A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also ans the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
Lucien and Barbara have their date after all~
-x-X-x-
After a mont, Barbara makes her decision, giving Bruce a sharp nod.
“Alright. I’ll stay on the Lucien Luthor case. But I’m going to continue doing things my way.”
Bruce radiates amusent, despite the lack of a smile on his cowled face.
“Of course, that was never in question.”
Barbara just gives him a deadpan look at that, because frankly… she wasn’t all that happy with how Bruce had handled a lot of this. She understood compartntalization, of course she did. She also understood segnting a case as potentially earthshattering as this one and having different people take care of different parts.
And finally… she understood that as Oracle, she had long ago distanced herself from the Bat Family. Not so much that she wasn’t part of it anymore maybe, but certainly enough to be considered separated from them in so circles. So yes, Barbara wasn’t happy that Bruce had kept her in the dark in so many ways, but she also understood it. That said…
“I may not be leaping to help you with Luthor’s plans right now, but I do want to be kept inford and updated. Whatever happens next, you’ll at least let know and you’ll call in imdiately if you need . Got it?”
Becoming more serious once more, Bruce simply nods.
“I’ll keep you in the loop.”
Will he? Won’t he? Barbara doesn’t know, but the assurance, whether it’s empty or not, is still the best she’s going to get. Letting out an explosive sigh, Barbara fidgets for a mont, only to freeze up when Bruce steps up to her and places a hand on her shoulder once more, giving it a squeeze.
“You’ve done good work here, Barbara. Exceptional work. I know with your legs back the urge to get back into the field is already overtaking you…”
Barbara flushes, well aware that he’s talking about her visit to Harley and Ivy’s lair to back up the other Birds of Prey.
“… But don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. Never forget everything that Oracle has done that Batgirl couldn’t have.”
That was… sighing, Barbara nods.
“I won’t.”
Bruce flashes her an exceptionally rare smile at that, giving her shoulder one more squeeze before turning and walking away. He leaves normally, without the vanishing act this ti, and Barbara watches him go for a mont before turning back to her monitors and mulling over not just his parting words but everything else as well.
All this ti she’d been trying to get to the bottom of just who the hell Doctor Luke Maximillian was and what sort of technology allowed him to heal her legs without a second thought. Now she knew better. Her first instincts had been correct. The faux alien technology he’d put her in was exactly as fake as Barbara had initially clocked. He’d healed her himself with just a touch… probably right after her ti in the tube, otherwise she would have felt sothing before she went in.
Barbara really didn’t know how to feel about that even now. On the one hand, it wasn’t like Lucien knew who she really was. And ‘Hope Laville’ had still paid through the nose for the treatnt. On the other hand, could you really put a price on such a thing? And even if he didn’t know her true identity, it didn’t change the fact that he’d given Barbara her legs back.
Based on what Bruce had just told her, it was likely that Lucien already knew sothing was up. It depended on just how granular his powers really were, but if he could heal her like he did, if he could incorporate other tahuman abilities into his biology as had been speculated… then it stood to reason he should have noticed she was a natural red head with green eyes.
And if that were the case, there really was no reason for Barbara to keep up the act. Especially after he’d been visited by Batman. No, at this point… if she wanted to get anywhere with Lucien, a certain level of honesty and directness was the key. Still, that went both ways, didn’t it?
Pursing her lips together into a thin line, Barbara considers her options for a mont, hesitating before pulling the trigger and shooting Lucien a ssage she might co to regret. Or, just maybe, it might be exactly what she needs to finally begin developing a real rapport with Lex Luthor’s bastard.
-x-X-x-
Let’s do this date as our true selves.
First Batman, now this. Lucien had to admit, he’d done a double take when Hope’s ssage had co in re hours after his encounter with Batman. On the one hand, it would explain a lot if ‘Hope Laville’ was actually a spy for Batman. On the other hand, it didn’t explain everything. Lucien didn’t think Hope had garnered that much information from their interactions after all. And more to the point, whoever she really was, why would she still want to go on their date after he and Batman had their talk?
In the end, curiosity won out over paranoia once again. He just had to know what the hell was going on. And so, dropping his ‘disguise’ and shifting his body back to that of his original form, Lucien approaches the Hope’s apartnt, downright intrigued to find out what form tonight was going to take.
Reaching the door, he knocks and waits patiently, until finally it opens and reveals a red head with bright green eyes waiting on the other side.
The both of them take one another in for a mont, finally seeing each other for who they really are. No more disguises. No more lies. Well, physically anyways. And… no more fake nas. Thrusting out her hand, the red head smiles.
“Barbara Gordon. It’s a pleasure to et you properly, Lucien.”
Lucien blinks… but then takes her hand in his, giving it a firm shake. She has to know about his abilities right? Or maybe she doesn’t. Still, Barbara Gordon… that was…
“You’re the Police Commissioner’s daughter.”
Barbara nods, even as she takes a step back and lets Lucien inside the apartnt. Imdiately, the slls of a fresh ho cooked al hit Lucien’s nostrils and he looks to the table to see that she’s made pasta, complete with atballs and marinara sauce and even garlic bread. Oh, and a freshly tossed salad to cut through all of those carbs.
“I am yes. What do you think?”
She gestures to the food and starts to head over, so Lucien smiles and does the sa.
“I think it all slls delicious. That’s what I think.”
As they sit down though at the table, Lucien can’t help but get back to the matter at hand. Mostly, he just wants to confirm whether Barbara Gordon was working for Batman or not. For a mont, he considers beating around the bush a bit, but in the end… what’s the point? Barbara was the one who’d decided they should put all of their cards on the table. Besides, Lucien would be quite upset to learn that even the Police Commissioner sohow knew who he really was. Batman was one thing, but a Police Commissioner?!
“The sa Police Commissioner who has ties to Batman, yes?”
Barbara hums and nods easily. It wasn’t like it was much of a secret, to be fair. The Bat Signal was a well known facet of Gotham City, even to the rest of the world. As well as just who maintained it and could operate it without getting their limbs broken by an angry Caped Crusader.
“My father works with Batman sotis, yes. And so do I, separate from my father’s work. It was Batman who put on to investigating you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Well, there you had it. Silence falls as they both get so spaghetti and atballs on their respective plates, along with garlic bread. Lucien takes a few bites, chewing slowly as he thinks over what he knows. Barbara seems inclined to let him think, though he can feel her watching him all the sa. Finally…
“I suppose Bruce Wayne paid for your healing then.”
Admittedly, he knows he might be dropping a bit of a bombshell into the middle of dinner with that idea. He does it anyways though and frankly, he’s glad he did because Barbara’s reaction is VERY telling. Oh, she’s good… better than a Police Commissioner’s daughter has any right to be, frankly. But Lucien is watching her closely and he sees her react to him nadropping Wayne. There’s definitely sothing there.
“… What makes you say that?”
Lucien shrugs, twirling a bit of spaghetti around his fork and putting it in his mouth as he makes her wait for him to chew and swallow. Petty? Maybe a little bit, but she DID try to infiltrate his clinic to spy on him and that wasn’t very cool. Still, when he finally finishes swallowing, Lucien gives her sothing close to the truth.
“It’s a pretty common conspiracy theory. How does soone like Batman pay for all that gear and equipnt? Especially when he has an entire team he has to outfit and equip these days? He has to have a benefactor, or maybe a group of benefactors that are backing him up financially.”
Taking this in, Barbara hums for a mont before tilting her head to the side.
“And Wayne?”
Smiling slightly, Lucien sighs.
“Well. He DOES seem like the most obvious option even from a layman’s perspective, but I guess I do have insider knowledge of the subject that makes it even clearer that he’s probably pulling the strings.”
When Barbara just raises an eyebrow at that, Lucien can’t help chuckling.
“Needless to say, I am well aware of how hard my father has tried to sink his claws into Gotham City over the years. I’m also aware of just who’s been stymying him all this ti. And yet, Bruce Wayne is supposed to be an insufferable playboy. His public persona is that of a party animal who couldn’t business his way out of a paper bag… but we both know that’s not true.”
Barbara remains silent, so Lucien shrugs.
“Knowing that Wayne is skilled and savvy enough to keep my father out of this city, it no longer seems so out of the question that he’d be the one bankrolling Batman’s operations. In fact, it’s practically all but confird in my eyes.”
There’s a long pregnant pause after that. For a mont, Lucien wonders if he’s over-shared to the point where Barbara decides to kick him out. He’s not going to worry about it though. If it happens, it happens. More to the point, he doesn’t really feel like beating around the bush here. Barbara was beautiful, and he’d enjoyed his interactions with her as ‘Hope Laville’ to a certain extent, but at the end of the day, their relationship up to this point was foundationally built on lies. He honestly didn’t know where they went from here… or if they were ant to go anywhere from here, really.
“… For obvious reasons, I can neither confirm nor deny that sort of assertion, you understand.”
Smiling wryly, Lucien nods.
“I understand.”
Though, at this point he might as well truly cut to the chase.
“What I don’t fully understand is why you wanted to still have dinner and a movie together. I’m not stupid enough to think that this is your actual residence. I imagine if I were to look into things, this apartnt would belong to ‘Hope Laville’, wouldn’t it? But Batman has already spoken to . And now you’ve blown your cover. So what’s the point of all of this, really?”
Barbara hesitates for a mont before shrugging.
“Gratitude?”
Lucien narrows his eyes and scoffs.
“You paid quite the sum to have your legs back. More than enough to qualify as grateful already.”
“You can’t put a price on a second chance at life, Lucien.”
That… Lucien pauses, unable to ignore the way those words resonate with him, the way they speak to the very depths of his soul. No… no, you really couldn’t put a price on a second chance at life. He knew that better than most. Not just because he’d spent his first life sickly and almost as disabled as she’d been, but also because he’d already had to go back in ti once to fix his mistakes.
Not everyone was as lucky as he’d been, really. In fact, most people weren’t. Lucien hadn’t just gotten a second chance at life, he’d gotten a third… and according to Death, he had a multitude of other chances as well.
It… actually puts things into perspective a bit, doesn’t it? If he dies tomorrow, then he can just choose to do over any amount of ti from the past days, weeks, or months. With that in mind, did it really matter that Barbara had lied to him? That she’d been trying to hoodwink him?
… Not really, no. She hadn’t done any harm either. Not like Black Mask and to a lesser extent Ivy and Harley had done. In the end, she’d only been trying to protect the city and help her hero. Lucien couldn’t very well bla the red head for that.
“… I’m glad I was able to help you. I’m not sure what Batman told you about , but I ca to Gotham City to try and avoid my father as much as possible. I suppose I could have chosen sothing that would allow to fly under the radar a bit more, like a research lab or sothing, but I wanted to be able to help people. The clinic was my attempt at having my cake and eating it to, I guess. But we both know how that turned out.”
Barbara’s gaze softens and suddenly she leans across the table to place her hand on top of his.
“You’ve still helped people. You helped . You’ve helped others. You have a good heart, Lucien. Tha-… that’s why I wanted to still do this date, just as our true selves. Because I know you’re not your father. I know that you’re a good man.”
Lucien stares at Barbara for a long mont, sure that this is a trick of so sort. But even if it is… it’s a very nice trick, he has to admit… and would it really be so bad, to go for it so long as he went in with both eyes wide open?
-x-X-x- The Vote: [X] Smash Cut to them fucking at the dining table - 59%[ ] They at least wait until the movie to get down and dirty... - 38%
[ ] Nothing happens between them, Lucien doesn't feel a spark - 4%
-x-X-x-
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