Chapter Twelve: Revelations, Realizations, and an Unlikely Apology

(Batman is not mine)

Blue-Jay swung through the air, letting the cool wind sooth away her anger. Unfortunately, that meant that her other emotions reared their ugly heads.

She and Robin stopped on the roof of Wayne Tower after about fifteen minutes of swinging around. Neither said anything as they just looked out over the city that they both called home.

After a few moments, Robin spoke "He didn't mean that you were trying to kill the Joker, he just thought you knocked him off the catwalk without thinking." Blue-Jay sighed "I know, but still, he made it sound like I was worthless." "But you're not!" Robin gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"He doesn't mean to be such a jerk, but that's just how he is!" Blue-Jay smiled a little, "So I noticed." Robin smiled slightly in return, then spoke again "And he doesn't think you're worthless, no one does. If he had thought you were worthless, than he would never have insisted that you start patrolling with us." Blue-Jay nodded and looked out over the city for a few moments before she turned back to Robin. He was still looking at her, his head cocked slightly.

Blue-Jay suddenly found herself leaning into him, and moments later, their lips met.

He tensed for a moment, then relaxed slightly, wrapping his arms around her.

After they pulled apart, he pressed his forehead against hers and said "So, how did you manage to be in two places at once?"

Batman looked through his binoculars at the two teens. Blue-Jay seemed to have calmed down for the most part, and he was about to join them on top of the tower, when Blue-Jay leaned forward and kissed Robin.

Batman raised an eyebrow and frowned when Robin did not push her away. From his point of view, his young ward was setting himself up for a very hard decision.

He had long since come to the conclusion that there was a great deal of potential between Blue-Jay and Robin for a romantic relationship, but Tim and RJ also had a great amount of promise. Blue-Jay had to be aware that Tim was dating RJ, but the situation between the two vigilantes did offer them one thing that RJ could not offer, as of yet: Security.

Blue-Jay knew both of the boys' egos, and she had proved to be very skilled in keeping secrets. A relationship between her and Robin would allow him to be more comfortable out on the streets, knowing that she could readily take care of herself. As far as Batman knew, RJ could not fight at all.

Both girls had qualities that Tim found appealing, but he couldn't have them both, he would have to choose between them sooner or later, and no matter who he chose, someone was likely to get hurt.

Blue-Jay's eyes went wide in shock, "What-How!" Robin smiled gently at her, saying "I have not kissed many girls, but the ones that I have all tasted different, you and RJ both taste exactly the same, for that to be possible, you and RJ would have to be the same girl." She blushed slightly, saying "Oh." "Oh, don't worry, you taste good, and I won't tell anyone." "You're not angry?" "Of course not, you obviously weren't ready to tell anyone your secret, how could I be angry at you for that?" She smiled at him and kissed him again.

When they kissed a second time, Batman decided that he better interrupt. Shooting off a grapple, he swung up to the roof of Wayne Tower.

The two teens jumped apart when he landed and Blue-Jay glared at him while Robin looked slightly sheepish. "Okay, you two." He said "The Joker is on his way back to Arkham, but there is a shipment of weapons coming in at the docks around one a.m., that gives us fifteen minutes to get there."

Robin and Blue-Jay both nodded, both having already known about the shipment beforehand, thanks to Blue-Jay. They had been going to take care of it by themselves, but, after the train issue, they had both had the feeling that Batman wouldn't allow that and Blue-Jay had told Batgirl who, in turn, had told the comish. And now, as it seemed, the commissioner had told Batman about it, so they would be going there anyway. Talk about coming full-circle.

Blue-Jay didn't talk to Batman for the entire drive to the docks, and the man didn't talk to her. Batman knew that he would have to find some way to straighten things out between them again soon, before their relationship got any more strained. But, he had been forced to admit, he was unsure how to do so.

Once again, Batman was reminded of just how much of an enigma the girl was to him. He had to sometimes remind himself that she was not a sidekick, and therefore was not likely to appreciate being treated as one, but he had a hard time bringing himself to treat her like a seasoned hero. After all, she had only been at this for just over a year, and she was still very young.

Before his thoughts could go any farther, however, they reached the dockyards.

The men there were already unloading the ships cargo. It was another one of her fathers' ships, though he owned this one under the codename: Shade. He had three fleets of running boats, each fleet under a different codename. The three names were Shade, Stallion, and Albatross.

Batman, Robin and Blue-Jay watched from the roof of a pub for a few minutes before making their move. "I want you two to stay together at all times, got it?" Batman said, the two teens rolled their eyes, but he knew that they would stay together.

Batman swung down, taking out one of the bigger armed men as Robin and Blue-Jay did the same to two other men. They made short work of most of the smugglers, and Blue-Jay and Robin stayed together as they chased after a few runners.

After taking care of them, the two teens were heading back to the ship, when Blue-Jay spotted a crate that had the markings of one of her mothers' drug shipments that was headed to Metropolis.

Pointing the crate out to Robin, they both trotted over and pulled out batarangs. Jamming them into the lid of the crate, they both applied as much pressure as they could, and their combined effort was able to pop the lid off a little bit.

Looking inside, they found something that they most certainly did not expect. Kryptonite.

The green rock glowed eerily, lighting them up in a sickly green shade. They both stood there for a moment, before Blue-Jay reached in and seized two small chunks of the rock and closed the lid . With Robins' help, she re-secured the lid of the crate so that it seemed that it had never been touched. After planting a small tracking device in a crack between two of the boards, Blue-Jay and Robin continued on their way back to the ship.

Blue-Jay handed one of the rocks to Robin and they both slipped them into their belts as they walked. "It looks like I'm going to be taking a trip to Metropolis." Blue-Jay said, as they moved through the maze of crates and boxes. "Can I come with you?" she smiled at him, saying "I don't think so, it might be suspicious if both of us showed up-" "Which is why neither of you will show up."

The two teens groaned as Batman appeared behind them, scowling, as usual. "I'll tell Superman what you found, but you are staying in Gotham, understand?" The venomous glower he received from Blue-Jay told him that she was less than willing to comply. So, before she could protest, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack and began to carry her towards the batmobile.

As soon as she got over he initial shock of being picked up and thrown over a shoulder, Blue-Jay began beating on Batman's back with her fists, saying "Put me down!" needless to say, neither her fists nor her words had any effect on the man. Robin was smirking and the police, who had arrived not long ago, stared for a moment, before they, too, had to control their amusement. Blue-Jay glowered at them all as Batman walked past them.

Bullock finally couldn't help it any longer and burst out laughing. Blue-Jay looked mutinous as Batman slid back the roof of the car and dropped her inside. "You will pay for that, understand?" she hissed, Batman didn't flinch, but she could tell that he found this amusing.

As Robin hopped into the back seat beside her, she glared at him as well, but he braved her gaze and instead sat silently beside her. She calmed when she saw that he was restraining his mirth in her presents now, wanting to sooth his girlfriends' bruised ego. While it didn't seem funny now, Blue-Jay would find the incident to be amusing in the years that followed.

After the bust at the docks, Batman could tell that the two birds were tired, even if they hid the signs of it well. It was getting late, even for them, so he headed back to the batcave.

Once there, Robin almost immediately went to shower, change and go up to bed but not before pecking Blue-Jay on the cheek, an action that Batman frowned at.

Blue-Jay was about to vanish off to wherever she went to get in and out of the batcave, they still had been unable to locate the passage, much to Batmans frustration, when he stopped her.

"Blue-Jay," he called. He had been thinking about how he would do this all evening, and had decided that the straight forward truth was the best method, as it often was. "I didn't mean that you were intentionally trying to kill the Joker, it just appeared to me that you knocked him off the catwalk without thinking."

The girl had stopped walking when he started speaking, and now she turned to face him, her masked eyes and her posture holding an emotion that he couldn't quite recognize. When she spoke, her voice was calm and emotionless, not holding the slightest hint of what she might be thinking or feeling. It was a hollow tone that held no threat and yet was far from benign, demanding the attention of all who heard it. But it was her words that got to him.

"Look, Batman, I realize that you don't like me. Truthfully, you don't have any reason to like me, you may actually have reason to hate me, more than anything, but I would still appreciate it you would try to show the same professional courtesy that I do my best to show you." She cocked her head, the way Robin often did, before continuing when he did not say anything. "I may not be perfect and I will admit I am sometimes disrespectful," Batman snorted inwardly at that statement, but didn't interrupt, "But I try, and either way, it's not fair for us to make Robin be the constant peace keeper."

A moment later she was gone. However, her words would continue to trouble him for quite some time, especially when she had said that he more or less hated her. It would also take him a long while to tell her that he didn't hate her.

(Review please)

(AN: Sorry about the wait, I have been having some writers block lately, so it might be a few days before I update again, but I WILL update!)