Justice League Femme

Chapter One: Batgirl

A strong breeze blew past me, sending my auburn hair waving in the air. From here, I could see just about every part of Gotham City. The sun was barely setting and the city was starting to revive its nightlife.

I smiled a bit. I hadn't been this high up in what feels like years, even though it had only been less than twenty-four hours since then. I had always loved observing the city from this high up. The solace I'd have here was enough to clear my head before pouncing into action back on the streets as Batgirl.

Batgirl, the heroic persona I wear at dusk before having to change back to Barbara by dawn. Batman took me on after he saw what I could do. I guess he didn't know he had people who looked up to him when he found me. He would teach me how to use his tech and gadgets, but when you're the classic "tech geek", you'd know how to hack into his entire surveillance system in less than fifteen minutes. Gotham knew me as Batgirl and for a while, I was at the top of my game, working with Batman, Nightwing, the Robins, and Batwoman. Criminals still ran rampant here in Gotham, but they'd be damned the moment they had to deal with me. When you work with the Dark Knight himself, you become just as scary as him, even after a three-year hiatus.

I slipped my binoculars over my eyes. Further away, a man in dark clothing held a gun against a younger man's head. The younger man was trembling with his eyes wide. I sighed as I rolled my eyes. I slipped off my binoculars before gliding off of the building's ledge.

My feet pounded into the gravelly ground when I landed. I glared up at the mugger. "You people are just a dime-a-dozen around here, huh?" I whipped out a titanium batarang and threw it at the mugger's glock, making him loosen his grip. With that, I approached him.

"Hey, Girl-Bat," the mugger shouted in a Jersey accent before coughing lightly, "it ain't what it looks like, I swear!"

I threw up my leg and spun around, kicking him across the face with my foot. "Explain it to me, then."

The mugger fell down to the gravel. Another cough escaped him. He glared up at me with his cold, gray eyes. "I'm gettin' my money back."

"And so you decide to rob this man?" I questioned, "in daylight no less?"

"It was now or never, Girl-Bat," the mugger growled before he pounced onto my chest.

I collapsed to the ground. The mugger's grip was strong as I tried to squirm my way out. I looked over to see the younger man up against the wall. He observed the fight with wide eyes. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead.

The mugger's fist jabbed into my cheek. Instantly, I felt it throb. No way was it not gonna bruise. I threw my legs around his chest and wrestled him back. "You got a better excuse?"

"He stole money from me," the mugger accused. He let out a loud cough. "Investor my ass."

"I didn't take any money!"

I turned to see the victim up against the wall still. His body was trembling. "I'm his financial assistant, but I didn't do anything..." He was cut off by his own coughing.

Suddenly, I felt the mugger loosen my grip and knock me off of him. I stumbled onto the gravel in front of him. Not thinking, I threw a small canister next to the victim. "Run!" In that instant, the canister went off, emitting an opaque, silver fog in the victim's direction. I could hear more coughing as the victim ran.

The click of a gun rang into my ear. My eyes widened as I carefully turned my head. I looked directly into the barrel of the glock. Sweat beads were forming along my hairline as my blood went cold.

I swear I could experience it all over again: his bloody red smile, his pale face as he let out a shrill laugh. I could feel blood pooling out of my chest and onto the carpet back home and the agonizing pain his bullet had punctured. My dad's screams, both pleading for my life and threatening the bastard who pulled the trigger. You can't shoot the Commissioner's daughter in the abdomen and think you can get away with it. But the crazed gunman, he almost did. He just about always does.

"What's that?" the mugger snarled. He grinned with his yellowing teeth. "Is Girl-Bat 'fraid of a gun?"

No. That's what I wanted to shout at him, but we both knew that was a lie.

Suddenly, there was a piercing scream. It was so high-pitched, my ears popped. I squeezed my eyes shut as it rang out. I could literally feel the vibrations of the scream. My eyes widened and turned my head. Before us, a young woman with blonde hair and a black, leather bodice with yellow accents stood before us. She had on black combat boots and fishnet stockings to go with it. A black choker ran around her neck. Jet black biker gloves covered her peach-colored hands.

I smiled. "Thanks for the backup, Black Canary."

She smirked as she came over. I got this." She kicked up her leg and roundhoused the mugger off me. I took her hand as she helped me up.

"Oh," the mugger snarled, "you that blonde songbird, huh?"

"I don't sing," she said, "I SCREAM!" She let out another "canary cry".

It knocked the mugger off his feet. She went over to him and kept punching his abdomen before striking him right in the face.

"You don't fight my partner without facing the consequences, pal," she spat.

"Awh, c'mon, pretty bird," the mugger replied, "a girl like you shouldn't be roughin' up a guy like me this way."

She kicked him in the temple, knocking him out. "Only Ollie gets to call me 'Pretty Bird'." She turned to me, letting out a heavy sigh.

"You get Gotham's police force?" I asked.

"On their way," she said, "now we gotta get before they find us."

I nodded. With that, we ran out of the alleyway as sirens blared nearby.

The sun had set by the time we were on the rooftop. Black Canary, or as I also knew her, Dinah Lance, sat by the ledge, facing away from the rim of the rooftop. Her light gray eyes looked at me. "You froze, Babs," Dinah said, "that's not like you." She leaned into me. "What happened out there?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it." I looked past Dinah and into the city. The city's lights made up for the lack of natural light. Light traffic could be heard, even from all the way up here. Things were different up here. Maybe if Gotham was like this, maybe I wouldn't have been so bitter for those three years I wasn't Batgirl. Maybe I wouldn't have had that reason to be so damn bitter at all.

Dinah waved a hand up and down in front of my eyes. "Hello? Earth to Barbara Gordon."

I shook my head. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Dinah asked, "how you came back from a three-year hiatus eleven months ago? How you're freezing up again, too?" She paused for a moment. "That wasn't like you, Barbara."

"I don't know why it happened," I explained, "it just...happened."

"You just freeze like that out of nowhere?" Her voice was sharper than usual. "C'mon. You and I both know there was a trigger behind it."

I shook my head. "Don't give me the therapy talk. If I wanted that talk, it wouldn't be with you." I paused for a second. "No offense."

Dinah shrugged. "None taken, but I just don't get how Barbara Gordon, the Commissioner's daughter, the first Batgirl, froze while fighting a common thug."

I sighed. "It was more than that."

It's always more than that.