A/N: I am on a roll! However, I am very busy this week and next so I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out. Also, I am considering... making a sequel to this. Just considering! But still. Also, two new characters, portrayed by young Saoirse Ronan and young Hailee Steinfeld, who are from the comics. As always, please review and enjoy!

The Cold of Winter's Ice

Of course, the one winter that half the city doesn't have power is one of the coldest winters in Gotham's history, Jenna thought bitterly, pulling her coat closer around her, and kicking a patch of snow with her boot. Winter had come early, causing new problems for everyone in Gotham. Rebels like Jenna and John did what they could to help out civilians, finding supplies and necessities wherever they could. They took blankets form empty homes and hotels, helped add insulation to the shelters, and collected fuel and whatever necessities the people of Gotham needed. As for Jenna and John relationship… well, it was different to say the least. Bette and Helena knew their friend well enough to guess that something happened on Jenna's night off and, though they were eager to find out what exactly had happened, knew better than to prod, otherwise, they'd probably find themselves dangling upside-down from a gargoyle somewhere in the old part of Gotham. And while Bette and Helena didn't prod, they noticed Jenna was smiling a bit more now a days, and tended to spend most of her free time with Blake. It was for that reason that Jenna was currently wandering around the snow filled streets of Gotham, looking for John Blake. She found him, getting up from under a car, a container of gasoline in hand.

"You shouldn't be out here all on your own," Jenna called out. Blake and turned smiled slightly.

"Well, maybe you should consider taking your own advice?" Blake shot back.

"Someone has to be stupid enough not to take it," Jenna shrugged. "At least I'll take out a few goons with me."

"And I won't?" Blake asked.

"Oh I have no doubt you will," Jenna smiled. "As long as you have a broken broomstick handy." Blake chuckled. "So, where you headed?"

"St. Swithin's. I got this for the bus in case there's a chance for escape."

"Clever."

"Thank you."

"Any news I should know about?" Jenna said, as the two began to walk together.

"Well the Commissioner wants you at the meeting tonight. The Special Forces will be coming over soon and we need to make sure we're ready. He also wants you to be there when they come; the government may not formally recognize the vigilantes of Gotham city but I have a feeling that they're going to be an important part of our overthrow."

"Alright then," Jenna nodded. "I'll just have to let the girls know and make sure they can manage without me." Blake nodded in understanding.

"I'll see you tonight then?" Blake asked.

"It's a date!" Jenna exclaimed. Her smile faded when she realized what she said. "I mean, it's not actually a…" Blake nodded in understanding.

"Oh… yeah, uh, right. Of course."

"I… sorry," Jenna stammered and rushed away quickly, using her coat collar to cover her face that was red with both the cold and her embarrassment. she continued to wander the streets for a while, thinking hard about everything that was going on.

It's really happening, Jenna realized. We are actually bringing Bane down. Gotham may actually get through this. Jenna shook her head. Of course Gotham would get through this; it had survived the Depression, the Fright Night, and two rounds with the Joker. If it could survive all that then it could survive Bane's occupation. But Jenna could help but think of the man who was the reason Gotham had survived so much. The death of the Wayne's pulled Gotham out of the Depression, Batman gave Gordon the key to stopping the train from reaching the main water hub, and then he kept the Joker from blowing up the ferries and stopped Harvey Dent and saved his reputation (at least for a while) both on the same night. Can Gotham really be saved without his help?

You forget who killed the Joker during his homecoming, a voice in Jenna's head pointed out. You're not exactly useless either.

That's entirely different, another voice argued. The only reason I was able to kill the Joker was because he was so focused on the Batman. If the Batman hadn't been there you never would've been able to do it.

It doesn't matter whether or not Gotham needs him, we'll have to make do without him.

He'll come back. He always does.

Well what if it's different this time?

It's not. He wouldn't leave me. Not yet.

What makes you so sure?

He's the bravest, kindest, most selfless, and most wonderful person I've ever met. He wouldn't leave Gotham, or me, to die.

Where are you Batman? Jenna wondered. Where are you? Jenna was suddenly knocked out of her reverie by the sight of a little blonde girl helping a black haired girl who had blood on her shirt. "Hey! Are you kids ok?" she called, hurrying over. The blonde girl looked up and nodded, helping the black haired girl down to the ground.

"I'm fine but can you help her? I found her on the street, I think she's been shot," the blonde girl explained. Jenna kneeled down next to the wounded girl and raised her shirt a bit to find that she had indeed been shot, before she took of her coat and jacket, wrapping her jacket around the girl's abdomen as an improvised bandage.

"What's your name sweetie?" Jenna inquired as she worked. The girl opened her mouth as though to say something but then she made a face, closed her mouth, and lowered her head.

"She hasn't said a word," the blonde girl mentioned. "I don't know if she can't talk or doesn't want to."

"What about you, hon? What's your name?"

"Stephanie Brown." Jenna extended her hand and the little girl took it.

"Nice to meet you Stephanie," Jenna said, shaking the little girl's hand. "Can I ask you what you were doing outside in a time like this?"

"My mom works at the hospital, there wasn't any food in the house, and I was hungry so I went out. I found her in the gutter."

"Well, I need to get her to a hospital," Jenna explained, wrapping her coat around the injured girl before she lifted her up and held her, putting the girl's head on her soulder. "The closest one should be the Leslie Thompkins Medical Clinic."

"That's where my mom works," Stephanie pipped up.

"Perfect. Let's go." Jenna then took Stephanie's hand and the trio made their way through the streets of Gotham. Two blocks away from the medical clinic, they found their path blocked by a group of five mercenaries. "Act natural and just keep walking. They may let us pass if we don't draw attention to ourselves," Jenna told Stephanie, who nodded. They started to walk by but were stopped by one of the mercenaries shouting, "Hey!" The wounded girl Jenna was holding tensed at the sound of the man's voice and squirmed a bit, causing Jenna to partially lose her grip.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Who's that your holding?" the man asked. He had short gray hair, a hard face, and was holding a sniper rifle.

"I don't see why that concerns you," Jenna pointed out, shifting the injured girl's weight.

"My kid ran off, I've been looking for her," the man explained.

"And you think my daughter could be this girl," Jenna lied. She didn't fully understand what was going on but all that mattered to her at the moment was getting the girl in her arms to safety.

"Oh," the man said. "Well if you see her, she's about three and a half feet tall, black hair, brown eyes, and he name's Cassandra." At that the wounded little girl Jenna was holding squirmed and tried to bury herself even further into Jenna's embrace. The mercenary saw the movement and his face turned red in anger. "Cassandra is that you? Cassandra, come here right now!" He advanced a few steps but Jenna knew better and retreated a few steps back.

"I don't think she wants to go with you Mister…" Jenna trailed off, awaiting a reply.

"David. David Cain," the man answered.

"Well, Mr. Cain, I don't think she wants to go with you and personally I don't see why she would."

"What makes you think that?"

"You gave her her injuries, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Why?" he asked bluntly.

"That's classified as child abuse. And if you think I'm going to let you take a girl you almost killed, you're crazy," Jenna said.

"And you think you can stop us?" David Cain questioned, his fellow mercenaries stepping toward Jenna and the girls.

"I know I can. Girls, get behind the trash cans and don't come out until I say so," Jenna said, putting Cassandra down behind the trash bins. David Cain scoffed.

"I'd like to see you try to take us dow–" he was but off by Jenna kicking him across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Another mercenary tried to punch Jenna but she simply sidestepped and grounded him with a sweeping kick and a knee to the face. Jenna dodged another ones punch and retaliated with one to the stomach, one to the chin, and one across the face. One decided to pull out his gun but before he even had the chance to aim, Jenna took one of the trash can lids and threw it at his head, disorienting him enough for Jenna to deliver a high kick to the face.

"If I ever see you near these girls again, I won't be nearly as merciful as I'm being right now," Jenna spat at the wounded goons incapacitated on the ground. She then simply brushed herself off, picked Cassandra up, took Stephanie's hand, and headed toward the medical center.

Jenna spent the next few hours at the Leslie Thompkins Medical Clinic. She called the girls and Gordon to inform them of her situation and informed them that she'd be a little late for the meeting. However, she was surprised to see John Blake outside the clinic when Cassandra Cain had been declared stable and Jenna had deemed the hospital a secure enough place to leave her.

"What are you doing here?" Jenna asked.

"I came to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine, John. I can take care of myself."

"I know that, it's just I… wanted to make sure." Jenna smiled and blushed slightly at his caring.

"Alright, well, shall we go?" Blake nodded and the duo began the long trek back to base. However, Jenna had overestimated the temperature, and as they made their way through the moonlit, snow filled streets of Gotham, Jenna couldn't help but shiver and rub her arms. Having given her jacket and coat to Cassandra Cain, she wasn't very warm at the moment. John frowned when he noticed this.

"Here," John said, taking off his coat and moving to put it over her shoulders. Jenna moved back shaking her head.

"You really don't have to."

"Yeah I do." Jenna still shook her head. "If you don't put it on, then I'm not putting it on either, so you shouldn't let it go to waste. Your choice." Jenna scanned his face and could tell from his expression that he wasn't going to give up. She'd seen that expression on Bruce's face so often she knew it by heart. Jenna just sighed and rolled her eyes, before nodding and letting John put it on her. "Better?" John inquired.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem." The two then began the long walk back to the meeting place. "So, how exactly do you get yourself into so much trouble?"

"I could ask the same of you, Detective," Jenna teased. "Rookie or not, you've had your fair share of action."

"I think we all have consider all that's taken place in the past few months."

"Point taken."

"Seriously though, you've had encounters with Scarecrow, the Joker, Harley Quinn, and now Bane, and yet you've survived."

"Have I really? Sometimes I think that Jenna Dawes died long time ago."

"What makes you think that?"

"I'm able to do things that I never even imagined being capable of. I've done terrible things, lost people, and lost a part of myself as well."

"Isn't that just part of growing up?"

"Maybe you're right." Jenna looked down at the ground and stopped when she noticed what they were walking into. "Watch out for the ice!" Her warning came too late and Blake slipped and fell to the ground.

"Smooth," Jenna teased looking down at Blake, before she offered her hand for help. Jenna managed to pull him up, but then the both of them lost their footing on the slippery ground. The two of them fell and Jenna landed on top of John, their faces mere inches apart.

"Um… uh, sorry," Jenna apologized, getting up and brushing off John's coat.

"It's fine. Thanks for the help."

"No problem."

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

"The officers will be arriving in the supply trucks that the government's been sending on the 7th. We'll met them in the back room of the grocery store on 5th. We'll have to explain the situation to them, and our plan to get out our men out of the tunnels," Blake stated. They were currently in the meeting room, which was currently filled with cops running on three hours of sleep, tables covered in maps, coffee cups, and cigarette butts, and mismatched chairs brought from anywhere and everywhere.

"Why don't we just use the vigilante's vehicles to blow the hole?" Foley asked.

"That's the plan Foley," Jenna replied. No one in the room knew of her secret identity, but they knew that she was always present at meetings as the representative of the vigilantes of Gotham City. "However, until the bomb's either unable to be remotely activated or reattached to the core of the reactor, we can't risk giving Bane any indication that we're taking action. If the triggerman gets word of a possible overthrow of Bane's rebellion, they might get twitchy and detonate the bomb before we even have time to think about making a move."

"That brings us to the reactor. The best interception place would be when they go down this alleyway," Gordon stated, pointing to a narrow alleyway on the map spread out on the table. "Well find someway to make them stop and since the alley's so narrow they won't have space to escape. We'll have to bring them to Fox to talk about deactivating it though."

"It's risky though. Just having the meeting is dangerous but moving them around the city?" Jenna pointed out.

"Fox can answer any questions they have about the reactor and it'll be easier to move them around the city than a well known, wanted CEO," Blake reminded her.

"Alright then," Jenna conceded. "Do we have any leads on the triggerman?"

"There is no triggerman Jenna. If anyone in this town's got the trigger it's gonna be Bane," Gordon said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Gordon. He said 'citizen' for a reason and his type tend to make the truth seem like lies and lies seem like the truth. It's why they're so difficult to read and predict sometimes."

"It's a distraction Jenna. We need to focus on the device, not the triggerman." Jenna sighed and nodded in reply.

"If you say so."

The planning went late into the night, and and it was only a few hours before dawn that Gordon finally ended the meeting and let the men go to bed. Jenna, however, was as awake as ever, and while she did not don her Batsuit, she decided to go up onto the roof for some fresh air. She soon found herself begin joined by John Blake.

"I'm surprised you aren't going back out there tonight," John commented.

"I have to take a break sometimes. Isn't that what you told me a while back?" Jenna pointed out.

"Yeah. I just a little surprised you were actually taking my advice," Blake commented. Jenna laughed slightly.

"I guess you're right. I usually wouldn't act in my best interest but you made me see that in order to take care of Gotham, I have to take care of myself as well."

"Well, at least now I know how to get through to you." Jenna laughed again. "Do you want some coffee?"

"No thanks. I don't drink coffee."

"Really?"

"I guess I just never acquired a taste for it… and I prefer hot chocolate." Blake looked at her confused. "Hot chocolate was always my family's drink," Jenna explained. "Whenever my mom or my aunt or I had a bad day, we'd break out the hot chocolate, sit on the couch, and watch a movie. It was our way of coping with the difficulties of life. And drinking it I feel a little closer to them." Blake nodded in understanding before he went down to get his drink. However, he returned with two cups in hand. He gave one to Jenna and, after giving him an inquiring glance, she sipped the drink to find that it was hot chocolate. She smiled at Blake and he smiled back. The two then sat on top of the building in silence, sipping their drink, and wondering about what was to come, for them, and their city.