**Whew** long chapter, but definitely meaty. Hope everyone likes it and has as much fun reading it as I did writing it. :) :) :)

SHOUT OUTS to my new followers! WOOP!

animedancin13, I'd love to dance with anime too! :3

illusionsanddreams, ooooh, sounds so... so mystical...

shadowboxing, sounds like party of a time and also like something you do in Kingdom Hearts (love that game!)

Enjoy the meatiness of chapter eight...

Chapter Eight: Grand Jete and Coda

Anna felt Bruce's eyes watching her as they'd never watched her before. She felt so... examined.

"Anna?" He began.

Tears poured from her eyes, "I'm so sorry! I-I...I should have told you...!" She shook as Bruce held her in his arms.

"Anna," Bruce gently placed her in front of him, so he could look into her eyes, "Anna, it's alright."

She calmed down a bit, "But there are so many things I should have told you... about me, a-about the Joker..."

To her surprise, he didn't seem phased at all, "Come with me." He instructed. He took her to a wall, pressed in a code and the wall cracked open as if it were a door. It led them down a hallway and eventually to a room. Anna was astounded as she looked around, how long had Bruce kept this a secret? Why would he keep it a secret? Her mind raced with questions. All of them answered as soon as she laid her eyes on a black, leathery looking suit that stood within a case.

"You're..." Her eyes widened, looking between both the suit and Bruce. Was it really true?

He simply nodded. Her shock ended all too soon, as she remembered all the moments he'd saved her. She combined her interactions with both Batman and Bruce, they were one and the same. Suddenly, it hit her, he'd heard what she said to the Joker the last time he'd saved her. Not Batman, but Bruce, had heard what she said.

"You heard..." She began.

"I did." He confirmed, "The Joker plays sick games. Especially if he believes he's found a crack inside the walls of a sane person. Which is why I brought you here to show you all of this."

"I see." She replied, "So you believe I don't really think all of those things?"

"I believe you had a moment - several, even." He explained, "I watched you yesterday, Anna. I want to train you to protect yourself."

"I've had training." She hesitated, "Maybe not the best... but-"

"We're going to train, Anna, no question." Bruce was determined, "You know who I am, and I know who's after you. I'm going to train you so you are able to fight for yourself. I can guarantee there will be times when I won't be around to save you, Joker will make sure of that. He already has once."

Anna took everything in that Bruce said, she took a deep breath, "Okay. We'll train then."

"Good." Bruce walked towards the same hallway where they'd entered, "Meet me here every day at about three." He tossed a small device over to her, "Oh, and I want you to have this. One press of that button and I'll be wherever you are."

Anna nodded her head.

Days passed, soon it turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Ten months had gone by since the night Anna was abducted for the second time by the Joker. She'd trained for those ten months with Bruce and became stronger, faster and more agile than ever. It was her last night of training with Bruce.

"Anna," He said, still sweating from the training, "I have something for you."

"What's that?" She asked.

"Bring it in, Alfred." He motioned for Alfred to come out. In his hands, Alfred held a black, cloth-like material.

"Anything else, sir?"

Bruce shook his head, "No thank you, Alfred, this will do."

"Anything for you, Anna?" He asked.

"No thanks, Alfred, I'm fine." She smiled.

Bruce showed her the black object, it was a complete body suit, long gloves and all.

"This is for you." He handed it to her, "It's made out of fire, ice and plant resistant materials."

"Plant?" Anna asked curiously.

"Yes, plant." Bruce resisted explanation, he continued, "I want you to wear this under anything you wear in public. And if you are unable to wear it, keep it close by."

"I will." She replied, "Thank you, Uncle Bruce." He hadn't heard her call him that for a long time. He knew she was most sincere whenever she called him that.

"Oh, and I had these made for you." He handed her a pair of black boots, "They have metal plates in them, if by chance you step on anything sharp. Same rules for these too, okay?"

"Okay." She laughed.

"Your parents are stopping by today." Bruce reminded her, "I have work to do, so come get me if you need me, I'll be in here." He sat in his chair, beneath the various computer screens.

"Thanks again." She placed a hand on his shoulder, "For all that you've done."

Anna changed in her room. After setting her clothes on the bed, she looked her wounds over. The bullet wound on her leg no longer throbbed anymore. The scars from falling through the glass doors during her last abduction could still be seen in daylight, at times the scars resembled bird feathers to her. She slipped into the black suit. It was a tight fit, but yet comfortable at the same time. She felt very at home in it. Her thoughts drifted to Bruce, then to her boyfriend Robin. The two of them had been going steady for those ten months, she hadn't mentioned a word of her training to Robin. She was very muscular from her ballet dancing as it was, so Robin never questioned it. Anna had only been accepting weekend dates with Robin because every night during the week, she was to train with Bruce.

The boots Bruce had given her weren't clunky looking as she'd thought they'd be. They were sleek and just as flexible as the suit itself. She could even do her pointework while wearing them. He had mentioned that there were metal plates inside of them, but he hadn't mentioned their box shape. Bruce had truly put thought into how the shoes would be made for Anna. She slipped her shirt over her head and put her pants and jacket back on over the top of her suit. She already felt a little safer.

There were then three taps on the door. Anna opened her door.

"You have a visitor, Ms. Dawes." Alfred had an odd look on his face. She went to see who was there for her.

"Anna!" It was her mother, arms outstretched and a little too happy for comfort. Anna knew that whenever her mother was this perky, something strange was going on.

"Hi... mom..." She hesitantly replied, "Where's dad? Why didn't he come?"

"Ohh, you know..." She gestured her hands as if it made no difference or it wasn't that big of a deal, "He's feeling a little under the weather..."

"Oh..." Anna was disappointed, she hadn't seen her father for a year, but things were always this way. Her mother seemed to carry on the conversation without explanation of what, exactly, was wrong with Anna's father.

"That's so wonderful that the Monarch Theater is reopening tomorrow!" She was, indeed, too happy, "SO glad that you didn't come home." Of course she was, words began dumping out of her mouth, "What a pain that would have been to come home for a few months, then come back. I knew it'd reopen, it was just a matter of time. I told your father that it would, he wanted you to come back home, but I told him you needed to be out on your own. I told him that if you came back here, you'd never forgive him for it. I only came today to see if you're doing well, and apparently you are so I'll just make my way towards the door!" She flipped her hair and turned towards the door.

"Right." Anna replied, annoyance building up within her, "Tell dad... actually, I'll just call him. Thanks for letting me know how things are going."

"Of course, dear!" She said, gingerly opening the door, "Toodles!"

"Bye." She said back, the door closing. Anna watched her mother get inside the car her father usually took and drive off.

"Everything alright, Ms. Dawes?" Alfred asked.

Anna's eyes glazed over with tears. No, everything wasn't alright. Her father was sick, no one had bothered to call her for the past year and her mother was clearly up to something. Everything was awful. Anna sighed.

"I'm going for a walk, Alfred." She said.

"But it's getting dark outside, Anna." Alfred pointed out.

"It'll only be a short walk and I'll be alright." She smiled, placing her hand on his arm.

As soon as Anna set foot outside, she stomped off, angrier than she'd ever felt in her life. Who did Nola think she was?! Sure, she was her mother, but it certainly never felt that way. Aren't mothers supposed to be attached to their children? At least a little bit? She'd certainly never seen this side of Nola before. Why, the day she'd moved in with Bruce, Nola was ramming it down her throat how she'd never be an independent woman and how she didn't need a man to take down her career. Speaking of which, she didn't even fish for information on Anna's love life. Something seemed so off, but it had always been that way with her mother. Not her, her almost Uncle, her boyfriend or even Batman himself could change those facts.

As Anna walked down the sidewalks and past the dark alleyways across town, she heard some shuffling and noises.

"Stop!" A muffled voice let out.

"Quiet lady!" A louder voice yelled back, "You're making this harder than it has to be!"

Anna walked closer to the alleyway it sounded like it was coming from. There it was, black and white in the alleyway, a man had a woman pinned to the brick wall.

"Take it off!" He yelled at her, "Take it off or I'm gonna take it off for ya!"

"NO!" The woman shrieked.

"Hey jerk!" Anna called over to him.

"Huh?" He looked over his shoulder at her, dropping the woman he was threatening. He and Anna walked closer to each other.

"Leave her alone." Anna's voice was strong and determined.

"So the little girl wants to play, huh?" He lifted his hands up to her face, before he could touch her, she grabbed his hands, using his own weight to flip him onto the ground. He grimaced in pain, but got back up, putting both of his fists up for the fight. He lunged at Anna, missing as she made her way behind him and spun as she kicked him repeatedly in the back. He slammed into the brick wall and turned to face her again, "That's IT little girl! You're goin' down!" He taunted.

Finishing him, she punched him in his solar plexus, leaving him unconscious.

"Ohh!" The woman who was threatened gasped, "Thank you so much!"

Anna smiled at her, "Don't thank me. Anyone who sees things like this shouldn't let it happen. I suggest you go tell the police..." They both looked down at the man, "He'll be laying there for awhile." Anna said.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" The woman called as she ran out of the alleyway and towards the police station.

Anna began walking back to Bruce's house. She stared at her hands, she'd never felt so alive and so amazing in all of her life. No wonder Bruce worked as a vigilante by night. Defeating crime felt just as good, no, better than when she would dance. She felt so free and so useful taking down a "bad guy." She just had to ask Bruce if she could help him, she had to. She'd settle for sidekick, anything to keep this feeling inside her.

Anna rushed in the house, "Bruce?!" She called wildly.

"What, what is it?" He said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I need to ask you something!" She began, sounding like a teenager about to confess their love.

"What?" He inquired further.

"I want to help you." She said, "I want to help you fight crime and -"

"Where did you get this idea?" Bruce asked.

"Tonight, just a few minutes ago, I-I helped a woman escape from a criminal!" She explained, "I've never felt so wonderful and so useful!"

"You did what?" Bruce asked, in disbelief, "I trained you to defend yourself, not to go off fighting crime!"

"But, please, I need to do this, I-"

"No." He shut his eyes briefly and opened them again, "I can't let you do that. I can't let you wind up like-"

"Like Rachel? But, Bruce! I want to! She would want me to!" She begged, "I need to do this, Bruce, for me! I need to-"

"I said no!" He yelled at her, the tension rising in the room, "I should have never trained you." Bruce cut the tension short and stormed out of the room. Anna's arms and shoulders dropped, she was defeated.

"Ms. Dawes... Anna..." Alfred tried to console her, "Are you-"

"I'm fine." She stared blankly at the wall, then at Alfred, "I'm going to go to my room now. I may have to cancel the ballet tomorrow."

"I'll be sure and tell them, Ms. Dawes." Alfred replied respectfully, before walking away, he reminded her, "Am I to cancel your outing with Mr. Blake this evening as well?"

"Oh, I guess not. I'll go get changed." Her voice was completely empty. She walked back to her bedroom. Anna slipped into a long, silky white/silver dress she'd had picked out for their date that night. The two of them had planned on going to the annual midnight ball of Gotham.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated on her nightstand, she picked it up.

"Hey Lisey, I'm so, so sorry. I've been called in to work tonight, last minute. Something about some crazy woman beating up some criminal in an alleyway. Lots and lots of love ~Your Robin"

She felt horrible, her life could not get any worse at this point. Anna walked over to the edge of her bed and noticed a white envelope on the edge of it. Slowly, she opened it and pulled out what was inside.

"I'll take you to the real ball. Tonight at 10:32, sharp." Was scribbled in red ink on a joker card.

END CHAPTER EIGHT