Chapter 1

*Another boring day in my boring room. Excellent.* A girl with light brown hair and blue-green eyes thought to herself. Jasmine Quinn was currently lying across her floor, shuffling a deck of cards rather expertly, since this was one of the few things she could do in her room. There was no one with her, since her two diabolical parents were off causing havoc in Gotham and she was all alone. Her parents didn't want anyone to know her true identity as their child just yet. However, there she had reason to believe that the day she would be revealed was coming soon.

Sighing, Jasmine sat up, setting the deck of cards on her desk. She pulled the top card off and looked to it, a small smile coming across her lips. The Ace of Spades, her favorite card. Studying it for a moment, she then placed it between her fingers and threw it. The card whirled through the air, curving slightly as it shit towards a dart board. One of the edges embedded itself into the bull's eye and she yawned as she walked over to it. The card had metal, bladed edges, so it was similar to throwing a knife. It was one of the many weapons she had been trained to use.

Jasmine pulled the card out and returned to the desk, setting it on the top of the deck once again. The girl then looked at the time. 12:17 a.m. *I might as well go to bed. I have nothing else to do*. She thought to herself, walking over to her closet. She pulled out a red tank top and black running shorts and tossed them on the bed. Her back faced the door as she tugged her shirt and shorts off, letting the clothing drop to the ground.

Looking over, she inspected herself in a nearby mirror. Her skin was fair, and her body thin, but also well-toned. She stood at 5'4, so she was about as tall as the average girl. Her light brown hair fell in light waves just past her shoulder blades. On her body were silvery almost invisible scars. They were hardly raised and everywhere along her back and a few along her forearms. Jasmine knew for a fact that there was more than just a dozen. There were actually over a hundred of the scars, though it was very likely for someone not too notice them at a first glance at her back. They were of such an abundance that her back almost seemed to be the silvery colors of the scars. If someone were to look a bit closer, however, they would see the slightly tanner parts of her skin that was unmarked, almost like a spider web. Tearing her gaze away from the mirror, she then gave a yawn and stretched, placing her arms behind her head as she arched her back. It was then that she heard her door creak.

Freezing, Jasmine blinked for a moment before looking over her shoulder. She was supposed to be without company so when she met the white eyes of a man with black hair and flushed cheeks, she was rather surprised. He wore a black suit with a blue 'V' across his chest. His mask was also black and his eyes were covered on the outside with a glowing white light, hiding his eye color. Jasmine had never seen the hero in person before, having been locked away in houses all her life, but even she knew who it was. Her parents had discussed him on a few rare occasions. Nightwing. The shock took a moment to pass, and when it did her cheeks flushed a dark pink as she became very aware that she was only in her deep red bra and underwear. Quickly, Jasmine snatched a robe and wrapped it around her body.

"W-What the hell?!" She shouted at him, moving to her desk and taking the Ace of Spades between her fingers once again, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

Nightwing's face turned a darker shade of red, though he seemed to be studying her. When she had taken the card, he seemed to scowl before pulling his escrima sticks out and moving into an attacking position.

"So…I'm guessing you're Harley's personal henchman?" He asked then seemed to straighten up from his stance a bit. "Er…henchwoman." Nightwing seemed to correct. Jasmine couldn't help but roll her eyes at what he said.

"Yes. I am one Harely's henchmen, considering I'm changing my clothes and Harley isn't here." She said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest, still rather embarrassed at him almost seeing her naked.

"Even villains need to change." He sneered.

"For being some big shot superhero, you aren't exactly the most polite, are you?" She huffed, mostly to get under his skin. "I didn't even get an apology."

"Villains don't deserve a gentlemen." Nightwing growled, "They especially don't deserve apologies."

Jasmine raised a slender eyebrow. "I'm not a villain. You walked in on an innocent girl as she was trying to change." She spoke up, which rather close to being the truth. The worst thing she had done in her life was break her parents out of prison here and there. Though, she supposed that was just about as bad as killing someone, since that's what happens when the two are loose in Gotham.

Seeming a bit annoyed, Nightwing then spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest. "Who are you?" He asked lowly, causing Jasmine to give a small smirk. It was such a generic question. She was almost expecting something much grander from some big shot hero.

"Tell me, Nightwing. Why should I tell you my identity? If you want to know so much, wouldn't it be wise for me not to say, considering that may keep you from attacking?" She pointed out to him with an amused light in her eyes, "Trying to beat the answer out of me is rather useless. Pain won't make me speak up. So what do you plan to do?" She said with a small smile, now just toying with him. Jasmine twirled the card between her fingers, studying the masked hero before her. Her parents would be pissed if they ended up figuring out he was here. Really, she should be fighting him and trying to imprison him for the benefit of her parents. However, she has heard enough about him to know better than to get in a fight with the guy. She knew martial arts, how to throw her bladed cards, and fight with two whips, but in all honesty, that probably wouldn't even come close to his skills. Not only that, but Jasmine had absolutely no motivation to fight for her parents.

Nightwing gave a shake of his head after she spoke about her identity, "I need to determine if you're a villain or not." Nightwing pressed a button on his escrima sticks, the ends lighting up with electricity, "Your identity determines who I am to you." He growled. Jasmine noticed how his eyes flickered to her cards.

"Get those from Joker?" Nightwing asked, "I remember using those for my training. Always the easiest to break." He sneered, "Now tell me." Nightwing said in a deeper voice, "Who. Are. You?"

Jasmine glanced down at the Ace of Spades she had been twirling between her fingers before giving a shrug at his question about her father. "Perhaps." She answered with a small smile. As he switched to the deeper "I mean serious shit" voice, she gave a small laugh. "I'm the girl you so rudely walked in on." She spoke up before sighing softly as she studied him with a small tilt of her head. She really didn't see the point in telling him she wasn't a villain considering she has been without him believing her. Besides, it was much more fun to mess with the guy.

Nightwing let out a sarcastic laugh, "Yet, you're smack dab in the middle of Joker's place, but you're not dead, nor are you beaten. Either you're a villain, or...nothing." He said, frowning as he said the last word, looking to be in thought.

At what he said, Jasmine averted her eyes from him and fixed her gaze on the wall. "Go with nothing. Concerning your databases, I don't exist." She said rather sharply, though she wasn't completely sure why. Perhaps it was the fact that he had called her nothing…and she realized that it, in a way, was true. No one knew she existed except her parents, Joker and Harley Quinn, and maybe a few selected others. However, these selected others never lived for very long. Her identity was kept hidden from the world. Hell, she probably didn't even have a birth certificate. Hearing the sound of Nightwing's sigh pulled her from her thoughts, and Jasmine looked over.

"We have two options here. You tell me who you are, or I find out the hard way." Nightwing spoke up in a growl.

"Right. Next time you'll take pictures of my body, and look that up to see if they match up with any of the other girls you have probably walked in on." She smirked at him before walking to her desk and setting the bladed card down. If he hadn't attacked her in all of this time, then he probably wasn't going to attack her now. Not only that, but it wasn't as though the bladed card would do anything against him. It had simply been a defensive reaction when he came in. Jasmine didn't really care what Nighting decided to do at this point.

"If you haven't noticed, I don't exactly do things like this very often. I'm not one to walk in on women as they change." He spat at her, clearly annoyed, which amused Jasmine all the further. He seemed rather easy to annoy, though she was also dancing around his question, which she knew could get very annoying, very fast. It wasn't like she was just going to tell him what he wanted though. She had her own secrets.

An idea suddenly came to Jasmine and she picked up a regular deck of cards and spun on her heels. She made her way up to Nightwing till they were about chest to chest. She noticed him stiffen at how close they were, and held back a small smile at his reaction. She found it amusing, considering she wasn't even armed and he completely had the upper hand considering his electric escrima sticks. Lightly, she tapped his chest with her pointer figner and gazed up at him, meeting his eyes, though their color was hidden behind the mask.

"Relax Hero. I'm not going to assault you." She said with a small laugh.

"I never relax." He responded curtly and she gave a small roll of her eyes.

"That's right. Big strong heroes can never let their guard down." She smirked, "Anyways, I'll make you a deal. If you beat me in the card game Speed, I'll tell you who I am. If not, then you can slave away trying to figure out just who the hell I am. Let me tell you now that I'll be basically impossible to find." She said, plucking out a strand of her hair and handing it over without a care. Since there weren't any files on her anywhere, even Batman's databases wouldn't know who she was. Jasmine supposed they could try to do some kind of DNA scan, but they would include a hair sample from one of her parents as well to see if the two match. Taking all of this into consideration, she concluded that the probability of Batman or Nightwing figuring out her identity based on this small sample would be useless, taken that Nightwing and Batman are actually working together.

"Here big shot. I invite you to waste hours of your time searching." She said with a confident smile. Now that she was actually up close, she could study him a bit more. It was evident that he was handsome even with his mask covering his eyes. He stood rather tall, perhaps 5'10 or 5'11 if she were to guess. He had a serious frown on his lips and his whole body was tense, which could easily be evaluated by the way he kept shifting forward to the balls of his feet and the way his muscles were bunched up in his arms, even though he had them crossed.

"Just one game. I promise it takes less than two minutes" She offered with a wide smile when he remained silent after a few seconds. Yes, perhaps the offer was immature, but it wasn't like she was just going to give him what he wanted. Not only that, but she was rather bored, and never got much company. Even if it was Nightwing and he seemed rather cold, it wasn't as though he was a bad guy. He was a hero. Despite these small aspects, she had a feeling he wouldn't take up her deal and simply take her hair strand.

"It's too bad I don't have two minutes." Nightwing spoke up, taking the strand of hair she had offered. In response, Jasmine simply gave a small shrug and smile since she had called it. She tried to tell him. There was no way he was going to find her on his databases. Though, she supposed trusting the daughter of two major villains in Gotham wouldn't exactly be a good move on his part, even if she was telling him the truth.

"I'll make a different deal with you." He said, which actually surprised Jasmine. She had expected him to leave right away, considering he got what he wanted, "If you tell me your name now, just your first name, I'll come back and take up the challenge in beating you in that card game tomorrow night." He offered, which made Jasmine purse her lips in thought, her blue-green eyes shifting to that of suspicion. *Why would he return for that reason?*

While Jasmine knew she probably shouldn't even mention her name to him, the thought that someone other than her parents was going to see her was rather tempting. It wasn't like her parents were exactly good company, and she preferred to stay away from them anyways. A pathetic reason, she knew, but a very real one. It wasn't exactly her fault that she was terribly lonely. Giving a small tilt of her head, her blue-green eyes began to shimmer faintly in amusement.

"So, you do know how to flirt." She spoke up teasingly before tossing the deck of cards over onto the desk before propping a hand on her hip as she studied him.

"That wasn't me flirting. Trust me, if I were trying to flirt, you would know," Nightwing answered, surprising Jasmine by giving a slight arrogant side smile.

"Would I now?"

"Of course you would. I'm good at it, like most things I do, so it would be rather easy to pinpoint."

"Well, your arrogance is definitely easy to pinpoint." She smirked slightly.

"I don't express myself in arrogance. Just in well known facts that people tend to overlook if I don't remind them."

"Sure you do," She said with a small laugh, glancing up at him from under her eyelashes, "Well, as for the card match, there won't be anything on the line if I tell you my name. But if you are so keen on coming to see me again, then fine. I'm Jasmine, but you can call me Jazz." She said, giving him a genuine smile before moving past him and opening the door, indicating for him to leave, "Now go so I can undress into clothes to sleep in." Jasmine told him, leaning back on the door frame and crossing her arms over her chest. To tell the truth, she was actually finding herself looking forward to tomorrow night coming up, even if Nightwing hadn't been the nicest company for the duration of the time he has been around. He seemed to have a rather big attitude change near the end after seeing that she wasn't hostile, having converted to serious coldness to arrogance.

"Jasmine…" She heard Nightwing murmur to himself as if thoughtfully. However, the moment didn't last long before he turned and walked to the door. He paused just as he was about to step out and turned his gaze to her. "Jazz, if you try to do some type of ambush tomorrow night, I'm not afraid to take you out. I hope you know this." He said to her lowly, returning to how he was when he first showed up.

"Yeah, sure," Jasmine sighed, having thought they were already past this, "Just don't walk in on me changing again, and I think we'll be good." She snickered, stepping away from the door frame and into her room. Surprisingly, a small smile curved at the edges of his lips, so faint she almost thought she didn't see it. Then, he left and closed the door behind him.

Blinking for a moment to get over her shock at seeing the slight smile Nightwing had shown, she then pushed herself away from the spot she had been rooted in. She had expected him to show some kind of annoyance to her bringing up that subject again, but instead he seemed amused. A light smile came over her and she glanced around the room. Now everything seemed normal, as though nothing had just happened. However, things weren't always as they seemed. Falling back on her bed, Jasmine stared up at her ceiling, a smile coming over her. She had a feeling that things were about to change, and they all revolved around that boy, though she couldn't begin to anticipate what would change and the impact this change would cause.

While Jasmine had been set on sleeping just moments before Nightwing showed up, she now felt a familiar itch in the fingertips of her left hand. Sitting up, she reached over to her dresser and moved a few note covered books before taking out a rather big sketchbook. Opening it up, she was met with pictures of a cat, alleyway views she has seen throughout her life, and numerous other pictures that people would probably consider random. Many were of an Asian woman, and only a couple was of her parents.

Opening it up to a fresh blank page, Jasmine reached over once more and grabbed a mechanical pencil then stared at the sheet. Already, she had in her mind what she wanted to draw. All she needed to figure out now was how to start it. Taking a small extra moment, she then pressed the tip of her pencil against the page and began. It was easy for her to get lost in the curves and lines of the picture as it slowly began to become a reality on her page. By the time she was finished, the side of her left hand was covered in lead that had rubbed off on it, and her pointer finger looked metallic by rubbing the lead as well to give a shadowed impression since she didn't have a shading tool to blur lines. Scrutinizing her work took about an extra hour of careful erasing and redrawing, however, when it was done, she held it up with a small smile.

*It doesn't look too bad.* She thought to herself before setting it aside and standing up. She drew her robe off of herself and hung it back up before pulling on the red tank top and black running shorts she had gotten out earlier to sleep in. Once she had the items of clothing on, she yawned and stretched her arms over her head before returning to her bed. She sat at the edge and glanced at her picture once more. Pursing her lips for a moment, she took it back into her hands.

"Forgot something." She murmured to herself, taking her pencil and writing down something small in the lower right-hand corner. She then closed the sketchbook and returned it to its place on her nightstand. She was just about to curl beneath the covers of her bed, when the phone rang. It was a simple landline phone in her room. The phone itself couldn't be traced. At least, not easily. However, these calls always meant one thing, and she groaned softly to herself before rising to her feet and answering the phone. Her voice on the other end was altered, so the person wouldn't know who they were speaking to at all.

"Your assistance is required, Spade."

"Where?"

"Black Gate."

With this information, Jasmine simply hung up the phone then went to her dresser and opened compartment in her wall and stared at the contents before reaching towards them.

"Here we go."

Thanks for reading Chapter 1 of Light and Dark. I hope you enjoyed it!

-Bookreader777

*all characters and ideas belong to DC except for Jasmine, though she was completely based off of DC characters and story lines*