fic snippet: BoP, AU, a few years down the line
In my happy fantasy world, Dinah might have left the Birds of Prey, but she wouldn't have lost Sin... and the way things would have turned out would have resulted in something like this happening in a few years:
Surveillance photographs flashed across the screen, displaying a duo of costumed figures in various acts of disarming and disabling would-be thieves, rapists, and other sundry night fellows.
“I’m going to kill her.”
“Dinah….”
“Fine, I’ll lecture her first and then I’ll kill her.”
Barbara raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Dinah demanded. “You want me to ground her, too?”
Barbara rubbed at an imaginary spot on the armrest of her chair and said mildly, “Are you really surprised?”
Dinah inhaled sharply, anger flashing in her eyes, and then just as suddenly deflated. Sighing, she sank down onto the couch and put her head in her hands. “No.”
Barbara reached over and rubbed Dinah’s back as the brunette continued. “I just thought she’d grow up and…”
“Not want to imitate you?”
Dinah glared at her from under her bangs. “Why are you so calm? What about Charlie?”
The redhead shrugged. “Am I surprised she recruited Sin to be the Black Canary to her Oracle? Not really. Don’t give me that look. Charlie’s been a part of this world from the first day she found us. Sin, too, even if you’ve tried to keep her far away from it. It’s not like you stopped her martial arts training.”
An edge appeared in Dinah’s eyes. “The training I give her is nothing like what she went through before.”
“I know, sweetie,” Barbara said. “But between that, you, and every doting ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ she’s had… Sin is very good.”
“So we’re just supposed to let them,” Dinah waved her hands aimlessly, “continue moonlighting?”
“What do you propose we do?”
“Make them stop.”
Barbara nodded slowly. “We’ll sit them down for hot chocolate and say, ‘Girls, we know that you’ve been playing at costumed vigilantes and we want you to stop.’”
“Sin will listen,” Dinah said, meeting Barbara’s eyes. Barbara allowed her smile to show faintly and reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Dinah’s ear. There was some gray streaking the black.
“She would,” Barbara agreed, “but she probably wouldn’t be happy about it. Think about when you were young. How would you have reacted if your mother had told you to stop?”
Dinah squared her jaw, but it came very close to looking like a pout. “It’s different with Sin.”
That was the truth. Gratitude alone would make Sin obey. Charlie, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. She had selective hearing at the best of times and, as Barbara had learned to her exasperation, was discretional in how she displayed her gratitude towards her and the former Birds. She’d never do anything to intentionally hurt them but it was the unintentional consequences of Charlie’s impulsiveness that worried Barbara.
“What if Sin refuses?” Barbara suggested cautiously.
Dinah’s look clearly indicated that that better not happen.
*
Charlie leaned against a chimney and dangled a leg over the edge of the roof. She tapped the screen of her palm pilot as she stared out unseeingly across the city. Somewhere out there crime was happening and usually Charlie would be patching into Oracle’s systems to track it down so that they could enact some dark vengeance on some scum, but not tonight.
“What are we going to say to Dinah and Babs when they confront us?”
Sin, crouching with effortless balance on the edge of the roof, tapped her knee. “It’s been a week already and they haven’t said anything. Maybe they don’t know yet.”
Charlie laughed. “Are you kidding me? Babs probably knew the moment we stepped onto the street.”
Sin was quiet. Charlie frowned underneath her mask, pretty sure that Sin wouldn’t be able to tell.
“It’s not like they should be surprised,” Charlie added. “You’re graduating in a few years, right? What are you planning to do after that? Go to college?”
Sin stood up. She wasn’t really imposing, being small and compact. She was only really scary when she moved-like when she was grabbing for your throat or on the point of breaking the arm you tried to take a swing at her with.
“Sister wants me to,” she said.
“What about you? Do you want to go?”
Sin turned to Charlie. “How come you’re not at college?”
“Hey, that’s totally avoiding my question,” Charlie said, flickering out of sight and reappearing right next to Sin. She got as close as maybe an inch to Sin’s ribs before Sin’s fingers closed around her wrist. Charlie ‘ported out and perched atop the chimney. They glared at each other.
“One day I’ll get you,” Charlie promised.
Sin waggled a finger at her. “In your dreams, grasshopper. Are you going to answer my question?”
“You gonna answer mine?” Charlie retorted.
Sin shrugged. Charlie waited. Then squirmed. Then said, “College sounds boring. And anyway I’m, like, practically a genius with computers already.”
Sin made a face at her. Charlie knew Sin was making a face at her behind the mask.
“Besides, this is way more fun,” Charlie added.
“Why did you decide to do this?” Sin asked, crossing her arms. “Aunt Barbara already lets you help her.”
“Why did you agree to come out with me?”
There was a pause in the conversation in which Sin seemed to be giving her a look that said, “Now who’s avoiding questions?” Sin shrugged. “Why did you ask me?”
Charlie snorted. “Who else was I going to ask?”
“There are new superhero wannabes showing up every other day,” Sin pointed out.
“Yeah, but none of them have been trained by a real superhero.”
Sin tilted her head. “I guess that’s what we’ll tell sister and Aunt Barbara, then.”
TBC? Unlikely... but it swims around in my brain pretty merrily.
Surveillance photographs flashed across the screen, displaying a duo of costumed figures in various acts of disarming and disabling would-be thieves, rapists, and other sundry night fellows.
“I’m going to kill her.”
“Dinah….”
“Fine, I’ll lecture her first and then I’ll kill her.”
Barbara raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Dinah demanded. “You want me to ground her, too?”
Barbara rubbed at an imaginary spot on the armrest of her chair and said mildly, “Are you really surprised?”
Dinah inhaled sharply, anger flashing in her eyes, and then just as suddenly deflated. Sighing, she sank down onto the couch and put her head in her hands. “No.”
Barbara reached over and rubbed Dinah’s back as the brunette continued. “I just thought she’d grow up and…”
“Not want to imitate you?”
Dinah glared at her from under her bangs. “Why are you so calm? What about Charlie?”
The redhead shrugged. “Am I surprised she recruited Sin to be the Black Canary to her Oracle? Not really. Don’t give me that look. Charlie’s been a part of this world from the first day she found us. Sin, too, even if you’ve tried to keep her far away from it. It’s not like you stopped her martial arts training.”
An edge appeared in Dinah’s eyes. “The training I give her is nothing like what she went through before.”
“I know, sweetie,” Barbara said. “But between that, you, and every doting ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ she’s had… Sin is very good.”
“So we’re just supposed to let them,” Dinah waved her hands aimlessly, “continue moonlighting?”
“What do you propose we do?”
“Make them stop.”
Barbara nodded slowly. “We’ll sit them down for hot chocolate and say, ‘Girls, we know that you’ve been playing at costumed vigilantes and we want you to stop.’”
“Sin will listen,” Dinah said, meeting Barbara’s eyes. Barbara allowed her smile to show faintly and reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Dinah’s ear. There was some gray streaking the black.
“She would,” Barbara agreed, “but she probably wouldn’t be happy about it. Think about when you were young. How would you have reacted if your mother had told you to stop?”
Dinah squared her jaw, but it came very close to looking like a pout. “It’s different with Sin.”
That was the truth. Gratitude alone would make Sin obey. Charlie, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. She had selective hearing at the best of times and, as Barbara had learned to her exasperation, was discretional in how she displayed her gratitude towards her and the former Birds. She’d never do anything to intentionally hurt them but it was the unintentional consequences of Charlie’s impulsiveness that worried Barbara.
“What if Sin refuses?” Barbara suggested cautiously.
Dinah’s look clearly indicated that that better not happen.
*
Charlie leaned against a chimney and dangled a leg over the edge of the roof. She tapped the screen of her palm pilot as she stared out unseeingly across the city. Somewhere out there crime was happening and usually Charlie would be patching into Oracle’s systems to track it down so that they could enact some dark vengeance on some scum, but not tonight.
“What are we going to say to Dinah and Babs when they confront us?”
Sin, crouching with effortless balance on the edge of the roof, tapped her knee. “It’s been a week already and they haven’t said anything. Maybe they don’t know yet.”
Charlie laughed. “Are you kidding me? Babs probably knew the moment we stepped onto the street.”
Sin was quiet. Charlie frowned underneath her mask, pretty sure that Sin wouldn’t be able to tell.
“It’s not like they should be surprised,” Charlie added. “You’re graduating in a few years, right? What are you planning to do after that? Go to college?”
Sin stood up. She wasn’t really imposing, being small and compact. She was only really scary when she moved-like when she was grabbing for your throat or on the point of breaking the arm you tried to take a swing at her with.
“Sister wants me to,” she said.
“What about you? Do you want to go?”
Sin turned to Charlie. “How come you’re not at college?”
“Hey, that’s totally avoiding my question,” Charlie said, flickering out of sight and reappearing right next to Sin. She got as close as maybe an inch to Sin’s ribs before Sin’s fingers closed around her wrist. Charlie ‘ported out and perched atop the chimney. They glared at each other.
“One day I’ll get you,” Charlie promised.
Sin waggled a finger at her. “In your dreams, grasshopper. Are you going to answer my question?”
“You gonna answer mine?” Charlie retorted.
Sin shrugged. Charlie waited. Then squirmed. Then said, “College sounds boring. And anyway I’m, like, practically a genius with computers already.”
Sin made a face at her. Charlie knew Sin was making a face at her behind the mask.
“Besides, this is way more fun,” Charlie added.
“Why did you decide to do this?” Sin asked, crossing her arms. “Aunt Barbara already lets you help her.”
“Why did you agree to come out with me?”
There was a pause in the conversation in which Sin seemed to be giving her a look that said, “Now who’s avoiding questions?” Sin shrugged. “Why did you ask me?”
Charlie snorted. “Who else was I going to ask?”
“There are new superhero wannabes showing up every other day,” Sin pointed out.
“Yeah, but none of them have been trained by a real superhero.”
Sin tilted her head. “I guess that’s what we’ll tell sister and Aunt Barbara, then.”
TBC? Unlikely... but it swims around in my brain pretty merrily.