Here are a few reviews answered by Ghost:
Shadow Joestar: You'll have to wait and see, it'll be good though.
R . B Uzumaki: Family is important in this story.
Meander: Thanks very much. Three smiley faces back to you.
Co-Writter: GhostKaiser23
Disclaimer: We do not own Batman
Author's Notes:
Yo guys, hope this chapter is up to snuff.
Batman: A Different Path
Chapter 8: Batgirl Rises
Bruce frowned as he stood in front of the so called 'Batgirl'. The files didn't give her name but it wasn't that hard for him to work it out. He WAS the world's greatest detective. Her height, eye colour, skin colour, hair colour, body type, cup size, body language and her hair style/length "You should stop this Miss Gordon." Bruce growled lightly
"I-I'm not this "Miss Gordon". I'm Batgirl." Barbara denied the truth to protect herself.
"Don't deny it. Height, eyes, ethnicity, body size, hair. I COULD go on. You've got to many notable features." Batman answered "I will admit it takes a keen eye and great detective skills but the point stands."
"I...I just wanted to help. Gotham...It's dying from the inside out. And YOU stand against the tide; keeping it together." Barbara explained
Bruce frowned at that, sighing "You are untrained. A danger to you and others."
"I'm not COMPLETELY untrained. I've had some training in martial arts." Batgirl answered
"You are not a black belt; you have no parkour training and no other real training besides your martial arts." He countered
"I-...What if...What if you trained me?" Barbara asked "Teach me to be a better Bat?"
"And what about your father?" He frowned
"I'll just tell him I'm taking after school classes. Extra curriculum." Barbara rebutted
"No. What if you die?" Bruce frowned making her eyes widen. She had never even thought of that
"I...I haven't thought about that..." Barbara's colour drained from her face 'I… oh… crap.'
"Exactly. Hang up your cape." Bruce nodded, leaving in the blink of an eye
'Hang...Hang up my cape?' Barbara thought, her hands coming to her chest over her heart as she thought of her father
*Back at the Batcave*
"W... what is this?" Dick muttered, looking around as his mind tried to process this. His adopted father... was Batman! "When...How...? This is crazy. I-I must be dreaming." Dick thought to himself, blaming that it was midnight but then he heard someone coming down the stairs "Oh no. Hide!" He whispered to himself and dove undercover. Well... tried. He just hid under the BatComputer's desk
"Who's down here?" Alfred called with a frown. Dick covered his mouth as he didn't want to answer; he remained hidden with the Bat-Computer Chair in front of him "Master Richard?" He asked as he noticed the child
"...Meow..." Dick answered, pretending to be a cat and hoping he wasn't caught
"Get out here Master Richard." Alfred sighed, looking right at him
"Sorry..." Dick frowned as he crawled out of the Bat-Computer's desk "I… I'm sorry."
"... this was only a matter of time." Alfred sighed
"A-A matter of time? I came down here by accident." Dick answered
"Exactly. Living here you most likely would eventually find the cave." Alfred nodded
"So...So YOU know...About Dad being...Batman..." Dick gulped
"I help him." Alfred nodded with a smile "And you are calling him Dad."
"Well...yeah. He IS my dad." Dick answered honestly Alfred nodded with a smile as a large black car entered the cave and parked "The Batmobile..." Dick gasped in awe
Out of the super high tech car came Batman removing his cowl with a sigh. "What was that girl thinking?" Bruce spoke… before he blinked and saw Dick standing there "...Oh boy..." Bruce whispered in shock and disappointment , but he was also slightly impressed
"Y-You're Bat...You're Batman..." Dick gasped
"Yes. Yes I am." He nodded
"That...That's...REALLY cool!" Dick spoke in awe. Bruce's eyes widened a bit at that "I...I'm sorry I came down, but...I couldn't sleep and I saw the clock upstairs was broken so I tried to fix it and...I came down here." Dick apologised
"It's okay Dick." Bruce nodded, putting his hands on Dick's shoulders with support
"Y-You're not mad?" Dick asked in worry
"Of course not." He smiled "But you should go to bed." he added
"O... okay." Dick nodded, looking down in apology
"Come along Master Richard." Alfred spoke kindly
"Okay...Night Dad." Dick smiled
"... night Son." Bruce whispered, shocked that he had a son who... well... called him dad
Alfred looked back at his adopted son and smiled, then leading Dick back upstairs to go to sleep.
'...What a night...' Bruce sighed. He sat in his chair, rubbing his forehead 'First
Barbara and now Dick...This is going to be one long ride.' Bruce thought to himself
*with Barbara*
Barbara had slunk back into her bedroom home and was removing her Batgirl clothes, still thinking on what Batman said to her. 'What... if I die?' she thought 'I...I didn't comprehend that...' She shuddered in worry. She fell on her bed, hugging herself "What do I do...?" She whispered as she covered herself with her blankets. If she died... her dad would be broken. She was all he had left 'D-Damn it all!' She cried
*Time Skip*
Bruce came down for breakfast the next day seeing Dick waiting happily "Wow, someone's up early." Bruce chuckled
"Hi BatDad!" Dick grinned
"Oh...Okay." Bruce chuckled "I see why you're happy this morning."
Ivy yawned as she followed Bruce, stretching gently "Good morning Bruce. Good morning Dick." She spoke sleepily
"Morning Mum." Dick smiled, surprising Bruce AND Ivy. Since they didn't expect to call her "mum" so early. Well he had called her that a few times, they were still getting used to it
"Sleep well you two?" She asked
"You should ask him." Bruce smiled at Dick
"Yes I did." Dick nodded "Though I WAS late up last night."
"He couldn't sleep." Bruce added "And he found the cave."
"Oh...So he knows?" Pamela asked
"YOU knew?" Dick inquired in shock
"Of course I do." She smiled with a gentle smile
"You...You both are...Amazing." Dick answered honestly but in a degree of shock but then he got serious "I want to help." Dick said seriously "Train me."
"Absolutely not!" Bruce answered
"What? Why?" Dick asked
"Because I'm not risking my son in what I do." Bruce answered
"You do it! You trained since you where my age!" Dick yelled
"That was me. I don't want this life for you. I've already told one person to abandon this line of work." Bruce answered
"Dad! Please!" Dick cried in anger "I want to help!"
"You've already told someone else they can't be a Bat?" Pamela asked
"That Batgirl." Bruce nodded
"Batgirl? You...You met her?" Pamela asked
"Yes. She was 16 and untrained. She won't be risking ber life pointlessly anymore." Bruce nodded with a frown
"Then why can't you train me?!" Dick snapped
Bruce sighed heavily; he knew that this was a fruitless endeavour "... fine." He nodded
"Y-you mean it?" Dick asked
"Yes. BUT; you do WHAT I say, WHEN I say it." Bruce answered seriously. "And you will not go on ANY missions unless I say you are ready!"
"Yes-Yes dad." Dick nodded in understanding
Pamela smiled at the sight 'My boys.' She thought
"Ah, Master Bruce. Miss Pamela and Master Richard. I assume that you're ready for breakfast?" Alfred walked in from dusting
"Yes." Pamela smiled gently and nodded
"Please Alfred." Bruce nodded
*With Barbara*
Barbara sat in just her purple dressing gown, sitting on the coach watching the TV 'Damn it all...Why? Why can't I just help?' She thought to herself as she lay there she watched the TV, the news
"In other news: Home grown Billionaire Bruce Wayne has adopted a son with his most recent girlfriend Dr Pamela Isley, the former playboy had this to say when interviewed." Vicki Vale spoke "Mr Wayne, what's it like being a father now?" Vicki's voice repeated
"Fantastic." Bruce responded and the clip was ended
"A man of few words, but powerful ones." the male newscaster ended "In other news a family was found dead this morning." he continued sadly
"What?" Barbara gasped in shock. No. No! She should have been there!
"A family of three was found burned alive from an arson attack last night. Police are perplexed as the manner of this attack was both unprovoked and highly suspicious." Vicki answered
"No... nononono..." she muttered
"Here's Commissioner James Gordon with a report." The male reporter nodded
"This is indeed a sad day, but Gotham PD is searching for this killer." Gordon said seriously
"And what do you have to say to the public?" a reporter asked
"Gotham PD is working around the clock for this killer. And I'm CERTAIN we'll catch this creature." Gordon answered
"That... is my fault." Barbara muttered, wide eyed and crying "It… it's all my fault!"
"Some people believe that this is because of the Batgirl. What are your opinions?" a male reporter asked
"This Batgirl has shown no motive for the act and was no where near the scene. While we have not removed her from the list of suspects she is highly unlikely to be the one behind it, those are just rumours." Gordon frowned
"Dad..." She sniffed. Her fist clenched as she shook in anger. She could have stopped that!
She had to do something, she was a hero and she didn't do ANYTHING to stop this. Batman may have been right about putting her life on the line, but that's what heroes do! Risk their lives for the safety of others.
It was her job!
"I'm going to be a hero Batman...With or without your blessing. I've got a job to do." She spoke with a rekindled fire of determination and drive.
*later that day, with Bruce and Dick*
"Okay: kick." Bruce ordered as he held a pair of kickboxing pads on his arms. Dick did so hitting them as best as he could, and being the son of acrobats he had a good start. Heck him taking part in those same acrobatic acts made him a lot better equipped than most that start "Punch." Bruce continued, Dick following suit with the attacks, and chained it with a kick.. He was picking up speed, striking the pads as fast and hard as he could "Stop." Bruce spoke making Dick stop to catch his breath "Good job."
"Thanks Dad." He smiled and nodded
"A few more months...and you might be ready." Bruce answered
"Might?" Dick frowned
"It takes more than just punching and kicking in this. You have to be smart and stick to the shadows. Able to adapt and use gadgets." Bruce answered "THOSE take time to learn." Dick nodded at that, confident and determined
"Ah, finished for lunch I see; excellent. Oh Master Bruce, Miss Pamela has left for work; she said that she needs to maintain her experiments." Alfred spoke
"Very well Alfred." Bruce nodded
*With Pamela*
As she donned her science jacket, Pamela began to work on her flowers. They had grown better than she had hoped along with the intended effects "Beautiful." she smiled, cupping her hands around one and taking in its scent "Intoxicating...You're going to help a lot of people." Pamela smiled to her plants
"Thank you mummy." the flower responded
Pamela smiled but noted she didn't feel the warmth that she did when Dick called her than 'Hmm...It...It's not the same...' She sighed, true she loved her flora but when they said it...it felt hollow. Like a word that didn't translate properly "Hmm..." She frowned and continued with her work, still taking great care with her flora
Maybe she just liked being a mother?
Maybe her being a mother to a living human was more fulfilling than being a mother to plant life?
She honestly didn't know
"Professor Isley? Are you alright?" A scientist asked kindly
"I am fine." she nodded
"Are you sure? You seem to be spacing out." the scientist answered
"I'm. Fine." She frowned
*That night*
Barbara was currently putting on her costume once again. All that was left was her cowl. She looked down at it guilty. Should she do this? She could end up killing her dad through heartbreak if she died. But could she live with herself if another family was burned alive? Could she live with that guilt of not acting? No. She's going to see this to the very end!
She put her cape on, tightening up, and slid her cowl up.
Batgirl was on the prowl
She flew through the Gotham smog filled night and she was going to prove that Batman would need her help.
The Batgirl rises.