We headed upstairs and Mr. Fox smothered me in a hug the moment he saw me. "You would not believe how lost these two have been since you left."
"We were not lost, just worried." Dick defended, which made Mr. Fox laugh.
"Of course, of course. Now if Bruce doesn't mind, I would like to hear the story about where you've been for the past few days."
I relayed to them what had happened, trying to stay as accurate as possible while glossing over some of the fear factor, but it didn't help much. Mr. Fox and Bruce kept straight faces the entire time, but Dick couldn't help but bunch his eyebrows in concern. I finished and everyone sat in silence for a minute.
"Well, this is quite the development." Mr. Fox gazed off in thought.
"Do you think this has something to do with the mirakuru in Sterling city?"
"I would be surprised if it doesn't. Two 'miracle' serums at the same time seems highly unlikely. And from what Lisa tells us, the attacks in Sterling City and the serum the Joker used are related. Regarding his experiments, have you had any...effects since you left?"
"No, ever since he hit me with the foam stuff I feel weaker than I've ever been. I don't think I could even do a push up."
"Well, you'll have to go to school today but I'll keep you off of missions for a little while. You need to be resting your leg anyway."
I nodded, keeping my eyes trained on the table.
"We should see what we can find on this." Mr. Fox gestured to the flash drive Dick had recovered "I'll start working on some fire-proof suits and weapons. Better to be safe than sorry."
"Should she really be attending school, though? From what she says, her abilities are triggered by emotions. If she gets angry at school what is to stop her from causing a scene?" Dick asked
"If it's alright with Lissa, I will give her mood stabilizers while she is in public."
"You know what's best, I trust your judgment."
"In the evenings once you feel more yourself, we can start some training that will help you control your emotions a little better."
Pennyworth walked in, laying out a full course breakfast. I was famished and dug into my biscuits and gravy as quickly as I could.
"I believe it best to get Green Arrow and his team involved soon. This is obviously spanning much farther than Gotham City and we might need his help and resources." Batman furrowed his brow "We might even need to call in some more reinforcements as well."
"Like who?" Dick asked and Mr. Fox watched Bruce expectantly.
"There is a hero I met through the Justice League I think might be of help. But I won't call on him unless it is absolutely necessary."
"Who is it?" Dick pressed
"An old friend." Bruce scowled. "I'll look through the flash drive and see what I can find. Lissa, you've been through a lot, but I need you to go upstairs and get ready for school."
"I know." I smiled and stood up, leaving to go to my room.
Mr. Fox drove us to school, asking me particulars about my imprisonment. We pulled up and he turned in his seat to face me.
"If you need anything at all, call me."
"Thank you, Mr. Fox." I slid out of the car behind Dick and was ambushed by my friends.
"Where have you been?!" Stacy yelled
"Sorry, emergency business trip to China. And they have no reception in the mountains."
"We were worried half to death." Alex hugged me
"I'm fine, really. I brought you guys some Chinese finger traps."
We headed to class on the third floor, and I noticed someone new sitting in the back. He had shockingly purple hair and his uniform was a bit sloppy. He looked at home enough though, lounging in his chair.
"Who is that?"
"Javrin." she winked "Cute, isn't he?"
"When did he get here?"
"He's been here like a month. You haven't noticed him?"
I studied the newcomer but didn't recognize him from anywhere. It surprised me I'd overlooked him, his hair was a shade of purple that would have given an eggplant a heart attack. "No, I guess I haven't. So what did I miss?"
"Oh, Arthur McRund is dating-"
"In class, Stacy."I smiled
"Oh, I don't know. Ask Alex, she's the smart one."
"Here." Alex handed me her journal and started walking me through the lessons.
Leaving class for lunch I passed the new kid, Javrin, walking alone in the halls. I walked up to him, dismissing my friends.
"Hey, you're new right?"
He turned to look at me and gave a smirk. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. And you are?"
"Lissa, nice to meet you." I shook his hand. "I was wondering if you'd like to each lunch with me and my friends, unless you had other plans."
"Sure, thank you." He followed me out into the courtyard.
"Everyone, this is Javrin. Javrin, this is Stacy Wracky, Alex Huerra, and Richard Grayson." I pointed to each as I introduced them.
"Hello, call me Rin, please." He turned to Dick "Richard Grayson, I've heard a lot about you. Can I call you Dick?"
"No." Came the short reply. He turned to his lunch and ignored Rin.
"So, Rin, where are you from?" Stacy asked, all smiles
"Boston."
"Well I think you'll like it here. Gotham has a lot to offer, especially if you know the right people."
"Like you guys?"
Alex laughed "Not us, we're nobody's. You want to know anyone, it's the Wayne family."
"The Wayne's?"
"Yeah, they own half the city. Don't you, Lissa?"
Rin looked at me, what I had been dreading. "It's no big deal. Dad runs the whole thing really. And of course Dick will take over one day."
"You guys are Bruce Wayne's kids?" he arched an eyebrow.
"Well, he's our guardian. He isn't our actual father but we're as good as family." I couldn't help but keep a cold note in my voice. I hated being treated like a circus show.
"Didn't know I was rubbing elbows with such special people." he winked at me.
"Dad's the special one, not us." I tried to suppress a blush. Something in the way his eyes held mine made me squirm where I sat.
"We'll agree to disagree on that one."
"You're company's done a lot of good for Gotham." he said back towards the rest of the group.
"Most people just care that we're rich." Dick was giving him a calculating look.
"Hey , money comes and goes; but true innovation and genius stays. And the Wayne theatre house is just amazing. I mean, I've seen it from the outside."
"The outside? You've never seen a play?"
"No, too poor I'm afraid. But it looks nice." He looked down sheepishly.
"Well Friday night there is a showing of The Phantom of the Opera. I was planning on going anyways, if you'd like to join me…"
"That would be amazing." He gave me a broad smile.
"So, Rin, tell me about your classes." Stacy moved in closer, commandeering the conversation.
"Why did you do that?" Dick whispered in my ear, sitting down with his lunch next to me.
"Why not? You always say I need to make more friends."
"Not friends like him."
"An what do you mean by that?"
"Just look at him." He gestured to Rin fending off Stacy's advances. "He just doesn't belong here. No offense, but a certain kind of people go to this school for a reason."
"You should be the last one stereotyping, Flying Grayson." I snapped and stormed off to my next class as the bell rang.
The rest of the day passed smoothly enough and I was home safe and sound soon. I went down to the Batcave to see Bruce studying the computer screens.
"It seems the flashdrive Dick recovered contains all of the information on the experiment used on you. Plus some theoretical notes made by the doctor about how the result might be. It is unfortunate he didn't live long enough to help us. He seemed to be genuinely interested in your development."
"Well, we're lucky he recovered something useful."
Bruce grunted. "I suppose we are. The doctor put some notes in here on how to theoretically control your powers. As soon as you're feeling better I would like to test some of these methods."
"What does he say?"
"Well the serum you were injected with simply prepares the body 'for severe trauma', which I believe to mean will give you almost a state of invulnerability for a short period of time. By putting you in a situation which would have normally killed you, the serum pushed your body to adapt. Theoretically, the combinations are endless. We, however, have no idea what the physiological effect on your body was or if this state is permanent. I'll be taking blood samples and vital signs every few hours to see what exactly happened."
"Okay." I sighed
"What's wrong?"He looked over, concerned
"It's just a lot to take in. One second I'm Batgirl and the next I'm some weird fire-throwing lunatic."
"Hey." He stood up and put his hands on my shoulders. I was so small compared to him. "This doesn't change who you are. You might not have chosen this but it is you now. There is still the same Lissa right here as the one who left. Do you understand?"
"I do." I smiled and hugged him. "I'm just scared; I don't know what to do or to think."
"None of us do, but we'll learn together." He smiled "Now how was school?"
"Alright, I guess. Went calmly enough. I do have a small favor to ask. You know the opera house?"
"Our opera house?" he stepped back and frowned.
"Yes. I was wondering if I could get a couple tickets to go. There is this new guy at school and well, he was really lonely, and I offered to take him Friday night."
"Lissa are you sure-" he stopped and took a deep breath, as if reminding himself of something. "Of course. Why don't we make a family event out of it? I would love to meet your new friend.
"You just want to scare him."
"I'm your guardian, right? That's my job. Besides, I haven't been to the opera in a while. What is playing Friday?"
"Phantom of the Opera."
"Good, something I'll enjoy. I'll make the arrangements. Tell your friend to meet us there at 6. We'll sit in the family box of course."
"You just want to intimidate him. He is very interested in the company's technological developments."
"He is?" the note of disapproval and suspicion was evident
"Not in a creepy way, he is genuinely interested. He said one of our medical machines saved his friend's life. "
"Just make sure to keep an eye on him. It's always best to watch your friends."
"I know." I smiled and headed up the stairs, walking into the library where Dick was sitting in a chair.
"So the verdict on the flash drive?" he asked without looking up
"Exactly what we needed, it has all the notes and even some speculations the doctor made. Bruce says he wants to run through it once I feel better."
"I'm glad it's not useless. It's pretty rare we find exactly what we need. It's nice. You tell him about your date?"
"It's our date now; he wants it to be a family thing."
"No, you're joking." He lowered his book and gave me an exasperated face.
"Nope. Straight from the Bat's mouth."
"I have better things to do than to see you on a date with some weirdo. What happened to Harper?"
"Crap, I forgot we were supposed to go to the fair Saturday." I pulled out my phone to confirm the plan interference.
"Bring him too. At least I'll have someone on my anti-Javrin side."
"How do you know he won't like Rin?"
"Come on, Lissa, we're detectives. It's not hard to figure out." He smiled and laid his book down. "Friday night is looking to be rather interesting."