Fire in the Sky

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Barbara had been looking up to the heavens, just as the Script song ‘Break Even’ had said, she was ‘praying to a god that she didn’t believe in’. She was taking a note from Helena and begging, pleading with everything she had that she hadn’t lost Stephanie. They had been trying so hard all night long to save Gotham, but Barbara was suddenly wondering whether it was worth the death of Stephanie. Had it been herself, she would’ve been fine dying to save the people, that’s what they did.

Luckily, Barbara wouldn’t have to worry about it. As soon as the smoke cleared and she saw Stephanie in the arms of Nicholas, her right hand slapped over her heart and she muttered: “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Her breath was heavy, her heart was racing, her palms were sweating.

Stephanie was safe for now; she was okay; she was alive. But so was that darned owl. Barbara got ready to communicate to Stephanie that it was time to come back to the cave, whether or not the Talon had gone down. The game was over.

Even the Talon’s next actions seemed to deem that

It was time to portray her message to this Batgirl. She looked distraught that Mary hadn’t been blown up by the balloon. She just didn’t understand ‘why’. It irked Mary a bit, but how much could she expect? Maybe if Mary were able to vocally say what she figured this Batgirl already knew none of this would have happened. The Batgirl wouldn’t be near death, and Mary wouldn’t have been so worn down. She would’ve been done with her mission; she would’ve succeeded. She wouldn’t have to go back to the Court in shame.

As she got up, she crouched back down and skidded her long, mutated nail along the asphalt. Some oil from one of the cars that had exploded that night, that’s what she used as ink to write down her message the best way she could. She never truly learned how to read or write.

She looked up at the Batgirl and bowed her head down low. Tonight ended in a draw, and Mary was conceding until the next time she’d come back from the shadows. Soon. It would be very soon.

“I understand. I hav a mask 2.”

(Source: violetbat)

Fire in the Sky

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“If it’ll make you happy, I’ll construct a new cape for you. Better. Lighter. Less flammable. Sound good?” Barbara was half-joking, but it would seem as Stephanie could use a new cape now that Batgirl’s previous one was currently turning to ashes. Barbara tried to keep an eye out for Stephanie, as to what this Talon was doing and as to anything else that could go wrong. She also tried to ignore what Stephanie was saying to Detective Gage, but that was nearly impossible. Barbara definitely did chuckle a bit.

Barbara watched as Stephanie threw the correct batarang this time (thank god) and hoped that this would be the end of the battle. When using ice with the Talons that fought Tim and herself, most of the problem had been taken care of. And then, the Talon dodged out of the way.

“Crud.”

Mary didn’t appreciate any of this Batgirl’s quips and witty remarks, but especially not this last one. As soon as Batgirl uttered the word “freezer”, Mary knew what was coming. She leapt up from the palms of her feet and did a quick, smooth backflip away from where the Batgirl’s special Batarang was going to land. As the batarang his the ground, it released the cold devil across the pavement, making Mary want to hiss. She couldn’t however, as she could not vocalize.

She watched the ice just grow for a bit, before having the guts to come back at the Batgirl again. She just didn’t understand. Why did this girl want to fight so badly? Even if this girl didn’t agree with the owls, didn’t she understand Mary’s point of view? Somehow? At all? At least a little bit?

As all this was happening, more and more balloons were falling from the sky, engulfing whatever they touched in flames. Some were coming closer to the grown, hitting cars and causing them to combust. Mary did not pay much attention to this, however, as she came back to Batgirl, ready to kick this girl in the face.

Stephanie Brown had never been the praying type. Sure, there was something along the lines of faith hidden in the depths of her broken family, back when all she ever had to worry about was whether or not she’d grow up to be Sooperman. Back before her parents screwed everything up. Back before she’d died. After that, faith had seemed a little far from her priorities.

But right now? If praying were going to stop this ten-tonne Talon from beating her to death, that’d be great. She’d jump right on that mystical bandwagon. Because she was really getting tired of getting kicked in the face. Oh, and eating cement. Really, she was just all around tired.

As the back of her head met the sidewalk with an unpleasantly loud crack, she grimaced, then groaned, then outright grouched. “Do you ever stop?!”

And that’s when she saw it. Floating down between the trees, a small, peaceful-looking thing to anyone who was too busy living under a rock tonight. Those tiny little balloons had packed a punch all around the city, causing destruction and pain wherever they fell. As the Talon towered over her, blocking her sight, she glanced to her right, at Gage, who was fresh out of bullets and looking on in horror. She heard the silence on the other end of the comm, and wondered briefly if Babs was still watching. And in a voice that betrayed the strength and courage she didn’t feel, she said, “I’m sorry.” To Gage. To Babs. To the Talon before her.

And then she kicked with all her might.

Barbara didn’t need all the physical readings she was getting from Stephanie’s bat suit to know the condition she was in. Steph seemed to be at her limit and Barbara didn’t blame her. These Talon’s were pains in the neck, to say the least. Barbara believed in her girl though. She’d pull through. And then Stephanie’s message came over the comm.

“I’m sorry.”

The next thing Barbara saw was the bright, vibrant colors red, orange, yellow and maybe some blue in there. Immediately she knew what happened, but she didn’t know the damage it had caused. She slapped her mouth over her hand and could barely say a word. “Batgirl?!” She said into her comm, hoping for a response. Barbara didn’t like hearing Steph apologize.

Gotham and God forgive her. Barbara thought to herself. And let her be okay.

She wasn’t going to kill that Batgirl. She had no intention too. She could had she wanted to, but she didn’t. She wanted to complete her mission, or at least get back to the Court now with her failure present. Because now she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She wasn’t even mad at Batgirl for delaying her mission, though she was a little annoyed. The thing was, she admired Batgirl’s persistence, even if it made Mary sad that the Batgirl didn’t seem to see things the way Mary did.

And that became more evident as the Batgirl kicked Mary with the force Batgirl’s adrenaline was giving her. Mary went back because of the power of the kick, and rammed right into one of the balloons. It exploded on contact, showing off its brilliance.

Mary, though injured, but not for long, didn’t die as expected. She did feel some effects of the explosion, but not as a human would. Pain, though it small quantities, felt bizarre. Her mask was ripped now, and on the ground, exposing Mary’s pale face, with blue veins showing. Almost pitch black eyes looked at Batgirl intensely as Mary slowly stood back up, ready to finally leave the mission.

Fire in the Sky

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One thing led to another. Steph landed face first on the cement and the Talon kept going. The Talon seemed to be asking for trouble, and boy was she receiving it. It was weird, for lack of a better term, to watch this battle go down. This Talon moved so much like Dick did. Which didn’t surprise Barbara, as all the Talon’s had come from the same circus, but it was just odd. She moved with grace and agility, and seemed to have much more skill that Stephanie had. Stephanie would pull through though. She had to.

And then Steph pulled out a batarang from her pouch. As it was a special one, Barbara didn’t have too much hope. Steph had once in cased Damian in ice and had stuck Cassandra to the street with a gooperang while the girls had been fighting Bane. The girl was prone to mistakes with these things.

And another one was coming her way.

A fire-rang. Really? “STEPH!” Barbara yelled into her comm as Stephanie lit her cape on fire. “Alfred won’t care!” Barbara argued as she watched Stephanie try to put it out. “Rip the dang thing off of you and woman! Ice-rangs! I told you the Owls aren’t pals with the cold!”

Mary didn’t like having to do this. She felt pity for this girl, but she didn’t seem to feel any for her. Mary wasn’t fighting as hard as she could be for this reason. This fight was taking a lot out of her, however and quickly. She had come with a mission, but now it had been completely disrupted. By this point it was over. If her target had been in the building at all, by now he was halfway across the city.

So Mary twisted Batgirl’s wrist, continuing to do so until it cracked. Mary kept a firm grasp onto her, until Batgirl lit some fire of her own. Mary stepped back to avoid the flames, coming up against the detective again. He had his gun aimed right for her, but she did not scatter. She let him shoot her, and when he did, nearly nothing happened. She healed.

“What the hell —” Was the only way the detective could respond.

Mary looked back at Batgirl and grabbed the cape, ripping it away and throwing it into the street. She bounced off the balls of her feet and came flying toward Batgirl once again.

“Man, but I like this cape,” Steph groaned, before quickly unhooking it from her shoulders and whipping it onto the pavement. She’d stomp on the damn thing later. Right now, there were more important matters at hand. As Barbara reprimanded her over the comm, she watched Detective Gage shoot the girl at point blank. Watched as she faltered only slightly as the bullet hit, then stood there as the wound healed. Gage stared in awe, causing Steph to chuckle, a sound that came from deep in the pit of her unruly stomach, hollow and unamused. “Yeah, she does that.”

“She?” Gage frowned, turning to look at her.

“Duh,” Steph said, pointing. “Boobs.” Then, after a mocking frown of her own. “What kind of detective are you? It’s not that hard to—”

“Yes, because I really pay attention to those kinds of things when someone’s choking—”

The thundering of feet came between them then, and Stephanie jumped back as the Talon attacked. She narrowly avoided what would’ve been something very, very painful, glancing at the Detective. “We’ll finish this riveting conversation later.” Fishing the correct special batarang free from her belt, she launched it, grinning, “let’s see how you like the freezer, little bird!”

“If it’ll make you happy, I’ll construct a new cape for you. Better. Lighter. Less flammable. Sound good?” Barbara was half-joking, but it would seem as Stephanie could use a new cape now that Batgirl’s previous one was currently turning to ashes. Barbara tried to keep an eye out for Stephanie, as to what this Talon was doing and as to anything else that could go wrong. She also tried to ignore what Stephanie was saying to Detective Gage, but that was nearly impossible. Barbara definitely did chuckle a bit.

Barbara watched as Stephanie threw the correct batarang this time (thank god) and hoped that this would be the end of the battle. When using ice with the Talons that fought Tim and herself, most of the problem had been taken care of. And then, the Talon dodged out of the way.

“Crud.”

Mary didn’t appreciate any of this Batgirl’s quips and witty remarks, but especially not this last one. As soon as Batgirl uttered the word “freezer”, Mary knew what was coming. She leapt up from the palms of her feet and did a quick, smooth backflip away from where the Batgirl’s special Batarang was going to land. As the batarang his the ground, it released the cold devil across the pavement, making Mary want to hiss. She couldn’t however, as she could not vocalize.

She watched the ice just grow for a bit, before having the guts to come back at the Batgirl again. She just didn’t understand. Why did this girl want to fight so badly? Even if this girl didn’t agree with the owls, didn’t she understand Mary’s point of view? Somehow? At all? At least a little bit?

As all this was happening, more and more balloons were falling from the sky, engulfing whatever they touched in flames. Some were coming closer to the grown, hitting cars and causing them to combust. Mary did not pay much attention to this, however, as she came back to Batgirl, ready to kick this girl in the face.

Fire in the Sky

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“Yeah, I’m seeing it.” Not that Barbara wanted to be seeing it. The Talon was this close to hurting Gage, but luckily Batgirl stepped in just at the right time. It wasn’t easy, sitting at the computers and just waiting for something to happen where Barbara could intervene. She wanted-needed- to keep her eye on Steph in case something went wrong. Which, inevitably, it did. Always.

And it was going fine, until the Talon got up again. Just shortly after Batgirl had knocked her away. The Talon took no time to wait, she immediately came for Batgirl again. Her leg out in front of her as she flew toward Batgirl at great speed.

“Batgirl!” Barbara yelled into the comm. “Watch your back!”

So that was the game this girl was playing. Mary didn’t want to play it out this way. Didn’t this masked, young woman understand? Did she not care? Mary cared. Mary went through crap and had her mask put on because of it. No doubt did this Batgirl go through similar events. Mary just had to play with the hand dealt to her, though. If this Batgirl wanted to fight, she would get a fight.

Mary flung her leg up and jumped at Batgirl while she seemed to be talking to the young man the Talon had previously captive. The detective warned her, but by that time it had been too late. Mary slammed into Batgirl’s back with great force. She didn’t worry about the detective any longer, he couldn’t seem to give Mary what she wanted anyway.

For now, this was her battle with Batgirl.

“Uh, ow,” Stephanie said bitterly, her chin bobbing against the concrete. Her whole jaw throbbed in the most unpleasant way possible. “Thanks for the double warning,” she said, as much to Barbara on the other end of the comm as to Gage, who lay on the pavement nearby, crawling for his gun. The weight on her back shifted as the Talon moved, and before Stephanie could react and shift her body accordingly, a loud crack resonated in the street. “Sonofa—!” she yelled, her wrist pinned beneath her. “I swear to whatever feathery god you worship, I’m going to kill you if that’s broken.”

With her free hand, she dove into her belt, hooking her fingers on one her batarangs. One of her special batarangs. With no way to see it before she flicked it upwards, she had no idea what it was. And if she were being completely honest with herself and the timing, she didn’t really care which one it was. She just needed this thing off her.

When a flurry of heat and bright, searing light erupted in the corners of her vision, she got her answer. “Fire-rang.” And then, of course, her cape caught on fire. “Crapcrapcrap Alfred’s going to kill me!”

One thing led to another. Steph landed face first on the cement and the Talon kept going. The Talon seemed to be asking for trouble, and boy was she receiving it. It was weird, for lack of a better term, to watch this battle go down. This Talon moved so much like Dick did. Which didn’t surprise Barbara, as all the Talon’s had come from the same circus, but it was just odd. She moved with grace and agility, and seemed to have much more skill that Stephanie had. Stephanie would pull through though. She had to.

And then Steph pulled out a batarang from her pouch. As it was a special one, Barbara didn’t have too much hope. Steph had once in cased Damian in ice and had stuck Cassandra to the street with a gooperang while the girls had been fighting Bane. The girl was prone to mistakes with these things.

And another one was coming her way.

A fire-rang. Really? “STEPH!” Barbara yelled into her comm as Stephanie lit her cape on fire. “Alfred won’t care!” Barbara argued as she watched Stephanie try to put it out. “Rip the dang thing off of you and woman! Ice-rangs! I told you the Owls aren’t pals with the cold!”

Mary didn’t like having to do this. She felt pity for this girl, but she didn’t seem to feel any for her. Mary wasn’t fighting as hard as she could be for this reason. This fight was taking a lot out of her, however and quickly. She had come with a mission, but now it had been completely disrupted. By this point it was over. If her target had been in the building at all, by now he was halfway across the city.

So Mary twisted Batgirl’s wrist, continuing to do so until it cracked. Mary kept a firm grasp onto her, until Batgirl lit some fire of her own. Mary stepped back to avoid the flames, coming up against the detective again. He had his gun aimed right for her, but she did not scatter. She let him shoot her, and when he did, nearly nothing happened. She healed.

“What the hell —” Was the only way the detective could respond.

Mary looked back at Batgirl and grabbed the cape, ripping it away and throwing it into the street. She bounced off the balls of her feet and came flying toward Batgirl once again.

Fire in the Sky

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“Batgirl to the rescue!”

Her again. The blonde with the mask. Mary looked at Stephanie with astonishment, but that didn’t last long. She again turned her attention to the man she held captive in her talons and raised a fist in front of his face. She was growing impatient and she was doing so quickly.

But came down Batgirl as fast as a bullet toward the Talon ready to fight it seemed. Mary didn’t want to fight this girl, for many reasons. One of the reasons is that the Court would have her head if she failed this mission. Literally too. It seemed though, that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Ah well.

Kill the man for not telling her the answer and then fight the girl.

“Hey, O? You seeing this?”

Chicken-girl seemed to consider her a moment, head twisting back and forth between Stephanie and Detective Gage, before apparently deciding Batgirl wasn’t worth the effort a second time, but that he was. “Ah, crap,” she said again, plucking a batarang from her belt. “Hey!” she yelled. “Get your talons off him, harpy!”

But, y’know, just yelling at them never works. So she let loose the batarang, clipping the girl on her shoulder and causing her to drop Gage onto the pavement. Before either could react, Stephanie sped forward, kicking out, hoping to push her backwards and away from the detective, away from people in general. She glanced down at him as he rubbed the soreness from his throat, and with a grin on her lips, she winked. “A regular damsel in distress, you are. Again.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “We really should stop meeting like—look out!”

And that’s when everything started to hurt.

“Yeah, I’m seeing it.” Not that Barbara wanted to be seeing it. The Talon was this close to hurting Gage, but luckily Batgirl stepped in just at the right time. It wasn’t easy, sitting at the computers and just waiting for something to happen where Barbara could intervene. She wanted-needed- to keep her eye on Steph in case something went wrong. Which, inevitably, it did. Always.

And it was going fine, until the Talon got up again. Just shortly after Batgirl had knocked her away. The Talon took no time to wait, she immediately came for Batgirl again. Her leg out in front of her as she flew toward Batgirl at great speed.

“Batgirl!” Barbara yelled into the comm. “Watch your back!”

So that was the game this girl was playing. Mary didn’t want to play it out this way. Didn’t this masked, young woman understand? Did she not care? Mary cared. Mary went through crap and had her mask put on because of it. No doubt did this Batgirl go through similar events. Mary just had to play with the hand dealt to her, though. If this Batgirl wanted to fight, she would get a fight.

Mary flung her leg up and jumped at Batgirl while she seemed to be talking to the young man the Talon had previously captive. The detective warned her, but by that time it had been too late. Mary slammed into Batgirl’s back with great force. She didn’t worry about the detective any longer, he couldn’t seem to give Mary what she wanted anyway.

For now, this was her battle with Batgirl.

Fire in the Sky

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Just one minute. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently it was. Stephanie was immediately on the scene and all of Barbara’s attention was on this. She didn’t have a chance to check up on any of the others, as she had hoped. She now had to help Stephanie through this and hope to get her back to the cave in one piece. They didn’t need another person down on a cot underneath the manor.

They didn’t seem to be alone though. The building was being evacuated as quickly as possible as the police force and civilians exited the doors (and even the windows) in great haste. People screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off and the police tried to make the panicked people as organized and calm as possible. This seemed like a nearly impossible task. “I’m sure seeing the injured is extremely boring, Steph. But let’s get a move on here, alright?”

Where was he? This didn’t make any sense! Mary had swooped into the window of the commissioner’s office in hopes of finding him. However, it was vacant. The commissioner wasn’t outside the building either. Had they already taken him away from her? This was not good. The Court would not be pleased. She looked out the window again as explosions were going off and people were running around in a panic. Looking for someone who could give her the answers she needed. She wouldn’t go back to the Court with a failure on her hands. She had done that before. It didn’t end well.

Faintly she heard a man cry “Go! Go!” and she looked down to see which man it had come from. Handsome, tall, black hair, dark eyes, a little scruffy around his mouth. Mary immediately leapt down and grabbed him from behind as he tried to direct a mother and her son to a safe place. Mary twisted this cop around by his shirt collar and stared him down. “Hey!” He yelled out, getting his gun out and aiming it at her. She didn’t hesitate to whack the gun out of his hands and bring him closer to her face.

She knew he would know who she was looking for. Now his options were to tell her or die.

Man, this place was a mess. Thankfully, most of the cops hadn’t gotten out when the bombs had started going off, or had gone deeper into the building for shelter to eventually leave through a basement, given that the other exits had quickly gotten, well, blown up. And thankfully, her uniform was only a little burnt. She has sure Alfred could take a quick look at it later, or something, when this whole owl catastrophe was over and done with.

After checking one last time that everyone had safety excited the building, she clambered out through one of the windows and onto the street. And that’s when people started cheering. Whispers and murmurs shot through the crowd, and they began pointing, mouths wide. “Oh, no, it’s nothing,” she grinned, waving a hand before her. “All in a night’s work for your friendly, neighborhood Batgi—”

“Hey!”

She turned towards the front of the building to see a woman and child fleeing a fiery two-by-four, and a fowl-tempered lady holding a familiar GCPD detective by the throat—the real source of all the hubbub. “Ah, crap,” she muttered. Guy just couldn’t stay outta trouble, could he? She cracked her knuckles once or twice, before heading towards them, breaking into a run with fists at the ready. “Batgirl to the rescue!”

Barbara’s eyes grew wide as she realized what was going on. What the Talon was doing. She was threatening Nicholas Gage to get the information she wanted. The thing was though, she didn’t seem to be saying anything. Using the security cameras that she was hacked into, she looked at the situation at all angles. She should be able to see the fabric on the Talon’s mask move slightly as the Talon spoke, but there was no movement. She just held Gage there, by the collar, seemingly waiting for him to say something.

Barbara heard the battle cry of “Batgirl to the rescue!” come through her comm and mumbled in pain. “ow”. Steph sure knew how to make an entrance, didn’t she?

“Batgirl to the rescue!”

Her again. The blonde with the mask. Mary looked at Stephanie with astonishment, but that didn’t last long. She again turned her attention to the man she held captive in her talons and raised a fist in front of his face. She was growing impatient and she was doing so quickly.

But came down Batgirl as fast as a bullet toward the Talon ready to fight it seemed. Mary didn’t want to fight this girl, for many reasons. One of the reasons is that the Court would have her head if she failed this mission. Literally too. It seemed though, that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Ah well.

Kill the man for not telling her the answer and then fight the girl.

Fire in the Sky

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She snorted, waving her hand. “Please, mom’s ancient.” And, as suspected, working. On her night off. Of course she was. “Like mother, like daughter,” Steph sighed.

Check on your mother. I’ll contact you if necessary.

She heard the words and acknowledged them but…her gaze flickered sideways again, and she bit her lip, debating. If her mom was working, it meant that she was alright, that she’d reached the hospital unscathed. But Tim…Tim was hurt, or worse, and he was right there, in arm’s reach. She could help him, her mother could wait. She could take care of him, the way he had for her, in Germany.

And yet, it wasn’t towards him she found herself moving—but towards a pen and a pad of paper on Barbara’s desk, which she hastily scribbled on. “Would you give this to him, when he wakes up?” She asked, ignoring how her fingers shook.

And with that, she was gone, retracing her steps to the Ricochet and the outer part of the cave. Because if she were truly honest with herself—he had somebody else to take care of him, now.

—

She was breaking all kinds of self-set records tonight, if the time in the Ricochet was considered accurate when she pulled into the alleyway two blocks from the hospital. She grappled to the roof, and made the rest of the journey on foot and in the air, swinging from building to building, keeping an eye out for any unpleasant little balloons that’d blow out the rest of her evening with a bang (har har).

By the time she made it to the roof opposite her mother’s track of the hospital, she could almost forget that everything hadn’t been fire and blood and pain tonight. That it was a night like any other, where patrol was slow and the streets were quiet, and she sat here, with a cheeseburger in hand, watching her mom work. Watching her help the people of Gotham, just like her daughter. That they were almost normal.

Steph kept looking over at Timothy and Barbara couldn’t help but feel a gnawing in her own stomach. She knew what Steph was feeling and she knew it wasn’t easy. Barbara herself had been in similar situations before and now was having a painful sense of deja vu. In all honesty, Barbara didn’t exactly know how Tim was, but she wasn’t going to tell Stephanie that. Tim would be fine. He had to be.

Barbara’s eyes softened even more when Steph handed her a pad of paper with something written on it, asking Barbara to give it to Tim. Barbara nodded in response and said: “I will.” Before Barbara could say anything else, Steph was off to check on her mother.

—

Barbara focused her energy and hacked into the security cameras on the street near the previous location of the Talon Steph had fought. The GCPD building wasn’t far, and Barbara was sure that’s where the Talon would strike next. The Court had been after anyone and everyone who was important in Gotham and Jim had been on the list. Barbara had never been so happy that Jim was out of town.

It wasn’t too long after Steph had made a hasty exit that Barbara noticed something happening around the police department. In the sky began to fall more balloons and they were aimed right for the building and landing with great explosions.

“Batgirl.” Barbara called Steph right away. “I know it hasn’t been long, but we have a situation at the GCPD building.”

“Batgirl,” her comm flickered to life, scaring the living crap out of her and causing her to jolt forward, nearly off the roof. She exhaled, listening to the rest of the message that came through, a-la Oracle. “—we have a situation at the GCPD building.”

Sighing, she stood, stretching out her arms and legs. “S’okay, I was getting stiff anyway. Do you know how boring it is to creep on a hospital?” Even if it was bustling and busy with all the people those stupid balloons had injured. Then, she cleared her throat, and remembered that sometimes, Batgirl had to at least act professional. “I’m on my way.”

Deciding that it would take her longer to locate the Ricochet and fire it up, she launched off the roof, grappling to the next one, and the next, headed in the direction of the GCPD building. It didn’t take long before the sky lit up like the fourth of july, but with far less cheering and bright, shiny all american colors, and more screaming and bright, shiny—”Ow! That’s hot!” Steph hissed, tapping at a few embers that had landed on the arm of her suit. Calmly, she surveyed the damage below, squinting as she searched for any signs of that pesky poultry in black that typically accompanied these bombings. Or at least that had, last time.

And then she, y’know, realized that the GCPD building was on fire, and that it was probably important to be helping out, and grinned, launching a grapple at the gargoyle highest up on the building. “Time to save the day,” she grinned, and leapt off the roof.

Just one minute. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently is was. Stephanie was immediately on the scene and all of Barbara’s attention was on this. She didn’t have a chance to check up on any of the others, as she had hoped. She now had to help Stephanie through this and hope to get her back to the cave in one piece. They didn’t need another person down on a cot underneath the manor.

They didn’t seem to be alone though. The building was being evacuated as quickly as possible as the police force and civilians exited the doors (and even the windows) in great haste. People screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off and the police tried to make the panicked people as organized and calm as possible. This seemed like a nearly impossible task. “I’m sure seeing the injured is extremely boring, Steph. But let’s get a move on here, alright?”

Where was he? This didn’t make any sense! Mary had swooped into the window of the commissioner’s office in hopes of finding him. However, it was vacant. The commissioner wasn’t outside the building either. Had they already taken him away from her? This was not good. The Court would not be pleased. She looked out the window again as explosions were going off and people were running around in a panic. Looking for someone who could give her the answers she needed. She wouldn’t go back to the Court with a failure on her hands. She had done that before. It didn’t end well.

Faintly she heard a man cry “Go! Go!” and she looked down to see which man it had come from. Handsome, tall, black hair, dark eyes, a little scruffy around his mouth. Mary immediately leapt down and grabbed him from behind as he tried to direct a mother and her son to a safe place. Mary twisted this cop around by his shirt collar and stared him down. “Hey!” He yelled out, getting his gun out and aiming it at her. She didn’t hesitate to whack the gun out of his hands and bring him closer to her face.

She knew he would know who she was looking for. Now his options were to tell her or die.

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violetbat:

“Suggestion and advice understood, O,” Stephanie said brightly, turning her stiff wrist around to get circulation going. If that thing—person—whateveritwas so much as sneezed, she was ready to tell it where to point its nose.

Until, of course, it came rocketing through the flames at her, and in one swift move knocked her on her ass. “Understood,” she repeated. “But ignored.” Standing, she shook her right wrist, dug her feet into the slats between rooftop tiles, and swung out, hard.

And missed by about a mile.

So she dropped low and kicked out—and watched as the Talon, or Owl or whatever other bird-related title this thing wanted to handle back-flipped away from her, effortlessly. They practically glided through the air, the folds of their suit—her suit, Steph was now noticing, because boobs—flapping in the wind. “Holy crapsticks,” she whispered. “What are you?”

Mary didn’t respond to the Batgirl. Because, well, she couldn’t. Without a tongue there was no way to acknowledge her question verbally. Mary did not know what this girl was up to, but the fact that she had swung out at her and was wearing a suit that looked like the Batman’s, she figured this girl in eggplant purple was an enemy.

So she flexed out her leg at Batgirl and aimed for her face. Moving gracefully as she did so, just like an acrobat. It was only in one swoop that Mary had done this, she didn’t even do it with a thought.

It was all instinct.

Stephanie reeled back, fingers coming to touch gingerly at her nose, which she was kind of hoping hadn’t broken. Owowowow. Man, whoever this Talon chick was, she sure knew how to fight. How to throw a punch that Stephanie felt all the way to her toes. She was far faster, far stronger, and the way she moved was nearly inhuman. Nearly being the operative word—because she moved a hell of a lot like Nightwing, too.

“O, did you and the boys ever figure out what these feather-toting freaks were?” she asked, voice strained and wobbling slightly as she attempting to dodge another assault. “Metahuman, Martians, your—oof!—your husband’s mutant clones?”

Wham. And again, she staggered backwards, her feet skidding against the gravel on the rooftop. Good thing she knew how to take a hit. Or, y’know, several. When her ankle came to rest against the edge of the roof, however, she knew something had to give. She couldn’t keep going like this. Not when it was clear she was more than outmatched. She tapped her com-link again, hoping the little bird could hold on a moment before swooping in for another go. “So that proceed with caution thing? Yeah, didn’t work out so well. Any suggestions on how to avoid fowl play at this point?” She snickered.

“Batwoman. Your current position.” Barbara called into her comm as another message came through. Steph again, yelling something about this Talon being Dick’s mutant clone. As much as Barbara didn’t like that her attention was so diverted, she honestly didn’t have a choice in the matter. Finding out where and how the other members of the family were was incredibly important, as was Steph’s safety and well being.

“They’re all members of Haly’s Circus.” Barbara said back to Steph. “All highly trained and then taken by the Court of Owls to be injected with life sustaining properties.” Barbara immediately began to scan the surrounding area of where Steph was located.

Ignoring Steph’s inappropriately timed quip, Barbara replied: “They aren’t friends of the cold. I don’t suppose any of your ice batarangs are handy in that utility belt of yours?”

Flexing herself as she threw punches at the bat-dressed girl, she moved with the grace of the wind. She needed to end this quickly, knowing that the blonde was a roadblock that she could easily cross. Still, as she flipped around the girl, something bothered her. It was Batgirl’s mask. Dark, dim and meant to be intimidating, just like Mary’s. Maybe this young woman had gone through something she hadn’t wanted to that had caused her to wear the cowl. Maybe she could relate to Mary in a way.

As much as she tried to knock Batgirl over the edge to her demise, she couldn’t. She pushed her off far enough to wear Batgirl was dangling and Mary just stood there. She watched Batgirl hold on for her life for a moment, before bending down to meet her face to face. Gently she touched Batgirl’s mask with her index and middle fingers, stroking across it.

Without a sound, she turned around and left the rooftop without a trace.

Fire in the Sky

violetbat:

assassintalons:

milliondollardebut:

“Well, I have a suggestion for you.” Barbara replied. “Don’t get blown up. I’d like you to come back in one piece, please.” Barbara was trying to multitask at the moment. Trying to get in contact with the other members of the family. Make sure no one lost their lives tonight. Because no one would on her watch.

She switched to other comm-links contacting everyone she could. Batwoman, Question, Huntress…anyone she could think of that she hadn’t heard from since her SOS went out. She even checked on McGinnis, and it appeared that he was in his penthouse. Maybe he hadn’t even known about these Owls at all? However, Nightwing was not responding…

Barbara’s attention immediately came right back to Stephanie when she said that someone was up there. “Proceed with caution, Batgirl.” She told her. “It’s a Talon from the Court of Owls, I guarantee it.” Barbara swallowed.

Through the smoke the balloons created that night, one could barely see a thing behind the golden colors and the grey clouds. Mary was not focused on this, however. Her mission was far more important. She could watch the show later.

She had to make it into the GCPD building and find out how she was going to find the commissioner. She had to do it in whatever means possible, even if it meant killing men and women who weren’t on the list of targets. She had to draw him out somehow. Bring him back home or at least find out where he was so she could end his life as the Court had commanded.

A figure showed up in front of her. All she could see was the black silhouette of this young woman, she could not make her out for anything. With a swift jump as another balloon exploded, Mary came through the fire to reveal herself to the Batgirl.

“Suggestion and advice understood, O,” Stephanie said brightly, turning her stiff wrist around to get circulation going. If that thing—person—whateveritwas so much as sneezed, she was ready to tell it where to point its nose.

Until, of course, it came rocketing through the flames at her, and in one swift move knocked her on her ass. “Understood,” she repeated. “But ignored.” Standing, she shook her right wrist, dug her feet into the slats between rooftop tiles, and swung out, hard.

And missed by about a mile.

So she dropped low and kicked out—and watched as the Talon, or Owl or whatever other bird-related title this thing wanted to handle back-flipped away from her, effortlessly. They practically glided through the air, the folds of their suit—her suit, Steph was now noticing, because boobs—flapping in the wind. “Holy crapsticks,” she whispered. “What are you?”

Mary didn’t respond to the Batgirl. Because, well, she couldn’t. Without a tongue there was no way to acknowledge her question verbally. Mary did not know what this girl was up to, but the fact that she had swung out at her and was wearing a suit that looked like the Batman’s, she figured this girl in eggplant purple was an enemy.

So she flexed out her leg at Batgirl and aimed for her face. Moving gracefully as she did so, just like an acrobat. It was only in one swoop that Mary had done this, she didn’t even do it with a thought.

It was all instinct.

Fire in the Sky

milliondollardebut:

violetbat

Okay, so this probably wasn’t the smartest idea she’d ever admit to having. Not in the slightest. Because deciding to grapple from rooftop to rooftop while a bunch of exploding balloons were floating down towards you was, for lack of a better word, monumentally stupid.

And, as luck would have it, Stephanie Brown was a big fan of monumentally stupid.

“Their direction is up, so I went up.” She said into the comm-link, to Barbara. “If I get blown up, just make sure my pieces don’t get taken to Mercy West—I suspect my mom won’t be listening to orders and go straight into work in case those balloons sent anyone to the hospital.”

An explosion to her right caught her attention and she glanced over—only to find it wasn’t just ashes and rubble on the roof of Chuck’s Chicken Emporium. A figure stood amongst the flames, staring at the sky, the gleaming flashes of red and yellow causing the skin-tight black suit they wore to shimmer, and patterns danced across what looked like goggles. Steph tilted her head, intrigued. “O…I think there’s someone here.”

“Well, I have a suggestion for you.” Barbara replied. “Don’t get blown up. I’d like you to come back in one piece, please.” Barbara was trying to multitask at the moment. Trying to get in contact with the other members of the family. Make sure no one lost their lives tonight. Because no one would on her watch.

She switched to other comm-links contacting everyone she could. Batwoman, Question, Huntress…anyone she could think of that she hadn’t heard from since her SOS went out. She even checked on McGinnis, and it appeared that he was in his penthouse. Maybe he hadn’t even known about these Owls at all? However, Nightwing was not responding…

Barbara’s attention immediately came right back to Stephanie when she said that someone was up there. “Proceed with caution, Batgirl.” She told her. “It’s a Talon from the Court of Owls, I guarantee it.” Barbara swallowed.

Through the smoke the balloons created that night, one could barely see a thing behind the golden colors and the grey clouds. Mary was not focused on this, however. Her mission was far more important. She could watch the show later.

She had to make it into the GCPD building and find out how she was going to find the commissioner. She had to do it in whatever means possible, even if it meant killing men and women who weren’t on the list of targets. She had to draw him out somehow. Bring him back home or at least find out where he was so she could end his life as the Court had commanded.

A figure showed up in front of her. All she could see was the black silhouette of this young woman, she could not make her out for anything. With a swift jump as another balloon exploded, Mary came through the fire to reveal herself to the Batgirl.