WHO: Gwen and Roger WHAT: Surprise! Bodyguard times. WHERE: Her apartment WHEN: The day before Quinnapping, I think. WARNINGS: None!
Roger braced himself for a fight. He wasn’t too good with angry women and it usually ended up with him yelling back and then storming off like some stomping seven year old. Most of the time, a good screaming match was sudden and unexpected. This was different. He knew she didn’t want him to be there. Worse yet, he had to battle through any sort of grumpiness she might throw his way in order to make sure she was safe. He knew Oracle was secretive and he respected that, but there would have to come a time for her to trust him. Especially the way things were going and if they planned on working together in the future. The good news was that she typically had to try very, very hard to get him angry and in this case he was ready for it.
Dressed in the typical black leather jacket, band shirt and tough guy dark jeans, he concealed a light utility belt under his shirt in the case of an emergency. His mask was always tucked away on the inside of his jacket just in case, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. If someone went after her or tried anything funny, Roger was sure he could kick their ass just fine without being Nightwing first. With his hands in his pockets, he strolled down the street until he came to the apartment complex that Cipher gave him the address for and made his way to Oracle’s place.
He knocked on the door and slumped his shoulders impatiently as he wondered if she’d even let him in. Cipher was surprisingly good with words despite having the vocabulary of a sailor, but gruffness was always something he could understand. Roger had no idea how well the two girls got along, if at all.
Gwen was still getting used to the new apartment. It wasn’t a difficult move in the slightest, just down the hallway to a bigger apartment, but every once in a while she realized she was missing one thing or hadn’t unpacked another. This time the knock on her door reminded her that she hadn’t put installed her door viewer, the one that allowed her to see through the peep hole even from her chair. She made a mental note to do that, or maybe get Quinn or Darwin to install it for her.
“Hold on!” she cried out to the person on the other side, glancing down at her grey shirt and jeans and was thankful that she looked decently presentable. As she wheeled her way to the door she was dimly aware that she wasn’t expecting anyone. Everyone living there had their keys but maybe they forgot. Or maybe it was one of Quinn’s friends, possibly dropping something off in preparation for the big day. Really, it could’ve been anyone.
Roger Darman was not on that list of people she ever expected to be standing there. She stared at him for a moment, eyes wide and blinking in complete surprise. “Oh sh—” She cut herself off, quickly pressing her lips together, not caring about swearing but trying to limit her words to next to nothing. If she could somehow get out of this without him hearing her voice, it would’ve be a miracle. And she was really hoping for a miracle right then.
“What are you-” Roger said without thinking and then those boy wonder detective instincts kicked the fuck in. A flash of surprise hit his features, but it was quickly replaced with a look as if someone gave him the answer to a puzzle seconds before he was about to figure it out. His voice lowered just enough to say, “Well, if it isn’t Batgirl.” He flattened his lips together and nodded his head in understanding. “Of course.” His tone was difficult to decipher. Roger always told himself that he didn’t care about secret identities and with Batman it was completely irrelevant, but he knew Gwen. This whole time she knew exactly who he was personally and never bothered to trust him enough with her own crime stopping secret.
The angry and embarrassed blush was immediate and Gwen looked away. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been called that. Since you called me that,” she said softly. This was not how she wanted this to happen. Granted, she had never come up with a game plan for her big reveal but out of the blue and on her doorstep was not it. “Yell at me inside.” When in doubt, she went for the commands, and if there was one thing that Oracle was good at, it was issuing orders. She pushed open the door for the apartment and leaned around him to cast a glance in the hallway to make sure no one was around. Once he was inside she’d close the door behind them. She was sure this was going to be a loud argument.
He stepped inside her place until he was far enough in that he felt comfortable that no one was going to hear him. “Is it that you don’t trust me? Is that it?” Roger finally asked, throwing his hands up as if he had run out of any other explanation. “You have enough information on me to put me in jail. If I ever gave you an inkling that I was going to do something, all you had to do was give an anonymous tip to the authorities. But, you know you’d never had to do that, right? I’m not like Him-” him with a capital “h” always meant Batman between them, “There’s no mystery about what’s going on in my head.”
Roger wore his heart and thoughts on his sleeve and everyone who knew him well enough understood this. Or at least, he thought they did. He understood the drawbacks of people reading him a lot faster than say Batman, but he made allies a lot faster. “I didn’t care who you were because I didn’t think I knew you. But now. I don’t know.” Roger shrugged and then crossed his arms in a huff.
“That’s not it!” The answer was as immediate as it was defensive. He was right, in a way. There hadn’t been any mystery about Roger like there had been about Batman, and she always liked that about him. But she didn’t trust one man more than the other. It was, simply, different. “You know I trust you. Always have. Always backed you, as Oracle, as Gwen.” More truths though that didn’t explain her subterfuge and she sighed.
“I didn’t know who he was. He was just a name and a mask. No idea about his life outside of what we did. But you and I, we had a lot more to lose. Oh it’s was cute to call me Batgirl, and a lot of fun to wave his banner in the breakroom but if anyone knew what we did, what we really did, it was our asses on the line. Secrets had to be kept.”
He made a frustrated sound from the back of his throat. “I did a lot more than just wave the Batflag in the breakroom. Every single one of those guys knew I was working with Batman. I put my ass on the line and you know I’d do the same for you.” Roger didn’t see the difference between keeping her secret and being loyal to Batman. Of course, there was a lot more for her to lose. She wasn’t some ruffian who could still run around with Batman if he was fired for being too good at his job. She actually meant something.
“Even if you didn’t tell me back then, you could have said something now. We work together way more closely. How many missions in the span of just a couple months? I’m always there for you. Not just because we have the same goal. But, because I trust you. Shit.” Roger really wanted her to be someone he didn’t know. Some girl who was simply good with computers and trusted Batman. Though, it explained why they had gotten along as soon as he started using the communicator.
“Maybe I didn’t want your ass on the line for me,” she countered with just as much anger. What was being a little rough around the edges when compared to being treated with kid gloves because you were the commissioner’s nerdy daughter who decided to play cops and robbers? She earned her place eventually but she never liked having to be taken care of or saved. Still didn’t. “If I went down, it was all me. No lying, no bullshit. You had no idea what I was doing so you would never be accountable.” Running with a masked vigilante was one thing, breaking every privacy law to do was another. She knew which one would’ve landed her in some serious hot water.
The latter argument was where she had no room to stand on and winced. “I don’t know,” she admitted wearily, running her hands through her hair. “Because that’s what I’ve done for years? I don’t know. I didn’t ever expect you to come through the portal. I had almost given up expecting Him! And when you showed on comm that day what was I supposed to say?” Another shake of her head and then she tossed a half glare in his direction. “And it’s not like you recognized my voice when we talked. If Gwen never showed up in your life again, it wouldn’t have been a huge loss, right? Oracle was the really important one.”
“I heard you.” Roger remembered how familiar her voice was, but wanted to stick to some code in his head about respecting identities. A code that made sense if he didn’t know who was under a mask in the first place. “It’s been a long time since we’ve talked. You can’t expect me to jump at you when I only have an inkling about who you are. Especially when we’re trying to save someone or investigate.” Still, there was a little regret in his voice that he didn’t. Roger was only a friend of Gwen. He wasn’t very close to anyone in Musings, even with people that he liked a lot.
She had a point, though. He’d do anything for Oracle, but that may not be the case with Gwen. He would argue with her until he couldn’t talk anymore and still sit there and make sure she was safe. “Listen. If all you want is a professional relationship, then fine. I get why you don’t want friends, especially ones like me, but I’m still going to look out for you. Whether you like it or not.” He never would have guessed that Gwen was the type to shut people off, even after the accident, but it made sense with Oracle. Hell, a lot more made sense when he put the two faces together.
“You tell me,” she said with a stubborn half shrug. “Can you work with me now that you know who I am?” She liked to think he could. Bat, Cipher, Corbinian. They had seen her on both sides of the comm. But this was different and as much as she wanted to hope that this wasn’t the end of the line, she had to ask. She looked back at him curiously, almost defiantly, but her expression tightened as she recalled something he had said.
“And what do you mean ‘ones like me’? Why wouldn’t I want to be your friend?” A beat. “Other than everything I just said.”
Roger brought a hand to his face a rubbed his stubble-covered chin while he listened to her. He still looked mad, until that last little side-note by her made him laugh. Another small pause as he looked to the floor and shrugged. “I get it.” He probably only understood mostly where she was coming from, but he at least got the gist of it. They were playing around with a high risk hobby and keeping identities secret for as long as possible was the logical thing to do. “I shouldn’t have made it personal.” He was an emotional guy. Sometimes he couldn’t help it.
“Of course I can work with you, Gwen.” He said finally, looking up at her with a sort of clear resolution he was occasionally capable of. “The more I think about it, the more I’m glad it’s you. I don’t know anything about him except for a name and what the papers told me. Plus, this is a better way to find out than being barked down on a dance floor.” Roger smiled at the memory, though. That sort of cheeky, ruffian look he gave when he was proud of doing something just a little wrong.
Gwen’s look had grown a touch more nervous as she watched him, waiting for his answer. And when he assured he understood her, she broke out into a wide grin. She wasn’t sure if he really did but the important thing was that he wasn’t mad. “No, it’s fine to make it personal. I’m just really sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” If there was anyone who had a right to be upset with her, it was him. And while she could get by, she’d rather be in his good graces than out of them. One identity was closer to him than the other but he was still a friend in both cases.
She laughed easily at his look and at the reminder, having almost forgotten about entire thing at Thanksgiving. “I didn’t know anything about him either. Kind of a big shock, right? I don’t know who I was expecting, but it wasn’t him.” Her big reveal hadn’t had any fanfare, just a simple light going off once his associates revealed themselves to her. After that there had been little question as to who he was. “Though I guess there is something to be said about knowing who’s who. Makes it easier to drop by and say hello.” As soon as the words left her lips she frowned and gave him a cautious glance again. “Wait, why did you stop by?” In the hallway he didn’t greet her as Gwen, so she knew he was looking for Oracle. “How’d you know where I lived?” They had just moved to a new apartment and there were only a handful of people she told that to.
“What are you serious.” He deadpanned at her and then slowly passed the palm of his hand over his eyes in mild frustration. “Didn’t Cipher tell you that I’m gunna be body guarding you for a couple days until things cool down?” There was no way Max would leave him high and dry like this. She had to have told Gwen like she promised or there would be some more ranting in store for her. Roger felt as though people just wanted him to be mad all the time.
“She told the attack at the hotel was a little fishy. Seemed as though they were targeting you, maybe even info that you have.” He gave her the run down. “I promised Cipher I wouldn’t let that happen, so here I am. I brought some toys, too, just in case.” He opened up his jacket and lifted up his t-shirt to show her a light utility belt. Roger had a look on his face like he was selling cherry bombs near the foursquare.
“What? No!” She would have liked to think that Max would have told her something important like assigning someone to her for babysitting duty. Now Gwen was the one lifting her hands to her head. Why did people think she needed taking care of?
Though once he was showing her his utility belt she did lean forward curiously to inspect. “Oh wow, is that…” She trailed off into a thoughtful hum, clearly impressed, and blushed a light pink when she caught herself. Very smart, distracting her with gadgets but she wasn’t going to be deterred. “They didn’t take my intel, I checked. And I’m fine. I told her that! I’ve just been a little tired and stressed and I might be coming down with a cold but otherwise I’m fine. I mean we did talk about you but that was because I won you at the date auction.” Whoops.
Roger dropped his hold on the shirt. Just when things couldn’t get more awkward. “What.” His face didn’t show any sign of reaction until a thin, familiar smirk crept across his lips. “I knew I was your type.” He would never give up the chance to properly tease Gwen (or Oracle for that matter) and this was just too perfect. “You know, if you wanted me to take you out sometime all you had to do was ask.”
His voice was light with a forward arrogance that was nearly lost in the wasteland of his youth. Back when they were younger, he’d always seem incredibly full of himself as if he could never do anything wrong and was always immensely capable. Roger would happily get in fights with thugs and bring them back to the police station grinning through bruises and cuts like he earned some kind of achievement.
Her blush deepened though it was hard to keep the wide, amused, incredulous grin off her face. What other reaction would she expect from Roger? “Dream on, Darman,” she retorted with a laugh though there was no hint of malice in her voice. If anything she sounded more like her old self back at the station, a woman who was used to the teasing, enjoyed it actually. Gwen always did have a lot of love for the boys in blue. That didn’t change just because they were here dressed in black.
“But seriously,” she finally said, once she got her laughter down to an absolute minimum, “I didn’t know it was you. In retrospect it’s obvious but I thought…” She shook her head as she trailed off. It didn’t matter what she thought now. “Anyway, we don’t have to go. You have me in your ear most of the time, I bet you’d want a break.” No mention of the babysitting duty because, in her mind, she had protested and they had agreed she was fine. “Or if you want to go with someone, she can take my place.”
“Are you trying to get out of a date with me? After you paid money to a charity? Low blow.” Roger looked actually hurt by the thought that she wouldn’t want to at least go have some fun with him. “Noooo we’re going. And, you’re going to have fun.” Roger dropped his voice dramatically. “It’s the healing our friendship needs.” Okay, so maybe he had been watching too much day time television. His current favorite was some quack who got his degree online and spent most of each episode trying to lecture someone’s baby daddy. Runner up went to that show where a bunch of menopausal women sat around a table and pretended to still be attracted to men.
“I can’t promise I won’t get kicked out of the carnival for disorderly conduct.” Roger raised his hand like he was making a scout’s honor. “But, I will be the perfect gentleman in every other respect.” To him, that seemed like a fair compromise. Hell, she bid on him because he liked to cause trouble, so there was no way he was going to even try to act like some kind of prince charming.
“Me? Have fun? Are you sure?” Clearly from her tone she didn’t think she was capable of this. But as he continued on she let out a sharp laugh. Perhaps this was exactly what they needed, though admitting to Roger he was right seemed like a slippery slope. The grin didn’t disappear even as he swore to be on his best behavior. If anything, it just got wider. “The correct pledge is that you won’t try to get kicked out of the carnival. That’s one that you can really uphold.” Gwen didn’t think for one second they’d have a quiet little night out but it didn’t seem like she minded. It was, after all, one night. “Boy scout behavior’s overrated anyways.”
A brighter grin snuck across his face. “That’s what I want to hear.” Roger relaxed his shoulders. Whatever fight had occurred earlier was over and there was just one more thing to wrap up. “Let me hang here for a day or so, just so everyone has a piece of mind and will know you’re safe. With Bat going missing lately, we really can’t be too careful.” He made it sound like they were doing other people a favor. The less they had to worry about Oracle’s safety, the better. He was completely out of the loop with Bat’s vanishing act, but he knew people were uptight and didn’t need another valuable member of the mask team to fret over.
She couldn’t stop the way her face fell at that. It wasn’t personal, not at all. But she simply hated being babysat like that. Still it wasn’t his fault. She’d give Max hell about it later. The only thing stopping Gwen from railing at her on the phone was that she was recouping too. Once she was back home, all bets were off.
“Okay,” with no sigh but the slightest frown as she looked around the apartment at a loss of what to do. She wasn’t out on the field. She didn’t encounter any danger. In fact she was supposed to be doing something completely non-mask related. What was she supposed to be needing protection from in here? “Well... Feel up to baking?” Her voice dropped lower to a conspiratorial whisper. “You can keep me safe from all that batter.”
“Holy sugary confections!” He slammed his fist down into the palm of his hand. “I knew sugar and flour had it out for you. I did the research.” Roger kept a completely straight face as if he had really believed cookies and cakes had managed to grow teeth and had every intention on giving her diabetes rabies. The worst kind of rabies. “I can’t say I’ve ever baked before, but I’ll do my best.” Roger assured her. The most Roger had cooked was a steak on his mini grill in the backyard.
She gave a soft, dramatic gasp at the thought of some vicious desserts and then trailed off into good natured eye roll. “Good thing I’m making enough for a small army. They’ll be some wiggle room for mistakes.” Hopefully they’d end up with something edible. As she wheeled toward the kitchen she shook her head. If Roger didn’t already regret his bodyguard duty, she was sure he would by the end of their baking bonanza.