"There. That should do it." Barbara finished the last connection on the transponder. She made a special effort to make this one as small as possible. There were several lines she and Leslie had agreed not to cross and she had just finished crossing the last one. It's what was necessary to send a strong enough neuro-signal to stimulate both her legs and her still-week arms. She also needed to be able to go the distance.
The Proximity Surveillance alerted her to Alfred's presence in the garage, so she quickly returned the new device to its hiding place and turned toward the bars where she hoped to resume what would look like an arduous workout. One attempt to lift herself would, no doubt, produce enough sweat and strain to make it believable. Only, as was becoming routine, that's not exactly the way it played out.
"Ms. Barbara?" Alfred made himself known before stealthily appearing in the gym.
Just as he appeared, her arms reached their limit and she fell between the bars. "Damn it!" She cried under her breath.
"Perhaps you've been down here long enough?" Alfred stood in place waiting for Barbara to permit him to help her up.
"Right." Using every method she'd ever learned in therapy over the years, she managed to struggle to a sitting position. Using her stronger right arm, she pulled on her sweatpants until her legs were straight in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she measured the distance to her chair and knew she couldn't make it on her own. Not right then.
"Thanks for waiting and letting me try. Could you maybe help me back …?"
"Certainly Barbara."
As Alfred bent down and lifted her into the wheelchair beside the mat, she thought about her plans for walking and wondered if it was worth it. The last couple of times she used the transponder, she was in much better shape. She wasn't even sure it would work in her present state. Besides, why was she doing it? For one visit with her standing in front of him? All so she could collapse outside his room and spend the rest of her life having people lift her from place to place? It was something she'd have to consider.
"Oh. Before I forget, a package came for you. I placed it in the detainment cell for you to scan. Seemed shifty to me. I just thought it would be best to…"
"Thanks Alfred. Where are the girls? They should be home by now." Barbara was increasingly alarmed when the Clocktower was more quiet than usual.
Alfred motioned toward Delphi and continued dicing tomatoes for dinner.
Barbara glanced at the screen across the room and noticed a message. Pulling away from the cutting board where she was only pretending to distract herself by helping Alfred slice up a salad, she dried her hands and went to the computer platform. The closer she got, she noticed that the message was from Helena. She shot a disgruntled look back at Alfred as she read it :
HUNTRESS : ORACLE. WE ARE STOPPING BY THE HOSPITAL BEFORE DINNER. COMS ARE STILL OPEN IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US.
The once-calm-clear-headed-mentor slammed her fists on the keyboard which had most recently become her new MO. The screen went black permitting the reflection of Barbara's now-tear-filled-eyes to stare back at her painfully.
Taking a deep breath, she went to the elevator and took it down to the detainment cell. She was unsure why she was motivated to risk permanent physical disability for a few vertical moments. Slowly she was realizing it had less to do with Wade and more to do with some new obsession with rebellion. She was beginning to identify with Helena's drive to be obstinate for the sake of being heard.
"Alfred was right. Shifty package. Could he have sent it in any more criminal-like packaging?" Just for kicks, she ran a quick scan over the box. A single bottle. Small. Powerful. Dangerous. Necessary.
…
"I believe she's disconnected the intercom. I called her for dinner 15 minutes ago."
"Is she hold up in the gym again? What's her problem anyhow? I'm…"
"My problem, Helena, is that I can't walk; just for starters. I also find that limited use of my arms makes the long hallway quite a trip in this chair." With one last disgusted push Barbara glared at Alfred and Helena. "Here. No more intercom. Coms are officially back to normal. Improved really. I think they'll be all they were and more." She tossed three small boxes onto the table and went to the sink to wash her hands.
Dinner was not what Helena was expecting. Barbara had hardly spoken a civil word in weeks, but tonight it was like she was overcompensating. It was one boring factoid after another, on and on, without so much as a rhetorical question.
"Barbara!" Helena had reached her limit.
"Yes?"
"What's up with you? You're being strange. What's with the technology lecture? Did we get some new nerdy magazine subscription or something? Or are you trying to…"
"Trying to what? Trying to have an intelligent conversation. You guys haven't even stopped to notice that we are pretty much back up to full speed. Well, technologically anyhow." She wiped her mouth with a napkin and pushed away from the table.
Silence filled the air. Barbara took her plate to the sink and began cleaning.
"Barbara? Why are you doing the…"
"Because I can. Alfred is not our slave."
"No Ms. Barbara. Astute observation; however, I am your butler and I am responsible for keeping you ladies comfortable. Please. Allow me the pleasure of doing the dishes."
"Besides, I brought over some great movies. Let just relax for a night. Can you do that?" Helena didn't have quite the amumunition to distract Barbara.
Barbara had other plans for the evening. She was anxious to try out the transponder boost. "Ummm. I would, …No. No I can't. I still have…"
"What? You said we were back on track. Come on. You and Helena relax. I've got sweeps tonight and Jesse has extra detail on call. We're good. Just…"
"Dinah. Let it go. She said no. You know Barbara. No time for…"
"Fine. You win. Let's veg. You are probably right. I could use a little down time." Drying off her hands, Barbara went over to the elevator. "You coming Hel?"
The girls looked at each other a little confused. Just when they thought they had her number, she just gave in.
"Ummm. Yah. Let's go." Helena jumped in front of Barbara holding the sliding door back.
"Don't act so shocked Helena. I'm sorry. It's just that I've sort of been on auto pilot trying to get things back in working order. You're right. I could use the break. Let's go before I change my mind." Even with her pending practice run foremost on her mind, Barbara was longing for some rest and welcomed a little distraction. Something in the back of her mind told her that further damaging her spinal cord could wait just one more day.
"I'm sorry I gave you a hard time. We're just worried about you. We've got some absolute classics here." Helena spread the discs out on the table while Barbara moved onto the couch.
"Yah. Looks like classics alright."
"You o.k. over there? Can I help you?"
"No thanks. I'm actually getting a little stronger I think. Let's start with a little action and work up to sappy romance; which, by the way, is a surprising pick for you."
"Yah, well we all have our secrets. Let's keep this one under wraps, wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong impression." It was the first they'd laughed together in weeks.
…
It was early considering their late night of sappy movie watching, but Barbara dared to wake Helena with the dawn. "Helena? I need an ophthalmic recognition cathode ray tube. Up for an errand? Helena?"
"Ughhh. Shut up! If I were awake I would have any idea what you just said. I need breakfast."
"Then come unlock your door." Barbara was patiently waiting with breakfast outside Helena's room.
"Yah…not like you can't just break in or …"
"Just open up. I really do need you and Dinah to run some errands. There are a few things I'd like to try to improve since we just did a total rehaul on the spatial…."
"Fine, fine, here, enter, just stop with the chatter!" Helena pulled the door open to reveal a curiously awake and vibrant Barbara then flopped back down on the couch beside her bed."
"Here. Sugary cereal and Diet Coke. Breakfast of champions. Your favorite. Now shower and meet me in the gym. Quick workout before you go? Dinah's already down there."
"Good for her."
"Helena?"
"Yah, fine, fine… be down in 15. Go away now!" She sat up and rubbed her eyes then chugged the Diet Coke.
Barbara breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed as if they were buying the ruse and would be out of the house within the hour. She could finally test her sea legs so to speak.
"All this technology and no automatic door to the gym. Irony." Barbara backed up while steadying the door with a free hand before pushing into the room.
"Who are you talking to Barbara? What is irony?"
Barbara gave one last sigh as she pushed through the door and felt it hit the back of her chair as she passed through. "Irony, Dinah, is incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; the event which…"
"Stop! I know what irony is, I meant what were saying was ironic?"
"Oh. Sorry. I was talking about the fact that I've spent thousands of dollars and countless hours making this clocktower an impenetrable fortress . Where the sound of my voice can access any one of a hundred different types of computers at any given time, but I haven't managed to have an automatic door put in for the gym, so the one crippled person in the tower doesn't have to kill herself getting in."
"I hate when you say things like that." Dinah handed a pair of gloves to Barbara and moved to the back of the nearby bench and waited for her mentor to be spotted for a few quick reps.
"Things like what Dinah?"
"Nevermind, I just hate when you're so negative about your…"
"Well, you let me know when you discover a way to be positive about losing the use of your legs. Lets start before Helena gets here and we lose all focus." Hearing her own comments thundering around in her mind, Barbara noted that in the seven years since she had been shot, she hadn't known herself to make negative comments about her disability. For that matter, she hardly addressed it. Still, it was now becoming commonplace for her to put herself down and make people feel uncomfortable.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Just as Barbara went down for her first rep on the parallel bars, Helena burst through the door looking a little more awake than earlier.