A Young Justice AU Fic

Can You Keep A Secret?

By: Malaizjan De Jesus

Author's Note: I can't believe that I had so many people following this saga! Well, this is the last chapter and then I'll start the AU Young Justice: Seasons 1 & 2, where Shadowcat would fit in. I have season 1 on DVD so they will be out fast. Season 2 though…I don't have all the eps so I have employed my three nieces: Pretty Princess, Angel and Little Lady to help me locate all the eps so I can do Season 2. So right now, After this, I will focus more on In Blackest Night. Once that is done, I may either return to my Future Saga or continue my Secret Saga. So to everyone that is reading, enjoy the final chapter! And thank you!

Part 2

Two days later…

Dick Grayson left the school building quietly, looking at his watch.

1:12pm

Roy and Wally were waiting for him as he hurried down the steps of his school and into Roy's car. The protégé of Green Arrow sped off to the nearest zeta tube.

"How is she?" Dick asked.

"Selina's back on the respirtator. She was able to get most of her affairs in order though. Her laywer and butler are taking care of the rest. I feel so guilty. I thought I cured her!" said Wally.

"Don't worry about it, Wally. Trying to reverse any of Deathstroke's poisons is nearly impossible. And what about Stephanie?" Dick asked.

"Being brave," Roy answered.

"So how do we explain this?" Wally asked. "I mean, no way Batman isn't going to notice our little disappearing act."

"A friend of mine's mom died. She needed comfort. You guys tagged." The lie rolled easily out of Dick's mouth.

"If you say so." Roy parked his car in a secluded parking lot. "Don't leave anything behind. I want this junk pile taken."

The three made their way to the booth.


Stephanie watched in horror as her mother's breathing became more labored. Tears were in her eyes but she would not let them fall. She would not be weak.

Peter and Mr. Bradshaw had gotten everything in order. The cover story was that her mother was fighting a rare cancer and thought that it was in remission. It came back with a vengeance and her body was now too weak to fight it off. Peter would be her legal guardian until her father could be uncovered and located. Her mother's company would be ran by her V.P. Lukas Sanders, a man that knew her mother's secret identity, until Stephanie was 18 and out of high school. She would go to home schooling at the start of the next school year. Her mother's will had been finalized months ago with an unusual decree: Stephanie was never to live in Gotham City. And Shadowcat didn't know why.

She held her mother's limp hand, too many thoughts running through her head. Robin had taken the ship to check it out, without Batman knowing. She doubt it was possible but Robin was the Boy Wonder for a reason.

Peter Jenkins had just finished dinner when the bell rang. He rushed to the door, not in his usual butler garb, but in jeans and running shoes. He opened it.

Speedy, Kid Flash and Robin were standing there in costume. He ushered then teen boys in quickly. "How is she?" Speedy asked.

"A wreck," Peter said. "She won't eat. Stephanie hasn't eaten since this all started."

Dick marched over to Catwoman's bedroom with a purpose. He would make his sister eat. That was his vow. How funny that he was now calling her his sister and she still didn't know. But upon entering the bedroom, his resolve vanished.

Stephanie was curled up next to her mother, small whimpers coming from her. She had been crying, for there were tear tracks on her visible side of her face.

Robin felt horrible. He knew what it was like to lose parents. How dark and alone he felt, even when Bruce took him in. He never wanted anyone else to experience that. He carefully walked up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He didn't want to spook her.

Startled, Stephanie threw his hand off, turned to fall off the bed to fight. But she saw who it was and fell off the bed to stand in such a fluid motion, like she could do it in her sleep. Her eyes were yellow-blue, shaped as a cat's, her taking deep breaths to calm her cat side. "Sorry," she bit out.

Robin nodded. "Stephy…"

"I'll be okay. I can do this," she told him. "I can do this…" Her breathing slowed, her eyes going back to normal.

"You don't have to be brave," he told her.

"I am brave." Her voice grew soft and sad. "I am…"

He took a step forward and Stephanie lost her brave face. She collapsed into Robin, weeping softly. "You can be weak. Your mom sacrificed herself to save the world," he whispered so only she could hear him. "It isn't fair but it's what heroes do."

"Not fair," she muffled against his chest.

"It never is." Robin held Stephanie to him. Little sister. He had a sibling. How he realized that he longed for one. Wally and Roy were his best friends, the closest thing to brothers he had. But she was Bruce's kid. His dad's kid. A fierce wave of protectiveness hit him.

"R…R-robin," came Selina's voice.

Robin and Shadowcat broke away and stared at Catwoman, who pulled off her oxygen mask. "Selina?" Robin squeaked.

"Wh-where is S-speedy a-and Kid-d Fl-flash?"

"Right here," Speedy said as Wally walked forward. Roy closed the door behind him.

"L-listen caref-fully. Stephy…I can't take…your father's identity…t-to the grave…"

"You don't have to tell me," Stephanie told her as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I ne-need to." Selina took a labored breath. "Your…father…i-is…Batman."

"WHAT!?" cried Wally.

Stephanie leaped off the bed as if someone set fire to it. Her eyes were wide and her bottom lip quivered.

Batman.

Batman was her dad!?

All this time she'd been asking about him and he was in Gotham City! But why wasn't she allowed to live in that city?!

"H-he doesn't kn-know about you."

"Why?" came her soft question.

"I left Gotham…at his urging." She put the oxygen mask back on, her energy and strength waning.

"I can tell you why," Robin said.

"Please," she pleaded. Catwoman was so pale now.

"Joker was on a Batman revenge trip. Commissioner Gordon was seriously injured and Flash ended up with a broken leg. Batman urged your mom to leave, to keep her safe from Joker."

"Because Joker's insane and that's being nice."

Robin nodded. "So your mom moved. He didn't know where, she just dropped off the face of the planet. She moved her offices here. Joker never went after her. I doubt he knows where she is."

Stephanie looked over at her mom, eyes shaking as her mother pulled the mask back off.

"I raised you…away from…my crimes. For all of my…fights with Batman…I do love him. He was the…only one who…understood me." She closed her eyes. "I tried to be good…all the time…but there were times…I just couldn't…"

"Selina…" Robin whispered. "Rest now. Please."

Selina shook her head. "Promise me…boys…Don't tell…Batman…about Stephanie…"

"Why not!?" Wally cried. But he had tears in his eyes. He never really went up against Catwoman and now he was regretting some of the things he'd ever say about her.

"I need…her safe…"

"Because of Joker," Roy supplied.

"NOT JUST HIM!" she cried. Then she began to cough and hack. Stephanie sat her mother up and helped hold the oxygen mask to her.

"It wouldn't be just Joker. Killer Croc, Bane, Ivy, Penguin, all of them would use Stephy against him," Robin explained.

Catwoman pulled the mask away. "Batman…adopted Robin…"

Shadowcat looked at Robin, wide eyed. "You're my brother!?" she cried. She didn't even know his real name!

"Yeah. Whelming, isn't it?" he tried to joke.

"Mom? Can't I tell him?"

Selina shook her head. "Batman…his mission…it's everything…to him. I don't…know if he's…ready…" She took a breath and choked. "Boys…Take care of…her…" She went into her final breath…and fell back…limply.

"Mom!? MOM!?" Stephanie screamed. She shook her mother frantically.

The three teen boys rushed to the bed as Stephanie pleaded with her mom to wake up, crying, unable to hold her tears back. Peter rushed into the room and saw the scene before him.

"MOMMY!?" Stephanie cried, tears running down her face. "WAKE UP! Don't leave me!"

Peter tearfully pulled Stephanie from Catwoman's lifeless body.

Stephanie's inner cat was unleashed.

Her nails elongated to small claw-like knives, her eyes went yellow like a cat's, her senses were heightened. Her kickboxing training kicked in as well, all within a few seconds time.

She turned into Peter and scratched the side of his face. Deep claw marks showed on his face as skin was shredded in seconds. He dropped her to grab his face.

"Stehphanie! Calm down!" Kid Flash cried.

She glared at the teen speedster, breathing through her teeth like a predator cat stalking. She was trying to hurt everyone around her. They were going to know how she felt.

"It's okay, Steph. Calm yourself…" Roy slowly reached for his bow, eyes on the girl-cat before him.

Peter stood up, holding the one side of his face. "Be careful, boys."

"He'll pay…" she bit out.

"Please, calm down," Dick told her, hands out to show that he wasn't a threat.

"He…dies!" she screeched.

"Revenge won't fix this!" Robin cried.

Roy slowly loaded his boy up with one of his net arrows. His eyes never left her. He hated to contain her but she was lost in her own grief.

"Steph, come back to us," Wally whispered.

Roy cocked his arrow.

Stephanie turned to watch him, her cat side perceiving him as a threat. Her eyes started to lose its cat-shape. "Sp…Speedy?" she blinked.

Her claws withdrew back into nails, her eyes returning to normal. Her breathing was less harsh.

Roy lowered his bow slightly. "Steph?"

"No…what did I do?!" she freaked out.

Peter went to her and hauled her into his lap as she cried herself out. "It's okay, Stephanie. You have control now…"

Roy and Wally kneeled by the pair, heads bowed in respect.

Dick walked over to the bed and pulled the sheet up over Catwoman's body. He stopped at her shoulders. He took his gloved hand and closed her eyes, out of respect. "Goodbye, Selina." He kissed her cold cheek. "You were his equal. He loved you. And I'll look after her. I promise." He then raised the sheet over her head.

Batman lost his one true love.

But he gained a daughter.

Now it was up to him, Speedy and Kid Flash to keep her safe.

Robin turned around and faced Stephanie and Peter. They needed to know who he was. The rules didn't apply here, they were know part of his family. "Stephanie?"

She moved away from Peter to look Robin in the eye mask. "Yeah?" her voice was full to tears and pain.

He pulled off his eye mask, not hesitating for a second. Wally and Roy gaped at him. "I'm Dick Grayson, the Boy Wonder."

She smiled at her brother. Dick was his name. Her brother's name was Dick. And she would never tell a soul who he was.

***That's it! Yeah, I killed her. Sorry to all of the Catwoman fans out there! But there is a reason for it. I am writing the AU inserts to seasons 1 and 2 so we all can follow Shadowcat's progress through the seasons. Even the 5 year gap. Will Batman ever learn the truth? Can Wally keep his mouth shut? Will Stephanie learn their real identities? All of these questions will be answered in : The SECRET Training: Young Justice Seasons 1 & 2. Coming as I finish "In Blackest Night". So send in those reviews folks! And Happy Thanksgiving everyone! ***