Waiting, Waiting...

[Robin]

Eleven year-old Zoe Hu was furious.

Oh, of course, she couldn't be happier that she finally had a good home. For the first time, she felt wanted in the home she'd been adopted into, even if her foster father was a bit... stand-offish. She genuinely liked living in Wayne Manor, and besides that, anything was safer than living on the streets.

Being in a private school wasn't really so bad. She could get used to that sort of thing. The uniform was terrible, but the other kids were nice, and most of them were pretty intrigued by Zoe's rags-to-riches story. Too many thought she spoke Chinese simply because of her ethnic background, of course, but she could overlook that.

It was days like this that made her angry. It was standing in front of the school next to her home room teacher, bag held with both hands in front of her, a grumpy look on her round, baby-face... waiting for her ride. Her ride, of course, probably passed out in class at the high school again and got himself detention.

And now, Zoe was stranded... an hour after school was out for the day, waiting for Terry to finally get there.

[Batman]

Elsewhere in Gotham, seventeen year-old Terry Mcginnis was a combination of exhausted, overwhelmed, and semi-irritated.

Busting several bank robberies and an illegal drug trafficking incident last night, resulting in him falling asleep in Physics class earlier and getting yet another warning from his professor already had him a little worn.

Getting repeatedly buzzed by Bruce with a 'PIC UP ZOE NOW' message during his after-class pep talk with the said professor, and knowing that he was already late, got Terry that much more weary.

Still, the money he got from Bruce did help a ton, and of course he would always be dedicated to his role as Batman. A job's a job after all...and baby sitting was part of it.

Terry finally pulled up at the entrance of the school, and rolled down the window, giving his best (if somewhat tired looking) grin.

"Heya squirt,"

[Robin]

"Mr. Mcginnis, you really should be more prompt when picking up a student," the teacher standing with the girl chided, even as Zoe stomped over to get in the car. The little girl was wishing, with all her might, that she could jam the heel of one of her shiny Mary Janes into his toes. "She was quite lucky there was a member of staff to wait with her!"

Of course, Zoe did feel bad. She'd been helping out last night, and she knew Terry must be tired... but still, there were schedules to keep! She was definitely going to complain once they were out of earshot. For now, however, she put on her best schoolgirl smile and waved to the nun that had been chiding them. "Thanks for waiting, Sister Kate!" she called. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

The kindly older nun, severe as she may have looked a moment or two ago, smiled pleasantly and gave a little wave before slipping back inside... right after which, as soon as she could no longer be seen, Zoe aimed a sharp, but not particularly hard, punch at Terry's shoulder. "Did you get another detention?!"

[Batman]

"Heh heh, sorry about that, Sister. I really appreciate all the help you and the staff have provided for Zoe. I'll do my best to make it on time next time.."

Terry chirped pleasantly as he gave his fakest (was that even a word? Should've paid more attention in English class) smile to the chiding nun. Once out of ear and eyeshot, Terry instantly rolled his eyes, as he unlocked the door and let Zoe in.


"Did you get another detention?!"

"Surprisingly, no." Terry smirked (and winced) at his young sidekick as he began to drive.

"I guess it's Be Kind to Great Young Men week,"

[Robin]

"Great young men my butt," Zoe grumbled irritably, fastening her seat belt as she slumped back in the seat. "You fell asleep in class and got in trouble, then, I'll bet."

It wasn't that she was a mean child, or that she was really that much different than other girls her age. But Zoe had grown up hard... she'd spent the last five years living on the street, stealing to survive, and sometimes, she forgot that she was able again to act like a normal eleven year-old girl.

But what was a normal eleven year-old girl when you spent the nights moonlighting as the Batman's sidekick, Robin?

"How come I can stay awake in school during the day and you can't?"

[Batman]

"Two things - High School, and being Bruce's personal gopher boy & first student. I think that's two huge reasons already..." Terry responded with grin, without any malice in his tone, but still well-intentioned.

"Plus, you don't have Dana. If a reason was worth a point, Dana'd be worth a hundred..."

[Robin]

Zoe couldn't help but grin, and the expression somehow looked both innocent and wicked all at once. "I like Dana," she commented. "She keeps you in line better'n Bruce does."

She sort of wanted to put her feet up on the dash - it was a more comfortable position to sit in - but in her school uniform, which was a jumper and skirt, she thought better of it. "I'll probably get stuck in another stuffy private school when I get to high school..." She grinned. "But by then I'll be going on more missions with you, huh?"

[Batman]

Terry went silent for a moment upon Zoe's question, and it got him thinking. Terry hadn't been crazy over the idea of Zoe becoming a sidekick for him - the death of his father had made him appreciate his existing family even more than ever, as well as the value of having a regular life.

As much as he disliked himself for thinking so, Terry did feel Zoe having a normal life - finishing high school and perhaps even going to college first before anything else, was best. Perhaps he had more in common with the old man than he thought.

"Y..yeah. I guess so," Terry finally responded, before immediately changing the topic.

"Hey, you hungry?"

[Robin]

The little Chinese girl frowned at Terry's response. "You're still not happy with me being Robin. I've been doing good, y'know. I lived on my own for a long time; I can take care of myself."

Sighing, she rested her elbow on the door, chin cradled in the palm of her hand as she gazed absently out the window, free hand tugging at one of the little puff pigtails she wore her hair in for school. "...yeah, I'm kinda hungry. Lunch was awful today."

[Batman]

"Heyyy....." Terry protested, as he rubbed Zoe's head. "Never said I wasn't happy with you as a sidekick. You're doing great, and your help couldn't have come at a better time!"

Terry kept his eyes on the road as he continued, "Just...lookin' out for you, y'know? The old man means well and knows what he's doing, but it's always good to have a second pair of eyes. Also don't want to make it seem like you've no choice in the matter - the life of a...vigilante..isn't easy, and I just don't want to happen to you whatever happened to Bruce.."

Terry's expressed turned into a frown upon hearing his own words, as he finished his sentence grimly.

"Whatever it was..."

[Robin]

After a bit of grumbling at having her hair ruffled, Zoe bit her lip. She had no idea what had happened to Bruce to make him stop being Batman... to be perfectly honest, she probably wouldn't have known he was Batman at all if not for a streak of stupid luck and trying to help the Batman when he crashed through a clock in one of the sitting rooms at Wayne Manor one night.

She'd found out about Terry, and through him about Bruce. That was when she'd really started doing research. It was her fascination with the Batman that led her to help Terry apprehend her old employer, Fagin. She'd discovered that the first Batman had been assisted by sidekicks... Batgirl and Robin. Well, she certainly didn't like the thought of being called Batgirl. And so campaigning to be Terry's Robin it was.

And to be honest, she was happy doing this. After five years on the street, settling down to be a "normal kid" just wasn't her thing.

"...well... someone's gotta make sure you don't do somethin' stupid."

[Batman]

Terry regained his composure, and once again gave Zoe another of his semi-goofy grins.

"Hey, since when have I *ever* done anything stupid? Suave is my middle name! Come on She-twip, let's get some burgers," He laughed, as he began to drive towards the nearest popular fast-food joint.

[Robin]

"Oh, sure. Real suave, Casanova." Zoe was grinning, though. She always did like--... hey. Immediately, that little grin turned into a sour, frustrated glare. "Hey! Don't call me she-twip!" She stuck out her tongue at him. "Your brother's the twip. Not me."

She did her best to look disgruntled and put-out... which was really quite difficult for her. She just wasn't a "disgruntled and put-out" sort of kid.

Unless, of course, she had a lot of homework.

[Batman]

After picking up some burgers, Terry made a beeline for the Wayne Manor. Pulling up by the gate, he unlocked the door to let Zoe out.

"Okay, squirt..." Terry said tiredly. "I'd better get going. I've got some homework to d-"

Suddenly his communication device beeped to life, getting an, "Aww crap..." from Terry. He just knew at that point, that the day was going to get longer.

"Hey Bats! Superboy needs you over at the Watchtower ASAP. Ya know, chop chop. We are going to be having a meeting on whatever is going on, so ya know, make it a snap! Thanks!" Impulse's familiar voice, ever energetic chirped over the device.

Terry pressed a button on the device to send an automated response to acknowledge having received the message, then began to park his car.

"Oh boy, I love meetings..." he mumbled as he began to make his way to the Batcave to suit up.