Ask To Be Unbroken (Batfamily x reader)

Chapter 4: A Fresh Start

***still in 1st person

Just about two or three years go by after Jason died, dad had adopted a new kid and took him under his wing. Tim Drake was his name. He was only a few years older than me, so right in the middle between Dick, Jason, and me. He was really clever, and so he became me and Bruce's new partner, the new Robin. I still held the mantle as the Batgirl, and when Tim joined the team, that was when Bruce finally let me help him with bigger cases like the Joker. Though that brought issues when we were working, like this one case where Joker was kidnapping children for no reason. When we confronted the man, he was very adamant about speaking to my dad. He recognized me in the suit, and of course, he knew dad. He laughed and laughed and it felt almost sickening, like I was nauseous and about to throw up. I can never forget the first time we met because it was a nightmare. I remember the conversation we had and how it almost made me put away the cape and cowl because I was so afraid of him. We were in a warehouse where all the children he had kidnapped were tied up and were about to be doused in Joker gas. I was on fighting duty while Tim was letting the kids go. That was when Joker got our attention like he wanted and started speaking in his shrilling and agitating voice.

"Ah, I see you got yourself a new boy blunder, Batman! And I finally got to meet the girl in purple!" Joker exclaimed.

"What's your endgame here Joker?" Bruce demanded, in his normal and intimidating Batman voice.

"Oh, I won't share that secret yet! But I'll share this one that I was waiting to tell you! Do you remember the middle east? With a little shack? That might have gone kablooey?!" Joker asked.

I sure as hell remembered it, because I too was there, but I didn't speak and let dad do the talking.

"Yes I remember, but what does that have to do with all these stolen kids?" Batman asked.

"I'm not done yet! You see I caught one of your little birdies, a Robin I believe?" He starts laughing maniacally but he keeps talking, "Then I blew him up! But now I realize having young partners in crime is really useful so I gathered a bunch to turn into my little Joker jr. 's to help me!"

I was stunned at that moment. The Joker killed my brother. I finally figured out who did it! I wanted to punch him so badly, even kill him, but I stayed still because I could feel dad's hand on my leg telling me not to move. So instead I stood still and watched with clenched fists waiting for the next move from Batman. That was when all hell broke loose and we all fought. I was sent to help Tim evacuate the kids and to fight his henchmen that were coming inside that were guarding the other entrances. When we got back in the car to drive home after a job well done, I was sick to my stomach. I didn't want to speak to anyone, and I just looked out the window. Bruce, or dad, I struggle to call him my dad sometimes when I know him as a philanthropist rich boy, my dad, and the caped crusader, tried to talk to me about it, to try and see how I was feeling, but I refused to talk and I just did some weight lifting instead. After that mission, I hardened up a lot. It was hard to talk to me sometimes because I would ignore people, and when we would be fighting crime, then I would harden up and be stern and act just like my dad in his mask. I kept up this act for a long time, though the weight of the secret of Jason and the emotions I was bottling up and holding back were starting to get really heavy, I still worked my ass off to be Batgirl.