Summary: Takes place a few days after Dick's 17th birthday. Batgirl has been active for about 6 weeks or so. I feel like Barbara is extremely hard for me to write, so I'm sorry if I didn't do a good job with her.

Disclaimer: I don't own DC

Barbara snuck into her room, quickly ditching the costume for her sleepwear and doing her best to patch up her arm wound. Ever since she had suited up for the first time to save her dad, she realized all the good Batgirl could do, and the adrenaline of the job had gotten it's hooks in. She still hid her job from her father, he would freak out if he found out, but she was loving it. Being Batgirl had helped her deal with her frustrations with the lackluster GCPD response to the recent uptick in crime, even if it did come at the cost of an injury here or there. Babs stuck to smaller scale crimes, mostly muggings, and she was far slower paced than Batman and Robin but effective nonetheless. She didn't really have a means of roaming Gotham like they did, she mostly just used her gymnastics to traverse rooftops, but she would be lying if she said she was jealous of the Dynamic Duo. They've got grappling hooks, cars, bikes, hell, even gliding capes! I could use some of those! Babs had gotten 3 major injuries ever since she started, but she played them off as gymnastics injuries so her dad wouldn't get suspicious. In her personal life, she was far more collected now. She had reconciled with Luke, though not gotten back together with him, she and Dick were great friends again, and she was feeling way better about herself.

The only thing that pissed her off from time to time was Robin. They had run into each other twice more on patrol, and he had tried to be patient with her, but she was rather pig headed when he was involved. Something about him just pissed her off, and she couldn't put her finger on what it was. So even if he was trying to be nice, she would often be the one to start a fight with him.

"God, that girl pisses me off so fucking much!" Alfred threw Dick a glare.

"Language, Master Dick!"

"Sorry." Oh, c'mon, Al! Bruce says WAY worse stuff around you!

"In any case, Batgirl's recent uptick in activity is cause for alarm. She has no formal training, and her arrogance will get her killed. It's already got her injured. I've procured a blood sample from her latest act of vigilantism, so we should be able to finally see who the girl behind the mask is." Oh, this better be good. Dick watched the screen as the blood sample was processed, and he very nearly passed out when the result came back.

"My lord! Is that-"

"BARBARA?! OKAY, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON NOW?!" Even Bruce seemed caught off guard by this. I knew she had gymnastics and limited martial arts training, but I didn't expect this from her. Hmph, she's certainly impressive...

"This changes things."

"NO KIDDING! MY BEST FRIEND OUTSIDE OF THE MASK IS A FUCKING VIGILANTE! WHO GETS ON MY NERVES EVERY TIME I SEE HER!" Alfred threw Dick a nasty glare at his vulgarity, but Bruce spoke before he could.

"Well, we can't just let her go into the field alone. She's going to get killed." Dick calmed down enough to think.

"I've tried telling her to back down, as Robin. She doesn't exactly listen."

"Hmph, she clearly seems dedicated." And clever, she doesn't seem to want to back down. I could try to...no, Dick would never want to do that, but he said he can't stop her from doing this, so... "I need some time to think about what to do with her. For now, don't raise any alarms at school tomorrow. Act normal." Dick nodded before walking up to bed, his thoughts quickly becoming a warzone of varied ideas.

The next day at school, Dick tried to keep distance from Babs, not sure how to act around her. When she noticed and confronted him about it, he just shrugged. "S-sorry, I've got a cold. Don't want you to c-catch it." Arty confronted him too once she noticed his behavior, and he told her about Babs.

"You're telling me that the most innocent girl at school is a wannabe Batman?! Huh, makes sense with how she's been acting recently, but still..."

"I know, right?! I have NO idea how to even talk to her now! It's like my whole world just flipped over. How the hell is Barbara freaking Gordon a vigilante?!"

Dick hurried home to speak with Bruce about this, but it would be an understatement to say that he was surprised with his mentor's idea. "Dick, I've been thinking about it, and I think it would be best if we were to bring Barbara into the fold."

"Wh-what?!"

"Listen, I know she's your friend, and I know she's not trained, but that's exactly the reason why we should bring her in. She's dedicated, she won't stop this crusade of hers. She's hooked onto the adrenaline, the rush it gives. It's better she be a part of our operations than just end up dead." Dick tried to argue, but he couldn't come up with a proper rebuttal. Yeah, I GUESS that makes sense. I mean, she won't stop no matter what we say, so we might as well…"I would like you to approach her. She knows you better." Dick nodded.

Later that night, Robin followed Barbara as she left her room through the fire escape. He watched as she struggled with a few muggers before swooping in and taking them out. Babs growled at the sight of him, but he ignored it. "Listen, I know your...not my biggest fan, but I have something to tell you."

"If it's that I should stay at home cuz I'm not suited for the job, you can-"

"Not exactly, Babs." Barbara's eyes went wide under her glasses. Dick sighed before removing his mask, and Barbara practically fainted.

"D-Dick?! YOU'RE ROBIN?! Holy crap, I knew it." Dick's jaw dropped at that phrase.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm not a dumbass, Grayson. I've had a feeling you were birdy for a while. Just never had any proof so I disregarded the idea. You shoulda told me, you dick!" She punched Dick's shoulder and he rubbed it.

"Uh, s-sorry?"

"Hold up, does this mean Zatanna's a superhero too?" Okay, slow the fuck down, Babs!

"I...will get to that later. For now, I have something to show you." Dick led her to a nearby rooftop where Bruce was waiting for them. He explained his plan for Barbara to join them, and needless to say she was onboard. This was kinda what she always wanted, so there was little convincing needed for her. Bruce called in the Batmobile to take them to the cave, and Babs sat in the back seat.

"'S a little cramped back here."

"I don't exactly need to typically accommodate 3 people."

"Point taken."

"Hey, Babs, you think you should tell your dad?" Barbara shuddered.

"Like hell, no way he'd let me do this." No argument there.

Bruce wanted to argue with Barbara, but he knew how protective Jim was, just as he knew how rebellious Barbara was. Arguing would be pointless since she wouldn't listen to anyone who told her to do something she didn't want to.

Barbara stepped out of the car and into the cave only to very nearly pass out at the sight of it. A typical reaction. Dick remembers Zatanna very nearly fell over because she wasn't watching her step while exploring the massive area. Barbara was snapped out of her trance by Alfred greeting her, and then Bruce calling her to his side.

"If we're going to do this, you will follow my lead. That means no suiting up without my permission, no telling anyone my secret, and no breaking any of my rules. Got it?" Barbara nodded before Bruce turned to the computer. "Alright, let's begin your training..."

A few weeks had passed and Barbara's training was going rather well. Of course, she was not at all a challenge compared to Dick, Bruce, or even Artemis, but she was still skilled enough in her own right. Bruce had gifted her the classic tools of the trade, such as a utility belt, batsuit, Batwave alert phone, and access to the Zeta tube near her house. He had also decided that her training had reached a point where she was ready to join the team. Dick had told Zatanna about it, and Artemis knew from when he told her in school that other day, but the others had no clue who she was. Wally had met her a few times, but that was it.

Dick took her into the cave via the Zeta tube, and she was impressed, but not nearly to the level of excitement she had upon her first visit to the Batcave. Still, she was whelmed with the cave, especially when she saw the team. "Zatanna!"

"Barb!" The two girls embraced and caught up with each other as Dick chuckled. The others were confused as to who this "Batgirl", or "Barb", as Zatanna referred to her, was, so Dick tried to clear it up with them.

"She's Batman's new protege."

"So she's replacing you?" Hold up a goddamn-

"What?! Hell no! She's just joining the team, dude!"

"Who is she under the mask? Or is that 'top secret' like it used to be for you?"

"Name's Barbara Gordon. The Commish's kid, and my best friend at school." Dick explained how she became Batgirl to the others while Arty went over to talk with Barbara and Zatanna, who hadn't stopped their conversation for a second since she stepped into the cave.

The team got to know the new Bat, and she was a lot of fun. Almost like a female version of Dick. She and Zatanna seemed very similar to one another for some odd reason. Barbara was much more open about Bat secrets than Dick was, and he had to stop her several times before she spilled something Bruce would have taken her (or his) head off for. Dick eventually Zeta'd back to the Batcave upon Bruce's request, leaving the others behind after promising Zee he would be back shortly.

"So, is she settling in?"

"Y-yeah. Honestly, I had my doubts about your plan, but she really seems to like the whole superhero gig. And she's getting along great with the others. Only problem is her dad." Bruce hummed in agreement.

"I...I can't tell him about Barbara."

"No offense, Bruce, but that's not exactly your secret to keep."

"If I told him, he would prohibit her from going out. And knowing her extremely rebellious attitude, that would only further drive her to want to go out, likely getting her killed. It won't be easy lying to him, but I have no choice in the matter." Dick slowly nodded in understanding before walking back to the Zeta tubes. "And Dick."

"Yeah?"

"Keep an eye out for her. I don't want anything happening to her because we brought her into this."

"Yeah, yeah, of course. I won't let anything happen to her." Bruce nodded before Dick Zeta'd back to the cave to meet with the others. Truth be told, the Dark Knight was racked with guilt over having to hide this from one of his closest allies, but he knew the consequences should Gordon ever find out, and he was prepared to face his own wrath if it meant keeping Barbara safe.

This one probably sucked, sorry about that. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.