BAE Chapter 38

“Where would I go?” Ivy asks.

“Applied Sciences. Wayne Tower in downtown Gotham.” Barbara gets to her feet and resumes speaking in a normal voice. This part is not confidential. “Security will be a big part of this. You’ll be comfortable, but the furlough agreement with the city will involve a lot of clauses about keeping you under lock and key.”

“Sure.” Ivy’s still gazing at the wall.

This isn’t a very difficult decision for her to make. She has no reason to say no. It’s the decency that’s taking her off-guard. Barbara’s not interacting with her the way that Gotham City typically interacts with people like her. Ivy doesn’t know what to do with it.

“Do you think I could have a garden there?” she asks.

“Dr. Isley, if you help me with this Seed problem, I’ll build you a whole arboretum in there. And then I’ll campaign to get you out completely if we can earn some trust,” Barbara tells her.

“You wouldn’t worry that I’d just grow something to break out?”

“If I do my job correctly,” Barbara says, placing her hand on her chest. “You won’t want to break out.”

There’s a long silence.

“Can I take this as a yes?” Barbara asks finally.

“I’d be crazy to say no,” Ivy replies mildly. It’s the truth. She doesn’t have much to lose, and if this is some kind of trap, she has to be confident in her ability to escape.

“It won’t happen overnight. Someone’ll be in touch,” Barbara says, going to the door. She taps the glass and the guards move forward, but Ivy speaks up.

“Hey,” she says.

Barbara looks back. “Yes?”

“You really like it?”

It takes Barbara a second to realize what she’s getting at. She laughs quietly. “You didn’t test it before you brought it to market?” she asks playfully.

“I didn’t bring it to market,” Ivy replies, a hint of defensiveness in her voice. “My crazy ex stole it.”

Barbara nods and doesn’t comment on someone locked up in Arkham calling someone else crazy. “I do like it,” she tells Ivy. “I’ll show you how much sometime if you want.”

Ivy’s eyes widen in surprise, but the guards are opening the door.

BAE

It’s getting dark as she climbs into Alfred’s car. He closes the door and a moment later they’re headed down the hill. He picks up the carphone and holds it up as he drives.

“Mr. Fox, Ms. Gordon.”

Barbara leans forward to take it. “Mr. Fox?”

“At this point, you can call me Lucius, Ms. Gordon.”

“Then you can call me Babs. I just talked to her. She said yes.”

“Of course she did. I went ahead and promoted you out of the internship program. That’ll raise eyebrows, but no one will have time to notice when this news breaks. You’re an engineer in Applied Sciences now. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Barbara says dryly. “How’s the pay?”

“Not bad if you live long enough to spend it, but we have more immediate problems,” Lucius reports. “We have to be out in front. I want you to come back here and meet with the media team.”

“No need,” Barbara tells him. “Give Gotham Insider the exclusive.” She senses his surprise. “I know you’re putting a lot of trust in me.”

“Oh, that’s not the problem, Ms. Gordon. I’ve known you long enough to know that you’ve earned it. I’m just sorry that it took our mutual friend disappearing for you to come out of your shell.”

“I wasn’t in a shell,” she replies defensively and hands the phone back to Alfred.

“I take it your conversation went well,” Alfred remarks as he hangs it up.

“As well as it could.”

“You were right to go to her as Barbara Gordon,” he says. Barbara waits for him to go on, but he doesn’t. She rolls her eyes and looks out the window, watching the trees go by as they drive back toward the city.

“It’s hard for me to blame her for anything, knowing what I know. How is she different from Bruce? They both fight for what they believe in. They both break rules. They both hurt people.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“Did you ever tell Bruce that?”

“What purpose would that have served?”

Barbara snorts. “He knew. He always went easy on her.”

“He certainly did. So you’ll see Ms. Gleeson again this evening.”

“If it wasn’t for Kate, my whole life would be redheads,” Barbara remarks lightly. “Is she training?”

“Diligently.”

“Good. We have to do better, Alfred. We can’t keep this up forever. We have to find a way to keep this city safe that doesn’t involve pointy ears and broken ribs.”

BAE

Things are happening quickly.

The actual process of moving Ivy will take much longer, although playing the urgency card of the formula will help with that. As for today: meeting with Lucius, then the board, then Ivy was a lot, but the work isn’t done. Even now, rumors are spreading. Someone on the board will have leaked something, and there’s no way that Arkham personnel aren’t talking about the mystery woman who met with Pamela Isley this afternoon. Wayne Enterprises needs to make definitive statements about what it’s doing. Controlling information will be almost as important as controlling Ivy.

Barbara sits in a chair backstage while two girls excitedly apply her makeup.

The crunched timeline is necessary. Since Alfred told her what was in those vials, her mind hasn’t stopped racing with the possibilities. Giving that stuff to women without their knowledge or against their will? That’s just the beginning. What about giving it to kids? What about tinkering with the formula to make it even more traumatic? She cannot allow that.

Summer already had a guest booked, of course. She’s had to change her plans on the fly as well. There’s been no rehearsal for this. Barbara must choose how to proceed. Summer will be **** to ask general questions. This won’t be about Barbara, it’ll be about Ivy. Barbara can focus on the idea that Ivy is a misunderstood figure or she can focus on the idea that the Seed formula is an imminent threat.

Focus on Ivy?

Or focus on the Seed Formula?