Chapter 186: Butterfly Effect Part 3

On Friday morning the, following day, the Ark academies classes had just began and all students were already settled into their respective rooms.

Barbara Gordon was currently in one such room at the senior section of the academies, attending a general course class when of a suddenly, the P.A system rang to life and delivered a message.

"Barbara Gordon, please report to the directors office immediately, thank you."

The suddenness of the message caused everyone in the class to cast a glance her way. It wasn't exactly strange given the special position she held among students, similar to a student body President.

'Wait, I thought the director's position was still empty?' Barbara though found the message to be incredibly strange but she could only stand from her seat and quickly proceed out of the room.

Soon, she made her through a series of halls and arrived in front of a large door with the title "Director" on it, but like she had guessed, the slot where a name would be placed was still empty.

She wore a confused expression as she approached the door and knocked lightly, "Uhm, hello, it's Barbara."

Shortly after she did so, the door clicked and opened automatically, slowly swinging open and revealing a fairly modern office with a high-tech aesthetic.

Her attention though was on the central desk, where she saw Arias's familiar figure leaning against it.

"Oh, Mr. Markovic…" Although it made sense for it to be Arias, Barbara seemed to hold complex emotions towards him, who wouldn't?

Unlike most who chose to either side with him or be against him simply due to the plain facts, Barbara was in a neutral position, unsure of who or what to believe.

Was Arias really just a criminal mastermind? And if so what was he planning? Her curiosity had lead to her doing some digging of her own but nothing conclusive other than what was largely known to the public.

On the same end, she did investigate the league in order to really see if they operated for the government solely, but in her little time back as one of Batman's protégés, she saw no sign of this.

Due to these factors, she was fairly nervous interacting with Arias. And given the circumstances, he had guessed she would at least suspect him more than she did before.

Unfortunately, though she had the drive, she lacked the resources and experiences to truly uncover things people didn't want to be found.

It's the whole reason he had tasked her with investigating the moles inside his Ark Academies, as a way to of getting a measure of her ability.

She on the other hand remained none the wiser and even now, she had no idea what Arias was truly thinking for her.

Seeing her complex expression, Arias could tell at a glance that his concerns proved true and she was in fact less trusting of him. In such a situation, any play to try and draw her closer would only raise her alert, so he spoke formally.

"Nice of you to join me Barbara, don't worry, I won't keep you from class for long. I was merely around going over a few things with the heads of departments and thought I should consult you on any issues you think I should aware of among students."

Even as Arias spoke, his expression lacked the usual smile she'd see him give, whether out of confidence or a form of teasing her, yet now he was serious.

It didn't make her think anything of it but it was a detail she noticed.

Not expecting to be asked about the general situation though, she remained silent for a bit before she remembered something.

"Oh yes, there is sort of something. Recently the school has students have started to divide themselves into groups, some more popular than others so some cases of bullying are showing up. Also they are some student who just feel they don't belong to any group and so they feel left out. I passed a short list of troubled students to my general course teacher but I'm yet to get a reply…"

She spoke quickly and upright, though the nervousness in her voice could be heard. Arias went silent for a moment before nodding.

"That's less than I thought, good. I was worried the fear the HS virus brought would cause a severe impact on the students, depression, isolation and the like, it can be very troubling if not addressed during the early stages so please report any problems you notice to a lecturer." Arias showed a look of concern as he spoke and even lowered his head to sigh a bit.

Barbara found it hard to suspect this action because although she knew Arias was capable of killing, he had shown nothing but care for the Ark Academy population. "I'll be sure to do so Mr. Markovic."

Arias gave her a small smile and nodded, "I have no doubts. Oh and before you go, how are you settling in as Batgirl once again? Do you feel you're on the right track?"

This question took Barbara a bit of some time to process as she was expecting a question more along the lines of wanting information about Batman or the league.

But not only did Arias know this would be a bad idea towards her, he also knew that Batman likely took measures to look over Barbara, for all he knew she was bugged and didn't even know it.

So Arias wanted to be sure he was impeccable on two fronts.

Barbara could only nod, "Uhm yea, training is still as hard as before but I really feel like I'm getting it."

Hearing this, Arias gave her a nod and smile, "good, Gotham's in good hands for the future. Thank you for your time, you may return to your classes."

Barbara also gave a nod and awkward smile before leaving the room. Once she did, Arias released a sigh and shook his head, 'Let's leave her her doubts to settle longer, the emotional impact will be greater then.'

A/N: Been writing longer chapters but stones decreased, so word count has receded back to 1k… until stones. Enjoy.