This chapter takes place two years before the series starts. Since Robin said he started being Robin at 9, he is 11 in this chapter and Raven is 13

Edit: Fixed some grammar issues and fixed some dialogue

Enjoy!

Episode 0: A Bird's Beginning Part one

Gotham City, June 15th 9:25 pm

It was a warm night in Gotham. There were hardly any clouds in the sky. Above the smog and heavy smoke of the city, the sky was clear and someone could see the few stars twinkling in the night. The cool wind passed through him and fluttered through his cape, giving him a small relief.

There were a few reports of recent activity surrounding a link of break ins. It followed a small pattern of small businesses being broke in to but nothing went missing. That pattern led him to his next best guess, here, at Dave's Warehouse. At first, it never captured his attention nor has it ever made top priority at Gotham Police Department. That was until Molly Marrot went to check on her husband. He never made it to dinner, didn't pick up any phone calls, and he was never out so late.

Peter Marrot was found dead on June 12 at 11:12 pm by his grieving wife inside of his office.

Hardly any break-ins resulted in no stolen items. Someone was looking for something and it was something important. Important enough for someone to die over. Important enough to leave a newborn fatherless.

"There are a lot guards circling this building" said a haughty and young voice. Robin stood beside him on the rooftop. He looked through his infrared goggles trying his best to gather intelligence. "There's a few guards outside the building, a couple in the front, about 3 in the back, five on the roof and I saw a few go inside. Does a small business really need all that protection?"

"No." Batman answered firmly and quick. That didn't make any sense. Even if someone was afraid of a few break-ins and wanted protection, this many guards would be unnecessary and quite expensive. There was no way a small business owner can afford all this. With his own high-tech goggles, he looked closer at the guards. "There," He encouraged his partner to look again with a different perspective. "There's an insignia on their arm bands."

With another and more careful observation, Robin saw a familiar symbol on their clothing. "Whoa… It's the League of Assassins" That took this murder case into a whole new direction. "So, what? This place is protected by them? Does that mean the other places were too?"

That was the same thought fishing through Batman's head. There wasn't a lot of trace leading to Ra's Al Ghul influences at these places but the Dark Knight didn't put it pass him to use small businesses as cover ups and erase any knowledge of any connections. That means Marrot did something to lead him to get executed by the mercenaries or someone was after the League. Anything big that Ra's could be up to, Batman should've known about it… Something was missing in this equation.

Robin asked "So do you think anyone was trying to stop the League?"

Batman turned to his protege when he addressed him. "Anyone willing to mess with the League of Shadows is dangerous and troublesome enough not to trust."

"I guess but I feel like your dark and scary humbug attitude is going to off put them when we interrogate them," Robin said with a smirk. He cracked himself up sometimes, not always to the big man's amusement.

He didn't bother with a response. "We're going to have to change our tactics. Ra's is very dangerous-,"

"I know, I know. I can handle this. I've been running around and training with you for two years now. You can trust me!" Robin kept a steady gaze at his mentor. He didn't waver under his stare. There was a small pause

"Alright. Just be on your guard. We'll get out of there as soon as it gets too hectic." Batman said.

Robin took a deep breath and started to pump himself up. "Alright we got this. We're the dynamic duo-,"

"Wait-" Batman stopped him from saying anymore. Robin paused and turned back to the building. The guards were rotating to a position in the front and back but not the guards on the roof. There was no activity happening on top

The dynamic duo wasted no time to jump into action. They released their grappling hooks and swung unto the building

On the roof, it looked like a full brawl has happened and they missed the whole thing. The guards were sprawled out on the floor with not a single movement wafting through them.

Robin feared to ask but he had to "Are they…?"

"Yes" Batman answered as he tried to feel for a pulse on one of the guards. They were all alive but knocked out pretty well. Whoever did this had enough skill to match and best a trained lower level member of the League. Although it was a little off that no one dead. This person or people didn't have a pattern.

Gotham City, June 15th 9: 32 pm

Fortunately and unfortunately, the League of Assassins always had throw away henchmen, trained henchmen maybe but henchmen nonetheless. And lucky for her, she knew how to take care of them quickly and quietly. She timed this attack perfectly. She'll be out in five minutes

She landed on her feet swiftly with a catlike crouch on the inside of the window sill. In the corner of her eye she could see her target, a door. However there seemed to be some flunkies in the way. And it mattered not. She summoned shadows around her fists.

She hopped to the cat walk below and landed behind one of the guards. He turned to the noise but was met with a fist. Her cloaked hand crashed into his skull, knocking him unconscious on the first strike. She summoned a shadow to stretch out and catch the falling body before she made any more noise. She looked to her left to spot two more on the other side.

She raised her hand to gather the shadows and manipulated them to travel to her targets. Darkness stretched and creeped across the catwalk. Carefully, the shadows twisted around the metal walkway, crept behind the unexpected men and grabbed them. It wrapped around their heads, muffling their screams into faint whispers. She cut off their air supply only for a minute, long enough to knock them out and then let them go quietly onto the floor of the walkway.

With the high ground rendered useless, she felt it was safe enough to hop on to the ground. She swung her body over the railing, flipped and landed behind some boxes. No doubt they were all full of weapons. She shook her head at the predictability of warehouses and big villains. She peeked from behind the pile. No one was alarmed yet

With no time to lose, she focused on the matter at hand. There were only a few to take out and it seemed like no big deal. She took a deep breath; she could feel the darkness surround her. Shadows gathered in her hand and forged into a bo-staff.

She jumped into action. She swiftly moved, footprints silent as a mouse. She swung the staff with precision aiming straight for the frontal lobe. Butt side hit straight in the forehead, leaving the henchmen disheveled. And that lead to the whole posse racing towards.

With a stern grip on the rod and clear mind, she prepared for the upcoming attacks.

Behind!

She dodged the first fist and swing of a sword was blocked by her staff. She pushed the weapon away and forced the man. Just in time for her to jump out the away of another attacker, leaving them to clash into the first opponent. She flipped into the air and landed.

Left!

Sensing another approach, she used her shadow manipulation to swing them out the way. Another shadow tendril grabbed another sword wielder to throw them across the room, silencing them for the rest of the night.

She ducked out of a punch and weaved through her opponents' attacks. Until a kick swung across the floor, knocked her off her balance and losing her staff into the shadows. She caught herself. With her hands to keep her balance, she kicked a poor sucker off his hinges. She pushed on her hands to release her body into the air and used the shadows to grab her opponents. Two heads knocked into each other while the other was hit upside the head

She landed with a crouch. She looked down at her work and deemed it satisfactory. None of them were too hurt; maybe a few will have a concussion but that didn't seem like her problem. She walked to the door that will lead into the computer room. The only thing that stood in her way was a keypad. She entered code after code. It had to be one of them…

Access Granted

Bingo! She was only one step closer! Except… that was strange… she only counted fifteen guards. Why are there two more? They were just watching her.

Without turning around, she raised one of the shadows. It spiked out to hit the spies. Damn it! They dodged it! She turned around quickly with shadows summoned around her hands and her eyes glowing white; she was ready for another round of these goons. A disc was thrown at her but she blocked it with a shield

"Stop! You're trapped; you got no where to go" A boy jumped from the catwalks to the light and not just any boy. Her eyes widened.

"We already alerted the police" said a deep voice from the shadows. She knew a bluff when she heard it.

Then there he was… The big guy in the dark cape. The two approached her. She didn't understand. How did her minor break ins grab the dynamic duo's attention? They didn't know who she was. Did they? She couldn't rule out the possibility.

The Dark Knight looked down at the intruder. Her lower face was covered with a black mask and her hood shadowed the top half. Gloves hid her hands and most importantly, her finger prints. Her baggy hoodie covered and concealed most of her form and most of her full body black cat suit underneath. But there was no mistaking. She was just a kid. One that may be way in over her head but he never underestimated anyone before and he won't stop now.

"What are you doing here? What is your business with the League of Assassins?" His stern voice rang out and passed through her body. He sure was intimidating like everyone said.

But she stood her ground as best as she could. "I have no quarrel with you, Batman or your sidekick"

"I'm his partner" Robin protested as that word never sat well with him. He stood by Batman's side with his shoulders squared. They were ready to fire back. They put up a solid front but it was a front nonetheless. She could sense it

"Who are you?" The Dark Crusader demanded. His cold voice spoke volumes on his distrust of the young girl. She didn't know how she was going to play the situation out. She didn't know if she can go toe to toe with the two fighters and all their gadgets.

"That's none of your concern. I just want some information and I'll be out of your way. You can take down the League all you want." There was a small pause. He studied her with a dangerous and calculating gaze.

Robin tried his best to asset the situation. "We're just trying to help and get some answers"

"Fine. Did you follow me? What do you want from me?" She asked with a fire in her voice with a speck of nervousness.

"We heard of a string of break ins and a murder. We just so happen to find you" Batman glared at the young girl

Her eyes went wide. Her eyes faded from its glowing hue to reveal amethyst themed eyes. A waft of shame spread through her body. Her shoulders shrunk. Normally, death wouldn't have fazed her such as this but that night... "That was an accident…" She said with a low voice and didn't dare to look them in the eye. How could she be so careless? The Police found the body and he found her. She was going to get nailed to the wall for that one. A surge of fear went down her spine.

The shadows moved and slithered around the building. Darkness crept from all the corners. The boxes and all the appliances in the building began to shake violently. Whispers were coming from all directions. Batman and Robin looked around. They're heads began to burn like someone took a match and set their heads aflame. Pain over took their minds as they groan in agony.

Oh no… She couldn't believe it. She was losing control again. Why is this happening?!

"Hey!" a new voice ranged in the building. Immediately Batman and Robin felt perfectly fine like nothing ever happened. As if they're heads didn't feel like it was being split open just a second ago. The shadows retreated to their places, whispers silenced and the darkness calmed abruptly. The three faced the source of the voice, Sportsmaster with more guards standing beside him. "Well, look as this. A bat, a bird and a-," A shadow tentacle raced towards him to knock him off the catwalk but he dodged it. The henchmen jumped off the catwalk and raced towards the intruders.

The dynamic duo jumped into action. They weaved through and duck from attacks.

Sportstmaster jumped towards the Big Bat with a metal bat ready crush his skull in. Batman blocked the above attack and reacted with a swing. Robin faced a couple of goons trying to take his head off. He tossed a few discs at his approaching opponents. One was knocked off while the other blocked it with his sword. He opened the distance between him and his opponent and prepared to face him. He waited for the attack. The henchman swung his sword from the side and Robin blocked it with his armored arm with ease.

Damn it! I need to get control! The young girl held her head. Just calm down…

She could feel the shadows of the building, the shadows of the streets, and the darkness of the city. There was a woman walking her dog, a man flicked a cigarette, Batman and Robin flung their bodies into action and a man was racing towards. A sword swung at her but shadows gathered to shield her from the attack. This whole plan went down the toilet.

Sportsmaster was having a difficult time keeping up with the Dark Crusader. He dodged a batarang and tossed a couple of spiked balls. The hero jumped in the air to miss the weapons and jump towards the mercenary. He tossed a couple more batarangs that Sportsmaster blocked with his bat, making him distracted. It left Batman with an opening; he jumped in front of the criminal and swung his fist and hit Sportsmaster across the face. Batman was a tough opponent but he was a hero and heroes cared.

He thought of a devilish plan. He gathered a few more objects that looked like golf balls. Batman was ready to counter attack; the villian threw his arm in the direction of the hero. But with a quick flick of the wrist, Sportsmaster threw them towards Robin. The golf balls flew towards the goon and Robin and as soon as they noticed them, Robin tried to jump out the way and put his arm in front of his face. They blew up right there

Robin screamed as he was tossed back. The henchmen flew and skidded across the floor and lifeless body landed in a heap. Another goon took advantage of the situation and went to attack the bot wonder but Batman went to Robin's aid and was there to knock him back with a kick.

Sportsmaster swung from behind, ready to attack Batman but a shadow strike him in the face. He was knocked back into boxes and disappeared in them. The Dark knight ran to the pile to apprehend the mercenary. When he reached the pile of boxes on the far hand, he threw the mess out of his way. However, the man was gone and nowhere to be seen. He escaped. Batman clinched his fist.

Batman surveillance the area. Everyone seemed to be down. The warehouse was silent for the moment. He saw Robin hold onto his wrist. He was sure that was broken.

"Robin, are you ok?" He called to make sure his partner was alright

"I'm ok! We got to catch her!" the boy wonder exclaimed as he held onto his wrist.

He turned to face the girl but he didn't find her where he last saw her. He searched the place and there she was… She was climbing up the walls and out of one of the skylights. How was she moving so fast? They grabbed a grappling hook from their utility belt and launched it at the skylight.

The two rushed to the top and climbed out the window. Once they reached the roof, they searched quickly for the culprit. They still found all the men on the floor. Batman looked to his left to find the young girl on the next rooftop. He grabbed his Bat-Lasso and launched it her feet. He caught the fleeing suspect and she fell down with a thud.

The heroes raced across the building's rooftop and jumped to the next.

She groaned and flipped herself onto her backside. She summoned a shadow to cut through the ropes. She quickly stood. This situation was becoming more and more frustrating as moments passed. It also got convoluted. A scowl rested on her face as she growled her annoyance. She was close; she was so damn close!

"Don't move" a powerful voice caused her to look up at the two men who had their weapons drawn and focused on her.

Those two ruined everything! "What do you want from me?" Why weren't they chasing after Sportsmaster; he was a way bigger deal than she was! She gathered shadows around her hand once more

Batman commanded "Why are you breaking into a League of Assassins' building and why did you kill Peter Marrot?"

She couldn't believe him. "I told you it was an accident!"

Robin cradled his wrist. "We don't believe you" he said with distrust and a little pain in his voice. The girl took notice. She almost lost her grip back there. Hell, she was losing her grip now and she felt a pang of guilt at the boy's pain. "Who are you?"

She let the darkness dropped from her hands. She didn't let her guard down completely and she was prepared to flee at any moment. They didn't know who she was or what exactly she was after. It would hardly be a big deal to them anyways but she knew something else that would. Maybe she could turn this around.

"Fine. My name is Raven. The League of Assassins have something I need. I was just looking for information. I found out they used their small business cover ups to smuggle things such as weapons and computer files. It's supposed to be temporary-at least that's what I heard," She sighed. She decided to tell them the truth without telling too much. "They have information on my…mother"

Batman and Robin looked at one another. They know the feeling. They put their weapons down but not away. "Why did you murder Marrot?"

"I told you it was an accident. I don't care if you don't believe me" She was getting tired of repeating herself. "It was a wrong place and wrong time situation. He was just another member of the mercenaries. He was getting paid by Ra's Al Ghul to hide his shipments since you have the habit to try to apprehend his deals."

"And how would you know?" Robin pressed. He almost raised his hand to point an accusing finger but almost forgot it hurt like hell. He gave a small hiss.

"I know someone," she explained. She looked at his hand. "I can help with that." She put a little faith and risk into the situation. She started to approach the boy but Batman raised his arm to block Robin from her. "Just trust me, ok?" Raven wanted to help a little even though they totally messed her all up.

Batman stared down at her. He studied the young girl. When he pressed for information about the murder, she didn't give away a lot but her expression rang out that it was indeed an accident. He just hoped she would crack a little to see if he could get more out of her. She saved him from Sportsman's attack and here she was offering to help with Robin's injury. Raven wasn't telling him everything but she wasn't too dangerous. That never warrand her his trust, however. He would just have to keep an eye on her. He looked at Robin and caught his eye. They contemplated the girl's intentions

He let his arm rest on his side but didn't waver from Robin side. Raven got the message that she could approach him.

"May I?" She asked Robin. The boy trusted Batman's judgement but always had his own suspicions. Maybe she was telling the truth and she was looking for her mother or maybe she was tricking him and she was going to kill them both. However, the look in her eyes looked sincere. He let go of his broken wrist and raised it towards the girl.

She took the wrist with one hand and the other glowed blue. She hovered over the injury. The pain in his wrist began to subside and then completely disappeared. The hue faded away and she let go of his hand and held her own wrist as the pain transferred to her. Robin flexed his wrist, moving it side to side. It was completely healed! In fact, it felt better than before like he could lift an entire building! He excitement radiated off of him. It was like a spark of sweet and tarty treats. That felt different to her...

"Whoa! I feel like a million bucks," he said with a smile. "Thanks" She gave him a small smile and a shrug, signaling that it was no big deal.

Batman was relieved that Robin was ok but he couldn't forget why he came here. "What happened to your mother?" His voice was still stern but a little softer; even though no one could hardly tell but she could. She could sense his concern along with his curiosity and distrust. Emotions can never lie, no matter how much humans think they can cover them up.

"I don't know. I'm trying to figure that out but someone happened to barge in before reinforcements were called in. I timed it and everything too…" The last sentence she said more to herself. She had to search at another spot and it had to be quick. Sportsmaster spotted her and there was no doubt that her time here was shortening. She had to make moves and make them quickly... She didn't kill anyone on purpose too. They would most likely expect that it was Batman since he never cared to spill blood and it's not like she wasn't trying to detour from that path as well. She knew she was in trouble as soon as it happened and it made her act way more quickly than she wanted to. "I got to go."

"We'll help you." Batman announced.

"You will?" She was stunned.

"We will?" So was Robin. They both didn't expect Batman to offer anything but a pair of cuffs.

"You're going to have to tell me more information later or we're putting you behind bars. Accident or not, a man is still dead because of you." Batman still needed more than what this girl was offering. She knew something about the group of mercenaries and he was going to figure out what.

Raven curled her lips to a thoughtful expression. She could benefit from the Batman being on her side and probably twist all the fingers pointing at him. Any ordinary prison couldn't hold her down and power inhibitors only worked on meta-humans but they didn't know who or what she was. Although, you can never be too careful.

Raven said, "Alright…but how about I sweeten the deal. No jail or mention of me, and I can give you something the League has what you might need."

Batman's face twisted and he glared. "What would that be?" He pushed.

"There is a list. It's mostly guesses but educated guesses of secret identities of every single member of the Justice League."

Robin's eyes widened. "What does he plan to do with it? Why does Ra's Al Ghul care?"

"Well, maybe he doesn't but a couple of people caught a whiff of it and want the list. Maybe they want to out you all or sell it to the highest bidder. I don't know and I don't care but I don't wanna go to jail. Far too young for that," she joked with a sly tone. "It might be guesses but you can never be too careful. If they don't get you, then they might hurt innocent people instead of you."

Batman didn't like that but she was right. "And if there is no list?"

"You can put those pretty cuffs on" She said with a hint of sarcasm.

"How do you know all this?"

"If I find my mother, I'll tell you" She reached her hand out. "Deal?"

He's skeptical of this whole situation. However, if he worked with her, he can get more information out her, keep an eye on this young lady and possibly help many that are in danger

He took her small hand. "Deal"

I hope you like the first part! What do you think? Any criticism is welcome! I always imagined Batman had a soft spot for orphans s he gave Raven a chance. I know I'm not very good at fight scenes (I'm good with character development) and I always tend to skip over some of them and I expect the same for some of you so I kept them short lol I don't know who Raven is going to be paired with; I don't think it's going to be Robin and Beast Boy is too young. I'll decide before chapter 5 but you guys are more than welcomed to throw whoever at me

Peace~