Chapter 1
Tom stood at the foot of Barbs bed, scalpel in hand and a smile on his face. "I told you I'd come for you again love"
Barb shook her head "No.. you dyed"
Tom smiled "That's right, thanks to you. So how does it feel to take a life. The rush of energy you get knowing they died. Does Bruce look at you the same way after what happened? Your no better than me love" Tom kneeled onto the bed and crawled on top of Barb
She tried to push him off but felt her hand wet when she touched her chest. She pulled it away to find blood on her hand from the gunshot wound on Toms chest.
"That's never going to go away love, neither is the memory of you killing me" he said
"You know what's better than taking a life? Making love after the fact" he said leaning into to kiss her
Barb shot straight up in bed in a cold sweat fighting to breathe. It was another nightmare.
Bruce sat up with a worried look on his face, knowing exactly what was wrong. He ran his hand down her back resting his chin on his shoulder "It was just a dream Barb" he whispered
She tried to calm down as she nodded. He was right it was just a dream. She ran her hand through her sweaty hair as Bruce gently pulled her back down and into her arms.
He sighed "Still having the same dreams again.." he said. Barb didn't talk much about her dreams but shed been having nightmares about Tom since she shot him almost a month ago.
Bruce tried to get her to open up but he didn't want to smother her. It was a big step for her to talk to someone; she started seeing Dr Adams, Harvey's therapist about what had happened which put Jim more at ease as well.
But Barb couldn't bring herself to talk about it to Bruce. She felt guilty for shooting Tom, she knew that's not what Bruce would have done, Bruce didn't believe in killing people and she had shot Tom without hesitation.
It wasn't the same dream every night. They'd be different, Barb wondered why. Sometimes it was he's come back and actually did rape her, or he'd shoot Bruce.
Barb nodded "Sorry I woke you" she said
Bruce ran his hand through her hair "Don't apologize. I want to be there for you Barb"
Barb didn't answer.
"Did Doctor Adams give you any tips on coping with the dreams?" Bruce asked
Barb nodded "That I should try and fixate on something that calms me down and makes me happy"
"Ok let's try thinking about that right now. What is it?" he asked
"I'm on a yacht" She began as she shut her eyes
"Ok.." Bruce said with a small smile "Where are you on this yacht?"
"Sailing through the Caribbean islands," she answered
"Sounds romantic, is there a traveling companion with you?" Bruce asked
"Alfred is there" Barb smiled
"Because he's tons of fun" Bruce said as Barb nudged him
"You and I are sailing through the Caribbean just the two of us" Barb stated "And no one else is there, and we have our own little island with a bungalow and our days are filled with nothing but swimming, sailing, eating and.." she stopped "You get the picture"
Bruce smiled at the thought. He liked Barbs picture of serenity and wanted to make that a reality for her. He continued stroking her hair "It's sunny every day, and there's an endless supply of food, no phones, no paper, no Wayne enterprises" Bruce added in
Barb smiled as she drifted off to sleep again "That's my picture of happiness" she said
'Mine too.." Bruce said watching her sleep.
Barb sat across the table from her father rolling her eyes at the look he was giving her. He was watching her ready to jump at any sign of danger. She felt like she could drop her knife or else Jim would draw his gun
"Dad.." she sighed
"What?" Jim asked innocently
"You're doing it again.." she said
Jim shrugged "I'm just worried Barbara"
She shook her head "You don't have to be dad. I'm fine I just need time"
Barb lost her appetite and sat back feeling like a child. "You all just keep pushing expecting I'll wake up one morning like nothing happened" she added "Its to much"
Jim looked away "I'm sorry. I just, I hate that you had to go through that. I blame myself for leaving you alone"
Barb didn't realize Jim was blaming himself "Dad, you didn't know…You thought…we all thought we were safe at Bruce's"
Jim nodded "I know. But nothing shakes you up more than almost loosing a child…twice" he remembered Harvey holding a gun to little Jimmy
Barb rested her hand on top of Jims "Dad I don't blame you for happened that night, Jimmy doesn't blame you for what happened back then. Please be patient" she pleaded
Jim nodded looking away.
Barb strode through the office. Her employees still watched her with anxious expressions. The whispers hadn't died down since she shot Tom. They weren't scared of her, every paper and the police ruled out that she shot him in self-defense and there was no need for further investigation.
Bruce's house wasn't even searched which put him at ease, not that anyone would find anything but as soon as Jim heard Bruce and Barb's story he closed the case and no one argued.
Every paper wrote about the story which put a lot of attention on Barb, not that she shot and killed the hush killer, but more on the fact that she was dating a serial killer and was non the wiser. She would have to live with those stories for the rest of her life and she was already exhausted.
As she came into her office and sat down at her desk she was followed in by Andrea, her personal assistant and Mickey her cover reporter.
"Your dad tell you?" Mickey asked
Barb was confused "Tell me what?"
"There's a jewelry thief in town" Mickey said with a smile "And their good.."
Barb rolled her eyes at Mickey's excitement "Mick why is it that whenever something bad comes up in this city you treat it as you've just won the lottery"
"This person, or group whoever they are hit 5 jewelry stores in one night and the craziest part is they got by the laser motion detectors in one store, the armed security team in two and there's nothing on the video surveillance footage"
Barb sat straight "How do you know this?"
Mickey shrugged "I pass by one of the stores on my way to work in the morning. They had no idea until the manager came in this morning. They think it was the security team but they're claiming innocence"
Barb looked up at Mickey "Run the story but leave out your theory about Gotham having a jewel thief on the loose"
Mickey nodded leaving. Andrea stayed behind giving Barb her messages and a copies of Gotham's other newspapers.
"More stories about me and Hush" she read the headlines dropping one paper at a time "Cant they write about something else for a change"
Andrea was about to speak but Barb put up her hand "If you ask me how I'm doing I'm going to fire you" she looked up at Andrea
She handed barb her messages "Bruce called" She said "3 times"
Barb sighed "Thanks Andrea"
Andrea nodded walking out. Barb wasn't going to call Bruce back because she knew how the conversation would go, as it did every morning when he called. Asking her how she was doing.
She needed to get out and do something different. She looked on her desk and saw Mickey's draft for the jewelry heist story. She grabbed her jacket and walked out of her office.
Barb stood across the street staring at Gotham City's finest jewelry stores. The kind where customers were granted entry through a bulletproof door and had to ring a buzzer where management deemed you approved to come inside.
There were video cameras around the building. It was virtually impossible for anyone to get in without being noticed.
She saw her father and crossed the street "Dad.." she called
Jim turned to see Barb "Hi Barb..listen I cant talk about this here ok" Jim said
Barb nodded "Its ok I just wanted to take a look"
"Are you printing the story?" he asked
Barb nodded "Just that 5 stores were ripped off in one night, and the suspects are the security companies. Nothing about a possible jewel thief on the loose"
Jim nodded "There's no proof, no need to scare the city again so soon"
Barb nodded "Have you seen the tapes?"
Jim nodded "Made a copy for Batman as well. I assume he's looking into this as well"
Barb nodded "Ok well I won't keep you but I cant say I'm going to keep my distance" she said with a smile
"This is new. You've never really taken an interest in investigative reporting" Jim noticed
Barb shrugged "Wanted to try something different"
Jim nodded "Stay out of trouble and out of the way" he said with a small smile
Barb nodded complying
After Barb looked around the jewelry store she went to see Bruce at the office. Feeling bad she ignored his calls this morning she wanted to bring him lunch.
As she got up to the top floor a new assistant greeted her. She was tall and beautiful with dark brown hair and pale skin. Her demeanor showed she wasn't interested in letting Barb into see Bruce.
"Can I help you" she said uninterested
Barb tried to smile despite her rudeness "Is Bruce in by any chance?" she asked
Barb wondered where Tracey had gone. The always polite 48 year old with two kids and a husband went. Barb wasn't normally intimidated by other women but she was different. Something about her made Barb defensive. Her eyes were cold and had a deceiving look to them.
"He's in a meeting.." She said simply
Barb smiled "He tells you to say to everyone when really he's in there playing solitaire"
The new assistant didn't share in the humor of Bruce's work ethic. She stood awkwardly "Ok then, could you just tell him Barbara Gordon is here?"
She raised an eyebrow "Barbara Gordon…as in Commissioner Gordon's daughter? So how does it feel knowing you slept with a serial killer?" she asked vindictively
Her question took Barb back "Excuse me?"
Just as Barb was going to confront her Bruce came out of his office with Lucius Fox, his business manager. He was surprised to see Barb as he smiled "Barb what a surprise" he smiled
"Hello Barbra, nice to see you again" Lucius smiled
Barb tossed Bruce his lunch and turned for the elevator. "Barb wait.." Bruce called out
Barb turned to face him as the elevator doors shut.
Bruce was confused as to why Barb stormed out so quickly. He turned to his new assistant Selina who sat just as shocked as they were
"I told her you were in a meeting and she got really upset" Selina lied "I'm sorry, should I have let her in?"
Bruce nodded "Its ok it's not your fault Selina, Barb is just going through a hard time. Next time if there is a next time, maybe just buzz me and let me know she's here"
Selina nodded apologetically.
Bruce went back to his office to call Barb.
Barb stormed down the street angry about Bruce's new assistant. No one made her feel as small as she did. She wondered why Bruce never said anything about Tracey leaving and him getting a new assistant.
Her phone started to ring and knowing it was Bruce she answered, "That's some assistant you have"
"Barb I'm sorry. I told her to tell everyone I was in a meeting, she didn't know you were the exception" Bruce tried to calm her down
Barb sighed figuring she would make up some excuse. She sighed not wanting to tell Bruce what else she had said and get into a long discussion about Tom again. She let it go.
"Its alright" she said "Just when did you get a new assistant?"
"Today is her first day. Tracey decided she needed to spend more time with her family and I completely agree so I gave her two weeks pay without having to give her two weeks and had the temp agency send Selina over"
Selina Barb thought, what a name for someone like her "oh.." she said
She could tell Bruce was sensing jealousy "Barb.."
"I have to get back to work, my father has something for you though, you might want to pay him a visit later on tonight" She said
"Ok" he sounded curious "Will I see you later?" he asked
"I'm not sure. I have my appointment with Doctor Adams then I'm having dinner with Harvey" Barb said "I think what my dad has will be keeping you busy, it sure is at the paper"
"What is it?" He asked
"I'll let Jim tell you himself. I have to go," she said swiftly hanging up the phone.
She was filled with jealousy and Bruce's attitude about it wasn't helping her. Something about that Selina woman turned Barb the wrong way.
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