27 - Voice

[bodilesswarrior]

[Iris is dying.

It takes everything inside Barbara, every ounce of training and experience, to be still. She knows she'll be too late. If she goes bursting in without knowing the situation, chances are high she'll just die next.

She knows better than that. It's not what Iris would want.

So she stays in her tower. She maps the way to Jack's cabin in her head, and she gathers her weapons, and she waits.

She's just about to make her own call - to the people she trusts most - when she gets Iris' message. When her heart sinks and bile fills her mouth.

She will not feel guilty or foolish or afraid; there's no time.]

[Voice]

[Barbara's voice is low and grim, betraying none of the rage or grief she feels.]

Jack killed Iris. I don't know why, not yet. She's in his cabin; he might still be there, he might have left.

There's something wrong with Mason - drugs, she said. Not sure how it's connected.

[A slow, deep breath.]

The laughter. The warped mirrors. They might be connected, too. They might not.

Either way, you need to stay on your guard. Look out for each other. Iris might not be the first victim, and she probably won't be the last. That's how the Barge is.

[Private to Cain]

You got one too, right?

[Private to everyone Iris is close to]

[She switches to video for this. She figures she owes them that. Everyone else that Iris loves.

There are no tears streaking down her face. Instead, her lips are curled in a fierce snarl, and her eyes are blazing. Still, her voice is steady.]

No one go out half-cocked. We don't know what we're dealing with, not yet, and the last thing she'd want is you getting yourselves killed.

[Private to Motorcycle Boy]

[Back to voice! Hoarse but calm.]

Harvey may be missing. Have you talked to him lately?

Comments

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[bodilesswarrior]

Well, back home, Cyborg has boot jets.

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[mistconduct]

Hey, I'm still learning how to walk up stairs. I'm really not so sure I should be putting rockets where I can set things on fire.

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[bodilesswarrior]

No, I get you. When you're ready, though - it could come in handy.

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[mistconduct]

Think it'd make Hit-Girl jealous?

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[bodilesswarrior]

Oh, hell yeah. Rocket boots are awesome.

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[mistconduct]

Well, put me on the short list.

...After we're done sorting out this fuck-up.

[Private, filtered to Iris' friends]

[bodilesswarrior]

[A low snort.] Yeah.

Re: Private

[velocette]

I'll sneak by there on my way back... I'm heading to the lab. I'll try to get the dangerous chemicals out, but I doubt I'll know all of them--they didn't cover it in junior chemistry. [He almost laughs.]

[PRIVATE]

[termofendearment]

Good. Keep me posted?

private;

[punched_hitler]

[There's really some history here, isn't there? Maybe he'll ask when the circumstances are less dire.]

Or just a little more loony.

[Or a lot.]

private;

[bodilesswarrior]

Don't underestimate him, because of that. He knows exactly what he's doing.

[PRIVATE]

[bodilesswarrior]

I'll do my best.

private;

[punched_hitler]

I won't. That's the last thing I want to do.

Even madness has a method.

Private

[bodilesswarrior]

[Barbara does - just for a second, rough and quiet.] I can give you an extra course later, if you want.

[private]

[bodilesswarrior]

No. [She didn't think it was, not really. It was just a possibility she had to roll out, just in case.]

The Admiral might be compromised again. The ship - I don't know. [She feels, suddenly, trapped in her own skin. She wants to fight, forge, fix, but she doesn't know where to start, she doesn't know what she needs or what she can do.]

On the Mirror Barge - he was the Joker I remember, from my world. [She gestures to Iris, and she doesn't let her hand tremble.] The bullet wounds...

[PRIVATE]

[termofendearment]

You better.

[private]

[heisrisen]

Let's assume the Admiral isn't for now, not until we've got positive evidence for it.

[Rather than absence.]

What about the bullet wounds?

[Call and response, details, grounding. One thing to work on at a time. Jack is the place to start, or whatever he's become.]

[private]

[bodilesswarrior]

[She hates assumption, but she knows they're useful, sometimes. Better to focus on what you know for sure.

She pulls her hand back, and gestures to her own abdomen.]

It's the same place, the same pattern.

[private]

[heisrisen]

[He had a file on a version of her once, at the very beginning of his time on the barge. He nods, mouth tight, quiet anger.]

So. We assume for now it's the Joker operating. Motivations, methods, lazy taunts.

Weakness? Likely moves?

[private]

[bodilesswarrior]

[It annoys her, sometimes, to see people angry on her behalf. Not today.]

He's erratic - that's a strength and a weakness. We can't predict him, but he can barely predict himself. He might have played a long game here [and it makes her feel sick, knowing she might have been talking to Jack and - ] but only because he had to.

Jack might still be in there, somewhere. We shouldn't bank on it, but it could be something to exploit if we have the chance. [And no proper weaponry.]

He'll target Jack's friends, probably - Derek is already missing - and people he knows from Gotham. Harvey is MIA, too. Other than that - he won't care who he hurts, as long as it's entertaining.