FIC: A Different Way of Thinking 7
What it Means to Be a Hero
Part 2: A Different Way of Thinking (7)
By adliren
Driving with one hand wasn’t so hard. Of course, Helena was grateful that the Hummer was automatic; otherwise she might have been in trouble.
She had briefly called Barbara before she left Wayne Manor, letting the other woman know that she had been successful and that she was heading back. She hadn’t given Barbara any details, preferring to wait until they could meet face to face. Then she could give the redhead the two items safely tucked away in concealed pockets of her duster. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long to review the information on the flash drive, and then maybe they could talk about other things.
“I’m really sorry, Barbara. I know I didn’t handle this well, but I’d like to give us a shot if you still want to.”
No, that was terrible. Helena smacked the steering wheel with her left hand, remembering at the last minute the cast on her other wrist. It sounded like something she might have said as a teenager - if she had been in the habit of apologizing.
“I know things have been hard lately, but I think we can make this work. I don’t know if it’s still something you want, but I’m ready to talk about it.”
Better, but it still didn’t sound like her.
“Barbara, I’ve been an ass. I’ve been in love with you since the first moment I saw you, and when I thought I might actually have a chance, I freaked out and ran.”
Well, that had at least sounded like something she might say . . . maybe. Red already knew how screwed up she was, so it wasn’t like she was admitting to some big secret.
Helena sighed. She just wanted to find the perfect thing to say. Barbara’s beautiful words when she found out Helena was in love with her still sent chills down the brunette’s spine.
“Let’s go to bed, Helena.”
Such simple words that conveyed all the love and need Barbara had been trying to express. They were so perfectly . . . Barbara. Helena simply wanted to prove that she could offer the same thing - but so far she wasn’t having any luck.
“Maybe I should just grab her and kiss her.” Helena looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror and made a face, the image copying her expression. “Yeah, if I want to get a stick up-side my head.”
She sighed again, ruffling a hand through her bangs, not at all concerned that she didn’t have a hand on the steering wheel. After all, her reflexes would give her plenty of time to react to anything unexpected.
Helena found out just how untrue this was when she suddenly felt and heard both front tires blow. The Hummer skidded wildly, the back end swinging around to the front as she desperately grabbed for the wheel. Her right arm smashed into the dashboard, causing a pain so intense that she actually blacked out for a second. When her vision cleared, she had just enough time to watch as the car swerved off the road and into the grass.
The loss of traction sent the Hummer into a roll and onto its side, shaking Helena around in the driver’s seat until she thought her teeth would fall out. She thanked whatever gods were listening that for once she had put on her seat belt, since there was no doubt in her mind she would already be dead if she hadn’t.
Finally, the car came to rest in a field, lying at an angle on its hood and front bumper. Through the agonizing pain, Helena tried to asses her injuries. She started with the most obvious. Her wrist was a bright spot of agony, and when she managed to raise it to her face she could see that the cast was cracked. Gauging the pain, she determined that she had probably re-broken it. Barbara was going to be pissed.
She wiped a smear of blood off her forehead with her good hand. She hated head injuries; they always bled so damn much. Also, her left leg felt funny. From the position she was in, she couldn’t see it to tell if it was broken, pinned by the car, or simply numb from the beating she had taken. Groaning, she fumbled for the seat belt with her left hand, trying to keep her right as still as possible.
Just as she finally managed to release the catch, a pair of boots stopped outside the window. She angled her head to see who it was, hoping they had already called an ambulance. Instead of a Good Samaritan, however, she locked eyes with a muscular man holding a strip of road spikes.
At least it wasn’t her driving that had caused the accident.
Helena knew she should be trying to get free so she could put up a fight, but for some reason everything was going black around the edges. The last thing she saw before the darkness rushed in was the man’s grinning face as he reached in through the shattered window for her throat.
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This is not happening.
Barbara repeated her new mantra over and over as she tried every trick she knew to locate her two missing operatives. Between searches, she called up her GPS program, only to be disappointed once again when Nightwing’s transceiver was the only signal displayed in New Gotham. She was arguably the greatest information broker in the world, but she couldn’t find the answer to the one question that truly mattered.
How could she have lost both Helena and Dinah?
Taking a moment to pull off her glasses and rub her tired eyes, Barbara decided that when she got them back she was going to insist they get tracers implanted. Since both of them were always losing their coms through accidents or more sinister means, it was simply the most practical solution - even if Helena complained that it made her feel like a pet getting chipped.
Remembering the brunette’s adamant response when she first suggested the idea and the resulting sarcastic, but ultimately good-natured fight, left Barbara feeling sick. She wasn’t in the habit of thinking about what-ifs, but tonight she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
What if she didn’t get them back?
What if, even now, Dinah was undergoing some traumatic experience that Barbara should have protected her from?
What if Helena died and she never got to tell her . . .
Slamming her palms down on her desk, Barbara forced her jaw to unclench. That was not going to happen, she wouldn’t let it. She would track down the Monk before anything happened and then Nightwing would rescue the two missing women. She had faced worse situations than this before, and she undoubtedly would again - with Helena and Dinah by her side.
The chime of the elevator caused her to quickly rotate her chair, almost tipping herself over in the process, something she hadn’t done since those first awful months.
Heart hammering, she waited for the doors to open, praying it would reveal Helena or Dinah, or better yet, both of them safe and unharmed.
What she saw instead was Dick, standing squarely in the middle of the small area, a look of determination on his face, and Gabby standing off to one side looking nervous and frightened, clutching a bundle wrapped in canvas.
“What are you doing here?!” Before she could censor herself, the words had left her mouth. It didn’t matter that she was talking more to the blond teenager. Dick’s scowl became even fiercer. In fact, it reminded her of a certain other brooding vigilante.
“Barbara, we need to talk.”
Dick strode purposefully toward her chair, not stopping until he was looming over her slightly. At times like these, Barbara wished she was able to stand up-right once again and go toe to toe with her fellow crime fighter. Instead, she forced herself to be calm and focus on what was really important.
“I know. I’ve found out who our murderer is.”
“You have?!”
Dick’s tone clearly showed his surprise, and Barbara once again had to shrug off her irritation. Of course she had found out who he was. She was the fucking Oracle. She could find out anything, except of course where the hell Helena and Dinah were.
“Yes, but there’s something you need to know.”
Dick quickly raised his hand cutting her off. “We already know. Dinah’s been taken.”
Barbara blinked at him from behind her glasses. “You . . . know. How could you know? I just found out myself when I couldn’t raise her on coms or locate her with the GPS.”
“They left a note.” His voice was strangely dead, and Barbara realized he was trying to mask his anger and fear.
Dick reached into a pocket of his belt and pulled out a scrap of paper and a shattered com unit. She held out her hand, silently requesting the message, but almost dropped it when she noticed the dark brown stains marring the white page. Trying not to let her hands shake, especially in front of Gabby who had been watching them from the elevator, she brought the paper up to her face and began to read the scrawled message.
*We are aware that you have connections with the Batman. We have taken your friend as an incentive for you to contact him. If you do not deliver him in 24 hours, we will be forced to clip the wings of your little bird. We suggest that you hurry.
Sincerely,
The Brotherhood*
When she finished reading, Barbara became aware of a creeping numbness throughout her body. For a moment it felt like her entire body had been paralyzed, instead of just her legs.
Looking up at Dick, she quickly shot her eyes toward Gabby, knowing he would realize she was asking if the teen had read the note. The crime fighter shook his head slightly, and Barbara breathed a sigh of relief. She could barely deal with the implications of the message, and she had been trained for these kinds of situations. She couldn’t imagine what it would do to Gabby.
“You can stop looking at me like that. I know what you’re thinking.” Barbara was startled to see Gabby had moved away from the elevator and was now standing by the edge of the Delphi platform. “I know something’s happened to Dinah, and from the look of that note, it’s something bad.”
The blonde’s face was pinched with worry, and Barbara could see the tears that Gabby was desperately trying to hold back. She felt her heart swell with sympathy for the young woman. Hadn’t she been in exactly the same condition moments before when thinking of Helena?
With that thought, Barbara realized that Gabby was truly in love with her youngest ward, and resolved to have a talk with Dinah when they got her back. She didn’t want Dinah to follow in her footsteps - figuratively speaking - painfully unaware of the possibilities.
Looking at the teen, she softened her voice. “You’re right Gabby. Dinah’s been taken by some of the criminals we’ve been looking for.”
“You mean the ones that killed all those people on the ship.”
Barbara tried to hide her disapproval. Gabby was aware of their identities. If Dinah chose to reveal information about the murders, then she must have had a good reason, and Barbara wasn’t going to second guess her now.
“Yes, but I don’t believe they’ve hurt her yet.” Hazel eyes looked at her imploringly, desperate to believe what she was saying. Barbara sat a little straighter in her chair. “We will get her back, I promise.”
Gabby looked at her, taking in the determination in the striking green eyes.
“Okay.”
Barbara nodded once and turned back to Dick who looked at her questioningly.
“So, what are we up against, Babs?”
Barbara took a deep breath and began to tell them everything she had learned from her father about events that had occurred before Dick had even met Batman.
Half an hour later, she finished her summary. She had tried to be as concise as possible, painfully aware of every second that Dinah and Helena were being held captive, but she knew that Nightwing would need the information when he went up against the Monk and his Brotherhood.
“So this . . . Monk is the one responsible. Sounds straight forward enough. Do we know where to find him?”
“Uh . . .” Barbara looked at Dick questioningly. Was she the only one having problems with the fact that their newest foe was a vampire? An actual, honest to God, vampire?
When her father had told her about the Monk and how Batman had rescued Julie Madison, the actress with whom Bruce had once had a fairly serious relationship, she had been shocked. Apparently Commissioner Gordon had helped Batman to track the Brotherhood to an abandoned manor on the outskirts of Gotham. Jim had told Barbara many stories about his time as head of the police department over the years, but he had never mentioned the fact that he had once helped to apprehend a vampire. When she asked him why, he had responded simply that he didn’t want to shake her faith in a scientific explanation, and sometimes he still didn’t believe it himself.
“Barbara, where can we find Dinah?” Dick was definitely agitated.
“She’s most likely being held at the Brotherhood’s old headquarters, Ralston Castle. I’ve checked,” she waved a hand in the direction of the Delphi, “and it was never torn down. You should be able to get there on your bike in twenty minutes.” Barbara took a deep breath preparing to tell him the rest. “Dick, I can’t locate Helena either.”
“What! I thought you sent her to the manor to go through Bruce’s files.”
Barbara knew he was concerned when he mentioned Batman’s true identity in front of Gabby. That was one thing they had decided to leave out of their explanation to the teen, neither of them particularly comfortable with breaking their mentor’s trust.
“I did. She contacted me as she was leaving, and said she had something she needed to discuss with me. That was over four hours ago.” Barbara held up her hands helplessly.
Dick brought a hand to his chin. “So, it wasn’t another fight between you two.” He was oblivious to the pain his words caused, but Gabby shot a sympathetic look to the redhead. “Do you think they’re keeping her with Dinah?”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” Otherwise, she wasn’t sure how to find the brunette. “You should get going. I’ll direct you from here.”
Dick tried out a charming smile, spoiled a little by the tension around his eyes and mouth. “Don’t suppose you have any holy water or stakes lying around?”
“Uh, no . . . can’t say that I do.”
Dick made a show of cracking his knuckles. “Oh well, guess I’ll just have to improvise.”
Barbara was startled when Gabby spoke from right beside her. The teen had been quietly listening to their conversation without interruption, and the redhead had almost forgotten she was there.
“I might be able to help with that.”
Gabby slowly held out the bundle in her arms as Barbara looked at her questioningly. When she pulled away the string allowing the object underneath to be revealed, the cyber crime fighter actually felt a real smile curve her lips.
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