Chapter 14: Junior

Wayne Manor: Saturday, 09:00

The old butler placed the food in front of each person sat at the table in a delicate manner and nodding to the family as he moved to stand at the entrance of the dining room. The family tucked into their food silently until Bruce Wayne attempted to make small talk.

"So... Uh Dick, How's Zatanna?" He awkwardly asked, Small talk wasn't one of his strong suits.

Tim and Barbara snorted at the questioned and they both looked at Dick, waiting for his reply.

"She's good, we're good." Dick smirked. "Ah screw it with the small talk Bruce; Why are we really here Bruce? I never took you as someone who ate breakfast with his family." the ex boy wonder chuckled and the new Robin and the redhead turned to the billionaire at the end of the large table.

The Bat placed his cutlery onto his plate and placed his hands onto the table, "I know what you three are doing. You're searching for 'The Doctor' aren't you?" he sternly questioned.

"Yeah we are, do you know anything Bruce? Anything at all?" Barbara quickly chimed in as Dick glared over to her, this was supposed to be their problem without the help of the Justice League.

"As much as you do. Drop this hunt, He isn't your priority." He coldly insisted.

"He shouldn't be our priority? Bruce, he almost killed us two years ago and he killed Garth's father." Barbara disagreed with a raised voice. Tim carried on eating his food as the other three bickered.

"Barbara. You three don't stand a chance against him and for the sake of the you all this is now a Justice League matter." Bruce decided. "I'll be heading this investigation from this point on. When I find anything of use and if I need your help I will let you know. Speaking of which I should head down to the cave, Thank you for the food Alfred. " The Bat stood up from his table and walked out of the room leaving the three young heroes to their own devices.

"That could have went better." Dick declared.

The redhead gave a quick glare over to Dick, "You think?" she responded.

"It's probably good that he has the Justice League's attention now. Now he has the two teams hunting him." Tim pointed out as he swallowed the food in his mouth.

"The reason we didn't want them involved Tim is because it makes us look like we asked for their help, it makes us look weak." The Ex Boy Wonder explained as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

The redhead scooted her chair out from behind the expensive table and sighed, "I'm going to go talk to him." she announced.

"Good luck Babs, It's never worked for me." Dick joked.

The redhead left the room and turned the grandfather clock placed in his office and spun the hands of the clock to the time '10:47' which opened up the doorway to The Batcave. She moved down the chiseled staircase to see Bruce dressed in his costume with his cowl hanging behind his head. She could see the Batman persona across his face meaning it was going to be a lot harder to talk to him.

"Need something Batgirl?" He asked with a monotone voice.

"Yeah. Why do you think you can shut down one of our operations?" she snapped.

Bruce turned his body away from the monitors with all kinds of data plastered onto them and gave Barbara a serious look, "Because despite you and Nightwing not liking it, you report to me with matters of the team and you tried to hide it from me. So now I have to get involved." he retaliated

Bruce paused for a brief moment as he looked at the frown on her face, he then scanned her body, her posture and her facial expressions. "You're pregnant aren't you?" he questioned.

The Redhead was taken aback by Batman's sudden question, she wasn't ready for anybody to know. She wanted to tell the father first but what did she expect? she's stood before the worlds greatest detective.

Batman sighed, "Is it Richard's?" he softly spoke. Barbara shook her head. "Don't tell me it's his..." Batman complained.

Barbara quickly wiped a tear from her glistening eyes, "It's his... It's Garth's..." she mumbled.

"Are you keeping it?" Bruce cautiously asked as he walked over to her placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I uh... Yeah. I am..." she whispered. Bruce pulled the stammering redhead into his chest and began patting her hair, "I'm going to have to forbid you from going on patrol and missions, You know that right?" he cautioned. Barbara sniffled and took a deep breath, "I know that..."

"Does anybody other than me know?" Batman wondered.

"Only you..." She announced.

"He needs to know." The Dark Knight advised.

"I'm going to tell him soon, I just need to get everything sorted." she opened up.

"Good." Bruce and Barbara now pulled away from each other, "If you need anything Barbara, Anything at all let me know." He smiled. Barbara wasn't used to seeing Bruce like this, he was always stern and cold constantly building walls between people. It was one of the reasons Dick became Nightwing.

Metropolis: Saturday 15:46

Artemis and Garth spent most of the afternoon led in bed binge watching television and enjoying each others company. Neither of them truly expected they'd have a calm afternoon like they did today but they both enjoyed it as much as they could. Well, that was until Nightwing called Garth in for a mission.

Artemis led on top of her bed sheets in her yoga pants and a baggy blue shirt with a satisfied grin on her face, what a day she had. The Archer remembered what happened earlier, with the shifty young man handing her an envelope; Artemis grow curious about the envelope so she stood up from the bed and made her way over to her desk where the envelope sat. She reached over to the envelope and grasped it in her right hand and unsealed it with the other. She reached her hand into the package and pulled out a stack of photos, a frown appeared on her face, they were of Garth.

'They must be from his time in London', she thought to herself.

The first picture was Garth sat in the passenger seat of a car with a cigarette in his hand a bloodstain on his cheek. The second was of him surrounded by a bunch of thugs knocked out on the floor with him grasping the chest of one man with his fist pulled back gearing to throw a punch, Artemis took note of how bloody Garth's knuckles were, they were smothered in blood. The next picture took Artemis by surprise, it was a picture of the man Garth had beaten to a bloody pulp, it was so bad bile formed at the back of her throat. There were a multiple pictures of Garth being way too violent with the thugs of London but then a picture of just Garth appeared. The picture was of his back. He was leaning over the bloodstained sink with a collection of freshly open scars covering his body and a small pool of blood at his feet. Artemis' lips quivered and her breath escaped her as she dropped the pictures on the floor and took a step back to compose herself. Once she had found her bearings her attention shifted back to the pictures now on the floor. One photo in particular stood out to her. The image was of a naked backside of a redhead, it seemed like a familiar color of red to Artemis but as she picked the image up she noticed Garth was led on the bed in front of her. It seems like 'The Doctor' was right he did spend his time with other women.

A scowl appeared on her face as she began to collect all the pictures together, she saw multiple pictures of Garth and Barbara moving down the entertainment strip of of Gotham City. That's when she saw the last picture, one that crushed her heart, She saw her best friend and her boyfriend fucking. Garth was above Barbara with smiles across both of their faces. She tensed her grip around the the small but thick stack of photographs and threw them against the wall behind her letting out a shriek as she collapsed onto the floor with her head in her hands. Her eyes reluctantly removed from her lap as she looked over to the scattered, crumpled pictures on the floor once more, this time seeing writing on the back of a few of the images. She ordered the pictures and saw one word written on some of them:

"You Do Not Know The Real Garth Davies."

Her face grimaced, she didn't care if she was putting herself in harms way she wanted answers as to why she was being tortured like this. Artemis threw on some clothes and stormed over to the door slamming it against the wall as she opened it. That's when her gaze met his. The man in black.

Mt. Justice: Saturday, 20:10

The Bio-ship's door opened and the nine costumed heroes stepped down from the ramp and were greeted with a smile by Batgirl. Nightwing looked at his friend and gave her a sad smile, she had told him about her predicament and that she had decided to leave the team.

"Hey Batgirl! we could really have done with your helped today!" Beast Boy joked, "Nightwing got himself in trouble and Robin had to bail him out for a change." Lagoon Boy teasingly stated.

"Half true." Nightwing winked to the redheaded bat.

"Of course it is." she teased with a smirk.

At the back of the group in his black and red costume was 'Indra' AKA Garth Davies, the unsuspecting father of her child. Barbara's chest tightened as she felt butterflies in her stomach, there was no way she could prepare herself for this conversation. The redhead inhaled a deep breath through her nostrils and raised her voice, "Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" she clearly announced.

The group of heroes looked at each other and then at Nightwing who then turned his attention to Batgirl and the rest followed. Robin raised one of his eyebrows, suspicious of what she was going to say.

"I'm leaving the team...", Her voice as quieter now.

"What? Why?!" a multiple of combined voices cried out. Garth stood at the back of the group perplexed over his best friend's sudden announcement, he couldn't help but wonder what this was all about.

"It's um... It's my health." she answered with a fake smile.

"Why are you smiling?" Miss Martian questioned.

"We can help, right? We know the Justice League! I'm sure they have a super advanced medical site. You can use the Amazons purple ray if you need to!" Wondergirl exclaimed.

Barbara gave a real smile this time, she was happy about how much her team cared in fact her eyes began to glisten from her happiness. But as she looked over to Garth she saw his confused yet suspicious look, he hadn't said anything yet but she knew he knew she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"You guys don't need to worry, I'm not in any danger. I'll be back before you know it!" she beamed. The younger heroes gave each other more confused looks and then shrugged.

"This means we can have another party right?" Beast Boy cheered as he looked at Nightwing who again then looked at Batgirl for her permission.

"Sure, why not?" she smiled.

" Looks like we're having another party then! but no that Batgirl has made her announcement It's time to hit the showers team. I'm sure Miss Martian will cook up something nice as a reward for all your hard work this week." Nightwing chimed in. The Ex- Boy Wonder then looked over to Garth and gave him a downward nod signaling a 'good luck' to his friend. Garth lingered as his teammates walked off and made his way beside Batgirl as she watched the young heroes and her friends walk away.

"What is this really about Babs?", The Electric Man questioned as he took off his black cap and pulled his goggles up to his forehead.

"Garth, I'm..." The redhead paused as her throat croaked, her eyes glistened once more. Garth turned to his friend and pulled her into an embrace, he knew it was something serious. But what?

"Barbara, You know you can tell me anything. So what is it? What's got you like this?" he questioned with caring tone. The Redhead partially pulled out from his arms slowly and placed her hands onto his armored chest. She looked up and from his torso and looked into his eyes, she began to feel comfortable again, as if his eyes were magic. She took another deep breath and came out with it, "Garth... I'm pregnant." she stated.

Garth moved his gaze from the beautiful redhead's eyes and looked towards the ground and furrowed his brow. He then turned back to the girl in his arms and looked back into her eyes, "Is it Nightwing's? I saw the looks he was giving you a minute ago." he asked.

"It's not Nightwing's." she frowned, why does everyone think the baby is Dick's?

"It's yours, Garth. The baby is undoubtedly yours." she confirmed. The Electric Man's expression became stoic. Barbara couldn't tell what he was thinking and it was driving her insane, it felt like an eternity before he spoke another word.

"Fucking shit." He mumbled. "You're sure it's mine? And you're keeping it?" he added.

Barbara stepped back out from his arms somewhat annoyed. She knew he wouldn't be excited about it or happy but him asking if she was keeping it irritated her somehow, It felt as if wished their night together never happened.

"I'm one hundred percent sure that it is yours and yes I'm keeping it." she coldly stated, clearly showing her frustration with him. However, her demeanor suddenly changed as she saw the new expression on Garth's face. A smile had crept onto his lips as if he was genuinely happy which took the redhead by surprise.

"Are you... Are you smiling?!" she marveled.

The Electric Man's eyebrows raised as he began to laugh. The laugh was hearty and loud, he began to lean over and hold his stomach to try to contain it.

Garth eventually was able to calm down, he wiped away a tear from the laughter and he sighed.

"Ah fuck me... Something unexpected always throws my life off track. I'm used to it by now." he smirked.

Barbara tilted her head and squinted her eyes, "So you aren't mad at me? You're completely fine with being the father of my child." she questioned. Garth walked towards the beautiful redhead and grasped her hands with his, "Barbara, If I should be mad at anyone then I should be mad at myself. I caused this situation so I'll be damned if I take it out on you. And no I'm not completely fine with having a kid. I'm not even sure if I'm ready to be a father, I'm twenty for fuck sake so I don't know how you're feeling..." he confessed with a compassionate look as Barbara tightened her grip onto his hands, silently answering his indirect question. She was terrified and needed his support.

"...I just hope I'm a good dad to my child... Our child..." He smiled as he placed his left hand onto her stomach. Tears began to flood Barbara's eyes, this was not the reaction she was expecting. She expected lots of cursing, a shouting match and a lot of stuff thrown against the wall, not him being compassionate and making her fall even harder for him. God did she despise how he did that to her.

"What about Artemis?" Barbara quickly questioned as she wiped the tears with her gauntlets.

Garth let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, "Today and yesterday were some of the best days that I've had in years. We told each other we love each other Babs..." he croaked.

"...I'm sorry" Barbara crumbled, she couldn't hold back the waterfalls from her eyes.

"Don't be. Artemis deserves someone better than me but I'm going to talk to her about all of this soon. She'll either beat me to a bloody pulp and never speak to me again or by some divine power she'll forgive me... Fuck if I know." he mumbled.

Barbara managed to stop the tears, sighed through her nose and let go of his hand, "Didn't Nightwing say that it's time to hit the showers?" she sniffled with a quick laugh.

Garth snorted, "You're right, This costume really needs some air filters..." he joked.

The Electric Man walked past The Batgirl and as he walked through the doorway he turned back towards he and smiled, "We'll get through this Babs. You, Me and Garth Junior" he teased.

"We are so not calling it that." she smirked.

Gotham City: Saturday, 21:14

Barbara climbed the stairs rundown stairs of the Gotham apartment building and inserted her key into the lock. She pulled the door towards her, twisted the kid and thrusted her shoulder against the wood, "The landlord really needed to fix this door" she muttered to herself. Once she had entered her apartment she pushed the door shut and threw her brown trench coat onto the coat hanger and walked into the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of coffee.

"I'll have mine black, please.", A gravelly voice announced from the living room. The redhead quickly grabbed a sharp knife from the draw and turned towards the couch where a man dressed in black comfortably sat.

"You." The Redhead sneered as she brandished the knife in his direction.

"Nice to see you again... ugh what was your name again? Betty? Beatrice?" he questioned.

"You know damn well what my name is." she grumbled.

"Ah, it's all coming back to me now. Batgirl! Also known as Barbara Gordon. The only daughter of Commissioner Gordon and you're also the sibling to a one 'James Gordon Jr' the psychopathic killer with no empathy." he laughed.

Barbara began to slowly walk out of the kitchen area towards the entrance of her apartment, "You know all of that yet you still don't know who you're dealing with." she threatened, knife still pointing towards him. Within a second Barbara found herself thrown against the wall with a hand gripped tightly around her wrist, forcing her to drop the knife and another hand wrapped around her soft throat. Barbara attempted to throw a punch with her free left hand but as her clenched fist made it halfway towards it's target her arm went limp.

"I know exactly who I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with a frightened little girl. A frightened little girl who can't have what she wants. It's been quite funny watching Garth's little adventures all this time, but oh my was it a plot twist when he jumped into bed and impregnated a dirty bitch like you. It was quite hilarious but do you wanna know what really got me dying of laughter? Go on! Ask me what made me laugh." he bellowed, commanding her to answer his question as his grip tightened around her throat.

"Wh-What made... You... La-Laugh?" she answered as she struggled to breath let alone speak.

"He thought he could be happy." he chuckled as he loosened his grip around her throat and let go of her wrist. With his free hand he began to gently run his palm across her stomach, "You can't make him happy. This thing inside of you can't make him happy. The boy wasn't raised to be happy, He was raised to be the opposite." he seethed to himself.

"Fuck... You." Barbara growled.

"This'll hurt you. A lot. Don't worry though Betty, If you don't survive just know I have a good history with orphaned children." The Red-Eyed Demon exasperated as he placed two fingers onto the redheads forehead.