Black Bat is on patrol when the call comes in.
"Cave to Black Bat. Do you copy?" It's Jason.
She raises a finger to activate the transmitter in her comm. It's usually off. She doesn't talk much
"Here."
"We have a situation headed towards Gotham. Robin says that the android Amazo has been retrieved and reassembled by Ivo. They are coming here."
"Batgirl?"
"She's unavailable."
She thinks. She remembers. Barbara has Father-Daughter…date night tonight.
She is on her own.
Black Bat smiles beneath her cowl.
Artemis lands on the roof of Gotham Academy with a nearly inaudible thump. She takes a moment to look the grounds over sardonically. The money the Gotham elite shell out for their precious little kiddies. There is a freakin' stained glass window on the front door.
There is noise coming from one of the outlying wings and she moves in. Fortunately there are windows in the layered roof and she is able to look in. It's a gym, probably three times as big as Gotham North's. What she sees inside is nothing like she was expecting.
She's heard about Amazo of course, eavesdropping on her father and his…colleagues. But she'd never seen it in person. And yet here it is, tearing up the gym as it fights…what looks like a bunch of superheroes her own age. That is a miniature, angry Superman, and Robin and Kid Flash!
A Kid Flash who is currently being held off the ground and crushed by arms thicker than his entire body.
She doesn't have to think, she just smashes the window. Draw, breath, release.
She barely has time to process that she just saved the life of Kid Flash before there is a flicker of shadow in her peripheral and Artemis whirls, arrow on the string, cursing internally as her hoodie briefly obscures her vision. When she can see clearly again, her heart jumps to her throat. Standing no more than two arms' length away is Black Bat.
Artemis' first thought is "I'm going to die." Her second is "No one ever said he/she/it was so tiny." Most of the words used to describe the most recent Bat to haunt the streets of Gotham were along the lines of "terrifying," "never saw it coming," and "total annihilation."
Nowhere had "Baby Bat" been included.
Behind her she is vaguely aware of Mini-Superman shouting about channeling his anger and a lot of crashing. She can't look away from Black Bat though and she is not sure if it is terror or wonder that is the reason why. Maybe some of both. The other…person takes a slow step towards her, then another, gliding up so that she is standing right next to Artemis, looking down into the gym. Artemis turns cautiously, making sure to keep Black Bat her primary focus. In her peripheral vision she watches as Amazo's head is blown off around mini-Superman's fist.
This is so surreal.
As the young superheroes beneath gather around the fallen android, Robin (and wow, he's pretty tiny too. No one ever talks about Gotham's feared vigilantes being such shrimps) looks up to where Artemis and Black Bat are hidden in the shadows. He can't see them, it's impossible for them to see him, but he nods at them anyway and turns back to speak with Kid Flash as the doors to the gym open and Aqualad runs in followed by a flying green girl who goes immediately to Mini-Superman.
Black Bat pulls back and Artemis takes a step to the side to put some more distance between them. So far none of the moves Black Bat has made have been threatening, but you never know when that will change. She's aware that her breathing has sped up and grown heavy with anxiety and she struggles to get it under control. Black Bat just watches.
Just when Artemis is certain she is going to have a full-blown freak out right there on the roof of Gotham freakin' Academy, Black Bat takes two steps to the side and motions with one hand, clearly opening a way for Artemis to escape.
She doesn't hesitate to take it.
When Batman and Robin get back to the cave Dick pulls his mask off immediately and turns on Bruce before the Batmobile has even come to a complete halt.
"You don't think it was Roy, do you." It isn't a question.
"The arrow was not consistent with Roy Harper's preferred weapons." Batman exits the vehicle and Dick jumps out after him. Cass is sitting in front of the Bat-Computer, dressed in sweats, her hair still damp from the shower. She smiles at Dick and pulls up four profiles on the screens.
The first is the file for Lawrence Crock aka Sportsmaster, then Paula Ngyen Crock aka Huntress (Inactive), and Jade Ngyen aka Cheshire. Dick is familiar with all three, he, Cass, and Jason are all required to know the files. (Even Damian knows some of the more dangerous ones he is likely to come into contact with.) It's the last file that he doesn't know. Artemis Crock, age fifteen. Bruce pulls off his cowl. "You followed her and made sure she went straight home?"
Cass nods and taps the desk with a finger. "She wants to help. Fix…what father, sister broke."
"Abilities?" Bruce is scrutinizing the bare-bones file closely.
"Inexperienced. Well-trained. Her father…taught. Does not move as much like Huntress."
Bruce nods. "We can't let her run around Gotham unsupervised."
Cass smiles her smug smile and uses the particular cadence that shows up in her speech when she is mimicking something she's heard, usually from Barbara. "Birds of a feather."
Bruce sighs and pulls his cowl back on. "I will speak with Green Arrow and then we will speak with her mother."
Dick frowns at the screen. "Does this mean we're getting another girl on the team? 'Cause Miss M is cool, but Wally acts weird when she's around. It was funny at first but it's getting irritating."
There was a twitch that was the Batman equivalent of a silly grin. "We'll see."
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