Batgirl: Year One by Kennedy Harkins (good books to read for teens .TXT) 📖

that he never dances with anyone at these events. I didn’t think he knew how.

How many girls can say they’ve danced with Damian Wayne, heir to the Wayne fortune? Still, I really don’t want to make things between Simon and me worse than they already are.

“Thanks, but-”

Simon cuts in before I can say no. “You should go. I have to talk to my dad anyway.” With that he wheels away, without a backwards glance at me.

I turn to Damian, who looks just as shocked as me at Simon’s sudden exit. “Trouble in paradise?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Let’s just dance, Wayne.” I grumbled, not wanting to talk about Simon with Damian. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he does the same with my waist.

We move to the rhythm of the music, before long, I start to enjoy myself. Damian is a surprisingly good dancer for someone who never does. I let go of all my worries for a brief moment, and just enjoy snuggling up close the most beautiful boy in Gotham.

Not that I’d ever tell him I think that. His ego is big enough as is.

I hear a scream from behind me, over towards the band. Damian froze, staring over my shoulder at something. I can only describe the expression on his face as pure fury. It threw me off, making me pause for a few seconds before turning around to get a look at what all the commotion was about.

A man with green, matted hair and a purple suit was tapping to the microphone on stage, as he held Bruce Wayne in a death grip. In the audience, no one moved, no one dared to breathe.

“Testing. Testing! Hellooo, money bags.” He glanced down at the man in his grip. “I hope you don’t mind, Brucey, I just let myself in. My invite must have gotten lost the mail.” He let out a sickening laugh that was as cold as it was inhuman.

The Joker.

Chapter Six:

Chapter Six:

 

            “Hurry now, my rich little ducklings, into the back.” The Joker laughed as he pushed people into an old van that said Joe’s Jokes on the side, while Harley- who I realized was the creepy woman who let me in- pointed a gun at us. The first two into the van are Bruce Wayne and then Simon Stag, the CEO of Stag industries.

            “Are you mad?! Do you know who I am?” Stag shouted from inside the van. I resisted rolling my eyes, there’s nothing funny about this situation.

            My suit is in my purse, but with Damien still holding on to me, and with all these people watching, how am I supposed to put it on? Even if I could, am I ready to take on the Joker? This guy beats Batman on occasion. He’s a super villain, not so thug hanging around the docks, or a second rate jewelry thief. Not to mention the fact that Kiari hasn’t taught me to dodge bullets.

            He could kill me.

            “Who’ll be my next ducky? Hmmm? How about the girl the young Mr. Wayne is clinging to, she must be worth a hefty sum.” The Joker walks towards Damien and me, I’m not really registering that he’s talking about me. It all becomes frighteningly clear to me when his hand encloses around my wrist. His fingers feel like ice, too cold to belong to someone human.

            “Joker.” Damien growls. There’s something in his voice that stops me cold in my tracks. His eyes are filled with internal conflict. Over what? Risk his neck saving me, or say quiet.

            Please don’t try anything, Damien, I chant over and over in my head. The Joker is not someone you fool around with, and I don’t want him, even if he is a bit of an arrogant ass, to get hurt.

            “Ah, a young lad protecting the honor of his bonnie lass.” The Joker says. In the blink of an eye, he pulls out a strange looking gun from his pocket. The barrel is much larger than any gun I’ve ever seen.

            I feel like I’m going to be sick. This is it isn’t it? The Joker’s going to kill me in front of all these people. And there’s nothing I can do to stop him, not with all these witnesses watching that could potentially get hurt.

            He raises the gun, and I think about how I never told Simon. When the police go through my things, they’ll no doubt find my Batgirl suit, and then everyone will know. But, he won’t have heard it from me. And that’ll hurt him. A lot.

            At the last moment, the gun angled away from me and towards Damien. I heard someone scream, and then a flash of red streaked in front of my eyes.

            Damien flew backwards, crashing into a table with a sickening crunch. His body sprawled out and he didn’t move. I shook off the Joker and ran to him.

            I expected blood, but there is none. Just a huge bruise forming on his face where there should’ve been a gaping hole. His pulse is slow, but strong. I think he’s just unconscious.

            I glance back at Joker’s gun, and I see a red boxing glove hanging limply from its barrel. A wave of relief hits me, and I’m unprepared for the hand that wraps itself around my neck, choking me, and dragging me away from Damien, and towards the van.

            “How darling, young love. Don’t worry, Sweet Cheeks. I’m sure your boyfriend will pay a fortune to get you back.” He leans down and whispers in my ear, “And, if he doesn’t, I’ll still get to have my fun.” He thrusts me in the back of the van, causing the back of my head to smack against the metal frame. My vision blurs, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out.

            The Joker throws in one more person, a woman with dark brown hair. I recognize her as Dana Winters, the widow of Jack Drake, owner of a mansion close to Simon’s; she comes to many of these social gatherings, since her husband’s death. I’ve always thought that she just comes to spend time with the people Mr. Drake spent time with, to feel a connection to him, since these aren’t her friends and she doesn’t come from wealth.

            She screams at the others to help us, but they remain frozen, their feet rooted to the ground. Their eyes are wide and unmoving for the most part, but every couple of seconds someone will glance around, like they’re trying to ask their friends what they should do without communicating verbally. My last glimpse of Damien is him lying unmoving on the ground, and then the Joker slams the back door.

            The five of us are instantly enveloped by darkness. The car smells old laundry and saw dust; it clogs my nose making me sneeze. The van starts, and peels away from the party, flinging us all around like rag dolls. I land on someone, a guy; I realize when I hear him grunt. But I’m way too terrified at this point to feel an embarrassment. I right myself and move off of him.

            Dana is sobbing a little to my left, after a hesitation, I reach for her hand, and am surprised that I find it. I give it a hard squeeze. We’re not friends. Until right now, we lived in separate worlds, but she needs comfort and it feels good to give her some, even if I can’t do it for myself.

            “What are we going to do?” She mumbles shakily. “What if no one pays the ransom? It’s just me now that Jack... and Tim’s out of the country.” It takes me moment to realize that she’s talking about Tim Drake, her stepson.

            The man I landed on speaks up, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” His tone softens considerably. “But if it does, Damien will make sure we’re all taken care of.”

            “That’s very kind, Bruce.” Dana says. I get the feeling she wants to say more, but Simon Stag enters the competition.

            “I can more than afford any ransom the Joker wants.” I can’t believe we’re talking about money at a time like this. Rich people, I’ll never understand.

            But, of course, that’s not really fair. I don’t have to worry about my parents scraping together the money. I know Mr. and Mrs. Blackstone would do it in a heartbeat. But, it’s not going to come to that.

            As soon as the car stops, I’m going to make my brake for it, get to a safe place where I can change, and then Batgirl is going to make an appearance. I don’t know what made up my mind to face the Joker, maybe it was what he did to Damien, or seeing how upset Dana is, or maybe it was Bruce’s kind offer. Whatever it was, I knew I couldn’t sit this one out.

            A hero is defined by how they act when no one is looking. I could sit this one out and nobody would know. But, while I might not be a hero, Batgirl is. And Batgirl is going to save the day.

            The van stops and I wait for the door to open. Harley reaches in and pulls out a wailing Dana. Now’s my chance. I roll around Dana and out of the van. I run for the edge of the nearest building; Joe’s Joke Shoppe. A couple of bullets fire at me; I twist and turn midair, turning my straight-line sprint into a zigzag.

            The keep running until I get to the back of the building. They’ve taken us to downtown Gotham. The brick building around are covered in graffiti and in disarray. I can hear people shouting and car horns blaring a couple blocks away, but back here, in the factory district, it’s deserted. The smell of smoke from a smoldering trashcan invades my nose as I hoist myself up onto the fire escape. I launch myself from level to level, not daring to look down and see if I’m being followed, and blocking out all noise.

            It’s just me and the climb.

            I’m at the top of the building in a matter of seconds and I flatten myself down and listen. If they’ve followed me to the roof, there’s no way I can change into Batgirl, and I’m toast.

            I hear Harley down below. “Blondie! Come out; come out, wherever you are!” I hold my breath.

            Then Joker shouts from the front of the building, where I last saw the other hostages. “Leave the lover girl, Harl. We’ve got bigger fish!”

            Silence.

            I empty the contents of my purse onto the roof, my suit, my boots, some loose change, and a length of rope. I throw on my suit as fast as I can, and move to the edge of the building to look down and see if the van is still where I left it.

            It hasn’t moved, and the doors are ajar. They must’ve moved the others inside and are probably calling in their demands right now. I tie the rope securely on the edge on the building, and- after taking a deep breath-