Notes: So this is the sequel to 'Damian and Mar'i'. Mar'i's now 16 and Damian's 18-ish. Dick and Damian are the only two in Gotham who know that Mar'i is Dick Grayson's daughter. ...I really don't know what else to say so, have at it?
Chapter 1 - Nightstar
Gotham City. Under the cover of darkness, its lights glittered like stars. It was under this darkness that a sixteen year old girl and her father arrived in the city after months of travelling.
"It's beautiful," Mar'i sighed happily as she perched on the gargoyle like a purple bird.
"You think that now-" her father started in a joking tone, cutting himself off when she glared at him. Her green eyes glowed in the darkness. "Okay," he laughed, "it's beautiful."
"That's right," she said with a tone of finality. Dick had been making frequent trips back here during her time training.
Mar'i had finally managed to convince him that she was going to use her abilities and skills to fight crime like he did, whether he liked it or not. Therefore, before she turned sixteen, Dick offered to take her around the world for some training.
Now, her training was done. She just had to prove she could actually mange it.
"Alright, let's go to the new apartment. After all, you start school tomorrow."
Mar'i groaned. She had chosen Gotham so she now lived with her dad. Her dad insisted that she continue her schooling in an actual school while fighting crime. It was a small price to pay.
"Just so you know, tomorrow is going to be the longest day of your life," Dick said to her with a smile.
Mar'i laughed at the reminder of the story of her dad's first day as Robin.
"Thanks, dad."
Mar'i quickly learnt that her dad was right. It was. The longest. Day. Of her life.
She went to school. She spent the day resting her head in her arms and pretending to listen to the teachers. Meanwhile the clock ticked at such a slow place that she thought there be a villain trying to stop time or something.
There wasn't. It was just waiting for the night to fall and her time to come that made the clock run slow.
Finally, the bell rang and she ran out of school like a shot. It was difficult to keep her feet on the ground but she managed.
"Let's go, Dad!" she cried out as she bolted towards his motorcycle. He was wearing a helmet, to keep people from identifying him.
"Put it on, we'll talk at home," he said with a smile in his tone as he tossed her a helmet. He knew how excited she was, he had been that way on his first night as well. It was nice to see, even if he wasn't completely sold on her doing this. "I know you're raring to go but there's still a few more hours to go. Did you get any homework?"
Homework was finished quickly. Maths was the simplest thing ever, especially to a half-Tamaranean. English was a little harder. Science was easy and uninteresting as she had learnt all of it already.
English was probably the hardest and even so, it wasn't that hard.
"Finished already?" Dick questioned when she began packing her books away.
"Yep. Can we talk vigilante stuff now?" she responded.
Dick sighed and nodded.
"Okay. Remember, I'm not going to introduce you to Batman."
"I know that," Mar'i commented with a smirk. When her father was satisfied with her training, he asked her what city she wanted to work in. Mar'i had answered without hesitation. Gotham; her father's city. The Batman's city.
Nightstar was going to debut in Gotham but not as part of the Batman family. She wanted to meet them on her own terms, to do this herself and not as some established hero's partner. She certainly didn't want to be known as her father's partner or as 'Grayson's daughter'.
"And I'm still not allowed to come with?" Dick said in a questioning manner.
"You're not coming. I have my comm so you can contact me if you need to." The last thing she needed was her father following her and throwing himself into danger on her behalf.
"Be safe and don't get shot."
Nightstar's outfit was a simple purple leotard which reached down to her wrists and a dark purple skirt around her. Her father had been slightly apprehensive about the lack of protection over her legs. Mar'i's response about how she was wearing lace-up combat boots which went part-way up her leg didn't ease his fears. They were also purple.
She thought the boots would be enough protection, even though they limited her flexibility a small bit due to the weight. She would adjust.
"Okay, so I'm just floating over Gotham-"
A sigh. "I really hope you're not literally floating. Ma-Nightstar, we talked about this."
"Oh come on. I'm not going to hide how I have powers."
"Half-Tamaranean powers," her father corrected, emphasising the 'half'. Certain Tamaranean powers were recognisable. Like Mar'i's pupil-less appearing and glowing eyes which were hidden behind her mask.
"Most people with powers can fly, dad. It doesn't give away anything. I could be an Amazon for all they know."
She could hear his teeth grinding on the other end as she forced him into a corner. It seemed she had been doing that a lot lately. Dick was just being so difficult about this. She wanted to help people. She didn't want them to hurt or die, not when she could help.
There was nothing worse than standing on the sidelines when she could actually do something!
"If it makes you happy, I won't float unless I need to," she relented, dropping down to sit on the roof of a tall building. "And I'll check in every 20 minutes. Now, I'm going to switch this off and go stop this guy from smashing the window of a jewellery store."
"Be safe," her father said for probably about the hundredth time that evening.
Nightstar was floating on cloud nine. She had received a 'thank you' after pulling a kid from a fire in the suburban districts. She tried to stick to the ground but, when that proved difficult, she used her father's tactics.
Nightstar burnt off the energy doing aerial tricks worthy of the big top.
Jump on a bin and use that to grab a fire escape and then do a number of flips to reach a roof before running and flipping over the gap between two buildings.
"Good night?" her father asked as she leapt through the window.
"The best!" Mar'i responded with a wide grin. She pulled her mask off and then started telling Dick all about her night.
When she was finished, he just smiled and made a comment about school the next day.
"Dad!" Mar'i whined.
"If your grades drop, then Nightstar will be grounded," he reminded her with a smile.
"I don't care if Batman did that to you, it's just plain mean," she grumbled as she went to her room.
Mar'i looked around the school. It was a nice place, sort of. It wasn't Gotham Academy, it was a public school with a range of students.
It was also big. She got lost trying to find her way to her biology class.
"Grr," she growled in annoyance as she exited another class which was not hers. "This is what I get for transferring in." She huffed in annoyance and decided to try another class. This time she opened the door and almost ran into a red haired boy. He was around her height, which meant he was tall as she was 'model height' like her mother.
"Is this year 11 bio?" she demanded to know with a tired and nervous grin.
"Uh. No. Year 12 English," the boy responded softly and gently. He was thin but strong as he took her hand. "I could show you where it is?"
"Fine," Mar'i responded, passing him her timetable. "I mean, thanks," she corrected, trying to remember her manners. He didn't have to help her and now he was probably going to be late as well.
The boy guided her to her class, their conversation mostly including him making guesses about her. He correctly assumed that she had recently transferred there but incorrectly guess that it was linked to her parents' work.
"Wilkes, this isn't your class," the teacher commented when they entered the right room.
"I-I know that, sir," the boy stuttered nervously, his face going slightly pink.
"It's not," Mar'i snapped in annoyance. It seemed that the teacher completely overlooked her presence. "It's mine. My name is Mar'i and I'm new."
The teacher made an annoyed noise before instructing her to take a seat.
"Thanks, Wilkes," Mar'i said to the boy.
"Uh, it's Colin," he mumbled in response. "Colin Wilkes."
"Thanks, Colin," Mar'i corrected before taking a seat.