For Appearance's Sake
By Teala373
Chapter 1
Synopsis: Takes place in the B:TAS continuity after Dick leaves, but before Tim appears. Annoyed with Bruce's constant social obligations, Barbara comes up with a plan for them to work on a big case both with and without their masks, but she gets in way over her head.
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Barbara Gordon was bored.
Once upon a time, she would have enjoyed going to a glitzy Gotham gala, especially a governor's ball. Though the pretentious crowd, designer gowns, and expensive food weren't her scene, she always had fun because Dick Grayson was at her side cracking jokes and twirling her around the dance floor.
But those days were gone.
As much as she hated to admit it to herself, she missed Dick terribly. She wished she could just get over him as easily as he had gotten over her when he left Gotham in a blinding rage, but she couldn't.
She sighed as she stared into her glass of water. She would have loved a ginger ale, and knew they served decaffeinated soda at the bar, but she tried not to pollute her body at all these days. She needed to stay as sharp as possible, now that she was Batman's only partner. Her only guilty pleasure was Alfred's infamous oatmeal raisin cookies, but they were still slightly healthy.
Taking a lone seat at the bar, she surveyed the room, hoping to at least amuse herself by 'people watching'. Though Dick was no longer making witty comments and scathing remarks about Gotham's finest in her ear, she always enjoyed watching the masses make utter fools of themselves.
Her father was talking animatedly with the mayor and new district attorney. Bullock was standing at the hors d'oeuvre table, pausing in the filling of his plate to tug on his tie. Montoya stood a few feet away, shaking her head at the detective. Pierce Montague, a very spoiled shipping heir, was chatting with the owner of the Gotham Country Club and Lucius Fox. Barbara noted that Lucius looked incredibly bored and seemed to be unsuccessfully trying to get out of the conversation.
Finally, Barbara's eyes landed on Bruce Wayne, who was surrounded by four blondes, three brunettes, and one very possessive looking Veronica Vreeland. Though Barbara had taken a very high position at Wayne Tech, and often reported directly on projects to Bruce and Lucius, she still kept her distance from him publicly as much as possible to avoid suspicion. However, it was highly unlikely that anyone would ever suspect either of them were Batman and Batgirl.
Nearly choking on her water, Barbara tried to compose herself as she noticed the man that had just walked into the room and was striding towards the bar. It was a man she had once known; a man who was now building a very dangerous reputation for himself.
"Jason Bard? Is that you?"
The handsome older man turned and smiled at the beautiful redhead to his right. "Barbara Gordon! It's been too long."
Widening her smile, Barbara stepped forward and offered the former police officer a friendly hug. "Indeed it has. How are you?"
"Well, thank you. How about yourself?"
"Very good, thanks." She then wasted no time going in for the kill. "Congratulations on your recent promotion. You've come a long way from making sure I didn't sneak out after curfew."
Jason seemed to pale slightly and look a bit nervous. "How… how did you know about that?"
Barbara waved a hand dismissively. "I have quite a bit of stock tied up in Westford and take an active interest in the upper management. I feel better about my investments knowing you're running the entire Eastern division."
Jason didn't know that his attempts to fake congeniality through accepting the compliment were wasted on Barbara's highly trained senses. He continued talking to her about Westford, completely convinced that she was blind to the knowledge of the company's true origin and intentions. Little did he know that the Commissioner's daughter was playing him like a violin.
"I've enjoyed talking with you, Barbara," Jason concluded after spending nearly an hour in her company, "but I promised Mr. Montague that I would deliver some promising numbers to him." He took her hand and placed a tender kiss atop it. "As always, it was a pleasure." He added a quick wink as he walked away. "Stay out of trouble, or I'll be forced to file a civilian's report with your father."
"Har har," Barbara deadpanned as he walked away. She focused back on her latest glass of water and tried to conceal her excitement. She had just stumbled across a huge lead in a major investigation and she had to talk with Bruce.
Unfortunately, Bruce was very preoccupied playing a parody of his self.
Barbara sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. With Dick out of her life, she had thrown herself into her nightly activities and constantly requested Bruce's audience to discuss them. However, when he was out in public as Bruce Wayne, it was nearly impossible for her to gain his attention. Even at work she had to bite her tongue when he pretended to flake out on her project status and repeatedly ask why she was asking for a budget increase for her department, when she knew that he was aware it was justified in not only advancing his company, but their own investigations.
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Paying only enough attention to keep Veronica from yelling at him, as she often did when she demanded his attention, Bruce kept an eye on Barbara as she spoke with Jason Bard. Though he couldn't effectively read their lips from his position, he knew that Barbara was covertly working him over for information. He smiled to himself, proud of her work. Since he had trusted her with his secret and formally invited her to work along side him, he had been impressed with how she conducted herself. She was incredibly sharp and focused, not to mention her extreme intelligence and computer prowess came in handy on more than one occasion. Though he felt protective of her, as he had of Dick, it was easier for him to trust her and not overburden her as he had his ward.
Or maybe he had finally learned from his mistakes.
"Excuse me, Ronnie. I'm going to get us more champagne." As he walked towards the bar, he heard Veronica call to him about having a waiter take care of it, but he ignored it.
"Two glasses of Cristal and a caffeine-free ginger ale for Ms. Gordon," he politely instructed the bartender.
Barbara slid her eyes to the left to send him a side-long glance. "It will be your fault if I'm sluggish later," she muttered in a low tone.
"While I appreciate your habits, one glass will be fine. I'll have Alfred prepare you a protein shake before patrol."
"Speaking of which, I really need to speak with you."
Bruce gave a slight nod. "I just need to make a few more rounds and then I can leave."
Accepting the two champagne glasses, he nodded politely at Barbara as the small glass of ginger ale was placed in front of her before heading back towards the ever-demanding Veronica Vreeland.
The bartender looked expectantly at Barbara.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me! The boy billionaire stuck me with the bill?"
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"Do you have any idea how much money you owe me?" Barbara hissed after Bruce asked her to dance and led her to the center of the dance floor. "They charged me for any entire bottle, which cost $800! And my ginger ale, that I didn't even want, was $12!"
Bruce smiled his usual playboy smile. "I'll take care of it."
The frown still stayed on Barbara's features. "Can we leave, yet? I think I bored Lucius to tears with my latest design specks."
"Just a few more moments."
"That's what you said over an hour ago."
Bruce tried to not to shoot Barbara an intimidating look. He didn't need to be reminded that keeping up his fake persona was exhausting, and now it was wearing on his partner.
"Let me put in a little more time with Veronica to keep her happy, and then I'm all yours."
The music ended and Bruce politely excused himself and headed back to where Veronica was speaking to Pierce Montague, whom Barbara often referred to as 'the Vreeland sidekick'.
The frown stayed on her face as she watched Bruce walk over to Veronica, not caring who noticed. There was something about the way Bruce had said "… and then I'm all yours" that made the wheels in her mind begin to turn.
This was a big case, one that couldn't just be put on hold because Bruce had to play nice with a bunch of pampered socialites. Squaring her shoulders, Barbara walked very purposefully over to Bruce, attempting to execute either the smartest or stupidest idea she ever had.
"Bruce, dearest," she called out as she stood in front of her mentor amerced in a sea of botox and silicone, "I'm getting a bit tired. Can we leave, yet?"
If he was surprised by Barbara's actions, he didn't show it. "Of course we can, sorry to keep you waiting."
As Bruce stepped forward and held out his arm to Barbara, Veronica was having a difficult time keeping her eyes in her head. "You two?! You two are dating? B-but Bruce was with me practically all night!"
Barbara threw Veronica a saucy look. "Yes, but he's leaving with me."
Without waiting for a response, the two walked arm-in-arm towards the exit. Barbara didn't even bother to pause and say good-bye to her father, afraid that she would not have a very good reason as to why she was pretending to be Bruce Wayne's date.
Once they were within view of Bruce's Rolls Royce, Alfred stepped out of the car and walked around to hold the door open for them. "Good evening, Miss Gordon."
"Hello, Alfred. Good to see you again."
"And you as well. Will you be joining us this evening?"
"Yes, but only on business."
Alfred shut the door and then resumed his position behind the wheel. "Will you have time for some oatmeal cookies?" Alfred knew they were her favorite and made a point of making them regularly.
Barbara crossed her arms. "Unfortunately, Bruce made me drink a ginger ale, so now I have to choke down a protein shake."
"Nothing aides the fearful task of consuming a protein shake like an oatmeal cookie, Miss Gordon. I will prepare both and bring them down to you once you're settled in the cave."
Smiling Barbara, leaned forward in her seat. "You're the best, Alfred."
"So, I've been told."
Bruce cleared his throat. "What did you find out from Bard?"
"They have a contract with Montague Shipping and there's a large, private order going out at the end of the month. Bard has worked his way up through the ranks very quickly and reports directly to the corporate office downtown. I tried to ask him about his private eye business, but he claims he gave it up for a regular paycheck," she sighed and met Bruce's eye. "Bard was a good cop. I think he's playing double agent, but he might be in over his head on this one. I think we should split up; cover the docks and Bard's place."
She opened a compartment and pulled out a small laptop. "There's more. Let me enter it into a case file while it's still fresh."
"Very good," Bruce nodded, "and nice work on getting us out of there."
Barbara froze and turned to him with a hesitant expression. "I… I'm sorry. It was the only thing I could think of. I want to follow Bard and find out what information he gave Pierce, but one of us needs to watch the warehouse on pier 12 for suspicious activity. We need to find out what this shipment is…"
Bruce laid a hand on Barbara's arm. "No need for apologies. It was an excellent idea, and one that we can use to our advantage."
"Oh?" Barbara raised an eyebrow at him while still looking hesitant.
"You're right, Barbara. My social obligations are interfering with our work, but they don't have to if we keep up this charade."
From the front seat, Alfred turned his head slightly.
"So," Barbara began cautiously, "we would pretend to date, just for appearance's sake, so we can work together out in the open."
"Exactly."
Turning back towards the laptop, Barbara began creating a new case file and typing in her conversation with Bard. "I… I guess… alright, then."
"I'll cover the docks while you investigate Bard," Bruce began clipping out orders. "Alfred, I'll need a file on Westford Exporting, the Thorn crime family and Montague Shipping. Also, can you prepare a list of my appointments and engagements for Barbara?"
"Of course, sir."
"How much time do you need before you can start?"
Barbara continued typing. "Five minutes to upload to the main server, two to start a query, two to choke down the shake and cookie, and three to dress and be out the door."
A corner of Bruce's mouth rose. "I'm holding you to that."
Ignoring his grin buzzing in the corner of her eye, Barbara changed the topic. "So, are there any ground rules?"
"Ground rules?"
"For the fake dating thing. You know: no real dating other people until both parties consent that to the termination of the fake dating, no gagging when you're forced to eat escargot, and make sure you don't yawn during a five hour polo discussion," she drawled sarcastically.
Alfred cleared his throat.
"How about you just follow my lead and try not to be too obvious."
"How about you trust me a little or I'll start planning your wedding to Vreeland," she shot back, still focused on the screen in front of her.
Alfred cleared his throat again.
Bruce shot a quick look in the direction of his butler that he made sure was seen from the rearview mirror. "I suppose I can trust you since this was your idea."
"I suppose I should be grateful that you conceded to one of my notions."
"We're arguing already and we haven't even had our first real date," he concluded in a more jovial tone; the tone he used for his public persona.
After pressing a few more keys, Barbara slammed the laptop shut harder than she meant to before turning towards Bruce with a no-nonsense look. "I know what you're trying to do and I'm insulted. I thought that inflated ego of yours was just an act."
"Excuse me?"
"Stop trying to bait me with that so called Wayne charm of yours. I'm your partner and I have a lead on a big case. Test me in the dojo, but don't test my trust on an assignment."
"I'm not baiting you. You were the one who wanted to establish ground rules."
"Hey, I'm just the daughter of a cop who happens to know a couple things about computers. I didn't grow up on Park Avenue. I don't know all the ins and outs of the Gotham elite, so I will need your help."
Bruce settled back in his seat. "Fair enough." He would never admit it to her, but he often enjoyed riling her up. Sometimes it was too easy.