Terry stood inside the Batcave that same night. Dana had driven him to the gates of Wayne Manor in her car. "Tell Coba I said hi, alright?" she had requested before speeding away.

"Alright," Terry replied with a smile, watching his girlfriend leave. Although his mother disliked his half-sister, everyone at school- -with the notable exception of Nelson and his circle of friends- -loved having her around. It just saddened him to think about her almost being killed by a hired assassin.

"Terry?" Coba called in surprise, limping down the cave's entrance's staircase.

"Coba!" Terry exclaimed, immediately hugging her. "I thought you were in bed."

Coba weakly hugged him back. "I couldn't sleep." She noticed Bruce sitting at the Batcomputer, watching the screen angrily. "Wha-what's going on?"

The young man gently pulled away from his sister's embrace and explained to her what he had found on the disc. "I'm having Wayne check it out," he concluded. "He also told me about what happened at the cemetery earlier. How are you feeling now?"

"My arm's feeling better, but I'm still pretty shaken up." She shuddered uncomfortably at the thought of her close call. "It-it was terrifying."

"Wayne said you put up a heck of a fight, though," Terry pointed out.

"I know, but still..." Coba's voice trailed off. "Fixx came so close to killing me this time, closer than he had since he killed Mom."

"I-I'm sorry this happened," McGinnis said apologetically. "I wish I was there to help you."

"Believe me, brother," Brooklyn said, placing her right hand seriously on Terry's shoulder, "I'm glad you were nowhere near that monster tonight."

"It's worse than I thought," Wayne voice echoed from the opposite side of the cave, disrupting their conversation. "It's some kind of new DNA mutagen. Powers is making nerve gas." His tone became ultimately angered. "He's using my company to make nerve gas!" he growled.

Coba watched her brother as he opened up the glass closet containing the black and red advanced Batsuit. They both looked at it closely for a second. "This thing may be old, but it's still cutting-edge," Terry noted. "It probably enhances your strength at least ten-to-one."

"Incredible," Coba remarked. "This technology would be useful for weakened people."

"That's exactly why I made it," Bruce said, walking up to the children. "Just don't touch it."

Terry looked at the old man quizzically. "But, aren't you going to- -"

"No," Bruce said flatly.

"You built that company," Terry countered, "and now Powers is making nerve gas with it. You've gotta do something! You're Batman!"

Bruce stared harshly at Terry. "I was Batman." He pulled out the disc. "Give this to Commissioner Barbara Gordon."

"The cops?" the boy exploded. "They'll never be able to- "

"Do it!" Bruce snapped.

"Something happened to you, didn't it?" Terry accused, taking the disc from Wayne. "And it wasn't just that you got old!"

Coba suddenly snatched the disc from her brother. "Are you two crazy?" she exclaimed. "If Powers sees any one of us walking alone, he'll snatch the disc back and kill us!" She looked at Bruce seriously. "Didn't you say that we'd visit the commissioner in the morning? Why don't we go now and avoid running into that slime?"

Terry looked at his sister in astonishment for a moment, but then shook his head. "That's a good point, but I'd rather walk."

"Well, you'd better take this disc," Coba replied, handing Terry a disc that looked exactly like the one with Powers's nerve gas plans, "Just in case you have a run-in with Powers. This is one I don't like at all."

"What exactly is it?" Terry asked suspiciously.

Coba grinned mischievously. "Do you think he'll like Justin Bieber?"

Her brother almost threw up. "How on earth did you get a hold of that relic?"

"I found it in a dumpster several years ago," the girl replied, still grinning.

"Ugh, no wonder!"

"Who or what is Justin Bieber?" Bruce asked curiously.

"He was a young man that sounded a lot like a girl," Coba replied.

Bruce was never one for humor, but he wound up gasping for air amid roars of laughter. "Perfect!" he whooped. "Now Powers will be as ticked off as I am right now!"

~!~

It was very early morning when the three set off on their missions: Terry to be the distraction for Powers, and Bruce and Coba to the commissioner's office. Barbara Gordon looked over her desk computer at the odd pair after she greeted them and looked over the disc's contents. "You're saying that Powers is making nerve gas and ordered Coba and her parents to be killed?" she asked the oldest in the room.

"Exactly," Bruce replied, nodding in confirmation. "Her mother because he broke up with her, her father because he knew too much."

"But why go after Coba? She didn't do anything to him from what she's told me!"

"He didn't order for me to be killed," Coba piped up. "It was Fixx who wanted me dead."

Gordon looked at the girl suspiciously. "How do you know that?" she asked. "And, above all, why would he kill you?"

Coba looked down shamefully. "Before he killed my mother, I had rescued a girl from the group of Jokerz that Fixx was leading. My right shoe fell off of my foot as I climbed up a ladder, revealing my sharp foot brace. He grabbed my left leg, so I kicked his left eye with my brace. Now his left eye no longer exists and there's a scar right below it. He wants revenge for what I did to his eye." She fought back frustrated tears. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before, Commissioner. I guess I was just too scared about being thrown in jail or juvie."

"I wouldn't do that to someone who saved a fellow civilian and acted out in self defense, Coba. Just remember to tell me right away from now on, alright?"

"A-alright," Coba stammered uncomfortably.

"Bruce," Barbara said sharply with a dangerous twinkle in her eyes, "you'd best keep an eye on this one. Don't let her become your definition of a crime-fighter, you hear?"

Wayne nodded. "I hear you loud and clear, Barbara."

"No problem, Batgirl," Coba whispered.

Gordon looked at Bruce in suspicion. "Did you already tell her all about Batman and his side-kicks?" she asked gruffly in a quiet voice.

Coba answered for her guardian. "He didn't tell me anything about them, even though I've been inside the cave. I stumbled upon it by accident, actually."

Barbara glared at Bruce and Coba warningly. "Just make sure the word doesn't get out about our past lives as Bat-people, alright?"

"Your secrets are safe with me," Brooklyn said reassuringly.

Bruce grinned benignly at Gordon. "You know I won't be running around telling everyone, not that I really can run anymore."

~!~

The odd pair returned to Wayne Manor in the early afternoon to find Terry waiting for them at the door. "You were right, Coba," he told his half-sister as they entered the mansion. "I did run into Powers, and some big guy with a scar over his left eye was with him."

"Fixx," Coba snarled. She caught herself before she could have lost her temper completely. "Did you give Powers the disc?"

"Yes, but I threw it into the air, kicked Fixx in the leg, and bolted before he would have found out what was really on the disc." He grinned humorously. "I would love to see the look on his face when he does, though."

Brooklyn could not help but smile herself. "I agree with you, bro."

Bruce looked at the two siblings seriously. "There's no way you're going to find out," he said flatly. "You both need to stay hidden until after Powers has been arrested tomorrow."

Terry looked at the old man dumbfoundedly. "But what if he does something with the virus tonight?"

"You both have a good point," Coba pointed out, "but how exactly can we do both? You know, stay and leave?"

"I don't like where you're going with this, kid," Bruce told the girl. "You were there when I was lectured by Commissioner Gordon about keeping you out of trouble, and I aim to listen to her. I won't let your brother get into trouble, either."

"But sometimes you have to go against the rules to do what's right, you know!"

"I will hear no more talk of this!" Wayne snapped. "Go to your room, Coba, and take Terry with you. Now!"

Coba reluctantly led Terry upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door behind them. "I'm sorry you have to live with this guy," Terry said sympathetically.

"Well, after what happened in the cemetery last night, I'm glad I have to," Brooklyn said honestly.

"He doesn't know what we're going through right now, does he?"

"He actually does, which was why we were at the cemetery in the first place." Coba explained to Terry what Bruce had told her. "I even noticed his concern when I said that I recognized Fixx. The murderer of his parents was never found, but he knew I would attempt to take matters into my own hands as he did."

Her brother looked at her seriously. "And he managed to talk you out of it?"

"Well, not exactly." Coba pulled out a blue sheet of paper. "I found these blueprints to the high-tech Batsuit last night in the cave. I got almost completely done with my own adaption of it before going with Wayne to see Gordon." She showed her brother the nearly finished suit, which was made of black material and bore a cobalt blue symbol of a bat. To complete the suit was a pair of cobalt blue gloves.

Terry looked seriously at his little sister. "You're not going out there," he said flatly. "I don't want you to get hurt again. I'll go."

"But how will you not be recognized by Powers and Fixx?" Coba asked.

"I'm taking the Batsuit," he replied bluntly. "I don't care what Mr. Wayne thinks about it. Powers needs to be stopped, and Fixx needs to be dealt with."

Coba was about to object, but the look in Terry's eyes told her that there was no way she could talk him out of it. "Alright," she sighed. "Just be careful." I can't go out as Batgirl, but he can go out as Batman? Not while Powers and Fixx are still free and I've got my own suit!

~!~

Bruce Wayne turned off his television foul temperedly. Curse Derek Powers!he thought, not knowing that Coba had been thinking the same exact thing for over three years. A noise from outside caught his attention as he stood up from his arm chair. Looking out the window, he saw that Ace was tied to the gate, barking urgently. Bruce threw a batarang precisely at the middle of the rope. The big black dog ran inside the house, sniffing at the floor.

"What is it?" Bruce asked urgently. "What's the matter, boy?"

Ace lifted his head and barked at the old grandfather clock, which was blocking the entrance to the Batcave. Bruce opened the entrance and followed his dog into the cave. The next thing he saw made his blood boil: the place the high-tech suit had been in for twenty years was gone! Not only that, but there was a note taped to the glass that caused him to shed a few tears of guilt and sadness:

"Mr. Wayne,

I cannot express to you how ashamed I am of myself. You helped me fight off the Jokerz, took me in when I had no where else to go (besides the orphanage), took me to visit my father's grave, told me about your parents, and saved me from Fixx. Yet, I'm also ashamed that you refused to face Powers and Fixx, and told me and Terry to stay out of it. Those men will continue to kill countless other people if we do nothing. I don't want what happened to you, to me, and to Terry to happen again to others. You said yourself that you've been feeling empty after not fighting crime. If I don't see you again, I'm sorry for leaving in this manner. Once you get this message, talk to me and Terry via com-link (I had found the blueprints to the Batsuit and made my own copy of it, adding a com-link and an invisibility feature: I figured a suit like this would be more comfortable for my leg than a metal brace, anyway). We'll need a layout of the Wayne-Powers building.

Sincerely,

Coba Brooklyn.

P.S.: Please don't tell Gordon that I'm taking over her title as Batgirl for tonight. Unless there's an emergency, of course."

Bruce looked away from the note sadly and walked towards the cave's large computer. "Good luck, Terry and Coba," he murmured.

Author's Notes:

Well, that's it for this chapter. Only a few more left until this book is over!

I do not have anything against Justin Bieber as a person (well, except for the comment he made at the Anne Frank museum: I didn't find it very respectful at the end of his statement (I feel as if he was trying to draw attention to himself)), but I do not like his music. I think Powers wouldn't appreciate it, either. :P

I just put up a poll on my profile page. Go there to vote for who your top three favorite characters in this story are!