Gotham's Golden Girl – part 1
Laura Lake roared down the narrow two lane highway that led towards Gotham City. Dick Grayson/ Nightwing hung on for dear life, as Laura's long hair whipped into his face. He'd been comfortably seated on the back of Laura's father's vintage motorcycle. She kept up with the sleek black Batcycle and sporty Batmobile, zipping along just ahead of them.
They quickly left the others from the ELLE Meeting far behind. About thirty miles out of the edge of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne / Batman suddenly spun the Batmobile sideways, effectively blocking Laura's path. "What the hell?" Gold Wing exclaimed. Batgirl's bike skidded to a stop.
She sent her Gold Wing Cycle into a braking skid, pulling its rear wheel off the ground. Dick barely held onto Laura's slim waist, as she resettled the high-powered bike, stopping mere feet from the low profile Batmobile's passenger side door.
"Does he do that often?" Laura complained loudly to Nightwing. "He's certainly unpredictable!" Dick admitted. "That's usually his biggest advantage." The gull wing driver side door slipped quietly upward, as Bruce glared at them from within the Batmobile cockpit.
"This is as far as you go." Batman growled at Gold Wing through his voice synthesizer. As Laura stood up, her long legs arched high above the motorcycle seat. She placed her hands on her shapely hips, saying: "You heard the boss!" Gold Wing snorted derisively. "Off, Boy Wonder!" She snapped, loud enough for Bruce and Barbara to hear. Dick quickly vaulted off the bike, as Laura shut down the engine.
Nightwing stalked angrily towards the awaiting caped crusaders. "That was uncalled for!" Dick snapped at Bruce as Barbara winced. She hated it when the boys fought. "Let's go!" Batman grumbled, scowling over his shoulder at Laura, who crossed her arms defiantly.
"Where would you like me to sit, on Batgirl's lap?" Nightwing snarled. "Whatever floats your boat!" Bruce retorted. "Uh…I'd prefer not." Barbara put in sourly. "Maybe you could sit in his lap?" Batman needled her. "I'll stick with my Bat Cycle, thank you very much." Barbara remarked.
"Keep it up, and I'll go home with Gold Wing." Dick threatened, half-seriously. There was a long, uncomfortable silence between the crime-fighters. Meanwhile, Laura had retrieved her helmet, and was positioning it over her lengthy, raven black hair. She didn't need protection of course, but she still had to keep up appearances, giving the impression that she was vulnerable.
Dick glanced back at Laura as she fastened the strap on the gloss black helmet, with the bright yellow Gold Wing insignia painted lovingly across it, beneath her thin chin. Laura stretched leisurely, showing off the Gold Wing logo she'd chosen. The bright yellow bird emblazoned on her chest, glistened in the late afternoon sunlight.
Bruce sighed into the silence. "Do you feel that you can trust this Gold Wing?" He grilled Dick. "Yes!" Nightwing admitted far too quickly. "You just met her, Dick." Barbara pointed out. "We have to trust someone else sometime." Dick defended.
"You did see what she could do, didn't you Bruce?" He added coldly. "Yes." Batman admitted reluctantly. "Wouldn't you rather have her as a friend than as a rival?" Nightwing pressed. Bruce couldn't fault his protégée's logic. Dick was starting to grow up, stand on his own, and he had to face that. The two of them had been arguing a lot lately, Batman mused.
Dick had decided to leave his Robin persona behind, and create the new version, called Nightwing. After he'd turned eighteen, Dick had finally come to grips with his family's loss at the hands of Two-Face. He'd determined that he needed to seek a new direction, with or without Bruce's guidance.
Laura pulled the hair back from her right ear, so she could pick out what the boys were saying with her enhanced Meta Human hearing. Gold Wing could hear over great distances, though certainly not as far as her friends Clark and Kara Kent could. Dick? Bruce? She mentally noted the caped crusader's names.
Laura didn't usually make it a point to eavesdrop, but this was different, she rationalized. She wondered if there was some unwritten superheroes law somewhere that stated every hero was entitled to keep his or her identity a secret, but so what? Laura stewed.
Oliver Queen had willfully given up his secret identity, finally confessing to the press that he'd been acting as the Green Arrow. He and Chloe Sullivan-Queen had been doing alright. Gold Wing mentally promised that one day she would reveal herself to the world. Everyone would know that the powerful Meta Human was Laura Lake, a simple girl from Falcon Claw, Nebraska.
Meanwhile, Laura put aside her crime fighting dream, and listened to Bruce and Dick discussing their next move. "Fine!" The Batman said sourly, ultimately giving in to his protégées wishes. "Only show her Gotham City, not the Batcave, or our house." Bruce directed, forgetting momentarily that he may not have been out of Gold Wing's earshot. "Done!" Dick snapped coldly.
Nightwing turned his attention back to Gold Wing. Laura pretended to be mounting her motorcycle to presumably return home. "Gold Wing! Wait!" Dick shouted as Batman angrily pressed a button on the sleek Batmobile's dashboard. The gull wing door began to close as Dick ducked out of its path.
Laura assumed a petulant, pouting, pose. Her frown was only partially visible beneath the Gold Wing mask. "Yes?" Laura asked coolly. Batman had flipped on the Batmobile's twin turbo engines, and the low slung sports car roared to life. He spun the car in a neat one eighty, aiming it towards Gotham City.
Batman's plan was to zip right past the Batcave's secret exit that lay just beneath a huge decorative waterfall that lined the remote edge of Bruce Wayne's property. The road within the long tunnel that led to Stately Wayne Manor would gradually decline until it was directly below the multistory mansion.
Dick strolled up to Laura and politely asked her if she'd like to see Gotham City. Gold Wing nervously replied yes, and Nightwing climbed aboard the cycle behind Gold Wing, again wrapping his arms around her thin waist. Batman squealed the Batmobile tires as he left dual burn marks in the blacktopped pavement. Laura watched him go, shaking her head. "He is a bit of a tool isn't he?" She snapped.
Dick laughed heartily. "He can be, but his heart is in the right place."
In moments, the turbo charged bat vehicles blasted out of sight. Laura's father's Gold Wing cycle, though powerful in its own right, was no match for the tricked out transports of the caped crusaders. Nightwing clung to Laura, as she sped around a turn. They both leaned to one side, the cycle catching a forty-five degree angle relative to the hot and dusty pavement.
They zipped along towards Gotham. Finally, some traffic appeared on the horizon, and Laura was forced to slow the machine down. Even as they cruised along the desolate two lane highway that led to the outskirts of Gotham City, the teens tried to be inconspicuous, to no avail.
A startled truck driver glanced down at them from the cab of his eighteen-wheeler. One wonders whether the trucker was more intrigued by the costumed characters, or the mint vintage 1976 Gold Wing motorcycle whipping past.
"You're not going to tell me your secret identity, are you?" Dick shouted into Gold Wing's ear, above the din of the roaring engine. "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours!" Laura flirted. "Actually, Boy Wonder, there's not much to tell." Laura downshifted, and the cycle slowed to match the speed of the oncoming traffic. "I used to be a typical little girl. You know, Barbies and Ponies!" She added.
"One day, I just happened to disobey my guardian at the wrong time." Laura began. "I literally fell into acquiring my Meta human powers." Gold Wing continued to cruise down an access road, which led to an on ramp to a Gotham County expressway. Dick, being a good detective, had picked up on Laura's subtle hint. "Guardian?" he echoed. "What happened to your parents, if you don't mind my asking?"
Laura knew that she would have to eventually discuss that terrible topic. If she entertained any ideas of forming some type of relationship with this Nightwing, or Dick, the name that she'd overheard. Gold Wing had to stop at the traffic light that marked the exit of the expressway onto the local streets.
"My parents were killed when I was very young." Laura replied, as her motorcycle idled quietly. "I'm sorry to hear that." Dick commented sincerely. "My family was killed when I was younger as well." Laura nodded as the light turned green. "My Guardian has taken care of me ever since." She was careful not to use the word relative, because she had no doubt that Dick could easily find out about her past.
Laura wasn't ready to share much more than this, at least not yet. "Turn east down 47th street, Gold Wing." Nightwing directed, as Laura complied. This happened to be the exact opposite direction from Stately Wayne Manor. Bruce had stressed to Dick that Gold Wing was to come no closer.
Meanwhile, Batman had already planned a circuitous route past downtown Gotham, and to enter the secret access road beneath WayneCo Tower. This would lead he and Batgirl to Lucius Fox. They had much to discuss. The vehicles slipped into the old Tenth Street Subway which had been abandoned for years. They slowed, parked, and hopped out of the transports. Lucius would be by to meet them soon.
Barbara crossed her arms in protest. "Bruce, I thought that you would want Gold Wing to help us?" She asked in an accusatory tone. "We really don't need her help, Barb." Bruce argued calmly. "Isn't that the same thing you said about me?" She pinned him down.
"We don't know anything about her." Batman made his case. "I mean there are no news stories, no on line websites, or social media pages about any Gold Wing. Not even so much as a sound bite. Where the hell did she come from? Is she even human?" Bruce retorted.
"She says that she's a Meta Human." Barbara countered. "Maybe even a mutant." Bruce would not be swayed. "The only reference to a Gold Wing is a couple of brief statements by Oliver Queen, and of all things, a report by that Lois Lane. It was about a new crime-fighter other than the Supergirl, or the Metropolis Blur." Batgirl smirked. "I can see that you're curious though."
"I'm curious about all of these new so-called superheroes, vigilantes, Justice League, or whatever they choose to call themselves." Bruce added. "Are they a help or hindrance? Are they crazy, or just concerned citizens? Do they ever kill? Who lets them stand in judgment of criminals?"
Barbara shrugged. "Isn't that the same things they say about us?" She pointed out. Bruce silenced. He had to admit that Barbara was growing up, and she had her own opinions on events. "The reports of the vigilantes have been going up over the last few years." Batgirl continued. "Are they just like us, or something new?" She posed the obvious question.
"Exactly my point." Bruce said with finality. "We just don't know." He grumbled.