Delphinios
03-31-2003, 02:07 PM
Chapter Nine
The Art of Persuasion
"We've gotta get out of here, Helena." Dinah was beginning to get desperate. They were locked in a jail cell in their friend's mind, while Barbara slowly died in the real world. Worst of all, Helena was acting as if she didn't care. The teenager was getting desperate. She couldn't lose Barbara so soon after losing her own mother. She couldn't do it, and not even Helena was going to stand in her way. "Will you just get over yourself?" Dinah demanded, finally. "So, she doesn't know who you are? Big deal. Get over it. You know Barbara loves you, and if you don't know that....then you're more conceited and self involved than I thought. God, Helena, Barbara is DYING. You can't just pout like a four year old and then come over tomorrow and pretend nothing happened. There will be NO tomorrow for her! She's dying...and YOU are the one killing her!"
Helena's eyes flashed a feline blue as she turned to the young woman. She looked ready to blow up at any moment, her fist clenched at her side.
Dinah didn't back down. "Go ahead. Hit me. Beat me up. I won't even fight back." The blonde held Helena's gaze without wavering. "I'm not going to let her die, Helena. I don't care what happens...I'm not going to let her die. You're either with me...or you're just one more thing I have to overcome to get out of this place and find her. I don't care which it is. You just better decide soon. Before its too late for either of us to save her."
"You can't save her, Dinah. Don't you get it?" Helena sighed and sat back down on the bench which ran the length of the cell wall. "She doesn't want to go back. Would you? You saw her last night on that rooftop. She was good...better than I ever thought she was, and she was having fun. She got back everything she lost, so she doesn't need us anymore. She doesn't want to go back to reality and that chair. I'm not sure I'd want to either. Nothing we say or do is going to make any difference. She's gone."
"No." Dinah shook her head furiously. "She's not gone. It's those machines. That's not Barbara. We just need to get through to her, talk to her..."
"You'll only be wasting your breath. Oracle doesn't exist here. It's just Batgirl, and Batgirl wants nothing to do with either of us."
Dinah glared at the woman, her eyes afire with hatred. "Fine. You know what, I can do it without you. You can just sit here and rot in this cell for all I care. I'm getting out...and I'm going to find her! You know why? Because I LOVE her, and I NEED her, and I'm not going to give her up without a fight." Her eyes left Helena to settle on a ring of keys along the wall, as if of their own volition they soared across the room into her hand. "I'm leaving, and you can go straight to Hell."
In a corner of the hallway, a tiny camera recorded the cat fight. At the end of the cable, seated before a closed circuit television, a pretty red head looked troubled.
"Shouldn't we stop her?" The police officer asked.
"No." Barbara whispered. "No, Jason...let her leave. I don't think she's dangerous. Just...make sure you keep the brunette here. She worries me." She stood up from her chair, dusting off her jeans. "In fact, Officer Bard, don't worry about that paperwork. I won't be pressing charges. Just hold Helena for the maximum 24 hours and let her go. By then, I think I'll have this thing dealt with accordingly." Right now, she had to find that girl and find out exactly what she had to say about this other world.
***
Dinah had looked everywhere for Barbara and was beginning to lose hope. In a fit of inspiration, or perhaps more likely, desperation, she'd come to the clocktower. She wasn't surprised to find that their home and headquarters did not lay beyond the clockface. With a heavy hearted sigh, she sat down on the balcony and stared out at a city that looked very much the same as hers, but was so incredibly different.
"I think you wanted to talk to me."
Dinah jumped and turned at the sound of that familiar voice. "Barbara?" She asked in surprise. "Er...Batgirl?"
The figure behind the cowl smiled in an almost maternal way and pulled free her mask. "Let's stick with Barbara. Is this seat taken, or can I sit here?"
"Oh...uh...yeah...I mean no...I mean, please sit down." Dinah stuttered.
Barbara chuckled, looking out over the same view which had held Dinah transfixed. "This is one of my favorite places in the city. You can see everything from here. When I first became Batgirl, this is the place I visited when I needed to think. I always told myself that if I ever had a 'Batcave' of my own, it wouldn't be underground...it would be up in the clouds where you can see the entire city."
Dinah tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and gave Barbara a secret little smile. "This is where our 'lair' is. Here. In the clocktower. Just beyond that clock. You have all kinds of computers, and you know everything. Every superhero in the world depends on you for information. I don't know what they'll do if you don't come home."
"You realize I find this very hard to swallow." Barbara asked, her voice was soft, perhaps a little teasing, but not the hard edged tone she used with Helena. "This whole idea, that my world is a dream and in your world, the real world, I'm disabled...."
"You're not though. You have this machine you made that can help you walk...and you fight without legs just fine. You're not disabled, you just don't high kick anymore. Not a big deal, really." Dinah smiled, hoping against hope she was somehow getting through to her.
"How do I know your world isn't the dream, Dinah? How do I know you're not just trying to tempt me into some trap that's going to put my life in danger?"
Dinah looked hurt at that suggestion. "I would never do that to you, Barbara. Ever. You're the only person I've got in the whole world. You're it. If I lose you, I'm alone."
"What about 'Huntress?' " Barbara rolled her eyes at the use of that silly name.
"Helena didn't want me around in the first place. I know she likes me, but I don't think she loves me like you do."
"I want to believe you, Dinah. I really do. But, there's no proof. It's your word, against a lifetime of memories...none of which contain you or Helena. Wouldn't I remember something?"
"I don't know." Dinah whispered, suddenly realizing that she was losing her fight. "I mean, there were these nanobots that got inside your head and made you sick...they made a detective kill people at my school. They could make you forget."
"Maybe. Or, maybe, you made this up so that I'd help you." Barbara smiled slightly, patting her shoulder. "You don't have anywhere to go, do you? Listen...I'm not making any promises, but I've got a really comfortable couch in my apartment and an office that I'm not really using. You could decorate it anyway you want."
Dinah stared at her in silence for a moment. "You're not completely gone, are you, Barbara? What you just said...sounds like Oracle, not Batgirl. You're so close to remembering. I know it."
"Come on, we can go home and talk about this over dinner."
"You don't have time for dinner, Batgirl."
Barbara spun towards the voice, her body tensed for a fight. "Oh, it's YOU." Silhouetted against the night stood a figure dressed in black, her coat streaming behind her. For a moment, Barbara thought of her mentor...but pushed Batman from her mind. "She's coming with me, Huntress."
"No." Helena declared in a steady voice. "YOU are coming with ME. We're going home."
Chapter 10 (http://www.birdsofpreyonline.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2643)
The Art of Persuasion
"We've gotta get out of here, Helena." Dinah was beginning to get desperate. They were locked in a jail cell in their friend's mind, while Barbara slowly died in the real world. Worst of all, Helena was acting as if she didn't care. The teenager was getting desperate. She couldn't lose Barbara so soon after losing her own mother. She couldn't do it, and not even Helena was going to stand in her way. "Will you just get over yourself?" Dinah demanded, finally. "So, she doesn't know who you are? Big deal. Get over it. You know Barbara loves you, and if you don't know that....then you're more conceited and self involved than I thought. God, Helena, Barbara is DYING. You can't just pout like a four year old and then come over tomorrow and pretend nothing happened. There will be NO tomorrow for her! She's dying...and YOU are the one killing her!"
Helena's eyes flashed a feline blue as she turned to the young woman. She looked ready to blow up at any moment, her fist clenched at her side.
Dinah didn't back down. "Go ahead. Hit me. Beat me up. I won't even fight back." The blonde held Helena's gaze without wavering. "I'm not going to let her die, Helena. I don't care what happens...I'm not going to let her die. You're either with me...or you're just one more thing I have to overcome to get out of this place and find her. I don't care which it is. You just better decide soon. Before its too late for either of us to save her."
"You can't save her, Dinah. Don't you get it?" Helena sighed and sat back down on the bench which ran the length of the cell wall. "She doesn't want to go back. Would you? You saw her last night on that rooftop. She was good...better than I ever thought she was, and she was having fun. She got back everything she lost, so she doesn't need us anymore. She doesn't want to go back to reality and that chair. I'm not sure I'd want to either. Nothing we say or do is going to make any difference. She's gone."
"No." Dinah shook her head furiously. "She's not gone. It's those machines. That's not Barbara. We just need to get through to her, talk to her..."
"You'll only be wasting your breath. Oracle doesn't exist here. It's just Batgirl, and Batgirl wants nothing to do with either of us."
Dinah glared at the woman, her eyes afire with hatred. "Fine. You know what, I can do it without you. You can just sit here and rot in this cell for all I care. I'm getting out...and I'm going to find her! You know why? Because I LOVE her, and I NEED her, and I'm not going to give her up without a fight." Her eyes left Helena to settle on a ring of keys along the wall, as if of their own volition they soared across the room into her hand. "I'm leaving, and you can go straight to Hell."
In a corner of the hallway, a tiny camera recorded the cat fight. At the end of the cable, seated before a closed circuit television, a pretty red head looked troubled.
"Shouldn't we stop her?" The police officer asked.
"No." Barbara whispered. "No, Jason...let her leave. I don't think she's dangerous. Just...make sure you keep the brunette here. She worries me." She stood up from her chair, dusting off her jeans. "In fact, Officer Bard, don't worry about that paperwork. I won't be pressing charges. Just hold Helena for the maximum 24 hours and let her go. By then, I think I'll have this thing dealt with accordingly." Right now, she had to find that girl and find out exactly what she had to say about this other world.
***
Dinah had looked everywhere for Barbara and was beginning to lose hope. In a fit of inspiration, or perhaps more likely, desperation, she'd come to the clocktower. She wasn't surprised to find that their home and headquarters did not lay beyond the clockface. With a heavy hearted sigh, she sat down on the balcony and stared out at a city that looked very much the same as hers, but was so incredibly different.
"I think you wanted to talk to me."
Dinah jumped and turned at the sound of that familiar voice. "Barbara?" She asked in surprise. "Er...Batgirl?"
The figure behind the cowl smiled in an almost maternal way and pulled free her mask. "Let's stick with Barbara. Is this seat taken, or can I sit here?"
"Oh...uh...yeah...I mean no...I mean, please sit down." Dinah stuttered.
Barbara chuckled, looking out over the same view which had held Dinah transfixed. "This is one of my favorite places in the city. You can see everything from here. When I first became Batgirl, this is the place I visited when I needed to think. I always told myself that if I ever had a 'Batcave' of my own, it wouldn't be underground...it would be up in the clouds where you can see the entire city."
Dinah tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and gave Barbara a secret little smile. "This is where our 'lair' is. Here. In the clocktower. Just beyond that clock. You have all kinds of computers, and you know everything. Every superhero in the world depends on you for information. I don't know what they'll do if you don't come home."
"You realize I find this very hard to swallow." Barbara asked, her voice was soft, perhaps a little teasing, but not the hard edged tone she used with Helena. "This whole idea, that my world is a dream and in your world, the real world, I'm disabled...."
"You're not though. You have this machine you made that can help you walk...and you fight without legs just fine. You're not disabled, you just don't high kick anymore. Not a big deal, really." Dinah smiled, hoping against hope she was somehow getting through to her.
"How do I know your world isn't the dream, Dinah? How do I know you're not just trying to tempt me into some trap that's going to put my life in danger?"
Dinah looked hurt at that suggestion. "I would never do that to you, Barbara. Ever. You're the only person I've got in the whole world. You're it. If I lose you, I'm alone."
"What about 'Huntress?' " Barbara rolled her eyes at the use of that silly name.
"Helena didn't want me around in the first place. I know she likes me, but I don't think she loves me like you do."
"I want to believe you, Dinah. I really do. But, there's no proof. It's your word, against a lifetime of memories...none of which contain you or Helena. Wouldn't I remember something?"
"I don't know." Dinah whispered, suddenly realizing that she was losing her fight. "I mean, there were these nanobots that got inside your head and made you sick...they made a detective kill people at my school. They could make you forget."
"Maybe. Or, maybe, you made this up so that I'd help you." Barbara smiled slightly, patting her shoulder. "You don't have anywhere to go, do you? Listen...I'm not making any promises, but I've got a really comfortable couch in my apartment and an office that I'm not really using. You could decorate it anyway you want."
Dinah stared at her in silence for a moment. "You're not completely gone, are you, Barbara? What you just said...sounds like Oracle, not Batgirl. You're so close to remembering. I know it."
"Come on, we can go home and talk about this over dinner."
"You don't have time for dinner, Batgirl."
Barbara spun towards the voice, her body tensed for a fight. "Oh, it's YOU." Silhouetted against the night stood a figure dressed in black, her coat streaming behind her. For a moment, Barbara thought of her mentor...but pushed Batman from her mind. "She's coming with me, Huntress."
"No." Helena declared in a steady voice. "YOU are coming with ME. We're going home."
Chapter 10 (http://www.birdsofpreyonline.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2643)