Oracle (intheclock) wrote in parabolical, @ 2008-10-20 02:38:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | barbara gordon, open |
Who: Babs and OPEN
What: For anyone who wants to witness a 145lbs paralysed woman take out two muggers.
When: Sunday Afternoon
Where: Street corner in LA
Status/Rating: incomplete/PG13
Her father had once asked her if she had aggression issues. She'd been fifteen and he'd mistaken her overeagerness and excitement for the beginning of her training with Bruce for an extreme amount of pent up aggression. Babs had never blamed him for it, of course. It had been her own fault that he'd walked in on her more than once practicing kicking and punching on pillows. Aggression had never been an issue, Babs had just always been skilled in the martial arts. It was a natural skill, one she never liked to let go to waste. It was hard to keep sharp here in Los Angeles with no Dinah, Helena, or Charlie to train with.
Babs wasn't trying to eavesdrop as she went past the street corner, but it growing up the way she had and being trained the way she was, well, it was pretty hard not to at this point. She heard what she wanted to, public and private. It sounded as if this was most certainly the latter and normally she would have left it alone, but she recognised what she was hearing. The familiarity of the what she heard took her back to when bats, grappling hooks, and Kevlar had been the three constants in her life.
"Please, here… it's everything in my wallet."
Warped. She had to be warped. It was the only explanation for the grin that game to her lips when she realised she'd stumbled across a mugging. A mugging in broad daylight on an empty street corner, no less. Who smiled at that? She was almost as bad as Dick.
"Except I'm not halfway to being a sociopath," Babs muttered to herself underneath her breath as she firmly gripped her eskrima sticks from underneath the arms of her chair.
She paused for a moment before she used one hand to push her chair back a few feet until she came to a stop. It was a Sunday afternoon and she didn't have a Freak of the Week to shut herself away and deal with. Interaction with other human beings, Dinah always reminded her, was a good thing. Even if they were muggers.
Besides, while she didn't have an aggression problem perse, she certainly couldn't deny the stress that was lifted from her shoulders everytime she gave something a good knocking around. It didn't happen nearly enough in Los Angeles.
She considered stealth, but only for a split second before she pushed completely back towards the corner and then stopped, waiting for the two men rifling through the woman's purse to notice her presence. "Hi." They looked dense enough to need a hint.
The fight was nothing spectacular… not to Babs, at least. They weren't aliens or metas. Lex Luthor hadn't pumped them full of any radio active toxins. They weren't clones. They were just your average everyday thugs who'd learned to fight in Juvenile Hall. She'd learned to fight in a hut in the middle of woods against hired ninjas. Among other places.
Bruce's idea of a field trip.
The fight was of little note and soon Babs was locking the eskrima sticks away back underneath her chair. She caught herself grinning at the bloodied and brusied men laying on the ground as she bent at the waist, helping the woman gather her belongings. It hadn't been hard, but it felt good. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes. Thank you," the victim stuttered out.
Babs exchanged a few more pleasantries before leaving the scene and the crowd that had formed. She was sure the police had already been called, but she knew what would happen. A crippled woman who'd taken out two full grown men? No matter how many people confirmed it, the cops would assume they were exaggerating and if they ever caught up with her she would assure them of the same thing. She weighed one hundred and forty-five pounds wet and was confined to a wheelchair. They'd never believe it.
Ah well, at least there were some perks.