22 - Video

[bodilesswarrior]

[The woman staring into the camera is not the Barbara Gordon the Barge has come to know. Not this Barge, at any rate.

Her red hair, cropped short, is streaked with grey. She used to say she had one for every Robin, but there's far too many for that now. She's wearing a black trench, battered and worn, hemmed to fit her.

Her chair, too, is different; it's still imbued with the same technology, but it looks more like an armoured vehicle than a wheelchair.

She's smirking, slightly, as her hands clasp in front of her. She's grown so used to the Barge's tricks, she's almost fond of them.]

Well. Clearly something is going on. [Her voice is a bit lower, a bit hoarser, but wryly familiar.] I'm Commissioner Gordon, if you didn't know. I've been on and off the Barge for about thirty years. Looks like I came back just in time to be confused.

God knows which of us are affected. [Her smirk deepens.] Or the Admiral, but I have my doubts on that one.

Comments

[routemistress]

Confused, my arse. Even I 'ave to pull the stops right out to confuse you these days.

[Iris is on a couch in Barbara's room, lounging in an untidy pile of German Shepherds and cat. She's wearing a dazzling, iridescent blue butterfly-themed Spandex outfit and mask and knee-high gold leather boots; if anything, she looks younger than your regular Iris, lean, muscled and athletic. She doesn't even have a drink in her hand, although that may only be in deference to Babs.]

'Ello all. Any other Gotham faces still 'ere?

[bodilesswarrior]

True, and he's got nothing on you. [This is more familiar still; the warmth of her grin, the light in her eyes. Clearly, their relationship is still going strong, burning hot as their hearts.]

[routemistress]

[She grins back, sleek and smug as a creamfed cat.]

No knocking our Admiral, now. Second best boss I ever 'ad.

[Out of a grand total of two, and that only if you count Oracle as an actual boss, but WHATEVS.]

[bodilesswarrior]

[She'll never trust the Admiral, really, nor quite like him, but she's gotten...comfortable with him. The Barge, in her eyes, has done far more good than harm, and she's grateful for it.

Still.]

Everyone needs a good knocking, now and then.

[routemistress]

[Iris raises an eyebrow and the butterflies in her hair shift their wings.]

Oooh, you offering, lady?

[wedonot]

You're different. [But he still knows who she is. That's the problem of quasi allying yourself with a telepath who's never had much reason to keep his thoughts to himself.]

[bodilesswarrior]

[The sudden smile, bright and instinctive, fades almost immediately in favour of a furrowed brow.] So are you. Not just younger, either.

How do you remember me?

[wedonot]

You went by "The Red Hood." [Which might clear it up a little, but she's probably been around for more than one flood or breach where she's used that identity by this point, so who knows.]

[bodilesswarrior]

[Her lips purse.] Ah. [It has, indeed, happened several times, and didn't tend to bode well for anybody.] Young, angry, violent.

[wedonot]

You wanted me to overthrow the Admiral. [And it still kind of sounds like a great idea, if he's being totally honest.]

[strangehistorian]

Hello, Commissioner! Welcome back!

I'd like to ask you not to reveal any information about the future that may cause a paradox.

[bodilesswarrior]

Thanks, Chromie.

I'll be careful, but I have to wonder if it would really make a difference. The Barge doesn't seem to care about the rules of time travel. [Granted, neither does her girlfriend.]

[strangehistorian]

No, it doesn't.

Nevertheless, telling a person something about their future decisions may still influence said desiccation.

[bodilesswarrior]

True. Of course, it's also possible I was meant to tell them in the first place.

ahhhh fucking phone typing! :(

[strangehistorian]

It is difficult to say.

video;

[notdreaming]

Miss Gordon, hello. I don't believe you've made Commissioner by my time, so congratulations!

video;

[bodilesswarrior]

Thank you, Kara. [She can tell that much at a glance; which Kara, now, that's the question.] Still Supergirl?

video;

[notdreaming]

[ She rolls her eyes, but it's an amused sort of exasperated. She knows that Babs' Kara is different. ]

Not when I can help it. I keep trying to get people to just call me Kara. Kal's been less than no help in that department.

video;

[bodilesswarrior]

[A soft laugh.] I tried to get people calling me Batwoman, back in the day, but no one went for it. [SIGH. That name turned into its own legacy, at least. Kate, she knows, is very proud of Bette and Harper.]

video;

[notdreaming]

One would think an alien ambassador would have some say in what people call her, but the media will be the media.

[patheticvillain]

[Cassel squints. She looks familiar, sort of, as though they've crossed paths once or twice before.]

Commissioner of what?

[bodilesswarrior]

[She doesn't speak, for a moment. She's grown used to this; people she loves not recognising her. But it still takes her a second; Cassel is so completely entrenched in the fabric of her life, now. It's disconcerting.]

Gotham City police.

[patheticvillain]

So you arrest people.

[His understanding of the chain of command of coppers is fuzzy, but this is probably not someone he wants to associate with.]

[bodilesswarrior]

That's part of the job, yeah. [She doesn't sound particularly enthused about it, though, not really.]

To me, it's more about protecting people. And that includes the ones who do the crimes.

[patheticvillain]

Why would you protect criminals? That doesn't make sense.