Batman: The Crusaders

Chapter 3

Barbara Gordon's Pov
We walked through the large house. It was a very nice house. We went down a flight of stairs to what I thought was going to be a basement but a whole other floor. The walls were grey and there were a couple of rooms. We went outside and came upon a large swimming pool. The water was clear and the tiles in the pool were a dark grey. Around the pool were wooden planks and on top of them were dark grey lounge chairs and umbrellas. I guess Bruce liked grey a lot.

"What a nice pool," my father said, "say, is there a game room?"

"Why yes," Alfred said, "let me show you."

Alfred and my father went back inside.

"Why do you think my father actually told you to help Dick?" I asked Bruce.

"I have no friends," Bruce replied. We both chuckled.

"I'll be your friend," I said with a small smile.

"Thanks," he replied. "Your father knows me too well..."

"He's told me about you," I said, "when you were younger...when you parents...sorry."

"It's alright," Bruce said shaking his head. "But that's right...Commissioner Gordon and I have known each other for a long, long time."

"I wish I had been around him more when I was younger," I said.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"Him and my mom were married but got divorced soon after I was born. He moved to Gotham. My mom had custody of me and I saw my father almost every weekend which wasn't enough, but I knew him well. And after some things happened with friends and family...I just decided to move here to Gotham."

"Where did you live before?" Bruce asked.

"Smallville," I replied, "just a town right outside of Metropolis."

"What happened?" Bruce asked.

"I won't go into detail but," I continued, "I got in a lot of fights with my mom and step dad and there was this guy that I dated who...lets just say he scared me...he was capable of certain things...I don't know how to explain it."

"Well at least you're happy now," Bruce said.

"I am," I replied, "I am."

I looked behind me, inside the house and noticed a small painting sitting on a wooden table. I had seen the painting before. I wasn't very sure who it was by but I loved the painting very much. I had had one when I was younger just like it. The painting was of a rose and just something about the colors and paint strokes stood out to me.

"Wow," I said, "I had a painting just like that when I was younger. I was actually kind of devastated when it was thrown away. It was one of my favorite things in the world and I could just look at it all day. It was beautiful."

Bruce turned around and followed my gaze.

"Yeah?" He replied. "What happened?"

"It was accidentally thrown away," I said with a chuckle.

"Well," he said, "that's not a copy of the painting...it's an original. I got it at an auction."

"Wow," I said, "So what's the name of the painting? I never found out the name."

"At the auction they just called it The Rose Painting so I just decided to call it that as well."