Hello readers, good to see you! How did everybody like Year 3? I think it's one of my favorites so far. This is Year 4 and this year really sets the scene and tone for Season 2. There is a character death in this chapter so be prepared for that. I'm done talking now; onto Year 4. Please review.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Chapter 4- Year 4, 2014

~February~

Two months into the New Year and no new information had come up about Dricker but Nicki refused to give up. Once March came, a huge breakthrough happened.

~March~

With the help of Jason, they discovered that her Father was plotting a huge deal with Harry Thomely to buy Caroline's Father's company for dirt cheap. That is what those account book and bank statements were; he was going into the past 20years of financial records and changing them to show no profit and nearing bankruptcy so Thomely can buy it. But Glen knew Caroline would never allow her father's company to fall to nothing like that and was prepared to take control from Glen. But it all turns out that Thomely was paying Dricker to make Glen's life miserable to make sure he would stick with the plan. The only way to make sure that would happen was for Dricker to offer him money; knowing very well there would be no way to pay the money back. And being a mobster, if they don't get their money they find other mean to do so. That's why Dricker killed Caroline; Thomely ordered it… ordered everything. There were two things to do now… find Dricker and Thomely and kill them; then turn all the evidence over to Commissioner Gordon.

"Nic…" Jason got her attention on their rooftop, "I got Dricker's location; he's meeting with Thomely."

"Where?"

"The warehouse… where you got shot…" Nicki gulped at the news, "it's gonna be heavily guarded; we're going to have Dricker's goons and Thomely's… you sure you wanna do this?"

Nicki checked her guns,

"I'm sure… they need to pay for what they did…"

Jason grew worried; she was really considering killing these men,

"Alright then… let's get going."

"No… I'm going myself."

"You're crazier than I thought if you think I'm going to let you go yourself. Angel, we're a team now; where you go I go."

This had been true for the past few months. Jason had been there through all the investigating, the stake-outs… everything. But this time couldn't happen; she couldn't let Jason see her shoot two people,

"I'm sorry Jason… I can't let you go." Just like Nightwing those few months ago, Jason was knocked his feet and knocked out. With a few minutes head start, Nicki took off.

~Outrage's POV~

This was it; she was about to face the men responsible for her Mother's death. Sneaking through the skylight on the roof, she wanted to be as silent as possible until she actually got to Dricker and Thomely. Using her martial arts skills she picked up from Jason, all the bodyguards and henchmen blocking her way were taken out. Finally reaching their "office", she took some to gather herself before busting in. Making sure all her guns were loaded and ready, she took out her semi-automatic pistol; it was time to crank that baby out and those two were perfect specimens. Counting to three, she busted the door open; gun pointed at the nearest target who just happened to be Dricker,

"Finally… I've found you!"

Dricker and Thomely froze in the middle of a handshake,

"You must be Outrage," the cleanly dressed man spoke, "I have heard much about you dear. You seem a little too young to be using a gun don't you think?"

Some henchmen appeared along the edges,

"Oh trust me… I have the proper training. You want to see?" She aimed at the nearest henchmen on her left.

Thomely laughed,

"You won't have the guts little girl."

"She took out 30 of my men Harry!"

"YOUR MEN ARE PATHETIC!" A shot fired; one of Harry's henchmen down.

"Yours are no better Thomely." Outrage smirked.

In shock, Thomely nodded to the men on the edges; they lowered their guns and backed up,

"What do you want?"

"Just two things… you and Dricker dead; and all the money you took from Glen Hyle returned to him!"

Thomely laughed,

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about my dear." A thick file landed in front of him.

"Why don't you have a look; refresh your memory." Thomely just stared at it, "OPEN IT!"

Flipping the cover open, Thomely skimmed through every page. Everything was there; all the documents, all the bank statements… every threatening email…

"Well… it seems you have figured me out my dear; very impressive. Too bad no one will believe you; no one knows who you are and I have so many people on my payroll that they'll give anything to cover for me. So why not put the little toys away and go home; save yourself a bullet hole."

"I don't think so; I'm not leaving until you two are dead. It's the right punishment for your crimes," She cocked the pistol, "any last words?"

"OUTRAGE STOP!" Robin jumped over the railing; Batman and Nightwing right behind him.

"Oh great… the Bats…" Thomely folded his arms.

~Warehouse~

"What are you doing here?" Outrage still had her pistol aimed at Dricker and Thomely.

"I had to come…"

"You said you wouldn't stop me… you said you understood…"

"I do understand; but think about what you're doing."

Nightwing and Batman were fighting with the henchmen that were against the walls. Outrage was ready,

"Back off Boy Wonder; I finally have them after so long. Everything finally in its proper place."

Robin inched closer to Outrage,

"Outrage please… we gave all the evidence to Commissioner Gordon; these two are going to go away for a very long time."

"That won't solve anything; their successors will just continue their work. It needs to end here." It had to end. Robin saw her hand tense up as she pulled the trigger; Thomely and Dricker falling to the floor. Turning in fear of what to see, Robin saw the men holding their shoulders. She couldn't do it… she couldn't kill them. Nightwing and Batman rushed over to subdue them; make sure they wouldn't be going anywhere until Gordon got there, Robin taking the gun out of Outrage's hand.

"I couldn't do it…" she fell to her knees, "I couldn't kill them…"

Kneeling beside her, Robin wrapped his arms around her,

"It's okay…"

"I'm sorry…" Outrage muttered against his chest.

Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD showed up; taking all the henchmen, Thomely and Dricker away. Batman handed Gordon the large file with all the evidence he would need to convict them for everything. Once everything was cleared and the GCPD left, Batman and Nightwing joined Robin comforting Outrage,

"We're proud of you Outrage."

"I wanted to kill them Batman… I really did."

"But you didn't… that's all that matters."

"So what's next for Outrage?" Nightwing asked her.

Smiling, Outrage removed her mask,

"Outrage is done; but Nicole Hyle has one last mission."

"What would that be?" Robin had an arm around her waist.

"To confront my Father on everything…"

And she went home and did just that. She presented every piece of information she showed Thomely to Glen and he broke down crying. He regretted everything; the deal with Thomely, borrowing the money from Dricker… allowing Caroline to be killed. He apologized for everything and turned control of the Company over to Nicki's Uncle Chris; Caroline's younger brother. Thomely was sentenced to 30years with no chance of parole for his white collar crimes. It turned out this wasn't the first time it happened and was ordered to pay back every ounce of money he made Glen take from the company totaling up to $100million. He hung himself one month into his sentencing. Dricker was found guilty and given the death penalty for all the people he killed and working under Thomely. He poisoned himself a week after his sentencing. All of his "followers" were found guilty for accessory, drug procession, illegal use of firearms and assault. Each follower captured was sentenced to 25years with chance of parole after 15years. Thomely associate, the blonde woman who met with Glen, was found dead two weeks after Thomely's arrest; the GCPD is currently investigating that case. They're determining whether it was suicide or murder.

Glen received all the money from Thomely's company in May and he immediately gave it back to the Chris's Company. Not being the CEO of the company anymore, Glen was offered to be on the Board of Directors as he was married to Caroline. He graciously accepted with his sincerest apologizes but he could no longer afford the large house. He and the kids were forced to downsize to a smaller house. Caroline's insurance policy and pension was made into college trust funds for the kids; $100,000 each, and the rest was used to buy the smaller house with $300,000 left over. That was put aside for whatever. Things had calmed down now; Nicki and Jason were closer than ever as they both turned 16.

~Late May~

Atop their usual rooftop as Jason and Nicki, Nicki was resting against Jason's chest; his arms wrapped around her. The sky was unusually clear that night; the stars bright.

"It's a beautiful night tonight."

"Not as beautiful as you Angel."

Nicki smiled,

"You know… I never thanked you."

"For what?"

"For everything you did for me… well for Outrage; going against Batman's orders and helping me find Dricker and Thomely and discovering what my Father was up to. I never did thank you."

Jason chuckled,

"Don't worry about it; I'm just glad you're safe and here with me."

"I don't plan on going anywhere."

"Me neither." Jason looked down at her while she looked up at him. Sharing a kiss, the warm night breeze ran through their hair, "I love you Nicki."

"I love you too Jason." With one final kiss, they sat together on the roof late into the night.

Things had changed so much; Nightwing and Rocket had broken up in April, Josh hadn't talked to Angelee since February and Nicki and her Father became much closer since moving into the new house. Now it was June and it was the day Angelee was coming home. Everyone planned a huge welcome home party at the Manor while Bruce went to go pick her up from the airport.

~June~

"Is everybody ready?" Nicki hung the final banner.

"Yeah, we're all good." Dick was now 17 and just graduated high school. He was no longer a high-schooler so he could put all his attention to being Nightwing.

Nicki got off a stepladder,

"Awesome; I'm so excited to see her I have so much to tell her."

Jason was placing a bowl of food on the table,

"I'm nervous… what if she doesn't like me?"

"I'm sure she will; it's Angelee… it's almost impossible for her to hate anyone who went through what she did."

Snorting, Jason headed for the large window,

"Sure golden boy… keep telling yourself that," he saw the car pull up, "they're back!"

"Everybody in positions!" Nicki ordered; everyone hiding.

Running through the giant front doors, Angelee called out,

"Hello! Anybody home!?" She walked into the parlor and saw it decorated, "What's going on?"

"SURPRISE! WELCOME HOME!" Nicki, Alfred, Dick and Jason came out of their hiding places.

Smiling and laughing, Angelee couldn't believe it,

"Oh my god this is for me?"

"Well you were gone for a whole year," Bruce came up behind her, "welcome home."

"Me first," Nicki ran up and tightly embraced her; "we missed you so much!"

"I missed you guys too," Dick was next, "hey boy wonder," they hugged, "my god have you grown…"

He laughed,

"You too. Look at you."

At 16, Angelee had grown to 5'10", her blonde hair down to her waistline, her hazel eyes brighter and more muscle in her legs. She kept up with her training while in Europe; and all the walking around helped too.

"So Mister Boy Wonder… how are things with Zatanna?"

"Well…for one, Zatanna and broke up last year."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Don't worry… but two… I'm no longer the Boy Wonder."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Angelee noticed Jason standing next to Nicki,

"Who's the kid?"

Bruce laughed,

"Angelica, meet Jason Todd, the new Robin."

"The new Robin? You retired?"

"As Robin yes. I go by Nightwing now."

Angelee looked Jason over,

"Well… he looks like he fits in…" Jason glared, "oh relax kid I'm teasing. Welcome to the family!"

Nicki laughed,

"He's not just the new Robin…" their arms went around each other, "he's my boyfriend."

"Oh my god! What else have I missed since I've been gone? Why am I just founding out about this now oh my god!"

Jason nudged Nicki and tilted his head; it was time to tell her.

"Ang… there's some things you need to know…"

"Okay…"

Taking a breath, Nicki started,

"Well… we caught Mom's killer."

"That's great!"

"But I had to become a vigilante to do so…" straight forward; just like Conner. The only thing Angelee could do was stare, "I know you didn't want me to and I understood the reason why but I had to. If I hadn't… I wouldn't have met Jason and we wouldn't be together."

"You killed him didn't you?"

"No… Jason convinced me otherwise. But I did shoot him…"

Putting her left hand to her forehead, Angelee began to pace,

"Nicki… I… what do you want me say to this?"

"Hey she did a great job! If you would've been here to do your job maybe she wouldn't have to become Outrage!" Jason was defending Nicki's choice.

"Jason it's okay…" Nicki calmed him down, "Ang… I worked with all of these guys; they helped me find out things I never could've found out on my own."

"All the information is in the BatComputer in the Cave if you want to take a look at it."

Angelee began to pace; she didn't know what to think of all this,

"I gotta go… I can't be here right now…" she left the Parlor then out the front door. She was able to fly to the city and go see Josh. She'd go to his house; she needed to see him.

~Manor~

"I feel awful…" Nicki sat on the couch.

"It's not your fault Angel she needed to know. She just doesn't understand."

"But she does," Dick started, "she's killed before… and it changed her. She didn't want Nicki to change too."

"But Nicki didn't kill them."

"But I am different than how I was Jason… I never understood why Angelee ever got into the crime-fighting life; taking on another identity, wearing a mask at night… endangering her life all the time. She does it because losing someone close to your heart… you forget so much, hide so much. The only way to truly conceal the pain and the hurt is to wear a mask. When Mom was killed, I wanted nothing more than to take my anger out; my hurt out on something. But I couldn't; I had to be strong for my younger brothers. Becoming Outrage was so I can do that; feel the rage of losing her. I took my pain out on the people responsible when the people close to me weren't around. During those few months I was Outrage… I did forget to be Nicki."

Jason put a comforting arm around her; rubbing her back,

"You didn't forget anything; you were still Nicki underneath the mask. Underneath that black mask you wore was the girl I fell in love with; and she's here right now because of becoming Outrage."

Dick and Bruce nodded to each other,

"Nicki… if you would like… you can hang the Outrage suit in the BatCave; in case you should ever decide…"

Nicki shook her head,

"No… Outrage is done. She did her job; that was all she needed to do."

~Angelee's POV~

Getting to Josh's house, she ran the doorbell. Anxiously waiting, the white door opened; Josh standing there,

"Angelee… you're back…"

"Yeah… thought I'd come see you."

"That's great, come on in." He moved aside to let her in, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah… are you parents' home?"

"Uh no… they're at a meeting. What's up?"

Sitting on a couch, Angelee pulled Josh next to her,

"There's something… I need to tell you…"

"Sure… what is it? Babe are you alright?"

"Fine, I'm fine. Look Josh… we've known each other for 5years now but… I'm afraid you haven't gotten to know all of me."

"What do you mean? I know your favorite color, your favorite food, your past, you love the beach, and you love to draw on your window ledge at the Manor… what could I possibly not know about you?"

It was happening; she was about to tell him,

"Don't freak out… okay?" he nodded. Exhaling, she circled her hands around each other; creating an energy ball. Josh jumped back in fear,

"Whoa! What is that?"

"It's called an energy ball," she dispersed it, "it's not the only thing I can do," she levitated the coffee table in front of them, "and I can do this…" she hovered over the couch.

Completely freaked out, Josh stood up,

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm from a distant planet…"

"You're an alien!? I'm dating an alien!"

"Josh please… let me explain. I was born here on Earth but my parents come from the distant planet of Trivoyian. There, the people have unique abilities that can manipulate the world around them… I'm able to use my surroundings in any way I want."

"What do you really look like?"

Angelee laughed,

"Relax, this is what I look like; we look just like Earth people do."

Shocked at what he just heard, Josh rubbed his fingers through his hair,

"I… I can't believe this…"

"There's more…"

"More? What else could you possibly tell me?"

Taking another breath, this was the biggest secret,

"You know Black Crane right?"

"Yeah she's the hero who fights alongside Batman and Robin. Why?"

"She's… me…"

Josh's mouth opened,

"What?"

"I'm Black Crane Josh…"

"You're telling me… my girlfriend… who I've known for 5years… is not only an alien but also the hero Black Crane?" Angelee nodded, "Wow…"

"I know it's a lot to take in…"

"It's more than a lot Ang! Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"They're big secrets Josh; I had to be sure I could trust you with them first. If my enemies should find out you know my secret, you could be targeted; they'd use you to get me! They'd torture you… I had to make you were ready for that. And could trust that you wouldn't be going around telling everyone." Josh was speechless, "I'm sorry I never told you but I didn't think you'd be ready for the whole truth yet."

Flinging off the couch, Josh went over to look at an old picture on a table,

"I… I don't know what to make of all this Angelee, I really don't."

"I don't expect you to right away," Angelee came up behind him, "Josh, everything you do know about me is true. The quiet artist with trust issues; that is me… but so is what I just told you."

"I…I'm going to need time Angelee… time to think everything through."

"Sure… I understand," she grabbed her purse from the couch, "but Josh… me being 'an alien' or Black Crane doesn't change who I am; they're part of who I am." She walked out Josh's front door and went around the corner; tears rushing down her face. Going invisible, she flew back to the Manor. This was not how she wanted to come back from Europe after a year.

~In the months since~

One month had passed before Josh had the nerve to Angelee up. Asking to meet her, he had time to think everything through. But he couldn't accept everything; it was too weird for him. They broke up that day after almost two years. He promised to keep her secrets safe; he wouldn't tell anyone. At the Manor, she cried in her room for days; avoiding all contact with anyone until one day Dick coughed up the courage to talk to her. After hearing what happened, Dick felt horrible and did the only thing he could think of to ease the pain; wrap his arms around her and have her cry in his chest like old times. Days passed and they become close again; Dick telling her about dating Zatanna and Raquel and why both never worked; well why he thought they didn't work out. (The real reason will be told in Season 2 during "Bloodlines") Angelee told him all about the trip to Europe and showed him all the drawings she did. So many were from Greece and Italy as they had the most historical pieces; the Parthenon in Greece, the Pantheon in Rome, the temple of Zeus in Greece, the wine country in Tuscany, Italy. He loved every single one; no wonder she had the most votes in the competition. Now that she was older, her talent grew as well and became a world class artist. He caught her up in the latest news and explained the whole 'New Robin' thing. After reading the case file from Caroline's death, Angelee got a better understanding why Nicki became Outrage. She felt horrible for not being there for her during that time; but at least Nicki had Jason there for her. And after many hours of talking to him and seeing him training, she saw the reason Bruce had him become the new Robin; he was a natural. Sure he was angrier than Dick was but not every Robin could be like Dick.

To celebrate Dick's high school graduation, Angelee took him out to dinner and a movie; she couldn't be there for it and wanted to make up for it. Now that she was 16, Bruce had her get her license and brought her a car too; Jason already had one since he was there when he turned 16. Returning back to Mount Justice for the first time since she left for Europe, Artemis and Wally greeted her with big hugs and were shocked at how much she grew. She wasn't the little 12year old kid sister anymore. Even Kaldur was amazed at how she had grown. She was truly capable to handing herself now. Once the entire team was in the Cave, Artemis and Wally made an announcement that they would be retiring to attend college together. Not to mention moving in together. Sad to see them leave, Angelee gave them long hugs and wished them nothing but the best of luck… and told them not to be strangers. Just because they wouldn't be part of the team didn't mean they had to cut off all communication with them. They laughed at the comment and said they could never not talk to her. Watching them leave the Cave for good, Angelee began to wonder herself if she would ever do that. Remembering the dreams she had all those years ago, a smiled crawled across her face. Now that she and Josh weren't together anymore, she started having the dreams again. And the more and more she and Dick got, the more frequent the dreams.

August came around again and that meant actual school. Now a junior, she only had one more year then she would be a senior. She and Nicki spent their time talking about her being Outrage and what it felt like. Every time she would see Josh through the halls, it felt weird knowing he knew her secret. Could she really trust him not to tell anyone? He did love her; he told her while she was still in Europe but she never could say it back. That was back in February; that's why they hadn't talked until she got back. Why couldn't she say she loved him back? Did she love him or was something holding her back? Could it be William? Could the love she had for William still be holding her back from loving anyone again? September came and gone; the weather changing into late autumn. It was October now. Things between the BatClan was getting interesting as Jason began to grow tired of Batman's 'no killing' policy. He felt like certain criminals should be killed and not shown any mercy. But Batman wasn't like that; he never killed anyone purposely. So one night, Robin went on patrol himself to get away from Batman. They had gotten into a nasty argument again and he needed to clear his head; calm himself. He couldn't bother Nicki that night like normal, she was busy studying for a huge biology exam she had later in the week. He respected her need to study and do well in school even though he particularly didn't care for it. So on his own, he thought to himself when someone grabbed him. Fighting to his best, he managed to escape the one attacker. But while escaping, he was clunked on the back of the head and knocked out. The next thing he knew, his arms were tied behind his back and his ankles tied together. He had no idea how long he had been out; but Batman did. It had been 3 days and he was actively searching for him. Growing worried, days turned into weeks and it was late October. Thinking he'd never find him, he got a message that Robin had been kidnapped and where to find him. It didn't say who the message was from but at that moment; he didn't care. All he cared about was finding Jason. Taking off, he traveled to Europe without telling Angelee or Dick. Growing worried themselves, they began to look into the disappearances of Robin and Batman. Going to every criminal they could find as Nightwing and Black Crane, everything was a dead end. Ready to accept that they were killed during a mission, they were in the BatCave when Batman's face appeared on the giant screen,

"BATMAN! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Angelee shouted.

"How is your teleporting?"

"How long of a distance?"

"Europe…"

Dick and Angelee looked at each other,

"Batman… what happened where's Robin?"

Batman lowered his head,

"Robin's dead."

Angelee pressed some buttons on the computer,

"Dick take the BatPlane… now…"

Not saying another word, Dick quickly dressed as Nightwing and boarded the BatPlane then took off. Angelee knew she would have to tell Nicki; and that would not be easy.

"Angelica… you need to tell Nicki…"

"I know…Nightwing's on the way in the Plane now; keep me posted."

Batman nodded before the screen went black. Pulling herself to her feet, she grabbed her jacket and went to Nicki's.

Reaching the smaller house than what she was used to, she flew up to her window and tapped it. It was late and she didn't want to wake the rest of the house.

"Ang… what are you doing here so late?" Nicki opened her window to let Angelee in.

"I'm sorry for the time but there's something I need to tell you…"

Nicki rubbed her eyes,

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? It's 1 o'clock in the morning."

"No it can't… Nicki something's happened…"

That got her attention,

"Is everything okay?" Nicki pulled Angelee onto the bed; they sat down, "What is it?"

Wanting to cry, Angelee knew she couldn't; she was about to break the hardest news ever to her best friend and she had to be strong for her,

"It's… about Jason…" Nicki's body tensed up, "Nicki… Jason was found…"

"Oh thank god," she let out her breath, "why didn't you say so? I was worried."

"You didn't let me finish… Jason was found in Europe… Nic… Jason's dead."

Nicki gasped and covered her mouth,

"No… no you're lying!"

"I'm not lying," Nicki's eyes began to water; "I'm so… so sorry Nic."

The floodgates were open; tears gushing down Nicki's cheeks.

"No…" Angelee pulled her into her; Nicki crying against her jacket, "No… please tell me this isn't true…please…" Angelee couldn't answer; she hoped it wasn't true either, "Jason…"

She was never the same after that; none of them were. Dick took it especially hard; Jason was his younger brother he was supposed to look out for him but he failed. Batman spent every waking hour looking Jason's killer and swore on his life he would kill him. Joker… Joker did it again; this time with Ra's. December came around and two new recruits joined the team; Karen and her boyfriend Mal Duncan. Karen took the name Bumblebee as she was able to shrink to the size of a bee and shot yellow electric pulses that felt like a bee sting while Mal was there for com operator. M'gann and Conner were thrilled to have them join the team as they attended Happy Harbor High together all those years ago. They all had much to catch up on and spent a lot of time doing so. Things weren't the same between the BatClan for a while; a piece was missing without a Robin so Batman sought out a new one. Next year was bound to be difficult; things were really about to shake up.

So sad *sad face* I really liked Jason and Nicki together. I have a neat idea for them but you won't found out until the end of Season 2. Anyways, there is one chapter left but that won't be up until Monday or Tuesday; going to a friend's over the weekend and have to leave the laptop at home. But this way I can really think of how I want Year 5 to go; make it really good. I hope everyone is enjoying this so far; I'm having a blast writing it. Please review! Much love to all!