Oh man, you guys, it's been forever! I'm really sorry about that. Like I said, no computers at summer camp, so I got as much up as I could before I had to go slave away for the cutest little seven year olds ever, and then I went off to University. That's right guys, I'm not even in the same city any more- heck, I'm not even in the same district, or county thingie. Whatever you want to say. I'm all alooooooooone in the middle of nowhere! And yeah, the work's crazy! Keeps me on my toes and away from you guys. But I'm back! For now…
DrakesChick: Guess what? You're my only reviewer for this chapter! Don't you feel special? So I hope you like this phase of the try outs as much as the others, and I'm glad you liked Barbara's reaction. Somehow I just play her and Dick off each other really easy- it feels like they've been friends forever instead of mutual acquaintances for a few months…
Disclaimer: Um… All rights reserved, yadda yadda yadda, don't own anything except the plot… NBC has coverage of the Olympics… I can't think of anything else. But don't sue me!
"Aren't you nervous?" Dick asked, watching me warily. I bounced up and down a little, stretching.
"No, not really." I shrugged, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Before lunch, the last time I got to see you, you were practically hyperventilating. Now you're just fine?"
I laughed. Poor confused little boy.
"Grayson, look. My next competition is the vault, alright? Easy peasy. I was hoping vault would go before floor."
"Why? What's the difference?"
I took a swig from my water bottle as I mulled it over. "Ok, well my score is currently pretty good. Not great, but definitely some serious competition."
"But you and Leslie seemed so worried about it-" I stopped him there. Poor kid just didn't get it.
"Look, I don't want to have to go through all four stages of the try out. That's what we were concerned about. We were hoping I could get my score up high enough that I qualify for automatic admission on the team, without having to do floor. You know how screwed up my shoulder is right now, and how much trouble I've been having getting out some of those moves."
That he did. I knew for a fact that Grayson had snuck in on me a few times during practice, and had the privilege of seeing me fall, again and again, because I couldn't support my weight on my bum shoulder.
"So you're really not concerned at all?" He asked and I bit my lip.
"Ok, dropping the façade? I'm terrified. This is it, Grayson. This is my shot at being what dad has pushed me to be my whole life. If I don't bust out a solid 16 out there this time, there's no guarantee that I'll make it on the team, and then what? All those years I spent not seeing my dad? Are they just thrown away? I think I'd give up my spot on the team any day just to get those years with him back. But I can't. So this is my shot to make those years matter. To make this happen. For him. And I'm so scared that I'll screw it up, that my shoulder will give out, that I'll fall on my face, and it'll be all for nothing. Nothing."
"It won't be for nothing, Barb." Bruce declared, as he walked into the training room, Alfred following. "Your father was very proud of the woman you've become. He didn't spend his life shaping you into an Olympic gymnast; he spent it shaping you into the moral, upright girl that you are. No matter what happens out there, he'd be proud you gave it your all. And so am I."
And so, of course, like the baby that I am, I burst out bawling on his shoulder. He patted the top of my head awkwardly as Lez let out a squeal.
"Babsey? Barbara, babe, you're going to ruin your makeup! Come'ere…" She pulled me back from Bruce, and I waved my hand at my face, blinking rapidly and trying to stave off tears. Leslie and I together had worked two hours that morning on getting the glitter around my eyes just right, and I couldn't go ruining it now! As a gymnast, I often ended up with some crazy facial makeup- worse sometimes than theatre makeup- and the hardest part was keeping it on all day.
"I'm going to go check your lineup, and see if they've put out any fresh chalk recently. Barb, re-apply your lipstick, and then get ready. You can do this, babe, I know you can. A solid 16, that's all you need."
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, and hugged Leslie tight.
"Thank you Lez. For everything. I know I was a bit of a brat when I was younger, but I really appreciate all the hard work you've put into getting me to where I am today. I couldn't do this without you."
"Oh shut up!" Leslie cried with a laugh, shoving me away. "Now you're going to make me cry! Just get out there and rock their world."
"Yes ma'am!" I laughed, as I turned to the mirror to fix up my makeup. Leslie had me wear a leotard with gold and orange hues in order to bring out my hair better, and so most of my facial makeup followed the same scheme. I fixed up the gold glitter around my eyes, and lightly dusted powder on to hold it through the sweat. "You guys are gonna want to get out of here soon, or else they'll come in and kick you out. Go take your seats."
"Good luck Miss Barbara." Alfred declared sincerely, and I pulled him too me. For a stiff formal butler, Alfred sure was a good hugger.
"Thanks Al." I grinned, trying not to show my nerves
"You've got this, Gordon." Dick added, holding up his hand for our secret handshake. It was fairly childish, but somewhere along the lines we'd picked up this crazy complicated secret handshake that we used at every opportunity, just to show off how totally cool we were.
"For sure." I replied with a grin, and turned to Bruce. He held his hand out for a handshake, and I rolled my eyes. "As if, Bruce." I declared, and pulled him into a hug. "Now scat, before I get in trouble!"
"Go kick butt Babs!" Dick called as they ran out the door.
I wasn't super worried about the vault. I was great at it, since I practiced my vaults all the time out on the streets as Batgirl.
God, I missed being Batgirl. Maybe I'd have to take it back up after the Olympics. I was still a little shaky on that. I had my good days, and I had my bad days, but Batman had to be understanding, right? He'd let me off on those days that I just wanted to scream and lose control, when I couldn't concentrate on keeping myself together, much less taking down Gotham's lowlifes.
I wonder if Batman and Robin think I'm dead.
No time to worry about that, Babs. You've got a try out to compete in.
I bounced on my toes, pushing myself into a quick front flip.
And I fell.
Oh, God.
How was I supposed to do this if I couldn't even do a front flip without falling? I pressed my cold water bottle against my aching shoulder, gritting my teeth through the pain. My free hand flopped around as I searched for my phone, shooting off a quick text to Dick.
I can't do this.
Barbara, you'll do great. We all believe in you. Was his immediate reply.
I fell.
#$!&, are you alright?
Idk. We'll find out.
A person wearing a headset poked their head into the training room.
"Barbara Gordon, you're up. Hey! Hey, are you ok?" He rushed to my side and helped me stand up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just fell."
"You need to get that looked at. I know you came in here with a history of injury, Barbara. I'm afraid I can't let you compete." He was about to speak into his headset when I grabbed his arm.
"No, please. I'm fine, I promise. You can't pull me from the try outs, it means everything to me. Please, I'm doing this for my dad. You've got to give me a chance. Can't you just pretend you came in a minute later?" I begged, tears welling up in my eyes. I didn't come this far just to be kicked out before my (hopefully) last try out.
He looked at me hesitantly, and the lowered his headset.
"For your dad." He whispered. "I'll tell you what. I'll hold off the judges as long as I can. Get to the medical wing and get treated."
"Thank you. Thank you so much. I swear, I'm ok, I just need a brace. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you!" I cried, throwing my phone with the rest of my things that I couldn't take into the gym. He eyed me warily.
"You don't look that bad. You swear you just fell? Nothing major?"
"Nothing major. Promise." I nodded, scurrying off to the medical bay before he could stop me. "Thank you so much!"
Not even five minutes later I was seated in the medical bay with a black brace wrapped around my shoulder and upper chest, tucking under my leotard.
"Are you sure you're ok?" The EMT on duty asked me for the fourth time that minute.
"Positive." I replied, rolling my shoulder. It was true- after the initial shock of falling I was right as rain. It was only that staff that blew it out of proportion. But I couldn't fault them for looking out for me.
"Alright, well I haven't found any lasting damage from your fall, so I'm clearing you to perform. Good luck Barbara."
"Thanks." I replied, hopping up from the chair and heading out the door.
Showtime.
I entered the gym to be hit by a wall of sound. You never really get used to how echo-y it gets in the gym. It becomes like a second home, but it still shocks you every time. I immediately sought out the Waynes, and found them all waving concernedly at me. I flashed them a thumbs up and headed out to the edge of the mat.
"How are you holding up ,babe?" Leslie asked, rushing me. I grinned at her and handed her my water bottle.
"Fine. It was no big. The staff just got a little over-excited and I got a little over emotional, that's all. The worst that could happen is that I bruise."
"The boy told me about your text. You scared all of us Barb." Leslie declared, unzipping my windbreaker and pulling it off me.
"I'm sorry. I was scared for a minute. But I'm fine now." I replied, pulling off my warm-up pants, exposing my leotard.
"You bet you are." Leslie shot back with a quick hug. "Rock it, Babs."
An announcement came over the P.A. system about how Barbara Gordon had irritated an old injury, but was now cleared for try-outs, and they would proceed momentarily. I moved out to the mat and chalked the bottom of my feet.
The thing about the vault is that is only takes a few seconds. There's a huge lead up to it, and then BAM! It's over in seconds. Kind of anticlimactic.
I took a deep breath, and waited for my signal…
Go.
I took off at a sprint, hitting over into a double round-off, landing on the vault table with a back-handspring, pushing off from my shoulders into a pike position, pulling my arms across my chest to start my twist. Thankfully I managed to get enough height to squeeze in one… two… three rotations, before 'kicking out' by letting my arms free straight to my side, landing flat on my feet, keeping my chest high. and thrusting my hands into the air. I bounced once, but not badly, and kept my footing as I lowered my arms, turned to the judges, and posed again.
Leslie met me as I left the mat, smothering me in hugs and draping my jacket back over my shoulder as I made my way over to the holding area.
"You did great!" She declared, her hands fluttering all around me, like she didn't know what to do with herself.
"Thanks, Lez. I'm ok. I'm ok."
"Better then ok- you were amazing!" Leslie cried. "I haven't seen you get that kind of height since before your injury!"
"When are they going to let the Wayne's down here?" I asked, worried. I'd come to depend on them a lot more than I had expected, and was anxious about receiving my score before they got down to my side.
"Soon. But you know that they aren't allowed on the floor in the actual Olympics. You're going to have to do it without them for the actual event."
"If I make it. I'll have you though, right? If I make it?"
"I'll be by your side the whole time."
"We're back in two minutes." Someone called, and I grinned.
"Live across the world." I declared, sighing in relief as I spotted Bruce, Al, and Dick, making their way towards us. They looked just about as shocked as I felt. This was it.
Dick's heart sped up as he read the two words in front of him.
I fell.
Was she ok? What did she do? He sighed in relief as he got her text saying she was ok. But was she really? He knew Barbara tried to pretend she was tougher than steel, and that this was her dream. She'd say that she was ok if you cut off both of her arms, and then she'd still go on to do that vault. So when she walked out and flashed them a thumbs up, when the announcer let the audience know she'd been cleared to go on, the three Waynes let out a collective breath. She was really ok.
She was more than ok. Dick winced as she put her full weight on her shoulder, but she powered through it sending herself forward without a stumble.
His jaw dropped as he turned to Bruce. They both noticed out of the corner of their eyes that the judges face matched theirs, but for completely different reasons.
"That was a near perfect vault." The judge had whispered to his partner
"That was the same move that Batgirl used to take down the Riddler a year ago." Dick whispered to Bruce.
"And come to think of it, haven't we seen Batgirl use a lot of Barbara's moves before?" Bruce added. Dick thought back to all the practices he'd sat in on, all of her flight series' and vaults, her lunges and bar routines. Hadn't Batgirl flipped around streetlights the same way Barbara flipped around the uneven bars?
"Bruce, I bet Batgirl is a gymnast just like Barbara! We'd better ask her who all she trained with growing up. I bet they were trained under the same schedule for their moves to be so similar!"
I squeezed Leslie's hand hard, but I doubt she even noticed, judging by how hard she was squeezing mine. I kept one eye on the scoreboard, and the other on the Wayne's, waiting just outside the holding area. The announcer were jabbering on about something, presumably my performance, but I wasn't really listening. Letting go of Leslie's hand, I clasped both hands together and paced at the edge of the gym, waiting, just waiting for my scores to be posted.
I got a 16.2. The best I could get with my vault was a 16.4. And I got a 16.2.
Oh. My. Batman.
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Leslie, letting her wrap her arms around me. I could feel the Waynes' eyes boring into my back, begging me to explain it to them, but the roar going up around the gymnasium was all the explanation they needed.
I let out a scream and high-fived Grayson, who immediately broke into our secret handshake.
"Boo-ya!" He hollered, and I echoed him with a grin, pulling Alfred and Bruce into a three way hug, dancing around in a circle. I then stopped, kissed the fingers on my right hand, and raised them up to the ceiling.
"For you, Dad." I called.
"Aaaaand… that's a 16.2! A 16.2! Barbara Gordon is officially the first girl to place on the women's Olympic team!"