The Way Things Weren't: chap1 à 3
Je réalise que j'ai complètement oublié de parler de cette fic ici. Écrite seulement en anglais, je le crains; je traduirai peut-être lorsqu'elle sera finie.
Warnings: Het (is that an actual warning?), violence (well, not uncharacteristic though). Mostly okay, actually! (Especially considering what else I write..)
Characters: Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd
Timeline: UA mostly set during "Under the Red Hood"... with a different background.
Summary: In a different world, Babs would have been home that day, opened the door herself and been shot in the spine. As things are, she has to make things right, be more than Batgirl, to be Oracle.
In a different world, one where Jim Gordon would still be commissioner, maybe Gotham underground would have only one boss, one the Red Hood could have taken down easily. As things are, Jason has to take his time, adapt his strategy, and maybe invest himself a bit more than planned.
Chapter 1
- Two years ago
The rain was pouring on the window, almost covering the monitoring machines’ regular beeps. Maybe it was for the best, because even though the artificial noises meant that the body lying on the white bed was stable, they were also a reminder that he needed them to stay alive.
Barbara shuddered, wrapping her hands around her plastic cup. The coffee had gone cold, but she didn’t feel the courage to walk up the corridor to buy herself another one. The very idea of leaving this room felt wrong. She would have to, eventually. But not now. Not yet.
A nurse entered the room. Without a word, she checked the various monitors, adjusted a drip, then left. They had stopped trying to convince Barbara to go home or even sleep. She hadn’t had to say anything. She strongly suspected that Bullock had used the magical words - “they were fucked up by the Joker” - and people had stopped asking questions.
Barbara blinked. Her eyes ought to have been dry at this point, but they regularly started filling with tears all over again. This was her fault. She should have been there. She was supposed to have been there, at her father’s side; they had planned to spend the afternoon together. But then she had wanted to buy some nail polish - nail polish, how silly, how stupid of her to just… - so she had left.
And now…
She sat on the chair next to the bed and gripped the sheets, not daring to take his hand in hers.
“I’m so, so sorry, Dad”, she whispered. “It should have been me.”
Read more on AO3...
Warnings: Het (is that an actual warning?), violence (well, not uncharacteristic though). Mostly okay, actually! (Especially considering what else I write..)
Characters: Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd
Timeline: UA mostly set during "Under the Red Hood"... with a different background.
Summary: In a different world, Babs would have been home that day, opened the door herself and been shot in the spine. As things are, she has to make things right, be more than Batgirl, to be Oracle.
In a different world, one where Jim Gordon would still be commissioner, maybe Gotham underground would have only one boss, one the Red Hood could have taken down easily. As things are, Jason has to take his time, adapt his strategy, and maybe invest himself a bit more than planned.
Chapter 1
- Two years ago
The rain was pouring on the window, almost covering the monitoring machines’ regular beeps. Maybe it was for the best, because even though the artificial noises meant that the body lying on the white bed was stable, they were also a reminder that he needed them to stay alive.
Barbara shuddered, wrapping her hands around her plastic cup. The coffee had gone cold, but she didn’t feel the courage to walk up the corridor to buy herself another one. The very idea of leaving this room felt wrong. She would have to, eventually. But not now. Not yet.
A nurse entered the room. Without a word, she checked the various monitors, adjusted a drip, then left. They had stopped trying to convince Barbara to go home or even sleep. She hadn’t had to say anything. She strongly suspected that Bullock had used the magical words - “they were fucked up by the Joker” - and people had stopped asking questions.
Barbara blinked. Her eyes ought to have been dry at this point, but they regularly started filling with tears all over again. This was her fault. She should have been there. She was supposed to have been there, at her father’s side; they had planned to spend the afternoon together. But then she had wanted to buy some nail polish - nail polish, how silly, how stupid of her to just… - so she had left.
And now…
She sat on the chair next to the bed and gripped the sheets, not daring to take his hand in hers.
“I’m so, so sorry, Dad”, she whispered. “It should have been me.”
Read more on AO3...