Oracle and the Network

14

"Happy New Year!" Barbara Gordon said as she raised her glass, her team following.

"Happy New Year!" they chorused back.

The 'field team' was there in the public parts of the Metropolis Aerie, the upper floors of the hotel. Zinda, Huntress, Question, Cass and Misfit were there, the two younger members drinking soda, the rest having booze of their choice. Along with them were allies like Manhunter, Gypsy, the new Batgirl and, surprisingly, Supergirl.

"The bubbles tickle my nose," Supergirl giggled sweetly.

Huntress was amused to note it was just ginger ale. Still, it was cute. "Thanks for your help," she said, sitting with the Question on the couch.

"It's my pleasure," Supergirl shrugged.

"I don't think I like rum," Cass admitted as she put her cup down. "Could I have some water instead?" she asked.

"Certainly," Misfit got her a bottled water from the fridge. She also drank Cass' rum and coke, which got her a disapproving look from Babs.

Question had her mask rolled up enough to drink, but kept it on. "You know, Supergirl probably knows who you are," Huntress noted.

"You too," Question noted, amused. She sipped her drink, "Besides, I don't want to reveal the radio ear piece I'm wearing."

Huntress raised her eyebrow. "To your ally, Tot?" she asked. When Question nodded she asked, "Does Oracle know?"

"Yes. I'm not stupid," Question said dryly. "Not going to rub her face into it either," she added.

"Hmm," Huntress agreed as she had some more of her drink.

Babs made the rounds making sure everyone had enough snacks. "Relax, boss," Zinda scolded, "it's your party too."

"I know, but...," Babs shrugged. She looked at Zinda with amusement, "You could have invited my Dad along too."

Zinda actually looked sheepish. "He's on duty... tho I intend to hit Gotham later tonight," she admitted a bit sheepishly.

"Have fun," Babs said sincerely. She continued, "I know I haven't been all that enthusiastic about this, but you do make him happy."

"And no one likes imagining their Dad having sex," Zinda noted perceptively.

"That too," Babs conceded willingly.

After another hour or so everyone had either left or headed to guest rooms Babs kept available at the Aerie. Babs picked up the party debris and either dumped it in the garbage or dish washer, then swept the rooms for anything else.

The shadowed figure waiting in the living room wasn't a surprise, in fact Babs had been expecting the visit. "Bruce," she smiled, nodding.

The Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne, sipped his ginger ale as he casually sat. "Babs, it's good to see you," he said quietly.

Batman's apparent 'death' sometime back at the hands of Darkseid had in fact thrown him through time. Bruce had possessed various ancestors as he moved forward through time, and eventually with the help of the Justice League, he had returned, alive, to the modern era. To be honest, the craziness made her head hurt. But her friend was alive and back...

"You've been busy. Batman Incorporated?" Babs teased.

Batman smiled back wryly. "I need a larger organization, there are... dangerous new threats coming," he told her. He sipped his soda, "Have you heard of a group called Leviathan?"

"They are a mostly European terrorist organization," Babs noted, "rivals of Intergang."

Batman actually looked surprised. "You know about...?" he blinked.

Babs smirked. "They HAVE kept under the radar, even for me," she conceded. "They've come up as I've dug into Intergang. Leviathan is pushing into North America, but is being resisted by Intergang. So far their only progress has been in South America and, to a degree, Mexico."

Batman nodded, "Can you send me the files you have? I will, of course, return the favor."

"Of course," Babs agreed. She looked at him thoughtfully, "Just so you know, I don't intend to change my operations just because you are expanding..."

"Understood," Batman agreed. As he got up, he set his drink down as he added, "I may ask for your help at times... Wayne-tech security is the pits."

"Ha." Babs smiled as he slipped out and disappeared into the Metropolis night.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Well, I got in to see Anarky," Renee said as she met up with Huntress a few days after the party. She and Helena were becoming friends, and there was a spark of something more there too.

"Any luck finding out what was going on with Cyborg Girl?" Helena asked as she ordered them both coffee.

"She IS suffering cognitive issues due to the cybernetics and the damage from her drug use," Renee said. "Don't ask for the technical jargon, apparently Lonnie is VERY well informed, but... basically her brain and the cybernetics aren't connecting properly, now."

"Why didn't she go to STAR labs for help?" Helena wondered.

"Lonnie says she was scared that STAR would attempt to just take back her technology," Renee said. She sipped her coffee, "Reading between the lines I think Anarky knew she was being paranoid, but couldn't just make her go to them."

"How dangerous is she, you think?" Helena asked grimly.

Renee made a so/so gesture. "She's functioning like a very good robot. If someone who has bad intentions gets ahold of her..."

"Oh lovely," Helena made a face. "Did Lonnie say where she is?"

"Of course not," Renee rolled her eyes, "honor among thieves and all that."

"Sio we just pass the word around and hopefully stop her next time she shows up," Helena sighed. "Wash, rinse, repeat..."

Renee nodded, having had her own experiences with the occassional futility of the heroic life. "WE do our best and that's all we can do at times," she said. Changing the subject she asked, "How is settling in Metropolis going?"

"Not bad, actually," Helena admitted, "Work's going well, and I have a nice place. It's a bit weird here, at least compared to Gotham."

"Clean, well lit, so many security cameras," Renee noted, shaking her head.

"Rent's cheaper too, tho the subtext I get is because the whole city gets trashed occassionally," Helena noted ruefully.

"THERE'S a happy thought," Renee laughed.

"No more dangerous than Gotham," Helena shrugged eloquently.

"Point," Renee conceded. "You doing anything tonight?" she asked as she fiddled with her coffee cup.

Helena raised her eyebrow slightly. "Well, I'll need to check in on Misfit later but otherwise I'm free...," she answered.

"Would you go out with me?" Renee blurted.

Helena had to fight back a laugh at her awkwardness but smiled as she answered, "Certainly."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Arranging a meet with a criminal was sometimes complicated, sometimes not. While Babs target was a super villain, more or less, she had successfully avoided arrest and wasn't wanted. Mind you, if Checkmate spotted her they'd jump her, just for one example...

The brown haired woman came in, followed by a tall redhead. They looked around, then headed right to Babs table. "Miss Smith?" Scandal Savage asked, looking amused at the obvious alias.

"Scandal Savage," Babs nodded, "And I take it this is Knockout?"

"You're well informed... Oracle," Scandal smiled back.

Babs didn't react, having deliberately leaked that information to Scandal. She wanted the woman to be less antagonistic, if possible. "Thank you for agreeing to see me," she said, nodding.

Barbara's disguise was deliberately clumsy, though it was also layered. She was wearing a red wig, and under that black hair. She had dug out her glasses, and had chosen clothes that were a size or so larger then added padding. The combination, hopefully, would make chances of actually identifying her very low.

"Considering you're paying us our normal mercenary fee, that at least buys you a conversation," Scandal conceded.

"Gee, thanks," Babs smiled wryly.

They ordered coffee, Knockout keeping a wary eye on their surroundings, then Scandal studied Babs for a moment. "You're interested in Black Alice," she said flatly.

"How did you know?" Babs asked.

"Alice has mentioned the Birds. And Misfit, who she found annoying, in a little sister kind of way," Scandal said.

Babs smiled wryly, "True. I am concerned, I feel... somewhat responsible for her, especially considering everything that happened with her."

Knockout looked dubious. "She reminds me of Waller," she noted, "too tricky for her own good."

"Sometimes," Babs conceded willingly.

That, interestingly, was enough to convince Scandal to talk. "We're working with her, yes. She's paid well, and she's channelling money back to help care for her father, who has cancer."

Babs first instinct was to condemn them for letting a teen engage in mercenary work, but she stopped herself. SHE had effectively abandoned the girl, after all. "If she needs contacts for experts and so on, let me know," Babs said, passing them a card with her Oracle number.

"Will do," Scandal said, putting the card away.

To be continued...

Notes: Yeah, long time between updates. Sorry, long term medical crisis in my family.

Anyway... in the near future I intend to either revise or otherwise 'fix' this story, at least in relation to links to DC Comics canon. When I started writing this I tried to tie it to canon stuff in the comics at the time. However during my hiatus DC has rebooted it's canon twice, PLUS many characters I wrote in this fic either no longer exist or have been revised completely. So I'm either going to trim the canon-heavy bits out, or do a chapter that sets up for me continuing on it's own. We'll see.