'Miss Gordon, may I have this dance?'

The slim figure in front of me twirled around to face me. 'Bruc- Mr. Wayne!' she exclaimed. I couldn't resist a slight smile. Barbara put down the plate she had been filling at the buffet and took my hand, leading me onto the dance floor. 'You know, you are the first one tonight who recognized me.'

'Didn't you tell anyone it's you? James seems to think you're at home, too sick to join his party.'

She laughed, and told me she wondered how long it would take for her own father to recognize her. This showed how young she really was, because by just looking at her, no one would say she just turned fourteen.

She was dressed up as the female equivalent of the Batman. If her father had known she was going like this, he probably would've made her stay at home. By now, the relationship between the police corps and my alter ego had developed into one where they would occasionally call in my help, but I knew he still didn't approve of me as his daughter's obsession.

'And who are you supposed to be?' she asked, after circling me around the dancing couples for some time. 'This is a costume party, you know.'

'Isn't it obvious? Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy.'

I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. 'May I cut in?' asked a soft, deep voice. I would recognize that voice anywhere.

Barbara gave me a slight nod, and as I turned around, another young lady with flaming hair came into sight. Poison Ivy. I glanced across the room and immediately noticed Harley Quinn sitting on the edge of the buffet table. She was dressed as one of the waitresses, waving at me with a smile plastered to her face.

'Ivy,' I said, more frightened than I actually was. 'Great costume, with all the leaves and stuff, no one will ever know it's you.'

She smiled brightly. 'You remember me!'

'Well, this isn't the first time you planned your little girls night out around kidnapping me. I'll go with you, no struggle whatsoever, just don't make a fuss in here.'

'But we're all about the fuss, baby-cakes.' I hadn't realized we had made our way to the buffet until now.

That's when Ivy pressed a kiss to my lips. I could only faintly follow what happened from that point on. How Poison Ivy captured me with one of her giant plant arms, how Harley Quinn told James they wanted a big amount of ransom money or they'd kill me, and how I was rescued by the female equivalent of The Batman. I knew Barbara was into gymnastics and material arts, but this was very different from her one performance I had seen a couple of years earlier.

When I was finally back on the floor, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy seemingly already on their way to Arkham Asylum, I could finally hear the whispers. Rumors of the Batman getting a Protégé. They called her the Batgirl.

'Figure that,' James said as he helped me up. 'Another red.'