Barbara Gordon (babsgordon_) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-03-01 10:58:00 |
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Pike had to admit, this was nice. He had made the offer because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. And Starfleet officers were instilled with diplomacy and manners, even if it took longer for some of them to acquire those skills. It had been a welcome relief to get out of the Tower and even though it was a handicapped SHIELD van that took them to the restaurant, he could at least delude himself that he was independent. The food was delicious - some of it familiar but much of it new. Of course there had been sake as well and he'd enjoyed the refreshing taste of it, similar to things he'd tasted on other planets in the name of diplomacy. Once dinner had finished, they'd opted to move to a cafe down the street for coffee and dessert and Pike was once again reminded of how difficult the 21st century was in a wheelchair, where not everything was accessible and it was difficult to deal with heavy manual doors. He took a bite of the chocolate cake they'd split and washed it down with a sip of his espresso. "I ought to thank you. It was an enjoyable evening out. I think I was close to getting cabin fever in the Tower. The city just seems so inaccessible - it leaves me frustrated more often than not." "You're welcome." Barbara smiled. "It takes some getting used to, and SHIELD is trying to help. Many people who have come through have had so many differing circumstances that it must be overwhelming to try and sort through it all. I don't envy their HR department at all. But between the MTA buses, which are fine if they're running on time, the SHIELD transportation, and the handful of accessible subway stations, it's not so bad. It is easy to get frustrated though." They had had some trouble at both the restaurant and the cafe with the doors and navigating the restaurant, but the waitstaff had been (mostly) helpful, and that was nice. Barbara seemed to have had more years to get used to her chair than Christopher had, though she had also only recently been gaining back that hope that was once lost about walking again. She still wished that she'd come through the tesseract with her neural transmitter, though the pain it caused for her to walk in it was enough to reconsider that as well. She poked her fork at the chocolate cake and sighed. "This is really delicious cake," she said, glancing over at him. She admired him, even the little she'd seen of him in the most recent Star Trek movie, especially for his attitude, how he treated Kirk. It reminded her a bit of herself and the ways she taught and trained Helena and Dinah back home. They had a lot in common, in that manner, and she was enjoying getting to know him personally, like this. "This is really nice," Barbara said a moment later, with a soft smile. "It was definitely nice to get out and have a chance to talk about and think about -- other things." When so much of her time lately had been consumed either with work, worrying about Dick or, worse, worrying about Jason, there wasn't much time she had to relax or, better, be distracted from Bat-family drama. "Here's to other things then," he said as he lifted his cup of espresso in a toast and even managing a smile. For all that he was a career officer and Barbara knew of him from the movie, tonight was an escape - a night to not bear the burden of command. It was something that weighed on him at the Tower. Even though they were no longer his crew, he still worried about them all and wanted them to succeed. You didn't get to command a flagship without taking care of your crew. "Well, tempura fried ice cream sounded interesting, but I haven't had a good chocolate cake in ages," he continued. "So, anything else you'd like to know about me? Granted - I can't guarantee to answer every question." Barbara slid her hand gently around her mug of tea and smiled. "A new start, I think," she added, then sipped it. She tugged the tea bag out and set it on the small plate she was given, then sat back. "As long as chocolate cake is made the right way, it's heavenly, isn't it?" She looked at him in a bit of surprise at his question. "I don't know. Anything you'd like to share, I imagine. What made you go into Starfleet? Why the captain's track and not, say, engineering. I'm not picky. I'm just enjoying getting to know you." "It wasn't much a choice," Pike said, taking another bite of chocolate cake. "My father was an officer - they made him Admiral after a time. I was always going to go to Starfleet. I thought that maybe once I made Captain, I'd make him proud, but I didn't realize just how difficult it was to earn Admiral Joshua Pike's approval. Sometimes I wonder if my mother ever did." He found himself calming his nerves with cake and coffee. It wasn't his favorite topic, but it wasn't the worst thing she could could have asked about. "The hardest part of going to the Academy was leaving the horses. We lived on a ranch out in the Mojave - I used to ride every day before the Academy - then it was just on breaks. Made Captain in four years - which was a record until Kirk showed up. Never managed to please my dad, but I loved it out there - the feel of a ship purring under my fingers, the challenges, all of it. Only thing missing from a starship are horses," he said with a smirk. "What about you? How'd you become batgirl?" It was nice to hear him talk about both being on a ship and his horses, and she understood a little about his relationship with his father, though hers never got a chance to get off the ground. Her relationship with her uncle was better, and the one she had with Bruce was dicey, though certainly not in the same way it was for Helena. "That's quite the accomplishment," she said, nodding to his having made captain in so short a time. "I would like to think that your father was proud even if he didn't tell you, but what do I know." Barbara gave a gentle shrug of her shoulders. How had she become Batgirl. She sighed. "I -- I'd like to say I fell into it, but I guess it's more complicated than that. When I went to live with my uncle in Gotham, I wasn't very happy and I was angry at pretty much everyone in the world. I thought I'd go into the police force, like he was, but he refused to let me, barred me from joining, actually, I realized I wanted to find another way. It was like I came to know the city and love the city more than anyone else in my life. I didn't really want to get attached to people, you know? So I sought out Batman and, even though he hated it, ended up joining him in the end." Pike laughed, something he didn't remember having done for quite a long while. "So, you're telling me you're brilliant and stubborn with some dysfunctional family issues?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the woman across from him, the way he usually sized up recruits and cadets. "Seems like you'd be perfect for Starfleet," he said with a smile. From what she was saying and what he knew of her so far, he was fairly certain she was the type that he'd handpick to serve on his crew. She couldn't help but laugh at that. "If I'd lived in another time, perhaps, though -- not to sound like a Trekkie at all, but I did grow up watching all of the best science fiction shows. Star Trek being one of them, of course. I guess I wanted to know how much of it was or, rather, could one day be, science fact, rather than fiction." She paused. "There was enough weird stuff happening in Gotham with metahumans and their abilities though, that adding space travel or time travel or anything like that into it would have been overkill." Christopher shook his head. "I still have trouble with the concept that I'm a physical character. Do my best to forget it most of the time. I really don't need anymore mental issues at the moment. Got enough problems up there thanks to Nero." That was a bit of a cop-out. Pike knew that some of his issues weren't due to Nero at all, but that the Romulan had simply brought them to the front. He ran a hand over his hair. "I'll be honest, Barbara, half the stuff in this world seems like fiction to me and I don't really know what to do about it," he admitted, distracting himself with another sip of espresso. "I keep trying to come up with a rational explanation and this whole concept of 'magic' just doesn't satisfy." He didn't want this to be a pity party though. "Metahumans? I'm not sure I follow. Are you talking humanoid alien races?" "I gave up trying to come up with a rational explanation about any of this months ago," she said. Barbara had seen a lot of weird things in her universe, though alternate realities hadn't been one of them, not like what Dick and Jason were used to. To think that there were other versions of her out there took enough brain power to try and understand that she didn't really want to understand it anymore. "I don't think it's magic, though I'll admit it's hard to comprehend that there are people who have come through that can manipulate time and space and matter in that way. What the tesseract is doing is much more science-based, even if we haven't yet begun to understand it." How on earth to describe metahumans, she thought, shaking her head just slightly. "No, not other races. Metahumans, where I come from, are humans that have unique abilities that came about due to malfunctions or, rather, mutations, in their DNA. A lot are marked by heightened senses or abilities, such as eyesight or Eidetic memories or super human strength. They're humans, but with special abilities." "More than just the random genius and stellar athlete?" Pike asked, grateful for the topic. "Were they naturally occurring or specifically bred?" He didn't know much about bioengineering and gene manipulation, but he knew that there were areas of focus for that at Starfleet Medical as well as private corporations. The idea of creating humans with special abilities turned his stomach. "I will welcome a logical, scientific explanation for this. I'm not as preoccupied as Spock with logic, but still, what I've been told hasn't been enough to satisfy or allow me to understand it." "A little of both, I suppose," she said. "We never really understood where it all came from, perhaps one or two people who had the mutation and it spread. Arkham Asylum in Gotham was filled with the ones who had a more criminal bent, though by all means, the mutation didn't make everyone a criminal. It was just unfortunate that some of the nastiest had it." Barbara laughed. "I guess all we can do is hope there is an explanation at all. I've been working on it for months now and don't feel like I'm any closer to a cause or even finding a sense of control for it. It's frustrating for anyone with a science background to be unable to figure out the root cause of it all and fix it." "You're not doing much to encourage me," Christopher teased with a slight laugh, smiling at Barbara. He was enjoying himself much more than he'd expected to tonight, which was unexpected but not unwelcome. "The alternate realities and worlds I have less of a problem with," he continued. "After all, I've travelled to many worlds and had my own encounter with two Spocks which was apparently prompted by that." He laughed, this one more cynical. "I think I just get stuck on the 'fictional' part. The fact that what happened with the Narada, with Nero could be entertainment is just incomprehensible to me," he admitted. "It's... trivializing, almost. Insult to injury on top of that pity promotion I received." He stopped himself and ran a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, I. I didn't mean to whine like a first year cadet. The evening's been lovely and here I'm just stuck on my own problems." "Oh?" Barbara teased. "Am I meant to be encouraging you?" She smiled slyly behind her mug as she sipped her going-lukewarm tea. She shifted in her chair momentarily and stretched her back. "I don't know much about alternate realities, though I bet they're pretty confusing. I'm lucky in that another version of myself hasn't turned up here. I don't know what I would do if that were to happen." She had thought about it, especially when it came to her relationship currently with Dick, and the new one coming together with Jason. She started to shake her head and tell him not to worry about his whining, that she'd done the same for a while after she had arrived, but she stopped herself. "You have fiction though, right? Books and telenovels and all sorts of things like that, and they're all written to shock and awe, aren't they?" She rubbed the side of her neck. "It's not good to consider yourself fictional, Christopher. You're not. You lived your life. Those things happened to you, to the people you care about. They are fact. It just so happens that everything you know as fact are fiction here, in this alternate reality." "Yes, we have fiction," he said, giving her an eyeroll usually reserved for Kirk's latest rule-breaking exploit and chuckling. "Everyone needs a bit of escapisms. Even have a collection at my condo and at the ranch." "Spock - the other Spock - mentioned serving under another me. I'm hoping to talk to him about it at some time. It's fascinating in a way - that any point in history can be a starting point for history to fraction off. Granted, that's an extrapolation that was purely fiction - but then Nero created a black hole with red matter, and well, you know how that went I assume. A lot of what you consider science fiction is possible - given the right technology and raw materials. Stark and SHIELD seem to be on the forefront of that here," he explained, shifting more into officer mode. It wasn't even a conscious thing after so many years in the fleet. He took another bite of chocolate cake. "Wait, this wasn't a devious plan to encourage me and cheer me up?" he grinned. Barbara couldn't help but laugh, blushing (curse her red hair!) at the eye roll. "Well, then you're well aware that a lot of fiction has horrible things happen to good people. It's just that that also happens in real life, especially in our real lives, so …" She let the sentence trail off and used her hair to punctuate it. What he was saying about talking to the other Spock made sense to her, only because she was dealing with that as well. She nodded. "Yes, the idea of parallel alternate realities that diverge as a particular point is fascinating. Some of the close friends I have here, with the exception of Helena, who is from my universe, are from universes very similar to mine. In fact, in some of them, there's other versions of me who took different paths and, even, began differently." She was thinking about the fact that the other Barbara Gordon didn't lose her parents as she had, and instead her father was Jim Gordon, who to Barbara, had always been her uncle. "It can get confusing at times." Barbara leaned her head to the side and set her fork done. "Well, I won't argue that you don't need cheering up, so on that front, I'm happy to do anything I can." "Perhaps in one of them, Spock actually smiles," Pike teased. He raised his eyebrows when she blushed. He hadn't caused that sort of a reaction in a woman in some time. (Well, apart from catching cadets breaking fraternization rules and in that case he verbally tore them a new one and embarrassment was the least of their problems.) "Do I seem that depressed? Or does my reputation precede me?" he asked in all honesty. Barbara lowered her eyes for a moment and finished off her tea. "You seem much the same as most of us who have come through the tesseract," she said honestly. "I'm not going to pretend that you'll get over it and back to your old self any time soon. But I hope that you don't stay too upset too long." Pike laughed. "You have seen my former self right? I'm not exactly a ball of sunshine," he teased. "Though I do have to say, you've done a remarkable job cheering me up. I think tonight is the first time I've laughed in a long time. Probably since before Nero." "Then I will take that as a compliment for a job well done," Barbara said. She pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled across the table at him. "You're also welcome to the rest of the cake. I don't think I could possibly eat another bite." Christopher chuckled as he took another bite, licking the frosting off the fork. "You don't understand how nice it is to eat real food. And decadent stuff like this. Still getting used to it," he explained. "It was meant to be a compliment. I do give them occasionally, they're just a bit harder to earn." "I'll consider myself very lucky, then," she said, and she surprised herself when it came out in a slightly flirtatious tone. She blushed and rubbed her thumb against her knee. "The food here in New York certainly is incredible. Anything you could possibly ever want, really. If I had the time and means, I'd try every restaurant in the city, but I don't think that's going to ever happen. I'm not Tony Stark, after all." Christopher couldn't remember the last time he'd been the recipient of that type of time. Even working at the academy, Pike had found most of his time to be occupied by cadets and their antics and when he found time for leisure, it was to escape to the ranch and not have a casual dinner with a woman. He raised an eyebrow again at her blush, unsure how he could be the cause of it. "That would certainly be a delicious mission," he said, unsure where the teasing tone came from. "I'm sure we could manage a new restaurant every week or two. Considering we don't have to pay rent." Barbara nodded. "Fair point, the lack of rent. I think we should take that challenge, don't you? Are you in?" Was it too forward of her to even ask that of a man whom she had just met? But they were having a nice time, they had a lot in common, he was good-looking and smart... she certainly didn't mind his company. In fact, quite the opposite -- she was enjoying it immensely. "Consider tonight restaurant one and move on from here?" "I am most certainly in. Besides, I'm sure it does me good or whatever to get out of the Tower," he said with an easy smile, surprised at how much he had enjoyed himself tonight. Maybe, as sad as it was, it was because Barbara was in a wheelchair as well. They were equals in that regard and there wasn't the envy and jealousy he felt about some of his former crew members. . "Isn't that cheating just a bit?" She shrugged. "You don't mind a little bit of cheating, do you?" she teased again. Barbara found it was easier to talk to him, to tease him, than it was to do so with, say Dick, who had a long and complicated history with another version of herself, a history that Barbara didn't know or understand. She had too much trouble figuring out the flirting from the friendly, in that case. "That depends on the motivation behind the cheating," Christopher teased lightly, his thoughts straying to cadets who dared to cheat in his classes and Kirk's antics with the Kobayashi Maru. He considered the remnants of cake in front of him and realized another bite was near impossible. He drained the last of his espresso. "I suppose in this case I can allow it," he said with a smile. "Provided we manage to try something new next week. Indian perhaps?" Barbara eyed the cake but didn't reach out. She had already decided she couldn't eat another bite, and even though she hated seeing that last part go to waste, she just couldn't do it. "Indian sounds perfect. Do you want to do some investigating and find a place for us to try?" "I think I can manage that. Shouldn't be too difficult a task. I think the hardest part will be deciding where to go," he said with a smile. New York certainly had a plethora of restaurants and he hoped his efforts to find a good one would be as successful as Barbara's had been. "Wonderful," Barbara agreed. She didn't want the night to end but checking the time, she noticed that it was getting late, and she'd arranged for the SHIELD accessible van to pick them up around now. They shouldn't keep it waiting. "Are you ready to head back?" she asked. Pike checked his watch and raised an eyebrow. Time had gone by faster than he'd expected. There was some wisdom to the adage 'Time flies when you're having fun' apparently. He sighed. "I suppose we should," Pike said with a half smile as he reached for his wallet and frowned, pulling out a few bills and tucking them under the cup for a tip. He hoped it was a decent amount - he was still getting used to the money in this world and the protocols for tipping. Fortunately he had a good head for numbers. He grabbed his jacket, shifting in his chair to pull it on, wincing when he one of the movements caused a random pain flare. "Van should be here soon if it's not already." Barbara watched him carefully and nodded. "I think it'll be waiting outside in just a moment," she said, smiling. "Christopher," she started. "I had a really nice time with you tonight. I'm looking forward to doing it again." He was glad she didn't comment on the wince of pain. He'd had enough coddling since coming back from the Narada. Her words took him by surprise and he found himself analyzing them, wondering what she was saying or wasn't saying. "Likewise," Christopher said with a smile before his need for bluntness won out. "Barbara, was tonight.. was it more than just a dinner between new friends?" Surprised and blushing, Barbara looked over at him and fish-mouthed for a moment before gathering herself and clearing her throat. "That's completely up to you," she said carefully. "It's a difficult time and space we're in, we're all in here now, and I can understand a need both ways. So if you'd like to have this dinner and any dinner we share be between friends, I'm certainly happy to think the same way. I didn't ask you tonight out of any particular expectation. Of course, if you were interested in anything more than friends, I certainly wouldn't object." She paused for a moment. "I have spent most of my life living two lives and never being able to blend the two or open up to any sort of personal life outside of Batgirl and then Oracle. I'm still getting used to the idea that my life here is practically an open book and I don't have to hide a part of myself." Pike was pleased that he managed to hold her gaze, given that he couldn't remember the last time he'd been in this situation. Which seemed to be par for the course tonight. "I'm a damaged man, Barbara. Not just physically. I have problems even considering burdening another person with that," he said honestly. "Which is the long way of saying, I'm not sure if I'm ready for anything approaching a relationship. I think for the time being, all I'm capable of is friends." Barbara completely understood. She did, and even if she understood, a small part of her was still disappointed. She touched his arm briefly. "I am too," she said. "I just think maybe I've had a little longer to get used to it than you have." She wheeled toward the door. "Friends it is then. I could use more of those here." Her touch on his arm surprised him and he found himself putting his hand over hers. "Things can always change though," he told her as he followed her towards the door. |