Disclaimer: Only for entertainment purposes, no profit was made. Characters of Batman/Bruce Wayne, Robin/Dick Grayson, Alfred and Police Commissioner are property of DC Comics.

The night was almost stormy; lightning, thunder, heavy winds but no rain. That had come earlier. Upon the high rooftops two dark figures moved as if one with the night, they launched themselves from roof to roof always in motion. They sought the source of their call. They searched for the police commissioner Gordon.

"What's happing Commissioner?" asked the elder of the two men.

The aging Commissioner should have been well prepared for his allies' unexpected arrival after many years of practice, but even now he jumped at the steely voice of the caped crusaders. "Batman, Robin, what we are dealing with is a robbery; they have already killed two guards and are holding two civilians hostage. We'd go in but you know how the boys in blue are. They'd shoot the first thing that moves, which may not be their targets."

"Don't worry sir, we'll handle them." Robin said. Even after dealing with the younger man for months, the Commissioner still found him to but some what of a hot shot, loose cannon type.

Vanishing into the deepening shadows the two masked men spoke, "I'll take out the robbers, and you get the hostages. Then come back to help get them ready for the police." Batman said.

Robin shook his head, "I don't know.we don't know how many crooks there are. You could need my help."

"I don't want to argue about it Robin! Get the civilians out first then we'll deal with the robbers." Robin knew it was nearly pointless to argue with the bat, but he had a bad feeling about this bust.

From their bird's eye view the two men spotted the robbers removing large amounts of cash and merchandise from a single back room. Then one of the heavily built men called for to people with black hoods over their heads to be lead and left in the room. A nod from Batman launched Robin into action.

Robin swung down to the small room and prayed that he hadn't alerted the crooks. In a whisper he spoke to the two people inside. "Relax, I'm Robin and I'm going to get you out of here. Just stay calm."

"We are calm little bird. It's you who should worry." Cooed one of the hostages, before Robin could question what was happening, the door behind him closed and locked, the two hostages stood and removed the black hoods. They were two men wearing gas masks underneath the hoods.

The one that hadn't spoken took his hands out from behind him and displayed a canister; he pulled the tab releasing a pale pink smoke. It filled the room quickly, making it hard for Robin to both see and breath.

Through the clouds of smoke, a punch came to his stomach, then a punch to his jaw and a heel to his temple which put him onto the cold tile floor. The two crooks stood over the fallen bird and prepared to continue beating him, but just then a figure broke through the door, both releasing the smoke and startling the attackers. This new figure knocked the crooks senseless, with swift kicks and snappy punches. They were down in the blink of an eye. Making certain that the foes were down and out the figure turned its attention to Robin. He was semi-conscious at best as the figure hauled him out into the clear air of the larger room.

Batman had just finished knocking out the last of the thugs and had turned to see what was stalling Robin. He was surprised to see his partner laying on the tile floor with a woman kneeling over him. As if the woman knew she was being watched she stood. Batman noticed her costume was not unlike Robin's own, her costume was a dark blue where Robin's was red. Her dark hair covered part of her face.

Batman stepped towards the pair and was not surprised when she bolted for the nearest exit that wasn't being guarded by the police. Pushing the woman from his mind he went over to tend to Robin, who was coming too slowly.

"Robin?" Batman asked as he knelt next to the younger man. "You okay?" The young man didn't answer because the police made their entrance right then. With his partner leaning heavily on his shoulder Batman and Robin left the scene, confident that the police could now handle the job.

Our top story tonight, a new masked crime fighter has hit the streets of Gotham for the past three weeks. It is not yet clears if this new crusader has joined forces with the already resident Batman and Robin. This new creature of the night has been spotted leaving several large robbery sights just as the police arrived, the criminals were always found secured inside the establishment with a calling card set next to them. The media has named this new hero, Raven.now on to Herb with the weath-" the television news cast was cut short with a hit of the mute button.

"Where'd this guy come from?" wondered Dick Grayson from the comfortable seat of the office chair. He stared off into space in wonder.

"You mean where did she come from?" Bruce Wayne corrected coming up behind his youthful brother in arms. "She was the one who saved your butt at the robbery a few weeks ago."

"Why do you think it's a she?" Dick grinned, "Wishful thinking?"

"I saw her." The grin quickly faded from Dicks face. "I'm going to see what I can dig up on her, maybe find out where she is from and why she is here. You know I could always-"

"Don't finish that sentence. I'm going out on the town for a few hours." Before Bruce could voice the phrase Dick knew was coming he said, "I know.I'll be back in time to patrol."

"I'll call you if I find anything." Bruce said as Dick headed up the stone stairs.

The city streets were slick with an evening shower, it had been just enough to reflect the many street lights and neon signs. The click of a pair of woman's shoes was heard by every nocturnal predator in range. The steps quickened as the woman felt their presence. She turned and headed down a dimmer street as a short cut to her apartment. That alone was a mistake, but perhaps it was destiny.

The woman heaved a sigh when she saw her building come into view; her feet were tired both from her hurried walk home and the long hours of standing as a checkout girl and the local grocery store four blocks away. Shifting her own bag of groceries from one hip to the other so to reach her keys seemed to be the cue for the night time predators. One attacker sent her tumbling to the ground spilling her paper bag into the street and sidewalk. The same man roughly hauled her to her feet as his three buddies walked up.

A scream of fright, alarm, and knowledge leapt out of her throat. It caught the attention of Dick who was riding his motorcycle a block away. He saw the four me engaging a struggling woman and pushed his bike to go faster.

"Back off!" he yelled as he skidded to a halt mere feet away from the closest thug. "I said back off." His voice was low and threatening as he dismounted his bike.

One of the thugs turned to the new arrival and looked him over, dismissing him with a wave of the hand he said, "Go away boy, we got work to do."

"I said let the lady go!" Dick forcefully turned the thug that had spoken towards him and punched him square in the jaw. The girl with the long black hair was tossed to one of the smaller thugs as his two buddies decided to double team Dick. Their plan failed as they both went flying into either the street or the wall of the apartment building, neither landed gently.

The last thug looked from the girl to Dick and then pushed the girl to the ground. In a fluid motion a switch blade appeared in his had. Dick could tell from the guy's stance that he was well taught in the art of knife fighting.

"You messed with the wrong bunch of guys, buddy." The thug taunted.

"Oh? I don't think I agree." Dick said as he planted his booted foot into the guy's stomach. A second swift kick knocked the knife out of his hand. Leaning closer to the man doubled over Dick whispered, "Run."

Their eyes met, the thug smiled despite his pain. "Watch yer back." Confused Dick stood. The forgotten girl screamed for she saw what was happening. The first thug to go down hadn't been put down and out; he had gotten a hold of the discarded knife. Dick felt the cold steel of the short blade slice through his jacket, shirt and graze the skin of his side.

The strike could have been worse had the girl not interfered. With an impressive kick to the thugs back she sent him sprawling on the wet ground. A single punch to the temple knocked him out cold.

"You okay?" Dick asked as he regained his feet unsteadily.

She looked at him, then at the men lying around them. "I'm better then they are." Her voice was cold but not hard. "Are you?"

Dick released his hand from his side and showed her his bloodied palm. "I've been better."

She stepped closer to him and locked her ice blue eyes with his doe brown ones. "Come inside, I'll fix you up and give you some coffee. Consider it my way of saying thanks."

"Okay." Dick followed the young woman, he noticed now, up to her apartment. When she was unlocking the door he said, "You know there are safer places to live then out here. It's not exactly the best place in town."

"I know." She replied, opening the door she revealed a sparsely furnished living area. "I won't be here long." She led him into the kitchen and pointed to a chair. Turning on the coffee maker she said, "I'll be back in a minute, just have to get the med kit and change."

Dick nodded. Leaving him alone in the kitchen, his eyes began to wander. There were no pictures on the walls, no little knickknacks. Nothing that made this place seem like a home. A small groan escaped his lips as he readjusted his body on the chair.

"He must have gotten you pretty good eh?" the woman said returning. She knelt next to Dick. "Take off the jacket and lift your shirt." Dick looked at the woman for a moment, smiling she said, "Don't worry I know what I'm doing."

He watched her closely as she tended to his wound. "Where did you learn to do this?"

She glanced up at him, "In my life learning to patch yourself up comes in handy." She looked back to what she was doing. "By the way I'm Angelica."

"Dick Grayson." There was a slightly awkward silence between them. "Okay I know this is going to sound weird but, I feel like I've met you some where before."

Angelica grabbed to mugs from the cupboard and filled them with the rich coffee. She turned at looked at him as she handed him his cup. "I got the same feeling."

"So how long have you been in Gotham?"

"Umm about two months, I'm still trying to find my footing if you know what I mean."

"Yeah I get what you mean." Dick sipped his coffee; it was strong just as he liked it. "You said earlier that you weren't staying long how come?"

"Get right to the point don't you." She snickered at his blush. "Well, I'm not one who likes to stay in one place for long. I like to move around see as much as I can."

Again they lapsed into silence, this time it was comfortable. Dick was just going to ask Angelica something but he was interrupted by his cell phone suddenly going off. "Sorry I have to take this."

Angelica shrugged as Dick answered his phone and walked into the living room. "Hello?"

"Dick, we've got a call." Bruce's voice was calm and stone like.

"I'm on my way." Dick hung up and turned to face Angelica who was leaning against the wall dividing the two rooms.

"You've got to go?" she asked in a pout.

"Yeah.something came up at home and I have to get over there." Dick made a b-line for the door. Turning quickly he asked in haste, "Umm would you want to have dinner some time?"

"Love to. Here before you go to the rescue, this is my number for my cell. Call me with details okay?"

"It's a deal."

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