Chapter 22

[Gabby?]

The pale hands gripping the handles of the Batbike went impossibly whiter as Gabby went full speed on the monstrosity. She almost let go completely when her concentration spent not falling off went momentarily to the new voice in her ear. It was so quiet that the teen Oracle thought it might have been in her head at first. It didn't help that she was deeply Underground, where she was certain the comm. signal wouldn't have reached her. "I'm here," Gabby said over the grumbling bike. Ther was a silence other than the occasional sniffle from her friend. "Are you hurt?" Gabby asked.

[I'm scared.]

"Dinah?" Gabby asked, fear overpowering the almost numbness from the Batbike's vibration beneath her.

[I don't think you'd understand yet,] Dinah said, almost as if it was more to herself than to Gabby. There was another sniff, and Gabby waited for Dinah to continue. Just when Gabby was prepared to ask again what was wrong, Dinah spoke again. [Arkham Asylum isn't the only mad house I've been put away in.]

Gabby frowned. Of all of the things she thought her friend was going to say, that wasn't it. She didn't know much about the girl first hand, only what she heard Dinah tell both her mother and Batgirl, plus the clues she had peiced together when they hung out. "Yeah?" Gabby asked after a pause. Being as shocked as she was by the confession, not to mention her fear of her friend's well being and her fear of the speed of the Batbike, Gabby was more than breathless.

[After my mom... died when I was younger, my powers emerged. My foster parents thought I was crazy, that I had a form of Post Tramatic Stress Disorder. So I was locked up in the children's psychiatric ward. One night- I was ten or eleven- I woke up from a dream.] Dinah's breathing hitched, and Gabby strained to hear her. [It was one of the very first precognitive dream I'd ever had, and it felt so real it was like a memory even though I just knew it hadn't happened yet... That it would happen. It was, now that I think about it, the first dream I had about you.]

"M-Me?" Gabby asked. "You had dreams of me?" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Underground 'road' split as she took the slight curve to the right. Gabby swallowed. Dinah had dreams of the future with Gabby in them from a young age. The teen Oracle wasn't sure how to feel about this. She was curious and slightly delighted, but knowing there was more to what Dinah was trying to tell her, the feeling left her as soon as it had appeared.

[I-I didn't realize it until just now. Normally I dream of normal things, like us and McDonald's and sitting together at lunch but the first one... The first one has you in the costume. I didn't understand before, but I get it now.] The last part of Dinah's words were meant for the metahuman herself. [The dream- It was wild. People were everywhere in the busy city streets, everyone out of their cars smashing windows, yelling, screaming... It was like a zombie apocolypse movie, but it scared me so much because it was real, and it was going to happen. When I woke from it, my force field had emerged for the first time. I scared the other children there in the ward. It was so strong and uncontrolable that it took a while before it went away. And that was what led me to Arkham Asylum... to her... and you you. To here.]

"I don't know what you are trying to tell me exactly, or why you are telling me this now. Are you alright?" Gabby asked again.

[Aunt Harleen didn't hurt me. Not physically, anyway. She reminded me of my mother's death, that I'm at fault for it despite the many times we discussed self preservation and such... She wanted to make sure that I wouldn't join you guys and betray her, I think, not that- Well... When she kissed my forehead, I saw into her mind. The chaos of my dream was there as clear as anything. I know the rest of her plan, and Gabby... I had it all wrong at first. Before tonight, I thought she wanted to help the people in Arkham. I thought that, like me the removal of their powers and rehabilitation period to ease into society would solve most if not all of the problems for so many of the patients there. After she hypnotised me and I found out that Kevin was dead, I thought she was going to manipulate some agents or whoever guarded the Joker long enough to get him out.]

"And now?" Gabby prompted after another long silence where Dinah had sniffled twice and sighed.

[Now... Gabby, now I know everything. She's going to the Clocktower. With a decent satalite, she can transmit her hypnosis to the entire city. She's going to make that dream I had a reality. She's going to make everyone as mad as them - and just as violent. She... She still plans to get the Joker in all of the mayhem, but she also wants to break into medical labs, hospitals, Wayne Manor, government facilities - anything and anywhere that has contact with and information on metahumans and the Metahuman Project. She - She wants to keep working on the machine with Dr. Fairview. She still wants to make it work so that I can be normal and we can be a family we both wanted, no matter how many metahuman lives it takes. Afterwards, with howevermany powers she, the Joker and their gang of crooks gain by then...]

"God," Gabby murmured as the Batbike turned and slowed near a wall that opened up to let her in.

[The worst of it is, it all starts tonight, now that she's got the first power of hypnosis.]

Gabby dismounted the Batbike as soon as it stopped and walked through the only other door she could see. The teen Oracle guessed it was the garage to Wayne Manor. She climbed up the stairs and was met at the top by Alfred. "Miss Gabby, I heard," Alfred said as soon as she had gotten in front of him. She followed him through the large foyer that she was used to seeing and went from there towards the Delphi system. She hurried to the chair and looked to the monitors before her. Her mind raced with everything she just heard and what that would mean for her and her best friend.

"Batgirl, where are you?" the teen asked.

[Nothside Avenue and 47th. Right by Chinatown,] came the prompt reply.

"You heard," Gabby said in a statement rather than a question.

[We all heard,] Huntress said. There was a shaky gasp from Dinah, but Gabby figured as much. [Sorry Kid, but our walkie talkies are all sync'd up.]

"Huntress, how many people are still there?" Gabby asked before Dinah could respond.

[I saw HER leave, but she only took a couple of men with her.]

[Gabby, you need to get your mother. Harleen said she wanted you, that she was going to lure you out using her.]

"Whu- Wait, why?!" Gabby asked.

[I assume to get your connection to Batgirl, if not use you to get to Batgirl herself. To play with her head a bit or something... and to test my loyalties. The point is, she's got an assassin out on you, the man who killed Lady Shiva, so you need to get to her first.]

Gabby backed away from the Delphi as if the system itself had said this to her. An assassin was after her mother. This was exactly why she'd spent so much of her energy these days lying and sneaking about, so that her mother and friends wouldn't get hurt. "No," Gabby said as her entire body seemed to go cold and still. She looked over at Alfred, then glared at the screen. "No. Not my mom." Her breathing picked up.

"Miss Gabby, you need to remain calm," Alfred said.

"My mom," Gabby said again. "We have to find my mom." The teen's eyes flashed again upon the screens, and then she went back to the Delphi again. She reached shakily for the headset used when she assisted Batgirl on sweeps. "Batgirl, round up any police connection you can on your own and go to the Clocktower. See if you can beat her there. Huntress, do what you can to get Dinah out of there. Get her, too, to the Clocktower. If Harley Quinn is still considering Dinah's happiness then she's got a heart, as strange as it is. You may have to be a distraction."

[Hold it, Voice,] Huntress said. [The woman sounds crazy and she has hypnosis as a power now. You saw what she did to The Kid just an hour or so ago. Who's to say this isn't the same damn trick all over again?]

[Harley Quinn does love her tricks,] Batgirl agreed, [but Oracle is right to act quickly just in case this is a real threat.]

[I'm not hypnotised,] Dinah said.

[For all we know that is what she hypnotised you to say,] Huntress shot back.

"Alright!" Gabby cut in, "Check her eyes. They were black last time, so if they are this time, it is a good indicator that she's under again. Check her eyes, take her cellphone, do what you need to do aside from harming her to get the proof you need, and then I need you both to get the hell out of there," Gabby said sharply. "Dinah, cooperate with her to make it go faster."

[What about...] Batgirl asked, but she then stopped as sounds of movements came through the comm. sets. Gabby could almost distinguish Huntress and Batgirl's movements. [... your mom?]

"I'm on it," Gabby said. "I've got to make a couple of phone calls, so all comms. stand by."

[Batgirl standing by.]

[Yeah, Huntress out.]

[Um...] was all there was from Dinah.

Gabby turned to Alfred. "I need your assistance. Please," she said softly, adding in the second part as if to just remember her manners.

"What do you need?" the butler asked without hesitation.

"I'm going to call my mom at work to see if she made it in. I need you to help me track her car's GPS or her work pager or her cellphone or... something if it turns out she's not there."

"I'm at your command," Alfred replied. He sat next to her at the Delphi and pulled up a file on Linda Andrews. Gabby assumed it was from a background check done on her and her family when she had become a part of Batgirl's life. She was almost upset by this but the fact that her mother's information was pulled up almost instantly made her let it go. She then looked at her screen and commanded the system to dial her mother's work number, known by heart.

"North Gotham General Hospital," came a familiar breathless voice in her ear.

"Hello, I am looking for Linda Andrews," Gabby said.

"Gabby? This is Harriet Fern."

"Hi Mrs. Fern. Is my mother there?"

"I thought she got caught up in the snow or... this."

"What?" Gabby asked.

"I'm sorry, it's a bit hectic here. Your mother didn't show for her shift. We thought she got caught in the snow, but then it got busy here and so no one was able to check."

"What's-" Gabby began, but the phone was taken from Harriet and a scream was loud in Gabby's headset. She tore the equipment off of her head and winced. The teen Oracle looked to Alfred, her face pale. "Alfred, please look into all radio and satalite frequencies in and out of New Gotham as soon as you locate my mother." She didn't hear the butler's reply as she called 911. "Hello? Hi, my name is Gabby Andrews, and I keep hearing sounds outside of my home?" she said, her voice high and as innocent as she could get it. She gave her address and was assured that an officer would be there as soon as possible, but to be patient because they were already overwhelmed with calls that night. "That should keep anyone away from my house should my mom have decided to go back after all," she said to herself. Gabby sat for a moment more, and then turned the comms. so that her friends could hear her again. "Huntress, this is Oracle. What is your status?"

[We're out now. They've got some wicked collar on the Kid. She can't use her powers. It's loud over here, coming from Arkham Asylum. What's happening?]

"There's a massive amount of radio activity in the Northside of the city," Alfred answered for Gabby.

"Shit," Gabby hissed as her fears were being confirmed that Harley Quinn had beaten Batgirl to the Clocktower. "Huntress hold on. Batgirl, please come in."

[Batgirl here.]

"That doohickey you altered, you need to put it on ASAP. Harley Quinn made it to the Clocktower, and her plans have gone into action."

[One step ahead of you, Oracle.] Gabby was glad, but as far as she knew, her mysterious alter ego had the only other recreated device that would fight against the hypnosis. [I couldn't find or get a hold of any of my allies. I think they have fallen under or working with Harley Quinn. We may be for the most part on our own.]

"I need good news," Gabby muttered. She turned to Alfred. "I don't know what to do," she whispered.

"Yesterday there was one more command added to the Delphi. I hadn't expected to use it so soon," the butler said. He moved to where the desktop was on the main screen and opened the coding center. When the screen went black, he typed in ?_oraclebat3_? and then the Enter key. Right away, the middle of the desk beside the keyboard slid open to reveal a small panel with a single button on it. Alfred pushed the button, and beside the the two, one of Wayne Manor's many hidden doorways opened up. There, Gabby saw her bat suit come into view. the blond looked back to Alfred and nodded as she understood what this meant for her.

"Find my mother's car while I change. Tell Huntress and Dinah to stay still or to keep away from- Well, whatever it is that makes radio and satalite things. TV, radios, whatever whatever. Just don't let them go under from whatever is coming from the Clocktower. Were there any cast away prototypes of Batgirl's component that may still do something?" Gabby asked.

"I'll take a look," Alfred promised.

"I'll need two," Gabby said.

"Understood." The teen Oracle nodded again and went to her costume, reaching out to grab for it. "Er- Miss Gabby?"

"Yeah?"

"Push."

Gabby looked around, but saw no button, so she placed a hand on the wall next to her suit, and the wall shifted, swinging like a revolving door. "Okay that is way cool," she said as she went through to the other side. The wall then faced Alfred looking as if ther was nothing there.

Alfred took little time to follow each o the commands Oracle had given him, finding two of the most 'complete' cast off prototypes Barbara hadn't quite liked. Never the less, he knew they worked to some extent. If he followed Gabby's line of thinking, Miss Huntress and Miss Dinah would need these while going to the Clocktower, and since Arkham Asylum wasn't far from Wayne Manor, Gabby would have to go out to them to deliver the devices in order to help them.

A few minutes later, the newest costumed hero in the Bat family emerged, pulling at the material of the suit and adjusting her mask. "I should've had you reroute police to my mom's coordinates first via her GPS," Gabby said.

[Lao's got a trail after Lady Shiva,] Batgirl said through the comms. [I told Detective Reece a few minutes ago while you were on the phone. I gave him the coordinates of your mother's GPS signal and he's on his way.]

"Perhaps I should just keep the suit on and remain this character while Alfred stays Oracle," Gabby said.

[Stop that. Now that I'm guessing you're in the Batsuit, tell me your plans of action.]

"I'm taking two of your prototypes to Huntress and Dinah in hopes they will work enough to help them deflect the hypnosis and to see if any of the tools on my belt will help free Dinah's powers. Huntress and Dinah will then join you at the Clocktower. Batgirl, what's your ETA?"

[I'm almost there. Three, four minutes max,] the superhero said.

"Wait at clock face north," Gabby instructed.

[And you?]

"Hopefully, by the time I get to Huntress and Dinah, I will have news of my mom. If she's in police custody away from Lao maybe we can find a place for her to hide," Gabby said.

[And?]

"And that's all I've got right now. If you've all got anything to add, now is the time to speak up," Gabby snapped.

The comms were silent and Gabby was tempted to apologize before Batgirl spoke up first. [Understood. Approaching the Clocktower. Batgirl waiting further instructions.]

Gabby sighed out a shuddered breath, then said, "Alfred... I know the comms are scrambled, but both commsets will have a signature that shows the same location. Dinah and Helena will be there and the quicker I can get to them, the better I will feel. Also, the faster they can get to the Clocktower, the better odds we may have of stopping Harley Quinn."

"You'll have the coordinates in the Batbike before you leave Wayne Manor, Oracle," the butler replied. As Gabby passed by him to go towards the garage again, the elderly man placed a hand on her shoulder. "Gabby, I understand your plight, but you need to be able to think calmly and react smartly. You're young, and you aren't alone. Remember that much. Do you know why Batgirl chose an Oracle?"

"Because..." Gabby shook her head after a moment.

"Because bats are blind," Alfred supplied.

[He's right. I know you aren't a fighter. I don't think you want to be, either. You don't have to be a fighter, but whatever you do, Gabby, always be Oracle,] Barbara said.

"It's going to be alright," Alfred said.

Gabby nodded and turned from the man. "Okay," she said before she continued out the door. As she mounted the Batbike Gabby thought about her mother and what Batgirl had said to her. She didn't like that they were both in danger, her mother without even knowing it or knowing why. 'I really hope you're right,' Gabby pleaded in her mind as the Batbike roared to life and began to move out of the garage of Wayne Manor once again.