A/N: This my first attempt at a fighting scene. I apologize if it lacks in any department. I had to completely rewrite it, what, twice? I don't remember. Anyways, on with the show.

Chapter Three

Batgirl swung her father out of the area. He was capable of leaving the area of his own accord, but Barbara knew her father. He would never willingly save his own skin when there were people still in danger. And sure enough, the second she set him down on the ground he turned and started back towards the fighting.

"Sir," She said grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "Sir you can't go back in there."

"No. There are still people in there. My men and their families! I won't let them be alone," he yelled.

"James," Batgirl hid the odd feeling of using her father's first name. "Sir, listen to me. You need to stay here and lead these men. They need someone to lead them. Look at them, they don't know what to do, their chain of command is broken."

Her words were convincing him, but his thoughts remained on the families and small children under the tent yet.

"Sir, I will bring them out. All of them. I promise," Batgirl said with a steely look in her eyes.

Commissioner Gordon was a little taken aback with the look in her eyes. The way those blue-green eyes hardened at the thought of those families in there still in danger reminded him of his daughter. She got the same look when she watched the news about these types of things. As she dashed away, her red hair glinted in the sun.

Barbara? He thought. Then he shook his head. That was crazy. He turned and walked towards the officers standing there waiting for someone to give them orders.

Barbara snuck back into the rental tent. Whoever they were going up against did his homework. He was good. He was very good. He seemed to know the weaknesses of each of the people he was dealing with. He knew the commissioner wouldn't leave where there were people still trapped inside. He also knew that the whole Bat-clan would be hesitant to come out during the day, but would refuse to allow any foreign heroes to enter their city.

She hated Catch-22 situations.

Discreetly she landed behind Nightwing. Her partner didn't flinch at her landing but held a finger behind his back up.

"Wing-nut is there a plan yet?" She watched as Robin was holding his own against this strange newcomer.

His lack of answer gave her his answer. Great.

"You two keep him distracted. I'm going to get the officers' families out of here," she murmured.

He barely nodded his head and she took off towards the hostages. There were some cries as she approached but she soothingly cooed to them. The small children stopped their loud crying, but continued to sob into their mother and father's necks. She held up two fingers and pointed to the left. The officers understood and gathered their family together. Batgirl led them to the edge of the tent and lifted a flap, quickly ducking her head out to make sure the path was clear. She came back in and waved them on.

She kept her eyes on the fight between the new villain and her partners. Internally she winced whenever a punch landed on its mark on Tim. He was just a boy still. Almost all of the hostages were out, and Batgirl was experiencing impatience at the slow pace they were taking. She was needed to protect her brother.

A blonde haired girl stopped and stood in front of Batgirl. For a moment they looked at each other before the blonde whispered thanks and ran out to join the others.

Batgirl wasted no energy or time waiting before running to the aid of her companions. She jumped, did a backflip off of one of the tables and landed next to her partners.

"Was there anything that I missed?" She asked.

Tim winced, pulling himself back up to a standing position.

"The bastard got in a few good shots," he groaned.

"Language, young one," announced the baddie. "There are young ears present."

Nightwing and Batgirl looked at each other. They had evacuated the entire tent, hadn't they? Who would be in here that would be so young? They looked around before turning behind them.

There stood Ellie and her younger brother. What were they doing here? Didn't they understand that they were able to handle these types of situations? Who let them out of the cave? What- What was Ellie wearing?

And indeed it was a sight to see. She had a dark blue body suit with a bright red utility belt slung across her waist. Her boots matched the midnight blue of her suit, blending almost seamlessly into the legs. Fists in bright red gloves matching her belt rested on her hips. She wore no cape, long ago her father had advised against it. Her face was covered by a simple domino mask. She couldn't risk wearing the real one, not in this time.

"So, you did make it back. I was wondering if you were going to come, or if I was going to have a walk in the park." The baddie said, completely ignoring the bat-clan and speaking directly to the stranger.

Jamie ran away and hid behind a table.

"Why would you bring the brat? It's not like he can help you at all," the villain sneered. Or his voice gave the impression of sneering; no one could actually see his face.

Jamie whimpered behind the table.

"Hush brother," Ellie said.

Nightwing looked at Batgirl and Robin. Silently they communicated.

What are they doing here?

Don't know. What is she wearing?

Looks like a combination of your two suits.

Nightwing and Batgirl looked closer. There were similarities between their suits and hers. The material looked about the same, the utility belt was identical to Batgirl's except in red, and the blue of her suit was only a shade or two darker than the bird on Nightwing's chest. There seemed to be something attached to the girl's chest to cover something up. They would have to talk with her later.

Batgirl saw that the villain was distracted by the arrival of their guest from the future and saw an opportunity to attack. She launched herself at him, delivering a swift kick to the jaw, before dropping down to knock his feet from underneath him.

He flipped out of the way and cackled. The cackle ran shivers up and down Barbara's spine.

"That's the best you got? It's no wonder the Joker cripples you, you are completely inept at this." He cackled again.

Barbara was stunned. The Joker? Cripples?

There were two roars of anger behind her. She looked and saw Nightwing just about ready to blow a gasket, as usual when people insulted her. He would calm down in time. Nothing too surprising. What surprised her was the other outburst came from Ellie. The strange girl was fuming. Her face behind her face was turning absolutely red. Almost as red as Barbara's hair.

"Don't ever say that again," she growled.

Robin looked back to the older (younger?) girl in shock. This girl was pissed. There was something in that sentence that struck a nerve, and quickly Tim thought back to what the villain said.

That's the best you got? No wonder the Joker cripples you. Tim stopped. That was it. Quickly Tim put two and two together. This girl knew their futures to some extent, and Barbara would be crippled by the Joker.

He grit his teeth. Not on his watch.

But before he could do anything, another person was flying towards the criminal. A flash of dark blue and red flew above his head as Ellie launched herself at him. She flipped once, twice, three, four times before bringing down her elbow on the man's shoulder. He was knocked backwards, smirking underneath his mask.

That flip. That jump. Tim's thought's raced through his head. He looked between the girl and his older brother. Her ability to do such a thing meant one of two things, either she was trained by Nightwing sometime in her past, or she was related. He shuddered at the thought of his brother doing- ew.

"Well done. Admitably well done. But you forget. If there is too much interference, the future can come crumbling down around you." He withdrew a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Batgirl's head.

Ellie's eyes widened at what she saw he was planning to do. NO! He couldn't. Then their mission would fail, and everything would be lost. She moved to knock the gun out of his hands, but she was too slow. The trigger was already pulled and a bullet was being blown out of the barrel.

Batgirl could barely react. Her mind was reeling still from what the bad guy said. How could she- Why wouldn't they- How does it happen? She recognized the sound coming from the barrel of the man's gun.

It seemed she turned her head in slow motion. Slowly she blinked at the man. The muzzle flashed and there was a bright white light. Barbara closed her eyes ready for unimaginable pain before nothing. She felt a hard force push down on her chest and her head connected to the ground. Stars popped in front of her eyes. But that was all. There was no excruciating pain, no flowing blood, no injuring whatsoever except the bump on the back of her head. The only thing that could out of place was an added weight on her legs.

She looked down and fought to hold back the bile that was building in the back of her throat.

Nightwing was lying sprawled across her legs, blood coming from a hole in his shoulder.

Oh god. He's dead, Batgirl thought. Oh god, he was protecting me and now he's dead.

Tears threatened to spill over. But she refused to let them fall. Her best friend was sprawled against her lap, blood leaking onto the ground and onto her suit. Hesitantly she reached out for him.

Ellie was angry. Her eyes flashed behind her mask and she glowered over the assassin. How dare he?! She was ready beat this man within an inch of his life. He had no clue what would happen now that he's done this. The entire time stream could collapse.

She took a few steps towards him. She could feel Robin in close pursuit. He had caught up with her and they looked at each other. Something connected between them and both raised a fist.

Jamie screamed. He just seen Nightwing push Batgirl out of the way and in return got shot. This was his nightmare. It replayed over and over. He dropped down under a table and hugged his knees to himself. Large fat tears rolled down his cheeks. He wanted his momma. He wanted his daddy.

Batgirl touched her partners shoulder. She jumped when there was a groan of pain. She ignored all first aid training that she'd ever received. She gripped him tightly and flipped him onto his back. His face was scrunched up tightly from the pain he'd received from the movement.

She was overjoyed. He was still here. He was still breathing.

"Nightwing?" She breathed. She needed to hear his voice to ease her still fluttering heart.

"Can we go home?" He croaked.

She smiled down at him. "Sure, Wing-nut. Sure."

The assassin scowled under his mask. Of course he had to survive. He obviously needed a different strategy. He looked up at the two dark teens standing above him.

"I see nothing more is to be done now. Until next time then, huh, princess?" He said looked at the girl.

Her scowl deepened and she let lose the fist she'd been holding. He caught it easily and pulled her to him. He spun her around and pinned her arm against her back. He leaned in and breathed into her ear.

"I would watch your back. If anything happens, there could be… unforeseen consequences. And an interesting new mask."

With that he knocked her on the back of the head and she collapsed on to the grass. The assassin looked at Robin for a moment, threw down a smoke bomb, and disappeared from the tent.

There you have it. Reviews would be appreciated.

(Wow, these are getting longer every time. Eek.)