A touch of Curaré
At night in Gotham Park
As Commissioner Gordon and her husband, D.A Sam Young, were walking through the park, Sam asked his wife. "You warm enough, hon?"
"Sam, I'm never cold, you know that." Gordon answered with humor.
"Hahahaha. My warm blooded wife."
"I heard that the office is plea-bargaining your case. Do you know how hard my men worked to-" Gordon asked before her husband cut her off.
"Ah ah ah, no shop talk after hours. You wanna discuss my shortcomings as a D.A, call my office and make an appointment, Commissioner." Sam said before he and his wife shared a kiss.
But then Sam saw something that made him separate from his wife, concerning her. "What is it?" Gordon asked before they looked and saw a female with blue skin and ninja-like clothes and a sword hiding in the shadows who came out when they saw her.
"Sam, get back!" Barbara told her husband as she got out her gun before the female assassin threw kunai blades that thankfully only pinned her to the nearby tree.
The assassin jumped in for a killing slash of her sword but Gordon quickly broke free and they moved out of the way as the assassin cut right through the tree! Gordon tried shooting at the assassin but she avoided and blocked the bullets with her sword before swiftly disarming the Commissioner.
Batgirl and Nightwing, who were on their nightly patrol, saw this and quickly flew down as Sam tried throwing a garbage can at the assassin but she easily cut through it before Batgirl swap-kicked her away while Nightwing flew to the Commissioner and D.A.
"Get out of here!" The other Dark Knight told them before joining her girlfriend as the other couple did just that while Gordon called for backup.
The assassin kicked Batgirl off of her and kicked away Nightwing before chasing after Gordon and her husband while the new Dark Knights chased after her before going into the trees. When Sam tripped over a tree root, Gordon helped her husband before they were almost attacked by the assassin but Batgirl kicked her away again before Nightwing tried throwing 3 batterings that the assassin easily cut with her sword before the other Dark Knight tried using cable to restrain her... before she easily cut it with her sword.
"You're not the only 1 with a sword, assassin." Batgirl said before getting out her own sword and engaging in a swordfight with the assassin, with the 2 being even when it came to sword skill until the police had arrived.
"This is the police! All 3 of you, put your weapons down and step back." The commander told them. "This is your last warning!" Before they began shooting at the 2 new Dark Knights and the assassin.
The 2 Dark Knights took cover before Gordon told her officers. "Forget Batgirl and Nightwing, stop the other woman!"
But before the police could focus on the assassin, she threw her sword at the police hoverbike, breaking off his back and sending it crashing down, much to the new Dark Knights' concern for the officer on board. While they checked on him, finding that he still had a pulse, the assassin used the opportunity to escape. And when Batgirl and Nightwing followed her, she was gone.
As the other officers secured the area, Sam asked his wife. "You alright, hon?"
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Barbara assured her husband.
Later at the Batcave
Bruce pressed a few buttons on the computer, showing a blurry picture of the blue skinned female assassin that attacked Gorden and Young. Max nodded when she saw the picture. "Yeah. That's her."
"Kinda blurry." Melanie said as this picture wasn't really giving a clear image of the assassin.
"It's the only photo Interpol has. It was taken at the airport assasanation in Berlin." Bruce stated.
"Who is she?" Max asked her and Melanie's mentor/boss.
"Curaré. She's as lethal as her name. A member of the society of assassins. No one knows her original name anymore, or her face."
"What about the sword she used?"
Bruce typed a few buttons and showed the weapon that Curaré used. "A scimitar. Sharpen by lasers to an edge no thicker than a molecule."
Seeing that Curaré was clearly hired to kill Barbara Gorden, Melanie asked. "Seeing that this Curaré wants to kill the commissioner, guess you want me and Max to keep an eye on Gorden?"
Bruce however shook his head as he glanced at Melanie. "No. Barbara Gorden is not the target."
"Her husband is." A voice suddenly called from the entrance of the Batcave.
All looked and saw Barbara Gorden stepping into the cave. Max smirked as she'd long expected the former Batgirl before her to return sooner or later ever since the night she and Melanie defeated Spellbinder.
Bruce raised himself from his chair, greeting his former partner. "Hello, Barbara."
"Long time, Bruce." Barbara answered in the same tone as Bruce.
"How's Sam?"
"Holding up." The commissioner answered while walking over to the place where her old Batgirl costume was hanging. "He's scheduled to testify on Wednesday during the trial of Urgo Davic, the international arms dealer. Without the testimony Davic will walk, so he arranged to kill my husband before his appointment at the court." Barbara then stroked her old suit, saying with a small smile. "I see you've sawed up the bullet holes."
Melanie was then surprised to know who Barbara once was. "You're... you're the Batgirl before Max!" She said as she then glanced with a smile to her girlfriend. "Huh. Guess you were right after all."
Barbara then frowned as she walked over to Bruce's proteges. "WAS Batgirl. I appreciate what you both did tonight, but I want you to stay out of police business." Then she glanced at Bruce with a serious look. "Of course... I might be talking to the wrong ones. Hard to believe you're still remaking your image at this late date."
"I never forced them." Bruce answered as he never forced either Max or Melanie into becoming the new Dark Knights.
"It's what I wanted." Max said while crossing her arms.
Melanie nodded. "And for me to do something good in the world for once."
Barbara formed a small grin. "That's what we all thought," Then she glanced seriously at Bruce again. "In the beginning." Then she stated with a bit of warning. "I've looked the other way so far, but I'm not my father. I don't have to come back here again. Capiche?"
As Gorden was about to walk away, Bruce asked her one more thing with a smirk. "Does this mean you won't be wanting the information I have on Curaré?"
Barbara turned back as Bruce handed her over a disk with the information she could use on Curaré. However, Barbara still had that serious look in her eyes, warning the former Dark Knight, and her former partner one more time. "I mean it Bruce. Stay out of it."
After Barbara Gorden finally left the Batcave, Max and Melanie shared a short glance to Bruce, who was turning his back to his computer. Both girlfriends wondered what was going on between the Dark Knights before them and what made them act this 'cold' towards each other.
Meanwhile
The assassin now known as Curaré walked into a spotlight as her fellow assassins and superiors contacted her on screens. "You were taught to expect the unexpected, Curaré. Batgirl and Nightwing should not have made a difference. Or the police, no matter how many there were." The leader told her before showing her a photo of Sam. "You know the price of failure. I can only hope you haven't lost your edge." Before the screens turned off.
Curaré then walked to the photo and picked it up with her middle and index fingers and with a flick of them, brought it into the air and used her sword to cut it in half, as if to say that she would not fail to kill her target a 2nd time.
Later the next night at Gordon's house
As police were guarding every corner, inside and out, Gordon checked in with security. "Checkpoint 2, what's your status?"
"Everything's good, ma'am. Quiet as a coffin."
"That's reassuring." Sam said sarcastically.
"Don't worry, Sam. I won't let anyone get within 100 yards of you." Gordon assured her husband.
Sam smiled. "I thought the man was supposed to protect the woman?"
"Last century, babe." Gordon answered, smiling back.
"Your car is here, Commissioner." A guard informed her.
"Just do what I told you, and it will all be fine." Gordon told her husband.
Meanwhile outside
As the police were patrolling the area around the house, Curaré was already there, ready to try again to kill Sam.
But she wasn't the only one who was there. Batgirl and Nightwing were on a tree branch, looking for any sign of the assassin. "We're telling you, Bruce, the president should have this much protection." Batgirl said to hers and Melanie's boss/mentor.
"Yeah. But that'd be the Secret Service's job. And they're supposed to be the best of the best by normal security standards." Nightwing added after her girlfriend before seeing that Gordon was leaving the house. "Baby, look."
"Yeah, I see her." Batgirl said before informing Bruce. "Bruce, Gordon's leaving."
"Leaving? She's got to know that Curaré's going to be there."
"Yeah, but still, nobody would be crazy enough to take on all these police." Nightwing said with doubt.
"Don't be so sure, Nightwing. Professional assassins like this Curaré always find ways to get to their target and they won't let anyone stop them even if they decide to go straight through them." Batgirl reminded her partner and lover seeing Curaré take out 3 of the guards.
"Great." Nightwing added sarcastically.
Curaré then ran to the giant statue and cut it with just 1 swipe of her sword, making it fall on the guards that were chasing after her. Batgirl and Nightwing then flew onto the building as Curaréfought off the guards, knocking 2 out with a kick and running before a police vehicle opened and 3 of the guards fired a net that Curaré cut in half with her sword, making it capture more police officers that chased after her before she used knockout gas to deal with the guards that fired the net!
She then jumped on the vehicle and jumped through the window before using the knockout gas to deal with the guards inside the house. Curaré then ran upstairs and got to the door that she thought Sam was in... before getting punched by Nightwing and kicked away by Batgirl, who turned visible and got out her sword.
As Batgirl and Curaré engaged in another sword fight, again being evenly matched in sword skill, the assassin nearly cut Batgirl through the chest and threw kunai blades at Nightwing, nearly slashing her before the other Dark Knight engaged Curaré using her martial arts and Batarangs that Curaré easily countered before both of the new Dark Knights tackled the assassin down onto a table on the bottom floor.
When Batgirl and Nightwing recovered, they saw that they were looking at Curaré's mask and when they looked and saw the assassin's face, they were completely shocked and caught off guard before they were both knocked back, allowing Curaré to put her hood back on. The assassin then ran upstairs before the new Dark Knights chased after her but she threw her sword up, cutting down the big light above them, making Batgirl tackle Nightwing out of the way, allowing Curaré to run back up to the room and cut open the door with her sword before seeing what she thought was her target.
The new Dark Knights got back up and used their jet boost to get to Curaré but she threw her sword, making them chase after it before it could hit Sam before it impaled what was really a fake Sam that fell to the floor. "A fake?" Nightwing asked with confusion before she and Batgirl were trapped in an electric cage!
Batgirl quickly deduced it in her brain and said with a bit of anger. "Gordon!"
Curaré quickly and carefully retrieved her sword and quickly ran out of the room as Barbara and some of her men came inside the house and ran upstairs before seeing the assassin, shooting at her with their guns. But Curaré easily avoided the gunfire and got outside before disappearing into the hedges as more police shot at the bushes before realizing that she was gone.
Gordon heard something and went into the room, seeing an open window and a Batarang that was thrown at the control to the cage, making her realize who was here before she informed her husband that Curaré had gotten away.
Later
While Max and Melanie walked together back to their apartment hand in hand, Melanie shook her head while remembering what happened at Gorden's house. "How could we not have known that it was a trap set by Gorden for Curaré?"
Max shook her head. "I was as surprised as you are, baby. But still, I..." She then stopped as she saw a familiar face before the entrance of the apartment. It was Barbara Gorden and she did not look very happy at the two Dark Knights as she marched up to them.
Max however was not intimidated by her predecessor as she stood where she was. "Hey, It wasn't us who set off the alarm. We did the best we could. But if you'd told us about your little plan, we might have been more careful."
Barbara raised her finger at her. "This is the last warning you and your girlfriend get, Gibson. If I see so much as a pointy eared shadow anywhere near police business, I'll drag the two of you and Bruce to jail, you got me?!"
Max didn't move and asked her instead while looking her in the eye. "Why do you hate Bruce so much, Gordon?"
Barbara sighed. "Ancient history, Gibson."
Melanie crossed her arms as she grinned. "Well, as a matter of fact, history is both mine and Max's favorite subject."
Seeing that she should explain to both the new Batgirl and new Nightwing a few things of why she and Bruce don't see eye to eye anymore, she formed a small smile.
An hour later, at a local Café
While Max, Melanie and Barbara drank some coffee, Max was the first to ask, as she knew more about the former Batgirl than Melanie. "I take you and Dick Grayson dated back in the day, am I right?"
Barbara admitted. "In college. Puppy love. Later on we just never talked about it."
Melanie chuckled. "People should communicate more."
That was when Barbara sighed and told the truth of why Dick Grayson stopped being Robin. "Dick finally got fed up living in Batman's shadow. He decided to leave. He was hurt when I... chose to stay behind with Bruce."
As Max theorized it quickly in her brain, she came to one conclusion. "Wait... you and Bruce were... dating?"
Barbara smiled, admitting that she and Bruce were indeed a couple back in the day.
"Whoa. Didn't see that one coming." Melanie said.
Barbara then told how it was for her when she and Bruce were together. "On the street... It was like ballet. We were the perfect duo, almost just like you and Walker. But for Bruce... Batman, there was nothing but the street. Eventually that gets old." She then nearly sadly admitted as she took her wallet from her purse. "Time comes when you got to hang up the cape. But Bruce... he... just wouldn't, or couldn't. So I left and never looked back." Barbara stood up and said as she got out her card. "Nah, I don't hate him. I hate what he's become. Such a great man, so alone. Coffee is on me."
"Don't bother. Because I already paid for it long before we came here. And I told the waitress just what kind of coffee you like." Max said with a smirk.
"You-how did you-" Barbara asked with surprise.
"Because this is your favorite coffee place, and you order the same thing every time. Plus I've been researching you on the Batcomputer whenever Bruce was sleeping. I wanted to know the people in his life. And when I figured out who you were, you were the 1st person I looked up." Max answered.
This brought Barbara great shock and surprise before she smiled. "You really are like Bruce in many ways, aren't you, Gibson? Having to be 3 moves ahead of everybody." Before she left.
As Barbara left, Max and Melanie exchanged looks. "Batman and Batgirl were REALLY a thing back in the day?" Melanie asked. "I did not see that one coming."
"Me neither, baby." Max said. "But... at least we now know why my predecessor acts this way towards Bruce. "But even though we do know, we can't let her and her stubbornness or her threats stop us from protecting her or her husband."
"And there's the fact that she can't take us in without exposing who we are or who she or Bruce used to be. Think about it. If that hits the web, who knows what'll happen. But regardless, I still wanna do some good for once and I'm not about to let an old woman's threats stop me, even if she was Batgirl in her time." Melanie whispered to her girlfriend.
A bit later
Barbara was informing some of her men that they'd be escorting Sam back into Gotham on the 615 metro train but to keep the operation between themselves. But unfortunately, Curaré, who had spied on them with a bug, heard everything before she began to plan her next assault and kill the D.A.
Later in the Batcave
Bruce, Max and Melanie were looking at the blueprints for the train rail that the Metro was going to be on. "The 615 Metro takes the most direct route and makes the fewest stops. I'm betting Sam will be on that one. There are several points where you both can jump aboard."
"Though there's still the matter of Gordon threatening to drag us to jail if we go anywhere near them again." Melanie said with a bit of concern.
"I know you're worried, Melanie, but Gordon's life and her husband's are in danger as long as Curaré is out there. She can threaten, treat us like outlaws or hate us and Bruce all she wants to, but I'm not about to sit around doing nothing when someone's life is at risk." Max said as she embraced her girlfriend and lover.
"I know, Max, but what are you trying to prove, Bruce?" Melanie asked her mentor.
"Nothing, Melanie, I'm just trying to protect her. It's what I do. From Curaré... and herself." Bruce answered his other assistant and protege softly. "And if I had to, I'd do the same for either of you."
"I know, Bruce." Max said with a smile.
"But in case you still have doubts, you both should know this: when a member of the Society of Assassins fails to kill his target, he becomes the target." Bruce revealed, have studied the Society of Assassins.
"They kill their own?" Melanie asked with surprise.
"Except they've never had to. Not 1 of them has ever failed. And Curaré is the best of them." Bruce added.
Later
As the Metro train was speeding to its destination, with guards on the roof that were using magnetic boots to stay on the train, Sam was still concerned until his wife assured him. "In half an hour, it'll all be over."
"Do I look worried?" Sam asked.
But as the train continued on, Curaré, who was waiting for it, jumped from a rooftop and slid to another train before using a cable to get to 615 Metro. The guards tried to defend the train but the assassin easily defeated them all while moving to the front of the train and using her sword to stab the main power generator, cutting off the car with Gordon and her husband in it in the process before it crashed into a cold meat building!
Gordon and her husband ran into a freezing room and locked the door before the police Commissioner prepared her gun.
"We're in trouble, aren't we, babe?" Sam asked his wife.
"We've got 10 inches of steel to hold her off." Gordon answered confidently before trying to call for backup. "Officer in need of assistance, anyone respond." But only got static. "So much for help."
Suddenly, Curaré sliced right through the door, making the police Commissioner and the D.A run before the assassin came into the locker, following the trail of bloody footprints to find her target trying to escape through the other locked door. Gordon tried shooting at the assassin but she easily deflected the bullets with her sword and went in for a killing slash, making the couple afraid... before Batgirl and Nightwing kicked her away from them and got to an upper level!
Curaré then threw her kunai blades at the new Dark Knights, making them run to avoid the blades as 1 of them hit a control button that turned on all the machines in the meat locker.
While Batgirl and Curaré engaged in another sword fight, Nightwing flew down to the couple. "I thought I told you both to stay out of this?!"
"Save it, you stubborn old bastard! You can hate us all you want, but we're not going to just sit around and do nothing while lives are in danger. So I suggest you shut your damn mouth if you really love your husband and really care about his wellbeing!" Nightwing said, telling off the stubborn old Commissioner.
Batgirl and Curaré traded many slashes with their swords, dodging and blocking until they got into a sword lock before the new Dark Knight found an opening and kneed the assassin in the right rib cage, making her stubble back before Batgirl kicked her in the face! Curaré then used her sword to blind the new Dark Knight to try to slash her but Nightwing threw 3 Batarangs at the assassin that she deflected, allowing Batgirl to recover and kicked Curaré in the back before disarming her of her sword, sending it into the large meat slicer before both of the new Dark Knights used restraining cables to tie up the assassin, finally capturing her.
After laying Curaré down at Gordon's feet, Batgirl spoke to her predecessor. "Just so you know, Gordon: all this could have been avoided if you'd trusted us."
"And just so you know: this doesn't change anything. I'm not my father so don't expect me to work with you both. I'll thank you this 1 time but if I so much as see either of you near police business, the masks come off and I'll drag you both to jail." Barbara said with a glare.
"You may not like us, Gordon, but we don't give a damn what you think of us. We will protect this city, with or without your approval. So just get over it." Nightwing said with a glare of her own, along with her lover before Barbara looked at her husband for a second before seeing that the 2 new Dark Knights were gone.
"Hugh, brings back memories." Barbara said with sarcasm.
Later on the next night
"I hear that Sam's testimony is sure to convict Davic. Barbara must be pleased with that." Bruce said from over the phone as Max and Melanie had just gotten out of the shower and were walking to their bed in the nude to watch a movie after the news and get some rest after that.
"Maybe. But she obviously wasn't pleased with us being there again, even though we saved her life twice." Melanie said with a bit of amusement.
"But we really don't need her thanks or her approval, Bruce. We'll protect the city with or without her help. After all, it's what we do, isn't it?" Max asked with a smirk, knowing it's what her mentor would do.
"You're both becoming more like me every night, Max. Just remember that I don't want you to give up on the people you care about, either of you." Bruce said with care for both Max and Melanie.
"We never will, Bruce. Thanks." Max said before hearing a news report that Curaré had escaped police custody. "Did you hear that?"
"Don't worry about it. Curaré won't be going after Sam anymore. She has other concerns now." Bruce assured his proteges while referring to Curaré having to be on the run from her own people now if she wanted to live. Which wouldn't be easy, even for the blue-skinned assassin.
There you go, my dear friends, the touch of Curaré is complete. I know it's a bit different compared to the actual episode but I wanted to have Barbara and the new Dark Knights be at odds before they slowly begin to trust each other, just as Batman and James Gordon did in their time. Also to add a big more of a rivalry between Gordon and Max, in and out of costume.
Anyway, next is the chapter where Powers/Blight finally gets what he's long deserved and Max finally gets justice for her family and Terry's father. Rate and review and I'll see you next time, my dear friends.