BAE Chapter 102

Barbara has to be careful. If things go the way that she fears, both Barbara Gordon and Batgirl will be on camera inside GCPD, so precautions are necessary to avoid making it too obvious what’s going on. Bruce never thought about this; he just changed into Batman whenever he felt like it and left Alfred to lie, make excuses, and erase security footage all over the place.

Barbara is better than that.

With her hair concealed by her beanie, half her face concealed by sunglasses of dubious necessity as the sun goes down, and wearing clothes that no one’s ever seen her in before, she avoids the spectacle of her recent notoriety as she enters the building and her father pages the front desk to send her up. She will be seen and recognized and she will have to deal with security footage, but anything that minimizes her footprint will help. Security footage can be erased or doctored; memories are different.

“I’m always glad to see you, Cupcake. But something tells me this isn’t a social call,” Jim Gordon says as he opens the door.

Barbara hurries into the office.

“Everyone’ll think I’m in trouble,” Jim notes as she closes the blinds.

Barbara pauses to give him a peck on the cheek and hands him the sandwich and coffee that she brought.

“I’m going to post up near evidence,” she tells him.

Her father stands there holding the food and looking expectant.

“You really think they’ll try something? Security’s pretty tight.”

“I saw what you added. These are assassins, Dad. I don’t know if it’s enough. And yes, if we’re lucky, they’ll try something.”

“And if we’re unlucky?”

“Then we’re too late. Can you clear the office closest to evidence? The cover story, if anyone asks, will be that I’m here to talk to cops who’ve run into Seed on the street.”

“Do I get a say in any of this?”

“I’ll leave if you ask me to,” Barbara tells him frankly. “I’ll still be close by.”

He scowls, clearly considering it. “I’d have trusted Batman. I guess I can trust my own daughter,” he says tiredly, rubbing his face. “What happens when my camera guys see Babs go into an office and Batgirl come out?”

“I’ll take care of that.”

That appears to pain him. He sighs again. “My little girl. All grown up.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

“Don’t be. But you know what I did last night? I caught one of your interviews on TV and I thought about how you look when you’re all dressed up for Wayne Enterprises. And I let myself imagine for a second that was the real you. That you weren’t just using Wayne Enterprises for your other stuff.”

“That day could come,” Barbara says ambiguously.

“I hope it comes soon. I don’t want what happened to Sarah to happen to you.”

“I know, Dad. I love you.”

“Love you too, Pumpkin.”

BAE

There have been some renovations within GCPD, but most of the hallways still have tiny, yellow tiles on the floor and aging gray paint on the walls. Old corkboards and regulations decorate the narrow corridors. Some things are new: the occasional vending machine or water cooler, and the posted safety regulations and signage. That’s all the commissioner’s doing. All Barbara’s life, he’s been trying to drag GCPD kicking and screaming into the modern age, but the brutal reality of the streets has made that a difficult task. He hasn’t been particularly successful. The GCPD is no longer as reviled as it once was, but it’s still thoroughly corrupt and impotent against heavy hitters that the city has relied on the Batman for so long to keep away from the door.

Thunder rumbles as Barbara steps off the elevator, showing her visitor pass and taking a turn past a huddle of uniformed officers. She has to go deeper into the building, away from the windows to get close to Evidence Storage. Rain begins to patter on the windows as she goes, holding the strap of her backpack tightly. At least it isn’t snowing.

The trouble with this place is that even the hottest cop looks scary under the overly bright fluorescent lights. That’s Seed doing Barbara’s thinking for her again; it’s been a long time since she’s had any desire to check out cops.

She reaches the office, finding it cramped and cluttered with cardboard boxes. Two detectives must share it, and one of them wears too much perfume. Barbara settles behind a desk and takes out her laptop, glancing at the photos of children smiling up at her. She turns on the desk lamp with a click and puts her earpiece in.

It sounds like Ivy is safe and sound and Selina Kyle is overseeing some contractors who are repairing her ruined apartment. Barbara frowns and logs into her computer. She doesn’t have to hack GCPD; that was done ages ago. All she has to do is take a look. She pulls up the list of internal alarms and camera feeds.

She stops in the act of tearing open a bag of jelly beans. The alarms are all grayed out. She couldn’t trigger one even if she wanted to. Someone else is already in the system. Her heart sinks and she throws the jellybeans aside, tapping rapidly to bring up the cameras. They’re all still online, so she’s not too late.

No—she sees the intersection she passed two minutes ago. There’s no sign of that trio of officers that had been taking their break. She’s willing to bet anything that they’re still standing there. This footage is looped. No alarms.

This building has thirty floors. Cops have radios, but Barbara’s willing to bet the PA’s down too. Her fingers fly across her keyboard as she resets the cameras to get rid of the loop.

The feed comes back online. The cells are all open. Barbara’s brain is frozen; she can’t believe how naïve she’s been. Warning GCPD? Thugs like Falcone and Scarface have dozens of plants inside the department. How difficult could it have been for Ras Al Ghul, with all his resources, to compromise a few cops to grease the wheels of his operation?

It’s happening. It’s happening right now. As she flicks through feeds she sees bodies in hallways and blurs of **** taking place.

Should Barbara don her costume and get out there?

Or use the cameras to assess the situation?