I sleep uneasily, and wake up not feeling particularly well rested. Too many thoughts racing through my head. I take a deep breath and brush them aside, determined not to let myself be distracted. By the time I shower and get dressed, it's almost ten o'clock. Much later than I usually sleep.
I wander down to the kitchen and find Alfred there, cup of coffee ready and The Gotham Times on the bench.

"Miss Mitchell. I was beginning to wonder whether you were ever coming downstairs." He says, not sounding particularly worried at all.

"Is that your British way of calling me lazy for having a sleep in?" I take a sip of my coffee. Perfectly made, like always. "Where's the master of the house?"

"He's in his office. He'd like you to join him when you're ready." I carry my mug with me, navigating the halls of the manor until I reach Bruce's office. I can hear him talking inside, but when I open the door, he's alone.

"Finally lost it?" I raise one eyebrow at him. He smiles, shaking his head at me.

"Not yet." He jokes. "Belle, come here. It's time you met Oracle." He says, gesturing to the laptop on the desk in front of him.

"Barbara Gordon? No way!" I bound over to stand next to Bruce, grinning widely down at the computer. "You are awesome. It is so great to meet you." A pretty young woman with red hair and blue eyes hidden behind glasses smiles up at me.

"It's good to finally meet you too. I've heard a lot." She says.

"Now that you're working with me, you'll be hearing from Barbara a lot." Bruce explains.

"She should probably meet Dick and Tim soon too. Better than running into each other on patrol." Barbara suggests.

"Wait, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake? Nightwing and Robin? Oh man, this is getting so cool!" I exclaim.

"That is a little strange." Barbara laughs.

"Told you." Bruce mutters. "But you have a point. The last thing we need is Belle and Dick meeting with no one around to referee." I glare at him, making him grin.

"You think I can't behave myself? I'm offended." I cross my arms.

"It's not you I'm worried about. Just wait until you meet him, you'll see what I mean."

"Please, I think I can handle one junior superhero. I've handled worse, remember?" I say, letting a little cockiness colour my tone. After all, I've dealt with Joker. How bad can Batman's offsiders be? Bruce doesn't reply, so I'm pretty sure I've won this.

"Get them both to come over tonight. You as well, if you can. We can all sit down and talk in person." He says to Barbara, and they confirm a time.

I'm only half listening to the rest of their conversation as I look at the photographs lining the walls of the study. I haven't had a chance to look in here properly yet.
One photograph in particular catches my attention. A young couple, smiling at the camera, with a little boy in between them. I've seen Thomas Wayne before, in the games, but never really studied him before. Bruce bears a strong resemblance to him, except for his eyes. His eyes are from his mother. A sweet looking woman, I can tell she would have been a wonderful mother.
Behind me, Bruce walks up quietly. I didn't even notice him hanging up with Barbara.

"That was taken a couple of months before they were killed." He says quietly, voice sounding almost reverent.

"You take after your father." I comment. "You all look so happy."

"We were." I peek up at him out of the corner of my eye, and see him staring at photograph.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." I feel guilty.

"It's okay. They're not bad anymore. I don't mind talking about them." He says, and I notice he's looked away from the photo and is looking at me. "How about you?"
"What do you mean? My mother isn't dead, she's just-"

"A world away." He pauses, and his meaning sinks in.

"That's completely different." I scoff.

"Not really, Belle. I wanted to check on how you're holding up." The concern in his eyes makes my stomach do a flip and I have to look away to break the tension in the room.

"I'm… doing okay, actually. I guess I'm not really homesick or anything yet, and if I do go back home, I'm pretty sure almost no time would have passed, so she won't even know I was gone." I say, feeling a little guilty. I hadn't really thought of home or of Mom a lot since I got here.

"If?"

I look up at him. "If what?"

"You said if you go home. So you're planning to stay?" He asks.

"Well, at this point, yeah I am. I mean, I haven't thought too far ahead, but Gotham is…" I trail off, struggling to find the words. "I can't see myself giving any of this up again. The city, the people…"

"I can think of some people you should give up." Bruce says, voice deep and serious.

"I know you think that. But can't you see this from my perspective? You were with Talia, and her dad is a certified wacko!"

"And we didn't work." He says pointedly.

"Selina Kyle?"

"Didn't work." Bruce raises one eyebrow. "See a pattern?"

I through my arms up, exasperated. "So maybe it doesn't work, but damn it, can't I figure that out on my own? Let me learn a lesson, painful as it may be. Just let me learn it." We're both silent, staring each other down, waiting for the other one to break.

Eventually Bruce sighs. "I hope you know what you're getting into."

I smile at him. "I don't. But that's the point." He finally cracks a smile, even if it doesn't quite look authentic. "So," I say, trying to break the tension. "I get to meet the rest of the super team?"

"You'll come across them around Gotham at some point, given the crowd you run with." Bruce replies wryly.

"Fair point. So, what's the dress code tonight? Do I show up wearing my mask and a cape?"

"Maybe something a little more casual."

"Gotcha. The 'everyday Bruce Wayne' look; a three piece suit."

"If you want, but expect comments from Dick and Tim."

"Back to the drawing board, then."

¿?¿?¿?

I head towards the BatCave that afternoon, intending to get in a bit of a workout before I have to start getting ready to meet the troops.
When I walk in however, something is different. Next to the case containing Bruce's Batman suit is a second case. I walk over, almost in awe. The black suit is similar to Bruce's but has a yellow bat symbol across the chest and is made for a woman.

"Batgirl." I whisper under my breath. I can see Bruce silently approaching behind me in the reflection on the glass.

"I think Barbara wanted to tell you, but looks like you beat her to it." He says.

"Tell me? Tell me what?" I ask, even though it's pretty obvious. I need to hear him say it.

"To tell you that it's yours if you want it." He walks closer to stand beside me.

"Really? Like, really?"

"Really." He smiles. "You don't have to give me an answer now. You can think-"

"Yes!" I shout, cutting him off. Who would need to think about this?

"I hoped that would be your answer." He says, smiling wider. "Come on, I think Alfred is waiting to hear what you'd say."

"I don't think he likes me very much." I confide.

"Sure he does. His unflappable manner is how he shows affection."

"I don't know about that. I didn't think you liked me very much either when we first met." I say, nudging him with my shoulder. "But I'm almost positive you're starting to warm up to me." I give him a wry smile, but it drops when I see the serious look on his face. "Maybe not?" I backtrack. Bruce opens his mouth to say something, eyes darkening, and suddenly I really need to know what he wants to say.

A crash comes from behind us, somewhere in the mansion, breaking the tension.

Bruce clears his throat. "Sounds like Tim and Dick are here."

Adrenaline floods my system. I should be used to meeting fictional characters by now, but honestly, I don't think I'll ever be casual about it.
"Oh man."

"You'll be fine." Bruce says, picking up on my sudden anxiety. He puts his hand on my lower back, steering me towards the noise coming from the mansion. Voices get louder until we enter the kitchen, now full of life and noise.

"Bruce! Will you please tell Tim that- hey! New girl!" Tim, Dick and Barbara are in the kitchen, and all their heads snap towards us in the door way at Dick's greeting.

"This is Belle. Belle, I'm sure you know who's who." Bruce introduces us.

"Yeah, I can pick them." I agree, looking in wonder. Barbara is exactly as I'd always pictured her, still looking like a badass in her chair, smiling warmly at me. Tim is standing next to her, one hand on the back of Barbara's chair, face unreadable. And Dick Grayson is sitting at the breakfast bar, his dark hair falling every which way.
"Hi everyone." I say, suddenly shy. I'm very aware that everyone in this room could drop my ass to the floor in one second flat. I'm standing in a room full of ninjas.

Barbara wheels forward, smiling at me. "It's great to meet you finally, Belle. Your story is so incredible." She says.

"Yeah, unbelievably so." Tim adds. His tone is ominous.

"Tim." Bruce's voice is a warning.

"Yeah yeah." He mumbles, not making eye contact with anyone. I look up at Bruce. Obviously Tim has a problem with me. I can only imagine why.

"Alright!" Dick says loudly, drawing all eyes to him. "This is nice and awkward. Well, Alf says dinner is nearly ready, so shall we move this into the dining room?" He suggests, pointing to the room beside the kitchen. "New girl! Help me with the drinks." I head over to a cupboard where I know the glasses are kept and start pulling wine glasses out while Bruce, Barbara and Tim move into the next room.

"Dude, what did you call Alfred?" I ask, carefully balancing glasses while Dick grabs two bottles of wine.

"Alf. It drives him crazy. Man, he was so happy the day I moved out of the manor." He snorts.

"Bit of a hell raiser?" I ask.

"Almost as good at getting into trouble as you seem to be." He winks. We move into the dining room with the others, so I'm spared having to answer while we pass out glasses and pour drinks.

"What were you two talking about?" Barbara asks, smiling over at Dick and I.

"Just asking new girl how she manages to get into so much trouble." He replies. Damn. I guess I'm not getting out of this conversation.

"Might have something to do with the kind of people she hangs around with." Tim challenges.

Yep. Here it comes.

"Tim." Barbara cautions, but he speaks over her.

"That's what this comes down to, doesn't it? If she wasn't in with the scum of Gotham, Bruce wouldn't need to keep putting his ass on the line to help her." He's speaking to the room, but glares at me the entire time. I look down in shame. He's not wrong. "Why is she here anyway?" He demands. "Have you thought about that?"

"Tim, you've made your opinion on this perfectly clear." Bruce stands up, looking down at Tim. "And we don't need to hear it again now."

This is obviously a conversation that they've had before.
Tim stands up too, only a few inches shorter than Bruce. The two men are staring daggers at each other.

"Tim, not here." Barbara says again, putting her hand on his. It seems to ground him a little, some of the fire going out of his eyes.

"Hey, here's an idea." Dick interjects, leaning back in his chair. "Why doesn't new girl explain?" He smirks at me. No one speaks, all thinking it over.

"I'm game." I announce. If it'll help ease the tension and get them to trust me, I'll tell them anything.

"Well then," Dick smirks. "Who wants to play twenty questions?"

A/N: I know this has been a long time coming, sorry for the wait!
We get to meet the Bat Family! Let me know what you thought!