As History Repeats

by Erin Griffin

*Whoo! A slightly longer chapter due to metahuman action. Let the fun commence!*

Chapter 4

Alright, Batgirl, I need for you to not let Kitten Britches make you into her ball of yarn tonight, okay? Oracle said over the comm. system that night. The teen smirked when she saw the face change on the superhero on a monitor in front of her. Barbara had purposely turned to the camera to show her annoyance to the up and coming cyber protector. Nice, was all she said in responce to her mentor's bout of immaturity.

"You spent some time researching cat jokes lately, haven't you?"

Actually, no. I came up with that one all on my lonesome. But I'm serious, you cannot be distracted tonight.

"I won't be," Batgirl insisted.

That's not what you said yesterday, Oracle said in a somewhat reprimanding tone.

"That's not what you said yesterday," came the mimicked reply. Gabby wished that Batgirl could see her on a monitor as she rolled her eyes. She swore she was the mentor of the duo, not Barbara. The redhead just took that title from her because of some weird age technicality. Gabby remained silent to that, because really, what could she say that wouldn't reduce her to a ten year old or trap her in an argument she wasn't smart enough to win anyway? There was a sigh over the comms. "Okay, Oracle. I am sorry, and I will try my best not to get distracted," Barbara said. She must have taken the teen's silence as anger. Though she wasn't angry at all at the superhero, the silence had its effect, and Gabby smiled to herself.

Good. She took another moment to type in a few commands into the security cameras of the building Batgirl was to be sneaking into, belonging to New Gotham Credit Union, one of the smaller buildings in the city. She searched through the voice recognition data once more to see if it could pick up who inside the company had made the 911 call only an hour ago. Inside were some of the company's top players held hostage, and one of them had been elected to make the call. The men who held them were unknown in any of Gabby's databases, as one of them had a power of electricity, but only when he touched something that held a current, and the other two seemed to be twins with the same metal shifting power. Gabby couldn't quite tell from her view of them from the security cameras, but it seemed as if they shifted into a solid metal shape, making them invincible to bullets. As far as she could tell, the 911 call was from the CEO, Ken San. Batgirl?

"Hit me," said the redhead as she looked around careflly.

Don't tempt me, Gabby shot back, then continued, Ken San made the 911 call an hour ago, but servailence shows that they had all been locked in the building for the last three. The building is usually completely shut down and locked up by the night janitors, Alvin Hernendez, and Hecktor and Gary Clamp. Twins. These are our guys. There was a buisness meeting involving all of the head honchos, and they met at this location, as it was closest to a restaurant that is owned by the wife of Jim Vanderbelt, where this monthly meeting ends. It is pretty routine for this group.

"And of course the janitors would know about it," Barbara said.

That's what I'm thinkin'. I can't get very good audio on this camera. They are speaking so low, and the hostages were scared into silences.

"What are they wanting for the safety of the hostages? What are the police offering them?"

One sec," Gabby said, clicking a few things and accidentally clicking out of her programs completely. Damn it! Gabby yelled, trying her best to get everything back up immediately, but she had forgotten how she had gotten to some of the windows she had been in, and two of the more important ones, like the camera that had the best audio for the room, had been opened up by Barbara before she had gone to the scene. Um...

"You lost the footage, didn't you?"

It was an accident. I don't even know what I hit, Gabby admitted sheepishly. Barbara told her what folders and files to open, and Gabby obeyed without needing the superhero to tell her twice. Thank you,

"You're doing really well. I expect for you to make mistakes. Just save them for practices, okay?"

Will try my best, Gabby said with a deep intake of air.

"You always do," Barbara said reassuringly. Gabby looked at the screen that held her mentor's picture. She saw the small smile on her face, and Gabby smiled back at the screen, knowing the redhead wouldn't see her.

Okay, from what I can hear... The cops aren't really offering anything. There is a lead guy- What-? He says... Gabby heard shuffling as Batgirl jumped a couple of rooftops. There was a small pause.

"His name is Detective Reece, he said. He's not taking any guff from these guys. He wants them out of the building, and he wants it done now. Yeah, and I want to fly and shoot lazers with my eyes," Batgirl said somewhat sarcastically.

Why is this guy provoking them?

"He's frusterated. He doesn't know what these guys want, so he's hoping he will say something that will get one of them talking back."

Doesn't sound smart. What if he pisses them off and they start shooting? Oracle asked, her face starting to pale. She had never done a hostage situation, not even in training.

"We can't lose ourselves in what ifs right now, Oracle. What I need from you is to see if anything the detective is saying right now is affecting their movements."

Okay- Wait! Whatever the good detective just said, one of them- Alvin just pointed to a door. Then Ken, I think, shook his head. He's pleading, but Alvin is pissed. The metal twins are- Whoa! Okay, Batgirl, I need you to see if you can get a little closer without the police seeing you. I think I just saw a shadow outside of one of the windows. I don't know who it was, but they were fast.

"Huntress," Barbara said without a doubt.

Suddenly, a fierce high shriek flowed through the air. Glass broke on windows all around the building of the credit union, the people inside all ducking and covering their ears. Some of them already had blood spilling from them. Batgirl? Gabby gasped as she too had to cover her ears. She brought her fingers to her eyes as soon as the shriek stopped. There was a small drop of blood there, and her head pounded in a headache.

"No, it can't be," came the shakey voice in Gabby's ears.

Batgirl, report! Gabby called, looking at the monitors on the screen. Barbara wasn't in view, and this worried her. She saw that the poeple in the building were being shuffled out, and the men holding everyone hostage were taken into custody.

"Only one person has the Canary Cry, and she's dead," came the breathy voice in Gabby's ear.

Bat-

"I'm going to ground level. I wanna know what the hell just happened."

I do too, but Batgirl, please! Gabby didn't know what was going on, or who Barbara was talking about. She had never heard of the Canary Cry, and she wondered if this was one of the many things about Batgirl and Batman's past that her mentor had failed to tell her. Who had the Canary Cry?

"Its- She's dead!"

It isn't impossible and you know it. We once thought that every metahuman had the same power, but we've been prioven wrong. Both Huntress and Catwoman have the same powers, and niether of them are dead.

"But-" Barbara stopped. "This is so wrong."

Batgirl, listen to me. Whoever just did that, it hurt my ears as well through your comms. They are powerful, and they don't even need to be near you to do it. Please be careful. I know that you will go check it out no matter what I say-

"That isn't true, Gab-Oracle. If you want me to come back to base, I will. You're in charge when I'm out here."

You might just regret saying that someday."

"I know I will, but I am serious. You can see what I can't, and I have to trust your word. If you see something that says anything to you, trust your instincts, and I will, too."

In that case, Batgirl, I would like you to do a small, quick as you can sweep. Make sure the hostages are okay, and if you see nothing further out of the ordinary, please come back. I hear Alfred just bought a new half gallon of rocky road ice cream. Gabby said to the superhero. Please keep your comm. on no matter what for now, Gabby added.

"Sure thing."

From there, Gabby heard breathing, and she saw over monitors and through the small camera set in Bagirl's cowl, where she was going. The teen watched as Batgirl jumped down to the ground on her cables with ease, and she hid in the shadow, watching the blaring lights of the police cars before something was caught on the comms. Batgirl? Gabby asked tentatively.

"I'm on it," came the reply, and the redhead was on the move. The sound came again, a small shuffle near the credit union, and the shift of the broken glas tinking to the ground. Both Barbara and Gabby saw immediately who it was, rising slowly from the ground, glass shards falling off of her as she tried to stay steady on her feet.

"Mmm, Baby Bat," Huntress said apretiatively when she saw her.

"What are you doing here?" Batgirl asked, fighting the urge to turn the comm off. She had promised Oracle she would keep it on this time, and the teen had a good reason for it this time.

"I wanted to party. There was a person here, a woman. She looked pretty suspitious, and I went to see what she was doing in the center of a hostage siuation. She was wicked. We fought, and she- But then- I don't know, my brains began to leak from my ears at this... high pitched... And-"

"Who was she?"

"Like I know?" Huntress asked irritably.

"I'm sorry."

"Looks like you know. I thought maybe it was one of your superfriends or the nervous tick you talk to right before you and I cuddle," Huntress said.

I'll show you a nervous tick, Gabby said, annoyed. Barbara made a face, but being out of any serveilance range, the teen didn't see the grimace.

"She's like me. Well... Not as hot as me, obviously," Huntress said.

"Obviously. So you're saying she's got powers. Other than the brain melding, glass shattering shriek of doom?"

"Yeah. She- When we fought, she touched my face, and I couldn't move. It was like she was in my head, stealing my secrets. I think-" Huntress stopped speaking after that. "And she's telekinetic."

Whoa, three powers that we even know of? Who is this chick? Gabby asked.

"That is what I would like to know," Barbara said softly, which earned her a smirk from Huntress.

"The nervous tick?" she asked.

Alright, Batgirl... Gabby cut in before she wanted to rip Huntress a new one, I think you need to come back to base. I mean... And I hate to admit to this, but I think Huntress is right on this one. There is something you know about the person with the power of that shrieking, and we need to talk about that.

"I'll be there," Barbara said, and then looked to Huntress, who had cuts on her face from the glass, and a droplet of blood was dry under each earlobe. "You should get those cuts checked out.

"Worried they would scar my pretty face?" Huntress asked.

"Something like that," Batgirl said.

"Don't worry Batgirl. Me and my pretty face will be ready for you tomorrow night," Huntress said, taking a step forward in attempt to kiss her, but Batgirl took a step back, and then threw her cable upward. she yanked to see that it had caught on something, and looked at the feline woman before her.

"Its my turn for the nifty exit. I'm sure I'll see you around, Kitten," the redhead superhero said, and then she was gone. Huntress looked up, admiring the form of Batgirl before she, too, jumped on a rooftop and started going in another direction.

Almost a half an hour later, Batgirl entered Wayne Manor and took off her cowl. "You had too much fun out there tonight," Gabby commented, but she was smiling, not upset like Barbara had worried.

"There is too much we deal with and will deal with in this life. Why not have a little fun every once in a while?" Barbara asked playfully. The light glittered in her emerald eyes, and Gabby chuckled a little bit. Alfred came into the room and took the cowl from the redhead, and before she could say any sort of greeting, he was gone again. She walked closer to the teen, who had the promised half gallon of icecream out, and was eating directly from the carton. Gabby ignored the look Barbara was giving her, and picked up another spoon and dug it in, leaving it so that it stood upwards in the icecream. The redhead took a couple of bites from the carton, and she stared at Gabby for a moment before she began to speak. "Her name was Carolyn. She was a close friend of mine in high school, back when I first became Batgirl. I didn't know that she was a methuman. She managed to keep that from me for quite some time, but... One night, I found out about her, she found out about me, and we became closer friends. She had a lot of potential, and after a while, I was able to convince Batman- Bruce to let her join us. By then, Carolyn was her own superhero, The Black Canary." Barbara took another bite of the icecream, and as she let it melt in her mouth and she chewed the chuncks, she went quiet.

Gabby stared at her mentor and waited for her to speak again. Even if she didn't, she had a place to search to figure out what was going on with her, if she is really dead or not. "So..." Gabby was about to ask a question, and this seemed to remind Babara that she had been speaking and she started up again.

"Carolyn soon started going under cover after a man named Al Hawk. At first we thought he was just some mob guy, but he... He was the worst. We thought that maybe he had some sort of metahuman ability to persuade people the way he did, but he was just an evil man. And smart. He figured out who she really was and went after the man she loved, a superhero by the name of the Green Arrow, and then he went after us. Carolyn was so distraught and guilty for what she had done, not being able to end the undercover op when she was supposed to, that she drew Al Hawk away from us, and we didn't know what happened after that, except that almost seven years later, a bomb went off in a little house in Opal, Misouri. The body inside was identified as Carolyn Meyers, but her picture on the news was her, unmistakenly. The report said she had a daughter, and I tried to look for her, but she slipped through my fingers. Poor girl must have had a few different names before she was Meyers. The last known address was in Texas with a Lex and Misty Redmond, but she ran away two years ago and is presumed dead. I would have helped her, had I known where she was."

"So... do you think it might be her daughter then?"

"It can't be Carolyn," Barbara responded softly. She swallowed and looked down at the spoon in her hand.

"You think she might be out for revenge?"

"How would she know who she was after? How would she know to come here?" Barbara asked. These were really good questions, questions she couldn't even begin to answer. "I really don't know. I would say at the moment, I don't think so. She was the one to break the glass at the credit union, but I am not sure if that was because of the fight with Huntress or if that had been her intention the whole night." There was silence as they ate icecream together. At one point they playfully fought eachother with their spoons, using them as swords for a moment before Barbara ducked under Gabby's hand and got to the bigger chunk of chocolate.

"So what do we do?" Gabby asked after her small protest and then scooped up another bite. She then put the spoonful in her mouth.

"Nothing tonight. Tomorrow, we will figure out a game plan in my classroom during lunch." At this, Gabby's shoulders slumped slightly, which surprised both of them.

"I, um... I thought maybe I would sit with..." Gabby took in a breath and said, "but this is more important. Cider House Rules and all," she said.

"I'm sorry. I will try to be quick so that maybe there will be some time left to sit and talk with friends."

"A," Gabby said, "as in singular... I think."

"Hmm? I'm glad you're finally mingling with kids your own age. I often worry about you spending so much time with old farts like me."

"Call yourself that again after kicking the ass the three thugs at once," Gabby shot back with a smile. She took one more scoop of the icecream with her spoon and, seeing that Barbara seemed to be done, closed up the carton and stood to put it in the freezer. She was stopped by Alfred, who took it from her. He had a similar look for her that Barbara had given her earlier that evening, and unlike her reaction to Barbara (or lack therof), Gabby shrunk back a little, silently chastized. Then Gabby went to the hall right before the door to the manor and grabbed her backpack.

"You're leaving already?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah. I've found that the quicker I get home, the less my mother worries and gets suspitious of me. Soon, I am going to have to invent another afterschool activity or part time job or something."

"You can tell her that you're my TA and we work on the curriculum, but even that gets dangerous. People know you're gay, and there is that lesbian movie out now about the teacher and the student... It might cause some talk."

"Well, you might be the hottest teacher I have ever had, but I just might get my ass kicked by Catwoman's daughter if I ever said so," Gabby said.

"You just said so," Barbara replied.

"No I didn't. Kitten Britches would have kicked my ass by now if I had." There was a wink.

"Same bat time, same bat network?" Barbara wondered. She was glad to see that Gabby wasn't leaving the Manor annoyed or mad this time around.

"Hell yeah," Gabby agreed.

"Be safe," Barbara said as she waited at the door like she often did. When she heard the gate, she sighed and went upstairs to one of the rooms she always had when she was there at the manor. She hadn't done anything to Bruce's quarters. The redhead looked under the bed and found a box filled to the top with photos of Batgirl and the Black Canary fighting together, posing behind Batman with Tim Drake at the time as Robin, and some pictures taken by amature photographers. Then she picked up the newspaper article she had found from Opal, and she stared at it, looking over the names mentioned. Tomorrow, as she promised Gabby, they would look into this. If it was Carolyn's daughter, Barbara wanted to help her. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't out for revenge, and if she was, to make sure they all went about it the right way so that this girl won't get herself killed.