Author's note: Had to re-upload. Apologies. The site fucked up the formatting on chapter 2 and I was unable to fix it.
Six Months. Six months of intense training. Jason was given a choice; do you want to continue your life as normal? Or do you want to become a partner to Batwoman, and help the people of Gotham City? Naturally, he chose to fight crime. He'd seen his fair share of it down in the Bowery, and knowing there were people who had been like him down there, was all it took for him to come to a decision.
The next six months proved to be very difficult. Kate was like a drill sergeant; she'd wake him up really early, get dressed, and jog around the city block. Then came a high protein breakfast, followed by weight training. On the weekdays, Jason went off to school, but on the weekends, and after school, came hours of combat training. Kate taught him several martial arts over the course of six months. He learned Krav Maga, a few styles of Pentjak Silat, Tae Kwon Doh, and Tai Chi.
Gymnastics came next and so Jason found himself on a High Bar or a pommel horse, often. At night, he'd throw on dark colors and Kate would teach him Parkour, alongside even more gymnastics, stealth and infiltration. Escapology made its way into his regimen at some point, too.
When Jason wasn't busting his ass training physically, he was earning multiple Doctorates in Criminology. He was learning Forensics Science, Forensic Psychology Criminal Justice, Computer Forensics, Investigation, and more. He also learned Toxicology, to identify and create different kids of toxins and antidotes.
On top of it all, he could now, fluently, speak French, and Hebrew, and was passable at Portuguese and Yiddish.
But near the end of his training, the last couple of months, she began teaching him how to utilize and defend against various weapons, from swords and shurikens, to hand guns and rifles. Jason had known that Batman did not like firearms, but "Batwoman" seemed much more lenient towards them, likely as a result of her military training. He learned the proper way to handle guns, how to take them apart, put them back together, clean then, the whole nine yards. She stressed the danger of firearms often, and drilled him on all of these things until he could practically take them apart, clean them, and put them back together again, in his sleep.
There were a few times during the course of his training and tutelage that Kate had become concerned that she was pushing too hard; he was still only fifteen after all. Jason, however, insisted on forging ahead, moving forward. His resilience and resolve were impressive to her and he seemed to thrive during Combat Training. He had next to none, basic street fighting aside, when they started, but he picked up his Martial Arts quickly. He picked up everything quickly, and managed to keep his grades up at Straight A's the whole while.
Kate made sure Jason's training was thorough. She applied everything she knew, every method she encountered during her own military training and time at West Point. She tested Jason time, and time again, and pushed, encouraged, and he endured. She had her doubts and her fears about letting him out on the streets with her, so she wanted to make absolute certain that when he joined her, he could not only hold his own, but be a force to be reckoned with, on his own. Gotham City was dangerous and was filled not just with your garden variety scum bags, but also supervillains. Kate had had her fair share of run ins with the likes of Scarecrow and the Joker. The Joker was the one who worried her the most, and so she made sure to stress, in no uncertain terms to Jason, that he was never, never to underestimate him.
"Because if he gets even half a chance…he will kill you." They all would, but the Joker was something else entirely.
But at long last, after six long months of intense training, Jason was ready. And so he stood beside Batwoman in his newly finished costume as her partner, code name "Lark".
His costume was black, made with Zylon Fibers, with heavier Zylon armor on his shoulders and chest. He wore black combat gauntlets and knee high combat boots, with a black utility belt wrapped around his waist. His gloves had raised knuckles, steel tipped on the inside for more impact on his punches. The combat boots were steel-toed for the same reason. He wore a black domino mask on his face to hide his identity. The silhouette of a bird with its wings outstretched, was emblazoned on his chest in gold.
Lark grinned and patted the taser gun holstered on his right hip, drawing the grappling gun on his other.
"Are you ready for your first night, Lark?" Batwoman asked, uncrossing her arms and grabbing her own grappling gun. Lark grinned wider and aimed his at a taller building across the way.
"Oh yeah! Totally ready to kick some ass!" Lark replied, giving her a thumbs up. Batwoman couldn't help but to smirk in response, firing a line to the building across the way.
"Great. Then let's get started," Batwoman replied, swinging off into the night with Lark right behind her. From roof top to root top, the duo made their way toward a warehouse that Batwoman had been keeping her eye on for the last few weeks. Military Grade weapon shipments were coming in and out of the place and Batwoman's intel led her to believe that they were holding Black Market Auctions somewhere here in Gotham and selling the weapons off to the likes of Black Mask, The Falcones, and Rupert Thorne.
Tonight, she intended to not only shut down the operation, but find out where these "Black Market Auctions" were taking place. If she could, she'd also wrangle out the source of these weapon shipments and shut them down.
Batwoman and Lark landed atop a building across the street from the warehouse. The place was teeming with guards armed with semi-automatic weapons placed at strategic locations to bar entry; they likely had kill-on-sight orders. Batwoman had already made a tactical analysis, but this was Lark's first mission, his test. She glanced over at him and gestured down toward the warehouse below.
"Lark. Tactical Analysis." Lark nodded and pulled out a small pair of binoculars, looking toward the warehouse across the way.
"Guards around the perimeter. Armed with semi-automatic rifles" Lark started, moving his line of sight from place to place as he analyzed the building. "Through the window, I see guards on the second floor, too. Some on the roof. They're smart; got their bases covered from all vantages of possible attack or infiltration," Lark reported. He glanced over at Batwoman for a moment, who looked pleased with his report.
"Is that all?" she asked. Lark frowned a little, but turned his sight back to the warehouse. He looked around the area and spotted a few suspicious trucks and cars parked in specific locations around the warehouse.
"Advanced scouts. They keep a look out in all directions and keep their bosses updated on the state of traffic, and on the cops, giving them time to reinforce, or hide."
"Very good. So what do we do?" Batwoman asked. Lark glanced over at her, then back to the warehouse as he considered a plan of action. Lark looked through the binoculars again, then pointed to the roof.
"Our point of entry should be through the roof."
"But they have guards posted there. We could be seen," Batwoman replied. Lark turned to her and made his counter.
"But the roof is the weakest point; it has the fewest guards with only four. It'd be too obvious to come at them from directly across the street, but if we come at them from an adjacent building, we can catch them off guard," Lark started to explain. He turned back to the roof and looked through the binoculars again. "If we execute quick, precise take downs, we can slip inside before they have the chance to fire off a shot or warn their buddies inside."
Batwoman allowed herself a prideful grin as she reached for her grappling gun.
"Pincer attack, then? You go Left-"
"I'll go right," Lark replied, a grin spreading across his own face as the two of them parted ways and set their plan of attack into motion. Lark disappeared into the darkness and utilized a combination of parkour and grappling gun to sneak his way across the street, to a building a couple of doors down from the warehouse. He landed on the roof beside the warehouse and watched as Batwoman arrived at her own position.
Lark waited until the two guards closest to him met each other on the roof of their patrol routes. Once they were in position, Lark dived off of his rooftop and swung across the way toward the roof. The thugs looked up to see Lark coming, shocked looks spreading across their faces. Before they could fire off a shot, Lark kicked both of them and in a series of quick, rapid blows, he knocked them both out before they could make a sound.
Lark glanced across the rooftop to see Batwoman had similarly taken out the thugs on her side of the roof. The two of them got to tying them up, binding and gagging them, then dumping them in the center of the roof.
Lark pulled open the door on the roof that led down a ladder and onto the level below. Batwoman went first, then Lark followed. The two of them systematically took down the armed guards on the next two levels below, one-by-one. Stealth take downs helped to avoid arousing suspicion. At last, they reached the ground floor and stealth would no longer be an option.
"A'right, the last of them crates are in! Get 'em ready for the next auction!" a ordered a man with a scar on his forehead. He was their ring leader, one James O'Brian. "Where is Fred? Why hasn't he checked in?! Someone go check on-" he barked the orders, but was interrupted at the sounds of shouting from his men on the other side of the warehouse.
"Boss, it's the Batwoman!" one of them men called, right before Lark knocking him out with a blow to the back of the head.
"Yeah, you might want to reschedule that auction. Sometime around next year of never," Lark taunted, flashing a grin as he cracked his knuckles.
"You again, O'Brian? You're like a cockroach," Batwoman said flatly.
"Smoke 'em!" O'Brian ordered. Before any of them could fire off a shot, Lark threw several birdarangs, knocking the guns out of his hand. No sooner had the projectiles left his hands, he charged and started beating down the thugs. Batwoman dived into the fray behind him, setting her sights on O'Brian who was attempting to make his escape.
"You're not getting away this time," Batwoman called after him, reaching for a bolas from her utility belt. Batman dropped down in front of him, however, landing a solid punch to his face and knocking him out cold. O'Brian crumbled to the floor like a sack of rocks.
"Batwoman."
"Batman."
Meanwhile, Lark delivered a roundhouse kick to another thug's jaw, catching himself on his hands. He then flipped himself backwards, kicking another in the gut and sending him toppling backward into a stack of crates.
"Wow, you guys suck! Beat down by a kid! How embarrassing!" Lark called out with a laugh. He turned to see a man with a crowbar attacking him, before before he could react, and before the thug's attack could land, Robin flew by and delivered a devastating kick to the man. The hulking tank of muscle was sent stumbling into a stack of crates. Robin grinned over at Lark, and then the two of them teamed up to deliver a one-two punch that knocked him out.
"So, who're you supposed to be?" Robin asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Lark flashed a prideful grin, puffed up his chest and pounded his fist against the golden bird symbol on it.
"Call me Lark!" Lark replied. Robin chuckled in amusement and patted the younger teen's shoulder.
"Another bird, huh? No cape?" he asked. Lark snorted and waved his hand dismissively.
"No offense, but I don't do capes. Totally not my style," Lark replied.
"Robin."
"Lark." Batwoman and Batman called. The two teenage sidekicks turned to Batman and Batwoman, who both gestured toward the thugs.
"Round up these assholes-" Batwoman started.
"-And alert the GCPD. We're going to have a chat with O'Brian," Batman finished. Robin rolled his eyes and sighed, while Lark just gave a curt nod. And so the two teenage sidekicks got to gathering up all of the thugs and tying them up. Once that was done, they called in the GCPD, then the two of them made their way to the roof.
"So," Robin began, approached the younger boy with his arms crossed. "You're Batwoman's new sidekick, huh?"
"Damn right," Lark replied with a grin. Robin chuckled in amusement and drew closer to the teen.
"Well…you're still cute, y'know that, right?" he teased a little, getting in really close. Lark chuckle softly and did likewise, until their lips were but a hair's breadth apart.
"Not cute; cool. Get it right," he replied in a low tone. Robin chuckled against he lips, then closed the distance. Their lips melted together in a sweet, gentle kiss. Lark's arm wrapped around Robin's neck, while Robin wound an arm around Lark's waist.
"So, Jason," Dick started, lifting his domino mask up "you still up for out date on Saturday? Or does this new gig change things?" Jason snorted, lifting his own domino mask and flashing Dick a grin.
It hadn't exactly been hard to extrapolate that Batman had to be Bruce Wayne, and this his boyfriend, Dick Grayson, was Robin. Once he discovered that Kate was Batwoman, the pieces more or less fell right into place.
"This doesn't change a thing. You'll still pick me up at seven, right?"
"Of course. So you-" Robin turned when Batman called him and saw Batwoman standing beside him. The two sidekicks quickly replaced their masks and jogged over toward their respective mentors.
"We're going. Batwoman and I managed to get some information from O'Brian."
"Turns out our investigations are linked. There won't be another Auction until next week, but Batman and Robin are prepared to take care of the shipment coming in tomorrow," Batwoman cut in, glancing over at Batman.
"So, we take out the shipment, find out where they're coming from-" Robin started. Lark glanced over at Robin, then back to Batman and Batwoman and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Then the four of us team up and kick some ass at that Auction!"
"Precisely," Batman cut in. He typed some commands into his gauntlet and the Batmobile came racing up the street. He waved for Robin to follow, then jumped off of the roof and into the car below. Robin flashed Lark a grin, then waved goodbye and joined his mentor. The Batmobile took off down the street with Batwoman and Lark watching.
"You did great tonight, Lark," Batwoman said to him, diverting her attention from the retreating Batmobile, and giving it to Lark. She flashed a smirk and patted his shoulder. "Seems all that training paid off. You're ready to do this with my, full time. Providing you're still interested?" She asked. Lark grinned from ear to ear, pumping his fist through the air excitedly.
"Hell yeah! I'm totally in!" He exclaimed.