theshot_yougot | (no subject)

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The drive home, one minor breakdown aside, is pleasant and chatty; unusual mostly in being more chatty than usual. Occasionally Leah will let a silence fall for long enough to be comfortable, but she always pushes for a conversation when a topic occurs to her.

She wants to hear him.

When they get to her apartment, she's acting more or less like herself, finding her way from the car to her door, inviting Sam in and immediately heading for the kitchen.

"I don't know about you, but I'm dying for a drink."

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"Something like that," Barbara agrees. "I have a perfect memory of everything I've ever experienced." She snorts. "Makes for some weird dreams, let me tell you." She means nightmares, really.

Yeah, Leah knows.

"Does it fade, though?" she asks. "As part of the healing process - like a scar forming over a wound?"

She's going somewhere, but she wants to know if Barbara understands.

That's a... very uncomfortable question, so Babs does what she usually does. She dodges. "That would be nice, wouldn't it?"

But... well, Leah deserves a straight answer so she takes a breath and gives it. "No. They don't fade."

Leah inhales through her teeth, on the verge of apologising for the question.

"So I guess you don't know what it's like to have those wounds ripped back open."

"No," Babs agrees. But now she's pretty sure she knows where all of this is going. "You, on the other hand...?"

"Mindfucks," Leah says brightly. "Not a fan."

She exhales again, and covers her face with her hands. "I was thirteen. Again."

Thirteen...? Oh. Oh.

"Damn."

...

"Damn."

If she'd had more sleep Barbara might have something better to offer than that. "And now you're not."

"Yeah."

Babs at least knows some of this. She knows that Leah didn't have what people call a happy childhood.

"Could have picked a time in my life I was actually happy, but no."

Babs scowls, and the expression is audible in her voice. "Be too easy that way." She takes a breath and shakes her head. "What can I do?"

"What I asked," Leah says.

"And starting tomorrow you can come up with things to keep me busy. Know you'll have no problem there."

"I'll prep you a list," Babs says with a smile.

"And... I'm glad you're back."

"Yeah, me too."

She's tired, and she wants to sleep, but Leah's - scared is the wrong word, but apprehensive of what happens when the silence falls.

"What was the happiest time for you? In the cape?" That's a pretty safe bet.

"Oh, definitely." Babs doesn't let herself dwell on those times too often, but... Leah asked.

Her voice is warm with the memory. "I was... amazing. Short, and so obviously a girl, and everyone I went up against was bigger than me and thought I was just playing at it. There was always this moment, this expression that would spread across their faces, when they realized a girl half their size had just taken them down. And made it look easy."

And that wasn't even getting into the adrenaline. So much adrenaline.

Leah laughs, and some of that is out of relief to be able to laugh.

"Flicker used to get off on that so much; it was awesome to watch.

"Course, no one even knew I was a girl for a long time. I like the shadows."

"Then you really missed out," Babs tells her with a laugh of her own. "It was... well, hard to describe, but it was like a drug almost. The rush of physical exertion, the precision of executing a perfect back flip with a little flare to show you're not even trying hard, and then wham!"

Leah dismisses claims that she missed out with an exhale through closed lips.

"Does it beat the rush of taking down a criminal without him ever seeing you?"

"Definitely," Babs grins broadly, remembering Batman trying to convince her to be a little more subtle with a rather similar argument.

"My way means they get to underestimate you, first. And," she added conspiratorially, "they get distracted by just how good you look in boots and a skintight costume." There'd been something fun about that part, too.

"I never looked good in a skintight costume," Leah assures her. "I don't have the curves.

"But now I'm picturing you in one."

"Well," Babs smirks, "I'll have you know I looked fabulous." There's a pause. "Though... that was a different era..." When she'd still had her legs.

"For both of us," Leah agrees.

Though she's thinking of something other than disabilities, and whatever it is, it makes her snort in amusement.

"And what's so funny about that?" Babs asks, almost grinning in spite of herself at the sound.

"Just that I might have to expand my 'picturing people in spandex' repertoire to the other half," Leah says, happily assuming that Sam's fast asleep.

"Things just got complicated on this end."

There's a long pause, and when Babs speaks again there's definitely a smile in her voice.

"Weeellll... this sounds like something I need to hear all about."

Leah shakes her head. For what good it does over the radio.

"Nothing happened. Just a realisation on my part, is all."

"And that's nothing, huh?" Babs shakes her head right back.

"What led you to this one? Or do you even know?"

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trickswithsticks - 2010-01-04 19:13 (UTC) - Expand

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