Breep!Breep!Breep! Once again Barbara was awakened by her computers alarm. Sighing she pulled herself into her chair and wheeled herself to her terminal. She groaned upon seeing the SHIELD logo flashing on her screen. "Oracle, here." She introduced. To her irritation there was some old 80's rock music playing over headset, possibly AC/DC's Thunderstruck. "Is the rock intro really necessary?" Barbara said to herself in exasperation. Sure enough the cocky grinning face of Tony Stark; Iron Man and the current director of SHIELD flashed on her screen.
"Rise and shine there sleeping beauty, it's your boss. speaking" Iron Man said with a sly smile.
"Hey Tony, what do you need; and you're not my boss so don't talk to me like I'm your employee okay?" She snapped back irritably.
"Oh I'm sorry, who paid for all that equipment there, I'm thinking it was, oh who was it, oh it's right on the tip of my tongue… Oh yeah, me!" Tony sarcastically replied.
"Bruce paid his share too you know." Barbara replied smugly, knowing the mention of Batman's name would irritate him.
"Let's not go there Barb; Me and Rhodie are coming in hot, we found that guy that attacked the Fantastic Four, and unfortunately he's dead so we're going to need your forensics lab up and running."
"How?" Barbara asked curiously.
"Not sure, one second we we're trying to take him into custody, the next thing you know he com-busted into flames leaving nothing behind but ash and a few tech fragments." Tony explained.
"Eww." Barbara grimaced at the explanation.
"Yeah, likely a fail-safe that got triggered; you should have been there, it was a very gruesome death." Iron Man added in sarcasm.
"No that's okay I got a pretty active imagination there Tony." Barbara replied not wanting to hear any more details.
"Good, we should be there in five minutes; oh and Coulson, Lance and Barton are on their way over with the fragments; so if you would be so kind as to brew up some coffee okay there sweetie?" Iron Man ordered with a wink and cut the link before Barbara could verbally rip him a new one.
"Hey!" She shouted in response but it was too late. After growling under her breath, Babs none the less went into her kitchen to brew some coffee despite Tony angering her. She and Iron Man had something akin to a favorite uncle and niece relationship ever since she apprenticed at Stark Industries in high school with Peter Parker. After her assault at the hands of the Joker and became Oracle, Tony even went so far as to give Barbara her own suit of armor, the Iron Maiden. While Barbara appreciated the gesture, she only broke out the suit in the direst of situations like Ultimate Alliance. It became clear the world needed Oracle more than it needed Iron Maiden.
However at the outbreak of Civil War Barbara was forced to destroy the armor when she went underground with the rest of Batclan to ensure their safety. Their relationship sank even further when Tony came dangerously close to exposing Spider-Man's identity if not for some quick hacking by Oracle that impressed herself even. Needless to say there was an epic blowout between them afterward and when Peter was injured during his defection. In retaliation Barbara exposed Tony's use of supervillains to news outlets across the world causing a mini scandal for him.
Things have improved tremendously between them recently. Helping his estranged friend Bruce Wayne put her up in a new hi-tech headquarters helped Barbara and Tony reconcile. His cocky arrogant attitude was still too much for her at times, treating her like a secretary and calling her sweetie, honey, etc. It made her miss Bruce's gruffness at times.
Her com-link rang over her ear-piece again. "Oracle." Barbara said.
"Babs, it's Dinah we're right at the front door." Black Canary said over the comms. Barbara smiled hearing her good friend and former lead operative from the Birds of Prey. Her all-female black ops team she formed. Black Canary was her first recruit, she then tried to recruit Mrs. Marvel Carol Danvers mostly because of her friendship with Batman. However Carol said she needed to take time away from super heroics. Barbara understood that. It was unfortunate especially since she welcomed Sue Richards Invisible Woman into the group, she could have called the team Barbara's Blondes she thought with a chuckle. The Birds were eventually joined by Huntress, Tim Drake's 'Robin' girlfriend Jubilee of the X-Men, Charlotte Radcliffe Misfit, Jennifer Walters the She-Hulk, and Sue Richards during her separation from Mr. Fantastic after Civil War. When Barbara decided to take the team international she brought on former SHIELD Agent and pilot Melinda May. And finally and most controversially Black Widow.
Natasha began mysteriously appearing on their missions. Dinah accused her of spying on them; most likely out of spite due to her relationship with Lance Barton Hawkeye, Widow's former partner. Regardless of what Natasha was up to Barbara felt she couldn't turn her away, and Melinda May vouched for her; however Barbara kept a very close eye on her. The team sadly had to disband after many personal issues started interfering with their work. Melinda May went back to work for SHIELD, while Misfit went to Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters on the invite of Jubilee. Huntress went back to Gotham; The Invisible Woman reconciled with her husband. Dinah Lance accepted Hawkeye's proposal of marriage and joined him as a SHIELD agent. As for Black Widow, she went to Gotham and developed a suspiciously close partnership with Batman. Barbara suspected she was the new Batwoman, the red hair was kind of a dead giveaway; something she was going to bring up with Bruce at some point in the near future.
Tapping away at her computer to let the SHIELD team in and to open up her forensics lab. The elevator soon came to life bringing the agents to her upper floor apartment/lab, which they arrived quickly. Turning to greet her visitors coming off the elevator, Black Canary, her fiance Hawkeye, Agent Phil Coulson, and to her surprise in sweat pants, t-shirt and fuzzy slippers and looking like she was pulled out of bed was Tony Stark's longtime aide and girlfriend Pepper Ann Potts. Strangely more she was carrying a briefcase which Babs arched her eyebrow curiously at. "Apparently Tony didn't download these notes into the suits database, which he needs now!" She complained to the group. Barbara could only smirk at Pepper's frustration. "It's not funny Barbara, I need my beauty sleep!" She whined on. Everyone in the room gave her foul expression especially Babs who pointed at herself. "Sorry." She said sheepishly.
"How you doin girl?" Dinah asked her friend and maid of honor with a hug.
"Can't complain you know; keeping busy." She said to Black Canary with a small smile.
"No kidding." Clint Barton muttered under his breath which Barbara scowled at in response. Obviously her lack of a personal life was a subject of conversation at the Lance and Barton dinner table.
Shaking off the momentary resentment she turned her attention to Coulson. "Phil, is that the tech Tony was talking about?" Barbara asked the respected SHIELD agent.
"Affirmative Mrs. Gordon." He replied respectfully as he took out and spread the fragments on the automatic examination table.
"Where are the shell heads?" Hawkeye asked.
"Oh they should be here right about…" Barbara allowed her voice trail off as the automated voice came on.
"Security clearance confirmed, Iron Man, Iron Patriot."
"Now." Barbara sighed as the cargo elevator went up through roof. As it came down robotic arms came down from the ceiling removing the hi-tech armor From Tony and Rhodie's bodies. Barbara always thought Tony insisted on installing the armor remover simply so he can make an impressive entrance. "It is very cool." She thought begrudgingly. Approaching the group, Tony was wearing a simple SHIELD skin tight black jumpsuit while Rhodie wore something similar only his said on his chest said USAF signifying his continued affiliation with the Air Force.
"Barb honey, coffee please and then we get started." Tony ordered which made Babs go about seven different shades of red. Wheeling herself into her kitchen with a huff. Returning with a mug of warm coffee, Tony reached out to accept only for Barbara to nearly run over his foot forcing the SHIELD director to jump out of the way.
"Here you go Pepper." Barbara handed the cup to Pepper who accepted the mug with a laugh.
"Thank you Barbara."
Barbara turned to face Tony. "Oh, I'm sorry did you want some; the kitchen's right over there." Babs said to an embarrassed Tony in mock apologetic tone.
"I deserved that." Tony muttered sheepishly as everyone snickered at him.
"Yeah you did." Dinah added with a smirk
"If we can get started please; Barb if you will?" Tony ordered trying to regain some dignity.
Babs went to tapping away at her computer to get the scanner working over the fragments. From the scan of the fragments Barbara was able to quickly determine that they were part of the plasma repulsor cannon that was used in the attack on the Fantastic Four. After some enhancing on the holographic image Barbara discovered something very unsettling, a series of serial numbers that someone didn't quite file off the tech that she quickly traced. "Oh, boy." Barbara muttered when she realized what she discovered.
"What is it?" Tony asked.
"This tech; its Wayne and Stark." Barbara revealed to the group.
"Not Latverian." Coulson added knowingly.
"No, this particular piece right here, was from a plasma pump from a surgical laser, and according to records it was stolen from Gotham Harbor during a hijacking; most of the tech here appears to be very benign stuff, mostly hi-tech surgical and medical equipment that got weaponized." Barbara explained.
Seeing the numbers and realizing the revelation was true, Tony sighed. "Yes it would appear that someone is using mine and Bruce's tech to attack superheroes."
"I've got to call Bruce, he needs to know about this." Barbara stated which caused Tony to go wide-eyed in panic.
"No, no we do not need to call Bruce." Tony stated emphatically much to the shock of Pepper.
"Tony he's still your friend, you would want him to tell you if it was your tech that was being used in crimes!" Pepper incredulously shot in.
"I'm calling." Barbara interjected sternly.
"Barbara don't call him!" Iron Man ordered Oracle who did not listen.
"Batman its Oracle, I have something on the cyborg attacks against superheroes; Bruce the tech used in the attacks, it was Wayne and Stark equipment." Barbara delicately broke the news to Batman. "No need to, Tony's here already with a few others; I'm putting you on conference call." Barbara added to Batman as she typed away on her keyboard to bring Bruce's holographic image up. He wasn't wearing his iconic cowl but was wearing his Kevlar based uniform. His signal told Barbara he was in the Batcave.
"I'm not talking to him." Tony childishly told Pepper crossing his arms who rolled her eyes in response.
"Dinah, Barton good to see you; what do we have?" Bruce asked in an unusually polite tone to Black Canary and Hawkeye instead of his usual gruff bluntness which caught Tony off guard
"Three cyborg attacks on registered superheroes in the last month Batman; nobody's been seriously injured but the attackers are getting more brazen; starting to attack in public areas and targeting more high-profiled heroes." Agent Coulson stated bringing Bruce up to speed.
"Agent Coulson, good to see you healthy again." Batman said to the SHIELD agent, referring to his near death experience with Loki. The polite tone surprised everyone especially Tony who got a little more frustrated by this.
"Yes at this moment I'm not dead." Coulson replied sardonically.
"Do we have a suspect?" Batman asked straightforwardly.
"Unfortunately, no Batman; the guy we found disintegrated before we could take him into custody." Iron Patriot interjected.
"Colonel Rhodes, good to work with you again." Batman replied again politely which got Tony even more irritated but held his tongue until this.
"Hello Bruce." Pepper said with a bit of a swoon.
"Hello Pepper." Batman replied with the hint of a smile.
"Hey Bruce it's me Tony; you remember me right, your best friend since we were what six years old; it is Bruce isn't it or Batman?" Tony said coming into view of Bruce. "Of course it's Batman I can actually feel you brooding over the comm." Tony mocked.
"Iron Man." Batman said in more of growl than normal human speech which Tony snorted at in response in a sardonic, darkly laugh to everyone in the room.
"And I'm so dead to you apparently, you can't even call me by my real name anymore, that's just great." Tony laughed in disbelief.
"If we can please be adults again; let's get back on subject?" Barbara interjected angrily at the childish display, she was way too tired for this. "Bruce, earlier I hacked into Doom's old files, someone with access got into his files on human genomes and bio engineering, the kind of knowledge you need to create human cyborgs, and there is only one person that would have had access that we still believe is alive."
"Mason, the Tinkerer." Batman added knowingly with a low growl.
"Bruce I also traced the serial numbers on the tech, one of the pieces was part of a plasma pump that was hijacked from Gotham harbor six months ago." Barbara added.
"One of my rogues may have moved this tech to the black market; Penguin, Black Mask, maybe even Dent." Batman said naming off his rogues that could be behind the movement of the stolen tech. "We also cannot rule out the possibility that someone is trying to send a message to me and Iron Man." Batman added to Tony's chagrin at Bruce refusing to use his name. "Meet me at the Batcave…" Batman started before Iron Man interjected.
"Uh excuse me; I'm head of SHIELD here, why don't you come to the Helicarrier?" Tony asked indignantly.
"Meet me at the Batcave, Batman out." Batman stated with something resembling a snarl after an unsettling long time before cutting out.
"Jerk-ass." Tony muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Tony!" Pepper cried incredulously.
"What; he is and were you flirting with him?" Tony snapped back.
"I was not flirting." Pepper defended firmly which Tony responded with skeptical look. "Bruce helped me run your company when you were getting treatment for your drinking and we went out for a few dinners, he essentially helped keep your company afloat."
Tony had to shake off the fact that his girlfriend just stated that she went out with his childhood friend a few times, admittedly before they became a couple. "Okay I'm going to ignore that whole you and Bruce going out part, and first off, I helped him get his company back when he got back from training to be Batman, secondly everything he learned about technology he learned from my father, thirdly…." He added before Pepper cut him off.
"You're proving my point!" she said exasperatingly. "You two have been friends forever, why are you still fighting over Civil War?" Pepper asked which seemed to sadden Tony a bit when Hawkeye jumped in.
"Hey Tony, Me and Dinah weren't on your side either during the war, we were with Bruce and look at us now we're working for you; I mean everyone else is kissing and making up?"
"They got a point Tony I mean for God sakes you've even been talking to Steve Rogers again lately, so honestly what's the deal with you and the Bat?" Col. Rhodes piped in.
"You want to know what my problem is." Tony replied furiously. "My problem is, is that Bruce Wayne is a hypocritical ass-bag!" Tony stated angrily. Pepper tried to interject but Tony wasn't finished. "No I mean holding heroes accountable, training them, keeping a checks and balances on superpowers, everything I fought for, those were all things that he espoused for years as Batman and now that I put it into practice suddenly I'm Adolph Hitler!"
Barbara had to admit Tony did have a point. She remembered those lectures Bruce gave to her and Dick Grayson when they were Batgirl and Robin.
"That's overly dramatic there Tony, I can safely say that wasn't what Bruce was thinking." Dinah interjected with Hawkeye nodding in agreement.
"He refuses to call me by my real name; I mean you all saw it right?" He asked angrily.
"Okay that is a bit harsh even by Bruce's standards." Barbara thought.
Before he could continue his angry rant Pepper gently pulled his face over to face her. "You two need this team up; gives you both a chance to talk things over."
Tony shook his head in bewilderment. "Bruce Wayne, talk things over like a normal human; Pepper you must be joking." Tony took a moment to recompose himself before talking. "I'm still a little mad that my best friend not supporting me."
"But Bruce didn't fight against you either Tony and let's not forget it was Bruce that pushed for you to become the Director of SHIELD!" Barbara snapped at Iron Man.
"Okay, you know what I'm done talking about this; let's go to Gotham and get this over with!" Iron Man said as he started to leave before Pepper stopped him.
"Tony aren't you forgetting something?" she pointedly asked a confused Iron Man.
"Like what?" Tony asked bewildered.
"You know the thing you woke me up in the middle of the night to bring over here?" She reminded him holding the briefcase and motioning over to Barbara which roused her curiosity.
Tony realizing what Pepper was getting at, smacked his forehead in embarrassment. Grabbing the briefcase and bringing it over to Barb who was grinning slightly as she was sure what this was about.
"Barbara, on behalf of all of us, please except this as a token of our appreciation for all the hard work you do for us; happy birthday Barb." Tony said with smile. Taking the briefcase into her lap, she opened it to reveal a white laptop and touchscreen phone.
Barbara arched her eyebrow at Tony's gift and then at Tony. "Okay, what's the catch, I have plenty of computers and a phone already." Babs asked not wanting to sound rude but wanting an explanation anyway.
"No catch Barb, these are meant to give you you're freedom back." Tony said with a smirk.
"What?" Barbara said perplexed at the statement.
"Barbara, what this laptop does is that it can access your system anywhere in the world, and that phone is a heavily encrypted phone that heroes can reach you at anywhere in the world in case of emergencies; you can finally leave this place without worrying about the world blowing up." Tony explained with a grin.
Barbara couldn't help but smile at this, taking off her glasses to dry her eyes of the happy tears that threatened to break through. "Tony Stark; the nicest jerk in the world." Barbara thought with chuckle.
"It's time to have a life Barbara, a life outside this lab, bosses orders." Tony said half-jokingly. Barbara let it go that time.
"Tony, I have to say this is the most thoughtful thing you ever did, thank you so much." Babs said with happy misty eyes.
"To be fair I'm giving this to you on behalf of someone else." Tony explained to her. Barbara smile faded a bit but only into a curious look.
"Who, Bruce?" Barbara asked hoping to get an answer out of Tony.
"No, it wasn't Bruce; but you will see; besides the gift I've got is way better." Tony replied, which Barbara responded with a curiously arched eyebrow. Everyone in the room smiled as Barbara immediately began to sync the laptop with her fortress's systems before Tony knelt down to ask her something. "Barbara I'm going to need another favor from you."
"What's that?" She asked as she was snapped out of her happy reprieve.
"I need you to make a personal phone-call to your father to let him know that the director of SHIELD will be in Gotham and would like to meet with him about a joint SHIELD/GCPD task force that's going to help bust up this underground tech conspiracy, I'm sure he would like the good press that will bring and also to invite him to New York City this weekend for his daughters big birthday bash at Avenger's tower that will be attended by all of her closest friends and family, super or otherwise." Tony said with a smirk.
Barbara's eyes went eyed at the revelation. "Excuse me."
"Bosses orders, I'm putting you on mandatory vacation time after this case is over." Tony said mock stern tone.
"Bruce will be there?" Barbara asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, I guess he can come too." Tony replied with grimace.
"I made the phone call." Pepper added dryly
"Whatever; happy birthday Barb." Tony said as he kissed her on the forehead which Barbara didn't mind considering the kind gesture by Iron Man as he stood back up. "Let's roll guys, we have a bat to go pay a visit too." He ordered the assembled group begrudgingly as he was not really looking forward to seeing Bruce as he strolled to the elevator to leave.
"Happy birthday, Barb." Col. Rhodes said to Barbara with a pat on the shoulder as he chased after Tony.
"Now you can be at my dress fitting now; Happy Birthday!" Dinah added with a strong hug referencing her upcoming wedding to Hawkeye, who smiled down at the lovely red head.
"Mrs. Gordon." Coulson said with a nod of his head but with a small smile.
"Come by the Tower this week, I'll have JARVIS fix up a nice brunch." Pepper invited referencing the advanced A.I. which Barbara nodded in agreement.
Barbara bid all her friends good-bye and watched as Tony and Rhodes were transported through the roof as their suits were applied to them. Tony in his fire engine red and gold, and Rhodey in his red, white, and blue armor. After her fortress was left empty again Barbara called her father to inform him of the SHIELD team coming to Gotham. Jim Gordon wasn't very thrilled at having to work with Tony Stark in his city; apparently Bruce isn't the only one still nursing a grudge over Civil War in Gotham, of course the federal government forcing him to cut ties with his longtime superhero partner and hunting his team with his daughter among said team would give any good cop a chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder. But nonetheless he was a professional and understood the implications of GCPD working with SHIELD would mean for his department. After ending her conversation with him with an invite to her party which seemed to please him greatly; she wasn't the only one that could use a break, she finally put her glasses down on the nightstand and put her head down on the pillow to get some more sleep. "This was turning out to be a pretty good birthday after all". Barbara thought with a smile as she went back to sleep.
So that's chapter three. In my fantasy Universe Batman and Iron Man are lifelong friends who are estranged after Civil War. Also this Universe is meant to be a mix of movies, games and of course comic cannon so there is really no actual cannon this is following. Just thought I should make that clear. I hope you all enjoying this and as always please read and review. Thank you.