"Too alarming now
to talk it out, Take your pictures down and shake it out."

Gotham City
December 15, 22:30 EST

Then...

Barbara waited. She always did. The cold winter air made her face flush and her nose crimson.  She huffed out a puff of air, white mist exited her mouth.

She glanced at her watch on her wrist. Late again. She thought as she strained her neck, glancing around for her commissioner father.

"Barb!" A voice yelled. She craned her neck to see her father running toward her in an unfashionable manner.

Her father slowed to a jog as he reached the bench currently she sat on.

"Barb, I'm sorry I can't stay long, there's been a security breach in the bank. I'm sorry I know how much this dinner meant to you." Her father said.

Barbara sighed, "It was expected, which is why I asked my friends to come pick me up, go help your fellow officers." She lied through her teeth, acting as if this whole ordeal didn't bother her. She'd been through this since her mother left them.

James Gordon smiled kindly at his daughter, "I'm a lucky father to have you as my understanding daughter."

Barbara smiled, "Okay, okay, enough of the mush, don't you have somebody to catch?"

Her father nodded, "Yes, I love you Barb!" He yelled as he began running the other way, away from Barbara's figure.

Barbara sighed, "Just like last year, and the year before that."

She merely hailed a cab, asking to be taken to her apartment. Her mind wondered as they passed several buildings, one in particular caught her eye. Of course it always did.

Wayne Enterprises. Office of Billionaire Bruce Wayne. Famous for "engineering the future" so their motto stated.

Barbara felt a warm, fuzzy feeling grip her heart. Her mind went to a certain blue-eyed, black haired boy, the adopted heir.

She shook her head, getting back to reality. She quickly payed the cabbie and went to her apartment.

The warmth flowed over her body as she entered. She sighed in relief.

She turned on the TV and switched the channel to the news station, all while gathering her things for her job.

"GCPD is currently on move as they chase an armed gunman and his accomplice down Central Ave."

Barbara rolled her eyes, tugging off her coat and other belongings, changing into her suit.

She turned off the TV. Opening her window from the fire escape, she smiled. Her green eyes sparkled brightly and a small glint of excitement was seen within the hues.

"Lets get this show on the road."

-Linebreak-

The one thing Barbara loved the most about crimefighting, was the rush. The feeling she'd get when challenged by someone, or the wind rapidly echoing in her ears.

Her mask covered her face, it kept her enemies from discovering her identity. Of course there were a selective few who could piece together her identity, but she often had them knocked out before they could.

She shot a grapple hook on a nearby building, timing her leap with the get-away car.

The building disappeared beneath her feet, only the sound of air whirling past her ears. The thud of her boots hitting the roof of the car made her smirk. After all, this was often the fun part, for her at least.

"Yo boss someone's up on the roof!" A man yelled.

The driver groaned, "Shoot em' off, Ricky!"

The said gunman made the mistake of showing his face first, Barbara grabbed the sides of his face and slammed it into the car, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, a tipsy smile on the man's face, before he slumped.

"Ricky, You get em'?" The driver asked.

Barbara swung herself inside the open window of the passenger side.

"If you mean me. Not by a long shot." She said.

The man yelped in shock. His focus on the road lost as the car began to swerve.

"Really? I would've thought a man like yourself would know the basic rules of driving. Hands at ten and two mister!" She yelled, her fist collided with his nose.

The man screamed in pain. "What the fuck!"

Barbara pouted, "You're no fun." She sent another fist to his face, this time she sent it to his jaw.

The man fell limp, she quickly took him out of the seat and tossed him into the backseat along with Ricky. She gripped the wheel, turning into an alley, where she knew was a dead-end.

She pressed the brake, stopping just before the car crashed into the wall. She let out a breath that she didn't know she held as she drove.

"I'm so glad I already have my driver's license." She mumbled under her breath. Her ears picked up the distant sounds of sirens. She climbed out the car, using her grapple hook to get to the roof in the quickest way possible, besides flying.

Flying like Cassie and Conner did.

Her heart clenched at the thought of her friends. She had not seen them since the team left their separate ways for Christmas break with their respective parents.

She quickly composed herself, instead opting to run back home, and not think of the way The Team worked so well in unison.

She quickly found a new route to take, when in a hurry home, down an abandoned building. She felt weightless as she jumped, adrenaline still in her system. A smile adorned her masked face as she landed on her fire escape, crawling inside her home.

She quickly grabbed a few clothes, shutting the window and curtains. She headed straight into her bathroom. She slid out of her suit.

Barbara turned on the shower, letting the warm water slide down her body. Sighing deeply, she faintly heard her phone ringing. She quickly showered and got out, wrapping a towel around herself. Her phone lay on her bed, she frowned as she saw an unknown number. As well as the time. Who would call her this late at night?

"Hello?" She answered hesitantly.

"Barbara, it's me."A deep voice said. Her first assumption was Bruce.

"Bruce?" She asked. The voice on the other side laughed.

"Okay, does Babs ring a bell?" It teased. Only one person called her that.

"Richard?" She asked. Her heart betrayed her, her mind told her that she didn't care, but her heart....it had other plans. It began to race, suddenly Barbara felt like her 12 year old self, not her usual calm, collected, 16 year old self.

She always told herself she didn't feel this way for him, but he was her first crush that wasn't a scientist, the first boy she kissed, the one that saw her in tears, the one who stayed up with her, the one she grew up with.

"Babs, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." He said.

Barbara blinked, before she chuckled, "Did you and Wally rig a prank in my house again?" She began a search around her bed, watching for any indication for a hidden trap.

She heard Richard sigh deeply.
"No Babs, n-not that. I just feel like saying I'm sorry." His voice sounded strange to her, almost tearful.

The back of her mind told her instantly that something was wrong.

"Dick...what's going on?" Barbara felt herself panic internally. He never sounded this way.

"I'm sorry Babs." He merely said, then the line went dead.

Barbara's eyes widened, she then pulled on some jeans and a shirt, along with her shoes, running out locking her apartment as she went over to her motorcycle. She quickly pulled her helmet on, and raced the traffic to Wayne manor.

As she arrived she didn't bother with her bike. She merely ran, Alfred opened the door just as she went up.

"Miss Gor-" He didn't finish greeting her, she had already ran past him. She knew this house more then then her own. She hurried up the stairs.

She pushed the door where Richard resided open. Her heart broke as she stumbled in and saw a desolate room. No posters, no bed, no clothes, nothing.

She felt lost for a brief moment. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a reason why Dick would leave her without an explanation.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She held a hand to her mouth, not wanting to sob. Losing someone, like this, without explanations or even cause, felt horrifying. Her heart felt as if it was tearing apart, down to its chambers. During that brief moment, she knew how a parent felt to lose a child, a sibling losing a sibling, a lover losing a lover. At this point, Alfred came up.

"Master Grayson left this note for you, Miss Gordon. And my sincerest apologizes." He said, before he left.

Barbara held the letter carefully, but then rage and bitterness filled her heart. She merely stuffed the letter in her back pocket.

The sound of her rapid footsteps echoed through the house. She stormed out the house, tears falling freely down her pale cheeks. She furiously wiped them away; nevertheless, they kept falling.

Her bike was seen wondering the streets, until she made it to her apartment. She closed the door, once she did, she leaned her back against the door. Her body sunk down, her head on knees, she began to calm her breathing, to make sure she was able to reason again.

Once she was able to, she got up and went to her room. She pulled out the letter from her pocket, at this point her hands were shaking. The letter was scrawled in messy handwriting that made her nostalgic.

Dear Babs,
I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, you were so happy, I didn't want to ruin it.
I'm leaving Gotham, and before you think it's because of you, it's not.
I can't stay in Gotham, Bruce and I have had disagreements since that day. You have to let me go. I'll miss you.

Sincerely Richard

Barbara's eyebrows knitted in confusion. She still didn't understand why. Barbara ran a hand through her red hair.

She folded the letter neatly, before she went over to the burning fireplace, and tossed the letter in. Let me go. He had written, so she would. Starting with the last reminder of him.

The ambers of the page rose upward. Barbara didn't cry, never again. She couldn't, not right now, especially now that Bruce was without a successor. She promised herself not to cry again silently as the ashes faded into nothing.

Gotham City
August 15 08:45 EDT

Now....

Barbara breathed in the late summer air. Her backpack hung on one shoulder. Senior year. Finally.

Cassie ran up to Barbara. Zatanna, Karen, and Kira all followed, only not as eager as Cassie Sandsmark.

Cassie's blond hair bellowed around her, "Barbara Gordon! You have some explaining to do!"

Barbara sighed, rolling her eyes at her former teammate. "I don't have to explain anything, Cass."

Zatanna chuckled, "Right." Sarcasm embedded in her words.

Kira smirked, her tall figure towered over the rest of the girls, though it was expected being Kryptonian. The rest were similar sizes, Zatanna and Barbara nearly being the same height, Cass slightly shorter along with Karen.

Kira smiled, "It's cute how you believe we are even giving you a choice on the matter." Her blue eyes glinted with mischief.

Barbara sighed heavily, "I don't want to talk about it." She said before making her way to the school's doors.

Z shared a look with Barbara. Barbara sighed and shook her head mouthing, later.

Z nodded. Barbara walked up the steps, she dimly remembered Richard carrying her on his back as Wally carried Artemis, racing across the building until Wally had tripped, making the four teens stumble before they all flew out the school doors. Of course those were better days.

Her heart clenched at the memory. For Barbara, those memories seemed ages ago.

She quickly went to her first class, Forensics. Of course her father never wanted to let his only daughter become an officer, but he couldn't necessarily choose her classes.

As she walked in, she noticed another familiar face amount the crowd. Blond hair, green-blue eyes, tan skin along with rakish good looks made up what is: Stefan Falcone. Adopted Heir of the Falcone fortune, and of course, one of the most kind, loyal person Barbara had ever met. Which said a lot, this was Gotham after all.

Stefan waved goodbye to his friends at their desk, walking over to the teen genius, Barbara Gordon.

"Hello Barbara, how was your summer at Gotham University? I see that your skin tanned."

Barbara smiled, "Well it was a very nice experience, Stefan thanks for asking."

Stefan smiled kindly, "I was trying to start up a conversation, only I can't really start a conversation." He said shyly. A bubble of laughter erupted from Barbara's throat.

"You do understand that you don't have to be a scientist to start a conversation with me? Right?" Amusement danced in her green eyes. A smile on her features.

Stefan laughed good-naturedly, "I just figured considering how much of a genius you are in Biology, and Geometry, and Chemistry, and Physiolo-"

Barbara held her hand up to stop his ranting, "Stefan, I'm not that intelligent." She said. Her modesty taking over.

Stefan stifled a snort, "Are you on some other planet? Do you not understand that you are in the running for Valedictorian, and you're winning.....by a landslide?"

Barbara gave him a shrug, "Not until now. And wasn't Jenny in that Valedictorian thing?"

Stefan shook his head, "She got drunk with that....Jayden guy. That huge football player?" He pointed out a giant teen who looked like Dwayne Johnson had a son and had given him steroids.

"Yeah, got Jenny expelled." Barbara nodded, one of the things that happened if you were caught with drugs and alcohol on Gotham Academy, instant expulsion and no readmission afterwards.

Barbara raised a brow, "Why is Jayden still here?"

Stefan leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Some say he bribed the superintendent, others say it's because of his athletic record."

Barbara rolled her eyes at Stefan, "Right."

The teacher cleared his throat, "Class, today we are going to analyze a bullet's structure and be able to determine the gun type from it." Stefan went over and sat down in his seat. " Now open your text books to page 350, the graph demonstrates the different bullets, I want you to analyze each difference you see in each."

Barbara skimmed over the graph quickly, noting each small difference between them.

The teacher, then clipped a shirt with actual bullet holes. Mr. Harrison turned to the class, "I want you to get in groups of three."

Everyone went around pairing up with their friends, though Barbara couldn't say anything, Stefan went to Barbara.

"I think the F.B.I wants us to solve their crimes now." He said, gesturing to the shirt.

Barbara noticed that they were the only group of two.

"Barbara, Stefan I want you to come up and analyze this and tell me what you believe happened." Mr. Harrison said.

Barbara and Stefan shared a glance before they walked up to the board.

Barbara's eyes squinted as she noted the size of each hole.
.38 on each. She smiled. Stefan watched Barbara.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

Barbara nodded, "Yes..."

"Revolver." They whispered in unison.

"It has to be a .38 Special is usually used in Revolvers." Barbara noted, her brain doing the work for her.

Mr. Harrison cleared his throat. "Tell me what was use to shoot this shirt?"

Barbara smiled, "A Revolver was used, the bullet is a .38 Special or Colt Special. My guess, someone higher class, usually those types of handguns are used by upper class citizens, it's extremely accurate to take out anyone or competition and can be hidden under overcoats that many gentlemen wear."

Mr. Harrison smiled, "How did you get all that from bullet holes?"

Barbara point out a small detail. "You said analyze, I did, the weapon had to be close range, there's some gunpowder residue on the clothing. Gunpowder specific to a bullet."

Mr. Harrison nodded, "Very good, Miss Gordon, hope you can be a part of the Force."

Barbara looked away, "Yeah." At the mention of the Force her heart flattered.

You may have a seat." The Bell rang, "Now everyone, I want you to read chapters 4 and 5 by Friday, there will be a quiz on Friday over this, class dismissed."

Barbara sighed, she gathered her things before heading to her next class.

~Linebreak~

It hardly ever occurred to Barbara when she would ask her father about joining the Force. She was old enough and finally tall enough.

During dinner as she made the spaghetti, she asked, "Dad, can I ask you a serious question?"

James raised a brow, "Sure sweetheart, what is it?" He turned the page of the newspaper.

Barbara bit her lip nervously, "Can I join the Force? I'm old enough and I meet the height requirements."

James placed the newspaper down, he started chuckling, he then caught Barbara's fuming figure.

"Oh, you were being serious?" He asked, eyes wide in surprise.

Barbara's green eyes narrowed toward her father, "What's so funny?"

James cleared his throat, "It's just you can't be an on-field officer."

Barbara raised her eyebrow, "You think I want to be an officer? No, Dad I want to be a detective!" She placed the plate full of spaghetti down.

James shook his head, "No, I won't allow it."

Her figure shook in rage, "No? What about James Jr?! You let him go into the field and look at him! While I sit in a chair in some old library, collecting dust like the books!"

James swallowed hard, the anger had entered his system, he leaped to his feet, his hands slammed on the table. Shaking everything on it. "That is exactly why Barbara! He is insane now! And why?! The Joker took interest in my son! My son! I can't have the same thing happen to you!"

All at once, the burning rage that had spiked through Barbara's veins vanished. All the anger she felt for being sheltered more then her brother depleted.

James' demeanor slumped, his gaze downward toward the table.

Barbara caught wind that the conversation was over. She sighed, putting up her plate, quickly washing the dishes before she headed to get her things. Pulling on her jacket, she went out the door.

Her father stared at her leaving figure sorrowfully. He sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair as the sound of a bike echoed throughout the empty house.

Barbara raced through the city, her bike revving as her speed continued to increase.

All she could feel was the air whipping her hair. Her anger at the world increased, but she didn't notice the world coming right at her.

She only felt the impact, her eyes went shut. The car had ran a red light, she hadn't noticed either, only noticing the green light of hers.

She expected pain, but it never came. Her eyes opened slightly, she noted two things. One) her bike was totaled, two) there was a man holding her by her waist.

Her gaze drifted upward, only to be meet by a masked man. She felt the rooftop underneath her feet. She stumbled a bit, falling on her knees.

The man rushed forward, "Are you alright? Does anything feel broken? Do I need to take you to the hostipal?" He seemed more worried about her then any other hero she had met.

Barbara turned around her hands supporting her as she sat up. The man wore a black Kevlar suit. Along his chest a blue insignia of a bird of flight.

"What are you supposed to be?" She asked.

"Just a guy wearing a suit." He then noticed she had meant his name. "The name's Nightwing."

"Thanks for the save back there." She said, she glanced down at the accident, several people below pointed up toward the building they stood on.

"I have to go." She said, she ran toward the side of the building, Nightwing's eyes widened.

"What are yo-" She flipped over the ledge, turning her body in midair and sliding down the frozen latter.

Jogging to her bike, she paused as she saw the wreckage fully. She winced, "Damn, I could've been paralyzed."

A crowd gathered she bent down to the bike, or rather what was left.

"Did anyone called the cops?" A voice asked. Barbara turned to see Nightwing asking the question.

She rolled her eyes, "My dad is the cop." She pulled out her phone, glad that it was not damaged.

"Hello?" Answered a gruff voice.

"Dad, I hate to say this, but I was in a wreck." She waited for her father to start yelling at her. Nothing.

"I'll be right there." Then the line went dead.

Nightwing tapped her shoulder, he cleared his throat, "Do you need a lift?"

Barbara sighed, shaking her head, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Nightwing nodded, "Be safe next time." He said, almost confusing the commissioner's daughter. He said it almost as if he knew her personally.

The next thing Barbara knew, he was gone. She shrugged, and waited for her father to show up.

-Author's Note-

Over the course of this novel there will be challenges of sorts for those of you who wish to become a part of the DC universe, that is if you dare...
1st challenge: Name the song lyrics and the band name in the beginning, without using the Internet.
On that side note, Yes, I do understand Barbara being a bit odd, but I'm trying to get into the swing of things. Hopefully you guys enjoy the chapter, and stay in tune for the next!