Chapter 1: Night at the Museum
I can't do it. I'm no father figure. What do we even have in common? I grew up on a farm in the Midwest. He grew up in a test tube! No, he's where he needs to be. People his own age. Well, sort of. They understand him better at least. Let him look up to one of them, they'll teach him to fit in. Where does Bruce get off, anyway, trying to tell me what to do? Just because he adopted that circus kid...
Clark Kent gave a start, and brought his mind back to the present. "I'm sorry Lois, you were saying something?"
Clark winced as Lois Lane, his date for the evening, sighed in frustration. "Never mind, Clark. I can see you've got a lot on your mind, let's just call it a night." She lay down her napkin and stood, turning pointedly away from him as she adjusted her purse.
As she left, Clark signaled for the check and looked about the restaurant dejectedly. This was one of Metropolis's newest establishments, and it had taken weeks to get a reservation. Now the evening was spoiled, and Clark knew it was his fault. This was supposed to be his day off. Ever since forming the Justice League, he had found it easier to be a full time Superman. But that meant less time with Lois. It was only on rare days like this that he was able to be with her, incognito. And now he had let his concerns about Superboy spoil that.
And that's another reason I can't have some kid following me around! I have a life, and not just as Superman. Bruce and Oliver are constantly complaining about the struggle to balance work and their alter egos. Why do they always want to add another headache, having some kid hanging around?
Clark shook his head, trying to clear it. More and more, he seemed to be dwelling on the clone the sidekicks had recently discovered. Maybe it was time for a vacation, time to go and see his father figure. It had been a long time since he last visited the old farm.
Dad always knows what to do. He'll help me set this straight.
…...
Scene: Mount Justice. Common Room. 21:00 Hours
"Here they are!" M'gann M'rozz danced into the room, a tray of cookies floating telekinetically behind her.
"Asterous!" Robin smiled. He and his best friend Wally had been waiting all day to begin their competition. Boredom was the reigning emotion at the mountain hideout, and he and Wally had been poking jokes at each other all morning until Kaldur suggested a competition- Wally's speed against Robin's mastery of words in an epic tongue twister battle. M'gann had instantly offered to bake a plate of cookies for the winner. At first, Wally and Dick had shared a skeptical smile, but Artemis had offered to join her in the kitchen and now, seeing the fruits of the girls' labor, both boys were glad they had waited to begin the competition.
"Why don't you lovely ladies set those right here next to the Wall-man," Wally joked. "We all know I'm going to win this one. Let's start with something simple- Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers, a Peck of Pickled Peppers, Peter Piper Picked." Wally was slowly intoning the familiar tongue twister, smirking at Robin as he enunciated each word clearly. "If Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers, Where's the Peck of Pickled Peppers, Peter Piper Picked?" He grinned and waved a hand in Robin's direction.
Robin rolled his eyes. "This is a competition, Wally. Try something a little more impressive." He stuck his tongue out before launching into, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
Without blinking, Wally responded "A wood chuck would chuck all the wood, if a woodchuck could chuck wood!" He laughed. "What do you say we take this up a notch? I can say 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore' one hundred times fast. Can you?"
Robin swallowed. The tongue twister itself wasn't so bad, but anything repeated a hundred times got confusing. "Kaldur, can you count for me?" The muscular teen nodded. "Alright then. Shesellsseashellsbytheseashore. Shesellsseashellsbytheseashore. Shesellsseashells..."
Kaldur made tally marks on the paper he was keeping score with, while Connor used his super hearing to make sure he didn't make any mistakes. He nodded at the others, impressed, when Kaldur signaled that Robin had made it to one hundred.
Grinning, Robin countered, "Well if its repetition you like, how about this: 'Red leather Yellow leather.'"
"Praising my sense of fashion?" Wally quipped. "Any time!" and he launched into the challenge.
Their competition went on for almost an hour, as the two boys quickly exhausted their repertoire of tongue twisters, and began making new ones. About the time they started poking fun at the senior members of the Justice League, Batman appeared in the doorway behind them. Kaldur was the first to notice him, but Batman silenced him with a quick gesture. Kaldur's worried look went unnoticed by the two dueling heroes, but the rest of the room quickly became aware of Kaldur's drawn face, and the reason for it.
It was at that moment that Dick began his most recent creation, a hugely unflattering limerick about Batman himself. Robin barely made it through the limerick, he and Wally both breaking into laughter as he finished the last line. "You win! You win!" Wally chocked, holding his sides as he rolled on the floor. Dick, kneeling beside him, was about to answer when he looked into Kaldur's face and realized no one else was laughing with them.
Dick and Wally both froze, as the object of their laughter stalked into the room. Batman swept into the center and rounded on the two of them, treating them to one of his best glares. Flourishing his cape, Batman began in a soft, menacing tone...
"Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate!" Eyebrows rose around the room as Batman made a fist and brought it to his chest, continuing, "This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. "Pointing an accusing finger at the boys, he went on, "However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition!" Throwing back his arms and lifting his cowled face skyward, Batman bellowed, "The only verdict is vengeance!" Bringing his glare back to the two boys, Batman again lowered his voice and finished, "A vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous!" Throwing his cape around him, Batman, snatched the plate of cookies from between the two sidekicks and soared from the room, a snarl on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
…
Moments later, the senior heroes were enjoying a good laugh as Batman chewed smugly on his winnings. Martian Manhunter lifted a hand in warning as Batman started the next cookie. "I would be careful, friend. While the children have been kind enough to give her a few pointers, M'gaan's cooking does leave something to be desired."
Batman nodded in assent. "I've heard the stories. It seems it's not just what comes out of Wally's mouth that gets him in trouble these days." The adults chuckled again, and J'onn was about to make another comment when the alarm on the computer went off.
"Go ahead GL," Black Canary said.
Green Lantern, on watchtower duty, quickly filled in the heroes...
…...
Scene: Bialya, Uninhabited Desert. 11:00 Hours
Machinery whined and then became silent as the last of the sand was cleared from a large structure in the desert. The mounds of sand ringing the dig site gave the area the appearance of a crater. At the bottom, five weatherbeaten obelisks rose from an unbroken slab of dark stone, roughly the size and shape of a baseball field.
"My lady, it is done."
Morgaine le Fey smiled as she addressed the ensorcelled man bowing in front of her. "Then it is time to begin. Have the others clear the area. Mordred?"
"Yes mother," came her son's smug reply. He spoke a few words, and clouds gathered on the horizon. Within seconds, a violent storm was whipping across the desert. As lightning danced through the roiling clouds of sand, patterns began to appear between the pillars of the recently excavated structure.
"It is time to begin the incantation. Soon, we will bring this world into a new age, and no one, not even the League, will be powerful enough to stop us!"
…...
Scene: Gotham City, Euller Museum of Modern Art, Lobby. 22:17
The sixties rock and roll coming from the old-fashioned jukebox in the corner was at odds with the terror in the eyes of the thirty hostages sitting in rows on the floor in the main lobby of Gotham's glitzy new art expo. Large pillars stood at each corner of the group, while an honor guard of fake trees flanking the room providing a pleasant contrast to the embroidered maroon carpet beneath the feet of the two machine-gun-wielding thugs who were terrorizing the assembled millionaires. Several bullet holes in the vaulted ceiling reminded the gagged prisoners that these men weren't merely carrying props.
Down in the kitchen, another armed guard menaced the wait staff, who were huddled in the corner by the industrial range and the walk-in freezer. A short man leaned on the counter, a look of regret on his chubby face as he apologized again to the five workers in the corner. A large puppet, held in the man's left hand, rolled its eyes. The puppet was dressed to the nines in a freshly laundered pin stripe suit, in stark contrast to the balding ventriloquist with his dirty tank top and smudged glasses. Cutting off the heavy man's apologies with a brusque wave of his hand, the impatient puppet growled to his henchman, "Hey Dummy! What am I paying you for, standing around looking pretty? Get these punks tied up before someone decides to be a hero, wouldya?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Scarface," was the prompt reply.
…...
Briefing over, the heroes rushed to their respective tasks. Realizing he was the last one in the room, Batman glanced around furtively before sweeping two more cookies under his cloak and running after the others. They were good cookies, after all.
…...
Scene: Mount Justice, briefing room. 22:32
Batman surveyed the assembled team. Artemis and Wally had both left for home, (Wally in quite a hurry, he was sure) and there wasn't time to recall them. Kaldur, Superboy, Megan, and a very abashed Robin stood before him. Superman paused in the door way on his way by, to observe the briefing.
"Team," he began, "we have a situation. Eight minutes ago the watchtower received an alert from Gotham City Museum of Modern Art." He pulled up a map of Gotham on the screen in front of them, with a red dot indicating the location of the home. "The museum is hosting a brand new exhibit, consisting entirely of digitally recreated artwork from around the world. The main attraction is the Holo-pod, which showcases the art in a virtual reality simulation, as well as the new scanning device that makes this exhibit possible. It combines lasers, x-rays, and the latest in digital technology to scan a three-dimensional object at the atomic level and recreate it, molecule by molecule, inside the virtual reality simulation. This process has led to the discovery of a number of previously unknown works of art which had been painted over or altered in the past. While these works can never be recovered in the physical world, the virtual simulation allows for experts to dissect these pieces and reveal the previously unknown originals.
"Tonight, the museum is opening the exhibit by offering a demonstration of this process. The museum has acquired a statue of Bastet, the ancient Egyptian cat-god. Archeologists have been studying the statue for almost a decade. It appears to be carved from a single piece of onyx, but it is far heavier than it should be, and past tests have indidcated that there is definitely something else lodged within it. The legends surrounding it claim that it was forged by the mystics of old to contain a great evil, but what that evil is remains a mystery. The museum hopes that by scanning it, they will be able to break open the digital copy and see what it is housing.
"Three months ago, the criminal Arnold Wesker, better known as the Ventriloquist, was released from Arkham Assylumn following a successful rehabilitation program. He is currently holding hostage the residents of Gotham Heights, from which we can infer that the program was not, in fact successful." Batman brought another image on to the screen, this one of a large doll in a pinstripe suit with a scar over one eye. "This is Scarf-IC!" Batman's voice rose sharply, cutting off the end of his word. He paused for a moment frowning. "Scarf-IC!"
Robin cast a confused look at his team, who appeared equally perplexed, as Batman cleared his throat.
"Scarface, Batman?"
"Yes. Scarface," Batman answered, his voice sounding a little strained, "represented by this puppet, is the manifestation of Wesk-HIC! Of Wesker's split personality. Wesk-Hic-ker," Batman was beginning to look annoyed, "is totally dominated by his alter-HIC. Al-Hic! Altern-IC!" Batman turned away from the team, falling into an uncontrollable bout of hiccups.
The team stood there in stunned silence for a moment. Superman glanced at the team, and was surprised to see a grin matching his own on Conner's face. The two made eye contact, and both burst out laughing, setting off the rest of the team as well. A stern glare, which was mostly ruined by an interrupting hiccup, quieted them, but they couldn't keep from grinning as they looked at each other. Some father figure I am, Superman thought, sobering. Standing here, teaching them to laugh at their mentor and my friend. A frown crossed his face, and he turned away from the room.
"Robin," Batman choked out. "Continue here," and he excused himself from the room. Robin chuckled, and continued filling in the team about Wesker's background, and his relationship to the puppet Scarface. By the time he finished, Batman had returned, and there was no mistaking the menace in his glare this time. Robin fell back into line, and the team wisely kept neutral expressions on their faces as Batman finished briefing them.
"One last thing-" Batman said as the team headed towards the bioship. "I'm coming with you. Wesker may be insane, but he is still a genius, and that makes him a dangerous criminal. I'm not comfortable sending you against him alone. Besides, we still don't know why he's there- the money, the tech, or the statue. But whatever it is, it's probably just a small piece of a much larger plot. Until we know what that is, I'm taking a hands-on approach. Superboy, the Justice League is a man short if I'm with the team. I'd like you to accompany them. Stay with J'onn, He's going to have his hands full. He will need you there to back him up."
The team paused for a moment, as they processed this new development, but were wise enough not to argue as Batman entered the bioship, and Conner turned back towards the zeta tubes.
The ride to the museum home was tense, to say the least. None of the team could make eye contact without giggling, and the more Batman glared the harder it became to keep a straight face. Finally realizing he wasn't going to win, Batman had them drop him behind the large building. As soon as he was gone, the team gave in and laughed, reveling in their mentor's embarrassment.
After giving the team a long five minutes to collect themselves, Batman contacted them on the coms. "Kaldur! Take the roof. Robin, you take the front entrance. I have the rear. Are you ready?"
The Kaldur and Robin both replied in the affirmative, with just the barest hint of mirth still in their voices. "Batman, where do you want me?" Miss Martian asked.
"Stay on the roof, we'll call you if we need you inside. I want someone out here keeping an eye on things, at least until we know whats going on inside."
"Do you want me to link us up?"
"No." Batman's terse command made Robin chuckle.
"You really don't want to, M'gann," Robin smirked as he prepared to drop. "Let's stick to coms for now." On the private channel (of course they had a private channel) Robin couldn't help but poke a little fun. "Are you sure you don't want M'gann to link us up? We don't need the tech causing any hiccups tonight." A loud /*click/* was all the answer he received. Dick grinned as he made his way stealthily up the wide marble steps. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw a set of black, pointy ears peek over the edge of the roof for a second before disappearing again. He keyed his mic. "Batman? I thought you were taking the back?" All he got back was static. Huh. He must be angrier than I thought. Dismissing the caped crusader from his mind, Dick made his way inside.
On the roof top, Catwoman watched as the muscular boy made his way inside. She considered following him, but the green skinned girl who had vanished almost as soon as she had touched the roof made her pause. She wanted, no, needed, that statue, and this expo was the only time it was going to be out in the open. She had almost had it two years ago, when it was first transferred from the museums research lab to the high security vaults, but a certain meddling team of vigilantes had stopped her. She still held a grudge about that. Slipping lithely over the edge of the roof, Catwoman made her way in through an upper window above the main entrance. As she went, she caught site of a red and yellow figure stealthily approaching the building. Of course those two are here, she thought to herself. Can't a girl catch a break anymore? Hoping she hadn't been seen, she quickly scooted away from the edge and into the building.
Batman crouched motionless in the silent room. It was an eery silence, the kind that comes from fear. A base emotional response, stemming from the urge to hide when running and fighting were no longer an option. Hidden behind one of the central pillars, he observed the thirty hostages and their guards. The tension was obvious in every movement the guards made, and the fingers they held tightly to the triggers of their guns. Something big was going on here, much more than a simple heist.
Batman had been in the building for a little over ten minutes now, plenty of time for the rest of the team to have arrived. He was beginning to grow concerned, and silently cursed himself for not agreeing to the mind link earlier. The situation inside dictated total radio silence, and he had no way to communicate with the rest of the team. He was particularly worried for his young protege, whom he had sent in through the main doors alone. Dick can handle himself, Batman reassured himself. He knows better than to announce his presence before scoping out the situation. He's probably just being careful. Grimacing to himself, Batman cursed again for his own carelessness. The children's laughter earlier, innocent as it was, had rankled him more than he cared to admit, and he had recklessly plunged into the building without reconnoitering it first. Had he been thinking clearly, he would have recognized the danger before a squad of heavily armed men had crossed his path behind him, trapping him in the slim shadow of the pillar. He had counted over a dozen men now, moving in squads of three, all heavily armed, and alternating their routes through the hallway he had entered by so that it was under constant observation.
There were other squads too, each filtering through the other entry points into the room. It was hard to tell, but if he assumed that every floor was as well guarded as this one, Batman estimated that there were at least fifty thugs inside the building. The fact that he had managed to reach the main room without encountering them was in itself a minor miracle, or a minor disaster, depending on how he looked at it. He had been taken completely by surprise when the first squad had rounded the corner, and only the fact that he was already in the shadow of the pillar had kept him from being detected. He had been trapped there ever since. His mind was in overdrive, trying to come up with a solution to his problem, when Scarface stalked into the room, followed by a timid Arnold Whesker. (It was odd, seeing them as too different people, when in reality Scarface was a two and a half foot tall puppet being carried by the heavy set man, but the separation of Whesker's personalities was so complete that Batman found it easier to treat the man and the puppet as separate entities.)
"Status report!" Barked the puppet. One of the guards hurriedly ran up to him and began speaking.
"All quiet, Mr. Scarface!" There was only a mild tremor in the man's voice, but his body language spoke volumes. He was clearly uncomfortable talking to the puppet, and Batman wondered what had transpired to make so large a crew so obedient.
"Don't let that fool you," the puppet growled. "Batman will be here, mark my words."
"Mr. Scarface sir," Whesker interrupted. "Are you sure you want to do this? The last time we met the Batman..." Scarface glared the larger man into silence, before turning back to the thug.
"Shut this dummy up, will ya? He's getting on my nerves." Scarface (and the trembling Whesker) turned and left the room before the man could answer.
In another part of the building, Catwoman watched unseen as one of the scientists finished packing up the scanner and holopods. Clearly this crew was here for the technology, but one of them had swiped her statue too. She pouted as she pondered how to retrieve it. As a group of thugs loaded everything into a truck, Catwoman used the exposed girders criss-crossing the ceiling to sneak after the one who had taken the statue. She had to be careful, as the group had sentries posted on the catwalks just beneath her, but large art displays draping from the ceiling gave her cover as she maneuvered.
She was distracted by a dark haired shadow whisking by beneath her. Artfully dodging the gaze of a sentry, the figure spun and flipped silently through the empty space between the floor and the ceiling, seeming weightless as he swung from girders and flipped off of railings. Robin. Catwoman watched in awe as he crossed the room. Even she couldn't match the grace this boy showed, as he leapt and twirled, never losing his balance, never touching down for more than an instant, and above all never making a sound. She smiled as he flourished, showing off to an unseen audience, the motion so habitual he probably didn't even know he was doing it. Breathlessly, she tracked his performance as he effortlessly flew across the room, not daring to move for fear of startling him and ruining the show. Even after he left the room, she held her breath, hoping to see him return for an encore. That was incredible! Startled at the thought, Selena shook herself, coming back to the room and the situation around her. Emotions flared, hot and fast in her chest, before she pushed them down. Biting her lip, she struggled to re-assume her criminal persona. So... The little bird is here. That means the Bat can't be far behind. There, that did the trick. Batman. A dangerous grin slowly grew on Catwoman's face. She had a score to settle.
Robin finally made it into the museum's lobby. There were no graceful thoughts in his head as he moved, unconsciously dropping to the ground in a silent roll as the bare girders turned into the finished ceiling of the hallway leading to the lobby, just calculating professionalism. He rose to his feet and darted after the squad of guards that had just passed beneath him. There were only three in this squad, and he was sure he could take them without any trouble. But he didn't want to give away his presence just yet. The end of this hallway emptied into the back of the main lobby, and was heavily shadowed. If he could just make it to the lobby, he could disappear without ever being detected. Luckily the squad ahead didn't think to look back down the lit hallway, and he fervently hoped his luck would hold long enough for him to reach the shadows again.
In the shadow behind one of the pillars in the lobby, Batman was beginning to panic. He swallowed roughly, trying to coax some moisture into his dry throat. His stomach, perhaps from the tension, perhaps just as an afterthought of M'gann's cooking, had begun once again to buck. I need to leave. Now. Batman peeked from behind his pillar, trying to gauge the location of the patrolling thugs and make his exit. Instead, he froze, the metallic taste of fear filling his mouth.
Robin had just rounded the corner, sticking close behind the squad of guards as they patrolled. He angled away from the men, making for the shadows behind a pillar. He'd almost made it when a sound burst out behind him. A very familiar sound.
"Hic!"
Batman, his hand clamped over his mouth, watched the scene unfold in front of him. As if in slow motion, he saw Robin and the men in front of him freeze. Robin straightened from his crouch and lunged towards the men as they turned, but there was too much ground to cover.
"Robin, No!" Batman bellowed, as the sound of gunshots split the room. Robin's head snapped back impossibly far, jerking him back. If it hadn't been for the spray of blood, it would have been funny, like the time a younger Richard had snatched a treat from Alfred's serving tray before a party, only to be halted when the vigilant butler had grabbed the fleeing boys hair.
A second bullet tore into Robin's fragile body. The boy's limp frame seemed to wrap around around the bullet, as if he were trying to catch it. The illusion was ruined though when the merciless lead punched through the boy's thin frame and continued on its journey, trailing a much larger, darker spray of blood.
A third shot boomed out, catching the collapsing boy in the hip and ripping his legs out from under him. Arms outstretched, Batman watched, helplessly, as what was left of Robin's small body smacked wetly against the floor.
No! No. Nonononono. No. Batman stood frozen in shock. Around him men screamed and ran, but in the shadows of his mind he saw only stillness, heard only silence. Robin, Richard, lay motionless on the tile floor. The bright red of his uniform gave way to the darker red seeping from underneath it. Half upturned, the sightless white lenses of his mask bored into Batman. Batman floundered in the depths of his mind, trying to find some way, any way that Robin could still be alive. His heart broke, and Batman sank to his knees, still staring at the still form on the floor.
"Batman! Batman!" The shrill scream finally cut through the silence in Batman's head, and he looked up from the fallen boy. M'gann was screaming at him, both mentally and through the coms. He raised his hand to the mic in his cowl to answer, and realized for the first time that it was dripping with blood. Robin's blood. It was all over him. Now that he was aware of it, he realized that he could feel it running down his face, and seeping into his collar. The coppery scent of blood filled his nose, and he could taste the blood that had entered his mouth when he screamed to the boy. It was lighter, somehow, than the taste of his own blood. Not as bitter. That just made it all the more terrible though, as his senses were overwhelmed with Robin's blood, still warm, hammering home the completeness of his failure.
"BATMAN!" This time it was Kaldur'ahm screaming at him, and not on the coms, but from across the room. Looking around, Batman realized that barely five seconds had passed, though they had seemed an eternity. Hostages ran everywhere, trying to escape, and were being gunned down relentlessly by the hired thugs. Other thugs had tackled Kaldur when he tried to intervene, and he was currently struggling to throw them off and regain his feet.
Directly in front of him, leveling their guns at him, were six of Scarface's hired goons, the original three that had gunned down his sidekick, and three others who had heard the shots and come running. Batman locked eyes, with one of the men, the first to have pulled the trigger. Blind, unfeeling rage flooded through Batman, and he leapt at the men, a primal roar tearing from his throat. The first two fell before he even reached them, two batarangs that he didn't remember drawing hammering the men into unconsciousness. Then he was in the middle of the men, striking out at them with fists and feet and elbows, seeing nothing but the red haze that had filled his vision.
Catwoman huddled in the end of the hallway as bullets chewed away at the walls. She had taken a cue from watching Robin, and had been following the second group of criminals down the hallway when gunshots had broken out. She originally retreated, but when she heard Batman's pained yell, she turned again and sprinted to the end of the hallway. Pandemonium reigned in the main lobby, with gunshots and screams, and at her feet, Robin lay crumpled on the ground. Catwoman backpedaled into the hallway before she was seen, and crouched there. A pained roar rose above the general hubbub, and she looked up in time to see Batman charging a group of men, his cape and bloodstained features making him look like an avenging demon.
The fight didn't last long. There were just too many men, and Batman and the other boy were soon overwhelmed. The mercenaries quickly cleared the room after that, dragging the unconscious men with them. Dead bodies of civilians littered the room, and more than one of the mercenaries seemed to have used the confusion to settle a few private squabbles as well. Two of the mercenaries remained in the room, splashing something from heavy canisters all over the room. "We have what we need, lets get out of here!" one of the men said to the other. Thumbing open a lighter, the second man nodded, then tossed it into a puddle as the two men ran from the room. Flames shot up and quickly began consuming the evidence left in the room.
Deciding that she wasn't going to get a better chance to escape, Catwoman turned to leave. A soft moan behind her made her look back. Her gaze fell on the young boy in the red and black costume, the source of the noise. Well then. The Bat had been taken from her, and so had her statue. But just maybe she could still settle a score tonight. A dangerous look in her eyes, Catwoman pounced on the fallen Robin and dragged him, unseen, into the shadows.
...
Author's Note:
Hi guys! Thanks for reading! Just some quick things here I need to point out. First is timing- This story takes place later on during season one of the show, after Artemis and Connor are introduced but before Zattanna officially joins up with the team. The second one is Catwoman. She doesn't actually appear in YJ at all, but she is interwoven throughout the entire DC universe and seems to pop up everywhere Batman does, so I think she fits. She also is different, with different attitudes, costumes, and back stories every time she appears, so I'm not really following any set storyline with her, I'm kind of bringing several elements in and molding her into what I need for the story. With that being said, I do need to point out that I don't own Catwoman or any of the other characters appearing in this story, they all belong to DC, etc.
Special shout out to Luxen T for all of her help, and to Mireilles3 for giving me my first review! You both are awesome and really encouraging!