All of the characters and story lines and everything else I can think of are the property of DC comics and the WB network.  The only bits that're mine are the words and the voice.   

Chapter 2:  Dick's Story

            "Alfred has been after me for months, now, to open Bruce's mail and start taking care of his affairs, but I guess I've been in denial.  I just couldn't accept that he was really gone for good.  I mean, I'm a grown man, now, and I guess should be able to get along all right without a father figure, but I really loved him.  I loved him, and I counted on him.  He was the anchor that kept me from drifting too far, the something solid that I could grasp when I started floundering.  I just haven't been able to wrap my mind around the fact that he really isn't coming back.

            "After I…after we had that fight, I started realizing that I'd been doing the same thing you were—holding so tight to the past, I couldn't free a hand to reach for the future.  Only, the past I was holding onto was Batman.  I realized that I needed to take my own advice:  It was time to let go and start redefining life without him.

            "I figured a good place to start accepting that he was gone would be to deal with his mail.  Bruce's mail had been piling up since he left, and as his heir, it falls to me to deal with it.  Or, maybe it falls to her, now, since she's his real child and that probably makes her the heir.  No, don't interrupt—you promised.  Anyway, I've been spending the last several weekends slowly working my way through the mail and beginning to put Bruce's affairs in order.  It's been slow going--more time consuming than anything I could have imagined.

            "This morning, I opened a letter from a law office I didn't recognize.  Because I hadn't recognized it, I'd put it in the not-so-urgent pile, which is why I hadn't opened it until now.   

            "It was from Selina Kyle's lawyer.

            "The thing is, Bruce and Selina hadn't been in touch for years.  When they'd broken up fourteen or so years ago, she'd left town, and Bruce never heard from her again.  The only thing he knew for sure, according to Alfred, is that she'd given up being Catwoman for good.  Nobody knew why for certain, but Alfred says Bruce liked to think he'd had some influence in that decision.  He could never understand, though, if she was giving up the life of crime, why she left him.  Her unorthodox lifestyle had been the only rift in their relationship.  He was crushed by it.  He'd really been in love.  The 'Till Death Do Us Part' kind.  He would have married her if she would've had him."

            "I remember," Barbara said softly.  "He never really got over it.  I never saw him with anyone else after that."

            Dick shook his head.  "Well, now we know why she left.  She was pregnant with his child and didn't want him to know it.  

            "Anyway, Selina had left instructions with her lawyer that if anything should ever happen to her, Bruce, as the father, should be given legal custody.  So, the lawyer sent Bruce a letter, but of course, by the time it got there, Bruce had already taken off.

            "As soon as I opened this letter, I immediately called the lawyer to try to find out what had happened to the kid, Helena.  It turns out, when they didn't hear from Bruce, they'd assumed that he had no interest in the poor kid, and since he hadn't ever had or wanted custody, there were no rights for him to sign away, so they made her a Ward of the State. 

            "More than that, Selina's lawyer couldn't tell me, so then, I called DCFS, and I got the runaround for a long time before I got hold of the woman who used to be her caseworker.  I guess the poor kid saw Selina killed right in front of her, and then, they immediately dropped the bombshell on her about Bruce being her father, and then, on top of that, he appeared not to want her.  They felt she'd been too traumatized to deal well with foster placement, so they placed her in a group home."

            Barbara's eyes were full of tears.  "That poor child.  Is she all right?  Can we see her?"

            "Well, that's the thing.  I spoke with the director over at the Northside Christian Children's Home, where she'd been placed, and he said that about two weeks after she'd been placed there, Helena ran away—right at Christmastime, I guess.  They haven't heard anything of her since." 

            Barbara looked stunned.

            "There's more.  I think I might know her.  I think she's been living on the streets.  And, I think she's got metahuman abilities."

            "Not surprising.  She's half meta, after all.  You say you know her?"

            "I think so—and if I'm right, if this kid is her, she's really a terrific kid.  She's got a good heart.  She's pretty messed up, though.  It appears she's started to go feral."

            "That ain't good."

            "No kidding.  I think she can be reached, though.  I started to make a connection with her awhile back, and she's been shadowing me off and on since then.  She's got big, big attachment issues, though."

            "I should think so.  I take it you've run into her on patrols?" 

            He nodded.  "We're going to have to do something about this kid.  The streets of New Gotham are no place for a young girl—especially a metahuman.  If she's left to run wild for too much longer, she'll go completely feral and no one will be able to reach her.  Then, she'll be dangerous—in a few years, we'll end up fighting Bruce's own child."

            "I agree.  What can we do with her, though?  Bruce isn't around, damn him.  You're way down in Bludhaven, and that hovel you call an apartment is a disgrace--and anyway, DCFS doesn't tend to look smilingly upon placing young girls with single young men, even if you are sort of her brother.  She can't stay by herself in the Wayne manor, even with Alfred there to look after her.  Alfred's way too old to be responsible for a child, anyway—especially if she's hurting and angry and half wild."

            Dick grinned.  "Alfred's tougher than he looks.  He had charge of me more than a few times.  You don't want to cross him.  But, you're right.  That wouldn't do.  Maybe the best thing we can do for her is get her back in that group home."

            "NO!"  Barbara was emphatic.  "We can't do that to her.  Think what that poor, motherless child has been through.  She needs someone to love her." 

            Ah, yes…there was an idea.  A good idea.  A two birds with one stone idea.

            She caught his look.  "Are you out of your freaking mind?"

            He tried to look innocent and failed utterly.  "What?"

            "Don't give me, 'What.'  I'm in no shape to raise a teenager, and you know it."

            "What, because of the wheelchair?  Or because you're such a bitch, lately?"  His eyes danced daringly. 

            She smacked him playfully.  "Just you wait till I get you in the training room, tonight!" 

            Dick ducked out of her reach.  He cocked his head, considering.  "You know, actually, that would make you a bitch on wheels."  He dodged the couch pillow thrown at his head, getting smacked right in the face by the second, which she'd aimed where she'd instinctively known his head would be when he ducked.  God, she was still just as quick as she'd always been!  He flung the pillow back in her direction.  She caught it and grinned wickedly.  Dick dove from the couch and turned a double somersault, hiding himself behind an armchair.

            "Oh, Dickie…c'mere!  Got a little present for ya!"  Barbara waited for him to give into the temptation to stick his head out.  After several moments, a hand popped up from behind the chair.  

            "Uncle," called Dick, waving his handkerchief.  "I take it back!  I take it back!"   He ventured back to the couch, exaggeratedly feigning terrified hesitation.  Lord, it was good to hear her laugh like that!     

            She sobered.  "Seriously—taking care of a teenager is a big responsibility.  You have to make an enormous commitment; it's not the sort of thing you can just do for awhile and then stop.  You have to be prepared to run the whole race.  Any less would do harm.  It takes preparation and careful thought.  You can't just say, 'Oh, this one's cute—let's take it home and keep it'"

            He considered that.  "True.  But, the kid needs someone who can handle her.  You're a teacher—you've got a lot of experience with kids."

            "Yeah—and when I come home, I don't want to see any.  I deal with them all day long.  Emphasis on the long part."

            "This one'd be different.  This one'd be family.  And Alfred and I would help, you know.  It's not like you'd be all alone."

            She was amazed to find that she was more than half convinced.  She sighed.  "Let me think about it, okay?" 

            He nodded, the expression in his eyes hopeful.

            I must, she thought, be out of my mind.