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[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

As has happened every Halloween for the past couple of years, there is a petite woman in a tight-fitting spandex costume (complete with a cape), and flaming red hair in the bar. She's smiling. Actually, the word isn't strong enough. She's beaming.

She hasn't sat down anywhere, either. She walks around, just... walking. And every so often she'll eye an open path and launch into a series of flips and cartwheels just because she can.

For one day each year, Barbara Gordon has her legs back, and she doesn't plan on wasting any of it.

Comments

[respectthegun]

Batman is watching Batgirl.

(And smoking.)

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Batgirl comes out of a tumbling series about ten feet away from him and looks him up and down. "Who are you supposed to be?" she asks, managing to combine amusement and disapproval in the same phrase.

[respectthegun]

Yeah, right. Like someone dressed in that outfit doesn't recognise this outfit.

Lawton takes the cigarette out of his mouth long enough to say "I'm Batman."

Duh.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

The cowl of Batgirl's costume shifts slightly, suggesting an arched eyebrow underneath the fabric.

"No you're not."

[respectthegun]

Batman's cowl doesn't do that. There's no signs of any expression at all, for that matter.

"Says who?"

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Batman doesn't have a ridiculous mustache," Babs points out. "Everyone knows that."

[respectthegun]

"Hey!"

Now that's just mean.

"Watch what you're calling ridiculous, kid."

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Also, as a role model for children everywhere, Batman doesn't smoke."

Okay, so now she's just making things up to mess with him.

[respectthegun]

Yeah, now she's just making things up to mess with him.

"Role model for children? Givin' people panic attacks?"

On the plus side, Batman doesn't have herpes.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Upholding justice."

And stuff.

Also: not having herpes. That was a good thing for role models, too.

[respectthegun]

"By punching people in the face."

Does she understand how pretty Lawton's nose would be if it hadn't been broken so many times?

"I can punch people in the face." He just doesn't want to.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"For justice?"

She sounds rather doubtful.

[respectthegun]

"Done it before."

So there!

[claudiometer]

Someone she may or may not take for a Wonder Twin is up in the rafters, watching. (Claudia's thinking she should remember this vantage point later; it's kinda fun.)
"I give it a nine point six," she says, after one of those rounds of flips. It was quite impressive, after all.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Let me guess," Barbara turns up automatically, smirking in amusement, "You're the stingy French judge."

[claudiometer]

"I wouldn't say stingy. I mean, it's out of ten, and you definitely know what you're doing."
She might make cracks about acrobatics, but she's never been one to try it much herself.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Well, I suppose that's fair," Barbara allows. "I'm kinda outta practice..."

She hasn't done this since, well, last year.

[claudiometer]

"Wacky bar-related hijinks?"
If the woman doesn't want to elaborate beyond that, that's fine with Claudia. A 'yes' would settle it, the way this weekend's been.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Something like that, yeah." Barbara shrugs. "I assume you're experiencing some of those yourself."

[claudiometer]

Claudia shrugs. "The costume's not as bad as getting completely blindsided by a dream about my mom."
That one still stings a little, but she thinks she worked out the worst of it last night.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Barbara nods slowly. "It's that time of year."

"You okay?" Not that there's any reason Claudia should tell her if she's not, but... she asks anyway.

[claudiometer]

"I am now, yeah. My parents died when I was seven, so it was kind of a surprise, is all."
Understatement of the Century. But if she doesn't work through it, she's not gonna deal, and she needs to deal.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I get that." Barbara's parents had died early, too.

But things had worked out.

[claudiometer]

"I have people now. First time in a long time. So... on the whole it's good."
She's still kinda rattled by the dream in the first place, but Artie got it, she thinks.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"People are a good thing to have," Barbara smiles. "Especially when something like that happens."