Sorry to be so slow updating, but I've got stuff to do and… yeah. But I'm really in love with these characters. I just read back through some of the previous chapters and noticed a few typos and such- UGH I'm sorry you had to put up with those. Typos are my pet peeve. I will be correcting them all asap.
Alfred made a few minor alterations to the suit, but it was basically ready. Today was all about putting it to the test- but it felt like I was the one being tested. Bruce allowed Dick's intrusion today, as it meant we could spar in the augmented reality chamber while he watched with Alfred, analyzing my body mechanics and seeing if the suit held me back. It also gave me a great opportunity to show Bruce how training with Dick had been beneficial.
Dick and I were both in our suits. It was a stark change from sparring in our sweatpants. His Nightwing suit had electric blue coloring on his chest, the lines seeming to point attention to certain regions of his body.
"Don't get all excited when you win," Dick joked from behind his Nightwing mask, "I'm taking it easy on you today."
"Don't," I said from behind mine. "The suit needs to be tested. That means I need to be tested."
"Hey, it's your bosses orders," Dick shrugged as he bounced up and down, warming himself up.
"If you would, Miss Gordon, proceed with an initial spar. Nothing too dramatic. The system needs to establish a baseline for comparative analytics," Alfred said through the speaker.
"You got it, Alf!" Dick shouted, then leaned forward to me in a whisper, "he hates it when you call him Alf…" I took advantage of his playful spirit and stepped forward, grabbing his raised wrist and sweeping his ankle out from under him. He hit the ground hard, but closed his palm around the wrist that held his hand, then kicked his leg out and knocked me back over him. I knew that, in a real fight, I could just keep my grip on his wrist and continue to roll out of the block in order to dislocate his shoulder, but I released and rolled forward- Dick still planned to work tonight.
As I rolled and landed on my toes with my palms flat on the floor, he launched himself back onto his feet and flipped forward to gain some space. I came back to my feet and we stared at each other, waiting for the next move.
"Could've given me a heads up," Dick said, fists readying.
"I thought Alfred did," I shrugged. He smiled and laughed under his breath, then ran at me.
Fighting him in the suit was far different than when we were in our workout clothes. When my hands pinned his arms down, they hit hard Teflon like material instead of hot skin. When my legs wrapped around his torso, it felt padded and armored. The suits, I realized, were not just to keep our identities hidden and bodies safe; they protected us from each other, too. It protected me from feeling so intimate with him.
"Work on some high kicks, I want to test the suits flexibility," Bruce ordered over the speaker. I knew that the suit could stand me sinking into the splits, but it was a good idea to test how flexible and fast the suit could be in the heat of a fight. I backed away from Dick, giving myself some space before proceeding.
"You giving up?" Dick joked after me. I held back a smile and took three hurried steps forward before launching into a front flip, then another, to land in front of Dick. As I landed the second flip, I brought my hands down on his shoulders and allowed my knees to soften. The momentum of the flips came down hard on his shoulders and he dropped to his knees. I propelled myself over his shoulders and landed with my feet flanking his calves, my cape draped over his face. I knew that, in practice, this move could take down a foe instantly. But not today.
Upon landing, I spun around, kicking my right foot high into the air above my head, the heels on my boots making the move seem even more dramatic, and spun on my left foot. I dropped the leg over Dick's shoulder, putting his head at about the height of my hips. He faced my leg for a surprised moment, before grabbing around my knee and butt and twirling me to the ground. I used the strategic position of my legs around his shoulders to use this momentum against him, so that he rolled forward over my leg and onto his back. With his hand in my grip and my thigh pressing down on his cheek, I put him in an arm bar hold until he tapped out.
I released my grip and slid out from around him. He sat up and looked to me with an impressed gaze. "Can we do that again?" he asked in a low, giddy voice. I did my best to stifle a smile and stood, and he followed suit.
"Alright Dick, get out of there. I want to see her take out a few AR challenges in the suit," Bruce said over the speaker.
"Nah, we're just getting going," Dick smiled at me.
"Out," Bruce demanded. I looked sternly back at Dick, ensuring that Bruce could see I had his back. Dick was not a distraction. I couldn't let him be a distraction.
"Oh," Dick griped at the wide one-way window, behind which Bruce and Alfred stood. He turned back to me. "Okay, kick some ass then we'll have another go."
"Only if we have time," I said, looking to the window.
"Hey, you okay?" Dick asked. I returned my gaze to him, doing my best to be deadpan, dry, unresponsive. "Don't be nervous. This is an analysis of the suit, not you." I wanted to respond, say something dry and salty to prove I didn't need his encouragement, but he jogged to the exit of the chamber and left. I let out a deep sigh as a heavy quiet settled in the room.
"You're doing great work, Barbara," Bruce said in a low voice over the speaker. I looked around the room briefly with a small smile, hoping it wasn't overwhelmingly evident how hard it felt to push Dick away. "We're going to start you back at level eleven and progress upwards. I'll let you know when we stop…"
"No, just keep them coming," I said, swinging my arms as I stretched. "I wanna go to failure." There was no response from the speakers, but the first batch of assailants materialized in the room with me and I lunged forward with an uppercut to the first.
When we stopped at level twenty two, I felt like I must have forgotten how to breathe. I hadn't completely failed yet, but I would have. I was making sloppy mistakes, kicking lower, punching with less control; Bruce must have seen it. I hoped Dick wasn't also behind the glass watching it. The lights rose as I leaned over my knees, breathing heavily.
"You made a lot of progress today," Bruce commended me as he strode into the room. As I looked up, he threw a full-length towel at me. I caught it as I stood up straight. "There's a bathroom by the library upstairs with a shower in it… go clean up and we can go over your mechanics."
"Why not do it now?" I asked in a light, panting voice.
"Take a moment, Barbara. Allow your body to cool down," he insisted.
"Miss Gordon, I've also prepared a protein shake for you, if you'd like," Alfred offered. I almost laughed.
"How do you have the time to do all that you do, Alfred?" I asked as I slung the towel over my arm and reached up to my cowl. I closed my eyes and grimaced as I raised it off my shoulders, my tangled hair sticking as I extracted it from the slit it tumbled out of. When I opened my eyes, I saw Dick watching me from the doorway, a subtle grin on his face. I turned away quickly, back to Alfred. "Honestly, I really just want water."
"There's a pitcher waiting for you upstairs, in the lounge attached to the bathroom," he noted, offering to take my cowl. "I've also taken the liberty of bringing your gym bag to the lounge- you'll have everything you need upstairs." I smiled and shook my head, returning my gaze to Bruce.
"You have it so rough," I joked to him as Alfred began to lead me out of the room.
Alfred led me out of the chamber past Dick. As we approached he dropped his gaze, a smug smile still on his face. "You need any help up there?" he asked as I passed.
"I think Alfred has me covered, thanks," I answered plainly as I passed. I kept my gaze focused ahead of me on Alfred's back. When we reached the elevator, I looked down at the towel in my hands instead of looking back down the passage, where I was sure Dick was watching me. Alfred threw the lever and the elevator lurched upwards.
"Wonderful performance today, Miss Gordon."
"Thank you, Alfred," I smiled at him.
"I believe you've found quite a match in Master Grayson," he said. The gust of air that surrounded the elevator whipped up my hair as I glanced between him and the elevator shaft awkwardly.
"Match? No, he's… I mean, he's a fine sparring… partner. Yeah," I said, realizing how awkward I sounded. I turned away and closed my eyes in agony. Why was I so awkward…
"Of course, Miss Gordon," he answered. I kept my head facing forward but my eyes shifted in my skull. What the hell did that mean…
The elevator came to a halt at the top of the shaft and we got off, stepping out of the door disguised as a bookcase. He led me out of the library and to the left, where a door opened into a seating area. My gym bag was sitting on a chaise lounge chair, and beside it was an end table with a pitcher of water, an empty glass, and a protein shake. There was a large, ornate, floor length mirror across the room, and a laundry basket resting at the bottom of it. An open door at the other end of the round room led to a white tiled bathroom. "You can leave your suit in the laundry basket there… I'll make the appropriate alterations and clean it."
"You do so much, Alfred," I said, turning to him. I honestly felt a little uncomfortable. I'd never been waited on like this before. "I can do it, really…"
"Actually, Miss Gordon, I rather imagine you can't. Do you have any experience cleaning Kevlar and Nomex?" he asked. I laughed to myself and shook my head. He smiled in reply. "Take your time… Master Bruce will be waiting downstairs when you're ready."
"Thank you, Alfred," I smiled as he retreated from the room and closed the door politely behind him. Once he was gone, I downed half the water in the pitcher. Then I reached awkwardly up to the back of my suit, wishing I had asked for help before he'd left, and managed to finagle the small zipper down to my hips. I tossed my boots, high socks, and gloves in the laundry basket, then began to slip my arms out of the sleeves. I pressed the suit down around my hips like a wetsuit, and I felt my body instantly cool as my skin was exposed to the air conditioning in the room. I tossed the heavy suit and my undergarments into the laundry basket, briefly glancing my naked appearance in the mirror. My body was wet with sweat from my scalp to my ankles, and my skin glowed in the soft light of the room.
A flash of a memory struck me as I scanned my body; a memory of Dick's body wrestling mine to the ground, holding me down as he straddled over me. I shook it out of mind and turned away from the mirror. I hurried into the bathroom, closing the door behind me, and turned on the shower. I let the water stay cool, and I stepped under the rain-style shower head. I allowed myself to linger under the water a long moment, reveling in the cool relief, before taking the artisanal soap and lathering my body. Quaint bottles of shampoo and conditioner were placed in the shower, probably by Alfred, specifically for me. I lathered my hair and rinsed, and forced myself out of the shower before I got too relaxed. I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around me, tucking it in at the chest to keep my hands free to change.
I half expected to see Dick in the lounge when I reemerged from the bathroom, but he wasn't there. The laundry basket with my suit had also been removed. I knew it was good, that Dick wasn't waiting for me in the lounge, and I was thankful for the privacy, but I realized a part of me was disappointed too. I inwardly scolded myself for that disappointment. I couldn't have anything with Dick. It was useless to permit those thoughts, even for a second.
I pulled my sweats out of my gym bag and put on a comfortable bra and cotton tank top. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and put on my blue-light glasses, preparing to focus on my results and how I could improve. I threw the bag strap over my shoulder and headed for the door, protein shake in hand. When I opened the door, Dick was in jeans and a leather coat, leaning on the door frame waiting for me with a straw between his lips from the protein shake he was sipping.
"Fancy meeting you here," he smiled as he looked up at me, his lips still around the straw when he spoke.
"I need to get back down there," I said, shuffling past him through the door and towards the library.
"What's the hurry?" he asked, following me. "Got a date?"
"No," I said, not turning around to face him, "I've got a father that gets suspicious when I stay out too late, though."
"Gordon's a bit much, huh?" he giggled. I opened the bookshelf door and turned back to face Dick.
"My dad saves this city on a daily basis, just like you or Bruce. He deserves your respect," I said curtly. I didn't mean to be so brusque, but he was making it really hard to ignore him. Or just to be friends with him. He just kept being so… tempting. I stepped onto the elevator and he hurried in next to me.
"Whoa… didn't mean to offend, Batgirl, I just wanted to…"
"Batgirl, really?" I asked. "Not even Batwoman or Batlady, Bat-girl?"
"Well, neither of those really roll off the tongue," he smiled cheekily. I turned away, deciding that remaining grumpy was safer than letting my guard down. "Oh come on, what is with you today? Did I rub you the wrong way? Or pin you too hard?"
"You're fine, Dick. I just don't need anything else from you tonight," I said, keeping my gaze focused ahead of me as the elevator descended.
"Need anything else?" he repeated. "That your way of rejecting me?"
"Are you asking something of me?" I finally turned to him as the elevator reached the bottom. He stared back at me, seeming genuinely confused. I stepped off the elevator and started heading down the passage.
"What's wrong, Barb?" he asked loudly after me. I bristled at him calling me Barb. It was so intimate, so personal, so close. I wasn't allowed to have him so close. I wanted him that close, but he couldn't be.
"Nothing," I said, trying to soften. I turned back to face him. He stood, just off the elevator, staring at me in frustrated confusion. I took a step closer and lowered my voice. "Look, if you were… looking for this to… I don't know, turn into anything? It won't." He cocked his head to the side, as if he was even more confused. "I'm sorry," I said as I shook my head and turned away. He didn't say anything as I walked down the passage and into the AR control room. He didn't follow me either. I entered the room alone to find Bruce, leaning over the controls. "What do we got?" I asked as I dropped my gym bag on the floor by the door.
"Suit's looking great. I asked Alfred to weave in some more elasticity around your upper thighs… some of your higher kicks looked like they were restrained in the suit. I'll also want to give this another go soon with your gadgetry involved… your suit is shock, bullet, and knife resistant, but you'll need to know what all that feels like in order to fight through it."
"So you want me to come back in another day to be shocked, sliced, and shot?" I clarified.
"Under supervised conditions, of course," he answered with a smug smile.
"Sounds fun," I consented. He clicked through some of the analytics to show my suits telemetry map and a visual representation of my fighting style.
"As far as technique," he said, "you've certainly improved since I first studied you. You've gotten great at close quarters combat. You seem unafraid to get in close with your body," he observed. Another flash of landing under Dick's body, his hands on my thigh and butt, ran through my mind. The way he looked down at me with his sweaty hair hanging over his brow. The rough and careful way he brought me to the ground.
I shook the thought out of mind. Stop it, Barbara.
"I want to get you better acquainted with enemies that need more lead time before you can take them down… dodging blades, anyone with shields, or the occasional enemy that can only be attacked from behind," he speculated.
"Such as?" I asked. He turned to me seriously, eyebrows raised.
"In a fight with Bane or Solomon Grundy, you wouldn't attack head on," he advised. I nodded and considered the idea; the idea of facing either of those foes alone was hard to swallow. "We'll start working on that next time."
"Before that, can I cover something with you?" I asked. He stood up straight and turned around to face me, leaning back against the dashboard. I felt embarrassed, like I was about to ask too much. "My dad's getting a little suspicious… because I still live with him and because he's close to some people at the library where I work. I don't have a good cover story, and he counts on seeing me every night. That'll make it hard to sneak out to fight crime on a regular basis." He nodded.
"I've been making some preparatory arrangements," he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "How would you like to come work for Wayne Technologies?" I raised my eyebrows, surprised.
"Oh… wouldn't that be suspicious?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Half the city works for a Wayne Enterprises subsidiary. We could start you as a co-op, so you can keep your job at the library part time for a little while, then promote you up. We can keep you in informatics. It's a lean department at the Gotham branch, but we could give you a private space to work on criminal investigations during the day," he explained. I nodded; there was no reason to say no. It was just happening so much faster than I expected. "As far as living with your dad goes," he continued, "I've got something in the works. But it's going to take a while. We'll need something to temporarily give you an alibi."
"What do you have in the works?" I asked.
"I'll hire you an escort," he said, avoiding the question. "Totally legal, but very discreet. They'll pose as a friend or boyfriend, show up when they need to, call and text to provide alibi sources."
"Can it be a friend? I don't think my dad would be very supportive of my suddenly being out all night with a random boyfriend," I suggested, based on my recent conversation with dad. Bruce nodded.
"They'll be in touch tomorrow," he said, standing up straight again and turning towards me. "Anything else?" I shook my head, sitting upright in my seat.
"No… when do I start at Wayne Tech?" I asked, standing as I grabbed my gym bag.
"Lucius will expect you on Monday."