The clock blared 3 am at me when I heard my window open. I turned over and Javrin was just pulling his second foot in.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
"Just came to see you. There is another party tonight, do you want to go?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not feeling too good. I think I better skip."
"It's nothing big, and they are all dying to meet you. Just for a little bit?" He flashed me his best puppy dog face and I caved.
"Oh, alright. Just hang on. You might have to take me to school tomorrow."
"No problem." he winked.
I changed into jeans and a loose top, stashing my school uniform and makeup into a backpack, slipping in my costume when he wasn't looking just in case. I left a note to the morning butler, stating I went for a run and was getting a ride to school. I took a few painkillers from my nightstand before we left and led the way down the side of my house. I threw my bag into his backseat as he turned the car on.
"So where is this party?"
"Down at the docks kinda near the old fairgrounds. There is a big tunnel there we use a lot. You can't see it from the road."
I shuddered, thinking of the Prince and the Joker skulking around there with their superhuman followers. "I hate the old fairgrounds."
"Why?"
"They just creep me out. Are you sure it's safe?"
"Trust me, no one will bother us out there."
"If you say so." I immediately regretted coming out here, especially because I was still feeling weak.
It didn't take long to get there, and he was right when he said it was small. About six kids sat in lawn chairs around a stereo, drinking from solo cups and talking. We walked up and immediately a black girl with huge, curly hair leapt up and hugged me.
"You must be Lissa! It is so nice to finally meet you." she gave me a dazzling smile.
"It's nice to meet you too."
The other five people were introduced. Angel's boyfriend Steve, the twins Adelaide and Adelaide, and lastly the two boys Trevor and Mikey. Only the last one in the bunch didn't seem to friendly, the rest of them greeted me warmly and waved me over to a pair of lawn chairs while offering drinks. I sat down and Javrin took my hand, running his fingers over my knuckles soothingly.
"So you guys come out here a lot?" I asked
"Usually we'll actually throw a real party with people and stuff, but tonight we felt like just chilling. Plus, Rin said you didn't feel good and this was our best shot at meeting you." one of the Adelaide's smiled.
The rest of the night we just talked. They asked about the Wayne school, insisting Rin had lied to them about some things but I set the record straight. Apparently, Rin hadn't told them my last name because somehow the Wayne issue arose.
"That Bruce Wayne is running for mayor, did you hear?" Angel mentioned.
"Like Gotham city needs anyone else like him in office. Just once I'd like to see one of us in there. Someone normal who got in on merit, not money." Mikey spat, taking another drink.
Steve piped up. "I don't know. He has done a lot for Gotham. And his parents did a lot too. Maybe he'll be more like them."
"Like make it impossible to get a job if you have so much as a smudge on your record?" Mikey shot back.
I felt myself liking him even less by the minute as Rin replied. "Well, a felony is a bit more than a smudge, Mike." he chuckled.
"All I'm saying is the Wayne is going to do nothing for any of us, just his kind." I might have imagined the sideways glance he gave me but I didn't think so.
"Maybe your dad should run for mayor, Rin." Steve smirked.
I noticed a slight tensing in Rin's jaw. "Don't even joke. As if he doesn't already have enough to worry about."
"He would look out for us." Mikey nodded. "Actually make sure we can make a living instead of whatever we have to do now."
Angel smiled at me. "Never get Mike started on anything politics, he'll go for hours."
"Just because I'm informed, doesn't mean I'm a nag. You could do better to listen a little more too." he replied.
Then the topic switched to school again, theirs this time, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Rin squeezed my hand almost imperceptibly but I felt it and knew he was there for me. We stayed there until around 6 when Rin said we should go and get breakfast before school. I said goodbye to his friends, getting another enthusiastic hug from Angel, and we walked back to his car. He drove me just up the block to a pancake place and we had already ordered before I decided to speak.
"You didn't tell them my last name?"
"The Wayne name doesn't hold too much sway over here, and I didn't want them judging you. Mikey knows because he watched the newscast about your Dad but I asked him to keep it to himself and he said he would. You can trust him."
"That might seem why he didn't like me very much."
"He's one of my best friends, we work well together. He just doesn't necessarily approve in my taste of women."
"I'm sorry, I don't want to cause any problems."
"Oh, you haven't." he smiled as our food arrive, buttering his pancakes. "They all love you, Mikey just might take a while to come around."
"So are those your friends that you talk about all the time?"
"Yup. We're like the ninja turtles, if there had been seven of them. Been together for a while now. I know they have my back, no matter what."
"They seem nice. I like them." I decided, and began on my bacon.
We finished quickly and he threw money on the table. We were almost late for school, especially owing to the fact we had to change into our uniforms in the school parking lot. I giggled as we walked into first period together and sat down right as the tardy bell rang.
"Well, now that we're all here, you can pull out your lab books and get into your groups. We're going to be measuring sugar content of sodas. This is an extremely easy lab and I expect everything to be complete when you come in tomorrow." She scowled at Jarin and I and walked back to the lab tables.
I joined my usual group of girls and Javrin was stuck with some guys and we prepared our lab. Of course they pounced on me while I poured a measurement of Dr. Pepper in a beaker.
"What were you and Rin doing last night?" Alex gave me a sneaking smile.
"We just went to hang out with some of his friends last night and it got late. He took me to breakfast. And then we came here."
"And what does Roy think of this late night galavanting?" Stacy asked, helping me remove the carbon dioxide from the soda. She must have noticed the dark look on my face. "Oh, did something happen?"
"Well we went to dinner the other night and he took me to a movie but afterwards we went walking in the park. It was great until he tried to get me to go in on a joint operation between Wayne Industries and Queen Consolidated, apparently so we could 'spend more time together'."
"Do you think he actually meant that?"
"Dick thinks I was just reading into it too much, but I'm not so sure. Why would he talk to me about it and not Dick? Especially about business?"
"I don't know, it sounds suspicious to me. Control sugar solution is done." Courtney slid the other beaker closer to us before continuing. "Especially with the election announcement and Dick's impending promotion, I figured he would know you weren't the one to talk to the company about."
"I agree completely." Jarin said right next to my ear.
I jumped, almost spilling our soda. "Rin! If you spoil our experiment you are personally doing it again yourself."
"I just came to ask my friendly neighbors for a cup of sugar." he held up a measuring cup.
Even Stacy had to hold back a grin as I rolled my eyes. "You're something else, Napier." I dipped his cup in what was left of our sugar. "That's all you get."
"I'm sure it'll be plenty, Princess." he winked and rejoined his group.
"His new hair looks nice." Alex gave me a grin. "Wonder what he did that for."
"He said he thought it would make him fit in a little more."
"I think it makes him look more mature." Courtney smiled.
"Don't let him hear you say that. His head is big enough as it is."
"Which one?" Stacy asked with a huge smile.
This time I really did knock over our soda, spilling it all over the table. The other girls were too busy laughing to even notice Rin give me a sly wink, showing me he had heard. The rest of the class I stubbornly kept it science and we barely finished by the time the bell rang. Rin waited for me and walked me to my next class. At lunch he found me again and sat down with us in the courtyard on the grass. Dick brought me a spare lunch, saying he figured I would be hungry.
"So an early morning run?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Well my leg is feeling better and we all know I need to be at 100%, don't I?" I gave him an innocent smile he didn't buy for a second.
"Well, I will gladly partake in this." Rin pulled out a sandwich and handed me half.
Roy joined the group and sat next to the other girls, talking to Dick mostly. Rin even partook in the conversation and the girls seemed to be a little more friendly towards him. After the period ended and the bell rang, Rin had to run to make it to his next class across the building. Roy took it upon himself to escort me to my math class.
"Are you still upset?"
"I don't know, am I?" I asked as I slammed my locker door shut.
"I didn't mean it like it sounded. I just want to spend some more time with you."
"I am not Bruce's company. Last time I checked I don't have the Wayne logo tattooed on my forehead."
"That's not what I meant at all. Queen Consolidated is my life, and I really don't get much free time around that and my...extracurriculars."
"Than maybe you're too busy for anything else." I entered math and sat down in a huff, pulling out my heavy textbook. The rest of the day passed without incident and the final bell ringing gave me an unparalleled sense of bliss. Javrin met me at the front doors and we walked to his car together, him holding my hand. He opened the door for me and leaned in for a kiss.
"Lissa!" Roy and Dick jogged up, the former with a mutinous look on his face.
"Hey guys, fancy meeting you here." Rin shot with an annoyed smile.
"Lissa we need to go." Dick gave me the look.
"I'm sorry Rin, I have to go. We can reschedule." I tried to apologize with my eyes as I grabbed my extra bag from his backseat and slung it over my school bag.
"Well, you know where I'll be." he winked.
"Just be careful." I murmured and whisked off with the two boys.
"Whats up?" I asked as we piled into Roy's Jeep.
"Another call for the Joker and Kanus. They are in Gotham this time."
"Where?" I pulled out my outfit as we entered an alley and they both summoned their motorcycles.
"Where do you think? The fairgrounds, we're worried they are going to pull another stunt like they did in Sterling City."
We quickly changed and headed over to their usual haunt, passing the spot I had went to with Rin just that morning. We met up with Batman and Black Canary as soon as we got there.
"We think the Joker is in the hall of mirrors, Kanus we can't pin down yet. Fan out and stay in touch."
We nodded and headed out. I peeled off and took what must have been the tent that the animals stayed in by the smell of it, despite the fact it had been empty for years. I stuck to the shadows as much as I could but seeing as it was barely late afternoon there wasn't much to work with. I didn't see much as a fly for nearly fifteen minutes. Finally Speedy called in saying there were 10 heat signatures in a tent just South of my position. Batman sent me to help him while they investigated the main performance arena. I groaned silently and made my way over. The look on his face told me he wasn't anymore excited about the arrangements but we pressed on anyway. I don't know what those tents were made out of, but it was very dark as soon as we let the flap close.
We crept around the borders and closed in on the heat signatures. They just seemed to be standing there, then just as suddenly six of them got up and walked out of what must have been an opening on the far side of the tent. But the remaining four signatures remained standing there. As we got closer we strained our ears for conversation or even breathing but didn't hear anything. We emerged into the main room of the tent and there stood the Prince and three buff guys.
"Took you long enough didn't it? It seems the Joker wants to have a little chat with you, Batty. No dates allowed I'm afraid. You're little...friend will have to wait here."
"Fat chance." Speedy drew his bow and aimed at it the Prince.
The Prince gave a lazy smile. "You finally learned to make plastic arrows. But you missed a spot." He twitched his hand, pulling me towards him by my metal-laced belt. I used the momentum to head at him feet first, catching him in the chest. He grunted and fell down, his hold releasing on me quickly. The other three convened on Speedy but he shot a shocker arrow and they dropped like stones.
"I hate cheaters." the Prince growled. He snapped his fingers and the six men who had left walked back in, their hands crackling with electricity. "Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine."
I ran to help Speedy, catching one of them in the back with my boot. My suit was designed to take electrical charges, but I still felt a small shock to my foot. Luckily my gloves were a little more armored and I knocked him out with three quick pressure point strikes. Roy had already taken down two with blunt arrows but the remaining three already had a hold on him. The smallest one was behind him and lit up his hand, aiming for Roy's face. I shouted and distracted him for just a second, mailing him in the face with a spurt of fire. He dropped to the ground, screaming in pain and clutching his eyes. I tried setting the other two on fire but their clothes resisted it, no matter how hard I urged. I went to go in with my hands but the Prince pulled me back again.
"Playtime is over, Batgirl. The Joker is expecting you." he wrapped his arms around me from behind and popped a canister of that damned extinguishing foam.
"Batgirl!" Roy shouted, abandoning the other two who were attacking him. He shot a shocker arrow over my shoulder but the Prince swatted it away with a wave of his hand.
"You never learn, do you?' he chuckled.
Through my coughing, I stepped on his foot as hard as I could and bashed my head into his nose. He let me go long enough for me to swing around and kick him in the chest.
He grunted and fell to the ground. He looked up at me and smirked. "Fine then, we can play the hard way."
He snapped again and they all ran out of the tent. With a quick glance at Roy, who nodded, we gave pursuit. They were faster than they looked and we didn't catch up with them until they reached the hall of mirrors. I groaned, knowing where this was going. But we got in anyway, signaling in our location to the rest of the team. We once again went stealthy and snuck around the creepy, dark building.
"I told you to forget the whole joint operation thing, why are you still mad at me?" Roy whispered.
"Now is not the time, Speedy." I hissed.
"I feel awful. And it doesn't help I have to watch him swoop in and make you feel better."
"Why would you ask me? Why not my brother the business man. Why me?"
"Because I wanted your view on it." We ducked around a corner, seeing about twelve of us reflected back. "I didn't mean it to sound like I was trying to use you."
"We can talk about this later. I need to focus."
"Well, I mean, while we are here."
"Possibly fighting for our lives."
"I care about you, I don't want you to feel like you are being used or that I'm only interested in your family."
"It just seemed fishy." I whispered back as we snuck into a large area with shattered mirrors everywhere, showing us hundreds of our own selves.
"Lover's quarrels are so tragic." the Prince snarled.
I pounced before he could make the first move. He countered me well but I kicked him against a wall and Roy aimed a deadly arrow straight at his heart. The Prince smiled and held his hands up.
"I'll do it you bastard, after what you did to Batgirl." he said in a low voice.
The Prince didn't look phased. "I didn't do anything. The Joker had his plans. And it all worked out well, didn't it? She's fine, as lovely as ever." he winked at me and I felt my skin crawl.
"Give me a reason not to."
He tuted. "After everything I've done for you? Do you really think Batgirl would have been interested in you if she didn't feel like damaged goods? How else could she stand you?"
Roy ran up and smacked him across the face, knocking him to the ground with a busted lip. He took aim again, the sharp edge of the arrow seeming to sing as light reflected off of it. "You are making a very poor case to live."
"I'm not worried. Batgirl couldn't have her precious being a murderer, could she?" he gave me a look.
"What, like you?" I spat
"Hey, I haven't killed anyone, even though I was given plenty of chances. You'd be surprised how stupid you guys are. Metal batarangs? Please. I was just doing as I was told."
"Batgirl?" Roy asked. And I knew he really meant it. The malice in his eyes was too sincere.
"We take him in, Speedy. We aren't Kanus."
"He isn't some misunderstood judge. He hurt you." he pulled the bowstring tighter at his last words.
"It wasn't him, Speedy." I walked up and put a hand on his shaking shoulder. "We take him in."
Roy looked at me and sighed, relaxing his grip. "Fine."
"Wow, she has you trained so well." The prince growled, looking genuinely mad. He reached out and swiped Roy's legs. He fell with a thud, tangled up in his bow. The Prince launched at me and held me against the wall using his ability to make my body rigid.
"You almost make me believe you." he whispered, inching his face closer to mine.
"Let her go." Roy had his arrow fitted again and trained on the Prince's back. "I'll do it too."
"She won't let you, will you?" his eyes glinted mere centimeters from mine.
"Why wouldn't I?" I glared at him, despite the fact I couldn't move.
He leaned it until I could feel his lips brushing my ear. "You tell me."
He whirled me around him and threw me into Speedy. By the time we got up he was gone, vanished. I swore and punched an already busted mirror.
"I don't like him one little bit." he muttered. "Are you okay?"
"Besides creeped out, I'm fine." I murmured as we left the tent. No heat signatures where anywhere and Batman radioed that they hadn't found anything. Besides us, no one had seen a soul.
"I'm calling it. Meet you at the Batcave." Batman cut comms.
"Look, let me take you to dinner or something so we can talk."
"I have plans tonight. I need to sleep sometime." I snapped but immediately regretted it when I saw the look on his face. "We can talk at the fundraiser Saturday night. I'm sorry."
We rendezvoused with everyone else by the Batmobile, all of us looking frustrated.
"We will keep in touch if we hear anything else." Batman grumbled.
"The Arrow wants to know if you can take the boy for the night so he can look over that info you have on Batgirl. Apparently, he thinks he will spot something you won't."
Batman turned his glare on Speedy who didn't look in the mood to argue. "I just think you need a new set of eyes. And besides, I want to see what was up with that flying thing she did when she was with me."
Batman sighed heavily and regarded Speedy with a sight that was almost wary. "I suppose. But you will be monitored the entire time."
"Of course, sir." he nodded his head.
"Follow Dick and stick close. Too far behind him and you'll be electrocuted to death trying to get into the Batcave." he hopped into the Batmobile without another word and the rest of us followed suit.
We arrived in no time, Speedy marveling in the Batcave I immediately dismissed myself, heading to my room. Roy looked like he was going to say something but Batman jumped in and put him to work.