It's All Relative
Chapter 5: The End of the Bat Family
By Teala373
"Sir, might I suggest the express flight? If your final destination is Gotham, this will get you there in half the time."
"No, thank you," the customer ran a hand through his dark hair, "I need the extra time to relax."
"Very well, sir. Here are you tickets. Have a good journey, Mr. Drake."
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"I know this is hard for you," Terry voice had lowered and the biting edge was missing from it. "but what happened next? You mentioned Barbara died."
"It started when Commissioner Gordon died unexpectedly." There was no longer a need for Bruce to hide the past. It was soon all to be unearthed. " Barbara retired from being Batgirl and assisted us from the computer terminal. She became so skilled, she even farmed her services out to the League. She called herself Oracle. Only Wonder Woman knew her identity. Even after I was thrown out of the League, they continued using Oracle's services. Wonder Woman was very fond of her and often tried to get her to join the Justice League. Barbara considered it. She wanted to leave Gotham. It held too many painful memories, and Dick wouldn't stop trying to win her back."
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"Hello?"
"Hey! I just got a note from Cartier's that you've been returning the jewelry I sent you!"
"Yes, Dick, and I've been donating all the flowers you've sent me to Gotham General. Stop sending me gifts!"
"I'll stop sending you gifts if you agree to go out to dinner with me."
"…"
"C'mon, Babs! Don't make me beg! We've been friends since we were seven! You can't just throw that away. I know I was a jerk, but I learned from my mistakes and I want to make it up to you."
"This is just as friends."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You've got that big relationship with Jason Bard now."
"Yes, and he's not going to like this."
"He shouldn't. I plan on winning you back."
"Dick…"
"…but I'll settle with friends for right now."
"I'm hanging up on you."
"I'm picking you up at six o'clock tonight. Tell tall, dark and stupid he's taking a backseat for the evening."
"You're pushing it…"
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"Barbara turned down Wonder Woman's offers. She wanted to ebb away from the vigilante business. She wanted to build a more normal, stable life. I asked her to train Tim on the computer systems and research before she made a permanent decision. That was about the time that she started working with Ted Kord more on League assignments."
"Ted Kord?"
"He was the Blue Beetle. He left the Justice League after he was injured. Because he was so good with technology, Wonder Woman gave him a position at the embassy. He became something of a second Oracle and worked with our Oracle frequently. He was very fond of her."
"He knew who you all were, too?"
"Supposedly not. Ted was very quiet and reserved, but sometimes talking through a computer gives you a mask, makes you bold. He was more open and almost flirtatious with Oracle as they worked together. Of course, he didn't have a chance as Dick became more persistent."
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"Admit it, Babs, you're enjoying this."
"I never said I wasn't enjoying this."
"I know, but I want you to admit it."
"Alright, Dick. I am really enjoying ice skating in the new indoor rink park."
"And…."
"And, what?"
"And you are enjoying being with me."
"I suppose."
"You suppose?"
"Well, I have to really concentrate. God forbid I should take a serious fall. You might take off because things got too hard."
"…You-You're never going to forgive me… are you?"
"I don't know, Dick. Maybe if I see you feel as bad as I did when you left, I'll forgive you. Maybe if I see you crying hysterically every night when you're alone and using every ounce of your strength to put up a brave front around others, I'll forgive you…."
"Babs… Babs, I'm so sorry. I never wanted it to be this way. I couldn't think straight! I couldn't feel anything but my anger. I seriously wanted to work things out with Bruce. I did. When I saw you with him on that roof… I thought he had taken you away from me. I know that sounds stupid, but that's what I thought. I wanted to always be the one to protect you, but you didn't need me. You could protect yourself. You were independent enough to be his partner. I saw the last few years flash before my eyes in which I hadn't been there for you, hadn't been protecting you… and just when I thought I was going to go straighten everything out… he exchanges me for you… and I thought you had exchanged me for him…"
"I have no idea what I can even say to you."
"Tell me it was only me, Babs. Tell me it was only me you cared for."
"Grayson, you have a chip on your shoulder so big, I don't know if I can save you from it."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was young, all the way until I was 15, I had a school girl crush on Batman. Like a celebrity crush. The first time you kissed me, it went away and never came back. And if it ever had any chance of resurfacing, finding out who he was definitely killed it. Bruce is my father's best friend. He's like an uncle or another father to me. I respect him, I won't deny that, and I do care about him, but it is the way you care about a family member, not a love interest. Honestly, I was looking forward to maybe having him as a father-in-law one day. I was always secure in my relationship to others. Romantically, there was only you, but you never believed me. Never. It makes me sick to think that you thought you could never turn your back on me, because if you did, I would jump in bed with your father. Worse yet, you seem to think Bruce would just start a relationship with me, knowing full well I was the girlfriend of his son and the daughter of his best friend. We're the two people that love you the most and all you think is that we can't wait to get rid of you so we can be with each other. Maybe Bruce can brush off your wayward thinking, but I can't! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel that you think so low of me?"
"Babs, I…"
"I would also like to point out that after you left, I still didn't make a play for Bruce. Instead, I still tried chasing after you. After several failed attempts, I dated someone that was NOT Bruce. So, to recap, there was NEVER, EVER anything between Bruce and I. Good thing you let something that wasn't an issue mess everything up…and they say Batman is the brains!"
"Alright! Alright! I'm an idiot! I am the lowest form of scum possible! On the evolutionary scale, I rate somewhere between a microwave and cheese!"
"That's 'a toaster oven and head cheese'."
"See? I can't even get obscure quotes right! I-I can't do much without you, Babs. I need you. I love you. I never stopped. I just pushed you away because I was angry and defensive… and a totally jerk."
"Yes, Dick… you are a jerk. A big jerk."
"There has to be SOMETHING I can do to make it up to you. Something. Anything!"
"Stand in the middle of the park with nothing but your underwear and sing 'I'm a Little Tea Pot'?"
"If that's what it takes."
"Chug three liters of Zesti on an empty stomach?"
"Anything, Babs."
"Admit that I am not going to leave you for someone else."
"Well… you can't leave me if you're not with me to begin with."
"Oh, get off it, Grayson! I hate ice skating! I'm only here to be around you. Stop being so insecure! We're a couple! We're back on! You are stuck with me!"
"Just like that?"
"I was serious about the 'I'm a Little Tea Pot' thing."
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"Dick and Barbara fell back together and everything seemed fine. Barbara talked about quitting, but she never did. Then, Dick went out of town for a while. He told me he was going to buy a ring and purpose to Barbara, but wanted to visit an old friend first. While he was gone, Barbara was working on a big case with Ted. I helped her a little, but… something was different. Something had changed… " He pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on and lowered his head. "I made such a horrible mistake… I should have told Dick… but then she disappeared… and they found her car, her clothes, her purse… and pieces of her… in the river…"
Terry felt like someone had poured cold water over him. He wished he had never asked. He wished Bruce hadn't told him. He didn't like stories where people were hurt in car accidents…
"Dick left. He couldn't handle it. Tim took it hard and hung up his uniform. When Alfred died, Tim just left. I-I wasn't there for them. I didn't keep us together. I never wanted to admit that we were a family, because if we weren't a family, than we hadn't become a broken family…"
And then, there was silence. No more was said as both men went back to work on the bat suit.
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As Mary McGuiness waited in the hall of the embassy, scraps of memories washed over. She couldn't see faces, but she remembered odd bits of dialogue, none of which seemed to make any sense. She didn't recognize any of the voices, save her own. None of them were Warren's voices. The names that were referenced didn't make sense. Batman. Robin, Nightwing. Bruce. Dick. Tim. Barbara…
She tried to clear her head and concentrate on something else. She was jittery as it was and trying to understand the strange dialogues in her head weren't helping. She looked around, appreciating her surroundings for the first time since her arrival. The rich tapestries and ancient artwork reflected the heritage of the Amazon sisters, but as Mary stared at them, she began to realize this was not the first time she had seen them.
"Mrs. McGuiness?"
Jarred from her thoughts, Mary turned her head abruptly towards the Themescyran handmaiden who was addressing her. "Y-yes?"
"The princess will see you now."
Letting her body go into autopilot, Mary followed the handmaiden down a long hallway. Going to the see the princess meant going to see the superhero Wonder Woman. She began wondering what Warren's association with her was. She began to wonder what would happen next.
The hallway was long, lined with Mediterranean tiling and colorful tapestries depicting the glory of the Amazons. At it's end was a large golden statue of the goddess Artemis, patron to the Amazons. Mary stopped before it. She had seen this statue before. She had walked before it many times.
Suddenly, a vision flashed before her eyes. She saw herself walking around the statue, trying to get to the door directly behind it. As she passed, the room on the immediate right was open. A man was inside, sitting at a desk. He looked at her with piercing blue eyes that held a longing and a passion that were… familiar to her somehow. She wanted to go into the room and speak to him, but she was not allowed to address him. He was not to know who she was, but he seemed to know anyway…
"Mary?"
Blinking several times, Mary cleared the vision and focused on the intimidating woman who stood before her: Wonder Woman.
"My apologies, your highness," she wasn't quite sure if that was the appropriate way to address the woman before her, "I fear I am not quite myself."
The Princess's unemotional glance did not waver as she gestured for Mary to enter the door directly behind the statue. "This way, Mary… or should I say, Barbara."
Mary gasped softly. The voices from the past that had run in her head were calling her Barbara. She followed the Princess into her chambers, not sure if she was ready for what would be said to her.