Ok so now is the moment when people start screaming at me. But, seriously, don't you think this could have happen in a place like Gotham?

Out of the kids' sight

Jason never told Bruce about how he met Batgirl. It was half a year before he took him in so it was none of his business. Nor anyone's.

Jason had been smoking out the skylight of his squat. The few kids he'd taken in for the night were asleep.

He had the habit to let the youngest street rats sleep under his roof and maybe to give them some spare food whenever he came across any. Or, you know, when he wasn't hungry. The oldest of the kids was eleven biologically – and about forty in both cynicism and desperation.

Jason didn't want any of them making the same choices he'd have to make.

Anyway.

It was a cold, rainy night at the very end of fall. He hadn't seen the sun in what felt like forever. However, the rain seemed to stop for a few minutes and he couldn't sleep so – smoking.

He'd started at, like, nine, even before his mother died. He'd steal her cigarettes when she was too high to either notice or care – which was about all the time after his father had been locked up. And it hadn't become any better after he died.

The smoke still tasted like her smiles.

However, he didn't want the kids to see him and pick up the habit – it was a waste of good money. So, he left them downstairs and went up to the cellar where he stocked his things.

Even if one of them was awake, they knew better than to follow him. He'd made up that story about how he'd left that kid, Perry, naked in the docks waters during a winter night because he'd been so bold. (The truth was, Perry had put himself into troubles with a real player and Jason had dragged him on a bus, out of Gotham.)

The point is he was smoking, alone, looking at the rooftops at night, half-hoping he'd glimpse the Batman's shadow.

Then something moved. A shape struggled to climb onto the roof. It was caped but too frail to be the Batman, yet too tall to be Robin (who hadn't been spotted in weeks anyway). Jay understood he'd been half lucky.

Batgirl staggered between the chimneys. Knowing drama was requested, the full moon chose that precise moment to get out of the clouds and show the mess of the girl's costume. It had been torn in many places. Obviously, whoever did that hadn't been aiming for the mask.

Jay hesitated, then waved at her.

"Hey Batgirl! Over here."

She jumped, as he thought she would. He grinned and let her assess the situation and classify him as "just a child", then reconsider and upgrade him to "street rat" – so to speak.

"You ain't going far like that in this cold. I've got a blanket and some water, if you like."

She was more a woman than a girl, probably twenty-something. Older than the people he usually let close to himself but hey! She was still a girl. And a Bat. That had to count for something.

She took a decision and came closer. Jay reconsidered his evaluation of her age: she was nineteen at most and looked lost. Not from the streets, however badass. He opened the window as big as he could. She was just slender enough to slip inside.

He could see ten blue bruises flowering around her neck and some more around both her wrists. She wasn't wearing her gloves.

She didn't talk. He didn't ask. (Even – later).

He pointed the plastic tub and water bottles in the corner. She nodded and went, her face blank under her mask. He turned his back on her to give her some privacy and resumed smocking.

After a while he heard a single sob. He crushed his cigarette and removed his jacket, silently. She was kneeling over the tub. He put the jacket on her shoulder, careful not to touch her. She winced but didn't back away. He stayed there, waiting. Some people needed to talk, afterwards.

Not her. Instead, she put her arms into the sleeves and got up.

"You want me to walk you home?" he asked, hoping she'd get that it wasn't about finding out who she was, just about not leaving her alone.

She shook her head.

"No, thank. I'll be alright now."

He didn't insist. She left.

sosososo

The very next day, the kids were playing around in the little court down the squat. The sun was finally showing up and they were happy to jump in the puddles like normal kids. Jason cursed after the noise but didn't really mind and sat there to watch.

A girl passed by then didn't, stopping right in front of him. He glared at her – what did she want, to put her shadow on him? – and was troubled to recognize Jim Gordon's daughter carrying two gigantic bags of groceries.

"Well, baby doll, what are you doing in this neighborhood?" he asked.

She dropped the bags.

"Those are for you. And the kids, of course."

He got up lazily, smirk sharp on his lips.

"What, that' your good deed of the week?"

She glared right back at him, then laughed.

"You're one though cookie, aren't you? Well, see you around!"

He watched leave then looked at the bags. It was food; he wasn't going not to take it just because it had been given out of charity.

He found the jacket later. It wasn't his old one. It wasn't new alright, all soft and a bit worn out at the joints, but it was mostly his size when the other had been at least two sizes too big. It was why he could give it away to Batgirl in the first place.

sosososo

It smelt like her.