So this is it, the first chapter of the newly re-written One Step At A Time, which I now going to be renamed Hidden Shadows. I'd like to say thank you for waiting and for all the reviews on the last version, I thank you all. But I'm not going to make this super long, so I'll just say enjoy and review!

*I don't and won't ever own Young Justice, or any of DC characters. I only own Mira, Katerina, Mikael and Tanya.

Katerina (Kat's) POV

Beep! Beep! Well, there goes my alarm and I don't have a hammer to shut it up. Just have to do it the old fashioned way, hitting it. It took three tries, but the annoying sound was silenced! Hahah, victory! Time to get out of bed, right? No? Pep-talk time!

"Good Morning, Katerina Addis! And it's your first day at Gotham Academy! It's time to get out of bed! Gee, thanks me, your peppy tone is exactly what I needed…" I said sarcastically. Ugh, pep-talk fail. Not surprising.

Gotham Academy sounded like a really good school. On paper.

Everything looked good on paper. But it could be better than St. Mary's or... not? No. No way the Crime Capital of America could top St. Mary's.

What was I thinking?

Ugh, my mind was a blur, a mix between hellish nightmares and hellish reality. Twenty-hours on a plane and my brain was pudding. Who goes to school or, y'know does things the second day they arrive in a new city? Wait, my parents do things, and they're making me go to school.

I groaned at the realisation of actually having to go to school, UGH! Kill me now. I snuggled further into my bed, trying to escape having to go to school.

On the plus side (notice my sarcasm) I was getting put back into eighth grade. American schools are weird about apititude tests and proper placement. Or just plain weird. I hadn't decided yet, but I am totally leaning to just weird.

It didn't matter, but I did get the best going away party, even if it was in the middle of third term (mid-October) and on the weekend.

Anyway I've recently moved from Sydney, Australia to Gotham City, because of a business deal that my father has over here, fun (please, note my sarcastic tone).

Not to sound whiny or anything, but I had friends there and a really awesome life or something along those lines. Plus the weather here isn't as nice; it's way colder, but I'll acclimatize, hopefully soon.

Well, guess I have to get up before Mira comes to drag me out of bed. She's done it before and she'll do it again. She is my family's housekeeper and she's downright scary when she wants to be. Put a toe out of line, stray from her schedule and I would have to hide from her wrath for hours before I could come out and even then… On top of that, she could take dessert away from me, so no sleeping in.

But you could sleep in just a little… NO!

I rolled out of bed, my feet hitting the floor, and shuffled over to the wall of windows. My parents moved us into a luxury penthouse in downtown Gotham. It had a view all the best sights Gotham had to offer. Plus the bay, where the water was brown.

Brown.

Yay for pollution!

No wonder Gotham was all messed up. Greenpeace needs to hurry up. (A/N I love Greenpeace. So no offence.)

I shuffled off to the shower and hoped the filter wasn't broken. But the water was hot and the bathroom steamed up quickly. It was a great bathroom, seriously. It was huge. I could probably find Narnia in the back of the sink cupboard. I could live in this bathroom. It was the greatest. No one would get me out. Not Aslan himself. Not even the Mad Hatter.

Unless he had a chainsaw. Then maybe I'll go to tea with him...

Wait, he's from Alice in Wonderland, isn't he?

Hah! This water has begun to mess with you! Pollution rocks! My weirder side declared. Pfft, stupid weird side. Like I'll ever listen to it. Though it was on to something, just this once. You, brain, sometimes you are awesome and then sometimes I wish you would go, ugh!

Crap, I was talking to myself. I frowned. I may or may not being going insane, but everyone does at some point, right? No, they are just being themselves, unlike some people… Everyone is normal, in their own way, but a few. That so doesn't make sense, Kat. Pudding brain. Losing energy.. shutting down... shower... warm...

The hot water went abruptly cold. Icy cold.

I shrieked and flailed my way out from under the spray. Crap! Mira had shut off the hot water! I'd been the shower way too long! Mira didn't mess around! Curse that heartless woman! It was not in the slightest funny.

Shivering, my stomach making dying whale noises of hunger, I reached past the icy deluge and turned the taps off. I needed to get out. If Mira shut off the hot water, then I needed to get a move on. I let myself out of the stall, grabbed a towel and dried myself off, seeking refuge in the warmth of the towel.

I wrapped the towel around myself and went to my closet. My really, really empty closet, but still bigger than most people's closet.

My parents had bundled me out of Sydney so fast there'd only been time to grab a few change of clothes and minimal essentials. Everything else was supposed to here by the end of the week. My new school uniform had arrived yesterday.

This is why no one likes private international schools. Too many formalities, when you spend so little of your time there.

I frowned at the uniform that was in front of me. It was a white blouse with a blue blazer that had the school logo on it. Then I looked to the skirt; it was blue too and really short. And it had a tie, cool. I didn't get wear one at my last school.

Ohh look! It had two different variations, even better! I could go vest one day, blazer the next! Genius Katerina strikes again! Nope, it's still to early for that, my brain 'helpfully' points out.

I grabbed the blazer first and then a sports bra, underwear and some shorts to wear under the skirt. I absolutely hate skirts, but I have to wear them so often I have succeeded in tolerating them. I will wear them, but I do not like them. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh go get a can of lighten up! My chirpy side suggested.

We ran out. I countered dryly.

I got changed in a record time and brushed out my blonde hair, stylising it to how I wanted it; leaving it down and spritzing on a light coat of hair spray so it didn't fly around.

Then I struck a pose in front of the mirror. Damn did I look good or what! Work it, Kat!

I then went back into the closet and grabbed my socks and put them on.

Slippy slidey here I come! I probably had a weird smile on now, but whatever; notice how much I care.

That's it! Go away, happy.

Now what if I have sport today? I know that would be awesome, but what do I need. Eh, I grabbed a satchel and put a pair of tennis shoes in it, sport shorts, a sports tank top and another pair of ankle socks in it. Done!

Wait, BOOKS! I skidded back across my empty room and collected the textbooks my new school had so thoughtfully sent to me, then grabbed my iPhone 5s and ran out of my room and downstairs, sliding the whole way. I was going to get hurt, that might happen or I'll hurt someone else.

Now that was more likely. I should buy a sign that says 'Danger Hazard'. That would be funny. All my Sydney friends would agree.

Wait, what's that smell? Right, breakfast; knew I had forgotten about something. Mmm... That food smells so good. Bacon, eggs, possibly pancakes. My stomach started to make more dying whale noises. Yeah stomach, I hear you. Eat food. Food good.

I'm not fussy about my meals. Stick it in front of me and I'll eat it. I like to eat. Food means energy for all the martial arts and gymnastics training I do. It keeps me fit and slim and seriously, I have awesome legs from all that gymnastics.

"Katerina!"

That snapped me out of my thoughts. Mira was snapping her fingers to get my attention. I had slid all the way into the kitchen.

"Huh?" was my all witty reply.

"You were daydreaming again." she said, hands on her hips. Mira had brown hair, brown eyes and looked like she could heave a grown man over a fence.

"Daydreaming? Me, never!" I laughed, taking a seat in one of the dinette's stools.

"Don't bat those innocent blue eyes at me, Kat. You were daydreaming." Mira said firmly. Uh oh, shit was getting serious this morning. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Bacon and eggs and coffee." I said, looking around. Empty penthouse. Just Gotham's skyscrapers and us. "Where's Mum and Dad?"

"They've left for work." Mira said, sounding apologetic. "And no coffee."

"Oh." Really, and on my first day too. Guess they want to get familiar with the new headquarters of their global business. Or more likely, they didn't want to see me. They are so… Ugh!

"Stop moping around and eat breakfast." Mira ordered, laying a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me. No coffee. I'll be slugging the energy drinks all day. "Now tell me about what you were daydreaming about."

For a thirty-year old, she seemed really young. Personally, she was easier to talk to than my real mum. Pfft, it was easier to talk to anyone who wasn't my mum.

"M'Kay, I was thinking about home and my friends… Mum, Dad." Was that a dead give away or what? Didn't take a genius to figure out what I was thinking about.

"Hmm, sure you weren't thinking about your extra job?" Mira was smirking. Why was she smirking? I gave that up when I left Australia, didn't I?

"Nope." I smiled. I knew she thought I was lying, but not this time. Okay now that was way off topic, just glad Mum or Dad weren't here or they would freak! Or ignore me more for doing it... No, they'd call the cops and have me put in juvie. I could escape it if I wanted to. Pfft, not going to get caught doing it anyways, because I left all my stuff over there. I didn't need to worry about it anymore.

Mira was the only one who knew about my secret ex-vigilante status. Back home in Australia, I had fought crime and had tried to make a difference in my city. Sydney wasn't bad for crime on the whole, but personal reasons. So I had created an alias, Shadow to protect everyone I cared about.

But a kid my age can't get a hold of military-grade equipment without someone taking a real close look and that was where Mira had come in, getting me everything I needed, no questions asked. And she is also probably the reason I was still here and not six feet under. She was a savvy liar and she could stitch up a wound with the best of them.

"I'm thinking about school. Are you sure it's better than the one in Sydney?" I wondered.

"Yes, it's better or your parents would put you in a boarding school." Mira said, sounding quite confident. "Now you had better finish your breakfast or you'll be late. Any idea what car you want me to take you in?"

"Yeah, I know which one. The Bugatti Veyron." Now that was definitely me, making an impression. Super expensive or super fast? Either one was always good. They won't know what hit them.

I inhaled breakfast without choking and jumped off the stool. Rushing into the foyer, I grabbed my bag and then my shoes, sliding right into the private elevator that led down to the garage. Mira followed more slowly (for all she had told me to hurry up!), but sooner rather than later, we were off.

Gotham Academy was outside the city, with a big, sprawling campus of white-washed buildings and sports fields and dormitory buildings for the boarding students. It was one of those places where if you weren't rich enough for the tuition or smart enough for the scholarship, no point in even thinking about attending.

I was going to fit right in. Lucky me.

Mira brought the car to a smooth halt in the pick-up lane. I could already see so many heads turning to the Bugatti. Nice to see the attention. As I get out of my car, a really pretty redhead with blue eyes walked up to me.

"Hi I'm Barbara, your student liaison." she said.

Yes, this school sounds better, someone to help me get use to the American way of going to high school. I think I could like this school, but then again it's school, it probably won't happen. Ever.

"Hey, I'm Katerina, but please call me Kat or Rina. My name is a mouthful." I said, smiling and letting an accent flow in my voice. Well, whatever of an accent I have; I travel too much just to have one.

But you have enough for them never to find you.

I know, me.

"Nice to meet you then Kat. I'll show you to the office so you can pick up your timetable."

"That would be handy, thanks." I like this chick, she seemed really nice, but I couldn't help but think I'd rather be alone. This attention was nice, but at the same time a disadvantage, you should know this. It's just school, I told myself.

"Hey Kat, where did you go before you came to Gotham?" Barbara asked me politely as we started to walk to the office.

"I went to St Mary's in Sydney." I replied, smiling at my memories at the school.

"Wow, so you came from Sydney, like in Australia. Why did you come here from there?"

"Yea, like in Australia, Babs- wait, can I call you that?" I asked hesitantly, looking at her. I didn't want to make any enemies, yet. It was a good strategy, worthy of them.

"Of course you can call me that. I feel like you're my friend already." That quick? "But you didn't answer my question." She replied, still smiling at the friendship part.

"Cool, I moved from there to here because my dad got a business deal with... What's his name? Ah! Got it, Bruce Wayne." I smirked triumphantly at my memory. It's only better because- I don't need this, not now of all times.

"Oh wait, you're Katerina Addis, daughter to Mikael and Tanya Addis. The billionaires that own the mining company?" Barbara realized, now paying attention to my answer. Damn.

"Yeah, those are my parents. But can you not go around telling everyone until I'm ready, please? Attention like that is not fun, trust me." Almost begging. I definitely didn't want to beg. It's below you Katerina. That was just my upbringing plaguing my head, right?

"Don't worry, I can do that. But I had wanted to asked if you wanted to hang out at recess and lunch, with my friend Dick." She asked carefully, as not to seem like a gold digger.

"No that would be awesome." Now a genuinely huge grin was on my face. But nothing's real about you, is it?

We kept talking; getting to know one another until we reached to office and by then you'd think we'd known each other longer.

When we reached the office, I asked the front desk lady for my schedule and locker number, which was 002. And this is my schedule for today:

Advanced French 8:00-9:00

Advanced Extension Maths 9:05-10:05

Morning Break 10:05-10:20

Advanced Extension English 10:25- 11:25

Physical Education Extension 11:30-12:30

Lunch 12:30-1:00

Advanced Extension Society and Environment/Humanities 1:05-2:05

Drama Extension 2:10-3:10

"Wow we have like no classes together, but drama. Such a high achiever." Barbara giggled at the end part. "Oh look you've got one of the best lockers in the school. It's next to mine."

"Ok, now that's your ego speaking." I stated in a matter of fact like voice.

"No really you do. But that comes with a status, so if you're rich or something you get the best." Babs replied looking at my schedule.

"Not to offend, but then how did you get the one next to mine? I really mean no offense, but from what you told me, you aren't exactly rich rich." I was getting curious.

"No that's quite alright. My dad's the police commissioner."

Now that was cool. Must be way overprotective, but it must be nice to have that kind of parent.

"Darty!" I almost shouted.

"Darty?" Babs frowned, confused at my choice of words.

"Oh right, America. It means awesome in Australia." Ha! Cured the confused face.

"Anyway, we had better drop your things off at your locker and then I'll introduce you to Dick." She told me before walking out of the office and apparently to our lockers. Well first day here I come!

REVIEW!

So here it is. The highly anticipated re-edited first chapter of the once One Thing At A Time, now Hidden Shadows. Thank you for patiently re-awaiting for a new chapter, it was greatly appreciated. I hope you like it, I tried to put everything in that I had missed in the first publication of the fanfic. I hope you sincerely enjoy! Please review!

-RollingMyEyesAtYou xx