ORACLE DD Chapter 12

It’s a lot harder to do secret meetings in a wheelchair, but secret meetings are not what Barbara Gordon wants her administration to be about.

Few places feel safer than a Starbucks. The need for coffee is probably greater in Gotham than it is in Metropolis, but Metropolis has almost a hundred Starbucks while Gotham has a mere nine.

The day is almost as dark as night, and the rain is heavier than the discourse on Twitter about Barbara’s recent actions. She’s drawing fire from the left for a change, but it’s clear that the people of Gotham are with her. That’s not the only thing that matters, but it’s a lot. If she loses it, she’ll be in a world of hurt.

Her security detail is limiting the number of customers who can enter the Starbucks.

For a moment, as Barbara sits under the bright lights with her coffee, she feels normal. Not like she did when she had the use of her legs, but like she did before all this, when she had been a teenager who idolized Batman and looked up to her father.

There is nothing more normal than two friends meeting at a Starbucks. But they aren’t friends. One is a bitter, dangerous woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and the other leads a Yakuza family.

Eiko arrives looking chic and casual, an effective power move. She smiles at the security detail and shakes off her umbrella, placing an order and then joining Barbara at her corner table without ceremony.

“This is not discreet,” Eiko says in perfect English, glancing at Stephanie, who stands within earshot.

“It’s not a secret. Everyone will know that I met with you, and everything that’s said.” Barbara indicates the audio recorder.

“I hope you don’t expect me to say anything that would be of interest to law enforcement.”

“You wouldn’t do that anyway. What can I do for you, Eiko? You called me. It’s your meeting.”

“I want to be friends.”

“So do I. Here’s what it’s going to take.” Barbara takes a single sheet of printer paper out of her pocket and unfolds it. There are bullet points. She indicates with her finger.

“You get no protection from me from normal prosecution. Your guys get picked up for hurting someone or violating **** laws, and it’s up to you and your lawyers. But if you play ball, there won’t be any GCPD task forces after you, and GCPD won’t help any DEA operations that come after you, either. That doesn’t extend to FBI or Homeland. Just DEA.”

Eiko is expressionless, but not unreadable. She’s all wariness. Barbara’s mayorship is so bizarre that no one knows what to expect.

“This is a list of nonprofits and facilities that you’re going to fund, build, and manage personally. It’s all harm reduction stuff. Needle exchanges, safe use sites, substance use treatment, shelters for women—you get the idea. Neither of us can stop people from buying your ****, but we can make sure that there’s help for them if they want it. This will cost you about a hundred million over the next two years if we combine it with what you’ll lose when you wind down all of your protection schemes. Nobody pays protection in Gotham except in taxes to fund the police.”

“And this number?” Eiko points.

“That’s the check you’re going to write me for general revenue. I care most about helping Gotham’s poor, but Gotham has a middle class too, and if I’m taxing the mob, everyone needs to benefit. That money’s going to public works and schools, and there’s an earmark for some of our nicer neighborhoods. I don’t want any Gothamites thinking that I’ve forgotten them.”

“And if I pay you this money, my people work as they please?”

“Not quite. No trafficking, no kids, and we go forward with the understanding that anyone who hurts anyone will have the GCPD after them. I’m well aware of the loophole here. No body, no ****. If people are disappearing, we’ll notice.”

“Supposing I were some sort of criminal. How could I protect my interests nonviolently, Mayor Gordon?”

“I’m going to sit down with your competition. You won’t have to worry about them.”

“If they won’t negotiate with you?”

“Then I’ll do the same thing to them that I did to Aria.”

“You’re asking for a lot of money. People work to make money. They work hard. You want them to give it away.”

“I know exactly how much you have, how much you make, and how much you would stand to make from this deal.” Barbara puts another paper on the desk.

Eiko’s mask slips and her eyes narrow as she examines the accounts. “How did you get this?”

“Eiko, I know this isn’t exactly a good deal. It’s not a dream come true for you. But if you take it and pay the money, you’ll still be rich. Your organization will still be on top, you’ll all be living in a better city, and tomorrow you’ll wake up and do whatever you would normally do, along with all of your people. If you don’t take the deal, I don’t know what happens tomorrow. I can’t promise you that you’ll like it. You keep working. You keep getting richer, and you do it with less risk of **** or prison. It’s easier to enjoy life when we aren’t worried about **** or prison. How much is a good night’s sleep worth to you?”

What cannot be said aloud is the implied favor from Barbara: the bottom line is that Eiko will not have to work as hard to keep her product secure if she’s no longer worried about big **** cases being built against her or her rivals. If Barbara holds up her end, this will massively reduce Eiko’s expenses. She won’t come out of this ahead, but she can easily break even, and with far less headache than if she chooses to fight.

“I don’t have the people or the expertise to found all of these nonprofits,” Eiko says.

“You’re going to meet with Dr. Leslie Thompkins. She’ll walk you through it and help you make your hires. I’d love to tell you to just hire her to do it all for you, but that would be sketchy, so you’re going to work with a lot of the nonprofits that we already have locally and help them expand their operations. But I need you to have some skin in the game. You’re going to sit on some of those boards, and some of your people are going to work in those facilities. You live here, Eiko. Your people live here. Even if you aren’t law-abiding, you’re Gothamites. This only works if we’re in it together.”

“And we do exactly as you say.”

“The people have the power. If they don’t like what I’m doing, they’ll elect someone else. Maybe you, if you play your cards right. You’re pretty enough.”

Eiko smiles and looks away. There are a lot of things that could be said, but Eiko is nothing if not practical. She takes a deep breath, then extends her hand.

ORACLE

Bruce, Alfred, and Helena stand in the Cave in front of the Computer.

“Is it safe for Barbara to be out there when we don’t know where Shiva is?” Helena asks, tapping her foot. Her costume waits in a duffel beside her.

“Stephanie is with her,” Bruce replies, his eyes on the screen.

“Are we going to talk about her?”

“You’ve been working with her.”

“And it’s been going so well because she isn’t who she was before. I’m asking why.”

Bruce’s face is hard, and his eyes are on the screen. “That’s going to have to wait until we take care of Shiva.”

“The only one who can handle Shiva is the chick who stole my costume, and Steph says she can’t reach her. She probably already left town after she saw Dick,” Helena snaps. “Can we get Superman in here? Or at least Supergirl? Hell, give me Power Girl.”

“Shiva can kill a Kryptonian as easily as she can kill you or me,” Bruce says. “Superman might be too fast for her, but she’ll have a plan to handle him. We can only take her down if she’s alone; otherwise, she’ll hit a nerve point on the nearest people, and we’ll have to let her go because we’ll have only minutes to get those people to a hospital.”

“Like how Joker just throws someone off a roof to get you off him.”

“Exactly. We have to set a trap and take her alone.”

“And Barbara’s the bait?”

“She’s the most likely target.”

“If Shiva’s the best in the world, she’ll be able to spot a trap,” Helena says.

“Her only weakness is pride. If she sees a trap, she’ll want to spring it. It’s our only advantage. That, and numbers.”

“Numbers?” Helena snorts. “No Nightwing, no Batgirl. No Robin. Can this lady stop a crossbow bolt?”

“Yes.”

Helena swallows. “How?”

“Let’s hope you don’t have to find out.”

“What about Flash?”

“He’s with J’onn.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s not on Earth.”

“Oh. Shit.” Helena rubs her face.

“Dinah Lance is on her way,” Bruce says after a moment.

Helena snorts and rolls her eyes. “Great. We’re saved. Can’t Zatanna handle this like effortlessly?”

“Shiva has a pendant with the soul of a dragon in it that protects her.”

Helena stares at him. She touches Alfred’s shoulder, and Alfred looks up. “He’s kidding, right?”

Alfred shakes his head. Helena groans.

Patience is crucial, but being passive can be a deadly mistake. All of Bruce’s instincts are to track Shiva down before she reaches her target, but she’s already been in Gotham for almost a full day. There may not be time, and he fears collateral damage.

Helena and Stephanie will have to guard Barbara. Bruce can join them, or he can hunt.

Should Bruce join the others and protect Barbara?

Or look for leads on Lady Shiva?