The Knowhere Girl

[2] Barbara Does Obedience School

[Barbara Gordon]

Gita was right in guessing Batman would keep things to himself. She would laugh to herself if she knew, laugh at all those people who said she spent too much time reading comic books or watching tv. The joke was on them. She knew Batman.

But Tim wasn't the only one that had started looking closer.

Barbara Gordon stared at her screen. There had been more and more Joker sighting since the breakout in Arkham a few months ago. Joker. A shiver ran down her spine and she had to block the oncoming memories.

She leaned back in her wheelchair at the clocktower and looked up at the ceiling, running her hands down her face.

It was the involvement of the Task Force X that caused the breakout. Floyd Lawton, Digger Harkness, Harley Quin were back in Belle Reve, but there was a loose end. There was only a faceless profile picture labelled 'Unknown'. Most likely a civilian inmate left alive to tell the tale, of a secret government Black Ops team. What concerned Barbara though, was the recent up takes in crimes against Jane Doe's using Joker Venom.

This was all assuming the person had actual substantial evidence, of course, they might not - and they'd have to be claimed legally sane - but even then, Barbara figured it'd be better place than none to start.

"What's up with you?" Jason Todd came up behind her and leaned over her shoulder (something she hated) to peer at the screen. His hood was tucked under his armpit, and he smelled... really bad. Like sweat and cigarette smoke.

Barbara wrinkled her nose, thinking about lung cancer and her father, but pushed the thought away before they could distract her. She's just happy that Jason came by more often these days and scolding him would only drive him way again. So she sort of treated the situation as if it was an obedience school.

"Nothing, just a lead."

The white screen reflected off the crevices of his face, casting shadows in other parts, and the dark room only served as a contrasting backdrop. Jason's eye glowed green the darkness, like eerie Halloween lanterns in the night. "Hm. That civie doesn't know what kind of bear he's poking."

"She's poking," corrected Barbara, gesturing to the Jane Doe file. Her eyes were tired, and she pushed the dark sunglasses up her nose as she turned to look at him. "So far, she's done a pretty good job at staying off our radar - which is a pain." Barbara opened up a tab on her laptop, taking a swig of black coffee and started digging deeper.

"Relax, Babs. I know."

Babara's shoulders dropped, and she disconnected from the computer to swivel around in her wheelchair to get a better look at Jason. "You know?"

"It's hard not to." Of course he knew. The Joker took her legs and... you know the rest. Jason shoved his hands into the pockets of his brown leather jacket. "I'm sorry. It sucks, Babs, but we'll find this guy."

Barbara huffed. "Yeah. Why did you come again?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," he said, scratching the back of his neck as if he was unsure of how to continue without making a fool of himself. "Ever since this shit started I've had a feeling some I know is in danger and I can't shake it."

"A feeling?" That was the last thing Barbara had expected to hear from Jason. He wasn't exactly what you would call the 'in touch with his feelings' type.

"It's stupid. Forget I said anything," he huffed. It was unsurprising that Jason came here without a mission in mind. Gotham might have slept well for the last month since they put Scarecrow way, but the entire phase had the batfamily on high alert, especially since the Joker was still at large.

An alarm screamed to her left, and Barbara glanced over at it. "You wanna take that?"

"Fire rescues aren't my thing." Jason rolled his shoulders.

Barbara gave him a cold glare and drummed her finger against her armrest. "It's next to a safe shelter for abused kids."

Jason turned on his heels. "I'm enroute."

He clamped the red hood on his head, and he was off.

Meme of the day