Overall summary: Barbara Gordon is a 19 year old college student at Gotham University and is the daughter of Gotham police commissioner James 'Jim' Gordon. She had always been interested in fighting crime and protecting the city, however, she didn't just want to follow in the footsteps of her father as an officer. Then, 'he' came along. No one knew too much about the Batman but what is sure is that he was stopping a lot of crimes within the city. After encountering him, Barbara had chosen to become a vigilante of her own. Building her own suit and gadgets. Barbara had made her choice to be her own hero, and she named herself, Batgirl.

Issue #0 - Rumors of a Dark Knight

My father used to tell me the best way to win a fight is to walk away. Being the daughter of the Commissioner of the GPD, I didn't quite get what he meant. To protect people, sometimes you need to get your hands dirty. My name is Barbara Gordon, I'm a sophomore student at the Gotham University. 19 years old. A few weeks ago, I was able to do my online lessons. Didn't have a job or much of an alliance so I just moved back in with my dad. He lived downtown in the middle of the city. From my university I packed my bags, got in a cab and off I went. It was a big enough apartment for me to have my own room. Moving in seemed to go fairly well and of course, being a father, he was glad to have me over. But unfortunately for me, that also meant he still had some control over me. My dad was usually busy with his work, with Gotham being one of the top places of maniacs and psycho criminals. Not to flatter myself, but I even helped my dad out with some of his cases. Then soon enough, that's when I started to hear about 'him'. The Batman.

It was late and I was finishing up a research project on the muscles and pressure points in the human body. I was sitting on the laptop on the couch with the lights on. My dad wasn't home yet as I looked over at the clock on the kitchen wall for what time it was. 8:30 way longer than he normally would have come home. Usually when that happens that means something's wrong or he was just running late. Either way it made me nervous and all I could do was hope for the Best. A bullet proof vest may protect your chest, but there are other places on your body you can get shot at, and or killed. Luckily I could hear the door open and my father walk in, his trench coat was soaking wet from the rain outside. His hand had what seemed to be some work papers and files, and as he closed the door, some take out. He seemed beat, but every night I'm just glad he came back safe as a smile crossed my face and I put everything down.

"Hey honey, I'm home." He announced as he tried to smile back at me.

I ran up to him and gave him a hug. "You're late", I stated as I slightly let go.

"I know, I know. Didn't mean to keep you waiting or worry, just had to finish up an arrest."

"Catch any bad guys?" I asked with a smirk.

"A couple." Lifting up a bag, he asked "hungry?"

"Starving." I answered.

We weren't the classiest family as we just ate from the boxes and with chopsticks. While eating, I asked "so, how was your day?"

I still had some food in my mouth as he slightly laughed and asked "excuse me?"

Laughing back, I swallowed and asked again "how was your day?"

"The usual, long and exhausting." He answered.

"Mind if I ask who you arrested?"

"Sorry pumpkin, not this time."

"Dad, if there's still a case to follow I can help." I insisted.

"Well, there's no need because the scumbag was caught by the Batman. That's one less mob boss off the streets."

"But another one could take his place." I replied. Trying to help, I suggested "maybe you should try and hit the source of all the gangs and mobs. I mean they have to meet up somewhere some time. Even if it's against one another in a gang war or something."

"Yeah, but without a lead, there's no time or way we can track one." My father didn't seem quite happy with my suggestion as he said "Barbara I know you want to help and protect people but getting yourself into police business is dangerous."

"I'm just trying to help." I retorted. "You barely talk about work only makes it even more suspicious."

"You know why I keep it a secret."

"Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Sweetheart, you're smart, but you're not indestructible. There are dangerous men in this city, with connections and big guns."

"Okay, okay. I'll stay out of it. But I just thought you'd be able to trust me."

Letting out a sigh, he explained "sweetheart, I do trust you. But now just isn't the time. Maybe when you're older I can be more open about my job. But for now keeping you out of harm's way is more important than any case in the world.

As much as I thought he was being unfair, I followed his request and stayed out of it. And maybe he's right about that last part. Maybe when I'm older I could join the police. After we finished eating, I told him, "I'll clean up. You should relax and get some sleep early."

"Sure, but I don't think there's enough time in the world that'll let me get as much rest as I need."

My father was holding a case file I got a glimpse at it while I was walking around the table to put the dishes away. Falcone was arrested by who appeared to be the Batman.

My father didn't ever say much about him, probably for both to protect me and he obligated to not reveal important information as an officer of the law. But I listened closely to be able to hear enough. No one besides the criminals arrested seemed to see him for themselves. From their description, the Batman lurks in the shadows. He looks like a large demon bat and shows criminals, no mercy, but doesn't kill.

"Have you ever seen him?" I asked, putting the dishes in the sink and turning on the tap water.

"Who?" He asked back confused as to who I was referring to.

"The Batman." I elaborated as I started cleaning.

"No." He answered, shaking his head. "Just witness statements. "We tried to follow him once, but that led us nowhere. Some of us think he's doing us cops a favor taking care of all these crooks. But others disagree because he's acting outside the law and want to see him bat rot behind bars."

"Well, what do you think of him?"

Putting down the case file, he told me, "There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who want to protect and those who want nothing but trouble and don't care who gets hurt along the way. He's rare as it comes to being in the middle as I've seen. He's brutal to criminals, but has protected more than a couple of innocent people."

Standing back up, my father stretched out his back and said "yeah, I think I'm going to turn in early. Just remember to turn off all the lights when you go to your room."

Turning my eyes, I watched him walk off to his bedroom and shut the door behind him.

A rumor my ass, even my father was smart enough to know what 'he' wasn't just a myth. The Batman was real and very much out there. And I was determined to find him and see who or what he is for myself.

After that night, I would occasionally go back to the university to access the servers there and see what I could find. As a bonus, the gossip of the Batman got around to my colleagues which also helped. He didn't seem to operate during the day, only at night. Passerby's have seen his car. My guess would be that he's using a Mach 5 motor engine and he has his own car to move around the city so quickly.

One night while my father was asleep, I stole one of his walkie talkies from his room. Using my knowledge of tech, I kept it on the same frequency and channel, as well as make sure it still worked. Then, all I had to do was wait till there was a call from one of the police officers. The night of that call, I was already in dark clothes and I decided to sneak out. Opening my bedroom window, I left and climbed up to the roof.

Making my way from the roofs, I tried to find the street the call was coming, and stopping myself from falling over a building, I could see 'him'. The Batman was real after all.

He was fighting a group of thugs, I could count five of them. And judging by the large bags they were carrying, it was a robbery and they were trying to get to their getaway car. From what I could examine, he jumped down right on top of the car as he landed the top and windows were crushed. But he didn't do any damage to himself as he stood back up. They pulled out a gun on the Batman, but he pulled out some sort of metal boomerang and knocked the guns out of their hands.

One guy turned around and said something, and threw a punch. Batman ducked under the punch, and came back up with a right uppercut and the guy came off the ground about six inches and fell down unconscious. Batman looked at the other four guys and three of them attacked him. Batman kicked one in the gut and he fell down. The other two double teamed the Batman. One guy got Batman in a choke hold and the other one was punching him. About that time the guy Batman kicked got back up and started hitting Batman. Batman used the guy that was choking him as leverage and kicked the other two guys that were attacking him. He then hit the guy that was choking him with a few elbows to the stomach. He eventually let Batman go and Batman threw him against the car. The other two charged at Batman. One threw a punch, but Batman ducked him and punched the other guy in the face. He turned around right as the one guy threw another punch. This time Batman caught his hand and flipped him over using his arm as leverage. When Batman got the guy on the ground, and hit him in the temple. Batman got up and looked at the last guy who had been standing there watching the entire time. He just put his hands up and got on his knees.

Watching the fight, I remember thinking to myself "holy shit, go to the jump much or are you just using roids?" But that wasn't something I should be thinking about as I shook my head and got back to my senses. While I still had the chance, I took my phone out of my pocket and caught a few photos of the Batman fighting. Which was a huge mistake. As Batman, dropped the last thug by his jacket, he saw the flash from my phone then could see me looking down at him. At this moment I thought to myself ``oh crap!' Then got back up and started running.

Thinking I had the high ground, I thought I could ditch the bat and get home. But that was also my mistake. I could see the building coming into sight, but then there was a sound of a grappling hook. Stopping in my tracks, the Batman had caught up with me, using the grapple to get up the roof and jumped down in front of me.

Well, I guess the rumors are true on one or two things. First; Batman is really tall. Second; just having the Batman near you, let alone in front of you, is terrifying. My whole body was shaking and I couldn't get my body to move as I looked up to see his face. But then the thought occurred to me that I was the commissioner's daughter, I can't let anyone or anything scare me.

He had a deep voice, but it was slightly hollow and modified. "Who are you?" he asked.

Standing my ground, I answered, "My name is Barbara Gordon."

He seemed to know of my father as he went on to ask "what are you doing out here?"

"I've heard rumors about you, wanted to see if you were real."

"I normally don't leave a trail."

"Well, I have some skills with engineering and computer hacking. It wasn't that hard, honestly."

During our small talk, I hid my phone behind my back, still in my hand. Batman noticed it as well as he held out his hand and demanded "your phone, give it to me."

I kept a tight grip, I knew what he wanted. He wanted to make sure my photos don't get out to the public. "No way" I retorted. "Some people may fear you, but others think you're a hero. And they have to know the Batman exists."

"It's for your own good."

"I think I'll take that risk."

"You seem pretty cocky, even for the Commissioner's daughter."

"Can't help it. I want to do what you do."

"Trust me, you don't."

"I didn't mean, do the whole 'dress up as a bat in the middle of the night'. I meant bring criminals to justice and protects others."

"Then join the police. I work alone."

"Have it your way. But I can barely get my dad to tell me half of what he does during work. Do you two ever talk?"

"Sometimes, when I need information."'

"You know, you could use a partner."

"I told you, I work alone."

"It's a big city, and you're just one man. Plus, you could use my skills."

"I'll tell you one last time, the answers no."

Walking away, Batman headed over to the other side of the roof. I noticed I still had my phone as I called out and asked "you're not gonna take it?"

He had his foot on the edge as he turned his head and answered, "I'll trust that you won't get ahead of yourself and post it online. But, if anyone sees it and finds out about me, I'm coming for you."

Without saying another word, Batman jumped over the building. I thought it was crazy as I found forward to see if he hit the ground. But he didn't as he was using his cape to glide away.

Without a second thought, I rushed home and tried to get some sleep, but it was difficult to after everything I saw last night. The obvious thing to do was tell someone, but it's not like they would believe. Maybe not even with the photo, which I was also wasn't considering on showing people. In this city, crime runs rampant and with Batman's recent activity, saying you had involvement with him would get you hurt or a bullet to the head. When I could finally get my eyes closed, I took a minute to think. People say that Batman is a symbol of fear in the eyes of criminals. What if I could do that as well. Become a vigilante like him with the symbol of a bat. That could be my way of helping people. Alright, I'll start in the morning.

That next day I started doing research on equipment. Of course I'd need to pick it up instead of a delivery. Dad would freak out and be concerned with keeping it around. The grapple will help get an enemy or object out of my distance. Not to mention get on top of buildings to get a wider range of view. To make the batarangs, I headed down to the construction lab. Hot metal and a hammer to get the shape right. I used a gas bomb and shell to make smoke grenades. The next step was I needed to be able to defend myself. There's no point in doing all of this if I didn't know how to fight. Luckily, I happened to know someone who could teach me.

I contacted a friend who worked at the university's gym, I told him I needed a workout regimen and luckily he had a few ideas in mind I could use. I started with pull-ups and push-ups. Needing to be flexible and hold my weight. A few times, I tried a handstand as the coach held my legs up. One time I accidentally kicked him in the face when I couldn't keep my balance. But that was just a warm up, I need actual combat training. I needed to be able to throw a punch. There was a boxing ring at the back and the coach had a pair of boxing gloves he handed to me as I got started. Now knowing from experience, it's not as easy to use those things as it looks. There was still the exception that a punching bag wouldn't punch you back. But when you're out in a real fight, the other guy sure as well.

When I first asked my coach if he was spar with me, he refused. Said I wasn't ready and he didn't like hitting girls. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. When I was ready, I'd ask him again. I needed to know how to block and fight back in a fight

One day my coach noticed how hard I was working as he advised me "you know, you can slow down. You're gonna wear yourself out."

I simply told him "no can do, this is really going to help me out with something important."

"Just don't do anything you'll regret."

Even with that being said, I kept going. I tried as hard as I could, day in, and day out. Pushing myself beyond my limit so I could get stronger.

It didn't take much longer for me to start actual sparring sessions. To be fair, I had my fair share of getting my ass kicked the first couple of times. But eventually I was able to block some of the hits. On our last match, I was the first one to swing a few punches. He was able to dodge the punches slowly backing up. I tried to go for a fast kick that he was barely able to see coming. As I went for another kick, he was able to get underneath my leg. Now being behind me, I was grabbed and put in a hold. Using my elbow, I got him off, then turned around to go for a hit. He blocked, but I had another one ready. He still had a little fight in him as he used his hands to try a few strikes, I blocked and tried to avoid with my arms. Grabbing him by the arm and leg, I flipped him onto the matted floor. Backing up, I let out a breath and smile. Offering my arm, I then helped him stand back up.

Catching the last punch, he let go of my hand as he pushed me back. I blocked his own punch, then countered using the rest of my arm while he was close.

The last step was to make the costume. Normal cloth would be able to tear throw and it wouldn't do much against a bullet. Hard armor, I wouldn't be able to move my neck to see around me, let alone be able to move my body freely in a fight. I could make the outer layer leather, have some protection underneath and have a tank underneath for comfort. I chose a color scheme of black and yellow. The first part of the suit I worked on was the boots and gloves. Not too heavy so I can move with them, but hard enough so I could do some damage. Then I make the sleeves, when the main part of the suit. Capes look cool, but if it's too long it can slow you down. But typical me, I went with the option that looked cool. The cape was long enough to down to my legs, but didn't drag behind me as I walked. I added a neck collar to the suit, but didn't have a mask quite yet. I also made that black, with no lenses so I could see better, it didn't cover the back of my hair and left my chin open so it was easy to remove. With a little spray paint, it was finished. The world was ready to meet Batgirl.

On my first night of patrol, it was raining hard and thunder could be heard all around. I could feel each drop hitting my face as I looked down at the city from the roof I was standing down. Taking on my phone, I heard a report of a robbery down by the harbor by the GPD radio frequency I hacked into. Jumping down from the roof, I landed on top of my motorcycle and was on my way.

That was just the beginning, and now, I can tell you the rest of my story.