Chapter Text
There was something off about her new roommate. Jazz didn't think it was anything harmful, she didn't get that feeling, but she was hiding something.
It had been too easy to move in with her after they had met at the library when Jazz was looking for someone to share an apartment with. Barbara already having a place lined up meant she had been able to move to Gotham a month earlier and get better acclimated to the city which was nice.
But gave her plenty of time to get to know Barbara and what was going on with her.
On the surface she was completely normal. Just a librarian who spent time with her dad and friends on her time off. She even had hobbies. Normal hobbies like reading and playing video games. The kind of gaming that meant she had a set up that would make Tucker green with envy. It was one of the highest spec ones that Jazz had ever seen in person. Much more than anyone who didn't work with computers needed. And they had better internet connection in their apartment than anyone else. By a large margin. Both of which could be explained by really loving online games. But there was something off about all of it. Jazz could feel it. Not just because of her crush either.
How could she have not developed a crush on the other redhead? She was pretty and smart and had a wicked sense of humor. All the things that Jazz would fall head over heels for. She was also pretty sure the crush was mutual.
No, her suspicions weren't about that. It had something to do with Barbara's gaming hobby. Jazz had seen her games so it wasn't a complete lie. But there were more times than not that Barbara would close her door while "gaming" with an only disturb for emergencies request. These time Jazz would be able to hear her talking to people. Not for short amounts of time either. It would be for hours, sometimes all night. Jazz had no idea how she got any sleep sometimes. She knew it affected her work too. On some of the latest nights jazz would get up in the morning to a note that Barbara was taking the day off.
Which wasn't exactly out of character for a hard core gamer. She knew what Danny and his friends were like. But it was at odds to everything else Jazz knew about Barbara. She was too reliable and level headed to risk her job like that.
It was one of those mornings when Jazz found a note that made her decide she was going to get to the bottom of it. So after all her classes and office hour, she stopped for takeout from a restaurant that she knew Barbara liked. It had been a few weeks since they had done anything like that and it was Jazz's turn to make dinner. Plus favorite foods were always a great way to loosen the tongue. Not that it really worked that well on Barbara.
She got back to the apartment to find Barbara in the main room curled up and reading a book. Which she put down as soon as she realized what Jazz was carrying and gave her a smile that made Jazz's heart flutter.
"I had a suspicion you were going to do that," she said, setting the book down on the table.
Which held all the cutlery that they would need.
"Glad to know I'm that predictable," she said rolling her eyes.
She set the bag down and grabbed a few drinks, making sure that she got one of Barbara's caffeine free ones. That woman was going to hurt herself with the amount she drank. If she took the day off it also meant that she would not be up too late. That was her pattern.
"Thanks. You aren't that predictable. You're just normally back earlier."
"True enough."
They settled in to eat and for the first bit just chatted about Jazz's day. It was her one where she spent more time as a TA than in her own classes so there were always stories to tell. But eventually Jazz moved the discussion over to what Barbara had been up to.
"I'm surprised you weren't at your computer," Jazz said. "I would have thought that you would take advantage of the time."
Barbara rolled her eyes.
"I was told if there was even a hint of me being on the computer today I would get locked out."
"Tim?"
"Yep."
Tim was the one of her friends that seemed to be closest to Barbara's level with computers. It almost seemed like they had a game of hacking each other.
Which Jazz suddenly realized wasn't really that normal. She had only ever seen it happen with her family. Who were not a good base for normal in any way. There was something to her suspicions of there being something off. Now she just had to figure out how far it went.
"He says I have been spending too much time on screens. The little hypocrite."
"You do spend a inordinate amount of time on them."
Jazz hoped that the panic she was feeling wasn't too apparent. There wasn't any reason to let Barbara know that Jazz was freaking out about her being villain. Or at least was working for one.
"He's way worse than I am," Barbara said, slightly offended.
"Doesn't change the fact that you spend most of your life on them."
"It's not like I can be with them anyway else. They spend too much time running around on roofs. And I can't do that anymore."
A thread of bitterness was in her voice. Not jealousy of her friends, but something that made her hurt that she couldn't anymore.
Wait.
Running on roofs. That wasn't a villain thing. At least not in Gotham. They suck to alleys and back ways mostly. But it was the domain of a different group. The vigilantes. Who as an open secret had a member never seen. Because they were never not at their computer.
"Shit. You're Oracle."
It made perfect sense. Barbara's days off tended to align with big vigilante busts. And she was never around during big breakouts. It explained all the late night voice calls perfectly.
There was a widening Barbara's eyes. Shock and a touch of dismay. Enough that Jazz knew she was right. That she had hit the nail on the head. She shook her head.
"No, I'm not," she said. "Don't be silly."
"Yes, you are. It explains everything. The set up, the late nights, the timing of the days you take off, all the times you disappear when the vigilantes are most active. You must go to the home base then. It's the only thing that makes sense."
"Fuck."
"Sorry. If it helps I used to do something similar?" Jazz shrugged.
Barbara put her hands in her head.
"It doesn't and I am not sure I want to know. I'm never going to live this down. My roommate figured me out."
Jazz wouldn't have been able to explain why she said the next thing she did.
"Would your girlfriend figuring it out be better?"
Barbara's eyes shot back up to look at Jazz.
"What?"
"I mean I think girlfriend would be better than roommate but that just be me."
"Are you seriously trying to ask me out right now?"
"Yes. I think I am."
She shook her head again.
"If anyone ever hears about this we will be teased forever. But if you think you can handle it, then yes I'll go out with you."
"Your bat friends can't be any worse than the ghosts!"
"I think we have a lot of secrets to share."
"After our first date though."