AN: Well, I said I wouldn't update so much as I wanted to take time with this story. But this was longer than I expected. I just got over moving and fiddling with other life things. Now, I'm good to go with this. I have been thinking about this story, and I'm excited with the things I've got lined up for it. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Just remember, I wouldn't write it if I wouldn't read it, so I hope you enjoy my venture into these stories of my favorite heroes.

I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS, JUST THE 'PUTER I USED TO TYPE THIS

CHAPTER 2

LEAVING THE NEST

"Robin, behind you!"

Batgirl, Robin, and Black Canary find themselves in a bit of a mess on this humid Gotham night. Barely into April, and the temperatures have been reaching abnormal highs, mixed with a humidity that could strangle anyone who requires assistance to breathe. For the three crime fighters, they wish they were in the air-conditioned Watchtower, floating in the coldness of space. Instead, they're stuck in Boxy Bennett's warehouse on the east docks of Gotham City. This section of the city is currently under a power outage that has lasted for three days, which contributed to the rotten fish smell in the air.

"I know, I got him!"

Batgirl wishes the muggy air and dead fish stench were the only things annoying her at this time. Robin had been showing off all night in front of Black Canary, which he usually does in front of other women in the League. They were staking out a meeting with Bennett's crew and some Blüdhaven mobsters looking to make a business alliance. This had to have been the sixth underworld meeting in the last week, if Batgirl counted correctly. She and Robin had managed to handle the others with very little incident. However, tonight they knew that this meeting had more significance, which is why Batgirl requested Justice League help. With Batman on a mission with Green Lantern and Booster Gold at some planet in the whatever-nebula, she was given help in the form of Black Canary.

Batgirl really had hoped that the curvy canary wouldn't be the one to help them, simply so that Robin wouldn't feel the need to show off even more than he usually does. But she knew with the numbers at this meeting being so large, they were going to need what help they could get.

The three have taken out most of the soldiers handedly, with only a few heads still left, plus a large man named Rhino who used to be in Scarface and the Ventriloquist's gang.

After finishing up another soldier, Batgirl notices that Rhino is walking with purpose towards her. She then charges at him, with a bo retracted in her hand, similar to the one Robin uses. She lifts into the air with a forward flip, swinging down with the long end of the bo onto Rhino's head. The bo is made of a fiberglass alloy that gives maximum damage with minimal recoil and tension on the bo itself. Batgirl knowing all of this, knew that if he didn't fall over unconscious after this strike, she'd have to break both of her wrists trying to take him out.

The strike was far more damaging then she realized, as she dropped the bo in excruciating pain, while falling to the ground. Her wrists did receive the majority of the damage, while Rhino shook his head for a brief moment. She's seen Batman take this guy out before with just his hands, but she wasn't as strong as Batman to have handled Rhino in one move. She gathered herself and back flipped to her feet. While landing, she saw Robin and Black Canary attack Rhino from his behind. They both delivered mirrored roundhouse kicks to the back of his knees, taking him down immediately. Robin reached into his belt and pulled out a gas pellet and sprayed it directly onto Rhino's face. Rhino swung out his arm, knocking Robin almost ten feet away, with the gas not taking effect as fast as Robin had hoped. Starting to sit up with a dizzy look on his face, Rhino was too groggy to notice that Canary lifted her leg above his head. She then fired the heel of her foot down onto his sternum, knocking him out instantly.

"Great! Just great!" Bennett shouted while taking cover behind a crate of dead fish.

Bennett had hoped that this meeting would have gone down without any of Batman's crew busting it up. It was bad enough that the fish have gone dead with the power outage, but now he would just like to get out of the warehouse and out of Gotham. Gordon's been cracking down on anything with a crooked dollar in their pocket, so Bennett knew he would have seen the last of his business for a long time if he got pinched here.

After Rhino was given a temporary nap, Bennett drops to his hands and knees, comically trying to avoid attention to his stealthy getaway. Turning the corner of the crate had been hiding behind, Bennett's crawling picks up its pace, only to run headfirst into a pair of yellow boots. He slowly follows the shapely female leg up to the face of Batgirl who looks amusingly ashamed.

"Boxy, Boxy, Boxy…" Batgirl says while shaking her head. "Not nice to cop a look on a lady."

She tries not to take off his head with a back kick, but she really wants to, knowing she'll be carrying this smell on her for quite some time. So instead, she simply kneels down and lands a haymaker squarely on his head, knocking him out cold.

"Ouch", Canary says with a wince walking from behind her. "And I thought I was rough on big boy over there."

Batgirl turns to Canary, while rubbing her wrist from putting down Bennett.

"It's been a long week", Batgirl says letting go of her wrist.

Black Canary kneels down to bind Bennett's hands while he begins to snore from being unconscious. She sighs while Batgirl turns away and walks towards Robin, who is standing up rubbing his head. Rhino got a quick, but heavy shot on Robin.

"I remember Batman telling me that Rhino felt like he was made of brick", Robin says rubbing the right side of his face. "He didn't mention how fast he was."

Batgirl smirks at Robin, who knows what she's thinking.

"Can we just go please?" Robin asks annoyed while walking away from her. "This smell is seriously grossing me out."

"It's just a smell, Robin", Canary says walking next to Batgirl. "Do you know what smells you have to encounter while in the League?"

Robin hears what Canary says, but is too embarrassed to say anything. He stops in his tracks with his back to the ladies, unable to see them quietly laugh at each other. He really wanted to show Canary he had what it took to be apart of the Justice League, even if he wasn't even a reserve, which Batgirl and Nightwing had been. He has worked on Batman's team for a few years, which also found him siding with Superman against Brainiac for one mission. Robin also knows that the costumed crime is all but gone in Gotham, which is a reason why Batman has been comfortable leaving responsibilities to him and Batgirl.

"Well, at least you have no choice to take a shower tonight", Batgirl says, which made it impossible for Canary to hold in the laugh that made Robin want to drop a smoke pellet and disappear.

"No leads with Bennett", Batgirl says to Batman.

Batgirl and Robin report to Batman via the computer in the cave. She sits at the console with Robin standing over her left with a less than thrilled look on his face. Batman is transmitting from a Javelin returning home to the Watchtower, and he has an even lesser thrilled look on his face. The monitor shows his face, with Booster Gold chewing on what appears to be his lunch from behind. John Stewart could be heard communicating with the Watchtower with an ETA to dock.

"Harvey doesn't have many options left", Batman says. "Rupert Thorne is the only heavy left in Gotham who has the resources to set up Harvey in another city, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon with the vendetta towards one another."

"What about outside Gotham?" Batgirl asks. "Who would have resources and even want Two-Face apart of their organization if only as an enforcer."

"No one", Batman says. "There's too much heat on Harvey for anyone to want to touch him."

"What about Metropolis?" Batgirl asks again. "New York? Or what about…"

"No one", Batman flatly answers.

Batgirl quickly sits towards the monitor, placing her hands on the armrests of the chair.

"Well I'm sorry, but we're running out of options here", Batgirl says in a surprisingly loud tone that surprises both Robin and Batman. "You get back here and YOU figure this out."

Batgirl cuts the feed from the Javelin before Batman could answer her. The screen goes blank and she slams her back against the back of the chair. In a deep sigh, she fails to notice the look on the face of her adopted sidekick, who is scared out of his mind.

"B…Barbara", Robin says finally coming to. "Where the heck did that come from?"

"I…" Batgirl tries to say. "He needs to be here."

She gets up from the chair in a huff, blowing past Robin and making for the stairs. The suddenness of her response does everything to confuse the young boy, who wouldn't know the first thing about understanding the depths of a woman's emotions.

As much distance she put between them, Robin clearly hears what Batgirl quietly says next.

"We need him here."

Batgirl sits atop of St. Christopher's Church on the corner of Kendall and 43rd, looking down at the early morning traffic heading for their day jobs. Gotham has been so much quieter in the past two years, with the majority of the lunatics put away at the new maximum security Arkham Asylum. That has allowed Batman to be away for missions with the Justice League, while she and Robin are left to clean up the residual clutter that Gotham PD could easily handle itself. She tells herself it's for a greater good, Batman having such an important role with the affairs of the Justice League. She knows first hand that the majority of the success they experience would not be had he not been apart of them.

Batman had a way of raising the level of a team, especially the one she first joined. Her first official stint with Batman drove a wedge between her and Dick that has yet to be mended – if it ever will. She loved him greatly, but it was everything that wearing the Batgirl costume meant to her that forced her to choose. She loved knowing that as Batgirl, she contributed to perhaps the greatest chance her father had of coming home safely on a nightly basis. She knew that being apart of something so special and important would fulfill her as a person, who is pursuing a life of upholding the law.

When Tim joined the team, a void had been filled left by the first Robin. To her, the family may not have been the same as when Dick was there, but it felt complete. Robin added a light to Batman that she tried to add herself, but just couldn't with what Tim brought to the table. She knew that Bruce gravitated more towards Tim, especially since he saw so much of himself in the tragedies both of his Robins had endured. Batgirl supposes that her involvement gave Batman a different feel that he was probably not ready to experience.

During the first years of the Justice League, Barbara went away to law school and took time off as Batgirl. She was thrilled to finally finish her education under her terms, but she thought about Bruce and Gotham's rooftops every night she failed to get sufficient sleep…which was every night.

She missed the life.

She hated knowing that Bruce and Tim were without her. It was too difficult to know that Batman wasn't in town to help her father, even if Nightwing teamed with Robin in the majority of Batman's absences. She didn't doubt Nightwing; she just knew that Batman was that much better.

She regretted not being able to tell Bruce how she really felt about him.

How could she?

Age difference aside, there was so much that was standing in her way. For one, she used to be Dick Grayson's girl, Bruce Wayne's adopted son. Dick was shattered when she decided to stay on as Batman's partner when he was ready to walk away, but how could she live with herself knowing what any possible relationship would do to him. She still loved Dick, but her feelings for Bruce had grown every night while protecting Gotham.

They worked so well together, so elegantly, so romantically. If she had to choose a simple way to describe it, it was almost like a ballet. They were so in sync with one another, knowing what the other was going to do three moves before they did it. Of course, there were also the nights of swinging in the air together in unison, feeling as free as the birds themselves. Also, the way one would care for the other's injuries so carefully, so tenderly.

How could she not have grown feelings to Bruce?

She has felt many pains by holding back her feelings, but what has pained Barbara the most is that Bruce knows how she feels. She noticed the way he would cut their conversations short if it could possibly lead to a situation for her feelings to come up. She especially hated how he would make excuses when she called him while away at school, and he would make pathetic excuses to cut their conversations short. She spent four years away from Gotham, being forced to work the summers by the school to help pay her tuition and costs of living.

The events of being around and away from Bruce were strenuous enough on her heart, but nothing could match how she felt after returning home.

Batman and Superman had formed the Justice League with five other heroes inhabiting Earth in one form or another. That meant he spent a great deal of time away from Gotham, which he left her and Tim in charge of when she returned. It was nothing against Tim, but she hated every moment Batman was away. She had so much she needed to tell him, and the opportunity has never presented itself. Barbara wonders if Bruce purposely spent more time with the League in hopes of avoiding her, knowing that she felt so strongly about him. He never was good with women at any point of his life, even if it was all a shame to maintain his playboy image.

Image or not, she knew the man Bruce Wayne was, and that was the man she spent eight years falling in love with.

Batgirl sent out a transmission for Batman to meet her on this rooftop, implying that it was urgent. She ignored the way he snarled at her for cutting the connection on him earlier, since his Batman-act had lost its effect on her years ago. Tonight was the night she decided to put it all out there. If he wants her to continue as his partner, his trusted stand-in, he was going to listen to what she has to say and not avoid her.

Of course, he was late. She had been sitting up on the roof for what felt like an hour, but was only twenty-six minutes. She reacts subtly when Batman politely makes enough noise for her to hear him from behind.

"You were right", Batman says while walking towards her. "Harvey went to Daggett in Blüdhaven, who intends on gift-wrapping him to Thorne as a gift of appreciation for the new partnership between their respected organizations."

Batgirl closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She didn't even bother listening to what Batman had said to her. This was it.

"Batman, I…"

"They're going to deliver Harvey by a private plane that is supposed to head to Seattle, where Daggett has territory and connections for Harvey to get involved in. Instead, he's going to land on a private runway owned by Thorne thirty miles north of Gotham, where Thorne's men will be waiting for him."

"Batman…"

"I just informed Montoya about the information I picked up on my way back from Metropolis. She'll alert Gordon while she attempts to collaborate with the Blüdhaven Police Department on stopping that plane from…."

"BATMAN" Barbara shouts, cutting him off completely. "Listen to me, please."

Batman looks at her with an innocent curiosity, which she knows is an act as he's doing it. She walks up to him, while his look on her never changes. She looks at his bewildered face, trying not to get angry at how he's avoiding this.

"I've followed you, looked up you, believed in you for over eight years", she says with her voice starting to crack with emotion. "I've never questioned or doubted you. You've always made a believer out of me."

Tears stream down from her eyes and over her mask. She does all she can to not tremble under her own words and feelings as he continues his blank look on her.

"I…I don't know what else to do. I love you."

She stops in hopes for some form of response, but only gets his well-practiced stare. The lack of response propels her into a quiet, crying fit. She now looks at him with a desperate expression on her face, desperate to hold on to her feelings.

"Please, say something…anything…just say something…"

Batman continues to stare at her, as though that blank look was all he had ever trained to do in his life. She slowly starts to tremble, with her bottom lip quivering. The exposed areas of her face are streaming with the tears that are flowing harder than they ever have.

"SAY SOMETHING", she shouts at her lungs, causing surrounding birds on the roof to scatter.

After releasing all of that anxiety, Batgirl now fixes a wide-eyed stare at him. The trembling feeling over her is slowly losing its hold, quickly being replaced by anger. The person she respects more than anyone in this world, the person she loves more, cannot give her any form of response to her most cherished feelings.

The sun starts to peek from the horizon, slowly illuminating the rooftop. Batgirl's shoulders subtly rise and fall with every breath she takes in, returning Batman's stare. In her mind, she's panicking. She spent so many years with these emotions bottled up. The realization of those feelings meaning nothing to him is starting to set in.

"You…you can't say anything, can you?"

Batman relaxes his shoulders for a moment to straighten his posture. Batgirl is starting to calm, only because the grim feeling of rejection is starting to fill her. The love, the respect she has for him. They have never felt as foreign as they do at this moment.

Her father had always told her that a real man would always be able to understand his true feelings, and make his decisions in life based on those feelings. It was something she remembers when she asked him about being a single parent, what it took for him to raise her. Barbara has set out for that man, hoping she would understand what her father was saying to her while finding him. Looking back at those moments, everything from the example of a man set by her father, and the example Bruce has shown her over the years, she was finally able to picture what a true man was.

That realization has just broken her heart.

"Nothing", she says with a defeated tone. "Absolutely nothing."

He continues to stare as though he had left before she even started talking.

"Fine…"

"First off, let me start this press conference by saying how much Gotham City means to me. I came here in hopes of doing my part to making this a better city for its people. The soul of this city was crying out in pain, while men and women took advantage of Gotham on a nightly basis with violence, dishonesty and indecency. Back then, it was hard to find an honest cop to trust. I took pride in doing my job to the best of my abilities for the better of the people who I had sworn to protect. For thirty years, I suffered along with my city, and I defended it with everything I had, every night on the beat.

"Forty-eight hours ago, Harvey dent – better known as Two-Face – was apprehended in Blüdhaven by Gotham PD in coordination with the Blüdhaven Police Department. He has been readmitted into the Arkham rehabilitation program at the new Arkham facility. With the prior inmates of Arkham showing no ability to escape custody in the new high security facility, I can declare Gotham City the safest it has been in my thirty years on the force.

"I have had the privilege of leading the finest law enforcement officers any commissioner could pray to have under his command. Knowing that Gotham will always be under their protection and the generation after them, I can finally say with comfort and joy that I retire as acting commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. I pray that everyone who has served under my term as commissioner has understood that my duty to Gotham is only bettered by my duty as a father. I know that the next commissioner is more than ready to watch over this city, to ensure that its people will be safe.

"It's normally the responsibility of the mayor to declare the next commissioner, but he has allowed me the privilege to officially name my successor. With that being said, I would like to announce that Captain Renee Montoya, born and raised in this city, as the new commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department."

Jim Gordon sits at his dinner table, enjoying his retirement already with the meal his daughter had prepared for him. He wanted nothing more than to spend his first night as a retired police officer with his own daughter, Barbara. He knows how much of her life he has missed while being the commissioner of a large city. Her support and understanding has allowed him to become a better man and a better police officer. She is the love of his life, the woman in his life. Jim Gordon owes so much of his life to the love he shares with his daughter, and he couldn't be more proud.

However, he looks at her with a concerned feeling. He knew she would be emotional the day he hung up his badge, because she knew how much his job meant to him. But tonight, the tears she streamed had much more feeling to them, and it did nothing but concern her father.

"I think after that meal, my gut officially sticks out further than Harvey Bullocks."

He finally gets her to laugh, even though she sniffles through it. She clears the table of dirty dishes and utensils, especially the plate she barely touched. Jim saw that she had been carrying around a sadness with her since Harvey Dent was apprehended.

"We can't avoid this forever, Barbara", he says to her. "Something's bothering you and I'm really starting to get worried."

Barbara has been so overcome with emotions over the last two days. So much was finally said, so much had happened, so much had not happened. Tonight was suppose to be her father's night, but there was so much she kept from him, and even something so important to her that she can no longer keep from him.

"Dad…" she finally blurts out from the kitchen sink. "We need to talk."

"Uh oh", he says, like he always does when she needs to talk to him about something. "By the window?"

He points with his thumb towards the chairs by the windows as she nods, where they always sit when a problem comes about. He stands up, removing the stained napkin from his shirt collar, then walks to claim his seat. She slowly walks to her seat, as he notices her fiddling with something in her pocket.

"Dad", she begins as she sits down. "I…I've been keeping something from you for a while."

He raises his eyebrow to her, but remains silent to allow her to speak.

"So much has been going on in my life lately, and yours of course", she continues. "I had been working towards…a goal of mine. Something I've wanted for so long, something I've been looking forward to since looking up to you as a child."

Her father's curiosity is starting to peak as she removes something from her pocket, but keeps it hidden under her hand on her lap.

"I made a decision to follow through on something important to me, and I faced it, just like my father would have faced a problem. I hoped that you would understand even though you would probably not approve of it, since it is something you've come to know so well over the years.'

She reaches for his left hand with her left hand, and puts it under her right hand by her lap.

"I don't know what you'll think of this, but I hope you'll support me the way I had always supported you. It means that much to me."

Lifting her right hand over his, she opens it, and he feels a weight fall into his. The shape and feel of what she placed in his hand is all too familiar, and his eyes widen at the realization of what it is.

"Oh my god…"

He looks at her with a shocked look on his face, while she returns a hopeful look on her face. His shock subsides as tears form up in his eyes.

"I…I can't believe it."

Jim Gordon looks down at the badge of Officer Barbara Gordon of the Gotham City Police Department, and he has never felt as proud as he does this very moment.