There was no way this was happening. It was too strange to be real, honestly. Barbara hadn't heard a single thing from anyone in a few hours, which was never a good sign, and resigned herself into going to work before all else. She'd spent the morning tinkering with the electronics in the apartment, making sure that her cell phone was updated and set up with the cloud, cleared her computer's viruses laying beneath the surface, and reset the clocks to account for daylight savings time. The poor girl didn't have any of it set up and it drove Babs just the slightest bit insane knowing that she was in a house that was less than effecient when it came to their technology.
The phone calls came pouring into the precinct, slow at first and then all of a sudden there was an influx. The power had gone out throughout the town and people called the police department to help insist that the electric company hurried up. And then they turned stranger, still. Reports of break-ins at the hospitals and clinics were through the roof and the more experienced officers were called to the scene first. It only made sense, keeping the people at bay was important in this miniature crisis Boston had on it's hands. The remaining detectives had a meeting with the captain, who informed them that long hours were ahead of them and that they were to stay alert. Illnesses and sickness were spreading, and people whose children or loved ones had come down with the strangest symptoms Babs had ever heard were going home.
Once all of the more experienced men and women were in the field, Babs was called to the front line: a hospital was being broken into and they needed bodies at the scene. People were sick and it wasn't really surprising that they would go to extremes to protect their loved ones. Suiting up into her bulletproof gear, Babs rode with three other officers to the scene.
Gun at the ready, Babs helped clear rooms that had already been evacuated, looking for any sign of the perpetrator. They split off in different directions, the hallways far too big to take on their own, and there was a glimpse of a hand, or a shadow disappearing into a room that would be empty when she barged in. The echo of a voice so familiar it gave her chills followed her, and Babs nearly fired off her gun at least twice from the adrenaline coursing through her body. It couldn't be who she thought it was, but maybe it was just her guilt for not doing what she said she would.
"You.. No." It was Dick, but he looked different, and she couldn't put her finger on it. She felt terrible, that she'd told him she trusted him more than anyone, and she was still here. He told her before that she needed to leave town because something was going on, and here she was, gun pointed at his chest. It was instinct more than anything, and once she realized it was him, she lowered it. Dick was angry with her for being there, and Babs wasn't convinced it was entirely because she was the one in danger, like she had interrupted his plans. "I have people to protect here. It's my job." The badge on her chest spoke volumes for that. There were people that needed her help. "I'm plenty safe," she brushed him off after her told her she wasn't, that she needed to leave.
Clipping her gun back to her side, Babs looked at him square in the eye. "Damn it, Dick. Don't make me do this." And it was like that, lurching after him and trying to get him to stop. Maybe if could be released into her custody.. But he was so fast. He'd always been like that. She took a strong punch to the stomach, the wind knocked effectively out of her, and she looked up to see him sitting in the widowsil. "Stay away from me, Babs," and a laugh that reminded her of the Joker himself was the last she saw of him. It reminded her of being in this same position, the Joker's laugh curling in her ears.