She took Dick's hand and, right after picking up their bags, dragged him through the streets of Old Gotham. Under many protests, they continued into the blocks and alleys of the neighborhood. All Dick wanted were answers, but he didn't get any, while Barbara only muttered about how excited she was for something she didn't yet want to reveal, and soon he found out why. It was already dark by the time they reached Old Gotham's old Clock Tower, the instant Grayson saw the scene, after turning a corner, he knew exactly what Barbara was up to.

- No!

- We're already here, Dick. Let's see how it goes, at least.

- Barbara, we have a few hours before curfew, for God's sake. What if something happens?

- Like what? — She raised her arms, unconcerned

- Stop right there! — A masked figure emerged, the figure of a typical assailant, about the same age as the two.

- Like that. — Dick replied, raising his hands

- Ah… What do you want? — Barbara also raised her hands

- Give me your backpacks! — The robber continued, hands in his pocket

- Just a moment there, friend. What are you threatening us with? — Barbara asked

- This — He took a large switchblade from his pocket, a kind of military blade. Immediately, Barbara started laughing out loud.

- Barbara, what is that? — Dick was clearly desperate

- Oh come on, we live in Gotham, for you to threaten someone who lives in Old Gotham, it has to be 38 gauge or higher.

- Aren't you scared, girl? — The Burglar was clearly annoyed

- Please, I grew up here, and I'm still a police chief's daughter, who do you think you're messing with?

The evil element was already fed up. He advanced with the blade, but quickly, Barbara grabbed the arm with which he had advanced, and in one swift movement, twisted the delinquent's shoulder. He screamed in pain, dropping the blade, which Barbara caught before falling, finishing with a right punch to his nose, which sent him staggering and falling into the gutter of the street. Dick watched the situation in a mixture of admiration and judgment, slowly lowering his hands.

- I hope you learned. Go get your life together and not try to take advantage of innocent people, you asshole. Now get out of here! — The burglar got up and ran away, Barbara's face got a look of rage, and a smile of satisfaction.

- Barbara… What got into you?

- What's it?!

- You've never been aggressive like that with anyone.

- He was going to rob us, Dick!

- For God's sake, what does your father keep telling you? “Don't get into trouble”, and all you've done so far is look for it.

- Oh, stop being lazy. Don’t tell me that you're satisfied with just being cooped up in a house or an Academy or whatever while the real action, the real work to be done is out there.

- Actually yes. I am very happy with my life Barbara. aren't you?

- I don't know, okay! — She retorted bitterly, Dick actually was able to see the confusion in her friend's eyes.

- Look... Sorry. I knew something like this was going to happen. I should, I dunno, take you to a pizza place or something. It's not time to rummage through Batman stuff.

- Actually, you did it right, it's exactly time for that. Think of all we've done, Dick, standing there does not make our lives any more meaningful.

- And you have all this desire to rediscover yourself for what reason? Is it because this whole situation is really awakening something inside you? Or because you're desperate that the life your parents gave you is doomed to end in tragedy just like their relationship?

- Oh... — Barbara started to tear up — I can't believe you said that...

- You don't want to deal with this in the best way, I had to say it! We are in the middle of a dangerous neighborhood at night, I swear if we get in trouble with a monitor because of this…

- Olive is covering us! Why are you like this, Dick?

- Because you've changed!

- No!

Soon, their conversation is abruptly interrupted by a voice, one coming from the walkie-talkies they've brought with them. They were silent, staring at each other, until Barbara opened her bag and took the device. They heard a male voice, it was calm and husky, clearly giving a set of instructions to someone nearby. “22 and 37, moment of assembly of project 027. 22 and 44, loading of transports.” were some of the words they could hear. Barbara deduced that they picked up some nearby wave transmission, whispering the idea to Dick, who just nodded in affirmation. A short time later, he silenced the instructions, there was no longer an answering voice, and suddenly, one of the gates of the abandoned Clock Tower opened. From inside, several dark vans emerged during the night.

The two hid in a nearby alley and watched as the vehicles passed, silent through the night. Its drivers, armed and masked, staring down the street for any witnesses, something that really scared the two kids. After no one else was in sight, Barbara quickly approached a streetlight and pulled out a notebook, starting to jot down everything they had seen. Dick came over to ask what they were going to do, and she didn't say anything, just finished her notes and started walking towards a bus stop. The two went to the Academy again, they weren't late for curfew, but Barbara still didn't answer her friend, she needed some time alone to reorganize her thoughts, as she didn't like what he had implied about her. Maybe he was right, maybe not, that only time would tell.

It was another day after the Academy term. Barbara didn't want to talk to Dick for the time being, so she used her recreation period to pay a visit to a place she'd spent much of her life: The Gotham Police Station. She lost count of the times she had to spend some weekends locked inside its hallways and rooms, since both parents were working, and for them, there is no better place to leave their children than in a building full of armed police. Many of them took the time to greet her, but she was after a specific office. Arriving at the entrance to Police Chief Harvey Bullock's office, she knocked softly on the door, learned to do this early on, not wanting to incite the wrath of anyone there again, especially Bullock.

She heard Bullock's irritable voice telling her to come in, and when she did, she found exactly who she wanted. The chief of police on one side of the table and the three adults she spent most of her time with on the other. Her father, and Lieutenants Renée Montoya and Crispus Allen. Everyone was happy to see her except Harvey, who was rarely happy about anything.

- Barbara! — Renée and Crispus said, in unison.

- What did you come here to do? — Asked Jim

- I wanted to pay a visit, I haven't seen the rest of the team for over a week.

- It's great to see you, honey — Crispus approached and hugged her — How are things at the academy?

- You know, one day at a time.

- Babs. — Montoya raised her fist to the kid, Barbara bumped back — Nice of you to be here, but you shouldn't.

- I missed you!

- Lieutenant Montoya is right, girl — Bullock finally spoke — You've spent a lot of time here, but that doesn't give you the right to come whenever you want. Our work is dangerous.

- It's true, Babs. — Her father approached — At least try to warn next time. But… Since you're here, no problem, would you like to talk to me?

- Yes, that too, but… I just feel comfortable here. I can stay in the main lobby as usual, alone, and I won't bother anyone. How’s that to you, boss?

- … Okay, girl. — Harvey replied, frowning. He doesn't like to show his soft side around his subordinates — Better yet, stay in the Lieutenants' office, no child alone in my station.

- Thanks, Chief — She smiled, and he winked at her quickly, hoping the others in the room wouldn't notice.

- Let's go then? — Crispus held out his arm, as if treating a lady.

Usually this interaction between the adults was the sign that they would do the babysitting job while they went through the office paperwork. But this time, Barbara decided to give them a break and brought her laptop with her too. Her father stopped by to say a few quick words with her, they were both still dealing with this whole situation in their own way, and so she stayed in the comfort of a place she already knew, but away from everyone who was making her nervous. It was nice, for a while, to have a place to calm down and organize her thoughts. She thought about what Dick had said… She really didn't like that phrase, but he had a point, no matter how much she tried to hide it from herself, that was her way of processing everything that happened and could end up consuming her mind.

Crispus approached the girl, a box of donuts in his hand. He sat down beside her on the small sofa they'd tucked into the living room, just for Barbara, and held out the box to her, offering one. She unconsciously grabbed one and started to chew it, typing quickly on her laptop, centered, something that amused Chris, he cracked a smile before speaking.

- You key fast. What do you see so interesting there?

- Ah… Nothing, Uncle Chris — She snapped, still focused on the screen.

- Hello, Earth to Babs — He snapped his fingers near her face, making her finally look at him, still looking distracted.

- What… What am I seeing?

- Yea.

- It's an online forum...

- About…?

- The Batman.

- Ah, the old bat! So you're a fan of the dark element? It's been a while since the last time...

- Have you ever know Batman?! — Barbara's eyes widened.

- “Know” is a strong word. I saw him… I don't know if I mentioned it, it was my first week as an officer here at the police station. It was me, Renée and your father in an old warehouse on the docks, Chief Bullock stayed behind with the car at the exits and we went inside.

“There was a big fire in the crossfire with a drug cartel, I ended up getting separated from the group, I left the warehouse and managed to chase a couple of fugitives, but just as I was on their tail… A car. It came at me and I was in a narrow passage, and then… Something caught me. I was launched upward, and within seconds, my foot was tied to one of the high windows of the shed. It all happened very quickly, he was a black figure, and he was in the same place as me on the street. The car was still moving forward, but then he just extended his arm towards the car, some sort of shimmering glow came out of his hands and the car's tires instantly burst. He didn't move, the car made a turn that deviated from him and crashed right next to him.

“And it didn't stop there, the doors were stuck, from the accident, he just took one of his claws, I don't know where, and launched a kind of lightning that dismantled the car door. The two criminals got out of the car, he approached, and then they both drew pistols. It was very fast, just as they were trying to aim at Batman, he stuck his hands deep inside his wings and… A swarm of bats came out of there. They made a hissing sound in the air, there were many of them, but the first ones disarmed the criminals, the others simply beat them until they passed out. It was quite a show, mostly seeing everything upside down, and then he looked at me, and flew over to the window, untying me and lowering the rope until I was safely on the ground, when I looked up again… He had disappeared."

- Wow… — Barbara sighed.

- The three of us have different encounters with him on the same night. He saved all of us and handed us the dealers on a platter.

- Wait… My father too?

- Yes, sure.

- He never told me that...

- Wait, what? Does he talk about these things with you? — Chris was a little perplexed.

- Oops…

- There is! Old Jim, he talks about protocol with us, but he talks about confidential matters with his daughter, it sounds like him, soft-hearted.

- Don't talk about him like that...

- And you don't care about what I say, honey. — He stood up, ruffling Barbara's hair — It takes a soft heart to recognize the other.

- Stop it! — She pulled his hands away from her hair, chuckling.

- I hope you're handling this situation better than he is.

And Crispus went back to his table, taking another donut and leaving the box with Barbara. She was always very pampered when she went there, another reason why she made the visit, pampering in general always made her very calm. She browsed the forums for a few more moments, it was already getting dark and there were a few things on her mind. Closing her laptop, she approached Renée's desk, which was always frowning as she fiddled with reports, two stacks of paper at each end and a very old computer in the middle, she typed slowly but without stopping. Barbara took her side, and made a curious expression at the table, Renée turned to see what the girl wanted, and the face with big eyes and a small smile said it all.

- Oh… Chris! — The lieutenant called.

- Yea?

- The girl here is calling me...

- Oh… And how long is it?

- It's at the end… — Renee looked at the smaller pile of papers.

- Alright, stop by — And Montoya passed the papers to Allen, going to sit with Barbara shortly after.

- I have work to do, Barbara…

- Yes, but it's been a while since we did that. And Harvey let you guys stay with me.

- I'm not fourteen, Babs — Renee added, turning Barbara away from her and releasing her tied-up hair.

- But you give me such good advice!

- Hey, that's true. — Montoya smiled, and started braiding Barbara's hair, as usual — And why aren't you around with your… “Friend”. What is his name?

- Dick.

- Oh yes — She smiled broadly, almost laughing, and Barbara knew without even seeing it.

- Stop it! — Barbara said, almost laughing too.

- I refuse to call him that. Why aren't you out there messing with "Little Richard."

- He said something to me that hurt me.

- What would it be…?

- … It has to do with my parents getting divorced.

- Of course. But what was it about?

- About how this might be messing with me.

- He might not be wrong, you know. You came here to take some time to think about it, I suppose?

- Yea…

- Well Babs, coming from a girl with a dysfunctional family too, this is usually a moment when you need a lot of calm, usually focus on something that elevates you, it's a very decisive moment.

- How was it for you?

- I decided to enter a wrestling school, believe it or not.

- Wrestling? But could your parents afford it?

- No, I applied for a vacancy, the school was for some students from poor neighborhoods. I made it, of course.

- And did it help you?

- Well, all I wanted was to smack someone's face until the poor thing was unrecognizable, and I could do that shamelessly there, so yeah — They both laughed — But more than anything, it helped me become the cop who I am today, it all started in that ring.

- I understand…

- Do you have something in mind…?

- Me and… “Little Richard” were doing something yesterday, before he said that.

- Was it something you wanted to do?

- Very Much.

- Is there still time for you to do it today?

- Maybe… — Barbara looked at the shades of red in the Gotham sunset through the office window.

- So you already know my recommendation. — Renee said, finishing Barbara's braid.