Part 1: Back at it
The cool summer evening wind blew lightly as Lucy walks out the front door and down the street, heading toward the train platform. The party was still going strong, but she needed to be at work early in the morning, so she put her cocktail down, fetched her coat from the pile on the bed, thanked the hostess for a fun evening, kissed the cute guy whose number she got and left.
Her heels clicking against the sidewalk, the cute blonde had a good dozen blocks to walk to get to the platform, hoping she wouldn’t need to wait long for the next train. The neighborhood was not the worst in the city, but it wasn’t the most fashionable either, and in this city, anything can happen in any part of it. She was second guessing her choice of wearing such a short skirt too, especially this late at night. While it showed off her long legs and helped attract the eligible men, and a few that really weren’t, to her at the party, she now worried it make her appear a too easy and attractive target for a mugger hoping to make a quick little score.
Little did she know she was already targeted.
She rounded a corner, taking a quick peek behind to see that she wasn’t being followed. Relieved she wasn’t, she didn’t see the tall man step out behind her from the gap between the buildings. Before she could scream or run, a hand was over her mouth and another was pulling her between the buildings, making her disappear from the street as if by magic. He dragged her back several yards between the brick structures to where the buildings retreated back to let sunlight in. He shoved her into a recessed doorway, his hand never leaving her face as his body pressed her against a cold door that was made of steel. A small light well above the doorway allowed the two to see each other, but there was little for Lucy to see of her attacker for he wore a ski mask.
“Keep quiet and you won’t get hurt.” He said in a cigarette roughened voice. His hand remained over her mouth but his other hand held the handle of a switch blade that he popped open before her eyes.
“You scream or fight me and I’ll stick you. Got it?” he added. Lucy just nodded, her eyes wide in terror looking at the gleaming bade.
The pressure on her face waned and his hand came off, but he continued to press against her. With the knife in her view, he snatched her purse from the shoulder and rummaged through. But his perfect timing and well-choreographed snatch and drag maneuver only netted him $24 and some loose change.
“This all you got? No plastic?” he said, pushing against her harder and holding the point of the blade against her cheek. Since her clothes didn’t seem to have any pockets, he was guessing she didn’t.
“That’s all I have, I swear.” She replied, her voice clearly expressing her fear.
“Hardly worth my time.” He replied, but then had a new thought and pressed into her even harder. “But then again, maybe not.” He added, dropping her purse to the ground as the look of lust came into his eye.
“No, please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone about this.” Lucy pleaded, already knowing he wanted more out of her and was planning to use her young, shapely body as the payment. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me. Please, please, just let me go.”
“Stop you’re whin’n, or I’ll slash that pretty face of yours so no man will want you.” He said as his hand moved down her body to her bare thighs then back up and under her skirt, giving her ass a good squeeze. Lucy tried to resist, but he was too strong. “Beside I make all the ladies feel good.” he boasted.
Just as he was about to go further, they heard something flitter through the air, like a wobbling swish, and it grew louder and louder in just a second or two. As it reached its loudest, he felt a hard blow come across his knees, making the robber turned rapist groan in pain, releasing his grip on Lucy and dropping to the ground.
Lucy looked down at the thief clutching the back of his leg and groan again. Seeing a chance, she stepped away from her attacker and was about to run when she looked to his left. There, on the ground was a purple object, less than a foot in length, in the shape of a winged bat in flight.
In the corner of her eye she saw something appear, or rather drop into the area. It was a woman, now standing with her hands on her hips. Seeing her in silhouette, Lucy could tell the woman was very shapely, quite chesty but with a small waist and long legs. Though the light was dim, Lucy could see she was dressed in a tight purple outfit which hugged her perfectly formed figure. She wore a cape over her shoulders, the underside bright yellow and ankle boots of the same vibrant purple with heel at least 4” tall. The upper part of her face and most of her head was covered in purple and black, with pointed ears atop to add an element of fear, but letting her bright red hair flow from below. Slung low around her rounded hips hung a wide utility belt and across her chest the same bat shape emblem that lay on the ground. There was little doubt the identity of Lucy’s timely rescuer.
“Batgirl!” she cried out.
“Good evening.” She replied. “You’ll want to move away from him. He may still have some fight left in him.”
Lucy did, darting over toward the female caped crusader and hugging her. “Oh thank you, thank you. He was about to…”
“Yes, I saw what he was about to do.” She replied, pealing the grateful girl off from her, her bright eyes never leaving the criminal, who seemed to be in less pain that just a moment earlier. “Lucky for you I was around.” She added.
Just then, the man worked his way back to his knees. Somehow, he managed to hold onto his knife, with a hard look on his face reading he about to lash out with it in retaliation for the attack that interrupted is criminal act.
“You better get behind me.” Batgirl said, already moving Lucy that way and stepping in front of her. Batgirl knew what was coming. She stood with her feet apart and her hands on her hips, the classic Batgirl pose the residents of Gotham City knew so well. Either he was going to fight or he was going to run. He didn’t look like the kind to just surrender without some kind of response.
“You, bitch!” he yelled, seeing Batgirl standing several feet away. “I’ll get you for this.” He said stumbling forward, flailing his knife at the female crime fighter.
So much for the flight option.
Batgirl was glad he didn’t try to run for it. She didn’t feel like chasing him down, even with his bruised leg. She was more in the mood to kick this thug’s can and he was going to give her the opportunity.
He lunged forward, trying to stick Batgirl with the knife, but his intent and motion was so obvious, she had no trouble responding to his attach. A second later, a chop to his wrist made him drop his blade, followed with a roundhouse kick you his midsection and ended with a quick upward swing of her long leg, better than any chorus line dancer could perform, catching his chin with her booted foot. He flipped backwards, leaving his feet for a second, and crashed to the ground eventually on his back. With a groan, the attacker rolled over, went limp and passed out, his exhaustion courtesy of Batgirl.
Lucy looked on disbelief. The man had to be twice the size of the female crime fighter and who knew how many times stronger that the both of them. But in a flash, Batgirl had disarmed and dispatched the thug, laying him out cold. It happened so quickly, Lucy barely could register it.
“Unbelievable.” Lucy said.
“Are you all right?” Batgirl asked the woman as she kicked the knife away from the scene. In a flash, his hands were bound behind his back in some kind of disposable plastic handcuffs.
“Yes, I’m fine I think, thanks to you.” She replied, still looking on at the man who only a moment earlier was the about to ravish her. A second to two later, Batgirl was standing next to her, handing back her purse.
Batgirl put something into her hand. “The police will be here shortly. Tell them everything and show them where the knife is. If he starts to move around too much, give him a kick in the crotch, the police won’t question it. And you may rethink walking alone at night, especially dressed as you are. You’re far too attractive and make yourself appear an easy target for these scum bags.”
“Um, Ok.” Lucy replied.
Batgirl smiled. From behind her back, Batgirl pulled something out and held it above her head. It made a small bang and part of it zoomed up. A second later, Batgirl shot upward to the top of the building and disappeared.
Lucy looked in her hand. It was a small bat shaped gadget, with the eyes blinking red. It was a signal to the police that someone needed help and they should respond quickly. Had she not held the beacon in her hand, Lucy would have wondered if she had dreamt the whole thing.
Batgirl peered down from the top of the building, keeping watch till the Gotham City police arrived then lighted off across the roofs, leaping gracefully across the gaps back to where her Batcycle was parked. Repelling down, she deactivate the anti-theft system, started the electric motor and headed off.
She drove around for several minutes, waiting for her adrenaline to wear off yet looking everywhere to see if any other criminal activity was transpiring. After 15 minutes or so, she checked to make sure she wasn’t being tracked or followed before heading back to her apartment building. Killing the lights a short distance away, she activated the opener for the hidden entrance and silently glided her ride in, closing the door so fast, it would have knocked her off had she been a quarter of a second slower. Dim red lights came on automatically as soon as the door sealed, allowing her to see without corrupting her night vision.
Inside the garage, she reviewed the low light monitors to make sure no one was following or may have seen her slip in as she hopped of her cycle and plugged it in to top off the batteries. With the newest rechargeable cells available, she hardly drained them at all this evening, but a girl should never want to take the chance and have your best and most valuable asset fail you when it’s most needed. After running a quick diagnostics on the Batcycle, and finding everything in working order, she killed the lights and slipped into the hidden lift that took her up to her living quarters.
Inside the hidden room, Batgirl removed her gloves, cape, belt and cowling, putting each in their place. Her boots came next and were placed next to the small collection of various purple footwear she owned before she stripped off her Batsuit, leaving her naked expect for her skimpy panties. She hung up the suit next to the 3 others owned and slid into a short robe and slippers as she reviewed the surveillance recordings that covered her building, both inside and out. Convinced everything was secure and she was alone, she pressed a small button that released the lock, allowing the perfectly balanced turntable to move. Back in her bedroom, she closed the secret access where her dressing table sat and secured it again.
The transformation back to Barbara Gordon was complete.
“Hello Charlie.” She said to her pet bird. “Did you miss me?”
“Charlie missed, Charlie missed.” The bird replied. “All’s well, all’s well.” It added, telling Barbara that no one had slipped into her bedroom. Charlie was still her most reliable security system.
“Oh Charlie, it felt so wonderful to be back in action.” She said as she sat at her makeup table, looking at herself in the mirror. “I feel like I’m complete, finally me once more, and making a real difference again.”
The fact was this was the first time Batgirl had roamed the streets of nighttime Gotham City in months or even worn her Batgirl costume without one of the male cape crusaders with her. The last time Batgirl struck out completely on her own was when she was captured by the brilliant yet depraved Professor and subjected to his fiendish Mindbender device (see Batgirl vs the Professor). The only real noticeable side effect of her dark experience was her enlarged breasts, a holdover from the Professor’s twisted mind of how she should look. The lack of hair across her body was less observable to anyone other than her doctor and lover. In the end, she decided not to have the breast reduction surgery for her chest never looked better, so firm and full. And with Bruce Wayne lavishing her with a new wardrobe to account for her change in shape, she felt comfortable in her reformed figure, even if it meant having to spend several hours altering each of her close fitting Batgirl costumes.
Though her body suffered little ill effect form the ordeal, her mind and spirit took far longer to recuperate. She still had nightmares of her trip through the evil device and the whole tragic affair, but even those we getting fewer, less intense and farther in between.
But now she felt like she was really back to her old self again. As Director of the entire Gotham City Public Library System, she was busy doing her day job and had returned to social and fund raising scenes again. When asked about her suffering at the hands of the despicable Professor, all she had to say was she ’had put it in her past’ and ‘didn’t wish to talk about it’ was enough to stop the questions. Thought the press still clamored for more, she had given her one interview and politely refused to provide additional or further details. She wanted her privacy back and didn’t dare say anything that might divulge or compromise her alter ego.
And she had Bruce Wayne, her now public and steady love interest, and his offer at marriage. Though she wanted to accept his proposal, she still needed to be on her own again, even for a short season, just to make her recovery complete. Tonight was the beginning of the last part of her journey and it felt great.
Almost as great as when she and Bruce were in bed together. Bruce made her feel like a complete woman when he made love to her and she made him feel like a man in return. And when he tied her up, she was able to feel that passion even more intently. She thrilled when he applied ropes to her naked flesh to render her helpless, savored over his touch and the kisses he lavished over her restrained body, hotly anticipating when he inflicted is expert talents to make her orgasm again and again, then beg him to let her suck his impressive manhood or slid into her love tunnel, filling her like no man could.
But for now, her passions and desires would need to be relegated to a few nights a week when time and schedules permitted. In between, she was going to resurrect Batgirl’s reputation and help protect the populace of Gotham City as best she could, even though things were unusually quiet in Gotham lately.
She fired up her laptop and opened email. She drafted a quick, but well composed email, telling her friend and lover that she was back safe and sound from her nocturnal adventures.
Dearest Bruce,
Just a quick note before I retire for the evening. Back home after another exciting day of employment for Gotham City. With days like today, I’m feeling so much more like myself again. I was busy today, but was able to get through it all without any problems. Looking forward to more of the same in the days to come.
Missing you so much it almost hurts and looking forward to see you again soon.
Barbara
Barbara drew herself a bath and soaked in the warm water and bubbles, reflecting on the nights work. She not only helped the one woman from being ravished, she stopped an old lady form getting hit by a bus, foiled a convenience store robbery and helped a couple of kids find their lost puppy. Not a bad night’s work for the first day, or rather night, back on the job after her prolonged leave of absence.
She listened to the radio as she bathed, the soft music helping her relax. But the broadcast was interrupted before she had to refresh her bubbles.
“We interrupt our normal programing for a breaking news story. The Gotham City police are at the estate of Bartholomew Wentworth, international business industrialist, local philanthropist and humanitarian.”
Barbara scoffed at the word ‘humanitarian’. Old man Wentworth was hardly a humanitarian, only donating tiny portions of his massive wealth to camera friendly organizations to prop up his public image. At best, he was a savvy yet shady business executive. At worst, he was the dirtiest, most ruthless tycoon on the entire east coast. Bruce knew more of his dealing that she, but from what she knew, Wentworth would do anything to make the deal and crush the competition, yet keep it all appear legal and above board. And his son seemed to be following in his muddy footsteps, only he didn’t seem as smart as the old man.
“Local reports are saying that Mr. Wentworth has suffered a medical emergency and it appears has died at his estate. Our sources had learned that the Gotham City Medical Examiners’ office has been contacted and should be on the scene shortly. Details are sketchy at this time, and it’s not known if his death is the result of foul play or natural causes. But it is known that his wife, Jennifer Wentworth, the source of much controversy within the Wentworth family, was home at the time of his death and we have also learned she has been questioned by the police.”
“So, Wentworth has died. Can’t say I’ll miss him.” Barbara said to herself as she added more hot water to the tub. More than once Wentworth made it quite clear he would donate even more generously to the charities Barbara was connected with if she’d only spend the night, or several nights, with him. As much as that made her skin crawl, she always politely declined. “Well, this should make for some very interesting family dynamics.” She added.
After her bath, Barbara slipped into a silk babydoll teddy, another gift from Bruce, slid between the sheets and settled in for some much needed sleep. She had two conference calls and a budget meeting scheduled for the next day, so she needed to be alert in the morning.
Little did Barbara know how the passing of Bartholomew Wentworth would directly affect her life.
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08.10.12
story continues in Batgirl - The Return 2: Funerals and Wills
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