ElseWorlds™: Saving James

Chapter 6

By: Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Refer to chapter 1 for the disclaimer for this entire story.

"Push!"

"Go to hell you mother fucker!"

Dick Grayson stepped back from Barbara and she smiled behind the veil of sweat and tears that covered her face. "Sorry, just a little suppressed rage." She pushed again, working with the rhythm to get her baby out into a world that didn't seem very inviting.

The doctor, seated between Barbara's legs and at the end of the hospital bed, gave a small laugh. "Is he a former boyfriend?'

"Ahhh! Yes!" The former Batgirl gripped the handrails and put on her war face. So horrid it was to behold that Dick found himself looking away. Instead, he peered down to where the baby was supposed to be coming out.

"Why does it hurt so bad!" she roared.

"This is normal, Barbara," the doctor called out, not bothering to look up. She nodded to a nurse and Dick briefly wondered if they were simply saying these things to keep Barbara calm. Bloody nail scratches in his arm told him they were not doing a very good job.

He expected the worse. This was, after all, the child of the Joker, a man who had bathed in a chemical bath that should have killed him. He had read the reports of the Joker's genetic structure. His DNA was flawed; his brain chemistry couldn't be specified. He was a walking genetic garbage dump.

Even before he had become the Joker, Jack Napier had been a nobody. A failed comedian and even worse crook. He had even been married once. Dick had learned all of this from a copy of the Joker's latest psychological examinations. Much to everyone's surprise, especially Jim Gordon, the Joker seemed to be responding to his treatment.

Over the past eight months, every inmate at the Arkham Asylum had broken out at least once. All of them except the Joker. Dick was sure it was part of some complicated scheme, but he hadn't been able to focus much upon it.

The baby was early by at least a month and he knew it would not bode well. "Easy, Babs," he said in his best soothing voice. It was strange that he of all people would be here this day. For most women, this was the day they waited for most of their lives. How terrible Barbara must have felt when she looked in the room and saw only doctors and nurses and a former boyfriend.

Barbara felt the pain and tried to force her mind to go somewhere else. She succeeded in concentrating on other things besides the pain and worry and allowed her body to do the rest. Somewhere deep in her DNA, some higher intelligence had put in a program that let her know what to do now instinctively. It was simply annoying listening to people tell her what to do when she was already doing it!

She cast a glance at Dick and again wondered why he was even here. Did he care about her more than what she thought? Jason had thought so and even Lois had made mention of it. Could their old feelings be coming to the surface in the wake of the pregnancy?

Being pregnant gave you a different perspective on life. Aside from retaining water, peeing all of the time and wondering which part of your body was going to ache next, you started to become philosophical. Barbara had turned to the Bible, had put her faith in God when it seemed everything else had failed; was this her reward for her faith?

He squeezed her hand and something electric seemed to pass between them. Why was he here? The question was driving her mad but was also giving her a center to focus on during the current situation. Where was Kory at?

She couldn't even begin to guess. Maybe Tammarans didn't have children like humans and the entire idea was disgusting to her.

She grunted and let loose a roar. Why the hell did she care if Kory was there or not?

"You're doing great, Barbara," the doctor called out from between her legs. She resisted making a smart comment and tried concentrating on something else.

She wished her father was here, wished with all of her heart that the rift between them could be mended by this blessed event. It wasn't going to happen and she was starting to wonder if she and her father would ever speak again.

He was spiraling down; his Oracle Group was nothing more than hyper-powered thugs and vigilantes and it was only a matter of time before they killed. Why was the thought of her having a baby driving him to such lengths?

Why was it changing everything?

"A baby does change everything, dear," Lois had told her only a few weeks before. "People realize that something new is coming into the world, something never seen before. It frightens some people and turns other people into jelly. A baby signifies a continuation of something, never the end."

Barbara had supposed that might have been the problem. If the Joker's bullet had paralyzed her, then it would all be over. Now it would never be.

"I see a head!" Dick cried out and he squeezed her hand so hard that she yelled out in pain. He didn't seem to be in shock and she saw a look of true surprise and happiness to his face. She prayed to God, hoping against hope the child didn't have green hair.

After several more minutes of instruction and cursing, Barbara felt the child leave her and she held her breath. There was the smack and the cry. Her ears strained for fear that the child would burst out into hyena-like laughter.

The cry was normal. Tear of joy started to rain down her face. "It's a boy!" Dick cried out.

The doctor handed the baby over to a waiting nurse and Barbara tried to see her son. Did it have the horns and wings of the Devil as her father had stated he would? It was no good as the nurse whisked the baby over to a table for cleaning. The doctor reassured Barbara. "He looks as healthy as a horse, especially for being a few weeks premature."

Dick nodded to her and she put her head back. "We have to get the placenta now," the doctor said. Barbara tried to force it out, but it wouldn't come. The doctor began working around down there and Barbara started feeling cold again.

"Mr. Grayson, get out!" the doctor ordered.

Two nurses moved in to help the doctor while another one pulled at Dick. He didn't want to go and he protested. Barbara began to turn pale, paler than she had been and it was then that he noticed the blood.

The doctor's eyes told him everything he needed to know and Dick had to fight to maintain control. He did not want to leave but he knew he had to. A part of him was dying as he felt he was abandoning his friend. His former partner. His previous lover.

The woman he had fallen in love with all over again.

"Oracle Group," the receptionist announced as she answered the incoming line. A voice on the other end coughed.

"Is Mr. Gordon in?"

The receptionist pulled out the pad with the call slips and clicked her ink pen. "Mr. Gordon is in conference with his senior staff, may I take a message."

The voice was direct. "I need to speak to him immediately. It concerns his daughter."

"I'm sorry, but as I said…"

"Miss, if you don't put him on the phone and he finds out what I have to say later, I assure you that you will be looking for new employment very shortly." He coughed again. "Now get Gordon on the damn phone."

The receptionist nervously put the man on hold and got up from the front desk. She hurried by the cubicles of young detectives that handled the simple tasks of the Oracle Group and made her way to a door marked "Private".

She had barely knocked before opening the door. Inside, Jim Gordon sat at the head of the table that was filled with a variety of colorful costumed characters. Next to Jim was the Huntress, the woman who looked upon the older man with complete awe. The rumors surrounding the two of them went from a father-daughter type relationship to one where he spanked her until she cried out "Daddy". There were others as well, including the brooding Obsidian, a man who made her shiver whenever she looked at him.

Catwoman sat farthest away, filing her nails and looking unhappy as usual. She was only part of the group to keep from going to jail. Next to her sat the mercenary Deathstroke. The mercenary had recently run afoul of the Oracle members and the meeting was about establishing better relations.

Jim looked up. "Yes?"

"Sir, there is a phone call for you. The man on the other end says it's about…" She glanced at the Huntress and then back to Jim. "Your daughter, sir."

A palatable silence came down over the room. Of all of them, only Deathstroke seemed unaffected, but then he wasn't concerned with local family politics. Jim considered not going to the phone, but he knew he could not be bitter. Helena had been telling him that maybe it would be best if he tried to accept the situation.

He stood up and both he and the receptionist exited the room. Huntress made to get up and Catwoman made a snide remark. By the time the Huntress was able to get out a response, Jim was down the hall and entering his office. A red light was blinking on his phone.

He paused before answering. Who could it be? Jason had called a few weeks back and had seemed truly apologetic that Jim and Barbara were not talking. There was not much to say; Jim had never liked him very much anyway.

Perhaps Bruce was finally coming out of his shell. He had been avoiding Barbara completely since the rape and Jim could not guess why. Of course, his relationship with the Batman was becoming frayed on the edges anyway. The Batman simply wasn't the man Jim had thought him to be. There was a time when Jim had thought the law was right and that all life was worth protecting.

He knew otherwise now. If you didn't eliminate the parasites of society, they simply multiplied and dragged down the innocent as they did so.

More than likely it was young Grayson, trying to get Jim to fix the broken relationship. He picked up the phone. "This is Gordon."

"Jimmy! Hey, hey!" the Joker said. The voice pierced through Jim's soul and struck him cold. He had not heard from the Clown prince since the Batman apprehended him eight months before.

"You fucking bastard! How dare you call me!" Jim screamed into the phone.

"Whoa! Listen to your language," the Joker said in mock horror. "Here I was calling you with the good news!"

"What? Your execution date?"

The Joker laughed at the comment. "No…I'm a daddy! And you get to be grandpa!"

Jim started shaking. "How…"

"Got a buddy at the hospital, told me Red was wheeled in a couple of hours ago with some guy. I almost got jealous, I tell ya." The Joker waited for a moment. "Jim?"

"I'll kill you…" Jim whispered and he felt the numbness going up his arm. He tried to put the phone down, but some macabre compulsion prevented him from doing so.

"Oh, you had your chance to do that quite a few times, buddy, but you didn't." The Joker laughed. "They say I'm responding well to treatment, you know that?"

Jim couldn't speak; a dull pain that was now centering over his heart was now replacing the numbness. He made a few gasping noises. "Speechless, eh? Well, tell you what, the first chance I get, I'll arrange a family portrait!"

Five minutes later, the Huntress entered to find Jim sprawled on the floor, maniacal laughing sounding from the receiver gripped in his hand.