Primal Instinct II: 0.4 Seconds
A Birds of Prey (B/H) story
by Enginerd
Chapter 9 - Detonators
In a dark room, Carl and Daniel watched as Peter Fry soldered an electronic timer to the detonator on a workbench.
"Carl, I did as you asked," Daniel said uneasily as Peter chuckled eerily, delighting in his work.
"Yes. Thank you, Daniel. You've helped me out a lot," Carl said with a smile and returned his attention to Peter Fry, who took a long drag on his cigarette.
"You promised after this, you'd ….," Daniel said uncomfortably, scratching his dry skin and coughing slightly at the foul air.
"Here," Carl said with a sly smirk, handing over a small plastic envelope of a few pills.
"This isn't enough," Daniel said with alarm.
"It'll tide you over for now. I have one more request of you and then you'll be free to focus on your work," Carl said with a smile, patting Daniel on the back.
Daniel roughly knocked his arm away. "But that wasn't the deal! And you know it!"
"Daniel, I really need your help now – more than ever. You said you would help me. You are not going to renege are you?" Carl said with a frown.
"You can't keep changing our agreement."
"Look, I hadn't realized I'd still need your help. But I do. You've been such a good friend to me, come on and help me out this one last time," Carl said, his charm oozing.
"It's always one more time," Daniel grumbled, anger bubbling beneath the surface.
"Hey, I'm sorry. This is really the last time, Daniel. And once I get Gramps' fortune, I'll help set you up to process this stuff on your own," he said, pointing to the pills, "And you'll never be dependent on anyone. Isn't that what you want?"
"This is fucked up!" Daniel seethed. "Why do you need a fucking nuclear bomb?"
Carl smiled coldly. "To show him I'm serious. He'll cave once he realizes it's real and his precious children are at risk. So, you're going to help me?" Carl asked, unperturbed by Daniel's anger.
"One last time," Daniel said, glancing over to the giggling Peter Fry then to the pills in his hand in defeat.
/BoP\
After a second day of several short- and grueling long-duration flights, which were unfortunately necessary before Barbara would contemplate taking a break so Helena could recover long enough to have more than "a quickie," Helena sat quietly, sipping a glass of milk as Barbara reviewed Helena's blood work.
"The flights had no effect on nucleotide stability. They are still stable, even after the longest flight," Barbara announced with a pleased smile as she reviewed the good results on her computer screen. "And, your biometrics, that I could record," she added pointedly, still not happy about Helena's interference in her data gathering, "are consistent with normal physical exertion and recovery," Barbara stated, looking at a sensor-free Helena, who nodded in acknowledgement and now munched on another pop-tart. She was not about to apologize for removing the sensors again – they itched!
"In addition to improved control, your endurance has notably improved since yesterday," Barbara offered positively.
"Endurance is important," Helena smirked and waggled her eyebrows, but Barbara was thoughtful and did not respond. Helena's smirk faded and she rolled her eyes.
"How's your appetite?" Barbara asked curiously, pulling off her glasses as she turned towards Helena, who found that act and those glasses incredibly sexy.
"Ravenous…." She answered honestly and leaned towards Barbara's lips.
"Helena!"
"What?!" Helena complained, her target not acquired. Noting Barbara expected an answer, she let out a belabored sigh. "Fine. The pop-tarts and milk hit the spot…for my stomach."
"This last flight was three hours," Barbara noted as Helena lifted her glass of milk, saluted her with it, and took another sip of milk, which left a milk mustache.
Barbara smiled, reaching out to wipe it off of Helena, who grabbed her hand and stole a kiss, then another.
Pulling back, which took a great deal of willpower, as Helena's lips were dangerously persuasive, Barbara glared at her. "Later," she announced sternly, gaining a dejected look. "I still have some tests I want to…." Barbara explained, her dedication to science not waning, unlike Helena's.
"Barbara!" Helena interrupted with a groan. "Come on! I've already done tons of flights like you've asked. Can't we pick up the experiments tomorrow? Please?!" she begged.
Another thing that was dangerously persuasive was Helena…begging. A part of Barbara had to admit deep satisfaction that her lover wanted her so much as to resort to begging.
"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!"
"All right," Barbara offered in surrender, bringing a big smile to Helena's face. "You really shouldn't be so happy, you know. Begging is unbecoming," she said half-heartedly as a small smile emerged on her face as she looked into Helena's blue eyes that shone happily.
"Not if I be coming in a moment," Helena joked, lightly kissing Barbara, who chuckled in spite of the bad joke and grammar. "Kid here?" she asked, between gentle kisses.
"At Gabby's for the night," Barbara smiled.
"Reeeeaaaaly?" Helena said with great interest and kissed her again as she carefully lifted Barbara from her chair.
"Mmm Hmmm," Barbara responded as her arms easily slipped around Helena's neck. At one time, Barbara would have rejected anyone who offered to lift her from her wheelchair, despising the appearance that she was incapable or needed help. But with Helena, Barbara had learned it was not an act of pity or duty, but love…and expediency. And Barbara had to commend expediency….
The Delphi alarmed. "NOoooooo!" Helena moaned dramatically at the unwanted interruption, resting her head against Barbara's kissable neck in defeat.
Barbara groaned, equally unpleased, but took a deep fortifying breath. "Duty calls," she announced firmly, awkwardly patting Helena on the shoulder in consolation, electing not to comment on Helena unhappily mumbling about duty and what one could do with it, as she lowered Barbara back to her chair.
Clearing her throat, Barbara called up the alarm on Delphi and took a centering breath to calm her own libido.
Reviewing the information, Barbara blurted, "Damn." Helena looked curiously over Barbara's shoulder.
"Seems they are making a bomb like we thought. Military-grade detonation devices have been discovered missing from the North Bay Air Force Base," Barbara noted.
"Swell," Helena said flatly as Delphi beeped an odd tweeping sound, a sound she hadn't heard often.
"It's Dick," Barbara said and put on a head set. "This is Oracle, go ahead Nightwing."
"Guess what's missing from the North Bay Air Force Base," he said in a sing-song voice.
"Hmmm. Is it bigger than a breadbox?" Barbara asked innocently with a smirk.
Helena eyed her curiously.
"He's calling about the detonation devices," Barbara explained, though Helena could hear him; she was just wondering about their banter, mildly bothered by it.
"Uh…. I'm not sure," Nightwing said, mildly annoyed his information was not that thorough.
Barbara smiled. "Maybe the detonators are there and just overlooked?" She teased him. "They have had issues with misplacing important things before."
Helena frowned.
"Even if I don't know what they look like, I'm pretty sure the Air Force does," he said, not liking when Barbara got the better of him, which was routine. "Though now I'm wondering about the timeliness of their discovery…."
"Which also makes me wonder how close they are to making a bomb," Barbara said somberly.
"Any leads on where the suspects are? I haven't seen any traces of the Lizard man in my neck of the woods," Dick offered.
"Same here. And Peter Fry has been laying low, spotted buying cigarettes in New Gotham. Carl Tucker has only been seen at the Tucker house, volunteering," Barbara offered with pursed lips, starting to wonder if she could have found the plutonium by now, knowing she had her focus split between their whereabouts and Helena's condition. She glanced at the Geiger counter worriedly.
"I think Carl Tucker needs another visit . . . to shake things up," Helena offered with conviction, looking at Barbara with a thin smile.
"I was thinking that too," Barbara said reluctantly.
"Confession is good for the soul," Helena smirked and stepped back, her departure stopped by Barbara's hand grabbing her hand.
"Hel, I was also thinking of calling back Dinah . . . for that," Barbara offered uncomfortably, noting Helena's eyes narrow with annoyance.
"Not to knock the Kid, but she has been looking and not finding anything. I think…," Helena continued but was interrupted.
"I don't like sending you out for a mission without better understanding your fatigue," Barbara quickly argued.
"Oh I'm fatigued all right," she said flatly, tired of Barbara's overprotectiveness.
Barbara shook her head, then focused on the Geiger counter a troubled moment.
"But…" Barbara added, piquing Helena's interest.
"But?"
Barbara pushed out an annoyed breath. "But you could cover more territory," she acknowledged, grabbing the device and promptly handing it to a smiling Helena.
"My endurance has improved – you said so yourself," Helena offered helpfully. "And I'm not crashing into buildings…as much," she joked, getting a frown.
"I really wish we had more time to come up with a better plan," Barbara said reluctantly, erasing Helena's smile.
"You know, you still suck at that cheerleading thing, Red."
Barbara ignored her. "Let's go over the basics of the instrument."
"Yes, let's," Helena said with an insincere smile.
"This is Batman's design to better seek out radioactive sources," she started and picked up one of the detectors, missing the sour look on Helena's face at the mention of her father. "The range is significantly higher than the detectors used by the Military or commercial industry, which are typically used for measuring radiation levels for personnel protection not finding lost radioactive material."
"So what do they do when they lose their stuff? Hope for the best?" Helena countered, which Barbara also ignored.
"This is the knob which selects the radiation being detected, you can detect all types if set on "Gen" which means general, she said, turning the dial to select correct radiation. "This is the volume knob, which adjusts the audio indication of the radiation levels, for each type of radiation detected, alpha, beta, Gamma and neutrons, you'll hear a click. This is the visual indication, when the needle…," Barbara continued her explanation.
"Barbara!" Helena interrupted impatiently. "I've watched Japanese monster movies! I know how a Geiger counter works," she blurted testily.
Barbara blinked and looked at Helena curiously. "Is there a particular reason you are being so…disagreeable?"
"I'm horny!" Helena blurted bluntly, surprising Barbara, who then looked at her thoughtfully. "This should not be a revelation to you, Barbara," she added with irritation.
"I wonder if flying stimulates your libido," she reflected with interest.
"If you'd be willing to help with the remedy, I may actually start liking your flying experiments," Helena offered with a smirk.
"Well, I am a dedicated scientist," Barbara offered dryly, leaning back in her chair with an unapologetic smile.
"As far as effects go," Helena said and leaned towards her with the device in hand and kissed her ear before whispering, "You are by far, much more stimulating than flying," she said and stood back up, her eyes augmenting to cat-slits.
"Experiments are definitely in order…to test that hypothesis," Barbara announced, feeling a bit flushed. Seeing Helena's large smile, she amended "After you find the Plutonium."
"If I didn't have incentive before…" Helena moaned, leaving the rest unsaid as she jogged out to the ledge with the detector - on a mission to find the plutonium.
Barbara looked down at the computer console and her eyes widened. Quickly grabbing the mask, she called out "Helena you forgot your…."
Helena was out of sight.
With a sigh, Barbara finished weakly "…mask."
"Uh Oracle?" Nightwing called out after a quiet moment, causing Barbara's eyes to widen.
"You're still there," Barbara said unnecessarily, biting her lip as an uncomfortable flush of embarrassment washed over her.
"Huntress isn't the only one forgetting things. It's not like you, Babs," Dick said; his worry seeping through.
"I'm fine, Dick," she said briskly, annoyed with herself for becoming distracted with Helena. Again.
"How's Helena doing?" he asked, surprising her; he had never asked before.
"Uh…we've done some flight testing to understand her fatigue and she seems to be adapting. Her endurance had dramatically improved after only a day. It's fascinating, really," she relayed.
"And a relief?" Dick ventured.
"Yeah. I . . . I'm starting to actually believe she'll be fine," Barbara admitted.
"Good. You have enough to worry about. Like a nuclear bomb."
/BoP\
Helena flew across town and landed on top of Carl Tucker's apartment building. It was her first stop and most likely where she'd find out something useful. The worn down brick structure wasn't the kind of building where she'd expect the grandson of a billionaire to live. But a psychopath wanting to build a bomb and threaten the city? Yep.
Making her way down the old-fashioned way, down the fire escape, to his darkened window, she waited to see if there was any motion. Concluding he was asleep or not home, she whispered "I'm going in, Oracle."
"Roger, Huntress," Barbara said, and took a breath to complete her thought but reconsidered; telling Helena to be careful was probably not going to be well received by Helena in her current mood.
Helena silently entered through the window. Her eyes quickly augmented, adjusting to the darkness as she began her search for leads. She carefully walked towards Carl Tucker's bedroom, noting the bed unmade and empty. As she looked around the room, she came upon his closet and turned on the Geiger counter. Instead of a soft static sound, a loud crackling suddenly blared through the device's speakers, filling the once quiet room with bone-jarring noise.
"Crap!" she hissed and turned down the volume of the machine with a grimace, jumping back from the closet and away from the source of the noise.
"What happened, Huntress!?" Oracle blurted with concern.
"Looks like ol' Carl keeps getting his hands dirty…or rather clothes," Helena said, waving the probe towards the closet and seeing the needle spike higher the closer it got. "His closet is setting this thing off," Helena said crouching down to inspect the shoeboxes on the floor, tipping the lids up with the probe to peer in. "But there's nothing but clothing in it….OH, gross!"
"Huntress? What is it?"
"There's more than clothing in here," Helena said distastefully.
"What is it? Have you found the detonator?"
"No. Seems Carl was not adverse to self-loving."
"Self….?" Barbara asked, then understood. "Oh! Ah. Hmm."
"Yeah. Hmm."
"Rather inconvenient place to put …accessories."
"Well, we did classify him as criminally insane. So, what do you think about …accessories?" Helena asked with a smirk.
"Focus, Huntress."
"Oh I am focused, but just not on what you want," Helena said sassily. "So Oracle, you game?"
"We'll discuss this later, Huntress," Oracle said with a no nonsense tone.
"Fine," Helena acquiesced with a small sigh.
"If he was actively assembling or helping to assemble a bomb, it would follow that he has contamination on his clothing. Try not to get it on you," Oracle cautioned.
"No problem with that, Oracle. His clothes are not my style."
Oracle brought up schematics of the apartment building. "I don't see a good place in the building to build a bomb."
"Well, that's good, right? Since we just spooked him from his old warehouse and you haven't dug up anything else going on at the industrial park and waterfront. Maybe they are still looking f…" Helena said then paused, hearing someone try to open the locked apartment door.
"Huntress?" Oracle questioned with alarm.
"Got company."
Helena heard a frustrated growl from the hallway, then a loud bang as the door was kicked open. She swiftly retreated into the shadows and sucked in a surprised gasp when she saw who entered.
Frantically searching through drawers was not quite a lizard and not quite a man. But the not-quite-a-man part she still recognized.
As he ransacked the apartment, he desperately hissed "damn you, Carl!"
Helena looked down at her instrument and turned it on. The loud sound of significant clicking startled the part-lizard part-man, who quickly looked towards the sound.
"You have radioactive contamination on you, Dr. Connors," she said calmly, turning off the Geiger counter and returning the room to quiet, except for Dr. Connor's belabored breathing.
"Huntress?" Oracle said anxiously, greatly disturbed by the thought of her college friend being part of this mess.
"You're a smart guy. I'm surprised you let yourself get contaminated too," Helena said, tilting her head curiously as she watched him closely.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like this; I . . . I can't let you live now," he ground out menacingly and stepped towards her.
"Well, you don't really look like you're in top form, Doc," she said, easily vaulting over the couch and landing with familiar grace, which she was inordinately thankful she possessed when she needed it. "In fact you look like shit. Is that why you were so anxious going through Carl's stuff – trying to find something that would help?" Helena guessed.
Connors looked at the formidable woman uneasily, knowing he wasn't in the best frame of mind or physical condition. "It doesn't concern you!" his voice hissed, as he glanced around the room with great agitation.
"It actually does. See, Doc, I'm supposed to stop anyone intent on harming innocent people. And a nuclear bomb will hurt a lot of innocent people."
"He's not going to use it! It's just a bluff!" Daniel Connor spat anxiously.
"Are you so certain that you'll actually risk the lives of hundreds of thousands?" Helena countered relentlessly. "You tried to kill me on that roof before - so let's just cut the crap. Your Hippocratic oath means nothing. You really don't care about the innocent … the children," Helena accused.
"Shut up! That was him! Not me!" he said, trying to lunge for her as his face morphed a bit, his jaw slightly elongating. His arm crashed into a lamp, which flew across the room.
"So you're saying you have no choice but to follow Carl when you're the lizard guy?"
"Yes! No! You know nothing!" He said, turning over the couch, which was batted into the wall with a loud crash.
"How many lives will be lost because you decided to hook up with a greedy bastard who would actually use a nuclear bomb to get …what? Money? When did you stop caring about people, Doc?"
"I just want to be human again!" Daniel cried out desperately, tears forming in his altered eyes.
Helena eyed him with a surprising pang of sympathy. "He helps you keep your human form?" she asked softly as her eyes morphed into cat slits.
He looked into her eyes, startled by the transformation. In curious contemplation, he stayed quiet for so long, Helena began to wonder if he was going to actually talk again.
"You are a Meta being," he said with certainty, almost reverently.
She nodded. "I'm familiar with not feeling quite human. But I am. And I believe you still are Doc. I believe deep down, you know people are in danger from Carl and his bomb."
Daniel sighed in defeat, unable to deny that painful truth. "Carl has helped me keep my human form…until now."
"You're not a meta being, are you?" Helena asked softly.
"No. I lost an arm in battle," he said in resignation, surprising Helena at the apparent non sequitur.
She glanced between both his arms in confusion. "Looks like you found it," she said flippantly.
"Huntress," Oracle scolded her, anxious to hear Daniel's story.
"I didn't find it! I regenerated it!" He hissed with annoyance, looking at the appendage in question.
"Wow," she said, genuinely impressed, prompting the man-creature to take fleeting pride in his debatable accomplishment. "Like…a lizard?" Helena speculated.
"Yessss. Regeneration occurs in many places in nature - salamanders, geckos, starfish…. After my second tour in Iraq, I began working with the Military on a project to aid wounded soldiers. The trials were taking forever and there was so much red tape," he blurted, aggravation clear in his voice. "We could never test anything on live subjects."
"And you decided to cut through the red tape," Helena guessed as her eyes returned to blue.
He nodded. "But not with people," he quickly offered, needing to let her know he had some lines he didn't cross. "I was convinced we had come to a sufficient understanding in utilizing the DNA of regenerating organisms to exploit how differentiation worked and finally apply it to non-regenerating organisms," he said emphatically, wanting her to know he wasn't intending to be reckless. "I thought we could easily demonstrate it on military dogs. I was sure I'd find an injury that we could treat and finally prove we were ready to treat people."
"But when I went back to the front lines, I was wounded when my Humvee ran over an IDE," he said softly, pausing a long moment in the painful memory staring at his left arm.
"The treatment worked, with a side effect," he said, holding his arms out to allow an unneeded inspection by Helena. "I suppose I am relieved I never got the chance to inflict this…condition," he said motioning to his altered appearance, "on a poor animal."
"What causes this side effect," Helena asked insightfully. The question Barbara would have asked if Helena didn't.
"DNA dominance," he noted. "Reptilian DNA was the most successful within the different species for complete replication in the shortest time; it was chosen for the experiment. But it was too s..strong, causing my cell ssstructure to mutate into the ssssstronger personality," he said with increasing difficulty as his lizard side started to dominate.
"How do you keep your human form if the Reptilian DNA is dominant?" Helena asked.
"I developed a serum to suppress the mutation. But it was only temporary. I thought in the States, with better equipment, I could solve my problem. Another mistake," he admitted derisively. "I got access to better equipment but lost my supply of raw materials for the serum; overseas the price was cheap and no one asked questions. Here, I can't afford them…and some of the drugs are illegal."
"So that's where Carl comes in," Helena guessed, getting an annoyed growl and nod.
"Another mistake," he admitted tersely. "I knew he had a cocaine habit and thought he could help me get the drugs I needed for my sssserum. And he did; he actually had quite the business," Daniel said derisively.
"Let me guess, he discovered how important the drugs were to you?" Helena asked softly, feeling sympathy for the life this once prominent and respected doctor got himself trapped in.
"Agggh!" he groaned as he contorted in pain; his skin further morphed, becoming more scaly, his voice raspier.
"Are you o…" Helena asked with concern.
"Don't! Don't pretend to care," he hissed, now in his full lizard form.
Helena frowned.
"You might not believe I care about you - fine. But you know I care about the people Carl Tucker is putting at risk, Doc. I've got to stop him," she pressed with quiet urgency.
"He'ssssss not going to hurt anybody," the Lizard man said, but lacked conviction. "He just wantsss… money…from hissssss Grandfather," he noted, hoping that was true.
"He's already hurt people! Selling drugs, enslaving you to be his muscle. You almost killed me on that roof – for HIM," she blurted, causing him to shift uncomfortably at the truth. "And that truck driver did not survive that accident you caused to get the Plutonium, Doc."
His head dropped in shame as Helena pressed on. "Do you really think he won't hurt others? What if his Grandfather doesn't pay?"
"Oh, he'll pay. He loves those little bastards too much not to," Carl boomed with a confident smile as he carefully walked into his apartment through the broken front door, pointing a pistol at them.
Helena's eyes darted to the window, which she noted was too far away.
"Huntress, I'm sending backup to your position," Oracle said firmly.
"Ah ah, don't move, Helena. I'd hate to have to shoot you," Carl said with a smile.
"I'd hate that too; this is one of my nicest tops," she said cockily, making Carl chuckle and look over her attractive form.
"And it suits you," he said with a grin.
"So let me guess, these "little bastards" are at the Tucker House and that's the target?" Helena asked.
"Very good, Helena. You are pretty shrewd…for a bartender. But you're not just a bartender, are you?" Carl said with a sly smile as he stepped closer to Helena.
"She's dangeroussss," Daniel hissed.
"Oh, I knew that when I first met her. But I like danger," he said. "And I think you like danger too, don't you Helena," he smirked with a gleam in his eyes.
"Not as much as I used to," she honestly said with a shrug, knowing how much she could lose and how much she could hurt Barbara if she did something reckless.
"I have one last task for you, Daniel. And you'll get your drugs," Carl said, stepping back from Helena carefully, not taking his eyes off of her.
"It'll always be one more task, Doc. Just one more, then another, and another," Helena said. "You'll always be his slave, you know that don't you? You can stop him from hurting others," she argued passionately.
"S…Shut up!" Daniel spat as Carl laughed.
"He's a smart guy. He will eventually realize that he can't be normal without me and my connections," he smiled confidently.
"Your slave, you mean," Helena said with annoyance as her eyes started to turn.
"Whoa, now that I didn't expect," Carl said with surprise.
"Helena, what are you doing!" Oracle hissed worriedly.
"But then, I did expect you to be a tiger in bed," Carl said with amusement, taking everything in stride.
"I have connections too, Doc," Helena said, taking her eyes briefly off of the gunman to focus her cat-eyes on Daniel.
"Of course you do. Daniel, be a bud and carry her body into the basement after I shoot her, won't you?" Carl said with a winning smile as he raised his pistol to Helena, who tensed.
"Let us try to help you," Helena urged.
Daniel looked a hesitant moment at the woman who was not just human…and understood more than Carl.
Carl chuckled. "No one can help him like I can," he said, just before the pistol discharged.
/BoP\
"Helena!" Barbara called out, her hands balling up into tight fists.
"Oracle, was that a gunshot?" Canary asked uneasily, flying down the street in the Humvee.
"Yes."
"I'm almost there," Canary announced as she turned onto a shortcut to the Apartment building; the Humvee bounced violently from the pothole-filled alley.
"Huntress! Respond now, or so help me…" Oracle warned with annoyance, her heart pounding with dread.
"Huntress here, Oracle. Situation with Carl Tucker is under control. We're heading to the Tucker house via Huntress Air. The bomb is there and armed," she reported concisely.
"We? Canary is en route . . . " Barbara questioned in confusion.
"I'm with Dr. Connors. He helped assemble the bomb. And he's agreed to help disassemble it," she said, noting the lizard guy's discomfort as he glanced nervously at the ground.
Barbara blinked. "Copy that, Huntress. I'm alerting authorities now of the bomb and recommend they start evacuating the city."
"You know, Red. You still suck at cheerleading," Huntress chuckled, shaking her head.
Barbara bit her lip and winced as the words caught up to her. "Uh, that is a prudent precautionary measure, Huntress," she explained.
"You should also send a unit to Carl Tucker's apartment. He's not able to evacuate on his own," Huntress added.
"Copy that, Huntress," Barbara said uncomfortably. "Uh, you do know I'm confident you'll handle the situation without the need for evacuation. It's just a prudent precaution…" she offered again.
"Roger, Oracle. I agree with precaution. But I do think it would be prudent to further elaborate to me in person just how confident you are in me."
"I do like to be prudent," Barbara said, a small smile emerged briefly before it faded. "Be careful, ok?" she said hesitantly.
"I'm looking forward to your elaboration, so of course," Helena said sassily.
"Of course."
"Would you guys quit already?" Dinah said with exasperation.
"Not a chance" and "Nope" were immediate answers, causing Dinah to growl as her mentors chuckled.
/BoP\
"Miss Barbara, your father is here," Alfred said, appearing by her side.
"What? I'm rather busy at the moment, Alfred. Can you tell him I'd really like a rain check on a visit?" Barbara said with quiet annoyance for the unexpected visit. She pushed her glasses up as she scanned the schematics of the detonation device on one of the large screens of Delphi.
"He said it was extremely important," Alfred countered firmly, looking at her pointedly with a raised brow.
Barbara fought not to roll her eyes as she wondered what was more important than trying to prevent a nuclear weapon from detonating in New Gotham. She nodded briskly with pursed lips, anxious to quickly handle this and get back to work.
Alfred nodded back and retrieved Jim Gordon from the elevator.
"Barbara," he said tensely.
"Hi, Dad. I'm kind of busy right now," Barbara said absently, looking at her various screens as her father joined her side.
"Does it have anything to do with the nuclear bomb?" Jim Gordon asked, also looking at the screens that were full of schematics.
"You heard the police scanners?" Barbara asked as she called up a holographic image of a typical detonator and studied it.
"So it's true," Jim said gravely, also looking at the image.
"I'm afraid so," she said, turning the image around as she inspected it.
"I actually got a call from Edward Tucker. He's at the station now with the ransom note telling him to transfer his fortune to a Swiss bank account by Midnight or New Gotham will become a nuclear wasteland. Who the hell would do that?"
"His grandson," Barbara replied, looking at the Delphi's clock that read eight forty five. A little over three hours was not a lot of time, she considered and took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
"C…Carl?" Jim sputtered. "Dear God. Do we know where he is?" He asked tensely.
"Huntress…well, uh, a patrol unit has picked him up. He's on his way to the station now."
"Huntress, huh?" Jim had to smile.
"Yep."
"Suits her."
"It really does," Barbara said warmly. Jim could see the joy in her eyes when she spoke of Helena, happy his daughter found love.
"Uh, oh yes!" Jim said suddenly, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket and handing it over to his daughter. "This is a copy of the note. Thought you might find it helpful," Jim said uncomfortably, handing over the piece of paper.
Barbara looked at him with surprise. She couldn't help the pleased smile that graced her face. His simple offering was an unmistakable expression of confidence in her ability and an unexpected endorsement in their shared calling of crime fighting. "Thank you, Dad," she said softly, clearly moved, and received an uncomfortable nod from Jim.
"Oracle! We've got another problem," Helena blurted anxiously as she glanced at the timer reading eighty-four minutes…
TBC in Chapter 10
