BAE Chapter 85

“Whatever the setup was, it had to have a double meaning,” Barbara says thoughtfully. “Doesn’t make any sense otherwise. It was a trap. But for who? And these moves with Seed… is there any chance that it wasn’t Elite Pride?”

“These weren’t goons, Babs. They weren’t as good as David Cain, but they were there to do a job. Elite Pride has been around every corner since Seed came to town. They’re connected to this. Steph thinks so too.”

Barbara nods. “Could’ve been a false flag. That’s a bit… pragmatic for Harvey, but maybe I can see it. After all, Seed does give you, uh, two sets of genitals. Maybe it’s his new favorite thing.”

“It might be,” Kate says seriously. “You know how he always has those two hotties with him. Double for the fun.”

“Where does he find these women?” Barbara groans. “Still doesn’t feel right. He’s flashier. Penguin’s smarter. This is something else. I’ll keep digging.”

Reviewing cowl footage is miserable work. There’s only so much fidelity you can get from such tiny cameras, and it’s difficult not to get motion sickness. Barbara goes through the entirety of the deal that Kate and Stephanie are so convinced was a setup. The footage supports that reading of the situation. It’s clear that Elite Pride was already there. All the smoke and having most of the gunmen firing from concealment doesn’t give Barbara much to work with, but one part sticks with her.

Just before she grappled out, Kate saw something from the corner of her eye. Kate might not even have noticed, but the camera caught it: an Elite Pride member vaulting through a broken window, intending to get closer. Elite Pride has always been suspiciously aggressive. They came to a notoriously dangerous town and immediately started making bold, high-profile plays. The raid at the docks. Now this. They aren’t afraid to tangle with local heavy hitters.

And this one, vaulting through this window? They look a little too graceful to be the usual ex-military goons who tend to make up high-quality muscle for this kind of action.

“You’ve watched that part seven times,” Alfred notes dryly. He stands just off to the side, his hands folded behind his back.

“We’re missing something, Alfred.”

“This work is reactive by nature.”

“Bruce was satisfied with that because he didn’t want this war to end. If the signal goes up tonight, my Dad’s going to have to be on his own. Steph got lucky tonight. We aren’t going to push it. I’ll have to go and see Ivy tomorrow, and Stephanie will have her first day on the campaign.”

“Campaign season is not officially underway,” Alfred reminds her. “Stephanie will only be joining Mayor Hill’s planning committee, and even then, only as an assistant. It shouldn’t be particularly demanding.”

“You might be surprised. But I like her angle. Viti Saxena and Aki Aramaki aren’t today’s problem, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this. And maybe it’s the Gotham in me, but we don’t have a good history with district attorneys.”

“Quite.”

“I want Kate to train tomorrow morning, then rest in the afternoon.”

“Very good.”

“And Alfred?”

“Yes, Ms. Barbara?”

“You really think this can work? A mob of women in cowls?”

“I don’t know. But I do know that this work cannot be done by a single person. And Master Bruce agreed with me.”

Barbara sighs. “Right. Well, we’re going to have a cure soon enough. Seed itself isn’t the problem. I’m just afraid of how the wrong people might try to pervert Ivy’s work.”

“Interesting choice of words. That is well beyond your control, Ms. Barbara.”

“I know. No wonder he was so angry all the time.”

Alfred smiles.

BAE

There hasn’t been a lot of time to stop and think.

As Barbara stands under the shower in one of the many guest rooms in Wayne Manor, it’s hard to get her mind off what happened with Ivy. With the way that the past few weeks have been, a little mutual masturbation under the covers doesn’t even crack the top ten of crazy things that have happened. Still, fooling around with Poison Ivy of all people—willingly—hadn’t been on her bingo card.

And then there’s everything else. What Talia did to her. That night with Summer. Awkward FWB action with Kate. Even… Riley Beaumont, who Stephanie apparently went all the way with. And then there’s what did not, but might have happened with Aki Aramaki. Barbara had been truly tempted to have sex with that married woman whom she hardly knew at all.

The fact that she did all that doesn’t bother Barbara. What bothers her is that she isn’t sure if it all happened because of what Seed did to her, or if she was that repressed all along, and Seed had just given her an excuse.

There might be another explanation: being back in costume. Barbara prefers not to think about that, however. She does not have a fetish for fighting crime and dressing up. Exercise is just good for the libido, that’s all.

So is Poison Ivy, Barbara reasons as she walks to her bed, wrapped in a towel. She sits, squeezing her legs together restlessly. She doesn’t need to feel bad about thinking about Poison Ivy. Turning people on is half of her personal brand. It just feels weird. All kinds of weird.

With a little noise of frustration, she opens the towel and lies back. In Ivy’s bed, it was all self-consciousness and efficiency. Here, it can be the opposite. She doesn’t worry about her loud breathing or anything else. She spreads her legs and massages her breast as she touches between her legs. When she cums, she’s remembering the feeling of finishing inside Kate.

Barbara lifts her wet hand and looks at it, then sighs and relaxes on the damp towel. She isn’t remotely satisfied. With another little grumble, she rolls onto her belly and reaches between her legs again.

BAE

It’s morning in Bruce Wayne’s downtown penthouse. Pale, gray light comes in freely through huge windows.

Stephanie and Kate are on the large sectional in front of the TV, wrapped in blankets. The sensible thing to do would’ve been to not take Seed. But having already taken it, the sensible thing to do had been to stick together in case there were any side effects that required a 911 call or something. They had watched the news coverage of what had happened at Janus and the ambush, but they’d both been tired and Stephanie had been sore.

Stephanie wakes first. She and Kate are a foot apart, but her stirring rouses Kate, who yawns and stretches. They peer blearily at each other. Kate makes a puzzled face and looks down. Stephanie can tell that she’s doing something with her hands.

“Oh shit,” Kate says, coming wide away.

“Oh shit!” Stephanie echoes, coming to her senses.

As one, they fumble in panic under their blankets. Stephanie slides her hand into her jammies and underwear.

“It’s there!” Kate says excitedly.

“I know!” Stephanie’s voice comes out as a squeak.

“Mine’s bigger,” Kate says immediately.

“What?” Stephanie splutters. Kate cannot positively know that. They’re both clothed and under blankets.

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