Disclaimer: There is a house in New Orleans, they call the rising sun. There's many a man who doesn't own these characters, and Go-od knows, I'm one.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Outsider
Chapter 6
"Of course," Dick said dryly as he opened the manila folder, pulling the series of printouts out of the envelope. Dinah's picture was on the first, along with a dossier from Oracle's files. Obviously Black Canary would be on the team, and Dick had no problem with that. She was experienced, skilled, and Barbara's best friend. He skimmed the text briefly in case there was anything he didn't know. There wasn't, and he moved that printout to the back of the stack.
The next picture was him. More specifically, it was him ten years ago in his old Robin mask, sticking his tongue out at the camera. He glanced over at Babs, who was grinning at him. Forcing his own grin down underneath an expression of mock-offense, he very pointedly did not read what she'd chosen to write about him, flipping it to the next page. Dick blinked in surprise.
Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. They'd worked together, of course. More than worked, truth be told. She'd caught him in a weak moment, it was true, but he wasn't Roy. He didn't sleep with a woman simply because she was attractive and willing, no matter how lonely he was. She'd said it was nothing more than an effort on her part to work her way into his 'family'. Dick supposed it could be vanity on his part, but privately he didn't believe that was all there was to it.
Objectively speaking, she would make a good ally, if her more extreme impulses could be curbed, but in creating this team, Dick was a little surprised Barbara could be that objective. He wasn't sure he would have been. He supposed it wasn't very enlightened of him to think that. Obviously just because he was working with her, it didn't mean they were going to fall into bed. 'But still,' he thought as he flipped to the next page, 'I wouldn't exactly be thrilled if she had...what the hell?'
Looking at the next page, Dick frowned at the smiling face of Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. 'Ah, that explains Huntress,' he thought. She wanted him on the team, and didn't want any arguments over the fact that she'd dated him before. 'Look at this objectively, Grayson. Think of what he brings to the team. Forget that he's the guy she dated while she knew I was waiting for her. Instead, remember that he's...that he's what, the guy who used Justice League funds to build a theme casino? The straight man in the Booster-n-Beetle comedy team? What does he bring, anyway?"
Dick forced himself to read through the text. She seemed to be highlighting his work with Kord Electronics, and his technical background. Dick grudgingly admitted the man had an inventive mind that bordered on genius. Bruce used Kord's company as a way to get equipment when it was best not to get WayneTech involved. 'Of course, Bruce can't stand him,' Dick thought. He was going to discuss this further, but as there was one prospective teammate left, Dick turned to the last page.
Seeming to stare back at him was a pair of pupil-less green eyes set into a face with orange-tinged golden skin, surrounded by a thick mass of red hair. Koriand'r. Starfire. Helena, Ted Kord, and Kory. Eyes slowly widening, Dick said, "You. Have got. To be kidding..."
"You don't like the team I picked out?" she asked, smiling lightly.
"Lori Elton and Jason Bard weren't available?" he quipped.
"Dick! Be serious."
"I am being serious, Babs. Aren't teams only supposed to have these sorts of tangled webs of interpersonal relationships after they've been together for a couple years, not before they've even started? Hell, as long as the Titans were together, I think even at the end things weren't this mixed up."
"The titans had a higher turnover than a McDonald's located across the street from a landfill."
"Babs!"
"What's wrong with everyone knowing each other?"
"Nothing. 'Know' isn't the verb I'm having the issue with."
"And what is your issue, Dick?" Barbara asked, her voice steely.
That was a dangerous-sounding tone, but Dick didn't back down. "That the personal relationships in the team you've selected will be a distraction and a detriment to the team's ability to work together."
"You don't think you can be professional about this?"
"I can, but-"
She interrupted, "So you think I'm the one who won't be professional?"
"I didn't say that, I said-"
"So who is it that you are saying won't be able to work with the other people on this team?"
'Kord!' Dick thought, but he didn't say that aloud. "I'm not singling anyone out here. I'm saying that as a group, it's going to be a distraction. Look, you wouldn't make a team out of Batman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Talia Al Ghul, would you?"
"How in the world do you envision those four teaming up?"
"You don't! That's why-"
"No, hold on a second. Since you're comparing my team to this analogy of yours, who in those papers you're holding are you equating to the thief, and who are you equating to Ra's Al Ghul's daughter?"
Dick felt this slipping away from him again, "The point, Babs, is that however capable an individual may be, when you group that person with-"
She interrupted again, "Ok, obviously you're Batman in that scenario."
"Babs."
"I guess Starfire is Diana, although that's more than I wanted to know about Bruce."
"Babs!"
"Does that make me Alfred?"
"BABS!"
"Yes Dick?" she said, putting on her most innocent expression.
Whether or not he was going to win the larger argument, this was something that needed to be addressed now. "When we're in bed, you may not refer to yourself as Alfred. My psyche is far too fragile to be subjected to that kind of abuse," Dick said with a shudder.
She laughed, "Dick, let's start from square one here. Dinah is my best friend. I assume you don't have a problem with her on the team, do you?"
"Her? No, it's-"
That was as far as he got. "And of course," she interrupted, "you're on the team. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Yes!"
"Too bad. Moving right along..."
"Babs..."
"Moving. Right. Along." She glared at him. He glared back, but didn't say anything. "Huntress. Former member of the JLA-"
"And how did that 'former' come about, by the way?"
"-who both of us have worked with in the past. Dick, do you really not want to work with Huntress?"
"It's not Huntress. It's Huntress and Starfire and Blue Beetle."
"Ok, not Starfire then."
"I...what?"
"If you don't want to work with your former fiancee, I understand. We can do without her."
Dick frowned, that wasn't who he wanted to omit. "That wasn't what I had in-"
"Her reason for inclusion is that except for Dinah's cry, the rest of the team doesn't have a meta-gene between them. I thought her powers would come in handy in case the team needed it, but this really is more of a stealth-oriented team. She does tend to stick out."
Dick stared at her, waiting for some hint of a laugh or a grin to poke its way onto her lips, but Barbara simply looked back, a serene expression of calm on her face. 'It's Bruce's fault that we all do that,' he thought. "You've convinced me," he said dryly, "Both Helena and Kory are necessary parts of the team. Now as to Beetle-"
"Ted stays," she said flatly. "If for no other reason than we're going to need someone in the field with a great deal of technical knowledge. Also we can get new toys from Kod."
"I could-"
"Your operation in Bludhaven is one-man. Ted has his entire company behind him, and if you're about to suggest WayneTech as a resource," she said as he opened his mouth, "forget it. I'll ask for Batman's help if I need it. Not sooner, and not when there's another option.
Scrambling for some reason to object, Dick said, "Didn't he retire?"
"Unretire him. I said recruiting was your job." Sensing his resistance crumbling, Babs took his face in her hands and said, "I really did plan this carefully, Dick. Trust me?"
'Ouch,' he thought. She had phrased that as a question. There was only the right answer, and it was the truth. "I trust you," he answered, thinking, 'Kord, on the other hand...' Thoughts of the Blue Beetle fell away as she titled her head up to face his, and they kissed.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Two weeks earlier...
Roy thought he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He couldn't be sure, but if that was a laugh, there might be enough of a human being under there to appeal to. After a second or two of a pause after what Roy had presumed to be laughter, Batgirl asked, "What do I get?"
Roy blinked. He thought, 'She couldn't ask Bruce Wayne for spare change?' and said, "In terms of...money?" confusion evident on his face.
She shook her head curtly. For all that her masked face couldn't reveal any expression, Roy got the distinct impression that he was being scowled at. "What did you get?" she asked, pointing at him. "What did Nightwing get? What do I get?" She punctuated this last by pointing towards the bat on her chest.
"Ohh," Roy said, nodding slowly in understanding. "What do you get out of the experience." Batgirl nodded in response. "Well, first off, you learn to work in different environments. Teamwork, obviously, but also physically. Ever been in space?" he asked with a grin. She stood, unmoving. Roy shrugged and said, "And even Bats make friends when they hang around other people." Roy felt a sudden pang of sorrow, his memory flashing back to the original Titans, and the one who was no longer with them. "Dick did. Robin still is. Even Batman did. Grudgingly. Over his fierce objections."
Batgirl saw the sudden pain Arsenal had felt at the mention of friends in his body language. She ignored the joke and asked, "Why do you hurt?"
Roy blinked again in surprise. "Are they growing you Bats with telepathy now?"
Batgirl paused, then said, "I... Body language. I can read it. Like you read words."
Roy thought about that for a moment. 'That could come in handy' He nodded and explained, "We lost a friend. Dick and I." He forced his face impassive, but he couldn't hide the sense of grief and loss from her.
Batgirl nodded and replied, "Donna," eliciting another surprised look from Roy. "Oracle," she said by way of explanation. "Ok."
"Not really," Roy said dryly, forcing a weak smile.
"No," Batgirl said. "I mean. Ok." Pointing first to him, and then her."
"Oh, Why?"
"Donna. Must be good friend to hurt so much." Roy nodded solemnly. "Uh," she said, looking almost like she was about to fidget. "How to tell Batman?"
Roy grinned, "He's a detective. He'll figure it out."
"And then he'll break you," Batgirl said, adding unnecessarily, "small pieces."
Roy frowned. She had a point there. A slow smile crept across his face and he said, "Ok, here's what you tell him..."
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Later that night...
"...What?"
Batman had come back from his last patrol of the night, and had been entering reports into the night's logs when Cassandra had contacted him. She had told him she was going to be spending some nights out of Gotham City, and would be unavailable on those nights. This was a surprise. Her dedication rivaled his own, and she rarely took any time off, even when urged to. He wasn't unwilling to accede to this request, but he had asked why. He figured Spoiler or Oracle had talked her into some off-duty frivolousness. Her answer had stopped him in the middle of the sentence he had been typing.
"Woman problems," Batgirl repeated.
Batman had no idea how to respond to that. He blinked behind his mask, trying to figure out exactly what she meant. He asked carefully, "What sort of..."
Cass jumped in, "Not sure...words. Ask Oracle."
Batman stared blankly at the screen. He tried to imagine himself calling Barbara and asking for the specific nature of Cassandra's 'woman problems', and quickly determined that there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to do that. "You'll let me know when you're going to be unavailable?" he said.
"Yes," she answered, closing the connection.
Batman shook his head, wondering what had just happened.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
While Batgirl is meeting Roy's team, Dick is putting Barbara's together.
Who has the tougher go of it?
Find out in Chapter 7
