"Don't Call Us Sidekicks" [Young Justice]

Identity Crisis (Batgirls)

"I need you to cover for me tonight."

"Really?"

"Please?" Barbara asked. "My dad's getting suspicious, and if he finds out that I'm Batgirl, he'll kill me! Well, not really, but you know what I mean!"

Bette couldn't believe that she was even listening to Babs right now. She wanted to pull the disappearing Bruce used on Barbara's dad all the time and curl up in bed with a lot of chocolate.

Barbara had taken her cowl. She took the Batgirl mantle that Bette had worked so hard to create, and she didn't even have the dignity to leave the hyphen. How did Babs even have the audacity to stand there and ask Bette to fill in after she'd replaced her in a manner so unorthodox.

But Barbara had been her friend. Once. Long ago. And Bette had been itching to get out more.

"Fine. But you owe me, big."

"Oh, thank you Betty!" Babs meant to go in for a hug, but Bette dodged.

"See you tomorrow," Bette called over her shoulder. She had tennis practice and a lot of homework to finish if she wanted to make it out in time that night.

-------

Barbara had given Bette her Batgirl uniform, a mix of black, purple, and yellow. Bette had to admit, nerdy Babs had pulled off a better functioning suit than Bat-Girl's skirt and cape.

She immediately decided against a wig, those made her itch too much. Barbara's suit was a little small, but it fit enough that it didn't rip when Bette tried a few energetic kicks and punches.

She tried to remember how Barbara's fighting style differed from her own. Commissioner Gordon was a detective, he would notice the little things. She could blame her hair color on lighting or dye, but body movements were different.

The sun set at seven, and Bette began her patrol as Batgirl. She internally apologized to her hyphen as she grappled between buildings, searching for trouble. Two muggers weren't too much trouble, an armed robbery nicked the kevlar sleeve of her uniform and she even managed to return a lost kitten to a hysterical little girl.

"Hey Batgirl!" Robin chirped as she stood at the edge of a rooftop, brooding much like her cousin.

"Hey, Rick," Bette sighed.

His grin told her everything. He'd barely been a foot away when Babs was talking to her.

"What's up?" Richard Grayson hit her shoulder playfully.

"Patrol. What about you?"

Robin's grin never lost its vigor. "B-man got a call from the Commish about the Falcone Case, but he's stalking Ra's Al Ghul in Paris, so he asked me to get the information. Wanna come with?"

Bette was slightly surprised that he wanted her to come with him, she thought he must have confused her with the amazing Barbara for a moment, but she figured that it would be best that Commissioner Gordon got a good look at her if they really wanted this act to work.

"Sure, why not?" She leaped across the rooftops after Robin, not nearly as light on her feet as the acrobat or ballerina that her friends were.

"You been okay lately, Betty?" Robin asked, waiting for her to catch up.

Bette nearly lost her footing. "What makes you ask that?"

Robin shrugged as he pulled out his grappling gun. "You don't talk to Babs and me anymore, maybe you talk with Artemis, and you don't patrol anymore. Are you mad at us?"

Bette grappled away, biting her lip.

""Do you guys even want me to patrol with you anymore? I mean, Aunt Kathy's dead, Bruce is always telling me to do better, and neither of you really seemed to care when Babs stole my whole schtick..." Bette trailed off, peering over the roof's edge to the roof of the police station below.

"Well, first off, Kathy's death isn't on you, we want to help you with that. And Bruce is always telling you to do better because he wants you to be better. Trust me, I know how it gets," Robin smiled kindly at her. "You're his cousin. He lost his parents and now Kathy, he doesn't want to lose you, or Kate, or anyone else."

Bette sighed. There was a knot in her chest that was starting to relax.

"And I thought you'd be thrilled that Babs was joining us! We can always use another crime-fighting vigilante!"

Bette folded her arms, pouting. "Yeah, but she stole my name and she didn't even have the dignity to keep the hyphen!"

"I told her to keep the hyphen out," Rick interrupted, sitting on the edge.

Bette stared at him in shock.

"What, is there a rule somewhere that says that we can't have two fabulous bat-themed ladies fighting crime in Gotham?"

Bette couldn't help it, she snorted.

"I'm sorry if it felt like we wanted to replace you." Rick apologized.

"It's fine," Bette sighed, "I'm sorry I was so thickheaded."

"If there's anyone who needs to apologize for that, it's Bruce."

Laughter rang out across the rooftop.

"Hey, I think the commish is waiting for us," Bette pointed to the bat-signal, bright against the night sky.

They swooped down to the police station below, landing neatly in front of Commissioner Gordon and his fabulous mustache.

"What, no Dark Knight?" Gordon smiled wryly.

"He sends his regards. We can handle Falcone." Robin promised.

Gordon nodded, closely studying Batgirl.

"Do I know you?" He asked, eyes squinting behind his glasses.

Bette shrugged casually. "I don't know. Have we?"

Gordon started to say something, but the rooftop door opened behind him.

"I assume you wanted this, Dad?" Babs held up a huge manilla folder with "FALCONE" stamped on it.

Gordon forgot to hide his shock, glancing between Batgirl and his daughter as he slowly took the file. "Uh, yes. Thank you Barbara."

"Remember, the ballet's in an hour, so we really should get going soon." Barbara winked at Bette.

Batgirl gave the Commissioner a winning smile.

"We'll do our best to help you out, sir," She and Robin both gave him a silly salute, that almost made him laugh.

"Thank you for your help," Gordon said, pulling his coat on., "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be spending the evening with my daughter."

No sooner had Gordon shut the door behind him, then Richard and Bette broke into laughter.

"Did you see the look on his face?"

"I think he's convinced his daughter isn't Batgirl anymore," Bette grinned. "Now come on, let's see what Falcone is up to." She held the folder tight against her chest.

Robin took Bette's hand as he shot off his grappling gun. "I'm really glad that I get to patrol with you again, Bette."

Bette's smile didn't disappear for the rest of the night.