Chapter 10 - Coming together
Arriving at Pamela's hideout, the atmosphere between them was decidedly awkward. She hadn't meant to vent at her temporary teammate like that, but it happened. She would not apologize for the truth, but she was determined to be mature about it!
"I would like to thank you again for meeting with me on such short notice and I want to clarify that I am not angry at you or anything. Your question was justified, but I have been unable to share my true feelings on the matter for multiple years and was thus frustrated. People tend to underestimate me and that has at times caused me to lash out, it was nothing personal."
She stopped to take a breath, but before she could continue, Pamela interrupted her.
"No, no! It's quite alright! I had no idea about your troubles with the mafia and all that other nasty business! Why Gabrielle never told me I don't know... I would have helped you both, no questions asked!"
While that was touching to hear, the botanist was clearly quite naive if she believed her support would have done much against Gotham's largest criminal organization.
"I am certain my mother had her reasons not to drag you into this mess. She probably wanted to keep you off their radar or else they would have begun to extort you out of your money as well. There is nothing you could have done against the mob's legion of goons and crooked cops." she spoke with a comforting smile.
"I definitely could have!" replied Pamela petulantly.
Best to beat that childish idea out of her head, before it got her killed on some unneeded crusade for justice.
"I fear not. Mere bravery and skill are worthless against their numbers. Just take Batman for example... After over a decade on the streets, he hasn't even put a dent in their empire. It's hopeless. A normal human cannot win against an entire corrupt system."
"Yeah, and? I'm not a normal human!" angrily stated the red-head.
"What do you mean?"
Instantly all of Pamela's bravado seemed to go up in smoke as she lowered her gaze to the floor.
"Uhm... I guess there is no hiding it any longer... I... I am..."
She was waiting patiently but no words left the clearly struggling woman's throat.
Deciding to help her along, Tanya asked with a polite smile: "You are what exactly?"
"I... have superpowers."
To illustrate her revelation, vines slithered out from underneath her dress and her skin gradually turned from a healthy pink to a soft green hue.
" Oh... " was all Tanya was able to say. She had not expected that. Killer Croc had been one thing. He was obviously monstrous and looked like a human-animal hybrid. His strength and speed were expected, really. Yet for the refined and down to earth Pamela to be a mutant as well? She had known her to be a likely dangerous individual, but would have never guessed in a million years that she was a superhuman. It just proved that you couldn't judge a book by its cover.
What was she supposed to say here? 'I'm sorry?' or 'That's awesome!' or any other heartening platitude?
In the end the only thing that came to her mind was: "Did my mother know?"
Pamela visibly perked up at that, a small smile crossing her features.
"Yes. Gabrielle, she... understood me. That I was special, but she didn't see me as a... a freak. I- I can't explain it very well. Sorry."
"No, I think I get it. I was never the most normal child growing up as well."
Should she reveal her own powers too? Would that comfort the distressed red-head? By revealing her secret to her, Pamela had given her strong leverage over her and by returning that trust the two could enter an equal business relationship. Furthermore, being aware of each other's flaws and abilities would increase their team work.
On the other hand, could she trust this woman not to betray her and expose her secret identity? She didn't even mean that in a malicious way, accidents could happen. One slip of the tongue was all it took for the whole card house of deception to come crumbling down.
Maybe not the whole truth then? Yes, that would do for now.
"To be honest, I have somewhat of an enhanced body as well."
Tanya stepped over to an exposed support beam in the wall and gripped its edge with all her might. Under tortured groaning, the thick metal warped the tiniest bit leaving a visible deformation behind when she took her hand away.
"It's nothing flashy, but all my bodily functions are generally above norm. Such as my strength, my senses, you name it."
"That's... that's incredible!" her new confidant exclaimed, gaping in a rather comical way.
Really, compared to turning into a plant, she was rather boring. But Tanya wisely chose not to say as much.
"So, you don't have to worry about weirding me out for being different or something silly like that. Your secret is safe with me." she reassured the now fully green woman with a pat on the shoulder.
She would need to keep a close eye on Pamela for any signs of duplicity, but if properly nurtured her value as an asset had just increased substantially. A few kind words could go a long way towards securing the loyalty of a subordinate and in this case she had a huge advantage. Humans were herd animals, dependent on the validation of others to sate their own social needs. The botanist seemingly held her opinion in high regard due to being her best friend's daughter, so she would exploit this nepotistic privilege for all it was worth.
-W-
Pamela wanted to cry. This was not going according to plan!
At first she had wanted to tell her everything about her involvement in Harley Quinn's scheme, but how could she oust herself as a vile criminal after Tanya had been so nice to her? She didn't want to scare the wonderful woman away with her ugly failures, didn't want to tell her of how much of a coward she had been.
And then she learned that she was an abnormal person too...
Had Tanya been born this way or had she also been... Involuntarily her mind flashed back to the dreadful night when that bastard of a professor had violated her, leaving her in agony, forever changed to be different from the rest. Not that she minded how close of a connection to her babies her powers allowed her to have, but it still had not been established with her consent. Poison Ivy would always be a part of her thanks to that selfish, horrid man.
She dearly hoped that Tanya had not gone through something like that.
A question suddenly ripped her from her ruminations of the past: "Can you control plants of all kinds or only the ones you touch?"
"Ehm, yes. I can pretty much influence any plant in my vicinity directly, but it gets progressively harder if they get further away. However, with a bit of preparation I can establish... ' outposts' , you could say. Single, special individuals that can ' hear' me from a larger distance."
"Oh, that's interesting. Do you share their senses too?" asked Tanya with an interested glint in her big, shining eyes. Pamela imagined her with a lab coat and a clipboard taking notes and had to giggle at the image.
"Kinda? It's hard to describe. I can feel where they are and what they touch, but how humans and plants perceive the world is really not at all similar."
So many sensations filled the life of a plant that humans didn't even have words for. The intensity of sunlight, atmospheric pressure, olfactory messages gliding through the air, hormones swirling in the water, mushrooms connecting everything beneath the earth in a constant ebb and flow of information and a thousand even more exotic senses. Flora was not at all inferior to fauna on this planet if it came to intelligence. People just didn't care enough to listen...
"Yeah, I couldn't imagine how a tree 'saw' its surroundings without eyes or ears. Must be pretty amazing to experience what no one else has ever felt before." her guest said while nodding her head in thought.
Tanya truly was Gabrielle's daughter! She just got it . Nature was so indescribably beautiful if you dared to look!
"Yes! I'm quite blessed to be able to communicate with them." Pamela enthusiastically agreed.
"Regardless, we should begin our search for Batgirl if we want to have any chance of claiming the bounty. Do you think your unique abilities could benefit this endeavour?"
Oh. Right... There was still that whole issue. She was directly responsible for the young vigilante getting abducted, but she didn't think that she had it in her to reveal that part. Tanya would surely hate her or at least mistrust her in the future. 'Once a traitor always a traitor' as the saying went.
Still, she needed to help get her the money, if only to make up for the terrible debt she unknowingly helped create for her. How could she lead Gabrielle's daughter on the right track without being obvious about it?
"Uhm, sure? I think I can sniff something out, hehe." she uneasily giggled, lying through her teeth.
There was no way for even her specially bred sensor-plants to detect a single specific human in the stinking mess that was Gotham.
Tanya however didn't know that and gratefully smiled at her which made her cringe.
"Wonderful. I knew I made the right decision by contacting you. Thank you so much for your help, Pamela."
With any luck, the TV van that she had dumped Batgirl at hadn't been a distraction. Else her only clue to what Harley was planning with the red-head was worthless...
-W-
Batman was growing increasingly annoyed with these contraptions. They seemed to be purposefully designed to be as irritating as possible. Whenever he thought he had figured out a way to escape something would go wrong and he was set back to square one. For example when he disabled a robotic arm which previously attempted to bisect him, the saw blade shot out without warning and shredded his cape. Then when he tried to use his grappling hook to hop over a wall of razor wire, a net of nigh invisible strings had tangled up the device making it unusable until he got up there to cut it free.
And all the while El Sombrero was mocking him over the intercom.
"Oi, Batman! No, no, no! Don't you know better than to fall for the fake exit by now, amigo?" chided the former cartel member from some unknown place deeper in the facility.
Batman had tried smashing the cameras before in order to deny him information, but that had just made the Mexican villain so angry that he flooded the room with toxic gas. Needless to say, he had not tried again... Not without a gas mask, at least.
Now the newest distraction was the fact that the spiked walls on either side of the room were closing in, threatening to crush him in the middle. He had no time for this nonsense!
"Where is Batgirl!?" he yelled, trusting the gloating nature of the criminal to let some crumb of information slip.
"Oh wouldn't you like to know, amigo..." sneered the sadistic killer.
"This trap can't hold me for long, El Sombrero! This is just a middling effort at best. Definitely not your finest work." Batman taunted as he palmed a dozen Batarangs in between the moving wall and the grimy floor, clogging the gap and bringing the device to a screeching hold.
"Cabron!" cursed his captor, "You'll see, bastardo! It doesn't matter if you break my machines! By the time you're done it will be too late anyway!"
So this was a distraction for the Joker? It would be out of character for him not to be present to watch Batman struggle if he wasn't doing something else. Something significant that required the mad villain's personal attention...
"It must sting to be just the extra, the lackey, the pawn who is stuck with distracting me as a thankless job while someone else more important has the real fun, mmh?" Batman mused out loud, purposefully giving his voice a slightly pitying tone.
" Shut up, cabron! I'm not doing this for the clown-freak, I'm doing this for me ! This is my revenge, estupido. It's your damn fault I'm crippled like this! It's your damn fault! I'll make you pay! Dance, cabron, dance!"
Suddenly water erupted from two holes on the wall that he had not paid much attention to and began to quickly flood the room. Within seconds the brackish deluge had risen to his ankles. Acting fast, Batman ripped the tattered remains of his cloak in two – which took not an inconsiderable amount of strength considering the fabric was designed to be highly durable – and stuffed them into the holes, finally securing them as best as he could with his last packet of superglue.
More cursing reverberated through the speakers as somewhere in the building the tailback pressure blew up a valve with a loud crash.
"Maldita sea! How do you keep doing this!?"
"You scum are just no match for Gotham's protector. I am always prepared for your villainy." Batman boasted, trying to rile El Sombrero up even further.
If he was angry he would act impulsively, inevitably making an exploitable mistake.
"Are you now?" the villain's voice gained a gleeful edge, "You always act so cool but what will you do if you get a little... cooked?"
Right as he spoke the last word and Batman wondered what he could mean by that, a sparking cable dropped from the ceiling, hitting the surface of the water and sending long blue arcs of electricity dancing across the room.
He grunted in pain as the voltage coursed through him while El Sombrero laughed like a kid opening their Christmas present. Every muscle in Batman's spasming body was locked up, violently contracting due the current all around him, making him completely helpless. Trapped in agony, the only thing he could do was wait for the current to eventually fry his heart. Would this be his end?
No!
He was Batman!
No small-time, B-list criminal would get the best of him! He had a mission! He could not die until he rescued Barbara. No matter the cost.
Biting his tongue so much it bled just to stop himself from crying out loud, the Dark Knight focused on his left foot and willed it to rise. The outside world bled away as his entire focus was redirected towards the limb, fighting against the lightning in his veins! Bit for bit he regained control of his body and forced the foot to leave the water until finally he did it! Shooting upwards, the leg lost contact with the electrified ground!
Instantly the pain lessened and he could breathe freely once more.
"Que? How!?" yelled El Sombrero, flabbergasted by him appearing to be unfazed by his death trap.
"I simply broke your circuit . Now the shortest way for the electricity to flow is through my right leg and no longer my whole body. It's basic physics, really." Batman intoned.
"B-but the pain... The pain should still be enormous!"
And it was; not that he would ever admit that...
"A little pain is nothing compared to what Gotham has to endure every night." he growled.
In a flash his Batarang shot out and severed the wire.
'Barbara, I'm coming for you!' he silently swore before moving forward.
-W-
"Oh, please work this time!" Dick Grayson pleaded with the device to no avail.
His call went unheard as his mentor's signal continued to stay dead. Dick punched his desk in frustration, rattling the equipment on top.
"Young Master, please control yourself. Master Wayne would certainly not be amused should you injure your other arm as well." Alfred dryly added.
"Sorry. It's just... I've lost contact with him for three hours already! What if something happened to him?" he tried to explain his feelings to the older man.
"I understand your worry perfectly well, Young Master." replied the butler, still sounding infuriatingly calm.
"Then how can you be so relaxed?! ... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."
"It's quite alright, Young Master. But what else could I be? You might be used to patrolling the streets with Master Bruce, always within earshot and closely working together. Yet what do you think I did at that time?"
"Uh, sleep maybe?" he answered dumbly.
"Ha! Sometimes. But most often than not I am up and worrying for the two of you. I then sit by the fire and ask myself, will you come home safely or will I have to patch you up again? Sometimes... on especially bad nights... I wonder if you will even come back home at all." Alfred revealed in a gravely manner.
All levity seemed to have been sucked out of his normally kindly face, leaving only a bone-deep weariness behind. Dick was stunned. He had never seen this side of Alfred, who always appeared so composed and unshakable.
"I- I didn't know..." he stuttered, suddenly feeling ashamed of being scared for Batman after a measly three hours when Alfred went through that every night.
"Oh, Young Master. I apologize for burdening you with this old man's troubles. What matters is that Master Bruce has managed to overcome every trial he has faced so far. Don't underestimate his tenacity. While we wait, would you be so kind as to explain what you found out about the substance you have been analyzing?"
The butler pointed at the microscope which was connected to the computer. Dozens of calculations were still running in the background to determine the finer details of the sample, but that was largely for academic purposes. Dick already knew everything he needed to know about the strange matter that his mentor had discovered at the scene of Barbara's disappearance.
Glad for the distraction from his heavy thoughts, he went on to describe his findings: "The sample revealed itself to be a highly hallucinogenic and narcotic kind of pollen, not chemical, but biological in origin. That means it likely comes from a plant and not a test tube. Uhm, I have no clue what plant though. There isn't any kind of bush or herb in the database that is as effective as this one. One deep whiff should be enough to seriously mess up the clarity of your mind! My best guess is that it's genetically engineered or something..."
"Would that feat not require enormous amounts of resources? The likes of which only big companies like Wayne Enterprises or LexCorp could obtain?" Alfred asked sceptically.
An understandable sentiment, given that the genetic sciences were pretty much still in their infancy.
"Yeah, I thought that too at first. But then I thought about the logistics of this crime."
"The logistics?"
"Well, think about it like that... The pollen was spread over a wide area, the whole street in fact. So it's not a precise weapon."
His mentor's butler was quick to catch on: "The perpetrator must have inhaled some of it too."
"Yes and no. If they were a normal human then they would have to wear a hazard suit. Those things are bulky and expensive and not very stealthy at all. But if they were a superhuman..."
"You think it was somebody who can modify or possibly even control plants?"
"It would make sense." Dick shrugged.
Alfred stroked his chin deep in thought: "There was this one villain years ago... The 'Floronic Man' the press called him, I believe. He could command plants and create potent poisons. Although... he was murdered, shortly after his debut. They never caught the killer."
"That's a lead!" he grinned, eager to find out something useful that would bring him closer to Barbara.
Before he could reach for his keyboard however, one of the scan programs automatically detected something anomalous and switched the screen to a TV channel.
"-come, welcome! Esteemed viewers, we are live here in Gotham City with a show unlike you have ever seen before! Hehehe!" cackled the horrifying and familiar face of the Joker, dressed in a purple suit and badly pretending to be a TV host.
"No way..." Dick whispered.
"A true Christmas special! In just half an hour we are going to conduct an interview for the ages! Burning questions will be answered and dark mysteries revealed today! Only on Joker TV , hehehehehe!" screeched the madman, throwing his head back and forth in a snapping, inhuman motion.
The lights behind him switched on, illuminating the previously dark stage and exposing Batgirl tied to a chair. Next to her stood Harley Quinn who posed seductively for the camera, trailing one finger over Barbara's mask before winking.
"Hi there, dearies! We are gonna have so much fun with our amazing guest here – d rum roll please – Batgirl! Yay! Say hello, Batgirl!"
She slapped Barbara on the cheek and the unconscious woman stirred groggily.
"Huh? Uhhhhh..." moaned the red-head incomprehensibly and Dick's heart clenched.
"Yep! She's gonna need some time to wake up, so I'll have some private fun with her until she's all nice and ready for her big interview! In the meantime my dear hubby will keep you entertained with his brand new stand-up comedy routine! I heard it's just to die for, hehehe." Harley grinned and her sick partner joined in on the perverse merriment.
Dick couldn't take it anymore.
Behind him his chair clattered to the ground as he abruptly stood up. Everything was a blur as he sprinted down into the Batcave. Not even Alfred could stop him as he ripped open the closet with his suit, struggling to put it on with his stiff and plastered arm.
"Young Master, you can't do this! Not alone!" yelled the old man desperately.
There was that worry again… It hurt to leave Alfred like this, but there was just no time.
"I have to. I'll triangulate the origin of the signal on the way. Goodbye Alfred." he said, avoiding eye-contact.
And with those words his Batcycle rocketed out onto the streets.