"We're taking shortcuts and false solutions,
Just to come out the hero."
Gotham City
May 24 20:45 EDT
Then...
Barbara knew that sometimes things hardly ever went according to plan. Sometimes, you'd have to compromise and sometimes things just go wrong.
Her body had enough beatings, she hardly had the strength to stand. All she saw was her team, being dragged into the room she was in.
Everyone. Wally, Artemis, Karen, Kara, Conner, Megan, Kaldur, Zatanna, Garfield. The whole team.
Wally gave Barbara a weak smile, "Hey Barb, miss me?"
Barbara felt a sort of odd feeling rising. Oh, nope that was just blood. She spat out the blood that had collected in her mouth.
Wally turned away, "Damn, they did you good."
"Oh, you know it." Barbara answered. The guards pushed all of them into one huge cell, across Barbara.
The girls rushed to see their friend on the ground, bleeding with a few make-shift wraps.
She had torn her button-up and proceeded to use it to bandage herself. Her ripped jeans were soaked with both dried and flesh blood, her black tank was torn in several places, but not enough to be revealing. Her leather jacket laid hidden under the bed.
"Barbara! Oh my god...what did they do to you?" Karen asked, her hand covered her mouth in shock. While Zatanna only stared at her best friend.
Barbara grabbed one of the iron bars of the cell and used it to pull herself to her feet. A struggle merely to get up.
She gritted her teeth, using pain to cancel pain. It worked for a moment, then it would hit her again. She stepped toward the group, that only watched her in silence. Some of the faces, she didn't even know.
"Does anyone have any type of tech on them?" She asked, her labored breathing had slurred a few words, but her words were still heard.
Everyone shook their heads. Barbara sighed in disappointment. She expected that. She noticed that Richard was missing.
"Where's Dick?" She asked. Wally glanced toward Kaldur, who nodded.
"He actually got out before the siege." Wally said.
Barbara nodded, the sound of the door opening had her nearly praying. She wasn't religious, it was something her father didn't force on her, yet as she heard the sounds of boots, she prayed.
Prayed that they wouldn't take anyone else, that they would only take her instead.
The boots stopped in front of the cell of the team, some of the younger members whimpered. At that moment, a plan formed in her mind.
The guard glanced toward Barbara and smiled, "Hey chicky, which one should I take?"
"Go to hell." She hissed. The guard glared at her.
"You shouldn't be talkin'. You'll be there soon." He retorted.
"As if. You're the one killing children. What would your daughters think of this?" She said, knowing full well that the man had a family, two daughters that admired Batgirl's strength, though her identity was still unknown.
"You don't get to talk about my family bitch!" He said, opening the cell Barbara was in, his anger was rolling off of him in waves.
Barbara smiled, "You really are stupid." It took the guard a second to realize that he had just helped Barbara.
She lunged at him, elbowing his face before sending a quick kick into his stomach. The guard doubled over, and Barbara grabbed the sides of his face, pulling him down on her already lifting knee. His body slumped.
She grabbed the keys and went over to the team's cell. She opened it without hesitation.
Wally stared at her in awe, "That was so badass." Artemis slapped his arm, giving him a glare.
"We have to hurry, the other shift change is about 15-30 minutes away." Barbara said, ushering everyone out.
Everyone looked to her as their unofficial leader. She grimaced as she placed a hand on her side.
"Barbara, are you okay?" Kaldur asked.
She nodded numbly, "Just a sting, that's all."
Kaldur turned to the team, "We will have to split up into smaller groups, Barbara, who do you want on Alpha team with you?"
"No, no splitting up. They will expect that, knowing us." She said, breathing a little easier. "I want everyone to leave together, Kaldur and I will find a way to distract them." Kaldur nodded.
"Understood." Wally said, "Come on kiddies, time to pay a visit to the ice cream man."
Beast boy seemed to take Wally seriously, "Really?!?"
Wally turned to BB, a confused look on his features, "Um...No." BB slumped down and pouted, crossing his arms.
"Great..."
Barbara hid a smile. "Everyone follow Megan and Conner." The duo nodded, taking the lead. She turned to Kaldur, a smirked played over her features. "Kaldur, let's give em' hell." She said.
He nodded, they took off.
It was rather quiet when they arrived to the control room. Barbara felt a sort of eerie feeling, near the pit of her stomach. She ignored it, though later she knew that she shouldn't have.
She kicked the door open, only to find the room empty. "Shit.." She pushed into the room, quickly scanning each camera. At the corner, she saw guards covering the only entrance and the team was heading into a trap.
She set the alarms off. The team ran from the doors, believing that Barbara and Kaldur were captured due to the alarms going off.
"We better help them." She said, taking off to the team's location.
~Linebreak~
It took a while, but they had made it out in one piece.
Wally began to laugh. Everyone else looked at him oddly.
"What the hell Wally?" Artemis gave her boyfriend a glare. They nearly died and the boy had the audacity to laugh at their predicament?
Barbara then started laughing too, glancing toward Beast Boy, who only had his underwear saved from the blast of the building. A dumb look crossed his features.
Artemis and the others noticed this and also began to laugh, Beast Boy began to blush profusely, "Um...can you look away please?"
Barbara grabbed Wally's button up and wrapped it around Beast Boy.
BB gave her a grateful look. "Thank you."
She only smiled. Their footsteps echoed in Mt. Justice. Barbara then stopped, turning to everyone else, she sniffed the air.
"Does anyone else smell that?" She asked.
Everyone began to sniff the air and noticed that Barbara was right. It smelt like pastries and cookies.
Barbara walked into the kitchen, the sound of the bass vibrated the walls. She noticed that a figure was dancing and from the way he began to moonwalk, she knew it was Richard.
She crossed her arms and stood there for a moment. He spun around and noticed his girlfriend watching him in amusement, along with his friends behind her.
"Babs?" He asked. Barbara smiled.
"You dolt." She said, walking to him, his arms opened up and hugged her tightly. They pulled away and stared at each other for a moment.
"By the way, the cookies are done." The kids raided the counter, everyone trying to grab as much cookies as possible. He turned to Barbara, his voice taking a hushed whisper. "What happened?" He asked, pulling her away from the crowd. He took in the dirt and grime in her hair, along with the torn clothing.
"Besides the fact that it was a dead-end and a trap? Nothing really. Oh wait, no I was pretty much tortured to get information." She said.
"I- I didn't know, Bruce never told me..." He explained. Barbara turned away.
"He never tells you anything anymore, not when it concerns me." She said, rubbing her arms slightly.
"Babs, I was away on a mission, though it was a dead end too." Dick said.
She scoffed, "Doesn't that make you suspicious?" She asked.
"I don't know what to think Babs." His eyes gazed at her worriedly.
She exhaled, "Okay. Fine." She knew she shouldn't even remotely bring Bruce up. He was Dick's father and having Dick choose like that...It just wasn't fair to anyone.
And just like that, things went from wrong to worse. Barbara walked away from the Team and Richard.
Everyone stared at her shocked at the accusation she made of Bruce. Yet, only one person believed her, Conner. He knew exactly how driven Bruce was and what he'd do to get things his way. He had Conner placed on the team to observe him and keep him under wraps.
He stood and followed Barbara out. Everyone was quiet. The silence thickened as Conner's boots faded.
Then Wally had to add in his statement, "Does anyone else feel that shit is about to go down?" He had a cookie in hand and another in his mouth.
Everyone turned to Wally, "WALLY!"
He shrugged, "I was only asking, sheesh." He was about to stuff another cookie when Artemis grabbed his wrist and pulled him, dragging him away.
The cookie dropped to the ground, Wally's instant reaction was to yell, "MY COOKIE, BITCH YOU-" His voice was cut off by a high-pitched scream.
"SAY THAT AGAIN ONE MORE TIME!" Artemis yelled.
The team all flinched before going about their business.
~Linebreak~
Barbara wished that Richard could just see how different Bruce acted around her.
She sighed, swinging her legs back and forth at the edge of the building she sat on.
A gust of wind told her that either a speedster or a super had found her.
"B?" A voice asked. She turned to see Conner, his leather jacket was opened and revealed his black superman shirt underneath.
He handed her the leather jacket she had hidden in the cell. The only thing that didn't have blood on it.
"Thank you, Conner." Her voice was small, barely above a whisper. It sounded like she was tired.
Conner sat down with her, "I heard your conversation with Dick."
"I'm pretty sure even California heard us." She said, hugging herself.
Conner sighed, "I understand."
Her head whipped around to look at Conner, "What?"
"I said I understand what you're going through with Bruce." He began to fiddle with his fingers.
"Oh..." She turned away, "Bruce is a good man, but there are days I question why I even follow his code, ya know?"
Conner nodded, "Yeah, Bruce may have good intentions, but he really needs to work on being...I donno...um..."
"Welcoming?" She guessed. Conner nodded.
"My first day started with Dick, Wally, and Kaldur finding me in Cadmus. Once everything settled, the guys wanted me to stay, but Bruce.." He trailed off.
Barbara nodded, "I know."
They sat in comfortable silence for a brief moment before Conner turned to Barbara, "You know...you are probably the only person I have confided to."
"I suppose it should be an honor for me huh?" She said, an amused tone hidden in her voice.
"You should! We, Kryptonians, are a proud race, we don't confide to people of this realm!" He puffed out his chest to make the matter even more playful.
Barbara and Conner kept their gaze, daring the other to laugh, but both of them lost at the same time.
Barbara smiled at Conner, "Megan is lucky."
"Why do you say that?" His gaze was at the stars.
"Well, you're not half bad, you have your flaws, but doesn't everyone? I mean, it's sweet that you even came looking for me, much less getting my jacket during the escape." She paused, "You're often angry...at yourself and at Superman. Yourself, for not being able to live up to ever being Superman. And Superman, for not being there for you, for not being the father you'd thought he'd be."
She turned to Conner, who merely stared at her. "What?" She asked, her face flushing slightly, his stare was intimidating.
"I just...how did you know that?" Conner's blue eyes had a sort of light. It wasn't as addicting as Richard's, but it was warm like a friend's comfort.
"I just...I hear a lot of things...and I notice a lot of things too. It wasn't hard to noticed how angry you truly are." She said.
"Well, thanks for clearing that up. I guess I just needed someone to say it aloud for me."
"No problem, Conner." She stood up and held out her hand to help Conner.
"You coming?" She asked.
"Yeah." He stood without the help, instead he held out his own hand.
"What are you doing?" An eyebrow raised as she stared at Conner.
"You wanna walk home? Or would you rather have me leap us there?" He waited for her answer.
"Does this mean you're giving me a free piggyback ride?"
He paused, "Sure."
"Then fine. But fair warning, we better make sure we stay inside the atmosphere Superboy."
He smiled, "I am a careful teen ya know."
She raised a brow again, "Really?"
"Nope." He crouched down and waited until she had climbed onto his back.
"I'm gonna die..." She whispered.
Conner caught her words and replied,
"And just when we were becoming good friends too!"
She glared at him, but the glare was wiped off as soon as he leaped. The air wiped around them suddenly and without warning.
"SHIT." She screamed, gravity took over and they began to speed downwards towards the ground as they made their way to Mt. Justice.
Gotham City
February 25 23:45 EDT
Now...
Richard hated himself. Hated that he left her alone. Hated that Dusan had somehow made Dick feel that he had to fight for Barbara and follow him. Hated the Joker for doing this to her.
He hated everything at the moment.
"Goddammit..." He cursed. His eyes, bloodshot red, were filled with tears.
"Barbara...I'm sorry...if you can hear me...I'm sorry...for leaving...and making you so fucking pissed." His voice croaked out.
"How is she?" Bruce asked.
"Still in a comatose state." Dick replied coldly.
Bruce sighed, "Alfred sent a few snacks for you."
He only nodded, "I'll eat in a little while, tell Al I said thanks."
Bruce stopped at the door as he left, turning to look at Richard, who held Barbara's hand.
He blinked away tears, and left.
"I'm sorry...I was too late to save you..." Richard said.
Everything went wrong at an instant.
Richard plowed through goons, fighting for one purpose: Barbara. He leaped over a goon as he kicked another into him. Their heads budded harshly. The two stumbled down, their wounds caused them to become unconscious.
"I'm coming Bruce." Dick said through the com.
"Don't!" Bruce warned.
He could hear the sinister laugh from where he was. And it sent chills down to his very core. He swallowed forging ahead.
He remember Jason. It was an odd moment to remember, but he remembered him...out of all things. Right now, at this moment of life and death.
He turned the corner, revealing a trail of blood marks. Looking as if someone was dragged down the halls.
His stomach clenched. "Jesus." The scent of burned flesh and iron made him gag and freeze for a second.
"BATMAN!" He yelled.
"Looks like bird boy is here." Joker shouted. His laugh echoed around Dick.
Richard was in a nightmare. He had to be. The way he got to the room was a blur. He didn't remember the dead bodies that laid mutilated, he didn't remember going through several criminals without mercy.
He only remembered getting to the door and opening it.
"Oh god..." He breathed out. Bruce had beaten Joker again. A bloody mess, yet still breathing. He was laughing at Dick's expression.
Barbara hung on the wall, whatever she had on was no longer recognizable. There was blood...too much blood to even see the wounds or burns.
It dawned on Dick that it was, at least, a week ago that he had seen her. He lost it, he pushed Bruce out of the way. Grabbing the chuckling clown by the throat, he slammed him against the wall.
"You sick bastard! She's only a girl! She still had her life to get through, do you know what you've done!?!" He punched Joker...again and again and again. "Why..." He asked after a few minutes.
"All you need is one very bad day...and that's enough." The clown slumped, still alive, but beaten.
Dick went over to Barbara, unlocking the chains that held her. Once he had all of the chains broken, her body slumped forward. He caught her, and knelt with her in his arms.
"God...Barbara I'm sorry..." He breathed, he could feel tears, trying to escape.
Richard ran a hand through Barbara's now clean, and brushed hair. They had some of the girls on the Team help out with Barbara, getting her clean, bathed, and dressed.
"I promised...the day that I left that I would never come back, you know. But something drew me back." He spoke softly, sharing a secret with the unconscious girl, as if it would help him remotely feel better. "I think it was you. You drew me back."
He stopped, thinking of old memories of them. The way she would scold him when he did something extremely idiotic and stupid, and how at times she would kiss him for it. Her bright laugh that seemed to bring warmth into any room she was in.
He sighed, sleep finally catching up to him after having several sleepless nights. He fell asleep with his hand over Barbara's, gripping tightly.
Alfred walked in the room, to change the saline bag for Barbara when he caught the sight of the two.
He sighed deeply, "The poor girl. She was the one who helped him more then she'd ever know." He changed the bag, then place a blanket over Dick's shoulders.
"Watch over her, Master Richard." He spoke softly, even he was heartbroken seeing the once lively girl in a bed, hooked up to an IV.
The old butler left the two alone.
~Timeskip~
Barbara's eyes slowly began to open. She felt a weight on her hand, she turned to Richard, who was soundlessly asleep.
She lifted herself up. The movement woke Richard up, he jumped up and began to bombard her with questions.
"Are you hungry? Does anything hurt? Do you need water? Can I bring you anything? Do you want me to get Bruce?" She silenced him by placing a hand over his mouth.
"Please be quiet." She rasped. Her vocal chords were strained and she felt as if someone had hit her with a bat.
"I'm sorry, I just..I was worried." He told her.
"It's fine, Dick." She spoke after drinking a bit of water Alfred had left for her.
"It's not fine, I thought you were dead Barbara. Do you know how that feels? To be afraid of being alone?"
"I do, it happened three years ago." She recalled, tenderly rubbing her thumb against the back of Dick's palm.
"I'm sorry." He apologized, his eyes began to sting.
Barbara noticed the redness in his eyes, and knew he had cried. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean that, I just-" Her words were caught in her throat. "I just didn't realize that...it hurt you too." She kept her gaze toward the blankets that covered her legs.
"It's fine, I understand. You gave me a scare, Babs."
"Really? I wouldn't have known." She said, a rather sarcastic tone.
Richard smiled, "Sarcastic, even in bed."
Her gaze went from the blanket to Richard. Their eyes met, and they didn't look away. Barbara opened her lips to speak, but her voice didn't follow her commands, she was mesmerized by the light of the blue hues in his eyes.
"Babs..." He whispered. He leaned over. She followed suit, but she stopped in midair. Her conscience warning her of how easily her heart broke before.
Barbara pulled away, she had to. Richard sighed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be playing with your emotions.."
Barbara felt a pang of guilt, she didn't want to hurt him, she knew better then to be vengeful.
"I still don't know where we stand and doing this, now, will just confuse me." She told Richard. He nodded in agreement.
"Yeah I understand, I mean I did leave without much of an explanation." He said.
She opened her mouth to speak, yet she halted herself before she could. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she was about to kiss Richard, no, rather that Tim was watching them with a rather odd interest.
Barbara turned to Tim, giving him an odd look. Richard turned and saw his adopted brother, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"So question, does this mean Barbara is free, I kinda wanted to see if she wanted to hang out." He joked, a faint dust of pink appeared on his cheeks. Tim noticed how they were giving him the same exasperated looks.
Tim coughed, "Well, I'll just...um...get out of your hair." He left as quickly as he came.
The duo glanced at each other before they laughed. "I can't believe he walked in like that." Richard said.
"I can't believe he stood there watching." They laughed again at Barbara's comment. The laughter brought guests into the room.
"Barb!" A deep voice exclaimed. Barbara turned to see her father.
"Dad." She gave him a weak smile, she didn't know what to expect. Her father was super-dad one minute then the next the strict hiding-a-shotgun-in-the-pantry father.
"Oh Barbara.." Gordon went over and hugged his daughter tenderly. "I didn't know until Bruce called and said that Batman dropped you off here. I'm so sorry sweetheart."
"Dad it's fine, you didn't know, I'm okay now." She reassured her father several times, but it was not until a certain male walked in with flowers that he stopped talking.
"May I come in." Jason asked, his gaze on Jim Gordon.
Bruce blinked, glancing at his subordinates, only to find smiles plaster on their faces.
"My, my, Jason Todd." Alfred smiled, he walked over to Jason giving him a hug. "It's nice to see you again, my boy."
"It's nice to be back, Alf." Jason said. He walked over to Bruce, nodding to him before he went over to Richard.
"I hope we're good and past the whole, hey I told your girlfriend, but not you fiasco." Jason said, hoping that he wouldn't get punched.
"We're cool Jay. You're my brother, I can't stay mad at you." Richard smiled as Jason's nervousness faded.
Jason turned to Barbara, "I heard what happened." He paused, hinting at Bruce that he wanted some privacy.
"We should give them a moment, Jim, care to join me downstairs for some tea?" Bruce asked. Jim contemplated the idea, before nodding and following Alfred and Bruce out. Richard gave Barbara a single glance before he headed out too.
"I'm sorry about what happened. I know I can't change that, I just..." His words flattered. Barbara reached and grabbed his hand and patted it gingerly.
"Jay, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know he'd go for me." Barbara told him. "I'm okay. I can get over this, just like you."
Jason smiled down at Barbara."Yeah, you're right."
Barbara nodded, "Damn right I am, besides I have everyone talking care of me."
Jason nodded, "When I heard, I thought about the time I.."
"Yeah..." Barbara slowly trailed off.
"I was afraid. Afraid of losing the one person that helped me all those years ago. I just..I nearly came here wanting to kill him. I really did, but I realized that you wouldn't have wanted that. You would have wanted him brought by the book like your dad. So I left him alone and went to the nearest corner store and bought these." He handed her the bouquet of roses.
"I'm touched, Jay really." She placed her hand over her chest, feigning serenity.
"I wasn't finished lady!" Jason reprimanded. "Move the white rose in the middle!" He seemed excited, overly so.
Barbara raised a brow, but did what she was asked. A simple gift was taped to the flower.
Barbara's face lit up from surprise. "I don't believe it."
"You like?" He asked, sitting on the chair that Richard had pulled up.
"You fucking genius. Like how did you even get this?" She asked holding up 4 tickets for a Paramore concert.
"Oh you know, I have people who owe me and that shit is the amount they owed me." He said pointing at the tickets.
Barbara shook her head, "I can't take them." She tried giving them back, but Jason would have none of it.
"No, see here's the thing, technically I should be 17, but ya know, I died...then was resurrected. And without an adult, I can't get in. So I was hoping..." He began to play with his fingers.
Barbara laughed, "You're too young to go and you need me to go with you?"
"Well...yeah." Jason slumped, "In all honesty, you actually have to take me."
"Why should I?" She asked. A slight smirk on her features.
"I was the one who got those for you." He stated rather smug.
"Oh really? I thought you said someone gave them to you." She recalled, Jason paused.
"Well yeah, but-" He was a deer in headlights. He rubbed the back of his neck.
"But what? You didn't buy them and they are already in my hands, which means they are mine now, so I can choose whomever I want to go with me. Plus I'm the one who was knocked unconscious." She smirked.
Jason pouted, "But since I'm cute and you feel bad for me, you'll take me right?"
She pretended to think it over, "Okay fine, I'll still take you."
"YES!" He jumped to his feet and performed a dance along the lines of the moonwalk, and a backwards version of whip my hair, all while waving his arms.
Barbara grabbed a pillow and threw it at his feet, Jason tripped over it and landed on his stomach.
"Ow. Thanks Barbie.."
Barbara glared playfully, "I've already warned you about that nickname."
"That you find it incredibly endearing and want me to continue using it?" Jason inquired.
Barbara sighed, "Well, that wasn't what I said, but since I'm rather fond of idiots like yourself, I'll allow it."After a moment longer, Jason parted with Barbara, who was feeling somewhat better and decided to walk around while dragging the IV with her. Her wounds were still healing, and she was sure someone was going to find her and tell her to go back to bed.
She knew she shouldn't even remotely be standing, but honestly some rules are really, really meant to be broken, especially if it concerns the amount of boredom Barbara can take, which isn't much.
As she walked, her body ached and burned, she nearly was about to lean on her IV stand before Richard found her in the hallways and ran to her, "You should be in bed."
"Grayson, how dare you imply that!" She feigned a startled gasp, which caused Richard to think over his words.
"I didn't me-" She wobbled over with IV and all, then pulled him into a tight hug, it took a minute for Richard to realize that she was hugging him, as in actual physical contact. Well, it was a one armed hug, mind you, but a hug no less.
She pulled away, and smiled, "You're a big idiot."
"But I'm your idiot." He stated.
"Thank you.." She whispered.
"For what?"
"For saving me." She said.
The next sentence had Barbara nearly in tears, "What are friends for?" He said.
"Richard! I need you!" Bruce yelled from downstairs.
"I guess duty calls." Richard gave her a wistful glance as he walked away from her.
Barbara nodded, "Go." She said, "I'll wait for you."
He wanted to say something cool and suave, but all that came out was gibberish, which made Barbara laugh.
"Hurry up and go Boy Wonder." She held on to the IV stand tightly.
Richard smirked, "You got it Babs."
Once he left, Barbara quickly grabbed the IV and leaned on it for support. Alfred found her, panting and gasping.
"Miss Gordon! You shouldn't be walking or standing, your wounds are deep and are extremely vulnerable!" Alfred helped her stand straight, he placed her arm over his shoulders and began to led her back to her room.
"Sorry Alfie." She said, a childlike smile on her lips.
Alfred sighed, "You children shall be the death of me."
"Aww Alfie, you must cherish me more then that!" She exclaimed. Her words brought a slight smile on Alfred's face.
"Well, I love each of my little rug-rats equally, no matter how many times you nearly give me a heart attack."
"Alfred." Barbara paused, wanting Alfred to know that she was serious.
"Yes?" He helped her sit down on the edge of the bed.
"Thank you, for helping me, and well everything really." Her gaze stayed on the ground. His hand tilted her chin up, and with a kind smile, he spoke.
"Miss Gordon, it has been my pleasure serving you and Master Dick. I wouldn't dream of trading anyone."
She smiled back. Alfred cleared his throat and being pestering over her. Checking her wounds, the IV, Barbara didn't mind this time, she didn't mind at all. When he gave her a sedative to help her with sleep, she also didn't mind.
Because this time, he was caring for family. It was what she dreamed of that troubled her.