Birds of a feather (Barbara)

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Dinah Lance had decided she'd waited long enough. Tired of every message she left for Barbara Gordon getting no response, the very recent death of her father, well known police commissioner James Gordon had been the final straw that prompted the blond's decision to come visit uninvited. Babs would never own up to it but she needed a shoulder to cry on. Dinah Lance and she had been to hell and back again several times over. Her own personal resentment over Babs refusal to pick up a damn phone or come by the shop at least was secondary. Babs needed her and Dinah missed her best friend. She probably wouldn't be initially happy to see her but tough beans. She wasn't going away.

Her harley rattled and hummed through the city streets enroute to Gotham's legendary clocktower that now served as home and base of operations to, in Dinah Lance's opinion, the smartest woman on the planet. It was around 7ish in the evening, Dinah had on a jacket, jeans and tee plus helmet and made short work of the short ride to the tower. Thoughts of her best friend, sadness of the loss of James Gordon, who was not only Babs father but also had been a dear friend to Dinah herself as well as her own father, the late Gotham police detective Larry Lance long before James ever made it to commissioner.

Within seconds of arrival she made her way up to Babs front door bearing bags of Chinese takeout and tapped her fist against the door waiting for Barbara Gordon to open and she was prepared to wait all week. No doubt Babs already knew well in advance of the knock who her guest was. Now it was just a question of how happy or unhappy Oracle was to see her. Of all the things they needed to catch up on, there would be no chance in hell she'd let on about her and Dick's relationship.Not anytime soon at least.

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Barbara got up from the computer finishing working on it for a while at lest. It was time to stretch her legs in hopes of finding someone to beat up she hadn’t been so lucky the last few nights and it was really starting to annoy her. It was like all the bad guy’s decided to go home when she went out or found a way to avoid her all of a sudden. Taking off her glasses she traded them in for a pair of contacts before she moved into her bedroom and stripped off her clothes leaving her underwear on as she moved to her closet she opened the secret panel where she has her costume hidden gone was her black and yellow suit which was probably hanging up in the bat cave still instead she had an all black one with a golden bat on the chest with a matching belt. No more bright colors for her she wasn’t a child anymore and didn’t want to dress like one now. Pulling the costume out she began to put it on it only took a few moments to get it on she could also take it off within the same amount of time.

She grabbed the cowl about to pull it up but stopped someone was here great now what? She walked over to her computer and saw it was Dinah first Dick now her? What was going on that suddenly brought everyone to her door this week. She really didn’t know. Turning on her heel she made her way down to the first floor and opened the door not bothering to cover up her suit no real point in doing it. She opened the door and stared back at Dinah did she forget to tell Dinah she can walk again? Yes she did but did she fell bad about not telling her or any of the other stuff she’s been doing? Not really actually she’s kind of stopped caring what other people think. “Is there something you want Dinah? I’m kind of busy.” she finally spoke up.

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This was it. Dinah heard footsteps coming after Babs had finally made her way down, wheels and all for all Dinah knew but she had the patience to spare as Babs made her way down the elevator and rolled to the door to meet her. Her mind was racing in a search for the right words to say and how to say them. When the door finally swung open the blond bombshell was bent over in a crouched position, prepared to hug the crippled computer geek What she saw was hardly anything she could have been prepared for.

Instead of gazing happily into the face of her best friend Dinah's eyes became proportionately larger and her jaw dropped as she stared at her midsection and waist. Her voice stammered and her jaw dropped at the unexpected turn of events. It was a rare occasion but Dinah Laurel Lance was at a loss for words.

"Um, um, um, Yeah...." She stammered after regaining her momentarily lost ability to speak. "I was just wondering where on Earth my best friend disappeared to, why she dropped off the radar and chosen to shut me out of her life is all." She forced a smile on her face and tried to keep her aggravation in check. "I missed you. I heard about your father, Babs. Is there anything I can do?"

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Barbara stood there with a raised eyebrow watching Dinah stare at her stomach until she realized she wasn’t in a wheelchair anymore. “I’ve been busy with work you know how I can get when I’m working on things.” It wasn’t uncommon for her to shut everything out when she was working on something there were times she wouldn’t even sleep for day’s on end. “Zarda’s kept me busy getting the networks back up and running and I haven’t been home much because of it.” she shrugged it was a great job and she enjoyed it she wasn’t planning on giving it up anytime soon not until it was done which could take a while longer then she’d probably stay on to fix problems when they come up which they probably will when more and more people get on the internet again. She doubted all the hackers in the world were dead so their probably just inching to get back on the net and cause trouble or go snooping where they didn’t belong.

Barbara sighed she wished people would stop bringing up her father he had died years ago and she finally was able to move on and people where bringing it back up again. “There isn’t anything that can be done it happened years ago during the Doomsday rampage.” She narrowed her eyes when she had a thought “Did Dick call and tell you about this?” it really seems kind of weird that both Dick and Dinah both showed up on her doorstep for pretty much the same thing only day’s apart with out one of them calling the other or some sort. Way to strange to be a coincidence something weird was going on and she was going to find out.

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Dinah's temper was starting to rise and it became more difficult to keep in check as she stood on the other side of the doorway, arms crossed and looking at the redhead in disbelief. "No Barbara. Busy happens over the course of a few days or a few weeks, maybe even a few months, NOT 5 years! I have barely heard a whole sentence from you since the clone wars disaster ended and things finally began returning to normal. I thought our friendship meant more to you than that. Should it not bother me that after 5 years I had to hear through the grapevine that my best friend's father was killed in the Doomsday nightmare? I know we all got separated and it took alot out of everyone but i am disappointed you didn't even call to let me know. I didn't find out until 2 months ago and no it wasn't from Dick, I have friends in the GCPD also."

Waiting on Babs to let her come in was getting irritating also and so she merely paced back and forth in the hall trying to keep her cool while talking to the woman. Something alot more serious than Zarda and her being able to walk again was going on. Dinah knew something was wrong somewhere. She knew Barbara Gordon better than Barbara was currently giving her credit for and she intended to find out what was going on, no matter what she had to do.

"So yes, I found out 2 months ago and if you had actually answered your damn phone I would have tried to console you earlier.. Now will you please let me in? Chinese delivery waits for noone and I have our favorite place on speed dial Babs."

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Barbara could see that Dinah was getting angry over not being let in and such. “Right because you actually know how long it takes to the rebuild the internet. Oh wait you don’t because your scared of computers.“ Barbara was probably really pushing her luck with Dinah right now but she didn’t care she just wanted the blonde to leave one way or another. She dropped her arms to her side ready for whatever Dinah might do be it throwing a punch or kick to actually using her powers on her if that was the case she had to be ready to move as soon as the blonde opened her mouth wide. Dinah might be a great fighter but Barbara was a lot smarter she also knew Dinah better then anyone probably better then the blonde knew herself. So she knew how to take her down if need be.

“Did it ever occur to you that I might have cut my ties with all my friends? That I didn’t want to see any of your faces again that’s why I didn’t answer my phone but yet here you are taking up my time with this crap.” another push from the fiery red head maybe by now she was really looking for a fight just to give her something to do seeing as crime was down the last few nights and it was starting to get to her.

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This wasn't the Barbara Gordon she knew, loved and had become as close as sisters with. Sure they had their disagreements over the years but never had the redhead computer geek been so blatantly insulting. It was as if she was another person entirely but Dinah Lance's fuse was growing shorter and shorter lickety split. One thing was for certain. She was tired of waiting on Babs to invite her in and she stepped over the threshold under her own accord.. Her hands were actually starting to shake she was growing so annoyed. Babs may not have been acting like herself but at the moment Dinah didn't care. 5 years of frustration at not just a teammate but a woman that was practically family kicking her to the curb for no reason had taken it's toll.

The blond hated the mere thought oif what she was about to do but the redhead needed a wake up call. Something, anything to try and put sense back into her thick skull. "And has it occurred to you that is the biggest load of bull i have ever heard come out of your mouth? Nope, sorry not buying it. Whatever is going on, this is not the real Barbara Gordon talking now SNAP OUT OF IT!" She yelled and brought her right palm toward Babs cheek to deliver a stinging slap while tears started to drip from her eyes.

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This was a problem now Dinah needed to be taken care of as soon as the blonde had stepped inside the door closed behind her so no one that might be passing by could see what was about to happen. Green skin replaced Caucasian pointed ears grew as well as having a bumpy chin classic traits of a skrull. Before Dinah’s hand got close to her face the skrull lashed out punching her in the face more then likely knocking her out they were a lot stronger then they looked “If your suppose to be one of the greatest fighters of this world it doesn’t say much for your species.” After making a call a few people showed up to pick up Dinah they might have looked human but they weren’t. With out saying anything they picked up the woman and hauled her off to a small ship which took her to a larger one in space. After going through a few check points to find out who she was and such they handed her off to the guards there where they took her to a large room and tossed her inside.

Dinah wasn’t alone in this room however another woman had already been living in here. It was Barbara possibly the real one or it could be another skrull either way the red head stayed in the corner and as far away from the blonde head as she could not wanting to go anywhere near the woman even though part of her wanted to. She knew better then to do so. So she just sat there and waited for the so called Black Canary to wake up to hear more lies to come from this one. It was another one of the Skrull mind games try and make her believe her real friends and family where there but it really was just more skrulls training to replace these people. Usually most of this took place on their home world but they seemed to want to keep doing it on their ships as well.

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Dinah's intended slap was still in mid-swing when the shocking and admittedly stomach churning transformation took place. Any resemblance of Barbara was now gone and it was too late for Dinah to ;pull her slap and deliver a much more serious attack. She'd never seen the likes of these creatures before. No time to react before the creature struck back with a punch straight to the bridge of her nose which popped and gushed blood on impact, leaving it seeping down her face before she fell like a limp dish rag. She heard the taunt right before she blacked out. If she had really wanted to attack she would have done so much more fiercely. That was just a love tap to try to get through to who she thought was the real Barbara Gordon.

It was a few hours before she woke up again. That was how hard the creatures could hit. They laid her out quite remarkably. Her face was busted and her head hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before. She was groaning softly when she started to stir again. Everything was blurry but the sight that greeted her didn't make her happy. Wherever she was she was now locked in the same space with Barbara Gordon? Was this the real on? The same one that attacked her? Or yet another impostor? Either way...

"You have alot of explaining to do! Where am i?"

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Barbara watch the blonde woman that looked like her best friend wake up her face was bloody it looked like it came from her nose? Or a cut near it she wasn’t sure from where she was sitting either way she was a mess. That part of her that wanted to believe this was the real Dinah wanted to go over there make sure she was alright and clean her up but she didn’t budge an inch the rest of her knew better then to get close to it. The red head did jump a bit she hadn’t expected the fake Dinah to be mad at her they must be trying something new this time around or maybe something else all together whatever it might be for she wasn’t going to take part in it not anymore she had learn long ago that whenever one of her friends or family members show up all of a sudden that it was just the skrulls it was some sort of sick game they were playing with her when she first realized this she accepted she’d never see her family friends again and learned not to fall for their traps but there were still times that she did they must have figured out that she knew that the people they sent in weren’t real and stepped up their game.

Until now it by the looks of it ignoring her questions she spoke up “Whatever mind game your trying to play on me this time wont work. Thought you people would realize that by now.” she finally moved but not towards the fake Dinah but just standing up ready for whatever might happen being attacked or dragged off some place. Both happened enough times to her in the past. "Guess you finally dropped the ball huh? Or ran out of ideas is that it? you ran out so your just going back to the basics. For being such a smart race your pretty stupid if you can break a human."

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Whoever this meatsacks were they were good, Dinah would have to give them that, They'd fooled her once and Dinah may not be quite as smart as the real Barbara Gordon but she was no idiot. A decent detective in her own right and every instinct in her body up to this point made her believe this was another game. She was being played and there was no way she was going to fall for it again. She was pissed, she was confused and she was frightened. A bit frightened for the first time in a long time. There were so many different feelings running through her head right now and none of them or anything else made sense right now.

Instead of lashing out further, the first course of action was for the blond to backpedal. Pounding on the walls with her fists until they started to ache. Yelling and screaming but not with her powers. The questions being asked by the other alien were confusing but it could still very well be by design. There was only one way to find out. Especially that her fists were starting to ache too much to keep making a racket. She suddenly spun around and lunged for the redheads throat, aiming to squeeze slightly but looking into the woman's eyes as well. It was a strange reflection. She saw the same confusion mirrored in this other Babs eyes that Dinah herself felt. Only one way to be certain. As much time as she and Babs had spent having each others backs over the years there was only one way to tell for certain. By repeating a moment that only the two of them knew they'd ever experienced before. If this other woman's reaction was anything other than familiarity Dinah would strike her down or god help her.

"New years eve. 2000. Hold still." She repeated that particular date with emphasis, aware that only the real Barbara Gordon would understand it's significance before she leaned in, closed her eyes and pressed her lips softly to Babs own. after wiping the blood from her aching face and before it could seep again.

"Babs....?"

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Barbara grabbed at the hand around her throat trying to pull it free she wasn’t going to let this thing kill her this wasn’t going to be her coffin. She looked confused for a moment before she remembered what happened that New Years eve. “Welcome to my nightmare have a seat cause we’re not going anywhere unless they want us to.” she slid down to the floor the old Babs would have tried to think of a way to escape and she had many times even managed to escape once for weeks until they caught her again a human stuck out like a sore thumb among green skinned aliens. She was lucky to have been free as long as she had. Some where in the back of her mind the thought of them letting her think she was free at the time popped up every now and then until she was caught and brought back. But now she didn’t even bother the pain of what they would do to her for trying made her stop after a while.

“So…you and Ollie have kids yet?” They weren’t going anywhere any time soon might as well play catch up until something happened. And the last thing she knew about was Dinah and Ollie getting married after everyone had been all partied out and heading home Barbara Gordon had been taken by the Skrulls and had been a guest ever since. It wasn’t hard for them to take her she couldn’t put up a big fight being stuck in the wheelchair and all. It was just a few months ago that they had taken her and replaced her spine with a high tech metal one so she could walk again it was part of some plan that her Skrull twin was going to be walking again and they wanted the real one to be able to as well as a form of confusing people when they were going to attack she wasn’t able to hear the rest.

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She wanted to reach out and pull the redhead into a hug at the discovery she was the real one but Dinah was too physically spent and merely had to settle for burying her face in her hands still trying to stem the blood flow that wasn't as bad as before but there was still pain to make up for it. "Looks like your nightmare is mine now too. Just like old times, huh?" She snarked and followed suit, sliding down to the floor beside Babs. with a deep breath and finally dropping her hands to her side, she shook her head at the mention of the archer. "Don't even get me started on how that nightmare ended. Needless to say if you want to spend the rest of the day saying I told you so, I have nothing but time on my hands."

She then slowly turned her head to look at Babs after that question, it dawning on her that Babs must have been here alot longer than she realized. "How long exactly have you been up here and how did they grab you Babs? We have a helluva lot to catch up on...and I have some horrible news for you."

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“Just don’t believe anything that comes through that door no matter who it is it isn’t who you think it is.” It took her a long time to figure that out it probably would have been easier to figure out that it wasn’t real if they hadn’t place her in a area that looked just like her home and such. She pretty sure they were using some type of high tech holograms that looked and felt real. After she had escaped from the building didn’t look big enough to hold everything they used on her to make her believe she was home. “For the record I was hoping I was wrong for once. You two did seem happy.” Of course she didn’t think that until the day of the wedding before all hell broke lose that is. Spent part of the night beating up bad guy’s she did wonder why Dinah had thought Slade wouldn’t be wearing a cup along with all that armor he runs around in all the time.

She looked at Dinah for a moment before looking up at the ceiling trying to come up with some type of answer to give her after a while she couldn’t come up with one there really wasn’t a way for her to tell there had been times she’d be out of it for days them having done something to her for one reason or another. But maybe Dinah could give her the answer “I don’t know the day’s blur together the last thing I remember doing on earth was leaving your wedding reception I was on my way home when these men attacked me I tried fighting them off but being in a wheelchair limited what I could do and what I could do didn’t do much they were able to take me and I’ve been here ever since. Not that I have to worry about being in a wheelchair ever again. Even if Joker did shoot me again it in the same spot I’d still be able to walk.” she frowned and looked over at Dinah again "Horrible news about what?"

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Dinah nodded curtly in response to Babs advice about not believing anything she may see while she was here. The woman had clearly been here alot longer than her and Dinah wouldn't doubt the word of the smartest woman she'd ever known. At least not very often. Dinah was stubborn, headstrong and opinionated, but it was possible the two of them could be spending the rest of their lives here. She had no trouble believing what Babs told her at all.

It was right about then and there in the thick of the conversation about the wedding Night that Siu Jerk Jai realized Babs wouldn't know the real kicker to the whole night The irony of this would be amazing.There was the reception being crashed by all the villains including Slade but the topper was the honeymoon night And the shocking discovery that Ollie had been captured and impersonated by Everyman. She actually allowed herself a small chuckle at the retelling of that story. It was so much easier to laugh about now than it was then, that's for sure. It wasn't long until the laughing stopped however.

Dinah listened intently as Babs spoke of being able to walk again. Dinah assumed it was to keep up appearance by the aliens holding them prisoner somehow. She'd ask for a more detailed account of how they fixed her up later. Right now Dinah had to break the news. There never would be an easy time for it and god only knows how she'd react but she had to know now.

"Your father, Babs..."she whispered as her voice grew more solemn, choking a bit with emotion, "Alot of things have changed since you've been away. The world is different now. 5 years ago there were scores of Doomsday clones everywhere thanks to our insipid government. Everyone and anyone lost people they cared about. I'm sorry, hon..." She whispered and put an arm around Babs shoulders.