DC Infinity Presents
Batgirl # 30
A Life's Mission
Part 1
Gotham.
"I'm not so sure about this, Cass."
Cassandra Cain, the Batgirl, smiled behind her mask.
"I'll be fine," Batgirl said, "need to test the equipment properly, yes?"
Oracle sighed at her work station.
"There are other ways to test equipment, than…"
Oracle heard the sounds of shots fired over Batgirl's radio.
"…this. Thank you, Gotham…"
Batgirl smirked as she leapt off the rooftop. She clenched her tapped her wrist, and activated a new suit feature in her suit.
A slight electrical charge shot through her suit, though to Batgirl it felt like a warm breeze, and her cape began to stiffen and change. She held her arms outward, and a thin line of her cape clung to her like Velcro, while the rest expanded like the wings of her namesake. She could feel it catching the wind, and her descent began to slow.
"Glider works," Batgirl said.
Oracle put a hand over her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief, "Good to know, wish we were certain of that before you jumped off a building. What about the perps?"
Batgirl glanced at the street below, and saw a car swerving wildly in and out of traffic.
"Mine."
ooOOoo
"Damn it, Charlie," Richard snapped at his fellow passenger, "why'd you have to start shooting? How was he supposed to tell us who ripped us off with a hole in his chest?"
"He came at me with a knife, what was I supposed to do?! Blame Gus!" Charlie snapped, "he was the one acting all twitchy! If he'd done a better job of frisking the asshole, he wouldn't be dead right now!"
The three men all jumped when they heard a loud 'thump!- on the roof.
"What the hell was that?" said Gus.
"What do you think it was, stupid?" Charlie aimed his gun at the roof, "it's a freakin' Bat!"
"Charlie, wait!"
Charlie squeezed off a few shots, but in the small confines of the car, each bullet sounded like cannon fire.
Gus, the driver, instinctively clapped his hands over his ears, and the car swerved into a telephone poll.
The three men stumbled out of the wreck, and Batgirl stood a few feet ahead, arms crossed in front of her chest.
She took one glance, and saw that the men were still willing to fight.
"Testing wrist blades," Batgirl said. She clenched her fist with an exact amount of pressure, and a series of electro-magnets in her wrist fins turned on, and they became as hard as steel.
Batgirl lunged for Gus first, ducking under his clumsy first and swiping her wrist across his belt. She danced back effortlessly, and then just stood there.
"Come on, bitch!" Gus raised his fists, "you ain't so tough!"
Then his pants fell down around his ankles.
"Next time, I'll be more…centered," Batgirl said, "now, sit."
Gus sat.
"Good boy," Batgirl said. She observed Charlie leveling his gun, "Oracle, testing cape."
"Batgirl, wait!"
Batgirl held her cape up like a bull fighter and crouched behind it, as Charlie squeezed the trigger until his clip ran dry.
"Ha! A cape won't help you with steel, bitch!"
"Umm, Charlie?" Richard pointed to the bullets resting on the ground, "I wouldn't be so sure."
"The micro-kevlar weave worked," Batgirl said. She cracked her knuckles.
"If I didn't love you like a sister, I'd gut you like a fish," Oracle said as she listened to the sounds of violence, "you know that you can't take time off of school because you were shot, right?"
"This is Gotham," Batgirl said, as she secured the men.
"Okay, you can't use it that often," Oracle said, "so, are you ready for tomorrow?"
"All my homework is finished," Batgirl said, as a point of pride. She fired her grappling hook into the air, and swung off as she heard the police approaching.
"That actually wasn't what I was asking about," Oracle said, "didn't you see the announcements?"
"About what?"
oooOOoo
Thomas Wayne High school
Cassandra looked at the flier plastered on the wall, and then to her two friends, Josh and Zoe. They were on their way to math class, "Career day?"
"Yeah, best day ever," Josh said with a role of his eyes, "because in high school, we totally know what the job market will look like."
"I don't know, I'm pretty sure dog walker isn't in my career," Zoe said.
"I don't even want to think about it until college," Josh said, "I'm sure I can get an athletic scholarship, but I'm no NFL. Bet Aaron's already decided to be an accountant, being Asian and all."
Zoe elbowed Cassandra.
"What?" Cassandra recognized the gesture of 'say something', but not the intent.
"Say something!"
"Why?"
"Because you're Asian!" Zoe said.
"Oh. Oh, right," Cassandra said, though what Zoe expected her to say, Cassandra hadn't a clue.
"Too late, ten second rule," Josh held the door for Zoe, and the three went inside.
As the class went by, Cassandra couldn't help but wonder. Oracle had asked her about career day, and that in itself made her curious about it, but at the same time, she didn't understand how it applied to her.
When class let out, Cassandra found Marnie Herrs waiting outside the door, and Cass muttered under her breath.
"Good morning Cassandra," Marnie said, "could you come with me, please?"
Cassandra knew it wasn't a request. The only saving grace Cassandra found at all was that this was her free period. Marnie wasn't making her miss a class for whatever nonsense she had in mind.
Cassandra obeyed without saying a word, and followed Marnie as they went to her office.
"I'm guessing this is the only place where you're willing to open up about your other life?" Marnie said, as she sat behind her desk.
"It's been swept and secured," Cassandra said, matter of factly.
"Thought as much," Marnie said, "I received an interesting voicemail this morning. It played once and automatically deleted itself. Oracle?"
"Oracle," Cassandra confirmed.
"Anyways, this Oracle suggested that I require that you go to the career fair…" Marnie said.
Cassandra fumed.
"…but I'm not going to do that," Marnie said, "I think you've got too much stubborn in you to make it worthwhile. So instead, I'd like to ask, why did this person make such a suggestion?"
"I…don't know," Cassandra said, half believing it.
"Then, can you tell me who Cassandra Cain is going to be?"
Cassandra looked at Marnie Herrs blankly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean who will you be when you graduate?" Marnie said, "what career do you think you'll go into when you grow up? Who do you want to be, when you're not Batgirl?"
Cassandra looked aside to think, and to her confusion, found that virtually nothing came to mind. The only things she could think to say where the dozens of things she'd done while operating undercover, but all of those were just facts, not goals.
"I…don't know," Cassandra said, and she began to feel very empty inside, "but…it doesn't matter. I'm not qualified to do anything…"
"I don't believe that of a young woman who beats up meta-humans with her bare fists and carries C4 every day," Marnie said, "you could be a self defense instructor, demolitions expert, private detective, police officer and that's just off the top of my head. If you don't want an equally dangerous career as your night life, you could be a dance instructor, physical trainer."
"Hell, no one expects you to be qualified now, Cass. You may end up deciding to choose a career that has nothing to do with your Batgirl training. The point of career day is to get kids interested and thinking about their future."
"I…never thought much about the future," Cassandra said, "before Batgirl, I just…existed. Food and shelter were all I cared about. And when I was Batgirl, I only really thought about the future once. I…I have no idea what I would do."
"Cassandra, sweetie," Marnie smiled, and the warmth and understanding Cassandra saw in the woman lessened the sting of her confession, "no one at your age does, and anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves. But just because you don't have the answers, doesn't mean you shouldn't ask the question."
oooOOooo
Later, home
"Cassandra," Tatsu called out from the kitchen, "dinner!"
Cassandra set her pencil down, and joined Tatsu in the dining room.
"So…," Tatsu handed Cassandra a plate of spiced chicken, "how was career day?"
Cassandra didn't have to ask how Tatsu knew about Career Day. She just scowled.
"Barbara just wants you to start thinking about your future," Tatsu said, "it's barely prying."
"Close enough," Cassandra said. She then paused, "what did you want to be, when you were younger?"
Cassandra saw a sharp sting of regret flash through Tatsu, for a single moment, before she gave a weary but happy smile.
"I never much thought about it, to be honest," Tatsu said, "my mother, your grandmother, was very traditional. I was to be excellent in everything, and then be a good wife to my husband and mother to my children. As a matter of fact, she was the one who insisted that I study swordsmanship and martial arts. It is how our family instilled a sense of discipline."
"But my family was killed, and I could not let that stand. I became Katana, avenged them, and found that I enjoyed fighting for justice. And along the way, I found a new family."
Tatsu placed her hand over Cassandra's.
"I may not win any empowerment awards, but it's a life I love, because it's my life," Tatsu said, "and I defined it. To me, that's the most important."
"What's the most important for you?"
oooOOoo
Later, Gotham's Rooftops.
"Evening, Cass."
"Not talking to you," Batgirl said, and narrowed her eyes behind her mask in the faint hope that Oracle could instinctively feel it.
"This is Bat business," Oracle said, "I need to you to go to the 'Flaming Flamingo', there's a hit out on the owner, Victor Babkin."
Batgirl checked her location, and found she was only a few blocks away from the popular men's club. In less time than it took to tell, she was on a perch just across the street, and already had the angles she needed to swoop down into action.
"Who is the hitter?" Batgirl asked.
"Tracking it down now," Oracle said, "my sources are being a little more tight-lipped than usual. So how was career day?"
"None of your business," Batgirl said, "you said you'd stay away!"
"Well, I felt I had to act, Cass," said Oracle.
"Why?" Batgirl demanded. To Batgirl, with the sheer amount of information Oracle held at her fingertips, every inch that Oracle stepped into her life felt like a smothering blanket, "this is my life!"
"Because Batman isn't the only one who allowed you to stay in that cave," Oracle said, "I'm just as responsible. So that means I have to help repair the damage."
"I'm not damaged," Batgirl muttered.
"Kiddo, everyone in this family is damaged," Oracle smiled, "there's no shame in it."
Batgirl said nothing.
"I'll let you get back to the stake out. Just be careful. The Flaming Flamingo is just a front. Victor Babkin is a high ranking member of the Russian mob, but he just came 'out'."
"Out?"
"Oh, out as in gay," Oracle said, "homosexuals aren't that popular in Russia. A good number of the population sees homosexuality as unnatural."
Batgirl scanned the crowd below, with countless men entering and leaving the club, some together, some not, "Oh. Well, they usually are. Why does it matter?"
Oracle was glad she wasn't drinking, otherwise she might have done a spit-take.
"What?!"
"Almost everyone in love is unnatural," Batgirl said, completely ignorant of Oracle's reaction, "they laugh at jokes that aren't funny. Say they like things they don't. Want to please their partner, make them happy. You do it. Tim does it. Everyone does."
"Oh," Oracle let out a relieved laugh, "yes, yes they do."
"Oracle?" Batgirl said, and Barbara could hear an uncertainty in Cass' voice that she associated with the young woman Cassandra, and not The Bat, "if it's natural or unnatural…does it really matter?"
Oracle knew instantly that Cassandra wasn't thinking about homosexuality, at least not directly. Rather, she was thinking of her own sorted family tree. She shared the blood of two of the world's greatest killers, David Cain and Shiva. Her biological parents had a body count that rivaled terrorist organizations, and both meant for her to be their heir, their legacy.
Her family tree was as natural as it was twisted.
"Not one damn bit," Oracle said, "all that should define a person is who they are, not what. Victor may be a member of an oppressed minority that deserve far better, but he's still a vicious criminal, a scumbag who deserves a jail cell. And you'll protect him, because you're a better person than he could ever hope to be."
"Understood," Batgirl said, then, too softly for her radio to pick up, said, "thank you."
oooOOoo
Batgirl did a quick sweep of the building, and wasn't much surprised by what she found. All the doors and windows were reinforced, either with inch thick steel or bullet proof glass. Cameras covered the exits, and most methods of ingress. Victor himself was surrounded by a team of men Batgirl judged to be ex-Special forces (but not Russian, she observed).
In the final assessment, Batgirl realized that if she wanted to watch Victor while still drawing out his would be killer, she'd have to remain on the rooftops, keep to the perch she'd already chosen.
Batgirl scanned the windows and street, and the only thing she saw as slightly suspicious was a tall, elderly gentleman wearing a heavy coat, who glanced at the Club every feew minutes.
Batgirl thought he might be the hitter, and studied him carefully. He wasn't wearing any weapons that she could see, and though he appeared to be deeply uncomfortable, he didn't seem to direct any of that at the gay men who came and went outside the club. And he didn't carry himself like a meta-human, at least not that any Batgirl could remember. He was too relaxed, and not at all self conscious.
Batgirl made a point to keep an eye on him, but dismissed the elderly gentleman as the hitman from conscious consideration.
Batgirl learned how wrong she was ten minutes later, when Victor Babkin began to leave from the Club's front entrance.
His departure was preceded, by several seconds, by that of Hector Long and Jason Weston. The two lovers had been celebrating their fourth year anniversary, and had imbibed just a little too much to drink.
That was why, when they left just ahead of Victor's entourage, they stumbled out into the street without paying heed to the old adage, 'Look both ways'.
Batgirl saw it happen, but realized too late she was too far away to intervene. Hector and Jason stepped into the street, a horn blared, and both men saw a white light come hurtling towards them…
…and watched in awe as a hand reached out, and stopped the car in his tracks with such power that the airbag inside deployed, and the front tire exploded like a popped balloon.
Batgirl could barely believe what she'd seen. The elderly gentleman who she'd spotted lurking earlier had just grabbed the car, and pushed it down with so much strength, the axel had broken.
And Victor's people had seen it as well.
"Oracle," Batgirl removed three batarangs from her belt and threw them with expert precision, "hitman is here!"
"Activate your head cam," Oracle said, "and be careful."
ooOOoo
Ivan Illyich Gort, the Russian agent known as Stalnoivolk, or Steel Wolf, gave the two men a look of annoyance, and pointed away.
"You idiots should run," Steel Wolf said, "but do it carefully, yes?"
Gort didn't bother to see if the two men he'd saved followed his advice, nor did he much care. He turned his attention to Victor, and smiled with satisfaction when he saw the look of recognition and terror on his face.
"Victor," Gort's smile was like that of his namesake, "you crossed the wrong government official. And when that happens, I cross you off."
Victor's men went for their guns, but before they could pull them out, batarangs armed with tasers struck them in the back, before they could unleash a wave of bullets that would have only endangered bystanders. Batgirl landed in between the wolf and his target.
"Batgirl!" Oracle snapped over the radio, "be careful! That's the Steel Wolf! The Suicide Squad has a file on him an inch thick!"
"Heh," Gort chuckled, "move aside little bat, before I squash you."
Batgirl rushed towards Gort, leapt, and smashed both feet into his neck.
The attack was a gamble on her part. It would have killed any normal human, and risked crippling more than a few meta-humans.
But Gort didn't even flinch, but instead tried to grab Batgirl in a bear hug, and his reflexes were only a single second too slow.
Batgirl danced backwards, and removed a small vial of knock-out gas from her belt. She threw it at Gort's head, but to her shock, where most meta-humans preferred to smugly endure anything thrown at them, Gort left to the side, battle tested reflexes acting perfectly.
"You are beginning to annoy me, little bat," Gort said.
As if on cue, the two heard the squeal of tires. Batgirl didn't dare remove her eyes from Gort, but she didn't need to, to know that Victor's people had stuffed him in a car and taken off.
Gort looked at the fleeing car, and then to Batgirl. She could sense him calculating the odds of fighting her off long enough to reach Victor versus simply leaving to try again.
Batgirl didn't know which she would have preferred.
Gort moved with power, confidence and experience. His body language, now that Batgirl saw it in action, was just another word for Deathstroke.
"Another time, little Bat," Gort smiled. He turned and dashed away, his powerful legs carrying him like an Olympic sprinter.
Batgirl gave chase, and when Gort turned down an alley, she was right on his heels.
The alley ended in a brick wall, and for a moment, Batgirl feared that he might try to smash through the wall.
Gort paused, and then turned around, annoyance flashing across his face.
"Bat," Gort growled, "I have orders. I do not suggest you stand in their way."
Batgirl made a show of sliding two batarangs into her hands, and stalked forward.
"Very well," Gort leapt at Batgirl, and the Bat lunged forward to avoid being crushed underneath his boots, "I tried."
"Well," Gort held his arms out, "you have your metal, Bat. Care to use it?"
Two batarangs exploded in an orange ball of fire. The razor sharp edges of the other two struck Gort perfectly in the eye.
"I respect your courage," Gort wiped a tear from both eyes.
"But it won't save you."
Gort reached down, and scooped up the pavement as if it were sand. He pitched the rocks at Batgirl, and the fragments flew through the air like bullets.
Batgirl just barely leapt aside, and when she did, Gort moved for the dumpster. With just an ounce of his strength, he sent it barreling down the alley like a freight train.
Batgirl barely twisted aside in time, as hundreds of pounds of garbage and steel brushed by her cape and came within inches of crushing her.
"First rule of combat, little girl," Gort said, "know the terrain."
Batgirl realized her mistake. Gort hadn't run to this alley to get away, he was luring her here. He boxed her, the perfect strategy to counter her skills and training, all in one move.
"Care to make this easy for yourself?" Gort smiled.
Batgirl assumed a fighting stance.
Gort smiled.
But before they could throw themselves at one another, red and blue lights filled the alley.
"Hmm," Gort turned his eyes to the police, and then to Batgirl, and with a sigh, said, "that little idiot isn't worth making a mess over. Another time, Bat."
He leapt into the air, and landed on the roof. From there, Batgirl watched him leap half a block, and was gone before Batgirl could even think to give chase.
"Batgirl, is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine," Batgirl looked at her gloved fist, and saw that it was trembling, "just fine."
Next Issue: It's Batgirl vs. a Cold Warrior that's survived the Suicide Squad! Plus, more on career day!