AN: I don't own Victorious or any of the characters or the DC Comic characters. I just keep them alive through my stories. I make no money from my use of these Characters.
Chapter 2: Eyes in the Dark
The dark form moved through the shadows to keep from being seen. She had not been in Gotham for years. She hated this city. It brought back far too many horrible memories. She wasn't here for herself though. She was here because she had a debt to pay.
She hated owing people whether it was money or favours. But she owed the man and this would make it even. She wasn't going to do anything tonight, just survey the city and make contact. That was until she heard the girl screaming in the dark.
The scream meant a woman was in trouble and that was all she needed to jump into action. The one thing she would never tolerate was a man inflicting his will on a woman.
She slipped quietly and quickly down the alley and saw that a young girl was being pushed against a car and a man was looming over her. The girl was now crying and the man hit her. He had his pants around his ankles and he was trying to take the girl.
She stood behind him and planted her feet. That was when he slapped the girl and she could no longer stay quiet.
"So you like to play rough? I like to play rough!" She said stopping him dead in his tracks.
He turned to see the woman who was standing behind him. He looked her up and down and was shocked by what he saw. She was dressing in black and purple leather from head to foot. She was wearing a black mask that covered her face that was surrounded by her long black locks. Strapped to her right thigh was a .45 caliber in a military holster and on the left thigh she had a small crossbow. She was also carrying a black metal staff with a large purple stone on the end.
"Who the hell are you?" he growled.
"I am The Huntress!" she stated.
"Wait your turn I will get to you when I am finished with her. You going to a costume party?" He laughed.
"No a funeral. Your funeral." Huntress said as she hit him in the crotch with the butt end of his quarter staff. He folded over and was trying to draw a breath. She then slammed a fist up under his chin knocking him backward on top of the girl on the car.
"Run Now!" Huntress shouted at the girl.
The girl pulled her clothes together and stumbled down the street. She looked back one last time and then disappeared down the block.
The Huntress turned her attention back to the rapist and picked him up and threw him into some trash cans. He let out a groan and did not move.
She picked up her staff and vanished again in the shadows. It was getting late and she had a long way to go before she was at Wayne Manor. Bruce Wayne is the only man she will ever trust and right now he was expecting her. He was her island in the cesspool that was Gotham. When her life got hard he was there for her.
The day after she agreed to become the next Batgirl Tori had to work. She had a day shift and was running a little late. She was so worried that she was going to get fired. When she walked in there was a new girl behind the counter getting trained and Wally the manager met her with a grin and shook her hand when she came in. Tori knew that she must have had a stunned look on her face.
Wally led her to the office and told her to take his chair behind the desk. Tori was completely confused. "I want to start by saying I am sorry to hear about your loss, but I am very excited that you have decided to invest in this franchise."
"Ahh I am somewhat confused Wally could you slow down and fill me in on what you are talking about?" Tori waited for the missing pieces to this strange puzzle.
"Oh okay sure. Well I got a call first thing this morning to tell me that the shop had been sold. I thought for sure I was losing my job. I am not losing my job am I? No okay! Well the call came from a law firm that said that they would be managing your inheritance. They said that your Aunt Barbara had died and left you a fortune and that you had decided to invest it in this coffee and donut shop. I am so happy for you Tori." Wally was smiling ear to ear. "Why didn't you tell us about your win fall?"
"Well I …. only found out …. a few days ago. I guess it hasn't really set in yet. Did they say anything else?" Tori asked.
"They said that you would be stopping by today and then you would be going to sign some papers at the bank to finalize everything. Are you planning on making any major changes, say in the area of employees?" Wally was still weaseling over his job.
"No I want things to stay the same. I want you to keep running the place Wally. You know what you are doing and I am sure you will treat my investment like it was your own. In fact I would like to give you a ten percent raise to stay on." Tori said while Wally grabbed her hand and shook it almost right off.
"Yes Tori… ah Miss Vega. I will look out for your investment and thank you for the raise." Wally almost ran out of the office and could be heard giving orders to people to prove he was doing a good job.
'What the hell is going on?' Tori said to herself as she sat there even more confused. 'Aunt Barbara?'
Tori hustled off to the First Gotham Bank and was greeted by a manager when she came through the door. It was like they were expecting her. She had never even been in the building since she set up her accounts. She always used online banking. It wasn't like she had a lot of money to be checking up on it all the time. This woman seemed to think that Tori was a big wheel or something. She hurried Tori into a back office and showed her to a seat.
She then offered Tori a coffee. Tori decided that she might need the cup of coffee to help calm her down. She kind of felt like she was in the principal's office at school. When the woman returned with her coffee she placed herself behind her desk and grinned like a monkey back at Tori.
"So I was told I had some papers to sign." Tori decided she should start or this could go all day.
"Yes I have quite a pile of papers for you to look over." the woman replied as she shuffled her papers.
"Ah… Ms. Walsh is it?" Tori read her name tag. "I really have no idea why I am here."
Ms. Walsh said, "Well I am here to make the transition of a rather substantial inheritance in your account easier for you."
"Yes dear old Aunt Barbara." Then it hit Tori. Aunt Barbara was Barbara Gordon. But why was she putting money in her account and who bought Jim Norton's for her? Ms. Walsh was going on and on about investing and the future and what not while pushing papers in front of Tori to sign.
She signed the first couple of pages and then a name caught her eye. The money was transferred through a financial holding company that was called 'Benevolent Account Transfer Service'. She had never heard of them before, so why would they be doing all this for her. What was Barbara Gordon up too, then it hit her like a brick wall. The initials B.A.T.S. very nice Barbara, but why?
That was when she got a look at a number that was on the page. She almost spit her coffee across the desk and all over the smiling Ms. Walsh. She was in the process of transferring five million dollars into her bank account. Five million dollars! She had never had more than five thousand dollars in that account.
After a half an hour she now had a huge chunk of money in her account and she was off to a lawyer's office to sign some ownership papers for the Jim Norton's franchise she supposedly just bought. She decided to go along with it and soon Barbara would contact her and explain everything she hoped.
Tori's hand was tired from signing her name so many times. She massaged it as she took the city bus back to her apartment. She still didn't know what was going on and now she was tired. The best part of the day was that she didn't have to go to work. That was when it hit her, she never had to go to work again. That was what this was all about. The money and the coffee shop was insurance that she had time and the finances to be Batgirl. Then she laughed to herself. 'I wonder if Batman rides the bus?'
Tori walked the last half block to her apartment and caught herself humming while she walked. When she got to her door she found a package in her mailbox. She looked at the large brown envelope, but there was no evidence on the outside of who might have sent it to her. She unlocked her door and entered while staring at the envelope. She locked the door and took off her jacket tossing the package on the nearby couch.
She sat down and tore the envelope open. Inside was a cell phone and charger. No note of any kind accompanied the phone. She was double checking the envelope when the phone rang and startled her. Once she got her heart out of her throat she answered the phone.
"Be at the address I am going to text you by 2:00pm. Dress for a workout." The person didn't say hello or goodbye just the short message. Then the address was on the screen in the form if a text message. She guessed that this mysterious crap was going to be a regular part of her new life so she might as well accept it as her new reality.
"Miss Jade!" The old man shouted as he opened the door to let her in.
"Alfred, it is so good to see you again." Jade said as she shook the man's hand. One of the things she liked about Alfred was that he was British and hugging was not in his make-up. Even though he raised Jade from the time she was eight years old there was still a professional distance between the man's servant and the mistress of the house.
"How long has it been Miss Jade?" Alfred said taking her cape and weapons.
Taking off her mask and shaking her hair out Jade said, "Far too long Alfred. I have not been home to Wayne Manor in five years. I hope that Bruce is as welcoming as you are dear Alfred."
"I will open your room and air it out. Will you have luggage coming?" Alfred questioned.
"Yes Alfred, I will be staying for a month or so, if Bruce lets me stay." Jade said.
"He and I may have words over it Miss Jade. I will see to it that your luggage is in your room when it arrives. Mr. Wayne is at the office at the present time, but I expect him soon. I will set another place for you at the table. Please feel free to make yourself at home." Alfred said.
Jade West wandered through Wayne Manor paging through so many of her memories both good and bad. She remembered the fight that drove her from her childhood home, like it took place yesterday.
She had demanded that Bruce admit that he was her father. She had come to live at the lavish mansion when her mother was killed. Her mother Selina Kyle Wayne abandoned her to her father to raise her. She was then kidnapped and suffered a sexual assault at the age of eight. Bruce Wayne was the kind of father who could provide for his daughter everything she needed, except for the love of a father.
Then one night she learned his secret. She learned that her father was Batman and that her mother was Catwoman. She donned a costume and started to search for the man who assaulted her. Jade took her rage out on everyone she came in contact with in her search.
One night when she came back to Wayne Manor her father was waiting for her. They had a fight that was of epic proportions. In the end Jade packed up and left Gotham for what she thought was good. She still missed Alfred, Bruce's butler and advisor. It was really Alfred who raised her. She continued to send Alfred Christmas cards each year, but that was as close as she got to coming home until now.
Alfred let her know that her baggage had arrived so she went up to her old room and changed out of her Huntress outfit and put on some normal clothes. She spent some time reminiscing in her old room when Alfred interrupted her to let her know that Bruce was home and that the meal was ready to be served.
She approached the dining room with some trepidation. She didn't know what to expect from her father. "Bruce…ah father."
"Jade! Bruce came over and threw his arms around her and gave her a hug. She was very uncomfortable and also very confused. This was not like Bruce Wayne. He held her at arm's length, but did not let go of her hands. "So to what do I own the honour of having my lovely daughter Jade Wayne home?"
"West! It is Jade West now. I changed it five years ago." Jade said now feeling less in control.
"Jade West then. How long are you here for?" Bruce asked.
"I am here at the request of Barbara Gordon. She told me that you have recruited a new Batgirl and she wants me to train her. I am going to be here for about a month." Jade said.
Alfred brought the meal and made it clear that they could catch up later. Now it was time to eat. Alfred did not want things to get out of control until the two had time to get used to each other and no one would disturb the meal.
Tori check the address again and pulled on the door handle. She would not have known that this was a gym from the outside. It was an old office building at one time, but had gone through many redesigns as time marched along. Now the lower floor had been opened up and had padding on the floors and some heavy bags hanging from the rafters.
Barbara met her when she came through the door. She welcomed her and told her that her trainer would be along soon.
"May I be so blunt as to ask what happened to you that put you in the wheelchair?" Tori asked carefully.
"No I have come to grips with the fact that I am going to be in this chair for the rest of my life and I hope it will be a long life. I was shot by The Joker and left for dead. What he didn't count on was that I am hard to kill. So he retired Batgirl for a time, but you are going to give birth to her now." Barbara said.
"Didn't Batman put The Joker in Arkham Asylum?" Tori asked.
"Yes he is now inside and hopefully will never see the light of day outside." Barbara said.
"So now what for you?" Tori asked.
"I have decided that I can be of great use to you and other crime fighters with my computer skills and being wired to you with an ear speaker. I can track you and guide you through the streets and buildings of Gotham. I will go by the name Oracle. I have already started building up a large super computer and communication center." Barbara said.
Suddenly Tori found herself face down on the floor with the wind knocked out of her. She came up swinging and attacked the woman in black that had attacked her. She had no time to try to figure out why this person attacked her, all she could do was adjust and defend herself until she could take advantage of a weakness and overcome. Tori actually found herself looking forward to this battle.
AN: Thanks for reading this story. As always I appreciate those of you who took your time to read my story and ask you to let me know what you think of this piece. Well Scotty asked why Batgirl and not Bat Woman. That is a good question. Bat Woman is an entirely different character. She is not as closely related to the Bat Family as Barbara Gordon and Helena Wayne (Jade West). Now I have set up the background of the DC universe I can move on with more of the Jori part of the story. I think that Helena and Jade are a great combination because they are both very similar characters. Thanks again everyone and please let me know what you think even a JorL. SM
