i_seeall Can You Hear Me Now? [Babs/Dick]
Well. That hurt.
Babs' ear was still ringing, even five minutes after the feedback had shot through her headphones straight into her ear drum. It was a wonder she wasn't deaf and she hoped whoever was on the other end of that com-line wasn't either after that piercing ringing. That would teach her to put Speaker A too close to Receiver B.
Normally she wouldn't have done something like that, as it was a silly mistake to make, but she'd gotten excited. And for good reason. There was another com signal popping up on her network. It had all the coding of someone in the 'family', but she hadn't been able to get through to them and her readouts as to the location were sketchy at best. The signal was weak, but Babs couldn't complain because if the person had just been pulled through an alternate reality it was a wonder she was picking up anything at all. She didn't know much about how electronics traveled through dimensions, but she'd had to gather all new equipment from the city upon arrival.
She picked up the smaller receiver again and placed it in her lap, away from the speaker. Then, leaning over it, she went back to her computer and clicked on the signal again.
Ow.
Alright. The receiver went to the floor and the speaker was moved to the higher shelf, which took a but of effort on her part, but once it was done there was no annoying buzzing. And when she clicked the signal, she heard the sound of an open, if slightly static, com-line.
"Yes!" Babs grinned to herself, saving the still opened line in her computer. "Hello, is anybody there?"
Thank God something was still right in this world. Whichever world it was. Not Bludhaven, at least, and not quite Gotham, though things certainly looked familiar.
There were gargoyles, for one. Gargoyles were a staple of the architecture of both cities, and tended to be rather good vantage points. And, frankly, were good for posing on. Not that anyone who actually liked to perch on them would admit that.
Dick didn't, of course.
He pressed the heel of his hand against his ear. There was a voice, sounded a bit fuzzier than usual, but that was expected. He was in a very unfamiliar place.
"Nightwing here," he answered shortly, and waited. Sure, it was supposed to be Babs, but hey. Caution seemed to be in order, for once.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/11/2006 19:27:18
Not for the first time since arriving in The City, Babs lost all sense of Oracle decorum. This really had to stop. The surprises, the weird camera footage, the unexpected voices...
"Nightwing?" Excitement only lead to disappointment, Babs tried to remember that as she spoke. The connection was bad anyway. There was definitely a chance that she'd misheard. "This is Oracle."
Dick could feel some of the wary tension drop away from his spine and his shoulders. It had sounded like her, and this would be as close to confirmation as he'd get. Besides, Nightwing was looking for a familiar voice, and hey, hers was very familiar.
Like calling home after being away on a trip, and hearing a sister pick up the phone.
"Oh, God, you have no idea how glad I am to hear you," he blurted, not bothering to keep the relief out of his voice. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
And where was all this going on...
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 05:38:07
"Welcome to The City." She spoke the customary greeting that she'd given to all members of the Bat Family. Of course, if one had asked the Bruce in her own time, Dick wasn't exactly a full fledged member anymore. Babs couldn't bring herself to care right now. "You think you're glad? Dick, I've been looking for you since I got here." Had he been just very well hidden, or had he just arrived? She hoped it was the latter.
"If you can believe it, we've pulled into an alternate dimension of sorts. A city that we can't leave, but it's a living combination of Metropolis, Gotham, New York, and a few other places." Babs said. "Where are you, I can't trace this signal. And when did you arrive?"
She had the amazing ability to convey capitalized letters without him being able to see her. It was a bit more amazing with the crappier-than-usual connection through the comm-link, but Dick figured that jumping to an entirely different city - sorry, City, would do that to an electronic device.
"I'm," he paused, and looked around, "I don't know. I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. Rooftop, somewhere. Gargoyle, of course. I just got here, very quickly. When did you arrive?"
Dick was just a bit confused. Just a bit.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 16:53:25
"Gargoyles? A church probably." Not that that narrowed it down by much. Like any city this one had a good number of churches including about five or six cathedrals, all with gargoyles. Still, it was something.
She slipped her headphones and mic off her head and transfered Dick's com-link to her mounted speakers so that she was freer to move around the room. Specificaly to her other desk where she had a second laptop. "I got here about a month and a half ago. Judging from what I've seen and who I've met, I was one of the first. It was a shock, to say the least. Bruce was the first person who showed up that I actually knew. We don't know much about this place or why we're here. like I said it's a combination of cities... and times. People've been pulled in from different parts of some very odd timeline."
Babs pulled up one of her many maps of the city, one connected directly into the Oracle network. "Can you see a clocktower from where you are?"
"Bruce is here?" was the first thing that Dick gleaned from her spiel. Barbara, Bruce, Dick - Tim, too? Maybe others that they knew, heroes and villains. He'd already seen a good number of savoury characters, but none that he'd recognized.
He straightened up, turning almost in a complete circle. Clocktower. Clocktower. There was a peal of bells, distantly, and that was a good clue as to the direction of the tower. He turned again, and squinted. "I hear a clocktower."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 17:21:32
Babs nodded, though he couldn't see. "Yes, Bruce is here. And you're still the apple of his eye, so to speak. He's only thirty-five."
If she listen carefully she could also hear the bells chiming and sounding off the hour. Her offices, the ones closer to the top of the tower at least, were all for the most part soundproofed so that the ringing was muffled to a good extent. "If you follow the bells, you find me. The clocktower is right in the middle of The City's school, The Institute."
Bruce was thirty-five... years old? Man, was that a long time ago. Part of Dick had no desire to run into that man here; it was hard enough dealing with him as he was now (whenever now was), but he didn't really know how'd he'd do with a Bruce who didn't know about what had happened in between their two timelines.
"Okay." He could do that. As long as he stayed pointed in the right direction, it would be hopefully a matter of minutes before he'd at least have a decent visual of where he was going. "Coming."
In a jump, flip and hop. And possibly some leaps, and a bit of swooping. Ziplines were wonderful things.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 17:55:15
The grin that appeared on her face when Dick said he was coming was probably not one appropriate for Oracle. But as far as Babs was concernced, unless Two Face, The Riddler, and The Joker all showed that night, she was off duty and free to wear whatever face she wanted.
She shut down her external com systems for the moment, only leaving the direct line to the cave active. It was an unspoken rule that that line stayed on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The inner hidden offices had no windows, or outside access points that were easily reached. Dick would need some way to get in besides the front door. She pushed away from her desk and after grabbing a portale com, left the inner office through the secret panel in the wall.
"Dick." The com went in her ear, and she could hear the static of their line again. A quick mental note to outfit him with a new one was made. "I'm opening a window on the north side of the tower. Just come right in." With little effort, Babs did just that.
It was lucky that the architecture was at least somewhat similar; the trip became so much smoother with the same sort of buildings to swing off of and jump across. It took a shorter amount of time than Dick expected, once he could see where he was going.
There was a bit of a hitch when he actually got there, mostly due to the wariness that settled in once he stopped moving. But there was an open window on the north side, and Babs was... probably actually really Babs, so...
A minute later, he slipped in through the window, perching on the ledge. Not going in just yet.
"Oracle?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 18:35:57
Well at least Dick was perching in a window, and not straight down on the floor as Bruce had the other day. Out of costume. Babs couldn't say that she'd ever understood or shared their fascination with crouching in window sills. Standing in the room worked just as well.
"Nightwing." A fond smile was on her face as she rolled into his view. She reached up and plucked the com out of her ear, setting it on a near by table. Her lips quirked and she raised an eyebrow. "You could come in, you know."
But crouching in the window sill was far more dramatic, and served the purpose of allowing one to see inside, without having to necessarily be inside. It wasn't as though he wanted to put his lower half at the level at which people tended to swing baseball bats (though to be fair, that depended on the height of the window).
He slid the rest of the way in, and dropped to the floor, almost soundlessly. Straightened up and gave her a tight little smile. "Barbara."
Yes, he was just going to keep saying various incarnations of her name. Or. Well, she certainly had a nice little set-up here.
"I see you've settled in."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 19:44:11
Her eyebrow hiked higher at Barbara. It was one thing for Bruce to call her by her full name, but coming from Dick it only served to amuse her. "Yes, Richard, I have. I've been here for a month after all."
His body language was intersting. She noticed more out of instinct than looking directly for it. Remants of Bruce showed clearly in the way Dick held himself. Even his smile seemed slightly reserved. It wasn't exactly the arrival she'd expected.
At least he wasn't shock and awing over her wheelchair, though. That was something to be thankful for, it wasn't a scene she'd been looking forward to playing out with him. And it gave her a timeline... he had to be from in between 2002 and 2004. Not 2005. Babs could tell.
"You made good time." She smiled and turned, headed towards the secret door. "Come on. I have a better place to talk. A much better set up."
It was too bad her full name wasn't longer than just Barbara, because then he'd be able to one-up her, and her italics. And he made better faces without the mask on, even with it as small as it was.
"I always do, don't I?" Dick asked, and followed her. "Who else has shown up?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/12/2006 20:47:56
"Bruce, me, Alfred, Tim, Jason, Helena -apparently in another reality Bruce and Selina have a daughter names Helena-, and a girl named Maxine who in about fifty years, is apparently going to have my job." Babs quickly ticked the off the family names before moving on to outside arrivals. "Other than that, I've seen Kyle Rayner, Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor, and I met Death the other day if you can believe it. There're several other superhero types floating around, it's just a matter of IDing them all."
She felt around for the handle and pulled the pannel open once more, leading them into the back office. It looked very much like tornado had gone through and deposited wires and monitors everywhere, not that Babs ever noticed. "Sit down anywhere, don't perch on my desks."
"Jason's dead," Dick reminded her flatly. As if she didn't know. Babs wasn't exactly slow, after all. Helena. That would be fun, too, since they got along so well.
Just to spite her, he hopped up onto one of the desks, tucking neatly into one of the clear spaces, balancing easily. "Though if Death's here, I suppose the dead can be, too."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/13/2006 07:55:13
"It also helps that he was pulled out of his reality before it happened." Babs prefered to spell it out in a more analytical sense. Jason still wasn't her favorite subject, especially since she still hadn't found the boy as Bruce had directed. And it wasn't for lack of trying either. Though now that she had Dick, a version of Dick at any rate, she could focus all of her energies on the other.
He was crouching on one of her desks, a fact she wasn't madly in love with, but at least he wasn't on anything important. "When did you get here? And how? The stories vary from person to person."
Of course he wasn't on anything important. Give the man and his perching abilities some credit.
"That must've been weird to find." Really. Though, there had been at least a few cases where the dead had turned up alive again, so perhaps it wasn't so hard to fathom after all.
"A couple nights ago? I sort of... fell. Thought I was in a museum, ended up in an alley." A beat, then. "When did you come from? If Jason's alive, and Bruce is thirty-five..."
Not that she had to have come from either of those times, of course.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/13/2006 19:53:45
She couldn't help but laugh when he said he'd fallen. That was a rare occasion and it needed to be marked.
"2005. Bruce is from '99," she said, eyeing him, wondering if she was going to like the answer to her next question. "You're Dick, version 2002-2004? I can tell... some where in that period."
Dick glared. It was almost Bat-like, except for the slightly pouty edge to it. Because he could've broken his spine, and all she could do was laugh at him.
"I'm a 'version,' now?" he echoed, trying to raise an eyebrow and have the gesture be apparent behind the mask. "2004. Fun year, so far. I suppose there'd be something wrong about me asking what happens in the second half of the year?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/14/2006 19:17:26
"Probably. We wouldn't want to alter the space time continuum, now would we?" She asked, quite aware that her geek side had just become apparent in the answer to that question, but it was better than the alternative.
Babs remembered the date, the time, the place, where she and Dick's relationship had become 'official'. Unfortunately, that hadn't been until October 13th, 2004. Everything now pointed to Dick not having reached the point yet.
She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that, or what she was supposed to do. She knew that this wasn't the time, but sooner or later...
She'd learned her lesson when it came to keeping things from her men. Not to, of course, because when they found out they didn't like it. But this wasn't the death of a protege, this was just a relationship. One that he didn't remember.
It would have to wait. Babs shifted in her chair, a way of refocusing. She had to refocus, the silence had gone on for more than an appropriate three beats. "2004, alright. I've been trying to see if there's some sort of pattern to where people've been pulled out of timelines, but so far nothing's matched up. You weren't with anyone when you were pulled, were you. Fighting them maybe? Like, Lady Vic, Mouse... Blockbuster?" Worst case scenarios, yes, but if Max had brought Ace along for the ride, just by being with him, who was to say that Dick couldn't have.
Dick waited. She'd been here for a month - surely she'd have a set of questions (well, more questions) prepared, or a checklist of things to do, people to see, people to not see, and stuff he should know about.
It took a bit longer than expected for her to start getting to that list.
"No, except for maybe a security guard. Hadn't run into the big trouble yet."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/14/2006 21:23:32
"That's good." One less thing to worry about. They already had a nice selection of Gotham's badest, there was no need to add Bludhaven's.
"You're going to have to see Bruce. No arguments" That was at the very beginning of her 'list', which came to mind now that she was somewhat refocused. There couldn't be any of this seperation business here, it was find at home where they each knew the ground on which they stood. But here the ground changed. Constantly. Bruce and Dick would have to come to some sort of accord, even if both she and Tim had to play mediator.
"Do you have anyplace to live? Most have been moving into the manor." Babs could get down to business just as well as Dick, even if it did sort of hurt.
"Figured." Dick stood up on the desk, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "He won't have a clue about what's happening, will he." If Bruce was still in 1999, then Dick was still Robin, and he hadn't been fired, and hadn't left, and returned, and argued.
He jumped off of the desk, being perhaps just a bit showy, and landed lightly on the ground. "Back there again? I guess it's the only sure place. I haven't managed to find anywhere else that doesn't seem like it's going to spit out a man with a gun from every shadow."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/14/2006 23:03:11
Was he... standing on her desk? There was no real reason to be nervous probably. It was Dick after all, and he knew where to stand so the entire thing didn't tip over. But Babs couldn't help having sudden horrifying visions of the desk tipping under his added weight, and all of her electronics crashing to the floor.
Luckily he jumped down before developed to any greater of a degree. She was still frowning though, one my have even called it a slight glare. "That's what it means, yes. You're going to have to be civil. I'll fill him in as to why you left in the first place, another wonderful conversation that's going to be, but after that it'd up to the two of you to patch things up. I'm sure he won't make you don the tights again, if that makes you feel any better." The glare faded as she snickered a bit at the thought of a grown Dick in the yellow, green, and red Robin outfit.
"As for the living arangements, it's either the manor or my house. The manor had two, soon to be three as soon as I find Jason, moody teenagers, Alfred, and Bruce. I've got Helena." Another smirk. "Choose your poison."
He was ignoring the glare, blithely. If she was going to pack him off to a house of Robins, or a house with... Helena, Dick was not going to be ashamed of standing on her desk.
"You know, if you want to take the easy way out, you could just drop me off at the Manor, and Bruce and I can shout it out over a pleasant Pennyworth-prepared meal," he offered. Because that would be so much fun. At least he'd have some sort of advantage; knowing what Bruce had said in his past before Bruce had even said it must count for something.
He made a face at the mention of the tights. He hadn't really even gotten tights. It'd been like, a scaley pair of glorified underwear. "Har har. He wouldn't dare."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/14/2006 23:50:54
"I'll drop you off later then," she said innocently. She attempted not to smirk again, as that would have ruined the innocence. It was easier this way anyway, not having him in the same house. Besides, the manor had the kids and they would probably need someone to talk to eventually who wasn't Bruce. Especially Jason. Dick might not have appreciated knowing that Babs was making him an unoffical mentor in her head, but it seemed perfect to her. "Don't worry, it won't be that bad. Just seeing the cave will make the whole thing worth it, the thing is huge."
Babs grinned at Dick and turned back around to her computer. "I'll just send Bruce an email now. I was going to have to anyway. Now, what was your tight size again...?" She didn't look back to see his reaction to that comment.
"In all seriousness though, I hope you don't mind." The email was sent off quickly, and she turned back around. "I think it's best that we're not too spread out here. We need to be able to regroup quickly if necessary, and if most of us are at the manor that becomes much easier. Also, we're all going to have to remeet each other so to speak. Easier to do when everyone's together."
There was no reason for her to smirk; Dick was doing her a favor. And himself, too. Even with three Robins under one roof (one of whom was dead, and one of whom who was not actually Robin anymore), at least there'd be more space. And living with women? A far, far more dangerous choice.
Besides, he was fairly certain Tim would tease him senseless.
He decided to not answer the tights question. He decided to pretend she hadn't even asked it, actually. "No, it's alright. It makes the most sense." Even if it did promise to be terribly confusing at some point.
Beat.
"So, do I age well?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/15/2006 19:46:28
"You're missing a few teeth, some clumps of hair, and those wonderful dimples of yours are gone, but other than that you're still strikingly handsome," Babs answered with a completely straight face.
It was her way of dodging the question. Not talking about their future.
"Quite frankly I'm shocked that you're able to still be in the field at all." A small smile quirked at her lips. "What month were you in when you got pulled in. You're at most only twelve months younger than when I knew you."
Dick eyed her suspiciously, not believing a word she was saying. Unless he somehow got caught in a giant fire, and required reconstructive surgery...
LIES.
"Of course," he agreed. "Why did I see that happening?" He tilted his head to one side. "February. The 13th, I believe. It may have been the 14th, if it was after midnight."
How sweet.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/15/2006 20:48:38
Babs laughed. "You were working on Valentines Day? How typical. Of course, you'd probably forgotten anyway..." She trailed off before it became too apparent that she'd actually experienced that.
She shook her head. Other things to concentrate on, like the fact that her guess had been wrong. He was from the beginning of 2004, she was from the end of 2005. Almost two years. Damnit.
"Well, nothing better to do. Days like that make me wish I carried a bow with me. It would've made sense that night." Which was technically, still this night. "Besides, I still ended up with a girl at the end of everything."
Leer. Sort of. It was certainly a grin, and possibly a smirk.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/16/2006 16:56:44
"Should I really be so lucky..." Babs turned back to her computer screens as a slight blush crept up into her cheeks. This was just not good.
"Do you have civies?" She asked, thinking of a quick subject change. "It's alright if you don't, but it's going to look awfully weird. Me driving around a man in his black and blue pajamas."
"I happen to like these pajamas." His expression became faintly apologetic. "I think everything else got left behind at the museum." Dick would've suggested putting on a sweatshirt to at least make it look somewhat normal, but it probably would've been one of hers, and then someone would make fun of him for it.
"Unless my backpack turned up here somehow."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/16/2006 17:16:02
Babs shook her head, still looking at the computer screen. She'd been tracking the email sent over to the manor, and it appeared to have been read by someone with access to the main computer. "It's fine, it's fine. We should..." A glance and gesture towards the door.
"It won't be too horrible, I promise." Babs grinned slightly. "I'll even hold your hand if you need it."
"Oh, will you really?" Dick asked - no, he chirped. It was definitely a chirp. Possibly even a Robin-like chirp. And terribly very insincere, too.
He waved a hand in her general direction. "I'll deal with it. And him. I suppose I shouldn't tell him things that are going to happen to him, huh?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/16/2006 17:45:32
"If he asks, tell," Babs said seriously. "Tim, Maxine, and I have already felt the consquences when you don't. We tried to keep Jason from him. It didn't go well."
Reaching up, she started shutting down various extra systems that didn't need to be running while they were gone. "You're going to have to tell him about the whole firing thing. And the 'haven. He was right about one thing, we all need to be able to trust each other and get along. Telling each other things is part of it."
"If he asks," Dick repeated, almost as if it were a warning. "I'm not going to volunteer anything. Except for the firing thing." He picked a spot on his sleeve. "He'll probably ask about the duds, anyways."
He glanced around idly and looked back at her. "Well, are we going to get this family reunion started?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 01/16/2006 18:10:22
Babs picked her keys up off of a side desk. "We are."
She pushed away from the desk, turning towards the door. "I'm driving, let's go."