BAE Chapter 57

Barbara wakes up tangled with Kate, and it’s clear that Kate has already woken up and is pretending to sleep. The way that she has one leg over Barbara and her hand just happens to rest on a boob is not believable. Nobody sleeps like that.

“Good morning,” Barbara mutters, rubbing her face.

“Morning, baby.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Feeling frisky?” Kate nuzzles Barbara’s neck.

“Not really.”

“You sure?”

Barbara feels one fingertip prod her morning wood, which stands up straight like a flagpole. She sighs. Kate’s face appears over hers, her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

“I need to get to work,” Barbara tells her.

“Can’t go like this.”

Barbara doesn’t fight it. She lies there patiently as Kate smiles impishly, gently stroking Barbara's erection with one hand. Barbara doesn’t even bother to act cool. She sighs and squirms a little, spreading her legs, then squeezing them together as she gets close. She lets out a sharp breath as her cock squirts all over her tummy.

“I’ll never get tired of that,” Kate says, hovering close.

Barbara opens her mouth to reply, and Kate kisses her. Then Kate’s swinging her legs out of bed and getting to her feet. She arches her back, stretching. Barbara can’t pretend she doesn’t like the sight of her, naked in the morning sunlight like this. But she also can’t ignore the part of her brain that functions well enough to remind her not to have these thoughts for a coworker. Sex with Kate is probably OK. Nothing more.

Barbara sits up with a groan, touching the sticky mess on her belly with her fingers. She takes a deep breath.

“Take over Beaumont for me,” Barbara says tiredly. “The killer is either Riley or Andrea. If it’s Riley, find proof. If it’s Andrea, find out where she’s hiding. Do not get close. Do not let them know that they’re being investigated.”

“Why would I get close?”

“Because Riley Beaumont is exactly your type.”

“A sexy redhead with a big dick?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Oh. Well, if I can’t get close to her, you’ll be a good friend, right?” Kate puts her hand on her hip and smirks.

“Since when are we friends?”

“We are now.”

“Fine.”

Kate blows Barbara a kiss and goes into the bathroom. Barbara shakes her head and gets out of bed. She and Kate slept in a bit; there’s no time for Alfred’s magnificent cooking. She needs to get to Wayne Tower.

“Breakfast for two, Alfred. Box it up and bring it over.”

“I take it Dr. Isley is the second party?” Alfred asks as Barbara takes a gulp of coffee in the kitchen.

“Yeah. She might appreciate good food after Arkham.”

“Good thinking, Ms. Gordon.”

Barbara snorts. “I’m giving Kate the Beaumont case. Make sure she doesn’t make any moves without me.”

“I’ll notify you if she does anything more than appropriately discreet detective work.”

“Perfect.”

“Ms. Gordon, you have messages. Downstairs.”

Barbara frowns. Alfred means the Bat Computer. Only a handful of people use that for communication. She cringes. “Justice League?”

“No. It’s Ms. Brown.”

“Stephanie? I thought she was lying low.”

Stephanie Brown had taken up the mantle of Batgirl, briefly. She’d done a reasonable, if unspectacular job, and Barbara had occasionally helped her with advice and support. She’d always liked Stephanie, even if they hadn’t been close. Stephanie had found some guy that she really liked, and done the smart thing: given up the costume and disappeared to be with him.

“The media is quite enjoying the spectacle,” Alfred says, watching Barbara’s face. “The Batgirl and the Batwoman working together.”

Stephanie must’ve seen the coverage of Barbara and Kate intervening at Arkham last night.

Stephanie had been supplied with official Bat equipment, and she’d been to the cave, but she’d never had much access of her own. To Barbara’s knowledge, she only knew Batman, not Bruce Wayne. But Alfred could handle delicate things like that.

“You can read my mail, Alfred. See what she wants and let me know.”

“Very good.”

BAE

Barbara takes one of Bruce’s cars and heads into the city, listening to the radio news. The sun’s out, but it’s still chilly.

“Jack Ryder here, folks. Everyone’s talking about the breakout at Arkham Asylum last night. Rumor has it that not one but two bat-themed masked vigilantes showed up, for all the good it did. Gotham PD’s reporting that upward of ninety percent of the patients were effectively contained like it’s something to be proud of! We’ve normalized the idea of five percent of the patients at Arkham busting out every six months. One of the escaped patients was Edward Nygma, the Riddler, who attacked a prominent event in Gotham only days ago. How worried can these freaks be about getting caught if their sentences are going to be measured in days? Oh, I’m sorry, not sentences… treatment. Two bats on the scene and the Riddler walks. It’s hard not to trust a chick, or forgive me, a bat, as sexy as the Batgirl, but after those rumors about the Penguin and Harley Quinn, I’m starting to wonder. Harley didn’t make it out, incidentally, so don’t worry, ladies. The Joker’s still single…”

Barbara turns off the radio. Alfred’s calling her.

“It’s me,” she says.

“Ms. Gordon, the Computer has finished its analysis of the contents of Dr. Isley’s satchel. We have some plant growth hormones that we’ve seen before; Master Bruce commonly recovered them from her plants and laboratories after battles. There are also several samples of fungal spores that we haven’t been able to identify. It would be safe to consider these extremely dangerous. We also have six handwritten journals, which I’ll still need to scan into the computer.”

“Scan them in, then pack it up. Lucius knows about the hormones. Let’s turn the spores over to him, then give the rest to Ivy.”

“Very good. Your breakfast will be along shortly.”

“Thank you, Alfred.”

Barbara shows her pass to be allowed into the executive parking garage. There, she rides the elevator to the basement level. She’s just in time.

The armored van from Akrham is arriving. Lucius and the head of Wayne Security are waiting, along with quite a few guards. Barbara goes straight to Lucius.

“Moment of truth, Ms. Gordon. I hope you know what you’re doing,” he mutters.

“You watch Aki Aramaki. I’ll watch Dr. Isley.”

“Your meeting didn’t go well?”

“It did not.”

Lucius grimaces. “That’s not good.”

“I know that,” Barbara replies in a singsong voice, keeping her smile in place with some difficulty.

“Busy night?”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Who was behind it?”

“We’re thinking it was a Falcone op. He’s got a lot of guys still in there from his sweetheart days with Crane. Every single one of them got out.”

“Falcone beefing up? For what?”

“Maybe because there’s a new **** about to hit the streets,” Barbara suggests.

“Seed?”

“What else?”

Lucius takes a deep breath. “Oh boy.”

The Arkham guards open the back of the van, revealing Ivy in her orange scrubs from Arkham. She’s wearing handcuffs and leg irons.