SEL Chapter 2

Barbara has lost the use of her legs, but not her reflexes. She also hasn’t stopped working out. She launches herself out of the chair as a bullet punches through it. Barbara’s conscious of that as she crawls to Hill and puts pressure on the wound, but she can’t stop a bullet any more than she can stop the flow of time. Like a string of firecrackers, GCPD officers open fire, but Barbara’s too focused on the arterial blood spurting between her fingers to pay attention to whatever the cops are shooting at in the rafters. She does what mental preparation she can in the split second that she fully expects to be shot, but that bullet doesn’t come. She hears the chaos but doesn’t see it.

Then there are lots of footsteps, and she’s surrounded by police.

SEL

Cold winds howl across Gotham’s rooftops. The piercing whine of a grapple is followed by the flutter of a cape as Stephanie lands gracefully in front of a neon-lit billboard for Wayne Corp’s new luxury condos on the west side.

“Anything?”

She turns to see Nightwing crouched on top of the advertisement. He drops down to face her.

“No,” she replies, turning toward the venue. It’s still chaos down there; a crowd has gathered, and red and blue flash as though there’s an ocean of emergency vehicles. The noise of the madness is audible even up here.

“Hill’s dead,” Dick says, folding his arms. “Babs is fine, but they took her to the hospital anyway. Jim’s on his way there.”

“What are you thinking?”

“The shooter’s good, but not that good. A really good one wouldn’t have needed to be inside the building at all, but he did get past a lot of security, and even Babs didn’t notice him. But,” Dick goes on, pointing toward the building. “She had lights in her eyes. Shooter started with Hill, not Babs. I want to say that Ras sent someone, but he has to be careful. What happened at GCPD brought a lot of heat, and he and his people have to lie low right now, even internationally. Still, if he wanted Babs dead, she would be. If this is him, he’s up to something.”

“And if it isn’t him?” Stephanie tries not to sound too resentful. It sounds like just thinking off the top of his head, Dick has done more detective work on this half-hour-old situation than she would do in a week.

“Then Hill really was the target. Hill’s always been the smart kind of corrupt. He’s never really gotten into bed with the bad guys, but he knows when to take the heat off them. Suppose he greenlit Saxena to go after someone who didn’t appreciate it? Or maybe someone wanted to send a message.”

“To who?”

“To the real money in Gotham. Hill didn’t have much of a mind of his own. He was influenced by his donors, and he was a load-bearing support in that way. He could be counted on. You got what you paid for with him.”

“You sound just like him,” Stephanie says, unable to help herself. She might as well be standing here with Bruce.

“He did raise me.”

“Right. So, we start with Hill. Treat it like any other ****.”

“That is if you want to get involved.” Dick shrugs. “GCPD can probably handle it. It’ll go to major crimes. Maggie, Montoya, Bullock—they can probably do most of the legwork if they’ll work with you.”

Stephanie shakes her head, brushing back some blonde hairs that have gotten free.

“They don’t trust me. And I don’t wear a bat anymore.”

“Neither do I. We can still get along with the cops when we need to.”

“We’re criminals, Dick.”

“Don’t play that card until you have to.”

“I feel like Tim would say something different in this situation.”

“None of us are as smart as Tim, Steph. Have you heard from him?”

She shakes her head. “I think he’s engaged.”

“Sorry. That must be complicated for you.”

Stephanie sighs again. “Yup.” Not as complicated as being alone with Dick, who doesn’t know that Barbara fooled around a little with Stephanie and Kate after her brush with Seed. That really only happened the one time, but still. That memory is one of her favorites when she’s alone and touching herself, but it’s not helpful right now. In fact, it’s a big problem.

“You good?”

“He got out there, right? That window?” She points.

“Looks that way. Hard to tell if he went to the ground or to the rooftops, but we didn’t find any sign of him up top. Quick line descent, getaway vehicle—that makes it sound more local. Only exotics, metas, and morons like us run around up here in the cold.”

“Got it. You staying?”

“I will if you want me here.”

Stephanie touches his arm. “I appreciate you.”

“We’re supposed to be a family, remember?”

“Feels a little, uh…” Intrusive thoughts. Totally imaginary representations of Babs and Dick together. Memories of that time with Babs and Kate. Thoughts of Riley Beaumont, for some reason. Stephanie shakes her head, blushing.

“I know what you mean. Tim’s retired. Bruce is gone. Cass is out.” Dick runs his hand through his hair. “But that just means we have to look out for each other, right?”

“Right.”

“Night’s still young and I’ve got a Heartless copycat that I’m working on. Call if you need anything, and give Babs a hug from me.”

“She’d probably like it better from you,” Stephanie says. “And by probably, I mean definitely. Things have gotten a little weird with Seed and everything, but she loves you. It’ll take more than a penis to change that.”

“I heard she has a thing with Summer Gleeson.”

“Not all things are created equal.”

He smiles. “Some things need time. Take care, Steph.”

“You too.”

There’s a fair amount of bitterness and envy as she watches him dive off the rooftop, but no amount of training can equal the ability of a lifelong circus acrobat. There’s no point in trying to compete with him. And it doesn’t help that he just seems hotter every time she meets him.

Stephanie perches on the edge of the rooftop, trying to be smart. What would Babs do? She would think through the angles on this. What would Cass do? She’d already be punching someone new by now. What would Kate do? Kate would be beating up mobsters at this point to try to figure out where Hill had been connected so she could go and beat answers out at the top.

Of the three options, Stephanie wants to be more like Babs. Cass has a simple view of the world, and Kate’s never been able to shake her military mindset, even when she’s pretending to be an alcoholic party girl.

“Ms. Brown, are you well?” That’s Alfred’s voice in her ear.

“I’m good, Alfred. Dick and I looked around, but no clues on the shooter up top. What would Babs do?”

“Searching at random is inefficient. She’d let Major Crimes do some investigating, and then read their reports and go from there. Unless she had a theory of her own.”

“You’re so smart, Alfred.”

“You’re very kind, Ms. Brown. I’ve contacted you to make you aware that there are two situations to which the GCPD is presently responding that would typically warrant a particular sort of intervention. One at the Iceberg Lounge, and one at the O’Neil Building.”

“The what building?”

“O’Neil. There are two startups there. Wayne Enterprises owns all of it. The property, and the work and property. They are software companies.”

OK. Stephanie shakes her head and gets to her feet, trying to think. Someone’s starting trouble at the Iceberg Lounge and someone’s trying to break into a Wayne Building, sounds like.

“Will you be attending to one of them?” Alfred asks without judgment.

“Of course.” But which one?

The Iceberg Lounge?

Or the O’Neil Building?