Night of the Bat Pt 2
The lightning crackled across the sky and soon after came the rolling thunder. A young girl around seven years old shudders as the storm rumbled on. She watches the frequent displays of lightning from the relative safety of a recently renovated condo apartment window. She covers up with a well-worn black blanket. The condo's heat is on, but the girl shivers from fright.
"Barbara?" A middle aged female voice calls out. "What are you still doing up? You know that you have an early gymnastics practice tomorrow morning." The girl is momentarily silent as the next boom of thunder is heard. "Okay Momma. I'll try and get to sleep, but the storm is loud." She replies from beneath the blanket. "You could always put your headphones on, honey." Barbara's mother enters her daughter's bedroom. "I'll do that, momma." Young Barbara tries to sound brave.
Debra Keane was the opposite of her wild, angry, and borderline insane sister, Barbara Keane. Debra had always been the straight-laced daughter, responsible, intelligent, conservative, and driven. Barbara Keane hadn't always been wild or psychotic, Debra thought wistfully. In fact, young Barbara was named for her party girl aunt. Over the years, the elder Barbara had become reckless and irresponsible.
Enter James Gordon, Debra thought angrily. She and Jim had gone to the same college, and even taken a few classes together. Eventually, they got to know each other better, and grew closer. Jim was popular and a known campus party boy. Debra hadn't been able to resist his advances. She had been more of a bookworm, a law major. Over time Debra would become a reasonably good lawyer.
Debra and Jim had dated for about a year before she'd become pregnant. Their relationship had deteriorated shortly after that, and they'd broken up well before Barbara was born. Debra wanted to finish her schooling, after making such a huge financial investment in her future. The risk was too high, Debra estimated, and she'd decided to let Jim go, and raise Barbara herself.
Debra hadn't told Jim about Barbara until the youngster was almost thirteen years old. It was then that she and her daughter had started fighting, the turbulent teens, she'd called it. Finally Debra had met a man that she wanted to marry, Matt Simons, a fellow lawyer, and an old fashioned conservative. Matt knew of young Barbara's existence, but hadn't really wanted to deal with the teen. He wanted to start a family of his own, and had never truly accepted Barbara, and her rebellious attitude.
Debra tried to keep young Barbara busy, figuring that if the child had too much time on her hands, she would continuously get into trouble. Debra had paid for Barbara's primary schooling and had registered the teen in a number of gymnastics, martial arts, and legal classes, hoping that the smart girl would follow in her footsteps and become a lawyer. That hadn't clicked with Barbara yet, and Debra's fiancée ran out of patience. Fearing that she'd lose him, Debra decided to ship Barbara over to Jim.
It was time for Jim to take responsibility for Barbara, in Debra's view. She'd done the best that she could raising the energetic teen, and with a heavy heart had finally given up. She and Matt would be married soon, and she would start a new life, as would Barbara. The teen had finally begun to settle down as she reached her mid-teens. Barbara was still tough and independent, but had matured slightly.
Jim Gordon had been seeing Leslie Tompkins, a respected psychologist and criminal profiler. It was Debra's hope that Jim and Leslie could control and guide Barbara into the future, especially if they one day married. There was no doubt that the spirited young Barbara would be a challenge to rear. Jim was always busy and always on call. though. Gotham was a cesspool, and was rife with corruption, from the top down. The mysterious Batman had only recently appeared, and had helped clean up the mess.
Barbara awoke as her dad's alarm clock buzzed. It was six o'clock in the morning. The smell of fresh coffee wafted through the good-sized condo near downtown Gotham. She stretched and yawned, and grumbled as some of her muscles ached from yesterday's fight. Barbara was slightly disoriented, waking up in a strange environment, and couldn't recall how she'd gotten into the condo and fallen asleep.
"Good morning sleepyhead." A female voice said sweetly from the open floor plan's kitchen. Barbara's eyes snapped open. "Who the hell are you?" She demanded angrily. "Well, you're just like your father, cranky in the morning until he's had his coffee." The woman grinned as she handed Barbara a steaming cup of black coffee. "Do you take sugar?" She inquired as Barbara eyed her suspiciously.
"Yeah, two spoons full of sugar, thanks." Barbara stretched again and padded along the hardwood floors towards the bathroom, except she hadn't paid attention as to where it was. "Over there, the second door on the left." The woman gestured. Barbara placed the coffee on a small minibar near the corner of the front room. After she'd left the bathroom, Barbara climbed onto the seat next to the bar.
She took a full sniff of the coffee and quietly leaned on the corner of the bar. "So you're dad's woman?" Barbara asked curtly, as she glanced at the pleasant thirtysomething woman. "Uh, yeah, I'm your father's girlfriend, Dr. Leslie Tompkins." She replied and sat behind the bar across from Barbara, a large steaming coffee cup in her hand. "I suppose you have dozens of questions?" Leslie fished.
"I dunno, maybe." Barbara answered noncommittally. "I guess it's none of my business who my dad is seeing, I only met him a few times over the last three years. It's not as if he talks much about anything." Leslie laughed. "That's definitely your dad. I have to pry any information out of him. I can say that your dad is a hardworking man who is trying to make things better for the people of Gotham."
"So you're a shrink?" Barbara yawned and took another sip of her coffee. "I prefer clinical psychiatrist and criminal profiler." Leslie corrected. This seemed to peak Barbara's interest ever so slightly. She looked up from her coffee long enough to assess Leslie's face. She seemed nice, clean cut, pretty, smart, and patient, Barbara assumed. She looked to be in good shape and healthy.
"So my mom and her fiancé don't really want me around." Barbara began. "She dumped me off on my dad, and told me to move to Gotham. She said that it was time for my dad to take more responsibility for me. I guess that we're stuck with each other. Sorry. I guess I was too much of a pain in the ass to my mom and her fiancé." Leslie felt a tug on her heart. Barbara would likely be her main focus from now on, even though Jim Gordon hadn't proposed to her. They rarely ever talked about marriage. "I see. We will just have to make the best of the situation." Leslie reassured the disoriented teen. "Jim and I actually have some minimal experience dealing with troublesome teen girls." She quipped.
"Oh? How did that work out?" Barbara asked with curiosity. "Not too well to be honest with you. Obviously, Jim and I have very little parental style experience. That doesn't mean that we can't keep trying." Leslie replied. "How did you sleep last night?" She asked pleasantly. "You know, I slept pretty well. I guess that I was tired, what with the fight and all." Barbara admitted.
"Yes. Let's talk about that fight." Leslie goaded. Barbara related the story, though the end of the night still seemed fuzzy to her. "I see. That sounds like a typical local delinquent gang." Leslie analyzed, though she was trying not to sound like a psychiatrist and criminal profiler. "You know what was weird though?" Barbara said with some hesitation. "The Batman stepped in and fought for me, although I think he just scared them off. I can hold my own in a fight, but I was probably tired and caught off guard."
"The Batman?" Leslie echoed. "You've seen him?" She was skeptical. "Yeah, I'd seen him, and not only that, I'm pretty sure that he helped me get upstairs here to dad's condo." Leslie gawked at her. "The Batman knows where Jim lives, and that you were his daughter? That is weird." Leslie agreed. "Tell me about it! You know what though? I thought that the Batman was so cool!" The caffeine started kicking in as Barbara's big blue eyes widened, and her voice rose ever so slightly. She was excited.
Leslie didn't know what to make of the connection between Jim and the Batman. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but then that seemed rather unlikely, she mused. "Anyway, your dad asked me to come over and help you get settled. He said that he was sorry that he couldn't wait around for you to wake up. He had to be at work by 5 AM." Leslie explained. "Oh? Cool. No big thing. I'm used to getting myself in gear every morning. You know, Doc, I have trouble sleeping at night." Barbara babbled, sounding more like a typical teenage girl. "Maybe you can cut down on your caffeine?" Leslie joked.
Barbara nodded as she slurped down the last of her coffee. "I brought some stuff with me, but mom said that she was having more stuff delivered today, like my laptop, IPOD, and remaining homework. I still have to take a couple of tests remotely to pass to my senior year." The teen spoke even more quickly. "Pass to your senior year?" Leslie parroted. "Yup, I have enough good accumulated credits to graduate this fall from whatever high school dad sends me to. So I can graduate at 17 and go on to college."
Leslie was very impressed with Barbara, and she reminded her a bit of their friend, young Bruce Wayne. "First off, you'll need to take a shower." Dr. Tompkins teased. "I reek, don't I?" Barbara playfully sniffed her armpits. "Just a bit." Leslie snickered. Luckily the two of them had hit it off. After her shower, Barbara ate and followed Leslie out into the neighborhood.
"Dude, this place is a wreck." Barbara commented. Leslie let her get away with calling her 'dude' for now. "Yeah I agree. This neighborhood is actually on the upswing though compared to many other parts of Gotham." Dr. Tompkins remarked. "Have you ever been here before?" Barbara nodded. "A few years ago mom brought me here to the Planetarium, Museums, and Zoos, as well as to Gotham Observatory during the last solar eclipse. That was way cool." Barbara said.
"Do you know what subject you're thinking about majoring with in college?" Leslie asked. "I'm not one hundred percent sure yet. I kind of want to get involved with dad's work. It seems pretty cool saving people and protecting them from criminals." Barbara's keen eyes took in every detail of the city.
Leslie gulped, knowing just what kind of a mess Gotham was in. On the other hand, it was good that Barbara was taking an interest in her dad. "You know that there are a lot of options in the Criminal Justice sector like Lawyers, Assistant Prosecutors, Court Appointees, Legal Secretaries, Forensics, or Legal Administrative jobs." Leslie pointed out. "Yup, I had been considering some of those careers, but I don't know if I just want to sit behind a desk and push papers and computer reports." Barbara admitted sending a chill down Leslie's spine. "I think that I like to be where the action is."
"I mean look at the Batman and my dad, and Sergeant Bullock. They are out there in the streets making a difference every day." Barbara stated excitedly as they passed a grungy looking pool hall. "Were you considering becoming a police officer?" Leslie asked as an involuntary shudder took over her body. "I dunno, maybe. Like I said, I'm still kicking it around." Barbara said as a weird feeling crept into her mind. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was bothering her.
A few shadows moved along the alleyway parallel to where the girls were walking. "Uh, Miss Tompkins, I think that we ought to move along." Barbara urged as one of the shadows pursuing them became clearer. "Why? Are you in a hurry?" Leslie fished. By then two more shadowy figures flanked them. "Run!" Barbara screamed as Leslie, fortunately, aware of the possibilities of a sharp encounter, didn't question the younger girl's warning. It was too late. Four more creeps emerged in front of them, blocking their way. There were now a total of six thugs. "Can you fight?" Barbara asked warily.
"I'm much better at running." Leslie spoke quickly, as she whipped out her SMART phone and dialed up 911. Barbara knew that it would take too long for help to arrive, after a myriad of largely irrelevant questions would be raised by the 911 operator. The nearest assailant lunged for Leslie's phone. Luckily she spun away from him long enough for the 911 operative to get online. "We're at Manheim and 16th street! Under assault! Send squad cars!" Leslie barked the orders into the cell phone.
Meanwhile, Barbara assumed her attack pose, and deflected another creep that tried to grab them by kicking him straight in the groin. He doubled over in pain, cursing vehemently. Two more attackers circled in on the girls as they stood back to back. Leslie was patiently describing the situation to the 911 operator. Barbara recalled her recent martial arts training, when being assailed by more than one opponent use as few moves as possible to conserve your strength. She quickly went low, kicking the nearest goon's feet out from under him, and immediately sprung back up to elbow the next creep in the nose, it broke with a sickening crack, spewing blood all over the thug's gray hoodie.
Barbara spun forward, taking the initiative, and threw her entire five foot five frame at the next two attackers, catching them by surprise. They lost their balance and fell awkwardly in opposite directions, clearing a path for the girls to flee through. Barbara landed on one knee and popped up, doubling back to grab Leslie by her jacket sleeve, physically dragging her past the attackers. The girls ran as fast as they could towards a more populated main street, leaving the confused and disorganized thugs behind.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Leslie asked, finally getting off the phone to the 911 rep. "Two years of martial arts training at Master Wang's Academy in Bridgeview." Barbara answered, adding: "And I went to an all-girls private school. You were tough, or you got taken advantage of." She informed Leslie. "I'm impressed! Does Jim know about all that?" Barbara shrugged. "Mom didn't tell me."
