BAE Chapter 100

Jim Gordon is never late for work. He’s already gone for a run and worked out. His yellow shirt and black, square-end tie are as crisp as they’re going to get; by noon they’ll look rumpled. He turns on the lights and sets down the paper bag containing his breakfast sandwich, and shrugs out of his brown coat. He turns on the morning news, which is talking about last night’s bust and goes to his coffee pot, lifting a jug of filtered water to fill the reservoir before measuring out his grounds.

The tap at his window startles him, although only a little.

His daughter is on the ledge outside, wearing her full costume. He knows. And a part of her knows that he knows, although he knows his daughter pretty well, and suspects that she keeps that part locked away pretty tightly.

He opens the window, letting in a rush of cold, damp air.

“Unusual to see you out in the daylight,” he notes, although it’s hardly light outside. The ceiling of dark gray clouds doesn’t even appear to move, and the TV in the corner of the office is talking about storms. “Coffee?” he asks as Batgirl climbs into the office with all the grace of a ballerina and not a sound.

“Next time, Commissioner. We have a problem.”

“Masked vigilantes terrorizing the city?”

“A bigger problem than that. I think the bust last night was a setup. The guys you bagged worked for a man called Ras Al Ghul.”

Jim takes that in and returns to the coffee pot. He watches it drip and uses a paper towel to wipe out his mug.

“I think Batman mentioned that name once or twice.”

“He’s bad news, Commissioner. On a larger scale than the usual loonies.”

“Are you a part of that group, Batgirl?”

“I’m not a part of the mass-murdering subgroup,” she replies, unbothered.

“Well, these guys don’t have identities. Their prints aren’t on file. They aren’t talking.”

“Almost as though they were well-trained henchmen from overseas.”

“Why so far from home?”

“Your evidence room. That’s what they want.”

Jim frowns. “Lot of goodies in there,” he muses.

“Ras Al Ghul wants immortality. The short version is that the way he’s been getting that immortality is finite. I think he might be after the work of Victor Fries.”

“Why not just spring Fries from Arkham? That’s less work than hitting us here.”

“Like I said, it’s only a theory. But I know for certain that he’s targeting this building. Last night, his daughter attacked Catwoman at home. She was looking for intel on security vulnerabilities here,” Batgirl says, laying a gloved hand on the desk.

“Trojan horse?”

“Looks that way. I thought you should know.”

Jim sighs and pours his coffee. “Thank you,” he says. “Are you sure you don’t…?”

He’s talking to an empty room. Jim shakes his head. She sounds like him. She even disappears like he did.

BAE

Summer Gleeson emerges from the meeting room and freezes. The halls of WGOB are full of busy people this late in the morning.

“Miss Gordon,” she says, moving aside so the network executives can get past.

“Do you have a second?” Barbara asks.

“It’ll have to be quick,” Summer says apologetically.

They go into the boardroom that’s just cleared out and Summer closes the door and locks it.

“What’s the story?” she asks with a smile.

“No story. I just wanted to see you.”

Summer’s smile turns embarrassed. “Really?”

“Really. I don’t have a penis anymore, so now I have to get by on my personality,” Barbara says drolly.

Summer laughs.

“Do you want to have lunch?”

Summer stops laughing. She glances away and brushes her hair behind her ear.

“All right,” she says.

“Scoop of the century. Summer Gleeson on a date with a woman with no penis. Is there something that Gotham’s favorite hostess needs to tell us?” Barbara asks obnoxiously, pretending to hold a microphone.

“Oh, please. You know I just won’t give up my inside track on Wayne Enterprises and the race,” Summer fires back gamely.

“Inside track,” Barbara repeats in a sultry tone. “How deep inside?”

Summer snorts. “Don’t act like this isn’t business.”

She isn’t stupid. Barbara likes Summer genuinely, but she needs the media advantage. It’s mutually beneficial. Complicated. Maybe a little dangerous. But everything’s messy now, and Barbara’s getting comfortable with that.

“Doesn’t me you can’t enjoy it a little,” she says, moving closer. Summer stands her ground. Barbara leans in and gently kisses her lips.

“You’re worse than Bruce Wayne,” Summer says, blushing.

“Did he ever pull this with you?”

“I wish.”

BAE

“You seem tired, Miss Gordon,” Lucius notes as he lets Barbara into his office after lunch.

“I just had lunch with Summer Gleeson. I spent the whole time stonewalling her on the mayoral questions.”

“I saw,” Lucius replies, turning off his TV and holding up his phone. “Along with half of Gotham. I take it that was deliberate?”

“On her part,” Barbara replies, taking off her coat. “She picked that place on Rucka that’s all glass. I guess asserting dominance over the other TV shows.”

“Very good.”

“How’s Dr. Isley?”

“A little grumpy, but productive and compliant as near as I can tell. We’re moving quickly. She’s made some requests about rival companies and their practices that she regards as sub-optimal,” Lucius says ironically. “Not just rival companies. What did you promise her, Miss Gordon?”

“I promised to try to do the right thing. Start an internal review of whatever she’s criticizing about us and be transparent with her about it. Hire some investigators to get dirt on the others that she’s calling out; we’ll find a way to pressure or shame them into making changes. But we need to move quickly to keep her happy.”

“The board will support that,” Lucius predicts. “Most likely. Aki Aramaki’s quieted down lately. She won’t start making moves until she knows which way the wind is blowing.”

“What’s holding that up?”

“You are, Miss Gordon. With your public profile this high, you can affect our stock price by sneezing. The board isn’t ready to take orders from you by any means, but they want to know where you’re leaning before they form their opinions.”

“Cowardly.”

“Practical,” Lucius corrects her.

“Something big’s about to go down. Ras Al Ghul is making a play in Gotham. It’ll be here. Downtown. Might be nasty.”

“How can I help?”

“Think of a reason to get people out of this and all the nearby Wayne buildings for the next few nights. Fumigate them or something.”

He nods. “I can do that. Are you going to check on Dr. Isley?”

“I will, but I can’t stay.”

“Miss Gordon, I think your assessment was on the money,” Lucius says, giving her a look. “She needs human connection.”

“Can we get conjugal visits with Harleen Quinzel?”

“The board likes you. They don’t like you that much.”

“Fair. I’ll spend some time with her.”

“I think that’s wise.”

BAE

As Barbara rides the elevator down to Ivy’s floor, her mind is elsewhere. Stephanie and Kate should be rested by now. It’s not quite getting dark yet, but they can’t wait for nightfall. There’s no reason to think that Ras Al Ghul, or Talia, will politely wait. They could strike at any time.

Barbara didn’t infiltrate GCPD, instead choosing to warn her father. But she can still be close to help if there’s trouble: after all, she’s the Commissioner’s daughter. She doesn’t have to infiltrate at all; she just has to walk in. That’s where she’ll head next after checking on Ivy.

The question is this: how to best use Stephanie and Kate. They’re strong in a group, but they can also cover other things; Barbara can’t be everywhere at once.

Katana came after Ivy’s blood. Ivy is just as valuable as the objects in GCPD evidence storage. Meanwhile, Barbara’s not convinced that Selina’s going to sit this one out after what happened.

She can have Stephanie and Kate cover Ivy and Selina.

Or she can have them both on standby at GCPD.