Latest Posts by r-cabrera - Page 4

-_-

Assana/Shade: can you recommend to me any books that made you cry?

James/Blackbird: general mathematics 6th edition

._.

Mike/Sound-Road: at least i'm gonna die doing something i love

Olive/Pandora: and that is?

Mike:

Mike: dying

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 23: Confidence Movements

Actuality

"Are you out of your mind?" Assana shouted as soon as we were safe with the rest of the team, "What were you thinking? Do you know how worried we were about you?" She continued, standing in front of me with a frown on her face.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, still being held by my brother.

"It's either I or all our big problems are coming out at the same time," said Oswald, sitting on the edge of the roof of that 14+ story building.

"We must be alert, it is likely that all of them are allied," said my brother, turning to look at everyone, "We must warn everyone about these issues," he said, turning to look at me, at times I did not pay attention to what they were saying, as I was watching my shadow, looking for weaknesses and strengths.

"I will end the patrol, go home," I said, separating from my brother to start running to another building, a little away from the other patrol locations, so I could send a message.

But when I arrived, I met Robin and Red Robin.

"... We should report to Eclipse," said Robin, as he put his phone in one of the pockets of his suit.

"Report to me what? I asked, approaching what in theory would be my uncles, but due to the small age difference, I never referred to them that way.

"When did you arrive?" Damian asked me, turning quickly and walking over to where I was, "And what happened to you?" I could tell by the tone of that question that I still hadn't recovered from everything that had happened just a few minutes ago.

"You didn't answer my question," I said, the shadow coming out of my hands, like a threatening signal. Damian and Tim knew what I was capable of when I wanted something.

"Eclipse, calm down. It's nothing important" Timonthy tried to grab my hands, in an attempt to get me to stop threatening the youngest Wayne son. The shadow was quicker and grabbed him by the wrists. Something in me changed or he watched me closely, as his gaze changed and he tried to let go, "We found Slade Wilson," he said quickly. If they already knew, then we had to move faster before they interfered.

I let go of Tim, causing him to almost fall to the ground. Our plan had to be executed that same week if we were to catch him once and for all. I was even weighing the option of going alone.

I didn't wait any longer. I had to get home to ask my father to sign a permission slip for me to miss a few days of school.

On the way, I informed Jim and my brother about Red Robin and Robin and asked them both to find their last locations. We had to act fast before he moved out of town and disappeared completely.

When I got home, I noticed that the lights were still off, which meant that my father probably still hadn't arrived. Or at least that's what I wanted to believe because when I walked into the living room, the first thing I saw was 4 cans of beer, 2 empty brandy bottles, and a half-drunk bottle of tequila, blood, and Red Hood's guns lying on the floor.

"I had left... Batman in the kitchen... Hahaha... And when I came back... Poof... He was gone..." Jason was drunk, probably seriously injured, and saying nonsense.

Although the phrase itself gave a laugh, and probably would have been true, in a very strange context, it didn't help me much to know if he was okay, I let out a small laugh as I tried to imagine the situation. I walked into the dining room and saw him, sitting in my brother's chair, which was the closest to the door, and with his head leaning on the table.

"Now what happened to you?" I asked him, trying to sound more angry than worried. Something of ours.

"I got depressed..." He said, still without turning to look at me, "There will come a day when... You leave... And I don't want to..." From the way he spoke, I could tell he was about to cry. I began to pick up everything, avoiding touching the guns for fear that they were without the safety catch, I would ask my brother to put them away.

"I don't know what nonsense you're talking about, and clearly, you'll be the first to leave me. But I need to check that you are not hurt," I said. I didn't want to take desperate measures like talking to his favorite brother.

"No, you're going to break my heart." When Jason Todd drinks too much, he says a lot of stupid things. "I want to die."

"I give up," I said, before turning to the living room and sending an urgent message to Timonthy, though it would probably only make him worry since we had barely seen each other. Was I glad he was coming? No. Did I need his help so I wouldn't be tempted to hit my father to talk some sense into him? Yes.

My brother would be the wiser option in these situations, but he was more likely to join him, getting drunk and falling unconscious.

"Jane, play some depressing music," my father ordered me, still leaning on the table, another bottle in hand, "If you don't.... I'll start singing... Here I go..." He said, just waiting for Timonthy to arrive soon.

The minutes passed and Jason kept singing a repertoire of Mexican lady songs, or so I would like to think. I had never seen him like that, which in a way was funny, I was thinking about taking out my phone and recording him when he started the fourth song. Timonthy arrived almost 15 minutes later, entering through the living room window because apparently none of us know the doors.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, I was talking to Damian about something about Batman being in the kitchen and I don't know what other nonsense," he said, trying to approach me. I quickly pointed him to the dining room, where my father was trying to remember the words to a song.

"En mi mano izquierda tomé tu retrato, y en la otra mano una copa de vino, y brindé contigo sin estar presente, y brindé contigo por tu amor ausente" He began to sing, moving from side to side the bottle in his hand.

"Believe it or not, Jason also mentioned something about Batman in a kitchen," I said, handing him a glass of water, it was a tradition between us, something common but special for us, which on recent occasions I had forgotten to do.

"It's just that I... I had left Batman in the kitchen... And when I came back... Poof... He was gone" Jason interrupted his song, only for us to notice that he was getting worse and worse. When he finished talking, Tim turned to look at me and I just shrugged.

"Okay, this is weird. I'll take him to his room, give him a sleeping pill. In the meantime, try to pick up everything you can, and if you want you can make me a coffee." When he finished talking, he got up to go carry his brother, not before winking at me.

With a small vacuum cleaner, I removed the glass that was still on the floor. I arranged the dining room chairs and heated water for coffee. The guns were still on the floor.

"Luckily for me, Jason didn't have the guns on his belt. Your bad luck, they're here," Tim said, pointing to the floor when he came into the living room a few minutes later.

"Here I go," I said, forgetting my fear for a moment and taking them as if they were a toy. I checked how many bullets he had left and without Tim noticing I put the safety on." It's been a long time since I practiced my aim." I turned to him, raising the gun.

"You're insane," he said, laughing at the end.

"I've heard that so many times," I began to say, turning on the lights so I could see a little better.

The sound of the front door opening interrupted my little joke.

"I'm home, family."

Note: The song is called "Me bebí tu recuerdo" by Galy Galiano

Previous Chapter

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 22: The First Encounter

3 years ago

That week couldn't have gone any worse. Nightwing on the other side of the world, without even giving us a call, Red Hood without showing any signs of life, and Red Robin in San Francisco on a mission.

I take it back, it could get worse. I was wandering around the city with my brother, robbing some convenience stores, just like in the old days. According to him, this would help me "relieve the stress" of the last few weeks. Although I thought it was because he had run out of the money Jason gave him and was too embarrassed to ask Bruce.

But just before we entered the fifth store, there were screams in the distance, patrol car sirens, and gunshots. My brother and I turned to look at each other and then saw the main avenue and, as if in silent agreement, we both ran straight into the chaos, throwing the backpack where we were carrying everything we had stolen on the ground.

As we ran, James put on the hood of his sweatshirt and a black cover-up that he carried in one of his pants pockets. As for me, I took off my glasses and put on my visor with the help of my shadow.

The place was not so far from where we were. As we arrived, the first thing I could see were three people, dressed in white, red and green, respectively, smashing the heads of anyone who crossed their path.

Batman, Batgirl, Batwoman, and, surprisingly, Poison were already there, trying to contain the three causing the mess or at least minimize the damage.

From one moment to the next, the three of them took off the masks covering their faces, looking from Batman to my brother and me. But they didn't move from their place. I signaled my brother and Jared to be on guard, but not to attack.

"We want to see the one who calls herself The Princess of Gotham", shouted the three of them at the same time.

"Over my dead body," said Blackbird, as soon as he could put a name to the faces. And as if it were a battle cry, Jared, my brother and I started the attack again.

At first, they dodged everything we threw at them, it got to a point where we had to defend ourselves and call for reinforcements. My first option, as always, was to call Pandora, but I remembered that she was with her father, on a mission. I finally decided to call Callan, Cheis, and Black Arrow.

And I won't deny it, I was afraid. Afraid that those things would be much stronger, afraid that they would kill me. And how could I not be, if I had already faced those attempts of human beings? During one stage of my life, I decided to call them "friends", even brothers. I took care of them and they took care of me. Henry, Arthur, and Samir.

The first reinforcement to arrive was Callan's huge wolf, but instead of feeling relieved, I became even more worried. This was the perfect scenario for another betrayal.

A bomb exploded a few meters away from us and as if it was a signal, I threw some small bombs that I was carrying with me, but they did not have the effect I wanted. Hakan had arrived, even without being called, exploding quite close to the enemy.

Arthur, who was dressed in greenish and black colors, approached me, so fast that I didn't even have time to attack him. A strange green smoke surrounded me, and the last thing I saw before everything went black was that hideous grin on his face.

I woke up in a cellar. Sitting in a wooden chair, without my trench coat or my tool belt, with a lamp shining on me. There was blood everywhere. Swords, plants, broken glass, and some artifacts I didn't know about.

Samir, dressed in black and white, with disheveled hair and a few scratches on his face, came in sometime later, sat down on a chair in front of me, and although I had the chance to attack him because he was unarmed and I was not tied up, I could not even raise a hand without wincing.

"Don't even try it, princess. You'll be here for a while. Unfortunately, our boss doesn't want you dead, yet," he said, still smiling.

A short time later the other two came in, bringing with them heavy energy. One of them showed me a picture of a girl in what appeared to be the garden of Wayne Manor.

"Do you know who she is," he asked. I just shook my head slowly, "Have you seen her?" I shook my head again in denial, "Are you related to her?" Of course not, how could I be related to that traitor.

Apparently, he didn't like the answers, I could barely distinguish his hand that was going straight to my abdomen, giving me a strong blow.

"You're lying," said the only one to whom, so far, I had not paid attention. From his pocket, he took out two objects that at first sight were strange to me, but after a while, I deduced what they were about: "This is a potion of truth, granted by Shade herself," he said, raising a vial with a blue liquid in it, "I don't have to tell you what this is, surely you already know it." He held up a black, delicate dagger.

In any part of the universe, having objects like that you could be considered one of the most powerful people on Earth, after Shade.

With the little strength I had I tried to reach for the dagger but Henry, who at some point had positioned himself behind me, was faster than me. He grabbed my shoulders from behind to prevent me from getting up. While Arthur grabbed my cheeks, forcing me to swallow that blue liquid.

"Tell me the name of your biological father," ordered Samir, who was still sitting in front of me, after a few minutes had passed.

"Oscar Hart," I answered without even thinking about it. That thing was worse than I thought, even if I had been trained to evade the effects, it had been a long time since I had the need to use those skills. I had to get out of there fast.

The basic questions continued, making me reveal secrets that I thought I would take to my grave. My hands started to react when he started asking slightly more personal questions. I didn't think much of it and lunged at him to try to grab the dagger he was playing with with his hand.

As soon as I had it in my possession I tried to pull out my shadow again to try to protect myself. When I realized that it was going to be impossible in that situation, I started to run in search of a way out. The other two were following me, almost on my heels.

One thing I had learned from being with the Bat-family was to carry a device that was not so noticeable. In my pants pocket, I always carried a location and communication device.

"Callan, I need you to look for me near my coordinates. I will try to get out of here as soon as possible," I said as soon as the device was activated. My feet were failing, I felt like I couldn't speak and there were moments when I felt faint. That cellar had to have at least one window. And that was the first thing I found.

When I got to the window I realized not only that we were on the second floor, but also that this was my only way to escape. I backed up a few steps to take flight, seeing if my ex-partners were nearby. I ran, covering my face to avoid a cut. I heard the sound of glass breaking and at that moment I knew I was already falling.

Two shots rang out quite close to me. One of the bullets grazed my shoulder. When I hit the ground I had to roll to avoid getting hurt.

When I was able to get up, I looked around and barely managed to locate myself. From some signs, I could see that the warehouse was on the outskirts of the city. A vacant lot, surrounded by a tall brick fence a few meters from where I was, was the only thing I could focus on.

A loud noise behind me made me react, I started to run without turning to see what had caused the noise. I kept the dagger in my boot, trying not to get scratched. And I started running towards the fence.

A metal lever on the ground made me stumble. This might give me a small advantage. If my father could fight with this kind of thing, I could too. I took it in my hands, brushed some dirt off it, and continued on my way.

As I reached the fence, I turned back, barely making out the silhouette of one of the boys in the dim moonlight. At the speed I was going, I would still have time to jump and get out, but my limbs had to wake up well if I wanted to make it to the busy streets before I got caught again.

Training with Jason was paying off. As soon as I made it to the other side, I ran again. The risk of the boys still being close by, the adrenaline, and the strange poison they injected me with made stopping seem impossible.

I don't know how far I ran, when I stopped I was already reaching the Wayne Enterprises building. A group of people approached me, but only one of them stood in front of me, trying to stop me and reach my face so I could completely see him, but I was terrified, leaving me with no choice of where to run. Black smoke surrounded me before I could get off that street, and the guy who was in front of me disappeared. The roar of a wolf and the series of explosions that followed calmed me down a bit. James slowly approached me, wrapped me in a hug, saying that everything would be okay.

Previous chapter

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 21: A Dark Soul

Patrolling that night was heavier than other days. Muggers, vandals, thieves, more of the Joker's helpers, people who for some reason want to look like major league villains.

"I'm surprised the Joker hasn't made an appearance," said Scorpion, who was out patrolling with us that night when we were having refreshments in an alley.

"I'm not surprised, he already knows that Batman is not in charge of us, and at any moment we could attack him together," said Callan, petting her wolf and playing with him.

"Many of his plans take time, remember that time he kidnapped the whole Bat-family and almost killed us?" asked Olive, practicing her javelin throw.

"Traumatic experiences. He left my father in a coma, at least it helped him improve his relationship with Batman. After that, we all thought the Joker was dead and look." I said while fixing my suit with the shadow.

Suddenly a burst of sinister laughter was heard at the bottom of that alley, because of the lack of light no one could distinguish who it was. Those who were seated stood up, immediately becoming alert.

"Come out into the light if you don't want to get hurt," said Scorpion with his bow ready. Callan's wolf began to growl, baring its teeth. Pandora moved into a defensive stance and I took the shadow and began to drag it along the ground.

The laughter grew louder as it got closer to the reflection of the moonlight. For a few moments, I caught a glimpse of a black hand rising right in front of the beam of light. I tried to focus the viewfinder to see if it was holding something in its hand or if it was emanating energy to activate some power.

A shiny object dazzled me for a moment, then I could see the dagger and fury running through my veins.

"It can't be!" I shouted and then ran away while I grabbed the shadow with my hand. That specter ran as soon as the light hit my face. With the shadow, I began to climb up the wall of the building, trying to reach that person.

"Eclipse!" I heard screaming behind me, but I couldn't stop, I had to get that dagger, I couldn't let just anyone get their hands on it.

For some reason, the rest of the streets were empty, which made it easier for me to follow them. I didn't even mind the screams of my companions. At one point they were trying to contact me through the intercom, so bad was my desperation that the only thing I could think of was to throw the device to the ground.

I got to an old abandoned warehouse and entered, the lights were off and nothing could be heard. Fear was starting to take over my system, I could no longer think straight, I was starting to get dizzy. I felt so bad that I didn't notice when my visor started to fail.

The same laughter was heard again, but this time much eerier because of the echoing sound of the place. I slowly pulled out my gun and took the safety off, ready to shoot at any moment.

"You've become very paranoid for a while now," I heard a male voice say, quite familiar to me. But other than that, nothing could be heard.

"No, I just know your tricks," I said, starting to walk deeper into the facility.

"Admit you missed me," he said, after which there was a thump, like when something falls on their bare feet. I shot towards the ceiling, trying to look a little more intimidating.

"Every day I wait for the hour when your end comes...and all of your kind's," I told him, pointing this time towards the place where I felt the voice was coming from.

"I've noticed. You've been trying to make your companions trust you enough, and then you've been dragging them into a war that doesn't belong to them," a small laugh was heard as soon as he finished speaking.

"This war is not your war either, but look at us," I commented. The moonlight was coming through one of the windows, making me see the face of one of my worst enemies for the first time in years. The face of one of many traitors.

"Touché.

"Have you been following me?" I asked. I was about to shoot when I remembered something, it was going to be almost impossible for any of my bullets to hurt him.

"Maybe." The boy was a little taller than me, he wore a long black cloak and his hair waved in a wind that did not exist in that place, his face was covered with a mask and a red aura.

"Where are the others? - I asked him, if his companions were around, I wouldn't stand a chance against them, I thought this would be a reunion of ex-colleagues.

"Today it's just you and me," he said, and with each word, he took a step closer to me.

"Give me the dagger and I won't hurt you," I extended the hand that wasn't holding the gun towards him.

"What if I don't want to?" he asked, pulling the dagger out from under his cloak.

"I will take it by force." My trench coat blended into my shadow as soon as I put the gun away and the gloves began to stretch. I couldn't let them have that kind of weapon in their possession.

"You? Alone? Please, you never take anything by force" I already knew that all he wanted to do was to enrage me, to make me attack him blindly so that he would get the upper hand. I wouldn't let him do it.

I wouldn't let some random being control me. Because that's what they were. Beings of pure darkness, envy, and pride. Empowered by the idea that meta-humans were the superior race.

Who I had in front of me at first glance might seem like a sweet, kind, and even attractive boy. If it weren't for the black eyes. Inside, he was the most rotten soul I knew.

The attempted human in front of me was playing with the edge of the dagger.

"Give it to me now," I ordered, taking a few steps forward, making the sound of the heel of my boots echo within those four walls and trying to look intimidating.

"Why would I give it to you? The last time we met you told me that you were no longer my leader, I don't have to follow your orders anymore," his stupid smile was not erased from his face.

At that moment I noticed that a strange purple fire began to spread from the bottom of the cellar. I put the shadow away and took a few steps back. The boy in front of me looked back.

"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted, turning to look at me. That couldn't be me, I have never done something like that alone, I could only do it with the help of Hakan, Pandora, or Shade and we only did it in extreme situations. Besides, my shadow was still with me.

The boy looked at me angrily, throwing the dagger to the ground, then vanished and left.

The fire did not stop and had already blocked the only door in that place. With the help of the shadow, I made a mask to prevent the smoke from entering my system, but it was too late, I began to feel my body heavy and I could no longer stand up for long.

In a moment, the window broke, letting in a lot of black smoke. When it reached my side it dissipated, revealing my brother, signaling to me that everything was going to be okay. He helped me to my feet and transported us to safety, away from the purple fire and the shadows.

Previous chapter

Quick note ._.

So... first of all, thanks to all the people who have supported my story, it means a lot to me.

Now, the ones that have already read my story in Spanish may have noticed a few changes in the plot. These changes are not meant to change the whole plot, its purpose is to complete it, giving a little bit more information.

Lastly, I am Mexican (not by birth, but I have lived here almost all my life), and I use a lot of jokes and common phrases in Spanish. The most obvious example of this may be that joke in chapter 6:

If Batman gets hurt, would he become Bruised Wayne?

Which originally was:

Si Batman se pone bata, ¿se convertiria en Bataman?

If you translate this, it makes no sense. And this may happen a lot in future episodes.

Apart from that, I may start posting extra incorrect quotes, so you can see another side of my characters and their relationship with the bat fam.

Thanks again for reading, and see you in next episode.

._.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 20: Bad Days & More Plans

Nope. The rest of the day was no lighter than the morning.

After the incident with Timonthy, the following classes were dull. Olive kept talking to Arthur, while the latter kept looking at the clock at the back of the room. Anyone would say that he was watching it waiting for the time to leave, but his look was something else.

When we left the classroom, the last one to pick up his things was Arthur, for some reason. He looked quite anxious when we met James and Damian at the entrance. He even looked like he wanted to tell us something. We said our goodbyes politely, or at least tried to.

On the way home with James, we stopped at an ice cream shop, the weather wasn't that hot and after all the money we always used was grandpa's.

When we got home we decided to put a series on the TV, while Dad arrived or Jim would let us know about the patrol or the meeting we told him about the day before. Homework could wait.

"I'm surprised the principal didn't introduce Arthur to your class like he always does with new students," my brother said, then shoved a fistful of chips into his mouth.

"What surprises me is that I've never heard his last name before. Who's last name is Purple? A color," I said a few minutes later. We had been talking about anything for a while now, and we both knew we couldn't avoid the new guy in the conversation.

"For a moment I thought it was... you know who. You know who," he said quietly as if trying not to let anyone else hear him, even though it was just the two of us.

"I thought so too, but it's impossible, he's older than me, he should be in your group, not mine," I began to look for something more interesting on TV, "And believe me, if it really was that traitor, I won't hesitate to end his life.

We both fell into a deep silence. If I really wanted to expose the boy's identity, I had to ask Assana or Malowe for help.

James' cell phone rang, pulling me out of my thoughts to pay attention to the conversation, then I realized that my glasses were dirty, I started to clean them when my brother answered.

"Jim, what happened?" I heard my brother say.

"I wanted to ask your sister if we're going to have the meeting about the neutralizer," I heard on the other end of the line.

Damn, I forgot to turn on my phone, I'm sure Andrew had already sent me the formula for the gas. I put on my glasses to run back to my room.

When I got back to the living room, James was still talking.

"If you're not with her, I'll try to contact Shade," he said over the speakerphone.

"Text her, I'm sure she'll answer," was the last thing he said before hanging up. Then he turned to look at me, "I mean, I know I'm not supposed to get into your private life and not ask you who you talk to all the time, but you talked to Andrew, right? he asked me.

"I called him last night, you and I both know he's a genius and he was the one who created the weapon that helped us win against bane last time," I said, opening my messenger on my phone.

James formed a perfect "o" with his mouth, showing me that he already knew what I meant. I read the messages from that morning and smiled to myself.

Jim's message came in a few minutes later, I replied that we would have a small meeting the next day to work everything out and find someone to help us with the gas, but that the meeting that day was still on.

The hours went by and Jason didn't show up, we didn't worry, we knew he could take care of himself even if he was drunk. But we had to go out and we didn't want him to worry about us.

At 11 p.m., James and I put on our suits, left a note for our father, and went out the window of my room, as it was the one facing the street.

We walked for a while through the streets and at one point we climbed onto the rooftops to start running back to our base. We had to put the plan to destroy Deathstroke into action, I was running out of time.

We arrived at the building and the first thing I did was to contact the team, we had to clarify some points. By the way, I also called Superboy, so that he could help us with some points of the plan.

"Unlike Gotham, Metropolis doesn't have so many places where ambushes can be made," said Superboy, who even if he wasn't going to go with us, helped us a lot with his knowledge of the city.

"There are many houses and buildings in ruins, but we would have to place ourselves in strategic points so that he doesn't see us and we can attack him at the best moment," said Sam, pointing out some places on the support map we had on a table.

"The notes should sound convincing so that, if necessary, he doesn't feel that Shade is controlling him," Jared was one of those people who, even if they didn't pay much attention to the overall plan, always noticed small details.

"Hey, I don't control people," Asset, who was standing next to me, shouted.

"Really?" asked Poison sarcastically.

"We'll need to expand our arsenal. I can make more arrows but I don't know if you guys have anything up your sleeves. I could combine your skills with darts or arrows, in case they are needed," Scorpion said, looking at most of us.

"And...you don't have...by any chance...a way to become a little more...you know...powerful, do you?" asked Jared timidly, "A bigger shadow, infect 10 people at once, a bigger wolf, Shade," he suggested.

"I can't do that even if I want to, I could kill you guys in the process, I would need a lot of time to perfect that technique," said Pandora, looking at her silver hand.

"The process to make a shadow is painful and I need a special weapon which at the moment is not in my power. Besides, I refuse to bring back the thousand nights," I said, looking at the map, locating other important points with the help of the visor.

The thousand nights appeared after a small group of new villains infected me and began to control me. I caused so much damage that only with Shade's help did most of the affected people forget those catastrophes. I felt that if I used my shadow as much as I did back then, I would lose control over myself again.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 19: Coffee with friends

Three alarms went off at 7 o'clock. And five minutes later Jason began to wake up his "beloved" children, who had only slept for three hours. The morning was a little sunnier than usual, although the temperatures were starting to drop. Coffee was the first thing that was ready, neither my brother nor I had our uniforms on properly. Those mornings after patrol were the heaviest, and they were heavier when the nightmares came knocking.

"One of you two should give Tim his thermos, he lent it to me last night and I didn't give it back to him," Jason told us, as he filled the darned thermos with coffee.

"It was either that, or you were planning to steal it from him," I said, looking for a clean spoon in the drawer.

"I won't," James shouted, slamming the refrigerator door and getting an accusatory look from the adult.

"I'll do it, but I can't promise the coffee will make it all the way to the owner," I said, then grabbed a loaf of bread from the bread on the dining room table.

"That's the attitude," Jason said with a huge smile on his face, "Now eat.

Minutes later we were walking towards Gotham Academy. Even though my brother and I already knew the way, Jason insisted on walking with us because he said he had other things to do on the way.

As we reached the school gates, I could see my cousin in the distance, talking to another boy who for some reason looked familiar.

"I want you to go straight to the house when you leave this prison. Keep an eye out, the Joker's helpers are still on the loose and Harley is probably helping him too," Jason whispered. My brother and I entered the luxurious facilities of the school. My brother went straight to his friends while I approached my cousin.

"Jane, you made it. I honestly thought you'd be absent, again," Olive said to me, then gave me one of her warm hugs, "Oh, how rude. Jane, this is Arthur," she introduced, pointing to the boy she was talking to moments before, "He's going to be our new partner. Isn't that exciting?

Arthur. I know an Arthur. But even though some of their physical features were very similar, it was impossible for them to be the same person, and at the same time not so much, there was a reason for shape-shifters and glamour magic. But life had taken care of separating us, leaving more than one person in a deep sadness because of his departure. And me wishing we could meet again to cut his head off.

"A pleasure to meet you, Jane. I hope we can get along well," Arthur greeted. Holding out his hand for me to take. His wrist was surrounded by a bunch of braided threads and pebbles of different shades of green.

"The pleasure is mine." I tried to smile at him, but all I could manage was a weird grimace. I took her hand to give it a light squeeze.

"We should go in soon. Let's take a place near us for Arthur," said an excited Olive, taking us both by the arm and starting to walk.

The three of us entered the school and tried to show Arthur more or less the ways of the school, showing him the shortcuts to more secluded classrooms, until we reached the Math classroom. What a great way to start the week.

I spent the next two hours telling the teacher that what I had in my thermos was water and not coffee. Oh yeah, I was also trying to explain to her why the result was 5 and not -7.89, as she said.

By the time recess came, I had had enough of school and was begging to go home. The thermos was almost empty and at any moment I could run into the owner of the cup.

"Let me understand, you are the granddaughters of the richest man in Gotham," Arthur asked for the fifth time, and in those five times, the answer was the same.

"Not by blood, his adopted children adopted us," Olive answered with a smile, happy to explain the complicated and mysterious family tree of the Wayne family.

When we arrived at the cafeteria the first to approach us was my brother.

"Who is he?" he asked after greeting us, pointing to the new boy. He examined him from head to toe, and I knew from the look on his face that he was thinking the same thing I was thinking when I first saw him: he was a familiar face.

"Arthur. I just arrived today and I'm in the same class as these lovely girls," he replied, extending his left hand, just as he had done to me.

"Nice to meet you." The look on my brother's face was something even Bruce dreaded, for you didn't know for sure if he didn't trust you or was planning how to kill you in three steps.

James didn't take his hand but kept staring at the woven bracelets on his wrist.

The next to join us was Mike Vos, followed by Jared, who simply threw a hello to all of us, no formalities with the new guy.

We sat down together to eat the simple cafeteria food, without making as much fuss as the rest of the rich kids. A few minutes later, Tim came up to us, trying to get away from his overly envious classmates, who mostly had it in for him because he was smart and rich.

"Jane, didn't my brother give you my thermos?" he asked when he was a few steps away from us.

"That's the first time I've heard you tell him, brother," James said before I tossed him the empty glass.

"There's your stupid little cup," I said curtly, hoping he would leave as soon as possible, I still didn't want to talk to him.

"Can we talk?" The question that could break my little peace of mind.

"No." I quickly got up from my place without saying goodbye to anyone, to leave my tray of food in its place and leave the cafeteria. Tim was following me, almost on my heels.

"Please Jane," he kept saying. It got to the point where I got sick of having him behind me and went into the girls' restrooms.

I stayed until almost five minutes after the bell rang to go in. I knew he couldn't risk coming in late, especially if the next class for his group was chemistry.

Today would be a heavy day, and I think I knew why. I was hoping patrol would be a little more, light.

Reblogging this so I can show it later to my mom ._.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 18: News in the Woods

The Justice League is an "organization" of "global" heroes and is non-governmental. The government should not tell them when and how to act. These heroes claim to be the ones who bring peace to the world. The ones who end wars and the ones who are going to end crime.

It supports other young hero groups like the Teen Titans or the former Warriors Society. Sure, there are many more but the names were so irrelevant that they faded from my memory.

And at the time, that was the topic of conversation in the living room of the Todd family apartment. The news was misreporting some events that had occurred months before.

"What I don't understand is why Superman hasn't come out to clear all this up, isn't he the public face of the league," my brother said and then stole a handful of popcorn from me.

"If big blue comes out to show his face, now they will say that he is on the side of the bad guys because he is also an extraterrestrial. The one who should come out should be someone from the earth. But I don't think that would be a good thing," he said. There was a certain tension in Jason when he spoke of the Man of Steel, but who wasn't afraid of Superman?

"So, you're saying that the most normal among us would have to come out. What would it be...Batman?" I commented, tossing the bowl to my brother so he could finish his snack.

"You're right, it's weird," Jason agreed, starting to search for the remote to change the channel.

"These acclaimed heroes ruin the lives of so many and then act like saints, asking the government to pay them with our taxes. Don't you think it's suspicious that an alien spacecraft has arrived on our planet out of nowhere?" The commentator on TV was going to make me lose my appetite. Can you hate a person you only know through TV?

I enjoyed being with my father and brother, without any worries, and just talking about whatever was on TV. We rarely got to do that, as we always finished patrol late or someone was absent. Those moments were more important to me than the names of those other hero groups.

"There is an organization that is in charge of overseeing travel to other planets in this universe, isn't there?" asked my father, who was sitting in one of the individual armchairs. My brother and I just looked at each other, trying to read each other's minds or talk telepathically (which we wanted to, but couldn't do), and then just shook our heads.

"It's supposed to be a job that belonged to the previous Shade, don't ask me, I don't get involved in those matters anymore," I answered, lying down on the couch.

"You could ask a Lantern, those guys spend more time in space than on a fixed planet. Ask anyone but the Reds, we should never have trusted those guys," James said, then popped another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"You'd better go to sleep, Bruce is going to scold me if you don't go to school." Jason and Bruce's relationship was never the best, at least not since my father came back to life. They tried to get along, but with the messes that James and I were bringing it wasn't very easy to make that relationship more bearable.

Olive, Jared, and basically the vast majority of my fellow Warriors Society heroes were in the same school year, but at different schools. And let's just say that being surrounded by rich kids from the cradle was not my thing. Although according to some "friends" of mine, they didn't understand why.

My brother and I got up, took the plates and glasses we used to leave in the kitchen. We each went to our rooms.

I still hadn't forgotten that I had to talk to someone important. The gas idea was very similar to something that had been used in the past. Although honestly the last thing I wanted to do was talk to the person who had helped us back then, but when the Joker's venom problem came up, he was the first person I thought of.

I picked up my phone, wandering through the contacts I didn't even know I had. I clicked on my target's name and the call icon.

"For the last time. I won't help you with your crush Jerni... Oh excuse me, your highness, I didn't read the name right and I thought it was...- The boy on the other side of the line started to say.

"Don't call me your highness, I left the title a long time ago," I interrupted before he said something inappropriate.

"Yes, I remember."

"He spoke to you to ask you a favor, not to discuss politics," I interrupted again, "We will talk about all this on another occasion and with fewer worries," as I knew he would soon ask, I decided to answer him first. I began to walk around my room, picking up the things I had left lying around in the afternoon.

"You know I'm always available. Work is work. Although if you need my help, it must be something important" That guy never shut up?

"The Joker and the Scarecrow, I need something to neutralize the gases they use," I informed him quickly before he brought up another topic of conversation.

"If it is for your team, let me tell you that you already had something like that. I'll send you the formula in the morning, ask someone to read it and do it," he replied.

"Okay, I need it as soon as possible." I was hoping at least one of the guys knew chemistry."

"Of course, boss." He said, laughing at the end, "I don't know what time it is in your city, but good evening.

"It's nighttime, but it's the intentions that count," I laughed too. I liked those moments when I could laugh with the people I considered friends.

"Andrew out," was the last thing I heard.

I got up from my bed where I had sat after throwing my clothes from the floor into the laundry can. I opened my closet to put my suit in.

I stood for a while admiring my suit, holding the fabric between my hands. Lightweight, sturdy, with small details in some areas simulating scales. A three-piece suit, with optional long gloves, when I didn't wear the trench coat and a pair of high-heeled boots, because, according to the person who helped me design it, I needed to look taller.

The blouse was a dark gray, reaching to black, sleeveless, and with a high collar. The pants were the same color, they were tight. The trench coat was black on the outside and wine red on the inside, with lots of little pockets. The fingerless gloves went past my elbows.

The visor was the best part. Although at first glance it was a simple piece of plastic that helped my blindness (myopia) it was actually more than that. It was connected to one of the most advanced computers in the entire universe.

When I finished admiring my suit, I folded it up and put it in one of the locked drawers where I kept other things important to me, and went back to bed. The next day would be a heavy day, and I knew it.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 17: Clowns Without Jokes

My life was never pink. It was closer to black than pink. But deep down I always knew that there were people who suffered even more than I did, so I shouldn't feel so bad. Everyone told me that. I learned to act, hiding my fears and sadness under a mask and playing a perfect-looking character.

And I knew I wasn't the only one suffering, my own family had demons they refused to accept. I knew that there were people my age suffering worse wars against enemies so atrocious that just describing them made your body tremble. And I thought about it every day of my life.

My mother was killed in front of my eyes, her last words directed at me. My father left me in front of an orphanage after that, saying he would come back for me, and he did come back, years later and only to tell me it was his worst mistake. I found out that my father was equal to or worse than the Joker himself.

But at the same time, I feel it's nothing with all that my cousin suffered. Losing an arm, eye, lung, and ear in the explosion that gave him his powers, being sold to Lex Luthor as an object of experimentation.

My reasons for killing Slade Wilson were very personal. To end a war that had been forming in my head for years. And that those two scumbags were free complicated my plans and the overprotection of my adoptive family tied my hands behind my back.

"We are on the street parallel to yours, to the north, there is an avenue, try not to let them get there," I heard Sound-Road say over the intercom. We had reached that street a few seconds ago and it wasn't long before the rest of the support would arrive.

"Eclipse, I would really appreciate your help right now," said Callan, who was standing next to Sam, sounding quite tired. I didn't think too much about it and took my shadow to get to the other street.

"Shooters, get into position, that includes you Arrow," I said, shortening the path down one of the alleys.

Callan having a beast on her side made her often uncontrollable. But no worse than many of us. Her anger made her very powerful, even defeating me at my best moments.

"Hakan, head towards the exit to the main avenue with Sound-Road. Try not to let anyone enter or leave this area," I informed him over the intercom while hitting one of the drugged clowns with my shadow.

I received no response, which made me think he had received my order. Pandora joined me seconds later, her spear skills easily comparable to the most capable warrior Shade had ever trained.

I received no response, which made me think he had received my order. Pandora joined me seconds later, her spear skills easily comparable to the most capable warrior Shade had ever trained.

"I never leave home without it," I said, holding my shadow in my left hand. It was enough to keep them away, but we would need more than that, and by orders of Batman and my own father I was forbidden to shoot at any civilians, but technically they were not civilians, or at least they were no longer civilians.

The sound of an explosion was signal enough for me to draw my gun and load it, signaling Callan to back me up.

The wolf attacked one of them as dinner, while three bullets ripped through the body of another one of them. We were so focused on them that we didn't realize there were more than seven of them, the other four were running away to the place we had already speculated they would. Olive speared the last of the ones surrounding us. Well, this was getting out of hand. But nothing Pandora's healing skills couldn't fix.

Another bomb, this time closer to us, but it didn't worry us. The shadow reached around two clowns who were trying to escape. Olive placed her hand on the shadow, and when it disappeared, the two men were writhing on the ground.

As a green gas began to become visible, I motioned for Pandora and Callan to put on their gas masks. Cheis and Sam were watching me from the rooftop of one of the buildings waiting for my orders, I simply signaled them to shoot the guy who had pulled out the gas bomb. Shade and Sound-Road arrived in time to dissipate the gas and get us breathing easy.

"We'll need more than gas masks if we're going to be facing those clowns," Sound-Road suggested as the police began to arrive, "Even if the Bat-family forbids us to go near the Joker, we can't let his helpers attack.

"Mike is right. While Batman takes care of the clown, we should have a team to track the helpers while the rest of us go after Slade," Scorpion said, standing next to me.

"We could create our own weapon against them. A gas that by itself is just as powerful as laughing gas or Scarecrow's gas, but in combination with one of these, it would act as a neutralizer," Shade said when we were all resting in an alley near the Wayne building.

"I'll tell Jim to schedule a meeting for tomorrow afternoon after school," I said, pulling my phone out of one of my belt pockets.

"Which you will attend," Olive told me.

"Right," I replied as if I didn't want to.

It was very often that when I stayed with my father I did not attend classes, not because he did not force me, but because he was almost not there and preferred that we spend time together, and when I stayed with Bruce he forced me to go with my cousin to the academy. I turned to see my cousin and signaled that we would talk later.

I called it a night on patrol and sent word to everyone else. I didn't want to go home at that hour, and Dad would probably be out patrolling or drinking at a bar somewhere too. I looked for a good place to sit for a while and think.

When I finally found it, I took off my visor and pulled a tracking device from my belt. I turned it on and waited for my target to arrive.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked a voice from behind me.

"I just wanted to ask how you were doing, you weren't answering me and I was starting to get worried," I said, lowering my voice so no one could hear us.

"I'm the one who should be worried, you've been acting really weird lately," she replied, stretching out her hand towards my face.

"I know, it's just... Everything is coming together and my mind is totally scrambled. And that bitch is in town. I don't know what to do anymore," I sobbed, dropping to my knees, taking my face in my hands.

"It's all right, everything will be all right. No one can hurt you as long as I'm alive," he said, sitting down next to me, wrapping me in an embrace.

"Thank you Asset," I said after a while.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 16: Heroes or Vigilantes

"Is it normal for there to be so many heroes on patrol at this hour?" Cheis asked, walking on the edge of the roof of a building, pointing towards the street. The rest of us were sitting, watching as a group of girls in costumes quite similar to ours, tried to stop a car that was going at high speeds.

"It's not normal," Sound-Road replied, "Should we help?" he turned to look at me. If I knew it was one of Batman's enemies we would have blown up the car by now, but since they were probably civilians, we couldn't do much without at least flattening a tire and then paying for it.

"Let's go down," Hakan said, running to the edge of the building to jump off.

"Let's go down, let's not try to commit suicide," I scoffed, also jumping in the same direction as Rai, but not before preparing my shadow to break my fall.

Malowe, who had arrived a few minutes earlier, arrived downstairs before Hakan and me. Mike didn't take that long either, since he could travel/run at the speed of sound, he wasn't as fast as Flash or his pupils, but it was something compared to those of us who ran at turtle speed in Sports class.

The car passed close to us, almost running us over. Cheis, still from the roof, shot at one of the tires, unfortunately, this caused the driver to lose control and was about to crash into a building. My shadow would not be enough to cushion the crash, let alone stop it.

I turned to look at Parallel, who apparently had read my mind, and was already trying to stop the car with his telekinesis. The girls who had been following the vehicle came close behind us, while I picked up my shadow and Sound-Road approached to see the damage.

"Greetings, fellow masked colleagues," said one of the girls with a huge smile on her face. I turned quickly so I could see her face. The face of many of my nightmares. My companions only gave me looks full of confusion. "My name is Genesis, leader of Black Mamba. These are my partners: Nova, Agape, and Shayra," she pointed to each of the girls.

The first one wore a white suit with gold details and a hood, the second one wore a bright pink suit, and the last one wore a green suit. Genesis, on the other hand, wore a blue suit, with details quite similar to Nightwing's suit. They all wore black masks, but I could still recognize these figures anywhere. It was almost a mockery that they thought I wouldn't recognize those names.

"Eclipse. Leader of the Warriors Society," I said, shortening the distance between us, realizing that I was a few inches taller than the other girl. I stretched out my hand in greeting, more than anything else to cover appearances: "We are vigilantes of Gotham, Metropolis, and Star City," Genesis squeezed my hand, looking at my companions, who were behind me.

"We had already heard about you, quite a lot in fact, many criminals think we work for you. The... What did they call her, Shay?" Agape asked.

"The Princess of Gotham," said the other two at the same time, with a dramatic voice and exaggerated hand movements. It didn't bother me that they called me that, what bothered me was that they made fun of me because my father, Jason, had been the first one to use that nickname on me and it meant a lot to me. I let go of Genesis' hand and prepared to introduce my companions for the night. I shouldn't have, because they had known each other before but didn't know it, and I didn't feel like fighting that night.

"These are some of the members of my team: Parallel, Sound-Road, Blackbird, Hakan, and Pandora, my right hand, but I'm sure you already knew that. Unfortunately, I can't introduce you to the others because they are in other parts of the city, or they don't want to come down," I excused myself, pointing to the building from which Cheis was still pointing his gun.

"Wow, your little green-eyed friend is cute," Nova whispered in my ear, pointing at my brother. I tensed, for she was too close to me.

I took a few steps away from her and smiled at her as best I could. I advanced towards my cousin and signaled her to move away from both teams who were already starting to have a friendly conversation.

"They give you the creeps, don't they?" I hated that she could read me so well with that mechanical eye, I couldn't hide anything from her.

"No, this is much worse than just a feeling, we need to talk to Shade urgently," I said quietly.

"Calm down, we'll be leaving in a few seconds and we probably won't see them again," he replied, starting to walk towards where our companions were socializing.

"You don't understand the gravity of this situation, do you?" I warned, grabbing her robotic arm.

"I understand you better than anyone, but we need to keep up appearances," she argued, releasing her grip on me.

I stood there for a moment, trying to process the situation. I approached my team, signaling them that we should retreat to watch other streets.

"Sound-Road, report the damage to the base," I ordered when I was relatively close. Mike nodded and turned to contact Jim.

"Since when are you a hero?" Shayra asked me, again too close for my liking.

"I don't plan to share that information with someone I barely knew," I answered without turning to look at her, as her gaze made me uncomfortable, "Besides, I've always felt that the title of hero is still too big for us."

"So you are a vigilante?" She asked again. I could simply answer that I have not left.

"We are not judges or jurors in this crusade," I commented, almost reciting, pulling out my shadow to serve as a rope to climb up to the roof of the nearest building.

"Why are you talking about yourself in the plural? I mean, I don't think that's everyone's opinion" I was shocked, how could I let that happen? The 4 girls turned to look at me.

"Eclipse, we have to go now. Black Arrow and Callan are having trouble with some of the Joker's helpers," James reported. I thanked him internally and motioned for everyone to leave right then and there, leaving the other team with words in their mouths and doubt in their heads.

James gave us the exact direction as we ran across the rooftops, some faster than others. A few meters later I texted Poison and Scorpion to meet us in case the Joker showed up.

I remembered my father's warning, stopping near where Callan would probably be butchering those madmen. In my mind, I began to strategize where I would not disobey Jason and where I could help Batman.

I walked the remaining meters to my companions, ready to help capture the stupid clown.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 15: Fear & Secrets

Fear. It wasn't the first time I felt that, and unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last. Most heroes take to the streets to fight deranged villains and seem to fear nothing.

I wasn't the first to sign up for the team that would go up against Slade, in fact, I acted without thinking. I did want to kill that attempted human being, but my fear seemed to stop me at the worst moments. I needed to act.

The same feeling I felt when my father abandoned me in that orphanage, when they kidnapped me, after fighting with Bruce without knowing where Jason was, and activated my metagene, when I woke up in the middle of the night because of nightmares, or when Jason abandoned me to my fate, without a single note, leaving me in crisis. Bruce taught me to fight that fear, that trauma, and I felt weak when I found myself in these situations again.

I was outside the building, leaning against one of the walls while reading a fanfic about Red Robin.

"What a ridiculous thing to say, no one could be that perfect," I said to myself, turning off my cell phone and waiting for everyone to leave.

"Eclipse," Sam approached me, putting the quiver of arrows on his back and putting his cover-up back on, "I was talking to Malowe and Mike, and we've decided to investigate Eospec closely. We will start tomorrow night. If you want to join us, I'll send you the location." She spoke very fast as she played with the strings of her bow, creating a funny little sound.

"I'll think about it, but I don't think I can go," I said, thinking of an excuse to get out of any plans for the next day.

Sam left, but Malowe came to my side and leaned against the wall as well. Seconds later I felt that familiar sensation of the telepathic link, but I let it go, for I knew who it was.

"You plan to go on your own to look for the Joker and Slade, am I wrong?" I heard, I knew it was the Martian boy next to me, but I didn't turn to see him.

"You shouldn't do that, you know that Shade can interfere with your telepathic links," I replied, looking for a reason to get away from him.

"The one who should be careful is you, your majesty." My eyes widened like saucers and I turned to see him for the first time. "That's what they call you in some places, you know," he smiled innocently and walked away from me, raising his hand to say goodbye and vanish into thin air.

That boy knew things, why did I let him enter my head so freely? I knew it was wrong to let him poke around in my mind. I would have to have a serious talk with him and, if necessary, threaten him to keep quiet. I had done it before, I wasn't afraid to do it again.

I sighed and sat down on the floor. It was all coming together for me and I needed to talk to James about it. And as if I had summoned him, a raven landed next to me and transformed into the boy who had been my only support for so many years.

"Do you want to talk about something?" he asked, I just shook my head and whispered that, although I wanted to tell him all my problems, it wasn't the time yet. A few minutes later, Sound-Road and Hakan were already in front of me.

"Ready? I want to kick something, even if it's a cop," said Rai, putting on his mask.

"Cheis, are you coming with us?" shouted Mike, calling the attention of our most serious member. "Hey, at least look at me, bro." They just looked at us, that gaze gave more than one of us the chills.

"Whenever I go on patrol with you two something goes wrong," said Cheis, putting on his suit hood and looking directly at Hakan and James, "And whenever I go with you we always end up in the middle of a Batman fight against some villain," he pointed at me.

"It was only once," I said, pulling their hand away and looking back at them, "Well, it was five times, and we saved his life, I'm still waiting for him to thank me. Which, by this point, is almost impossible for me.

"Can I come with you?" asked someone next to me, I jumped in shock because I didn't know anyone was there, "Besides, I need to stretch. I need to get out and stop having Nightwing's eyes on me."

In the patrols my best ally was my cousin, just as Robin knew Batman's moves, I know Pandora's. We both complimented each other.

"Excellent. I'll patrol with two crazy women." Cheis started walking towards the buildings in front of us without even looking to see if we were following them.

"Malowe already left, I guess he'll catch up with us later," I said, walking along with my companions.

"Aren't there too many of us," James asked.

"Nah, we'll see what we can do," Mike said.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 14: Meetings & Snakes

The meeting room spanned half of one floor of the building, with a table large enough to fit all 13 of us.

"I'd do a roll call, but just by counting them, I can tell we're all here. So I'd appreciate it if everyone would line up at the end to check them out," Jim said, holding some white sheets of paper in his hand.

"Let's get this started soon, I feel uncomfortable surrounded by so many people." Black Arrow, known to the Waynes as Samantha Smith, another Green Arrow assistant who didn't last long.

"Good. Point 1: this week there will be nuggets in the cafeteria..." Said Jim, while Poison Spider tried to contain his laughter.

"Jim! That's not the list," said Oswald, quickly getting up from his seat to snatch the lists from Jim and switch them.

"Slade Wilson was spotted in Metropolis, Star City, and neighboring cities. Reports from Belle Reve say he is still a prisoner. The Teen Titans haven't reported his sighting either. And we want to keep it that way" I started to say after Jim dropped the countless sheets of paper on the floor.

Everyone turned to look at each other again. This situation was going to start getting out of hand.

"Two known criminals have escaped from Arkham. The Joker and The Scarecrow. Their exact location is unknown. Batman, Nightwing, and Red Hood have warned of the risks of seeking a face-to-face confrontation, so for the time being we will stand aside," Blackbird spoke, rising from his seat and standing beside Jim and helping him hold the sheets.

From what my brother said, I figured Dick had already warned Olive. But why were they getting so worried now?

"There are new heroes," Hakan said, out of the blue, "Or so I've heard.

If they mentioned anything about new heroes it must have been important, new heroes and villains were born every day, but that was none of our business, as long as they didn't cause us trouble.

"A new group of seven girls who call themselves Black Mamba," Hakan continued, also getting up from his seat, drawing the attention of most of us.

And that was something that Rai Hayashi had. No one could take their eyes off him, which at that point in the conversation meant that he had more than 5 pairs of eyes on him.

"Hakan and I tried to get some information out of them but I couldn't get very close to them, I tried to read their minds but it was impossible. I don't know if it's because of the distance we were at, some interference, or if they had previous training to detect us" When Malowe, our trusty shapeshifter, stopped talking, we all turned to look at Jim, who was already sitting in front of the huge computer screens.

"Nothing appears in the system about them, I'll need time to investigate them," anyone who saw him would think he was pressing keys at random, but he wasn't.

"Investigate them or ask them out?" mocked Sound-Road, who was almost sprawled out on the table next to Black Arrow.

Mike Vos was the son of an important actor and writer in Star City. A few years ago, when I was still in the orphanage, his family came to deliver a huge donation and we soon became great friends. Even after all the tragedies that befell us, we were able to control the metagene.

"Eclipse, may I take the floor," I nodded, still without saying a word, "What we should be concerned about right now is Slade Wilson. I would like to propose a plan for an effective attack."

Cheis Garcia, an immigrant who had earned their reputation for their incredible aim with firearms and for having no mercy on their enemies. I never offered them a position on the team, but one day they approached me saying they could be of great help, and I accepted.

The vast majority gave Cheis permission to explain their plan. Sadly, I again plunged back into my thoughts, managing to hear little or nothing of his plan.

"It's easy to say, but everyone here knows it's hard to bring Deathstroke down," said Oswald, exchanging arrows with his partner Samantha, "Besides we couldn't all go, we'll need to pick a team for this, split up, as usual," he turned to me and all I could do was signal for him to continue talking, but apparently that was all he wanted to say.

Why was making a simple plan so complicated? This team had had tougher missions than this, and now I couldn't even think straight or designate the team. It was known in advance that this moment would come, sometimes we would talk to each other making little plans for this, and suddenly the ideas were gone.

Robin had already warned me of the dangers of confronting Slade. In his personal experience, it was better to wait for him to find us than to look for him on our own. But I never thought that was the best thing to do. I wanted to find him myself and if possible, kill him and bury him more than 10 feet underground.

"Volunteers to go attack Slade," Jared asked loudly, drawing everyone's attention and causing more than one to raise their hand.

"We'll make a list and see what we can do from there," Callan said, rising from her seat.

Everyone began to leave the room, leaving Assana and me alone.

"I know what you're thinking, and I won't let you do it," my partner warned, approaching me.

"We'll talk about this later," I said, leaving the room.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 13: Photographs & Warnings

"Hey Asset, I need to talk to you. Do you think you have time? We could talk during the patrol. Well, I'll leave you to it, you must be very busy," I sent the voicemail. Assana never turned off her phone and I found it odd that she didn't answer.

I was sitting on the stairs of the building, near our apartment while Jason was busy trying to open the door with one hand. We arrived at the apartment with a lot of complications, as the Batcow came into the living room and we couldn't get her out. After that, we had to listen to Bruce's warnings not to go near the Joker, Scarecrow, or the fast-food joints without him.

"Jane," Jason called to me, standing in front of me, grabbing my shoulders and squatting down once we entered the apartment and threw our stuff on the floor, "Promise me you won't go looking for the clown."

"But..." I started to say, but my father interrupted me.

"But nothing." Jason interrupted me, shaking me by the shoulders a little bit." Of course, he does. "And if I knew you couldn't defend yourself against that clown, I'd even forbid you to go on patrol."

"But you won't, will you?" I asked, afraid of what he might answer. If he banned me from going out with my buddies, our plan to stop Slade would go down the drain.

"Not at the moment," he replied. I breathed a little more relieved, "But if the situation gets worse, rest assured that even your brother won't go out after 7 p.m.," he said, releasing me and standing up to go to his room and leave his small suitcase there.

I stood in the doorway analyzing my options. The Joker was known for acting fast. And it was more than obvious that the situation would escalate quickly. I had little time to come up with a good plan with my team and attack Deathstroke.

Jason came out of his room a few minutes later, wearing different clothes and with unkempt hair.

"I know you have to go out, go drop your stuff off in your room, I'll fix you something to eat, and then you can go," said my father, entering the small kitchen of the apartment.

"I'll give James his keys," I said, walking past him, so he could search for them while I was getting ready.

I headed to my room, expecting to find the curtains closed and my things tidy, just as I left them the last time I was there. I opened the door and the sunlight hit me right in the face, someone had been in my room.

And that was just the first sign. On my desk, most of my notebooks were unpacked. My clothes were out of the closet and many of my books were on the floor. As if they had been looking for something.

I set my backpack on the side of the bed and started to pick things up off the floor, so it didn't look so messy. I left the curtains open but decided to close the window.

My room was much smaller than the one I had at Wayne Manor. There was only a single bed, a night table, a closet, my desk, and a chair where I threw my "not clean nor dirty" clothes, the ones I only used once and I was too lazy to put them away. On one of the walls, there were several shelves where I put framed photos, many of which were taken by Tim, and one or another book that Asset lent me.

In one of those pictures were my brother and me, when I was 10 years old. Another one was a family portrait of the Wayne family: Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Olive, Alfred, my brother, and me. It was a nice picture that I liked to keep, but that I had thought about throwing away on more than one occasion.

As I was going through the photos I realized that one was missing. It was a photo that I had taken myself, with some of the friends I had made during the orphanage: Jared, Henry, Arthur, Samir, Andrea. Basically everyone I considered moderately close to me. Many of them, my biggest mistakes.

With that on my mind, I left my room and headed to the small kitchen, where Jason was preparing some sandwiches. He wasn't too bad in the kitchen.

"Eat something, then I'll let you go freely," he said, extending a plate to me. I didn't want to tell him that someone entered the house, it would worry him more, and that was the last thing I wanted.

I ate as much as I could, worry sometimes did strange things to me. I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't notice the moment when someone knocked on the door and my father got up to open it.

"... We've just arrived, Mrs. Anne," I heard. I got up to go back to my room and put on my vigilante suit.

I opened the window and jumped out, but not before leaving a note for my legal guardian, which he never did. The apartment was in a not-so-tall building, it had only 5 floors, and our home was on the second to last floor.

The streets of Gotham were a maze if you didn't know them. Fortunately, GPS was a tool Batman had in abundance in his little cave. And my target wasn't that far from home either.

When I got to the building, I rode the elevator to the top floor, watching as Jim and Mike Vos conversed quietly in the corner near the computer.

"... I'm pretty sure they're going to change Slade's mission to the Joker's," Mike said before Jim signaled for me to turn around and look at him.

"Hey, Jane. We were just talking about our plans...for the team...yeah," stammered the jet-haired boy. While the other was trying to get away from his partner by walking sideways.

"Aha, I'll go check some things on the computer before the others arrive," I told them. Later I would talk to Mike about how to be a little more discreet.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 12: Sunday & Moral Codes

I woke up at 11 a.m., completely forgetting Bruce's orders about getting up early. Jason was still beside me, his hand in my hair and snoring. When there was a knock on my door, I couldn't help but startle.

"Jane, is Jason with you?" I heard Dick ask as he knocked on the door.

I got up, uncovering my father to see if he would wake up. I opened the door, still without putting on my glasses, to find a cheerful, yet blurry Richard, holding a small stuffed elephant. Next to him was Titus, with what appeared to be a piece of underwear on his muzzle.

"He's sleeping, do you need anything?" I asked as I rubbed my eye in an attempt to wake me up.

"Yes, I needed my shirt back. And Alfred says to go downstairs for breakfast. Oh and I think Bruce wants to talk to him," he said quickly as he squashed the small stuffed animal against it.

"What's up with your little elephant?" I asked, giggling. I had never seen such an adorable and childish side of Dick before. And I could tell the stuffed animal was old, as it had patches and stitches all over it.

"I've had it since I was a kid, its name is Zitka." He told me, just before Timonthy appeared in the room hallway, "He has your underwear." He said, pointing at Titus.

"Damn dog, give me back my things," Tim shouted, lunging at the dog, who was already starting to run towards the stairs.

The door to my room opened, letting out a sleepless Jason.

"Dick, what happened?" He asked, peacefully to his brother, as he squeezed my shoulders and in the background, I could hear Tim yelling at Titus to give him back his clothes.

"My shirt." Said Richard simply, extending his hand towards us.

"I'll give it to you now," he replied, closing the door to my room and moving into his own, "Darling, go get some breakfast and get your things ready. We leave in the afternoon for our apartment," he said when he reached the beginning of the stairs.

"But I have things to... Forget it." There was no point in replying anymore since he had already disappeared from my sight.

I went down to the dining room to have breakfast, finding Damian, Rai, and Olive, sitting at the huge table.

"What about Assana?" I asked, sitting down in my seat.

"Miss Jernigan left early. She said she had some unfinished business," Alfred reported, handing me an empty cup and saucer to serve my meal.

"The Scarecrow, the Joker, and Slade Wilson. Do you want to give us your opinion about them?" Damian asked after a few minutes of silence, pointing a spoon at me as if it was a microphone, "I mean, it's been a long time since their escapes coincided."

"I think the three of them are idiots," I said, pouring some coffee in my cup, "They deserve to die, but honestly I don't feel like breaking the moral code on which the whole family is based," I began to eat, to see if they would stop bothering me.

Since before I joined the Wayne family and Batman's team, I was already clear about one thing: there would be no more deaths caused by me.

My life was tragic enough without staining my hands with more blood. Bruce already knew that, he was helping me not to cross that line again.

According to him, I was too young to understand what was going on around me. And as much as I hated those three, I had to control myself.

"We're supposed to go with the team at 4: 00pm. And I think Mike and Malowe want us to go on patrol with them," Olive said as she passed me the cajeta. "It's going to be a long day."

Usually, Sundays were the days where you stayed home and enjoyed a healthy family get-together. In this house it was the opposite, those who had apartments in other cities would leave. Bruce would lock himself in his office and work there all day.

"I'll put it in my schedule, thank you very much," I told my cousin, trying to annoy her. "Jason wants us to go to our apartment, but I think in the end he will go with the Outlaws. I don't know, you know how he is with plans.

"Richard is going out with Barbara Gordon," said Olive, totally happy with the news, "Maybe now he will ask her to marry him." She whispered, before putting her glass of juice in her mouth.

"Honestly, I thought Grayson would end up with Starfire," said Timonthy, entering the dining room. Apparently, he was finally able to get his underwear.

"Grayson has had over 10 girlfriends and not one of them has formalized his relationship," Damian said. Also bothering Olive.

"37, I counted them myself. When you want, I'll pass you the list," completed Rai.

"Let me dream in peace," Olive said, annoyed, as she got up from her seat and left the dining room.

"I wonder if everyone in this family is destined to be single," I muttered to myself.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 11: Father & Daughter

They escaped. They escaped just as we discovered Slade's location. This couldn't be just a coincidence. But the mere thought of the three of them working together was impossible.

"I'm going to sleep," I said, taking Assana's hand off my shoulder. I headed for the stairs towards the mansion. At one point I had to hold on to the stair railing. I felt dizzy and I didn't know if it was because I was sleepy or because the prescription of my glasses was no longer enough. Sleep was the only thing I wanted to do after so many emotions for one day.

"Jane, wait," I heard Assana shout.

"Don't worry, I'll go with her." I managed to hear Olive say before I closed the door leading to the Batcave. She was one of the first to find out about the escapes before we did.

With a horrible headache from the problems I was having with my team, the fight with Tim, and the recent information of two escapes from Arkham, all I could think about was taking a nap until at least 4:00 p.m. or if that didn't help, killing myself.

"Jane, wait for me," Olive shouted, trying to reach me so she could talk to me properly.

"Jane Pasley Todd." I heard someone calling my name. But I started running to my room. When I got there I locked the door and threw myself on the bed, still without taking off my suit, to try to fall asleep. "Daughter, open up. I want to talk to you, please," said my father, knocking on the door.

"I want to sleep," I answered, trying not to sound so curt. I took off my visor and threw it towards the closet door. I wrapped the quilt around me, curling up in my bed as I listened to my father try to open the door. The sound of the knob being jiggled frantically only made my headache increase.

"I warn you, I do know how to pick locks," Jason warned, leaving the knob alone for a while. I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. Five minutes later I heard the door open and he entered my room without turning on the light.

Jason Todd was never a model son. He was always rebellious, and he was always surrounded by trouble. When he came back to life all he could think about was his revenge on the person who was responsible for separating him from the only person he had ever considered close to him.

When he almost died in the attack on the orphanage when he was 12 years old, Jason decided to follow his father's example and adopt the one who would become his protégé and companion in the future. But that didn't mean he would mature overnight.

When he almost died in the attack on the orphanage when he was 12 years old, Jason decided to follow his father's example and adopt what would become his future protégé and companion. But that didn't mean he would mature overnight.

Back then he didn't know much about raising a rebellious teenager, yet he tried. But as the years went by, he would start acting like it wasn't his responsibility, leaving me in charge of Bruce or even running away in the middle of the night never to return.

There came a point when I stopped reproaching him, anyway, it wouldn't be the only time a father figure would leave me abandoned to my fate.

"Honey." He called me, a little calmer than before, but I was already too sleepy to answer, "Well, you probably don't want to talk," he said, as he sat on the bed and tried to take off my quilt, "so I'll sleep with you," I faced him, pouting. "Get up, I don't want to be cold. I'm going to pull the sheet off."

"Do you really want to be the exemplary father now," I asked. All he did was give me a little smile.

I reluctantly got up and pulled out a blanket I had stashed in my closet. I went to the bathroom and took off my suit, then put on my sleep pants and the sweatshirt I always sleep in. I went back to bed and saw how Jason was already settled on one side of the bed, writing something on his cell phone.

-Come on, it's almost 6 a.m.," he said, patting my side of the bed. And he was right, the first rays of sunlight were already visible from the window.

I lay down next to him and we cuddled so we could sleep. I was sure I would wake up at least until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, with a horrible headache.

And although I thought sleep would help me calm my nerves a little that night, I knew it wouldn't happen. Even my dreams tortured me, bringing my worst fears to light.

Since I received my metagene and basically since I came back to life, I have had many nightmares, some worse than others. I would dream of my biological father, other times I would dream of my mother's death, or even the loss of my new family. I would also dream about the time I was kidnapped to perform the genetic experiments that gave me my metagene. My mind would trick me, giving me the worst thoughts that, at times, even when I was awake, could not stop torturing me. I would wake up in the middle of the night and after that, I could not go back to sleep.

"Don't worry, if you have a nightmare, I'll be here." I managed to hear. Yes, obviously he would be there, but it wouldn't make a difference. It wasn't as if his mere presence would magically eliminate bad dreams.

"You definitely decided to start being the exemplary father," I replied. To finally fall into the arms of Morpheus.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 10: Red Robin

I went out into the street, making sure there was no one on the street. I sat down on the sidewalk, leaning my back against a lamppost. Assana and Olive had already left, and it felt rude to ask them to come back for me.

Being the good sister that I am, I had to wait for James and Jim to finish talking, but apparently, they had a lot to tell each other, as it took them a long time to leave. When I noticed that I was falling asleep I decided to call my father to pick me up and take me home. But when a motorcycle parked in front of me, I noticed it wasn't Jason.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the boy standing next to his bike. I got up from my uncomfortable seat, shaking off my clothes and shaking off sleep.

"Your father sent me. Apparently, something happened in Arkham while we were patrolling." Timonthy replied, approaching me and inviting me to get on his bike.

"I prefer to go alone, thank you very much." I said, trying to be polite and that my nerves of being next to him would not be noticed. I started walking down the street, towards the main avenues, without noticing that he was following me.

"My brother trusts me to get you home safely," he said, grabbing my wrist with his hand, not only making me stop, but also making me turn around and stand too close to him. "You're still angry about what happened the last time we talked."

"We weren't talking, you were yelling at me in front of my team. You embarrassed the hell out of me," I said, as I tried to break free from his grip, unsuccessfully, as he squeezed my wrist so hard I was afraid it would leave a mark.

A few months ago, he and I had had a loud argument in the Wayne Manor library, when my partners joined us for a study session. We had started out arguing about my responsibilities as team leader, it came to a point where he threw my father's identity in my face, telling me that I had the thief gene in my blood. That time I couldn't resist and hit him in the face with my shadow. He was about to hit me back, but we were interrupted by the arrival of Tim's then-girlfriend, Stephanie Brown.

The two of them also started arguing, one of the many reasons they broke off their relationship. And that was the first of many fights we would have, and in the future, would cause situations like this.

"I already apologized, but you didn't want to listen to me," he said, almost shouting, while he kept squeezing my hand.

"Let me go, you're hurting me," I shouted, trying to get out of his grip, but to no avail. "I said let me go!" I panicked when I noticed that his grip was getting stronger. I didn't have to think much about my next move. My shadow grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the ground. Finally getting him to let go of my hand.

When the shadow completely returned to my hand, I started to run back towards the building I had come from. But as I was almost at the door, someone from behind put his hand on my shoulder stopping me. Like an instinct, my body tensed and the shadow went to that hand.

"You have a right to be angry, but at least let me take you home," Tim said in a peaceful voice, trying to calm his breathing.

"I'll sleep in the apartment, thank you," I said, letting go of his hand, starting to walk, this time, in the direction of Jason's house.

After adopting me, Jason asked Bruce for some money to buy an apartment in a central area, at first he refused, but after a few months, he accepted. Sometimes we used it, but usually, we stayed at Wayne Manor or, in Jason's case, at a hotel.

"No. You're not sleeping there," he protested, stepping in front of me and carrying me like a sack, "Guys, I'm taking my niece. I'll see you another day, good night," he shouted, trying to make sure those still inside could hear him.

We could still see the reflections of the lights in the windows, so we could tell that someone was still there.

"Put me down. I can walk by myself," I started kicking and hitting him on the back in an attempt to get him to put me down.

"After not sleeping all night and running on sugary drinks, I don't think you can even tell the difference between a horse and a donkey," he said, sitting me down on his bike.

"Because of some people I couldn't even drink that. And I'm not that sleepy, I haven't slept for almost a week, this is nothing. I am capable enough to stand in front of my team and give them orders." I replied, rather angrily, when he sat down in front of me and started.

"Hold still," he said, as he put on his helmet and started to move forward. And even though I didn't want to, I had to hold on to him to avoid falling out of that vehicle.

The trip lasted a little more than half an hour, and during that time neither of us said a word. When we arrived at the Batcave, I didn't even wait for him to stop and I got off as fast as I could.

I quickly greeted my father. I stood next to him, looking at one of the computer screens. As I looked closely at one of them, I noticed that the Scarecrow and Joker files were open.

"Why do both files say they are free," Timonthy asked, standing behind me.

"They escaped in the wee hours of the morning, a changing of the guard that took a few seconds too long," Batman explained, tapping the keyboard.

"Why didn't we find out sooner?" asked Assana, approaching me, and then placing her hand on my shoulder, apparently trying to reassure me.

"I didn't want you to worry too much," answered Bruce.

"My life is a mess," I muttered.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 9: Plan

Fortunately in that building, we had a specific floor with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and television. This had several functions, among them was to be a living and meeting room. And at that time, that was its main function.

"I found Slade near a subway station in Star City. I thought the problem would be solved by the league or the heroes residing in that city, even by the Titans. But they have been slow to act. Later I found him in Metropolis thanks to a mission I had in the company of Superboy." Oswald commented as he paced in front of the sofas where the rest of us were seated.

"And you thought Superman would take on a former member of the League of Assassins," said Olive, who had been silent so far, eating the snack Jim had put on the coffee table to keep us awake.

"I thought that being in a safer area, Deathstroke wouldn't make a mess. These are cities where crime is down." Oswald continued, looking at Olive and pointing at her so that she would pay attention to him and try to understand the reason for his actions. "My problem was that I was too trusting, and now the number of missing people not only in Metropolis but also in the neighboring cities has increased." He said.

"Conclusion: he has kidnapped people and surely he has also killed them, and we don't know the reason, as usual," said Jared, throwing a handful of potatoes in his mouth and almost choking after that.

"We must be clear about our purpose. Catch Slade, send him to prison, and free those people if they're still alive." My brother said, crushing a stress ball and helping Jared breathe again. Even though we'd been at this hero thing for a while now, he had a severe problem when it came to big attack plans and team meetings.

"Shouldn't we focus on saving those lives," Superboy said, staring at the numbers on the screen in front of us. "After all, they're innocent."

"That's according to your moral code. If you think about it, all of us here are innocent and have suffered more in these five years than they have in our entire lives. We have been chasing him for months, and we must not let him get away this time." Olive said, getting up to get a glass of water from the dispenser.

"Nightwing and Red Hood will try to stop us by telling Batman. And I bet you anything Richard will beat us to the punch at some point and we won't be able to do much to stop Red Hood." Said James, still not letting go of the ball. "Having kids does make you overprotective."

"You'd better call Robin and Red Robin." Claimed Oswald. He had a firm idea that the Batfamily should not get involved in our problems.

"Believe it or not, Robin has a problem with Slade, he has a problem with the League of Assassins and his grandfather. And Red Robin will get into it because of Eclipse or a problem with Ra's al Ghul." Olive said, tossing her plastic cup into the trash can across the room.

"Jane, don't you have anything to say about that?" Jim asked, pushing me out of my seat. I stood in the center of the room, getting everyone to look at me.

"Oswald, I've spent the whole way here thinking about how to keep Red Hood and Nightwing from finding out what we're talking about here." I said, pointing to my hooded partner, "I don't want them to be on our necks asking what we do 24/7. I want to stand in front of him when we are done with everything and tell him that it was us who stopped this river of blood." I said, pacing back and forth. "And as for the other two little birds, my only solution would be to send them to Japan, and even then they will insist on going with us," I almost started to scream from how desperate I was, making gestures with my hands in an attempt to calm my nerves.

"Let's do this." Oswald began to say when the silence had stretched a little longer than it should have, noticing Olive's, James' and my nervousness. "I don't think he's going to move from where he is. Let's talk tomorrow, in the afternoon, more calmly and with a cool head. It's late and I know more than a few of us are tired. Let's let the rest of the team know. Let's put all the cards on the table and we will start to come up with a plan." He said. "Jim, Callan, prepare the other room, we will need space." It was after 5:00 a.m. and we hadn't slept a wink. I was internally grateful that Oswald understood our situation.

"To sleep," Assana ordered, getting up from her seat and signaling to evacuate the room.

The only ones left there were Oswald and me. He began to pick up the dishes to leave them in the kitchen.

"I owe you one," I said, taking off my visor for a moment.

"We are even. The last time we met you prevented me from committing the embarrassment of my life." He said, sitting down next to me, "I know that situations like this are difficult for you.

"How am I supposed to argue against Tim, if in difficult situations I can't even think straight," I whispered, cupping my face in my hands.

"Are they still at odds?" My partner asked.

"We've been going at it for over two months now."

"Well, I never thought you would last so long fighting, a few years ago yes, but not now." we both plunged into silence, not at all uncomfortable. "Go to sleep, I'm sure Shade must be waiting for you." he patted me on the back, trying to cheer me up.

I put my visor back on and got up, said goodbye, and headed for the elevator, still thinking about everything I would have to do in the next few days.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 8: Warriors Society

Slade Wilson, the man to blame for my death and in some part for my adoption. That man has had something against me since I was a child. If it hadn't been for Jason, I wouldn't be telling my story today.

Finding Slade meant the end of all the problems for the team and the Teen Titans. It meant one less problem for the Wayne brothers. And it meant one less problem for me.

It was an attack on a neighborhood where Oscar Hart's offices have supposedly located that set off Scorpion's alarms. According to his report, he had already been seen in nearby areas, but no one reported it.

For obvious reasons my initial plan was not to meet him, my mind went blank as soon as I was given all the information. We needed to act fast.

"Let's call Sound-Roud and Callan. They might be more useful than we thought." Jared suggested as he stopped on a rooftop near the warehouse we called our base.

"We need the whole team," I stated, "We won't stand a chance if there are only a few of us."

We had already come a long way from where we were standing watch to that rooftop on the outskirts of the city. As soon as Oswald finished telling us everything, I grabbed him by the wrist and we started running towards our base. I didn't even tell Jason where we were going, I would text him later. And after all that running and jumping across the roofs of buildings, we needed a little rest.

"We should call Jim to start tracking his activities, we don't want him to run away again. We don't want him tracking us either," James said, stroking a crow that had perched on his arm, "If anything happens to us they'll send the police and I'm sure Batman will realize we haven't followed his orders."

Olive contacted me, saying she would catch up with us at the base.

I needed emotional support. My mind was in chaos. On one hand, I was listening to what my teammates were saying, on the other I was trying to come up with some plan that didn't involve putting my teammates at risk. And on the other hand, I was thinking about what would happen if for some reason I ran into Oscar Hart, it had been a long time since I had met him, and the last time he threatened me, saying that if we met again, he would make sure to kill me.

"... I say we call Superboy," I heard Oswald say as he got into position to fire one of his arrows.

A few meters ahead we went down to the street to access our base. That semi-abandoned building that Bruce Wayne had remodeled for us. Previously they were apartments but as the area was very far from downtown, no one wanted to buy and decided to close them. Each floor had a different function, from training, tracking, and nursing, although we still had to finish the room's section.

We entered through the back door so we could take the elevator to one of the central computers and check if Scorpion's information was correct.

As we entered we could see Jim Bullock asleep in the chair in front of the computer. He was our best source of information, as his father worked as part of the Gotham police team, so we could know what was going on in the city without the need to spend hours trying to hack into the police computers (as if that was too difficult).

"Jim, wake up. We need information." I said, taking one of the books I had on the table and throwing it at him, once we were in front of the computer.

"Tell Callan. Let me sleep." He replied half asleep, still holding a cup of coffee in his hand. And from what was on the screen, you could tell he was checking the Metropolis security cameras and playing minehunter.

"I don't think you're going to be sleeping here unless you get settled in between the couches," James said, starting to close unnecessary windows on the main screen.

"That was my original plan," Jim replied, rubbing his eyes to shake off the sleep.

"Right now I don't really care if they sleep here, on the street, or in a dumpster. I care about knowing the exact location of Slade Wilson," I said, a little desperately, as it seemed that no one was aware of what it meant to know his whereabouts.

The noise of the elevator made us all turn to see who had gone up.

"I must admit that when I read your message I didn't believe it," Said the girl who was entering the room.

Curly hair, brown, medium complexion. She was wearing her costume and was accompanied by a gray wolf. Callan Morgasson had grown up in a forest, far from civilization, overprotected by her father. I met her soon after I "revived", admitting that she had accidentally killed her father. I offered her a place to stay momentarily. She refused, but she had already secured a room at the base.

That wolf that accompanied her day and night was a spiritual manifestation, guilty of the death of Callan's father, by her own orders. As adorable as he seemed to us, we knew he could tear our legs off because we had already seen him do it.

"Well, you better believe it," Assana told him, making room for him to see the screens as well.

"Are you ready to see your father?" she asked me, watching me play with the shadow in my hands.

"No."

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 7: Scorpion and Poison

James paid for the next 4 beers. But he did have to go downstairs to act the hero and ask for them for free, saying they were for Batman, it didn't work out well, he couldn't get away with it and had to pay for them. When he returned to the rooftop he gave us each a can, although I didn't even open it and just gave them to him for a draw.

"... And then Roy told me I was an idiot and.... and...What was he saying?" Jason was saying, taking sip after sip of his can, as he told us about his latest great feat with his team. A great feat that no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to finish.

Apparently, the only interesting thing that happened with Nightwing and Pandora was a speeding driver, so I invited them to hang out on that rooftop too, a family reunion more than anything else, but they still weren't there.

"Wow, wow. I thought I'd run into one little bird today, but not four." Said someone behind me in a voice I knew all too well. A spider web stuck to me juicy and was snatched out of my hand.

"I didn't think I wouldn't step on a spider but look at us." Said James, getting up to go say hello to Poison.

"My juice," I sobbed, still in the same position. "This time I did pay for it."

Jared Barrera, like me, grew up in the orphanage, watching our backs. He, too, had gotten his powers from genetic experiments. He was a big fan of a comic book character who had spider powers. Even with that, he had great skills in acupuncture, which explained those knitting needle-like weapons. A skill that served him well being on a team like ours.

James and Jared greeted each other, like the great friends they were, and agreed that the next round of beers would be on Jason.

"I'm supposed to be in charge of you guys, not that I'm buying for you," Jason complained, also getting up to greet the newcomer.

"Bosses, I'm here." Jared greeted me from afar, as I was still sitting, sending the shadow to steal another juice. Assana just turned and waved to him. "Scorpion told me he was going to pick them up to go out drinking somewhere, but I think something happened because it's already late." He said to James, looking at the imaginary watch on his wrist.

"James was just planning to call you for that," I spoke after standing up and giving my newly arrived friend a nice greeting. "Now not only do you owe me $100, but you also owe me a juice.

We all sat on the floor waiting for Batman to give us the signal to leave, or for Nightwing to design to answer the calls. We listened to some anecdotes of Red Hood and the Outlaws, marveling at each half-told tale, a story could never end well. At one point James began to recount some of the missions he had had with Scorpion and Superboy, a temporary member who helped out on some missions.

After two o'clock in the morning, another hero joined our little gathering.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and esteemed non-binaries, these are the heroes who guard our city." Announced Oswald when he arrived at my side, snatching the juice that Jared had given me.

-Seriously you guys aren't even going to let me finish a juice. - I said as I looked for an empty can to throw at the newcomer.

Oswald Queen was for many years a secret assistant to Green Arrow focusing on helping him with strategies and locations, he never went out to the battlefield. There came a point when he got fed up with that anonymity and began to support Arsenal and, later, supported the Teen Titans. But it wasn't until the creation of Major Arcana and the Justice League's intervention in the team that he was free to go out on patrol and got the recognition he deserved, was even officially adopted by Oliver Queen and began to be known at some social events.

Although he doesn't have a metagene or any extraordinary skills, he has a special talent with the bow and in hand-to-hand fighting, but there were obviously people who outshone him in marksmanship

"At least tell me you stole a drink from James." Oswald pleaded, I simply shook my head in denial. "Spoilsport." He criticized, then turned to my other companions. "Did they leave me something?" He questioned, starting to look for a new can.

"Yes, we kept the garbage. Go throw it away," said Assana, passing him two empty cans and pointing with her head to the garbage can on the avenue we were supposed to be watching.

"Don't be like that, at least invite him a can." Jason scolded him, passing a can to my brother so he could give it to the newcomer.

"Thank you, Mr. Todd." He thanked him, once he had a new can in hand. "But I was just coming to tell your daughter that we have a huge problem."

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 6: Shadows

My life was never easy. I had to learn to fend for myself from an early age, take care of the people who trusted me, only to be stabbed in the back.

The alleys of Gotham were by far the worst places in the city, but I had to learn. The night rides were crazy, but without those rides, I would have never met Jason.

I learned 3 things from those rides: Damian Wayne is a killjoy when he's in the Robin costume, he just keeps complaining about everything and saying they should do one thing instead of another. That Batman watches a few specific alleys a day. And that most criminals under Arkham's watch would never rob a 10-year-old girl, or at least not the ones I came across.

Red Hood, Shade, and I, along with James were on the roof of a building near Wayne Tower, keeping an eye on those drunks, druggies, and perverts sitting on the sidewalk, on the bat's orders, that was what we would do for the rest of the night.

It was actually a pretty boring night. And my team had asked for the weekend off, so I wouldn't be able to escape with them.

"Eclipse, send your shadow to buy me a beer, this is going to go on for a long time," said Jason, who was sitting on that rooftop leaving his feet dangling.

"If Batman gets hurt, would he become Bruised Wayne?" James asked, sliding his finger across his phone screen. Then he got a smack from Assana.

"Don't be an asshole." Shade said, sitting down next to Jason.

"But is it or isn't it?"

"I don't know, don't get philosophical with me, look it up on the Internet." I answered, laughing a little at that bad joke.

That's how almost all our outings were, generally, when we went on Batman's side we never did much, because I was afraid that something would get out of control, it was just watching a group of thugs and that was it. While if we went on behalf of Red Hood, Young Justice, my team, and even with Nightwing, we had more freedom.

"If this takes longer, I'll call Scorpion and Poison, and we'll go drinking." James commented. He was starting to follow in Jason's footsteps, but for me, it was better for him to go drinking with our friends than to go out there unannounced. At least with our mates, there was a way to contact them.

"Invite me, although I'll have to have a juice, honestly I don't feel like spending all night here." I followed him.

"No drinking, going to bars, and coming home late, especially not today. Bruce wants everyone to be at the house tomorrow. And get up early."Jason said in an attempt to keep us on that horrible rooftop.

"I thought you were only staying one night at the mansion," Assana asked, also pulling out her phone.

"And so, if we can't drink, why do you want me to bring you a beer," I asked, pulling out my brother's wallet and checking how much money he had.

"Because I'm of legal age. And you two are barely 18, you shouldn't even be drinking." Jason replied. Standing in front of me. I gave the wallet back to my brother and Jason sat back down.

"Haha, nice." Assana teased. Still looking at the screen of her phone.

Suddenly, in my right hand was already a can of cold beer and a juice, and my shadow returned to my other hand.

"Jane!" Jason warned as he saw me open the can.

"Believe it or not, I did pay. Here's my change." I said, tossing him the coins to try to avoid my father's scolding. "Do you want some?"

"Oh, and you paid with my money, didn't you?" James asked, taking out his wallet to check that he wasn't missing any money.

"I'll pay you back the day we go out to rob another store." I said, only to get hit in the back of the head." If you don't want me to steal, then give me money to pay him." And instead of him giving me at least one bill, he snatched the can in my hand. "You're welcome."

For a strange black smoke to buy beer wouldn't be the strangest thing the citizens had ever seen. Obviously, I would have problems with Batman, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a good breakfast.

The shadows lived with me. They came into my life without my consent. I met them when I least expected it. And I don't think they're going to leave anytime soon.

Princess of Gotham

Summary

The city of the dark knight has always been full of shadows. Everyone feared them and no one tried to understand them. Until she came along.

With revenge on her mind and her worst enemy in her sights, she wouldn't wait for anyone to finish once and for all with the person who gave her life.

First Chapter

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 5: Blackbird

Night fell and with it came the criminals, the insane, and the sociopaths. That was the hour where we put on a mask, not just to hide our identities, and went out into the streets to do the job that the police couldn't do or weren't able to control. The first to go out were Batman and Robin along with Hakan, followed by Nightwing, Red Robin, and Pandora. Lastly, Red Hood, Shade, and me.

Pandora, Shade, Haken, and I were known to be part of a group of young heroes, then still unnamed. A small group of teenagers still in training that did not meet the qualifications to belong to the Teen Titans.

"Do you want to go on foot or on my motorcycle?" I asked Assana, while I passed my hand over my face to put on the visor that was part of my suit with the help of my shadow.

"With how bad you drive when there's traffic on the main avenues, I'd rather steal one of Batman's and drive myself," she answered as she fixed the short cape of the suit I had designed for her when she joined the second version of my team.

"See, I'm not the only one who drives badly," said Jason, arriving next to me with his trademark helmet in hand. "And unfortunately there are only two bikes here, one of the two will have to ride with me if you don't ride together."

"Okay, I'll go with you." As I answered, a huge mass of black smoke that I did not control appeared in front of us.

In a few seconds that smoke dissipated and, instead, a boy a little taller than me, with white skin and black hair appeared. He was wearing a very similar outfit to Jason's, only completely in black and with some silver details.

"I was unconsciously begging for you to show up," said my father, getting off the bike and turning it off for a moment. "I've been waiting for you since morning, what happened?" he came closer to where the three of us were.

His name was James Rhodes. My best friend during my time at the orphanage, my petty shoplifting buddy, and my soon-to-be brother. Jason was trying to adopt him, for reasons I still didn't understand. Whenever I asked him he would tell me it was because we were both very close, and other times he would tell me it was to protect him. Don't get me wrong, I really wanted Jason to adopt him, but there was something very strange.

He also had powers, very similar to mine, because he could transform into a black mass and move from one place to another, sometimes he could even transform into a raven or even a flock of those birds. His hero's name was due precisely to this ability. Blackbird.

And as the family that we were, he was also part of the team, specifically, he was one of the co-founders of that team.

"I wanted to come since last night because I knew Jane would be here, but I had to move up some homework I have to hand in on Monday," he replied as he hugged Jason. Of course, one of the few people with whom my father showed a little more affection was James.

"I forgot for a moment that you're a nerd," I said, trying to annoy him as I placed my dagger in my belt. I headed towards the bike I was supposed to drive, but arms around me stopped me.

"My pretty little sister." He said, lifting me up and pressing me tighter against his chest. "I missed you so much," he spoke again, still not letting go of me.

"We met on Thursday," I said, trying to pull away from the embrace, "Can you let me go," I asked and I knew what the answer was going to be.

"No."

"But we have to go."

"But your girlfriend can wait."

"She's not my girlfriend!" I said, with intense heat settling on my cheeks.

He finally released me, turning to Assana to greet her with much less physical contact.

"Chief, reporting for duty," James said, bowing.

"Yes, yes. Give me $10 and we're good." Assana said, holding out her hand.

"Hurry up or we'll leave you!" Jason shouted, almost starting the bike.

Next Part

Previous Part

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 4: Batcave

Afternoon, the entire family and our guests found ourselves in the "basement" of Wayne Manor, surrounded by computers, tracking devices, and transportation, among other things.

At that time, Olive and I were beginning hand-to-hand combat training, with Jason and Dick evaluating us and the rest just watching. Our parents had forbidden us to use powers for this short training, Olive would obviously follow her father's orders while for me that order went in one ear and out the other.

"Olive, I don't want you to kill your cousin, Jane, I don't want you to kill all of us. " Jason said, to which I looked at him with an offended expression, as we moved into attack position and, unnoticed, I pulled out one of my shadows.

Because yes, we both had powers, a special ability. Olive, had incredible agility, strength, and reflexes, plus she could heal her wounds quickly. But she could also make someone seriously ill or in great pain, giving her a clear advantage. What between us we called Pandora's box.

Whereas I had something like a metagene. This gene allowed me to control beings made of black smoke and shadow, which I could make tangible or intangible at my own convenience. I call it umbra-telekinesis, and that mass, my shadows.

"Go ahead, I give you permission to strike the first blow," Olive said to me, already in position, not expecting me to attack faster than she expected, grazing her right cheek with my left fist.

We spent the next 15 minutes like that, throwing and dodging blows, doing acrobatics to avoid the punch. Or at least it was like that until I held his hand with my shadow to avoid hitting him in the stomach. At that moment Jason interrupted and ended the training.

"Time! We said "no powers" What part of that you didn't understand?" Jason claimed.

"Sorry, but I wanna live," I told him, walking towards the small table where we had towels to dry our sweat.

"At least they lasted 3 minutes longer than last time." He said as he got into a position to fight Grayson.

"Was that it, or did you already want to hit my father?" Olive asked, as she sat down on the floor and got a bottle of water.

"He already wanted to hit Dick," I told her, sitting down next to her and then letting out a small laugh when we heard Dick complaining about the first blow he received.

"Rest awhile, I want to train with you," Assana said to me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"You promise not to get angry if I win," I told her, and then I received a punch. "Ouch!"

Assana sat down next to us so she could watch the first Robins and learn some extra moves.

Assana had been trained by a much more extremist society than the League of Assassins. We had a lot of trouble talking to each other again. Our obsession with power corrupted us and drove us apart. Still, in every fight, she always beat me. I could never defeat her. Her teleportation made it even worse.

Olive on the other hand, though fast, could be knocked out in a matter of seconds, which is why Assana, Callan, and I had volunteered to train her for a few extra hours. Her brute strength had once sent me flying into the wall. Since then, when I know she is about to hit me, I try to stop her.

I, for my part, wanted to become someone who was feared by all the villains of this and other cities, I wanted my father not to worry about me whenever we went out to patrol the streets, I wanted to make Bruce proud of me, I wanted to show Oscar Hart that I was no longer the scared and helpless little girl he left in front of an orphanage. But for that I still needed time, training, winning, and losing a lot.

Next Part

Previous Part

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 3: Family

If I had ever been told I would have a huge room in one of the most luxurious mansions in the country, I would have thought it was silly.

But there I was, waking up at 8 a.m., cursing at the sounds of a dog trying to get into the room. But at the same time, I thanked him, I didn't want to continue with that nightmare. Sleepy, I got out of bed, dressed only in a sweatshirt and sleeping pants.

I looked in the mirror, noticing the drool stain on my face, my hair in knots, and the purple circles under my eyes. I was a mess.

I looked down from my tangle of hair to my eyes. My father's eyes. Green, with those golden sparkles. I looked away, grabbing a lock of my hair, thinking about cutting it again.

Although my hair wasn't as pretty, it reminded me of my mother, when she braided and brushed it. She always told me I had her hair. Straight, black and, back then, long, now it only reached my shoulders.

The noises of the dog made me remember why I had gotten out of bed. I quickly brushed my hair and slipped on some shoes. Jumping over the things I had left lying on the floor, I headed for the door.

"What do you want Titus?" I asked, looking down to get a better look at the black dog sitting right outside his door. "I'm not Damian or Tim. If you want to bother someone, bother your owner or his brother." I squatted down so I could pet the beautiful canine.

"Good morning Jane." Said Tim, with a nervous smile on his face, coming a little closer to my door. "Alfred sent me, breakfast is ready." he extended his hand to help me up, but I didn't take it.

"Hello, Jackson." I greeted, without looking at him. That wasn't the right time or place to talk about our problems, so I just said hello to my father's brother. And apparently, the dog noticed the tension of the moment because he turned to look at me and then tilted his head sideways. "I wanted to go out to the garden before breakfast," I said, starting to walk towards the huge stairs of the mansion.

"Come on, don't deny Alfred the special breakfast he made for you." Said Tim, looking at me as he walked beside me, trying to get me to look him in the face.

"I'm only going because I'm hungry and I didn't eat well last night." was all I answered, ending the conversation.

When we got to the dining room, Titus sat near the door to the kitchen, waiting for a bite to eat. Almost everyone was already seated along with the table. Richard, Olive, Rai, Jason, and Bruce. With half-eaten food on their plates.

I walked into the kitchen so I could wash my hands, there I met my favorite person.

"Good morning," Assana said, coming to my side with a plate of chopped fruit. "Did you fall asleep?" she asked, picking up a piece of strawberry with her fork and bringing it to my mouth.

"I had not slept well for a long time, I needed to rest." I lied and then turned to face her, taking the piece of fruit between my teeth.

I dried my hands and together we headed back to the dining room.

"Good morning Master Tim, Miss Jane, Miss Assana." Alfred greeted kindly as he poured more coffee for Bruce. "Shall I serve you breakfast?"

"If you don't mind." As Tim sat down between Olive and Damian, I jumped up to greet my favorite uncle.

"Finally, the family is back together again," Dick commented, releasing me from that big hug. "I want the four of you to join me on patrol one day," he said, pointing to his daughter, Tim, and me, oh and the little devil.

"You didn't say hello last night," Bruce said, turning to Jason and me, and then taking another sip of his coffee.

"I'm sorry, we were late and didn't want to bother you," I commented, then sat down between Assana and my father.

"Did you get up late too?" Olive asked, laughing a little when she saw Damian's sleepy face, who was helping Alfred with breakfast.

"I want to sleep," he said, "I hate Mondays.

"It's Saturday," said Jason taking the coffee from his older brother.

"I hate you," said Damian and Dick in unison.

A small argument between brothers broke out that morning, being quickly settled after Alfred served them all their respective breakfasts. As we ate, my cousin and I were assailed by several questions posed by the four Wayne brothers.

Next Part

Previous Part

Princess of Gotham

Summary

Extra1: The First Night

Chapter 1: Eclipse

Chapter 2: Wayne Manor

Chapter 3: Family

Chapter 4: Batcave

Chapter 5: Blackbird

Chapter 6: Shadows

Chapter 7: Scorpion and Poison

Chapter 8: Warriors Society

Chapter 9: Plan

Chapter 10: Red Robin

Chapter 11: Father & Daughter

Chapter 12: Sunday & Moral Codes

Chapter 13: Photographs & Warnings

Chapter 14: Meetings & Snakes

Chapter 15: Fear & Secrets

Chapter 16: Heroes or Vigilantes

Chapter 17: Clown Without Jokes

Chapter 18: News in the Woods

Chapter 19: Coffee with Friends

Chapter 20: Bad Days & More Plans

Chapter 21: A Dark Soul

Chapter 22: The First Encounter

Chapter 23: Confidence Movements

Chapter 24: Troubled Family

Chapter 25: Truths & Problems

Chapter 26: What A Bullet Destroys

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 2: Wayne Manor

Wayne Manor. Although it looked cold, empty, and mysterious, if you looked closely you could see that most of the lights were on, and it was still cold, empty, and mysterious.

And with all that, you could make two assumptions. The first was that Bruce would have to pay a lot for the light, but that didn't matter, he's rich or he'd ask his kids to pay for it. And the second was that almost the whole family was gathered there and let's emphasize the almost.

When we got to the gates, I got off the bike rang the bell and we were immediately ushered to the front door. We both greeted Alfred and entered the mansion.

"Young master, young lady. Welcome. Bruce is in his office, the boys are in the living room and Master Grayson is in his room. And there are biscuits in the kitchen." Said that kind butler, leading us upstairs, where most of the rooms he had mentioned were located.

"Cookies!" Shouted someone in one of the rooms, the next thing we heard were the footsteps of someone running.

"I'm just coming to get a few things and then I'll leave. I don't want to spend the night here." Jason said to Alfred once we were in the living room. I couldn't help but be a little sad about it, but I knew it wouldn't do any good to ask him to stay.

A huge room that connected the entire upstairs, used to gather that beautiful and sometimes troubled family. Spread out on the floor were Olive Grayson, Damian Wayne playing some video game from the huge collection that Richard Grayson's adopted daughter had. And the couches were occupied by Assana Jernigan and Rai Hayashi, two kids staying temporarily, and Tim Drake, with a book in his hands and a sleepy look on his face.

The latter was the first to notice his brother's presence. He got up as fast as he could, almost falling in the attempt and tripping over the carpet, and stood in front of us.

"Hello." He greeted, with noticeable nervousness. I wanted to greet him as I used to, hugging him and throwing myself on his back so he could carry me, but my pride was stronger.

"Hello," I replied, as dryly and curtly as I could. "Little devil, can you convince my father to stay? He's drunk and it's already 1 a.m." I asked, turning to Damian and ignoring Tim.

"Stay or I'll kill you," Damian shouted, still not taking his eyes off the TV. "I tried Jane. Ha, I beat you, now pay up." He said to Olive, holding out his hand.

Little Grayson pulled out a $50 bill and handed it to the little ball of hate, then got up and ran to hug me.

Olive Caristeas, a long and complex story. That girl with the pale complexion and long jet hair was actually a biological weapon, stolen by Lex Luthor and, unfortunately, Oscar Hart. Created from a mother box and what at one time would have been the new Pandora's box.

Richard Grayson saved her from becoming an assassin and decided not only to make her his assistant, but also his daughter. She came into the family a few years after me.

"All right, I'll stay. But only tonight. I have to go back to the Outlaws." Jason said reluctantly, then went to his room. When my cousin finished hugging me, she invited me to sit with the others. Assana was the next to throw herself at me.

"How did you find him?" She asked as soon as she let me go.

"You know, wandering around. Rai was the one who told me he saw him coming." I replied, pointing to the boy who was already snoring next to us.

It was a long and complicated story for both of us. Our relationship wasn't always the best, but we both know it wasn't our fault. She never knew her parents. Olive and I offered to let her stay with us for a while until we had rooms in our hideout or until she could find an apartment that suited her needs.

Rai Hayashi was a boy from a well-to-do family until his metagene activated and he accidentally killed his father, aunt, and brother, causing his mother to leave him abandoned on the street. Although Bruce didn't adopt him, he let him stay at the mansion for as long as he wanted.

"Jane, pass me a glass of soda" Damian ordered, not taking his eyes off the screen. Assana pointed to the table next to the couch, where there were soft drinks, chips, popcorn, and cookies.

"At least ask nicely," Tim commented, followed by a loud laugh from Olive. "I'll do it." he got up from his seat and went to pour a glass of soda for his little brother. "Do you guys want some?" He asked Assana and me. We both nodded, and I still didn't look at him.

The rest of the night was spent between blows from the brothers, bad jokes from Olive, and scoldings from Rai for not waking him up. Anyway, the six of us were used to sleeping late into the morning, or at least most of us were. And I definitely enjoyed my nights off, and even more if it was with the family.

Next Part

Previous Part

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 1: Eclipse

Gotham, the city of crime. Where you could be assaulted at every corner. You live in fear of death to more than one psychopath.

Among the shadows of those alleys lit only by the moon and the streets little-traveled wandered with total tranquility, or at least disguised fear.

I did not bother anyone, but everyone bothered me, even the huge sign in the sky for the bat, for the savior of this city.

I stopped as soon as I spotted a motorcycle, and not just any motorcycle, looking for the owner. And, knowing that it had a burglar alarm, I took the shadow and moved it a little, so that in a few seconds, he came out of the fifth-floor bar on the other side of the street.

A tall, black-haired man, quite tall and quite drunk, ran out as soon as he heard that annoying noise coming from his motorcycle. And as soon as he realized who was responsible for interrupting his peace of mind, he relaxed his muscles and put an adorable smile on his face.

-If you wanted to talk to me you would have called, texted, or sent a postcard, you didn't have to cause me to go into cardiac arrest on a Friday night.- said Jason Todd, as he pulled the keys out of the bike and turned off the alarm.

-It's good to see you too, Father.- I replied. I sat down on the sidewalk, making room for the man who had adopted me years ago to join me, in a silence that was not at all uncomfortable, just admiring the street lights.

-When did you arrive?- I asked him, restraining my desire to hug him. It had been a long time since I had seen him. One day he took his things and left, leaving me alone. And as soon as I found out he was in town, I couldn't help looking for him in the places he frequented most.

-About two hours ago, I didn't know if you were at Wayne Manor, at the apartment, or with Major Arcana*.- he replied as he took a pack of cigarettes out of his leather jacket and then threw it on the floor.

After a few years of taking care of me, Todd started to give up some habits that were harmful to him, because they also affected me. But some things are hard to give up.

His little Jane Todd. The biological daughter of Oscar Hart, a not so well-known but very dangerous criminal. That cruel man had left me in an orphanage after my mother was murdered in front of us when I was just 6 years old.

I spent many years in that place, with little food, not sleeping well, getting sick every month, running away at night, and stealing from convenience stores so my friends wouldn't suffer from hunger, 6 years passed until a strange man arrived at the orphanage, greeting the owner of that place as if they had known each other for years.

An attack on that place by an enemy of Red Hood, almost ended my life, being wounded by that guy. From that day on Jason decided to give me his last name and gave me all the protection that the second son of Bruce Wayne could have.

-What are you thinking about?- Jason asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. It's not like I don't dive into my mind very often, but he more than anyone else knew what inner demons were.

-I thought about what my life would be like if you hadn't adopted me four years ago.- I replied. -I was just checking to see if you had arrived and if you were okay.- I stood up and shook out my pants. I put a hand in the pocket of my sweatshirt, reaching for the copy of the keys he had forgotten, and gave them to him. -Olive invited me to the Mansion, apparently, they are having a little sleepover, tomorrow morning I will go to the apartment.

-I'll take you there. I need some documents I forgot in my room and I need to talk to Bruce.- Jason said as he got up and took the keys out of the motorcycle.

-But I'm driving.

-No

-You're a bad driver.

-No

-If I fall off in the middle of the road it's your fault.

Next part

Note: I used a translator for this, if there's anything wrong, feel free to tell me. I don´t have the long dash in my laptop's keyboard so, sorry for that

PRINCESS OF GOTHAM

I think I'm gonna post my Wattpad story in English here. Maybe with some corrections or grammar mistakes, but whatever.

Just a little apology, my main character is a meta-human and I think there's a part of the fandom that is against this because the whole "Gotham doesn't have metas". When I started creating my oc's I was beginning in the DC fandom, so I didn't know a lot of things, and personally it'll be a big chance in character development.

I would be eternally grateful if you give me a chance and read my story.

For the Spanish version, it's already published at my Wattpad profile, you can search me as @/Rochely1702 or by the post I made here in Tumblr a few days ago.

Para la versión en español de esta historia, ya está publicada en mi perfil de Wattpad, pueden buscarme como @/Rochely1702 o por el post que hice hace unos días aqui en Tumblr.