Lilliana looked around her, taking in the last look of the city lights in the night before climbing off the rooftop onto the fire escape. She climbed down a level and began to shimmy open her window. One of the other perks of being from on of the richest families in Bludhaven was being in the penthouse apartment in one of the tallest buildings. Ducking through the window, she shut it instantly pausing for a moment listening for any movement in the complex. It was a large two story apartment, with her room upstairs with her aunt. Luckily her siblings rooms were downstairs, which allowed for her to leave easily through the fire escape. Closing the curtains behind her, she quietly walked across the dark hardwood, avoiding her white area rug with her dirty boots. Flickering the lights on in her walkin closet Lilliana pulled a large walnut chest out from under a shelf overloaded with clothes. Thumbing in a combination on the padlock, she lifted the heavy lid open and began to strip. She kicked off her armored over the knee boots and gloves, dropping them inside before shrugging off her jacket, pants, and bodysuit. Lilliana looked in the mirror that hung in the middle of her clothes rack. She stared at the long blue hair that fell from her head and the black mask that allowed her to be herself, not just the eldest Monroe.

"Until tonight." she whispered to herself before peeling the black mask off of her eyes and pulling the wig off by its roots. She dropped those in the box last, and locked the chest shoving it back into its spot. She walked into her bathroom and quickly showered before pulling on a pair of sweatpants. She glanced at her watch and yawned before quite literally falling into bed.

Having only been asleep for about two hours, when her alarm went off at 6:30 Lilliana groggily opened her eyes and sat up in her push bed. Having been Bluejay and the adult of the household for years now, she had a schedule that she finally felt whelmed with, not uncontrollably or hopelessly overwhelmed. Unfortunately this was unkowningly that last morning where her routine would be in place, and she would soon be totally and completely overwhelmed. Going into her closet, she grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and pulled on a tank top on. Padding into her bathroom with a pair of socks on, she ran her fingers through her still drying waves. Moving quickly through her makeup routine, she tossed on a hair of earrings and a couple of accessories before grabbing a oversized cardigan and pulling on a pair of heeled booties. She quickly straightened up her room, made her bed and grabbed her books off of her desk. As she left her room she grabbed her most important accessory of the day, a watch. The watch ticked to 7, as she made her way downstairs. She grabbed a coffee cup out of the cabinet as the coffee pot finished its timed brew. Cradling the streaming hot drink Lilliana sat down on the sofa in the living room. Grabbing her psych book off the coffee table, she flipped it open to the bookmarked chapter. She scanned as she sipped her coffee, rereading the pages from her lesson yesterday. She had been scanning for a couple of minutes before one of the doors opened in the hallway. Glancing up she saw Mallory coming down the hallway with her schoolbag over her shoulder.

"Hey Sweetie." Closing her book, Ana stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning Ana." The young teenager yawned as she began to pour her own cup of coffee. Lilliana raised her eyebrows, and put her hand on her hip.

"When did you start drinking coffee?" taking a sip of her own, she reached up in the cabinet she grabbed the box of cereal to hand to Mal. The young girl shrugged as she took a sip, blinking her eyes at the taste.

"I just figured its something adults do." Lilliana cocked her head sideways and took a moment to think about her sisters response. Walking around the island to the fridge, she reached in a grabbed the cream from the chill.

"Why do you want to be an adult?" Ana poured some of the sweetener in Mal's cup. Then she mused, "It isn't much fun you know." Mallory chucked and retried the coffee. Nodding at her cup and looking at her older, blonder sister she began to reply,

"I just thought that maybe I could help out around here, that way you didn't have to do it all alone." Mallory poured her bowl of cereal, and sat at the counter next to Lilliana. Turning to face the younger one, Ana put her hand on her little sister's shoulder.

"Oh Mals, everything's okay. Theres no need for you to worry about growing up any quicker." Lilliana shook her head.

"I'm not stupid." Lilliana was about to reassure her sister, when there was a loud thump above their heads. Mal gave a knowing look, before staring at her cereal. "Aunt Gina's awake." Lilliana stood up and roughed Mallory's hair before kissing her head.

"I have everything under control, don't you worry a pretty hair on your head. Besides, you have your hands pretty full with your investigation!" Lilliana began to put together breakfast, bagel and an orange juice. This perked Mal up.

"I really think we're getting really close! We think they live uptown and they might even be roommates!" Grabbing the meal that she prepared, Lilliana walked towards the stairs, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Such a good idea! Go tell everyone that we're leaving in ten." Ana's heels clicked on the wooden stairs, when she paused at the top of them. "And not all adults drink coffee, theres chocolate milk in the fridge!" Hearing a shuffle in the kitchen and a grateful sigh the blonde turned around and knocked at her Aunts door before opening it. The curtains were still drawn and there was last night's plate on her desk. Setting the breafast next to the empty plate, Lilliana began to pile trash on the plate to take it back downstairs.

As she entered the dusty room, Lilliana coughed. The air was stale and a thick silence seemed to hang in the air. Glancing around the space, her heart ached. The furniture was a thick layer of dust on it, the only piece ever being used was the bed and desk. There were suitcases spilled open in the corner, boxes stacked next to them. Once her Aunt had moved in, she never got the chance to unpack before she lost it. The mental deterioration started slowly at first. Gina was able to go to all the court preceding to fully take custody of the children, but as the weeks went on, Lilliana saw that her Aunt kept forgetting things, the kids school trips, dinner on the stove, the time of day, and eventually she became a recluse forgetting that she even had charges to watch after.

"Jenny!" Her Aunt came around the corner and wrapped her in a hug. Lilliana skillfully slipped out of the embrace.

"Aunt Gina, good morning. I have your breakfast." Ana moved to open the windows, to try and let some fresh air in as she did every morning. And as every morning Gina was at her heels pulling them shut. As much as it pained her to see her Aunt this way, she didn't have another choice. When her parents died, she had refused to have her Aunt take over her parents room, having barley known her. However, the lawyers had told her siblings and herself needed a guardian or the Monroe children would be split up among various foster families. There was no way she was going to let that happen, so as her Aunt began to loose her mind Lillianna decided that she wouldn't let them grow apart.

"Jenny the owls. They'll get you!" Gina turned around and walked to the massive bookshelf in the room. This used to be her parents room, but now it was a mess of things she was used to and things that Gina brought with her. Gina began absentmindedly flipping through one of the hardbacks, Lilliana already been forgotten. Shrugging it off, Lilliana grabbed the plate of trash and left the room, softly closing the door. By the time she got downstairs, all the kids were in the room. She ticked them off the top of her head to make sure she didn't miss any. Mallory, check. James, check. Blake, check. Lucy, check. Lilliana rolled her eyes, and checked her watch. 7:48. He was going to be late.

"Kids, make sure you all have your homework and lunches!" Lilliana darted down the hallway, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She stopped in front of the door that had a 'N' scratched into the wood. Her mother scolded Nick for that for weeks, as a child Lilliana had felt bad for her brother receiving the punishment of no TV for a month. She had even kept him up to date with his favorite shows. She knocked on the door, and Nick opened it still wearing his boxers.

"What?"

"Nicky, we're leaving in five minutes!" She gestured to his undressed state, as her brain counted down her schedule. "Why are you not ready?"

"Im going in late today." Nick began to shut the door, as Lilliana threw her foot into the way. She mentally winced as her foot got squished between the moving door and the wooden frame.

"What? Dude, your failing your classes and your attendance is already in jeopardy! Your not going in late." She clenched her jaw and squared her shoulders.

"You don't tell me what to do, Ana." Nick pulled the door back open to look Lilliana in the face. "I'm going in late." He opened the door open a bit further, and Lilliana caught the quick disaster zone that was her brothers room. He closed the door on Ana again. Hard. With her foot still in the path of the door, Lilliana ripped her foot back once the door collided with it again. Bracing her hand on the now closed door, she cradled her foot. Smacking her open palm on the door, she hollered for her brother once more.

"Damnit Nicky!" With a quick glance down the hallway, she saw her youngest sibling Lucy. She took a moment to control herself and take a deep breath. "Don't forget to pick up the twins at 3." Walking down the hallway, favoring her foot, she paused to kiss Lucy's hair, and pull it up into a ponytail. She grabbed her purse and books off of the counter. "Lets go."

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"No, Bruce you don't have to send him here. I can handle it." Dick walked down the hallway of the college. He had told Bruce this morning about the events of last night on his way to the coffee shop to pick Lilliana up, and had his thoughts verified. Of course there was no way to be sure, but it made sense with any major city. The Court of Owls. Bruce had just gotten back to him with limited information as not a lot was known about the Court, they've just shown up enough to make a problem of themselves. His adoptive father was still working on the owls in Gotham. "No, you know he doesn't like me. Bruce. No. Bruce!" He let out a heavy sigh, and shoved his phone in his pocket. He made his way out of the building and jogged down the street to the diner around the corner. He usually wasn't late for lunch, but Bruce had his own timetable, and didn't care much for anyone else's. It wasn't even lunch time anymore, as they always ate after their last class let out. They met in the diner and then ate before she had to go pick up the kids. Walking into the 50's deco foot joint, he scanned the booth for his date. Dick lit up when he saw her blonde hair over the top of the corner booth. Stopping at the counter, he put in their usual order, and slid into the set across from her. Lilliana didn't even look up as he got comfortable in the leather seat. He watched her as she typed furiously away on her laptop, her nails tapping on the keyboard. Her jaw was clenched and her shaped brows were bunched. Dick turned his head when their server brought their milkshakes, and thanked the waiter as he accepted the drinks. As he put her chocolate shake in front of her, she threw her head against the seat and snapped her laptop shut.

"I'm going to kill him." Her lips were pressed tightly together as she finally acknowledged Dick. "Sorry." Lilliana looked at Dick with some guilt as he always seemed to be around when Nicky got in trouble. He took a sip of his dessert.

"I've told you a million times, you have a lot on your plate and Nick doesn't help. Don't worry about it." Dick gave Ana a friendly smile, "You know I'm always here for you." Lilliana curled her hand around the cold glass and smile back. She always wished she could tell Dick about her real life, but knew she couldn't. It was her secrets that kept her family together, if anyone knew her life would fall apart. "So what's new with you?" She bit her straw and savored the taste of the rich chocolate.

"Believe it or not, brother troubles." Dick leaned back in his seat. Lilliana stacked all of her schoolwork that she'd been working on ontop of her closed laptop, as she leaned forward and put her elbows on the table.

"Oh?" Lilliana smirked, "Did Damian adopt another animal?" Lilliana had met Damian once, and the child had surprised her. He was incredibly mature for his age and refused to hold a conversation that didn't involve Grayson. He was quite an odd kid. Dick always spoke of his family with the upmost respect, and she wondered if they all got along. Dick laughed out loud, setting the drink on the tape. Lilliana glanced at the glass on the bare table, and automatically grabbed a napkin and placed it under Dick's drink.

"No. I mean, yes Damian got another animal, but no. Jason is coming into town tomorrow for a bit." Dick turned at the waitress bringing them their food. Grayson's smile grew at the sight of food, and eagerly accepted with a thank you. Lilliana tilted her head, her hair brushing against her shoulders.

"The illusive Jason is coming to Bludhaven?" Lilliana grabbed a fry off her place at took a bit of it, Dick nodded while inhaling his burger. This was the one brother that Lilliana had yet to meet. She had even managed to meet Tim for a few minutes while he was in town with Bruce. "Whats the reason for the visit?

"He wants to check out the campus, see what college is like." Dick lied from behind his milkshake. The blonde nodded her head and began to eat her burger, grabbing a fry every other bite. He watched as she se the burger down to look at the time on her wrist.

"Shoot, I have to go get Blake and Lu!" She began to pile her books in her bag, as Dick polished off his sandwich. He pointed at her half finished one, as he did every time. She chuckled before sliding the plate across to him to finish her meal. Grayson quickly finished her burger as well, before standing up with Lilliana. Jogging over to the counter, Dick settled their bill and tipped the waitress and caught up with Lilliana at the exit.

"Need a ride?" He held the door open for her to walk through.

"Your a lifesaver!." Lilliana squeezed his bicep in thanks, her fingers feeling the cool of the leather. The duo made their way to Dick's car, and got inside as Dick began the way to the elementary school. They passed the middle school, and pulled down a couple of blocks to the front of the elementary school when Lilliana's phone rang. As she gathered her things she awnsered it.

"Hello? Yes, speaking. Uh. No, their older brother is picking them up today. What? Are they okay? No. Yeah. I'll figure it out." Lilliana hung up the phone and chucked it into her bag in frustration. Dick let her hand a moment before asking,

"What's wrong?" Dick put the car in park, turning slightly to face his passenger. Lilliana turned and stared at him with a grimace. He could see the anger in her grey eyes, and the tenseness of her jaw.

"Nick was suppose to pick up the twins. Guess whose not there? So now I have to figure out how to pick them up while I'm in a meeting with Blake's teacher."

"I can go get them." Dick offered, causing Lilliana to look in shock. Dick had always said that he would help whenever she needed it, but she never asked. Lilliana never liked things being out of her control.

"i can't ask you to do that. Then you'd have to stay with them until I got home cause my aunts at work, and I don't know how long thats going to be-" Lilliana also didn't like anyone in the apartment with their aunt there. That was a secret she'd like to keep.

"Ana, I don't mind. I'll go pick them up and you take care of Blake and Lucy." Dick assured her he didn't mind, which he really didn't. Not seeing much other choice, Lilliana pulled her house key out of her purse.

"Are you sure?" Lilliana gave him another out. When he rolled his eyes and grabbed the key, she couldn't turn back.

"We've been friends for years, I think I can handle the twins for a bit." Dick smiled and shooed Ana out the care so she wouldn't be late. "Wait. Where do you live?" Even though they had been friends for years, Lilliana had always found a way to keep him away from the loft. It was easier than coming up with more excuses about where her Aunt was.

"51 Tanger, Clarkston building on the top floor." Lilliana hollered from outside the car as Dick winked and pulled away. As Lilliana watched his car turn around the corner, she got a really uneasy feeling that her whole world was about to change.

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