Nine months ago“You’re firing me?” She stared across the desk in disbelief. She and her agent were seated in his office on a sunny afternoon, looking out at a portion of Los Angeles.
“Roxie, please, it’s not like that.”
“Really, it’s not? Cause that’s an awful lot like how it sounds over here.”
“You just need to tone it down.” The man spoke with the corporate calm that Roxie Sutton heard too often lately. “Pull back, listen to what your insurance people tell you, and you can keep working as long as you want.”
“But that isn’t working!” Roxie protested, on her feet in outrage. “It’s not and you know it. My job is all about risk, about danger. I can’t do it with all their rules holding me down!”
“Roxie, they’re movies.” The agent brought a hand up to the bridge of his nose. “It isn’t supposed to be real danger.”
“Maybe it should be. Maybe that’s what people want to see!”
Her agent sighed and threw up his hands. “Fine. Then go on reality TV. No one will take you for stunt work anymore. If you won’t back down, then yes, you’re fired.”
Roxie started for the door with a fussy flourish. “They’ll come back for me. They’ll come back begging me to work again!”
“If you say so,” he shrugged, but Roxie was already long gone.
*****
Batgirl was lucky – she was there when the fire started, when it was still safe. It was a night like any other and Renee had been on one of her patrol routes when she heard a shatter of glass somewhere nearby. This early in the morning, that was always a suspicious noise, but Batgirl had arrived expecting to find a break-in or a carjacking. Instead, she stood in front of an apartment building whose third floor was already blazing in fire.
There was no time for hesitation. People were already fleeing the building and Renee paused only long enough to make sure that a person on his cell phone was already calling 911. Then, before she fully absorbed what happened, she was off. Batgirl raised her grappling line and swung high to the floors above the fire, into the most danger.
The heat was thick, but the smoke was worse. Thanking Batman in her head, Renee pulled a rebreather out of her belt and clamped it between her teeth. The heat still swam in front of her eyes and she couldn’t quite see, but she could breathe. All around her, people were running and scared. Renee found the nearest fire escape and threw open the window to let out some of the smoke. “Everyone this way!” she shouted, “Follow my voice and stay calm!”
There were some gasps of recognition, but most of the people were too grateful for the help to notice that she wasn’t a firefighter. They flooded past her, and Renee moved to the next floor up. She was never so grateful to hear the wailing sirens in the distance of the firefighters who would know what to do. But for now, she was alone to guide as many as she could to safety.
Renee had opened up another escape when she felt a tug on her arm and heard the cry of a child. “Mister, I heard people running and I came out here but I dunno where my grandpa is, I think he’s still sleeping!”
Batgirl nodded and knelt to the little boy. “You did good telling me. You get out. What room?”
“514,” the boy sniffled under the smoke, and Renee pushed him toward the ladder. It was hard just to see through the thick cloud, and the rebreather strained her lips. But she fought her way to the right place and ran inside.
The man she found looked more confused than frightened. He sat in a chair by the window with his eyes wide, and his fingers gripping the armrests. Renee moved quickly toward him. “Sir, come on. You have to get out with me.”
The old man shook his head. “Lay low. Can’t go out till the fighting’s done, don’t want to end up like ol’ Mike.”
Renee bent down and laid her hands over his. “I need you to trust me,” she said. “You’re going to be fine, but only if you come with me. There’s a fire.”
“Fire?” The man repeated, blinking fast and looking up at her now. “You’re the Bat!”
“One,” She nodded, and helped him stand.
“I was…I was only dreaming the war,” he moaned, then started to cough and double over.
“This way. Here.” Renee caught him, and wiped the rebreather off against the sleeve of her costume before pressing it to his mouth. “It’ll help. Just follow me, now, that’ll do it.”
By the time Renee helped him to the stairs and fresh air, the firefighters were hard at work quelling the blaze. They were counting heads on the ground and sending people up to look for anyone missing. Renee swung herself off of the fire escape and onto the nearest building, and lingered just long enough to see an all-clear before she headed off to Oracle’s tower.
Barbara greeted her with a long look up and down. “You’re a mess.”
“Thanks, nice to see you too.” Renee pulled off her cowl and reached into a small cooler that Barbara kept stocked with water, at Renee’s own request. “Fire downtown.”
“I heard,” Barbara nodded. “You were there? You need any treatment?”
“I think I’m okay,” Renee shook her head and downed the bottle. “Any word on what happened?”
“Fire department didn’t say.” Barbara tapped a key on her police scanner, seated comfortably next to her computer. “Investigating though.”
“It felt like arson.” Renee described the crash she had heard just before the fire. “And then it was blazing pretty quick.”
Barbara wheeled around to face Renee now. “I’ll start a file then, and keep an ear out. You stay alert for a few nights, but get some rest for now, alright? You earned it.”
Renee returned a smile, but hers was wan. “You mind if I just crash here for a few hours? Wasn’t really expecting to have to jump into a burning building tonight.”
“You bet,” said Barbara, and Renee crashed, asleep in a corner of the clocktower before long.
*****
Renee’s hopes that the fire was an isolated incident were dashed a few nights later with another call. This time, at least, no one seemed hurt – the targeted building was used for offices, and no one but the janitor who had called to report it had been inside when the fire started. Batgirl arrived when the danger was passed, and waited for the firemen to leave before she started to poke around.
The damage was minimal, but still quite visible. There were a few missing floorboards, and the walls were charred, and Renee passed several partially-melted plastic chairs and piles of ash that used to be paper. She stepped slowly, taking note of everything she saw, and bent down to inspect when she thought she found something.
One of the windows was crashed open, and Renee searched nearby for any evidence of the same kind of arson she had found the other night. The police had indeed begun their own investigation, but if Batgirl could get there first, she would do everything she could.
“Phew! God, what a mess!”
Batgirl jumped and whirled around to face the voice. There was a woman standing behind her with her hands on her hips. She wore an old-style leather bomber jacket, and a pilot's helmet that covered a cascade of auburn hair. She was tall and busty, and grinning.
“Wasn’t expecting to see anyone else around here.” The woman strolled up as casually as could be to shake Batgirl’s hand. “This is great, huh?”
“Great?” Batgirl looked from side to side at the wreckage.
“Well, you know. Not great, but great! I haven’t met any other heroes yet, I was starting to think you folk all
were urban legends.”
Renee tried to force a chuckle, and let her hand shake in the woman’s strong grip. “Glad not to disappoint. Now do you need something?”
“This is the crime scene right? Sure looks like one. I’m trying to tail the guy, the fire guy, it’s perfect. Just the right first job for me.”
Batgirl stopped beating around the bush. “And you are?”
“Oh! Sorry.” The woman laughed and grinned again, unconsciously striking a pose. “Roxie Rocket! I’m new.”
Batgirl gave the new arrival another look over. Roxie looked strong enough, and carried herself like someone who had training. She had a small array of tools hanging on her belt – rope, handcuffs, lockpick. Beaming, Roxie bounded around the abandoned room. “So by ‘new’,” Batgirl asked, a brow raised under her cowl, “You mean how long?”
“Been in town maybe a month?” Roxie answered. She was looking over every corner and through drawer after drawer, but if she was searching for anything in particular, Renee couldn’t tell what. “The hero thing, maybe a couple weeks. It’s great huh? Exciting.”
“It doesn’t get boring, no,” Renee agreed. “I just can’t help wondering if you know what you’re doing.” Her tone was a little harsh, but Renee had enough experience with people to guess how Roxie would react. Personalities that strong and outgoing tended to be hard to offend.
As expected, Roxie laughed and nodded. “Getting there slowly. I’ve done the physical stuff before but there’s a lot more thinking than I like right now. Maybe I just oughtta keep to the fighting and forget about the hard stuff.”
“Oh trust me, fighting can be pretty hard in this town,” Renee chuckled now. “But if you’ll let me, I can help. I was looking to find the arsonist myself.”
“Aw, but I beat you here, huh?” Roxie winked, and Renee didn’t remind her who had been first on the scene tonight. “Yeah, sounds good, sounds like a plan. Where do we start?”
“Ideally, right here.” Renee returned to hear search and was soon biting her lip – Roxie’s disorganized rifling had scattered ashen papers from one desk to the next and tracked bits of broken glass away from where they had fallen. The detective in her wanted to scream about disturbed evidence. The superhero held her back. Not all of her crowd were lucky enough to have Renee’s background in criminal investigation. Roxie would just have to learn how to handle herself.
They worked for an hour or so, and Roxie continued to fill the silence with chatter. Renee only had to keep one ear open to hear enough information for Oracle to track this woman down, as she so loved to do. Roxanne was her given name – “and mom says to me ‘Roxanne, if you don’t get down from that tree this instant…” – and she had lived in Los Angeles before moving to Gotham. Money troubles had kicked her out, and a love of cities had led her downtown for as long as she could afford it. She talked about tricks and performances and hours of physical training. Renee appreciated all this information, but by the time she completed her investigation, she suspected it wasn’t just the leftover smoke and ash giving her a headache.
“Well, it’s definitely arson,” Renee concluded. She brushed dust and grime off of her costume; Roxie’s bomber jacket didn’t even seem dirty. “But it doesn’t look like we’re going to get any more than that tonight.”
“You mean you don’t know who did it?” Roxie’s face fell.
Batgirl shook her head. “It’s not usually that easy, no. Best bet is to see if there’s any connection between the two sites. Maybe we can find a pattern, and maybe next time we can catch the arsonist before they get away.”
“Okay, cool, so you can call me. That whole thinking thing again,” Roxie laughed. She pulled a business card out of her pocket, blank but for a radio frequency scribbled by hand. Roxie pointed to her helmet, and Renee could see the tiny speaker inside. “I’ll come running,” she promised. Then, with no warning whatsoever, Roxie Rocket took a running leap at a shattered window and jumped.
Batgirl ran to make sure she knew what she was doing this time. Roxie free-fell for as long as she could, long enough to make Renee prepare to go after her, before finally throwing a makeshift lasso at a flagpole and spinning to a stop a few feet above the ground. She landed gracefully and ran into an alleyway, and burst out a moment later on a bright red motorcycle. Even when Roxie had faded into the distance, Batgirl could hear her whooping loudly in joy.
*****
“Almost….got her!” Barbara grinned and spun the computer monitor toward Renee. “This the woman?”
Renee nodded at the picture of Roxie: auburn-haired, voluptuous and mid-dive. She was on a movie set in front of a greenscreen, falling from a height that seemed a little too high. “Got to be.”
“So,” Barbara said to the photograph. “Let’s find out what you’re doing in my city, Miss Roxanne Sutton.”
“I think you should be more focused on that other little tiny thing, what was that again? Arson?”
“The computer is looking through a complete database of former employees and slightly-charred tenants,” Barbara assured her. “I’m a free woman until I get those results.” She tapped her keys and read over a small slew of articles that popped up with Roxie’s name.
“You’re just a busybody, Babs,” Renee teased. “Guess that explains all the spying stuff.”
“Surveillance,” Barbara corrected. “Well she’s not famous or anything, but I knew I saw her before. She’s a stuntwoman. Or, was. Pretty well-rounded, lots of stuff here on her résumé,”
Renee thought it over. “I guess it makes as much sense as anything else. Acrobatics, strength training, theatrics.”
“Hm. Seems like a lot of practicing how not to hit a guy.”
“Why’d she come all the way out here then? She said something about getting fired.”
“I’m not finding a termination.” Barbara stared intently at the screen. “Just a lot of warnings. She did a ton of really dangerous stuff. Got people worried I guess.”
“Babs, don’t tell me you’ve hacked into secure employment files on the other side of the country.”
“What can I say, I’m the best,” Barbara grinned. The computer chimed, and she switched to the program that had been analyzing data. “No one,” she frowned.
“No one?”
“Not a single person in common in the two buildings,” Barbara confirmed. “Must be some other connection.”
“Could just be proximity,” Renee suggested, and pulled up a map on the screen with both locations marked. “Could be places close to where he lives.”
“Or far away, if he’s trying to be subtle.” The two burnt buildings were within a few blocks of each other, and Barbara traced her finger along the roads, marking out a square. “Keep your patrol around here for a few nights. We’ll just keep hoping, and nab him as fast as we can.”
Renee prepared the routes in her head as she studied the map. “And Roxie?”
Barbara gave a non-committal murmur. “Invite her if you want, but I can’t look out for another new hero. I don’t think I have any comm frequencies left. She’s yours to keep an eye on, show her the ropes. Lord knows we could always use another new face on our side if she turns out alright.”
*****
The nights were warm now, and outwardly, Batgirl’s costume hadn’t changed. She was still a dark violet blur in the night, but her insulated costume had been replaced. The new fabric breathed around her body, even while still keeping her protected. Like many, Renee had once wondered how Bruce Wayne made so much money while never touching his company. She had understood ever since she felt the technology he was commissioning first-hand.
Batgirl met up with Roxie Rocket on top of a tall church steeple, right in the middle of the area that had been attacked. This time, Renee was ready for the bubbly energy of the woman she met. Roxie greeted her with a hearty shake. “Knew you’d need me again! What’s happened, who is it?”
With a small chuckle, Batgirl tried to let her down gently. “Relax. We’re just making a sweep tonight. I thought with such high stakes here, we could use two heads instead of one.”
“Yeah, 'kay, makes sense.” Roxie tried to hide her disappointment.
“You can’t spend so much time worrying about the who,” Batgirl told her, and led the way on their patrol. “Not while you’re out here. It’s too distracting. You don’t want to let them get away again while you’re trying to unmask.” She paused on another rooftop and gave Roxie a look. “Unless you think you have any leads?”
“Oh no, no no. Nothing. Nada.” Roxie kept a steady pace with Batgirl as they went, both keeping eyes and ears open. “I mean it just reminds me…but he’s still out in California,” she shrugged. “Just weird.”
“This is more than weird,” said Batgirl. “We’re incredibly lucky that no one’s been hurt so far. It’s dangerous, and that luck won’t hold out much longer.”
They moved quiet and unseen about the city, though Batgirl began to fall behind as Roxie twirled and flipped her way through the air. Not very long into their route, they heard a shout from a block away, and ran toward the scene. All of a sudden, Renee found herself back in the lead.
The crime in progress was dangerous but not dire. A trio of girls dressed for a night out had been cornered by three thugs, muscular men who were looming up over them.
“Make a scene,” Batgirl murmured to Roxie, whose face lit up at the order.
“My specialty.” Roxie ran forward, and Batgirl kept to the shadows, watching for her moment. “Hey! What do you assholes think you’re doing?”
The men turned around, and Roxie preened. While Roxie puffed out her chest and blew one of the men a saucy kiss, Renee slipped through the shadows. The women were huddled against the alley wall, and Batgirl bee-lined to help them.
“The hell is this?” One of the gang members stepped up, and the other two followed him. “Just tryin’ to have a bit of fun tonight…what, you want to take their place?” He leered at Roxie and raised his eyebrows.
Roxie just smiled as she stepped coolly toward them. She didn’t run, didn’t threaten, just waited with her hand on her hip. “Yeah, I can dance with the best of them. Why don’t you give me a try?”
“Okay, Roxie,” Batgirl murmured. She had circled around unnoticed by the thugs, and caught the eyes of the girls with a finger pressed to her lips. They were holding onto each other, one of their purses having dropped to the ground when the attack began and all in a state of panicked disarray. “About time to start doing something…”
All three men were gathered around Roxie, now that she had made herself such a compelling target. She didn’t stop grinning, or cocking her head from side to side, as she lured them out away from the girls. “Come on, now, show me what you’ve got!” The leader lunged forward, and Roxie stepped easily to the side, with a laugh. “Alright, my turn!”
“What are you doing?” Renee hissed, the words leaking between her teeth unheard. Roxie may have done well to draw away the gang’s attention, but she had taken them out toward the street. The four figures were blocking the only exit now, leaving the women trapped in the alleyway with Batgirl, and Roxie wasn’t doing anything to take them down. Batgirl huffed, and slunk closer.
“What do you think you can do to us?” One of the other gang members taunted Roxie, then gasped, clutched the back of his neck, and crumpled to the ground. The other two gaped at the auburn-haired woman in front of them; Roxie hid her own surprise as Renee tucked away the tiny dart gun that she had fired off.
“Alright, you asked for this!” The leader ran at Roxie now, and the fight was on in full swing.
Batgirl turned to the three girls, keeping her voice as calm and soothing as she could. “Everything’s going to be alright, we’ve got this under control. Okay? I just need you to listen to me and not panic.”
The girls nodded in unison, and stayed silent.
Across the alley, Roxie was having the time of her life. The two men remaining came at her, making pass after pass but she kept leaping out of the way. She reached into her jacket and pulled out a weapon, a thick, blunt baton, and started to whack them with it – but not too hard, or too fast. Each time they came close enough she smacked their arms or shoulders, nowhere near hard enough to end the fight before it had even begun. “What’s a matter, boys, you’re not letting a girl hit you this hard are you? You’re not gonna stand for that, are you?”
“No way!” The smaller of the two men rushed at Roxie, and this time she let him have it. The baton smacked down hard on the back of his head and the man stumbled forward. He turned back around to try and hit her again, but his eyes were too dazed to see straight. He aimed a punch at Roxie’s chest, and hit his own superior’s stomach instead. The last man standing growled and swiped him away, and Roxie finished him off with a blow to the crotch that sent him whimpering and useless to the ground.
“I don’t play games with girls like you,” the final gang member threatened Roxie, not taking his eyes off of her now. “You don’t even know what kinda trouble you’re in!”
“Yup, no idea,” Roxie agreed, and leapt forward to kick him.
Behind them, Renee found her opening. When the second man fell, the fight thinned out, and Batgirl didn’t want to waste her chance. She turned to the women with a nod. “Just follow me, and keep quiet, and we’re all going to be fine.” Batgirl led them along the alley wall, trying to make eye contact with Roxie as she passed.
Two of the women followed her closely, clung to each other in the darkness and padded on the rough pavement – Batgirl had told them to take off their high heels to make the escape quicker. Better a scraped sole than a broken ankle. But when Batgirl looked back to be sure they were there, she saw the third friend frozen in fear. The poor girl had her back against the wall, her arms hugging her chest as she stared at the fight before her, the two fallen bodies, and the strong and intimidating man who continued to fight.
There wasn’t any more time to be coy. Batgirl shouted to her partner, “Finish him and get her! We’ll meet you outside.” She took one of the girls by the wrist and pulled her along with her friend. They ran now, knowing that the last attacker could watch where they went. But Batgirl had to trust that Roxie could do this. There were only two people left, she could get one victim away from a mugging without supervision. Batgirl had to focus on getting the two across the street and around the corner, where she could get them help.
Left behind, Roxie only looked up at Batgirl’s shout when she was already gone. “What, done already?” She ducked when her attacker threw a blow, and stuck her tongue out at him. The last remaining woman was still curled into herself against the wall, but Roxie’s attention was all on the thug. “Fine then, come on, let’s get this over with.”
“Yeah, let’s.” When Roxie turned back around, the man had finally drawn the gun that he kept concealed.
“Ooh, you’re a tough guy, aren’t you, turning a gun on a poor little girl like me,” Roxie taunted him. She darted up and back and side to side, and threw her arms wide open. “Try me, then!”
The gun went off. Roxie raced forward just before the trigger pulled, ducking down with the lightning-fast reflexes her years of stunt work had given her. With a brilliant, cheeky grin on her face, Roxie yanked the gun out of the thug’s hand and clocked him hard in the head, sending him dazed to the ground with his fellows.
Then she heard the screaming. It took a few moments for her to realize how long the girl had been shouting in pain; she had fallen down to the ground clutching her leg to her chest and sobbing. There was blood on the ground, and a sharp bullet hole pierced the girl’s calf. She didn’t call for help, she was too lost in the pain and shock. Roxie stared, dumbstruck and still where she had stood so triumphantly a moment before.
Before anything else could happen, without securing the criminals or helping the victim, with no thought in her mind beyond horror at what she had done, Roxie Rocket ran.
A few moments later, Batgirl returned, with the girl’s two friends still following her closely. She gasped at the sight of the injury and instantly handed her communicator to one of the women. “That button calls 911,” she instructed, and bent down to examine the wound. “You’ll be okay,” she assured the girl, who nodded dumbly and kept her leg hugged against her body. “That’s it. Put it up, keep it elevated,” Batgirl told her, helping her lay her foot on a trash can and keeping her soothed until the ambulance sirens came close. Then, she retrieved her communicator and hoisted herself back up to the rooftops.
Roxie was long gone.
*****
He stood just a single building away when the flames began to burn. He couldn’t go any farther. They captivated him, they held him in place. They lit up the night and dried out the humid summer air. He watched the way they licked at the windows; he always started them near the windows, so he could see.
The man was dressed all in black, the suit tight around his body and trimmed with a bandolier. He kept whatever he could get his hands on nearby; a few small bombs, gasoline, lighters, matches. He would get to a bigger scale eventually. There was a flamethrower in a shady shop near his home that he had fallen in love with at first sight. He was saving up.
This was a good city for him. He had started to think of himself as Firefly, among all the other people running around with second names. This was his third night out, and still there was no sign of the infamous Batman. He had begun to relax.
But tonight was different. Tonight, he heard footsteps behind him, and Firefly whirled to see who was coming for him. The woman was running, but she kept glancing behind her shoulder, rather than toward him. Firefly’s eyes narrowed under the cowl he had found, a mask that covered his entire face but for the eyes. That jacket she was wearing, with its brown leather and busty shape. The helmet on her head. The glimpse of auburn hair trailing out behind her as the woman passed by. He knew those.
He started to chase her, while she continued to run. The fires would always be there, but the woman might get away. She just ran faster when she caught sight of him, and she leaped off of the nearest rooftop to get away easier.
That sealed it. He knew that he recognized her. He could never forget Roxie. Just as he knew she could never forget him. But why would she run away? And what was she doing in Gotham?
He’d find out. He’d make it his business to find out. Seeing her again set off another fire deep in his very soul. He wouldn’t let this chance go to waste.
*****
Two years agoWhen Garfield Lynns walked into the trailer, Roxie Sutton’s face lit up like one of his rockets. Ever since their first project together, they had been fast friends; Garfield had never known a stuntgirl so eager to play with his pyrotechnics, and Roxie had never seen a technician with so many fun toys. They were teamed up this time on a spy thriller, and Lynns grinned as he took out a piece of paper to lay in front of Roxie. “Got some ideas to check over with you. Studio says the stunts all sound good as long as you’re willing to do them. Not that they believed me when I said you would be,” he added with a laugh.
Roxie greedily grabbed the list and read it over. “Gimme! Can’t wait to see what you’ve cooked up this time, babe.” She looked over the inventory, the explosives and other equipment that Lynns was asking for, and blew him a kiss. “You’re a genius.”
“A mad genius, maybe I’ll give you.” Lynns was one of the most-requested men in his field, for an expertise with pyrotechnics that no other man seemed to be able to rival. He had always been an innovator, designing tricks and volleys unlike any seen before. But before now, he had often been cut down by studios for safety concerns. It wasn’t until Roxie had come into his life that Lynns was able to bring his work to its highest potential.
“You’re wasted in this business, Garfield,” Roxie told him as she handed back the list. “These slackers just want to see big booms. You’re giving them art.”
“You’re the only one to see it, Roxie.” He smiled at her and took a seat. They both made use of a staff and crew trailer on their set, neither one important enough to have their own, but the small sofa in here was comfortably broken-in, and the lack of space just felt cozy. “Y’know, Fearless Façade premieres tonight,” he said casually.
“That steampunk think you did, right? With all the gas bombs?” Roxie grinned at him coyly. “What about it?”
“’Well, a man often hopes to bring a beautiful, intelligent, appreciative lady to an event like this,” Lynns answered, his own smile overblown and exaggerated to make her laugh. “Would you like to spend the night with me?”
“You bet, babe,” Roxie leaned across the loveseat to kiss next to his ear. “Check out the movie, and later make a few fireworks of our own.”
“Sounds good to me.” He turned his head to catch her lips. It always made him spark so wonderfully. “I’ll give them the good news about the stunts and pick you up tonight. Not anything too dangerous, right?”
“Nothing’s too dangerous,” Roxie declared. “Nothing that’s not too much fun to pass up.”
Lynns grinned wider, and left to report back with a high spring in his step. That was why he loved her.
