Barbara Gordon

first off, we're very grateful for the incredibly positive response we received, with dozens of people following this blog less than a day after its creation! without all of you, this event wouldn't be coming to life as smoothly as it is <3

i am pleased to announce that the prompts form is now open! it's completely anonymous, and it has a space for any feedback you deem necessary, which you can also send in the blog's askbox :)

feel free to fill the form as many times as you please, regardless of whether you are disabled or not!! it will be open until the end of july/beginning of august, so you have time to think about what you wish to write and/or read during this challenge

(event explanation under the cut)

moderated by @everythingwsnormalhere and @fortheloveofgrantaire, disabledtober is a full-month writing challenge focused entirely on disabilities!! whether you are disabled or not, you are welcome to join in :)

this challenge will last for the entire duration of october! the prompt list will come out at some point during the month of august, and i will post the link of an anonymous form for prompt suggestions as soon as i can

this blog will also reblog disability-related writing advice, so stay tuned for that!!

It has been so long since we’ve talked. How are you?

@solaris-saysfuck

Hello! It has been a while. I’m doing pretty good! Mostly just working at the library and doing my Oracle stuff.

It hasn’t been too bad recently. We recently apprehended the Joker yet again. He’s secure in Arkham. At least, for now.

most of my roleplay blogs are gone. deleted. forever. goodbye. i just cannot handle all of the stress of having those blogs and thinking that people are expecting things from me on top of all of the drama that is continually going around. so. i have four rp blogs left.

they are:

@babs-gordon-offical

@cloned-cloneboy

@jon-s-kent

@fear-toxin-jon

i am not really ready for any long roleplay stuff at the moment but feel free to shoot me an ask because i would love to do something silly or lighthearted :DDD because i do really miss roleplaying with yall. and now i feel like i'm actually in a space that i can do that.

i will also mayyyyyyybe be more active on this blog now. we'll see. it depends on how much free time i have to read comics lol.

i still have the blog that was cluck kent. it's now @discipline-him-or-medicate-him and i'll be using that as a silly side blog. idk how active i'll be on it, but it's there. (mostly i'm just attached to that account because it's my oldest lol)

 It wasn’t sure if it actually had been days, but from what it could tell, the sun had at least risen and set once. Moving just felt too much like a chore, its arms and legs far too heavy to bother trying to leave the nest at all. Even opening its eyes had become a chore, choosing to instead mark the passage of time through sound.

Its eyes cracked open once again, using a large portion of Talon’s available energy. It had heard Babs coming and going from time to time, the sound of her wheelchair moving through the apartment and the door locks indicating when she arrived and left. From what it sounded like, Talon had to assume she had just returned again. 

The best it could do to alert her that it was awake was give a weak trill, head lifting from the nest for just a second before falling back in. The action had taken just about all Talon had left, leaving its body weak and panting (or as close to panting as Talon could get).

@robinstalons

When Babs returns home from work she sets down her things and is about to head into the kitchen to make herself some food when she hears something. She pauses, almost wondering if she just made up the sound in her head, it was so quiet.

She decides to check on Talon. It's been a while since she's seen him. Not since she helped him wrap his arm up and lay in his nest.

If it could look any paler, it would.

Its arm, still wrapped in the same bandages that Babs had set it up with, lay on the edge of the nest. From outward appearances, it looks like it’s been soaked through, but still in place.

“Babs..?” It looks afraid for a moment, then its eyes trail off to the side, unfocused. The nest is comfortable, maybe it should rest some more..?

It warbles sadly again, eyes locking onto her before drifting once more. The bandage looks black where it’s soaked through, and the veins which were typically prominent on its face are fainter.

It starts to drift again, but something feels urgent, pressing. It needs to tell Babs… something.

“Babs—“ Its voice is weak, cracking at the easiest of words, “Not healing. Scared.”

It likely needs a doctor, but any doctor with any kind of knowledge on Talons was most likely employed by or controlled by The Court of Owls, and as such would have either been arrested or impossible to find.

“I know you’re scared, Talon. But I’m going to figure out how to get you better. It seems like you’re losing blood and it’s not getting replaced, which is a bad sign.”

It does its best to nod, but there’s so little energy left it prioritizes moving its arm to Bab’s outstretched hand instead. There’s a sense of relief that floods its system when it feels the warmth of her hand, it makes its head swim a little and its glassy eyes zone out into the distance again.

Losing blood? Not being replaced? There’s almost certainly something wrong with that. It makes Talon think of cold operation tables and tubes filled with black liquid. The thoughts (memories?) make it shiver. Feeling cold-cold-cold through its veins. So cold it somehow burns.

She puts a hand to his cheek, her motherly instincts taking over. She’s so scared for him. And she doesn’t think she can do it alone. They’re going to need help. Talon can’t go to a hospital and he can’t take regular blood either. She’s going to need more information.

If only Talon would let her talk to Batman. But maybe not is a good time to try again.

“Talon, is it okay if I talk to Batman? He’ll know what to do. He can help me figure it out.”

“Bruce,” He calls weakly, a confirmation. Hopefully Babs understands, hopefully she can get the help he needs. In the face of whatever this is, something in him knows it may be the only way.

It trusts Babs. Whatever Babs thinks is the best course of action, Talon will listen. It doesn’t have much of a choice. It can’t bring itself to say much more, a small trill to confirm that yes, it is okay. Please.

She nods, determined to get him the help that he needs. But first, she has to go Talon’s hand, tears streaming down her face once he is no longer conscious.

She just hopes that they can come up with a good solution. Between Alfred, Bruce, and Leslie, they’re going to find a solution.

Babs gently sets Talon’s hand down and quietly leaves the room. She’s not sure if he is even conscious enough to hear her at this point, but she tries to be quiet anyway.

Once she’s out of the room, she pulls out her phone and calls Bruce. Within an hour, Leslie, Alfred, and him are all at her apartment with the supplies they need to hopefully get Talon better. Functioning again.

They work through the night until they have a solution of blood and electrum that would hopefully be the right fit for Talon’s body. And once he’s hooked up, she kicks everyone out. She doesn’t want Talon to freak out with the presence of Bruce or other people. Maybe at some point they can meet each other again, but for now, she want to be to only one of the apartment.

Babs doesn’t leave Talon’s side once he’s hooked up to his IV. She wants to see any change at all. And she really just wants to make sure he wakes up.

As Talon’s body slowly regains the ashy-grey tinge that set it apart, it also begins to stitch itself back together. The major cut on its farm pulls itself back closed, and the small mottled bruises that had settled elsewhere on its body began to fade.

It’s nearly midday when Talon’s eyes finally crack open. Its sluggish heart is practically racing as it pushes itself to sit upright. It takes in the IV in it, the room it has come to claim as its own in Babs’ apartment. Finally, its eyes fall onto Babs, and a relieved coo easily falls from its mouth. Talon isn’t alone. Talon has Babs.

Still, she doesn’t dare move from his side, waiting there all night and through the morning, just praying that he’ll wake up soon. She sings to him a bit and reads her book when she needs something to do, but mostly she just sits and waits for him to awake.

He looks so much better by the time that he finally opens his eyes and sits up.

“It feels better,” Talon assures, clutching onto Bab’s tightly. “Warm.” It’s not sure what else to say regarding how it feels. There’s still this fear that had been kept at bay by exhaustion for so long, and now that it’s no longer struggling to keep its eyes open, that fear has started bubbling up and has no place to go.

Well, it has one place, and Talon can feel the tears well up before it can see them, wiping at its eyes harshly. “Talon was so scared, Babs. Thought it was— thought I was dying.”

It felt silly. Talon had already died. It was an undead former-assassin. Could it die twice?

She just wants to hold him forever, take away anything that might be hurting him.

She, too, was worried that Talon might die on her. He would have, if not for Bruce and the others, coming through with the blood and electrum. She’s just glad she got permission to enlist Bruce’s help because otherwise…well, she’d rather not think about it.

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay, Talon. You’re okay now.” She holds him even tighter when he starts to cry. “You’re gonna be okay, buddy. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

But why had this happened in the first place? What had caused Talon to gradually stop healing all together? Would it happen again?

It was a scary thought. Especially considering how often Talon had disregarded safety before. How freely it flies in the air between buildings, knowing that a bad fall wouldn’t matter in an hour.

Now, it knew that it did matter. Strange.

Slowly, its tears ebbed away, softening to sniffles, then to calming breaths. It manages to pull back away from Babs, tucking itself back into the nest. It’s mindful of the IV, not wanting to dislodge the connection, especially since it’s sure it isn’t fully back yet. It might not be for a bit.

As Talon lays back down, she gives his hand a squeeze.

But Batman had been here, had seen it.

Clearly, Talon appears apprehensive. “How does Babs know..? That Batman will not take Talon?”

And why had he helped save him?

Baba sighs, running a hand through her hair. She wants Talon to understand that Batman isn’t dangerous. And even if he is going to try to take Talon, there’s no way in hell she’s going to let that happen.

“You are his former ward, after all. Or a version of him anyway. I think Batman might have a soft spot for you.”

But… former ward? It takes a minute to process. He thinks about his former interactions with others, with Robin who he ran into before. And, yeah. Batman was Bruce and Bruce had been… his guardian. Mentor.

It hurts to think about, but it doesn’t spark fear the way Talon thought it would.

And that means Batman wouldn’t hurt it?

It still wasn’t fully convinced, but it was slightly reassuring at least.

Babs shakes her head. "He's not going to destroy you, Talon. Especially with the way you've escaped the court and you can think for yourself. But aside from that, I promise I won't let anything happen to you if he does change his mind."

“Okay. Talon— I trust you.” He corrects. It’s moments like this where Talon’s brain, while fighting itself, can reconcile with who he was and who he is now. It never lasts long, but it’s happening more and more regularly.

It feels like improvement.

“Sleepy. But not. ‘M… achey?” He tries to describe what exactly is going on. It’s not as bad as before, but he’s still not up to full energy yet. He doesn’t want to go back to sleep, but his body feels so very tired.

"Rest some more. It's okay. We'll get you back to normal health soon. I think it may take a while since you were losing a lot of blood and it took us a while to get you what you needed. So take as long as you need to recover. I'll be here."

But something feels… not right. Babs should have things to do. Shouldn’t be spending all her time watching over Talon. Especially since it seems to be getting better.

How could she explain to Talon that nothing in the world means as much to her as his being better?

“You are the most important thing to me right now. Other people can take over most of my responsibilities. And what they can’t, I can do from home.”

He’s already sitting up, adjusting the blankets of his nest to better support his back when he sits to read. It’s a little wonky, since he doesn’t want to jostle the IV too much, but it will do.

“Yes! I can find you your books about space! Any other books you’d like to look at? Or I could surprise you with something new?”

Then his stomach growls. An honest to god growl. It startles him, causing him to jump a little and look at his stomach like it had never done that before.

“Are you hungry, buddy? I can find you something to eat.”

It pokes itself a little, eyebrows knit together. It’s sure it hasn’t eaten in a while. Its body likely didn’t have the ability to digest much in its weakened state anyways. But now that he’s recovering, food might do him good.

"Okay. Anything in particular you would like? I'll see what I can find."

"Soft. Bread? Soup?" Something that wouldn't upset it's sensitive stomach, or what he knows would digest easy.

Babs wheels herself to the kitchen and heats up a bowl of the soup. While it's heating, she finds Talon's space book and another one about animals that live in the desert. It has shiny pages and lots of pictures.

She takes the soup out of the microwave and grabs a spoon. Then she takes everything back to Talon's room.

"Here, you go," she says, handing over the soup. "Just be careful, it's hot."

“Talon will eat then read if that is okay…” He looks at the new book curiously, chittering at it. It’s got an interesting cover, which means it likely has interesting contents.

Talon would always pick up a book with an interesting cover.

"Yeah, of course. Whatever way you want to do it. You're the boss right now." She smiles at him.

“Any owls in the desert?” He chirps, flipping through the book carefully and tracing his finger along each animal as he observes them.

"There are some owls in the desert! I think if you keep looking, you'll be able to see them! Some kinds of desert owls live underground in burrows! They will take over the burrows of other animals like ground squirrels. Other kinds of owls will live in cacti!"

“Cacti do not hurt the owls?” He chirps, eyebrows drawing together as he reads. He wonders if he could climb cacti like the owls can if he practices enough. Maybe.

As he considers that, he realizes that practice might hurt him, and there’s a chance that getting hurt could lead to not healing again.

She frowns at his question. It's definitely something that they should talk about, though. She has the same worry running through her mind.

"Hey," she says, gently taking his hand. "If you get hurt again and don't heal, I will do everything I can to make you better. I'll get you everything you need. All of the blood and electrum. We did it this time, and we can do it again. And now that we know that this works, we'll be even faster to get you the help that you need, okay buddy?"

“Scared… Don’t want to get hurt again. Don’t want to not heal.”

He wants to believe her, to trust that if something does happen, Babs will be able to help take care of him, but it’s still a scary thought.

Almost as scary as the fact that Batman had seen him so vulnerable.

Babs gives him a hug to try and comfort him. She gives him another squeeze when he mentions Batman.

"Only if I need to, and only if you want me to. I know what to do now, and I could probably do it on my own. So if you want Batman's help, he can come. But if you don't, I'll keep him away."

“Batman… can help if Babs needs.” He decides, nodding to himself. It makes sense, especially if he helped once. Maybe Babs is right. Maybe Batman isn’t going to take him when he lets his guard down…

Either way, Talon isn’t sure he can fully trust this Batman. Isn’t sure if he ever will be able to, but he’s willing to let Babs’ trust be enough for now.

“Happy I’m doing better too,” He trills.

She checks the IV and it looks like it’s almost done.

“Uhm. Better. Can do some things. Why?” He chirps, head tilting to the side.

He can already imagine how nice a warm shower would feel. To be able to wash this whole fiasco off of him and emerge like new. Plus, being able to stretch out completely and get his limbs working— that would be ideal.

“Babs— will you stay close? Don’t want to be alone too long…”

Babs can't help but chuckle a bit at his explanation. "I totally understand." She's been there before. "And yes, I'll stay close. Don't worry."

He checks on the IV bag, noting it is empty at this point. He lifts his arm to Babs, trying to draw her attention to the finished IV.

“Done,” He chirps, “Can clean now?” He’s quite antsy to get out of the nest, to go shower.

"Let me go grab some supplies and I'll get the line out of you."

A minute later she's back with some gauze and waterproof bandaids. She works on taking off all of the tape keeping the IV in his arm. She tries to be as gentle as she can be.

"Alright, Talon, this is probably going to feel a little weird and it might hurt." She folds up the gauze and places it where the line enters. She pulls it out, holding the gauze tightly over the wound. Then a bandaid is placed over the gauze.

It remembers tubes similar to this, feelings far worse than this. Its body feels… float-y for a moment, eyes drifting off as Babs takes care of its arm.

It’s only when she lets go that he returns to himself.

Talon chitters, considering the bandage. He can already feel his skin starting to pull itself together. With this understanding of its body, it’s sure the wound will close within a minute or two. Still, Talon nods. At the very least, Babs would be comforted with him leaving it on.

It still doesn’t feel totally settled back into his body, still a little far off, but he can manage.

“Talon will keep it on.” It confirms, poking gently at the bandage before letting its hand drop.

She searches his face, trying to figure out what exactly is wrong.

It's probably a lot for him to go through. His body is still recovering. And he's probably having memories of the Court, she assumes. Still, she feels bad. It was something she needed to do, but she hates that she caused him any distress.

With the IV fully gone and the bandage in place, the worst of it is really over. He should be fine. And yet—

He still feels slow. Heavy.

“No,” His brows furrow, teeth clicking together. “No sorry.” With a little more effort than normal, Talon meets Babs’s eyes. “It’s okay.” As in Talon is okay.

She really wishes she could do more for him. But all she can do right now is be there for him.

“Talon wants to clean,” He affirms, looking toward the bathroom. He slowly drops her hand, making a small motion in that direction. “Will clean now.”

He walks slowly, taking the time to be extra careful as he does. He doesn’t want to trip and fall, that would worry Babs more. He uses the wall as support here and there, but eventually makes his way to the bathroom.

She follows behind Talon as he makes his way to the bathroom. She's still worried about him, especially with how slowly he's moving. He's usually more energetic than that. But it is good that he's up and walking at least.

It’s so much harder to explain than that. The feeling of being distant from his body.

“Talon will be okay.” It assures. It needs to be clean. Needs to not worry Babs. Talon moves to turn on the shower, then looks to Babs, then the door.

She nods. "Okay. I'll be close in case you need anything, alright?"

He quickly brushes his hair and teeth, knowing it will be easier to wash his hair once it’s detangled. Once that is done, he gets ready and into the shower.

Talon is in there for a good bit, scrubbing his skin near-raw to get the sticky-sick feeling off of himself. When he emerges, he’s changed into clean clothes and wrapped his hair in a fluffy towel.

She lets out a sigh of relief once he opens the door. And then she notices he’s shivering.

Once Talon has procured the blanket, he's not quite sure where to be. The nest needs to be cleaned, but he wants to get a bit warmer before doing all that work.

He still feels a little float-y, but he's a bit more grounded now, able to feel like he's in his body once more.

"Of course. Do you want to rest on the couch for a bit? We can watch something, or I can grab your books for you? Or you can just lay down for a bit and not do anything."

He makes his way to the living room, his shivers slowly subsiding as the blanket does its best to trap and radiate warmth back to Talon. He ends up tucked into the corner, nearly perched on the cushion for how he’s sitting, knees drawn to his chest.

“Babs stay? Watch with Ta— with me?”

She smiles at his use of a first person pronoun. It seems he’s been doing better with that since he woke up. Even if it hasn’t been consistent.

“I’ll stay with you,” she says, transferring herself from her chair to the couch. “Do you want another blanket?” She picks one up from the back of the couch to offer to him.

“Thank you,” He trills, then shrugs, unsure what would be good to watch.

“You’re welcome, buddy.”

He considers the options Babs presents, shaking his head at the mention of Jack Frost and Santa. It was probably a good movie, but if it dealt with the cold he would rather avoid it for now. Bluey sounded good, though. He’d never heard of it before.

She picks up the remote and turns it on. Then she grabs the other blanket from the back the couch and drapes it over herself and Talon. He probably needs the extra warmth.

As the episode plays, Talon seems to be drawn into the show further, smiling a little at the silly dogs on screen. He seems particularly drawn to Bingo, his chirping laughter echoing after a particularly funny moment.

“Yes, we can watch more,” she says, letting the next episode play, and giving him a squeeze. “You really like it?”

He's really seeming to enjoy it, almost like its reigniting the younger parts of himself that never fully got to shine before his life was flipped upside down. It's healing, in a way, to be able to enjoy simple kids television again.

She lays her head on top of his. “You know what? Bingo is actually my favorite, too! She’s so silly and so cute!”

Eventually, Talon can feel the beginnings of restlessness picking back up, not dissimilar to how he would normally feel prior to his health scare. It results in him tapping happily against his leg or fidgeting with the blanket while watching. His eyes occasionally drift off to look at something else, as if he’s considering the feasibility of climbing it before returning to the screen.

“Yeah, of course. Get up and move around! Are you ready to do something else or do you want to keep watching the show?”

Talon bounces on his feet for a moment before moving into a stretching routine. It’s familiar, like the one he would do as Robin but interspersed with new stretches and a little out of order.

“Is there something you want to do? We could work on cleaning up your nest if you’re up for that? Or maybe we could play a game? Whatever you want.”

Eventually he decides, “Fix the nest, then maybe games?” He chirps, returning to his feet quickly.

She transfers back to her wheelchair so they can go back to Talon’s nest. She does a quick look around to see what needs to be done. She sees all of the medical stuff they left in the room as well as sheets and blankets that should get washed.

Had he smelled that poorly?

Once that’s done, she takes a breath, wiping her brow. And Talon has just finished with his laundry. Perfect.

The nest wouldn’t be able to be fixed until everything was fully washed and dried. There isn’t much else they can do just yet.