Hey there!
I've had the beginning of this story sitting on my hard drive for a while now and thought it was about time for it's digital birth! But before that, here's the usual disclaimers.
1) I do not own any of these characters, locations, etc. They belong to Marvel and DC.
2) There will be het, slash and femslash in here. Life isn't about conformity and I have no desire to perpetuate it as such. Don't like it? Then don't read or don't flame it. It's as easy as that.
3) I'm Australian. My words may be spelt differently to you. I will not change them to suit you. Also, my knowledge of Americanisms is seriously lacking. I might get things wrong and I would love it if you could let me know when I do. Eg - Jello in America is called Jelly here, thus Jelly in America is called Jam. Confused yet? Now you understand my dilemmas.
4) I don't have a beta. All mistakes (which I hope to keep to a minimum) are mine. Feedback, con crit and reviews are always welcome. How else can I get better if no one tells me?
I hope you like my story and I'm trying to add at the very least, a new chapter each Wednesday. As always, life may intervene... Anyway, enjoy!
Cheers, Jace.
Oh, Just a Couple of Alien Invasions...
Chapter One - Oracle
Barbara Gordon grimaced at her reflection in the mirror. It had nothing to do with her features and everything to do with the elegant yet confining wheelchair she was now trapped in for the rest of her life. She had only been out of the hospital for a few weeks and every time she heard of one of Gotham's scum perpetrating a crime, she barely restrained her anger.
The Joker had been the one to snap Barbara's spine. She was now paralysed from her lower back down and as much as she wanted to beat his face into the ground repeatedly for several years, it was the Justice League and the Team that were really pissing her off. It wasn't that she was treated badly or anything, it was more that they had already written her off. If there was any sort of action in the vicinity, getting her to safety was their number one priority - Bruce and Tim being the worst offenders. She was just lucky that Dick had taken off for a while, he would have been worse than the pair of them combined.
Not being Batgirl hurt. Initially she had worked so hard to gain Bruce's approval and somehow still managed to conceal her double life from her father, the Commissioner of the GCPD. Maybe now that she was out of the fight as such, she might actually tell him. Then again, maybe not. He'd ground her for life, being an adult notwithstanding. Just convincing him that she's dealing with her recent disability well had been challenging enough. He's been clingier than Catwoman hanging from a ceiling. In actuality, it was starting to grate on her nerves.
There are only three people that are keeping Barbara sane at the moment. The first being Alfred. Somehow the British butler always knew the right thing to say. He had no qualms about reprimanding her whenever she said something out of line despite the protests of the others in the Bat-family. In fact, he was the only person in her life that had not changed how they interacted with her at all. It made her feel normal and she loved him even more for it.
The second was her introduction to Paula Crock, Tigress' mother. The woman was also wheelchair bound and was an amazing help. She spoke candidly of what to expect and how she would likely be treated by family, friends, acquaintances and strangers. She also had many tips for general household survival which Barbara very much appreciated. They had swapped numbers and chatted every couple of days since their introduction.
The final saving grace of the tenuous thread of Barbara's sanity was the most unlikely of all. It was someone that had contacted her through her computer. Originally she escaped to the virtual world to ignore the real one. She had logged many hours on her PC trying to work out what the hell she was supposed to do with her life now that her crime fighting years were at an end.
Barbara had been online perfecting an avatar that Bruce would not know as hers when her screen blanked and then turned a familiar acid green colour. The usual rage she felt at criminals in Gotham swelled within her but to her surprise it eased quickly as she read the riddle in front of her. What must be given to be real but never with good tidings, an expression that you feel with no Earthly bindings?
Barbara quickly determined that it was some kind of emotion. An emotion that was given to another during bad times. Her eyes flickered to the many With Sympathy cards she had received lately from her old friends and typed in her response. Sympathy.
There was a short pause before a small paragraph appeared. You, my dear, are still as sharp as ever. My greatest sympathies, Batgirl, for the injury you sustained from the Joker. Despite our sometimes dangerous games together, I never wished such a fate to befall you. As you well know, I'm a genius and I'm certain that I have not heard the last of you. I hope you adapt swiftly to your new situation and wish you well.
Gaping at the screen in front of her, Barbara shook her head. Against her will, she felt the beginnings of tears welling in her eyes but shook off the tingling and quickly typed a response. Thank you, Riddler, for your commiserations. You are, however, one of only three who think I will still be a part of the Gotham crime fighting syndicate. My rehabilitation to my new reality has been challenging but I will pull through. Your well wishes have been gratefully received.
There was a small break before the Riddler replied. I assume that you are referring to Batman and his little sidekick?
Barbara snorted. Heavens no. Out of everyone I know, they were the quickest to send me to the retirement village, so to speak. "For my safety."
Yes, because the world out there is a safe haven for everyone. She could almost feel his sarcasm through the computer. Well that shows you how obviously unintelligent they truly are. Do they know your character at all? You could no sooner leave this life behind than Poison Ivy would light a tree on fire.
Hearing laughter ringing around her room, Barbara quickly realised it was her own and sadly noted that she had rarely done so since waking up in the hospital. It was also the first time anyone had even hinted that she might still be of some use in the fight against crime and it warmed her heart, even if it had come from someone who had on some occasions tried to kill her. Yes. World's Greatest Detective my arse. Well that's a lie. He can follow clues like a bloodhound but once you involve emotions, he becomes a complete moron. Why else do you think Catwoman is the villain who evades him the best?
I always did think there was something between the two of them.
The pair continued conversing well into the night and Barbara was shocked when she realised she actually enjoyed it. It was almost like talking to Alfred but without feeling like she was doing something wrong all of the time, which was rather ironic.
The Riddler often disparaged the Justice League and by extension the Team but after enduring their constant platitudes and sad looks, she found many of his criticisms valid and amusing. He appeared to be delighted that she had joined in with quite a few sarcastic observations of her own. They also spent some time ridiculing the various villains on the scene. Especially the incredibly stupid ones.
Despite her initial wariness, the two ended up conversing nearly every night. She now called him Nygma instead of Riddler. A few weeks after their first conversation, Nygma dropped a hint that his next crime was centred on the Gotham Casino and that she should avoid the place for her own safety. Her first instinct was to immediately tell Bruce but something held her back.
Since her accident the amount of times Barbara had talked to Bruce was far less than how much time she'd spent chatting with Nygma. What little time they had conversed was spent with him asking the same old questions and him making sure she was taking it easy. It was rather frustrating. The crook was being more of a friend to her than her old crime fighting family. Her revelation felt like a slap in the face. So instead of informing them of the soon to be crime, she found herself glued to the television and watched as the Dark Knight and the Prince of Puzzles battled it out. While she was observing them, she couldn't work out who she was rooting for and that should have concerned her but it somehow didn't.
The next night Nygma asked her why she had not given Bats a heads up. It was then that they explicitly confirmed that a friendship had somehow been forged between them. Their nightly conversations continued for a couple of months and he morphed from Nygma to Edward. He was the one who started calling her the Oracle of Information, since she had started keeping a close watch on the superheros of Gotham via her ever-expanding electronic network and would drop interesting but superfluous titbits of information his way.
Like how Robin chucked a fit when he found one of Catwoman's lacy thongs in the mansion's laundry. He'd complained to Alfred who raised an eyebrow at the young master and informed him in his usual bored tone, "Another one? I think that's the fifth time this month." Thus Robin was prompted into a second and even more impressive fit which quickly ended when Batman walked in on the tail end of it and brought the room to an impressive new level of awkward. Edward had long since discerned the identities of the Bat Brood and pretty much every hero and criminal out there so she felt little guilt in telling him the story.
Barbara liked the title of Oracle so much that she adopted it as her new avatar. She needed something that Bruce didn't already know about so she could keep her activities to herself. Oracle was now on the internet, pictured as a brunette elf with a silver tiara who dealt in the realms of information. If she had 'accidentally' recounted a humorous story or two about a current villain, well oops.
Like when she detailed Ivy's latest arrest and how it only occurred because she had been accidentally exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas. The Eco terrorist had thought the Earth itself was actually dying so she went completely psycho. Well, more psycho than usual.
Another couple of months later, Barb realised she had spoken with Eddie every single night for two weeks straight. When she confronted him about his lack of illicit activities, he confirmed her suspicions. He was leaving the game behind. It was all about attention and now that he had a real friend, why bother with Batman? She also felt the man was disappointed with Bruce's inability to treat her the way he used to before her accident. She may have vented a bit during their recent friendship and apparently Eddie could sympathise with her situation.
Eddie was also the only person Barb confided in when she first noticed some unusual activity at Star Labs a couple of weeks later. She usually kept an eye on the lab as a rule since it was often a target of the criminal underworld but the item that was stolen was of major concern for two reasons. First, the item that was taken was a trans-dimensional teleportation device. The second, the thief captured on the security cameras (yes, she had hacked into them) was none other than Black Beetle, agent of the Reach.
Oracle downloaded the recording to her laptop and scrambled the original. The last thing she needed was Bruce finding out and barring her from investigating because she was a quote, "liability." Well quite frankly, fuck that! She arranged a face to face visit with Eddie.
When they first met, it uncomfortably felt like meeting someone via internet dating. They stuttered out greetings and took an inordinate amount of time to actually look the other in the face. Once they started to actually talk to each other and realised their ability to chat in real life was no different from their online conversations, they settled into their usual dialogue. Just faster.
Barbara pulled out her ever present laptop and gently placed it on the table. The pair poured over the footage and decided the Reach must have a new target and it was definitely in a different dimension.
"We have to warn this other world. They have no idea how dangerous these aliens are!" said Barb strongly as she continued to peer at the screen. She crossed her arms over her chest, obscuring the silver eagle motif on the black singlet she was donning.
"Yes," concurred Eddie. "Unfortunately, they have the drop on us. They already have the technology in their possession and could be using it right now, extending their false platitudes of friendship as we speak." The man frowned. He was simply dressed in a red polo shirt and dark blue jeans. They had both decided to dress casually so they could hopefully avoid Batman's attention. She found it strange seeing her companion in something other than green.
"And we don't even know which universe they're going to. There are probably thousands of worlds they could choose from." Barb's expression darkened further.
Eddie nodded in agreement. "Why are you looking so glum, Barb? Our course of action is clear."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Rolling his eyes, Eddie said, "Here's a riddle for you. What do we need to know in order to follow them?"
Barb scowled. "That's not really a riddle, is it?" However, she pondered this for a moment before replying, "Well, we need a trans-dimensional portal machine of some sort and the coordinates of the other Earth that the Reach are travelling to."
"Exactly," Eddie agreed, flashing his white teeth again. "Now, I don't know if you noticed but one of the henchmen in the feed dropped what appeared to be some kind of PDA."
"What?" Barb all but shrieked. She hadn't spotted it and felt incredibly stupid when she replayed the clip. She raised an eyebrow his way. "You're good."
"Naturally," Eddie smirked. "It looks like I may have to take a stroll through Star Labs tonight."
"Wow. That's short notice. Are you..." she trailed off as a strange expression crossed her face. "Actually, I just had a thought." Her grin turned devilish and she practically bounced in her chair. "I happen to know a certain nocturnal enemy of yours who has been working on a prototype of a portable version of a trans-dimensional portal machine for quite a while. It's likely to be finished by now. If, say, a master criminal with a sharp mind were able to gain entrance to the lair and pilfer said device, well the other half of our problems would be solved."
Eddie thoughtfully tapped his chin. "Gaining entrance to Star Labs is one thing but stealing into the Batcave is another matter completely. It will take a week or so before I could pull that off and I'd obviously need a big distraction for Bats and his Birdie. I suppose a week will be ample time for you to hack into the PDA for the coordinates."
Barb glanced around the nondescript café they were dining at to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "It'll be easier than a Sudoku." She felt a little guilty at how much she was looking forward to this caper and was surprised at how she hadn't batted an eye at abetting a known criminal. Oh how times had changed. For the first time since her injury, she felt the adrenaline rush that could only come from impending action. Stand aside Batgirl, Oracle's on the case.