Aki- I'm dedicating this chapter to the Coons family. Mr. Coons is a history teacher at my school and just this week him and his wife lost their baby, Molly, at eigth months into the pregnancy. It was really horrible and sad and half of the senior class and all the teachers and tons of the juniors went to the funeral. So this chapter is in memory of that little girl and her family who is really missing her.

Chapter 7: Plans of Attack

"This is insane!" said Halle.

"I know. It's amazing and everything now makes total sense."

"Okay…that's the complete opposite of insane…"

"What's the name Mom used," Alex asked, pointing to the book in Halle's hands. "Her superhero name."

Halle read the caption under the newspaper picture. "Starfire."

"What's her powers?" Alex asked. They flipped through a few pages of the scrap book in search of an answer. Finally they discovered an action shot from another newspaper clipping. A teenage version of their mother was flying across the cityscape, her eyes and hands glowing green.

Alex glanced down at his hands, remembering the bluish glow he had encompassed them not many days ago. "Um, Halle, I think I can do that."

"Do what…?" Halle glanced from Alex to the picture then back to Alex. "You've got to be kidding."

"No, seriously, I can."

"Wow, I think all that computer light has gone to your head…"

"No, I can!" protested Alex loudly, his voice rising in anger.

"Prove it!" Halle demanded, a hand on her hip.

"I can't!" he exclaimed, he'd been trying to conjure up the power during their whole argument, but was finding it impossible, until that moment, when his eyes flashed blue and his balled glowed momentarily. As soon as it came it disappeared.

Halle's eyes widened. She had seen.

"I think you have a power to." Alex pulled up his sleeve to reveal a bruise on his arm. "It still hurts. You so have super strength."

Halle raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Alex was right before, why couldn't he be right now as well.

"This is so cool," Alex began to rant, pacing in a little circle. "We have superpowers! Superpowers! How many teenagers can say that—"

"Why didn't they tell us?" The somber voice of Halle cut him off. He looked at her, his words now lost. "Our parents were superheroes and they didn't tell us. What else are they hiding?"

Alex paused a moment in thought before answering his sister. "We'll just have to ask them."

"What?" Halle spit out in reply.

Alex shrugged. "Unless we're going to keep this," Alex held out his hands as to indicate to his powers. "A secret from them, they are going to have to tell us the truth."

…

Alex and Halle walked out of there school the next day, planning there attack plan for confronting their parents about their pasts. Most everyone in the school thought it was stranger to these those two, heads together, whispering over lunch at a table all by themselves. Everyone knew they didn't get along.

"…It's foolproof," Alex finished of his long and detailed idea.

"But we don't need to blackmail them," replied Halle with a raised, questioning eyebrow. "Why don't we just ask them?"

Alex shook his head at her in disappointment. "You have no imagination."

Halle elbowed her brother in the side. "Look," she whispered, nodding her head to a gray-skinned, black-haired boy that was leaning against the stone wall that made the boundary to the school. He was very out of place among the students filing out of the fence in their crisp uniforms or hoping in their sports cars and rolls for their rides home. This kid was wearing an oversized, zip-up hoodie and beat up blue jeans. So beat up there weren't even in style beat up.

The boy looked their way, having sensed their gaze. Halle blushed and looked immediately away, embarrassed to be caught staring. The mysterious boy pushed off the wall and came towards them

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Alex replied with disinterest.

"Hi," replied Halle, her voice higher then she intended. She looked up at the boy and was surprised to find he had purple eyes.

"I'm Kaden," the boy said, "Me and my rents just moved to Gotham. I went out for a walk and went way farther then I intended. I have no clue where I am."

"Where you live?" asked Alex, hoping to point this stranger in the right direction and get on with trying to convince his sister to blackmail their parents.

"In the Narrows …."

"Jeez, that is far!" Alex exclaimed. "That's all the way downtown."

Kaden gave a shrug, looking unaffected or unknowing of his predicament.

"We can give you a ride," Halle blurted out.

"What?" said the two teenage boys at the same time. Alex sounded perturbed. Kaden sounded surprised.

"You're just going to invite some stranger into our car," Alex hissed at her under his breath.

"It's my car," Halle grumbled back, "Mr. Failed-the-test-twice."

"O-kay," Alex whined, before turning back to Kaden who was watching the exchange with a bit of amusement. "We'll give you a rid home."

"Thanks," said Kaden. "Lead the way."

Kaden followed the twins to parking lot adjacent to the private school. They climbed silently into a silver Volvo and then Halle pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'm Alex, by the way. That's Halle, my sister."

"Big sister," she corrected.

Alex grimaced. "By two minutes."

"Still counts," she retorted back.

"Sorry, man," said Kaden from the backseat. "She's right."

Silence filled the car.

"Halle and Alex," Kaden mused out loud. "Are you, by chance, those Grayson kids?"

"Yes," answered Halle nervously. Her yes flitted to the side for a moment to meet Alex's. They had been taught to be wary of strangers who associated with being billionaire children, but this friendly Goth-like kid didn't seem to be a potential kidnapper.

"I knew I recognized you from somewhere," said Kaden. "You or your parents are like on every newspaper in Gotham."

"We know," Halle and Alex said in an annoyed unison.

"I get from the tone you don't like it too much, then?"

"Being in the public light all the time just because you're rich isn't that much fun," answered Halle. "Well, the rich part is fun, but…y'know."

Kaden chuckled. "Right…well actually I don't. Nowhere near rich here…"

The conversation waned off. No one else knew what to say. Alex turned on the radio after five minutes of the permeating silence.

Twenty minutes later Kdaen spoke. "I know where I am now. I can walk the rest of the way…"

"You sure?" asked Halle.

"You've done enough. I'm sure you've got to get home. Just pull over here."

"Alright," said Halle, obliging.

Kaden hopped out a moment later. "Thanks for the ride," he said. "See you around."

"Only if you get lost on a walk again," Halle replied before rolling up her window.

"Stop flirting," Alex muttered to his sister as they pulled out onto the road.

"I wasn't flirting," Halle protested.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Why don't we get back to talking about what to do about our parents, Mr. and Mrs. Superhero."

Kaden let the fake smile drop off his face the moment the silver car was out of sight. He rubbed the sides of his mouth, smiled hurt. He can't believe they fell for that ruse. He can't believe that actually thought he lived in the Narrows. He wasn't that poor. Not that poor at all. In fact he hadn't wanted to end up the Narrows so much he stopped them far from it to get out of their car.

Glancing up and down the street to make sure no one was watching him, Kaden slipped into an empty alleyway. Not out of sight from the main road, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" He opened his eyes, they were glowing white, black energy slowly surrounded him and he was gone, like a wisp of smoke. A few moments later the black energy appeared in the living room of his apartment, he reappeared, stumbled for his balance, arms waving at his sides like wings, and failed. He ended up catching himself on his elbows as he fell face first towards the floor.

Someone was laughing in the background. Kaden swiftly rolled onto his back to see his father laughing up a storm on the couch. Kaden glared.

"Still having trouble sticking that landing, I see," Gar commented.

"It's harder than it looks."

"You're mom was able to do it when she was fifteen."

Kaden grumbled incoherently.

"Now, I'm supposed to make sure you do your homework, but that's boring. So instead I'm challenging you to a game of Mega Monkeys 801."

Kaden continued to glare, but his gaze softened as he said in deadpan. "Alright, but I hope you know that you're the reason I'm failing algebra."

"You truly are my son," said Gar with a mock look of pride on his face. On second thought, maybe it was genuine pride.

"Let's get—," Gar stood up from the couch, but tripped over his own too feet and handed face first on the carpeted floor.

Kaden was cracking up so hard he was barely able to get out the words, "Still hav—having trouble—sticking that landing, I—I see."

"It's not funny, stop laughing."

Kaden didn't stop laughing until the light bulb on the desk lamp exploded.

…

Diner at the Grayson's that night was a particularly silent affair. Kori often tried to start conversations, but they died within a few sentences. The twins were answered her inquires about school with 'fine's. She didn't notice the covert glances they were throwing each other across the table. Dick had told her work had been too boring to relive. So they sat in silence, the meal being finished more swiftly without talking to steal time from their mouth for eating.

"Mom, Dad," said Halle addressing her parents after everyone had set down their forks, stomachs full. "We need to have a family meeting."

"A family—what?" asked Dick.

"Family meeting," Halle repeated. "An open forum where we can discuss problems in judgmental free environment."

"Okay," agreed Kori, jumping onto the idea all too easily. "Dick," she said, turning to her husband. "You snore."

Alex snickered. Halle facepalmed.

"Actually," Alex interrupted loudly, walking to the other side of the table to stand next to Halle, "Halle and I have something of importance we want to discuss with you."

"We're not raising your allowance," Dick said automatically.

"It's not about our allowances," Alex quickly protested.

"Alright, alright. But it's got to be something important if it's got you two working together."

"We were wondering," Began Alex.

"When you two," said Halle.

"Were going to tell us."

"That you were superheroes."

The shocked silent in the room was so thick it could have been sliced with a sharp blade. There mother's mouth was slightly agape, her eyes were wide and kept darting between her two children and her husband. Although surprise was evident on Dick's face, he regained himself quicker.

"What?" came his elegant reply.

"We found the secret passage that lead to the secret room behind the china cabinet upstairs, Dad," Halle quickly explained. "Or is that Robin."

"And does that mean Uncle Bruce was Batman?" added Alex.

Kori gave a little squeak that caught everyone's attention. She covered her mouth with her hands and blushed.

"Yes, he was," Dick said.

Alex pumped a fist in the air. "I knew it. So cool."

"Not the point," Halle muttered under her breath to her brother. "Were you ever going to tell us?"

"Honestly," said Dick, his wife and him sharing a glance. "Not if we could avoid it."

"But why?" asked Halle in a desperately breaking voice. "Don't you trust us."

"Of course we do," said Kori. "We were….worried."

"About what?"

"A superhero has a lot of enemies," Dick explained. "We didn't want to drag you two into the line of fire. Yes, Robin and Starfire were the people we used to be. Used to. Once we decided to have a family, we put those lives behind us."

"But…but…" stuttered Halle in agitation. "We would have found out eventually. "What about our powers?"
"Powers?" Kori squeaked. "What powers?"

"Yeah, what powers?" Dick repeated.

Halle rolled her eyes. "I have super strength and Alex glows blue."

"That's not it!" Alex protested.

"But you didn't how any signs when you were younger," said Dick in a shocked tone.

"They're new."

"But how—," started Dick, but was interrupted by his wife, who was waving her arms manically as she said.

"The transformation!"

"What?"

"It happened to me when I was at the age-of-coming. I mean coming of age. Remember went I got all weird looking and then I ran off and I ended up with all those new powers…"

"Oh, right."

"What is she talking about?" Halle directed at her father.

"On Tameran, when you get to a certain age," Kori tried to explain but was swiftly cut off.

"What's Tameran?" asked Alex.

"That planet I'm from," answered Kori.

"You mean you're not from Earth. Like we're half-alien," said Halle, although both her and Alex were in a daze. Although Alex seemed to think the idea was too cool for words rather then looking distraught like Halle.

"You didn't know that yet?" asked a nervous Kori.

"You—you mean that my great hair," said Halle as she ran fingers through her red locks, "And my naturally exotic complexion aren't even human?!"

"Way to look at the big picture, Halle," commented Alex.

"Oh, all you care about is Batman," Halle snapped at him.
"Enough!"

Alex and Halle ceased their squabbling to look at their father, who was now standing and looked entirely in too much in charge for there comfort.

"Not telling you about mine and your mother's past may have been wrong, but that doesn't matter now. What you have to do is learn who to control your powers, because they are gifts, but they can be dangerous. There are people out there who will use those powers against you and the people you love. That's why I—," he glanced at Kori and she gave him an encouraging smile. "That's why we stopped. Because we were not willing to put you two in danger. We'll help you learn to control your powers, but you've got to promise me two things. That you will never use them for ill and that you will keep this a secret."

Their father looked more intense then they had ever seen him. He had always seemed bored with his job at Wayne Enterprises. But now, he was passionate, he understood, he knew…things that Halle and Alex had yet to experience in their rich, sheltered lives.

"We will, Dad," Halle promised.

"Yeah, we will," added Alex.