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[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

 It feels like months since she first started trying to reach her father, but Babs knows it's only been hours.

Nevertheless, she's worried, because she knows her dad. She's been off-grid nearly five days now, and since she first moved in with him when she was thirteen, Barbara has never gone more than a night without speaking to him. 

Well - there was one glaring exception. 

Which only reinforced her sense that something wasn't right, but with all the recent chaos in Gotham, it was possible there was still some sort of reasonable explanation for why Commissioner Gordon wasn't answering his cell phone for his only daughter, nor returning the messages she'd left for him at work or home. 

Babs wanted to go to the station. It wasn't far. Neither was her father's house far removed from her Clock Tower. But there was still a lot of work to be done, and while her leg injury wasn't any further hinderance for her, and she could still get around by herself, Babs had a feeling that certain people might get snippy if she took off on her own again so soon.

There were one or two things she could try before venturing out into Gotham. Calling Dick's cell, she left a voicemail,

<i>"Hey, Dick. Not to be an alarmist, but I haven't been able to get ahold of my father and I was wondering if maybe you had an idea where he might be. Also, if you've got a job for me to help get things running more smoothly, I'm ready to go. Call me when you can."</i>

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[gcpd-mcu.livejournal.com]

Nearby, the respirator hisses as oxygen is fed to the prostrate figure on the bed; the sound is joined by beeps and bleeps to mark his breath and slow but steady heartbeat.

After a moment, the hand Barbara holds squeezes her fingers gently.

[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

Closing her eyes and breathing deep, Barbara bit back on the sob of relief that rose in her throat in response to this small sign of life and recognition that she was there. Glancing at all his monitors, she took a look at where his vitals were until she was certain her voice was under control enough to speak.

"What did I tell you about smoking, mister? Cigars still count." Tightening her grip on his hand, careful not to hurt him, Babs leaned down to kiss his cheek, then pulled out his chart to go over it with a fine-tooth comb.

[gcpd-mcu.livejournal.com]

His grip tightens as well, and his eyes crack open to slits to regard the redhaired beauty at his side. His daughter. His heart. "You're here," he rasps around the mask over his mouth. "You're safe."

She's not the only one relieved here.

[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

She, of course, doesn't know anything about the hell he's been through so recently, but this is Gotham. If there is a story to tell, she can only imagine what it might be, and anyway, it doesn't matter. Not at the moment, at least.

Barbara lives in a head space with people who are invincible. Even with the too recent death of one of those dearest to her, she has the hubris to too often forget that she, and those she loves most, are still mortal, and very vulnerable, no matter how skilled.

Taking his nearest hand, the one holding hers, and gently lifting it to place against her cheek, Barbara brushed her father's hair back off his forehead in a familiar, affectionate gesture. Her fingers danced down the side of his face, unable to break contact with him as though if she did, he would slip away from her.

"I'm here, Dad," she assured him softly. "I'm safe, and so are you. I promise I'm not going to leave your side, so I need you to relax and get some rest, and let the doctors and nurses take good care of you so that you can get your strength back."

[gcpd-mcu.livejournal.com]

Through his half-opened eyes he watches her with the same wonder he might have looked upon her at her birth. Tears slide from the far corners of both eyes, but under the oxygen mask, under the mustache, he smiles faintly. "Thank you," he murmurs, only a little drowsy in tone. "After what happened, I don't think I could stand to see you go."

A long sentence for a man who's had a heart attack, and after it's over, he closes his eyes. "I love you so much, honey."

[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

Try as she might, not even Babs is impervious to her father's tears. She blinks away her own, even as her thumb brushes his away.

"As soon as you're strong enough, you can tell me everything that happened. Until then, I'm staying right here, Dad. They'll have to pick me up and carry me out to tear me from your side," she grinned at him.

Kissing his cheek again, she breathed another deep sigh of relief. "I love you too, Dad. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're all I've got."

[gcpd-mcu.livejournal.com]

Gordon says something unintelligible and relaxes, his breathing slow, steady, normal.

The chart in Barbara's hand makes mention of myocardial infarction resulting from a mix of toxins found in the patient's bloodstream that appears to have induced a hysteria, which in turn raised his blood pressure to lethal levels.

The poison in Gordon's system is listed as fear toxin.

[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

Barbara is familiar with anger. She lived with it through months of rehabilitation after Joker shot her. It was rage that kept her going after every other survival skill had left her, until something more pure and purposeful took its place.

The fury that shook her now was white hot, like something hard and sharp stabbed through her gut and made her teeth rattle with the force of her desire to scream. Going over the chart a second time to make certain she understood correctly, she sent a text message to Dick.

'I'm going after Scarecrow.'

[aflyinggrayson.livejournal.com]

Like hell, comes the response, followed by, How's your father?

[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

'Like hell,' she affirms, still too angry to be reasonable. 'Half dead. I've never seen him like this. I don't know exactly what Crane did to him, but he's going to regret it. Somehow.'

[aflyinggrayson.livejournal.com]

Please, please don't do anything rash. I'll be there as soon as i can, okay? Let Alfred take care of you.

So Dick knows Alfred is there. Huh.

[themightyoracle.livejournal.com]

That at least gives her a moment's pause, and she sighs, closing her eyes as she rubs the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses.

I promised dad I wouldn't leave him, but I have my laptop. Nygma better hope I don't find his bank records or his DMV file or something, anytime soon.

This would be fairly easy for her, but now she's mostly talk. She'll wait, no matter how much she doesn't like it. Even if she knows it's likely to be a while till Dick has time for her.

But it's alright. She can be patient a little longer. Wen she needs to be.