BAE Chapter 96

Barbara throws and narrowly pulls back in time to avoid Talia’s next bullet and drops a smoke pellet. She lunges into the smoke, catching Talia’s wrist. Talia’s aggressive and she can fight, but Barbara’s ready. She takes her to the ground, and Talia knows Judo as well. Barbara finds herself on the bottom and it’s worth it to send Talia’s pistol spinning across the floor. Talia gets a punch in, then raises a knife.

There’s a sharp crack and the whip flies out of the smoke, wrapping around Talia’s wrist. Barbara does what she was about to do anyway and gives the brunette a headbutt that sends her to the floor.

The smoke is already clearing because of the open doors and broken window. Katana leaps back into the apartment, diving for her sword.

There’s a harsh detonation and the sword is suddenly covered in what appears to be green gel.

Stephanie Brown in her purple Batgirl costume vaults over the balcony railing, expanding her bo-staff with a menacing, metallic snap.

“Gooparang, nerd!” she heckles Katana.

With a noise of frustration, Katana wrenches her sticky weapon off the floor. Her hands are sticky. The blade is sticky. It’s a mess. She looks uncertainly at Talia, only to find Talia already gone and the front door standing wide open. Instead of getting help from her boss, she’s facing Selina Kyle holding a whip and wearing nothing more than a murderous expression. Barbara picks herself up and raises her fists.

Katana doesn’t like these odds. She whirls on Stephanie, who parries a wild slash with her staff and rolls out of the way. That’s all Katana needs; she’s off the balcony and gone.

Stephanie rushes to the railing and looks down.

“We going after her?”

“Don’t,” Barbara says, gathering a couple of her fallen Batarangs. “She’s just the muscle.”

Selina stands there with her whip, nostrils flaring. She’s furious.

“Am I supposed to thank you?” she asks tightly as Stephanie takes her place at Barbara’s side.

“No. But we need to know what Talia wanted from you,” Barbara says.

Selina narrows her eyes. “Two Batgirls? Where’s Batman?”

“We don’t know.”

Selina doesn’t like that. She’s in pain. She’s naked and humiliated. Cold wind is blowing into her ruined apartment. Her cat, Isis, nuzzles her ankle and purrs. Selina looks down at her, then snorts.

“I think she wanted me to break into GCPD.”

“Which precinct?”

“HQ,” Selina replies. “She wanted to know about their security.”

“Downtown? That place is a fortress,” Stephanie says, glancing over her shoulder at the broken window. GCPD is visible from here; it’s a vast, gothic tower. It’s not pretty, but it is huge and solid. GCPD doesn’t have a great reputation, but even the heavy hitters know better than to target a building with hundreds of cops in it. Besides, why would they?

“What did she want in there?” Barbara asks.

“We didn’t get that far.”

“Do you need a hospital?”

“Be serious, Bat Brat. Two Batgirls. Is this the best we can do?”

“We also have a Batwoman,” Stephanie says helpfully.

Selina puts her face in her hand. “Do you mind? I have cleaning up to do. And the cops are probably on the way.”

“Want us to stick around to tell them that you were a victim here?”

“I can handle it.”

“You might not be safe here.”

“I don’t want your protection.”

Barbara knows better than to push further.

“Hey,” Stephanie says, “Uh, Batgirl?” She touches her ear.

The two of them turn away from Selina.

“Guys? Are you there?” Kate says on their private band.

“What’s going on?” Barbara asks.

“Police chatter. They’re raiding Elite Pride.”

BAE

The raid is over by the time Barbara and Stephanie arrive.

Kate’s cape billows behind her as she stands at the edge of the warehouse looking over the chaotic scene below. GCPD has handcarts full of what look like bags of Seed pills. They’re unloading weapons and marching handcuffed men and women into their armored vans.

“Is this Bullock’s raid?” Barbara asks, spotting the lieutenant among the police inside the cordon. The whole area flashes painfully red and blue, but there are no sirens and no gunshots. It really is over. The press is starting to arrive. It looks like GCPD moved fast and quiet on this.

“Looks that way. Any idea how they found them?” Kate asks.

“No. Can we get a look inside?”

“I did when I first got here. They were all set up in there. Like a little hotel. It felt very military. Clean orderly. Weird,” Kate adds.

“This is good, right?” Stephanie asks as they watch another transport van slam shut.

“Alfred, let’s get the plane in the air and send the car,” Barbara says. “Let’s make sure we don’t have a last-minute breakout.” Talia probably won’t be doing any more fighting tonight, and Katana certainly won’t until she gets Stephanie’s good off her sword. Stephanie loves those good Batarangs. Bruce never did; he said they leave too much evidence behind and they can be lethal if you don’t use them correctly.

But there’s no telling who else Talia has on the payroll, especially if she’s going after GCPD.

“How many dead?” Barbara asks.

“None,” Kate replies. “That I know of. GCPD caught them sleeping.”

Barbara scowls. This is all wrong, and she doesn’t trust Selina. Selina’s no villain, but she’s also no hero. If she sees an angle for herself, she’ll take it. She might have withheld information to keep that option open for herself.

GCPD has saved Barbara the trouble of rounding up Elite Pride, but she has a feeling this isn’t over.

Escort the prisoners?

Or put surveillance on Selina?