Elseworld's Finest Females: Supergirl and Batgirl
Five
Vicki Vale felt her lip curl in disgust as she studied the private investigator's photos. "I didn't expect you to get this personal," she noted, the blonde sitting back in her chair, aware that the man was watching her skirt hike up.
Jason Todd shrugged, the black haired man calmly sitting in his own chair. "All in the service, ma'am," he said, nodding to the photos of two women naked in bed. "I couldn't get onto the Wayne properties," he cautioned, "so I can't confirm this is happening regularly."
Vicki studied the photos a moment, candid shots of Barbara Gordon in bed with her fellow reporter Kara Lee. She had hired Jason after seeing Kara be driven off by Barbara, but in all honesty she had not expected them to be in a relationship like this.
The last comment Jason made caused her to look up curiously and ask him, "You couldn't get access at all?"
Jason shook his head ruefully. "The Wayne's staff appear to be incorruptable," he told her, "and the security is top level. A associate of mine got busted shortly after jumping the outer gate."
"The one you had me pay the bail on," Vicki added disapprovingly.
"I owed Miss Kyle that much," Jason shrugged. He flashed a smile, "Besides, this way she owes us a favor."
"True," Vicki smiled. She met his eyes, "So, I think this finishes up our business. How much do I owe you?"
Jason named a figure for his hours and Vicki winced slightly before writing him a cheque. "Glad to do business with you," Jason nodded as he passed the folder over, as well as a envelope.
"And this is...?" Vicki asked, hefting the slim envelope.
"Zip drive with the photos," Jason answered, "I erased them from my computer and camera, so that's the only copy other than the prints I made you."
"Thank you," Vicki nodded as she strode out the door.
Jason paused long enough to take in the lovely view, then the young man sat back in his chair thoughtfully. Normally he handled divorce work, some insurance investigations, that sort of thing. It was somewhat sordid work but paid the bills, not to mention often getting him some divorcee tail. This, however... this bothered him.
'What does Vale want with this?' he thought, Jason turning in his chair to look out over Gotham. At best he expected the woman to use the photos as leverage against her fellow reporter. At worst? Possible blackmail material against Barbara Gordon.
With a sigh, Jason picked up his phone and dialed. When he heard the computerized click he simply said, "Oracle."
When Jason had been younger and stupid he had done some pretty dumb things, but one of the worst had been trying to steal the Batmobile's tires. The car's internal security had knocked him on his ass even before Batgirl arrived, but she was more amused by the situation than angry. She arranged for a Wayne charity to take him in, and stayed in touch via the Oracle system. When he decided to put his skills to work as a private investigator he had called up Oracle, offering his help and receiving a new, special contact number.
"This is Oracle, Jason," the synthesized voice answered, "what can I do for you?"
"Calling you with some information," Jason answered simply, "looks like Vicki Vale has acquired compromising photos of Barbara Gordon and Kara Lee. No idea what she plans to do with them, but I doubt it's good."
There was a beat of silence, then Oracle answered, "Understood. Thank you."
Jason put the phone down with a sigh, then picked up his next file. There was always work to do, especially when you were your own boss...
Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon turned off the wrist unit she had been using for the 'Oracle' conversation, a almost murderous look on her face. "That...," she struggled for words before the redhead spat out, "bitch!"
Bruce Wayne looked up from where he was reading the paper, looking at his adopted sister in surprise. "You don't use language like that very often," he noted, "what's wrong?"
"Vicki Vale," Barbara frowned, mind already considering how she was going to tackle this.
Bruce frowned too, "What's she done now?"
"She apparently has compromising pictures of myself and Kara," Barbara said flatly.
Bruce jerked up, staring at her in surprise. "Someone followed you two?" he guessed grimly.
Barbara blushed faintly as she confessed, "We ducked out on the second night mom and dad were visiting and hit a motel."
Bruce chuckled, "I guess I can see that. I'm not totally comfortable frolicking around here when they're in too."
"Anyway," Barbara shook her head, "I need to decide how I can handle this."
Bruce hesitated a moment then he asked, "Actually, Babs, I was wondering if you could let me handle it." As Barbara raised her eyebrows questioningly he continued, "I've gotten to know Vale pretty well, and I suspect she's doing this at least partially because of me."
Barbara wasn't sure if he was right, but she could certainly see how Vale might be nursing a grudge. "All right," she nodded, "but be careful."
"I'm always careful," Bruce answered cheerfully.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"AAAAH," Bruce yelped as a masked man pushed him backwards towards the railing around the apartment balcony, a drop of nearly fifty stories waiting for him if he fell.
"You will pay for the sins of your father," the man in the metal mask intoned as Vicki Vale hit him with her purse and tried to break free from his grip.
Using the years of practice he got sparring with Babs he twisted free from his suit coat, leaving it in the attacker's armored gauntlet. Dropping to the ground he charged, driving his shoulder into his attacker's chest and sending them both crashing through the sliding door and into the living room.
"My window!" Vicki yelped in dismay, her slinky red dress hugging her body.
"Oof!" the armored figure grunted as they hit the coffee table and broke it, sending pieces of wood flying everywhere.
Bruce punched for the red clad body, knowing that hitting that armored face mask would just hurt his knuckles. He was surprised at how much the costume felt padded out, but was glad to hear a grunt of pain from his foe.
"You will suffer at the hands of the Reaper!" the armored figure snarled grabbing for one of the scythe like weapons he carried.
"Oh shit," Bruce cursed as he rolled away, even while thinking to himself that the night had started off so well, too.
Deciding that a covert approach might be best Bruce phoned Vicki and convinced her that he was free that night for a date. Turning on the charm he wined and dined her, taking her out dancing then the two of them going up to her apartment. Bruce hoped the wine she had drunk would be enough to put her asleep quickly, giving him the chance to search her rooms for the Babs/Kara photos. Sadly after Vicki unlocked her door the two of them were attacked by this masked maniac...
"Not the paintings!" Vicki wailed as a gun hidden in the scythe's hand guard went off, a bullet zinging into the wall.
Bruce braced his hands on the floor and kicked up hard towards the Reaper's face, staggering their foe and knocking the mask aside. He blinked in astonishment at the woman's face, and felt a burst of confusion that he didn't recognize her at all.
"Why are you doing this?" Bruce demanded as he grabbed one of the scythe's, trying to force the weapon out of her hands.
"You don't know?" the woman growled, her attractive face twisted by her scowl. "Do you know Carmine Falcone, playboy?" she demanded.
"He was the boss of the mob in Gotham," Bruce answered promptly, "at least until Batgirl and Harvey Dent took him down."
The woman sneered, "Well, years before Carmine was shot by the cops, fleeing for his life." She spat, "That fool Thomas Wayne saved his life, and destroyed mine." She glared at him madly, "I am Constaniza Maroni, and I am the last of my family to survive the gang wars. Wars that started because your father saved that scum!"
"Holy shit...," Vicki murmured, stunned.
Bruce wrestled the gun away, pinning the Reaper as he met her eyes. "My father is a doctor, and he saved that life because he had to," he insisted.
The Reaper hissed, twisting her body to throw him off. "He is scum," Reaper said coldly as she rose, pulling her second weapon from behind her back, "and he will know pain when I kill you."
Bruce stood to face her, shifting on the balls of his feet as he braced for a attack. He saw Vicki edging sideways and drew the Reaper's attention, "You're a coward, Reaper."
"What?" the Reaper growled, her mask half hanging off her costume's cowl.
Pointing a finger at her face Bruce declared, "You don't even have the courage to face Thomas Wayne directly, Reaper. All you can do is stalk his playboy, useless son!" He snorted in amusement as he added, "You're nothing."
"You... you...," Reaper was nearly stuttering, her face red with fury even as Vicki moved covertly behind her.
"Hell, you couldn't even go after Falcone," Bruce pointed out harshly, "he's still alive, even if in prison. Too scared to face a old man?"
Reaper was so angry she was incoherent, bellowing out a roar as she jerked towards Bruce...
Just as a fire fine, very expensive and heavy vase was slammed down onto her head. Armored cowl or no a head blow hurt, staggering her enough for Bruce to step forward and uppercut her with all the force he could muster up.
"That's for breaking my stuff!" Vicki said as the armored figure collapsed to the floor.
Bruce's hand hurt a lot, and he winced as he tried to shake off the pain. 'Babs makes this crap look so easy,' he thought ruefully. He looked at Vicki apologetically, "Sorry about all this."
"Most exciting date I've had in awhile," Vicki quipped, smiling. She looked at Bruce in concern, "Are you all right?"
"Just sore," Bruce answered honestly, sighing. He looked at her, "I suppose this is going to end up in a story?"
"You mean your father?" Vicki asked, then she smiled slightly. "No, Dr. Wayne is a good man, he doesn't deserve having his name dragged through the muck."
Bruce puffed out a sigh of relief, "Thank you."
Vicki excused herself, went into another room and returned with a file folder. "Here," she thrust it at him.
Bruce blinked and opened it, then blushed as he saw two women in a very intimate embrace. "This is...?" he blurted.
"I've felt guilty ever since I had them followed," Vicki admitted in a rush, "so please tell Miss Gordon I'm sorry. I never realized Todd would take these photos or violate their privacy so much."
"I'll do that," Bruce promised, "thank you." Privately he thought, 'Maybe Vicki isn't so bad after all...'
To be continued!
Notes: I wanted to work Jason Todd aka Robin II into this, and I wanted him to end up better than in canon. Ms Kyle is of course Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. The Reaper's background with the Gotham crime families is canon to the Batman comics, including Thomas Wayne operating on a gangster. Reaper herself is kinda a fusion of the comic's villain Reaper and the animated character Phantasm.