"You better not be taking me out to the middle of nowhere to kill me," Babs said as she trailed behind me.
"Patience, grasshopper," I said. "It's just up here. There. See?"
I pointed past the trees to where we could just see the edge of the waterfall. Babs raised an eyebrow at me and then trudged forward for a better look. I followed, watching her reactions.
"Wow," She said once we'd made it to the water front. "Beautiful. You're not going to make me jump off that are you?"
"Not on the first date," I teased. "I've got something else in mind. Wait here."
She waited reluctantly by the edge of the lake, arms crossed, as I skirted around the rocks and retrieved my rope from where it was secured on the cliff. She looked even more skeptical as I brought it over to her.
"Rock climbing?"
"Not quite," I said.
I tied a second slipknot into the rope, one for me, one for her. I looped the rope around myself first and then her, tightening it so she jerked forward and we were hip to hip.
"Oh, you're slick," She chuckled.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Don't make me regret sleeping with you," She said.
I hooked one arm around her waist and gripped the rope with the other, pushing off from the edge and sending us swinging through the water. Babs squeezed her eyes shut, gripping the rope with white knuckles. I felt the rope draw taught as we passed through the water and into the dank cave.
Babs opened her eyes, dripping wet and looked around the cave with a curious uncertainty. A moment later a colony of bats flew overhead, shrieking shrilly, wings beating. Babs shouted and ducked her head, but I was used to it. This was as much their home as it was the Batman's.
"What is this?" Babs asked.
"This," I said spreading my arms. "Is the batcave."
"The what?" She asked.
"It's where Bruce Wayne kept all his secrets," I told her. "Let me show you."
I took her hand and pulled her ahead of me so I could guide her from behind. We waded through the knee-deep water, my hands on her hips and she walked cautiously like she expected the water to suddenly drop off into a bottomless cavern. The ground shifted from rocks and gravel to smooth metal and the Bat's platform began to rise.
"Jesus," Babs alleged, jolting at the sudden movement and gripping my sleeve.
"Pretty cool, huh?" I said.
"Bruce Wayne was aware that he wasn't a real bat, right?" She said.
"I don't think Bruce Wayne ever knew exactly what he was," I replied. "But he was nothing if not cautious."
"Cautious is an understatement," She said as I led her across the bridge to the main platform.
"He's got everything down here," I said as the various computers and gadgets folded up from the floor, ready for use. "Case files, conspiracy theories, spare weapons, suits, you name it. This is where he did everything. Which is why no one ever found any evidence in the actual house."
"Money really is the best superpower," Babs said, running her fingers over a keyboard.
"I've never been able to get onto any of the computers," I said. "He's got them pretty well encrypted."
"I bet I could do it," She said, sitting down and typing away.
"I bet you could."
"So, this place has been down here the whole time," She said. "And you waited until now to show me?"
"I had to be sure I could trust you," I said. "Before I could show you."
"You mean you had to get your rocks off before you could show me," She taunted.
"It certainly didn't hurt," I replied.
"So… what?" She asked, typing away. "He just has a cave hidden away on his land to hide his gadgets?"
"Just a perk of owning ten acres of land, I guess," I said. "It actually leads up into the house."
"Seriously?" She asked.
"Uh huh," I said. "That's the elevator over there."
"Where does it lead to?"
"A former den I think," I said. "It's mostly empty now, but I could never figure out how to get down here from up there. Only up. Hence the waterfall."
"I see," She said distractedly. "That's got to be controlled by some kind of computer program, too. When I'm done here I'll see what I can do there."
"Well, I brought you down here to impress you," I said. "But it seems you're the one doing the impressing."
"How's that for de-manning?" She snorted. "Don't you worry. Play your cards right and perhaps I'll let you reclaim your manhood. Aaaaaand…. Done."
Babs finished her typing and the computers all lit up, various files and windows opening up. Most of it was Greek to me, but I recognized blueprints of some buildings in Gotham along with plans, potential suspects, former public enemies, an entire dossier on the Joker and Selina Kyle. It was quite fascinating, really. The time and energy he had to have put into this. Into saving a city that gave him nothing but grief and hatred.
"Looks like you've got a lot of reading to do, handsome," Babs said.
"How did you even…"
"Natural talent," She shrugged. "Now lets see about that elevator.
I led her once more across the slippery bridges and platforms to the stainless steel elevator. There was only one button and only one function, but Babs took interest in it all the same.
"How long do you think it took him to do all this?" She asked.
"Years probably," I said. "He had to have expanded it during that eight year period where he was public enemy number one. Not to mention having to start from scratch after it all burnt down."
"Why would he bother?" She asked.
"He was apparently still loyal to Gotham," I said. "Even though we weren't loyal to him.
"I was," She said. "You were."
"I didn't even know about him then," I said.
"You never thought he was guilty though,"
"I had a hunch," I said. "But I never had any proof."
"That's what faith is, Dick," She told me. "Believing without seeing."
"We're comparing the Batman to God now?" I asked.
"Not quite God," She said. "He doesn't have enough disciples yet."
"You, me, Fox," I said. "Only nine to go."
"Don't forget my father," She said.
"Does he really support the Batman anymore?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter," She said. "He supported the Batman before anyone else. He has seniority. He's president of the Batman fan club and we are his loyal followers."
"In that case, we should be hanged," I said. "For extremely high treason. I mean we are going behind his back to finish the Batman's work. Not to mention last night."
"Do you mean the bad guy lair or the sex?" She asked.
I considered for a moment, "Which do you think he'd react better to?"
"It's hard to say," She shrugged as the elevator came to a jolting stop. "I mean he essentially sacrificed his marriage for the Batman, but protecting your daughter's virtue is kind of the whole point of being a father."
"Your virtue was done for way before you met me," I said.
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to know that," She said.
Babs and I stepped out of the elevator and she had to jump out of the way so the closing bookcase wouldn't slice her in half.
"Is it, like, a rule that all billionaires have to have a secret room behind their bookcase?" She asked.
"Apparently."
"And there's no way to open it from this side?"
"Nope," I said. "I've tried all the books too, so don't bother with that. It has some other kind of trigger."
"Maybe it was voice activated," She suggested. "Only opens to Bruce Wayne's voice."
"Well, that's not too helpful now, is it?"
"Not necessarily," She said. "If I can find the device that recognizes the voice then I can trick it into opening."
"What if it isn't voice activated?" I asked.
"There has to be some kind of technology behind this," She said. "All I need to do is find it and I'll most likely be able to figure it out. Fetch me a step ladder, squire!"
Babs first started with the "hinge" of the bookcase-door, but that proved to be ineffective as there were only wires connecting to the supposed robot that controlled the door. I didn't really understand the majority of what she was saying, so I sat back on the dusty piano bench and watched.
"Bingo!" Babs said happily, apparently having found what she was looking for.
"I don't see the door opening," I called.
"Oh, give me a minute," She said. "It doesn't look like it's a voice activation. More like an external, wireless remote of some kind."
"Well, that would be good," I said. "If we had the remote."
"If I can access the device recognition I can maybe make it think I've used the remote," She said. "It's just a matter of knowing the right combination of these wires to activate."
"How did you learn to do all this stuff anyway?" I asked.
"What stuff?"
"This hacking, computer stuff."
She shrugged, "I take computer classes at the university, but most of it is self-taught. We all had to find ways to survive during Bane."
"Most people just found a warehouse and hid," I said.
"You didn't," She reminded me. "And I wasn't raised to just sit back and do nothing. Besides for a while I didn't know where my father was, or that he was with you and I did everything I could to find him."
"He never talked about you," I said. "I mean, never. I knew he had a kids and a wife, but at work and with me he was all business. You'd think he'd have every man he could find looking for his daughter."
She shrugged again, "He knows how he raised me. I'm not stupid. And his priority was Bane."
"If it was my daughter out there, alone, I wouldn't have any other priority," I said.
"He didn't know who he could trust," She said. "He didn't want to go blabbing about his potentially missing family members and have someone who wasn't loyal hear and get to me before he could."
"Your relationship with him just never ceases to baffle me," I said. "I mean you're doing everything you can to save him, but when actually faced with him you act like you couldn't care less."
"He doesn't want to be saved," She said. "I have to be sneaky about it."
"And you came back here when you heard he was shot and stayed even after you knew he was okay," I said.
"What's your point?" She asked.
"My point is, I think you're both stronger than the other thinks," I said.
"Maybe that's true," She said. "But you're pretty biased in your idolization of the both of us."
"I don't know about my idolization of you," I said. "That could just be your ego getting in the way again."
"Alright, maybe idolization is the wrong word," She said. "But you're impressed with me. You want me."
"I think I proved that last night," I said.
"I meant before that," She said. "You were jealous."
"Jealous?" I repeated. "Of what? When?"
"A few nights ago," She clarified. "When I went out. On a date."
"Of course I was jealous," I said. "You see a beautiful girl that you like about to go out and –as you put it- 'have a sloppy one night stand' you're going to get jealous."
"You could've just told me to stay in and have a sloppy one night stand with you," She suggested. "I wouldn't have objected."
"And you could've offered to stay in and have a sloppy one night stand," I countered. "Why is it my responsibility to break the ice?"
"Because you're the oldest," She said. "And you got there eventually. I just had to tempt you a little bit."
"Tempt me?" I asked.
"You think I just wear short shorts and men's T-shirts for fun?" She snorted.
"I knew there was a reason you kept my shirt," I said.
"Yeah, what is it about a girl in your T-shirt that just makes men go nuts?"
"Because then it smells like you instead of us," I told her. "Anyone would agree that's an improvement."
"Alright, but would you rather see a woman in skimpy lingerie or your T-shirt and nothing else?" She asked.
"That's a toss up," I replied. "The lingerie looks better, but it's harder to take off and the T-shirt is pretty plain, but it comes off with the flick of the wrist. Maybe if you tried both I could decide better."
"Yeah, right,"
There was a mechanical whirring behind the bookcase and then about a million things happened at once. The bookcase swung open, knocking the stepladder aside, Babs shrieked in surprise, and a series of three different chords played on the covered piano. At first I wasn't sure what exactly to do.
"I think the notes on the piano activate the door," I said.
"Yeah, that's great," Babs said. "Can you help me down?"
I looked back to see her clutching onto the shelves, the ladder having been swept away. I was at her side in three strides, wrapping an arm around her middle. She grabbed onto my shoulders and I lifted her down, my other arm joining the first to support her. I didn't set her down as I stepped away and the next thing I knew we were nose to nose with her fiery hair curtaining around our faces.
"I think it's more likely that…" She swallowed visibly. "Pressing the piano keys also presses a button that acts as a remote."
"You think so?" I asked.
"Only one way to find out," She said.
"Later."
I shifted her weight in my arms so one of my hands could travel up her back and to her neck to direct her mouth towards mine. It had only been a couple hours since she was naked and on top of me, but I was ravenous. It seemed too much of her was never enough and having her pressed against me with her still-damp tank top riding up was a little too much.
"Bed," She mumbled against my lips, pulling on my hair.
The next morning a shrill beeping noise woke me in the most indelicate way ever. I buried my face in the pillows, knowing that I couldn't have slept more than a few hours. Babs and I had been up late.
"Sorry," She said against my ear as she leaned across my back to stop the beeping.
"Did you set an alarm?" I groaned.
"Yeah," She said, sliding out of bed. "I have class. Go back to sleep."
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Nine," She replied.
I could hear her navigating around the room, collecting her clothes and then fading off into the hallway to her bathroom. I allowed myself a few minutes in bed before I leaned over the side and felt around for my jeans. I was squinting against the sun as I maneuvered after her.
In the bathroom, she was dressed in rumpled, unbuttoned jeans and a lacy black bra, brushing her messy hair in the mirror. I leaned in the doorway, still half asleep, but glad that this was the first sight I saw when I woke up. She looked at me sideways, seeming slightly nervous. I supposed the morning after was a little awkward, especially since it was our second one and this time I wasn't leading her through a bat-infested cave.
"I told you to go back to bed," She said.
"What time is your class?" I asked.
"Ten."
"Then why are you up so early?"
"It takes a half hour to get to the university from here," She reminded me. "And I still have to get dressed and put on my makeup."
"Makeup?" I scoffed. "What for? You're already gorgeous. And none of those college assholes deserve to see you looking like a goddamn model."
"Maybe I'm not wearing the makeup for any college assholes," She said. "Or any suspended cops. Maybe I'm wearing it because I want to."
"Come back to bed," I pleaded, planting a kiss on the back of her neck. "Just for a little while."
"I don't think you know what 'a little while' is," She said. "And since I can control my temper around dickhead lieutenants, I have a life to get back to."
I groaned against her throat, sliding my fingers inside the waistband of her jeans, "When will you be back?"
"I don't know," She giggled, elbowing me away. "Later. Five-ish."
"Working nine to five," I said.
"Exactly," She said. "And you have about a days' worth of surveillance to listen to so you should get on that."
"That's not nearly as fun as having you here," I said.
"Weren't you the one that said crime fighting wasn't all fun?" She sneered.
"Well, maybe I'm adopting your ideas a little bit more," I said.
"Uh huh. Nice try," She said. "You get to work, I'm going to class. I'll see you later."
I reached out and slid my arm around her waist, pulling her flush against me, "Yes you will."
She leaned up to kiss me, her hands on my chest. I tried to make it last as long as I could, but when my hands started drifting downwards she stopped me and stepped back.
"Behave," She said. "And maybe I'll reward you later."
I was left with only the surveillance files from Babs' bug to occupy me and I paced restlessly before the desk. Without work or Babs to occupy me I had finally realized just how boring being Bruce Wayne must've been, especially those last eight years where he was in hiding. What did a man do all day in a house this big and no responsibilities to keep up with?
Eventually I did hunker down and open the files, my headphones situated on my head in wait. But once I started listening it was all down hill. The beginning was mainly the celebration Babs had mentioned and there were so many voices -drunk voices- that it was hard to make out much of anything. Shortly after that there was a slight panic: they must've discovered their two unconscious buddies in the hallway.
I smiled to myself as the voices overlapped again, this time frantically as they tried to figure out what had happened and then what to do about it. One of the men I'd knocked out didn't remember much of anything, but the second recalled someone in a black suit beating him over the head with a pipe-like object.
It was then that I heard the first mention of him; the Penguin. At first I had no idea what it meant, but eventually I gathered that it must've been a codename for their leader. Penguin didn't give me too much to go on, but at least it was something. I wrote it down.
For a while after that there was just a lot of arguing, the henchmen trying to decide whether or not to tell this penguin of the attack or not. They reasoned that whomsoever had attacked the two men didn't steal anything or confront them, but, nonetheless, someone had discovered their hideout and that couldn't be a good thing.
They didn't know what this unknown assailant had seen and it was unwise to remain there. A few were concerned that the location of their headquarters would come down on them and the Penguin would be furious at their ineptitude. I didn't think they were inept, not as much as they sounded anyway. They managed to get away with two heists and almost a third without leaving any clues and that wasn't a feat accomplished by your average purse-snatcher.
Nevertheless, they decided it was best to tell the boss so he could determine their next move. I heard no word of where the boss was currently holed up; perhaps it changed a lot. A crime boss of this grade didn't normally remain in one place for long.
All in all it was a very smart operation. Too smart for me to crack. I didn't know all the background information about the Batman's tactics, but as far as I could tell, the majority of his foes were very out-in-the-open types. They didn't deal too much in organized crime and henchmen and secret hideouts in nightclubs. Of course there was Carmine Falcone, but I didn't really consider him a primary villain of the Batman's.
And really, this was so much bigger than Carmine Falcone. The penguin -whoever he was- had a much larger agenda. Three seemingly unrelated robberies, no clues, completely untraceable. All they seemed to be after was diamonds -jewels- of any kind. But they seemed much too careful for just simple jewel thieves. But what ulterior motive could jewel thieves have? I mean, it was quite a hindrance to be dealing with such an infuriating case, but so far I couldn't see any life-ruining results.
What I felt, however, was a completely different story. Crime in Gotham was never as innocent as it seemed. And this was the first real problem since Bane. And really, everything Bane did, in the beginning, seemed innocent as well. It was a matter of looking for patterns. I had a feeling the pattern here wouldn't be as easy to discern as Bane's was. One did not become the newest Gotham crime boss without learning from the mistakes of the fallen.
I couldn't take this to Gordon. I couldn't explain to him how I'd come across this information. I couldn't explain what his daughter and I had gotten ourselves into. Maybe I could handle him being angry with me, but I wouldn't be responsible for ruining their relationship. And God knew he'd blame me for Babs' involvement. Not to mention what we'd done the night before.
Even though there was always talking of some kind, I never heard a single mention of a possible next target. There was just that penguin nonsense over and over again. That seemed to be the only new information I had gathered from the bug, and it was something, but not much. I ran my hands over my face, exasperated and bored out of my mind having listened to hours upon hours of constant talking.
There was a warm sensation on the back of my neck, that I realized only after I'd started was a hand. I turned in the chair, jarred from my previous quiet and uninterrupted day to find Babs behind me, laughing at my violent reaction.
"Christ," I breathed. "You scared the hell out of me."
"I noticed," She said. "Your head was almost on fire from all that concentrating."
"I was listening to the surveillance," I said.
"Anything good?" She asked.
"Not much," I admitted. "But listen."
I offered her the headphones and cued the audio segments to just the parts that mentioned the penguin. Babs listened intently, confused at first then less so as she began to get the references.
"Penguin?" She asked, a little loudly since the headphones drowned out her voice.
I shrugged, "I'm guessing he's the mastermind."
"Why do they call him penguin?" She asked.
"Not sure," I said. "But it's really the only new information there was."
"Hmm," She considered. "But they didn't find the bug?"
"Nope," I said. "They don't seem like the brightest bunch."
"Then how is it they've pulled off three jewel heists?"
"I'm guessing that they're just front men," I said. "This… penguin makes the plans and they just execute it. It's smart really. Expendable, cheap henchmen doing the dirty work? There's a very slim chance they'll be able to trace it back to the boss."
"Is this what you did all day?" She asked, motioning to the computer.
I shrugged, "I didn't really have anything else to do."
"Did my father call you?" She asked.
"No," I replied, confused.
"He didn't?"
"I'm suspended Babs," I said. "That usually means that I won't be getting a call."
"Do you even know what happened with the house last night?" She asked.
"Decking a superior officer on the scene of a crime is probably the most sure-fire way to lose all case information privileges."
"He needs you," Babs said. "You were, like, his second in command on this case."
"I told you before," I reached forward and took her by the hips. "He doesn't really have a choice. And I don't want any special treatment. Even if I am screwing the commissioner's daughter."
Babs sighed, blowing her hair out of her face, "So, what next?"
"I can think of a couple things," I said, pulling her closer.
"I meant with the case," She clarified. "You really didn't find anything else?"
"If you don't believe me you're welcome to listen to all 30 hours of it," I raised her hand to my mouth and kissed her wrist. "But I assure you: there are much better things to do with your time."
"How can you be so aloof?" She asked. "We have absolutely no leads."
"Being home, alone, all day tends to shift one's priorities," I said.
"I don't think it's your alone time that's got you all hot and bothered," She said.
"Maybe you're right," I said. "Maybe it's the fact that you haven't kissed me yet."
"Are we already on 'Honey, I'm home,' basis?" She asked. "Because I've got to tell you; that's not how my relationships usually go."
"I know how your relationships usually go," I said. "I have no intention of repeating them."
"I don't think that's entirely up to you."
"You told me you loved me," I said. "I think that already puts me on a different tier than most guys."
"I didn't say I loved you," She said.
"Oh, really?"
"No. I said I was in love with you," She said. "Completely different thing."
"How many guys have you been in love with then?" I asked.
"Touché," She said with a smile.
"We need a plan," Babs said, lounging against the headboard.
"What do you suggest?" I asked, walking my fingers up her thigh. "We go back there? Demand answers?"
She shrugged, "It couldn't hurt. I mean, maybe we should shake them up a little bit. Anyone could've beat up two unsuspecting thugs."
"Thanks."
"I'm just saying," She said. "We need to establish some ground rules. This is our town. Not theirs. We can't keep going on letting them mark the stakes. If we're really going to take over for the Batman we need muscle; scare tactics. We need to go see Fox."
"Do you think we could stop talking about this," I sighed, "For ten minutes?"
"What happened to the all-business, stick-to-the-status-quo, don't-break-the-rules Dick that I knew?" She teased.
"He left when the nonsensical, screw-everything-that's-not-sex-and-fun Babs that I knew did," I replied.
"It's different now," She said.
"It certainly is," I agreed. "But even the Batman cut loose every now and then."
"The only time the Batman ever 'cut loose' was to throw a fundraiser and smoke out the criminals," She told me. "Every move he made was strategically and carefully planned out."
"Yes, it was," I agreed again. "And now he's dead."
She fixed me with an annoyed gaze that I was beginning to interpret as me being right, "So what do you propose we do?"
"We lie low," I said. "Listen to the surveillance, get as much information as we can and then make our move. We know their hideout, nothing more. We go barreling in there, guns blazing we could get ourselves killed. The Batman didn't do anything half-assed and neither should we."
"You just want to keep me in bed all day," She accused.
"I'll admit that's one of the perks of lying low, yes."
I gripped her by the hips, pulling her down flat on the mattress and pressed my lips against her bare stomach. She giggled at the sensation, her fingers scraping through my hair. She was delicious and warm as her laughter reverberated into my mouth. She arched her back against me.
"Tomorrow we go see Fox," She said breathlessly.
"Christ, Babs," I groaned, leaning up to silence her with a kiss.
The next morning, ringing woke me. I felt blindly along the nightstand until my fingers encountered my phone. I groaned and squinted at the caller ID to see that it was James Gordon's personal line. I glanced over at Babs to see her still sound asleep.
"Hello?" I grumbled, my voice rough from sleep.
"Dick," He said.
"Sir."
"I'm only 'sir' to you when you're working for me," He said.
"What can I do for you?" I asked. My tone was far too formal for this situation, but I didn't know the protocol for talking to a superior officer whilst suspended.
"Pretty dumb thing you did, son," He told me.
I sighed, "You call to lecture me?"
"I called to tell you that I did what I could," He said. "I got you a hearing at the end of the week."
"What would you have me say, sir?" Old habits die hard.
"I don't know," He said. "Anything. Make it seem like it was for the best interest of the case."
"It was for the best interest of the case," I told him.
"I hate Foley as much as the next guy," He said. "But I can't make excuses for you."
"I'm not asking you to," I said.
"Jesus, Dick," He snapped. "What do you want? What are you doing?"
"My job," I told him.
"'Your job' is starting to look a lot like theirs," He told me.
"If we followed the rules all the time Gotham would've fallen a long time ago," I said. "You know that better than anyone."
"Listen to me, Dick," He said. "You're a good cop. You're the only one in this city I know without a doubt that I can trust. And we don't need to break the rules anymore."
"Maybe we do," I said, ending the call.
I tossed my phone back onto the nightstand and heaved a big sigh. Gordon wanted to do good. And he did. Most of the time. But his pursuit of peace often skewed his ability to gauge what was good and was not. It had gotten in the way with Dent and it was getting in the way now. Not that he knew the stakes, or what was actually going on, but he was so used to peace- actual peace- that he didn't want to give it up. Not even when it was obvious that peace was being obstructed. And Babs thought I was stuck on the status quo.
"Told you he'd call," She said.
"Well it wasn't to offer me my job back," I told her, throwing aside the covers.
"What did he want then?" She called after me.
"I have a hearing on Friday," I said.
"A hearing?"
"To determine if I get reinstated or not," I said. "It means I get to sit in front of a panel of police officers, Foley included, and beg for my job."
"My father will vouch for you," She said.
"Vouch for me, yes," I said. "But he can't just give me my job back, no repercussions. What kind of commissioner would he be if he did?"
"You're the best cop they've got, Dick," She told me.
"I sure hope you're right," I said.
"I'm always right," She smiled.
"I take it your first run was a success," Fox said upon Babs' and my arrival.
"Not as much as we hoped," Babs said. "Afterwards though…"
I pinched her side as a warning and she raised a sly eyebrow at me.
"I meant the surveillance," She said. "We planted the tracking device you gave us, but we didn't get too much information."
"And you do have a next step don't you?" Fox asked.
"Apparently our next step is to do nothing," Babs said.
"Nothing?"
"Dick wants to lie low for a while," She said. "Get more information. I figured it was his turn to call the shots."
"She means," I said. "I was right and she's annoyed."
"I think the suit's gone to his head."
"Speaking of suits," Fox said to Babs. "Yours is finished."
"What was missing?" I asked.
Babs smiled as she pulled the fabric from Fox's hands, "My cape."
She shook it out so it was fully unfolded and turned it back and forth so I could see that the inside was purple. I watched her amused face with half disbelief and half amusement myself. As serious as she was about being the savior of Gotham, she wouldn't be denied her style.
"Purple?" I asked.
"Like I was going to let you be the only colorful one," She scoffed.
"Yeah, you have yet to explain the blue to me."
"I wanted to keep my little boy in blue," She said, patting my cheek.
"I don't wear blue anymore," I reminded her. "And I might not be wearing anything soon enough."
"Don't make any promises you can't keep," She winked.
"You know what I meant."
"Dick might've gotten himself sacked last night," Babs said to Fox.
"Oh?" Fox asked, settling in his desk chair.
"Decking a superior officer is frowned upon on the Police Force apparently," I deadpanned.
"It wasn't the commissioner, was it?" Fox asked.
"Carl Foley," Babs said.
"Ah," Fox nodded. He no longer seemed concerned.
"You're serious about the cape?"
"Dead serious," She replied. "If I'm gonna be Batgirl, I've got to have wings."
"Batgirl?"
"Well, I'm certainly not a man," She said.
"Certainly," I agreed. "But batgirl? Seems kind of cliché."
"Maybe," She shrugged. "But it's the most accurate. And this way I can keep the same initials."
"You're a crazy person," I told her, but it was light.
"You think you'll be able to keep your hands to yourself when I'm wearing this?" Babs asked slyly.
"I'll try and contain myself," I replied.
"In the meantime," Babs said, now to Fox. "We're going to need some more of your kick-ass gadgets. Something for a surprise attack."
"Surprise attack?"
"Of course," She replied. "We're going to bust in there, kick ass first, ask questions second and find out where the penguin is."
As Babs flitted away to find her suit and try it on with her cape I explained to Fox what we'd heard on the surveillance. His guess was, as usual, as good as mine. In the last year, his investigation skills had gotten a little rusty. I figured that was true of most people. Even the Batman had fallen victim to it in his near decade of retirement. The thing about peace is that it can end at any time and we all know this, but it still manages to take us by surprise anyway.
"And you want to just sit back while they potentially plan another attack?"
Fox asked.
"If we go busting in there now," I said. "With no information and no plan it could end up even worse."
"In my experience, Mr. Grayson," Fox said. "You can plan and scheme and listen all you want, but you will always end up improvising anyway."
"I think it's better than going in blind," I said. "Besides, now I've got the time to do as much listening and scheming as possible."
The next time I woke up, it was of my body's own volition. I searched Babs' side of the bed blindly and came up empty. She was often up before me, but she rarely went far. I didn't think she had class today; I would've heard her alarm if she did, and so that left only one place.
Not wanting to change and drive around to the waterfall, I went to the den first, hoping she'd left the door to the elevator open. Thankfully, she had. Then it was just an elevator ride down to the batcave. I found her curled up in a desk chair, eyes flitting between three different computer screens.
"What are you doing?" I shouted to her, my voice echoing throughout the cave.
"Working," She replied. "Unlike some people."
"You figured out the door," I said, moving to stand behind her.
"It's activated by the piano," She told me. "But I rewired it so all you have to do now is press the 'on' button."
I caught the remote she threw at me, "Is this from my television?"
"Mmm hmm."
"So, how do you propose we use the TV?" I asked.
"We're vigilantes, Dick," She said. "We don't have time for television."
"And what are you doing now?"
"Well," She said, removing her glasses. "I was thinking-"
"Oh, Christ," I sighed, pulling a chair up next to her. "That's never good."
"They have to have a way to communicate with this Penguin dude, right?"
She said. "So he can give them their assignments."
"Yeah, but he probably wouldn't do it himself," I said,
"But that's the thing," She said. "He'd have to. He wouldn't risk a middle man. He's a mob boss. He wants things done right."
"So, what?" I asked. "You think he goes to the club? Gives his little speech?"
"No way," She scoffed. "He wouldn't want to have any affiliation with the club in case someone traced his henchmen back there. And he wouldn't want them to come to him since he probably doesn't stay in once place for long."
"Uh huh," I said impatiently.
"He has to have some way to get information to them," She said "Either by phone, email, a messenger pigeon, something."
"How does this help us?"
"If it's electronic- which it most likely is these days- then I can intercept it,"
She said. "And I can trace it."
"That's all well and good, Babs," I said. "But how will you intercept it?"
"I'd have to go back there," She said.
"And what if you can't intercept it?" I asked.
She shot me a pointed look, "I infiltrated the batcave."
"So did I," I countered.
"Yeah, with rope and a flashlight," She said. "Come on. This could be our shot."
"It seems like an unnecessary risk," I said.
"This isn't a risk-free job, Dick," She said. "And I've done it before."
"How will you even know what to do once you get in there?" I asked. "You don't know what kind of equipment they have, you don't know if it'll be reliable."
"I'll get some new computer hacking equipment from Lucius," She said.
"But, usually, if it's got wires; I can figure it out."
"I don't like the sound of it," I said. "It's much safer to just listen to the surveillance until we get a reliable lead."
"That could be months," She said. "And so many more people could get hurt in that time. And they most likely suspect something after our last visit. Do you think the Batman just sat back and listened to surveillance?"
"Don't 'Batman' me, Babs," I sighed. "We're not Batman. And, like I said, we can't just go in half-assed."
"You said you weren't scared of losing me," She countered.
"Maybe it's not you I'm worried about,"
"Oh, don't worry, boy wonder," She scoffed. "I'll protect you."
When it came time for us to pull our next job, Babs had stocked her belt up with all the technology she'd need to hack into any piece of machinery invented since 1990 and Fox had finished development on my motorbike- which also happened to be laced with blue. Babs had her cape on with her suit now, and it did look more complete, but I stuck to my opinion that it was unnecessary. As we rode out of Fox's warehouse it blew out behind her as she sped past me, straight to the club.
We both sat on top of the adjacent building, shrouded in shadows and observing as about a dozen men disappeared down into the basement. Babs looked over at me through the eyes of her cowl, and I could tell she was intrigued, excited. I wasn't sure I shared her electricity. So far it all felt superbly ominious and dangerous to me.
"Shall we?" Babs mused before stepping off the side of the building.
Initially, panic gripped me, but as she fell her cape expanded, joints locking and slowing her plummet to a dramatic thunk on the alley floor. I took a less direct way down and met her at the door, which she had, conveniently, picked the lock on in my stead. I led the way into the dark corridor and we stuck to the walls, creeping down towards the vent opening that Babs had disappeared in before, "You sure I'll fit?" I asked.
"You could always use the front door," She suggested.
I rolled my eyes at her, but she merely smirked and shot a grapple hook up into the vent to pull it out. She looked at me, expecting a boost, but I sent up a hook of my own; one that would hold our weight and gripped her around the waist to bring her up with me. From this point on, talking would be extremely telling, so Babs indicated for me to follow her with just a look. It wasn't a long journey through the vents before she came to a stop before me, crouching so we could both peer through the slats in the vent.
What I beheld beneath us was unlike anything I would've expected. Men by the dozen milled about, doing various things- all things that would've been completely normal, had they not been occurring in the basement of a criminal's night club- drinking, smoking, telling dirty jokes. Next to me, Babs' excited smile had melted into a tight grimace.
"Nasty, isn't it?" She whispered.
"I take it you never crossed paths with Bane's men," I replied. "It's amazing what some people will do for money."
"Bane didn't pay his men," Babs reminded me.
"For some people, justice is better than money," I said. "Or what they think is justice. But these men are paid. Loyalty isn't something the penguin values."
"So, you think they'll be easy to scare away," Babs guessed.
"With any luck," I replied. "Got any of those smoke bombs on you?"
"Only about a million."
She pressed her fingers against the side of her utility belt, so it could scan her fingerprints, and then dug out a handful of small gray pellets and tilted them into my palm. They worked almost exactly like those Fourth of July snappers, so all I had to do was throw a few through the vent and the room would be filled with smoke in minutes.
"Wait," Babs said, hand on my arm. "You go out here. I'll go around and meet you on the other side."
"Will you be okay?"
"Please," She scoffed. "I'm the one that's done this before, remember?"
"That one there," I said, pointing to man seemingly at the center of it all.
"He looks like the leader. I'll get him, you just get to the computer."
"You don't have to keep me out of the line of fire, Dick," She said. "I can handle myself just fine."
"Believe me," I said. "I'd love to switch roles, but I'm not the one versed in technology."
She just looked at me for a moment, then reached out and grabbed my chin and kissed me, "Be careful."
"Always am," I replied.
The room filled with smoke almost instantaneously. I dropped through the vent, assuming Babs did the same and tried to maneuver my way through the chaos. Unfortunately, I was just as affected by the smoke as the unsuspecting henchmen, but at least I had the element of surprise. Grabbing blindly at the coughing men, I searched for the one wanted, tossing the unuseful ones aside.
After a moment, the smoke dissipated and all the men left standing bumbled around, confused. The man I wanted was still no where to be seen and in my desperation to find him, I almost missed another one coming straight at me. A smack and a thump later, he was on the ground and Babs was smirking at me in snide annoyance. I returned her look, "Computer?"
"I'll do my job when you do yours," She nodded to the corner behind me, where the supposed leader was scrambling to get to a back door of some sort. I darted forward and stopped him in his efforts and dragged him to his knees before me, "Easy way or hard way, pal. Who do you work for?"
"I ain't tellin' you nothin'," He spat.
"Babs," I said. "Computer."
"As much as I'd like to," She said, dropping to a crouch before the man. "I think this will be much easier."
She gripped him by the chin, examining his face thoroughly. He grunted and tried to pull from her grasp, but she maintained a calm, authoritative grip.
"We know all about your little robberies," She told him simply. "And we know you're not the mastermind behind it all, but we also know that you know where to find him. And you're going to tell me or I will blow you sky-high."
"He don't stay in one spot, honey," The man said, I tightened my grip on his wrists. "He's smarter than that."
"Which means he's not going to let thugs like you," Babs said. "Spend more time with his treasure than you need to. I'll say again; you tell me how you keep in contact with him and I'll let you keep your skin."
"It's different every time," He was starting to sound scared now. "We never know what to expect, y'know?"
"Why don't you tell me what the next plan is," She said. "And we can avoid any further aggravation."
"I'm more scared of him than I am of you, honey," His eyes dropped to Babs' chest, which was covered, but tighter than skin, so I gripped his hair and jerked his head back.
"Watch yourself," I warned. "You're already on my shit list."
"He's fine," Babs said. "And he's going to tell us exactly what we want to know, isn't he? Because I know he isn't willing to die for a side job, regardless of the pay,"
As she spoke she pulled a small remote looking device (possibly a vibrator) out of her belt and pressed it to the henchman's neck. He looked about as worried as I felt as she smiled at him.
"Ever been tased before?" She asked. "Well this is about 100 times worse than that. And if you don't tell us, we'll just toss you aside and ask one of your buddies."
The other henchmen, who had been keeping their distance -I must've been right about the lack of loyalty- backed up further, none willing to be Babs' next victim. She pressed the Taser more firmly against his neck, her finger stroking the bat insignia that branded the button.
"Going once…" She said. The thug remained silent despite his terrified face. "Going twice… Last chance, baby. No? Alright then, nice knowing you."
"Wait!" He shouted at the last minute. "It's at the docks. We have a new shipment of weapons and plans coming in. He said he's anchoring his boat at Pier 15. I'm the only one allowed on the boat. He's got guards crawling all over it."
"A boat, huh?" Babs asked. "That's clever. Not registered under his name I'm guessing."
"I don't know anything about it," He said frantically. "I just take the money and do what he says. I swear."
"When?"
"Two days,"
"And you wouldn't dream of lying to me now would you?" She asked, dragging the Taser lower onto his neck.
"I'm telling the truth," He promised. "No funny stuff."
"Better not be," Babs warned. "Because you'll be the first person I come see if there is."
"Not that I'd mind seeing that pretty face again," He said nervously.
And that was her cue to press the button, sending him to the ground jerking and twitching. Babs sighed, rolling her shoulders and turning around to face the remaining henchmen. They were as shocked and scared of her as I was. She pressed her fingers to the side of her belt again, to take out God knows what.
"We're going to walk out that door now," She informed everyone. "And if anyone tries to stop us, I'll drop this," she held up a grenade, "and all of us will get blown to bits. Got it?"
No one responded, but we all understood. We'd come in here with a plan; she'd hack the computer, I'd handle the henchmen. Oh, how the tables turn. The grenade, also branded with a bat, hung from her finger as she waltzed over to the computer and pulled a flash drive out of the side.
"Shall we, Robin?" She said, managing to smirk even with half her face covered.
I went first, gripping Babs' elbow to guide her as she back-walked, the grenade still displayed proudly. This was night and day compared to Bane's men, and that should've been relieving, but just because this Penguin fellow didn't have an army, that didn't mean he didn't have a plan. Expendable henchmen could be an advantage. There were always thugs in Gotham looking for work.
We were five rooftops over when Babs finally returned the grenade to her belt. "That was covert," I said.
"I was improvising," She told me.
"You sure were," I said, pulling her closer.
"I don't think so," Babs said, pulling back as I tried to kiss her. "We have a boat to catch."
"Not for another two days," I reminded her.
"And you plan is just to wait til then and hope for the best?" She said. "We need to do a stakeout so I can place some bugs."
"A stakeout, huh?"
"I thought you'd appreciate the police jargon," She said.
"And what if there are more guys there?" I asked.
"That's your problem," She said. "It's your turn."
We were hardly in the batcave elevator and we already had our hands all over each other. Babs' cowl was left on the cave floor, forgotten once the doors had closed. The front of her suit was reinforced with a couple layers of bulletproof fabrics, making it stiff, but the back had only one layer and a convenient zipper.
"I didn't know crime fighting was such a turn-on," She said.
"Believe me honey," I said, inching the zipper down, "Every man has a girls-with-thigh-high-boots-and-daddy-issues fetish."
"I'll have to remember that," She giggled, pulling the mask from my face.
The doors parted, making way for Babs and I to back through the room, arms entangled. I lifted Babs up onto the dusty desk that occupied the room, pulling her zipper down to her tailbone.
"You're going to shock yourself," She warned playfully, setting her belt aside.
"I don't think these things were designed for easy removal."
"Don't let a little hard work stop you," Babs said, popping my shoulder strap open.
She was giggly and seductive, her feet running up the backs of my thighs to bring me closer and her lips were pouted out, just brushing mine; teasing. It was a lot like our first time -the drunk time- except now we were sober and that just made it even hotter.
I slid the top if her suit down, exposing her creamy breasts heaving in a lacy black bra, "You wear that for me?"
"You really think I saw this coming?"
"I think you did," I pulled her boot off, "I think you were planning on seducing me all night long."
"Too bad you ruined my strip tease," She said.
"Come on," I said, sliding my hands under her thighs.
"No, no," She protested. "Right here."
"Condoms are in the bedroom, babe."
She reached to her side to scan her fingers on her belt and then produced a square package, "Oh really?"
"How do you expect me to believe you're an innocent little bunny when you've got condoms in your belt?" I asked.
"But I'm not an innocent little bunny," She said. "At least not tonight."
Her fingers made quick work undoing my second shoulder strap and popping my breastplate off. Both her boots lay disarrayed on the floor and I tried to do the same with the rest of her clothes, but it was a feat with her hands running over me like they were. She carefully, but somehow sensually, slid the stretchy Kevlar down to my hips.
Finally, I'd helped her push it all the way down, even though I still had my boots on and wasn't going to deal with that when she was so wet and ready for me. Babs' suit was just hanging off one ankle and I just pushed her panties aside to slide in. I could hear the smile in her voice when she moaned as I hit home.
"Come on," She panted. "Harder."
"Fucking Christ, Babs."
She was warm and soft against me, despite the layers of muscle she'd put on, and I was grabbing handfuls of her ass just to bring her closer. Her fingernails had probably broken the skin on my shoulder blades by now, but neither of us was slowing down. At this point in our little tryst, there was not a single part of us that wasn't touching and I could feel her lips swelling up with every kiss I gave her.
"Mmm…" She practically growled, circling her hips against me, "Almost."
She didn't seem to be able to form any full sentences and that just made me pump faster into her, feeling her heat open up and then try to keep me there. She was squeezing me even tighter now; all of her and I knew she wasn't kidding when she breathed almost in my ear. I was right there with her, my toes being pulled faster and faster towards the edge of that pit.
I seemed to have more control than I anticipated when we got into this, but when Babs broke first I was still working, making her practically scream in frustration. She came down a little bit, letting go of my shoulders and leaning back so her hands were flat on the desk. Her body was still shaking, so I ran my hands up over her hips to seize her waist for support and nearly bent her back in half.
"Isn't it supposed to be me that takes this long?" She breathed.
I just grunted at her -my turn to forget how to speak- and slammed my hips into hers even harder. Babs still twitched a little around me and I knew that if I took any longer I'd have to finish her off again. I pulled her upright again, pressing one hand to her back and cupping her breast with another. When I kissed her for the last time (that night) it was sloppy and wet, but it went a long way towards my release.
One of her arms wrapped around my neck as I came, holding me against her and I shouted in her ear, thrusting forward a few last times.
"Goddamn," She said against my neck, only slightly less out of breath than I was, "It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"
"We should utilize this room more often," I said.
"I actually think this was Bruce Wayne's desk," She said. "How do you think he'd feel about us defiling his workspace?"
"Defiling? Please," I said. "There are very few surfaces that get to be graced with your body. Bruce Wayne can suck it up."
She was still giggly as I picked her back up, carrying her to the bedroom and crashing onto the bed. I helped her pull the right Kevlar from her ankle before sitting up and fully removing my own suit and boots. Babs ran her fingers up and down my arm.
"You gymnasts," She mused, "So flexible."
"I haven't been a gymnast in years, Babs."
"Do you miss it?" She asked.
"Not like you'd think," I told her. "That was something I did with my parents. To do it now would be… wrong."
"You do it with me," She said.
"Sex is different."
"No, silly," She said, lightly pushing my shoulder with her foot. "I meant the bad-guy-thrashing. Don't think I don't see you flipping around all the time."
"That feels different too," I said. "It's not like being in the circus. It's like being a cop. I have a reason for doing it other than some cheap thrills."
"I actually saw your show you know," She told me. "When I was like eight. There was nothing cheap about it."
It was weird talking to Babs about my parents. Twice now, we'd done this and neither time did it feel forced or awkward. It felt like any normal conversation, but with twice the meaning. I hadn't really talked about it much before. The volunteers at St. Swithens knew, but they were no strangers to tragedy and there were kids with worse stories than me there. The Commissioner found out who I really was, partially because of The Batman and partially because he had access to every record in Gotham and it was only a matter of time.
I think I lied about who I was to avoid having to explain it to people -it was just a car crash. That was a generic enough explanation that no one ever asked questions, but still tip toed around me a little. If they knew the truth I'd be nothing more than a broken kid trying to find some justice. Now I was beginning to realize that that was what I was, but for the first time in my life it didn't seem like such a bad thing.
"It was Batman who got him, right?" She asked. "Tony Zucco?"
"Yeah."
"Is that why you took such an interest in him?"
"Partly," I said. "And partly because I knew the first time I saw Bruce Wayne that he was the Batman. And that's what I wanted. Not to mention the model on his arm."
"So now all you need is a model," She said.
"Oh, I've got a model," I said, pulling her legs so she was lying flat. "Now all I need is 20 billion dollars."
I was the first one up the next morning -which was strange. And stranger still because I'd been up long after Babs passed out on my chest. I'd had missions before: police missions, discovering the batcave, and taking Gotham back from Bane was certainly a thrill, but this one felt different. Maybe it was Babs, or maybe it was my status as the replacement Batman and now that we had an actual target to work towards, I was too excited to sleep.
Unlike Babs, I wasn't too fond of technology or the dank batcave, so I opted to use my own laptop to research boat logs for the pier. I knew the Penguin wasn't dumb enough to actually reserve the pier for tomorrow night, but it didn't hurt to check. I thought a lot about calling the police station and leaving an anonymous tip for the force, but I knew the GCPD knew nothing about being discreet and there was no way I could tell them all of the truth without blowing my cover. I just hoped Babs and I were prepared enough to handle whatever was going on down there.
"Morning," She said, stepping up behind me and kissing behind my ear.
"Barely," I replied.
"And what have you been doing all this time?"
"Research mainly," I said. "We should know everything there is to know before we go in there guns blazing -metaphorically speaking."
"I love it when you go all hard-working," She said. "What about your hearing? Are you nervous?"
"I don't know," I said. "It feels sort of irrelevant now."
"You don't wanna go back?"
"Now that I've got this gig…" I shrugged. "It feels like I'm doing more off the force than I ever did on it."
"They need you, Dick," She said. "My father needs you."
"You need me, too," I wrapped an arm around her hips.
"Please," She scoffed. "I just keep you around for eye candy."
"You must think you're so funny," I teased, pinching her side.
"I'm hilarious and you know it."
"Speaking of hilarious," I said. "I think it's about time you tried out some more of Fox's gadgets."
"You'll want to aim for the ring up there," I told her, pointing to a metal anchor on the ceiling.
Babs stood with her never before used grapple hook pointed at the sky, ready too shoot. She wasn't me; she had no experience flipping around over a concrete floor, ready to fall to her death at any moment.
"Remember, it'll retract quickly so make sure you-"
Barbara Gordon was never one to take orders or even listen to you, so of course she shot the hook immediately, resulting her being pulled up suddenly and then deposited on the padded floors an instant later. The grapple hook, however, continued its ascent, hanging Barbara-less from the ring.
"-Hold on," I finished helping her to her feet.
"Goddamn thing nearly ripped my arm out," She groaned, rolling her shoulder.
"I told you to be careful," I said.
"Well, if it's so easy," She said, "Why don't you do it, Boy Wonder?"
"This is actually a lot like the trapeze," I told her, handing over my own grapple gun and positioning her hands. "Keep your arms straight, but not locked. The force could break your arms that way. Keep your core tight," She smirked at me when I lowered my hands to her stomach and back, "That's where you'll feel most of the jolt."
"You sure this isn't just an excuse to cop a feel?" She asked.
"I'm good at multitasking," I said in her ear. "Now shoot. Keep your feet planted."
I stepped back and she shifted her body into position, shaking slightly. I didn't remember ever feeling nervous for a show back at the circus. I'd been raised alongside acrobats and contortionists and tightrope walkers so it was never an option to not join them. Wearing spandex and jumping off platforms was the new normal.
The gun fired and the cord shot straight up, grabbing onto an adjacent anchor. I saw Babs' abs tighten and her arms brace themselves before she was pulled up as well, keeping her grip this time. Once at the end of her line she flailed a bit before finding her balance on a beam and clinging.
"Very nice!" I called to her.
"Uh huh," She replied shakily. "Now how do I get down?"
I held my arms out, "Right here, baby."
"Ha," She huffed. "I do not think so."
"Come on," I prompted. "I won't let you fall."
"You said you weren't making me jump off anything," She said.
"I said not on the first date."
"I don't think sex on Bruce Wayne's desk counts as a date."
"You're stalling," I said.
"Give me a minute."
She let go of the beam and held her arms out to balance herself as she walked across it to get her first gun, dropping it down to me along with the second. She sat down on the beam, her legs dangling, watching me nervously.
"You promise not to drop me?" She asked.
"I'll try," I said.
"You better live up to your name Grayson."
She dropped with a squeal and I caught her behind her thighs, immediately losing my balance and falling back onto the mat. I groaned as Babs' elbow dug into my stomach and she groaned as her head hit my sternum.
"You are such a dick," She said.
Here we were, crouched behind a pile of fish barrels, surveying a big, white, shiny yacht. Babs was in front of me, pressed against me, her hand on my knee. I peered over her head to count the guards on and around the boat.
"If we grapple up to that street light," Babs said, "We can swing onto the bow. There's less guards there."
"Bow?" I said.
"The front," She corrected.
"We'll still have to take them out before we can get inside," I said. "And that'll attract more of them."
"We'll use the smoke bombs and get down below as fast as we can."
"And then what?" I asked. "We still have no idea where this penguin is."
"He would have more guards around himself and his treasure right?" She said. "I'm guessing the stern is our best bet."
"Do I want to know where you learned all this boat jargon?" I asked.
She smirked, "We'll still have to be careful. The henchman said they were getting a fresh shipment. That could mean anything from blueprints to guns to tranquilizers."
"You think he'll be down below?"
She shrugged, "It's our best bet. I don't think he'd be up top where anyone could see and shoot him."
"So, bow to stern?" I asked. "That's our plan."
"That's as good as I've got."
"If we get split up don't wait for me, okay?" I said. "See what you can find and if it's too much for you, go."
"Yeah right," She said. "If we get split up I'll tear that ship apart to find you. And you better do the same for me."
"Yes ma'am," I said.
She leaned back and kissed me, wrapping her hand around the back of my neck, her back pressing tighter against my chest. It was strange kissing her while she wore her suit. There was no skin except her mouth and chin and with the Kevlar and armor underneath; it didn't even feel like the same Babs.
"Ready?" I asked.
"You first, Robin," She said.
"We really need to discuss my codename," I said, shooting a hook up to the aforementioned streetlight.
Babs followed me and I took her arm to steady her, pointing to vantage point above the hoard of guards. There was really no discreet way to swing onto the yacht without them noticing and open firing. Babs dropped a smoke bomb on her way over, apparently having grasped the concept of swinging like Tarzan.
The guards were coughing and shooting blindly, taking out one of their own in the process. The lenses in my mask allowed me to see through the smoke, but my mouth and nose were exposed, leaving me vulnerable to the smoke. Luckily, I was expecting the smoke and had seen the guards' position before I dropped into the thick of it and Babs was leaping around with her Taser helping me out.
A felt a hand on my arm and swung one of my bars at the attacker, "Relax, it's me," Babs said, ducking. "And we need to go."
This time, it was her turn to grab my arm and pull me along to a hatch in the floor that led down to the lower level of the boat. I landed in a crouch and Babs was already standing, surveying the dark room we'd dropped into.
"We're on the very bottom level," She whispered. "This is where the gears and the fuel are kept. We need to go up."
"Any idea how we do that?" I asked. "Besides the way we just came?"
"We'll probably have to go through the boiler room," She told me. "This way."
We crept along the grated floors, and the metal walls, into heat, which could only mean we were getting closer to the so-called boiler room. A ladder led up to another hatch and Babs and I both armed ourselves for the worst, but once we popped out of it, it wasn't guarded.
"I don't think they expect anyone to sneak down to the bottom," She told me. "By now they know we're here and their priority is the boss."
"Which way?"
"Left," She said. "The further we get towards the stern, the more likely we are to come across his guards."
This hallway, unlike the first one was well lit and as we went further and further down vines started snaking over the floor and the walls and the ceiling. Babs and I shared a look of confusion as we stepped over them and eventually the floor was nothing but vines and leaves.
"What is this?" Babs whispered.
"Shh," I warned. "Wait."
I stepped forward to peek around the corner where there were more than a dozen guards lining the hallway. I turned back to Babs, motioning for her to be prepared. She pulled out her batarangs (as she dubbed them) and we both sprung around the corner.
These guards were prepared; unlike the unsuspecting group on the top level and they all had guns. That plus the narrow hallway did not make for an ideal battlefield. I flipped over to the other side of them while Babs made quick work of knocking guns away and smashing them. She was particularly good at using that Taser, which I had to find out more about. A bullet fired, straight for Babs and luckily, hit the front of her armor, but still knocked her back.
I fought my way through the thick of the fight, using the lights on the wall to swing above them to kick. By the time I made it to Babs she was already standing back up, reaching around me to stab at a guard with a batarang. Four of them were down, leaving more than ten left, but we were barely breaking a sweat.
Focusing on just myself was a bit of a problem when I knew Babs was right next to me, taking the same beating. I couldn't help feeling that she was worse off than me, having never been a gymnast or had any training besides a run of the mill self defense class and the few months I'd had with her. I did what I could to pick up as much of her slack as I could and that may have been what led to me staring down the front of an umbrella one moment and then being blasted in the face the next.
Faintly, I heard a voice calling to me, coercing me awake. I followed that back to the real world, but when I opened my eyes the edges were fuzzy and the rest was spinning.
"That's right, sugar," A woman said. My first instinct was Babs. "Come back to me."
I blinked back into consciousness, painfully aware of the blow to my head. I attempted to recoil from the woman in front of me (who was very much not Babs) but I was apparently sitting in a chair, my arms and legs tied to it.
"Don't struggle too much," The woman said. "That'll just make them tighter."
I glanced down at my wrists to see more of the vines Babs and I had come across in the hallway. They coiled all around me, stemming from a large red flower at the edge of the room. I pulled more and more as my strength came back to me and, as promised, the vines only tightened.
"What did you do?" I snarled at the woman.
She sighed heaving, shaking her head, "Do you think I would just let you waltz in here and spoil everything I'm trying to do?"
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"I'm Ivy," She said with a smile. "Poison Ivy."
"I thought I felt an itch," I said. My hands were way to far from my belt to get to any of my gadgets.
Her skin had a greenish tint to it, brought out by her bright red hair, tumbling down her back in shiny waves. Her face was made up with greens and browns, topped off with red lipstick. An extremely low cut, sequiny green dress clung tightly to her curves, falling to the ground in soft folds of fabric. She was beautiful, in a terrifying kind of way, but the more I stared at her the more enticing she seemed.
"You're a funny little bird," She said, leaning down so her face was level with mine. "I may just keep you."
"What did you do with Ba- Batgirl?"
"Your little sidekick?" Ivy scoffed. "Do not worry about her, sugar. I'm here now."
"Are you behind this?" I asked. "The robberies, the hold up at the ball?"
"Hardly," She waved her hand. "I very rarely deal in such brutish acts. I only want the gems."
"A jewel thief?"
"You cannot steal what is rightfully yours," She snapped.
"Last I checked, the stolen jewels belonged to Gotham," I said.
"Pfft. Gotham," She huffed. "Such a pathetic excuse for a city. And now you all think you're so reformed since that bat chased Bane out."
"You think you could do better?"
"I know I can, little bird," She said. "And I will start with reclaiming what is rightfully mine. Then I will restore this land to what it was meant to be."
"And how does the penguin fit into this?"
"Oswald," She said, mostly to herself. "He was such an easy target. I turn on my charms and he fetches my things for me like a puppy."
"The manipulative girlfriend," I said.
"But you men are so easy to manipulate," She said. "What's a girl to do? But I don't want to talk about me anymore. Let's talk about you."
She suddenly swooped down so she was sitting in my lap, her face just inches from mine. I could do nothing to push her away or stop her attack and now that she was touching me she was even harder to resist.
"Oh, what's the matter, birdy?" She asked. "Feeling a little hazy? That's my fault, I'm afraid. I give off a certain… scent. I haven't met a man yet who can resist it."
"Until today," I said.
"Why push so hard, sugar?" She asked, gripping my chin. "Is it because of that bat girl? She got you wrapped around her little finger?"
"Don't you dare," I said through clenched teeth.
"Ooh," She giggled. "That struck a nerve. Believe me, honey, she's nothing compared to me. I can show you things you've never even dreamed of."
"The only thing I want to see right now is this boat sunk to the bottom of the bay," I said.
"No need to be nasty, darling," She said. "Lets be sweet."
Her lips nearly brushed mine, her breath fanning out across my face, smelling earthy and sweet and I wanted all of it. All of her. She was voluptuous and sexy, her long legs draped across me and her cleavage pressed against my chest.
"All I want is a little kiss," She said, her lips pouty. "Just one."
"Get away from him!" Babs suddenly shouted.
"Babs!" I called back, too bogged down to remember to use codenames.
"I don't think so, honey," Ivy said, her eyes still fixed with mine. "He's mine now."
I heard stomping footsteps rush towards the door behind me, where Babs had most likely come in, but the vines around me were too tight for me to turn and look.
"I told you she'd just get between us," Ivy said.
Her lips were on mine next, warm and inviting, spreading the drunk feeling all the way through it. My body went limp and probably would've slid right out of the chair I was in if not for the vines. Yellow spots started to dance before my eyes as Ivy pulled away, smiling wickedly.
"Take care, little bird," She said. Then she called to the guards, "This way boys. It seems the batgirl has her hands full."
As Ivy clicked away on her heels, the vines unwrapped from around me, but it hardly mattered now. I was a rag doll. My vision was beginning to turn black and when Babs came over to me I couldn't respond to her. I could barely feel her hands on my face and there was no sound coming out of her mouth and soon everything when completely black.
The first thing I thought when I woke up was, "Babs was right," because Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne were leaning over me.
AN: I apologize profusely for the extended wait for this chapter. I just went through my first semester of college and it was way more transitional that I expected. However, I hope this chapter makes up for it and if I not I shall try very hard to get out the final few chapters out in a timely manner. Enjoy my loves!