A shot rang through the Batcave causing the bats napping above to fly away in annoyance. Near the edge of the Batcaves platform resided a lone training dummy dressed in the red, grey, and black camouflage of the New Eras soldiers, a single bullet hole perforating its chest.
Over by the Batcomputer Kara stood next to Batman as she watched Barbara assume a combat stance, transitioning her M4 from the alert to ready position and firing a quick hammer pair into the dummy's chest.
"Hmm, Sergeant Westbrook seems to have trained her well." Batman commented as he observed his former students shot placement.
"Sure, looks like it. You're okay with this? I know you have a thing about guns..." Kara replied. She didn't know what had brought about Barbara's sudden desire to shoot her weapon, from what she had gathered her girlfriend had never even touched the thing since her stint in 29 Palms. Seeing Batgirl firing a rifle was...strange.
"While I dislike the use of firearms the military has sound justification for using them and she's one of them now. I know her Sergeant has been accommodating with her personal feelings on them against his better judgement, but if she decides to change her mind and make use of the weapons provided to her then I trust her to use her best judgment."
"One of them now... Are you saying she can't serve and be Batgirl?"
"Of course not. What I mean is she's putting herself directly in harm's way and shouldn't let her obligations as Batgirl interfere with her obligations to the military and whatever that may entail. Once her term of service ends and if she is willing she is more than welcome to return as Batgirl, regardless of what she may or may not have done while serving."
"I understand. Hopefully it doesn't come down to that but after what happened with Lena and One-Five everyone's a bit on edge." Kara frowned. Everyone was either blaming themselves or moping about and when she and Barbara had retrieved her rifle from Alex's armory they had found him alone and several shots into a bottle of whiskey and they hadn't left until Harley returned to make sure he would be okay.
"That's understandable, regardless of how well you knew those men and women they were still a part of your team and their lives meant something to each of you. It's unfortunate that they died but as I'm sure the Sergeant and his advisor would tell you that is the reality of war. I tried my best to prepare Barbara for that when she first started working with me and she experienced it somewhat when Jason died, but she never experienced loss like that firsthand."
"Yeah, it was rough seeing them like that, those were people that I knew, that I fought alongside, and sure I only knew them for about a week but I could tell they were good people."
"They gave their lives protecting an innocent just like any of us would have done. I think that sometimes we forget that being a hero is more than wearing a fancy costume or having superpowers. Those Marines sacrifice should be an example of what we as heroes must be willing to do."
"I get it, I do. I think we don't give the military enough credit, we always look down on them and act superior because we aren't violent like they are but actually working with them and getting to know the men and women serving is showing me that they are just as compassionate as we are and they make do with the resources available to them. I think that if the League and the military work together we can actually bring about a positive change to the world!"
"One day maybe but we must focus on our present situation, though your enthusiasm is refreshing." Batman replied with what Kara could swear was a smile.
"Well we can't all be doom and gloom like you and miss moody over there." Kara smiled back as she nodded towards where Barbara was busy shooting.
"True enough. I have some work to, seems even with war looming criminals are still out and about causing trouble. Take care of her Kara, she'll need you in the coming days." Batman informed her as he headed for the Batmobile.
Kara watched the powerful machine start up and speed out of the cave into the night, leaving her alone with Barbara. With nothing to distract her Kara walked over to where Barbara was and sat on the edge of the workbench nearby, watching as her girlfriend shot the training dummy again.
"Hey, you feeling alright?" Despite Batman saying that she was fine, Kara was still concerned about Barbara's current behavior.
"Yeah, never better." Barbara replied dismissively.
Kara frowned, feeling hurt that Barbara wasn't talking to her. "It's just that I've never seen you act like this before, I'm really worried that all this might be getting to you…"
"I said I'm FINE!" Barbara snapped, whirling around to glare angrily at her.
"I…I'm sorry. I just…" Kara stammered, not expecting Barbara to snap at her like that.
"Just what!? Think that I'm losing it because I'm shooting a gun!? You wanna know what I think, maybe if had used this thing the other day those pilots and Lena would still be alive!" Barbara shouted, her grip tightening on the weapon as she continued to glare at Kara.
"Barbara, I know you're hurting but using that weapon won't bring them back." Kara glanced nervously at the weapon in Barbara's hands, knowing full well that it was loaded and that she shouldn't be using it in her current mood.
"You think I don't know that!? I'm not delusional Kara, but I don't have powers like you or Ivy and my fighting style isn't cut out for fighting a war! I've tried to make it work but I'm nothing but a hindrance, but I won't be anymore." Barbara said threateningly. Kara noticed that her usually vibrant green eyes were now dark and dull, as if it was someone else standing in front of her.
"Think about what you're saying, I know you don't want to start killing people." Kara tried to reason with her. Hearing her say these things and seeing the look in her eyes Kara knew she was right to be worried.
"It's not about want, it's about doing what's necessary to keep people alive! I won't have any more lives on my conscience!" Barbara continued to shout, her thumb running threateningly over her weapons safety switch. Kara noticed and knew that she had to get that weapon away from her before she did something she'd regret.
"Barbara…" Kara stepped forward and reached for the weapon before Barbara stepped out of reach.
"No! I'm doing this Kara and if you won't support me then I don't need you!" She shouted, her anger getting the better of her as she leveled the weapons muzzle with Kara's chest. Kara stared in stunned silence as her girlfriend pointed a weapon at her and she let out a pained sob as tears began to run down her face. Finally realizing what she was doing Barbara looked in horror between the weapon in her hands and the look of hurt on Kara's face before dropping the weapon, letting it fall and clatter on the ground between them. "Kara, I didn't mean that…" Barbara tried to reach out to her but Kara backed away from her.
"Barbara, how could you?" Kara knew that a bullet couldn't hurt her but that didn't stop her from sobbing as she ran to the Batcave's exit in tears.
"Kara wait!" Barbara called out but she had already disappeared into the night.
...
Harley awoke to the sound of knocking on the front door. She groaned as she looked over at the clock to see that it was well past midnight. Alex was still asleep next to her, seemingly oblivious to the sound of knocking. Realizing that whoever was knocking wasn't going away and that Alex wouldn't be getting up Harley sighed as she got up and rummaged through her nightstand for her .45 pistol, just in case.
Making her way down the hall, Harley hid the pistol behind her back as she opened the door only to find a tear stricken Kara standing on the other side.
"Kara? What are you doing here, and why are you crying?" Harley asked, too tired to call her by her nickname.
"I'm sorry to bother you so late Harley but I didn't know who else to go to!" Kara sobbed.
"It's alright come in, tell me what's wrong." Harley let her inside and led her into the living area, gesturing for her to take a seat on the couch before putting her gun away. "Sorry about the gun, but you never know in Gotham, right?" Harley smiled, trying to lift the girl's spirits unsuccessfully.
Kara sat on the couch and sobbed into her hands. Harley frowned at the sight, not liking seeing the normally cheerful girl so down in the dumps. She sat down next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Hey, what's going on?" Harley asked softly.
"It's Barbara. She was shooting in the Batcave and it's so unlike her to even touch a gun let alone shoot one, I was concerned and asked if she was alright but she just snapped at me. We got into an argument and she said that she was going to kill people, I tried to reason with her but she just got angrier and when I tried to take the gun away from her she threatened me with it!" Kara explained between sobs.
Harley couldn't believe what she was hearing. In all the time she had known Barbara, even when they were enemies, she had never threatened to kill someone no matter how badly they deserved it. That she had made the threat to her own girlfriend was even more alarming. "God…I, Kara are you ok?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to help her and she…she…" Kara sobbed into Harley's shoulder. "When I looked into her eyes it was like it wasn't even her…"
"I'm so sorry Kara, I'm sure she didn't mean it." Harley hoped that she didn't, that it was just stress getting the better of her, but either way this was serious offense. If anyone higher than her caught wind of this Barbara could find herself stripped of her rank and in the brig.
"She was so angry though…I've never seen her like that before…"
"I'm sure she's just stressed from the last mission, just give her some space to cool off and I'm sure she'll be back to normal." Harley knew it wouldn't be as simple as that, but she had to assure Kara that everything would be fine.
"But we won't. She threatened to kill me Harley! How do I move past that!?" Kara exclaimed hopelessly.
"I…I don't have an answer for you."
"But didn't Alex shoot you once? How did you get over that?" Kara asked, looking at the circular scar on Harley's right hand.
"I made a terrible mistake and he didn't know that it was me. After it was over Alex cut ties with me for four years, years that I thought he was dead. It was pure coincidence that we bumped into each other again, but he had orders to kill me and he would have been perfectly justified in doing so. If it hadn't been for Barbara talking him out of it he would have done it too. It took a long time and the support of my friends but eventually I was saved and somehow Alex and I managed to repair our friendship. Barbara made a stupid mistake like I did, but if Alex and I can fix our relationship then I know you two can." Harley assured her after explaining her own tragic tale.
"I hope so. She means a lot to me and I don't want to lose her, not over something like this."
"You won't Kara, but I think you two should spend some time apart to cool off first."
"If you think that's best. Can…can I stay here tonight? I don't have anywhere else to go…" Kara asked sadly. She had been staying at Barbara's apartment across town, but couldn't bring herself to stay there after what happened.
"Of course you can, let me get some things to make the couch." Harley smiled reassuringly before getting up to grab some spare blankets and pillows. She quickly laid out the blankets and stayed with Kara until she fell asleep before returning to bed herself. She hoped that Kara and Barbara would be alright but was even more worried about how this could affect everyone. They couldn't afford to mistrust one another with war looming on the horizon.
...Mission Complete…
Sorry this is such a short chapter but I've had little time to work on this the past few weeks. I'll be out training pretty much the rest of the month so I won't be able to update again until at least early September, so I hope you guys stick around until then. Things are going to start escalating faster and faster from here as the heroes struggle to wage a two front war against the New Era and the coalition of Gothams criminals, along with their own internal conflicts.
Let me know what you guys think, any input on how to improve this story or my writing in general is welcome. I'm also happy to answer any questions about this story.
Lastly I'd like to thank everyone that's liked and reviewed this story, you guys give me the motivation to keep going.
Semper Fidelis
-StormTrooper96