oracle.

You've escaped, and you think the world's a huge place, and you can hide anywhere, right? I'm here to tell you... that world? I own it. Your world is getting smaller by the second. And you can't hide anywhere from me. Every database, every security cam, and every police band has my fingerprints on it.

[notyourbctgirl]

cfroyharper:

[ text → babs ]: sounds serious [ text → babs ]: yeah sure we can do that [ text → babs ]: where do you wanna meet?

[ text >> roy ! ] — well [ text >> roy ! ] — i’ve been told i make a pretty mean cup of coffee [ text >> roy ! ] — ...and some things are better said in private, anyway. [ text >> roy ! ] — you can swing by my place whenever’s good for you?

[notyourbctgirl]

ofjasontodd:

[ TEXT // BABS ] → i’m assuming the opinion has to do with your kids then?

[ TEXT // BABS ] → anything for you

[ TEXT // BABS ] → what did you want to know?

[ text >> jason ! ] — just.. [ text >> jason ! ] — i’m sure you’ve heard things are.. getting better [ text >> jason ! ] — for dick and me

[ text >> jason ! ] — i’m just not sure if this is a good idea [ text >> jason ! ] — for the kids. it just... feels like too little too late. trying to force myself into something good where they probably dont even want me. you know?

[ text >> jason ! ] — sorry for the long ramble i just really don’t know who else to talk to about this

[notyourbctgirl]

[ text >> @ofjasontodd ] — i don’t know if i’m making the right call [ text >> jason ! ] — but you know my kids better than me (probably) [ text >> jason ! ] — so i just wanted to ask your opinion

[notyourbctgirl]

midsummered:

“i just– i don’t want you to think i’m trying to bother you and your family. dick was very kind to spend some time with me.” lysander paled, trying to defend himself even though barbara wasn’t attacking him. trembling hands circled the base of the pot plant to try and hide his nerves. at least if they were stilled, he could maybe convince somebody in this room that he wasn’t as anxious as he actually was.

still… it was awfully nice of her to come out to the greenhouse. he wasn’t sure where she’d come from, but it was a distance from most places on campus. even so, it didn’t explain why she was visiting him today. “is… everything okay?”

god. this boy is so soft and kind, so unsure of himself with every faltering word. so unlike his father, she can’t stop herself from thinking, even though she knows it’s not right to judge a boy to the measure of his father. 

she reaches a hand out to steady the tremble of his, slowly enough that he could shrink back away from the touch if he wanted to. “everything’s fine — i’m fine. i promise i don’t think you’re a bother.” a soft reassuring smile to show him she means what she’s saying. “i think it’ll be good for us both, having this talk.”

[notyourbctgirl]

cfroyharper:

[ text → babs ]: Babs? [ text → babs ]: yeah of course I do [ text → babs ]: What’s going on?

[ text >> roy ! ] — just been going through a rough patch [ text >> roy ! ] — it’s.. hard to say over text, though. [ text >> roy ! ] — you wanna go grab a cup of coffee or something?

[notyourbctgirl]

canvrycry:

── ❝   @notyourbctgirl!   /   ❛ people are so petty and then here i am, me, an angel ❜

       fingers threaded through fiery red locks as dinah rounded the table, setting the coffee pot down in the middle for the both of them while she said, ❝ you know what ── you’re so right. i guess we all need an angel to water down the rest of us heathens. ❞ but that might just be dinah’s adoration shining through despite her best efforts. there was a fond smile on her lips as she poured herself a mug and flavoured it to her liking. took a sip.

       ❝ speaking of my angel, how have you been holding up since the rally? i tried to find you but rounding up my kids and the other students took far longer than i intended it to be, and by then, you were already gone. ❞ at least barbara was safe and sound in front of her now. because while dinah rushed around the campus looking for her kids, she couldn’t shake the thought of her oracle stranded somewhere. terrified. the both of them harbouring a hatred for guns.

smiling gratefully at dinah for the fresh coffee, she makes a mug up for herself, enough cream and sugar to rival starbucks. “oh, you’re a heathen, alright. but that’s what i love most about you, di.”

of course she’d been worried the day of the rally. barbara and guns? not a good mix. not before the accident, and even less after. still, she steels herself with a firm smile. “i’m okay. i’ve been better, but — i’m fine. glad you and the kids are all good too.” it could’ve been worse. if any one of them had gotten hurt in the crowd while barbara was stuck in a daze, useless.. she couldn’t imagine how terrible she’d feel. “family’s the most important.”

[notyourbctgirl]

[ text >> @cfroyharper ] — hey, roy? [ text >> roy ! ] — you got a minute? [ text >> roy ! ] — there’s something i need to talk to you about.

[notyourbctgirl]

flxmingbat:

“barbara?” xi feng had absolutely considered the location of the former batgirl in her decision to join her mother at Paragon. of course, there were many things that brought the woman here, but the nagging thoughts had certainly been high among them.  [ @notyourbctgirl ] you can do more… people need your help… you’re not meant to sit and and do nothing… so, when she found that her walk had led her to the office of the woman she sought. if she was going to do this again, she was going to do it right. she tilted her head a fraction of an inch as she spoke, “i was wondering if we could speak in private?”

it might be the summer, but barbara still found time to have her office open a couple hours a week, in case any particularly hardworking students needed assistance. besides, her apartment did get a little lonely, and it was nice to have people dropping in on her occasionally.

she lifted her head from the code she’d been poring over for hours at the sound of her name being called, face lighting up immediately at the sight of kate’s daughter. they hadn’t gotten to spend the most time together, especially with the timing of barbara’s accident and her retirement as batgirl, so this was a more-than-welcome interruption of her day.

“of course! come in, just shut the door behind you.” she waved a hand at the chair in front of her desk. “what’s up?”

[notyourbctgirl]

mariwing:

marisol had been to pride MANY times before. she’d been taken as a child with her brother and  her parents and then she even continued to go with her dad and her brother in bludhaven after they moved away from gotham ( note: bludhaven has a better pride than gotham. ) marisol was decked out , as was roo , her service dog who stood by her side on high alert as she ordered food from one of the food trucks.

she was still trying to get used to the crowd, having only recently begun easing herself back into her regular routines in paragon after the shooting. it was all just too much too soon, and the clamoring voices were starting to overstimulate her. she excused herself from dinah’s side, pushing her way to the food trucks off to the side for a snack ( and some peace and quiet ). 

barbara, however, hadn’t intended on bumping into her daughter in her search for a respite from the parade. “marisol — hey.” their previous conversations hadn’t gone the smoothest, but it was pride. they could manage a little small-talk, right? “you look wonderful. a—are you enjoying yourself?”

[notyourbctgirl]

/ closed for @thundrgcd.

“hey!” she rolls her wheelchair forward determinedly, not wanting to lose sight of the man she’s been looking for in the crowd. “i was wondering if you had some free time? i wanna talk to you about some... asgardian stuff?”

[notyourbctgirl]

midsummered:

lysander hadn’t expected this, he really hadn’t. his plan for the day was to start looking after some plants that had started to die whilst he was… away. he hadn’t really expected barbara to want to talk to him – unless he’d done something wrong? panic flashed over his face at the idea; had he upset dick? after he was so nice to him?

“am i in trouble, miss gordon?” the redhead asked, nervously running a thumb over a leaf on the sickly plant in front of him. “if i’m bothering your family, i-i can stop.”

this conversation — it’s not easy to have for barbara. being made to remember and retell the entire ordeal she’d had with the joker.. she’d rather get shot again, and maybe this time in the head. but the boy standing before her is soft and scared, just like her, just like she used to be, and the need rises in her to help him feel better. with whatever little she can offer him.

“no, hey. if i didn’t wanna talk, i’d have just... avoided you.” she waves a hand at the greenhouse around them, a solid trek from her apartment, just to remind him ( and herself ) that this was a choice she’d made. “you’re not doing anything wrong, lysander. you deserve to have your answers.”

[notyourbctgirl]

/ closed for @queenoparkrow

“laura, sweetheart,” she approaches her niece with the hints of an apologetic smile flashing across her lips. she’d taken her own sweet time coming back out of her shell after the shooting, and dick had only just told her how everything had gone with the girl. her temporary amnesia, the way she’d panicked and gotten all tangled up in her memories again.. it filled her with shame to know that the younger girl had seen her like that. at her worst. “i haven’t had the chance to thank you for rescuing me at the rally, dear.”

[notyourbctgirl]

/ closed for @flightlessbvrd.

“c’mon, is that all you got?” the giggle bursts out of barbara’s throat, a sound she hasn’t heard in so long she almost forgot she could do that. her arms are slightly sore from pushing at her wheels so hard, but the burn is so welcome after her period of self-imposed house arrest. “last one there has to pay for the ice cream, kiddo!”

[jasontoddwashere]

sending her on a mission felt almost like going myself.

[notyourbctgirl]

/ closed for @midsummered.

“so dick’s been telling me that you’re, uh..” she pauses, taking the moment to fiddle with her glasses. is this really a conversation she wants to have? jesus. “trying to find out more about your father?”

god. it sounds so normal to refer to him like that, but she can’t bring herself to say his name. not just yet. “what do you want to know?”

[notyourbctgirl]

cfdickgrayson:

Dick knows he’s lucky to be here, lucky that Barbara’s let him in at all. Considering everything that’s happened, not just the years and distance between them.. but the shooting, the effect it’s had on her, Dick wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to keep her distance. But doing so wouldn’t help her, and he’s glad she seems to see that. And.. more than anything else, he’s glad she’s letting him in. Him specifically. They might not have had a chance to talk about what is and isn’t between them since that day, but Dick hasn’t given up hope. Not now that he knows she wants them to find a way back.

“I don’t know, I just.. you know, didn’t want to barge in.” He answers vaguely, offering her a small smile. “I know it can be nice to just - be on your own sometimes, when it feels like everything’s off-balance.” Still, sometimes that’s right when you need someone to nudge you back on balance.

He listens to her words carefully and his heart sinks a little at the mention of how much she’s repressed. After what happened to Babs all those years ago, she’d.. retreated away from him and into herself, refusing to talk to him, to even let him help her. Maybe she’s finally ready to let him in.

And it’s a bittersweet thought, really - he wants to help her, maybe more than anything else in this moment, but.. couldn’t they have tried this all those years ago? Still, he pushes those thoughts aside for the time being and focuses on her, a slight frown on his features. “You can talk to me, Barbara.” He offers, his voice gentle, kind but not pushing. If she’s ready, she’ll tell him - Dick just.. hopes she is. “I’m still here for you. You.. don’t need to do this alone.” Not again.

it’s an odd sense of calm that settles over her, as she readies herself to undo years of burying her trauma through overworking and blithe smiles. especially with dick. it doesn’t feel like they could’ve done this any other way. the wounds were way too raw, when she was still finding her footing when she’d first been shot, but now the distance has just given her more clarity.

barbara is... grateful. for his patience and understanding, for his willingness to take her back and work through this together properly for the first time. “i think i’ve had enough of being alone,” she whispers, fingertips coming up to brush the tears from her eyes before they fall.

and now, in this moment, she knows this is a step she is choosing to take with every piece of her heart. not one she feels cornered into, or obligated to take, but one she is making for her own recovery, and the healing of their relationship. 

“i’m.. i’m sorry i wasn’t ready to talk about this before, with you. but i think i am now. i have to be.”

[notyourbctgirl]

thedj-barnes:

“Wow. That is really cool. One quick question; I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”

an eyebrow arches as she tries to keep the smile on her face. barbara wasn’t a prude by any measure, but when had it become acceptable for students to swear at their teachers? god. 

“just —” her lips are pursed in a tight smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. fingers crossed this girl wouldn’t be in any of her classes. “you know what? it’s fine. not everyone cares about coding.”