AN : This is my first real fanfic here so plz be gentle. I have loved Batman ever since I was a kid, and I am huge fan of Nolanverse, but even though I loved TDK, I kind of missed some of my fav comic book characters that didn't make it to the film. Like Barbara Gordon Jr...I know in the movie she's like six, but I kind of wanted to see an adult Barbara. So I decide to write a fanfic with her in the film. Other comic book characters that will make an appearence are: Dr. Quinzel aka. Harley Quinn, Dinah Laurel aka. Black Canary, Vicki Vale, ect...

PS. Just so you know I decided to keep Gordon's youngest daughter, her name is Sarah, and she's actually named after Gordon's second wife in the comics, Sarah Essen. (You know the one the Joker killed) Oh and just so you know no batgirl, remember this is nolanverse, let's be realistic.

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Chapter One

Welcome Home Junior

Barbara wouldn't admit it, but she was really nervous. Her fingers tapped the airplane window anxiously; she stopped when the man next to her gave her a dirty look.

She muttered an apology and tried to concentrate on something else, anything to make that jittery feeling in her stomach stop, but to no avail. If anything she began to feel more and more nervous. It had been eight years since she had left Gotham.

Eight years she had spent in Harvard, but to be truthful she had missed her family and friends too much. She always knew she'd be going back to Gotham, after all Rachel Dawes, who was a family friend, was the assistant D.A., which in other words meant Barbara already had a guaranteed job.

Not only that, but she wanted to help her father, he needed her…Gotham needed her. The mafia was getting worse, and not only that, but there were also some colorful characters running around causing trouble, like that Crane fellow, or the Batman.

Barbara had mixed feelings about the Batman, she didn't know what to believe…some say he's an outlaw, others say he's a hero. Sure Batman was doing a lot for Gotham, after all he had caught Carmine Falcone, who use to be the head of the Falcone crime family; then again Barbara believes that no one should take the law into their own hands, if he did it what would stop others from doing it as well.

The airplane began descending slowly, her stomach churned...Don't get her wrong she was happy she was going back home, but she had been gone for so long, she didn't know what had changed.

She got out of the plane as quickly as she could.

She saw a two familiar faces waiting for her outside. Her father, James Gordon was there with her little brother Jimmy. She smiled happily as she saw them waving at her. She practically ran into her father's open arms. He enveloped her in a strong embrace, and she returned it.

"I'm glad you're back, Junior.", he said his voice wavering slightly. She could tell he was holding the tears of happiness back.

She felt her own eyes water.

"Glad to be back."

They broke the warm embrace, and Barbara wiped a tear that had managed to slip. She looked down at Jimmy who was looking up at her with a mix of curiosity and caution, it was as if he didn't recognize her.

She kneeled down to be at his level.

"Hi Jimmy…You remember you're big sister, don't yah?"

He looked at her with hidden awareness, "You've changed.", he said before putting his fragile arms around her neck and hugging her tightly. She grinned and hugged her nine year old brother back.

She stood up; her father grabbed the duffel bag from her shoulder and carried it until they got to his car.

The drive back home was not quiet as Barbara expected it to be. Actually Jimmy had been firing all kinds of questions at her, and Barbara tried to answer them as best as she could.

When they arrived home she could feel her heart tightening. The last time she had seen her mother, they hadn't really left in the best of terms.

The door opened, her mother like her father hadn't changed a bit…

"Junior is that you?", her mother, Barbara, asked inspecting her up and down.

"Yep, it's me mom."

They hugged, all was apparently forgotten.

Barbara looked just like her namesake; she had her mother's red hair and her green eyes. She truly was the spitting image of her mother, and sometimes she resented that…

"Okay, honey we have to get inside.", she heard her father's voice behind her.

She looked back as she broke away from her mother's embrace. Her father was struggling with the heavy duffel bag, and Jimmy looked like he was about to drop to the floor, his eyes clouded with exhaustion.

They entered their home; it was small, but cozy. As Barbara looked around she was happy that not much had changed.

"Where's Sarah?", she asked curiously wondering were her six year old sister was.

"Barbie!"

She knew that voice, as she looked up she could see her baby sister Sarah bouncing down the stairs, her pretty brown hair was done into two thick braids that fell over her small shoulders.

"Hey gorgeous.", she said warmly as Sarah's body collided with her legs, she tumbled slightly, but regained her balance. Sarah hugged her legs tightly. When she stopped, she looked up at her big sister, her big brown doe eyes were filled with adoration.

"Wow...That's a strong grip you have…Haven't you grown since the last time I saw you."

"Sarah, Jimmy it's passed your bed time. Go to your room. Tomorrow you'll both have time to catch up with your sister.", her father's stern voice didn't leave time for excuses.

Her small siblings both muttered 'goodnight' before heading up the stairs to the bedroom they both shared.

"You should head up to your room as well Junior.", her mother's voice was warm and filled with concern.

"Your mother is right. You look tired."

This time her father spoke, his voice was soft as well, and filled with as much concern.

Barbara Jr. looked at her father, her eyes dropping slightly, "Do I still have a room?", she asked teasingly.

"Of course." Her father replied softly, he was almost offended, he would always leave her room the way it was. After all she was still his little girl.

Before heading towards her room she hugged her father and later kissed his mother goodnight. She climbed the stairs slowly, she felt so tired all of the sudden. The duffel bag was heavy and as soon as she entered her room she put it down on the floor; kicking the door close with her leg, she trotted towards her bed pausing only to take her shoes off before collapsing on the bed. She let sleep take over her tired body as her eyes finally closed shut.

--

The first thing she did when she woke up was take a long warm shower and change into some comfortable jeans and a white tank top. She headed down stairs where she saw her family gathered around the dinner table. The smell of pancakes filled her nasal cavities, and she smiled brightly. She had almost forgotten how good of a cook her mother was.

"Good morning.", she said in a cheerful manner as she entered the room.

Before taking a seat she kissed her father's cheek and sat next to him, Sarah was sitting next to their mother, who was sitting in front of Barbara. And Jimmy was sitting next to Babs.

Everyone else replied to her greeting with one of their own, all except her father, who was reading the newspaper intently. She looked at the front page; there was a large picture of the Gotham City Bank, and above the image written in big bold letters The Joker Strikes Again…

The Joker? , she thought curiously.

Her mother's gaze followed hers and when she saw her husband becoming upset quickly she cleared her throat loudly.

"James, honey…don't you have to go to work?", she asked pleasantly, but her eyes filled with worry.

"Yes.", he replied shortly before putting the newspaper down on the table and standing up. He kissed his wife on the cheek, followed shortly by Barbara, Jimmy and Sarah.

"Goodbye…honey…Babs…Jimmy…Sarah.", he emphasized each and every one of their names, giving all of them a different, but very special loving look.

As soon as he was out of the door, and Jimmy and Sarah were in their room. Barbara gave her a mother a curious look.

"What was that all about?"

Barbara Sr. looked nervous like she didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm going to tell you, but don't tell your father I'm telling you this…There getting close to the mob, he's working with the Batman to catch Maroni, the new head of the Falcone family. And your father has been under a lot of stress, he feels that if he doesn't get the mob now, there won't be another chance."

Well, that made sense; her father had been fighting the mafia for years. Every time he came close to shutting them down, something would happen, a plan would go wrong, and they would simply walk away.

But that didn't answer her main question, who exactly was this Joker…

"Who's the Joker?"

Her mother tensed at that question.

"They say he's a thief and a murderer… He leaves a calling card…a joker card. That's why they call him the joker. I don't really know much more about him, your father doesn't talk about him much, every time I ask him he changes the subject."

A thief and a murderer. Like that surprises me, after all this is Gotham. , she thought bitterly.

As her mother started washing the dirty plates and cleaning the dinner table, Junior began reading the newspaper carefully. The Joker had apparently stolen sixty-eight million dollars from the Gotham City Bank, and if Babs remembered correctly the City Bank happened to be a mob bank. Whoever this Joker guy was, he certainly was brave, to mess with the mob so openly.

The mob probably won't be that upset about the missing money after all they had billions, but the disrespect and humiliation that would certainly piss them off. This Joker guy was in trouble, Maroni and the others would probably put a bounty on his head, if they hadn't already.

She started browsing articles, not finding anything really interesting. Not until she found one particular article that made her stop and read.

Harvey Dent : Gotham's White Knight

By : Vicki Vale

The article was interesting, if not completely amateur. The whole thing looked like it was written by a middle school girl with a crush, then again this was Vicki Vale. Oh yes, Babs remembered her, they went to High School together. Vicki Vale could be described in three words; delusional, blonde, and headstrong. It wasn't that Vicki was a bad person, she was just too naïve in her political views. She thinks everything could be fixed with a magic wand.

Vicki was one of the open Batman supporters, and it looked like she was a fan of this Dent guy as well.

Harvey Dent, or as the article called him, Gotham's White Knight, was the new District Attorney; the article made him seem like he was one of the idealistic stubborn types…She looked at the picture above the article, this Harvey guy was handsome in an all American boy…or should she say man, kind of way. He had a chiseled jaw, strong features, white pearly teeth, and yellow blond hair.

Babs wasn't a fan of blond guys, but this Harvey Dent looked really good, blond hair and all. He was smart too, in the article it said he'd graduated from Princeton and Gotham U with honors, and he was evidently dating Babs' good friend Rachel Dawes, which already put him on Barbara's good list. After all Rachel always went for the optimistic good guy types.

The only thing Barbara didn't like, was the fact that the article made him sound like he was Gotham's only hope for salvation. Should the people of Gotham bet everything on just one man? It doesn't seem like the practical thing to do, and she really hoped that Dent could live up to the expectations. Otherwise…there would be a lot of disappointed people.

--

Barbara was desperately bored…She had been watching TV all day, and pretty much had nothing else to do. Just then she heard her cell phone ring loudly.

"Hello.", she said in a bored tone not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Barbara, is that you?"

Even though Barbara hadn't heard that voice in over eight years, she knew it was Rachel Dawes.

"Rachel…Hey; how did you get my number?", she asked curiously.

Rachel chuckled before replying, "Actually your father gave it to me. He suggested I call you."

Barbara made a mental note to thank her father later.

"Thank God you called. I've never been more bored than I am today."

"Well sounds like you need help…Look me and Harvey are heading to lunch, do you want me to pick you up?"

Harvey…Well this could get awkward., she thought uneasily.

"Well I don't want to intrude on you guys…", but before she could finish her statement, Rachel interrupted her.

"You're not interrupting. You're my friend, who I haven't seen in over eight years. Plus Harvey wants to meet you."

"Harvey wants to meet me?" She didn't really believe Rachel was telling the truth.

"Yeah, see I've told him all about you, so he's dying to meet you.", Rachel said giggling slightly.

Well it was either stay home, and die of boredom, or have a very awkward dinner with Rachel and Gotham's White Knight.

Who was she kidding she'd take Dawes and her boyfriend any day.

"Okay. I'll be here waiting."

--

The drive had been filled with tension and awkward silence, and Barbara hoped the actual lunch would go better.

The threesome settled for a nice café; they sat in one of the tables in the sidewalk.

Barbara and Harvey both ordered coffee, while Rachel settled for some tea.

Harvey and Rachel sat really close to each other, whispering in each other's ears and giggling shamelessly at each other.

Barbara felt lonelier with them than she did by herself.

Rachel who seemed to notice her friend's discomfort cleared her throat before moving away from Harvey and closer to Barbara.

"So Babs…Harvard huh?" Rachel asked trying pathetically to make conversation.

"Yeah, Harvard.", she replied in a flat tone.

"Well was it as hard as they say?"

This time Harvey was the one to speak.

"No…Well not if you seduce all your professors."

Babs said jokingly, but apparently Rachel and Harvey didn't get it. They just sat there with their mouths ajar.

"It was a joke."

Rachel let out a hesitant chuckle and Harvey followed with one of his own. Barbara had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

People today and their nonexistent sense of humor., she thought dryly while sipping her coffee.

Well if nobody else was going to break the blatant tension, then she was going to have to do it herself.

"You know Harvey, I read the most interesting article about you."

"Really?", he asked grinning widely.

"Yeah, apparently your Gotham's White Knight…it's only hope for salvation.", she said lightheartedly as she leaned over the table towards him.

"Really, did the article say that?", he questioned smiling; it was obvious that he was flattered.

"I'm quoting it word by word."

Rachel laughed quietly, "Please don't inflate his ego any more or he's going to burst."

"Who wrote that anyway?", she finished while punching Harvey lightly in the arm.

"Vicki Vale.", she said smugly as she leaned back in her chair.

Rachel frowned and Harvey's eyes widened in shock.

"Vicki Vale?", he asked slowly.

"Yeah, you know her?"

Rachel's frown deepened, "Yes he knows her. They dated long ago."

Internally Barbara laughed, even though she tried not to let her amusement show.

Oh my God…Harvey, the White Knight, dated Vicki Vale, blonde ambition in the flesh.

Even though she didn't like seeing Rachel upset, Barbara had to admit the whole situation was comical.

After cracking a couple of jokes on Vicki Vale's expense, Rachel and Harvey started laughing and from then on the lunch went smoothly.

It actually went better than smoothly, Harvey and Barbara got along just fine; mostly because she had not only amused him, but flattered him as well.

Other than having a large ego, Dent was an overall good guy. He really was trying to clean up Gotham's streets and eradicate the mob.

Who knows maybe Dent would prove Barbara wrong…Maybe he was Gotham's only hope for salvation.

Before they left, Rachel pulled Barbara to the side.

"You start Monday."

"Start what?" Barbara asked bewildered.

"Your job."

Rachel responded smiling before walking towards Harvey's car. It took sometime for Barbara to follow. She was smiling widely when she got home. She had barely been a day in Gotham and already she had a job.

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