So there's like a ton of Chalant fics and family moments and stuff, but no one addressed Barbara's cameo as far as I can tell. I guess you can say this one is branching off my last fix where Robin is comforting Zatanna (but with an interesting twist in the end), but what happened in Gotham? And I mean, from a civilians point of view?
I do not own Young Justice.
One moment he was looking at his daughter laughing at some joke he had made and stirring the stew, and the next moment he was looking at a dropped wooden spoon and an overflowing pot.
Before his mind could process the fact that his daughter had just disappeared – vanished into thin air – his cell phone was ringing. It took him a while to recognize that his work phone was ringing on quite possibly was the only afternoon he had off for the next year.
Forcing his body to move through the shock, Commissioner Jim Gordon made his way to his worn leather jacket. Fishing around in its huge pockets, he pulled out his cellphone.
"Hello?" he answered tiredly.
"Sorry Commish," Montoya really sounded apologetic. If there was one thing the entire GCPD knew, it was how much the afternoons that Jim spent with his daughter meant to him, "but we're receiving simultaneous reports of children under the age of 18—"
Jim thought that the 'under eighteen' was repetitive seeing as how anyone over eighteen was an adult.
"disappearing into thin air without a trace."
"I know."
There was silence on the other end. "Barbara disappeared too?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry Commish, I—" Montoya begun.
"Don't bother. I'll be coming into the office soon, I want a report on my desk ASAP."
000
She was stirring the stew that she had so lovingly prepared and laughing at another one of her father's lame jokes. It was one of the rare afternoons that he had off, so she had rushed straight out of Gotham Academy to meet up with him. Usually she got a ride with Alfred, but today her father had actually picked her up from school.
She felt bad for ditching Dick like that, especially missing out on those conversations they would have in the back of the limo. However, when she saw the encouraging smile that she shot her way, she knew that tomorrow the only topic in the back of the limo will be her afternoon with Pa.
So when he had simply vanished, she panicked.
The next few minutes were all a blur to her. She dropped the wooden spoon and rushed to the sofa that he was sitting on. She desperately started feeling up all the cushions ignoring the logic in her that was saying he's gone, you won't find him.
It's impossible. Her father was just sitting on these moments ago. He couldn't have just disappeared like that – vanishing into thin air.
Her search of the sofa cushions yielded nothing and she finally gave up.
Seeing the discarded remote with various layers of tape wrapped around it, each layer varied by age, she turned on the TV. She expected to find a broadcast by the Justice League or something about people vanishing, but instead all she got was static.
Frantically, she realized that all traditional media was down.
Barbara Gordon realized that her father, and possible every other adult on the world, had vanished.
Gone.
Everyone's gone.
She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them close. She felt that if she had made herself the smallest she could be, her father would come out from his bedroom and laugh at her. Laugh at her childish antics.
The ringing of her cell brought her out of depressing thoughts.
Barbara reached into her skirt pocket and looked at the caller ID.
"Hey Bette," she begun.
"Oh my God, Barbara!" the blond girl exclaimed from the other end of the line. "Everyone in my house just vanished! There was nothing! They were there and then they were gone! What am I gonna do, Barbara!" Bette was in hysterics. Barbara recognized the signs.
"Okay first things first, calm down," she started as soothingly as she could. "It won't do them any good if you're hysterical."
"Calm?" she yelled. "Your dad's the police commissioner! He can do something, right?"
"Bette, relax," Barbara tried to calm the hysterical girl again.
"Relax? Relax?"
"It's not just you who lost your parents!" she couldn't take it anymore.
There was dead silence for a few moments before Bette begun uncertainly, "Your dad's gone too?"
"Yes."
"I'll pick you up in ten." And with that, the monotonous drone of the ended call was the only thing Barbara could hear.
000
Pulling up to the precinct was never as hard as it was now. Pushing past all the reporters and worried citizens, Jim practically forced his way into his own office.
I guess this is what Bruce Wayne experiences daily, he thought humorlessly.
"Commissioner! What do you have to say about the disappearance of all the children in Gotham?"
"Commissioner, is it true that you have a daughter that fits into the ages that had disappeared?"
"Commissioner, where's Batman?"
"Even better, what happened to Robin?"
He ignored every single question and slammed the door in the reporters' face.
"Update!" he bellowed across the lobby, startling the various police officers that had not noticed his entrance.
While all the officers were struggling for words, Montoya marched up to him with all the grace of a veteran GCPD officer. "There has been an attempt to break into Gotham's branch of S.T.A.R Labs by a bunch of worried parents claiming that one of their experiments had done this. We got civilian control teams on scene, but from the looks on it force will soon have to deploy to keep the citizens from marching into the building."
What would he do without Montoya? She might be the only other non-corrupt cop in the entirety of Gotham.
"I'm heading on scene. If there is one place we have to keep separated from all the chaos, it's that place," Jim said with the finality of a leader. Turning away from her, he started to make way for the squad cars parked at the back of the building.
"Sir, before you do that, any word from Batman?" she asked.
"None," he sighed. "But I reckon there would be a public announcement soon enough. It can't be just our kids who are disappearing; the heroes got their own children to worry about."
000
The car ride was silent, both Barbara and Bette having no idea what to do.
"Do you think they're still…." Bette trailed off. They both knew what she meant, are they all still alive?
"If there's one thing I know about Pa, it's that he doesn't die easily," Barbara attempted to comfort her friend.
"How do you think the others are taking it?" the student ambassador did not take her eyes off the road, expertly dodging the various crashed vehicles.
"The others?" Barbara asked, not quite understanding what Bette meant by the statement. And then it hit her. "Dick!"
She started twisting in the front seat trying to get her hand into her pocket to pull out her cell. Finally finding it, she pressed the speed-dial for Dick's number and waited.
One ring…
Two rings…
Three rings…
Come on, pick up Dick!
"Barbara!" he sounded relieved.
"Dick!" she was equally relieved.
"Babs, listen," his tone instantly changed. Barbara suspected that he was probably in his Robin persona, though she knew that she wasn't supposed to know that. It wasn't too hard to figure out, Dick and her have known each other for years now. "You have to get all the people from our high school that you can reach and collect all the young children. There is going to be a lot in crashed cars and babies left alone at home - find them. Bring them all to the Gotham Academy gym. The younger heroes will be making an announcement soon, saying exactly the same thing. All high school gyms will be made into impromptu shelters, help them. Can you do that Barbara?"
"Yes, Dick, I can," she smiled. She wasn't going to let him down, not now, not ever.
"Thank you." She could feel him about to cut the call short.
"Dick wait!" she wasn't sure why she did that, but she was going to follow up with it. "Are you alright? I mean, Alfred and Bruce must have disappeared too."
She could almost hear the sad smile as he said, "I'm fine Babs. Now go help me out over here, I got my hands full." With that, their conversation was cut.
"What did he say?" Bette was pulling up to Wayne manor, no doubt expecting for them to pick Dick up.
"Turn around; we're going to Gotham Academy."
000
Chaos wouldn't begin to describe the scene before him as he neared S.T.A.R Labs. Civilian containment units were trying – and failing – to contain the angry mass of child-less parents.
Coming up to an unsuspected rookie, he snatched the megaphone out of his grasp. With a grace that a man his age should not possess, he climbed the nearest police vehicle and turned the microphone on.
"I know you all must be worried about the state your children are, but I assure you that breaking into a scientific lab is the last thing that will help your children."
"Yeah, who are you to talk?"
"Yeah, these guys pay your salary!"
"Our children are gone, you have no idea what it feels like!"
If only you knew.
"Even so, marching into this building will not get anything done. The best thing is to leave the scientists to their work, a solution is being worked upon as we speak. Try to remain calm."
Jim couldn't help but hope that the League will do something soon.
I hope you guys liked it. Originally, I wanted this to be a oneshot, but I seem to have run dry. So I guess I'll post a part two either tomorrow or sometime during the week. Fanfiction really need a Jim Gordon character tag, cause honestly, this is going to be very Gordon-centric.
And before you all come to me with the pitchforks about Barbara being scared, remember than right now she's not Batgirl. When I was reading the Year One comics, she had gained her confidence during her career. Sure, she does have a lot of confidence, and I plan on showing that later on. There's a reason why Dick asked her to do that.
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