The night was cold later that day, Lieutenants Montoya and Allen were heading to the back of the Gotham Police Station for a short break. He had the cigarettes, and she had the lighter, and they both shared a cigarette, next to the older vehicles that are stored there. Smoking was a common habit for many of the city's police officers, the service was very dangerous, the pay was minimally acceptable, and the streets continued to fill with crime and chaos regardless of their efforts.

- Sometimes I think we need more than one of those – Renee commented, looking at the cigarette between her fingers.

- We should stop smoking, actually – Crispus took the cigarette from her hand and inhaled, coughing soon after.

- And do you happen to have any other suggestions to ease the nerves in the middle of the police station?

- Some say that having someone to come home to every day helps...

- Just see how much good it did for Jim – Renée retorted, finishing inhaling her cigarette, stepping on the leftover soon after.

- I don't even know why I keep having these conversations with you, Renée.

- I'm good company – She smiled sarcastically, closing her face in her usual sullen expression soon after.

- That's what Barbara keeps saying... You don't think if you had, you know... "Your own Barbara" thing would make more sense?

- ... No – she replied, after pondering for a few seconds – That would definitely make me sick. In my opinion, Gotham is no place to raise kids, I wouldn't do that, that's for sure.

         And then, a muffled beat sounded somewhere in the complex. The two officers looked around, intently. They heard a few more muffled footsteps, Crispus questioned whether they were rats, but Montoya denied it, shaking his head. They both drew their pistols and advanced towards the direction of the sounds, which occurred with intervals of a few seconds between them. Soon, among the numerous vehicles at the police station, they trace the source of the sounds to an old surveillance van, the kind they used for long-distance communications with the police station. They heard footsteps from more than one person inside, and some muffled conversation. They headed for the back doors and Crispus grabbed the doorknob, making a silent countdown to open it. When he opened it, the two pointed their pistols inward, shouting in unison:

- GCPD! – They both said, finding only Barbara and Dick laughing at each other, startled by the arrival of the lieutenants.

- Hi – Barbara nodded, with a bewildered smile.

- For God's sake, Babs! – Crispus yelled, lowering his pistol to his partner – What are you doing here?

- Hey! Renée, Crispus—Dick greeted, carefree but in a cold sweat through his fake smile—It's been a while.

- Yo, Dick. What are you and Barbara up to here? – Allen added, smiling mischievously.

- Oh, we just wanted… – Barbara studded, blushing – Privacy, you know.

- Yeah, exactly – Dick continued, noticing how bad Barbara's line sounded – I've always wanted to see what it was like inside one of those fancy vans, if it was like in the movies and everything.

- That’s it – Barbara pointed to Dick, nodding awkwardly.

- Yeah, right – Crispus pointed for to the two of them to leave – We've already told you not to get going around here.

- Don’t you care for your own lives? - Renée added.

- Sorry, okay? – Barbara grabbed her backpack with some difficulty, it was apparently heavy.

- Want help? – Crispus asked.

-No! No need, Uncle Chris – Gordon said, in a slightly startled tone, and the lieutenants stepped back as they exited the vehicle.

         Soon, the adults began to lead the youngsters out, but the voices of Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon made them stop, they were approaching the door in a slow but steady step. If Barbara's father saw her there, she would surely take a scolding. The children took shelter behind one of the vehicles again, and the lieutenants went to meet their superiors. Both of them entered the back area quietly, turning their attention to Renée and Crispus as they approached, clearly searching for them.

- There you are – Bullock said, putting his hands in the pockets of his overcoat – We need to talk about Old Gotham's accounts of suspicious vehicles driving in the wee hours of the morning.

- You look nervous – Jim said, cutting off Bullock – Are you alright?"=

- All fine – Montoya replied at once, a little desperately, which was a little flashy – You know...

- We smoke too much! – Crispus intervened, looking away from his partner to Harvey and not to where the children were

- Right! We ended up overdoing it.

- Stress, you know how it is – Crispus sounded a forced laugh, Jim and Harvey looked at each other but shrugged – What do you think of a cup of coffee?"

- But we need to talk – Bullock said, still somewhat confused.

- It's only five minutes, it won't be long – Crispus said, emphasizing the time, a hint to Barbara, and began dragging the other three officers out to the sound of protests.

         When the sound of the door closing sounded, Barbara and Dick came out of their hiding place, and ran silently to the door, but not before Dick grabbed Barbara's arm, asking to wait.

- You've got everything there, aren't you? – He asked.

- Well – she opened her heavy backpack, revealing various equipment and an antenna they picked up from the van.

- Ok then because you won't be able to come back here anytime soon. Don't have anything else?

- Nothing I remember. Don't ask me these things!

- Oh yes, the screwed memory. Well, I think it's going to be a stroke of luck then, you heard Crispus, five minutes.

         And so, they got out of the back of the police station and ran outside. They gathered in a square not far away, where Barbara told about the need to steal the transmitter parts from the police. Not only could they gain access to the police communications system, but they could set up surveillance of the Clock King's communications if they armed a pickup tower near the Clock Tower. She showed them the rudimentary schemes she set up, and with the antenna and her walkie-talkies in hand, they had everything they needed to execute priority two of their plans.

The large circus tent lit up when Dick turned on the lights, giving space and vision to the children who entered there. For Barbara, it had been a long time since she had last walked in, school life taking up too much time from her, and now this whole problem with the allusive villain has made things harder and harder. Reason why that, in this case, they were there.

- Right, we've arrived – Dick pointed to his surroundings as they entered the large structure.

- It's weird to see the place empty – Barbara pointed out.

- It's true – He added.

         They continued to walk close to the trapeze structure, something that always caught the attention of Barbara, who was fascinated by the movements of the skilled trapeze artists, as she dreamed of doing the same. For other purposes of course, but it is the kind of skill they would have come to teach her, and hopefully...

-Barbara! – Dick almost yelled at her, who turned to watch him.

-What?

- You did it again, focus here! Dick pointed his fingers at his eyes and then at the ground.

-Sorry.

- You will have a lot of trouble learning the stunts if you do not focus, the secret is to focus on your body and feel the movements and blah blah blah.

         Barbara couldn't believe what her ears were doing to herself. Dick's words really turned into babbling and her vision was out of focus, she could nothing to prevent this behavior. She grabbed her friend's shoulders with both hands, and with wide eyes, said in a whisper:

- Dick, shut up.

- ... Wha? – He gasped, with a completely confused expression.

- You're not helping with that blah blah blah of yours.

- Oh my God – he sank his face into his hands, desolate – That's going to be a lot of trouble.

- I'm not in the mood yet, I need some help.

- Like what!? – Grayson asked, raising his arms in the air, disgruntled. The wide eyes and small smile on Barbara already indicated her intentions – No...

- Dick!

         He was completely outraged by the idea, but eventually gave in to her friend's requests. Putting high on your own phone, Entrance of the Gladiators began to play, and Barbara smiled from ear to ear.

-  Papa pararararara papara, papa pararararara papara – She began to hum the notes of typical circus music.

- Are you listening to me now?

- Yessir.

- Next: Take a look at that path of platforms right there – He pointed to a series of planks on the floor – You have to move as fast as possible over all of them.

         She went in the direction of the path moving to the rhythm of the music, still humming. Dick rushed past her, hurriedly pulling a stopwatch out of his pocket, yelling "on my mark, dummy" Gordon stuck out her thumb. Moving her body to the rhythm of the song, she jumped with both feet on each board, the rhythm of the song leaving her legs clumsy, making her lose her balance. Dropping ass to the floor, she had stopped humming the music, and from there, she could see Dick's slightly mocked but clearly disappointed face.

- Is that it?

- No need to rub it in my face, okay? – She said, standing up.

- Maybe your theme song isn't exactly the circus theme song, despite the clown face.

- Shut up – She punched him in the shoulder.

-Ouch!

         They were training the moves for a while longer, and for a start of training, Barbara could tell she was at least making progress. When they decided to end the day, they headed to the night streets of Gotham towards the nearest gas station. They took one of the busiest avenues, of course, following the sidewalk bathed in the heavy night lights of the big screens and the cars that passed at high speeds next to them. Barbara was opening her walkie-talkie and Dick was speaking aloud about his plan.

- So, my parents have this portable power generator that the circus used when it was still an itinerary, I said that we will use it for a project that we had the idea of developing there in the academy, which is not completely a lie, if you stop to think... And what are you doing?

- We will leave a relay station of the Clock King's communications in the vicinity of the Clock Tower; I will not spend every night there to record everything by myself. I will install a continuous audio transmission tool through an online communication channel, for this, some small changes need to be made to this communicator ...

- I'm going to pretend I understand what you're talking about.

- In short: This little beauty will listen and send everything to BabsComputer, where everything will be recorded for us to listen to later. But it doesn't do it by itself yet, so it's going to need a little upgrade...

- Good... We arrived – Dick opened his arms to point to the station where they had arrived – I hope you brought the money.

- Here – Barbara rolled her eyes, handing over her wallet – My whole allowance, I think it's good you make it count.

- The generator runs on gas; we won't be able to start your base of operations without it. Be thankful that I have the generator or it would never really work.

         Holding out the large empty gallon and the money he took from his friend's wallet, Dick handed the two of them to one of the gas station’s attendants, which proceeded to fill the gallon with the value he offered. They walk back was exhausting for the boy, who wasn't exactly in the best shape to carry weight like that. It was already the weekend, and they had already arranged with his and Barbara's parents to spend the weekend at the Graysons' house, who were more than happy to have her, and then, when they arrived at Dick's house, they had both welcomed them with a nice dinner.