Chapter 1

I loved my room in Wayne Manor. I had a giant canopy bed and a beautiful view of Gotham city. I sat at my antique vanity, allying my makeup that afternoon. It had been 18 months since, well, everything! Since I met Batman. Since I met my real parents. Since my mom died. No! I wasn't going to think about that. I should never EVER think about that. EVER! I had done my makeup to make myself look gorgeous. Today, Bruce was taking me to his press conference. He said I would help him gain supporters. After the big hype of being adopted by Master Wayne faded, things kind of went back to normal. Then I turned sixteen and my party was the talk of the city for months. It was nice living with Bruce. Not just because of the money, I mean, that was a nice bonus. But he was an awesome guy! Nice, funny, polite. Plus, he was also Batman. It took a while to adjust to the whole "Batgirl" situation and Bruce wouldn't let me start right away. He said I was still rusty. I think it was because Joker would instantly know who I was if all of a sudden Batgirl joined up with him the next day. It didn't matter. I was Batgirl now and I gotta say, I loved it! There was only one downside to this whole situation. Robin. Urg! He was so annoying! We were practically at war with each other. He's just so cocky and….ugh! Batman wouldn't tell me his secret identity and he said he wouldn't tell Robin mine. He told the other Batgirls who Robin was. Why wouldn't he tell me? Whenever I asked he told me that if I knew who Robin was my life would be turned upside down. Not quite sure what he meant by that. All I knew was that I hated Robin. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I called. Alfred stepped into the room with a box.

"Good afternoon Sarina." He greeted. He used to call me Miss Gibson, but I wouldn't allow it. I wasn't 'Miss Gibson.' I was just plain old Sarina.

"Afternoon Alfred." I replied. I got up and walked towards him. "What's in the box?"

"Bruce wants you to look presentable for the conference." Alfred answered. I took the box.

"Don't I always look presentable?" I asked. Alfred smiled. I stared at the outfit before me. Not too casual, not a ball gown or anything. It was a happy medium. A back skirt with a purple blouse. The purple boots matched the shirt beautifully. To top it all off I had a gorgeous coat that was super soft. "I'll look great in this."

"As you know this conference is crucial." He said.

"Why am I so key to this conference?" I questioned.

"You're one of his points. Keeping Gotham safe for the youth. And you fit the bill." Alfred explained.

"Makes sense." I replied. At least I think it does. "What time are we leaving?"

"7." Alfred replied.

"Maybe Bruce'll let me drive." I suggested with a laugh. Bruce didn't trust me behind the wheel. I think I had driven my BMW twice, maybe three times. I was hopping I'd get to drive the bat-mobile one day but that was highly unlikely. Alfred, left the room and I went back to making myself look presentable. Until I heard a car outside. I ran to my window to see the cutest boy in all of Gotham. Tim Drake. He was a good friend of Bruce. He'd come over almost every day to talk to Bruce about….well I don't know….guy stuff. But I didn't mind. I could watch him all day. His black hair. His blue eyes. His charming smile. Oh god! I think I've died and gone to heaven. He's so attractive! Sure he was a couple years older but I didn't care! Oh, why couldn't he be Robin!

"I said hey Sarina!" He called. Oops. I didn't realize he was talking to me. With a flick of my wrist, I gracefully opened my window.

"Oh hey, Tim." I smiled shyly.

"I heard you were going with Bruce to the press conference." He replied.

"Yeah, I am." I said.

"FYI I picked out those shoes Bruce bought ya." Tim mentioned. I smirked. He knew how to pick out a decent pair of shoes.

"They're beautiful! Thank you!" I called.

"Well, I'll let you go back to getting ready." He said.

"Okay bye!" I called.

"Au revoir!" He replied. I closed the window and sighed. He spoke french too! I snapped my self out of it and got back to getting ready. It was only three and the conference wasn't for another four hours. But I was going to do my hair, and my nails and well EVERYTHING! Bruce wanted me to be presentable. I'll give him presentable. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Sarina. It's me Barbara." The girl on the other end replied.

"BARBRA! How are things?" I asked. Me and Barbara were practically sisters. Ever since we met we…just kinda clicked. She was like the big sister I never had and she taught me all I needed to know about being Batgirl. As if Bruce didn't ride me enough about the responsibilities of being a silent guardian. Every morning, six am sharp, we'd workout and train. Just so we were always ready. Even on my birthday we had to train. Sometimes it could be a pain but my mom used to say, you have to take the good with the bad. Besides, my muscles were getting all nice and toned and I never really had to worry about what I ate again.

"Things are good. I just wanted to check in with you about….well your dad." She said. Yup. She knew about me and the Joker. She, Bruce, Alfred and unfortunately Robin were the only ones who knew. Robin liked to use it against me. Like: 'Why should we trust her. She's probably Joker's spy.' But he only sunk that low when I was really pissing him off.

"What about him?" I asked. I enjoyed to stay as far away from that topic as possible.

"I just worry about you. Has he contacted you in anyway? That seems like something he would do." Barbara questioned. I could only think about that night at my birthday party. He just showed up out of nowhere and tried to get me to join him. This wasn't the first time Barbara asked me this. I kept telling her the same answer. No. But she never believed me.

"No." I lied once again. "Nothing at all. Maybe he's just forgotten about me or something."

"I don't know." Barbara said. She wasn't very gullible. "Just be careful okay?"

"I will. I promise!" I replied, calming her. "So, will you be at this press conference?"

"I can't. I have plans." She explained.

"That sucks. I don't even know what this conference is for." I laughed. "Bruce hasn't talked to you about it?" She asked.

"Nope." I replied. "I'm on a need to know basis."

"He's trying to shut down Arkham City." Barbara explained. Oh yeah. I heard about that. Some super prison city in the heart of Gotham. Every criminal who was any criminal was there. No wonder he was using me. He could use me as an argument. I could just picture it now. 'I want a safe city for Sarina to grow up in. How can a super prison in the middle of our city be safe for anyone!'

"Oh, that makes sense." I replied.

"Good. Remember to smile for the cameras." Barbara laughed.

"I promise I will." I said.

"Well, I have to go. Goodbye!" She said.

"Bye Barb!" I hung up the phone. Now….what to do about my hair? I walked into my bathroom and got to work on brushing it until it was smooth. I hummed happily to myself after I brushed each blonde stroke. I put a layer of my hair up so I could smooth out the layer underneath. I was very maticulous about that sort of thing. A small portion of hair fell out of my ponytail and I nearly died when I got a good look at it. It was green. Not like that green you get when you go swimming in a chlorine pool with blonde highlights. A bright green. Joker green. I gasped. Nope. Not happening. My hair was not turning green! It couldn't be turning green! It was just…not natural. It would wash right out. I spent the next two hours washing my hair over and over and over again. But it just wouldn't wash out. It was my actual hair. I had to get rid of it. Out of sight out of mind, Right? I styled my hair perfectly so that bit of hair was hidden. There. No one would ever now. I looked at the clock. 6:30. Crap! I had to get dressed. I threw on my outfit, finished the final touches on my makeup and rushed downstairs. Bruce was all dressed in his suit. One of his nicer ones.

"I'm glad the shoes fit. I thought you were an eight but Tim insisted you were a seven." Bruce said. I smirked. Tim knew my shoe size!

"They fit great." I replied. I scanned his outfit. It was a good look for him."You look nice."

"Thanks. It's my good suit." He explained.

"I see that." I smirked. "Hey you wanna toss me the keys?" I added a smile with this. maybe he'd let me drive.

"Nope. I think I'll keep them." He grinned. I sighed. Worth a shot.

"I'll make prime rib for dinner then sir." Alfred called.

"Sounds great, Alfred." Bruce called back. With that, we were in the garage. We had five cars in THIS garage. His Lamborghini, his Porsche, his Mercedes, his Ferrari and my BMW. Of course the bat-mobile was in a completely different area. "Let's go with the Porsche." sounds good to me. We got in the car and drove off to Arkham City.

When we got there, the place was swarming with press. I was surprised but then I reminded myself that it was a press conference. We got out of the car and made our way to the podium. I was supposed to play the part of the person standing behind the speaker. I think I could manage. We were walking towards Vicki Vale as she was covering the story.

"In a few minutes, Bruce Wayne will be live on stage to explain his sudden interest in Gotham politics." Vicki reported. "The infamous playboy millionaire has never been one to-"

"It's billionaire Vicki." Bruce interrupted as we walked pass. "Millionaires are so last year." The press mob began to attack. Surrounding us. Firing questions like bullets. Bruce skillfully dodged them as he always did. He got up to the podium. I stood off to the side. Bruce cleared his throat and began his speech. He sounded bold and confident. Perfect. That was what you were supposed to do. Bruce claimed that this prison was too dangerous to be in the center of Gotham. His speech made a lot of sense. He was in the middle of a key argument when a commotion started. A S.W.A.T. team charged in.

"The primary target is Wayne." I heard one of them say. This is not good. Not good at all. The guards had him cornered.

"Hands in the air, Wayne." A guard said. I was extremely confused, but Bruce did as he was told. One of the guards slammed the butt of their gun into his head. Knocking him out. I didn't know much about the law. But I did know that that was police brutality. I marched up to them.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" I demanded. "This is police brutality." He shoved me away. "HELLO! I'm talking to you!" They started to pick Wayne up and take him away. "Let him go now! Now!" My initial instinct was to punch one of them in the face and that's exactly what I did.

"Resisting arrest!" Another guard shouted. A guard grabbed me by the arm and slammed me up against the walls of Arkham City. That's about the time where I black out.