Author's Notes:

(I know, title's kinda poor...)

This marks the beginning of part two of the story: Betrayal! (And I recommend checking out that song by Halford. Even though it has screaming, it is a flippin' awesome song.) Motivation finally came after watching "Betrayal" and both parts of "The Curse of the Kobra" (the latter of which possibly being used for another fanfic I might do), and from taking a break from college.

Please read, review, and enjoy. :)


March 11, 2042

The nightly patrol was uncomfortably silent. Even the inside of the Batmobile—which was usually filled with the buzzing of the police radio as well as the chatting between Batman, Batgirl and their mentor—was quiet.

Yet, each Bat knew why the others were silent.

Charlie Bigelow, aka Big Time, had escaped from prison just the previous night, twelve hours before he was due to appear in court against Coba. In spite of his crimes against the girl and her mother being a few years cold, Brooklyn managed to get a case against Bigelow with the help of Commissioner Barbara Gordon and District Attorney Sam Young. But now he's probably after me, Coba thought, which is why Bruce and Terry insisted that I come on patrol. Though I'd wanted to anyway: hard to sleep knowing Big Time's on the loose.

"We need help, please!" the radio finally crackled. "It's a giant, he's gotta be 10 feet tall! We're on Route Apple-Baker 4, near the dam. Hurry!"

"Hear that, guys?" Batgirl asked.

"Yeah, sis," Batman replied, disappointed.

"I heard it, too," Bruce's voice answered gravely over the comms. "Did you really think Big Time would lay low after going through all that trouble to break out?"

"I had my hopes," Terry confessed.

"It would have been more sensible of him if he did," Coba said. "Then again, breaking out of prison isn't exactly sensible, since you'd get a bunch of cops hunting you down."

"You're starting to sound like you could be a criminal mastermind, sis," Terry dryly remarked.

"Helps to try to understand your enemy," she said grimly. "Though the best way to avoid being arrested is to not break the law in the first place."

"You're not thinking of going there, are you?"

Bruce's question confused the siblings. "Of course we are," Coba said gruffly.

"Both of you, leave this to the police," Wayne said urgently.

"Why should we do that?" Terry asked.

"Because, Terry, Charlie—Big Time—is your friend, and Coba has a grudge against him."

"Was my friend," McGinnis growled, speeding up the Batmobile to get to the location of the crime.

"I can handle my emotions," Coba said, hoping she was telling the truth. "I'll focus on the first aid of the victims, if it makes you feel better."

"It does, a little," Bruce confessed.

Batgirl suppressed a sigh. She understood their biological father's concerns for them when it came to Big Time, and she felt bad whenever they disobeyed him. It makes him worried, even if he won't admit it, she thought gravely. As she and Batman arrived at the crime scene, they were dismayed to see Bigelow throwing cops as though they were rag dolls. Well, I'll be too busy helping them to really worry about facing Bigelow. At least I can keep my promise to Father about that.

Batman reached up and pulled down on the handles above him, causing himself and his half-sister to be dropped out of the Batmobile. Both braced themselves for landing, though they would land on different surfaces: Batgirl on the paved highway, Batman on Big Time. Coba went over to the injured truck drivers and police officers while Terry distracted Big Time. The large villain managed to land a few punches on the young man, but Terry was just getting warmed up. As Charlie came at him again, Batman jumped up and landed a kick on his gut, causing Big Time to double over in pain and thus allowing Batman to kick his face. To hold him in place, Batman threw multiple bolas with batarangs that dug themselves into the pavement.

Batgirl was aiding the last officer, whom had an injured neck, when she saw a police cruiser being started up. That's weird. None of the people I've helped were in any shape to drive, let alone get up. Her eyes grew wide with realization. Oh, dregs. Bigelow has a partner! She had no time to warn Batman about the second villain as the vehicle came at her at full speed. Supporting her patient's head, she leapt out of the way, just barely escaping the car. Coba checked the cop's vitals to make sure the move had not killed him, and was relieved to find a pulse. Thank goodness the strength of my suit worked this time, she thought. Otherwise, both of us might have been killed! The thought reminded her of something. Terry! "Batman, look out!" she shouted as she turned her head to see him.

Terry lifted his head to see the cruiser was coming at him, but had no time to move out of the way. The vehicle knocked him away from the tethered Big Time, then the driver used its blasters to free the giant. Big Time jumped on board before the stolen hover car sped out into the night. Batman stood up and watched in frustration as it flew further out of sight. He turned to Coba. "Why didn't you warn me sooner? I could have gotten them both!"

His tone caused Coba to flinch a bit. "I couldn't," she said quietly in a tense voice. "I was busy making sure the cops and I didn't get killed by that cruiser."

Batman opened his mouth to yell, but then stopped. Their lives are important too, he reminded himself. "Oh," he said in a more silent voice. "I'm sorry, sis."

"I'm sorry, too. I should've done something."

"You did everything you could."

But did I? the girl wondered in confusion. Or was I too afraid to face Bigelow?

~!~

After a few more hours of patrol, the two Bats reported back to the Batcave. Terry removed his cowl as he and Coba neared the Batcomputer, though the small teen kept hers on until they got there. Without having to ask or even look at him, the siblings knew Bruce was disappointed. "He got away, huh?" he said in his usual groveled tone.

Terry and Coba looked down in shame. "Yeah," the girl said grimly.

"He had a partner with him, but I didn't see—wait a second." Terry looked up with a glare. "You're thinking I let him get away because he was my friend."

"I didn't say that," Bruce said defensively.

"You didn't have to!"

Brooklyn watched in dismay as McGinnis stormed off after his outburst. She sadly looked at Bruce after a moment. "I know you were thinking it, Bruce," she said quietly.

To her surprise, Bruce looked down. "So did Terry, but I knew it would hurt him if I said it. I guess it hurt worse when I didn't."

"I guess so."

"I understand how he feels about this, though—"

"I don't think you do," Coba cut him off with a sharp edge in her voice. "If anything was holding him back, it was his guilt for what happened to Charlie. Not the fact that they were friends. He feels Charlie's incident with the Cerestone could have been avoided."

Bruce looked at her. "And what do you think?"

"Maybe, but not in the long run, considering that he's a criminal," she replied. "If it wasn't Cerestone, it could have been something else that hurt him—or even worse."

"I agree." Wayne looked at her with grim curiosity. "You look troubled."

Coba nodded. "I feel likewise."

"Care to explain?" When his ward shook her head reluctantly, he understood. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Father," Batgirl said quietly.

"Don't be, kid," the old man gently told her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You're right, though. I might make it harder on you." He looked at the clock on the computer. "You should try to get some rest," he advised. "You've got classes starting at noon."

"Okay," Coba responded. "Good night—err, early morning." Upon receiving a nod of acknowledgement from him, she went up into the manor and entered her room. Would he have understood if I told him how I feel about my performance tonight? Coba wondered as she fed her rat Ed and dog Ace. No, maybe not. He'd say I did what I could, then ask me if I'm afraid of Big Time. She washed her hands, then changed into her pajamas. But I'm not afraid of him anymore. As she laid down on her bed, however, another uncertain thought occurred. Am I?

~!~

The following afternoon proved to be a tough one for Coba. In spite of her attempts at meditating like Raven had taught her during the girl's visit to the Titans' Tower a two months before, Brooklyn could not get her confusion and anger of the previous night's events out of her head enough to concentrate on her college work, let alone to listen to the professors' instructions for the assignments. They had noticed her struggling and tried to help, but they could not get her to come out of her thoughts to do her work, so they suggested that she see the campus counsellor. Although she knew she had to talk to someone about her stress, Coba knew better than to visit the counsellor about this issue. I may as well tell her I'm Batgirl if I do! I'm starting to wish I had talked to Bruce...

Brooklyn immediately shook her head as she left campus. No, that would have made things more disastrous than it was today. I know Grandmother would have gotten upset at the mention of Bigelow, and Grandfather's in Blϋdhaven at the moment. She heaved a sigh. And Terry's got a struggle with this anyway, and I don't doubt that he's talking to Max about it. I wish there was someone else I could confide in, like Terry still does with Max.

"Coba, wait up!"

The girl slowed to a stop and turned to face the speaker, but already knew who it was. "Mark?"

The young man in question sprinted towards her before stopping beside her. "Hey! I saw you walk by and a paper fell out of your bag." He held an item out to her.

Coba could not help but face palm at the sight of it. It was her schoolwork for the day! "Oh, dregs! Thanks, Mark," she said gratefully as she accepted it and placed it in a stronger pouch in her backpack. "You saved my butt."

And not for the first time, she mentally noted. Mark Wilson—a young vigilante named Silverstar—was the son of Superboy and Ravager, both former members of the Teen Titans. During her visit to the Titans' Tower, Batgirl had been captured by Red X to be killed by Cinderblock, but it was Silverstar's intervention that allowed her to live to this day. Afterwards, they discovered each other's identities and made it a point to stay in touch.

"Are you okay?" Mark inquired, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You look troubled."

It was hard for Coba to not feel more relieved by Mark's appearance. Mark's more than trustworthy enough. After seeing me in action in Jump City, he's probably the only one who will get what I'm about to say. In a quiet voice, she explained the previous night's events to her friend as they walked, including her own misgivings about how she handled them and about her previous history with Bigelow. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I'm not afraid of Bigelow himself anymore," Coba added sagely.

"Then, what are you afraid of?" Mark inquired.

"I'm afraid that my anger towards him will get me to kill him."

Wilson nodded in grim understanding. Coba had lost control of her temper in Jump City while fighting Red X, and had come close to killing the villain. And she nearly lost control before with Big Time, he thought. "I see," he said. "But don't let your fear of yourself get out of hand. It may very well cause you lose control of your anger."

Brooklyn gave a small nod. Before she could say anything, the high-pitched howl of a hovercraft coming to a quick halt caused the two friends to turn their heads in surprise as a black car pulled up by the sidewalk. Two large men wearing black and green clothing and sunglasses stepped out of the car. The largest of the men, a bald African American wearing a trench coat, moved forward and grabbed Coba. "Hey!" she shouted, managing to slip out of his grasp.

The other man, a blond Caucasian wearing a muscle shirt, lunged at her as she got free from his partner's grasp. Mark quickly got between them and punched the man, causing him to stumble back. "Back off, dregs!"

The white man steadied himself and stood beside his partner as Wilson kept his friend behind him. "This doesn't concern you," the man growled.

Mark glared. "It does now!" Coba, I recommend that you run.

No, not this time. Brooklyn stepped forward as the black man came at her again, but she flipped down onto her back and kicked him over her and into the wall. The other man came at her, but was kicked away by Wilson. The boy kept his senses about him as both men came at him, but only had to deal with one as Coba slammed herself into the smaller of the two villains, punching his nose as she did so.

The white thug stumbled backwards into the side of the car. He wiped a bit of blood from his mouth as he stood up straight. "Forget them!" he called to his companion, ready to get back into the car. "We already have what the boss wanted."

The second thug went to the car as well, though he was limping heavily. Once both thugs were back inside, the vehicle tore off into the streets. Coba watched as they left. Who is their boss, and what did they get that he or she wanted? she wondered.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked concernedly.

"Yeah, thanks," Coba replied. "But something isn't quite right."

"Who would want to send someone after you?"

"At the moment, I can only think of Bigelow, but—" Coba was cut off by the ringing of her phone. Her eyes widened as she read the caller ID, but answered it. "Max?"

"Coba?! Something's happened to Terry!"

"Whoa, calm down," Coba said, though she was already feeling a knot form in her gut. She knew from Mark's expression that he could hear what was going on. "What happened?"

"We were on our way home from school, the car came out of nowhere, and—"

"Max—"

"It didn't have a license plate, and—"

"Max—"

"I tried to stop them, really I did, but—"

"Max!" Coba said sharply, which to her dismay was the only way to get her friend to stop panicking. "What happened to Terry?"

"How did you not understand? He was kidnapped!"

Max's exclamation rang loud in Coba's ears. The small teen looked at Mark with a shocked expression, which was identical to his own. So that's what they were talking about... and they were just here... "Oh, dregs," Coba breathed.


Yep, I'm throwing challenges left and right for Coba... as usual...

The mental link Coba and Mark share is based on one Silverlynx13 developed while working on their own story to develop Silverstar's character, though it is likely that, since she can read minds, that Coba can eventually mentally communicate with others. Plus, though it was never made clear to me, it may be possible that Mark can read minds as well.

Mark Wilson/Silverstar belongs to Silverlynx13 and is used with permission.