A/N: I own nothing you recognize.

Look who's back!

I had a sudden burst of inspiration and have written about eight chapters of this so far and I decided to post the first chapter! However, since I am still in the early stages of writing this, I don't expect to be updating super frequently, so please, hang in there!

Without further ado, enjoy.


Previously on Demon Queen:

Gotham City
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
0233 EST

Bruce's eyes snapped open. For a moment, he lay in bed, a feeling of dream pooling in his stomach. He jumped out of bed and raced out of his bedroom, not even bothering to put on shoes or a robe. He took the stairs behind his office bookcase, too impatient for the old elevator in the parlor room.

He reached the bottom of the staircase and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at the main screen of the Batcomputer and it took Bruce a moment to register the words that flashed across the screen.

SIGNAL LOST: NAOMI CHARLOTTE SANDERS.


0o0

PART I: LOST

0o0


The Batcave
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
0647 EST

Alfred found Bruce on his knees at the bottom of the staircase in just his sleeping pants and a thin T-shirt. He took one look at the screen and knew what had happened.

"Oh, Master Bruce," Alfred said heavily as he stood beside him. "I am so sorry."

When Dick entered the kitchen an hour later, he glanced around in confusion. "Where's Bruce?" he asked Alfred. It was Tuesday morning, and breakfast was the one meal Dick could count on when it came to meals with Bruce.

Alfred glanced away from the stove. "Perhaps you should visit the basement, Master Dick," he said. "I believe there is something you should see."

Dick hesitated, Alfred's tone unsettling him. It was so...flat. And Alfred wasn't the kind of butler who spoke in a monotone and refused to speak his mind.

"Okay," Dick said slowly. He went to the elevator and when he landed, he found Bruce staring blankly at the megascreen. "Bruce?" he asked hesitantly as he slowly approached his father and mentor. "What's going on?"

Bruce spun in his chair to face his son, and Dick's eyes widened at the empty look in Bruce's. "It's Naomi," he said finally. "She's...gone."

"Gone?" Dick asked. "Weren't you tracking her?"

Bruce tapped something on the keyboard and the words came flashing back.

"Oh," Dick said softly. After he had found out about Naomi, he had learned that Bruce had, with her permission, implanted a tracker just under the skin of her left forearm. And it was one of Bruce's pieces of technology, so if there was no signal, then something must have gone wrong.

"What happened?" he asked, approaching Bruce. Both stared at the screen, unable to look away.

Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before hitting a button, relieving them of those haunting words. "According to the computer, her transmission was lost around eleven p.m. last night," he said. "Her last known location was at Vauxhall. She went to a symphony concert with her friends. They drove home separately. Naomi never made it. Her car is still in the parking structure."

"So...how did they find the tracer?"

"I don't know," Bruce groaned. "That chip was supposed to be undetectable."

"Have you told the Scotts?"

"I called them earlier. I told them we'd do our best to find her, and we worked on a cover story for her."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "What's the cover story?"

"We're telling everyone she's in Europe, studying abroad," Bruce said. "I know it's not the best story, but it will explain why she's 'disappeared' and why she can't be contacted. It also helped it's still the holidays, so we don't have to answer the question, 'Why did she leave in the middle of the semester.'"

Dick only nodded in response. He glanced at the clock on one of the monitors just then and exclaimed, "You'll be late!"

Bruce shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "I took the day off," he said. "I need...time."

"Makes sense," Dick said lamely. "What will we tell Kaldur and the rest of the Team?" he asked, the realization of having to go on missions with Naomi dawning on him.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "But for right now, I don't want you telling them."

Dick's mouth dropped open at Bruce's response. "They'r her family, too!" he exclaimed. "They deserve to know what happened to her!"

"Not yet!" Bruce snapped, scowling at his son, though almost immediately his gaze softened. "I don't want everyone to know I failed to do what I swore I would do: protect Gotham and her people."

"I get it," Dick said softly. "Believe me, I do. I hate being proved wrong and I hate needing or even asking for help. But this is too big a problem to deal with by ourselves." Bruce only grunted in response.

Dick tugged at the hem of his shirt uncertainly before clearing his throat and saying, "I haven't eaten yet. Will you be coming up?"

"In a bit," Bruce said, not looking at him. Dick nodded again before heading upstairs.

"Shall I start breakfast now, Master Dick?" Alfred asked once Dick appeared.

"For me," Dick said. "I'm not sure when Bruce will be here."

"Very good, Sir," Alfred said before he set to work on breakfast.

Dick slouched at the kitchen island and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't believe she's gone," he said, mostly to himself. "And I can't believe I never got to tell her that I don't actually hate her."

"Chin up, Master Dick," Alfred said. "She knows how you feel. And I know she feels the same."

"But I never got to say it," she sighed. "She never got the chance to actually hear me say that I think of her as my sister and I love her for that."

He sighed again before resting his cheek on the cool granite surface. "We'll get her back, won't we?"

"Of course!" Alfred said confidently. "If I know Master Bruce–-and I do believe I do–-he will stop at nothing before Miss Naomi is back with us, safe and sound."

Dick smiled a little. It was true: Bruce would do anything for those he loved.

After breakfast, Dick went upstairs. The first thing he had been sorely tempted to do was call Wally and then Kaldur and tell them everything that had happened. And while Bruce's orders usually went unheeded, this time Dick listened.

Part of him felt the responsibility of losing Naomi. He too had promised to keep her safe, that nothing was going to happen to her, that she wouldn't be taken back by that monster in human skin. But he had failed. Just as Bruce had. And like Bruce, he didn't want to rely on anyone else to get his sister back. She was one of their own, which meant she was their responsibility.

Dick didn't speak to anyone on the Team the rest of the day, fearful he'd accidentally let something slip. Instead, he sat on his bed with his laptop and began making algorithms to triangulate the Academy's most likely location.

Hours later, Dick flopped back in his bed with a groan. He might have been an excellent hacker, but he honestly had no idea how to create a reliable program. Everything he had tried so far either hadn't worked at all or given him a location that was way different than the few hints Naomi had dropped over the previous year.

With a sigh, he shut his laptop and headed downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, Alfred was nearly done with dinner.

"Ah, Master Dick," Alfred said when he saw who it was. "I was just about to ring you."

"Where's Bruce?" Dick asked as he sat at the kitchen island.

"Still in the Batcave, I'm afraid," Alfred sighed. "He hasn't budged one inch."

"I suppose it's no use talking to him," Dick said, raising an eyebrow. His eyes widened suddenly as something came to mind. He bolted down to the Batcave, leaving Alfred to stare questioningly after him.

Dick made his way down to the Batcave, where Bruce was still brooding in front of the computer.

"I just remembered something," he said, and Bruce whirled around in his chair. Dick hurried to his belt, which hung beside his cleaned uniform. He riffled through the compartments until he came up with a slim dark object in his fingers.

"Naomi gave this to me the night we were on the Watchtower," Dick explained as he passed it to Bruce. "She asked me to give this to you in case anything happened toher. She wanted everyone to know the truth about her."

Bruce took the dark purple flashdrive–-the same shade as the accent color in her uniform–-from his son's grasp and inserted it into the Batcomputer. The name, Naomi's Deepest Darkest Secrets, appeared in the computer folder, and Bruce couldn't help but snort as he opened it; Naomi could be quite dramatic if she wished.

"Whoa..." Dick breathed out softly as the file opened to reveal about two dozen folders, each meticulously labeled.

Bruce sat back in his chair, his fingers stroking his chin in thought. He took a deep breath before saying, "Better get started."


A/N: Hope you enjoyed!

I'd love to hear what you think about the first chapter, so leave a comment below!

Until next time.