-Athena's POV-

The Joker couldn't of planned out a better time for me to rendezvous with him. All the other Bat Boys would be busy and I could make it look I was actually doing something good. I wondered if Joker had paid off Crane or something.

"Nice to see you again, Nightin-snail," Joker spat out a horrible laugh. Every time I glimpsed his ugly yellow teeth and pale skin, I felt like knocking his jaw out of place.

"Call me that again, and you won't be able to laugh." My gun was practically raising itself at the stupid clown. Joker raised his hands and pulled out a chair. Taking the seat, he smiled -- without his teeth -- and scooted a blueprint my way.

"I have a plan. One that Nygma managed to cough up. It will help us take down the Bat," he pointed at the first sketch, "You see, we can use the other Rogues to make you seem completely innocent. Then, using this project, we can make Batman seem like he is the bad guy to the whole city!"

"What about getting rid of his girlfriend? A source told me that there was a woman who sleeps with the Boss and collects the money."

"Which source told you that?"

"Even if I trusted you, I still wouldn't tell you. We need to go after that girl that hangs around with Batman. The one in the black spandex that we arrested. Or maybe the one with the red hair? Or that dumb bimbo in red and black what was her name?"

"Harley, Harley Quinn. Pleased to meet ya," the girl I arrested at the jewelry store walked out from the shadows. She cracked a smile that mimicked her crazy counterpart and blew a kiss his way. "Didcha miss me, puddin? 'Cause I missed ya!" She squealed, running at Joker. He rolled his eyes as she flung her arms around his neck.

"Daddy's busy, darling. So, get off!" Joker said, gritting his teeth. He shoved Harley off of his lap and pushed the blueprint at me again.

"If you're busy with Quinn, I have other things to do." I looked at the girl behind me as she danced around. She snarled at me like a rabid dog when I turned around. Wow, she is crazy. The couple almost is too perfect.

"According to the plan, Harley was supposed to be in jail like how you arrested her to be. She is so annoying sometimes," Joker frowned for a moment and then flashed me another freaky grin, "but it's okay. She'll be dead within the month if she doesn't get back to Arkham."

"Okay, I'm gonna go. I'll talk to the Bat's girlfriend. And, by the way, I've got Grayson in the bag." With a smirk, I retreated from the warehouse and back into the skyline.

I rested on a nearby building. Pulling up a computer, I began researching through all of Batman's files. There was nothing besides business information on the girls in his database. And there were a lot of girls who sounded like they would be together. There was Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Kate Kane, and even Princess Diana. I only had one choice. One awkward choice that would get me what I wanted to know.

"Are you busy, Grayson?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Um," a kick and punch was heard in the back, "kinda. What's up?"

"I'm following a lead. I already handled the Joker business that Batman assigned me, so I'm working on something else. Where is Batman's lover?"

"Catwoman? I thought she was still in jail," Grayson stopped and more fighting was heard.

"I'll go looking. Thanks." I hung up quickly and ran off the side of the building. Screams yipped at me from below. I took a quick look down, but decided to ignore. I wasn't a stop-what-I'm-doing-to-save-people type of hero anyway.

I spent about an hour checking the closest jails for Catwoman. But, she wasn't there. I might've arrested her, but she definitely broke out. While I was flying around, I managed to see a small movement of a shadow near the church. Landing on the building silently, I approached the shadow with caution.

"Come out, Kyle," I growled. Out from the shadows, the panther crept. She had her same skin tight black costume as well as her orange goggles. She had gloves that looked like claws and had a whip hanging over her shoulder.

"Oh look, another birdie. You know, cats love to chase birds," she purred. Selina Kyle seemed so show more interest in approaching me than trying to get away. I didn't like it when criminals thought that they were better than me.

"I am not scared of you, Catwoman. I need to ask you some questions," I stepped forward, "since you handle all the money, why do you still steal?"

"Because I like it. The chase and the thrill of taking other people's stuff makes me what I am."

"Why does Batman trust than, if you're a criminal?"

"Trust me? Ha! He puts me in jail just as much as you do, sugar," Catwoman smiled and winked. "I've got to be going, actually, before Batman does find me."

"You aren't going anywhere." I stepped in and pulled out my two pistols. Catwoman looked down at them and gasped.

"Aren't you cape n' cowl types not supposed to use guns?" She crossed her arms and smiled.

"I don't wear a cape or cowl and I am not like the other Gotham bats."

"You remind me of a little me. But, seriously, I have to go."

Catwoman began to run away, so I tried to chase her. But, as she wiggled her way into heavy crowds -- ones that I had no way of  getting through -- I lost her. I swore under my breath and headed back home.

"Alfred," I said, "are the other's still out?"

"No, Ms. Victoria, Tim and Bruce returned a few hours ago to train. I think Master Dick is out searching for apartments."

"Alright, thank you. I'm going out again. Don't wait up." I ignored Alfred's protests for me to stay.

I had scoped out another target to hit inside of the Black Sharks. I needed to hit the gang hard again since I had lost Batman's best mate and partner. Apparently, Bruce had an assistant. That assistant handled the people who rebelled against the rules of the Sharks and who would cause trouble. No doubt he was the one who killed my parents.

The guy lived in a guarded apartment. One that was a huge mansion and had cameras, guards, and dogs to defend it. Of course, most of the members of the gang had houses that were very similar, but this one was extremely guarded.

I snuck into a tree that hung over the house to get a vantage point. There were cameras on each corner of the two visible levels, above the three entrances, and the parking lot. Guards patrolled every space where the cameras were. The house hung off the side of the cliff, overlooking the city. I could try to sneak up from the bottom of the cliff, but the camera at the back door would see me as well as the guard.

I carefully pulled out a Batarang I had stolen from Bruce's endless supply. Aiming at the camera guarding the left wing of the house, I hit it with the Batarang. It crashed with only a small noise from the impact of the weapon. I hopped off of the tree and onto the roof then dropped down right in front of the broken camera.

"Hey!" The guard shouted when he came around the corner. I turned around slowly and smiled innocently. "You're not supposed to be here!" He ran forward to attack. I flipped over him, grabbing his neck. I snapped it and landed in one swift motion. I tossed the body over and looked at the next camera.

Before I could attack it, a metal object came flying through the air and hit it before me. I looked at the object to see it was in the shape of a bird. That only meant one thing...

"Grayson," I whispered, "what are you doing here?" He landed beside me and smirked.

"Alfred told me you left and he put a tracker on you. He advised me to go after you to see what you were doing, so I did. Plus, you killed a guy," Dick smiled and pointed at the body that was now tumbling down the mountain.

"Yeah, well, he would've reported me."

"You aren't supposed to kill people!"

"Whatever, Mom. Now, can you leave? I have work to do." I crept around the corner only to turn around to see Grayson following me. Sighing, I decided to ignore him. A group of guys were approaching from the lower level to check on their fallen comrade. I pulled out my pistol and snapped a silencer on it. Nightwing grabbed my wrist and shook his head.

He moved in front of me and pulled out a small pellet looking item. The guards came around the corner just as gas exploded out of the pellet. Unlike my silencer, the pellet made a loud noise when it started spraying gas. Even though those four guys Grayson took out were unconscious, the sound attracted all the guards on duty. And they no doubt had guns.

"Good thinking there, jackass. Now we have twice as many armed guards!" I slapped his arm, no longer caring how loud I was.

Guards poured from the stairs, unleashing a swarm of bullets. I jumped out of the way right before they could hit me. My pistols would be nothing compared to their automatics. I pulled out my favorite weapons -- out of my personal armory on me -- my katanas. My favorite weapon of all time would of course be a rocket launcher, but I didn't have that on hand.

I punched the closest guard to me in the face and sliced another one. As I tossed one over my shoulder, I grabbed his partner to use as a human shield as the other guy shot him in the gut. Then, I used my boot to kick the guy's gun into his face -- knocking him out cold. More guards approached. Where are they all coming from!? I thought.

"Nightwing, this is all your fault!" I screamed in fury, biting the clip off of a grenade and tossing it down over the edge to explode a hole in the floor. That should stop the flood of bad guys.

"Hey, you could kill someone with that grenade!" Grayson yelled back.

"That's the point!" I flipped over a group of people to land right beside Dick. We were back to back in the middle of a huge group of defenders. "Fuck."

"At least try to act like a superhero and be classy."

"I hate you."

At once, everyone lunged forward. I jumped up and landed on the shoulders of one of the guys. I grabbed his head and flung him to the ground as my foot met someone's face. I stabbed my swords through two guys. They fell on the floor on top of each other, allowing for a perfect stepping stool. I jumped on the bodies and did a kick split, hitting two guys with each boot.

"He's getting away!" I exclaimed, looking up at the helicopter that was starting to fly off. I grabbed onto the roof and ran toward the fleeing helicopter. I dove off the cliff, barely grabbing the landing gear on the plane with thumb, first finger, and middle finger. I managed to get both hands secured and tried to pull myself up as the plane was flying. A claw wrapped around the landing gear right beside me, Dick attached to it.

"Get off!" The assistant -- Monty, an old Joker henchman -- swatted at my hands. I didn't feel a thing through my gloves as he tried to step on my fingers. He pulled out a knife and tried to stab my finger. I moved it before he can hit me as I try to stay on. Nightwing was trying to stop Monty from swatting at me, but Monty had guards with him too. I got butted in the head with the end of a gun, making me fall off. Everything went black and blurry as I tried to recover from what was probably a concussion. I fell down through the air, trying to figure out what was happening. Just as I realize my probable death, I felt a hand wrap around my waist.

I blinked my eyes to see that I was face to face with Grayson. He seemed completely focused on trying to get us back into the city. He swung from tree to tree until his grapple eventually caught the side of a skyscraper. My hand was pressed to his chest, caressing his bird emblem. The bright lights of Gotham pulled me out of my trance. I glanced around, but the helicopter was nowhere in sight. Monty got away.

"He got away," I mumbled to myself. Grayson looked down at me, cracking a small smile. I glared at him. "Let me go, I hate being carried like I'm a victim."

"You got hit pretty hard, if I let you go, you'll run into a building or something," he laughed, gripping my hip tightly. He held me with his left arm, his other one holding the grapple.

"Let me go, Grayson," I ordered, trying to get out of his grip. He shook his head, chuckling again. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "I hate you."

"I just saved your life, Princess. I would be grateful," he teased. I looked down on the city as we flew through the sky. It was calmer tonight. I never realized how beautiful it was. Usually, it felt like a city made up of craziness and crime. But, this time, I could actually appreciate how pretty it could be. The lights glinted off of the windows of the skyscrapers, mimicking the stars in the ebony sky. From where Dick and I were, it looked like someone spilled some brilliant orange and neon yellow paints all over a dark, black canvas. I smiled small to myself.

"Let's get you inside for Alfred to look at you," Dick said, leading me inside the Batcave from the secret entrance outside the city. I tapped back into reality and shoved his arms off me.

"I can do it myself. I'm not a helpless, little girl that you can control."

"But--"

"And I'm not your girlfriend either," I spat, brushing past him. Alfred hurried into the cave, stopping as he saw me leave.

"Miss Victoria, wait!"

Dick chased after me, grabbing my arm to stop me in the kitchen. I elbowed him hard in the chest.

"What's your problem? You're acting like such a bitch!" Dick called out.

"Shut up, Grayson! You fucked up my mission! I didn't ask for your help, I didn't want your help, I don't need your help!" I roared. Dick's face glowed red and his eyebrows scrunched up.

"You're the one who always kills people! You obviously needed my help! God, you're so selfish!"

"You let Monty get away! You let my target escape! You always fuck up everything I do! It started with when I first got here and now you are purposely ruining everything I do because...because I won't be one of your fucking whores!"

"Maybe if you gave a damn about anyone but yourself--"

"But, you see, I don't!"

"SHUT UP!!!!" Howled Tim. I snapped to my right to see him with his fists balled up on the side of his head. "Stop fighting for once! Please!"

"Well, maybe if Grayson wasn't such of an assho--"

"Stop! Dick, you need to stop getting in Victoria's way and blaming her for everything. And Victoria, if you want to be in this family and in this house, you need to stop being so selfish and acting like you don't want to be here. Dick is right, you are being really selfish. We get it, you can do things alone, but that doesn't mean you have to turn down help!" Tim's voice was as loud as Bruce's when he was mad.

"You know what, Tim? You're right. I don't want to be here. Or in this family." I stormed past the three boys standing in the kitchen.

"Vic, wait--" Tim said, reaching out.

I tugged the door open and slammed it hard. Hopping on the motorcycle I claimed, I zoomed off into the city.

After getting far enough in the city that they wouldn't be able to find me, I parked the bike in the new armory I set up in the city. It was a few blocks down from the ice cream shop I used to work at. I grappled away into the skyline after ditching the bike. I stopped on the top of a building and used my wrist computer to scan my uniform. Once it picked up a tiny tracker on the back of my utility belt, I held it between my fingers and crushed it.

I blindlessly landed on a skyscraper and thought back to the only family I really ever had. My parents' faces came to my mind. They smiled carelessly. I missed them more than I ever wanted to admit.

~~~~~~~~Hahahaha, drama and romance and action. Like I promised, no? ;)))) More to come, guys, more to come! This book is like sooooooooo far from being done and Dick and Athena are only just now getting you know...jiggy. But, yeah...vote, comment, or follow if you aren't already!~~~~~~~~