After they broke apart from their hug in the middle of the diner, Dick invited her back to their place for the night. He wanted to get to know his little sister again. Tara only agreed because it would have been weird for her to confess this then just say, "Nope, can't tell you everything yet so bye! See you at school on Monday."

They walked until they got on a bus that would stop closer to the nicer end of town, from there they would walk.

As Dick used his key to open the front door of Wayne Manor, they both stopped but for different reasons. Dick heard conversation from the kitchen between Alfred and Bruce, each with a hint of worry in their voices. Tina on the other hand marveled at the sight in front of her, it was beautiful even without the decorations from the ball. The ball... where she had intruded... robbed people senseless... and used her own brother as a hostage. Tina shook her head clearing her mind of everything and focusing on what was going on now. She had finally gotten her brother back.

"Master Richard?" Alfred calls from the kitchen.

"Yeah its me!" Dick shouts back.

"Oh good, you were late so we got worried," Bruce said coming out of the kitchen with Alfred.

"You know you don't have to worry. And I am sorry, I had something important to do," Dick answers putting his arm around Tina. Tina smiles and punches him lightly on the shoulder.

"I see you brought a guest!" Alfred exclaims as Bruce and him walk closer.

"Who might she be?" Bruce asks expecting to get a slight glair from his ward for acting like an overprotecting father but is surprised when he gets a nervous look then a laugh from his ward.

"I am so sorry for not introducing myself Mr. Wayne. It is kind of a long story but here I will start over. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person Mr. Wayne. My name is Tina, I am Dick's younger sister," Tina says holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Oh my," Alfred says taken aback a little.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tina. Why don't you come in? I would love to get to know my ward's sister," Bruce says shaking Tina's out stretched hand.

"Can she stay the night? We don't have school tomorrow," Dick asks Bruce.

"It's fine with me, it's up to Tina," Bruce says starting to walk towards the kitchen.

Dick looks at Tara with a pleading look.

"I don't know Dick, I was supposed to..." But seeing his sad look she sighed and said with a smile, "Nevermind. Of course I'll stay over. I've heard a lot about Alfred's cooking, can't wait to try it."

"Awesome!" Dick shouts.

They all walk toward the kitchen where Alfred is heating up some soup he made earlier and everyone looks at Tara waiting for her to start talking. When she doesn't know where to start Bruce begins the conversation.

"So Tina. I didn't even know Dick had a younger sister."

"Really? Dick I feel like I should be offended you never even told your new family about me," Tina says sending a glare in Dick's direction.

"I never mentioned her? It was hard to adjust and it was a lot of change and I guess I never wanted to talk about my old life a lot cause it made it harder to cope," Dick responds while rubbing a hand to the back of his neck.

"I was kidding. I understand. I also had a hard time moving on, but after about 2 months I was able to with the help of the people around me," Tina tells her brother.

"So tell us about yourself Tina," Bruce says leaning on the counter across from where Dick and her are sitting.

"Well as you already know, I'm Dick's younger sister. I'm two years younger than him and I had actually never performed in the circus cause I couldn't do all the acts. I was always behind the curtains though and always willing to practice with Dickie on non show days," Tina starts to explain. It's hard for her cause she can't tell them everything but Dick does know some things about her.

"Wow. I haven't been called Dickie in years," he says a little pink coming to his cheeks.

All three of them chuckle and Tina continues to tell her story.

"When our parents were killed both of us were taken to the orphanage but because of the danger we were in for seeing who had caused their death, we were not allowed to go to the same home. Soon I was adopted by an older gentleman but he was very nice and active, if it wasn't for his gray hair you wouldn't think he was old. Anyway I was nervous at first cause he actually lives in Star City and it was also really hard for me to contact Dickie. I tried calling the orphanage but they couldn't give out his number or address, so eventually I just gave up. After a couple of months I got over my funk cause my adopted dad told me it would be best for me to move on in anyway possible. So I started working out, I found a job, and I started attending school. I created a new image for myself, I was no longer the little shy girl from the circus, I was the independent strong girl who was the new daughter of the mysterious rich man down the rode. It was fun to be something new. I had almost forgotten in a sense about my old life when I had to come to Gotham for work. Well my dad's work. I go to Gotham academy with Dickie, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him then and there. I had already registered under a different name and I looked completely different, it would be much to hard to explain. Then I just got to be known as Tara and it felt to late to explain myself," Tina concludes looking down at her hands since she didn't know exactly where to look.

"It's okay Tina, I understand," Dick says putting a hand on her shoulder. She looks up into the comforting blue eyes of her brother and almost starts to cry as she gives him a hug.

***

It is later that night when Tina thinks that everyone is asleep, or at least pretending to be, that she sneaks out of Wayne Manor. She gets out through the window, runs across the lawn, and hops over the wall surrounding the whole place. 

While she is sneaking out of the manor, she doesn't notice that she tripped a silent alarm that sends a video to the bat cave. It just so happens that Batman sees the video and wonders if anything unusual is going to happen tonight in Gotham. 

***

"Do you have the money for me," Blade says in the dark alley to the man who was in charge of selling the jewels, watches, and more that she stole from the ball at Wayne Manor. 

"It's all here in the bag," the guys says handing over the bag. 

"Are you sure this time?" Blade says looking in the bag once he hands it to her.

"Yeah, it is all in there. I learned my lesson the last time. I still don't walk without a limp," the guy tells her. Blade chuckles darkly and nods her head. She climbs the ladder to the roof and starts on her way to the trio's hide out. 

It is then that she stops and looks at the view of Gotham from the roof that she is currently perched on. It is late enough that the sky is pitch black with no stars but a full moon. The city is illuminated by the buildings that never seem to turn off. She had been here for almost a year and she couldn't believe how much has changed. Being a mercenary didn't mean as much to her anymore, she didn't have the will to take over the business. But she couldn't back out of her current job even if she wanted to, a mercenary will end up getting killed if they back out, its the only way to keep them quiet if they don't want the money. As Blade thinks all of this she hears footsteps. 

"What are you doing here?" Robin asks Blade. 

"I am collecting some money that an associate owed me," Blade tells him holding up the duffle bag. 

"You know, your friend robbed the party. She wasn't as innocent as you lead me to believe," Robin says a little mad. 

"You probably shouldn't have believed me in the first place," Blade mutters. "Well you won't have to worry about me pulling a stunt like that at any of your parties ever again." 

"What do you mean?" Robin asks carefully. 

"There was no third party. The girl at the ball, was me in disguise," Blade tells him.

"Wait, you are a girl??" Robin asks. "I would never have guessed that." 

"Yes, I don't know why no one guesses that, but I suppose it helps me in the end," Blade confesses.

"Why are you telling me all this? Why now?" Robin asks her. 

"I am almost done with my job in Gotham, after this job I will be leaving Gotham to go back to my home city. I will be out of your hair," Blade says looking at Robin, mask to mask. 

"You know, I realized I don't care if you tell the world my secret. But I do want to know who you are under your mask. You will be brought to justice Blade," Robin tells her as he walks away towards the city. 

As Blade believes he is almost gone she whispers, "You won't like what you find under my mask if you find out." 

Blade then hops off the building and as she is about to sink into the shadows, Robin places a tracker on her bag then heads back to the cave. 

***

"Batman, I think I found the mercenary that we have been trying to catch for the past year," Robin says to Batman as he rides his bike into the cave. "Put it on wave 164, its the tracker I used." 

Batman does as he is told without question and that is when they are able to pick up the frequency that is the tracker and radio. 

"Do you have what we asked for?" someone asked for, clearly a woman's voice.

"Yes, I have the last of the money. Your ride out of Gotham is leaving tonight," a voice speaks. 

Robin looks at the Batman saying, "I know that voice, I recognize all the voices." 

"Quiet Robin," Batman says. 

"You're last payment will be delivered to Star City's underground for you to pick up," a second clearly woman's voice speaks. 

"How are we supposed to get out of here?? Are we going somewhere warm or cold? Who will watch my babies??" speaks a clear Brooklyn accent asks in a panic voice. 

"Harley Quinn!" Robin shouts. Batman mutes the transmission before saying, "Alfred keep an eye on the transmission, if any useful information comes up about where they are going inform me immediately. Robin follow the transmission to the mercenary Blade. I am going to inform the commissioner of our new findings. I will meet you there soon." 

Robin leaves the cave on his bike to the run down area of the city which is where the tracker is transmitting from. When he finally arrives he realizes he got there just in time, for what seems like the final showdown. 

"So, you work for Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn. That's one mystery about you down, only one to go," Robin shouts. 

"Get going you three. I explained what you have to do, I will distract the bird. This is my last act as your paid servant. It was a pleasure working with you three," Blade says taking her swords out of their sheaths, turning her back to the trio. 

"It was a pleasure to do business with you as well Blade," Catwoman says as Ivy smiles and nods at her. 

"We'll miss ya!" Harley shouts trying to catch up with the other two who were already on their way to the meeting point to get them out of the country. 

"Batman, Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman are on their way out now," Robin relays to Batman though their com link. 

"I don't think I will be able to intercept them, the mercenary did a good job at covering their tracks and hiding them. But I will meet you there to apprehend Blade," Batman replies. 

"So you finally told the big bad bat about me then? I suppose I will get to meet him tonight," Blade says circling Robin as Robin pulls out his escrima stick and circles Blade as well. 

"This ends now Blade, you will not be able to escape with the trio tonight," Robin shouts at her. 

"I never planned on escaping with them! That was my job, get them out of the country safely and securely. I plan on doing the only thing I am good at, being a mercenary. I will run the underground because that was what I was trained to do since I was a little girl, since I was abandoned by one family and picked up by another! This isn't the end no, no matter what happens tonight its a new beginning!" Blade shouts going in for the first attack. 

Blade brings up her swords and even though she is torn between hurting Robin, she realizes that he will not be going easy on her. She isn't Tina right now, she isn't even Tara, no she is Blade, the highly trained mercenary and this is the opportunity of a lifetime. The chance to take down the bat. 

The wind picks up as the night goes on but very few people are asleep. Some people watch from windows and it is clear that news channels are broadcasting their fight. Their weapons clash, the fight is even. A girl trained by one of the best mercenaries and a boy trained by one of the best crime fighters are going head to head, it only makes sense that the battle would be even. 

All the while Blade was trying to convince herself that she was only Blade in this moment, but watching Robin fight made her realize that he is not just Robin now, the brave boy who fights along side Batman, but he is also Richard Grayson the acrobat. She can see it in the way he fights both sides of him. And now she realizes that she can't leave one part of her behind, because it's a persons past and choices that make them who they are. She herself is very unafraid of doing gymnastic type stunts, but she is also not afraid of lethal weapons. 

It is her thoughts that trip her up. Robin catches her off guard. She had thought she had injured him, but even if she did, he did not give up. She falls to the ground onto her knees. Robin kicks her swords away and throws the guns in her holster that she never used to far for her to reach. 

"Guess this is the end," Robin says a slight smirk on his face. Both of them can hear the helicopters in the distance. Robin can also hear the bat mobile on its way. 

"You won fair and square Boy Wonder, Robin, Richard 'Dick' Grayson," she says so only he can hear. "I know you want to see under my mask, but trust me, it won't bring the closure that you want. But you won, and the decision to know my identity is yours, fair and square." 

"Your problem is that you underestimated me, I suppose," Robin says walking closer but slowly due to a limp from an injury she caused. 

"I never underestimated you, in fact I know you better than anyone," Blade responds. 

At this point, Robin's curiosity is peaked and he reaches down to take off her mask. The first thing that happens is that her long brown hair falls out and starts to blow in the wind. But then as the rest of the mask comes off, Dick recognizes his sister's face. 

He stumbles back, "Tina?" 

"I am sorry Dick. I am so sorry you had to find out. I never planned on you finding out, at least not like this." She tells him still on her knees. 

"Why? WHY?" Robin shouts at her. 

"DON'T YOU SEE!? This is how I was raised after our parents death, just as you were raised to be who you are standing in front of me right now. This is who I am, this will always be a part of me," is all Blade can say. 

The police surround her and Robin to take her to prison as Robin explains everything to Batman. As Robin finishes giving the basics they catch each other's eyes.

And she can practically see the sadness in her brother's blue eyes even though he still wears his mask.