Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Batgirl Begins (dbspock/WendyTheRed)

She shrugged at the motorcycle question. "Nothing specific. I had some thoughts about things I could use it for." Once more she realized she was treading close to a line. How would Rick react if he found out what she was truly trying to do? She shot a look at him when he confirmed they did have a sonar device. "Is this device portable? I mean, I know it is, I think a better question would be, is it easy for one person to use? Hand held maybe? Could I borrow it at least?"

She could almost feel them staring at her while she changed but when she shot surreptitious glances their way they were usually either looking away or briefly looking at her then looking away. Truthfully, moving into the hallway had occurred to her but she figured then she risked maintenance or other R&D personnel walking by. Knowing her luck it'd be Tommy though then she could tell her dad he'd ogled her while she was changing and R&D wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. The thought made her smirk briefly in amusement even if she knew that she'd never tell her dad anyway since then she'd have to explain how he'd come to see her in such a state.

As she began to talk to Pete she nodded along as he explained his own thoughts. She'd seen the look on his face when she expressed her initial thoughts but she didn't say anything. She was used to having to prove herself and she also knew she had gotten off on the wrong foot with him. She lifted the receiver when he pointed it out to her and reached out, moving a lamp on a swivel over so she could look at the part in the light. "Hmmmm...the connections look fine. I believed you when you said it was fine, don't get me wrong." She looked up from the receiver, her blue eyes studying him for a moment. "I just prefer to verify things for myself." She shrugged and set the part back down.

She noticed how Pete seemed to relax when she explained her actions and she even chuckled along with them. "R&D is probably the part of Wayne Enterprises I wanted to see the most and I've made several of you upset because I..." she motioned to her hair "let the stereotype of a red head take over for a moment and briefly lost my temper." She shook her head. "Mister Wayne even made sure to tell me that he wasn't going to let me transfer here."

She laughed quietly and watched the two men exchange a look after she mentioned her programming skills. Once more, she wasn't offended and she reminded herself she needed to stop bragging about her skills for multiple reasons. She nodded at Pete's thoughts about missing something in the code. "It happens. You look at code so much after a while you start subconsciously seeing what's supposed to be there, not what is really there." She grinned. "When I wrote one of my earliest programs it didn't add some numbers correctly and I couldn't figure it out. I read it and reread it and did such logical things as yell at my computer that 'it's right. Why aren't you working?' I finally figured out I accidentally put a semicolon after the code for my loop but before the block with the instructions for it. So the loop just ran on its own and then ran the following code exactly once instead of continuing until it had finished its addition."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, clearly embarrassed by the simple error. She decided not to tell them how young she'd been when she did it. She looked from Rick to Pete, then took out her phone and cued up the video demo of her Batmobile decloaking program. She slid it over to Pete and motioned for him to play it. "This was what I showed Bruce Wayne in an attempt to get hired here. I thought it'd get me an internship. Well, I hoped it would. Or if I was supremely lucky, a job down here. Obviously, it got me more than I imagined." She smiled slightly. "I just wanted you to know that I am skilled and can help you."

As was usual for Barbara, her mind raced as she thought about the situation and she spoke as she thought, verbally working through her thoughts. "Hmmm...as I see it, one of two things has likely happened. One, it's just a simple mistake somewhere in the code that had an unexpected effect. The odd thing is that not only did it go on a rampage, it didn't respond to commands. You'd expect a simple bug in the code to do one or the other, not both." She frowned and looked at the receiver again. "Another possibility...who else has access to this lab?" She looked at Pete. "Is it possible someone didn't want your project to succeed?"
 
"Well, if you want to race it, just make sure its an officially sponsored race. We don't need the publicity if you get caught hotdogging it." Rick warned her, unable to come up with another reason she might need the motorcycle, except evading Gotham City traffic that was notorious. But if she was going to be breaking traffic laws, that was her father's problem more than Rick's.

He frowned as she kept asking about the sonic device. He didn't bother answering if it was portable...it would be useless if it was not, and she figured that out on her own. "Yeah, one person can use it. You pretty much just push the button. It's not hand held, though. The base unit is about as big as a bowling ball, , and its got a laptop for the display.' he shrugged at her next question. "You can borrow it if you fill out the paperwork, but I'm telling you, if you dropped a pen or an earring or something, it won't do you any good. It's not designed to find anything like that."

If Pete was offended when she verified his assessment of the receiver, he gave no sign of it. A second opinion had never hurt anyone. He nodded in agreement when she said she wanted to verify it for herself...he was the same way. But as he expected, he hadn't missed anything on the receiver, at least. He laughed when she related her own software story, but not because he was making fun of her, but because he could relate to it. "I think we've all been there." He admitted with a nod, then gestured at the pile of parts on the table again. "It's probably just as well this thing isn't working...you wouldn't want to hear what I called it when I was taking it apart."

A quizzical look came across Pete's face when she placed her phone on the table, and he obediently pressed the play button. "What the hell is that?" he asked, not recognizing the vehicle that he was seeing, or what was so special about watching a car drive through an intersection. Had she hacked the traffic camera system to download this footage? That...really wasn't that impressive. Pete knew the guy who ran the company that secured the GCPD computers...there was a reason they were the lowest bidder. he recalled the glimpse he'd gotten of Bab's legs when she changed in front of him, and had his own idea about how Bab's might have gotten her job, but of course he kept that thought to himself. But still, even if she had hacked that primitive firewall, it was more than the average citizen would be able to do, and there was no harm in letting her look at the file...unless she was a spy or something. But if that was the case, she had access to far more sensitive data in her position than some corrupt code. Especially if she brought donuts. But...she didn't confirm Rick's promise she'd bring donuts, and ignored his request for a cream filled one, and his hopes of her providing at least something of note at their next meeting fell, along with the look on his face. But still, she worked directly for the boss, and refusing her without a damn good reason probably wouldn't go over well, so he'd have to put up with her.

Pete nodded along with her reasoning. She knew the right buzz words, at least. "My current theory is all the memory stacks got overloaded, so it was trying so hard to process the internal commands any new input got discarded." He told her, then pointed at the pile of circuit boards. "But I won't be able to tell until I get it up and running again, and run a diagnostic. But don't worry...that's all I'm connecting. No more rampaging robots...not from my lab at least. I can't speak for the guys down the hall." Pete and Rick shared a brief chuckle at that, though they quickly grew serious at her last question. "Industrial espionage is always a possibility. Frankly anyone who has access down here could have sabotaged it...except for you, I guess. It would have had to have happened before you were hired. But anyway, if someone was working for Lexcorp or something, they'd probably want a working model to steal. Not sure what good sabotaging it would do."
 
She considered Rick's reply and nodded, realizing that just taking out a Wayne Enterprises vehicle for what she hoped would become her new nightly activities wasn't smart. It was probably why Bruce just had them make an engine. Though she did wonder where the frame and other vehicle parts came from. Did he assemble it all himself from various parts? Hopefully she'd get a chance to ask him someday.

She decided to let the idea about the sonar machine drop. Rick seemed a bit annoyed by her questions and there was no way to hide what she was going to do from Bruce Wayne, especially if he was in the office. It occurred to her, she might be able to make something on her own if she could get access to tools. No one around here seemed to believe in the tech skills she had and she decided to test the waters. "I know it seems like a subject change, but do you have a spare lab no one is using? And if so, what would you say if I asked to use it to tinker on a project of my own? I promise, nothing dangerous or illegal."

She was a little surprised by Pete's lack of reaction. She glanced at the phone and saw she'd set it to play after the Batmobile appeared due to her program. "That is the Batmobile. It hides from GCPD traffic cams so they can't track Batman as he moves around the city. Not that way at least. I wrote a program that breaks through the, well, cloaking I guess? It's not really cloaking like in Star Trek or something. The Batmobile doesn't disappear. It's more like it replaces the image of the Batmobile on the cameras with a picture of the street in real time. My program undoes that and voila, the Batmobile reappears." She shrugged as she idly looked through the robotic parts. "I have no intention of sharing the program. My goal isn't to catch Batman. I just wanted to show Bruce Wayne what I was capable of. I wrote that program earlier this week while staying at my friend's house."

She was completely unaware that her lack of reply to the donut thing was making Pete doubt her intentions. In truth, she'd filed it away as something to do but had immediately gotten distracted by the technical issue in front of her and had neglected to do the social thing that was expected and give a verbal reply. She nodded at his theory about what may have happened. She leaned over and looked at the circuitry that was exposed on the table. Her right index finger moved in the air above the motherboard as if she was mentally tracing the paths that the signals when it was active, her eyes moving to the RAM and the CPU then going to what appeared to be an imbedded SSD.

She looked up from the scattered pieces when they responded to her thoughts about sabotage. "You're taking that a bit more seriously than I meant. I didn't mean an infiltrator from Lexcorp or something, unless this project is in direct competition with them for a contract or something. I meant something more...petty. Someone like Tommy sabotaging Pete out of jealousy or to try to get his job or something."
 
"What kind of project?' Rick asked, though he sensed Babs wasn't going to give him a straight answer. "I mean...there's room down here. Your boss could take over the whole place if he wanted to. But I'll need to know what kind of equipment and tools you might need. I mean...are you building a space shuttle and need the entire garage bay? Or a miniature radio you could make in a cubbyhole somewhere?" Rick guessed the answer was somewhere in the middle, of course, but those were the two examples that came to mind.

"Seriously?" Pete looked aa bit more interested when she claimed it was the Batmobile, and he played through the image again as he listened to her explanation, then glanced up at her. "The cops ain't the only ones who'd be interested in this." He warned her. "There are many who would pay a pretty penny to know where Batman was, or where he was going, even if they had no interest in catching him." He still didn't quite believe her program did what she said it did, it would be easy enough to fake, after all, and the fact Bruce Wayne appeared to believe it didn't count for a whole lot in his mind.

Pete shifted over in his seat as she leaned over to take a look at the dissembled circuity. Her breast had gotten a bit too close to his arm for his taste. He raised an eyebrow a bit as he saw her move her finger around...he recognized the pattern, and truthfully that impressed him more than the Batman program...or her panties. She did seem to be tracing the circuity out, and there weren't many teenagers who could do that.

He scowled when she mentioned Tommy, and he closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. "Tommy isn't allowed anywhere near this project." He finally said firmly, while Rick had to suppress a chuckle.

"Pete's job is secure." Rick promised, and even if it wasn't, there was no way Tommy was getting it. Not while Rick was running the lab. "But yeah...I guess it's a possibility, but let's not jump to conclusions or start any rumors, okay?" Rick tried to avoid gossip in the labs, he didn't need that kind of drama.
 
She considered his questions. "I'd just want access to a spare lab. The tools I'd need would be those used for working on electronics primarily. As for parts and such. I can get you a list. Or, if you all have some kind of supply room I can simply get what I need from there." She looked at him. "I'm not going to pretend this is some kind of official request from upstairs. I could probably ask Mister Wayne and I suspect he'd say yes just to see what I could do if nothing else. The reason I mentioned a spare lab is I don't want to put you guys out or kick someone out of their space or anything like that." She smirked slightly. "Unless it's Tommy. Then all bets are off."

She looked at Pete with a slight smirk. "Do you live in this lab? How do you not know what the Batmobile looks like? Yes, that's it. And I'm aware of how dangerous my program is. That's why I plan to delete it. I only held onto it this long on the off chance I had to give a real-time demo or something." She didn't know Batman had already deleted her program, something she'd likely be slightly miffed about when she discovered. "And while money could help my dad and I out, I'm not selling my program to anyone. Not Bruce Wayne. And certainly not to any criminals or nosy reporters or whatever."

She nodded distractedly as her eyes had already returned to the circuitry. Chloe would recognize the look on Barbara's face right now as that almost extreme focus she got when her mind was working on a problem. "Believe me, I want to avoid gossip too. Worse than you do probably." She looked at Pete's computer monitor briefly and her fingers actually twitched towards his keyboard before she seemed to almost physically stop herself and she stepped back. "I'll help you fix this. I owe it to you and besides, it's the kind of technical problem that will occupy my thoughts until I solve it. But, if I don't stop now I'll be here for hours and Bruce Wayne will send a security guard to see if you guys kidnapped me or something. How about I look at the code remotely from my computer upstairs when I get a chance?" She was going to do it regardless assuming the code wasn't on an isolated system which she doubted but she figured if she asked it'd go over a lot better.
 
"Tommy doesn't have a lab down here." Rick hastened to assure her. That was a headache nobody needed. "There is a supply room...just make a note on the board if we are getting low on something to make sure the supply chief orders more. And I have a spare lab bench in my lab you can use. I don't get to spend as much time in there as I'd like." And truthfully she'd sparked his curiosity about her mysterious project and hunt for her missing unmentionable item. He believed her when she didn't say she was doing anything illegal, but dangerous? Pete had already proven just today how easily accidents happen. So keeping an eye on her seemed like a good idea, and besides, his lab was pretty well stocked with tools, at least the ones she said she needed.

"No, Rick kicks me out most nights." Pete joked. Despite her donut failure, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, at least for now, so he tried to joke with her. "And I've never been chased by the Batmobile, so how should I know what it looks like? Judging by the artists renderings I saw, I thought it's be bigger...and have flames shooting out of the back. And actual batwings." He looked at the vehicle with more interest now that he knew what it was, but compared to the drawings he'd seen, it appeared almost...ordinary. Though that was probably a bad choice of words. He did look a bit concerned, though, despite the fact she was planning to delete the program. "Anything that's been created can be recreated. The very fact the program existed at one point could give someone the idea to make you create it again. Just...don't go bragging about it at the Iceberg lounge or something is all I'm saying."

He grinned as he recognized her instinct to dive right into the problem, then shrugged. "Not much you can do until I run the diagnostic, I'm thinking." He told her. He shrugged when she said she owed him...he didn't see it that way, but he wasn't going to argue with the boss's assistant. Besides, he knew too well what it was like to be obsessed with a problem, though he feared that's where he was at now, so he was missing something obvious somewhere.

Rick chuckled when she suggested Mr. Wayne might think she was kidnapped. "No, but he might think we stuck you in an alternate reality by mistake." He joked, as Pete shrugged.

"I'm sure your access level gives you access to our files." Pete pointed out. "The most current version is on the shared drive, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm just not so sure the problem is with the code...I'm thinking something happened when it got downloaded. But we got to start somewhere, I suppose."
 
She grinned at how quickly he moved to assure her that Tommy didn't have a lab. She also noted how he offered her space in his own lab. It wasn't ideal, depending on what kinds of ideas she'd have in the future. It might mean she'd have to be cagey but it was a good start and so she nodded. "That works. And at some point, I'll ask someone down here to show me that supply room, but for today, it'll stay just an idea."

She laughed when Pete said Rick kicks him out. "A kindred spirit I see. You get wrapped up in what you're doing and probably forget to eat and stuff. I've been there." She nodded at his comments about the Batmobile. "Well, I figured you saw it on the news or something? Surely it's a pretty regular fixture here in Gotham? Or have people here gotten sort of bored with it?" She couldn't imagine that but then again, she wasn't from here. She nodded at Pete's concerns. "True. I suppose that hadn't occurred to me. Someone forcing me to write it again I mean. It'd be a bad idea for someone to mess with me like that, not because I'm dangerous mind you. But my dad is a GCPD captain and I work for Bruce Wayne. Still, I won't put the idea in anyone's head. Good advice." And if Bruce was who she knew he was, then it'd probably be an even worse idea but she wouldn't say that of course.

She grinned at Rick. "Honestly, I think he'd suspect I'd commandeered a lab and was writing a new computer program or something. I meant it when I said he seemed concerned he might lose me to R&D." She shrugged casually then looked back at Pete. "When it got downloaded?" She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Like it got corrupted once it was put into the robot somehow?"
 
Rick nodded, a bit surprised she didn't argue with the implication he wanted to keep an eye on her, but her weird questions had raised his suspicions a bit. Sure, she claimed her father was a good cop, but Rick wasn't sure Gotham had such a thing. If she was building a drug lab or something, Rick wanted to know about it. "The supply room is just down the hall from your new lab. There's a sign on the door and everything. You shouldn't be able to miss it."

Pete chuckled softly as she called him a kindred spirit. He might have agreed, but clearly she didn't appreciate a good donut. "Well, if you ever need a snack when your down here, I have a stash of cookies in the drawer. Much better than the granola bars Rick has in his." He said, as Rick shook his head.

"I don't know what your talking about." Rick claimed as he turned so neither of them would see his grin.

Peta laughed when she mentioned seeing the Batmobile on the news. "GCN is still pushing the claim that Batman doesn't exist...just something the cops made up to take the blame for all the excessive force complaints. or something the criminals made up for an excuse when they get caught. Depends on what day it is. And no...no one's board with it...it's a huge subject of water cooler talk some days. Personally...I don't know what to make of it, so I don't really get involved in that." He nodded when she thanked him for his advice, then looked at Rick skeptically when she mentioned her father, and Rick shrugged in response. He hadn't formed a firm opinion on that yet, so couldn't share it with Pete.

Rick chuckled when she mentioned Mr. Wayne again. "Well, he wouldn't be far off, i suppose." He pointed out.

Pete nodded at her question. "Well, I can't find a flaw in the original programming. Certainly nothing that might account for what happened. That's why I'm concentrating on the hardware right now. It may not have accepted the program as presented."
 
"My new lab huh?" She grinned. "Careful, I might end up taking over your lab beyond just the table you offered." She was happy that things seemed to be going well and she added access to a lab to a mental checklist of things she'd accomplished to move towards her goals.

She smiled at Pete. "Well, I do try to eat healthy most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some boring health nut or anything. But I try to be careful about how often I take in sweets and stuff. I have to stay in good shape. I've got a martial arts tournament to help win after all." She had no idea how well she'd do but she was hoping that sheer determination combined with all the training she'd be getting would carry her through it.

She raised her eyebrows at his comments about GCN. "Kind of hard to do that these days with everyone taking cell phone videos and stuff." She pursed her lips. "Unless he has someway to scrub that but that'd be a lot harder than the GCPDs traffic cams. Lots of different cellular companies. And people would be uploading those videos too. I suppose he could scrub them from the more popular sites like Youtube." She briefly stared at the wall, wondering if Batman was capable of that. She suspected he wasn't nearly as good with computers as she was but he clearly either had some skills or had access to someone who did. She shook her head and forced herself to get off of that train of thought.

She thought about Pete's comments. "Hmmmm...it is definitely a puzzle. You may be right that it simply got overloaded but still...the way it seemed to move around as if hunting for people." She shook her head. "I need to be careful and not get any predetermined ideas in my head." She looked at Rick then. "What's our next stop? Or is it time for me to get out of your hair?"
 
"Well, you can try." Rick teased her. "But if you do, I may just have to sic my security robot on you."

Pete just nodded when she mentioned eating healthy and figured that was why she blew off the donuts. He raised his eyebrows, though, when she mentioned martial arts. "Really?" He asked curiously. "Your not talking about one of those mixed martial arts things, are you? Like underground clubs, no rules, cage matches?" It didn't seem likely, but anything was possible, he supposed. This was Gotham, after all.

Rick shrugged. "I get the feeling the kinds of people that see Batman are too busy to think about taking photos of him. Or don't want to admit they were in the kinds of neighborhoods he frequents. But I'm pretty sure Batman doesn't have his own You-tube channel.' Rick chuckled at the idea of Batman having a social media advisor.

Pete shrugged at her response. "I don't think it was hunting people exactly. Once it went rogue, there were so many people around someone was bound to get in the way." He said, then nodded. "Yeah...that's why a second opinion would be nice. I've been working on this for so long, I can't help but have an opinion already."

Rick shrugged at her question. "Your the one with the note from the boss." He pointed out. "If you need something else, let me know."
 
She nodded her reply to his teasing, barely suppressing a grin. "Then I better make some kind of EMP weapon my first project."

She blinked in surprise when he questioned her about underground fighting arenas and things like that. "No, nothing like that. The short version is, a girl was being attacked in the mall four on one. I jumped in to help her. Turned out the attackers were a rival martial arts dojo called Cobra Kai. She invited me to train with her and her dad who is a martial arts instructor." She shrugged. "Meeting her was how I found out about the GCPDs reputation actually. I suggested we call my dad and she had the same kind of look you two do when I mention him." She shook her head. "It turned out that a corrupt cop was building up a record on her because he had a connection to one of those other martial arts students from the rival dojo. I got her to try talking to my dad and I think things are better for her now. I suspect he's going to bust that other cop too."

She huffed slightly at Rick's reply since she had met Batman. "Hey, not everyone who meets Batman is a criminal. Sometimes there's a misunderstanding." She did have to chuckle at the next bit though. "Yeah, I don't think Batman has a social media presence. Though I bet there are sites dedicated to him."

She nodded to Pete's reply then looked at Rick after their exchange. "Well, we covered the armor. The tools. And the smart cloth cloak. I think we're good."
 
"I'm pretty sure the designer of the robot took that into account." Rick said with a deadpan face so Babs couldn't tell if he was teasing or not.

"Oh." Pete looked disappointed when she told him it was just a regular sanctioned martial arts tournament. The underground fight ring sounded a lot more interesting. His interest returned when Babs mentioned being in a four on one fight, but he cast a skeptical look at Rick, who shrugged, not knowing if the story was true or not. Neither of them seemed to recognize the term Cobra Kai, but they also had no problem believing her story about a corrupt cop. That was certainly more believable than her tale about her honest dad.

"A misunderstanding. Sure. The guy running down the street with a purse 'mistakenly' thought it belonged to him." Pete scoffed, then chuckled when she mentioned social media. "Yeah, I can see the job description. 'Masked vigilante requires content advisor. Hours may vary. Apply at the gargoyle above St. Catherines'."

Rick nodded. "There are sites dedicated to Bigfoot, Santa Claus, and the Loch Ness monster too, but I wouldn't put a lot of stock in them." He nodded when she listed off her equipment. "So...can you find your way back, or do you need an escort?" He asked as Babs phone began to ring, her dad's number showing up on the caller ID.
 
She nodded at his reply about taking EMP into account. "Well, this designer would have had some way to do an emergency shutdown in case the robot went berserk and went on a rampage I'm sure."

She saw the skeptical look exchanged between Pete and Rick and smirked. "I said the other girl was being teamed up on, four on one. Then I joined in because I wasn't going to do the Gothamite thing and look the other way and ignore someone in need. And my friend who was there with me joined in too. Then a few seconds later her guy friend who was coming to meet me also joined in. Even then we ended up running for it because we weren't as experienced as they were."

She shrugged when Pete mentioned the kind of misunderstanding he had in mind. "You'd be surprised what draws Batman's notice." she said but didn't clarify. She wondered if one of them would put two and two together about her little program demo but decided she'd already come too close to revealing more than she'd meant to. She needed to be careful, their skepticism kept making her want to prove herself which could come across like bragging and also give away stuff she didn't want to reveal just yet.

She was about to reply that she had memorized the hallways already when her phone began to ring and she saw it was her dad. She answered with a smile. "Hi dad. What's up?"
 
"I think he put in an off switch." Rick replied with a chuckle, then nodded as Babs explained the confrontation in more detail. That sounded a bit more believable than Babs taking on four people at once, especially the running part. The hardest thing to believe was that someone in Gotham was willing to help, but given what she had done with the robot, Rick found it at least plausible.

"The depths to which criminals can sink to this city? No, I'm afraid that wouldn't surprise me." Pete admitted after nodding at her explanation of the mall fight as well. Neither of them seemed to suspect Batman had taken a personal interest in her program. They seemed to assign Batman the same category as Bigfoot...something you read about, but never see, and has no effect on you or anyone you know.

"Why does the FBI think I kidnapped you?" Her dad asked almost before she had completed her greeting.
 
She quickly muted her dad and nodded to the two men. "It's my dad and it's about family stuff, so I'll see you two later. Rick, I'll bring by Bertha tomorrow. Pete, donuts when I see you again." She nodded to the two men and smiled before hurrying out.

She unmuted the phone and quickly spoke to her dad as she hurried through the halls back towards the elevator. "Damn, I meant to tell you. I think my stepdad used a burner email to file an anonymous report to try to force me back. An Agent Logan showed up here to talk to me. He's no longer investigating you and I think if he can he'll be investigating him instead. Actually, he wants me to meet his daughter and be friends with her. Who knows, you may get an FBI contact out of this if we play it right. He also seems to think that if you want it, you have a good case for getting custody."

She stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the garage level, smirking as she wondered how Stan would react to seeing her again.
 
"Donuts?" Pete looked up from his work with a wide grin at the promised treat while Rick laughed and waved goodbye to her.

"Burner email...is that like those burner phones the geek squad keeps talking about?" Jim asked, the frown plain to hear in his voice. He sighed at the news Agent Logan was no longer investigating him...it was too late...the rumors had already started. But there wasn't much he could do about that at the moment. "Do you trust her?" Was Jim's thought process that he spoke aloud when Babs mentioned the agent's daughter. He doubted the FBI was interested in a police contact...Logan probably wanted an inside track on investigating the corruption rampant in Gotham...which actually, could be a good thing. Jim went silent as he began contemplating the possibilities of leaking info to the FBI.

Stan was bent over the engine of a vehicle when he heard the elevator, and he glanced over and saw the boss's assistant again, but at least this time she had clothes on, which made things less awkward but less interesting as well. He opened his mouth to greet her, then stopped himself when he saw she was on the phone.
 
She smiled as her dad compared what she had said to a burner phone. "Close enough. An anonymous email account that is pretty impossible to track." She could hear that frown and was a little surprised at the sigh, she thought he'd be happy that the Agent wasn't investigating anymore. "Trust who? His daughter? I've never met her. He just said he had a daughter my age who was always looking for new friends and he offered to let us meet." She thought for a moment then snorted. "Dad, she's a teenager, like me. If you're worried he's going to use her for some kind of, I don't know, investigation, well, just ask if you'd do the same in his shoes."

She smiled at Stan and briefly muted the phone. "So, that other vehicle is being used for a project. So, I guess I need something more normal to drive around. Any suggestions?" She unmuted the phone. "Hey dad, I need to do some work stuff, talk later? Oh, I'm going to Sam's after work for more karate training."
 
Wow...I got one right Jim thought, a bit pleased with himself that he'd passed the tech test he'd set for himself, or close enough, as Babs put it. Her assurances as regards the agents daughter, however, didn't reassure him. "A lot of people in this town do things I wouldn't do." He pointed out, then nodded at her last statement before remembering he was on the phone and couldn't be seen. "Sounds good. What time are you planning to be home?" He asked. "Should I try and have dinner ready?" This parenting stuff was hard, suddenly being responsible for another human being, but Jim was going to try to do right by her.

Stan nodded when she said the vehicle she'd checked out before was being used for a project, and he didn't inquire beyond that. He knew who she worked for, and wasn't about to rock that boat. He stared at her for a few moments as he contemplated her question, then realized he was mentally undressing her and quickly turned away. "Ummm...he began slowly. "Well..." That wasn't much better, and he closed his eyes and took a deep breathe as he tried to focus. "You probably want something reliable, which puts this out for the moment." He gestured at the vehicle he was working on. " And probably something higher class, considering who you work for. How about the limo? Or if your looking for something normal, as you said...how about the Mercedes?" That was about as normal as he felt comfortable suggesting to her.
 
She smiled. "I know dad, it's why I brag to everyone that my dad is one of the good ones. And that's why you don't have to worry. Even if he somehow talked his teenage daughter into being a spy for him, there's nothing for her to find. Unless you have a secret red phone that dials Batman directly." She smirked at that thought before continuing. "I told the Agent how I came to Gotham and gave him the bus routes and times. I told him you didn't know I was coming and he could verify that. I pointed out I was working in Wayne Enterprises, hardly the actions of a girl here under duress. I also told him about my stepdad and to say he was unhappy is an understatement. And he made it clear he thought you deserved, and could get custody and even recommended some resources I could consider for it."

She couldn't help the smile when he asked about dinner. He really was trying. "Don't worry about dinner. I think I'm going to have a lot of training tonight. And I have my own vehicle now so you don't even have to worry about driving me. Love you dad, bye." She hung up after getting his reply and turned her full attention to Stan.

She smiled at Stan's assumptions. "If I have to drive Mister Wayne around I suspect he'll have vehicles already and tell me to use one of them. This one is just for my day to day use. And I'm just a normal girl from a normal family living in a small two bedroom house. I'd like something reliable, I have no objections to fast and maneuverable. It doesn't have to look like a rich person drives it, actually, I'd prefer it didn't. I'd feel like a poser in a car like that."
 
"Hey, be careful putting me on a pedestal." Jim warned her. Of course, he always tried to do the right thing, but sometimes in his line of work there was no right thing, and he didn't want to disillusion her too much when she found out he'd done the least bad thing. Her optimism was a rare thing in Gotham, and he wondered how long it would take the town to leech it out of her. "And who told you about the phone?" Jim tried to act indignant, but his laughter soon gave it away. "I'll look into it." Jim promised when Babs mentioned the resources Agent Logan had mentioned. The facts, as Babs laid them out, all made perfect sense...except IA wasn't always interested in the facts. But there was no reason to worry Babs about it. especially since her social life already seemed filled to the brim, for which he was grateful. Even if she was hanging out with the Larusso's.

Stan cast a glance back over to him as she described a lot more about her living conditions than he wanted to know...conditions that sounded a bit like his, if he was honest. He frowned slightly as he tried to see if she was trapping him somehow, but if she was trying to get him in trouble for what he'd stumbled on earlier, he couldn't see it. "Ummm...all right...how about a Honda, then? We have a half dozen of them in the pool. You can take whichever one you feel comfortable with.' Stan finally told her, hoping that if he deflected soem of the choice of vehicle back on her, she couldn't accuse him of giving her a lemon.

He led her to the pool section of the garage, and gestured towards the vehicles he'd mentioned. None of them were beaters, they got rid of them by the time they got that badly beaten, but one of them did have a few dents and scratches on it, clearly having seen better days, while another looked like it was fresh off the assembly line, though most of them fell somewhere in between the two extremes.
 
She smiled. "You don't have to worry too much about resources to get custody dad. At least, not lawyers. They have them on staff here." She laughed at her dad's joke about the red phone. She shook her head with a fond smile when they got off of the phone and she hoped he didn't worry too much. She had no idea about the IA side of things so was a bit puzzled why he still seemed a little worried but she chalked it up to Gotham having made him a bit paranoid.

She nodded her approval and followed him to look the vehicles over. She looked the vehicles over then quickly moved over to what appeared to be a compact, hybrid SUV. She knew she might need cargo space from time to time and this seemed like a good option but then her eye was caught by a 2 door Civic Sport and she sucked in a breath, quickly moving to it. "Well, other than me maybe asking R&D for a vehicle this works." She turned to look at Stan with a broad smile. "What paperwork do I need to fill out and can I leave it here until the end of the day? I don't even know where I'm supposed to park or anything."

2025-honda-civic-coupe-finally-gets-revealed-albeit-only-across-imagination-s-realm_8.jpg
 
"I know...I know..." Jim tried to keep the frustration out of his voice. The internal politics of the GCPD weren't Babs concern, and he knew the rumors that would start to circulate if he dared to use Bruce Wayne's lawyers, no matter how above board it was. It was bad enough having his daughter work directly for the man. But still...this was his daughter's quality of life they were talking about here. he could deal with some people talking behind his back for that.

Stan nodded as she looked over the vehicles he suggested and when she paused in front of the hybrid he brought up the tablet to assign it to her, but when he looked up she suddenly wasn't there anymore. He glanced around, confused for a moment, then couldn't help but grin as he saw her in front of the Civic Sport. If he could have chosen any vehicle in the lot, he probably would have gone with something similar. Sure, it was usually reserved for VIP guests and executives, not newly hired employees, but it was more of an unwritten understanding than an actual policy, and besides, if anyone could have circumvented company policy, it would have been Mr. Wayne, and as far as Stan was concerned, his girlfriend had the same power. "I have no control over the R&D vehicles." Stan told her apologetically, then grinned as he tapped on the tablet some more. "No paperwork. Just your thumbprint." he said as he held out the tablet with the image of the car, along with a spot for said thumbprint. There was also a checkmark saying Babs agreed to abide by the company policy and obey all vehicle laws while operating said vehicle. "I'll also need a picture of your drivers license. Do you have a gas card yet?" He asked her, then shrugged when she asked if she could leave the vehicle.

"You can leave it here as long as you like." he told her. "And you can request a parking spot through HR, though there are a half dozen reserved spots around the building for Mr. Wayne and associates. I suppose you are authorized to use any of those you like, though I'd recommend avoiding the one Mr. Pennyworth likes to use."
 
Barbara could hear the frustration in his voice but she chalked it up to pride since she didn't really understand GCPD politics. "Dad, lawyers are expensive. We're not rich. And these aren't direct from Bruce Wayne. They're a perk of working here that anyone can access."

She had no idea about the unwritten policy of course and in a way, she was still just a naive teenage girl. At least about certain things. She had assumed that if she couldn't have a car, he'd tell her and she would move on. She smiled when he said he had no control over the R&D vehicles. "I know. I actually looked at one when I was down there earlier but they said it had weapons on it and my dad would probably not approve since he's a cop and all." She shrugged good naturedly and it only belatedly occurred to her that Rick might have been pulling her leg. She nodded and pressed her thumb to the tablet then shook her head. "Gas card? No I don't. Please tell me it's a credit card I can use to refill the car?" She reached into her purse and took out her driver's license, handing it over. "I know it says Chicago. I've only been in Gotham for a few days and haven't gotten it changed over yet."

She nodded when he mentioned requesting a parking spot through HR but then a thoughtful look crossed her face when he mentioned that Bruce Wayne had spots reserved for associates. She couldn't help laughing at the last thing he added. "Believe me, if there is anyone in Mister Wayne's orbit I don't want to anger, it's Alfred Pennyworth. Still, I suppose I could verify that with Mister Wayne. And maybe his last assistant had an assigned parking spot that would be mine now."
 
Thanks for the reminder. Jim thought bitterly as Babs pointed out he wasn't rich and couldn't even properly provide for her...a failure that had plagued him for years, and now that he could do something about it, he still couldn't. The worst part was, he probably could be rich if he'd take those payoffs he'd been offered, but he still refused to consider that option. Being a father Babs could look up to was more important than buying her a pretty necklace. Of course, he knew better than to say all of this to her as they politely saif their goodbyes, and he made sure to tag an 'I love you' there at the end.

Stan glanced over at her when she mentioned the vehicle R&D had offered her, and nodded. "None of the vehicles here have weapons on them." he assured her with no indication he thought she was teasing him. He took the tablet back after she 'signed' for the vehicle then headed back to his desk. He took what looked like a credit card from the drawer, then typed the number into his tablet, associating it with her vehicle. "It is." He confirmed when she asked the purpose of the card as he handed it to her. "Try and use this at the Texaco stations if possible. We have an account with them and get a discount. "

He took the card from her and frowned when he saw it was out of state, but he then shrugged. As long as she was legal to drive, it didn't really matter if the information was up to date. he took a photo of her license then handed it back to her as he chuckled along with her. She wasn't nearly as snooty as he feared she would be. "I think that's company police. Don't piss off Alfred Pennyworth." He told her, then shrugged. "Most people have a spot unless they take mass transit and don't need one." He told her. "I don't know what Mary used to do...HR handles that end of it."
 
She nodded when he handed her the card and slipped it into her wallet. "Texaco. Got it. I'll do my best." She smiled but then saw his frown when he saw her ID, guessing at the reason for it. She wasn't sure why it mattered but it did remind her she needed to get a new license. She probably should mention it to her dad and go with him to get it done perhaps.

She nodded when he said no one wanted to piss off Alfred. It certainly explained why Amanda had come up and practically acted as her personal IT confidant earlier. "I understand, I'll ask Mister Wayne and if he doesn't know I'll check with HR. Thank you Stan." She accepted the keys or fob for the car whichever they were and smiled at him. "Hopefully I'll see you at lunch sometime." She nearly added 'or in the gym' since she planned to work out when she could but that was too close to a reminder of the locker room so she held back. She waved and returned to the elevator, wondering if Bruce would still be there when she got back to the office.

When the door opened she'd make her way to her desk and finally open the envelope that Lucius Fox had dropped off. Presuming it was HR paperwork she'd get started on it and once she was done she'd see if she could access the information Agent Coulson had requested about security details involving the delivery. If not, she'd look up the number for the security chief and give him a call.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom