A/N: Alright, for those of you that have read this story already, I've rearranged a few chapters. This chapter was the third but now, obviously, it's the first.

For those of you just joining us, I will tell you this, this story will follow the plot but I hope to have a lot more "and then somes." I plan on introducing a key character in Season Two in this season. No, it is not another OC but I will not reveal which character it is. You'll just have to guess or do a deductive reasoning thing.

Anyways, this chapter just delves more into Strike's past, introduces his relations and explains how he came to find himself in the Batfamily. So enjoy and remember, leave a review! :D

GOTHAM CITY
June 23, 21:36 EDT

Sirens wailed in the distance as a couple pairs of feet pounded on concrete. Racing from rooftop to rooftop, Strike gracefully flipped over an alley, closely followed by his partner, Robin. Just a short distance ahead of them, laughing, was Scorn, who, along with Wrath, intervened when the Bat trio attempted to stop a robbery. Although the robbery was successfully stopped, they failed to apprehend Wrath and Scorn which has in turn led them to splitting up to track down the two villains.

"Come on Bat Brats!" Scorn taunted, flashing the trailing heroes a smirk, "This isn't even a challenge!"

"You should really keep your brothers on a leash!" Robin shouted over to his partner. Strike shook his head, flipping over yet another alley. Oh what Strike would do if he could just keep his brothers on a leash. Lord knows his life would be a lot less hectic if his brothers were tethered down.

"Yea," Strike called back, rolling his eyes, "And while we're at it, why don't we teach them tricks and how to be good!"

Robin let out a laugh, "That's the spirit!" Strike chuckled as they continued to pursue Scorn. At least he had Robin to make light of a situation.

The duo landed on another roof before skidding to a halt. Looking around, they realized something. Scorn had vanished.

Groaning, Strike turned towards Robin, "Did you teach him your ninja vanishing act?"

"Please! That's a trademark Robin move!" Robin turned towards Strike arms crossed. His eyes narrowed as a sarcastic remark about Scorn sat on the tip of his tongue. Before it could escape his lips, Strike spoke up, voice slightly more venomous than he intended.

"One more sarcastic remark about my brothers and I'll rip your tongue off."

Robin unconsciously took a step back, "Sheesh," He retorted, "I think they're starting to rub off on you." Strike sent a glare Robin's way, to which Robin held up his hands, "Sorry, sorry. I'm done." Strike huffed as he turned back on his partner.

Damn his brothers. Strike thought with a low growl. Running a hand through his hair, Strike glanced around at the view he had. The sun had set long ago, leaving Gotham shrouded in darkness. The bright lights of the city combined with the dull fog that permanently lingered in the Gotham air gave the city an eerie feel to it.

Strike had to admit though, no matter how crime riddled or dark this city seemed, there was some good to it. Turning his head to the side, Strike stole a glance at his partner, Robin, the original Boy Wonder. To Strike though, Robin was so much more. He was Strike's savior. If it weren't for him, he'd be working with his brothers, fighting against his best friend, living a life of crime.

"Come on Fury!" Wrath snapped, gripping his younger brother's arm firmly in his hand, "Keep up will you!"

"I'm trying!" Fury cried out, attempting to slip out of his brother's grip. The attempt was futile though, Wrath just increased the pressure.

Spinning around, Wrath glared down at his baby brother, "You told us you were ready!"

"I am ready," Fury mumbled, not meeting his brother's eyes. Wringing his hands, Fury stared at his boot clad feet. It was true, Fury felt ready, but to him, this life didn't feel right. His parents hadn't been the greatest role models, sure, but they'd never approve of what his brother's had become. To Gotham, his brother's had become known as the Anti-Batman and Anti-Robin. A title young Fury didn't see reason to be proud of. In fact, Fury felt the exact opposite about it. He had looked up to Batman ever since the caped crusader had made his first appearance. However, he did feel a bit of resentment towards the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder. After all, it was them who threw his parents in jail. It was their fault their family was torn apart. And for what? A simple robbery? It just wasn't fair.

Why couldn't the Mallory family have better fortune like Bruce Wayne? The man lived alone in a huge mansion! He could share. After all, Fury did happen to be one of Richard Grayson's close friends. That had to mean something. Right?

"Then let's go!" Wrath growled, snapping his brother out of his thoughts. Fury glanced up, finally meeting his brothers gaze. With a meek nod, Fury slowly stumbled after his brothers.

"Dude," A voice called out, snapping Strike back into reality, "Are you okay?"

Strike turned his head to the side, meeting the concerned gaze of his partner. Nodding, Strike replied, "Yea, just lost in thoughts." Strike flashed Robin a meek smile.

"Okay," Robin gave Strike a curious look, but chose to ignore it, "Come on, let's get moving." The duo quickly took off, racing across the Gotham skyline.

As the wind whipped Strike's face, Strike couldn't help but remember the first time he had raced along these very rooftops.

"Where are we going?" Fury called out to his brothers as he struggled to keep up.

Scorn slowed his pace, glancing back at his baby brother, "The bank."

"Why?" Fury innocently questioned. A part of him knew the reason, he just didn't want to accept it.

Scorn smirked, "We're going to make a withdrawal." Fury scrunched his nose, confused by the word.

"What's a with draw all?" He questioned, flipping gracefully over an alley.

Before Scorn could answer, Wrath spoke up, "Quite the chit chat. We're here."

Fury stopped, skidding to a halt on the edge of the roof. Glancing down, he watched the flashing lights of the police cars as the wailing of the sirens pierced the night air.

"What's the game plan?" Scorn glanced over at Wrath, who was evidently the brains of the trio.

Wrath shrugged, taking in the whole scene, "We need to slip past the police line, unnoticed, before we create out diversion, allowing Penguin to escape." His gaze trailed up to the roof. The corners of his lips curled up as he figured out their entrance, "The roof. They don't have it covered and we can go in through the vent." Wrath turned, glancing at the youngest of the trio, "Think you can handle that Fury?"

Fury gulped nervously, but nodded none the less, "Y-yea. Go in through the vents."

A small, proud smile settled on Wrath's lips, "Good. Now you're getting the hang of it."

Wrath launched a grapple gun across to the banks roof. As soon as it latched on, the trio took off, gliding unnoticed to the roof of the bank.

As soon as they were across, Wrath made his way over to the vent. Quickly removing the vent, Wrath set it on the ground before he waved his brothers over, "Quick, let's go!"

Just as Scorn was about to enter the vent, an object came flying out of nowhere. It lodged itself into the side of the vent before it went off, spewing smoke everywhere.

Fury's hands immediately flew up to his face, attempting to dissipate the smoke. A cough escaped his lips as he accidently inhaled some of the smoke. It was soon followed by more coughs until finally the smoke cleared, revealing the Dynamic Duo.

Fury's eyes widened, a mixture of fear and awe flashing in his mind. Here he was, the great Dark Knight standing in front of him!

"Wrath," Batman growled, glaring at Fury's eldest sibling, "Should've known you'd be here."

Wrath smirked, "Well, well, well, Batsy. It seems like you're catching on." Batman's eyes narrowed, not even the slightest amused by Wrath's taunt.

A stare down began between the heroes and villains, leaving Fury not knowing what to do. While his oldest brother was having a stare down with Batman, Scorn was sneering at a pissed Robin. Fury, subconsciously, moved closer to Scorn, the brother nearest to him.

With the sudden movement, time seemed to slow down. Batman, slightly startled by the movement, flickered his gaze over to the young Fury. His eyes narrowed even more as he returned his gaze back to the two villains in front of him, glaring at them, "You brought a child into this!?" Batman yelled, fists clenching at his sides.

Wrath scoffed, crossing his arms, "Please," He gestured to Robin, "Don't be such a hypocrite!"

As the two began to argue, Robin couldn't help but peer curiously at the newcomer. Robin couldn't place it, but something about the kid's timid nature seemed familiar to him.

Fury glanced at Robin as the Boy Wonder stepped closer to him. Taking a step back, Fury found himself pressed against the side of the vent. Feeling trapped, he glared at the Boy Wonder.

"Hey," The Boy Wonder called out, arms raised, "I'm not going to hurt you," He cracked a small, lopsided grin, "I just want to help you!"

"Help me?" Fury sneered, anger beginning to course through him. How dare he say Fury needed help! He didn't need help. He had his brothers! "I don't need help!"

Robin, sensing Fury's anger, took a slight step back, "I didn't mean anything by it I ju-"Robin was cut off when Fury tackled him.

The two young boys rolled on the ground until they came to a stop, Fury on top. True to his name, Fury was furious. Whether it was at his brothers for dragging him into this mess or at Robin for insinuating he needed help, Fury wasn't sure. All he knew as that he was pissed and had the perfect target to take it out on: Robin.

Fury's fist came down, punching Robin with all the force his small body could muster. Almost instantaneously blood began to gush out of the young hero's nose. Robin growled before he quickly pushed the young villain off of him.

Standing up, Fury snarled at Robin while Robin did the same. The duo circled each other, waiting for the other to attack. Fury, taking his eyes of his opponent for a few seconds, watched as his older, more experienced brothers fought against Batman, who was just barely holding his own.

Just as Fury's eyes returned back to Robin, a fist collided with his face, sending him staggering back. As he stumbled backwards, trying to regain his balance, Fury miscalculated the distance between him and the edge of the building. With a startled shout, Fury went tumbling over the edge of the building.

"JACE!" A voice, most likely Scorns, cried out as Fury's body twisted and turned through the air. As the wind whipped around him, Fury's cape engulfed him, blocking his view of the rapidly approaching ground.

All around him, Fury heard screaming, but he soon realized the screaming was coming from him. As soon as he realized that, Fury came to the conclusion he was going to die. His body was going to hit the ground with a sickening thud and he was going to die.

Before his body even came close to the ground, an oof escaped Fury's lips as an arm wrapped around his torso, snapping him upwards and stopping his plummet. As soon as his feet touched the concrete, Fury fell to his knees. Never had he been so happy to be on solid ground.

"Are you okay?" Fury's blood ran cold when he recognized the voice. Slowly standing up, Fury turned towards his savior, who gasped.

"Y-you save me," Fury whispered, glancing down at the ground. His mind was trying to grasp the fact that he had just been saved, by a hero none the less!

Robin cracked a small grin, "Of course, Jace. I couldn't just let my best friend die."

Fury's head snapped up, eyes wide as he stared at Robin incredulously, "I… w-what?" Fury stuttered, more confused than ever. H-how did Robin know who he was?

As if reading his mind, Robin pointed to his eyes, "Your mask is gone."

Jace's hands immediately flew up to his face, feeling for the mask that was no longer there. Sometime during his freefall, his mask must have flown off, "I, y-you're not going to tell Batman? Right?"

"No, but Jace," Robin began, voice small and hesitant. Jace stared at Robin as the Boy Wonder reached up before, with a quick tug, he removed his mask. Jace went wide eyed, gasping as Richard Grayson's blue eyes met Jace Mallory's green orbs, "Why are you doing this?"

Jace frowned, replying softly, "My parents are gone. You know that."

"So?"

"So?" Jace's head snapped up, "My brothers are all I have left!"

"That's not true," Dick replied, stepping forward. He hesitantly set a gloved hand on Jace's shoulder as he smiled reassuringly, "You have me."

Jace bit his lip, letting Dick's words sink in. Dick was right, Jace did have him. Over the course of the past couple months, the two nine year olds had grown close, bonding over the fact they each had lost their parents. The only difference being who took them in. Dick got a lucky break seeing as Bruce Wayne took him in. Whereas the Anderson's, a middle class family who happened to be close friends of the Mallory's, took Jace and his brothers in. Jace couldn't complain though, the Anderson's were nice and loved him and his brother's like their own. Although, that opinion might change if they discovered the trios nightly habits.

"That doesn't matter," Jace glanced down, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach.

"Jace," Dick said softly, "Let Bruce and I help you."

"I-"

"Fury!" A voice called out. Reacting quickly, Dick slapped on his mask while Jace snagged his from the ground before placing it over his eyes.

Turning around, Fury looked up at where the voice came from. Quickly approaching the ground was his brothers, with Batman not too far behind them.

With a soft thud, the trio landed on the ground before they all stepped behind their 'sidekick.'

Wrath's hand clamped down on Fury's shoulder, causing the latter to flinch in pain slightly, "Let's go," Wrath growled, still glaring at Batman, "We're getting out of here." Fury nodded his head, not bothering to respond to his brother.

As Wrath guided Fury up a fire escaped and away from the heroes, Fury glanced at them once more, catching Robin's eye. With one last sympathetic glance at his friend, Robin disappeared into the shadows, after his mentor.

"Strike look out!" Robin shouted, knocking Strike out of the way just as a knife lodged into the ground where he once was.

With a growl, Strike was brought back into reality as he glared at his brother, Scorn, who stepped out of the shadows. Twirling a gleaming knife in his hand, Scorn smirked at his brother, "What's the matter baby bro? Something on your mind?"

Strike stood up with a snarl, "Are you trying to kill me?!"

Scorn's smirk grew as he sauntered over to the heroes, "Naah. I'm aiming to maim, not kill. Besides, mommy dearest would have my head if I killed you."

Scorn's smirk shifted into a sneer as Strike launched himself at his brother. Quickly stepping to the side, Strike dove right past him. But, much to Scorn's dismay, Strike didn't go splat. Instead he landed in a roll before popping back up to his feet.

Scorn frowned, "It seems you've learned a new trick."

"It seems you've noticed," Strike retorted with a smirk.

This time, Scorn was the first to attack. He ran at Strike and threw a left hook. Strike blocked it with his wrist and aimed of punch of his own. Scorn did a back handspring, narrowly avoiding the punch but he wasn't out of harm's way yet. Strike lashed out with his foot, catching Scorn's ankles as he landed.

Scorn stumbled backwards, an impressed smile settling on his face, "Y'know," He mused, circling his brother, "Are you sure you don't want to go back to working with Wrath and I? Your talents are wasted as a hero."

Strike growled, glaring at his brother, "Haven't we had this conversation?"

Shrugging, Scorn replied, "This conversation will continue to happen. You know that right? Until the day you-"

Scorn went flying across the rooftop, Robin in tow seeing as the Boy Wonder tackled the villain, "You two sure know how to make a guy feel like a third wheel!" Robin chided as he pinned down Scorn.

"Aw, babe. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel jelo-" Strike's boot connected with Scorn's abdomen, shutting the villain up.

"Can it," Strike growled, stooping down and handcuffing the villain. He turned back around and glanced at Robin, "Now we call Batman?"

Robin nodded, walking away, "I'll call him. Just watch Scorn." Strike nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey!" Scorn protested, struggling in his bonds, "I'm the older brother! I should be the one babysitting him! Not the other way ar- off." Strike plopped down, landing directly on his brother's back.

"You should shut up."

"And you should lose some weight." Scorn puffed out between breaths. Choosing to not acknowledge the comment, Strike just bounced slightly, causing his brother to grunt in pain.

Resting his hands on his knees, Strike waited for Batman to arrive, hopefully with Wrath in tow. Strike had to admit, it'd be nice to have one night without them, seeing as they'd be back tomorrow.

Whenever the villainous duo were captured, they stayed in a jail cell until they could be transferred to Belle Reve or some other penitentiary seeing as they weren't deemed insane enough for Arkham. But, being the anti to Gotham's vigilantes, they always managed to escape. No matter what.

Strike had learned that the first time they managed to capture his brothers.

The shrill school bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The once silent classroom erupted into cheers and screams as classes of rowdy third graders raced out of the classrooms and into the hallways.

Walking through the loud hall, Jace kept his head down. It had only been a few days since the bank incident and so far, he'd been able to avoid Dick the whole time. That or Dick didn't want to be his friend anymore, seeing that Jace was a villain and all.

"Jace!" A voice called out, causing Jace to flinch. He immediately recognized the voice and sped up slightly.

The person who called him quickly caught up to him. Jace hissed as nails dug into his forearm before he turned around, facing the red head.

"What do you want, Barbara?" Jace muttered, head hanging.

The young girl placed her hands on her hips, glaring the best she could at her friend, "What's wrong with you?"

Jace looked up, brow quirked "What do you mean?"

Barbara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "You've been ignoring Dick all week!"

Jace internally groaned. Leave it to Barbara to notice everything.

"So?" Barbara tapped her foot impatiently. Even though she was only nine, she was one of the most mature kids in the school.

"I'll talk to him," Jace grumbled, pushing past his friend. He knew she wouldn't drop it unless Jace agreed to at least "try" to fix things with Dick. He also knew she wouldn't follow him. Barbara was good with body language and could tell that Jace was uncomfortable and didn't want to talk about it.

The blazing sun hit Jace's face as soon as his foot was out the door of Gotham Elementary, the most prestigious school for youngsters. The Anderson's thought that it'd be best to send the Mallory boys to a prestigious school because they had high hopes it would make sure they went down the right path.

Boy, if only they knew.

"Ready to go home squirt?" Jace startled slightly before glancing up at his brother, Andy. Andy was the middle child and only two years older than Jace making him eleven.

"I'm not a squirt." Jace muttered, brushing Andy's arm off his shoulder.

"Arguably, you are." Jace rolled his eyes as he began to walk off. The walks home usually just consisted of Andy and Jace. Will had started junior high and was the quarterback for the football team, meaning that every day after school, he had practices.

"Hey, Jace!" A voice called. Jace turned his head to the left, where the voice came from. As soon as he laid his eyes on the sleek, black limo, his jaw dropped.

Beside him, Andy chuckled, "Careful, squirt. You don't want to let the flies in." Jace quickly snapped his jaw shut before slowly walking towards the limo, where Dick had his head hanging out. He was also grinning like a mania and waving spastically at Jace.

"What do you want, Dick?" Jace muttered, not making eye contact with the boy.

Unbeknownst to Jace, Dick's face fell slightly, "I uh… was wondering if you wanted to come over?"

Jace glanced up, clutching his books to his chest tighter, "I have homework." He quickly lied.

"Jace," Andy knocked his hip against his younger brother's, "You don't have homework."

The smile on Dick's face grew as Jace glared up at Andy, "So that means you'll come over then?"

Jace sighed, "I guess so."

"Great!" Dick chirped, sliding over in the seat, "Come on in!"

The limo door opened and Jace slid in, taking a spot next to Dick. With a wave to Andy, the sleek limo took off.

As soon as they arrived at the manor, Dick jumped out of the limo, Jace in tow, "Come on! I wanna show you around!"

After a tour around the manor, Jace's head was spinning. The place was huge! You could play the best game of hide n seek here ever!

"How do you not get lost all the time?!" Jace exclaimed, turning towards Dick as they walked towards the library. Jace glanced around excitedly as his voice echoed around the cavernous halls.

Dick chuckled, enjoying his friend's enthusiasm, "I just call for Alfred when I get lost."

Jace nodded with a smile, completely forgetting for the time being their separate sides.

When the duo came to a stop, they were standing in front of an old grandfather clock. Jace looked at it with confusion, not entirely sure what was so special about this.

"What are we doing?" Jace glanced at Dick, confusion evident in his eyes.

Dick stared back at Jace, blue orbs filled with mischief and excitement as his lips curled into a smile, "I have one more room I want to show you!"

Jace glanced back at the clock and then Dick. Pointing he asked, "It's in the clock?"

Dick giggled with excitement. This was it. Bruce and him were, hopefully, going to have a new partner. There was no way Dick was going to let Jace's brothers continue to corrupt him, "No! It's behind the clock."

Jace turned to his friend, still confused but wide eyed, "No way."

"Way," Dick nodded. He walked forward before reaching up and turning the hands on the clock. There was an audible click before the clock opened with a hiss.

Dick turned back towards Jace, whose jaw was hanging open. Dick broke out into a grin as he grabbed his friends arm, "Come on!"

There was a loud groan as Strike's mind, once again, came back to reality. Strike glanced up to see his partner staring angrily down at Scorn, "Bats said to let him go."

Strike jumped up, allowing his brother to roll over onto his back, "What?! Why?"

Robin ran a hand through his hair, brow furrowed, "Because he lost Wrath and you know taking one in without the other is not a good idea."

"Hah!" Scorn exclaimed from his spot on the ground. Strike flashed him a quick glare before turning back towards Robin.

"So we're just supposed to leave him here?"

"Pretty much." Strike groaned. So he would have to deal with his brothers tonight. Great, "Let's just get back to the Batcave."

"Fine."

As the two boys descended down the stairs, Jace could hear the light screeching of bats and trickling water as a wave of cold washed over him. As the delved further down the stairs, Jace could faintly hear the clacking of keys as an eerie, blue glow shone around the cave.

"Dick," Jace whispered as they exited the stairs, "What is this place?"

Dick gave Jace a small smile, spreading his arms out, "Welcome to the Batcave!" Jace froze as his blood ran cold. His first instinct was to run. This was the Batcave. The home to Batman and Robin, enemies of Wrath and Scorn, who just so happened to be Jace's brothers.

Jace's heart began to hammer as his eyes filled with tears. Dick, whom he thought was his true friend, had turned Jace in to the Dark Knight himself. This was not going to be good.

"Jace," A calm, soothing voice spoke. Jace took a subconscious step back as the chair sitting in front of the computer spun around, revealing Batman. Jace gulped, nerves wracking his body, "I'm glad you could come." Jace stared at Batman, not believing the Dark Knight was smiling at him.

"I uh…" Jace stammered, trying to figure out something to say.

"It's okay," Batman soothed, pulling off his cowl, "You have nothing to fear."

The butterflies in Jace's stomach settled slightly. This was a good sign. Right? "Y-you're not going to turn me in?"

Bruce chuckled slightly, "No. In fact, I want the exact opposite." Jace stared at him confused. In a few short steps, Bruce stood, towering over Jace before he kneeled down, "I want to take you on as my protégé."

Jace's eyes widened. His mind began to race a mile a minute as he processed what Bruce just said. He wanted Jace to be his next protégé?! "But… but what about Rob- Dick?" Jace voiced, still unsure about everything.

Bruce smiled kindly at the young boy, sensing his nerves. He placed a comforting hand on Jace's shoulder, "You'll both be my protégés. You and Dick will work together, as partners."

"Partners," Jace murmured to himself, silently enjoying the word. The more Jace thought about it, the greater the idea appealed to him. He's always dreamed about fighting alongside Batman and now here it was, his chance to fulfill that dream. The corners of his lips curled up as Jace was about to accept the offer. He wouldn't have to be a villain! He didn't have to be Fury ever again. He could make up his own name, design his own costume. His brothers wouldn't be able to control him! Jace's face fell.

His brothers.

No. They would never allow him to become a hero. They'd protest, maybe even kill him if he turned on them.

"I can't," Jace whispered, hanging his head, "My brother's would never allow it."

Bruce smiled sadly, understanding Jace's worry. His brothers were the only family he had left, "It's not up to them, Jace." Bruce comforted, choosing his words carefully, "This is your life. You can do what you want with it."

Jace glanced up at Bruce, hope filled his green orbs, "R-really?"

Bruce nodded, but it was Dick who spoke up, "Really!" He chirped, "We can be partners and fight crime together!" Jace smiled a genuine smile. The idea sounded terrific. Dick had become his best friend and now he could fight alongside him!

"Alright," Jace nodded, smile growing as excitement filled his veins, "I'm in!"

Dick beamed at his friend, "Great! Come on!" Dick snagged Jace's arm, "I want to show you the rest of the Batcave!"

As the two boys raced off, Bruce stood up, smiling softly, "Alfred," He turned his head to the left, where the elderly butler had entered the room.

"Do you think this is a wise idea, Master Bruce?" The butler announced his concerns. Sure, Alfred was happy Master Dick had a true friend, but the boy was related to bad blood. If they weren't careful, the young child could be ripped from them and still forced down the wrong path.

"We'll see, Alfred," Bruce sighed, "But I can't just sit by and do nothing. This boy needs us, as Dick put it. Besides, this is the first time in a while I've seen Dick genuinely happy. It'll be good for him to have another kid his age running around. Not to mention they'll have each other to lean on."

"If you say so, Master Bruce," Alfred nodded, smiling softly. He did quite like Master Dick's new friend. In fact, he saw a lot of the young master in him, "Should I get the papers and set up a room for Master Jace?"

Bruce shook his head, "No. He has an adoptive family. I can't just take him away from that, but he's more than welcome here whenever he wants."

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in!" Andy smiled, chuckling as Jace entered the front door. Jace couldn't help but grin. As much as he loathed Wrath and Scorn, Will and Andy were pretty good brothers to him.

"Whatever," Jace plopped down on the couch, next to Andy, "At least I didn't get my ass handed to me by birdbrain."

"You distracted me!"

"Excuses, excuses!" Jace chuckled. Andy scoffed at his brother, feigning hurt. Jace rolled his eyes, "Oh, don't be such a drama queen!"

"Rude," Andy pouted.

"Whatever."

It was moments like this when Jace felt like he was actually normal. Here he was, messing around with his brother just having a good time. There was no Scorn and Strike, just Andy and Jace.

Jace wished it could always be this way.

A/N: Review people! They mean a lot because I enjoy hearing your thoughts and things!

A tad bit of information on Strike:

Real name: Jace Mallory

Age: 13

Siblings: Andy and Will Mallory

Parents: Went to jail when he was 9.

Adopted parents: Samantha and Greg Anderson

Powers: None

Looks: Light brown hair, green eyes, slightly tanned skin with freckles

Uniform: Black tunic, like Robin's, but sleeveless. Above his right breast is a stylized 'S' for Strike. Dark gray utility belt, domino mask, and combat boots. Gloves like Robin except fingerless. He has a black hood that leads into a black cape with a dark gray inside.

Love Interest: ?

Notes: He may be a Bat protege, but he doesn't live with Bruce Wayne. He lives with his adopted parents.

One last thing, I plan to focus a lot more of my time on this story because I feel as though Falcon was pretty much just a practice round for me. I think I found a writing style that suits me and if you've read Falcon, I'll update the last chapter within the next few weeks.

Anyways, please, for the love of god, no OC hate on this story. I know I can't stop you, you have a right to your opinion and to say it and blah blah blah. But it's a two way street. I also have the right to ignore said opinion because a) I will be honest, I don't really care. Cool, you hate OCs. That's you, not me. b) This is my story meaning that I have a right to write about whatever the fuck I want. c) Your opinion will NEVER stop me from writing my OC story.

Fine, you don't like OC stories? Then don't read them. Seriously? That's why there's an OC filter. I don't go reading stories I hate so don't go reading stories you hate and then bashing on them even though you have been warned. Seriously? That's like the number one sign you're an asshole.

Personally, I like OCs. Sure, Mary Sues are annoying but hey, just help them out. Don't scream and rant at them. People come to this site for constructive criticism. Not hate and bashing. Also, to the OC haters, you DO NOT speak for all of the YJ fandom so please, stop saying you do and that OCs are a plague. You sound dumb. Want to know how many OC stories there are at this point in time? About 300. That's all the OC stories with the filter at least. So, compared to the rest of the fandom, where there's approximately 13.8 K stories, only about 300 are about OCs. That's very little so quite saying "OCs are a plague and taking over FF" because we're not.

I don't mind criticism. Go ahead, criticize my OC and writing or whatnot, I welcome it. Tell me what you like about Strike or what I should improve, go ahead. I just don't want to hear that you don't like him simply because he just so happens to be an OC. People have gotten really rude and harsh on here lately and it's just awful because here on FF, authors come to post stories and receive CONSTRUCTIVE criticism about stories and OCs, not hate and just plain OC bashing. So please, if you're going to review, let it be constructive and uplifting. Not hateful and makes me feel like a crap author. And no, for the guest who review last time, writing an OC story does not make me a crap author.

Anyways, bottom line, I honestly don't care if you don't like OCs. I do so please, don't spew OC hate here because a) I'm not going to stop writing about my OCs because somebody hates ALL OCs and b) Fanfiction has no rule against OCs. Meaning that I can write about OCs to my hearts content and no one can say a damn thing.

I will admit though, it's fun to not write about OCs sometimes because it's a bit more of a challenge to write with just the canon characters. However, that doesn't mean I like writing them more than OC stories, which a guest seemed to believe I had said. Please, DO NOT put words into my mouth.

One final thing, to be completely honest, I believe all the OC hate is coming from a select few readers. I noticed on a few stories that have OC hate reviews that the reviews were all added at approximately the same time, all under a guest. The hate seems to come from guests. Either they just don't have an account, or they're account holders hiding behind guests so they don't get hate I will never know. /shrugs/ Whatever. Nothing I can do about it.

If you read this and you had come here to bash my OC, please, don't do it. It's not going to change anything. You're just wasting your time,but hey, I can't stop you. Just think about it?