Chapter Five

Well, that was a huge downer, she thought with a sigh. She had been sighing all afternoon after that encounter with Batman. It definitely dampened her mood and she had been moping the rest of the day. Christina and her parents had questioned her, but she made something up because, of course, they wouldn't understand. Plus, her parents would get upset with her for having her 'head in the clouds'.

She had thought that maybe, just maybe, she was cut out for this hero business. After all, Batman had told her she did well that night. It had given her hope, but maybe Batman didn't mean anything more when he said that to her. Maybe her head really was in the clouds.

Another sigh escaped her as she half-heartedly transitioned into the next stance in her taekwondo form and punched the air weakly.

"Stella. Are you okay?" Her instructor interrupted her in Korean, causing her to look up.

Not really. "Yes." She replied back in Korean. The 'yes' was as half-hearted as her practicing and she winced internally at how stupid she must seem. It was hard to get her mind off of what had happened though.

"Are you sure? You haven't been putting any strength into your stances."

"I'm sorry." She bowed politely and offered her instructor a small smile. "I'm just not feeling very good today."

It wasn't a total lie. She felt fine physically, but emotionally? That was debatable.

"If you feel too sick, just take it easy, okay?"

Stella nodded before her instructor jogged over to one of the other students that was calling him over for help. Another sigh escaped her as she got into the next stance of the form and continued on, trying to show some more enthusiasm.

By the end of the class, she felt a little better. She had a practice spar with someone and had won, which cleared her mood again. She thought, so what if Batman didn't take her in? Just because he said no, it doesn't mean she sucked. Stella Cho was pretty good at taekwondo, if she did say so herself. Furthermore, Aiden didn't think of her any differently. And that thought helped her regain some confidence and rose her spirits.

Even her mom seemed to notice that she was in better spirits when she came to pick Stella up from practice.

"Don't forget to clean your room before bed."

Well, she had been in better spirits.

The next day, there was a smile on her face now that her mood had cleared. Christina had noticed too and her friend seemed relieved about that. Stella wasn't going to lie, it did sting a little still, but she had given herself a pep talk in the morning while looking in her bathroom mirror.

"There's nothing wrong with you." She had said to her reflection confidently and she smacked her cheeks together. "You're still Aiden's hero." And that's all that mattered. She had only ever dreamed of Batman saying yes, and that's why it was called a dream.

"So, are you going to tell me what yesterday was all about?" Christina asked while munching on her carrot stick.

Stella almost choked on her water and coughed loudly. "Y-yesterday?"

"Yeah, you ran off as soon as someone mentioned Batman."

"I was just really excited to see my hero." Stella tried to sound very nonchalant about it. Her friend wouldn't understand and she definitely didn't want to worry Christina either.

"You didn't seem that excited when you came back. Did something happen?"

Stella shook her head and smiled. "Nah, I was just sad because I only saw a glimpse of him."

Christina smiled too and patted her knee. "Hey, you'll meet him someday."

Stella could only nod her head and stuff her mouth with another half of her sandwich. Truthfully though, she really doubted it and she was sure Christina was only saying that to make her feel better. Trying to let it go and just continuing to daydream was probably the better option. After all, it had just been luck, right? No matter how much she desired to do something more, maybe people were right: dreams are dreams.

Later that night after dinner, while Stella was finishing up the last of her detective novel, her mom popped her head into her bedroom. Her mother was actually pretty tall for a Korean, standing at about five foot eight, and quite intimidating to most because of that. And she looked pretty intimidating right now with that unamused expression on her face and the basket of laundry in her hands.

"Cho Han-byul. I asked you take the trash out." Her mother said firmly in Korean with her eyebrow raised.

"Oh, right…" Stella smiled sheepishly as she slid of her twin-sized bed. She placed the book on top of the night stand and grabbed the trash from out of her bedroom trash can. "I'll get right on that."

"Thank you, dear." Her mom chimed before continuing down the hall to the living room to fold the laundry while watching whichever Korean drama was on tonight. Stella could never keep count of how many her parents watched, but it was definitely a lot, especially since they had something to watch every day of the week for at least a few hours.

There was a pout on her lips as she stuffed her garbage bag into the larger one that was by the backdoor. How come she had to be on trash duty this week? Wasn't it her sister's turn? Darn, eighth graders and their studying to get out of chores. She supposed it wasn't Teresa's fault. Her older sister was on a scholarship at Gotham Academy, which she had worked extremely hard for. And, she had to keep up her grades if she wanted to keep qualifying for that scholarship. So, their parents cut Teresa some slack.

As for Aiden? The kid was just as smart and he was only nine years old. Whereas Teresa studied extremely hard – and, of course, she had natural talent – Aiden had more natural talent in the intelligence category. The principal had even asked their parents if he could skip a few grades or be put in some sort of gifted program; though they didn't do that in the end. There was no doubt in the world that he would be offered a scholarship to Gotham Academy once he started middle school.

And Stella? She went to a public elementary school and she was basically average in terms of studies. Maybe a bit above average, but definitely nothing like Teresa or Aiden. She hadn't been blessed with that sort of gift. The only thing she really had going for her was taekwondo, really. And that her head was in the clouds most of the time. She was basically just the middle child smooshed in the middle of her two intelligent siblings.

With a slight grunt, she began tossing the garbage bags into the trash cart. She had only gotten the first two garbage bags in when she heard a quiet swoosh and felt a sort of presence near her. That feeling one got when someone's eyes were intensely on you.

"Stella Cho."

A scream began erupting in her throat as she swiftly turned her body to the source of the voice. When she noticed who it was, she bite back the scream and it came out more as a strangled yelp.

"Batman?" She whispered and took a step back in surprise. What the- what was he doing here?

But sure enough, the Dark Knight was there in the shadows that her tall backyard fences created. He was standing to the end that was closest to her and the trash, but still out of sight of the back windows of her home. She glanced up at one of the windows to see Aiden looking out to make sure she was okay; something he did when she had to go back despite them living in one of the nicer, gated communities in Gotham.

Giving her brother a wave to show she was perfectly fine, she went back to slowly tossing the remaining bags into the trash cart.

"Meet on the roof outside your room. Alone." That was all he said and she heard another swoosh before he disappeared into the night.

What just happened?

Had she been dreaming? Was she going insane?

Her heart started thumping erratically as she stuffed the last bag into the cart and she walked quickly inside. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins as she tried to walk calmly up to her room to avoid any suspicions her family might have.

"I need to practice taekwondo." She called out loudly as she walked down the hall to her room, not really waiting for any responses. Her family, mostly her brother, knew that meant she needed to concentrate and didn't want to be bothered. It made this meeting a little easier.

Closing her bedroom door, she stumbled around to turn her stereo on for the relaxing music she usually listened to during her practice. It took her awhile with her shaky fingers, but she finally managed to do the task. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her big window and pulled it up along with the screen before stepping out onto the roof, like she did a million times before. Sitting out on her roof, particularly at night, helped her think and whatnot. Plus, it was a great spot for stargazing.

"Stella."

She nearly jumped out of her skin again at the deep voice from somewhere in the shadows. Looking into her room one last time, she shut the window so no one would hear; not like they could anyway. She stood up straight and watched Batman emerge from the shadows so she could see him.

"B-batman…how'd you know where I live?"

The raise of his eyebrow said everything and she coughed awkwardly for asking such an idiotic question. Of course, he knew where she lived! He was Batman, for crying out loud. He could probably figure out her whole ancestry if he wanted.

"This is about your question."

Hope lit up inside her and a smile immediately bloomed on her lips. "You'll take me in and train me?"

"No." Batman replied without skipping a beat. Her smile faded and her shoulders slumped in defeat. Then, just why was he here?

As if to answer her silent question, another person stepped out from the shadows and stood beside Batman. Stella's eyes widened and she automatically shot up to stand straight to show respect to one of the heroes she admired the most, just as much as Batman.

"But I will." Blue eyes were trained on Stella intensely as they scrutinized the smaller and younger girl.

"Black Canary has agreed to be your mentor."

Stella couldn't believe her ears. All she could do was stare at the tall blonde woman, whom was practically oozing with strength, confidence, beauty, and grace, with wide eyes and fail to produce words. Was she dreaming? Was this really happening? The Black Canary was going to be her mentor?

"I-I-I…" Stella stuttered unintelligently.

"I look forward to training you." Black Canary smiled kindly and extended her hand, causing the intensity of her blue eyes to soften. The kind smile eased the craziness happening inside Stella and the girl grasped Canary's hand, despite her whole arm shaking.

"Y-yes, m-me too." It sounded more like a squeak than actual words, but it was a start. Oh god.

Earlier that day ...

The meeting room in the Watchtower was silent as the two heroes stared at the replay of the recording of the security tape with Stella in the alley. It was the second play through and blue eyes concentrated on the young girl in the video.

"She's young."

"Most start young." Bruce replied.

"You mean like Robin?"

Bruce didn't say anything to that and let Black Canary shut the video off.

"She's very brash." Black Canary commented while rubbing her chin, mostly speaking about the way Stella just jumped into the fray. And it was her brashness that had gotten her into trouble. From just looking at her stance, it looked as though the girl had been training in some sort of martial art, possibly taekwondo. But that kind of training alone doesn't help you fight a man much bigger and heavier than you.

"Her attack was lucky." Black Canary said as she pulled up the video again and paused right at the part where Stella attacked the burly man. "It caught the guy by surprise, but that's all it was." Stella wasn't actually trained to take out people that were more than half her size.

Batman raised his eyebrow and silently told Canary to continue.

"Like you said, she has potential."

"But how far will it get her." Batman stated rather than questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Black Canary nodded and mirrored Bruce's action. "Exactly. But … I can show her." She could show Stella how difficult it was to be a hero and how it was not all fun and games, which she was sure the young girl thought it was. It would be a wakeup call, and hopefully, Stella would realize it.

I have midterms and assignments this week, unfortunately, so this one was kind of rushed. I apologize for that. But hey, things are finally moving along :) And yes, Stella is, indeed, Korean! I'll figure out a way to indicate when she's speaking Korean, like in italics or bold or etc.

Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, and favouriting! See you once midterms are over, if I didn't die.

~Mari