Gotham Arise #3
The Torch part 3: Responsible
Characters: Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain
Rating: T
Fandom: preboot DCU with a twist
"Um," said Stephanie Brown. "What did he just say? Did I hear that right?"
She was standing in front of the Batcomputer in the Cave, her head tilted up to take in the enormity of the computer's main screen and the three windowed programs running on it side-by-side: the window on the left was the view from the camera on Barbara's glasses and showed Dick still standing at the podium in Gotham City Park; in the center was the view from the camera hidden in the boutonniere on Cassandra's chest, and showed almost the same image but at slightly more of a distance and with the top of Barbara's head in the foreground; and on the right was the view from the camera hidden in the pin on Dick's lapel and showed the crowd gathered in the garden, in various states of shock. Barbara's red hair stood out like a torch among the black clothes.
Stephanie watched Barbara's lips move through the rightmost camera as in her earpiece she heard:
"Police found Tim and Damian's car pulled over on the side of the road. Driver was unconscious. Boys were nowhere to be seen. That's all the police report says right now. Let's see what the traffic cams picked up."
"I'm on it." Stephanie called up a command prompt on one of the smaller screens, her eyes were still on the three camera feeds occupying the large screen. On the left, Barbara's camera was tilted down to look at the tablet in her hands. Cassandra's camera was still fixed on Dick, and the Wayne Enterprises men surrounding him. Through Dick's camera, Barbara's red hair kept coming in and out of view as the men around him moved and shifted.
"I have it," said Barbara. "Sharing my screen with you."
Stephanie blew out a breath. "Okay then."
"Rewinding—Here it is. Four thirty-four. Half an hour ago."
Both Barbara and Cassandra's cameras were now pointed at the tablet in Barbara's lap. Even though the same data was now streaming across one of the Batcomputer's smaller screens Stephanie looked through their cameras at the footage of a black Wayne Enterprises car driving unsteadily past a traffic camera. The car pulled over, and immediately a white van drove up and parked between the black car and the camera.
"A van picked them up," said Barbara. "I can't see much, but that must be where they went. Van is white, no markings. No signs of a struggle. License plate GA-1939. Running satellite scan for it now."
Stephanie leaped to her feet. "Woo-hoo! It's car chase time!"
"No," Dick's voice interrupted. He hopped off the stage and began pushing his way through the crowd toward Barbara's red head. "Stay put, Stephanie."
"What?' Stephanie was already halfway across the cave to where the Ricochet was parked. "I'm the only available field operative, Dick! Barbara can Oracle it up from her chair, she doesn't need me here."
"We'll go out together when I get back." Dick's voice was low and gruff like a whisper, but from the Batcomputer speakers it echoed through the cave. On the right side of the Batcomputer main screen, his camera feed went dark as someone's shoulder pressed against his. Stephanie could see the person who had bumped him cross the other two camera views, and then Dick appeared on both feeds just as Barbara and then Cassandra came into view on the rightmost camera feed. The four of them—Barbara, Cassandra, the two Dick Graysons—loomed large on the Batcomputer, the light of their faces bathing Stephanie's own in a pale glow as she looked up at the screen.
"The cops will want to question you, Dick," said Barbara, so quietly that even Cassandra and Dick wouldn't have been able to hear her if they hadn't had earpieces. "We have to expect that they're going to treat you like a prime suspect. It might take a while."
"I don't want Stephanie out there alone," Dick said, just as quietly. "I'm responsible for anyone who wears the bat, Babs."
On Dick's camera feed Stephanie saw Barbara's frown. "Even Batman is allowed to depend on others every once in a while."
Dick's eyebrows rose. "I'm sure the hypocrisy of that statement isn't lost on the all-seeing Oracle."
Cassandra's camera view switched to look across the crowd. She had turned away. On either side of the Batcomputer screen Dick and Barbara's faces seemed to fill their windowed camera feeds.
Barbara narrowed her eyes. "I can't tell if it's your Bruce Wayne impression that needs work, or your Dick Grayson impression," she said finally.
Stephanie clapped her hands over her mouth.
"They're here," Cassandra whispered. Reluctantly, Stephanie looked at the middle camera window. Lucius Fox was there, as were several of the Wayne Enterprises board members that had been surrounding Dick. Several police officers now stood with them.
"Dick, listen," Stephanie said quickly. "I've wanted in on a big case for a while now. Got this great speech prepared about how I can do it and why you should trust me and the power of positive thinking. The whole shebang. But we don't have time for that right now. So I'll give you the short version. Ready? I can do this."
She stopped, took a deep breath. Neither Dick or Barbara had moved. Their eyes almost seemed to be boring into Stephanie's own as they stared at each other. In the middle camera feed, the police officers were drawing closer.
Finally Dick blew out a breath. "I know you can, Stephanie."
"Yes! I won't let you down, Dick. Or Tim and Damian."
On the screen, Barbara nodded her head toward the police officers. "They're going to want to question you first," she said.
Dick's face was impassive. "Right. Babs—"
He lifted his hands, extended them toward Barbara. She took them in hers and bent her head, so all that was visible from the leftmost camera feed was her and Dick's clasped hands. From Dick's camera Stephanie could only see the top of Barbara's bright red head. Stephanie looked back to the leftmost camera. Barbara's hands squeezed Dick's, then rubbed as if trying to warm him. Then she squeezed again and let go.
"You're all set." The camera rose to encompass his face once again.
"Thanks." Dick turned and walked out of the leftmost camera's viewpoint.
"Umm," said Stephanie. "What was that?"
"Fake fingerprints," said Barbara. "Dick's real fingerprints don't exist in any database in the world. None of our fingerprints do. But the GCPD thinks it has fingerprints for Dick Grayson on file, ever since Bruce was accused of murder. I just covered Dick's hands in a film that will make his fingerprints match the fake ones on file."
"Oh," said Stephanie flatly. "So you weren't, like holding hands just because?"
"No," said Barbara wryly. The camera twitched in a motion that suggested she was rolling her eyes. "We were not. Also, you realize Dick is still in the loop?"
"Yes," said Stephanie. "So I'm going to make this real easy for the both of you. I'm going after that van. Babs, please send me updates on the van's location when you get them. Dick, play nice with the police. Cass, make sure these two behave themselves. Okay, Batgirl out."
Stephanie hit a button on the keyboard and all three camera feeds vanished as the screen faded to black.
"Geez," Stephanie said aloud. "That was awkward." She strode across the darkened cave to where her Ricochet was parked—and nearly tripped. "Dammit! Why is it so dark in here?"
...
Back at the park, Barbara and Cassandra watched from afar as Dick spoke briefly to a few police officers, and then left the park with them.
"Barbara?" Cassandra said.
Barbara was busy with her tablet again. "Yeah?"
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Barbara said nonchalantly.
Cassandra shot her an impatient glare. "You know."
Barbara sighed and straightened her glasses. "Just continuing a conversation we had a few days ago. The night Tim came back."
"Conversation about what?"
"About what the hell we're doing." Barbara put her tablet away. "Come with me, Cass. We're getting out of here."
Nobody stopped them as they passed the police perimeter. When they reached Barbara's car she tapped her tablet, and a ramp extended from the drivers' side to lift Barbara's wheelchair to the place where the driver's seat should have been.
"Cave or bunker?" Cassandra asked as she slipped into the passenger side.
"Neither." Barbara clipped her wheelchair in place and started the car. "We've got a stop to make first."
"The Needle?"
"Wrong again." Barbara pulled out of the street parking, her face grim. "What do you know about the Red Hood?"