BAE Chapter 64

WGOB is bustling, as always.

Barbara’s relative star power is enough to get her to the green room, where she watches Gotham Insider. Summer speaks to an up-and-coming novelist, a struggling birthday clown who is having difficulty keeping his brand separate from that of the Joker, and a woman whose new TED Talk is inspired by her experience at the recent charity gala crashed by the Riddler. Barbara smiles as the woman lavishes praise on Commissioner Gordon for his actions that night.

Some ten minutes after the broadcast, Summer arrives. She’s all made up for TV and wearing her signature teal blazer.

She smiles hesitantly at Barbara, who gets quickly to her feet. An awkward moment passes as the two women gaze at each other. Summer, put together flawlessly by professionals yet looking altogether lost. After all, whatever her relationship with Barbara is, it’s uncharted territory in pretty much every way. And Barbara is in her rumpled pantsuit; by this late hour, it looks as though she slept in it. But unlike Summer, she’s calm. Mostly.

“Hi,” she says. Memories of their night together come back in a rush. She’s gotten plenty of action lately, but that night with Summer stands out.

“Hi,” Summer replies. Then she comes to her senses. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t get free.”

Of course; Summer is a busy professional. Barbara can’t expect to get a meeting with her on zero notice. And it’s not as though they’re… dating.

Seeing Summer’s uncertainty at this moment hurts. She doesn’t know what this visit is about. No doubt she’s hoping that Barbara’s here for personal reasons.

Barbara feels a stab of guilt, but she has to own it.

“Have you heard about what happened at Wayne Enterprises today?” she asks bluntly.

It’s there, if only for a second: disappointment. But Summer is a pro. She cocks her head slightly and swipes one hand through the air.

“Kind of,” she replies. “I know something happened. Nobody’s clear on the what. Poison Ivy moved in.”

“There was a break-in at Applied Sciences. Ivy’s lab.”

Summer’s eyes widen. “Oh boy. Who?”

“Yamashiro Tatsu. Katana,” Barbara says, putting her hands on her hips and scowling. “She broke in to steal something.”

“What?”

Barbara shrugs. “She got what she came for. Wayne Security knows about it, and that’s not airtight. I expect that if the details haven’t leaked yet fully, they will.”

Summer folds her arms and nods, biting her lip.

“I’d like to be on Gotham Insider tomorrow night to talk about it.”

“Just like that? What happened? What would I be giving a platform to?”

“What happened is what we’d talk about. It’ll be the first public statement.” Barbara shrugs. “This is going to be talked about. I want to be part of the conversation.”

Summer snorts, eyes hard. She lets out her breath. “Even if I said no, my producer wouldn’t.”

Barbara is too stressed to feel much relief, but at least there’s a little. Aki can only do so much in 24 hours. Even if she’s already set something in motion, Barbara is now positioned to strike back hard with a big audience. It’ll be a fair fight, at least.

“I’d respect your wishes if you said no,” Barbara says.

“I believe you. But you’d just get on Gotham Tonight instead.”

“It’s not personal.”

“I know,” Summer says, and Barbara winces internally. She could’ve found a better way to say that. She’s under incredible pressure at the moment. And if she tries to soften things up now, Summer will certainly take it the wrong way.

Barbara doesn’t care. Maybe actions can do what words can’t. Before she can open her mouth, her earpiece buzzes.

“Hang on,” she says, turning away and touching her ear. It’s Stephanie.

“We have a big problem,” she reports, sounding shaken.

“Yeah?”

“This is messed up, Babs. You need to get down here.”

Barbara’s heart sinks. She barely knows Stephanie, but Stephanie was literally the Batgirl. Spoiler. Robin. She cannot be the type to rattle easily.

But something has rattled her.

“Hang on. Kate’s calling,” Barbara says.

“Got one,” Kate says without hesitation. “I’ll send you coordinates.”

Barbara almost gags. That was fast. Too fast. If a dealer was this easy to find and secure, that paints a picture of how easy Seed is to get at the moment. Barbara closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

She looks up to see Summer watching her.

“I’m sorry,” Barbara says. “I have to go.”

Face neutral, Summer nods.

To Gotham General as Barbara Gordon?

Or as Batgirl to interrogate Kate’s prisoner?