There She Goes Again

++ Ro ++

Barbara’d taken to sleeping curled along my side at night lately, but right now, it was just me and the busy Bug in the infirmary.

I was bored out of my skull.

So I reminisced about my life, grinning faintly at the memory of the feel of Barbara’s body, pressed against my upper half and the contraption wrapped around the lower. The numbness was terrifying, an absolute void from the middle of my back down. Bug had jury-rigged something that would transmit basic instructions to the Fleas, but it was the size of a toaster. So, Barbara slept with the device pressed between her belly and my hip. Everyone seemed pleased with how fast I was healing, so I kept myself sane on their positive energy.

And Babs was aglow with it. Walking had made her a whole different person. Freedom made her radiate energy. There had been nothing wrong with her as a person before, but the pleasure of wholeness made her incandescent.

The time had come for me to regain my legs too. Something told me that I was whole again, at least mostly. There wasn’t anything I could do with the Fleas acting as neural blockers except beg Bug to reprogram them yet again. Unfortunately, Jan came in to see me first and I knew I couldn’t charm Bug now. “Antsy, huh? You never were good at being sick. Not that you hardly ever were!” The familiar, throaty chuckle made me smile helplessly. Despite the trauma she’d suffered and the strangeness of her surroundings, Janelle had begun to recover remarkably well. I was delighted that she and Babs were becoming pals, as I really needed the brunette in my pack if she would stay. Since she was making no moves to leave, I was extremely hopeful.

“I feel strangely… whole,” I tried to explain, scrubbing at my face in frustration. “Despite not being able to feel anything. This sensory deprivation is worse than pain. Now I know how Barbara must have felt all those years.”

“Poor Boo,” Jan murmured and reached out to ruffle my bangs back from my forehead. It was the first time she’d casually touched me since Doctor B had re-entered our lives all those years ago and I froze. So simple a touch, so many memories of her bubbling to the surface.

“I still love you, you know,” said my voice in a deadly serious tone and Janelle stilled. “I love this new pack too, but it doesn’t change my feelings for you.” I suddenly faltered, unsure how to explain myself. “Well, it changes them, but it doesn’t lessen them. I… I just wanted you to know that.”

I had chickened out, to afraid to ask her to stay.

Both hoping and dreading that she would say yes.

++ Janelle ++

Ro couldn’t know it, but I was already determined to stay. The proposition of the school that had Barbara so excited was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. My old life was a fading memory anyway, a surreal movie I’d been in once that mattered little now. There was no way I could go back, I’d seen and experienced too much. I’d made friends with young Carrie, lending my support while her mother stayed in a deep coma. A metahuman doctor friend of Alfred’s was stopping in fairly frequently and we’d set up a more elaborate medical facility to her specifications. Kelly was physically sound, but had yet to leave her internal darkness. Hopefully, Davie could help with that.

And there were babies on the way! Cubs with the best physical attributes of their three donors. The daughters promised to be brilliant and wild. I’d love them as though they were my own, I was sure of it. Hell, I might ask Bug to have the Fleas do the same to me! As though conjured up by my thoughts, the small mutate padded into the room from the adjacent office and I was struck again by how much she moved like a nimble fox. It was a light, bouncy movement, like she could leap away at any given instant. Probably a good thing she couldn’t teleport like the twins, or no one would be able to keep track of her. “Good morning, sweetie,” I grinned warmly and she startled like she always did. The way this sweet girl had been treated by that monster… “I was wondering if I could get your opinion on something?”

“Sure,” Bug murmured shyly.

“I gave Boo and Squeakers their own names years ago. Someone should do the same for you and Tiny.”

That bombshell caught Bug completely off guard. Shan stepped in and beamed happily. “That’s a kickin’ idea! Gonna stick with the theme?”

“Of course. Bug, do you know where I got the idea for the twins’ names?”

“A little,” she admitted. “The author Anne McCaffery. But I’ve never been able to read her books, only find bits and pieces of information on the internet.”

“Well, we’ll have to get those books in your hands as soon as possible then,” I chuckled, thrilled that she was warming up. “So, I’ve used Killshandra and Rowan, and they’re both from different series. I thought I should give you the most important one.”

Bug was completely hooked, standing close enough that I could pet her head. I could sense the delight of the twins. Tiny’s big bulk was in the doorway, and he had his head cocked while he tried to keep track of the conversation. “The most important one?” Bug parroted uncertainly, but I could still sense her interest.

“Yes. The series was called the Dragonriders of Pern. You’d like them I think, they’re very smart and engaging. My favorite character was a girl who came from a household that told her that she was worthless and useless. With the help of people who loved her, she found out that she was beautiful and extremely gifted.” The tears in Bug’s eyes were authentic. So were mine. “Her name was Menolly.”

++ Shan ++

“Cowabunga!” I crowed in delight. Bug… Menolly, looked thrilled and overwhelmed, so I went to her, purring. Nuzzling the thick, black hair tinged with fox silver, I murmured the name, giving her a chance to get used to it. “Still gonna call you Bug sometimes, because that’s my special nickname for you.”

The teasing earned a luminous smile and a crushing hug. After she squeezed me, it was Jan’s turn, and she accepted the gesture with delighted laughter. “What about Tiny?”

As though sensing Bug’s question, the big man crept in like a scared dog and whined antsy-pants under his breath. Jan eyed him levelly, mischief dancing in her dark eyes. “The Doona books, I think.”

“Todd!” I crowed again, laughing. “Brilliant! What a perfect name for dog-boy here. Hey Tiny, can we give you the name Todd?” He looked confused but willing. Janelle looked fondly exasperated at me. “What?”

“I was going to say, Hriss, you goof. Though I suppose you’re right, Todd is a better name.”

“You’re just lucky I didn’t call him Tim,” I chuckled and Janelle sighed melodramatically.

“Guys,” Ro suddenly whined pathetically and we all looked over. “Please, please can we turn the Frankenstein machine off and see if I can stand? I’m starting to get really tweaky flashbacks.”

All those years of being lab rats was too close to what she was going through and I was instantly all sympathy. “You sure you’re ready to try this?”

“Pain would be a relief at this point. Just tell the numbing Fleas to go dormant for awhile and let’s see what happens.”

Even as I wondered if I should call Dinah, ‘cause Davie was busy with Kelly, Bug bounced over to the contraption and started tapping keys. I took one hand and Jan the other, preparing for the worst.

It didn’t take long.

Ro’s features started to tense up and she hissed. The pressure on my hand increased and Ro’s face took on a painful grimace. The expression was intense, but not dangerously so, and my alarm stayed within reasonable limits.

“Everything’s off, Boo,” Bug announced and looked up from the controls. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly? Not nearly as bad as I would have thought. There’s a helluva lot of strange tingling going on, but it’s fading. In fact, it’s fading fast.”

++ Ro ++

I was being truthful with them. The stiff, achy pain throbbed shockingly where there had been only numbness, but the relief of sensation blunted it. Poor Binky that hurt the worst, a burning poker stuck to my ass. Gritting my teeth and clamping down on the hands in mine, I forced the little brain to relay the message.

There was the distinct sensation of movement, way out at the twitchy tip.

Emotion rushed up and I sobbed in thanks that I wasn’t permanently damaged. Feeling the remnants of the damage done to me while I was in Harley’s thrall, I could only imagine how badly I would have hurt if I had been able to remember.

“Hey,” Shan chuckle-purred. “Your toes just wiggled. Cowabunga! The Fleas win again! Think you might get your legs to work? We could surprise Babs and Hel-cat.”

That was all the incentive I needed. It was terrifically difficult and I cursed and ranted until Bug’s eyes were as big as saucers, but I eventually managed to sit up and dangle my legs over the side of the bed. Irritated nerves bitched and complained all along back, legs and tail, but I was mostly upright.

And, at long last, I was able to hug Janelle. She wept quietly, wedged in between my and Shan’s much larger bodies. The familiarity of her was the last thing I needed to heal. The physical pain was easy to bear, knowing that she was whole and well. Now I just needed to find my new lovers and show them that I was okay.

That was when the most peculiar sensation shuddered through the building.

It was as though the manor itself had shivered in sympathy to some major and possibly traumatic event unfolding within its walls. All four of us mutates flinched and my ears flattened to my skull. “What the hell was that?”

“Dinah,” Shan whispered and her face was traumatized at her loyalties being torn in two. Instantly, I grabbed her hair and gave a sharp tug to get her attention.

“Go get her. Miss Honey’s got me. Tiny and Bug can help me out.”

“But…”

“Shan, it’s okay.”

It was a poignant moment, and I felt in that moment that perhaps we were letting each other go, just a little.

++ Barbara ++

Imagine my fear when Dinah suddenly went rigid, eyes wide and unseeing. I hesitated for a moment, absolutely at a loss for what I should do. Then the picture frames behind me began to rattle alarmingly and I knew I had to steer off the approaching telekinetic storm. When I grabbed her arm, electrical shocks rattled up from my hands and made my lizard brain whine in protest. She had never used her telepathy on me before, but I had a feeling that buzz was it. Even as I jerked my hands away, Dinah slumped forward, as though released from some paralyzing force. Whuffing with the effort of whatever she’d just been through, she grabbed the railing and swayed dramatically.

“God…” She murmured and I tentatively touched her arm again.

“Dinah?”

“I’m okay now. It was a vision. Someone important’s at the door.”

Thrown by the change in subject, I found myself looking back to the imposing front door. I had a feeling, an insidious miasma of almost-dread and a little relief and a whole lot of angry fear of who and what was behind that slab of carved wood. Alfred uncharacteristically hesitated for a moment, half looking over his shoulder as though gathering strength from our presence.

The door swung wide.

I knew it

The man always did have an impeccable sense of timing.

“M… master Bruce,” Alfred stammered.

“Why am I not surprised?” Helena’s voice made us both jump. Calmly, she stepped out of the shadows to stand between us. Eyes on the open door, she continued softly, “it’s time for the next step, partners. Time to step up and be a grown-up.” The blue eyes flickered back and forth, a smile dancing beneath the uncharacteristic and welcome seriousness. “Let’s go meet our visitors. Shall we? You too, Shan.”

The tall albino also melted from the shadows, to step up to Dinah, and nuzzle-purr her. “Lead the way, Raf.”

I barely saw Helena move, and was suddenly in her arms and plunging from the high landing. Effortlessly, the Huntress landed on her feet, barely stooping under our combined weight. There was a slap of sound behind us as Shan landed, and Dinah made a startled kitten noise.

Alfred seemed paralyzed for the moment, frozen in shock at the imposing figure filling the doorway.

++ Bruce Wayne ++

I had been gone a long time.

Such a long, long time.

Staring at my daughter and my flaming-haired protégé, I was only now beginning to realize how long. Helena was a gorgeous young woman now, lanky and feline, dark like me where her mother was pale. Proud and rigid with tension, those striking blue eyes so like mine pierced me, left me wounded and defenseless.

Then there was Barbara. Her still-muscular body rested in Helena’s slim arms, the contrast between them startling. There was another pair of women behind them, still and silent with protective wariness. As strange as the tall one was, I dismissed them for now.

Helena’s flashing gaze drew me back, pulled me in. She radiated power and surefootedness, a calm surety that her mother would have been so proud of. The angry stranger I had run from was no longer. This was the woman that Selena had raised, the true legacy of Catwoman.

Emotion closed up my throat; regret that she was a stranger, and a strange sense of… of…

Pride.

I knew then that if I never did anything right, ever again, I had this young woman as my best legacy.

Imagine my absolute shock when the corner of that full mouth quirked up. The likeness to the blonde woman that I had loved so deeply shook me. Yet… in some respects it was like looking in a mirror. Seeing her now, there was no doubt that she was indeed, my daughter.

“Come in, Bruce,” Helena offered quietly, but with a thread of steel in her tone. Instantly, Barbara blinked up at her in shock and the pair hovering behind her relaxed. It was more than I had expected and more than I deserved.

“Thank you,” I replied humbly and stepped into the familiar old foyer. The house was different, like the change that comes over an old man when he suddenly has grandchildren. My daughter and her companions had changed the feel of the place.

It wasn’t until the ivory stranger behind Helena growled, that I remembered my companions.

++ Princess Diana, AKA Wonderwoman ++

The lanky albino feline woman buzzed with menace, a low, throaty growl that made the blonde girl in her arms look up sharply. She was stunning, this exotic creature made of muscle and moonlight. I tapped Bruce on the shoulder, and grinned when he looked at me. “And you said I wouldn’t find anything familiar here,” I teased gently and he actually grinned, just a little.

Helena shifted to set the red-head’s feet on the floor, but kept her tight up against her ribs. I took note of the protective behavior even as the young woman offered a hand to me, and smiled coolly. “Helena Kyle.”

Oh, she was a good one, a predator of gold and black, stealthy, dangerous and smart. Childhood still clung to her like a thin fog clings to the beach, but it was a faded memory. Whatever Bruce had expected in his estranged daughter, I’d bet this wasn’t it. What a pleasant surprise. Taking the offered hand in a firm grip, I smiled warmly, the way I was taught to do to an equal. This woman, young as she was, held a position of leadership amidst these women and I respected that. “I am Diana, daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons. I come visiting from the island of Themiscrya to study this modern world of men. Fortunately, I encountered these two before I could completely confirm what our elders feared of this world.” A gesture encompassed both Wayne and the man behind me. “I understand that you are the ones that stopped Harley Quinn. I applaud you.”

None of them had been expecting that, their expressions were transparent. The albino beast-woman was still vibrating with stress, despite the look of curiosity in her violet eyes. Hmmm, she really was quite striking. Then the girl in her arms spoke and the white warrior jumped as though startled. “You okay?” That buzzing growl echoed up again, a stressed sound.

“Mikey?” Helena asked calmly and the feline woman shook her head like an agitated dog.

“You’re not human,” she accused, her striking eyes flickering from me to Clark, hovering close behind me. “You’re close, but you’re not human. Not exactly.”

Now, I laughed in delight, partly from her candor, and partly because of the look of surprise I’m certain was on Clark’s face. “Oh, it’s been far too long since I’ve been around anything but ordinary humans. Thank you, Mikey, for reminding me of my home.” It had the effect I was after as Mikey relaxed a fraction and stopped growling. “Your senses must be incredibly acute. I come from a place outside of the notice of the modern world. We Amazons and our allies have been isolated from your reality for several millennium. I imagine that I do, indeed, smell different. This is Clark Kent, and his story is his own to tell. I assure all of you that we mean no harm. In fact, we came to compliment you on your fine work protecting New Gotham and to offer a helping hand if it is needed.”

++ Helena ++

My weird meter was about pegged and I sighed heavily. “Mikey, stop hovering. Put Di down and come here.”

Dinah giggled and they were suddenly flanking me. “Barbara Gordon, Killashandra Jones and Dinah Lance.” Bet the sidekick looked surprised at me using her birth name. Good, she needed to get used to it, dammit. “You can understand that we’re a little wary right now, but I’ll have to trust that my father knows what he’s doing. Please come in and make yourselves at home. You’ve caught us at an awkward time, as we’re still healing and rebuilding. If you know about the hell Harley put us through, you can understand.” It was a mystery where the diplomacy came from, but it was working miracles.

Then there was a scrape of sound and the visitor’s gazes moved behind me and widened in shock. Whirling, I was greeted by a miracle. Ro, on her feet, leaning heavily on Janelle and Tiny, and beside them, was the red-headed Kelly, who’d been in a coma, propped up by her crying daughter and equally emotional Carolyn. An exhausted Davie was pretty much being held up by Dick and they all looked happy enough to bust.

“Did we miss the party?” Ro smiled softly and I swept Barbara into my arms again and rushed over. Again dropping Barbara’s feet to free up an arm, we carefully wrapped up both Ro and Janelle in a group hug.

“Missed you, Boo,” I found myself sighing into her shirt and relishing the nuzzle in my hair. Barbara just sobbed, rubbing her face into Ro’s chest and getting snuffle kisses on the crown and temples. A rustle of movement behind Ro alerted me that Bug was hiding there, shy and wary. So I reached out to touch her shoulder and neck in comfort and welcome. “I’m gonna need you guys,” I whispered, oddly comfortable with admitting the need. “To get through this. Stay close.”

Pressing a quick kiss to Ro’s loving smile and plopping another in the corner of Barbara’s wet eye, I patted Janelle and Bug, before stepping away from their combined warmth.

“We haven’t had any time to really do anything with the place yet,” Dinah was explaining awkwardly as I walked back to her.

“But we will,” I added solemnly, touching the teen’s arm and smiling when she jumped. “Since we’re opening a school here once everything settles down.”

It was the first time the subject had been brought up to the group at large and Dinah started with surprise. “A school?”

“Sure. You and Gabby still have finals to pass.” The comment earned the mock scowl I was after. “Seriously, I’m sick of metas having no safe place to go. It’ll be a regular private school, with a metahuman twist.”

“Cowabunga,” Dinah grinned and I returned my attention to my elders still hovering near the door. Alfred, looking alarmed and proud, Diana and Clark Kent looking curious and a little startled, and the unreadable stone of the man who had fathered me.

“Maybe, you can help teach them someday.”

++ Bruce ++

So much like her mother…

My heart ached just looking at her.

Slim, proud and sinuous, she had leapt from that tall balcony and effortlessly landed, even with Barbara’s weight in her arms. It was a near-physical pain to look at her, and see the ghost of Selena hovering so close.

Yet… in this dark-haired young woman I saw something I had never expected to see.

I saw the best and worst of myself.

The shock of it rooted me to the spot. My stoic intensity mirrored in this slim feline of a woman. My bull-headed and sometimes self-destructive drive burning in crystal blue eyes. That old Wayne charm in the faint curve of her full mouth. The reality of my parenthood had never really sunk home until this exact moment. Something within me shifted, a deep, primitive urge that drew me to her, not entirely differently than her mother had drawn me. Would she let me be part of her life? Even after being such a fuck-up?

Could I do it?

Then Helena nonchalantly announced that a school was to be opened inside these lonely old walls. Every ghost in the place perked up, even me. A school? Here?

It was a magnificent idea, inspired even. Children thundering through these halls, lessons learned, egos molded by people who cared about them. Some of the old, old glaciers around my heart thawed a little at the thought.

When Helena wryly returned my smile, my heart thawed further, a foreign sense of peace settling over me. While my future may not lie in New Gotham, perhaps I might still be able to play a part here.

++ Barbara ++

I hadn’t pulled my face away from Ro’s warm throat, ear on her shoulder, the thick stripe of fur on her jugular tickling my nose and cheek. Honestly, I didn’t want to step away from the safety of her warmth. I’d had too many shocks in too short a period of time and Rowan Jones was my common denominator since Helena was busy elsewhere.

“Can you forgive him?”

It was breathed almost soundless-soft against my ear, harmonized on that intoxicating purr. The thrill up my newly repaired spine almost let me ignore the question.

Could I forgive him…

Could I?

Memories washed over me. As a girl, I’d had such a crush on suave and debonair Bruce Wayne, the way girls were wont to do. Inspired by an irrepressible crush on Gotham’s shadowy super-hero, a world-class gymnastics talent, a bastard of a biological donor, my beloved police commissioner adopted dad, and a real addiction to the thrill of danger… I became Batgirl. Imagine my shock when I finally found out that my two idols were one and the same.

Imagine my anguish when my idol, my mentor and friend, deserted me when I needed him most. Selena, dead in the rain, leaving sweet, adolescent Helena shattered. Behind my door, my greatest fear, the beast of a grinning madman I hated… the ear-splitting retort of the bullet that I’d wished a thousand times had killed me then and there.

Eight years of carrying that pain, long after the physical healing was done. Thank whatever gods looked over fools like me that I hadn’t turned away Helena’s and Ro’s offer of succor to my heart and body. “Maybe I can. Thank you, Ro.”

“My pleasure. Now, can we find me a place to sit? I’m dyin’ here.”

Concerned for her, I stepped back and we moved toward the kitchen. I had to admit that I was perversely amused by Bruce’s gasp of astonishment. “What the hell?”

Let him figure out the miracle of my legs on his own. Or swallow his damnable pride and actually ask.

++ Davie ++

So here was the famous Batman. As much as I hated to admit it, I could see why he was well-known for leaving a lasting impression. In addition to being physically imposing, he also radiated a singular intensity that I recognized in both Barbara and Helena. Sending out casual feelers of telepathy, I tried to pick up on the surface noise of his mind. There was more of it than I had expected, sharp with his shock over Barbara actually walking. The Amazon flanking him was processing everything, no shock value at all. Very interesting.

It was this Clark Kent that was freaking me out. He was a blank. Like looking at fog, you know something’s there, but you can’t see it. Not human indeed. I’d stake my telepathy on Shan’s assessment of this ordinary-looking man.

When Dick finally stepped forward to greet Bruce Wayne, I was forced to automatically move forward with him. I hated to admit what a good team I made with the man, but it was true and I knew it. Stopping at Shan’s side, I reached out mentally first, to soothe her agitation. “Mikey, it’s okay. We’re right here, nothing’s going to happen. We’re right here.”

As though sensing my broadcast, Dinah reached up to cup a fuzzy cheek and Shan reluctantly tore her eyes away from the strangers. It was kinda cute, watching Dinah tug Shan down for a gentle, almost chaste kiss. She even licked the tip of Shan’s nose when they separated. I heard the echo of the teen’s strange touch-telepathy in her soft, “right here.” Shooing Shan off to follow Ro out of the room, Dinah turned to me, taking my weight from Dick. “Y’know, I never apologized for smashing your telepathic shields down back at Harley’s place.”

The comment was very left field, and I scowled. “Donny, don’t you apologize for desperately reaching out for help. Sure it was totally unexpected and rattling, but it was also very effective.”

Grinning in relief, Dinah surprised me again, wrapping me in a strong hug. “You’re the best Davie. I’m looking forward to you teaching me.” And, with that, she bounced off to rejoin Helena.

Awww man… so much for sneaking off to resume the life of a wanderer…

++ Dinah ++

I felt torn in too many directions. Davie’s kindness, Shan’s stress, my mom and her new family, the gorgeous stranger looking at my girlfriend with that… that look. Arrgh! It annoyed me that duty won out, and I quietly followed Helena and our guests into the kitchen. Alfred bustled off, muttering something about tea while the rest of us hovered in the uncomfortable quiet. The twins and Barbara were missing and the two new mutates looked spooked. Couldn’t blame them…

Janelle suddenly sighed heavily and turned on the charm. “Please sit, everyone. We’ll answer whatever questions we can. Barbara and the twins are resting in the next room.”

That had been nearly three days ago.

Things had started happening fast, with lots of catching up to do and an endless amount of work to be done in preparation of converting Wayne Manor for communal living and educational areas. Barbara had imperiously ordered Gabby and I off to our alma mater to take care of our missing finals just yesterday and my brain was still tired. The halls of NG High felt more foreign than usual, echoing and empty with all the students gone for summer. Miss Haller hadn’t been to thrilled about sitting with just the two of us all day while we waded through our tests, but at least she’d been unobtrusive. Once finished, we’d dragged our tired butts off to the airport to pick up Gabby’s family, avoiding any side trips that might have us encountering our friends. It was great to see the rest of the Andersons happy and tanned from their vacation in California, and we’d tried our hardest not to look tired and heartsick.

Since Gabby was once again curled up with our little pack, we’d done well enough. I couldn’t sleep, but stared at the ceiling and tried to ignore the feel of Shan and Gabby pressed up against me. Apollo had started sneaking in at night, unnerved by all the people in his territory. He was a dark patch next to Shan’s pale head.

Too wired to sleep, I somehow managed to wiggle out of the dogpile, pausing to study my companions. Now was not the time to get caught up in their softness…

Shaking off the warmth inside and out, I pulled Shan’s favorite shirt over my light pajamas and slipped out. It was a testament to skill and trust that Shan didn’t even stir. The scent of poptarts led me down the hall, around the corner and to the main thoroughfare that the main kitchen branched off of. Voices reached me with the increase of the sweet pastry smell.

“I never expected that there’d be so much paperwork,” Helena complained as I peeked around the doorjamb. There was quite a crowd there, burning the midnight oil. “Are you sure about your contacts, Gibson?”

“Of course,” he cackled. “Don’t worry your pretty head, my dear. The waiting game and the details are going to keep us occupied now, isn’t that why you brought me in on this?”

“No, I just live for your flattery,” Helena deadpanned. None of the laughter disturbed Ro, sprawled back in her specially made lounge chair, feet up on the extended footrest, Binky curling lazily where it puddled on the floor beneath her. Barbara was sprawled along one side, Janelle the other. It was awful cute. That was a strange pack in the making, but then again… look who I was sleeping with.

++ Helena ++

Flashing Di a welcoming grin, I waved a poptart at her enticingly.

“You’d share?” She mocked lightly and I chuckled.

“Hey, I share,” I leered and drew her gaze to my lovers with my own. Her blush made me chortle to myself evilly. That look was definitely worth sacrificing one of my treats for.

“Pig,” she grumbled and ignored the snickers. It was a diverse crowd tonight; Bruce, Dick, Davie, Carolyn, Gibson, Kelly and Diana.

“Ignore her,” Dick grinned. “She’s a pain in the ass.”

“Yep,” I agreed happily and gestured Dinah to sit. “Park it and toss in your two cents.” Now she was looking at me like I had grown two more heads.

“What happened to you? Seriously, you never used to listen to me.”

Sighing, I slung an arm around her shoulders and looked into the wary blue eyes. When the hell had she started getting so damn tall? “That’s because I was an ass. I know I made your first year kinda suck here, but I had some misguided idea that I had to test you or something. I mean, maybe I did, but I was a jerk about it. I’m sorry. You turned out better than anyone could have asked for.” She was so easy to please, my words making her glow like a happy puppy. Man, I really had been an ass to her. Keeping my grip around her neck, I addressed the rest of the group. “Did you guys see the news footage of our fight with Poison Ivy? Junior Batgirl here was the star of the show, even competing with the tailed wonders.” There was a welcoming murmur from them and Dinah blushed darker, doing that habitual nervous gesture of tucking her hair behind her ear. “Made you look bad, big brother. Dunking your ride and your partner in the drink.”

There was much snickering as Dick ducked and self-consciously rubbed the side of his head. “So, I’m a little rusty.”

There was a strange lull, like a slow-mo sequence in a movie, so that the audience couldn’t miss a millisecond of the unfolding sequence. The mutual body language, so similar. The same-colored eyes. Unwittingly, my memory pulled up a memory of Carolyn Lance the way she had looked last year when she had showed un in New Gotham to retrieve Dinah. Before the fire and time has altered her so drastically. Then I stared at Dick Grayson, boyishly handsome with a smile to match, dark hair like me, and clear blue eyes. Then I stared at Dinah, looking at me curiously, only inches away.

“I see it too,” Bruce said quietly and I glanced at him before we both looked to Carolyn. There was a strange look on her face, that puzzled expression that she wore when important memories were swimming up from the darkness of amnesia. Both Davie and Kelly were touching her in concern.

++ Carolyn ++

The flashbacks were disorienting, but I had learned to just ride them out.

Screaming with laughter, high as kites on adrenaline and battle-lust, nearly sick with it, we sprawled out in the sitting room we’d commandeered ages ago. Barbara was actually crying, she was laughing so hard, gripping her ribs and writhing on the couch. Dick wasn’t much better, doubled over with merriment. I had claimed my usual lounge chair and was carrying on along with them. Since Bruce was still out, no doubt trying to regain his wounded dignity, we were getting it out of our systems before he came home.

It was a whole domino effect of events that had us all so giddy. It had been a long time since I’d run the rooftops of New Gotham, and it had been a glorious night. I’d been undercover in the Hawke clan for nearly five years, gathering evidence to break the mob family. Just six weeks into the new year, the courts had locked them all away.

All except Al Hawke, that filthy bastard. The thought sobered me up a little, but I really wanted to hold on to this drugging happiness. I had returned to my old teammates to celebrate, and surrounded by my two favorite bats and a handsome red bird, I’d flown free in the darkness. Watching Bruce completely lose his dignity had made us ‘kids’ run for cover before carrying on like a pack of wild hyenas.

Everyone likes to see a teacher fuck up. We’re only human after all. Sometimes Bruce seemed so much larger than life, we would forget he was just… Bruce. It was also hugely entertaining to see Batgirl and Robin, still in their oh-so-serious costumes, cracking up like naughty kids. Our masks lay tangled in a messy pile on the table. Barbara managed to control herself enough to stand up, wiping at her tears with a heavily gauntleted hand. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need a drink.”

Abruptly, I was back in the kitchen, present tense, and blinked owlishly. Dick, nearly twenty years older, Barbara, blinking awake where she was still sprawled across Ro. Dinah, still held protectively beneath Helena’s arm, both of them curious and patient. Then back to Dick, seated kitty-corner to our old teacher. As I stared at the handsome man, almost middle age, that he’d become, the past continued to play out behind my eyes.

Looking back, I could see that a bunch of factors caused it. Euphoria at locking up most of the Hawke clan and hanging out with my treasured pals, disappointment in not catching Al, fear of being alone. And, only now, could I see that I’d really wanted Barbara, but never thought to take that chance.

And she couldn’t have given me the greatest gift of my life. The gift that I’d squandered, and miracle of miracles, had been given a second chance at. My sweet and amazing daughter, now a young woman.

“Dick,” I said woodenly, knowing the chaos that was going to ensue, but determined to pay for all of my lies. “There was a reason I left so suddenly all those years ago, and never told any of you why.” Now Barbara was sitting up, her face a caricature of curiosity and growing shock. “That night when Bruce tripped and fell? And we went back and got so drunk, none of us hardly remembered what the hell we had been doing the night before?” Some part of him knew what I was getting at, but it was taking awhile to sink in. Davie gasped in shock as my brain broadcast the news before my mouth could shape the words. “I woke up before you did, and snuck out. I’m so sorry, I just felt like such an idiot. And about three months later…” I couldn’t continue, gesturing lamely at Dinah, barely able to meet Dick’s shocked eyes. “I’d been lying for so long, that I couldn’t stop. I’m so sorry.”

Father and daughter looked at each other in mutual astonishment.

To Be Continued…

Things are coming full circle now, and this song makes me think of that. Especially dealing with Bruce’s conflicted feeling on Selina and Helena. The perverse twist of the Dinah-Carolyn-Dick connection is Amy’s fault…

There She Goes Again -by Sixpence None the Richer
There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through my brain
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains

There she blows
There she blows again
Pulsing through my vein
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains

There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through my brain
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains

There she goes
There she goes again
She calls my name
She pulls my train
No one else could heal my pain
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains

There she goes
There she goes again
Chasing down my lane
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains