As History Repeats
Chapter 9
Batgirl stood on the roof of the financial building, waiting for an update from Gabby, but the line had gone quiet for quite some time. She figured this meant that she was trying to find some way to help Huntress over at the prison, or an escape route for her. Still, she did worry a little, as normally, Gabby would anounce wha she was doing before she went silent for any reason. Batgirl wondered briefly abolut Huntress, since there wasn't any way for either Batgirl or Oracle to conrtact the feline woman in an emergency. The best course of action would be for Batgirl to get through this quickly and then make her way to the prison break-out.
It was just after she had made that mental decision that Batgirl had seen movement down below on the sidewalk as a few men seemed to be sneaking into the building. She grabbed her bat-noculars and sure enough, there they were, attempting to leave the building without being seen. "Gotcha," Batgirl muttered, replacing the bat-noculars with her cables as she scaled the building quickly and touched the ground just behind the group in a matter of seconds. "Hello Boys," the redhead superhero said casually, "nice night innit?"
"Well, if I'd known how smokin' Batgirl was, I would have become a criminal a long time ago," Said the largest guy, who stood almost hunched forward with long wavey black hair and dark brown eyes.
Batgirl tilted her head and said, "If I'd known how- eh, handsom," (Batgirl rolled her eyes in her mind), "you were you were, I would still have to do this-" Barbara brought her hand back with her fist curled, and caught the man in the side of the face, forcing him to spin, and then fall to the floor. Two of the other four men began to pick him up while the other two still upright seemed to hunch a little in a defencive position. Batgirl was glad to see this. She was kind of itching for a fight.
[Batgirl, this is Oracle.]
Batgirl frowned as she dodged the man who rushed her, sending him to the ground. "Oracle, where is she?" Barbara asked, afraid of saying Gabby's name over the comm. She hadn't expected to hear the gentle male voice in her ear, since she was so used to expecting word from the teen.
[I had to send her to the credit union.] Before Barbara could say something, Alfred continued, [There was no one else.]
"Why, what is going on at the credit union?"
[At the moment, nothing-] Alfred suddenly stopped talking. [hold on. Gabby's heart rate has increased. She was a little nervous earlier-]
"It couldn't possibly have something to do with the fact that you sent her out there alone without much if any training. No!" Batgirl said sarcastically as she grabbed the arm of one of the men and twisted it back while shoving him against the wall of the financial building. The man slid along the wall down to the ground before he climbed the wall to stand again.
"Let's bolt, guys," the largest man said. Batgirl grabbed at the man closest to her, the one who still seemed a bit wobbly on his feet, but he was able to shake her off and follow the others into the darkness.
"Damn it!" Batgirl muttered angrily. "Oracle," the redhead said slowly in a tone that said that she didn't like who the title went to at the moment, "give me an update on her."
[I only had her run an errend. If everything is happening elsewhere, she will be in no danger.]
"I don't get it. If you needed an errand girl, you could have waited until I got back, since I have the access codes to most of the buildings in Wayne Enterprises."
[It needed to be done now before someone tried again.]
"That still doesn't make any sense. Gabby isn't ready."
[As I've been told, however, I don't think that is true.]
Barbara threw her rope tool upwards and let it catch to the fire escape 5 stories up. Then she allowed for it to pull her upwards all the while swinging lightly and catching on to the railing. "It isn't up to you to decide," Batgirl said as soon as she shot the cable again to the next building over as she made her way to the police station. "In the long run, Gabby isn't a fighter. I have a feeling that you wanted that thing- whatever it is, before someone goes after it again, and the fact that you sent Gabby instead of waiting for me to get home, it means that is is something worth going after again-" Batgirl grunted as she got to the rooftop finally and began running. She was no Huntress, but she worked well with what she had. "possibly even tonight. Which makes me wonder why the HELL you sent Gabby out there to get it."
[I understand your concern, but I have been with her this whole time.]
"How long has she been out there now?"
[I would say a half hour now.] Alfred answered. [And I have to get back to her, as I promise to remain constant.
"Yes, do that. I will be at the prison with Huntress and try to stay within visual range."
[Good. Switching channels. Standby.]
"Batgirl standing by," Batgirl echoed. She made her way across New Gotham, her mind on her protoge'. She hoped that Gabby was alright out there, and she told herself she was going to have to hurry to the credit union to watch over her to make sure her mission goes as well as it could go. After all, part of having someone on your side is to also watch eachother's back. And by now, Barbara did think of Gabby as her partner, since the teen had been able to keep her safe for a couple of months now. The least she could do was return the favor.
"Babybat," Huntress said happily once the redhead landed beside the feline woman, "I was starting to think that I was being stood up."
"Like you'd allow that," Barbara retorted as she extracted her cables from the wall and let it wind itself back before she put it on her utility belt.
"Not a chance."
Barbara nodded to this, and she would have continued their line of banter, but she needed to get in and out so that she could go help Gabby. "Love to stay and chat, but I need to leave ASAP. Sort of an emergency, so... What'd I miss?"
"Honestly? Not a whole lot." The feral woman made a haldhearted wave towards the group of police men down below. "If you ask me, I think you got some false leads."
"What?" Barbara asked, looking over to the brunette.
"Face it, you went to the financial building, right? Well, you're back quick, aren't you? And now, all I see here are a bunch of blues standing around. Where is the break out?"
"You're right. This is really strange. The guys at the financial building were quick to run away, as if they hadn't actually planned to be there, and now there doesn't seem to be anthing going on."
"I'll go down and talk to the detective. I've seen him around before. I think he's clean. I'll see what's going on. I'll be right back."
"Here. Take this," Batgirl said, taking off one of her comm rings. She knew that with it, she could hear what the 'clean detective' said as well.
"Okay. I'll be right back."
"I can't give you more than five minutes, so find things out. I have to go to my partner."
"Your... partner," the brunette asked.
"The nervous tick? SOMEONE..." Barbara sighed. "Never mind."
"Alright, I'll hurry. Hey, maybe after this we could...?"
"We'll see," Batgirl said after a slight moment of consideration.
the Huntress smiled. "Okay." With that the feral woman was gone, and Batgirl looked over the edge just in time to see her land behind the detective. The man was tall, and looked African American, and wore a grey shirt and dark pants. In a time before meeting the night hunter, Barbara might have thought him attractive, not that she would admit out loud that she'd ruled out dating men (or anyone, really) since meeting the Huntress.
[Hey,] the Huntress said to the detective.
[Wha- Shi... You scared me. Who... ARE you?] he asked after spinning on his heel. Batgirl smirked at this, imagining the look on his face. She suspected it was the same as the look she often had the first couple of times she had encountered the Huntress, especially when he figured out that the slitted pupils were not contacts. The redhead watched as the detective took a small step away from the feral woman.
[Show me yours I'll show you mine,] the Huntress replied silkily. Barbara saw the movement and assumed when he held his arm out that he was showing the brunette his badge.
[Alright, Detective... Reece. You can call me Huntress.]
There was a sarcastic sort of chuckle from the man, and Batgirl heard, [That's it?]
[Sorry. In a world where I could be sliced and diced like a lab cat, I've gotta be careful. So... What's going on here? What happened?] Huntress asked to take the topic away from herself.
[Why should I tell you?]
[Don't be like that, Detective.] Batgirl could hear the flirtatious tone and rolled her eyes. It was so much like the tone she took with the redhead, and it made her wonder if that was just the way that the Huntress operated. If she charmed her way into getting what she wantecd from people. She shook her head of the though and continued to listen in. [Just because I can't tell you my name doesn't mean we can't still share and relate.]
[Uh-huh. Well, it looks like I am the only one doin' any sharing or relating.]
[Alright. I will tell you what I know, and you can just fill in the rest, then.]
[Maybe,] the dark man replied
[I'll take that as a compromise. See, sharing... relating... It'll be awesome. Now, what I know,] the Huntress said, stressing the word 'I', [is that there was an alarm triggered both here and at the financial building, and yet when we got there-]
[Wait. We?]
[Ah ah ah,] the brunette said. [Anyway, it all seems too easy. And now there are talks of a break out, but I don't see anyone bustin' out. So... What's the deal?]
[To be honest with you, I don't know.]
[Really?] Huntress said, her tone having not changed.
Barbara's teeth clenched, and she touched her ear peice as she said, "Batgirl to Oracle."
[Oracle here,] came the reply a few seconds later.
"I am on the roof of the prison. Please send the Batbike around the corner to 56th avenue. I'm going to Gabby." Even as she spoke, she used her cables to scale the side of the building quickly so as to not be seen by anyone. She had no way of noticing the light eyes watching her before conneting again with dark brown.
[Well Detective, it was nice. Relating... all that. I have to go.]
[Now?]
[Yes, now. I'm sure we'll meet again.]
[I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad to hear that.]
Batgirl hurried away from the cops and the scene, stopping only when she heard the familiar and almost comforting sounds of her beloved bike coming towards her. She immediately hopped on, took off her glove and pressed her hand on the small black part of the bike was right under the gages. There was a light as a lazer scanned her hand and finger prints, and the bike's rumbling shifted under her as it went from autopilot to manual. "Hold on Gabby. I'm coming."
