Chapter Text
The sound of gravel crunching beneath her tires was something Waverly Earp hadn’t been aware she’d missed until she pulled into the elongated loop that served as the Earp Manor’s driveway. Stepping out of her car and into the dreary Gotham air she took a deep breath in as she let the nostalgia of her family home sink in. She hadn’t even realized how homesick she’d been before now. As a child, the Earp land had always seemed like Purgatory to Waverly. Grey and gloomy and seemingly stuck in time while the rest of Gotham hustled and bustled away. Now after being gone for four years all she could see were the places her and her sisters would play, where her mother had held impromptu picnics for them when the sun shone, and where her father would silently stand watch, distant and yet protective.
Waverly was brought out of her trance by a gleeful figure coming from the door. Descending from the grand steps to the front porch was her Aunt Gus. Gus quickly pulled Waverly into one of the tightest hugs she had ever been in, second only to the one Gus had given her when she was dropped off at college.
“Waverly,” she breathed out as if she had been holding the name in these last few years. “Welcome home.”
“Hi Gus,” Waverly replied, unable to help the mile-wide grin on her face. Phone calls and Skype had been cheap substitutes for Gus’s physical presence and to be held by the woman who had served as a parent for so many years was a feeling Waverly wouldn’t trade for the world.
Finally, the two broke apart and started grabbing Waverly’s things out of the car. Making their way up the steps to the imposing manor, the two were greeted by Shorty. He gave a good-natured chuckle. “Never in all the years I’ve served this family has an Earp taken their own luggage into this house.”
“I got it Shorty. No one was doing it for me when I was away, I can do it now.”
“You’re getting too old to be doing the work of a whole a staff anyway,” added Gus.
“I am the whole staff,” retorted Shorty. It had been years since the Earp Manor had significantly cut down its staff to just Shorty. It was decided the Earp’s need for secrecy outweighed the need for a smoothly running household. Shorty only stayed because after his years of service he was more a family friend than servant.
“Where’s Wynonna?” Waverly asked, her older sister’s absence feeing even more apparent in the emptiness of the grand hallway.
“I’m sure she’s skulking about somewhere. Lord knows we’re lucky to see her once every few days,” Gus replied, not masking the annoyance in her voice. Waverly made eye contact with Shorty over Gus’s shoulder. She raised her eyebrows ever so slightly so that Gus wouldn’t notice. Shorty gave her the smallest nod.
“Well I’m sure I’ll find her somewhere around here. I’ll just go take these up to my room and go looking for her.”
“Ha, good luck with that! If you do find her, try to find out if she’s actually planning on joining us for dinner tonight.”
“Will do!” Waverly managed to get all her things up to the third floor on her own despite Shorty’s protests. When they were stashed away, she made her way down to her father’s study.
The room was kept immaculately clean and yet looked like it hadn’t been touched since she was six. On the desk was a framed picture of her father and two older sisters. Waverly liked to imagine she hadn’t been born when the photo was taken, but she knew by Willa and Wynonna’s ages in the picture that wasn’t the case. In another photo her father was shaking the hand of Commissioner Holiday after a rather large donation from Earp Enterprises to Gotham City PD. There was even a photograph of him and her mother that he hadn’t gotten rid of, even after she walked out on the family. It was hard not to feel low realizing she was the only one he had not deemed important enough to keep a memento of in the room.
Shaking the thought out of her head, she made her way to the old grandfather clock. The face was exposed allowing Waverly to adjust the hour and minute hands with her fingers. It was the one thing she knew Wynonna had changed in all these years. She set the time to 10:47 and pressed a small button hidden in the clock’s detailing. One of the wall panels opened to reveal an elevator that was much more modern than the rest of the room. Waverly entered it and pressed the down button on the panel inside and it began its rapid descent at a speed that was just on the cusp of being terrifying.
When the doors opened again, Waverly stepped out into a massive cave structure. Contrasting with the ancient stone walls was the all the high-tech enhancements her family had made over the generations. She followed the familiar pathway past the weapon testing facility and the garage filled with various types of vehicles that were well beyond military grade. Each echoed step was muffled by the constant humming of the machinery. Finally, she approached her destination, a network of super computers where a figure was sitting, their back towards Waverly.
“Tell Gus I’m going to be busy tonight Shorty.”
“Well okay, but she seemed like she’s about to go on a warpath if you skip dinner again.” The chair the figure was in spun around at the sound of Waverly’s voice, revealing her older sister Wynonna. Wynonna’s face sprouted a grin as she got up to embrace her little sister.
“Hey baby girl! I didn’t realize you were coming home today.”
“Well maybe if you would respond to my texts or answer my calls.”
“Right, sorry about that. I’ve been busy lately with work.”
“For the last four years?” Wynonna was silent, but the guilty look on her face caused Waverly to drop the subject. “Work-work or Bat-work?”
“Take a look,” Wynonna answered turning back to the computers. “With Earp Enterprises buying out the top security system providers in Gotham I’m able to keep an eye on the majority of the city and we’re hidden behind enough legalities that anyone who goes digging around won’t be able to trace anything back to us. The gaps are being filled in by a direct and untraceable patch to GCPD’s scanners that may or may not have been provided by one Commissioner Holiday.”
“Because that’s not an invasion of privacy.”
“Things have been getting bad in Gotham, Waves. You’ve heard about the rumors of meta humans?”
“What like Superman?” Wynonna groaned in disapproval. “What? Not a fan?”
“We don’t get along.”
“Wait you’ve met him?” Waverly asked excitedly, “What’s he like-“
“This is entirely beside the point.”
“Okay so what is the point?”
“Meta humans have been popping up all over Gotham. Starting to make themselves known. And while most of the population still thinks they’re just myths or urban legends, I have a few new scars that say otherwise. The commissioner is in over his head dealing with them so…”
“The Bat has to.”
“Precisely.”
“Wynonna-“
“Don’t start, Shorty is already up my ass about it. I’ve been developing new weaponry that plays to the weaknesses of each one I come across. I’m more than enough of a match for them.”
“All on your own?”
“Waverly don’t.”
“You can’t do this by yourself. You’re not supposed to. The Bat needs a Robin, Daddy always said.”
“We’ve been through this before you left, I’m not bringing you into this.”
“Well what are you going to do? Start pulling orphans off the street and giving them weapons?”
“I’m not pulling in anyone who could get hurt dammit.”
“I can do it Wynonna. I didn’t stop training when I went to school. I’m even better than I was before.”
“I’m not letting you end up like Willa!”
“Well I’m not letting you end up like Daddy!”
The cave was silent, save the electrical whirring. Neither girl could look each other in the eye, their words reopening wounds neither had entirely recovered from.
“Maybe you can take over Oracle for Shorty. He needs a break and you were always really good at it when you were a kid.” Wynonna finally said, breaking the silence. It was half an olive branch but an olive branch nonetheless.
“Yeah, sure.” Waverly tried not to sound bitter about the compromise. She knew it was Wynonna’s way of letting her help, but she still longed to be a part of the real action. She could only do so much monitoring computer screens and hacking security systems for the Bat, which from Wynonna’s improvements didn’t seem like much of a necessary task these days. “Will you at least come to dinner tonight?”
“Sure kid,” before Waverly could turn and leave, Wynonna pulled her into another hug. “I’m sorry Waverly, I just want to make Gotham safe for you. And I can’t knowingly put you in danger to make that happen.”
“I know.”
“We don’t have to wait for her,” Waverly offered, glancing down at her full plate of food and doing her best to ignore her grumbling stomach.
“If she didn’t want us to wait for her, she should have been on time.”
“I didn’t even tell her what time dinner was going to be, it’s not her fault she’s late,” Gus shot her a look. “Well even if it is, it just seems cruel to punish me.”
Gus gave a chuckle, “The only way to get that girl to do anything is to make her think it’s going to affect you somehow.”
“Again, just seems cruel to me.”
“Who’s being cruel to you? Need me to beat ‘em up like old times?” Wynonna entered the dining room, trying to hide the fact she was out of breath from rushing in.
“Not unless you want to take Gus in a fight.”
“Ooh, hard pass on that one.”
“How kind of you to join us Wynonna,” Gus interjected, staring Wynonna down. Wynonna deflated a bit and sheepishly took her seat across from Waverly.
“Sorry about that, I got caught up in some work.”
“I swear, if it wasn’t for Shorty and me you would have starved yourself because of your work by now. If you keep this up, Waverly’s going to have to take over the company.”
“That would require Wynonna letting me actually participate in the family business.” Waverly said pointedly, punctuating her sentence with her first bite of food. Wynonna gave Waverly and incredulous look.
“What’s this all about?” Gus asked.
“I thought we had come to an arrangement, Waverly.”
“Wynonna are you not going to give your own sister a job?”
“I didn’t say that, I-“
“It’s called Earp Enterprises, Wynonna, and last time I checked, Waverly was just as much of an Earp as you are.” Wynonna looked at Waverly for back up, but she merely gave Wynonna a shit-eating smirk from across the table.
“What Waverly is neglecting to mention, is that I offered her a… position. It wasn’t the one she wanted, but it’s all I can offer her in good conscience.”
“Oh, sorry I didn’t realize the position I had asked for had been filled,” Waverly responded sarcastically.
Wynonna groaned as she tried to figure out a way to word her response as to not clue Gus into the real conversation. “Listen, if I had outright put you into the position you asked for it would make a lot of people unhappy. They might try to be corporate assholes about it and find a way to take you out. This project management position is just as important in the long run, but it keeps you out of trouble if things go south.”
“Jesus Wynonna, you always make it sound as though the company is on the brink of a hostile takeover,” Gus chided.
“Daddy always said, ‘There’s no Gotham without the Earps,’ I’m just making sure we don’t have to find out if that’s true or not.”
Waverly huffed, but conceded. There was no point in arguing with Wynonna once she had made up her mind and trying to bring in Gus as a mediator was pointless if she couldn’t tell Gus the real issue being fought over. The rest of dinner was filled with small talk of varying degrees of awkwardness. Gus was the first to excuse herself.
Upon their aunt’s exit, Waverly felt a swift kick connect to her shin, causing a yelp of pain. “Hey! What are you, twelve?” She hissed across the table.
“I could as you the same question Ms. Tattle Tale! What the hell were you trying to pull? Do you want Gus find out about everything?”
“I don’t see why she can’t know! She lives here, it’s a miracle she hasn’t stumbled into the Batcave already!”
“Because the less people who know about the Bat the less chance we have of getting found out and the fewer people can get hurt!”
“God Wynonna, you can’t keep everyone out of danger one-hundred percent of the time! We live in Gotham for Christ’s sake!”
“And that is precisely why I have to keep as many people out of Bat-business as possible!”
“You are impossible!”
“If it means you’re safe, I can live with that.”
Waverly stood up suddenly and snatched her empty plate off the table before starting to storm off into the kitchen. She heard Wynonna’s chair scraping against the floor as the older one got up to follow her, but she didn’t slow down or even acknowledge the footsteps now chasing after her.
“Waverly, please just listen.”
“What else is there to listen to? You aren’t going to change your mind so what’s the point in arguing about it.”
“It’s not that I don’t want your help Waves, okay? I want you involved-“
“Yeah I know, you just don’t trust me to take care of myself.”
“No. I mean, I know you can now. It’s just that if you’re in the field with me I’m not going to be focused on what’s going on, I’m going to be focused on whether or not you’re safe.”
“That sounds an awful lot like not trusting me to take care of myself.”
“You know what, if you want to take it like that fine! I don’t care. You can’t argue that you’re not better with computers than anyone in this family. Tactically it makes more sense to put you in Oracle.”
“So what, Shorty’s just gonna start dressing in tights and Kevlar and parkouring off the side of buildings with you in the middle of the night?”
“Shorty is going to get an overdue break from all of this.”
Waverly stopped in her tracks and took a moment, Wynonna nearly running into her. “Fine,” she replied shortly.
“Fine?”
“Fine.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah, Wynonna. I’m done arguing.”
Wynonna put a hand on Waverly’s shoulder before pulling her into a hug. “Everything I do, I do for you.”
“I know.”
“I’ll see you in the cave?”
“Yeah. I’ll come down soon.”
Waverly sat bored in front of the Batcave’s computer network. Occasionally she would catch flashes of a dark shadow across a security camera she had patched into. She heard the brief static of the commlink coming to life, snapping her to attention.
“Any movement Oracle?”
“Just you so far. Wave at the next camera you pass, it’ll be funny.”
“Oracle,” The Bat chastised.
“All I’m saying is that the security guards at the docks would get a kick out of it.”
“We need to stay focused.”
“Well you didn’t give me much to go off of before you left besides some big guy with mob ties.”
“Ha. Well, that’s a gross understatement on my part and I apologize. Pull his file. Keyword: Croc.”
“Doing so now.” Waverly opened the file, now taking up the main screen while surveillance footage played on the smaller, surrounding screens. Grainy images of an abnormally large man with grotesque, alligator like features splayed out. “So, Croc wasn’t just a nick name.”
“I mean, considering he goes by Killer Croc…”
“Of course he does.” Waverly scrolled through the information Wynonna and Shorty had compiled on Killer Croc. They hadn’t found much on his background, nor how he came to look like he did. They had, however, came up with an exhaustive list of his abilities. “Let’s see here: Super strength and durability, enhanced speed and agility, can hold his breath for an extended period of time- and how did you measure that one out?”
“By nearly getting drowned.”
“Fun. Razor sharp claws and teeth, ultra-hardened skin, and a regenerative healing factor. And you willing go in and fight this guy? Alone?”
“Someone’s got to do it and GCPD is way in over their head with this guy.”
“So of course, one woman in a bat costume is the right choice for the job. I feel like Superman is better suited for this.”
“Don’t you dare say that name over this channel ever again.”
“Okay Bat, but you’ve got to tell me what your beef with him is when you get back.”
“Keep focused on the mission Oracle.”
“You know, if I were doing highly illegal activities at the docks I’d do them in broad day light. Like I don’t know what regular dock activity is supposed to look like. I just assume if you’re there during normal business hours you’re there doing normal business things. The only reason they look suspicious is because they’re doing stuff at night and with guns. And when you think about it, the guns are only there because they’re afraid someone is going to catch them doing highly illegal activities. I mean, overall, criminals would seem at least seventy-five-percent less shady if they did stuff during the day. Shady in their hearts, not in amount of light. That should be the motto.”
“Oracle!”
“You’re just upset because it would ruin the whole ‘I am the night’ thing that every bat has banked on since forever. Let’s be real, you’d look significantly less intimidating during the day.”
“Okay new rule, you keep the channel clear unless you see anything.”
“Fine, killjoy.”
“Mmm!”
Waverly pouted in response, despite the fact she knew Wynonna couldn’t see her. The next hour and a half was spent watching Wynonna flit by security cameras as she cleared the various warehouses and hidden alleyways on the docks. The stakeout was proving to be a long and boring process. At least Wynonna got to do the fun part, making use of her acrobatic skills to stalk the shadows of the docks. Waverly was just earning a cramp in her lower back and a strain in her eyes. Unable to bare it any longer, she turned away from the bright computer screens, shutting her eyes tight as she rubbed them over the lids.
“Long night?” a familiar voice asked, causing Waverly to jump nearly out of her seat entirely. Gus stood mere feet from her, hand on her hip and with an eyebrow cocked as if it were the most casual setting in the world.
“Oh my God. Gus,” Waverly started, trying to find a way to explain everything to her aunt, which unfortunately ended with a lot of rambling. “This is absolutely incredible, huh? Like, who knew we had some sort of access point to… all of this in the manor? Not me that’s for sure, I just now stumbled upon all this. Oh, and definitely not Wynonna. Not that I would know if Wynonna had secret knowledge of some sort of secret… tunnel. One that I would most certainly not associate with some particular sort of animal.”
“Go ahead and give it a rest Waverly. You’re good at many things, but lying ain’t one of them. ‘Sides I already know everything.”
“Y-You do?” Waverly asked, jaw gaping like a fish in her stunned state.
“I’ve lived in this house since right after your mama left. Do you honestly think your daddy didn’t tell me everything?”
“Well he never mentioned it. Not that he would, to me that is. And then you never mentioned it…”
“I knew Wynonna was going to end up taking the whole ‘family secret’ thing to the extreme. Your daddy and Willa… Well, it affected her more than anyone I think. She means well trying to protect you, and everyone else for that matter, but she’s scared she’s gonna make a mistake and lose everything.”
“I know that. But Gus, she’s going around picking fight with mutant crocodile men without any back up. She’s going to get herself killed one of these days. She needs all the help she can get, and if the worst possible scenario comes then Gotham needs someone who’s ready and trained to become the Bat.”
Gus sighed, crossing her arms and looking away from Waverly as if to take a moment to choose her words. Waverly nervously waited for her aunt to speak. “You’re right, but the way I see it you were never meant to be Robin.” Waverly didn’t know which sank faster, her expression or her heart. She had truly though Gus of all people would have been the one to agree with her. “But Wynonna was never meant to be the Bat.” Gus motioned for Waverly to follow her and started towards the armory. Waverly took a moment, unsure if she should leave Wynonna in the dark. Deciding disobeying Gus was a worse offense, she scrambled out of the chair to follow.
Waverly caught up to Gus, walking past the displays of weaponry and armor. Waverly took a brief pause when they walked by Willa and Ward’s old suits, kept in their final tattered condition in display cases, but tore herself away when she realized Gus had kept a steady pace. Without looking back at Waverly, Gus spoke again. “Your daddy didn’t tell you all of the history involving the Bat when you girls were growing up. Well, maybe he told Willa, but we can’t say for certain. There have been times when the Bat was too thinly stretched and needed more help than a Robin could provide. Other times the Earp family was just too goddamn big and the ones that weren’t the Bat and Robin needed something to do to keep them out of trouble. Titles still got passed on from Bat to Robin, and usually when the torch was passed the others would just hang up their capes so to speak. Now I think you and I can agree Wynonna falls into the former category.”
“Well considering there are only two Earps…” Gus stopped at a vault with an electronic lock and started punching in a pin. Waverly watched as her aunt’s fingers type in 1-9-6-7. “Oh, no, Wynonna’s passcode is 1047.” The door swished open revealing a room of the Batcave Waverly had never seen before. Gus chuckled when she caught a glimpse of Waverly’s stunned expression.
“I know, but it ain’t mine.” She entered the room and Waverly followed after her. “It wasn’t too terribly long ago that I got involved with the latter category. When your daddy was just starting out, your Uncle Curtis and I helped out. When your mother left, we stopped and focused on helping raise you and Wynonna.”
“And when Daddy and Willa died?”
“I got out. Decided you and Wynonna were more important than all of Gotham. Curtis tried to be the Bat for a while, but he wasn’t cut out for it. Not alone anyway.”
“Why didn’t he train Wynonna? If she had been Robin maybe she would have been more prepared when she took over. Maybe Uncle Curtis could have done it longer and Gotham wouldn’t have gone so long without the Bat.”
“Waverly, Wynonna wasn’t ready. One night as Robin and she watched her sister and her father die. She was traumatized. She needed therapy, not to stay up all night beating up criminals only to go to school the next day and act out even more than she already was. You can disagree with me all you want, but if I’ve only done one thing right by you girls it was keeping you out of this life for as long as I did,” Gus motioned for Waverly to follow her farther into the room. “But you’re both adults now, I’ve made sure you got every opportunity to get as far out of the Bat’s shadow as possible. If this is what you really want I won’t object.”
Gus stopped in front of an armor stand. It donned a deep purple leather jacket with a yellow bat insignia across the front, as well as a matching cowl and pair of leggings. Attached to the jacket by pairs of snap buttons on each shoulder was a black cape with yellow lining. A yellow utility belt was strung around the waist with enough pouches and pockets to put Wynonna’s belt to shame. Waverly tentatively reached out to feel the hem of the jacket sleeve. “This was my old suit,” Gus started, “it’s not a bullet resistant as Wynonna’s or your daddy’s was, but it’ll give you a decent amount of protection. And I suppose there’s nothing stopping you from making modifications to it.”
“You’re giving me your suit?” Waverly asked, stunned and still unable to tear her eyes away from the clothing in question.
“You think I brought you down her to give you a history lesson and brag about my glory days? Like I said before, you weren’t meant to be a Robin, so go be a Bat.”
“Wynonna won’t like this.”
“I don’t see why she has to know.”
“I’m supposed to be on Oracle duty, she’s going to know something’s up if I’m not giving her updates, or if she calls and needs a response.”
“Don’t worry about it, Sweetheart. You honestly think Shorty has been up late every night running this thing. I have my ways of making sure Wynonna doesn’t know who’s really behind the computer screen.”
Waverly took a moment, looking between the suit and Gus. Could she really go behind Wynonna’s back this way? Sure, she had wanted to help carry on the family legacy, make Gotham a safer place, the whole shebang- the thrill of it all was an added bonus, of course- but she had wanted to do it with Wynonna’s approval. She wanted to have her sister’s back and know her sister had hers as well. And if she ever found out? Wynonna’s trust was fragile enough already. Waverly lying to her could shatter it altogether. But Wynonna was busy fighting super-powered master criminals these days. Who was defending the average Gotham citizen from the crime that really affected them? It was either follow Wynonna’s orders or let Gotham descend into the pit of corruption the world thought it was. When she thought of it like that, there was no choice.
“I really hope I’m the same size as you used to be.”