Chapter Text
Chapter 1
A soft, warm breeze kissed Barbara’s face. Crickets and the crashing of the waves serenaded her. She sat in a lounge chair, eyes closed, keeping any tears from falling.
“Hey,” her stepmother said softly from behind her.
Barbara gave her a small smile.
“I don’t mean to make assumptions for what you went in for today. But I just wanted you to know, I’ve been there. And if you want to talk about it, I’m all ears.”
“Thanks,” Barbara whispered. She knew Lee and her father would put the pieces together to why she went to a women’s clinic so suddenly after arriving in Coastal City. She had already planned on going to Coastal City for a few weeks to visit them, but it turned into an escape from Gotham and a necessity for her medical needs due to Gotham’s laws.
“And one more thing,” Lee added quietly. “Just because I would’ve wanted to hear this — You can feel sad and still know it was the right decision. You can’t have Ricky in your life anymore.”
“I… haven’t gone through with it,” Barbara mumbled, unsure why she was even telling Lee. She pulled a pill bottle out of her sweatshirt pocket and turned it in her hands. Her lips pressed into her knuckles. “We were so careful.”
“It happens.” Lee took a deep breath. “For me, I was twenty-three. My boyfriend and I had been dating for three years. We were engaged. I had gotten accepted into Harvard for medical school. I had plans, dreams.” She paused. “His were different than mine. He left after he found out I decided to not go through with the pregnancy.”
Barbara’s eyes flickered towards Lee. “I’m sorry,” she said through her knuckles. “That’s really shitty.”
Lee shrugged. “Ended up working out just fine for me.” She smiled, turning back to look at Jim through the window, washing dishes.
Barbara gulped. She knew she probably shouldn’t say what was at the tip of her tongue, but what the hell, she’d made it this far. “It’s Bruce's.” She watched Lee’s face out of the corner of her eye.
It took Lee a moment to process what she was saying. She looked shocked for a moment then quickly regained composure.
“Could you… not tell my dad that piece of information? Or anyone.”
Lee nodded. “Does he know?”
Barbara shook her head. “No one does.”
“I didn’t realize you two had a history.”
“We don’t exactly.” Her voice was barely audible. “We were just hurting… and alone. Ricky, Selina.” She aimlessly waved her hand and her voice trailed off. “The others ended up finding out Christmas Eve. Raven reached out to us, offering to wipe their memories of it. She probably sensed the devastation it caused.”
“So, you took her up on it?”
Barbara nodded. “I feel bad about it. That must’ve been a lot for her to do, and I don’t like the idea of altering memories. I just didn’t know what else to do. I, and I assume Bruce, didn’t want to ruin our relationships with everyone.”
“When was the last time you spoke?”
“I tried calling him. More than once.”
“And you haven’t heard back?”
Barbara smirked. “Is that really so surprising?”
“No, I guess not.” Lee grinned. “Do you want him to know?”
“I… don’t know.” Barbara sighed. After a moment, she said, “There are a million reasons I shouldn’t go through with this.”
“What’s the reason you want to?”
Barbara chewed on her lip and shrugged.
***
Papers lay spread across Bruce’s desk. He flipped through them one by one. These murders had to be connected. How many people get murdered by pitchfork and all within a span of six months? He aggressively rubbed his eyes.
“Master Bruce?”
Bruce blinked and Alfred focused in his vision.
“I know this is probably pointless to suggest, but sleep is important.”
He didn’t respond.
“You have been especially avoidant lately.”
Bruce’s eyes flickered at Alfred then back to the papers on his desk.
Alfred walked behind him and set a hand on his shoulder. “Depriving yourself of basic human needs will not solve these cases faster. If anything, it deters it.”
“Alfred…” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just a little longer. I’ll find something. We’ve had this conversation too many times.”
“Don’t start with that again,” Alfred interrupted. “Your typical pattern when something happens outside your control. Christmas Eve was a devastation, but how could you have known Ricky miscounted the number of canons?”
“We should have checked anyway.”
“There’s nothing that can be done about it now. The Puzzler is in custody. As for these new crimes…” Alfred grimaced at the crime scene photos. “Your head will be clearer if you eat and get some sleep.”
“He’s right, father.” Damian walked in. “You should know better.” He picked up the photos. “I’ll take over.”
Bruce leered at Damian for a moment before he stood and walked towards his room. After crawling into bed, he glanced at his phone with heavy eyes. The last time Barbara tried to contact him was a week ago. He sighed. He knew he probably should have answered, but she was a distraction. He should have known better than to give into the comfort of a distraction in the first place. With cases cluttering his mind, his eyes shut.