BAE Chapter 22

“Beautiful,” Barbara says. This persona that she’s building should have vanity to match her ambition. Bruce worked hard to make sure that Bruce Wayne came off as a guy who could never be the Batman. Barbara has to make a similar effort.

“Very good,” Alfred replies.

The fancy car was a little misleading, but the action that Barbara finds at the docks looks to be a bigger score than expected. Maybe a little too big. She finds herself kneeling on the roof, peering in through a skylight with her directional microphone. This warehouse is dim, so it’s hard to make out much detail and recognize faces. Barbara’s been away from the action long enough that she doesn’t expect to recognize these hoods anyway.

Someone important must have been in that car. Whoever it is, they’re attending this meeting without getting out of the vehicle. At least ten gunmen are present, and Barbara can’t imagine the rest of the gangsters aren’t packing as well. The focus seems to be on an unmarked van, whose back doors are open. A man that Barbara can’t see clearly is there. He must have something that these guys want. The question is: did it come off one of these ships, or is it about to get loaded onto one?

It doesn’t matter. Even Bruce would’ve thought twice about taking on a get-together of this scale by himself. Barbara can do it, but she can’t do it on such short notice. Taking on an army requires preparation. Barbara has to decide if she wants to call in GCPD or just perform soft surveillance herself—but she doesn’t get a chance.

“Company,” Alfred says through her earpiece.

Barbara hears the roaring engine. She flits to the edge of the roof to look down. A black, armored van is roaring down the outer road. The metal plates on the van probably aren’t for show.

Barbara takes cover and holds on as the van crashes through one of the metal shutter doors, ramming into the middle of the gathering going on inside. Before Barbara can even get back to her feet, gunfire erupts inside the warehouse. Dozens of bullets snap through the roof under her feet and the walls. Glass shatters, men shout, and a car horn blares. Barbara’s earpiece kicks in to limit her hearing loss, but her head still swims with the incredible din of the battle taking place under her feet.

She stumbles back toward the skylight, only for it to implode. There’s no time to talk this out and make a game plan. Walking away isn’t an option. One way or another, she’s going to be a participant.

Barbara can fling herself into the battle. Maybe her intervention can reduce the loss of life, but the danger is **** and she has no intel.

Or she can let them fight it out, then target the winner. This will give her fewer enemies and surer footing in her attack, but people are dying.