bodilesswarrior | TLV 1

TLV 1 - Video

[Barbara is sitting in her wheelchair, hands folded in her lap as she smiles wryly at the camera.]

Hey there, Barge. You've got another Warden. My name is Barbara.

Nice to meet all of you.

[Her smile fades as she leans forward, just slightly.]

I know a lot of you aren't here by choice. If it were up to me – [she shakes her head] - but it's not. We're all working with what we have.

That's no reason not to take the chance now that you've got it. A lot of people don't. And I'm here to help with that, if you'll let me.

[She leans back again, arching her eyebrows.]

So – these headaches. Is this a normal thing around here?

((Hell yes she's affected.))

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[We can thank Bruce and two years of living on the Barge for the fact that Dick looks utterly unfazed to see her here despite internally flipping out a little, because yikes. This is going to be. Interesting.]

Less normal than some other stuff.

Welcome to the Barge, Barbara.

The headaches aren't exactly a normal thing. You've arrived in the middle of a flood-- an occasional anomaly that produces random effects in people. This week, it's headaches and nausea. [Except in Arthur, as he's not affected, thankfully.]

[Barbara's eyes widen just slightly, only a hint of the utter shock she's feeling.]

No kidding. How long have you been here?

[He definitely doesn't seem like he just got here. And there's - there's something -

It's a ridiculous time anomaly, isn't it.]

[A slight smile, as she nods her thanks. Then she's right down to business.]

So the headaches themselves aren't typical, but the floods are. They're not intentional?

It's debatable. But since the Admiral's been affected by them a few times, himself, I think they really are unintentional.

[Well that's... something. At least she knows who he is this time, although again, he's learned that even that isn't really a good thing sometimes. He's used to being the one who's farthest behind in the timeline, and every time someone from back home shows up, he can't help but worry that there's some new thing he's got to "look forward to" waiting for him at home.

But he lets himself smile a little, even if some of the tension's not going way.]

About two years. What happened last, before you came here?

[Barbara nods, slow and thoughtful.] That, or they got out of hand.

What sort of effects have these floods had?

[Okay, she flat out stares at that one.]

Two years.

["Holy crap" feels like an understatement, so she just...slowly shakes her head. Yeah, that's an anomaly, all right.]

It - the Joker broke out of the Slab. We were rounding up the last of the criminals he infected.

[Oh. Well, have some staring right back. :|]

The Barge pulls people in from different points in the timestream, and sometimes from different universes. There are a lot of people we know on board, and most of them are from a couple years ahead of you. That actually happened a long time ago for me.

Ivy, Harley, Riddler and an alternate version of Crane are here. Ivy and Riddler are both inmates, Crane graduated and came back as a warden. Tim, Steph, Wonder Girl and an AI that works with Hal Jordan called Aya are here as wardens, and Supergirl and an alternate universe's Superboy are here as inmates, and [There's no use beating around the bush, really.] until about a week ago, there was another version of you, here.

Always a possibility.

Variable. Off the top of my head, there have been floods that have turned people into children, animals, given special abilities, made it impossible to lie...

If it were up to you, what?

[It's very rare that Barbara is left speechless, but she stares at Dick for long moments before she responds.]

Another me.

[It will be strange enough, she's sure, being surrounded by people from her future. She definitely has questions on that front - since when is there a Supergirl? How alternate is Superboy, that he's an Inmate? Crane really graduated? - but knowing there was another Barbara takes precedence. ]

...What was she like?

If it were up to me, people would be asked first.

...So, basically, expect the unexpected. [The smile returns, wryer than ever.] I can do that.

She was- [And he hesitates for a moment, trying to figure out how to really explain it.] Intense.

[There's no good way to put this, so he decides to go for just ripping the bandaid off.] In her world, her parents were killed when your dad intervened to help the Waynes. They took you in, and you grew up to, well [And lol this is so hypocritical right now. :c] basically be Batman.

She was here as an inmate. Her warden - Faith Lehane - is probably going to want to have words with you, and she's not really the most subtle person, so. Sorry about that.

Right. I'm sure the ship would be plenty lively if that were the case.

[Barbara slumps back in her seat, eyes wide. She wouldn't be open with most people, but - it was always easier, with Dick, when she let it be.

She knows what it is to lose her parents. She's done it three times now. The idea of losing Dad - because she knows it had to have been Jim Gordon, who saved the Waynes - and of not just drifting from Barbara, but seeing her fall...

She takes a breath, deep and calming. She hasn't. She didn't.]

I - can imagine. What she'd be like.

[A bit terrifying, probably. A rueful little smirk quirks her lips.]

I'll...deal with Faith when it comes to it. [She frowns.] So - she didn't graduate? What happened, then?

Sometimes - [And he hates saying it like this, really, because it sucks that this is so much a part of life here that there's really no other option but to brush it off and keep going as if everything's fine.] People just vanish without warning. It happens to inmates and wardens, there's no real pattern to it, and allegedly the Admiral has no control over when it happens.

It would be more productive. And I know a good amount of people who'd like to turn their lives around.

Besides, most options are better than death. That seems to be the Admiral's MO.

[You're getting an altogether different sort of stare now, Dick.]

So he's either incompetent or cruel.

Funny, that wasn't in the job description.

Incompetent. He's a terrible driver. The headaches right now are a side effect of a flood, which is basically a temporary disturbance with varying effects that range from waking up in the wrong body to not being able to lie. Occasionally we'll stop into ports, which can be basically a vacation on another planet or a catastrophe, and there's usually no way to tell which one it's going to be until you're actually down there, and sometimes we'll crash into the fabric of another reality entirely and think we've spent our whole lives as cowboys in the old west.

It's kind of a wild ride.

Babs? [Have the face of someone who knows you; or thinks they do; a mixture of confusion, and pride, and uncertainty as to how this could have happened.]

...He said the Joker couldn't kill you...

...That's one word for it.

[She didn't expect any of that coming it. But she can roll with it.

She peers at Dick, then.]

And you've been dealing with this for two years?

[And this must be Faith. Her expression softens with genuine apology.]

I'm sorry. I'm not your Barbara.

[She offers a smile, though, sharp and sure.]

But if she's anything like me - no. He damn well couldn't.

[Have a stare; have a moment of utter pain and panic; and then watch her shut it down.] She wasn't.

[You're what she could have been; but never got the chance.]

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