.
"We used to patrol together before she was shot. We flew across rooftops together and neither of us has forgotten how much we enjoyed it." He turned back to look at Felicity. "She thinks I'm still in love with that version of her; the one who could run and keep up with me through the night, taking on bad guys. She doesn't think I love her ...different self as much. She thinks I want her to be like she used to be."
"Do you?"
"I loved who she was back then, but I love her just as much now. I just can't seem to make her understand that." He stopped taking at the sound of approaching footsteps and the sound of rubber wheels on linoleum.
"Felicity, I think you need meds and to take care of things," Oliver arrived with drinks and her bag.
"Looks like the concern is infectious," the blonde made eye contact with Dick and gave him a sympathetic smile before rolling back out of the door.
Dick looked at Babs and simply pointed at the food. "Alfred said eat or he's calling the boss."
"Everything is under control," Barbara sat before a figure draped in black. "Felicity and I have a plan."
The dark figure looked around for the co-conspirator but found the room empty.
"She's taking a lie down, Bruce. She's still recovering from the shooting."
"Where is the Archer?"
"He's with her."
Bruce Wayne raised an eyebrow in displeasure.
"Don't be too critical. She's the reason he's not a killer anymore, apparently. Laurel told me about it, but until now, I've been reluctant to believe it too."
"Get him in here."
Babs glared at him for a moment, reminding him that in her company at least, he needed to remember his manners.
"Please, Barbara."
The Batman stood in the corner waiting for Oliver to arrive. When he walked through the door, instinct told Oliver someone was there.
Turning to scan the room, he found the imposing figure in the corner. Stepping forward, the lean face of The Batman appeared.
"Mr Queen," he acknowledged. "It's been a while."
Oliver turned square to the older man and simply nodded.
"I see you are wearing green these days."
"I've changed."
"So Barbara tells me. Where is Ms Smoak?"
"Taking a nap. She gets tired easily, you know, the meds and stuff, she's still not fully recovered."
"She's not up to this," he spoke to Barbara. "Find someone else."
Bruce was typically terse in conversation from behind the mask.
"She will be fine after a rest. She worked eight hours straight," Oliver argued, not liking Bruce's insinuation one little bit. "You'd be tired too if you had been through something like this."
"I have been through it, Mr Queen, which is why I know she isn't capable of this."
"Bruce, much as I agree in part with you, there is no one else." Barbara didn't know of anyone else in their community who could do what was needed. Her working alongside Felicity had taught her that. The only others she could think of were criminals and that wasn't going to work. She needed Overwatch. "I know it's a bit of a risk when she isn't at full strength, but we need another me and she's the best person available. I think she can do it."
"Maybe you could all just ask me if I'm up to the job instead of making assumptions. I would think you were more accepting about this sort of thing after working alongside the Oracle for so many years." Felicity raised her voice as she rounded the door and parked herself in front of Batman. "Plus I never lie, so if you ask me and I'm not capable, I would just say."
Batman glanced down and looked faintly amused at the tiny blonde in the wheelchair.
"I don't think we have been introduced," the masked man held out a hand.
Felicity gulped. "Er... No, and if I'd known how intimidating you really were I probably wouldn't have yelled at you just now." A pained expression formed on her face. "Sorry about that." She shook the massive hand. "I'm... Should I use my code name here? This feels like a code name type of situation."
"Felicity, he knows who you are," Oliver was finding it amusing.
"Oh, I see. Well the cape and mask thing kind of makes it obvious so now we know who we all are, why don't we get back to work, I think we have a planet or our version of it at least to save, or is that more than one version because I guess if this version and the other one is linked..."
It was the Batman's turn to pinch the bridge of his nose this time in annoyance. "I hate time time fuck ups!"
Barbara stared, slack-jawed at the mirror image of herself. It wasn't often she was lost for words. Her perfect memory left her with a huge bank of ready made one-liners.
"I know this a little weird, but I'm here to save you and me too of course." Barbara I gestured at Barbara II. Barbara II remained silent processing what she was seeing.
"I get the whole lost for words thing, I mean if you turned up asking for help, telling me you were here, or rather there, to save me, I'd be skeptical too."
Finally finding her words, Barbara II spoke up. "It's not that you're here telling me about another version of my reality existing somewhere in time, but that," she pointed out the wheelchair, "freaking me out."
"Oh, right. Well not much I can do to help you there. Prejudice is unhelpful, but hopefully you'll learn to see past it. I never thought I'd be prejudiced, but I guess we haven't led the same life, so..."
"I'm not prejudiced. I just can't imagine how I, or I mean you, could let something like this happen me, you, sorry... what happened?" Batgirl crouched slightly, recognising she was sort of looming over her twin.
"I was shot by the Joker. Does he exist here too?"
A lengthy sigh escaped the other redhead. "He does, unfortunately. He's locked up for now though. How did he get close enough?"
"Caught me unawares at my father's house. I was expecting a friend and opened the door without looking first."
"So you're...?" Barbara II didn't know how to ask the question.
"I'm paraplegic. Paralysed from the waist down. Have been for ten years."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm good, honestly. It was horrible, I hated life at first afterwards, but I have adjusted and have a new persona. I may not be Batgirl anymore, but I still kick ass, metaphorically speaking."
Batgirl softened and offered a little smile. "Okay then, what do we need to do?"
"I'm going to plant this device in order to repair the fracture in time," Barbara held out a small circular metal casing which housed the necessary tech to do the job. "I might need the help of some legs to situate it in the correct place, which is why I need you."
Batgirl nodded. "Then let's get to it before anything starts to go haywire with continuity."
Batgirl dropped to the basement on the zip line and disconnected herself. The other Barbara was above peering down through the hole in the floor as well as monitoring on a handheld screen from the video feed Batgirl was sending. They were in contact with one another through a transceiver.
"You're pretty fly with the tech. You and my Batman would get on, though I guess you have a Batman too. Is he as miserable as my version?"
"Sounds like Bruce is Bruce whatever dimension he's in," Barbara chuckled.
"So what else about our lives is similar?" Batgirl asked as she sought out the cause of the time fracture. "Are you seeing someone?"
Batgirl picked her way over debris, scraping her knee against a concrete beam. "Ouch!" She mumbled.
"You okay?" Barbara asked.
"Just a scratch," Batgirl replied. "Do you miss this? You must miss it."
"I don't miss the bruises," Barbara chuckled. "But I miss the rooftops with Robin. I can admit that, but without regret. I'm happy with who I am now."
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think I could be happy with being stuck in a wheelchair."
"I'm not stuck in it. I'm stuck without it and I thought you said you weren't prejudiced."
"I'm not, I just wouldn't be happy with the situation."
"You can't know that until it happens to you and you won't ever find out, hopefully." Barbara breathed a sigh of relief when the time fracture appeared before them. She could see directly into Star Labs and Felicity at the workstation.
The collapsed building she found herself in was the very same one, only something had gone terribly wrong on this end and the basement was a mess, the whole building condemned and Star Labs management once more in trouble with the authorities over an industrial accident.
"They must have been doing something experimental with time to cause this," Batgirl announced. "I can see straight through to your dimension. Totally freaking me out."
"Don't get too close," Barbara warned. It had taken her three attempts to get out of the basement and she was only successful the last time with Batgirl's help. She was going to have to get back down there at some point but not until she had worked out exactly where to plant the device. They only had one shot at this.
Batgirl landed, dazed with a thud on the floor of the computer lab.
"Are you alright?" A face appeared upside down, blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and glasses slipping down the nose of a pretty young woman. Batgirl shook her head.
"Concrete flooring is no softer in this dimension," she grumbled and pushed herself into a sitting position to catch her breath. Rubbing the back of her head, she turned around and thought for a moment she was seeing things. Another bespectacled genius sat in a wheelchair looking at her expectantly.
"Are you also an Oracle?"
"No, I'm Overwatch, but you can just call me Felicity. Are you okay?" The blonde looked concerned.
"I'm fine. You look confused."
"I...well I'm guessing you're Barbara but not our version."
A brief nod was followed a commotion as feet sounded down the hallway.
"Intruder alert just sounded," Nightwing arrived in full costume, closely followed by Green Arrow.
Both stopped short before releasing weapons on the intruder.
"Holy cr..." Nightwing failed to finish.
"Batgirl?" Oliver whispered. "Totally not what I was expecting."
Barbara stood up and breathed deeply, taking in the vigilantes. "You both look like you've seen a ghost."
"Forgive me but we were expecting our Barbara back. What happened?"
"I guess I can be a little rash and didn't listen when she told me not to get too close. I fell in."
Felicity sighed. "Well you better fall back out again before you screw up the timelines and change events unwittingly."
Batgirl popped off her cowl and gazed at Oliver. "The Arrow?"
He shrugged. "Green Arrow actually."
"Green?"
"Change of heart, change of name," Oliver ran his arm over Felicity's shoulders and gave her the kind of look that spoke of only one thing.
"He's loved up," Dick finally managed to speak.
Batgirl rubbed her head again. Oracle had said not to mess with time so she kept quiet about her version of the Arrow; a bitter merciless killer of those he deemed corrupt.
"Finally, short pants finds his voice," Batgirl teased.
Nightwing glanced down at his legs. "I haven't worn those in a long time. Tell me I don't still wear them in your world."
"No, but your costume is black and red, not blue."
"Really? I chose blue to match my eyes," he grinned.
She returned the smile but it faded as she remembered why in her timeline, he had red. "You live in Bludhaven in my reality."
"Oh, so we're not, you and me?" He motioned his finger back and forth.
"No. We're friends. Sort of."
"Oh."
Felicity interrupted. "Hey, guys. Barbara warned us, as nice as this has been, about sharing too much."
Dick stood from where he had been leaning on the door frame. "Yeah, I guess. You should head back."
"Yeah, she's going to be pissed at me for not listening."
"You always were kind of rash, jumping in without thinking first."
"Opening doors to maniacs on the loose?"
Dick's face fell and he paled. "She told you?"
"I asked," Batgirl replied. "I won't do that anymore."
Dick gulped and watched Batgirl step towards him. She hugged him without thinking. "She's still amazing, even without use of her legs."
"I know."
"Make sure she knows."
"I keep trying."
"Try harder," she slipped the cowl back on and stepped towards the fracture. "She deserves for you to try harder." And with that, she was gone."
"Well that was weird," Felicity looked up at Oliver as he rubbed her shoulders.
"I'll explain later. Time to do your magic," he nodded at the security software on the screen in front of her.
"What a nightmare!" Barbara sighed. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" She grumbled as Batgirl disappeared into her timeline, leaving her stranded on the floor above. "I know I used to be rash, but seriously?"
There was only one thing for it; call in back-up. She wondered who she could get a hold of at short notice. Maybe Barry Allen was local enough.
"Are you sure everything is ready?"
Felicity checked once more. Everything was set to blow the moment Barbara emerged from the fracture; the right Barbara that is. "I'm sure."
Dick breathed a sigh of relief. He hated Babs taking things on herself, but she was right, his mind would have exploded at the concept of this.
They sat and waited for a few more minutes, watching the clock, ironically.
"Barbara?"
"Hey Barry. I don't have time to explain, but I need you to get me and if there's time, this wheelchair, one floor below to a fracture in time. I need to blow it up."
Barry rubbed the back of his head. "What?"
"I said I don't have time to explain," she urged him, lifting a hand for him to pick her up. "Get me down there," she nodded at the hole in the floor.
He was with her in an instant and before she knew what had happened, she was at the edge of the fracture. Barry left for her chair and just as he got back with it, Batgirl emerged from the fracture.
"Now I'm really confused," he looked from one to the other.
"I'll explain, Barry, but just do as Oracle asks," Barbara II insisted.
"Who?"
"Me, I'm Oracle," Barbara I replied.
"My brain hurts," the Flash gave up.
"How do you think I feel?" Barbara I laughed.
"Wait, is this a practical joke?"
"No but it's someone's idea of a joke," she grew serious. "Just in case this goes wrong, I'm sorry. Barry get her as far away as possible as soon as I go through the fracture."
"Wait!" Batgirl grabbed her arm. "I just need you to know something. When you go back, listen to him."
Babs was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Dick, you need to listen to him and believe what he says."
Barbara straightened herself in the wheelchair. "I listen to him, but he isn't often serious."
"He will be this time," Batgirl insisted. "Go back now, they're ready for you."
They hugged briefly. "Don't go answering any doors without checking who's behind it first," Barbara I instructed.
"I promise I won't."
Oracle set the device and explained what to do. "The detonation code will start the moment you switch it on here," she pointed to the red button. As soon as I'm through, hit it then let Barry get you away."
They shared a long look at each other and then Barbara I disappeared, trusting her other self to do the correct thing.
Batgirl glanced at Barry and then hit the switch.
"Sure you're okay?" Dick looked concerned.
"Absolutely fine," Barbara insisted. "Everything worked perfectly," she shut down the security hack and turned to Felicity. "I couldn't have managed that without you."
The blonde grinned in return. "Glad to be of help. Can't but wonder about my other self though. What was it like meeting you?"
"Really weird!" Barbara thought about it some more. "At first I was just jealous and then I began to see all the ways that I've learned from my experiences. Made me think about the what ifs but on reflection, I wouldn't change anything."
"Really," Felicity's voice dropped lower. "Not even..." She pointed down at the chair.
"Nope, I am who I am supposed to be."
"You're perfect, Babs." Dick leaned in and lifted her from the chair before carrying her out of the room.
"I kinda like his style," Oliver grinned.
Felicity glanced over shoulder. "Me too. Time to head home?"
"Absolutely."
"I kind of want to stick around though too. I'd like to talk to Barbara some more, plus you know...watch you and Nightwing hit the gym together; maybe shirtless." She winked at him.
He laughed. "How about I just invite them over for dinner one night?"
"Come on Felicity, you can do it!"
The blonde gave a nervous laugh and then repeated the same mantra to herself a few times.
She was perched between parallel bars, her arms straining to hold her body weight up, while Oliver and Paul readied themselves to catch her if her legs refused to hold her up.
At the opposite end of the bars, Barbara Gordon sat with her fists clenched, encouraging the younger woman on.
The implant was working.
Felicity's legs had begun to function, but it needed concentration and determination. It wasn't easy to make them move and if she stopped thinking about that, they just gave out without warning. The feeling still hadn't returned to normal either and it made everything twice as hard. Bending and straightening them on the massage table was one thing but getting them to do that and hold her body weight up was another matter and it had taken two weeks of solid therapy to get to this point.
"Ease your left foot forwards and then lock out the knee, just like we practiced," Paul watched on carefully. They had her walking in a harness on the treadmill the day before, but flying solo wasn't going to be easy.
Felicity looked down at her feet and willed the left one forwards. Her leg felt like a wet noodle still, but she shuffled it in front of the right and fought to straighten her leg, thinking and imagining her thigh muscle contracting as she did so. The implant worked but not autonomously yet. She had to imagine every movement still and would need to for a while until she adjusted to the new normal. Her thigh twitched and the buzzing sensation flashed through it, along with a twinge of pain; she hadn't figured how much of that there would be with recovery. She teetered and then locked it out before shifting her weight onto the left leg. Repeating it with the right moments later gave her a little thrill and a lot of encouraging noises from her cheer squad.
She managed six steps before fatigue set in and her weight became too much for muscles that hadn't done a great deal in months.
"Wow!" Oliver was thrilled.
"Curtis will be astounded when I tell him," Paul grinned at her.
Barbara smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. "You were amazing," she looked up and met Felicity's gaze. The younger woman's eyes were moist as well.
Oliver held her upright until Paul could drag the chair up behind her. As she sat, a satisfied sound emerged from her.
Lifting her tired legs into the frame, Felicity looked back up at Barbara. "You could volunteer to be the second Guinea pig, you know."
Babs smiled. It was a nice idea, but it would never work. "No point Felicity. It's been too long for me, my muscles have wasted away and my joints haven't held me upright in a decade."
"Yeah, but you could soon get back into shape," Felicity wanted so much for Barbara to agree but she didn't understand the long term consequences of the paralysis.
A wry smile emerged. "Felicity, you're awesome, but I have some osteoporosis in my hips and spine. If I tried to do what you just did, I'd break my hips. Everything starts to degrade when you can't use it. You're lucky to have this opportunity and I'm so happy for you, but it won't work for me."
"But surely, there must be a way."
"Not for me, but thank you for doing this. You are going to help so many others with this kind of injury and I am fine as I am."
"I know, I just wanted to help."
Babs squeezed her knee. "You are helping."
Oliver knew he had blown it the moment Damien Darhk mentioned William's name.
Of course Felicity had held it together until it was over, but then as they stared at each other in the loft and she had dropped her gaze to the ring, he knew he had really blown it, maybe for good.
He just stared at the ring as she placed it down, the echo of the metal on the table seemed really loud amid the silence. He wanted to beg and plead, anything to get her to stay, but the words died in his throat; everything she said was true and he couldn't find anything to counter her words. He could tell her that he would change and make it up to her but as he tried to say it, her leg twitched and then suddenly she was taking weight on her feet. Everything else went out the window as, shakily, like a newborn lamb, Felicity took her first two steps. She reached out and clung to the pillar, not entirely believing her own eyes or the newfound sensation in her limbs. The dull buzzing ceased and for the first time in months, she could feel the grip of her hand on her thigh. The suddenness of it had caught her by surprise; she had expected the return to be gradual.
Oliver had stared and then leapt to his feet as she began to falter. Muscles that hadn't done a great deal in a few months didn't have a whole lot of stamina.
She'd let him help her, but then she had left. She said she needed time to think and that worried him, because she wasn't an idiot and a little easy charm wasn't going to wash this time.
She had called Barry because she didn't know who else to call at that moment. When he turned up and she explained, he had simply looked at her and asked where she wanted to go.
"Can you get me to Barbara's?"
"You want to go to Gotham?"
She had nodded and he had whisked her away. She needed time and space and someone who wasn't swayed by Oliver's charm to give her a sensible opinion.
"You know I've never been his biggest fan, right?"
"Because he killed?"
"Yeah, and the fact that he mistreated Laurel; she's one of my closest friends."
"He was a different person then, though. Saying that, my mom said people don't change and she kind of has a point."
"Your mom sounds very sensible," Barbara agreed but found Felicity laughing at that.
"Yeah right. You've clearly never met her; she was planning on playing 'pin the junk on the hunk' at our engagement party so be careful with that assumption."
Barbara laughed this time. "This is someone I need to meet." She turned serious for a moment, "When you get the full explanation though, I can't say he was being an idiot. He was walking a tightrope and made a wrong choice, but an understandable one. I doubt he would have kept it from you forever."
"No but he still doesn't really trust anyone and that scares me. How do I begin to put my absolute trust in him, when he keeps something as important as this from me?"
Barbara thought about that for a moment. "I understand it's hard to trust him again, but think about lying in that hospital bed after the shooting and life as you had known it was over, what did he do?"
"He took his frustrations out on some bad guys and then eventually came to see me."
"Yeah, but what did he do when he saw you after the surgery?"
The blonde woman dropped her gaze. "He took my hand, put the ring back on it and told me he loved me." Felicity swiped a tear from her eye.
"He was there for you and you were there for him. You don't need to tell each other everything, just be there. He's hurting now the same way you were. You needed him and he was with you unconditionally. It's time to return that. He fucked up; he's a man, fucking up is inevitable but he needs you now. Don't let him down."
"Was Dick there for you afterwards?"
Barbara glanced away and shrugged. "We weren't together at the time. He was with someone else and didn't find out for a while, so no, he wasn't there for me, not at first."
Felicity inhaled slowly. "Does that bug you?"
Barbara thought for a moment. "No, he turned up about three weeks after. Alfred called him to explain; he was worried about my mental state."
"Did he have reason to be worried?"
Another shrug and an admission. "Probably. None of us reacted well. Dad was ashamed at his own helplessness, Bruce was brooding with anger and Dick was just absent."
"What about you?"
Barbara slipped her glasses off and folded the arms before placing them on her desk. "I was lost."
"Lost?"
"Empty, soulless, self-destructive."
"You didn't...?"
"God, no! I just didn't have it in me to care about taking care of myself."
"I cared about everything, all the things I thought I would never do again," Felicity mumbled. "It feels a little selfish now."
Barbara nodded. "You have to be to get your life back. It took me a while, but Dick turned up like a lost little boy, not knowing how to help at first. I tried to push him away but he kept turning up and I got so mad at him that I finally screamed at him and he started laughing."
"Laughing?" Felicity didn't understand.
"He said I was back to being a feisty redhead for the first time since I got shot. I guess he thought if I cared enough to get mad at him, it was sign I was finding myself again."
"Were you?"
Another shrug. "A little perhaps. Mostly I think I was clinging to the idea that I would recover if I worked my butt off, but whatever it was, it got me started on the right path. The acceptance came later and with it a new sense of purpose."
"The Oracle emerged from the ashes," Felicity smiled. "Which I forgot to say makes you totally awesome, even my father couldn't break down the encryption to get your identity."
Barbara gave the younger woman a wry grin. "I'll always be one step ahead, metaphorically speaking of course."
The pair just started chuckling at the redhead's quip.
"So you're really not jealous?"
"Nope," Babs replied to Dick. He looked particularly good in a suit. "How do I look?"
"Amazing," he took her chin in his hand and drew her eyes to meet his. "I understand now." His gaze never wavered. "I saw you walking, I mean it wasn't you, I know, but it kind of was at the same time. I always thought that given the chance, you'd do things differently so you could be whole. But the moment the other Babs fell through that hole in time, I realised how much you changed. You're not rash and careless anymore. You don't do this for the thrill now. It made me see who you've become and it's so much more than Batgirl."
She smiled. "I saw that too." She patted the rear wheel on her chair. "This made me grow up and recognise my failings. I was naive to think you can be a successful vigilante with some gymnastics and brown belt in judo."
He gazed at her, full of love. "You are perfect, just as you are."
"Thank you. That means a lot."
They turned to watch John Diggle as he walked Felicity down the aisle. She wasn't fast, but she didn't need to be for this. She looked stunning and for the first time, was able to cover the distance without looking down at her feet. She wouldn't be wearing heels anytime soon, but she was walking near normally again now.
As she passed Barbara, she gave her a huge smile and a wave, which was returned by the redhead. Dick blew her a kiss.
"I really did love flying across the rooftops with you, but I much prefer what we have now."
Dick leaned across and kissed her on the lips softly as they mumbled "I love you," to each other.
A motion and a sentiment repeated a short time later as Oliver took Felicity's hand in his own at the altar.
The end