Chapter 4

Bruce had left for the benefit dinner and I was in Wayne Mansion, totally and completely alone. The whole house seemed to ring with silence and one breath disturbed it. After getting bored with reading, listening to music and trying on all the schway new clothes I had bought, I decided to do a little exploring. Everyone had said that Wayne Mansion had been around since the twentieth century and was like a museum in itself. I tip-toed down the curling staircase and began my walk down the hallway. Each room I passed was artfully decorated but not in modern style. Wingback chairs, mahogany tables, great glass mirrors and small knick knacks were present in them. They were all elegant and well taken care of for a man that lived alone, if not a little dusty here and there. Then I saw it. The most beautiful grandfather clock that I had ever seen. It chimed the hour and I stood in a trance like state, just admiring the exquisite tone and sound of it. It stood tall and erect in the hallway and I wondered why Bruce hadn't moved it out into a more prominent place. I moved closer to get a better look at it and when I did my foot caught something which sent me hurling into the clock. Flailing my arms, I feebly attempted to fall away from the clock but my body struck it anyway. Instead of it falling apart a door swung open. Picking my body off the ground, all I could do was stare. The door that had opened was in front of a long winding staircase but everything beyond that was covered in darkness. I figured that while in my attempt to spare the clock from destruction I had hit a lever or button or something that triggered the secret door to open. I debated whether or not to go down the steps but curiosity took over and the decision was made for me. At first I just looked down at the staircase from the top of the stairs.

"Its probably just a basement where he keeps cars or something." I said aloud trying to reassure myself but then again who keeps a basement door hidden underneath a clock. Taking deliberately slow steps, I made my way down the stairs. With each movement my heart began to race faster and faster. When I reached the bottom I took a deep breath and looked around. My body swayed and my knees buckled at the sight.

"Holy…" I said taking in all the sights with wide eyes. A series of large capsules lined one wall and in them were costumes, bat costumes. I had seen the pictures of the old Batman in books and things but what were they doing in Mr. Wayne's basement. Maybe he was a collector or something. Turning from the suits, I found myself looking at the largest computer that I had seen in my life. It had buttons everywhere and a large screen that filled most of the wall. The complexity of it all startled me and I had the need to sit down but I was definitely not going to sit in the chair that faced the computer, it would probably grab me or something. I didn't trust anything in this weird shrine to the Batman dynsasty. My gut feeling was that I wasn't supposed to be here and that I wasn't supposed to know what was going on but the fascination was incredibly strong. My eyes swept over the cave and my heart swelled with the wonder of it all. It struck me then, Bruce Wayne was Batman but I knew it had to be impossible. He was over eighty years old and the Batman she had met moved to easily to be that old. It must be the suit. Something suddenly jerked me from my inspection of the room. I could hear it now, the sound of footsteps at the top of the stairs. Panicking I scrambled underneath a table that had been pushed into a dark corner and waited for the intruder to appear.

"Bruce?…" I called down the steps. I remember he said something about going to a benefit dinner and I assumed he took Kat with him because the house was empty but there was something wrong, I could sense it. When no answer came, I went down the steps, cautiously looking around just in case something was hiding down here. Nothing appeared out of place so I shrugged the feeling off as being overly stimulated from the rare coffee that I had just shared with Max in preparation for an all night cram session. I made my way towards the batcomputer on which Bruce had left me the address of Howard Blake's lab. I almost dropped the papers when Ace came bounding down the steps, barking as if he had seen something.

"What is it, Ace?" I said leaning down and trying to calm him with pats on his head. He just kept barking and sniffing the air until he raced over to a battered table in the corner of the room. I followed him, hoping that it wasn't a rat. His barking grew louder now and more crazed with every second that went by. I took the chance and peered underneath the table but obviously not fast enough because whoever was hiding underneath jumped out past me and began to race towards the stairs. Throwing my back pack over my shoulder, I raced after the fleeing figure but all I could see was their outline. I ran after them as fast as I could but they were always one step ahead. Once I got close enough to grab their arm but they quickly pulled away. I chased the trespasser out of the house and into the street where I almost collided with Bruce. I stopped running and leaned down to catch my breath.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

"I found that person in the Batcave…"

"What! How did they get in?" His voice was hard and filled with anger.

"I have no idea but I did manage to slip a tracker onto their arm while I was chasing them." He had already gotten into the front seat of his car before I finished.

"Let's go."

I raced down the alley ways trying to escape Terry and my thoughts at the same time. The fact that Bruce Wayne was Batman was hard enough to swallow but Terry was helping him as well. Realizing that I was not being chased anymore, I sat down on a crate in the alley. It was dark and smelled worse than it looked. I tried to piece my thoughts together but I always came up short, nothing made sense anymore. The house I thought was free from secrets was actually home of the largest ever and I had seen it. I knew one thing, I could never go back. If Batman knew that I knew his secret I had no idea what he would do to me. Voices shook me from my foreboding thoughts and I quickly glanced up. A group of Jokerz, seven of them, were headed towards me.

"Hey beautiful," The large one at the head of the group called to me. The rest of them stood around him laughing like demented hyenas. I was not in the mood.

"Do you mind, I'm having some issues right now." I said staring him down. He looked at his friends and they all continued laughing. I really wanted to punch their stupid grinning faces in.

"Well, I'm sure they are going to be a lot worse in a second." With that he lunged at me but I caught him with a swift kick to the stomach and a precision uppercut. His friends all decided that they were going to jump in now.

"Would you like the group rate?" I called as I flung my foot into two of the Jokerz faces at once. Two more fell to the ground with punches to the face and one I grabbed with a free hand and through him against the wall. Several kicks, punches and bruises later all of them were either knocked out or too sore to get up. The leader managed to pick himself up from where he lay and he removed a knife from his pocket.

"I'm going to hate messing up that gorgeous face." He grunted, wielding the knife in front of him. I rolled my eyes, this guy had obviously never seen me stressed before.

"That's funny because I'm going to really enjoy messing up yours." I surprised him by kicking the knife out of his hand. He yelled out in pain because I had broken at least three of his fingers. Then I brought my foot up and connected it with his stupid red smile, that I was determined to wipe off. His head got flung against the brick wall behind him and he lay in a pile of trash unconcious. I stood panting in exertion but I was supremely satisfied. More noises behind me prompted me to turn but I was greeted by more Jokerz, instead I was standing in front of Terry and Bruce Wayne. I hadn't seen them empty the alley but I knew there was no way I could outrun them now. No one said anything for a moment. Bruce just stared at me with a puzzled look and Terry stared behind me at all the Jokerz lying on the ground. Finally he spoke.

"Did you…do all this…by yourself?" Terry asked.

"Yeah, they were getting on my nerves." I said glancing behind me.

"I think you should come with us." Bruce said sweeping his eyes over the alley and then resting them back on me.

"Look, I didn't mean to see your secret. I'm sorry. Maybe there's some way you can erase my memory or something…" I started.

"I have a strong feeling that won't be necessary." Bruce said softly.

Led by Terry and Mr. Wayne, I got in the car and silently drove back to Wayne Mansion. When I entered they didn't hesitate in taking me down the winding staircase and into the batcave. No one said a word but Terry and Bruce were giving each other some kind of signals with their eyes. Bruce sat down at the batcomputer and typed for a moment. Then he turned the chair to face me with one raised eyebrow.

"I have a simulator that I would like you to try. Just as a little experiment."

Terry looked quickly from me to Bruce. "But-…"

I gave him a piercing glance and he shut up. "Sure, Mr. Wayne." I had no idea what this was about but I trusted Bruce.

I went through the fighting simulator and I was sure that it would be more difficult. When I was done Mr. Wayne and Terry had their heads bent low in discussion. I noticed that Terry kept shaking his head but Bruce kept talking. They both continued to glance at me. Then Bruce called me over.

"You finished in record time, Kat. You did as good as Terry."

"Thanks."

"Would you ever consider wearing the suit." He said with not a trace of anything in his voice. It was as if this was what he expected all along. The only shocked ones were Terry and I.

"You mean being Batman?" I said eagerly.

Bruce shook his head. "I mean being a back-up or an assistant to Batman."

"I'm not wearing the Robin suit." I said quickly.

He shook his head again. "Not Robin, Batgirl."

Just the sound of it quickened my pulse. I pondered it all for a second. I would love to be Batgirl.

"Of course. I would love to be your sidekick Bruce." He looked at me oddly and then waved his hand at Terry.

"I'm not Batman, Kat, Terry is." I stepped back in a little bit of a shock. I knew that there was something familiar about Batman but I never thought that Terry McGinnis, the one I had called powder puff, was the Dark Knight.

"Surprise." Was all Terry said as he walked out of the Batcave.