BatMoth: Christmas Cheer By BatMoth 30K

BatMoth: Christmas Cheer
By BatMoth30K

She was running late. Try as she might to push away her doubts and thoughts, and recent failures, they still set the tempo of her heart as she crashed in through the skylight of the warehouse, letting fly some flash bangs as the broken glass rained down around her.
"Batgirl!" Barked Killer Moth, and the rumble of his voice made her heart skip a beat as she landed.

"The jig is up, fellas! That drug shipment you're waiting on is already impounded by the GCPD. I'm just lucky I got to you first." Barbara declared, strapping the nearest goon in zip ties while the lot of them were still disoriented.

"Everybody run! I'll handle Batgirl!" Killer Moth declared, a shot from his cocoon gun trapping her foot to the floor.

"Handle me?! Not without dinner and a movie, I hope!" Batgirl teased, twisting her foot so the spine on her ankle could cut her free of the silk.

But Killer Moth was already on her, holding tightly to her wrists as his buzzing wings carried them up through the shattered skylight and onto the roof. Barbara had a lot of practice in breaking his grasp, and she twisted and tucked, shifting their weight midair to throw him off balance. She was released, and scrapped a knee with her landing, but engines roared in the warehouse below as trucks were turned on, and the drug runners evacuated. Batgirl turned to pursue, but Killer Moth was persistent, tripping her with a silk line that he began to reel in upon his landing.

"A share of that drug shipment would have been a nice contribution to my retirement fund, Batgirl. Now all that's left is to earn my deposit by keeping you busy."

"Your clients aren't going to get away, Mothy. The trucks are GPS tagged, and GCPD is following each to their destination. Good luck trying to warn them with this radio scrambler on." She dared, clicking a button on a small device in her hands.

"Hand to hand, then?" Killer Moth asked, tossing aside his cocoon gun and taking up a fighting stance.

"Okay," Barbara smirked, maintaining eye contact with him as she tucked the scrambler into her waistband behind her belt buckle. "Come and get it. If you're hard enough."

He threw a hard straight that would have laid her out if he had connected. But she skipped back, and when he followed up with a haymaker she deflected it high, striking under his arm, and throwing him down with a leg sweep. Barbara's suit was made to absorb the shock and impact of bullets, but he's still got a solid hundred pounds of muscle on her. Which made him the perfect dummy to practice her aikijutsu and other styles to turn his own momentum and strength against him. A long protracted fight would quickly tire her out, but it felt good to let loose against someone she knows can take it.

He managed to roll with it, wings flexing as he rolled to his feet, and he changed up his style, keeping his guard up, keeping just out of her reach while he tempts her with feints. She took a gamble and committed to a kick when he jabbed, connecting with his solar plexus. A blow he felt through his padding, stumbling back, and Batgirl followed up with several punches until he snapped a front kick, pushing her back. She’d always meant to talk to him about his fighting history, techniques, and experience. But it was never the right time, and they wouldn’t have time for it tonight either.

He charged at her, and when she tried for another grapple, Walker disengaged, then followed up with a headbutt, his helmet impacting her skull head on. Her lights flickered just for the briefest of moments before he grabbed her arm. Drawing it behind her back, Killer Moth pressed his knee into hers, dropping her down, pushing her face into the gravel of the rooftop. He knelt atop her, Barbara's breath caught in her throat, the heat rising inside of her. She struggled to push herself up to no avail, and she heard his helmet fall to the roof with a clang. He leaned down, his rough and searing hand slipping under her shirt, fingertips tracing her side with a delicate touch that would have tickled if not for the effect he had on her.

Batgirl gasped at how quickly things had gone, and with baited breath, she winced when his weight shifted forward, his mouth hovering over her ear.

"You went down easy tonight. Are you okay? Or are you just in the mood to be conquered?" He growled, his hand slipping under her sports bra to firmly and warmly cup her breast.

Barbara bit her lip, the heat in her panties begging to be released. And with a sigh, she slapped the rooftop three times. Killer Moth immediately released her, taking care to tuck her shirt back into place before rising up off of her, giving her a moment to catch her breath and rise to her feet before speaking.

"You tapped out? You never tap out. Barbara, what's wrong?"

"Can… can I just say it was a bad day and leave it at that? You've got your money either way."

"In which case, you didn't have to bust up the joint because the cops would have followed them anyway. Which means you're here because I'm here. Because I'm the only one in the life you're able to talk straight to since I'm outside of your 'family'. So come on. Talk to me."

He folded his arms, watching as she stood and got her clothes back into place. Smoothing her hair around her eye mask, Barbara paused to look at him, two days of stubble on his face, his hair astray in a rakish kind of way thanks to his helmet. A look of genuine concern in his eyes which she struggled to take seriously with the striped tights and butterfly wings on his costume. It was a ridiculous sight she should be used to by now, but she still had to stifle the giggle, and instead embraced the troubled thoughts she had just bubbling under the surface.

"You have a kid. How do you do it, Drury?"

"Woah. Hold on. You know how, babe, but I'm not ready to have another one just yet."

"No! Not that!" 'Yet?' Babs thought briefly, with a jolt of sheer existential terror that she quickly suppressed. "How do you manage to do it? Parenting. Raising a child when you do the thing you do. When you're in the kind of life we're in."

"Oh. That." And he kicked his helmet over to a rail that he leaned against, motioning for Babs to join him.

"I don't know if you've noticed, B, but I'm a terrible parent. I try my best to give Kitten everything she could want or need, but it takes a toll. I have to work my ass off to keep a roof over our heads, and that means late nights, being gone for days at a time if I can't post bail, and the occasional bone fracture thanks to a redhead that wears reinforced heels on her boots."

"Don't forget the taser knuckles. Those are fun too." Babs interjected.

"They gave me a twitchy eye for a week last time," Walker scowled briefly. "But I'm always trying to play catch up to make up for the times I can't be there. And I can never make up for her missing mom. I guess all I can say is I just try my best. Why do you ask? Did an ex drop off a bundle of joy on your doorstep this morning?"

“Now that would be something, but no. I don’t know how well you’re acquainted with my ‘family’, but I’ve taken on a pair of charges, and I want to train them up right. And they are smart, and driven, and they are so damned talented, Dru. They could be better than I ever was, and in some ways they are. But in others…” Barbara trailed off, not quite sure how to continue.

“They have some major shortcomings?” Walker offered.

“They have their challenges, I’d say. One of them has a learning disability, and we’re making some progress. She had trained with an actor to help her overcome her speech problems, and she can recite Shakespeare from memory. But she’s falling behind in her reading and she’s prioritizing her crime fighting when she should be working on improving something as basic as the alphabet. And the other,” Babs took a breath. “She has spirit and determination, and once she sets her mind to something there is little on this Earth that can stop her. I admire her tenacity, but it makes her reckless, She’s been rushing headlong into situations and confrontations that she rarely has the full picture on, and I’m just afraid one of these days she’s going to be seriously hurt, or worse. And it’ll be my fault because I couldn’t get her to listen.”

“They sound like quite a handful.” Walker noted. “In the first case, all you can do is try your best, and it sounds like you are. But she has to want to get better. Kitten has tried tutors a handful of times, but I think your help on her math homework motivated her to get better, even if only so she’d have an excuse to have you in the house less often when she passes her class. Your kid is motivated by crime fighting, and she will come across a problem she won’t be able to punch her way out of. That will push her to improve, and she will with your help. And the other one,”

Walker chuckled quietly to himself and Babs elbowed him in the ribs.

“Yeah? What about the other one?” She squinted at him.

“She sounds a lot like you when you were first starting out. Hell, she sounds a lot like you now. Any sane person would have given up after the amount of times you’ve been beaten, stabbed, electrocuted, cocooned, shot, set on fire, drowned, etc. Any sane person would have given up after just one of those! But you just have to be a hero. You have to save the day, beat the bad guy, save the civilians. Have no fear, citizens! Batgirl is here!”

“Okay, now you’re just making fun of me.” Babs pouted.

“Yes I am. Because after all our battles, I’d like to think I know you better than you might think. And if she’s even a little bit like you, I might just have my work cut out for me now that she has you for a role model.”
Looking Walker in the eye, Babs chewed thoughtfully at the corner of her lip, her heart pulsing at his observations. And casting her glance a little higher, she saw a few stray threads of grey among his brown hairs. She reached up, running her thumb over them as she thought over his words. Has it really been so long? She thought, tilting her head in anticipation.

“You know something, Mothy? You’re alright.”

“So does that mean you aren’t mad that I grabbed the signal jammer while I was feeling you up and have been tapping out a morse code message with my foot on my helmet mic the entire time?” He asked, breaking out in a grin.

“Only if you won’t be mad that my ‘signal jammer’ was the detonation switch for those exploding batarangs I had hidden in the boss' getaway car.” She breathed into his ear.

“WHAT?!”

Walker jumped from the railing with a start at her words, but he was prevented from rising by a pair of batcuffs that secured him to his perch. “Wha- how?? Huh??”

“I guess that’s one way to leave you speechless. But don’t worry, Walker. I won’t tell the Gotham Triads that you blew up the engines on their luxury cars if you won’t.” Barbara smirked.

“I take back every good thing I said about you tonight.” He replied coldly.

The smirk quickly faded from Babs’ face.

“Not everything, I hope. You did give me a lot to think about, Dru. And I appreciate you being here and listening to me ramble on. I know it’s probably more than you signed on for. So let me show you how much I appreciate it.”

Cuffed as he was to the rail, Walker wasn’t about to turn down a makeout session with his flame haired paramour, angry or no. Barbara wrapped her arms around him, uncoupling his flight pack, kissing him, slipping her tongue into his mouth as her hand trailed downward. Lifting his shirt, her fingertips rested on his abdomen and she felt the warmth of his skin. She gently pried his legs apart with her knees, nipped at his neck with her lips and teeth, and peppered his chest in kisses as she slid down his body.

His anger and frustration did little to quell his passion for her. As Barbara found when she pulled him out of his leggings and underwear. She removed her gloves to better feel his heat and hardness, and the last vestiges of Walker's anger dissipated when she started kissing his member.

As much as she enjoyed going at it hard and fast with him, there's something to be said for taking her time, and seeing how even on her knees she has him in her thrall. The throaty growl he uttered when she took him into her mouth made her tremble to her core. But she focused on him for the moment, feeling him throb and jump on her tongue as she took him deeper.

Walker was almost dizzy with the pleasure rushing up his spine. His fingers gripped tightly to the rail, cuffed as he was. He wanted nothing more than to caress her hair and urge her on. But he had lost this fight. And restrained as he was, all he could do was groan and pant with the effort to keep himself from giving in too soon. She swallowed around him, and he throbbed, nearly at the brink when she released him, both of them gasping in unison.

"Come down here, Killer." Batgirl commanded, her voice quavering into a plea.

Seeing the lust in her eyes, Killer Moth obeyed. He eased himself into a kneeling position and Babs stopped him just a moment to reset the cuffs so he didn't have to twist his arms as he lay down. Now more comfortably restrained to the rail, he didn't have to wait long for Barbara to take off a boot, slide down her leggings, and straddle him on the roof. She leaned forward to kiss him, tantalizing his tip with the searing heat of her entrance. Walker wasn't one to beg, but she felt his need on his lips and didn't want to deny her own any longer.

Easing herself onto him, Barbara bit her lip, inhaling sharply at the familiar heat and girth spreading her open. Sliding her hands under his shirt, her nails lightly raked at his chest, and Walker was mesmerized by the site of her enthralled in her pleasure. He let out a breath when she gasped, bottoming out on him, her hips grinding to feel him from every angle inside of her. His hips bucked of their own accord, making her yelp, and after a moment they found a rhythm. Walker's arms strained with the desire to hold, or grasp, or even to simply touch her. His knuckles went white with his grip on the rail, Barbara taking no notice as her eyes closed, so close she was.

"Barbara," Walker groaned, nearly at his limit.

Her name in his voice was enough to break the tension inside of her. Her back arched as she gasped and whined, and when she felt him give inside of her she collapsed atop of him, panting to catch her breath as he pulsed and throbbed within her. Barbara had just enough presence of mind to fish the key to her cuffs from her belt and reached up to release him. Walker took the key to undo the other hand, and tossed the cuffs aside, finally able to embrace her fully as she lay on his chest.

"Are you still mad?" Barbara asked once she had caught her breath.

"About what? Oh! That. Well, I kept up my end and kept you busy. I make no guarantees on their own getaway plans. And I know how the game is played, Babe." Killer Moth replied.

"Good. Because I'm going to need a few minutes before we start fighting again. And this spot is too comfortable." she replied, laying back on his chest.

"Only because you're not the one lying on pebbles and a cigarette butt." He teased. "Come home with me tonight."

That one got her to rise up from his chest to look at him, tracing lazy circles with her finger on his skin.

"I don't know. I should head back, check in with the girls."

"You said yourself they're capable. All I'm asking is for a chance to unwind with you, and maybe a nightcap. A light one, in case you need to dash off on that motorcycle of yours."

She bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Let me fire off a quick text first."

B: Is everything green, girls?
S: Just intercepting an arms shipment. Walk in the park. Cassie says hi.
C: 👍

"Well. I guess that settles it. Take me home, Mister Walker." Babs grinned.

A few dozen wetnaps and a quick clothing change later, and they were on the road, Babs following Walker's car on her motorcycle. She fought the urge to radio in on the girls. Dru was right. They're more than capable, and there's little they're unprepared for. She took a look at the shipping manifest, and it was a relatively light delivery set to fall off the boat and into the hands of some non-union offloaders with connections to a small time black marketeer. Nothing they can't handle.

Drury waited for her as she pulled into the driveway behind him. He watched as she dismounted, a tightness pulling at the corners of his mouth as she approached him at the door. He had changed into slacks and a white oxford shirt, his eyes sparkling with mirth behind his spectacles that left her more than a little suspicious.

"Okay. I'm here. And you're looking like the cat that ate the canary. What is going on, Dru?"

"Nothing much. It's just that I didn't think you would have said yes if I was upfront with you from the beginning. But Kitten and I have a little tradition this time of year, and it's the first time I've brought someone in on our little Christmas party."
Babs blinked slowly, staring agape at him as she found her words.

"It hasn't even been a week since Thanksgiving. The leftovers aren't even cold, and you're having a Christmas party?" She asked, incredulous. "We're even in the middle of an unseasonable heatwave!"

"Well, it's more like a 'Christmas preview'. You see, I've missed a Christmas or two on account of being held up in jail while I wait for bail. So Kitten and I started this tradition where she gets to open one present weeks before Christmas so neither of us miss out. I know it's odd, but you have to plan for this sort of thing when you're in the life, and, well," he sighed. "I just wanted to let you in."

Babs nodded, slowly blinking while she thought it over.

"You're right. I would have said no. I haven't even thought about getting you a present or anything. Yet. And now you're bringing me in for a family tradition?"

"You don't have to get me anything, Babs." Walker replied. "And I have a reason for bringing you here. Just… bear with it for now, okay? You'll see in a sec."

And as soon as he opened the door, Walker was glomped by his blonde hellcat of a daughter.

"Dad! You're home early!" She cried, nuzzling her face in his chest.

"You can thank Barbara for that, Kitten." Walker noted with a wry smile at Babs, who shrugged.

She wasn't about to feel sorry about intercepting a drug shipment regardless.

"YOU!" Kitten snarled, turning to look at her.

"Me. But don't worry, Kitten. I didn't rough up your dad any more than he likes it." Babs teased.

"Ew!" The girl cried, releasing her father. And as she ran back into the house."Ew, ew, ew, gross!"

"You know something, Dru? I can at least stay for a glass of eggnog if you have it."

"Coming right up, Babs." Walker smiled, shaking his head at the display they put on.

The house didn't look that different from the foyer, but two steps in and Babs could see the living room was ablaze in lights strung along every wall. The tree in the corner glittered as brightly as the star atop it, lights, tinsel, and ornaments hanging off every branch. Bowls of snacks, trail mix, chocolates, and popcorn tins were set on the coffee table as a claymation reindeer pranced on the eighty-five inch flatscreen. There was a gingerbread house fully decorated on every side table, the largest on the coffee table. And running throughout this display of holiday excess was an electric train, cars laden with peppermints and hard candies.

"You call this a preview?!" Babs gasped in disbelief.

"Money has been a little tighter this year, but yeah?" Walker replied.

"Dru, the Gotham Mall has a more subtle display than this! It's gratuitous! It's obscene! It's…" Barbara struggled to find the words, but in a moment of honesty, she gave in to the spirit of the season. "It's beautiful."
His shoulders relaxed at the last word, and he smiled.

"I'm glad you like it. Kitten! Two eggnogs, please! A light one for Barbara!"

"I'M STILL DISINFECTING FROM BAT COOTIES!!" She screamed from down the hall.

"When you're done, Kitten!"

"FINE!"

"I'm sorry, Babs. I really should have called ahead and told her."

"It's fine," she replied, taking his arm. "I am intruding on your special night with her. So I won't stay long."
Walker took her into the living room where they settled on the loveseat. Kitten rolled her eyes with a huff as she passed them on her way into the kitchen. She took two mugs from the cupboard, poured them some eggnog, and added some of her father's favorite rum to his mug. And getting a sneaky impulse, she gave Barbara's mug a long pour, hoping to get her out on her motorcycle for a potential DUI as soon as possible.

"Here you go, Daddy." Kitten smiled sweetly, handing him his mug. "And here's yours."

She passed Barbara's mug to her, trying and failing to suppress a devious smile. But the smell of the rum gave up the game before Babs could even take a sip.

"Oof! You have a generous definition of 'light' Kitten." Babs observed, her nose crinkling.

"Here, let's switch mugs. Wouldn't want you impaired on that motorcycle of yours." Drury offered.

Kitten sulked back to the sofa with a pout, grabbing a chocolate on the way. She watched them murmur over their mugs, eyes locked into each other, her hand tracing his, his fingers playing in her hair. His mortal enemy worming his way into his heart. This must not stand!

"Daddy, I want to open a present now!" Kitten shouted, snapping the adults from their preoccupation with each other.

"It's a little early, but why not? Pick one, Kitten." Walker smiled warmly, snaking an arm around Barbara's waist.

Kitten looked through the boxes piled around the tree. She needed something, anything to take his attention away from her. Then she saw something glittering from within the pile. A small box, wrapped with care in gold foil, a silver ribbon, and a small red bow.

"Oooh, this one is shiny!" Kitten cried, pulling the box from the depths of the pile.

"Kitten, wait!" Drury called in half a panic, but it was too late.

Kitten read the tag, saw the name, and flushed bright red with anger.

"HER?!?!"

"Yes, Kitten. Hers." Drury replied, kneeling down next to Kitten to pat her hand and gently take the box from her.

Barbara broke out in a sweat. She was expecting something like this to happen. Here she was, intruding on a private ceremony between father and daughter, and Drury got her a present. Kitten is primed to explode. And Walker shuffled towards her, stopping on one knee. He took her hand and placed the box in it.

"Merry Christmas. My dear Barbara Gordon."

"Drury, wait," She began.

"WHAT?!?! DADDY!" Kitten screamed.

And before more words could be said, an ear piercing shriek erupted from Barbara's pocket and didn't stop until she answered her phone.

"Girls, what's happening?! You said everything was green, Spoiler!"

"We are NOT green! Repeat, NOT green! The containers didn't have guns, now robots are swarming the ship, and Orphan is having trouble fighting them! I don't know how long we can hold o-*%€×€#"

"Spoiler!" Babs cried into the phone, the signal lost. "Dru, I need to borrow your wings."

"They're in the trunk, controls are in my gauntlets, navigation is in the helmet. I hope you aren't going far, I haven't had a chance to recharge them yet." He replied, digging his keys out of his pocket.

"It's the only way I'll get there in time. The panic button means they need me now, Dru." She said, taking the keys and rushing for the door, her present forgotten.

"Babs, wait!" Dru cried, and she turned just in time to catch the small box he tossed at her. "Take care of yourself."

"Dru-," she started, blinking back tears. "I'm sorry."

And she left.

It was supposed to be a simple bust. Follow the guns, track the black marketeer, and tie everything nicely in a bow for the GCPD when they kick everyone's butt, and earn a kudos from Babs, maybe even Batman himself. But they had to confirm the shipment first. Only instead of guns, they found a cargo container full of combat androids, and upon opening it, Spoiler and Orphan heard every container on the ship open around them as the robots activated.

They smashed the first few easily, but the sheer numbers were overwhelming them. Stephanie started throwing some explosives in desperation, but that only bought them scant seconds as they ran for the bow. And as they were cornered again and again, Stephanie couldn't help but notice that Cassie wasn't her usual invincible fighter self. She moved, the robot mirrored her. Only to counter perfectly time and again. Punches deflected, strikes parried, and she was taking some serious hits. Cassie's fighting is based on reading body language, but how can one read a robot's?

She wasn't faring any better herself. Stephanie made liberal use of taser knuckles and pellet bombs, but each time she tried to go hand to hand ended the same as it had for Cassie. Reaching the end of the ship, Steph used the last of her exploding batarangs to buy them time, reaching for the panic button. When her connection to Babs was lost, she tried every jamming frequency on her phone to try and stop the robots while Cass covered her. Then her friend took a robotic fist to the head that shattered her eyepiece and fell insensible onto the deck.

"No! I got you!" Steph cried, swinging her staff to push the robots back.

The androids surrounded them, taking formation. And as Cassie slowly roused herself and got back to her feet, the nearest robots around them exploded as pellet bombs dropped from above them.

"Oh my god!" Steph cried, holding onto Cass, and pointing into the sky. "Who is- is that Killer Moth?! No! It's Batgirl! Killer Girl? BatMoth!" She decided, seeing their mentor in the villain's flight gear.

“God, no! That sounds like a shipping name.” Babs objected, dropping down before the girls.

“I’ll work on the fanfic later,” Stephanie promised. “But thanks for the save. How did you get his gear?”

“I figured he wouldn’t need it after I kicked his butt. And I was in a hurry. What’s the sitch, Spoiler?”

“It’s bad. The ship is swarming with androids, the crew is nowhere to be seen, and they can even beat Orphan in hand to hand. It’s like that old Will Smith movie!”

Old?! That one hurts, Babs thought briefly. “And you’ve tried rotating jamming frequencies? They have to be talking to each other somehow.”

“They must be using some kind of burst transmission. My phone doesn’t have enough juice to counter it. And I’ve run out of bombs.”

“We can beat them.” Orphan insisted, steadying herself on Steph’s shoulder. “Have to hit harder.”

“We will, Orphan.” Babs promised, with a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “But we have to fight smarter. Steph, do you recognize the model?”

“It’s a standard Z-class trainer. But they’re outperforming everything in their standard spec-sheet. It must have some serious upgrades. Here they come!”

The next wave of androids came upon them quickly. Stephanie was able to keep some distance with her staff with some difficulty, but Cassandra’s moves were matched and countered perfectly almost every time. Babs, however, was having an easy time striking and tearing apart the robots using batarangs as daggers to cut into their polymer shells. It just didn’t add up to her. A stray punch got through her defenses and knocked off Killer Moth’s helmet, and as soon as Barbara looked up she was suddenly put at a disadvantage as the robots were able to counter her just as well as they had Orphan.

“Wait a second! Orphan! Heads up!”

Cassie jumped back away from her robotic foes and looked up in time to catch Killer Moth’s helmet that Babs had kicked to her.

“Put it on!!”

“What do you-” Cass began.

“Just do it! Trust me!” Babs persisted, getting knocked back by the robots.

Clapping the helmet on, Cassandra weaved just in time to dodge a punch from the combat androids. And rather than being matched, her next punch shattered the robot’s shell with enough force for her to grab some circuits and tear them out, deactivating it. The other androids around her buzzed error codes to each other as she was able to smash them over and over.

“It smells in here.” She sighed.

“Okay. That worked. Now to see if my theory holds true.” Babs murmured to herself, taking a roll of bandages from her belt and raising a hand to her mask. “Spoiler, catch!”

Stephanie caught Babs’ eye mask and looked up at her.

“You think they’re running a facial recognition program?”

“I’m just hoping it’s limited to our masks. Change the masks, and they can’t match the profile.” Babs replied, wrapping the bandage around her face in a hasty disguise.

“Alright! It’s cosplay time!” Steph cried, pulling down her mask as she swapped it for Babs’.

It still didn’t make the fight easy, but without the masks to lock on to, the androids couldn’t fight them as effectively as they had before. Babs’ brain went into overdrive to figure it out while she fought. Someone had to have been shadowing them, watching them, and built profiles based on how they fought. And that someone had to have been the shadow watching them fight from the bridge of the ship.

“Can you girls hold by yourself for a second? I have to have a talk with the captain of this vessel.” She said, powering up Killer Moth’s wings.

“Go for it! We’ve got this!” Steph replied.

“Kick his butt!” Orphan added, going back to back with Steph as Barbara floated up and glided to the bridge.

While the girls fought on, Babs entered the cabin, seeing a cloaked figure stand undaunted as it watched the battle below. The lights were out, the flickering LEDs on the console and the floodlights outside scattering through the windows the only illumination, leaving the figure sheathed in shadow.

“Ahoy there!” Babs called. “We’re going to have some words, but you have two seconds to call off those robots or you’re going to regret it. WOAH!!”

The katana had sprung from within the folds of the cloak faster than she could blink. Babs parried with her glove fins, but against a longer weapon she was at a disadvantage. Drawing her batarangs, she tried to trap the weapon with hers, but her opponent was too agile, the blade slipping from her grasp.

She parried the next slash, but the blade turned against hers, the tip of the curved blade nicking her flank through her armor. The next slash penetrated her defenses just enough to leave cuts on her arm, and one last attempt to trap the blade merely gave her opponent an opening to stab at her, Babs turning away just in time for the blade to graze her as it penetrated her cape, pinning her to console. In desperation, Barbara reached for her belt and before her opponent could stop her she set off a flashbang point blank into their hooded face.

The flash lit up the bridge, Barbara’s mind capturing the brilliant image of her opponent as it went off. She was blonde, fair, and beautiful. Until the moment the flashbang shredded her face in shrapnel, bits of metal and powder curling her “skin” in its heat to reveal the metallic skull underneath.

Barbara screamed, the miniature explosion searing her hand through her glove, the concussive force penetrating the armor to crack fractures within her bones. But her opponent stumbled back, clasping a hand to its face with an electronic cry. It dashed from the bridge with a howl, cloak billowing as it leaped from the ship and into the harbor. Exhausted from her haste, and her injuries, Barbara pulled the sword from the console and slumped to the deck.

"Girls: status report." She managed to croak into the radio.

"It's just like that old movie!" Stephanie persisted. "They stopped fighting all at once and started jumping into the water! They’re getting rid of the evidence! They even took the broken ones!"

"I have some pieces." Cassandra replied. "I ripped out its guts."

"Well done, Cassie," Babs called back. "And Steph… enough with the 'old' business. I'm hurt enough as it is."

"Sorry, grandma! Do you need help? I'll be right there in a flash."

"I'm fine. Mostly. I'll meet you back on the deck." Babs answered, climbing to her feet.

She took a minute to download what she could from the ship's systems, then glided back to where she left the girls. Cassie had taken off Killer Moth's helmet, the ears of her cowl still bent from the tight fit. Steph stepped up, mask up, with Babs' own mask in hand.

"I think this belongs to you. Are you okay? What happened to your hand?!"

"Nothing some aspirin and a few weeks with a hand brace won't cure. Are you girls okay?"

"Yeah, the robots weren't so tough once you figured out their trick. Good call!"

"Will this help?" Cassandra asked, holding out a handful of circuit boards and memory chips to her.

"I think it might. If we can get anything off their memory, it could be the break in the case we need. Good thinking, Cassie.”

“I found this too. You dropped it. Robots stepped on it. Sorry.” Cass revealed, holding up a small jewelry case with bits of gold foil, ribbon, and a torn tag on it.

“Is that a ring box!? Who gave it to you, Babs?” Steph gasped.

“I-It-It’s nothing!” Barbara stammered.

“It doesn’t say. Just her name.” Cassie answered, holding out the tag. “It’s ripped.”

“I bet it was Bard! He’s such a schoolboy around you. Oh! Maybe Dick gave it to you! I bet it was on a rooftop with a beaten Killer Moth in the background, the roof awash in moonlight,” Steph continued, taking the box from Cassie’s hand and kneeling with it before her. “Barbara, my darling! I love you! You’re so… intoxicating! I need you! Light of my life! My dark and mysterious dominoed dare doll! Be mine forever!”

As Steph opened the box before Cassie, who was miming the shock and surprise of a proposal, Barbara was frozen in shock and trepidation. They didn’t know it was Dru! But they knew it was someone. And once they ask Dick about it, or start doing their own digging… what could happen? Would she have to admit her… relationship? Would she have to tell them everything?! And what about Dru? She left him there, awaiting her answer, and the last word she gave him was “Sorry.” What could he be thinking? What could she say to him? What would she say to him? She can’t say “Yes”, he had to have known that! And yet… What did she want to say?

Steph opened the box, Cassie reached out, and Barbara held her breath as she plucked a sparkling diamond from it.

“It’s a pin.” Cassie revealed.

“What?! It’s not a ring?!” Steph gasped, taking it from her hand.

“No.” Barbara said, finding her voice. “It’s…” She peered, closer. “It’s my dad’s stick pin. He lost it. A long time ago.”

“Oh! And I guess you just found it again. Huh. Well, now I feel stupid, I was so excited for a Bat-Wedding.” Steph sighed, tucking it carefully back in the box to hand back to Babs. “Here you go, Boss.”

“Thanks. Now that you two are done making fun of my personal life, let’s go find the crew of the boat and go home.”

"I wanted to be a bridesmaid." Cassie muttered to herself as Steph put an arm around her shoulders and led her below deck.



Back at the clocktower, Barbara carefully set the robot’s memory chips into a faraday cage in an isolated retrieval system that will block outside signals while she analyzes them. She still had the ship’s data to go through, but one thing at a time. She popped an aspirin, and helped the girls patch each other up. They had a rough night, but Steph still convinced Cassie to watch a movie to unwind, and Babs can hear Will Smith from the other room.

Drury’s wings were propped against the wall, his helmet on her desk. Steph wanted to hang them up as a trophy, but that was more of a Bruce thing. Not that she wasn’t tempted, occasionally. Reaching into her pocket, she took out the jewelry box, opened it, and saw the diamond set into the gold pin shining in the light from her desk lamp. And Walker had the audacity to drop to one knee when he gave it to her. Babs bit her lip, mulling things over for a minute. And with a sigh, she got up from her desk to tell the girls she was
stepping out.

“STOP CUSSING!!” cried Will Smith on the television set.

And as Babs leaned over the sofa, she saw the popcorn scattered on the floor, the bowl long since slipped from Cassie’s grasp as she had dozed off to sleep against Stephanie. For her part, the young blonde had her head lolled over her shoulder, tongue hanging loosely in her mouth as she snored softly. They’ll wake up on their own, eventually, Babs thought, turning to leave.

“Robots! Leave Cassie alone!” Stephanie called out in her sleep.

Barbara turned back, leaning over the sofa to touch Steph’s cheek.

“It’s okay, Steph. You’re just having a nightmare. Cassie’s okay.”

“Mom?” She murmured, still asleep, leaning into Babs’ touch.

Barbara’s hand jerked away at the word. She hesitated, then gently swept the stray hairs away from Steph’s face.

“Sweet dreams, Stephanie Brown.”


He wasn’t waiting up for her. Drury Walker was robbed of seeing Babs’ reaction to his little gift, but he was sure this “panic button” business happened every other day for the bats. But after cooling Kitten down with promises that he wasn’t planning on proposing to Barbara, and indulging her with opening more than a couple of the boxes from under the tree, he sent his daughter to bed, finished off the mugs of eggnog she had poured, and spent the next couple of hours watching Infomercials, and checking his phone with every phantom vibration he felt. She’s probably too busy to text anyway. They can catch up tomorrow night.

He was sitting up in bed with a dogeared novel when he saw the glow outside his window. Walker threw on a robe, went down to the back door, and beckoned the winged and helmeted figure inside. Barbara gasped as she took off the helmet, shaking her hair free. And seeing the wrist brace she wore when she removed the gauntlets, Walker stopped her, a determined expression on his face.

“Need me to put someone in a body cast?” He asked.

“It’s self-inflicted, Dru. I set off a flashbang in her face, but I’ll be fine.” Barbara answered.

“Damn. Remind me never to piss you off.”

“Oh, it is far too late for that, mister Walker.” She said, unbuckling the flight rig. “Why do you have my dad’s stick pin? You better have a good answer, Dru, because I am tired of people I trust having ulterior motives and playing games with my feelings. Especially since I haven’t seen this thing in years.”

Drury looked her in the eyes, and folded his arms over his chest.

“Tell me, miss Gordon. When exactly was the last time you saw this stick pin?”

“I can tell you down to the exact hour. It was in my Dad’s room, he was getting his costume ready for… Goddamn it, Dru.”

“He was getting his costume ready for what would eventually be known as the ‘Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl’. Only nobody knew it at the time. Even a costumed crook who could only get one small glimmering piece of loot because Gordon was the first cop to draw his gun. So down he goes, dropping his pin in the process, and it’s the only bit of swag I manage to get away with the whole night.” He revealed.

“I can’t believe you’ve kept it this whole time.”

“I didn’t. I must have pawned that pin off half a dozen times over the years, but I always came back for it after a successful heist. It’s not like it was a good luck charm or anything, but it came in handy. Only now that I’ve gotten to know you better, it just doesn’t feel right keeping it. Anyway, I’m sure your dad always wondered where it ended up.”

“Oh. Yes. He has.” Babs replied. Then sighed, putting her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, Dru. It’s just been one of those nights and I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“Forget it. Your bike is still parked out front. You can take it back in the morning.”

“I am way too exhausted and sore to go another round tonight, Dru.” Barbara winced regretfully.

“I can see that. Which is why you’re going to get a full nights sleep in my bed, and help yourself to anything in the medicine cabinet that you might need. Because you aren’t going back on the road tonight either.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that.” Babs relented, pecking him on the lips. “I’ll just grab one of your shirts. Thanks for the thoughtful present.”

“I’ll be along in a minute. Go ahead. I’ll put the wings away.” Drury offered, watching the graceful roll of her hips as she walked up the stairs.

When she was out of sight, Walker picked up the wings, thumbing the new hole she brought back in them, and scooped up his gloves and helmet, dragging the mess over to the closet under the stairs. Even folded up, it took a bit of shoving to get the wings in with the assorted coats and jackets. He set the gloves and helmet up on the high shelf, and after a moment’s thought, reached up to the back of the shelf, brought down a ring box, and flipped it open to gaze at the diamond ring he had picked out months before.

“Next year. Maybe.” Walker mused, snapping it shut and returning the ring back to it’s hiding spot.