So, obviously, I'm going in a different direction than in my previous writings. For those that didn't read the previous writings, I had my character Rachel switch from being a thief under the tutelage of Catwoman to wanting to fight for justice alongside Batman, Robin, and the Team. I'm not going with that storyline anymore.

I don't own Young Justice or any of its characters or DC Comics and their characters. I only own my character, Rachel. Any resemblance my character makes to anyone, real or not, is purely coincidental.

11 years earlier…

"I never thought I'd be back here again." A 23-year-old Selina Kyle stood in front of Sprang Hall Juvenile Detention Center, where she had lived in misery for a period of time after the deaths of her parents. "Just as ugly as I remember it…"

With her astonishing acrobatic and athletic prowess, Selina quickly scaled the side of the building up to the roof, taking advantage of the skylight to look inside. "Just like I remember," she repeated as she spied on the dark and dingy interior. She dropped into one of the dimly-lit hallways through an open skylight. Creeping along the walls, avoiding the patrolling "caretakers," as they live to call themselves, she made her way to the main office of the building. A simple picking of the lock, and she was inside.

The office was a bland little room, like the rest of the building, with a desk in the corner with two seats in front of it, a bookshelf to give the appearance of being well-read, and a filing cabinet in the far corner. Selina made her way over to the filing cabinet and found it unlocked. She opened the drawers and started rifling through some of the folder until she came to one marked "Kyle, Selina." She grabbed the file, shut the cabinet and turned to walk out, only to be greeted with the sight of a young girl standing in the doorway. Had she been following Selina the whole time?

"Beat it, kid," she whispered harshly. When the girl showed no sign of moving, Selina started towards the door with the intent to merely shove the girl out of the way.

"One more step and I scream. I may get in trouble for being out of bed, but you'll get arrested, unless you tell me who you are and why you're here," the girl said quickly and quietly. Selina froze.

"Fine," she sighed. "Ever wonder why the windows here have bars on them?" The girl shrugged. "That's because of me. My name is Selina. I used to live here. I escaped. They barred the windows. I needed my file. Never got around to getting it until now. Now scram."

The girl silently nodded. She thought for a moment. "Can I leave with you?"

Selina furrowed her brows. "How old are you, kid?"

"I'm 8. And my name's Rachel."

"That's nice. And no way. You'd only slow me down and get us caught."

"I managed to follow you down here without getting caught."

"And where would you go once we…well…IF we got out of here?"

Rachel shrugged. "I could stay with you."

Selina sighed. "Look, kid…Rach…I can't take care of you. I'm sorry, sweetheart." She knelt to look Rachel in the eye. "I promise, though, that I will come back for you, and I will get you out of here."

"Do you really promise?"

"I swear."

Rachel paused for a moment to consider her words. "Okay."

Selina gave her a bittersweet smile. "Okay, now head on back to your room. Stay strong."

As the young girl quietly climbed the stairs back to her room, Selina looked for a way out. At the top of the steps, the girl paused, sensing Selina's hesitation and turned back to face her. "The back door is usually unguarded. Not that they ever let us near it in the first place. They needed it to be up to fire codes, but it's got at least 3 locks on it, so good luck."

"Thanks, kid," was the whispered response from the shadows as Selina made her way to the back door and out into the night.

First off, if the math is right, this chapter places Rachel at the age of 19 in the very short first chapter. For a while, I'm going to stick to her at a younger age, but making her 19 in the first chapter gives me as the author time to develop her and Robin's feelings (though not always romantic or even positive feelings) towards each other over the span of several years.

Second off, I have a bit of a rant. I've been getting a lot of comments asking if I could "please not go with this overused story idea." Someone said "If you're gonna make your character Robin's love interest, don't make her related to Catwoman, or if you're gonna make her related to Catwoman, don't make her Robin's love interest" and other comments along those lines. I won't use names, though. To all of those comments, I say, "Please back off."

This is a classic case of "Don't like, don't read." No one is FORCING you to read this story. And besides, I've already pretty much gutted the plot to rewrite the whole thing for the sake of better characterization, better character development, better writing in general. Let me keep SOME aspects of my original story.

Please don't misunderstand. Usually, I love receiving reviews, and I will absolutely take any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism you guys have. But when you're just straight up telling me not to write what I want to write, that's when it stops being constructive.

As I've said, if you REALLY have a problem with the direction in which I want to take the story, then don't read it. I will gladly sacrifice views on this story if it means you guys are reading things that you'll actually like. Or by all means, write your own story. Go at your own pace, and don't worry if you think you're not good at writing. You'll only get better with time. The best example of that would probably be the fact that 5 years after I started this story, I'm finally getting around to rewriting it for real. You will get better, but only if you practice.

TL;DR: I'm sorry if this story isn't what you wanted, but I'm not sorry for what I write. I know where I want to go with this story, and in the wise words of a 16-month-old clone of Superman, "Get on board, or get out of the way."