The drive was quiet, but not with a comfortable silence.

Barbara sat with an anger that she had become accustomed to, one that was more disappointed in herself for not foreseeing this outcome than anything else. After all, Bruce Wayne had always trained her to think ahead, plan for the future and expect the unexpected, yet she felt as if she had been played yet again and she was sick of not recognizing the games she was a part of.

Bruce on the other hand drove in a Stony silence that said, 'I know you are angry, but I don't care. I did what needed to be done and I would do it again.'

It was the type of indifference that defined him, it made him the best, but it was also what made him the world's biggest pain in the ass.

This type of interaction made her miss the days when all she wanted to do was impress him. She would strive to make it nearly impossible for him to not be proud and he knew he could always call on her no matter how big or small the problem was. Defying him was much harder but she could no longer go back to the days where she was naive to his deceptive ways.

Things had changed and they couldn't go back.

As they got closer and closer to Wayne Manor, the roads became quieter and quieter. Gotham was a city of ten million people and living in a building with thirty-plus apartments was common, but the manor always felt like it was in a world of its own, and to the rich, it probably was.

Barbara had surmised that Bruce hadn't conversed with a Gothamite who wasn't the child of a millionaire or important figurehead until he was well into his teens and even at that the only ones, he seemed to spend any time with were the ones in the criminal profession.

The rich lived a different life, simple as that, and Barbara had long gotten used to the disconnect between knowing the rich Waynes and living in the poor Gordon house. It had never bothered her, but she couldn't pretend like as she got older, she didn't start to notice it more.

While all of Bruce Wayne's adopted children went to Gotham Academy without hesitation, James Gordon's daughter went through an academic scholarship, a sports scholarship, and a lot of hard work on his part to put her into such a prestigious school.

The irony wasn't lost on her, but she tended not to dwell on it.

After all, this was one of the rare things that Bruce Wayne couldn't help about himself. He hadn't scammed anyone out of their money or made his millions through the fruits of other people's Labour, he was just born rich. A typical trust fund baby who had more money than he would ever need, even while dressing up like a bat and building elaborate war machines to fight crime.

As they got to the gates of the old stone mansion, they opened slowly, as if representing the gloom that she was feeling about being back here. It had been months since she had even thought about coming back to this place and she wasn't exactly thrilled about the situation she had found herself in that had brought her back.

Bruce pulled up in front of the grand doors to the house but made no move to turn off the car. Barbara turned without a word, hoped out and closed the door behind her with a little more force than was probably necessary, especially for such an expensive car.

She didn't bother looking back as he drove off to her right, surely taking the car into the garage that held at least eight more, and instead opted to walk straight up the doors. When she got to the top of the steps, she felt an odd sense of uncertainty.

Should she knock?

She felt odd just walking in now.

How many times had she done that without even thinking? This time two years ago if she had knocked on the door Alfred would have been disturbed at the action, insisting that she not make such a fuss about entering what should be considered her home too.

Except now it didn't feel anything like a home to her. It felt like a heavyweight on her back that she was being forced to stare at despite the obvious struggle it was causing her.

In the end, she opted to knock lightly as she opened the large doors.

Best of both worlds, she thought to herself.

"Alfred?" she called out into the vast open space of the hall. The same black and grey colors looked back at her as they always had, but now they had a coldness about them that hadn't been there before. As if the house hadn't been lived in for years, even though she knew it was housing a seventeen-year-old who was bound to be leaving his socks lying around and dirty dishes in the sink.

Almost as if by magic, an older man with glasses hanging off the end of his nose appeared from behind a corner wearing a red apron and black leather gloves. She couldn't tell if he was dressed for serving food or fixing a car engine, but she guessed it was probably both.

"Ms. Gordon!" he said, with a genuine beam that was infectious. She couldn't help but smile back as he wrapped her up in a hug that was rivaling any she had ever received.

"Hi Alfred, how are you?"

"I'm good my dear, better now that you are here" he quipped finally letting go of her but resting a hand on her shoulder. "You made me wait a long time for a visit I must say."

A pang of guilt suddenly hit her and washed over her like a bout of rain. She had never even considered Alfred in her avoidance of the Wayne property and thinking of him genuinely missing her Presence, along with all the other changes that occurred over the past eighteen months or so must have been incredibly hard on the older man.

"I'm really sorry about that, I've been so busy" she started. "But that isn't an excuse, really I promise to get down more often from now on."

"Not to worry, you are here now!" he beamed. "I presume you are here on business?"

"I am" she replied.

She had enough father figures to last her a lifetime, but Alfred Pennyworth was not one she was sorry about having. The older man brought a sense of normality to the bizarre situation she found herself in and when she spoke to him, she always got a sense that he thought this whole thing was nuts. It grounded her to a place that even her father couldn't bring her due to the fact she could be fully honest about her situation, as opposed to with the commissioner, and he wasn't completely deluded like her so-called Bat-dad was.

"I'm here to see Jason actually."

"Ah, well he is in the cave. I trust you remember where that is" he answered as if she hadn't practically grown up in the cave. "You head down, and I'll bring you a drink. Water? Tea? Something stronger?"

"Water is perfect thanks, Alfred."

He nodded slightly and smiled, turning away through the grand arch of the kitchen, and just before he went out of view Barbara called him.

"Alfred!"

With that, he whipped his head around so fast that the small tuff of grey hair flew up.

"It is great to see you." Barbara tried to pour all the sincerity that she could muster into her voice, to make sure he knew she was being serious, but whatever worries she had about not come across as genuine soon disappeared as she saw the slow smile creep across the butlers' face and he turned back to his task.

Barbara took a minute before she almost mechanically walked down to the very back of the grand house and followed the small windy stairs down to the elevator that scanned her retina and chimed back, "Gordon, Barbara, Access Granted".

Going down the glass lift, everything came into focus slowly as she descended into the innards of the almost mythical basement which was bigger than most people's entire houses.

She saw the Giant penny in the corner and next to that the ridders cane which the dynamic duo had confiscated long before she had shown up. A staircase led up to several suits encased in glass cylinders. The very first bat suit that Bruce had worn when he first ventured out into Gotham in, the black battle armor he wore in a duel against Bane, the very first Robin suit, pixie boots and all, and finally at the very end was her first suit.

The one she had worn to the Halloween fancy dress party in an effort to embarrass her father as retaliation for not allowing her to apply for the police force. Little did she know her vigilante career would start that very night when all she thought she did was save a playboy millionaire from a man dressed in an even more ridiculous costume than hers, a moth.

She had since moved onto an all-black suit made of Kevlar that was not only bulletproof but also could last longer than twenty minutes in the rain, but something about seeing that suit made her strangely nostalgic. She hadn't worn it for very long, Bruce insisted she move on pretty soon after he started her training, but it was a reminder of why she started doing this in the first place. Just to save one person from something terrible and go from there.

On the training mat on the lowest floor of the cave, Barbara finally saw the person she had come here to see, bouncing off a combat dummy like it was going to hit him back if he tried hard enough. He was tall for seventeen, well above her height, and was already starting to fill into his stature. He had broad shoulders and was lean as opposed to overtly muscle. Not too big that he couldn't pass off as an athletic teenager, but strong enough to fight off some of the worst people you could encounter.

She was hoping to observe him for a little bit longer and see how he was getting on without the pressure of him being watched, but the second the elevator came to a stop he spun around, gleaming at her with an excitement she hadn't seen in anyone in a long time.

"Barbara! Hey!" he said, almost tripping on his words. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to check up on you bird brain" she mocked. "Came to see how you are doing."

When she reached him, she pulled him in for a hug, genuinely happy to see him. His jet-black hair was plastered onto his face with sweat and it was clear Bruce was working him to the bone. She hated to say it, but it was what he needed if he was to survive this life.

"Really?" he questioned as he pulled away. He sounded doubtful and she couldn't blame him. It wasn't as if she had been a regular feature in his training thus far, but she was determined to give him everything she could with the time she had with him.

"Bruce asked me to maybe show you a few things, they might come in handy in the future."

"Why couldn't he just show me himself. He's the one who trained you right?"

The arrogant tone wasn't lost on Barbara. It was the same one she had heard on every teenage boy she had ever met. She held back the urge to roll her eyes as she pat him on the shoulder.

"Because Bruce didn't teach me this."

They made their way to the balance beam, an illusion built by Bruce designed to push you to the very limits. It was designed like a giant tree trunk, hanging at least fifty feet in the air, with wet branches and curves that you could slip on at any time.

If you could fight effectively on this, you could fight anywhere.

She reached up to take off her jumper, leaving her in her sports bra and black shorts in which she had Faught earlier. To warm up she completed a back handspring as if she was ready for action immediately and stretched her arms behind her back, trying to loosen the knots that had built up in her neck from both the fight and the tension with Bruce.

She watched as Jason carefully jumped up onto the beam, or trunk as it was now being projected, and let the rain that was falling from a roof that didn't exist wash down over his face and cool him down from the workout he had been enduring before Barbara had come in.

The rain was designed to be a distraction to them, to prove that in the outside world they wouldn't be met with perfect conditions and they would have to adapt to anything that was thrown at them.

"Let's go red" Jason called to her as he positioned himself, ready to spar.

They stood looking at each other for what felt like forever. She wasn't used to being the aggressor when it came to her fighting style, she was a lot more defensive than either of the batboys were, but she knew she needed to allow him to show her how he fought, so before she could overthink it any longer, she reached forward and went to punch him in the face.

This caused him to dash out of the way, which also caused him to almost slip-on wet branch, but she was impressed at how fast he recovered and stood straight, getting ready to counter-attack.

When he lunged forward and downwards, Barbara saw what Bruce had seen and why he had asked her to help. Jason was pushing all of his weight towards his attacker, leaving his chest wide open for attack. That would be ok if he was Batman and was able to deflect the oncoming attack, but he wasn't Batman and no matter how hard and long he trained, he would never be.

So, if he was to continue with this style of fighting, he would need to be lighter on his feet to dash away from the counterattack which would come. She also couldn't help but notice how aggressive the lunge was and even though she deflected it, if she hadn't, her collarbone would have been looking more like an L shape right about now.

That's the Bats problem, she thought to herself. It wasn't on her to teach the morals of the job; lord knows Bruce would handle that side of things.

Seeing the problem gave her more clarity and she set about showing Jason some techniques that could help him with his flexibility and movement. It was going to take hard work, but if he could go from a street kid fighting for his next meal to a trained crime fighter in a matter of months, Barbara knew he could do this too.

She also tried to teach him a sneaky maneuver that helped you disarm someone with a knife. It was harder than disarming someone with a gun as there were more ways one could hurt you with a knife and it took serious practice.

"You are pretty decent at this whole thing" Jason quipped. The smile on his face was almost as infectious as Alfred's, but not quite. He had pearly white teeth that were straighter than she remembered, and she couldn't help but wonder if he had gotten new ones since he'd adopted the life of a millionaire's son.

"I almost went to Olympics you know" she quipped as she did a scissors leap. She could show off when she wanted to, but she often chose the more effective ways to end a fight than dramatics. It had been a long time since she had practiced gymnastics for fun as opposed to doing it to survive.

"Almost seems like the keyword in that sentence."

Ouch.

Jason was clearly messing with her, but she couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in her heart. Another sacrifice for this life, another thing she didn't pursue, and another hobby she thought she couldn't live without that now came second to responsibility.

"That's true, but I can still kick your ass."

With that she jumped into the air and landed behind him, lowering herself to the ground and sticking her leg out, and tripping him. He fell, but only just, and landed on his back, from there he pushed himself up on his hands and went to push himself up from behind, almost in a crap position, but before he could move Barbara hit him in the face, sending him flying off the edge of the trunk and down into the abyss.

Well, under the illusion it was the abyss, but, when he fell about five feet, he suddenly landed face-first onto a crash mat and the illusion was suddenly gone. Another trick of the mind that the bat was so fond of.

Even after years of being Batgirl, successfully taking down crime lords, terrorists, and men with weapons so powerful they could out entire cities if they wanted to, and still she was underestimated. She had hated it when she was younger, would make her rage with anger, but she had grown to be as dismissive of it as people were of her. She learned to use it to her advantage.

Not that she liked hurting people, but she had to admit, seeing Jason flat on his face after she saw the flash of doubt across his face was satisfying.

"I'm not used to taking such a beating from your kind red" Jason spat, trying to pick himself up off the floor.

"Don't worry, you'll learn" Barbara quipped as she jumped down, helping him up. "Come on, that's enough for today, just make sure you work on what I showed you."

"Sure thing!" he said, trying not to sound too elated. She couldn't help but look at his enthusiasm as a weakness. She kind of hated herself for becoming so negative, but it came with this job. She had been just as eager as he was now, and she mourned the naïve yet ambitious young woman who wanted to save the world.

"So how is it all going?" she asked in an attempt at small talk.

"Brilliant!" he said, even more, elated than before. "You should have seen me last night, I was unstoppable!"

"I more meant about school, you know making friends and settling in?"

He looked at her as If she had just insulted him, then rolled his eyes as if he had never heard anything more ridiculous. To add insult to injury, he scoffed at her as if to put the final nail in the coffin and thought she was completely stupid.

"You know this life isn't for everyone Jason," she said with sincerity, looking at Bruce walking into the cave. He was walking with purpose, as always, towards Alfred who was at the computer. They spoke in hushed tones until Bruce saw her staring and made his way over to the pair.

"How did it go?" Bruce asked, almost like a father collecting his son from football practice.

"Great! The understudy thought me all she knew." Jason wore his signature smirk as he spoke that Barbara hated and loved in equal measure.

"He'll be a natural in no time, but only if he practices!"

The tone of her voice almost made her cringe. It was as if Barbara and Bruce were fighting parents, putting on a brave face for the kids, pretending everything was fine. As if he read her mind, Bruce put on his stern father's voice and sent Jason away.

"I need to talk to Barbara alone." As if they had to discuss important adult things that children couldn't be in the room for. She felt a bit ridiculous, but when Jason looked at her for a reassuring glance, she nodded at him, sending him on his way.

When he was far enough away from them that he couldn't hear them, bickering with Alfred about something, Bruce finally spoke openly.

"Well?"

"I could see it a mile away, that right shoulder?"

Bruce nodded, looking back at his new protegee.

"I knew he needed you."

Barbara let the silence hang in the air and wondered how long she would have to wait until she could leave. It wasn't as if manners were her main concern when it came to him these days, so she didn't know why she was worrying about formalities all of a sudden. She decided to just turn and leave, not worrying if it was rude or unacceptable, but before she could, he once again turned and looked at her.

"I know you have been tracking Falcone's men at the docks" he almost snapped. "I need all the information you have on it."

No more small talk then.

"No" she replied, just as solidly as he had asked, and with that, she turned away from him, not interested in discussing it anymore.

She had worked tirelessly for weeks to gather that information. Literal blood, sweat, and tears went into gathering the intel on a massive drug deal that had been in the works between the Falcones and an unidentified buyer that could effectively make this new dealer the biggest in the city depending on what the product was.

If Bruce had cared about what she was up to for the past few weeks he would have checked in with her, but no. Instead, he let her do all the hard work, interrogating witnesses, surveilling the homes and deal locations, and hacking into the personal phones and laptops of everyone involved, only for him to show up last minute and demand she shares all of her information.

In the past she would have done it without hesitation, in fact, she would have given him the information on a minute-by-minute basis, updating him as often and as detailed as she could. Now, she was in no mood to hand over her hard-earned work without some sort of push back.

However, before she could move any further, he forcefully grabbed her forearm and pulled her back.

"I am serious Barbara."

"Back off Bruce" she warned. She wasn't in the mood to play happy families with him, especially after what had happened earlier. "You need to let me handle this. I don't work for you."

Even as she said the words, she could hear how pathetic they sounded out loud. A small cry against a roar, one lonely soldier up against an army of trained assassins, and a naïve hope up against a stark reality that she actually did work for him.

Batman had access to everything and if he wanted something, he would find a way to get it, it was only a matter of time.

He seemed to confirm her inner thoughts when his eyes became clouded and serious while he spoke.

"As long as you have that symbol on your chest, you are under my authority whether you want it or not."