[Open]

[acro_bat_ic]

Who: Barbara Gordon, and OPEN
What; Reacting to the arena
Where: District 11 quarters. Also, common area.
When; The final week of tournament
Warnings/Notes: lol this is late. ;; (RL things happened.)

There was a surprising amount of numbness involved in coming back to life. Barbara's eyes opened, but she didn't pay attention to what she was seeing. People were rushing all  around her, but she didn't pay any attention to what they were saying. At some point she got up and started walking. 

Eventually, she became aware of something, beyond the fuzz of people walking by. A dark pulse of energy beating beneath her surface, like a second heart. Harder. Larger. She turned it over idly in her mind's eye, imaginary fingertips skimming across the surface. Anger, pain, hurt, grief. she felt a little sob trying to work its way out of her throat, catching in her sealed lips. She trembled.

Why was this so hard?

Comments

[revvinguptheharley]

Harely had been paying close attention to Barbara's progress in the games since her untimely demise.

And so when Barbara finally bit it, Harley was out of her room like an arrow from a hero dressed in green and stalking outside the District 11 suite.

In time, her patience (And usual lack thereof) paid off and the door opened as Barbara was apparently about to go for a walk.

"HIYA RED!" She cheered loudly before she realized that from the look on Barbara's face, she wasn't handling death at all well.

[acro_bat_ic]

She blinked, seeming to come out of it a little. "Harley?" it wasn't her death that bugged her, so much. It was the death o everyone else. Watching everyone get hurt again and again.

She hated it.

[revvinguptheharley]

"In the unbruised undamaged, recently exfoliated flesh!" She declared with her usual sunny attitude. "You made it SO far! Till that Frankenstein jerk caught up with you. But at least he's gone now."

[acro_bat_ic]

She managed a small smile, though she was barely listening. "The cream pie helped."

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley wrapped her arms around Barbara giving her a hug, "Aw, I'm glad you liked it! I thought you could use a pick me up so I pooled what money I had." She explained. "But you were super amazing."

[acro_bat_ic]

"Aren't those kind of expensive?" she asked, clearly a bit concerned about Harley spending lots of money on her. Not that she objected to the idea, per se... But. Come on, Harley. You can't have a ton of money.

[revvinguptheharley]

"Eh..." Harley waved away the notion. "I didn't have a ton of money what with the whole, not killing anyone thing. But plenty of people liked me enough that all I had to do was beg and dance and juggle and joke and flirt till they chipped in." She winked. "The smile on your face was GOLD! Hearts melted all over the city."

[undercoverprincess]

It was constant constant constant in this place. Good thing Cindy was used to constant. Not so much the constant parties and attention, but to getting the job done, over and over again.

So when she saw someone in the District 11 area, she cast an eye over, studying her. Small girl, worried, scared, the whole nine yards. Did she just arrive here? Or was she from the arena? Either way, she should go see to her.

"Hey there. Better take a seat before you fall down."

[acro_bat_ic]

She stared at Cindy for a moment. A long moment. She had to remember how to speak. Seeing Harley had helped her some, but... It was hard comig back from being dead. Watching everyone die.

"I think I'll keep standing," she said out loud.

[undercoverprincess]

"Your life, hon. Just trying to make it a little easier on you," Cindy shrugged, going to one of the couches and taking a seat. "What's your name?"

[acro_bat_ic]

"Barbara," she offered. "Gordon." That wasn't a secret, at least. Barbara had sort of announced it to the whole Capitol once upon a time.

"What about you?"

[undercoverprincess]

"Nice to meet you, Barbara," Cindy smiled. "I'm Cindy. So, you're not going to sit, but you're not looking too hot, either. Need any help? I'm not doing anything right now, plenty of time."

And if this was another girl in her district, then she'd like to get to know her.

[acro_bat_ic]

She hesitated, before shrugging. Why not? She needs to start gathering herself up...

"You know where the food is?" she asked, by way of making peace. That, and her stomach was grumbling. She needed to eat.

If this doesn't work, let me know and I can change it up!

[bratwonder]

About a week or so after the arena ended, another citizen of Gotham found his way into the Capitol. He made his displeasure about being here quite clear, which earned him the attention of a familiar face—one that he'd never been particularly fond of seeing but one that proved to be somewhat helpful here in the information department nonetheless. (But only somewhat, though, because Drake was never useful.)

Knowing that Barbara was here, regardless of the fact that she was supposedly "different," made her a point of interest to Damian. Getting acquainted with the city was a priority, of course, but more important than that was seeking out the others and finding out what he could about them. Naturally, Damian opted for a less direct approach, watching her from a distance instead. If she was as good as the former Batgirl supposedly was, she'd notice him sooner or later, he decided.

So hey, Barbara, you ever get the feeling that you're being watched? ...well, more than usual?! Because Damian Wayne would probably be to blame.

Works fine!

[acro_bat_ic]

It was hard not to feel watched in this place. What with the fact that everyone was watching her and all. Constant supervision could make a girl feel pretty paranoid if she let it...

Still. It's a bit different being watched in person. Eventually it was bound to draw her attention - with her eyes scouting about. She was more used to stalking than being stalked, but... what sort of super her couldn't spot a tail?

[bratwonder]

Although Damian never knew Barbara well personally, he'd had enough training to know what kinds of things to look for. He could pick his father out of a crowd with ease despite never having met him before, so it wasn't that hard to spot Barbara, either. Normally, he might've tried to jump her just to see if she really was Batgirl, but starting a fight in the middle of a crowded street in a place like this? Probably not the best idea. Not without the right resources, which he certainly lacked here.

This place sucked.

So instead, after trailing her for a while, Damian made his way past a few people and called out to her. Dick would totally be proud of his civility.

"Gordon?"

[acro_bat_ic]

No - so long as he kept in mind the differences between this version and the other, anyway. Younger. Not in a wheel chair. She also had brown eyes, instead of... well, what color she was supposed to have seemed to differ by world.

Still, some things - like her last name - don't change; even if the commissioner's her father instead of her uncle or something.

When she heard her last name called out, she froze, twisting about and looking for the speaker.

[bratwonder]

Instead of responding immediately, Damian just gave her a look—an analyzing, critical look. She reacted, and for anyone else, that would be enough, but as the son of Batman, he also felt it necessary to judge whether or not she was worthy of her place.

...nevermind that he was hardly in a position to decide that sort of thing himself.

The critical looked remained even as he spoke up.

"You're supposed to be Batgirl?"

[acro_bat_ic]

Shock - jaw dropping shock - is replaced quickly by indignation and annoyance. That one line, so much like what her Dick is said... for that moment, she's suddenly Batgirl, and he's her Robin: The pixie; The stupid intruder who they so do not need.

He’s also known as her annoying little brother who Barbara will Never Admit Loving..

"And you're supposed to be keeping that quiet," Barbara declared, reaching out to give him a solid poke on the forehead. "You are totally breaking the super hero code!" She paused, glancing around the crowds. Maybe nobody heard.

"Who told you, anyway?"

[the_hit_list]

Watching Barbara from a distance is the national pastime of Robins, apparently. This one actually looked pleasant right now; he's just so relieved that she made it back to the Capitol and didn't vanish into the ether. She's definitely the wrong Barbara Gordon, if there was any question left of that - seeing her in person confirmed it. Tim reminded himself that he wasn't in a position to be picky, and, at the age she was right now, it was going to be a hard sell that he had been Robin.

Hell, she was young enough that she might not know Jason yet.

That could work, though. Maybe, if he overloaded her with so much information, she wouldn't ask too many questions about her own role in his version of Earth. Because right now, that's what was keeping him on this side of the room. Tim knew that he couldn't keep dragging his feet. If she saw him and came over, she could already be on the defensive, and it would be that much harder to convince her that he wasn't lying. Stop analyzing and get it over with; it wasn't a hundred percent chance nightmare.

Tim jumped down from his perch on the back of a sofa and jogged towards the redhead. "Barbara!"

[acro_bat_ic]

"The one and only," she promised, injecting a bit of chipperness into her voice. ...She knew the statement wasn't true. But. It seemed to hold well enough among the tributes, so far.

She clearly had no idea who he was, from the way she looked at him. She didn't know who Jason was, either - she'd only known Tim for the last year.

Hence the looking him and down, waiting for him to continue. "Let me guess. You're a fan?"

[the_hit_list]

"No," he replied quietly. Damn. Tim had suspected that she wouldn't know him, but there had been a million-to-one chance. Sometimes, he got lucky, but this was going to be hard.

He'd gotten off easy with Bruce, who had been different but still managed to identify him without having to convince him. Steph and Damian had known him, as had Diana. Even Harley was able to recognize him as Tim Wayne, and he didn't even want her to. Where was he supposed to start?

Start with her, at the beginning. She was going to think it was creepy, but it was either this or blurt out that she's Batgirl and he's the third Robin. "You're Barbara Gordon. Your father is Jim Gordon. You're from Gotham, like me."

[acro_bat_ic]

Unfortunately, Barbara was probably too young for that - even if she had been from their world. She hadn't had more than one Robin, and she'd had him out of order.

So when he said no, it wasn't a look of sudden understanding he got. It was simple confusion, eyes traveling up and down, searching for some bit of recognition. Another tribute, maybe?

The listing of her personal history didn't make things any better. It brought to mind new levels of creepy that she knew him so well. "But you're not a fan?"

So what are you, creepy mystery man?

[the_hit_list]

"Not anymore. I was, but not since I was twelve," Tim chuckled a little. Now and then, he remembered when he was just a fan of Batman and the rest. In hindsight, it seemed so odd to read the newspaper to find descriptions of Bat sightings. The press was a damn nuisance - they always put in whatever details they could find. Some things needed to be kept quiet, or else they lost the element of surprise and...

See, there it was. Look at how everything had flipped around in five years. He couldn't even claim to be a fan of Batgirl anymore. "It's more like friend, now."

Tim offered her his hand. "My name's Tim Wayne. I bet you can't guess my nickname."

[acro_bat_ic]

"...Any relationship to Dick?" she asked, choosing on purpose to avoid Bruce's name. Not that she thought Dick was the kid. But it was the closest she could come to asking "Another sidekick?"

He was getting another look over, too, this time for muscles. He seemed to have the figure for crime fighting. She wished she could see him in a gym, know whether he could do flips.

Maybe it's better that she doesn't, though. She can tell herself she's probably way better than him.