I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-04-05 20:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | barbara gordon, bruce wayne |
i_seeall Don't Be a Stranger! [Bruce]
Was it odd that Babs didn't like to send Bruce emails? She found her preferences to be a little ironic certainly. One would think that someone whose entire life practically revolved around the computer would be just find with shooting off an email to an old mentor. And she was, when she was writing strictly to Batman. But wanted Bruce, and she didn't always like to contact Bruce through email. It was impersonal. She liked to at least call. Especially since this wasn't strictly, strictly business. Yes, there was some involved, but she wanted to be able to ask him how he was doing and not have Batman answer.
So she'd wanted to call, and that's what she did. His cell phone was busy, but she took the risk of leaving a message like a normal person would, and then forced herself away from the computer and downstairs into her kitchen. She'd taken this day off from work to relax a bit and catch up on her 'other' work. She'd done the catching up bit. All files were updated and everything was running smoothly. Babs once again felt like she knew all there was to know about The City. Now all that was left was to wait for Bruce, and if he received her message he'd know to come around.
In the mean time, Babs was going to put on a cup of tea and read.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 18:06:40
It took very little time at all for him to arrive. Work could wait; this was important. The truth was that, ever since he saw Barbara in that wheelchair, he needed to know what happened. He needed to know how he failed her. Logically, his brain told him that he hadn't failed her -- some other version of himself had that honor.
But that meant little to that infitesimal part of him that went wholly ungoverned by logic.
His rap was sharp and strong against his door - Wayne's knock, not Bruce, not Batman. The man behind the mask. He waited.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 18:23:38
Babs set her mug and her book down on the kitchen table when the knock caught her attention. Leaving a message on his voice mail hadn't been such a risk after all. His arrival was quite prompt; she hadn't even finished a chapter.
She navigated through her house quickly to the front door, where she stopped for only a moment to look into the small coat closet where she had a monitor mounted in the top corner that watched her front stoop. A quick glance was all it took to tell that it was Bruce.
"I'm glad you got my message," Babs said, pulling open the door for him and smiling. "Come in."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 18:42:09
"Thank you, Barbara." He fell into step beside the wheelchair, walking with her into the living room.
"Your message said to come as soon as I could. Has something happened?"
Nothing dire seemed afoot. She didn't have the intensity she showed when she was working with him. In fact, she looked... relaxed.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 18:46:57
"A variety of things," she said, aware that possibly that wasn't the best way to phrase it, but she knew what she was doing and slipped immediately into. "But nothing that we can't deal with, I'm hoping. But I do have a list though, as uncomforting as that might sound." Babs glanced up at him, her smile turning wry.
"It's not all business, so I thought we could do with a change of scenery," she said, gesturing around. "Tea? Coffee?"
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 18:54:58
He gave her a wry smile. "Lists are good, but lists from you might be a little daunting. While we're confessing, I have a few things that I would like to talk with you about, as well. Coffee sounds great."
He didn't bother to tell her that he took it black. She knew already. Walking over to the window in her living room, he gestured to the blinds. "Do you mind if I close these?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 19:06:02
"See, I knew I couldn't be the only one. We haven't talked properly since the explosions, and I figured things had come up on both sides." They certainly had on hers. Babs glanced at the extra plates in the sink from this morning, one more than usual due to the stray she'd taken in.
When he mentioned the blinds, Babs looks over her shoulder only for a moment before continuing her trek to the coffee maker. "It's fine."
A few minutes later she reenters the living room carrying her mug of tea and cup of strong black coffee for him. "So, do we start with the good, or the bad?"
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 19:09:53
He closed the blinds immediately, then drew the curtains, too. When he walked back towards the couch, he casually glanced into each hallway and every door on the way, to make sure they were alone.... to make sure nothing was awry. This was nothing out of the ordinary for him.
When he met up with Barbara again, he accepted her offering of coffee gratefully, then sat down across from her.
"The bad things are not as pleasant, but usually more important to discuss first. We also have a way of getting interrupted by things. Let's begin there -- and hope that we're not interrupted before we can get to the more pleasing things. You go first."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 19:16:53
Babs nodded. He was right of course. She took a sip from her mug as she considered exactly which bad thing to begin with. It was never really good when she had trouble picking just one.
She finally rested her mug in her lap, deciding. "First of all, I met Jack the other day. As in the same Jack who attacked Max. He doesn't seem to be going by his better known alias here, but it's definitely the Joker. I can tell you that without a doubt in my mind now that I'm not just going by surveilance footage anymore," she explained.
Unconciously her hand went to rest on her stomach, right above the exit wounds. "He seems to want another meeting, and as I'm sure you can guess, I'm not to thrilled by the prospect. He was behaving himself in the streets the other day, but... well. You know him better than anyone."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 19:32:08
Bruce stared into his coffee as he listened. There was usually a nod accompanied by such news as this. Or a frown. Something to acknowledge it. This time, there was absolutely nothing. For all the world, he could have been a mannequin.
She was talking to him as if he should know what she was referring to. She expected him to. And it was clear that he should know. But there was something in his way, something that blocked out what it was that he had perhaps known before. His hand tightened on the mug in frustration.
Finally, he looked up at her. "Barbara," he said. It was difficult. He looked back to his coffee again.
"I don't remember anything before the explosions and arrival of Arkham. I was home. Home, in Gotham. And I woke up here."
He leaned forward.
"I know things I shouldn't know. It's like remembering a past I never had. But I don't have all the pieces. I."
He had never done well with admitting vulnerability. Now was no exception.
"I don't even know how you got in that wheelchair. Was it my fault? Why wasn't I with you?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 19:49:59
This conversation? Again? Babs couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion. What did he mean he couldn't remember anything? She knew Bruce well enough to know that he wouldn't be admitting a weakness like this unless it was serious, and this certainly was serious, but that didn't stop it from being completely out of left field.
If asked what she'd been expecting, news on Bruce's new apparent new amneisia would not have topped her list. "You don't remember arriving in The City at all? That first conversation we had when I told you about..." Babs gestured to her stomach, still looking at Bruce curiously. "We talked about the shooting. Jack shot me," she said, softer this time, keeping her eyes on Bruce all the while. If he took it the same way as he had before she wanted to be ready.
"You.." Babs hesitated to ask. "You do remember Joker, right? He's been here for awhile now, he almost killed Maxine a few weeks ago." It occured to her then that that probably wasn't helpful. It didn't seem like he'd remembered Max either.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 20:17:01
He'd gone cold. Outwardly, he didn't react. He saw how she looked at him. He recognized the hesitation in her voice. And he saw no need to make it worse on her. This was not her fight; it was his.
Modulating his tone carefully, so as to keep her as calm as possible, he replied.
"I remember waking up and knowing that I was in the City. Before that, I only remember home. Alfred came with me, it seems. Or perhaps he was here before. No. No, he came with me. Barbara, it is not my wish to disturb you, but I do not remember talking with you about this shooting."
Shot by the Joker? Was he the Joker here? Or was he like Harvey, pre-villain? There were too many questions that needed answering, and the answers were just outside his reach. He felt he should know them. He didn't.
He set his untouched coffee on the table in front of him and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together.
"Start at the beginning," he instructed, his voice taking on the patient, yet unyielding tone that Barbara would know.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 20:36:35
"I was shot about... it's been about three years now. It was my fault pretty much. Careless mistake letting him see me too close to you and Dick. He didn't know I was Batgirl, but I think maybe he suspected it. He called me Babs though, during the whole thing. Well... Babsy, but either way, it was purely a thing against me, not the Mission," Babs said, using the tone of voice she always used to describe the shooting. Calm, nonchalant. She was almost over it, so close, and it wouldn't help her any to step backwards, even with Bruce.
She was sort of like him in that way, she considered as she took another sip of tea. She hated showing weakness. And the fear from that night, it was a weakness almost more crippling than the bullets had been.
Babs drumed her fingers on the chair wheels before starting again. Where to next... "And, yes, he's here now. He remembers shooting me... he's pretty much the exact same Joker we know. Dangerous, and he seems pretty set on me and Max. I'm surprised he hasn't run into you yet." She paused. "With Arkham here now, I'm hoping we've got a better chance of getting him."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 20:41:27
"We will get him," Bruce said, but the gravel in his voice belonged wholly to his alter-ego. The darkness that seethed in his words would have terrorized any petty criminal. He realized it, and discontinued using it almost immediately. That was for work. Not for colleagues. Not for friends. Not for Barbara.
He ran a hand through his hair. He should have kept her safe. He hadn't. Three years... She had been in the chair for three years. If Bruce ever ran across the Bruce that allowed this to happen to his sweet mentee, the resulting brawl would not be pleasant.
"Your pardon. Who is Max? And who was the boy in the Cave that night? He is not trained well enough, it seems, to have been there."
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 20:49:50
Babs noted the tone of his voice at first, but didn't mind it so much as she had before. It wasn't overly protective, and it didn't stay, as if he'd realised it just was not the voice for a living room conversation.
"Maxine and Terry." Babs gave him a small smile. "The future versions of ourselves, I guess you could say. They're from 2058. Terry's apparently your sucessor. Max is his friend, does most of his computer work, from what I understand."
She watched to see how Bruce was taking this. "I'm not sure if Terry's training is really done. And Max hasn't had any."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 20:55:45
"Wait. That Boy is supposed to be me?! Please tell me that there's no blood relation."
The thought struck him hard. After the initial scoff of disbelief, he found himself almost hoping that Terry was related to him by blood. In some world, could he have finally found someone to love? Someone to marry? Someone to have sons with? He took up his coffee immediately and drank, because as masterful as he was with his emotions, there was that One Thing that never could be stifled. If he was ever forced to name the most painful way someone could die, it would be "alone".
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/05/2006 20:59:54
Babs' smile crept slightly further up her lips at his reaction. "Other than that day in the cave, have you seen him in action? Maybe you ought to work with him if you think is training is that inadequet. You did train him, according to Maxine, in the future." She raised an eyebrow. "Don't be so quick to judge, you did create the boy after all. In a training sense, no, there isn't any blood relation as far as I know. We could always test if you really must be sure."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 21:23:47
He sighed once, and nodded. It was possible he was being too hard on the boy. After all, if he came from a time in the future, then he probably didn't have the skills to navigate what would be ancient technology.
"Terry," he mused. Even the name was girlish. But Barbara was right - he would need to give the boy a second chance. Their first meeting had not been under the best of circumstances. "I will see what needs to be done with him, then. How long have he and this Maxine been here?"
Tests. No. He didn't want to know, suddenly, whether or not the boy was family to him. His family had a way of dying off quickly. No, best not to know. It would make things easier when that blade or bullet inevitably fell.
"And..." He paused once more, struggling with something unnamed. "Do you know how long Harvey Dent has been in The City?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/06/2006 06:23:39
"Max arrived first, about three months ago. She's staying in your house, by the way. Terry, probably about a month ago. And yes, you'll want to talk to the both of them." Because if he didn't living in the manor was going to get awfully uncomfortable, she was sure.
When he mentioned Harvey Dent Babs could only frown and then look at Bruce appologeticaly. "I don't. I personaly only just found his name in the books last week, and I've got little surveilance on him. He could have been here for a while longer. Fortunately it doesn't seem that he's been causing any problems, he doesn't have to be our main concern," Babs said. She was thankful for small favors. They were dealing with Harvey, not Two-Face. At least not yet.
She took her mug. "I'm just catching up with some things. I've been devoting most of my time to Arkham as of late."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 10:22:12
"So that's why Alfred has been a little out of sorts," Bruce mused. "He probaby knew I'd be displeased to have perfect strangers living there. I suppose I should do something to remedy that."
He wasn't feeling in a social mood, but apparently he had some meeting-and-greeting to do.
"Harvey's coming over for dinner later tonight." He checked his watch, then raised his eyebrows. "Actually, in about an hour. So before we run out of time, what other bad news do you know?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/06/2006 11:12:31
"We've covered Arkham, Jack, Harvey... I think we've covered it. Nothing else other than the communications blackout, but I'm still working on that one as well," she said, ticking the items off on her fingers as she list.
Babs glanced back towards the kitchen, specificaly the sink. "I've taken in a boy. His name's Jake, I think he's about ten or eleven."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 11:35:16
He was wondering when she would get around to explaining that second set of dishes. From the way she had framed the statement, this had to be the 'good news'.
Bruce leaned back on the couch and studied Barbara. While it was true that she was no longer Batgirl, while it was true that her secret career was not nearly so dangerous as his, the idea that she had taken on someone to care for was disturbing. In his experience, close attachments meant deep heartache, usually involving an arch-villian. He did not want to see her suffer the same type of heartache that he had.
Then again, it was clear that she had already had quite enough suffering of her own. She knew what she was doing.
"Are you happy?" he asked, finally deciding on what approach to take.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/06/2006 13:07:15
"Happy?" Babs repeated, falling silent after as she tried to figure out what he was asking. It wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting. Questions, of course, but not about her. About Jake. She would have launched into a series of questions had he come to her with the same news. She remembered doing it with Tim, in fact.
She considered Bruce for a minute, trying to decide how to answer. "I took in Jake for his own benefit, not for mine, though it is nice to have someone younger around, I suppose. So, I'm happy about that, yes. In general I am too... I don't have anything to complain about."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 14:32:40
Bruce nodded, seeming to buy into her explanation. It didn't add up, though. The logical thing to do with a boy who needed "taking in" would be to deliver him to a government agency, an orphanage, or even a Catholic church. He had long ago turned his back on God, but he was certain that somewhere in the City there was a church that took in orphans or runaways.
No. There was another reason besides "what was best for the boy", and it had everything to do with Barbara and nothing to do with this Jake. A somewhat distant smile came to him, and he nodded again after a second. He remembered Dick. He remembered the vulnerability there, the raw potential, the fire and the underlying pain and the devil-may-care attitude...
"I suppose he's tough and wounded and needs someone to guide him?" Bruce asked casually.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/06/2006 15:12:39
"He's definitely tough. He's tough, well trained, and possibly dangerous. Jake needs someone to look after him until he can find his father, and if need be I'll keep him for longer," Babs said determinedly. "I found him originaly on the monitors, he... he'd killed a group of robbers. I'm not overlooking this, but I also didn't want to just leave him on the streets. I can keep him controled, if nothing else."
She wasn't trying to justify her choice. At least that's what she told herself. There was a small part of her left that needed Bruce's approval, it would always be that way.
"It's not as if this is the first stray this family has known," she said with a small smile.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 15:41:42
"No," Bruce agreed. "Not the first." Probably not the last, either. "How long have you had him?"
It was difficult to believe that Barbara could truly control someone she just met. And then there was the question of whether or not the boy could be trusted. That question, that immeasurably important question, which could only be answered by time and tests.
It didn't matter, none of it. Barbara wanted this. It was clear in the faint defensive tinge in her smile, the ghost of Say it's okay in her eyes. Bruce could not answer if it was all right or not. All he could say was that if Barbara wanted it, then he would be bound to support her in it.
"I suppose I should meet him," he finally conceeded, "If he's already a part of this family."
And with just that, he had become a part of it.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/06/2006 20:42:31
"A little less than a week," she said. "And yes, you should meet him. I've been giving him a bit of time to become aclimated before I started introducing him to everyone. I'll bring him by the manor eventually. He has met Helena, though." Which only made sense, seeing as she was living in Babs' home too.
Her tea had gone lukewarm by this point and she brought it away from her lips, making a face after she went to take another sip. She'd have to make some more later.
Without the mug there was nothing in her hands, they were completely unoccupied, a very rare occurance. Babs glanced down and smiling bemusedly as she tried to think if there anything else that she needed to bring up before Bruce left for his dinner appointment.
...Ah. Yes. Babs shook her head, surprised she'd forgotten to mention it amoung the catagory of bad news. "Have you seen your friend Death lately? Do you remember her? I met one of her siblings the other night."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 20:59:26
Helena. Death. Both were names that rang into him and sounded against something like deja vu. He should know these names.
And he didn't.
Confusion passed over his brow before he smoothed it out again.
"I am sorry," he said after a moment. "I don't remember meeting them either. Death is..."
It could be anything. A name. A secret identity. A term of endearment.
"Who is Helena, and who is Death?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/07/2006 07:45:42
Ah, yet another subject Babs had been hoping he remembered on his own. She didn't want to have to tell him... again.
She sighed and then took in a steadying breath. Best to just get it out all at once. "Helena is you daughter. You and Selena's daughter, she's got your eyes. Not from our timeline, an alternate one. Don't... don't let yourself go crazy over that." She held up a hand, so that she could go on uninterupted. There's be time for questions when she finished.
"Death, on the otherhand, is certainly not related to you. She is, literally, Death. She guides people to whatever is beyond here. You two are friendly, or so I gather. She has several other siblings running around the City, I found out the other night. Desire, Delirium --who, incidentaly, has grouped up with Jack-- and Dream. I met Desire."
When she'd finished Babs sat back in her chair to watch Bruce's reaction. She wondered if maybe the news of his daughter would spark an interest in those previously offered DNA tests for Terry. Or if the news would just take him completely out of it.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/07/2006 16:06:45
A daughter.
His hands opened and closed. From Selena. That forbidden fruit, that woman he never... but had always wanted... The questions rose unbidden.
"Does she-- Is she here? Selena... Helena, does she...Are we clo..."
He was never without words. He was tonight. Rubbing his hands through his hair in distraction, he did his best to put it all together. Perhaps in the future, he and Selena had finally... But he never had. Did this mean that he was fated to? His mind immediately rejected the idea. He was in control of his own destiny, he alone. Because some other version of him had not been strong (had been so very lucky) did not mean that he had to fall into the same trap.
But Helena... Were they on good terms? Did he teach her? Did he raise her?
The news about Death being an actual being was more earth-shattering. Or rather, it should have been. He forced his thoughts away from family-not-family, and gave Barbara an apologetic look.
"Death - friend. Desire and Delirium, enemies?" How did you fight off Desire? He struggled with it himself, and though he had always been able to hold Desire in check, he had never won against it. Him. Her?
"What came of your meeting?"
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/08/2006 19:24:14
She felt bad, being able do reduce Bruce to this state with just a few simple words. Perhaps she should've broken the news better. But how did you break news like that? It wasn't something she'd ever been good at, as direct as she was used to being.
Babs eased her way forward slowly, reaching out to touch his hand. Gently, she had to remind herself. "I don't know how close you are with Helena, it's not something we've talked much about. You were close enough though, that the first place she went when she arrived here was the manor, expected to find a room waiting for her and everything." She gave him a smile, trying to convey hope.
"Before you..." Babs brought her free hand to her head. "Forgot. You'd suggested that we all have dinner. That might still be a good idea. We've yet to all be together as a family."
With that done removed her hand from his, but kept smiling, just to keep the tension and the mood of the room even as she moved on to answer his other questions. "Death is a friend, yes. I'm not exactly calling Desire one of my best friends right now, and neither of us has met Delirium as far as I know, so I don't know what to make of her yet.
"Desire wants to give me a present. To make me feel more 'womanly'." A small scowl worked her way onto her lips when she mentioned that. "She wouldn't tell me what it was though, but I don't think I'm going to like whatever it is. She's powerful, and that doesn't usually bode well."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/08/2006 22:44:59
He stilled under her touch, every muscle tightening with tension. His daughter-not-daughter had come to the mansion, looking for a place to belong. And had found nothing. They had not spoken to one another before, even given the past. His eyes closed briefly. But at least Helena had come. There was something. Something to hold onto. Don't mess it up.
"Yes," he confirmed. "I will have Alfred start on organizing a dinner for us all, immediately."
He could see that Barbara was trying to moderate the situation and appreciated how it must seem to her. He drew himself up in his seat when she withdrew her hand. Outwardly, the chinks fell back into non-existence. Inside, however, he had more work to do before he would be square with this new knowledge.
But that was for him alone, not for her. He listened to her explanation of the strange siblings.
"Have you ever had contact with Desire before? What connections does Desire hold with you, that she would choose such an action?"
That knowledge alone would give insight on whether to be wary or warily grateful.
From: [info]i_seeall Date: 04/08/2006 22:57:34
Babs shook her head. "To my knowledge, I've never met Desire before in my life. But, as she can switch bodies, maybe I have. She didn't mention it though, so as far as I know the answer is no. I think she knows a lot about those connected to us though... she showed up in my tower as Dick, and she knew about Maxine and Jesse. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew the details about what happened between you and Selena.
"She wouldn't tell me why she wanted to give me this gift, except for the fact that it would be fun for her. Entertainment really. She's one of those who likes to dangle us mere mortals on strings." Scowling, Babs thought back to her conversation with Desire. Yes, the being was definitely one of those types.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/08/2006 23:19:57
Wary, then.
Bruce nodded briskly.
"Very well. Notify me of any changes you may encounter. We may not be able to avoid being entertainment for such puppetmasters, but we can at least attempt to curtail any harm from such things."
His hands came together in the semblance of prayer, fingertips at his mouth. He was silent for a few minutes, keeping his own counsel. Whatever thoughts passed through his mind, he did not share them. A second later, he clapped his hands together and stood.
"I should go." His eyes lingered on her. "Barbara."
There was more he almost said, but didn't. Shaking his head, he reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder once. Just once.
"Be well."