i_see all When Myths Meet [for Bruce and later Tim]
Cleansing of the clocktower had begun, but without Bruce and Tim dropping by Babs wasn't rushing. She would have all of Christmas break to get her things moved in and possibly after tonight, someone to help her. She was taking the optimistic aproach to her meeting with Bruce. Sometimes she could just never tell what the man's mood was, and while that was an excellent quality for Batman to have, it wasn't a wonderful one for Bruce. She knew she should be prepared for the worst, but Babs was being stubborn.
Babs found the manor easily by just focusing on it as Bruce had recommended and up the long driveway at exactly 6:55. She exited the car carrying only her laptop in a shoulder bag; it was her personal laptop, the one devoted to her night-job. She'd figured that on an evening like this is could only come in handy.
There were no stairs (one potentially embarrassing situation avoided) so Babs made her way easily up to the front door and reached up to ring the door bell. Alfred would come running... if Alfred was still around, that was.
He tugged on his cuffs in crisp fashion and made his way to the front door. Master Bruce had claimed to have contact from Ms. Barbara. A familiar face. It would be good to see one again. One that felt like it belonged. Not, of course, that young Master Tim was unwelcome.
Not in the least.
In fact, the business with the young Master held a touch of dejavu.
So, with such thoughts on his mind, Alfred Pennyworth opened the front, grand, entrance to Wayne Manor and stopped short at the sight before him.
She'd been all ready to smile at finally seeing a familiar face in Alfred, at finally seeing somebody that she knew would be glad to glad to see her and who she was glad to see. But when she saw the look on Alfred's face she stopped short, finding herself biting her lip nervously in front of the man who like like a grandfather to her.
"The wheelchair, isn't it?" She said, looking up and giving a small smile. "I... I got shot."
Telling Bruce would be completely different, she'd already prepared for it just in case he was surprised, but for some reason seeing Alfred not realising it made her nervous and uncomfortable. Babs had already had to see his grief once before in her own time and it'd hurt just as much then.
He cleared his throat gently and moved the door back further to allow her entry. "I would hope it did not occur while we were available and here in the City, Ms. Gordon. You should not have been alone through such a thing alone."
He managed a smile, despite his dismay at the situation. So much different. And he could see immediately on her face that she hadn't expected him not to know. What other surprises were in store for them all ?
Babs wheeled easily into the foyer, taking some comfort in the fact that Alfred was at least able to put on a happy face about it. She didn't like hearing him feel guilty though. "No this happened some time ago, back in... well, I guess you'd say my time. I must have gotten pulled here out of a different point in time than you did. Don't worry about me, I've been fine."
She looked around the foyer to see if it was how she remembered it. The City's influence seemed not to have affected the place, and she was glad for that at least. The manor had too many memories for The City to just come in and alter it to its whims.
"Is Bruce here? Did the cave make it? And where's Tim?" Babs asked all in a rush, eager to see more.
"Master Bruce will be down momentarily. He is below." Alfred said with the same careful care and choice of words he always used. "Master Tim is upstairs. We've been giving time and space. It seems as if this place saw fit to give us a Robin under similar circumstances to the first."
He motioned to the study, it would be cosier than the great hall, and bit his tongue on the urge to add 'Among other things'. Because there was still the matter of the woman he'd found wandering in the manor's halls. The woman who'd insisted she belonged there.
"Shall I pour you a sherry before dinner, Ms. Barbara ?" His manners and warm feelings for the woman he'd watched blossom during the past few years, had him slipping back into using her first name, now that he'd gotten over the initial shock.
She didn't seem to be in pain, and unlike Master Bruce, she would be somewhat vocal about it, he was sure. She was healed and adjusting. The shock, for him, was simply in the not knowing. And he would not add to her anxieties with a need to know the details. Not now.
Besides, Master Bruce might not know either. And if so, he would need to be told. And then it could be discussed in private.
"Tim, I miss him" Babs found herself grinning. She didn't get to see Tim very often. Dick had been Robin for most of the time she'd been in training, only tapering off towards the very end when he'd been in college and ready to branch off on his own. She'd been almost ready to lay down the cowl herself by that point (now out of college, she'd been trying to decide what she really wanted to do), and had regulated herself mostly to behind the scenes work which was where her Oracle job really began to develop. The Joker had just rushed the inevitable.
"I'll have some sherry, thanks," she said, smiling as they entered the study. It was just as it had always been.
Babs watched as he went about his task, processing all he'd just said. He'd mentioned Bruce and Tim, and the manor was all in order, but where was...
"Alfred?" Babs asked. "Has Dick shown up?" She hoped she didn't sound too urgent.
He paused in the act of pouring the sherry. "I was under the impression that Master Bruce had contacted you, Ms. Barbara, and asked you to look out for him."
The sherry tinkled as it was poured expertly and Alfred moved the glass to a tray to present it to her.
"Though, if we are talking of odd things. While Master Richard is most conspicuously absent, there is the case of a certain, Ms. Helena Wayne, or at least that is what she called herself when I found her wandering the halls in her sleep things."
"Helena?" Babs perked up upon hearing another familiar name. "Helena's here? So now Bruce, you, Tim, Helena, and I, but no Dick. I'm assuming you don't Helena then? She's safe, trust me. We work together."
She wasn't a huge drinker, but sometimes (and certainly in situations like these) it was nice to have. Besides, sherry wasn't like having a shot, she could sip it slowly. "When exactly did you and Bruce arrive? I saw Wayne Corp pop up on my computers a few days ago, but were you here before that? I've been here a month, it was like my house was just transported over night."
He had the good grace to blush and clear his throat again. "Ms. Helena is known to you ? Oh dear."
He placed the tray back at the bar and began picking up non-existent specks of lint from the back of a wingback chair. "You see, I'm afraid I expelled her, rather forcibly from the mansion. She seemed unwell to me. Distraught. She kept referring to Master Bruce as her father. I know I should have perhaps, appeared more caring. Though, I did give her some money and called her cab. But, well, as strange as this place is, I thought it still possible that one or two mentally unstable people, you understand, might have found their way here as well."
"I'll find her." And she would too, there was no doubt in her mind. "For now though, she's tough. She'll be alright for a few hours. I'll check my cameras and feeds tonight to see if anyone's seen her. She can stay with me if Bruce really ends up having a problem with it, but I think I can talk some sense into him.
"Speaking of... obviously things haven't changed. One would think he'd come up from his lair eventually," Babs laughed slightly, rolling her eyes. Bruce could keep someone waiting for hours when he really got into it.
Ah, here was the reaction she had known was coming. This she could deal with.
"The Joker," Babs said quickly. She knew the name would incite a rage, so she barrelled forward in her explanation before Bruce could say a word. "He found out that I was Batgirl, though at the time I was working more behind the scenes. One night he came into my apartment and put two bullets in my spine; direct hits, there was nothing doctors could do about my legs. I was... well I was angry for awhile, but it didn't kill me. I was lucky, I accept it."
She watched him closely before adding, "Sit down and pour yourself a drink before you get too worked up, Bruce. It happened three years ago. Well, for me at least."
"You were working, and I'm sure as hell not going to blame you for that. It's not your fault, it's not Dick's fault, it's not Tim's fault. Somewhere along the line I got careless, and the wrong person found out about me. That's all."
Babs set her wine glass down, and looked up to watch Bruce watch her. She was used to the looks, the not-so-subtle checks to make sure everything was in order. They were the same looks each of them got whenever they turned in after a long night of patrol.
"As you can see, I'm fine, yes?" Babs raised an eyebrow, setting Bruce with a look of her own. "I worked too hard over the years to let everything go to waste. I still have my night-job, I'm just much more homebased now."
He smiled suddenly, tiredly. And his alter ego faded away. "I take it we've have this conversation before ? " He stepped closer to her, and rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly.
"It will take a while to get used to, Babs. Two weeks ago we were having Dick's farewell dinner party and you were fine." He glanced out of the study window where the grounds of the estate were familiar, but the city that he could see the tips off, off the drop of the hill was completely different.
"Oh God, Dick's dinner, that was..." ages ago in Babs' count, at least five or six years back. Every thing had been fine, she remembered it all clearly. "I remember that, Jason came along a few months later and then I left."
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Concentration was key. "Yes. This conversation isn't exactly new for me, but we got over it and all's well. I swear, you heroes would be lost without me." Babs smiled, teasing him easily. "Well, you haven't gotten there yet I guess, but the little computer network I had going. It expanded. Big time."
"Jason ?" His brows lifted up along his hairline a bit and he smiled. Babs had found someone worthy of leaving either the city behind for ? Or just the part with wings ?
He moved to the bar, but poured himself a glass of sparkling cider out of habit. He took a sip. "It's good to see you developed an ego about that. I still remember the first time you ever shoved me out of the way and took over the keyboard." He tilted his head. "Though, I think this City has plans for me. It's " He continued, knowing she would clearly know what 'it' was referenced "Not missing a network." He took another sip of his drink and nodded to the door. "There's elevator access." A small smile curved at the edges of his lips.