Batman Beyond- Batgirl's Return

Act One- Rebirth of a Legend

Prologue: Setting the Stage

Caitlyn Boardener was sixteen years old, and living in Gotham City in the year 2020. She was five feet five inches tall, had waist length thick chocolate brown hair, and hazel green eyes. She kept her thick hair in a pony tail, since she couldn't do anything else with it but led a very active lifestyle. Her skin was pale peach with a light tan, and she currently was walking to school. She was the granddaughter of Barbara Gordon- who's daughter married to a well known artist in the City- so she was fairly well known in the school she attended.

Her favorite colors were purple, ultramarine blue, pink, yellow, black, green, off-white or cream, and red. Her activities at school were being on the cheerleading team, and she possesses a black belt in martial arts- having been taught at an early age by her family to be independent, strong, and able to defend herself in the dangerous city they lived in.

She was a rather slim girl, with scrawny looking arms and legs that hid how strong and swift she really could be. Another hobby of hers was running. If she had the time, she would be on the track team.

Today, Caitlyn wore an off white sweater that had a hue the faintest shade of spring green, a red Japanese-schoolgirl-style mini skirt, and flat bottomed, red dress shoes. Slung over her shoulders was her blue backpack with beaded lizards hanging off of it as well as the Batman insignia keychain that they were all clipped to.

"Caitlyn!" A friend called, and she turned to see her best friend and fellow athlete running over to her. "Are you up to going to the movies this weekend?"

Her friend was an inch taller than she was, with shoulder length golden yellow hair and brilliant blue eyes. Her skin was also pale peach, but with more of a tan than Caitlyn had. She wore a pink and red long sleeved shirt- the sleeves were pink, while the rest of the shirt was red. The girl also wore a pink Japanese-schoolgirl style mini skirt, as well as red dress shoes. Her backpack was red and slung over her shoulders in the same fashion that Caitlyn's was.

"Can't, sorry Leia. I'm meeting with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend." Caitlyn shook her head apologetically.

"Ah, that sucks. I was hoping to go see the new Bond movie with you. Guess I'll have to find someone else. It's great that you're so close with your Grandparents. I envy you. My Granddad is already dead, and my Grandma is in the hospital." Leia sighed, looking crestfallen.

Caitlyn blinked at her friend, giving her a pitying hug.

"Yeah, maybe next weekend we can hang out though. So far I don't have any plans for then." Smiled Caitlyn as she spoke in a somber, quiet voice, patting her friend on the shoulder as they joined the massive crowd of students filing in to the school building.

At their lockers, Caitlyn and Leia were met by other members of the cheerleading troupe, including the leader- a tall blond girl, and also Leia's older sister, Melody.

"I hope you girls are ready for a good, long practice today after school. We still need to learn the Egyptian Pyramid move for the football game next week." Melody said with a smile. She had the exact same shade of skin that her younger sister Leia did, while her eyes were a little more almond shaped. She wore a pink knee length skirt with flowers sewn in to the cloth.

"No problem, Melody. I made sure to clear my schedule after school." Nodded Caitlyn.

"So, any dates planned for the Spring Dance coming up?" Asked a orange-haired girl known as Sheryl. Sheryl was shorter than the other three, with shoulder length red hair, and a rather strange last name, though the troupe was used to it by now. Her full name was Sheryl Harlot Dee, while her twin sister- also on the Cheerleading Troupe, looked exactly like her, but her name was Sharon Coylet Dee. The two sisters were the same height, and had the same shape of eyes, including the same shade of green eyes. They wore red shirts, off-white shorts, and red shoes. Over their shirts they wore off white jean jackets both with the ace of hearts sewn in to the front coat pocket. It was also well known that the twins had an older brother by two years on the football team known as Nathan J. Dee. He was the best player on the Gotham City High School team, and considered one of the most handsome and promising young men in the school.

"No, I won't be going. I've never had any real reason to." Shrugged Caitlyn.

"Awe, but there are always loads of hot guys asking you to go on dates with them!" Exclaimed Sharon.

"Yeah, hot guys with massive egos, no personality, and who are complete jerks just because I'm a cheerleader and they think they can get away with anything they want." Caitlyn shook her head.

"Hnn... you do have a point there. But what about that one guy, McGinnis?" Leia grinned, pointing across the hallway through the crowd of classmates at the tall boy with jet black hair that stuck out weirdly in the front. He wore a brown jacket, black slacks, black shoes and a black shirt.

"McGinnis? No way. He's always looking like he's fresh from a fight or something, and constantly getting called out of class by his boss... I think that's Mr. Wayne? Yeah... I'd need someone more reliable than that, thank you very much." Caitlyn shook her head rather quickly.

"Well, suit yourself if you want to be on your own on Dance night." Shrugged Sheryl.

"Just because I'm a cheerleader doesn't mean I can't have standards. Besides, how would that look to my Grandma if I wound up dating someone like that?" Shrugged Caitlyn, slamming her locker closed now that she had her books that she'd been looking for while talking.

"Well, either way, I'll see you at practice." Melody waved at Caitlyn, hugged her little sister, then waved at the Dee twins before heading to her own classroom.

As the students began filing towards their various classrooms, a voice came over the intercom.

"Good moorning Gotham City High! The start of the week brings more tedious hours of learning throughout the day, but I hope to give a good rev to your engines with the news that it IS pizza day in the cafeteria! Make sure to get in line a-sap, to get the best slices, guys! And remember the pot lock Wednesday Night at six P.M. held by the Gotham Cheerleaders, all proceeds going to the Fight Against Cancer society, so bring your Pink, and a BIG appetite!" The voice was that of a young man, known as Gordon Witherspoon. "Before we continue, I've got some news from the Principal... Apparently frisbees and iPhones are banned in the hallways, and he reminds you to turn off all electronic devices such as iPads, iPods, et-cetera."

This news was met with a wave of boos from various students still in the hallways.

After that, Caitlyn tuned Gordon's morning announcements out as she entered her first class of the day- United States History- with Leia sitting next to her on her right. There were three people per desk usually, some desks had just two students to them.

Barbara Gordon was an elderly woman, but her senses were still just as sharp as ever. While being the chief of police in Neo-Gotham City had kept her alert and wary, she still enjoyed her family time with her daughter and son, as well as her Granddaughter with whom she was incredibly well bonded to. As a small child, Barbara would tell Caitlyn stories of Batgirl and Bat Man's adventures when they were together- though of course, never revealing the fact that she was Batgirl.

"How are things looking for the petitioning for the increase in Jail size, Lieutenant?" She looked over across the long oval table at a much younger man, tall, slim with short orange hair.

"So far so good. Wayne Enterprises has agreed to finance the expansion, and the paperwork should be filed tonight." He replied sharply.

"Good. And as for the Jokerz clan?" Barbara went on.

"Most of them were rounded up by Batman last month, but there's still the issue of their leaders..." Another man answered at once.

"You mean the red haired twins?" Blinked Barbara.

"Yes. They've been strangely quiet since August. We haven't heard a peep from them. It's our guess that they've decided to lie low until we forget about them."

"Which won't happen, Eric." Snapped Barbara. "We need the twins apprehended as soon as possible. Do you have any intel on them?"

"Yes... It appears that they are related to the infamous Harley Quinn, and the Joker himself. How we are not sure yet, but we hope to find out next time they resurface." Eric answered, looking at a clipboard.

"That will do to be getting on with. I believe you already have your assignments from yesterday to be completing?" She asked, rising, grabbing hold of her cane and leaning on it slightly before they all answered. "Good. I'll see you all at lunch to check on your progress."

"Are you coming to the after work dinner tonight, Madam Commissioner?" Asked one of her workers, hurrying after her.

"I can't tonight, I have a meeting with my family." Barbara shook her head as she walked to her office.

"Ah, it's a shame. Well, we still did get the dishes you prepared for the company meal, I'm sure it will be great as usual. I hear your granddaughter is poised to win her upcoming Martial Arts tournament."

"Yes, she's done very well. I'm still trying to get her to attend the school dances, but she says her socializing skills can only take her so far." Barbara smiled at the comment. "I have to go, I have some phone calls to make. I'll speak with you again later, James."

It was the Physical Education class, and today Caitlyn had decided that she would join the track group, while most of the boys- including McGinnis she noticed- were on the football group. She was easily the fastest runner, having outrun the leader in the Track Team by several feet without breaking a sweat by the end of the first run.

"You should really think about dropping Cheerleading and joining our team." Said Dahlia, a girl with dark brown skin, a lean runner's body, and black hair held back in a pony tail.

"That would make my life a bit more hectic than it already is." Caitlyn said apologetically with a shrug as they prepared for the next round. The girls in physical education all wore white t-shirts with v-necks, and shorts the shade of deep crimson, as well as plain white tennis shoes perfect for outdoor sports. While the boys all wore similar outfits as well. "Besides, I just do this for fun." She smiled, making sure her pony tail wouldn't slip out as she ran the next distance- this one half a mile, or halfway across the track.

When the starting gun was fired, Dahlia and Caitlyn were off and running. Caitlyn quickly overtaking the girl as the two of them left the rest of the track group behind.

During physical education, the Dee twins were in the Gymnastics group, enjoying the rigorous practice in the gym outfits as they swept through the air doing backflips or else swinging on the trapeze like they were born to do so, even impressing their coach today with a few new acrobatic tricks they learned in the last week.

Leia chose to be in the archery group, her skills with the bow and arrow were second to none in her class, as she fired off round after round, each time hitting the same point on the target. Her own golden blond hair was held back with a red headband that matched the shade of her shorts. She glanced across the field after gathering her arrows from the target and walking back to her post to see her friend tearing through the track, Dahlia barely able to keep up as Caitlyn was obviously in full concentration, in her element- which was doing anything physical.

With the end of Physical Education, the class returned to their appropriate locker rooms, changed back in to their original outfits, and went to lunch.

"Saw you with the archery group, really smooth moves today." Caitlyn said to Leia as they grabbed their lunch trays.

"Same goes to you, you must of beat a couple track records today. You were really tearing across the turf." Leia clapped her friend on the shoulder as McGinnis filed in behind them in the lunch row of students in front of the cafeteria's food counter.

"Well, at least I don't feel bad in having extras for lunch today... I mean, it IS pizza day after all." Caitlyn grinned mischievously as she requested two slices that day.

"You're lucky you can eat whatever you want and not get fat." Sighed Leia enviously. "I always have to watch my diet. I gain five pounds just looking at chocolate cake."

"Well, having so many hobbies DOES have it's advantages." Caitlyn was ignoring Terry behind them as was her usual routine. They were never rude to each other by any means, she just never said much to the guy.

Nobody noticed that the Dee twins were oddly absent that day from the lunch room, as they decided to do some looking up on the computers in the science lab while everyone was at lunch. The two had a strange feeling that day as they watched Caitlyn running across the track so swiftly without any sort of enhancements or splicing done to her body. They knew she was the granddaughter of the Police Commissioner, however there was something that was bothering them that they couldn't place.

Sharon was busy looking up any information she could gather on the Police Commissioner, while Sheryl was looking up information on Batgirl, for some reason thinking the two were related.

"Hey sis, look at this." Sharon said suddenly, coming across an article.

Sheryl hurried over, leaning over her sisters' shoulders to read the article, and her eyes went wide. It wasn't the article, but the image. It was of a much younger Barbara Gordon, with the same style of hair that Caitlyn had, though Caitlyn's hair was much darker- more like her father's.

"And look at this one..." Sheryl moved an image of the very first Batgirl over the younger Barbara Gordon. The hair matched perfectly, as well as the pose and facial expression.

"I think we just found some pay dirt... ya know what I mean, sis?" A mischievous, sly grin that would bring no joy to any onlookers came across Sharon's face. If anything, that smile seemed to turn the room cold, and dark for a moment as Sheryl stretched and yawned after an apparently long, boring day at school.

"We'll have to wait on it... I think Caitlyn said something about a family get-together this weekend. That'll be perfect, don'cha think?" Sharon also asked.

"I think so. We'll have to ask her about that again. It's been boring this last month without anything to do... I think this will make mom and daddy proud..." Sheryl nodded, putting some of her brilliant orange hair behind her ears.

As Caitlyn sat at her usual table with the Cheerleader's Troupe in the center of the cafeteria, a tall blond man came walking over, which caused many of the girls to squeal in anticipation. A few looked disappointed when he bent over Caitlyn.

"Hey, saw you leaving everyone in the dust earlier." He grinned, leaning between her and Leia- with whom she'd been having a conversation about the cheerleader tryouts coming up.

"Get lost, David. You know what the answer is." Snapped Caitlyn, knowing she sounded rude but not caring.

"HEY, come on! You'll look stupid going to that dance alone! I'm one of the top jocks in the football team, and you're the best cheerleader in the school... don't you think we'd make the perfect couple for the Spring Fling?" His blue eyes telling her that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Too bad for you. Listen pal..." Caitlyn stood up, as most of the cheerleader squad was watching her- some with open mouths, forks halfway apparently forgotten. "For one, just because I'm a cheerleader doesn't mean I have to go out with some slob who's an egotistical freak with an undeserved God-Complex, and two I DO have morals." She pointed a rather strong hand in to his chest. "And another thing, I DON'T intend on dating people who are jerks with an undeserved sense of self-satisfaction when all they do is play football and try to sleep with every girl in school. Ass." She emptied out the remainder of her lunch- an empty milk container and plastic silver wear- in a nearby trash bin before placing the tray on the appropriate rack near the food as Leia shoveled the remainder of her pizza down, and followed her friend.

"Wow... way to tell that guy off!" She commented as she saw the Dee twins arriving in the lunch room- waved at them- and continued following Caitlyn.

"That felt good." Grinned Caitlyn. "He's been bugging me since Gordon made that stupid announcement a month ago about the Spring Fling about going with him."

She could hear the cheerleader group gabbing about how Caitlyn refused to go out with such a hot guy and wondering why she couldn't swallow her pride for once as being the Police Commissioners granddaughter and just go out with the guy.

After school, it was cheerleader practice for a full hour. The cheerleader troupe wore the uniform of a red mini skirt, a red tank-top lined with white around the v-neck, red flat bottomed shoes, and red and white pom-poms held in each hand as they practiced in the gym that afternoon. The bottom of the skirt was lined with a single white stripe, as well as the bottom of the tank top. It was time to practice the pyramid technique.

First was the bottom row which Melody, Darla Green- a tall strongly built girl with dark skin and black hair held up in a pony tail, as well as beetle black eyes- and two other girls known as Amber- a red head with so many freckles she looked like she had a tan- and Kina Lenne- a girl with unnaturally brilliant red shoulder length, wavy hair held in pigtails, and a heavy tan that covered her peach skin- lined up. Next was Leia and the Dee twins who were able to jump up without having to climb on the arms of the four girls on the ground, then two more girls who were named Jaina Sander- a smaller girl with short black hair and brilliant blue eyes as well as pale peach skin, and Emmaline Vance- another girl with wavy brown hair that was shoulder length, and who had a blue eye and green eye, as well as skin that looked like she spent a lot of time out in the sun. Then there was the top of the pyramid, which was Caitlyn, who was the lightest and swiftest of the group. She did a running jump from the other end of the gym behind her, and did a summersault in mid air before landing lightly on Emmaline and Jaina's shoulders.

After a few moments, the door to the gym opened up, breaking the girls' concentration, and they toppled over with several loud screeches and cries of surprise.

"What is it, Mr. Nickleson?" Melody groaned from the bottom of the dog pile.

"Sorry to interrupt your practice, girls, but Ms. Boardener, you have a call from your Mother. She says it's urgent." The black haired man wearing a black suit with a bold red and white striped tie said.

"Well, we only had five minutes left anyways. Good practice today, girls." Melody finally managed to untangle herself from the mess of cheerleaders.

"Yeah, if you can call being caught off guard like this a good practice, sure." Said Emmaline, looking rather grumpy as she stretched her leg, having landed in a weird way. "Jaina's timing was all off."

"ME? That was YOU, thank you very much." Snapped Jaina, outraged that she'd been blamed for the collapse of the pyramid again.

"Anyways, I think I'll go. See you girls later!" Caitlyn took the girl's argument as her cue to leave. Melody usually sorted things out without her intervention pretty well. Then again, that was why Melody was team leader and she wasn't. She'd never been too enthusiastic about taking up any kind of leadership position, even though she was offered the spot first two years ago, she opted out, which meant Melody took it as she had been the runner up in the competition. She was pretty laid back, even with everything going on in her life.

When she reached the Principal's office, she was handed the black phone that usually sat on the desk.

"Hi, Mom? What's up?" She asked.

"Hello dear, we need to talk. Can you meet me outside your school in half an hour?" Her Mother, Claire's voice came over the line, sounding perfectly cheerful, which perplexed Caitlyn even farther.

"Sure, 'll be there." She gave an unseen blink.

"See you in a bit, then." And Claire hung up. She was outside the suite building her family lived at, leaning against the wall, holding a small box in her free hand. She'd been intending to give this to her daughter later, but now just felt like the right time.

Half an hour later, Caitlyn had changed back in to the outfit she'd been wearing that morning before physical education class, or cheerleading practice. With her backpack slung back over her shoulders, she stood outside the school as a few straggler students who had hung behind for study school, or detention, slumped out of the building after her. She saw her mother, and gave Claire a swift hug before climbing in to the car.

"Hi Mom! It's been forever since I last saw you here." She grinned, her voice light so her mother knew she was joking. Especially since she saw her mother nearly every day of her life.

"Yes, well, I thought it was the perfect time I give you a little something, honey." Claire opened the back door of the car, showing Caitlyn to get in. She did so, and Claire closed the door once Caitlyn was settled in to the back seat of the car. Claire took the seat next to her, and the driver- her father- started ushering them in to the traffic filled streets of Gotham City.

It was then that Caitlyn noticed something on the floor of the car.

"Mom, what is that?" She pointed at the simple white box.

"That is what I want to give you." Claire bent over, grabbed it, and handed it to her granddaughter. "It's a bit of a family heirloom, if you will."

Caitlyn curiously opened up the box, which revealed something that she'd only ever seen her mother wear.

"Your bracelet? But I thought..." She took it tenderly from the box, and watched it gleam.

"Only the matriarch of the family can pass it on. It's been so for generations." Claire said. "But there's more to that bracelet than meets the eye. It's a symbol of responsibility and trust, to be giving it to the younger generation."

The bracelet fit around her wrist perfectly, and shimmered even when it wasn't in motion. It was made of diamonds mixed with Caitlyn's other favorite gemstones- the amethyst, emeralds and sapphires- making it a rather expensive family heirloom in the Gordon tradition.

"You cannot wear it all the time, obviously. It's for special occasions." Explained Claire, smiling at how pleased her daughter was.

Caitlyn turned her wrist around, and realized that the clasp of the bracelet was a small, golden...

"The Batman insignia?" She blinked. "Mom, what's that all about?" She pointed at it.

"You'll know in time, child." Claire patted Caitlyn on the shoulder.

Nearby, unnoticed by the family, hovered a shadow in a black suit. He stared at the car down in the streets with a frown on his face.

"I still don't get why you want me tailing the Police Commissioner of all people" Batman said in to his communicator that was connected to Bruce Wayne through the mask.

"Because. I'll explain later." Bruce responded in his usual curt way. He sat in the dark, shadowy Bat cave, observing all aspects of Gotham City. He'd received intel earlier that day that someone had hacked in to the Police Commissioners private files, and could use that against them. So he set the only source he had on the case of making sure no one upset the police system or the peace that had been so welcome in Gotham the last month. Now wasn't the time to fill Terry in on all the details. He'd probably find out on his own as it was. "Make sure you keep track of them." He added in a 'this is final' sort of tone.

Terry raised an eyebrow beneath his mask, but jumped from the building, the red bat wings unfolding and allowing him to fly above the traffic without being seen. So far it had been a perfectly normal day, boring as hell, but perfectly normal for a change. That didn't mean Bruce would ever be nice enough to give Batman a day off. As Bruce so often reminded the much younger man, he never took a day off when he was Batman, since evil almost never slept. However, at least Bruce didn't make Terry pull all nighters. He was even instructed to follow the Commissioners granddaughter at school when he could, which made him feel awkward since she apparently did not like him one bit.

Another thing Terry didn't get was why Bruce wanted extra security around the Police Commissioner and her family, when already her security was tighter than that of the Capital in DC. But when Bruce got that tone in his voice, Terry knew it would be pointless to argue with the elderly man.

He flew silently above the traffic filled streets of Gotham City, following the Boardeners' sleek black car as it made it's way to their home to drop off her daughter.

"Mom, are Nana and Grandpa still going to be coming to our picnic at Gotham Central Park?" Caitlyn asked, looking at her mother, then up at the driver, who was her father. He had dark brown hair like his daughter's, though with a slightly receding hairline in the front, and lines of gray all over that emphasized the man's age. In regards to her grandfather, he was none other than Barbara's first boyfriend, Dick Grayson. Though for business purposes, Barbara still used her last name 'Gordon'.

"Of course they are, wouldn't miss it for the world." Jonathan replied from the front. "You'd better get indoors, though. Heard there's a storm coming tonight. We'll go park the car, Sparks."

"Thanks for this Mom, I promise I'll take care of it!" Caitlyn raised her wrist, from which the bracelet gleamed. She hugged her, leaned forward and pecked her grandfather on the cheek before grabbing her backpack.

At that moment, there was a clap of thunder and flash of lightning, which was Caitlyn's cue to hurry indoors. She dashed up the steps in to the suite building where her parents' suite was set.

Instead of living in a nice house like Barbara and Dick, their children chose to live in a sprawling suite. They put down a lot of money turning one whole floor of the hundred story sky scraper in to their home, while still allowing people to use the elevators to get to their levels in the building. It was a quite home up towards the middle, and just as Caitlyn reached the revolving glass doors, she felt rain on her head. She glanced back in time to see her grandparents driving away, merging in to the traffic.

She turned back in to the building and after she got through the revolving glass doors, she had to pull out what looked like a small, black and blue credit card and swipe it through what appeared to be an electronic, small credit card swiper with a round speaker as well as a light above that speaker. But a green light lit up when she swept it through, a female voice answered.

"Welcome home, Ms. Boardener. Your parents are home, go ahead and head up."

"Thanks Jennie, tell Ted I say hi." Caitlyn replied to the building security manager.

Pausing because she heard her phone vibrating in her pocket, she pulled it out to see the Caller ID showing Leia was trying to get a hold of her, so she answered.

"How'd it go?" Caitlyn asked right off the bat, referring to the fight that had been going on just as she left to meet her mother. She saw her parents coming in and waved, mouthing that Leia had called when Claire raised an eyebrow at her daughter in question.

After a conversation with Leia over the phone, during which Leia explained all about the tension being near breaking point between Emmaline and Jaina, and how her older sister Melody managed to once again- with the help of Darla and Kina- managed to restore peace in the troupe before what she called the 'nuclear bomb' went off in the gym.

"I think I'm about to loose you-" Leia said. "I'm still in the car with Mom and Dad, I'll call you later after homework, 'kay?"

"'Kay. Talk to ya' later!" Said Caitlyn, giving an unseen smile as she hung up, her parents had long ago vanished up to their suite.

She hurried off through the first floor, which was an elaborate tiled room, with an open welcoming lobby, that had crimson couches spread out over a red carpet lined in thin faded gold. Paintings lined the wall where windows were absent, and the elevator walls were lined with hand carved, deep mahogany trim. When she stepped in to the elevator that led to the halfway point of the building- thus her home- she pulled out her cellphone. This was a tiny, purple and yellow thing, with a touch screen. She shot off a quick message to her mother that she'd be home in ten minutes, and her mother replied with another message telling her they were having beef stroganoff for dinner that night.

When she got to the suite, the storm was going full blast, and all the windows had been painted a dark, inky black shade because of the severity of the storm. Caitlyn hoped that it wouldn't last the rest of the week, otherwise that might cancel their plans in regards to going to the Gotham City Park that weekend as she slipped off her shoes.

"Hi mom! Dad!" She called as the door closed behind her.

Their suite took up the whole fiftieth floor, was a sprawling, open modern Gotham home, and she loved it. While it wasn't a house like her grandparents, to her, this was heaven on earth. The living room was the first room that was seen when a person walked in, and beyond that was the dining room. The living room was calming colors of dark purple on the walls, while the floors were light purple tiles. The carpets that the couches, coffee tables, and center table in the living area were purple, and very soft looking. There were cream colored pillows on the black leather couches, and a black leather recliner that her grandfather usually claimed was sitting on the left of the second couch.

The black framed pictures on the western wall closest to the door depicted the family, with Barbara and Dick in the center, Barbara's daughter- who inherited her mother's red hair color and style down to the last strand, while she inherited her father's eyes- and her husband, who was brown haired and hazel green eyed. Caitlyn's image was on the other side of her grandmother, and she had inherited Barbara's hairstyle and face, but her father's brown hair.

On the southern wall in the living room was a large, flat screen television, below that was a black stained bookcase, with a glass door as well as black magnetic latches in the center that held the doors together. And this case was full of DVD movies, with everything from The King of the Golden Ring: Extended Cut, to the Galactic Wars and Mutagenic Heroes and Heroines classics and some Japanese Anime titles that Caitlyn was rather fond of, such as Senshi of the Moon, Guardians of the Heart, and Guardians of the Moon: Reloaded- one of her favorite Crossover series made by a fan who got the legal rights to make it official.

She made her way through the living area, to the dining room. The table here was rectangular in shape, in the center of the dining room over a cream colored carpet. A china buffet was against the eastern wall between the two large, tall windows. The china gleamed by the city lights, casting small, random rainbows across the dining room. The walls here were white, to focus more on the furniture and the view while the family ate.

Through the dining room, to the kitchen. This was a long kitchen with gleaming appliances that were kept in immaculate shape and looked like new. The floor was a deep crimson linoleum tile with squares lined in pale gold. The cabinets were an earthy brown, while the dishwasher was black and gleaming, with a silver sink that had a large window over it that filled the room with faded and blurry city lights.

She looked around and saw her mother already busy ladling sour cream in to a stroganoff pan that was on the oven. She supposed since she had hung back talking on the phone with Leia, her parents had gone up via the elevators in the car lot.

"Need any help mom?" She asked.

"No, not really. Your dad and I got this." Smiled her mother. "Go put your things away and wash up hun."

Caitlyn hugged her mother as her father came in to the kitchen.

"Hey Sparks, how goes it?" He asked, holding three bowls of spinach salads.

"Not bad. I'll be back in a bit! How long 'till dinner's ready?" She asked.

"About thirty minutes." Replied her mother.

Sharon and Sheryl had gotten home just before the storm hit, though far from gloomy, they loved this kind of weather.

"Momma!" They called out, and a blond woman in pigtails came out.

"Hi sweeties, how are my girls doing?" Harley Quinn hugged her twin daughters.

"Doing good, momma." Sheryl hugged Harley back.

"Just fine, momma." Sharon imitated her sister. "When's daddy going to get back from that nut house?"

"Soon, I hope." Harley turned to lead her daughters through to the kitchen. This home was simple, though the décor was what most would consider unusual. With busts of the Heart from a deck of playing cards in the center of the table, and images all over the wall of their family, including the Joker himself in a straight jacket surrounded by the Dee twins, and being hugged by Harley herself.

"Momma, what if we told you that we found a way to get Poppa out of the nut house sooner than expected?" Asked Sheryl.

Harley stopped in her steps, and turned to look at her daughters with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh?" She said, a curl in her lips.

After dinner, Caitlyn had changed in to a warmer outfit. She now wore blue jeans, a purple long sleeved sweater that was slightly too big for her, and purple fuzzy socks. She pulled out her iPod touch- which had a silicon purple and pink protective cover to it- and her headphones before withdrawing her history book and flopping on her bed. She'd tried begging to have video game or television time earlier at the dining table, but her parents talked her down from that mind set even if they did compliment her on the fact that she now wore her grandmother's prized bracelet.

She had her phone nearby on the bed- which currently had a purple Afghan over the purple covers. This Afghan was not just purple, but had stripes of spring green, pink, and pale blue. It all seemed to blend together with how her grandmother had crocheted it together, and she'd had it since she was eight years old.

Her choice in music that evening was loud and violent sounding guitar tracks without any singing to it. It was enough to help her focus as she read her favorite subject first. Her homework took roughly three hours, by then it was seven o'clock in the evening. The subject she had the most trouble with was Algebra. She hated math in all it's forms, and she normally saved it for last unless there was a test. Fortunately, her teachers had been forgiving that week and were saving her tests for next week.

She yawned and stretched, the moment her father knocked on the door and entered.

"How's your homework coming along, Sparks?" He asked, walking over, seeing all the papers strewn over the bed as she switched tracks on her iPod. "Ah... mind if I help you out?"

"Thanks Dad..." She resentfully pulled out her math homework she'd just finished. "I just need you to check on how I did with Algebra today please?" She yanked her headphones from her ears in her sudden low spirits over the fact that he had come in to double check her math, especially since her track record with that particular subject in school was not exactly clean.

Her father sat down on the bed beside her, and pulled out his trusty point five black ink pen from his shirt pocket as she leaned over to watch him as he corrected her work for her. It was a long hour, going over the long division that she barely understood. And with more than a few tantrums of frustration involved on her end, it made for an even longer night.

Out in the storm, Batman sat on the edge of a nearby balcony. Terry was glad that the suit was weather proof, otherwise this would make a miserable watch on the Police Commissioners' family.

"How's it going?" Came Bruce Wayne's voice over the intercom in the mask.

"Nothing much happening tonight. I just checked in with old Barbara, she's doing fine, and her daughter and granddaughter are doing good too." Replied Terry, making it clear that he was bored out of his wits with no one attacking, and nothing to do but sit and wait for someone to make a move on this family.

"Well, that will do for tonight I suppose." Bruce replied, sensing the boy's restlessness. He wondered if he had ever been so impatient in the past as he called Terry back to the Bat Cave. "The big event we've got to look out for now is that family gathering this weekend. Till then, you can lie low, and only act if someone attacks." He explains.

"Good. Cause I'm tired of sitting in this rain wondering when I'm gonna be electrocuted by lightning." Retorted Terry, sounding rather annoyed. All he heard was a chuckle from Bruce in response.