Barbara Gordon stared at the webcam, blinking back tears. Her red hair was falling out of her ponytail, and the skin beneath her sky blue eyes was red and puffy.
'I'm Barbara Gordon,' she said softly. 'The real Barbara Gordon.'
She's a freak!
Such a slut!
The comments flicked across her eyes, and she took a deep breath. Some computer genius she was- how many times had she blocked them? Hacked things? Shut down her account? Why couldn't she get away?
'I'm not pregnant,' she whispered, 'and I haven't done any of the stuff people say I have.'
Like hook up with the mathletes and the football team.
'And I don't know why everyone hates me so much!' a few tears ran down her cheeks. 'But maybe I do… Because now I hate me too.'
Hate was too weak a word.
'So thanks for that Britt, you and the rest of your little clique. I hope you're happy- after all I'm finally taking your advice.'
She held up the print out of the messages from the last few days. Barbara held it up to the screen, pointing to the messages she'd circled in black marker.
'"You're a whiny bitch, go kill yourself",' Barbara read biting her lip in an effort to hold the tears back, '"No one likes sluts like you. RIP whore."'
She wished she'd gone to her Dad. Babs wished she hadn't been so stupid. Babs wished a lot of things, but that didn't matter. Nothing good happened to her, and why should it?
'Right now, I don't see the point in trying,' tears were streaming down her face, 'or in talking,' her eyes flittered shut, 'or in breathing.'
There was no point at all.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper.
'So that's it I guess,' Barbara said, giving a weak and bitter little smile, because she knew it was. 'Bye.'
The screen faded to black.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBG
Richard Grayson opened his laptop, dreading the messages he would see this time.
It had been only a few weeks since Brittany and her thugs had gone after him and Babs after they stopped them from bullying a couple of the new scholarship students. Since then, both of their accounts had been flooded with hate messages, death threats and stupid pictures and videos.
He hadn't been affected by it much, seeing as he was used to being insulted and he was barely ever online because of his Robin activities, but it still stung. The extent it had gotten to was that Dick Grayson couldn't walk past half the guys in his year without having his bag ripped off him, having insults yelled at him, or getting pinned against lockers. It was starting to get out of control, but physical abuse was something he could handle.
Babs on the other hand, was at the receiving end of bitchy insults from every girl wanting to impress or fit in with Britt's girl's, and foul comments from any guy wanting to get with Britt. That was a lot of people.
He also knew for a fact that she was being harassed online, thanks to his hacking skills. After Babs had run from class crying the week before, Dick had set up a direct (and secret) link to her account. He could see anything posted on her wall, and any other comments. What he found was enough to have Robin smash every trainingbot in the Batcave. To say the sort of things they were about anyone was disgusting, but the fact that it was happening to Barbara –Babs, one of the best friends he'd ever had and such a nice person- was unbelievable.
Bracing himself, Dick logged on and just as he was about to click on the link, he saw something pop up on his wall. Two things actually.
The first was a stupid message from an even stupider guy from school named Derek.
Someone call the pound, Dick read, loose circus rat.
He growled under his breath, fighting the urge to throw his laptop into the wall and reminded himself firmly that he was doing this for Babs. Ironically, the second pop-up was from Barbara. Frowning, Dick opened it and was shocked to find a video labeled "The Real Barbara Gordon".
Was this her finally letting loose on Britt and the others?
Blue eyes fixed on the screen, Richard hit play.
It was definitely Barbara- dark red hair and a splash of freckles across her face, but Dick realized immediately that something was wrong. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked like a breeze might carry her away. She just seemed small.
'I'm Barbara Gordon; the real Barbara Gordon,' Babs told the camera. Her voice shook. 'I'm not pregnant, 'and I haven't done any of the stuff people say I have.'
Dick swallowed, Babs…
'And I don't know why everyone hates me so much! But maybe I do… Because now I hate me too.'
'Babs?' he watched horrified as tears began to falls down her pale cheeks.
'So thanks for that Britt, you and the rest of your little clique,' Dick's hands clenched. 'I hope you're happy- after all I'm finally taking your advice.' A sheet of what looked like screen shots were pulled in front of the camera. There were black marker circles around writing on the page, and her hands must have been shaking when she did it, because the lines were wonky and there were lines out of place from where she'd slipped.
'"You're a whiny bitch, go kill yourself",' Dick's jaw dropped- that was a new one. '"No one likes sluts like you. RIP whore."' Whore? Slut?
'Right now, I don't see the point in trying…or in talking…'
'Oh God,' he said, pushing himself up from his bed. She wasn't- she didn't mean..?
'Or in breathing.'
Richard grabbed his phone. Six seconds of video left.
'So that's it I guess,' Barbara said shrugged her shoulder, eyes filled with tears and giving something that could loosely be described as a smile. 'Bye.'
The screen went dark. Dick stared, phone clasped tightly in hand.
'A-ALFRED!' he screamed. 'ALFRED START THE CAR!'
He fumbled with his phone, stabbed the numbers in and hit dial.
'Master Richard?' Alfred called up the stairs, concerned.
'START THE CAR!' he bellowed back, 'BARBARA'S IN TROUBLE!'
'Hello?'
'Babs! What are you doi-?!'
'-This is Barbara Gordon; I can't come to the phone right now-'
'Voicemail?! Are you fucking kidding me?!' Dick threw himself out of room, and sprinted down the hallway. The stairs would take time- time Barbara may not have.
'-after the beep.'
He launched himself over the banister, flipped, and caught the chandelier before flipping off of that and dive rolling to land.
'Barbara, pick UP!' he said desperately.
The phone was still pressed against his ear, even as he raced out to the car and jumped in. Alfred started driving.
'Master Richard, what might I ask, is going on?'
'I think Babs is going to kill herself,' Robin said. And it was Robin, not Dick that spoke. His voice had changed and his civilian hair was disheveled –adding to the similarities that weren't supposed to be seen.
'Wha-?' Alfred cut himself off, and pressed his foot down heavily on the accelerator.
It was a short drive, seeing as Alfred was pushing the car and ignoring any red light coming their way.
Richard tried to reach Barbara three more times, before dialing 911.
'Hello, this is the Gotham State Police Department,' the secretary started.
'I need to talk to the Commissioner!' Richard shouted over the sound of someone honking their horn at the car.
'Pardon me?'
'The Commissioner!' he shouted again, 'Commissioner Gordon! His daughter is in trouble!'
'I-I'll put you through,' the woman said, sound baffled and more than a little shocked.
'Commis-!'
'Commissioner Gordon speaking,' came the familiar voice.
'Commissioner! It's Richard-!'
'Dick? What can I-?'
'It's Barbara! She put a video up and won't answer the phone!'
'What does that-?'
'I think she's going to kill herself!' he finally blurted.
'Oh my Go-' the Commissioner cut off, but Dick heard him shout for someone before the line died.
Alfred slowed down, unable to go any faster because of the traffic. Dick could see Babs' apartment from his place in the backseat. Robin opened the door and sprinted out across the road. A blue car nearly run him over. He reached the front door.
'Babs?!'
He fumbled with the door- locked.
Richard turned the number on the door up and grabbed the spare key.
'Barbara!'
The door flew open.
Dick raced upstairs, 'Babs?! Babs! Barbara!'
He flung open the door of her room- nothing.
Shit, Richard thought, she'll be in the bathroom, won't she?
And she was.
When Dick pulled the door open, Barbara Gordon was tugging on the lid of a large container of pills.
She looked up startled and cried out; 'I can't get the cap off!' desperately, like she wanted him to help her. Her hair was sticking up in odd directions and tears were streaming down her face.
The cap came free. Light blue eyes looked at them hungrily, while the other blue eyes, in horror.
'Babs stop!' He grabbed her wrists, tugging the bottle off of her.
'NO!' she screamed, clawing at his hands, 'No, Dick –Stop! Let go!'
When she tried in vain to tug the bottle back towards her, pills went flying. The scattered into corners, fell into the drain and Barbara screamed wordlessly. Richard was breathing heavily, eyes prickling.
'What did you do?!' she screeched.
Red and blue lights flashed across the windows.
'Barbara!' Richard heard Gordon call for his daughter from far away.
'What have you done?!' she screamed, punching at his chest. It didn't hurt- there was no fight left in her.
Richard grabbed her arms to stop her from grasping at the pills on the ground. He had just kicked the bottle away when the Commissioner rushed into the room, just in time for Barbara's knees to buckle.
She screamed and she cried and her father wrapped his arms around her tightly.
'No!' Barbara wept, 'I-want-to-die!'
'I've got you.'
'Please! Let me die!'
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
When the paramedics came into the bathroom, they sedated Barbara.
Dick had followed them and the Commissioner outside, to the van.
His friend had just tried to kill herself. He let it sink in now.
He watched the paramedics load Barbara into the van. Detective Bullock and Montoya came over, Bullock looking on at a loss and Montoya offering quiet words to Gordon, her hand on his shoulder and her eyes on Barbara. Richard reminded himself that the people at the station had watched Barbara grow up. This was hard on them too.
Alfred made it out of traffic a few minutes later, and came running- Bruce was at his side, having clearly been called.
Barbara had tried to kill herself. He had nearly lost someone else. He felt his throat constrict. He couldn't get enough air. Dick's eyes prickled. His head span...
'Richard!'
Bruce?
Dick found his own way to the ground.
BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBG
When he woke up, he was in the back of a paramedic van. He was a little relieved to find it wasn't moving, and that he had simply been moved. There were several Band-Aids on his wrists and his hands from where Barbara had scratched him.
'Bruce?' he asked quietly.
Four heads looked up.
Alfred was by his side, and Bruce was –or had been- talking to Montoya and Bullock in the back.
'I'm here,' he said, coming over. He handed his a glass of water, which was gratefully received, even with shaking hands.
'Is Babs okay?'
'They took her to the hospital,' Bruce said, 'and her father is with her.'
Richard nodded and downed the water.
'What happened?' asked Bruce, 'Alfred said you'd just gotten home when you started shouting things about Barbara being in trouble. And the Detective's here said you called the GPD for the Commissioner out of nowhere. He called me after you jumped out of the car.'
'It wasn't out of nowhere!' Richard snapped. 'I was my laptop when I got message for a video from Babs-'
'Video?' Montoya asked. Bruce gave Alfred a look. He nodded and left.
'Yeah,' he said, swallowing hard. 'I knew something was wrong when I watched it- an-and…' Bruce put his hand on Dick's shoulder.
Alfred came back –probably from Bruce's car- holding a laptop. He held it up to Dick, who nodded and logged onto his account.
The video was there on Barbara's page, already with a few dozen comments.
'Oh look!' Richard said bitterly, 'they've commented- even Britt.'
'"Knew she was a baby"?' Montoya snapped angrily, '"Bye bye loser?" What is all this?'
'Barbara's page,' Richard said softly. 'There- that's the video.' Bruce went to click on it, but Dick pushed the laptop away from him like a poisonous snake. 'I don't want to see it again,' he murmured.
Montoya, Bullock and Bruce went outside to watch it.
They all looked worse for wear when they came back into view. Bruce looked shocked, and angry. Montoya looked as though she might cry, but her hands were balled into fists. Bullock was just shaking his head, muttering under his breath.
'Britt,' Bruce said, addressing Richard, 'that's Brittany Cain isn't it? The girl that bothered you and Barbara at school?' Dick nodded. 'Perhaps you and Detective Bullock could go and have a chat with the girl's parents, Detective Montoya.' Bullock nodded.
Dick stared at the empty glass in his hands as silence crept back into the van.
'Thank you,' Montoya said finally, 'for stopping her.'
Richard just nodded, hoping Babs would be alright.
He wouldn't lose her too.
What does everyone think? Good? Awful?
Please review!
It's my second story and I'd like some feedback if you aren't too busy!
- Tonks