A/N: Hey there! I'm Miss Singing in the Rain. Long time no see, heh heh pleasedon'tkillme. I already informed you that this time of year is insanely busy for me but I never expected it to cause such a gap in my writing. I guess Batman Arkham City hasn't exactly helped. But I will (hopefully) have a bit more writing time and if I don't... well I will in March. But I haven't forgotten about you, I swear! I hope this chapter makes you happy. Until next time, please review and enjoy!
Creatures of the Night
News of Gotham's newest vigilante spread like wildfire and everyone was voicing their opinions. Like with the original Bat, some believed her to be doing the right thing; others thought she was crazy. However, there was one thing everyone knew for certain: she had the people's attention. Jenna realized that when Gordon held up a newspaper with the headline:
GOTHAM'S NEWEST VIGILANTE
Batgirl: Friend or Foe?
"Are you insane?" Gordon asked Jenna, handing her the paper.
"Is that a trick question?" Jenna asked, looking over the article.
"You're going to get yourself killed," Gordon told her.
"Jim, after my little gathering, I'm pretty sure I already have a fairly sizable target painted on the back of my head. And besides, considering everything that's going on, the people need the Batman, and since he's not around, I'll have have to take his place until he comes back," Jenna replied, folding up the paper.
"You're sure he's coming back?" Gordon asked.
"Ten million and twenty two percent Jim." Jim shook his head at her.
"I'm not going to be able to stop you, am I?"
"Nope." Gordon sighed and nodded reluctantly.
"Just be careful alright? The last thing I need is to lose you too." Jenna smiled and gave him a salute.
"Sir yes sir!"
John Blake's reaction was, thankfully, a little more positive.
"So, this was what you meant by someone else?" he inquired, amused.
"Pretty much. I hope you can keep this secret too."
"Don't worry, I will." Jenna nodded and the two of them turned back to the maps of Gotham spread over the table. The silence was broken a few minutes later by John asking, "So why Batgirl? Why not Batwoman?"
"Batwoman would imply that I am around the same age as the original Batman and therefore people would likely come to the conclusion that we are, or were, in a relationship," Jenna stated not looking up from the map.
"So you never–"
"No! Oh god no, he was like my father. And I've never really sought out relationships."
"Why not?"
"I've seen people lose themselves in a relationship and turn into something completely different."
"Is that necessarily a bad thing?"
"No. But if I ever fall in love, I don't want to lose myself and turn into someone unrecognizable." Blake nodded.
"Seems reasonable. But, uh, if you didn't lose yourself, do you think you'd ever want to be in a relationship."
"Depends."
"On what?" Jenna smiled.
"On the guy I'd want to be in a relationship with." She collected her things and left the room and left John Blake stunned and smiling slightly.
Batgirl was out one night when she heard screams. She went to investigate and aid whoever was in danger. Trouble was, someone beat her to it. There was a young blonde woman in a red jumpsuit with a gold belt and cape and a gold V running across her chest, with a mask and goggles covering her face, standing before three thugs who had a woman cowering up a against the wall.
"I suggest you boys leave this poor woman alone," the woman said and Batgirl wanted to facepalm. There was no mistaking the voice of Bette Kane. The thugs turned and looked Bette over.
"Look what we got here boys. Looks like this little bird want to join in on our fun," the leader said, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders as he leered at her.
"The name's Flamebird and I'm here to put an end to your fun."
"You and what army?" At this, Batgirl dropped down on top of a goon and knocked him unconscious. Flamebird and the other goons were startled but Flamebird quickly recovered and swept one man's legs out from under him. He went down and was knocked unconscious with a quick kick to the head. Flamebird turned to take care of the final goon, to find him pointing a gun at her. He began to pull the trigger but a batarang hit his hand, causing him to drop the gun, cursing. Batgirl promptly knocked him unconscious with a punch to the face. She then turned to the woman and repeated the mantra she'd told all her other rescued victims. The woman nodded in understanding and hurried off. The two vigilantes watched her go and Flamebird beamed at Batgirl the moment the woman was out of sight.
"Thanks for the help Batgirl!" Batgirl glared.
"Don't let me catch you out here again." She turned to leave but was stopped by Flamebird's indignant reply.
"What? But I'm trying to help!"
"And what if I hadn't been there to help you? What then?" Batgirl snapped.
"I could've handled them!"
"You would've gotten shot."
"No I wouldn't have!" She was silenced by another death glare from Batgirl.
"Miss Kane, I suggest you give up this little masquerade, before I inform your aunt of your little hobby. I'm sure she'd be very interested to know about it." Bette slumped at that but as Batgirl turn to leave, she called out, "Pot calling the kettle black Jenna, and you know it." Batgirl stopped and sighed before she spoke again, her voice softening a bit.
"Bette, I've had training and close to nine years of it. I know you're an athlete but this is simply too dangerous for someone with so little experience and training."
"Jenna, please, I'm just trying to help," Bette pleaded.
"Do you remember what happened to Brian Douglas eight years ago?" Bette faltered and nodded hesitantly. "I knew him. He was a friend of my mom's and I told him he was in over his head a few days before the Joker got him. I don't want to see something like that happen to you." Flamebird looked at her feet for a while, before her face lit up and she beamed, looking back at Batgirl.
"Then teach me." Batgirl froze.
"What?" she asked, wondering if Bette'd had a head trauma earlier that night, since what she'd just suggested was absolutely insane.
"You said I needed training, you can give it to me," Bette pointed out.
"Bette, I appreciate the faith you have in me, but I can't teach."
"Sure you can. Oh, and Huntress can join us."
"Who?"
"Oh. Right." Bette took a radio from her belt and pressed the talk button. "Huntress, come in. Come in Huntress."
"Huntress here. What's going on Flamebird?" came a familiar voice. Batgirl stared at the radio in realization.
"Oh no, Helena, you too?" she groaned.
"Jenna, is that you?" Huntress' voice inquired.
"Huntress, can you meet us on top of the building on the corner of 2nd and Roosevelt? Batgirl has a proposition for us."
"Sure. See you there." Bette put away the radio and started climbing the building's fire escape.
"No, Bette!" Batgirl cried, following her. Once they made it to the top, it only took a few minutes for a young black haired woman in a black and violet jumpsuit, baring her midriff, and a crossbow slung across her back.
"It's good to finally meet you Batgirl," Huntress smiled.
"Both of you stop! I can't let you do this!" Batgirl insisted. The smile on Huntress' face was replaced by a look of confusion.
"Why? Why is it you can take the risk but not us?"
"Because I don't want to see you get hurt!"
"People will get hurt Jenna, that's part of the war," Bette pointed out. Bette faltered upon receiving the Batgirl's cold look that was mingled with one of pain and loss.
"You think I don't know that?" the Batgirl whispered and Bette hung her head. Helena noticed this and tried to help her friends.
"Jenna… we know you've been through a lot… but you don't have to do this on your own. And we're probably less likely to die with you guiding us." Batgirl looked at her friend.
"Do you really think so?" she asked. Helena smiled and touched her friend's shoulder comfortingly.
"I know so." Batgirl sighed.
"Alright. I'll show you two everything I can. But you have to follow my instructions to the letter. Got it?"
"Yes master," Flamebird and Huntress agreed, grinning.
"Ok then. First thing's first. Helena, why is your midriff showing?"
It had been a good plan, Batgirl thought to herself as she ran across rooftops, trying to throw off her followers. The problem was the situation did not go according to plan. After a few days of observing and slowly dying internally as she saw the wealthily people of Gotham dragged out into the streets, Batgirl had decided enough was enough and it was time to show Bane she meant business.
(Two hours earlier)
Batgirl climbed through the vents of the Solomon Wayne Courthouse, thankful that the building was old, which meant the vents were larger than in newer buildings, making it far easier for her to navigate her way through them. The courthouse, a beautiful aged building that once had been one of her favorite places in Gotham, was now the home of a kangaroo court led by none other than Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow AKA the man who aided Ra's al Ghul in poisoning the Narrows, which led to the riot that killed her mother. The Batgirl soon came to the atrium of sorts where the prisoners were held until their trial. merging from the air duct and knocking one of the separated goons unconscious. The Batgirl turned and surveyed the room. There was a good number of guards; not as many as in the courtroom itself, but still a sizable amount. The Batgirl nodded at the two other costumed crusaders, and the trio quickly and quietly darted behind pillars and boxes, taking out goons with their dart guns. Once the three vigilantes had made sure the thugs were down, they regrouped.
"The room's secure," Huntress stated.
"Good. Ok, you both know the plan, wait for the crowd to swarm, and then get the people out of here. As soon as you do, get out of here, keep the goons from finding the escapees, and then vanish," Batgirl instructed.
"You sure you don't need our help?" Flamebird inquired.
"I have it covered. Just focus on your part." Huntress and Flamebird nodded and got to their positions. The Batgirl headed back into the vent system and toward the courtroom, until she found another vent cover. The Batgirl quietly scanned the area and once she was certain there were no goons around, pushed off the cover and slid out into the open. She was currently residing in a balcony area that overlooked the coatroom. Looking down, she saw a man being dragged away and a woman being pulled into a chair that sat in the middle of the room, directly in front of the judge's desk, the crowd screaming and jeering at the petrified woman. Crane slammed his gavel on the desk, silencing the crowd.
"Please, please! I swear, I'm not supposed to be here, I'm no criminal!" the woman screamed. Batgirl frowned. Her voice sounded familiar.
"Is that so?" Crane inquired. "Then you are not" he consulted the papers in front of him "Ms. Christina Collins, daughter of Veronica Vreeland, current wife to Mr. Maximillian Zeus, who has divorced three other husbands, each richer than the next, including having been mistress to Ferris Boyle before he left his wife, married, and divorced you." Had Batgirl been without the mask, she probably would've facepalmed. Of course it would be her.
"Well, yeah, but I've never hurt anyone in my life!" Christy persisted.
"But you've used and abused many and have lived in luxury without ever having to work for your lot in life," Crane replied. "Now what do you choose? Exile or death?" Before Christy could answer, Batgirl had decided enough was enough. She took a few smoke pellets from her utility belt and threw them down into the courtroom. Smoke immediately engulfed the room and the Batgirl dropped down into it, landing on top of and knocking out a goon as she did so. Switching to her detective vision, the Batgirl saw the goons trying to peer through the smoke in an attempt to find her, while many of the spectators coughed and crowded toward the exit. The moment one came close enough, she grabbed his gun, directed it away from herself, before ramming his head into the wall, knocking him unconscious. The others turned toward the sound of their comrade falling and headed straight toward the Batgirl. She simply grabbed another thug by the back of his coat, forcing another goon's gun away from her, before ramming the goon into another. She kicked a mercenary away from her before turning swiftly and and using the momentum to kick another in the head. One grabbed her around her neck, but the Batgirl twisted his arm and used it to flip him onto his back. She then strode over to the glided chair Christy Collins was currently cowering in, pulled the shaking debutant out, and shoved her toward the door.
"Get out of here! Go!" the Batgirl whispered harshly at her. Christy nodded fearfully and ran off, blending into the frantic crowd. The Batgirl turned to make her own exit but was stopped by a tremendous hand that wrapped itself around her neck. The Batgirl was lifted off her feet and her hands went to her neck, trying in vain to pry the hands off her neck, and through the shifting smoke, the Batgirl could barely making out the hulking form and masked of Bane.
Shit.
She kicked her feet, striving to break his grasp, but he truly was massive. The masked man looked her over, before muttering, "You think you can beat me?"
The Batgirl responded by ramming her fist into where his face should've been, but where his mask was instead. The next thing the Batgirl knew, his look turned feral, his grape tightened and he flung her away. The Batgirl flew backward, straight through the window and out into the bushes. The vapid vigilante slowly got to her feet, shaking glass out of her flaming red hair. Once she was back on her feet, she looked up to see several mercenaries getting back up and heading toward the window she'd just been thrown through, Bane among them, waltzing toward the aperture, gripping his vest. The Batgirl, recognizing this as a battle she could not win, took her grappling gun from her belt, fired it at a building and took off. She somersaulted onto the roof of the structure, barely missing the bullets that flew over her head. She looked down to see some of Bane's men firing at her and some started to go after her. Realizing that she wasn't in the clear yet, she ran.
(Present time)
And so here she was now, running over rooftops, trying to throw Bane's men off her trail. She ran and she ran, ducking under clothes lines, jumping over air conditioning and heating units, and leaping across the roofs. She looked back and suddenly realized that she couldn't see her pursuers. Had she thrown them off? That though was instantly shot down by a flicker of movement in the corner of the Batgirl's eye. She turned and saw several heavily armored mercenaries making their way toward her. The Batgirl prepared herself, and the mercenaries attacked. The first one was brash and tried to punch the Batgirl across the face. She simply ducked underneath his arm and elbowed him across the face. The rest of the goons attacked and the Batgirl became nothing more than a punching, kicking, backflipping, sliding black blur. Batgirl spotted a red laser sight trained on her. She looked up to see a sniper taking aim, but before she could take him out, someone beat her to it. The sniper fell from the tower down to the roof the Batgirl stood on, out cold. The Batgirl looked to see her would be savior. It was none other than Selina Kyle, decked out in her black catsuit, mask, and goggles.
"Oh, it's you," Batgirl said spitefully.
"A simple thank you would suffice," the masked burglar teased, jumping down to Batgirl's level.
"I had it under control," the Batgirl snapped.
"If that was under control I'd hate to see out of control." The Batgirl just narrowed her eyes at the thief before she turned her gaze to the sniper. "His name is Floyd Lawton, AKA Deadshot, one of the world's greatest assassins," Selina explained. "He claims he never misses."
"And how would you know about him?"
"I've made a lot of enemies, so I had to be able to recognize possible killers." Batgirl took a deep breath and turned to Selina Kyle.
"What do you want?" she asked coldly.
"I was just trying to help."
"Like you helped the Batman?" Selina faltered, but quickly recovered.
"It was the only way to save my life. And it's not as though he could've stopped this."
"That may be, but he's the only one who can save us now, and he's god knows where because of you!"
"Because of Bane, honey. I didn't make this happen." The next thing Selina Kyle knew, she was up against the wall, Batgirl's forearm blades pressed against her throat.
"Listen, Catwoman," the Batgirl snarled. "You may not be one of Bane's men, but you helped him and that's reason enough for there to be blame on you. Now tell me what happened to him before I get really angry." Batgirl took some pressure off of the infamous jewel thief's throat, just enough for her to speak. Selina just rolled her eyes like it was more annoying than threatening, but started to talk anyway.
"I took him down to the sewers and into Bane's waiting arms. He was incredible and fought longer and harder than I expected he would but Bane…" Selina stopped and Batgirl recognized fear in the thief's eyes. "It was like the guy didn't even feel a thing. He ended up completely breaking the Batman's back and just walked away like it was nothing." The Batgirl paused for a moment before she replied.
"Did you see the Batman's body up close?"
"No."
"Then he's not dead. Where was this?"
"The we got there through the Bowery Subway entrance. I doubt you'll be able to get in there, the explosives collapsed all the tunnels."
"You'll find I'm good at getting into hard to reach places." Batgirl let Selina go and muttered, "Don't expect me to forgive you."
"I'm not asking you to." And with that, Selina Kyle slinked away and vanished into the shadows.
Several of Bane's mercenaries paced around a manhole cover, searching for any sign of an unwanted Bat. Suddenly, a man fell unconscious. After making sure the goons were down, the Batgirl opened the manhole and slowly made her way down. She snuck through the tunnels, using a digital map of the tunnels to find her way through the labyrinth. She eventually made her way to the hub under Wayne Tower, and immediately noticed the camouflaged Tumbler that had fallen through the gaping hole in the concrete ceiling. The Batgirl jumped over the railing of a metal bridge and down to the floor below. She looked around, searching for any indication of the Batman's body. She crept through the room, hoping that there was something that would tell her that he was alive… that her hope wasn't false. And then, a bit of a black mask caught eye. The Batgirl knelt down, and picked up the fragment of what had been the Batman's mask. It seemed as though her heart was falling into a endless pit, and the bottom would only come with the confirmation of the Batman's death. The cocking of a gun snapped Batgirl out of her reverie.
"Get up Batgirl, unless you want your brains splattered across the wall," growled a gruff voice behind her. She complied.
"Wh-what do we do with her?" asked another, more nervous voice.
"Take her to the boss. After tonight's fiasco, he'll want to see to her himself." And so she was handcuffed and led through the endless network of twists and turns, until she came face to face with the Monster himself. Bane towered over everyone in the room, and though he was unarmed, he radiated power that the Batgirl had not felt since the Joker.
"So you're the infamous Bane?" the Batgirl commented. She looked him over. "You're actually shorter in person."
"Attempting to antagonize your captors is most unwise, Miss Dawes." Batgirl simply blinked in reply but Bane could tell from her clenched hands that she was stressed. "It's painfully obvious. Considering your age, gender, and the fact that you are the only young woman with both connections to the Batman and Bruce Wayne, you were the most likely candidate. But considering your friends Miss Bertinelli and Miss Kane and their alter egos, I suppose you've done a decent job of protecting your identity."
"I suppose I'll have to work on that with them," she shrugged. "I'll add that to the list on things that need improvement."
"After tonight's demonstration, I'd say that you might consider reevaluating your own tactics as well. I must admit; you are either far braver or far dimmer than I thought," Bane noted.
"I'm only dim if it doesn't work. And it got me an audience with you, didn't it?"
"And why would seek to meet with me?"
"To inform you that I know what you're planning," Batgirl responded. "I know that this so called "revolution" is simply a means of distracting the people from the time bomb being held over their heads. And I'm here to let you know that if you think that the people of Gotham are going to stand for this you are dead wrong."
"That may be but you are not strong enough to defeat me." Batgirl looked Bane over: years of training from the League of Shadows would mean most of their techniques would be useless against him, and would mean that he would be able to predict the majority of her moves the moment she thought of them, and his overall strength was far greater than anyone she'd ever fought before, even the Batman. Therefore, Batgirl came to a reluctant conclusion.
"You're right. I'm not strong enough to take you down. But the Batman is, and when he comes back, you'll be wishing you had never left the hellhole you'd crawled out of."
"You have an awful lot of faith in him," Bane commented. It was not a question so much as a statement. The Batgirl shrugged slightly.
"We all have to believe in something. And when everything and everyone else left he has always stayed. It doesn't matter what the odds are or what he's up against he will always come back as long as this city needs him. However, until he is able to get back to Gotham, don't think that I will allow you to hurt the people of my city."
"Your city?" Bane inquired, looking slightly amused.
"Yes, my city."
"And what makes this city yours?"
"It's not mine. But I was born in this city, I grew up in it, I've suffered and celebrated with it, I know its people, and their souls. Gotham City doesn't belong to me, but I belong to Gotham City. And I'll be damned if I let you turn this city to ashes."
"That will be difficult to do if you're dead though."
"You make it sound as though killing me is going to be easy."
"Because it will be."
"I beg to differ." Before any of Bane's men could so much as raise their weapons, the Batgirl broke free of her bonds, turned on a dime, and kicked the goon standing behind her across the face. He went down and before anyone else could move the Batgirl flung herself over the railing and into the water below. The tide swept her up and she was carried off into the outflows, ducking her head to avoid the gunshots. Once she had gotten far enough away from Bane and his men, the young vigilante used her grappling gun to bring herself to the bank. She pulled herself up, clutching her right upper arm where a bullet had grazed her, and looked back up the tunnel. Well that could've gone better, she thought to herself, before starting on the long journey back.