Chapter 21

  Rachel wandered into Barbara’s bedroom around noon, she was sitting on the edge of her bed tying her boot lace,

  “Are you going somewhere?” Rachel asked, Barbara looked up with a smile,

  “Yeah, I’ve got a meeting” She answered,

  “With who?” Rachel asked,

  “I’m not sure, someone with the military recruiting office” Barbara said, testing her shoe, but clearly she wasn’t satisfied with it because she undid the knot and restarted,

  “Why?” Barbara looked up from her shoe again,

  “Because I enlisted, they called and they asked me to come in” Rachel's face became concerned,

  “Why?” She asked again,

  “I want to serve my country” Barbara watched Rachel’s reaction, her face became frantic,

  “But you are, you save people as Batgirl, are you gonna leave us?” Barbara gave her a soft smile, she patted the bed beside her, and Rachel sat down,

  “My great grandfather was in the military, and my grandfather was in the military and was a detective, and my dads a police commissioner, for 3 generations there's been at least 1 Gordon helping protect our country, it’s what we do, and I don’t want to be a disappointment” Rachel scooted closer and took Barbara’s right hand in hers,

  “I don’t think you’re a disappointment, I don’t think you could be if you tried, and I really don’t want you to go, but I think I understand what you’re saying” She said, leaning her head against Barbara’s shoulder.

  “Name?” The woman behind the desk asked,

  “Gordon, Barbara” Barbara wore mud dark combat pants, with a light forest green t-shirt, her red hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, she had chosen to be sparing with makeup, but had applied concealer to cover the freckles on her face, she found it helped people take her more serious, her thick, black rimmed glasses were perched high on her nose,

  “Yes, Major Bolton is expecting” The woman said, she then turned to a blonde man standing near a short hallway, “Houser, bring miss Gordon to the major’s office”

  “Yes ma’am, come with me” Barbara followed him down the short corridor to a thick, dark stained wooden door, with a metal nameplate engraved with the name ‘Maj. L. Bolton’ Houser used 2 fingers to knock on the door, 3 quick, firm raps, a gruff voice answered,

  “Come in” Houser twisted the brass handle and pushed the door in, he motioned for Barbara to step in, she did,

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  “Thank you Houser” Major Bolton said as the door was pulled closed behind Barbara.

  Major Lyle Bolton was a large man, he had close cut greying brown hair, and a clean shaven face, he wore brown dress pants and a tan button up,

  “Sit” He offered, motioning to the metal chair opposite him, Barbara would have preferred to stand, but did as she was told and took the seat,

  “I appreciate you coming to see me miss Gordon” The Major continued, placing a fountain pen on top of the standard issue metal desk between them, he opened a manilla file, and centered it in front of him,

  “I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me, I’m sure you’re quite busy” Barbara said, Bolton smiled, she continued “Though I am mildly confused, I was under the impression that my application status would be explained through the mail,”

  “Usually, but I’m in Metropolis for a while, while I’m here I’ve been helping with some paperwork, and your application made its way onto my desk, I’ve looked it over, It’s quite impressive, you’ve clearly put in a lot of effort to make yourself the best candidate, your determination is commendable, which is why I wanted to speak with you in person” Bolton explained,

  “Thank you” Barbara was trying to keep her voice calm, but her anxiety was quickly rising,

  “Unfortunately, we have to deny your application” His voice was sympathetic, but professional.

  Barbara had her hands in her lap, but hadn’t noticed that she was tapping her middle finger against the outside of the opposite hand, she was silent as she forced herself to calm down, but she felt anger rising in her chest,

  “May I ask why?” She asked, her voice was shaky, but she kept her tone respectful,

  “Yes, of course” Bolton shifted 1 of the documents in the file in front of him, he cleared his throat, “We should start with your medical history, you have a damaged left eardrum, which makes it prone to infection, and effects hearing in that ear” he shifted the documents again,

  “You also have a history of severe asthma attacks, from about 3 years ago, and then there's, your psychological evaluation” Barbara watched as he slid another document over,” Ultimately they couldn’t give a conclusive answer, but suggested that you might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is even more concerning when we spoke with your first helicopter flight instructor, a very pleasant woman, with 10 years experience flying for the military, and another 5 flying for a civilian company, you discontinued lessons after a couple weeks, is that correct?” He asked, Barbara shifted in the metal chair,

  “Yes, sir” She confirmed,

  “Do you remember why that was?” The Major had steepled his hands over the open folder,

  “I believe she suggested that she no longer felt comfortable teaching me” Barbara answered, Bolton took a new file from a stack on his desk and placed it over hers,

  “I actually have her session summary right here” He said, pulling the folder open, “She says that she recommends for you to discontinue lessons altogether because she believed she observed you freezing up at the controls, while in the air, though she gives you credit, because you hide it well, she notes that you reminded her of people she knew who were exceptionally good at hiding symptoms of PTSD, of course she’s not licenced to diagnose you, but even if that wasn’t a concern your medical history alone means we have to deny your application,”

  “Thank you Major, if that’s all I won’t waste anymore of your time.”

  Barbara slammed the door to her room, she launched her bag against a wall and charged over the bed, she dumped a pile of books from the bed, causing a loud thud, she slammed herself aggressively onto the bed and began swearing loudly into her pillow, she sat up on the edge of the bed, she threw her hand back in anger, it collided with a lamp sitting on a bedside table, the base shattered as it was smashed between her hand and the wall, she yanked her hand back as it was sliced by a sharp edge of the broken porcelain,

  “Damn it” She instinctively clamped her left hand over the injury.

  The door opened and Dick stepped in,

  “Are you ok?” He asked, pushing the door closed behind him, he noticed her hand, “What happened?”

  “They rejected me” She snapped,

  “I’m sorry” Dick said, Barbara’s eyes flicked up from her hand, fury behind her eyes,

  “Fuck off, cut the bullshit, you never supported me enlisting, you and dad were constantly trying to talk me out of it, you 2 can celebrate tonight, you got your damn wish” She shouted, Dick stayed calm,

  “You're right, I didn’t like it, but I did try to support anyway, I know how important this is to you, so I am sorry” He said, “And don’t be to mad at your dad, he’s gonna be released but that’s his job” Barbara nodded slightly,

  “Thanks” She said, quietly,

  “Let me take care of your hand” Dick offered.

  Barbara sat on Dick’s lap, as he wrapped her hand, he was finishing up when her phone chirped near her laptop, she got up, stepped over to the desk and hit the button on the side, the screen lit up, she paused a second before tapping at the screen, she silently read and reread something, her lips moving silently,

  “What is it?” Dick asked, standing, she looked up at him, as if she had forgotten he was in the room,

  “It’s about Rachel, the search on her name finally came back” Her tone was weird,

  “Why did it take so long?” Dick asked,

  “She’s not in any official missing children's database, I widened the search parameters last night, she was officially pronounced dead 10 years ago” Dick opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t think of anything, Barbara continued, “She has a sister.”