Hello folks !
I finally found waiting on a nice scrapbook, the two missing chapters I was referring to, so below is the first one.
I hope it will answer any question left unanswered. As to not mess up
with the chapters posted so far, I decided to post them after the
completed fic.
Enjoy, and once more, reviews more than appreciated :D
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Missing chapter 1
Barbara bolted awake. Looking at the nightstand, she winced at the red glow, 4:06 am. Dropping a protective hand across her abdomen, she winced at the pain in her ribcage. Damn transponder would kill her one-day if she didn't pay more attention to its dysfunction.
She missed the old times, when she
was Batgirl for sure, but even more as Oracle. She missed the girls,
she missed Alfred.
At 4 am when unable to sleep, she'd
often find Helena in the clock tower searching for Pop Tarts, or on
the balcony, even once she found her sound asleep, the TV on the news
network…that'd lull to sleep about any insomniac.
Maybe she'd try to contact Helena, After all, she knew where she spent most of her free time, and even Bruce Wayne couldn't have an eye on her every second of the day. Even as he claimed he did…
She had no idea what to do. She had
never been one with many friends. In fact, that kind of bored her. At
day she was teaching young minds how to become proper grown-ups. At
night they'd chase those who haven't paid any attention, those
who took pride in breaking the law.
Guess that ruined her view of life.
She was facing evil on a daily basis, small talks weren't for her.
Ok 4 a.m. what could she do? Since she wasn't a teacher anymore, no more papers to review. She didn't really miss it, sure teaching was great since it allowed her to be free at night, and she'd still help people in an other way. Ok not very close to her Batgirl's days but still she felt a tiny bit useful. So now what?
She kept wondering about that strange
interview with principal Bell two weeks ago. He had explained that
the number of students was decreasing and the course of English
literature needn't to be split anymore. One teacher was enough.
That Mr Lacey was more ancient in the job.
Yeah right. All of this sounded all
too well written, like someone else had written his speech. Like the
shadow of Bruce Wayne was hovering behind him, dictating his conduct.
Of course, that could be true, but
somehow she didn't buy it. Without letting paranoia take over her
life, it was a too great coincidence, to buy it without second
thought.
Result was the same, she had no job
at day nor at night, everything had been destroyed in two small
weeks. How convenient, she had nothing left in New Gotham, might as
well leave.
"Well Bruce, she addressed to the night, I'm not that easily defeated".
Wheeling towards the kitchen, she sat quietly by the table, waiting for the water to boil.
She had only two days ultimatum to leave the Clock Tower so she had returned to her old place. Knowing fairly well that it wasn't 100 functional for her, that Helena wouldn't be around to fight nightmares and insomnia at night. But no one had occupied it in 7 years, which was a kind of blessing in her financial situation, the rent was really low.
A murder attempt even in a residential area had driven all interested away. She chuckled, the Joker wouldn't go after them, he had what he wanted that night: killed, damaged and driven away those who took care of the city at night.
Behind her, the kettle hissed, signalling that the water was ready.
Wheeling around she cursed as her
elbow connected with the counter, sending the items crashing to the
ground.
Happily, none of the boiling
parts touched her, which was kind of a miracle. She didn't know
what she'd have done if so. She had grown very dependent to Alfred
and Helena over the years. So much for the independent woman.
Shaking her head, she chased the memories away: her first meeting with both, how they had grown to a close family.
When Bruce Wayne had decided to
let her in his night life, she had met Alfred. He was very much like
he was now, caring, always around in a none intruding way, giving
great advices. She was pretty sure he had something to do with
Bruce's acceptance, he was not the kind of man to force anything,
but innuendos were definitively his strength.Well in most situations, when it was
not enough after some time, he made his point, just like with the
neuro transponder. She liked him a lot, he was a nice man, caring and
so indispensable.
Although now he was indispensable in
a very unreachable way.
And what to say about Helena?
When she first met her, she must have been around 7. The memories flashed in her mind…standing close to her mom but a foot behind, she was looking up at her with azure eyes. She so looked like her mother, although Selina had already dyed her hair ash blond.
Selina had let her into the
secret of her father's identity that very night, making her swear
to keep it that way. She had retired from being a thief once she
learned she was pregnant, so she might be safe, but if anything
happened to her, she'd take care of Helena.
Barbara had agreed although she
didn't really know why. She owed it to her mum who saved her life
twice the same night years back.
Reckless didn't describe her that
night, but driven did.
She was coming to the conclusion that her life
as crime fighter might not last centuries, so she envied Selina to
take such a decision on her own. She admired her.
Later that night, as she returned to
the safety of her place, she prayed to a God she didn't believe in
to keep both safe.
No one deserves to be hurt when they choose to
live a decent life, especially as hard as it was in Selina's case.
Closing her eyes to prevent
more tears from falling, she looked down at the mess at her feet:
glass and water everywhere, scattered all over the floor.
She sighted, running both hands
through her hair in a frantic way. Then she did something she hadn't
in all her years as Oracle, she screamed out loud, before wheeling
away from the mess.
She had no job, no life, no friend
anymore…she'd take care of it in the morning.
Sure no one asked her to loose her footing in a cemented stair. That was stupid and totally unlike her. Despite the pain, she grinned…oh yeah unlike Oracle but she wasn't all knowing anymore. She was just a 30 years old paralysed woman, with nothing to expect from life anymore.
Her best friend was gone, not looking back, just like her young protégée "great job Gordon, as skilled as your father. Might start drinking to complete the picture".
Reaching in the nightstand's drawer, she popped open the aspirin tube and swallowed two pills dry. Out of pure habit, she was about to put it back in place before throwing it across the room instead. After all, she lived alone, no need to hide the fact that she was hurting for anyone anymore. It was not like Helena, or Dinah, would stop by at some point. They had done great with Barbara: hiding behind a fake affair and an international teachers' exchange program…just great, she was surprised Helena bought it, she who was usually so suspicious. Shaking her head hard, she chased those thoughts away, better not to go there, especially not at this time of the night, where her mind could wander freely, really never a good idea…
Wheeling to the living room, she
switched the TV on.
Good thing she had around 250
channels to surf through. It kept her awake a while, then next thing
she knew she woke up sprawled in her wheelchair, her stiff neck, her
ribcage hurting terribly. Great she was on for another shoot of pain
killers.
All of a sudden, a surge of pain rose from her ribcage. So sudden and fierce, she had to bend over to catch her breath, her eyes shedding unexpected tears. She doubted pain killers would do the trick for long; it has been over 3 days that she broke a rib at least. She suspected the damages were worst. But without a job, she had no medical protection and there was no way she'd afford with the little she had on her bank account.
Sure she'd hack into some database and give herself a full access, but she had been on the side of the law for too long, she wouldn't use her abilities / knowledges to give herself any privileges. There were people out there who needed them more. If she couldn't help them as much as she did weeks back, she'd at least respect that.
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Well that's it for today, I have an other missing chapter in stock...interested:)