Queenyforever
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Batman: Birth of Batgirl
The story takes place roughly 2 years after Clown of the Circus
Batman
Birth of the Batgirl
Gotham City
Chloe Sullivan was shocked at the number of people who had come to the party that was held in the spacious Wayne Tower in downtown Gotham City. As she peered across the sea of bodies, not even half were recognizable to her. Although this realization had dawned on Chloe, there she was among old friends, co workers, and several of several of Gotham's leading citizens including Bruce Wayne, Mayor Hill and Jim Gordon. The party also included one of Gotham City's best bands, No known Boundaries. Specializing in modern and alternative rock to Chloe they sounded like a cross between Queen and Linkin Park. It had also been catered several restaurants and decorated in a neo gothic style that fit in with Gotham City's overall look. Of the people gathered tonight, Jim Gordon surprised her most by introducing her to his new Girlfriend Sarah Essen. Chloe had heard about the whole scandal from a year ago. This entitled Gordon leaving his wife for the younger Police Detective, an act that did nothing to tarnish his career. If anything it made him more human, then the man who ended the corruption of the police force. Her Boss, the editor of the Gotham Daily News, was chatting with Bruce about something as she worked her way through the crowd. It still hadn't dawned on her that she had won the city of Gotham's top award for writing. It was handed out every year along with several other "Best of Gotham" categories, like Restaurant, Bar, Store, TV news, etc. Her Article on the sex slave traders, which Batman had taken out, had been the hardest of anything to write, so to win an award for it was a great honor.
Bruce Wayne looked around the party making a check list of who was at there. The new DA Harvey Dent was there with his wife as was ADA Rachel Dawes with her date. Chloe had found her old friend Lana Lang and they were likely talking about old times. Making his way to the large window, he looked out at the city of Gotham laid out before him. The streets had been somewhat quieter since the Joker was sent away with the rest of his gang. It was almost too quiet for Bruce. The last time there was a quiet run, all hell broke out and Batman's cup runneth over for a month. Since becoming Batman five years ago, quite a bit has been accomplished; however, the light was not at the end of the tunnel yet. Deep down he knew he would have to find a partner to help him fight the evil that lurked in the streets. Hearing the sounds of yelling, Bruce turned to see a couple screaming at each other before she threw something at him and left.
Barbra did her best to work out her floor routine for the High School Gymnastics team but it wasn't easy in the small living room. Even though a sophomore she was already on the Varsity Gymnastics team, which is harder then the cheerleading she does in the fall and the Track she takes part in during the spring. All of the activity kept her flexible, which helped out with her martial arts classes on the weekends. Gordon was a little worried when she had undertaken this same challenge her freshmen year, but she proved to be a great student athlete. Being a visual learner with a suburb photographic memory had helped her along with skill retention. During the whole ordeal last year when her adopted parents both had a baby boy and later split due to Jim's affair, athletics turned out to be a refuge and a release. Although it wasn't that long after, that both she and Jim learned that Barbra, Jim's wife and her namesake, had also cheated and that the boy was in fact the son of another man. The divorce had been really hard on her; after her mother accused Jim of having an affair with his sister-in-law that resulted in her birth. Something Jim didn't deny but still hurt to have someone she looked at as a mother say something like that. It was that weekend that she won her event in Track and field for the first time, a bitter sweet event for both her and her dad. Finishing her practice session, she went to take a quick shower and then went to her room where she proceeded to pull out the grappling hook Batman had dropped. She wanted to become a police officer, which is why she did all the training she did, but deep down she really wanted to be like Batman. Someone not bound by the law who could carry out justice without all the rules.
"The big news of the day is that Wayne enterprises have bought out the struggling Janus Cosmetics," Vicky Vale, a TV news reporter, sat in front of a large window that over looked the park in the center of Gotham as she reported the latest news. "As a condition of the buy out Janus CEO Roman Sionis will leave the company and be replaced by a board of directors who will over see the day to day operations. First on their plate, repair the damage down by Janus' water proof make up that disfigured several hundred women in Gotham alone. This hasn't been a good week at all for Roman Sionis. As reported earlier in the program, his engagement to Super model Circe ended at the post Best of Gotham party hosted by Bruce Wayne."
Roman threw the mask at the TV, shattering the screen and causing a shower of sparks. Everything had gone terribly awry for the once Janus CEO. His beloved Circe had left his side, the family company was removed from him by Bruce Wayne, and now he became the object of private jokes for public friends. He went over to the TV and picked up the mask out of the debris. He left the room and made his way to the reflection room to replace his father's mask on the wall. This is where the death masks of his parents were kept, he had made soon after they died.
"Mom, I really screwed up," he said to the mask. "I know you're right I should have tested the makeup then we wouldn't have been sued and that spoiled brat wouldn't have taken the company. You were right about the Wayne's dad, I should have listened to you they sure can be underhanded. You're right this was just a move to look out family look bad dad. There is only one thing to do about that, make them pay."
Doctor Pamela Isley was a popular teacher at Gotham's Brentwood Academy, one of Gotham's most prestigious High Schools, attended by several of Gotham City's elite including Barbra Gordon. Her subjects dealt with planet life and nature and their impact on society. Even though she has had her share of controversy with a lot of her views, most of her peers respected her. What they didn't know was that she was also an eco-terrorist, working with a corporate saboteur named Temblor to take down the business' that harmed the environment. Temblor did the dirty work while Isley did the research picking the best places to go after to make the biggest impact; however, once in a while she would go along to help when needed. Sitting in her office, she looked up one company that had recently failed a government investigation headed by the EPA. This job would be a tough one; the more she looked over the blue prints and the reports the more she thought she would have to go along to insure everything went as planned. Axis Chemicals, a jack of all trades' company that made anything from Plant food to paint, would be their target that night and when they finished it would be destroyed.
*****
Gotham City
The night had turned out to be perfect, barely a cloud in the sky with a full moon casting a pale ambience. This allowed Pamela Isley to slip Temblor and herself into Axis Chemicals. The Moon was reflecting off the Metallic gloves that allowed him to create small earthquakes by hitting the ground and shockwaves by clapping. Once inside the large warehouse, she went to work destroying several of the machines as Temblor set about to bring down some of the bigger pieces. She had no way of knowing that Temblor had worked out a deal to get rid of her. A she worked on destroying the offices, Temblor made his way to a Fertilizer processor. Using his to send a piercing shockwave, he sent the processor crashing to the ground filling the office that Isley was in with liquid fertilizer, which combined with some chemicals stored there. With a large explosion, a fire erupted where the Chemicals and fertilizer reacted. His job done he left the burning building behind. As he left, a pale green hand reached out from the burning remains and clawed its way out from the wreckage.
The next day was overcast as the Police went over the burnt remains of what had been Axis Chemicals. Jim Gordon stood at the command center as cops went back and forth. Harvey Bullock and his new Partner, the recently promoted Renee Montoya, were heading his way with a bag of whatever it was they found.
"Commissioner," Bullock tipped his hat in an over exaggerated show of respect.
"Boss we found something you should look at," Renee put the bag on the table and pulled out the contents.
"Interesting," Gordon replied as he looked over the remains of a wallet. "Send it to the lab, see if they can find out whom it belongs too. Maybe if we're lucky it will belong to the person who did this."
"Sure Thing," Bullock waved at one of the Crime Scene Investigators, who were coming back from the scene. "Here, see if you can find out whom this belongs too."
Gordon shook his head as Bullock went off to the small food stand that had been set up for the police. Bullock was a good cop there was no question, but there were times when Gordon had to wonder if the rumors were true. For years now there had been stories of involvement with the Mob, police brutality and bribes. But without any clear evidence he couldn't take the rumors as the truth right now. It was one of the reasons he paired Renee up with him. A 5-year veteran she had joined the police force soon after Gordon made Chief of the Department and started to clean up the officers in his department. She had proven to be the ideal example of what Gordon felt a cop should be. So when he rewarded her with her gold shield, he assigned her to Bullock to keep an eye on him. He could already see the change in the aged cop, having a by the book partner had actually made Bullock work like a new detective, doing everything by the book.
"Commissioner Gordon," one of the investigators ran towards him carrying what appeared to be a plastic card. "We found an ID card from Brentwood."
"Academy?" Gordon took the card and looked it over; it definitely was an ID card from Brentwood Academy. Similar to his daughter's only this one was for a teacher, a stamp in the upper left corner revealed it to belong to a member of the staff. Cleaning off more of the grime he could make out a last name; Isley.
*******************************************************
Barbra Gordon sat at the plain white table that looked just like every other table in the lunch hall filled with students all wearing the same black and blue uniforms. Brentwood Academy was the most elite school in Gotham City. Only the richest and the cities leaders could get their kids into the Academy, at nearly 200 years old it was one of the oldest Private High Schools in the country. For Barbra, it was stuffy, and way to restrictive, especially when it came to fashion. She had found the empty table first and now waited for her friends to arrive. Most of the talk that she could hear was of Dr. Isley's disappearance. A lot of the kids went to her since she was the daughter of the top cop in all of Gotham City, but she had already left for school when the cops found her ID badge in the remains of Axis Chemicals. Her students were taking it harder then the rest of the school. She had a way of making each student think they were talking only to them, almost as if she cast some kind of spell over them. Barbra didn't mind, Isley knew her stuff which was good enough for her. Her thoughts continued to focus on Dr. Isley as she took a bite out of her Turkey sandwich. Her best friend, Cassie Sullivan, another 15 year old girl she had known since first grade, had arrived followed by their gymnastics' teammate Ruby Black, the older member of the trio at 17 became fast friends with Barbra after she saw the then freshmen try out for the Cheerleading squad. The three girls picked up with the rest of the room and began to discuss what happened to Isley. Kathy Kane was the last to join the table, the daughter of one of Gotham's richest families she kept her bright red hair tied back in a ponytail. Her father was actually the part owner of Axis Chemicals and like Barbra she too had to answer questions about what happened. After a brief conversation about the latest in what had happened to Isley, the talk soon turned to the annual costume ball to be held at Wayne Tower.
"I hear Bruce Wayne himself will be there," Kathy was saying.
"I doubt he'll stay around," Barbra tossed the sandwich wrapper in the near by trash with out standing. "Why would he hang out with High School kids?"
"I guess he's kicking off the party this year," Kathy replied as she sipped her juice. "It is his building."
"That's because he got it before your family," Ruby joked.
"Funny," Kathy tossed a chip at her. "So what is everyone going as?"
"No idea," Barbra sighed. "I've been thinking about this all year and I haven't an idea."
"Well if it helps I plan on going as Leia Organa from Star Wars," Ruby finished eating the potato chip that Kathy had thrown at her.
"What a surprise the sci-fi geek is coming as a Star Wars character," Cassie poked her tongue out in Ruby's direction. "I will be going as an Angel."
"Cool, I'm going as a bad Angel," Kathy laughed. "So Babs, any of this helping?"
"A little," Barbra laughed at the idea of Cassie and Kathy entering the room together. "I'll toss something together."
*******************************************************
Roman Sionis sat at the large table a drill in one hand as the other held the black piece if wood that he was working on. The smooth ebony wood had been taken from his mother's own casket. A further insult to his parents, whom he had murdered himself by setting their home on fire. He had always hated they hypocrisy, they would laugh at the Wayne's behind their backs but publicly they acted as if they were the best of friends. They forced him to be friends with Bruce Wayne someone he saw as lesser then himself, when Bruce left after his parents were murdered that was the happiest day of his life. The last straw occurred when he fell for an attractive secretary that worked for his father. His parents always talked about how they should treat people who aren't as well off as them with respect, but when he went to them about his love for Circe they demanded he break it off, stating that she wasn't good enough for the family. That night while his parents slept he set the house on fire and watched as his parents were burned alive. Now his anger was turned to another man his childhood playmate Bruce Wayne and this mask would help him get his revenge. Holding the mask up for inspection he enjoyed his handy work, his mother would be proud if she could see it.
"Roman?" he heard a voice in his head.
"Roman doesn't live here anymore," He replied out loud as he set the mask over his face and fashioned it into place. "I'm The Black Mask."
*****************************************************
Chloe Sullivan couldn't help but be a little annoyed at her current assignment, she had been told to cover the annual Costume ball. Held for the High School it was full of High School students all dressed up as some pop culture icon. Among the guests were children of city council members, police officials, and former Mayors. A lot of them were there to support their children's education, and she got several good interviews about the state of education in the city as it compared to other cities like Metropolis. Her goal now was to interview Bruce Wayne, a subject that shouldn't have been this hard but tonight it was proving to be difficult to get a couple minutes with Bruce. The two had dated pretty heavy for about a year much to Clark's dismay but they had broken it off. The news had gone world wide with most people shocked by the news, but Chloe knew the relationship wouldn't last. They were just two people too wrapped up in their jobs to carry out an affair. Heading to the buffet table Chloe started to snack on the Ham and cheese crackers when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Enjoying a snack Chloe?" Bruce smiled as Chloe turned around.
"I guess Lois was right sometimes the story comes to you," Chloe laughed.
"So I'm a news story," Bruce took the cracker that Chloe had been holding.
"My paper wants me to interview you about Wayne Enterprises School for All foundation." Chloe replied. "Seems my boss thinks our history would help me get to you."
"I'd be happy to talk to you about the foundation," Bruce smiled again as he took her hand and kissed it lightly.
******
The Black Mask was able to get into the building rather easily which was a bit of a surprise considering how many important people were inside the ballroom. Flanked by two men he had hand picked he made his way to the ball room where he'd get some revenge for Wayne embarrassing him. Reaching the doors, he pulled out his automatic pistol as the others pulled out there weapons as well. Taking a brief moment to reflect on his choice to turn to crime, he double checked his gun and broke through the doors firing into the ceiling.
Barbra looked herself over in the mirror of the bathroom as she looked over her costume. It was almost an exact copy of Batman's suit just smaller and no armor. Putting the cowl in place she stepped back to give herself one last look, it was a little bit of a tight fit in part to her long red hair but looked good. Turning from the mirrors she headed to the door to enter the hall that would take her to the front doors of the ballroom. The sounds of gun fire erupted from near by causing her to stop and look out into the hallway where she could see two men enter the ballroom both carrying weapons. Stepping back into the bathroom she looked down at the grappling Hook that she had picked up after Batman had rescued her and Chloe from the hands of the Joker. Sneaking out of the bathroom she made her way to the fire exit and climbed her way to the roof.
Bruce Wayne stood still as the three men entered firing their guns into the air, two of the men stood at the doors as their leader wearing a black mask walked across the floor straight at him. Pushing Chloe back behind him Bruce stepped forward to meet the strange man who had crashed the party. When he had stopped Bruce had cataloged everything that he needed to know about the attacker. A medium build he was stronger then he looked, he also had an expensive taste, which would come in handy later, judging by the Italian suit and custom gun that he was holding in his hands. The man stood looking at Bruce for what had to be several minutes as the crowd was ushered to the side of the room by the two men who now worked to gather up the guests.
"So Bruce nice party," The man said.
"Roman?" Bruce was honestly surprised that this man had once been a leading member of the city. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like," He said as he took Bruce by the collar and tossed him to the floor and turned to the crowd. "I am Black Mask and I am here to take my revenge on you Bruce."
Bruce looked up to see that Black Mask now had his gun pointed at Bruce's head, there was little he could do that wouldn't jeopardize his secret but that wouldn't matter if he died. Taking a look at the crowd he saw Chloe watching a look of fear in her eyes as she waited for Black Mask to fire his gun. Suddenly the glass dome over the ballroom shattered, using the moment of distraction Bruce pushed up with his hand to shove the gun up away from him and the crowd that now scrambled for cover. Taking a chance he drove his hand into the Black Mask's gut driving the wind from his lungs sending him back.
Barbra had used a hammer to shatter the glass, not the best method she was almost too late to save Bruce Wayne who was on his knees with a gun to his head. Tying the zip line to a post she leapt into the ballroom using the cape to slow her fall somewhat. Hitting the floor she somersaulted using her skills as a gymnast to take the landing. When she reached her feet the two thugs ran at her ducking down she tripped them up and drove the bigger one into the ground hitting an open handed blow to his head knocking him out. The last thug pointed his gun at her but before he could fire she jumped forward and hit a round house kick to the gun followed by an elbow shot in the temple. With him done she looked for the man in the black mask but he had high tailed it out of the ballroom. Taking another look around the room she paused on Bruce who looked at her with a mix of shock and disbelief, grabbing the grapple she fired it up and left the ballroom.
Bruce looked up at the broken skylight for a good several minutes more as the cops arrived to help out and take witness statements. Chloe herself was scribbling down an account of what took place which she put in her purse as she walked towards Bruce and looked up at the skylight herself.
"So when did Batman get shorter?" Chloe asked.
"That wasn't Batman," Bruce replied sternly.
"What's gotten into you," Chloe looked at Bruce who continued to look out the window.
"Nothing Guess almost getting shot can ruin a mood," Bruce looked at his watch. "Well look at the time I best get going."
Before Chloe could say anything else Bruce disappeared into the crowd and out the door leaving her alone in the center of the room as the last of the people left the room. Gathering her things she followed the crowd to the lobby and out into the streets that were full of press and worried parents. Rather then deal with the press herself she hurried to her car and drove to the Gotham Daily News to write up a report and file it for the morning paper.
Barbra stood outside the building as her father led his men deciding to make a quick change she stood dressed up as an angel. Being sure to have a worried look on her face she smiled as she saw her friends, Cassie and Ruby leave the building. Seeing her they rushed over and gave each other big hugs. Barbra asked all shorts of questions about what had happened stating that she had just got off the elevator when the shots were fired and headed to the stairs. With her alibi in place the three girls walked back to Ruby's place which was closer then Cassie's place or Barbra's. Waving a quick goodbye at her father she caught up to her friends who had started off without her.
*****************************************************
Dressed in his Batman gear from the neck down Bruce Wayne went over the video tapes of the attack that were recorded by hidden cameras that he had installed incase something happened. Using the computer enhancements he had zoomed in on the person who had distracted Black Mask and his two goons. From behind him Alfred watched as well, he was impressed by the abilities of this newcomer but knew Master Wayne wouldn't be that happy to have some girl follow in his footsteps. The suit clearly had no armor judging on how tight it appeared to fit to her body. But other then that it was almost a perfect copy of Batman's suit.
"Shall I extend the caves incase Batboy decides to show up too," Alfred set the tray of tea on the desk next to him.
"She's young and inexperienced, but the knowledge is there," Bruce replied.
"Do you have any idea about who she might be," Alfred looked up at the frozen frame of this Bat girl's face.
"The facial features are that of a teenage girl." Bruce leaned back in the chair and drank from the cup that Alfred at brought. He knew better then to go off the appearance of the body, he has known several women who had bodies that looked like a teenager, which made them popular as dates and escorts, to most of the men Bruce knew.
"An easy assumption to make other then you and some other guests most of the party was teenagers." Alfred commented.
"So we get the RSVP list and see who was missing, there is a good chance one of them is this girl." Bruce put the cup down and entered some commands into the computer replacing the image of the girl with a man in a black mask. "But it will need to wait, Roman or as he calls himself now, Black Mask, needs to be found first. He wants revenge for Wayne enterprises buying him out. I need to find him before he does something worse, no telling what might happen."
Standing up he placed the cowl over his face and moved towards the Batmobile and drove out into the night towards Gotham City. The streets as normal were mostly empty at this time of night allowing him to drive freely with out having to deal with much traffic. Monitoring the police bands he moved towards central Gotham City where he would head over back to Wayne Tower where he would start his search for Black Mask.
"All available units we have a report of a disturbance at Wayne Botanical Gardens, the terrorist suspect known as Temblor has been spotted outside the gardens." The Dispatchers voice called out over the police bands followed by the acknowledgements of several squad cars in the area. Turning the afterburners on Batman sped the Batmobile to the Gardens, arriving just as the police cars arrived; he parked a few blocks away and made his way to the roof tops where he entered the Garden's greenhouse from the roof. Jim Gordon and Detectives Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock entered the greenhouse soon after and were met by two beat cops.
"What do we have," Batman heard Gordon say from his hiding spot in the shadows.
"Well it seems Temblor had come here for some unknown reason, and was killed." One of the cops replied.
"What do you mean killed?" Bullock asked before stopping dead in his tracks. Looking up at what Bullock had seen, Batman focused on the body of Temblor. His Chest had been impaled by several vine-like plants and another vine was wrapped around his neck and he was hanging from the floor some 5 feet up. From what he could tell Temblor had been hung first and while struggling the plants had stabbed him through the chest. When Bullock and Montoya left the area Batman stepped out of the shadows to take a closer look.
"So what do you think?" Gordon didn't take his eyes off the body that hung before him.
"It doesn't make sense, Plants don't kill people and the plants in area are common plants native to this state." Batman walked closer to the body, careful not to disturb the scene.
"Maybe who ever killed him staged him like this," Gordon replied.
"It doesn't look like it; you'll know more once the M.E. conducts his tests," Batman had walked around the body and was now looking at the spot where the Vines had come from.
"You better hide, the Medical examiner is coming, Batman," Gordon looked to where Batman was standing to find that he had disappeared. Shaking his head he met the Examiner, a somewhat attractive woman in her early 30's, the name on her ID Badge read Doctor Sarah Brown. "Doctor Brown, We have a tricky one here."
"I see that," the dark haired woman commented as she looked over the body. "We'll have to cut him down, Johnson bring that latter we're going to need it."
Gordon kept watch as the two M.E's went about their business and cut down the Body which hit the ground with a thud. Once the body was packed up Gordon returned to the scene as Montoya and Bullock examined the area for any clues. Bullock was standing near the spot that Temblor, looking up at the skylights while Montoya looked around where he had last seen Batman.
"So Commish, If the radio said Temblor was seen entering the building and then the cars arrived minutes later where did his killer go," Bullock looked over at Gordon. "I mean it must have taken some time to do this yet nobody was found."
"I'm wondering about that myself Harvey," Gordon shrugged his shoulders slightly as he turned back to follow the M.E. "I'm going to follow the body, see what Doctor Michaels has to say about the wounds.
*****
The Medical Examiners van drove down the highway heading to the morgue, Sarah Brown sat in the front passenger seat working on the report as Johnson drove, making sure to keep a steady speed. Behind them Gordon kept up the red and blue lights on the dash board flashing. In the back of the van, the body bag the held Temblor's body started to move. Sharpened edges of vine like plants sliced through the bag and slithered out to the floor like snakes. From the drivers seat Johnson barely noticed the shaking of the road as they passed through the Forest reserve. Suddenly the road in front of them split open as a large plant broke through filling the roadway. Unable to stop in time the van crashed into the plant, Sarah hit her head on the clipboard she had been using knocking her out cold. Behind them Gordon slammed on the breaks and stopped just before he hit the van. Catching his breath he watched as Johnson crawled out of the driver's door followed by some snake like plants. Reaching his feet Johnson found him self looking at the pale green eyes of a woman he didn't know.
"What are you?" He asked not believing his eyes.
"You may call me Ivy," She cupped his face with both hands as he drew him closer to her before planting a kiss on his lips. "Poison Ivy."
Releasing him from her grip Johnson stumbled backwards touching his hand to his lips. As his eyes glazed over he fell back into the side of the truck. Realizing what had happened Gordon pulled out his gun and got out of the car slowly approaching the strange woman. For some reason she didn't seem to care to much about him. She was looking into the van with a kind of hunger that he couldn't explain. Suddenly the passenger door was ripped off by what appeared to be vines. Taking another look at the woman he couldn't help but feel that he knew her from somewhere. Stepping closer as Doctor Brown was carried out of the van by the vines Gordon pointed his gun at the woman who called herself Poison Ivy. Before he could do anything his world went black as he felt something hit him in the back of his head. The last he heard was the faint sounds of sirens getting closer and the voice of Poison Ivy telling someone to take him with.
When the cops arrived they found no sign of Gordon or Doctor Brown, only the van, Johnson's body and Gordon's car. After along search of the area the police were forced to give to give up until more police arrived to see if anything could be found.
To be Continued…
Coming up in Part 2
Batman finds that there are things even he can't do alone
Gotham City waits for news on Jim Gordon
Black Mask declares war on Wayne Enterprises
Barbra makes a choice that will change the course of her life
Poison Ivy makes her intentions known.
Batman Birth of The Batgirl part 2
GothamCity
Chloe Sullivan sat at her computer working on her next article recapping the events of the high school costume charity ball. She had been working on it since she got in and would be ready to send it off to make the morning edition of the Gotham Daily News. It was almost midnight which was the final deadline for all stories to make the morning paper, after that it was the afternoon paper. Just as she finished the last touches the sounds of a warning bell rang out. In the three years she had worked at the Daily News the bell had gone off only once, during some fight between Superman and a whacked out clone called Bizarro that came through Gotham City. It only went off in a time when the paper stopped the press to report a late breaking news event that was to important to wait until a later edition. Sending the article off to the morning editor she followed the other reporters still in the office to the chief editor's office. The Chief editor was a no nonsense man named LJ Gibbs, he had called up Chloe a little over 3 years ago to offer her the job she now had. A former cop for the Gotham City PD he worked as both a reporter, doing public relations for the police and a street cop and later a Detective. He retired from the force after he was offered an editors job becoming the Chief Editor four years before. Standing at the head of the meeting table he held a phone to his ear as he motioned for the people to sit down with his free hand.
"People," he said after hanging up the phone. "James Gordon and a Medical Examiner are missing."
As the group gasped Chloe's thoughts turned to Gordon's daughter Barbra who she had gotten to know when the Joker had her kidnapped and Chloe ended up in the middle of the attack and was taken as well. Taking notes as Gibbs listed off what was known she kept turning her thoughts to Barbra, she would have been informed by now and would be upset.
"Detective Ellen Yin has taken over as the interim Commissioner and has assigned Detective's Harvey Bullock and Ethan Bennett to investigate." Gibbs was finishing. "Now I want a front page story ready with in the hour, I'll inform printing to push back for a 2am deadline. Ms. Sullivan I'd like to talk to you, the rest of you go and start working on the story."
"Yes Mr. Gibbs," Chloe walked up to the front of the room where he was standing.
"I know you are close to the Gordon's so I will let you have some time off if you want it." Gibbs put a hand on Chloe's shoulder.
"Thank you but I'd rather do my job, I would go nuts just sitting at home waiting." Chloe answered.
"Very well, see if your sources can tell us what Batman is doing," Gibbs gathered the papers on the table and escorted Chloe out of the room.
Taking a seat at her desk she let out a deep sigh and picked up the phone to make some calls. Deep down she thought about giving Clark a call, if anyone could find Jim it would be him but she knew his feelings about Batman weren't all that positive so instead she called her source at the police department who only confirmed what she already knew and that Batman was acting independently of the Police as the acting commissioner Detective Yin hadn't turned the bat-single, on the roof of Police Head Quarters, on too call him yet.
Across from the new Gotham Daily News Building Batman stood and watched as Chloe Sullivan went about making her phone calls. With out help from the Police he has had to search for Gordon his own way with little success. He would need to know what the Police knew and to do that he would have to find another way. Waiting for Chloe to end her call Batman dialed the number to Chloe's desk and watched as she went to pick it up.
"Gotham Daily News, news department, this is Chloe Sullivan speaking," Chloe's voice came through the head set.
"Ms. Sullivan," He said in the deep voice he used as Batman. "I need to talk to you."
"Who is this?" Chloe looked around the room careful to keep her voice quite.
"A friend," Batman replied. "Come to the Roof of the News building, I'll meet you there."
Batman never heard what she said next, disconnecting the call he put the phone a way and watched as Chloe grabbed her bag and headed towards the elevators in the center of the building. Waiting a few more minutes he watched as Chloe came out onto the roof and started looking around. Firing off a grappling hook he flew across the gap to land softly behind Chloe who spun around at the sounds of footsteps. From the look on her face Batman was sure that she had never expected to see him on the roof. Keeping to the shadows he waited for Chloe to make the first move.
"Hello?" Chloe asked lightly looking around.
"Ms. Sullivan," Batman stepped into the light. "Glad you could come, I need a favor. Detective Yin is keeping me out of the loop, I need some info."
"But why me, I thought you had people you could use," Chloe replied.
"You have sources inside the department, my other contacts can't say that," Batman stated firmly.
"I see; what do you want to know?" Chloe took a quick look around to make sure no one could see them.
"Do you know what the police found?" Batman asked.
"They found his car and the Medical examiners van in the middle of the road, one of the ME's was dead on the side of the road. I'm told there could be footsteps leading into the woods, but I haven't been able to confirm it. Also there was a large hole in front of the van, what ever was there is gone now, but the van did hit it. The front end was pushed in and there was some residue in the bumper," Chloe gave the run down of what she had heard finding it a bit strange yet comforting at the same time. She was reminded of the days when Clark would come for some info about something.
"Where is the van now?" Batman asked darkly betraying no hint of emotion.
"It was towed to the impound lot where the Crime scene techs will look it over," Chloe looked down at the notebook to make sure she was right, when she looked up she found herself alone with Batman no where to be seen. "Great just like Clark."
*****************************************************
The impound lot didn't normally have a lot of security but tonight was different. Housed inside the garage sat both Gordon's car and the ME's van. For Batman getting into the lot wouldn't be that difficult, but it would be more challenging then normal. Rounding the back of the lot he climbed a light pole and jumped into the fenced area. The Garage itself was in the center of the lot surrounded with police, as he got closer he found an unguarded garage near by and climbed to its roof. Making sure the coast was clear he leaped across the gap and crawled to the skylight to look in to the garage. It was large and housed both the van and the Car in the center of the main room. It was clear they haven't been looked at yet, with no one around Batman entered the building through the skylight and landed the 20 feet to the floor with out so much of a sound. Checking out the van first he gathered a sample of what ever it was that hung on the bumper. Before he could check out Gordon's car, he heard two voices coming closer. One was female most likely Ellen Yin; she was telling the person with her about what they had discovered so far, the man said little in response. Ducking into the shadows Batman watched as Harvey Dent entered the room and looked straight at Batman.
Harvey Dent didn't like being awoken at night anymore then his wife, but this was an emergency. His friend and partner in the war on crime Jim Gordon was missing. Rather then wait for Gordon's temporary replacement to call him, he headed straight to the office and spoke with Detective Yin as she looked over old case files looking for any one who might have a grudge. Once he got caught up he demanded to be taken to the impound lot to see the Van and car personally. Ellen had tried to get him to wait until after the CSI's got back from the scene but she caved in and drove him to the lot. When he finally entered the garage where the vehicles waited, he paused when he caught sight of something moving in the shadows. Quickly turning around he kept Ellen from entering right away.
"I seem to have forgotten my notebook," Harvey quickly commented as he turned towards the doorway.
"That's ok, Use mine," Ellen handed a notebook over to Harvey.
"Won't you need it," Harvey tried to stall.
"No problem that's a back up," Ellen said. "A good detective always carries two incase one ends up needing another one."
"That's great," Harvey commented under his breath as he turned back into the garage to find it empty when Ellen turned the lights on. Looking up at the skylight he caught the brief hint of a shape disappearing. For the next hour Harvey looked over both vehicles careful not to touch them. He couldn't understand what had happened; hopefully The Batman would be able to help. Though with Ellen's unwillingness to call Batman he'd have to use another means to contact him, but knowing the Bat he was sure to call up his office or be waiting when he got there. Heading back to his car when the Crime scene investigators arrived, Harvey took a quick look at the dashboard clock. It was almost 3am when he started the car and headed to his office where he hoped Batman would be waiting.
Batman stood in the shadows as Harvey Dent entered his office, no longer shocked to discover him waiting Harvey tossed the notebook on the desk. Harvey Dent was the first official person to help the Batman on his quest to fight crime. At the time he was an assistant district attorney working for Carl Finch. After Finch was killed Dent became the D.A. and soon established a working relationship with Batman giving him inside information on anything that might be of use to him.
"The substance on the Van is some kind of planet form," Batman said.
"A giant plant kidnapped Gordon and Dr. Brown," Harvey couldn't help but laugh at the idea. "Wait until that case."
"I don't know everything; I've been shut out by detective Yin." Batman stated. "I'll know more when the sample I took is analyzed."
"We really need to talk about you taking stuff from crime scenes," Harvey shook his head.
"I'll be in touch," Batman turned and exited out the window. Harvey didn't bother to even look to see where he went, by now he knew Batman would be long gone before he even got to the window.
The Next Day
Barbra never went to sleep; she had spent the whole night awake waiting to hear anything about her dad. Her friends had stopped by to sit with her, even Chloe Sullivan stopped by in the morning to see how she was doing. The high she had from saving the party had vanished the moment she heard her father had gone missing. Her father's friends and coworkers wouldn't tell her anything. The only thing that was bothering her more was the fact his now ex wife hadn't bothered to call. Her father's current girlfriend had come over at least a few times bringing Breakfast and later lunch. When she was alone she looked over at the costume she had worn the night before, deep down she knew what she had to do. Batman was busy, while he would be looking for her father; he also had to protect the city from the rise in crime that was sure to follow the loss of the police's leader. Leaving her room, she goes to her father's and pulls out the spare body armor that he kept stored incase he had to rush to a scene from home. Taking it to her room she went to work altering the Batman costume.
****
Bruce Wayne only slept a couple hours after returning to the Batcave after meeting with Harvey Dent. Once he was finished with his daily morning routine he went back to work investigating what he had collected so far. The Computer had finished its analyses of the plant substance sometime while he had been a sleep. Sitting down in front of the computer he began to read through the results. It was a typical plant substance that one would find in any planet. But there was something odd about this that the computer wasn't able to find an answer for, it was only able to compare it to human blood. Heading back up to the house he found Alfred waiting for him with a phone in his hands.
"Hello, Bruce here," Bruce took the phone with a questioning look spread across his face.
"Mr. Wayne," The voice of Betty James, his personal secretary came across from the other end. "I have some bad news, Mr. Peterson was found dead in his office. They say he had some kind of mask on when they found him; the Paramedics thought he may have been poisoned."
"Oh No," Bruce frowned as he took in what she had told him. "Have his family been called?"
"Yes Mr. Wayne," Betty replied, her voice shaky has she tried to keep from crying again.
"Ok, I'll be on there soon," Bruce hung the phone up. Bobby Peterson had been put in charge of the take over of Janus Cosmetics. The mask was an interesting clue as well. Not one to make assumptions with out all the info, he had a feeling the person behind the attack was none other then Black Mask. After his failed attack on Him last night he must be going after others who were involved. "Alfred, we have a problem, I'm heading down to Wayne Enterprises."
"Yes Master Bruce," Alfred replied. "And what will be done about James Gordon?"
"I don't know," Bruce stated flatly as he left the room to change into his suit.
****
Chloe Sullivan looked through the newest reports as she waited for the daily meeting with LJ Gibbs. The Reports were compiled from police bulletins for the most part and were added to the next edition of the paper. It was pretty standard stuff, bank robberies, a public statement from the mayor on Jim Gordon's disappearance. The Report about the sudden death of a Wayne Enterprises employ named Robert Peterson caught her eye out of all the death notices. She had met Bobby Peterson when she first got to Gotham City. He had overseen Wayne Enterprises buy out of the publishing company that owned both the Gotham Daily news and the Daily Planet. Making a note to find out more she placed the folder with the report and entered the meeting room where LJ Gibbs was sitting along with the several other people from the News section. Taking her seat she waited for Gibbs to start, Gibbs started the meeting off with the basic rundown of what had happened since the last meeting and followed up by giving everyone their assignments for the day. He had ordered Chloe to head to City Hall where the Mayor, the head of the Police commission and Detective Yin would be having a press conference.
"Boss," a young blonde haired intern ran into the room. "Turn on a TV you got to see this."
Chloe followed everyone else's lead and looked at the TV that hung from the ceiling in the corner of the room. There was a red haired woman standing in front of some tree, her skin held a light green tone and her eyes were a dark green. She spoke in a light alto voice that held an air of authority. Chloe knew at once who she was, Doctor Pamela Isley, she had been the one to write a story about her winning a Teacher of the year award only a few months ago and then the story about her disappearance. Leaning back she listened to what she had to say.
"Greeting people of Gotham City," She began. "I am Poison Ivy and I have a message for the people who will ruin nature just to build a new parking lot. Mother Nature is upset and I will wreak her revenge. Starting first with the construction of the Gotham City shopping center, you have until sun up tomorrow to halt the building or your beloved Jim Gordon will be fed to my pet."
Chloe looked on in shock as the camera panned to the right to show Gordon held upside down, a vine tied to his feet over a giant Venus Fly Trap that reminded her of the Musical 'Little Shop of Horror.'
"Tomorrow, He will be lowered into the mouth of my pet and devoured and it will be only the first victim," Poison Ivy shut off the feed leaving at first a blank screen, which was soon replaced with a flustered Vicky Vale who would have been in the middle of the mid day news report when Poison Ivy interrupted the program. Vale gave a recap of what Ivy said, before she finished Gibbs shut the TV off. Sending everyone off to do their assignments Chloe left the room and headed to her desk to pick up her purse and her cell before heading to the garage to get her car.
****
Bruce Wayne rubbed his temples as he sat in his office chair; this wasn't going well, in only a day he had two new criminals to deal with. First it was Black Mask who has declared war on both Wayne Enterprises and Himself, and has already killed one person associated with Wayne's take over of Janus. Now this Poison Ivy has come out and is threatening to kill Gordon unless her demands were met. Plus he still had the mystery of who this Bat girl was that nearly killed herself trying to help last night when Black Mask first attacked. The Bat Girl could wait, so it would come to who was more important, Jim Gordon or several members of his board of Directors. Using his computer to log into the Computer at the Batcave he had it scan likely area's this Poison Ivy would be holding Gordon based on the video that had aired. As the Computer did this he would resort to other ways of figuring out what to do about the Black Mask.
Shutting the Computer down he left his office on the top floor of Wayne Enterprise's World Headquarters and went down to his private office where most believed he carried on affairs with who ever he was dating that week. But the truth was the office held a building wide video system, behind a wall sized Bookshelf. The Police had been over the whole office but they wouldn't have known about the cameras that covered all the public areas of the building. Sitting at the control panel he activated the video that recorded Peterson's office. Putting the live image on the main screen he went through the playback on the smaller screens. On the large screen he could see a detective going through Peterson's desk looking for what ever might be tied to his death. On the smaller screens he rewound back to the time of death, coming to a stop he watched as the scene played out. Peterson had been at work at his desk, filling out monthly reports for the buyout to finalize the deal. A dark shape entered the office as he had his head down, it was clear he believed it to be someone else. From the audio playback he could hear Peterson call the name Bridget, the new secretary.
On another screen everything he had on her showed up. Bridget was born Bridget Michaels but took her mother's name of Williamson after her father was caught cheating and her parents divorced. She was only four years out of college, having worked for the Medical wing of Wayne Enterprises until being moved to the headquarters after passing a department exam; she had arrived only two months ago. She was however off last night dealing with a family crisis that had come up.
Flagging her for later he continued the tape, Peterson had allowed the shape to come up to the desk before he realized it wasn't who he thought it was, the shape grabbed Peterson's head and slammed it into the ground before placing the mask over his face. When the shape turned around Bruce saw at once it was Black Mask.
Turning to another computer near by he pulled up the report that was filed already by the Medical examiner, it had stated that the type of poison would be ID'd when the toxicology report got back, but it was injected through the face. The Mask itself was made out of Pine painted black. This finish was the M.E. stated 'looking like the kind of wood you'd find on a casket.' Rubbing his face he closed down the report there would be only one place to go and that would be to Roman's house. While he doubted Roman would still be there it may give him a clue as to where he would be hiding. Reading through Roman's bio he caught the image of a special report banner flashing in the corner of the computer panel on one of the live video feeds.
Vicky Vale was seated behind the news desk looking a bit troubled, her blond hair was hanging lose and her style of dress was more causal then she normally wore suggesting, she didn't have time to change before being put on camera.
"This is Vicky Vale with some late breaking news; the fashion world was shocked by the recent attack on Supermodel Circe," Vicky looked up at the camera. "The footage you are about to see is graphic so if you have kids watching or for any reason can't watch like a weak stomach or a weak heart please turn away."
The screen switched to show a tall blonde woman walking down the street, photographers and fans following her. As she stopped to sign an autograph a tall man dressed in black stepped forward and through a vile at her splashing what ever was in it all over her face, chest and arms. The skin began to blister almost as once and she fell to the ground screaming in pain. One of her bodyguards approached the man but fell back holding his chest. As the man turned to run a way, his face covered in a black mask was shown briefly.
"Circe suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns to her face, arms and chest," Vicky announced when she came back on. "Her spokeswoman gave a brief statement 'Circe was the victim of a brutal attack aimed at ruining her career, she is looking at several months of pain and surgeries. I ask that her fans all over the world pray for a quick recovery and with God's blessing a return to the fashion world.' Police officials already stretched due to the kidnapped Jim Gordon have stated that the suspect matches the description given to the police following the attack on the charity ball last night, who called himself Black Mask. Stay tuned to Gotham's leading news station WMTC 13 for more on this late breaking news, now back to your program."
Bruce stood up and left the hidden room to get his coat, saying a quick goodbye Bruce went to the elevator and hit the button to head to his private garage. Getting into the car he sped off heading out of Gotham City towards Wayne Manor, where he heads to the batcave below the manor. Putting on the Batman suit he heads to the computer to activate the TV Feeds each of the smaller screens around the main screen turned on to a local TV Station, on the main screen he the locations where Poison Ivy might be were narrowed down to 3 area's. Two of them were forest parks the third was a wooded area that was the object of much debate in recent months as some big name shopping center was looking at building a so called Supercenter in that area. Checking the time, Batman noticed that it was nearing 6pm. A bit early to go out but with the sun setting early it was already dark out. Turning to head to the Batmobile an alarm went off activating the police radio network.
"Black Mask has been spotted at Gotham City General Hospital," The dispatcher announced. "All available units are to head to the hospital at once."
Not wasting a moment he leaped down to the parking platform and started up the Batmobile racing to the Hospital.
****
Black Mask walked the halls of the hospital, it wouldn't be too hard to find him, all one had to do was follow the trail of bodies that he had left in his wake. He had reached the floor that was holding Circe before any security tried to stop him. Killing the men easily he continued on his way until he reached her room. Opening the door he quickly killed the bodyguards in the room leaving her alone.
"Hello sweet cheeks," he said, his voice masked by the mask he wore.
"Roman," She replied turning her head towards the sound, unable to see due to the bandages wrapped around her face.
"How does it feel to have everything taken from you, *****," He screamed. Pointing the silenced gun at her he fired several times. From the door way a young dark hared woman screamed and ran.
"Holly what's wrong," Selina Kyle asked as she looked back at the direction she had run from. Only to find a masked gun men walking out into the hallway and turn towards them. Wasting no time she grabbed her friend's hand and wiped a tray at the man and turned into the stairway.
Before Black Mask could follow the sound of breaking glass drew him towards a near by door. When he opened it he saw the shadowy figure of Batman, before he could react, Batman punched Black Mask in the face sending him flying back into the Nurse's station. Batman followed up with a kick to the side sending him to the ground gasping for air. Not allowing Black Mask to collect his thoughts Batman reached down and picked him up so he could face Black Mask. With his hands on the lapel of his coat he pushed him into the wall. As he searched Black Mask, Batman didn't notice the group of cops entering the floor.
"Hold it right there," the younger cop called out pointing his gun towards the two masked men. "Don't move or I'll shoot."
Distracted Batman turned to look back at the cop, Black Mask took the moment and head butted Batman in the side of the head. Before the Cops could react Black Mask was in the stair well. Not waiting to explain Batman jumped into an empty room and jumped out the window. Using a grappling line he hooked onto a balcony across the street and swung across coming to a stop after crashing through a sliding glass door. Not wanting to wait for anyone to see him he got up and went out the window he entered. Using the line still hanging from the balcony several floors up, he climbed up towards the roof. Black Mask made his way down to the Basement where he found the service entrance that would take him out of the hospital. Pulling out his pistol he shot the two men who had been watching the opening, stealing the police car they had arrived in, he drove off.
****
Harvey Dent stood near the Nurses Station as the acting Police Commissioner, Ellen Yin, talked to the beat cops who had arrived. This Black Mask had murdered Circe as she lay in her hospital bed. While Ellen may not have brought in the Batman she was still upset that these rookies had cost Batman to lose Black Mask. What she really was upset about though was the fact these cops drew her away from trying to find Gordon. It was not surprising that Ellen would support Batman's hunt of Black Mask while keeping out of the loop when it came to Gordon. Cops take care of their own, that was a message Harvey knew all to well, it was engrained in him since Day one. As long as Batman took care of Black Mask Ellen could focus all her resources on finding Gordon and making sure Young Barbra Gordon doesn't become an orphan again. As Ellen left the room Harvey's thoughts were pushed out of his mind and he walked towards her.
"Rookies, if they had left well enough alone, Black Mask would be in a jail cell and I wouldn't be here," Ellen shook her head. "Now he's still out there and Batman will think we're out to get him too."
"I doubt Gordon would be all that happy if that happened," Harvey led Ellen towards the Elevator. "Let's get back to City hall."
****
Barbra Gordon wasn't shocked when she saw the press conference; she had figured the city wouldn't bow to her demands. Once you do that, nuts from all over will kidnap someone and make demands in which the city would feel they would have to do. It was still a major let down; it was her father after all, if not by birth. It had been Jim Gordon who took her in after the death of her parents because her drunken father decided to run the car off Star Bridge on the way home from a night on the town in Star City. If the city wasn't going to help she would have to do it. Turning to face the mirror she looked herself over. The New Bat costume was black with a yellow outline of a bat spread over her chest. A skirt covered her upper legs as Knee high boots covered her lower legs. Around her waist a utility belt resembling the Batman's own rested on her hips. Under the suit was a layer of new Body armor taken from her father's room. Made by Wayne Enterprises it was light weight and much thinner then regular body armor. It could still stop a bullet fired at close range. The suit itself looked like something a figure skater might have worn all that remained was the cape and cowl. More of an extreme dark purple she placed it snuggly over her head, taking one last look in the mirror she approved of the look, out the back of the cowl her dark red hair hung through the hole she had cut into the back allowing her hair to hang loose.
"Wait until they get a load of me," Barbra smiled as she moved out her bedroom window at the back of the house and entered the night heading towards the only place Gordon could be. Pamela Isley loved only one forest in all of Gotham City, she had been taking her class there for years. Once the city had begun debating if they would build a supercenter shopping center, Dr. Isley had been even more outspoken getting her students to write letters demanding the shopping center be moved someplace else. Catching a ride on the roof of a Bus she waited until it got close enough to the forest before she used the grappling hook to swing off the bus and land on the forest floor.
****
Black Mask's escape wasn't as easy as he had thought; behind him in the shadows Batman drove the Batmobile keeping a watchful eye as he made his way towards the warehouse district. Batman had hoped to take out Black Mask early and check out the Forest he believed Poison Ivy to be holding Gordon. But Black Mask clearly had other plans; he had killed already and would no doubt kill again all to get back at Bruce Wayne. Pulling into an ally way Batman watched as Black Mask left the car and ran into a warehouse. Taking to the rooftops he ran to the skylight of the warehouse Black Mask had entered. He was tossing things around and dumping something around on the floor, placing an explosive on the skylight Batman waited for the explosion to shatter the glass just before he jumped into the new opening, his cape slowing his fall before landing on the ground with a slight thud. Black Mask reached for the gun he had in his waistband but Batman was quicker and grabbed hold of his arm and tossed him into a stack of crates. Not giving Black Mask a moment to recover Batman picked up Black Mack and head butted him and tossed him back towards a table which broke in half when he hit it. Before Batman could continue his assault, the two thugs who were with Black Mask at the ball attacked him from behind. Hitting the one of the thugs with a knife chop the neck sending him falling to the floor, he moved on to the other man, Batman ducked under the man's punch and sent a kick out at the man's thighs. Once he hit the ground Batman locked his head in a scissors hold cutting off his breathing until he passed out. Black Mask had finally gotten his gun and pointed at Batman, but the shots bounced off the armor. Pulling a lighter out of his pocket, Batman could only watch as he through the lit flame to the ground causing an explosion of flames to fly through the warehouse spreading to the boxes stacked around the floor. As Black Mask attempted to escape a fireball flew into his face setting his mask on fire. Batman jumped through the flames and quickly got the fire out. Picking Black Mask up he carried him out of the burning warehouse, after chaining him to the bumper of the police car he ran back and dragged the other two thugs out and tied them to a lamp post near by. Once the Fire trucks and the cops arrived Batman disappeared in to the shadows. Wasting no time, he jumped into the Batmobile and sped off towards the forest lands Poison Ivy would be hiding in.
*****
Poison Ivy sat on a throne made out of a giant flower watching as Jim Gordon hung upside down over a large Venus fly trap. The deadline was fast approaching and the city made no movement to appease her. After she killed Gordon and the good doctor she would unleash her power on the people of Gotham City then they would no she was serious. For to long mankind has destroyed what ever it came across, now it was time nature struck back. What better place to start then Gotham City.
"Well Gordon, seems the city doesn't care about you," Ivy sneered. "Maybe they'll listen to me after they watch you die."
"Wrong, Ivy," Batgirl jumped down from the branches she had been perched on.
"You're much shorter then I expected Batman," Ivy stood up and approached Batgirl.
"I'm not Batman," Batgirl jumped forward striking Ivy off guard. "I'm Batwoman."
Ivy struck a kick to Batgirl's exposed abdomen causing her to stagger backwards. Before Batgirl could collect her thoughts a vine wrapped around her and lifted her into the air. Struggling to free herself she could feel the vine growing tighter. Poison Ivy stood on the ground smiling as she watched the vine squeeze the life out of this Batgirl. She never saw the black object fly through the air until it almost hit her. Using the moment of distraction Batgirl pulled a knife out of her belt and cut into the Vine. Grabbing onto a near by branch she swung free from the vine and looked back at Poison Ivy who was now dealing with the real Batman. Pulling out the grappling hook she fired it at the branch Gordon was hanging from.
As Batgirl went about rescuing Gordon, Batman went after Poison Ivy. Expertly dodging the planet life Ivy tossed against him. With her back against a large tree Ivy struck out with a series of kicks intent on pushing Batman backwards. Once she had enough room she sent another vine at him, as he moved out of the way Ivy blew dust into his face. Shocked by the attack Batman was even more shocked to discover that he was no longer in control of his own mind.
"Kill the Batgirl," Ivy ordered
As Batgirl lowered Gordon to the ground she looked up just in time to see that a batarang was coming straight at her. Diving out of the way Batgirl found Batman coming right at her with a series of attacks. Being the better fighter of the two Batman's blows made contact, while any attempts by her to hit him were blocked. Drawing in close Batgirl drove her knee into Batman's gut and used the moment of pause to escape to the branches hoping to escape Batman's strikes. From her position she could see Gordon coming up behind Batman who was know aiming a grappling hook at Batgirl, instead of the branches around her. Just as Batman fired the gun, Gordon hit Batman in the back of the head with a log causing the hook to hit the branch above Batgirl. Using the line as a zip line, Batgirl slid down and struck Batman in the chest with both feet driving the air from his lungs and causing him to fall into a puddle of muddy water. With Batman taken care of, Batgirl turned her focus on Poison Ivy who now held Doctor Brown her right hand held at Sarah's neck.
"Don't move," Poison Ivy hissed as she walked backwards with the doctor in her in step.
"You won't get away with this," Gordon replied.
"I will kill her law man," Ivy stopped walking leaving a large gap between her and the two crime fighters. She didn't notice Batman slowly getting to his feet or giving a slight nod to both Batgirl and Gordon.
Tossing a Batarang to the ground at Batgirl's feet Batman crept towards Ivy and Dr. Brown as Gordon distracted Ivy. Waiting for the right moment Batgirl watched Batman until he was with in leaping distance of the two of them. At that moment Batgirl kicked the batarang up into the air sending it flying towards Ivy's head. Before Ivy could react, Batman leapt from his hiding place and took Dr. Brown to the ground as Batgirl ran and tackled Poison Ivy knocking her out cold as she hit the ground. Dusting herself off Batgirl turned to Gordon who was approaching the two masked crime fighters.
"Thanks for your help Batgirl," Gordon shook Batgirl's hand
"Its, oh never mind," Batgirl decided not to fight what people seemed to want to call her. "You are welcome Commissioner Gordon."
"And thank you Batman," Gordon looked over at Batman who was just cuffing Ivy's hands together.
"Yes Thank you Batman," Sarah Brown replied, the mind control broken after hitting the ground.
"No thanks are needed," Batman said simply. "Though I must thank both you and Batgirl for braking Ivy's control over me."
When Gordon turned to make sure Doctor Brown was ok he discovered both Batman and Batgirl had disappeared. Shaking his head he waited for the police cars to arrive a few minutes later. Ellen Yin arrived with the 2nd batch of cops who arrived as Ivy was being loaded into a police wagon to be taken the city jail until it could be decided what to do with her. Gordon knew the basic run down, after a basic debriefing; he'd be looked over by a doctor to make sure he was ok before another debriefing at Police Headquarters. Once everything was to his likening he allowed himself to be questioned by Ellen Yin.
Batgirl arrived back at the home she lived in with her father Jim Gordon after taking a series of hikes and sneaking rides along the way. One thing was certain for her, if she were going to continue this line of work she would have to pick up some wheels. Slipping off the cowl she entered her bedroom through the Window. Turning on the lights she discovered the dark form of Batman standing along the wall.
"Well Ms. Gordon," Batman's voice never showed any signs of emotion. "I'm surprised it took me so long to figure out you were this Batgirl."
"Batman," Barbra was finding it hard to keep her thoughts collected. "How did you find out? What are you doing here?"
"It was easy once I had the list of RSVP's who fit the description of Batgirl, then when I saw you in action it all came together. As to what I'm doing here, I'm here to see what you plan on doing," Batman replied.
"I'm not going to stop," Barbra stated boldly.
"I work alone, Ms. Gordon," Batman remained motionless.
"I'm not asking to be your sidekick, Batman," Barbra shook her head. "But you can't keep all of Gotham City safe on your own."
"I could tell your father," Batman threatened
"You could," Barbra replied flatly
"Down the block there is an apartment complex owned by Wayne Enterprises." Batman said after a slight pause.
"I know of it," Barbra was suddenly confused with the changing of the subject.
"In the basement there is a hidden doorway that leads to a sub basement under the complex," Batman moved so suddenly Barbra almost fell over at the movement. "It's a secondary batcave. Find it and you can remain Batgirl, you will find everything you need there."
"This mean you won't tell my dad," Barbra almost breathed a sigh of relief.
"For now, you are right Gotham City is too much for one man," Batman stopped at the open window. "But this doesn't mean we're partners."
"I understand," Barbra fought to keep from smiling. "I'll do my thing, you'll do yours."
When Barbra turned back to the window after placing the cowl on the bed, Batman was gone. Deciding to change quickly before her father got home she placed the suit in a bag and placed it in the back of her closet. Wrapping a robe around her bed clothes she went down to the living room and soon fell asleep sitting on the sofa.
****
Chloe Sullivan put the finishing touches on the article detailing the rescue of Jim Gordon, at least according to the official statements made by the Mayor and the Police department, neither of which credited Batman with what happened as they tended to do. But she was sure Batman didn't care that much, all that was important was that Jim Gordon had been found unharmed and Poison Ivy was now locked up. Sending off the article she packed up her things and went home for a much needed rest.
Bruce Wayne stood in the shadows using the skills he had gathered from his travels all over the world to watch the petite blond haired girl exploring the basement on the building. He did have to hand it to her; she was well trained just sloppy. Given time she could be every bit as good as he was. She was close to the hidden door, he was pretty sure she knew where it was and was looking for a way to open it. When the door popped open Bruce watched as she entered the hidden compartment that led to one of the secondary Batcaves he had installed at all of his buildings in Gotham City and even some in other cities such as Metropolis. He was willing to give up one simply because there were more then enough.
Barbra Gordon entered the underground cavern that had been built under the complex. Along the far wall was a series of computers with a chair in front of them, the set up allowed the user the ability to see several screens at the same time. A large table filled the middle of the room covered with all the material she would need to make either new suits or make repairs if needed. The thing that got her attention the most though was the wall to her right. It was covered in all kinds of weapons from batarang's, throwing stars shaped like bats, smoke bombs, grappling hooks, ropes and grappling guns. The remaining wall would have been bare had it not been for a set of double doors. Walking through them she discovered a work out area, with weight equipment, punching bags, and stationery bikes. Going back to the main room she walked over to the computer to see a note from Batman resting near a set of keys.
Ms. Gordon, Welcome to your Batcave, you will be able to use this as a base of operations while you are Batgirl. It will provide you a place to hide your activities from your father. The keys you have no doubt found belong to the specialized motorcycle in the garage. If you haven't seen it yet it's passed the gym. There is a hidden entrance that can be opened with a control on the bike.
Batman
Walking back into the gym she walked to another door where she found the bike resting on its kick stand pointing towards the exit. Turning back towards the gym she reentered the main room and approached a locker near the doors she came in. Opening it she placed the Batgirl suit she had carried in a duffle bag in the Locker and closed the door. Leaving the "batcave" after sealing the entrance, she returned to her house to make dinner before her father returned from work.
The Night was darker with the new moon shedding no light; the only light came from the street lamps below. For Batgirl that made the job that much easier, stalking the roof tops she quickly spotted the source of the yelling she had heard. It was a young woman, maybe 21 or 22 years old being harassed by a group of men who looked like typical biker thugs. Leaping the roof tops to get closer she was now right on top of the men. Grabbing the cape she leaped off the roof and fell directly into the biggest man taking him out before the gang even knew what had happened. The rest of the gang that didn't run away was soon taken care of as Batgirl took them out.
"Thank you," the girl said.
"No thanks is needed," Batgirl pulled the grappling gun out from her belt.
"What are you?" The girl asked.
"I'm Batgirl," Pointing the gun up into the air she fired the line around the leg of a water tower and flew up to the roof tops.
*****
In the Shadows, a young man who had also heard the screams watched as Batgirl disappeared onto the roof tops. When the girl got into her car the man turned and entered the building he had been staying at.
"What's up," Another young man asked.
"Nothing, what ever was going on was over before I arrived," The man tossed the Billy club next to the makeshift bed.
"Hey Richard," The man said. "You have anymore stories about your circus life."
"Sure," Richard Grayson smiled faintly as he began recalling one of the tours he had been on as a member of the Flying Grayson's.
The End…
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