Chapter 5

Piper sat in her room looking out the window. The hot summer months had melted away and now Gotham was engulfed in the colors of autumn. Her room had changed drastically in the past few months. The walls had been repainted from cream to a light blue, which was Piper's favorite color. Most of the clothes in her closet were hand-me-downs from Dick. She wasn't into the new fashion among most girls her age. Her eleventh birthday was coming up soon, and she was dropping hints on what she wanted as a present. While most girls would ask for clothes or dolls, Piper was hinting toward a new set of throwing knives.

She walked out of her room and walked down the stairs and into the den. The den was a medium sized room tucked away behind the living room. Black leather couches sat in the middle of the room with a giant flat screen TV plastered to the opposite wall. She dropped down on one of the couches and turned the TV on. A few minutes later, Dick walked into the room.

"I heard the TV on," he said as he sat down next to her. "Anything good?"

"There's a murder mystery show, the news, Spongebob Squarepants, and some public service announcement thing about safety. Those are just the things that might interest you."

"Go to the murder mystery."

Piper flipped the channel. In the show, a young woman walked into her apartment. Lying on the floor was a dead man, surrounded by blood with multiple holes in his chest and head.

"Shot to death poor devil," Dick said.

"This is just a show."

"Once you start field work, you'll see it's not just fiction."

The woman in the show screamed then it cut to the opening credits and went to commercial. When the show came back, the detectives were standing at the crime scene. They took pictures of the body and bagged all evidence they could find. They introduced a few more suspects.

"The brother did it," said Dick.

Piper looked at him. "How do you know?"

"The dead guy was seeing his brother's girlfriend. He said he was over it, but his tone told me that he wasn't. He still held a grudge. And grudges like that can be dangerous or even deadly."

They fell silent again and finished the show. Just as Dick had predicted, the brother did it.

"I thought the butler always did it," Piper said.

"Butlers always do what Miss Piper?" Alfred's voice came from behind them, making them jump.

"Uh, nothing Alfred," Piper said with a smile. She turned off the TV and turned around. "Is Bruce home yet?"

"He's on his way." Alfred exited the room.

"Awesome." She and Dick stood up and followed Alfred to the study. They opened the elevator door and took the ride down to the Batcave. Dick raced out and flipped off the side of the ramp. Piper jumped off, took out her grappling gun, and shot it at the ceiling. It hooked onto the top and she dropped down to the Batmobile's parking platform.

"You are just making me feel bad," Alfred said with a chuckle as he walked down to them.

"Sorry," Dick said. "I just feel so free in here."

"Which is ironic," said Piper, "seeing as this is an underground cave."

They heard the sound of the door to the Batcave open. Dick and Piper jumped out of the way as the Batmobile screeched to a stop. Batman jumped out.

"Bruce!" Piper called as she ran to him. He picked her up and hugged her.

"How was your day Piper?" he asked.

"It was good. Dick and I just watched this murder mystery show and Dick figured out who did it ten minutes into the episode. It was so cool!"

Bruce rubbed Dick's head. "Good job kiddo."

Dick giggled. "Thanks."

Piper saw something move inside the car and looked at it. A small head with black hair popped up over the windshield.

"Bruce…there's someone in your car," Piper said.

"What?" Dick looked at the car and saw the little boy. "Bruce, who-"

"No cause for alarm," Bruce said. "Dick Grayson, Piper Baker, this is Jason Todd. He's going to be your little brother."

"Wait…really?" Piper asked.

"Really," Bruce said with a smile. He turned to Alfred. "Alfred, could you prepare the spare room next to Piper's room for Jason?"

"Sweet!" Piper said. "He's next to me!"

"Of course Master Bruce." Alfred walked to the elevator and went up.

The four stood in silence for a moment. Piper looked at her new brother and smiled.

"So how did Bruce find you Jason?"

Jason looked shamefully toward the ground. "Hijacking his car."

Piper threw her head back and laughed. Jason looked even more ashamed. She put her hand on his shoulder. "You want to know how Bruce found me?"

Jason nodded.

A big grin spread over her face. "He caught me stealing some rich guy's wallet."

"Now, Piper," Dick said. "Don't give Jason any ideas."

"Well, we have something in common." She put her arm around his shoulder and gave Dick and Bruce a thumbs up. "We're both ex-criminals."

Jason gave a little chuckle. He put his arm around her and gave another thumbs up. He looked up at Piper. "Your name's Piper right?"

"Yeah."

"Can I call you Pip?"

Piper smiled at her new nickname. "Of course you can. Can I call you Jay?"

"Only when you want to," Jason said smiling.

"Come on you two," Dick said. "Let's give Batman the chance to change. We'll see you upstairs Bruce."

Before they walked up to the elevator, Jason threw his arms around Bruce. He looked up at him with a smile. "This is the best day of my life."

Welcome to the story Jason! :) Glad you could make it! Please review!