Author's Note: This is not another story. Technically. This will be a series of connected oneshots that will be added to as, when and if I feel like it so don't expect updates or any consistent length. They are all an imagining of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in and after the Dark Knight Trilogy and in no particular order. If there is a particular moment you would like to see, tell me in a review and I'll consider. Do note, that since I can't find a definitive timeline, I will be making one that suits me (to a degree) and so some things will be referenced as having happened later than in the films (e.g. the appearance of the Joker). As for Shiva's appearance, think Arkham Origins.

Gotham, August 2016, Seven Months after Defeat of Bane

John Blake grunted as another fist impacted his ribs. The body armour may absorb some force but it didn't help much against highly trained and strong martial artists. When he had responded to Commissioner Gordon's signal, he had not expected to be chasing honest-to-god ninjas across the city and end up fighting half a dozen of them in an old warehouse.

He had taken up the mantle of Batman just under four months ago now and had managed fairly well. He might not have the skill or stealth that Bruce Wayne had had during his tenure as Batman but it had never been a problem since he was facing common thugs. Then the assassin known as Lady Shiva had escaped from her cell at Blackgate, having stayed there during Bane's occupation, and Blake had been asked by Gordon to track her down after she had easily beaten the police officers that tried to stop her.

A heel caught his chin, sending him crashing to the ground. Shiva stepped forward, frown on her face.

"I had expected so much better from the infamous Batman. I suppose we all live to be disappointed," Shiva commented as she drew her sword.

Before she could follow through and decapitate him, there was a loud smash of breaking glass followed by the crack of a boot colliding with a head. The ninja in question was sent flying into the wall by the force of the kick, collapsing to the ground unconscious with his red mask sporting a large crack. The black-clad figure stood up from its crouch in the middle of the room and glared around.

After a seven month absence, Batgirl had returned.

"Stand down, Shiva. No one else has to get hurt," the woman growled, distorting her voice much like Wayne had done.

"I disagree," Shiva retorted before leaping forward.

Batgirl parried the sword with her right gauntlet whilst counter-attacking with her left fist. Shiva dodged out of the way and the fight began. The two women danced around the warehouse, neither landing a significant blow, although Batgirl clearly had the advantage even to Blake's untrained eye. Eventually, Batgirl managed to land an open-palm strike to Shiva's sternum, knocking her off-balance, before following it up with an uppercut to the chin. Shiva staggered back into the wall and glared at Batgirl.

"It would seem that one bat, at least, lives up to expectations," Shiva sneered, wiping blood from her cut lip.

"Surrender," Batgirl ordered.

Shiva's response came in the form of an instruction to her companions.

"Kill her."

Batgirl spun around, catching the first strike on her gauntlet before spinning out of the path of the second. Blake could only watch from the ground nearby as six martial artists attacked the lone vigilante. Any concern he may have felt for Batgirl vanished pretty quickly as he watched her trounce the people who had so soundly beaten him as though they were amateurs rather than professionals who dedicated their lives to fighting.

As the fight progressed, the number of foes decreased. One fell to a punishing elbow to the temple, another to a hard kick to the throat, a third had the fingers of both hands crushed between a wall and his sword hilt. Shiva staggered away from the fight after a sharp kick nearly broke her knee. As the assassin limped from the warehouse, Batgirl finished the last two ninjas before stalking across to Blake.

"Are you okay?" she growled.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he responded in kind.

"Good. Stay here. The last thing we need is a beaten Batman on the morning news," was all Batgirl said before prowling out of the warehouse into the night.

"Shiva! I'm bringing you in."

Shiva stopped her movement across the car park, back still to Batgirl. A news helicopter hovered over the pair, spotlight shining down, while police sirens could be heard in the distance. Shiva turned to face her opponent before speaking.

"I believe the League of Shadows may have something to say about that."

"The League of Shadows is gone! Any remnants went down with Talia al Ghul and Bane," Batgirl snarled.

Shiva laughed.

"We are not gone, merely… diminished."

Batgirl looked around as black-clad ninjas slid out of shadows, leapt from rooftops and vaulted onto cars. Shiva grinned as twenty warriors surrounded the vigilante, swords raised.

"What do you do now, I wonder?" Shiva taunted.

"I make the cells at Blackgate very full."

Across Gotham, any people still watching the news were treated with live images of the scene, with every local news channel broadcasting the return of Batgirl. The people watched with rapt attention as the black-clad men and women attacked the lone black-clad vigilante. They joined Shiva watching in shock as Batgirl held off twenty highly trained killers. One by one, the red-masked fighters were taken out of the fight until only Shiva and Batgirl stood in the car park once more.

"Time for you to return to your cell," Batgirl growled.

"I think not, ten years was sufficient," Shiva refuted, raising her sword.

Batgirl tensed, hand reaching for her belt. With reflexes honed by years of crime fighting, Batgirl whipped a batarang at the other woman, hitting the hilt of her sword. Instinctively, Shiva released the hilt just as she was about to drive the blade into her stomach. Before she had a chance to recover, Batgirl was on her and knocked her out with an elbow to the temple.

Batgirl stepped away as the police cars pulled into the car park. Commissioner Gordon stepped forward to meet her while the other officers snapped cuffs on the members of the League.

"Batgirl, good to see you again," Gordon greeted.

"Commissioner. Take care with them, they're highly trained, very dangerous and may still have accomplices," Batgirl growled.

"Understood."

He glanced around before lowering his voice.

"How's Batman?"

"He'll be fine. I do wonder what you were thinking, sending someone after her who doesn't have much more training than an officer. Especially after you saw what she did to your subordinates," Batgirl responded, also lowering her voice.

"I didn't exactly have another option," Gordon pointed out.

Batgirl merely grunted in response. Gordon turned to look at where his officers were still cuffing the last of their new prisoners.

"I'll see to it that they're put in suitable cells. Can I expect your assistance again from now on?" Gordon asked, turning back to Batgirl.

Or rather, the space that Batgirl had occupied when he'd last checked.

"Every goddamn time," Gordon muttered.

The next night, as Batgirl stood on the roof of Wayne Tower, looking out over Gotham, she allowed herself a small smile. Bruce was happy with Selina Kyle in Europe. Lucius Fox had agreed to still provide surreptitious aid when he could. James Gordon was having the police actively work with the Batman. And while John Blake might be new to the whole thing, he had potential.

Yes, Barbara Gordon thought, it is good to be back.

As the Bat Signal appeared in the sky, Batgirl grinned briefly before launching herself off the roof and into the night.