Chapter Six: Starting Point

R.J. knew that getting control over her fathers' enterprise would not be at all easy, but she was by no means unprepared.

Ever since she had been seven, R.J. had had quite a few major secrets of her own, like the fact that many of her inventions were patented under the code name: Zitkalasa. Her products had been, and still were, extremely popular with the military and other such enterprises. All her royalties and other fees had amounted to so much that she was actually one of the richest people in the world in her own right. Not that anyone else knew about that.

Her plan was to break up the smuggling and running rings, expose and ruin her parents, then buy most of the shares of Falcon Inc. at rock-bottom prices, therefore taking it over and making it into something worthwhile. She would do this as Zitkalasa at first, then, when she got older, she would think about coming out into the public eye as the person behind the famous inventor who had 'his' hand in almost every company in the world.

It was ironic when you thought about it, all these powerful people in the world, and one of them was a fifteen-year-old girl that most knew nothing about. But one of the things R.J. prided herself in above all was that she didn't live for the lime-light.

Blue-Jay crept quietly through the rafters of a warehouse that her mother used for hiding and dispersing some of her drugs under the guise of a storage company.

It was simple, yet ingenious. Each dealer would have a locker under a fake name, and every week they would go to their locker and pick up their part of the shipment. On the same day the next week, they would return, drop off most of the money and any drugs that they hadn't sold (though that was rare) and the cycle would start all over again.

Blue-Jay had decided not to rush into this; she was going to map out as much of her parents businesses as she could before going in, getting their contacts, their shipping schedules, lists of their cargo, and, in short, mapping out their entire enterprises. If she had her way, this was going to be the first world-wide bust in history.

It would be a delicate process, taking many late nights, but she was up to the challenge, and was determined to do her best.

"Master R.J., there is someone here to see you." Pierre said. R.J. looked up at the man with the dark grey hair, one eye-brow raised "Who would want to see me?" she asked, mystified. "Tim Drake." Up went her other eyebrow. "Has Batman sent his Robin to investigate?" she asked, "I cannot be sure, but it would look rather suspicious, not to mention rude if you did not take a respite from your crusade and attend to his presence and request for your company." "What are you trying to tell me?" "You need a public life, Master R.J." she rolled her eyes "You only have to have a small ring of associates, the other children from wealthy and important families, it would lessen suspicion even more, and-" "Alright, alright, you've made your point." R.J. stood up and stretched.

"Stall him for a little while I clean up and change." "Very good, see you upstairs in ten minuets." In response she stuck out her tongue at his retreating back.

"Hello, R.J., it's nice to see you again!" Tim said as she came down the large spiral staircase from the upper floors. "Likewise, Tim." She said with a small, rather shy smile "But is there any particular reason you are here?" He shrugged, "Bruce has been driving me crazy and this is the only place I could think of to go where he wouldn't look for me, I hope you don't mind?" "Not at all, actually, it might be nice to have some company my own age." She said. "Come on, I'll show you around."

They spent the majority of the day running around the extensive grounds. She showed him the stables and her favorite horses, especially Raven, the jet-black thoroughbred that her father had sent from Brazil for her thirteenth birthday.

"What's that?" Tim asked as they walked along the edge of the grounds, heading back to the house. He was pointing to a large dome structure that took up quite a chunk of grass. "Oh that, that's my bird aviary, come on, I'll show you." He followed her as she began to trot towards the building.

When they entered it, Tim's eyes went wide. Never in his entire life had he seen so many birds in one place, or so many different species.

There were thousands of them in all shapes, sizes and colors, ranging from hummingbirds the size of his thumb, to an Albatross with a wing span so huge it looked like it could carry Tim through the air with no trouble at all.

"Whoa!" he said "When you said that you liked birds you really weren't kidding!" she giggled softly. "Of course not, with a name like mine did you really expect anything less?" "I guess I should have known." They shared a smirk and she started to show him all her birds. Her parents had apparently sent her quite a few over the years and she bread and trained them as a hobby, some for herself, some for private customers.

"Man, you sure have a lot of Robins and Blue-Jays!" he said as they passed the enclosures, each of which housed a sizable flock of each. "Of course, as my name is Robyn, but the Blue-Jays I'm training for a customer." This seemed to catch his attention, "Really, who?" "I don't know, I've never seen him, or her, they placed their orders over the internet and have paid cash for each separate purchase." "They have made more than one?" "Yes, the blue-jays and a raven, like this one." He jumped as the large black bird swooped down to land on her shoulder.

"This is Uno, he was my first bird. I found him, injured, in the grounds when I was five and nursed him back to health, but he can't fly very well, he's blind in one eye, you see." And he did see, the bird's right eye were milky white and sightless, but it made the old bird no less imposing and imperial as he glared around with his one beady black eye, looking Tim over with an intelligent glower.

"Why, would your customer want Blue-Jays and Ravens?" he asked, "No idea. Why do you ask?" her question caught him off guard for a second before he answered "Just curious, it's a rather odd request when you think about it. Most people would want trained parrots or parakeets." "That's true." She acknowledged as they left the aviary.

"Oh, man!" Tim exclaimed when they saw that the sun had almost vanished below the horizon, "I didn't know it was that late, Bruce is going to kill me, I didn't tell him where I was going!" "Well, we had better run then!" "Race you!" "You're on!" and they both sprinted for the house, laughing as they ran.

Albatross-Largest seabird wingspan (wandering albatross, 419 centimeters)

Wingspan: avrg. 10-12 feet WOW

Measuring almost 3.5 m

3.5 meters is equal to 11.4829396325 feet

Zitkalasa: Native American for 'Red Bird'