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If you were to ask Barbara, she would not count herself among Bruce's children. If anything, she considers herself a niece at best.
Though that doesn't stop the community who knew her as the original Batgirl (and the few that know she's Oracle) from seeing the similarities: a familiar cadence to her voice when she knows her view is right, a mirrored glare when things go wrong, the arch of a brow when she’s putting clues together. Years of working beside Bruce, of being cut from a similar cloth, she’s the original eldest daughter of the Bat.
This is all to say that, while Barbara denies being one of Bruce’s children, the soul of the City has long accepted the fact. There are other plans at play for their Oracle, as an ever watchful eye while its Knights are out of play.
Radio silence from Bruce is nothing new for Barbara, especially when there’s a long case going on and he’s going through the starting motions. What is weird is she knows that everyone, save Duke and Selina, is in town. Which means in the time things have gone quiet either Dick or Cass should have sent her a message of some sort. Just a quick check in, whether it be an emoji or a simple hello.
So when Bruce rings up her video comm with the cowl down, Barbara can’t help but search his face. “B?”
“Oracle, I’m turning Gotham over to you temporarily.” There’s an emotion in her voice that she can’t quite place. There’s a hint of the tone he used to use before Dick left for the Titans before they lost Jason. If this were then, she wouldn’t feel a chill run down her back. Something is wrong. Her expression conveys that.
“Verification code,” Her voice graver than she’d like, but she can’t play games with an order like this. She and Bruce had come up with the codes over coffee. It was a nice little bonding moment in case they were compromised. Changing every 4 months now instead of the previous 6, only Barbara and Bruce know their sequence and meaning. As he flawlessly repeats the numbers, Barbara runs over them in her head. It’s not a possession or body snatcher situation, it’s something else?
“I tried to contact you earlier but your system said it was locked down.” Not that it would have mattered, she could have broken through. The point still stands though, she’s never locked out for this long without something being off.
“We triggered a biocontainment protocol by accident,” Barbara scans over Bruce as he twitches just so, “The Cave is back online now and fully functional.”
“And you’re leaving Gotham?” ‘All of you?’ goes unspoken but implied. It’s been a long time since everyone was vacant from the city. There was always at least someone waiting in the wings. It was strange and odd.
“Temporarily. We’ll be on the Watchtower for a few hours at most.”
“You’re not telling me something. I don’t like being in the dark, B.”
On that, she can see Bruce agrees as he promises to speak in person about it when they return. For now, she gives her own order to check in every three hours, which he accepts easily. Instead he trades off with Dick, whom Barbara argues is even worse at getting information out of. He’s got Bruce’s walls but further reinforced behind a smile and a laugh. Thankfully, she’s one of the people who can read between his lines more than most.
Barbara sighs, it’s a nervous smile this time. “This is going to be the longest hours of my life. I need a vacation.”
“You’ll do great. If there’s anyone who can keep the city together while Batman it’s away it’s you.” Dick means that earnestly. Behind the domino mask, Barbara can tell he is trying very hard to stay focused on her eyes. “You have a grocery list ready before we head out?”
Barbara already had the profiles up the moment Bruce was handing over the reigns. Some were favors big and small, some were off duty at the moment, some might ask her for a favor or two in return. “I’m gonna ring them up as soon as I sign off. Though hopefully everything will be quiet.”
Dick chuckles as Barbara pinches her nose. She’s going to need a triple shot espresso from Alysia’s place. And a muffin. Thankfully one of the people she’s going to call won’t mind doing a delivery drop. Feeling a headache coming on, Barbara waves him goodbye and wishes him well.
“Blue, are you free for a few hours?” Barbara calls up Harper Row. A talented young woman who took it upon herself to make the streets one step at a time. A genius engineer that has even both Bruce and Lucius Fox’s praise for her natural talents.
“Uh oh, what did the Brady Bunch do now,” Harper quips, wiping off her hands on a rag. A drop of oil streaks her cheek as she’s working on restoring a car from the 50s.
“I’m..not entirely sure, I just need you on standby just in case, please.”
“Sure, it’s been a minute since I’ve done a patrol. Coffee?” Harper asks, doing a mental list of her gear that needs a tune-up or a recalibration.
“Please and thank you. I’ll see you in 20.” Barbara signs off, swiping from a sky blue symbol to a dark red bat.
“Hello, hello?” A bright voice answers as Barbara can’t help but twitch a little. Bruce had been teaching Kate how to develop her own Brucie persona.
“Hi, Kate. Bruce and his lot will be out of town for a bit. Did you have plans tonight?” Barbara doesn’t interact a lot with Kate, but she’s family all the same. Kate can easily parse her underlying words and meaning with little trouble.
“Well, I had dinner and a show planned with a beautiful model,” Kate replies, looking over her shoulder. A woman with deep brown skin and short cut hair in a gorgeous orange dress is flipping through a fashion magazine with her rival on the cover. A mystical looking necklace rests on her chest.
“Would she be up for a tour of the town for a few hours? Tell her Bruce will owe her a favor.” Barbara asks, knowing a woman of such skill on call would be helpful.
“I can ask. If it’s a yes, we’ll meet at your place soon. Anything else?”
“Yes, if it’s okay, I need you to do a delivery for me before you arrive.”
“Spend me the details and I’ll take care of it.”
Some of the tension in Barbara’s shoulders relaxes. This was the second hardest part.
At that Barbara requests buying a peace lily to be dropped off at an undisclosed location with a red and black ribbon tied around it. This was a trick Selina trusted her with, one that Bruce doesn’t know, that will keep a certain duo preoccupied for a time. Better to tell them beforehand then dealing with them finding out on their own. And with the person who has more eyes and ears than Barbara herself, it was only a matter of time.
“On it, Pipi.” Kate calls her, an attempt to lighten the mood. Barbara wrinkles her nose, she has worn pigtails for decades (though her hair is getting down her to the middle of her back).
“Thank you, Annie,” Barbara replies, trading one redhead character for another. A small laugh leaves her lips as she receives an ending dial tone. After a beat, Barbara frowns, since this is the third yet hardest one she wanted to recruit. A winking green cat symbol floats on her screen.
“Jade, are you state side? Near Gotham by any chance?” Barbara asks as the comms connect after a moment of her hesitating.
“Hello to you too, ruby. I’m sure you already know the answer to that, hmm?” Jade Nguyen, the deadly and capable, Chesire teases.
Barbara narrows her eyes. “For business or pleasure?”
“Oh I finished my business. Why? Are you offering pleasure?” The playful tone is gone, replaced with a genuine question. Barbara rolls her eyes, fighting a blush. You save a woman’s life, share a bed, and she never lets it go. Barbara can’t help but think this must have been Bruce and Selina started off in the start.
“I have a favor to ask of you, for old times sake.”
“I don’t have to worry about Big Bird and the Baby Bat?” Jade wonders, referring to Dick and Cass who dislike her for different reasons but with equal intensity. It really doesn’t bother her emotionally but it can be suffocating dealing with such heavy glares while talking to Barbara.
“They’re a bit preoccupied I’m afraid. How soon can--” There’s a knock on her door, but Harper is stuck in traffic. Plus the rhythm is only one Barbara shared with the Birds of Prey which Jade was briefly a part of. It doesn’t take long for Barbara to wheel herself to the front door to find a tall and strong woman in a shocking green coat, holding her wounded arm. A feeling of deja vu from when Dinah brought Jade to the Clock Tower washes over Barbara.
“I was on my way here. I hope you still have that good coffee where you hid it last time.” Jade gives a pained smile to which Barbara doesn’t know whether to laugh or smack the woman on her good arm.
A different kind of headache is forming, but this one is easier to handle since she knows what she’s getting. Now she just has to wait for Bruce to tell her what’s wrong when he comes back. Till then, while she may not see herself as Bruce’s child, she is certainly one of Gotham’s. For that she’ll keep her line of sight on every border of the City for as long as she can.