Okay, so here's the first chapter of my story 'War' which is the sequel to 'The Sister' so you better read that one before reading this.

She looked around in the ruins of the cave and sighed. She was looking for a special thing but couldn't figure out where the rooms had been.

"found it yet?" a voice behind her asked. She turned around and smiled weakly.

"no, I can't seem to figure out where everything was" she sighed and started looking again.

"let me help" the boy asked and she looked back at him. She sighed and walked up to him.

"Tim, you don't even know how it looks" she smiled and giggled "so how would you even be able to help?"

"if now you could just describe it to me, it would make things a lot easier" he said and she sighed.

"well it's…" she looked up and looked around "do you hear that?" she stepped away from him and tried to locate the sound.

"hear what?" Tim asked and looked at her.

"that calling sound? It sounds somewhat like a… dolphin. A robotic dolphin" she sounded happy and looked at Tim "it's her!" she yelled happily and he looked confused.

"it's who Jackie?" he asked but she was already calling out for whatever she'd heard in Danian. He didn't understand much of it, but caught the words 'mom' and 'here'. Suddenly he could see something move slightly in the rubble and a small creature emerged from the stone.

"Kalia!" Jackie yelled happily and ran over to the small creature and picked it up "oh my sweet little Darhlak, Mommy's been so worried about you!" she nuzzled the Darhlak and kissed it.

"oh, so you were looking for Kalia, why didn't you say so?" Tim asked as he walked over to her. He reached his hand out and it nuzzled its head against his palm and made a happy sound. It moved out of Jackie's grip and moved to sit on his shoulders. It nuzzled against his cheek and Jackie giggled.

"I think she likes you" she said and looked around "we should head back to Wayne Manor before Bruce notices we're gone"

"he probably already has, but I left a note saying why we're gone. So hopefully he won't kill us" Tim said and smiled.

"Batman won't kill anybody you idiot" Jackie said and laughed "but he might severely hurt us" she reached out her hand and scratched the Darhlak under its chin. It made the sound again and she smiled.

"well then let's get back, we've been gone for a pretty long time" Tim smiled and took her hand "princess" he kissed the top of it and she giggled.

"sure thing Reddie" she smiled and intertwined their fingers "but how? I don't think we'll be able to get a cab as easily as before" she said and smiled at him. They started walking towards the city and he swung their hands a bit.

"you could call Carmen and ask if she could drive us?" he said and Jackie thought about it.

"Maybe, but she's probably with Dick, so he would definitely come along"

"they're still dating?" Tim asked and Jackie giggled.

"yeah, but Carmen's getting worried, Dick's been avoiding her recently and they haven't had much time together with just the two of them. Did he say anything to you?" she looked at him and he shook his head.

"no, he's not been in contact with me and Bruce recently either. But I don't think you should worry. They'll have to be together at some point, right?" he asked and she smiled.

"guess so. Reminds me, when are we going to start dating?" she had a teasing tone and he laughed slightly at her.

"not yet, I'm still getting used to the Danian dating rules. Why can't we share food before the third date?" he asked and she laughed.

"I'm a little unclear on that myself, but I guess it's because it's like an indirect kiss" she said and swung their arms a little more "but listen, I'm fine with us being best friends. But we do need to date at some point"

"fine, next year. Then I'll hopefully have the rules of dating in Dania down, and won't do anything to offend your culture" he said and swung his arm around her and placed it on her shoulders "you're not cold, are you?" he asked and she smiled.

"nope, not now anyway" she looked up into the sky and sighed "wish it would start snowing again soon…"

"again? We only just got the entrance free from snow two days ago!" Tim laughed and she looked at him.

"Yeah I know, but it was the perfect excuse not to go outside! Plus we got hot chocolate every day. It was so nice!" she smiled and he sighed.

"guess it was" he looked into the sky too. The clouds were grey and it looked like it would start snowing any minute. He closed his eyes and listened to the small crunching sound of the snow under his feet. He smiled to himself and tightened his grip around Jackie's shoulder. She looked up and him and then back ahead. She noticed they were close to the city and decided to call Carmen. She took out her phone and called her up. Tim stopped and looked at her. He knew she had trouble with talking in the phone and walking at the same time. He noticed the color of her coat and smiled. She was wearing the coat he'd given her for Christmas. At first he didn't know what to give her, but felt like he should give her something. Then suddenly while walking through Gotham going home from school, he'd seen the greenish coat in the window and had stopped up and looked at it. The coat didn't cost that much and Jackie had commented on how much she'd wanted a new coat for a long time. He knew she was visiting Carmen until Christmas Eve which Carmen would spend alone with Dick. Jackie came home around eight in the evening and wished everyone in the house a happy holiday before going back to her room. Tim had walked past her room around ten and she'd been humming Christmas tunes while bending over her table. She was fiddling with something and he figured it was the Christmas presents and went to bed. The next morning she was the first one up and ran into his room and jumped onto his bed to wake him up. She was very excited about the presents and rushed down to get ready to open them. He'd never seen her smile like she did when she opened his present and saw the greenish coat. He'd smiled at her the whole time and she hugged him around the chest when they were done opening the presents. She'd been busy trying to figure out what to give to the others, and decided to give each a small book saying only positive stuff about them and what they had done to make her happy.

"Tim, is something wrong?" she asked and he was taken out of his memory trip. He looked at her and smiled.

"no, just remembering Christmas morning is all" he said and smiled.

"okay then. Carmen'll be here in ten minutes, she was already on her way here anyway and was more than happy to pick us up. Apparently… Bruce noticed we're gone and her out to look for us…"

"we're screwed, aren't we?" Tim asked and she nodded.

"definitely. Hey it started snowing!" she said happily and looked up. a snow flake landed on her nose and melted. She giggled happily and he laughed.

"don't you have snow on Dania or what?"

"We don't! So this year's my first time seeing it since I was ten!" she said happily and let go of Tim's hand. She started to dance around in the snow and catch the flakes as they flew around. Tim laughed a bit at the sight of the green coat and the blonde hair dashing around after the snow flakes. She looked at him and smiled.

"why aren't you chasing the snowflakes? Isn't it an earth custom?" She asked and smiled at him.

"you've lived on earth long enough to know that it's mostly kids that does stuff like that" he said and she crossed her arms.

"bleh!" she said and stuck out her tongue. Tim laughed a little and walked over to her.

"your tongue will freeze if you keep sticking it out like that" he said and smiled at her.

"suuure" Jackie replied and rolled her eyes "you sound, just like my mom" she said and laughed. The Darhlak crawled up on top of Tim's head and looked up into the sky. A snowflake landed on its nose and it sneezed. Jackie looked at it and smiled.

"if Kalia catches a cold, you'll take care of her" she smiled at him but he took it very seriously.

"Darhlak's can catch colds?" he asked in a terrified voice and she laughed hard.

"dear lord of Helita! Of course they can!"

"Helita? What's that?" Tim asked and took the Darhlak down from his head. He put it in under his coat and it made more happy noises.

"Helita is where every Danian ends up when they die. We don't have heaven or hell, we Helita. But depending on how you behaved while you were alive, you will either experience Helita as a good or a bad thing" she said and smiled.

"Helita… well you learn something every day, don't you?" he asked and she smiled.

"you do, I don't. You haven't told anything I don't know yet"

"the smoke from the cars goes into the air and mixes with the clouds. When the snow falls, the smoke is inside of it" he said and she looked at him in shock.

"Seriously?" she asked and he nodded "EW!" she yelled and spat out whatever she had in her mouth.

"don't worry it's not much, but still. And now you learned something" he said and smiled. The Darhlak popped its head out from under his coat and looked at Jackie and then at Tim.

"not funny Reddie!" Jackie yelled in his face and he laughed. The Darhlak hissed at her and she got surprised and stepped back.

"why did it just hiss at y-" Tim looked at Jackie who hissed back at the Darhlak.

#Are they arguing?# he thought and his thought was confirmed when they started to make loud angry sounds at each other. Suddenly the Darhlak looked up at him and kept quiet. He looked at Jackie who flicked her hair back and accidently flipped her ear warmers off. She mumbled curses and bent down to get them.

"did you just argue with a Lemur?" he asked and she got up and looked at him.

"why not? If she's out off line, you have to tell her who's boss, right?" Jackie said and Tim looked at her ears.

"you got earrings?" he asked and walked closer to study them. She moved her head to grant him better access.

"I did, it was last week or something. It hurt like hell" she said and he took one earring between his fingers.

"what are they even? I can't really see it?"

"they're custom made. Carmen had them made specifically for me… I don't know what it is myself, but she said it would make sense one day" Tim let go of the earring and stepped back.

"looks like a mix between two kinds of wings, but I can't really see which ones they should be" he said and she looked at him.

"wings?" she could hear the sound of a motor and looked around "Carmen!" she yelled happily and put the ear warmers on. Carmen stopped up in front of them and took her helmet off and looked at the two.

"You Bruce is pissed, right?" she raised an eyebrow and Jackie smiled "hey lil sis" Carmen got off her motorbike and walked towards her.

"hey Carmen! So how've you and Dick been?" She asked in a cautious tone and Carmen sighed.

"he's been better, but sometimes he still just disappears like poof… it's annoying!" she yelled loudly and Jackie looked into the ground. Carmen looked at her and felt guilty.

"hey, don't worry. I bet it's just a guy thing, okay?" she put a hand on her shoulder and smiled "so who's gonna be in the side wagon?" She asked and Jackie raised her hand.

"Oh me!" she yelled happily and jumped up and down.

"sure thing, just jump in" Carmen smiled and Jackie ran to the side wagon and sat down. Carmen walked to Tim and looked at the small Darhlak.

"why so glum?" she asked and petted it's head. It started making small complaining sounds and she giggled.

"what's it saying?" Tim asked and Carmen looked at him.

"Oh not much. Just that she's mad that you have to be Jackie's ring bearer. I think Kalia likes you… a little too much" Carmen smiled and led him to the motorbike. She sat down in front and put her helmet on. Jackie made one out of the organic material stored in a secret room Carmen had made in the seat. Carmen gave a helmet to Tim and he put it on.

"so exactly how screwed are we?" he asked and Carmen smiled.

"let's just say you should be glad Bruce didn't pick you up personally" she winked at him and he gulped. Carmen laughed a bit.

"I'm just kidding, just explain why you went, and he'll ease up a little. But I don't think that Batman will be going easy Robin for the next few days" she stared the engine and Jackie looked at Tim.

#Poor guy# she said through their separate mind link and he sighed.

#you're lucky, you know that?# he looked at her and Carmen made a sign for them to be ready since she would start the engine. He readied himself and she stepped the speeder down and the motorbike started driving with a speed that almost made him fall off.

#She's a real speed devil, isn't she?# he asked Jacqueline and she smiled.

#she wants to go home to Dick. I can't blame her, it's movie night at their place#

#but hasn't he been busy a lot? What if he misses movie night?#

#she'll interrogate him until he breaks and spills everything, he has never missed a movie night before, and hopefully he doesn't plan to# she smiled inside the helmet and started humming a danian lullaby.

#interrogate? That doesn't sound too pleasant# he looked at Carmen. Her hair had become longer over the last year and reached just between her shoulder blades. She kept it tied up in a ponytail and Dick liked to tease her about her wanting to look more woman like.

#i can't hear your conversation, but I have a feeling that I should be mad# they suddenly heard Carmen say and they both turned their attention to her.

#Sorry…# Jackie said and Carmen sighed.

#just don't talk about anything involving me okay? I don't want any rumors to spread, even if it's just the two of you okay?# she sped up a little more, pushing it to lie just underneath the speed limit.

#sure thing# Tim said #but when are you gonna get your own place?#

#Why? Is Jackie driving you nuts?# she laughed and turned to a side road #shortcut#

#no, but you said you'd get your own place. So when are you?# Tim asked and looked at her with slight worry.

#hopefully, never. But if Dick doesn't tell me why he's been avoiding our dates lately, I might just move back into mom's house. It hasn't been set for sale yet, and I have legal rights to claim it. I will of course also claim it if I get kids soon…# she sighed mentally and Jackie looked at her.

#just ask him about it! You two should just get it over with and get married! Then you could move into our mansion and I could visit you and your cute kids all the time# Jackie said happily and Carmen sighed again.

#yes that would be lovely… but I'm not sure if Dick likes the mansion… I bet the first thing he'll do to it is fix the window… but I can't really let him do that…I love that window!#

#what window?# Tim asked.

#it's a special window in the south end of the house. It's always been broken, so you can open it from the outside. Jackie and I have used that window gazillion of times to escape from all that looked like work… at least when we were home#

#you know we used to live in the same circus as Dick, right?" Jackie asked and Tim looked confused.

#no, he never told me#

#well we did, but we would always use the mansion in the summer vacation. Dad didn't really like it because he thought it was too big, but mom liked it since she used to live in the castle when she was young# Jackie said and smiled.

#right, well it's almost as big as Wayne Manor, so I can see his point. It's also very beautiful#

#it is, that's why mom bought it# Jackie said and smiled.

#we're almost at Gotham, prepare a good excuse for Bruce#

#I already have it. I had to find Kalia or else she would die! And Darhlaks are a rare species, even on Dania#

#let's see if that'll work on him# Tim said and Jackie smiled.

#well… it was also because I wanted to see if could find something else there…#

#Jackie… you know it would have burned to ashes in the explosion# Carmen said and Jackie sighed.

#yeah…#

#what was the second thing?# Kalia stuck out its head and enjoyed the wind in its face.

#a picture of our whole family in their Human forms… taken on my fifth birthday…#

#oh… do you have a big family? You never told me much about it# he asked and Jackie thought it over a bit.

#well, the youngest generation is me, Carmen, Derek and our cousin on mother's side Ophelia. Then it's our Mother's side of the family. Mom only had one sister. I never knew our uncle, the one our aunt married, since he died in some sort of accident when I was only 8 months have a grandmother and a grandfather there too, but grandfather isn't all that thrilled about both his granddaughters getting a human for ring bearer. Then Father's family. Father was named John and he has a brother who's married to a very nice lady. They're named Jasmine and Jonathan and Jasmine is about 6 months pregnant. We have a grandmother on his side, since his father left them while he was dating mom . And that's about it. Of course I wish that Dick would grow a pair and become my brother in law#

#You totally forgot Delia and Giselle!# Carmen laughed and Jackie smacked herself in the head.

#of course! Derek got a girlfriend about three years ago, and they got a child just 6 months ago. Sweetest thing I've ever seen!# Jackie squealed and Tim laughed.

#that's quite a family. I guess the picture must've been a big one then?#

#yeah… but we had a lot of fun that day. The picture was from maybe 8 months ago, so Delia was one it too. She is so beautiful! She has a genetic fail in her genes, so she has this long beautiful red hair. She was actually bullied for it when she was younger, but then she met Derek and he liked her for her hair. Said it made unique# Jackie said and sighed #a true fairy tale#

#sounds like it. So he liked her from when he was..?#

#oh he only realized he loved her when he'd been on earth for a year helping with Carmen's rehab. When he got back Delia had of course grown, and he told us she looked like a Da'jeen# Jackie sighed again and Tim looked confused.

#Da'jeen?# he asked and Carmen sped a little down.

#Da'jeen has more power than a Queen. She is the number one ruler, ranking above all others. The current Da'jeen is our grandmother; Ariana#

#you all have earth names… why is that?# Tim asked.

#it's because you pronounce them differently in Danian. My name would be more like Ca'emen and Jackie would be… Jaque'lain#

#oh, that makes sense# he said and looked at Jackie #Jaque'lian? Sounds pretty#

#thank you. Your name would be something along the lines of Tim'oty# she said and smiled.

#not so pretty# he said and Carmen stopped up.

#okay we're as close as I'm going to take you to Wayne manor. I have to get back to Dick, or he might get angry. You can find home from here, right?# she asked and they got off from the bike. Tim helped Jackie get up from the side wagon.

"sure thing, if not, we have that as an excuse for being late" Tim joked and Jackie looked around.

"you sure can" Carmen said and put her foot on the speeder.

"isn't Blüdhaven a long way from here?" Jackie asked and Carmen smiled.

"we're staying in Gotham this week. My idea" Carmen smiled and waved them off "see you two later" she sped off and again stayed just underneath the speed limit.

"how can she get so close the speed limit?" Tim asked as they started to walk towards the manor.

"I think some of the tech inside it is hidden Danian tech, so it can respond to mental commands. Clever huh?" Jackie said and kicked her legs up high as she walked, like she was only five years old.

"yeah" Tim looked at her "could you please try to act like you're sixteen and not five?" he asked and started to walk normally.

"party pooper…" she said and pouted. Tim laughed a little and took her hand again. She looked at their hands and smiled.

"still mad?" he asked and she looked away.

"no… you know, if I sometimes embarrass you, it's not on purpose. You can tell me to stop acting in certain ways" she said and swung their hands a little.

"I know, but I kinda like the crazy things you sometimes do. That makes you unique" he said and squeezed her hand.

"thanks… she said and looked at him "I wish you could meet my family! I'm sure that grandma, my father's mother, would love you! She's a really sweet lady and she loves to make cookies" Jackie said and skipped a bit. Tim smiled.

"it must be nice to have such a big family" He said and she nodded.

"it is. But I want more family, as I told you before. Why can't that Dick grow some balls and just marry Carmen!" she growled and Tim laughed. Jackie looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"what's so funny?" she asked and he looked at her.

"you want Dick to grow balls? You're sure you don't get the funny innuendo?" he asked and she thought it over for a second. Then she realized what he meant and laughed herself.

"guess I walked into that. But yes, he needs to grow a pair" Jackie said and looked around "Gotham's so pretty with snow everywhere"

"I bet Dania would be just as pretty" Tim said and swung his arm around her shoulders like before. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"yeah, I wish I could take you to Dania sometime. It's really something else" she closed her eyes and pictured the castle she lived in and all the trees surrounding the place. She sighed loudly and he shook her a little.

"hey, don't worry. You can as soon as we marry. As far as you've told me, it will happen because of our little connection" he smiled and she looked up at him.

"I'm surprised at how lightly you take it now. You were really scared of it in the start"

"well… now you're my best friend, and I can't really see a better marriage than with your best friend, right?" he asked and looked at her. She smiled and giggled.

"guess you're right" she looked up at the sky and noticed how late it had become. The sun was going down and was casting a orange light on the buildings. She sighed quietly and remembered the sun going down on Dania.

#hopefully that's something we can share soon# she thought to herself and closed her eyes.

They walked up to the front door still holding each other's hands. Tim squeezed Jackie's hand lightly and looked at her.

"we'll be fine" he said and let go of her hand. Bruce didn't know they were as close as they were. They always held hands when they walked next to each other and Tim had on more than one occasion thought about asking Jackie out on a date, but found it too weird.

"sure…" Jackie gulped and walked in the door. They were greeted by Alfred who took a look at them. Kalia stuck out its head and looked at him.

"that won't be a pet, now will it?" he asked and raised an eyebrow.

"don't worry Alfred, it won't mess up anything, and you don't have to worry about food. It eats just about everything" Tim said and Kalia crawled out from under his coat and sat itself on his shoulders. It looked at Alfred with a wondering mine and Alfred studied it too.

"what species is that Bat? I've never seen one like it" he said and Tim took off his coat. Jackie looked at Alfred and smiled.

"it's a Darhlak. It's a Danian animal, so it's no surprise you've never seen one before" she said and hung up her coat. Alfred looked at it some more before it jumped towards him and landed on his shoulder. It made a lot of curious noises and Alfred tried to catch it.

"my word" he said and the Darhlak escaped his grip. It moved to sit on his head and looked around. Tim patted on his shoulder and it looked at him. Then it flew back to sit on his shoulder and made a happy noise as it nuzzled up against his cheek.

"well, just make sure it's clean"

"don't worry, we've already trained her, so you won't find any surprises lying around in the house" Jackie said and took off her ear warmers "is Bruce mad at us?" she asked and Alfred turned around to look at her.

"no, he is just worried" Alfred said and Jackie sighed in relief.

"okay then. Could you tell him that it's the last time we disappear like that?"

"why don't you do it yourself Miss Jacqueline?" Alfred asked and she looked at him.

"I have to go and do something" she didn't sound believable and Alfred looked at her with a questioning looked and she sighed.

"okay, I'm a little scared that he might be mad, so I don't want to face him right now" she said and suddenly the small of food hit her nostrils and her stomach growled like she'd been starving for an entire week.

"sounds like you're hungry? I've prepared dinner, and Master Bruce is even joining us today" Alfred said and walked towards the dining room. Jackie sighed and followed him. Kalia had smelled the food as soon as they entered the house and flew after Jackie. Tim smiled and followed too. He caught up to Jackie fast and took her hand.

"still nervous?" he asked and she nodded.

"a little… but I can take it" she smiled at him "but thanks" she pulled him down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She let go of his hand and walked a little faster towards the dining room. Tim felt his cheek and shook off the thought. He walked to the dinner room and found Jackie sitting and apologizing to Bruce for just disappearing in the middle of everything. Bruce just nodded and looked at Tim.

"Jackie just told me why you left. And I'm glad you went with her. Both her human and Danian forms are targets for kidnapping" he said with his Batman growl and Tim nodded.

"I get why. But do you know why Carol hasn't been seen in almost a year now?" he asked and looked at the food. They were having chicken. Jackie's favorite meal.

"no, she hasn't told me anything" Bruce said and looked at Jackie. He lost his frown and smiled "but I don't think any of us have a reason to suspect something's wrong. It's probably just some Danian business that's taking longer than she thought" he lost the growl.

"probably… but still a year's a long time" Jackie said and took a bite out of her food.

"I wonder what could be important enough to keep her busy for a whole year" Tim said.

"I can't think of anything" Jackie said and looked up into the ceiling wondering "must be some new law or something that's being handled.

"that can take a whole year?" Tim asked and Jackie smiled.

"we don't do laws like on Earth. They are made after sacred laws from old times, and can only be altered if needed. Then we have a six month trial were we see if it's even possible to live after the new law. The processing of the law itself takes only about two months…" Jackie said and looked back at Tim.

"so that gives about eight months… which means we're still missing four" he said and Jackie thought about it. She had a thought of what it might be that could be going on, but the thought was too far out so she just dismissed it. They sat in silence for the duration of the meal, with Tim staring at Jackie the entire time. She was too deep in thought to notice it, but Bruce took note of it and smiled slightly to himself.

So how was the first chapter?

I know it's long, but the whole thing just fit so good together that i couldn't make it into two chapters.

So to clear everything up; It's been about 1 year since The Sister and Carol still hasn't made an appearance. Plus Dick and Carmen have trouble in their relationship...