☓ Why Not Keep a Secret? ☓

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Secrets are looked upon as something bad, something to avoid at all cost. The negative connotation of the word will never disappear, because it had merit. Secrets imply a lack of trust, and with secrets often come lies.

Selina is all too familiar with this. She is not the biggest fan of secrets. But she sometimes wishes that more people kept secrets, because secrets don't always imply a lack of trust, sometimes they imply love.

She wished her parents loved her enough to keep their problems a secret. She wished she wouldn't know the exact smell of whiskey on someone's breath, or she couldn't see the signs of someone's mental health deteriorating. Keeping secrets is the one thing Selina excels at. Probably the only thing she excels at.

But one person she's always struggled to keep secrets from is her Bat. Ever since they first met, she's wanted to tell him everything, and based on all the evidence.. he feels the same way. But going back to the point she made earlier..

Love will prevail and she'll be able to keep her secrets.

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She was dreaming of him again. Fleur always felt bittersweet when she woke up from dreams about Jason. They were largely the same.

After a hard day, or seeing something that reminded her of him, Fleur's mind would wander. He was always smiling, with a cut or two on his face. Even though she is only one year older than Jason, he always felt like such a little brother. This childlike energy that he seemed to bring out in most people, even Bruce.

It always seemed in the middle of these dreams that it would hit her, she would suddenly be an adult staring down at her 15 year old brother with tears in her eyes. He would act like nothing changed while Fleur would be frozen knowing everything had changed.

"Fleur?" She was being lightly shaken by Cori waking her up. Fleur blinked away, feeling the bandages on her side, probably thanks to Kaldur.

"Kal?" Fleur asked, trying to sit up. She was still in her super suit, Kaldur ever the gentleman, but she also had a slightly too big sweatshirt on over it.

Cori moved with Fleur, keeping her from fully standing up. "He's in the kitchen, making some tea. Be careful, okay? That was a nasty cut."

"I'll be fine." Fleur said trying to wave Cori off but a more commanding voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Fleur, you need to take it easy." Dick said, stepping closer to where Fleur was. He had been standing in the shadows, knowing Fleur would overlook him. She never was good with the shadows.

Fleur was startled, her eyes darted to Cori, who was noticeably looking away from Dick's direction. "Why's he here?"

"I called him." Priya said, walking in from the kitchen with a glass of tea.

"And I called her." Cori admitted with a shrug.

"I told her to do it." Kaldur said, walking in with his own glass of tea and another glass. He handed it to Fleur, she took a sip tasting orange juice. She gave Kaldur a thankful look, it did not go unnoticed by the others in the room.

"How are you feeling?" Priya asked, making Fleur remember the other reason her heart was beating so fast.

Fleur was silent for a minute, taking in Priya's presence. Her eyes just staring up at Priya, it made the older girls heart clench.

When she was younger, Priya would group Fleur and Jason together. They were her younger siblings, even if just by a year or a few months, she had to keep them safe. Priya suspected that Dick shared a similar sentiment, she resented it sometimes. Priya was the only one Dick didn't say some goodbye to when he left to Bludhaven.

Dick always treated Priya like she was more mature than the others. Like she was smarter than them. Academically he was right, Jason and Fleur weren't honor roll students like her. But Fleur and Jason were smart in their own ways. Just because she was smart didn't mean she didn't need a goodbye.

Looking down at Fleur, Priya just wanted to hug her. She still looked so innocent and young, she was still Hummingbird. She was still Priya's 'Rosie'.

"I'm fine." Fleur said looking down at her mug, feeling a little cold and wishing she had hot chocolate instead. If she was at her own apartment then she'd be able to go make some, she had left overs from when she made them for Tim last week. "Tim. Is someone with him?"

"Um.." Cori said wincing. "Mason."

"Nope." Fleur said, getting up fully. She almost fell, her feet still not quite working. Kaldur rushed over and helped her gain balance, even grabbing her half drank orange juice from her.

"Who's Mason?" Dick asked, as Fleur started walking towards the door. He was able to catch her and grab her arm. "Fleur!"

"Why are you even here? Bludhaven needs you more than we do. You should know that." Fleur said, a dark look passing through both Dick and Fleur.

"Are you sure? Because from what I know, Priya cried her way into an interrogation room-" Kaldur gave Priya a concerned look to which she winked at him. "-and told me that Cori, who I haven't spoken to in years suddenly out of the blue calls my sister who I also haven't talked to in years about my other sister being rattled by something. We don't get rattled often, Fleur."

"Cori." Fleur said with a betrayed expression. Cori gave her an exhausted look, taking a step closer. "They can help. I didn't tell them what he said."

"What who said!?" Priya finally snapped. "Fleur, come on."

"You really want to know?" Fleur said with a dangerous tone. Dick and Priya both nodded. Fleur looked up at them with a dark expression. "This new villain with a red hood caught Tim and I off guard, he had a little friend. He managed to pin me with his boot so I couldn't breath, then he leaned down and I quote said 'You're going to lose Robin, like you lost, Jason'"

There were tears in Fleur's eyes as she continued. "So if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my apartment because Tim was shot by the same red helmeted dickwad, and I let my emotions get the best of me. Which was clearly a bad idea."

Priya and Dick were both stunned silent, so Fleur took that as her chance to leave. The door closing startled them both. Cori sighed, walking to stand in front of them both. "Great job, guys."

"They knew his name?" Priya asked softly, her face looking so.. fragile. She looked over at Dick, he was withdrawn, not a surprise. His eyes focused on Cori.

"We need to find this guy, and the partner Fleur mentioned. They know too much." Dick said, reminding them all that he was Bruce's first sidekick, the golden child.

Cori rolled her eyes at him, it was almost like he revolted her. "First, you need to actually help Fleur. We need the three of you working, together."

It was never like Cori felt left out when all three of the batkids were together. When they were younger, before Jason, she always had the same opinion on them in the hero sense. They were closed-off, numb, they didn't take their emotions seriously. It always bothered Cori.

She felt a sort of pity for the batkids, Batman wasn't winning any father of the year awards. Even Selina, the sort of maternal figure Cori would see occasionally, seemed to look down on Bruce for how he choose to parent.

Cori tried to help them. Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, and even Roy, all also trying to help in some way. Wally would joke around with them all, getting them to all laugh. Artemis would hide serious topics in casual conversation, she'd trick you into sharing. Roy would just bluntly force you to talk, but that was only if you were particularly annoying him. Kaldur just had this way about him, you wanted to share your deepest secrets, you wanted him to know.

Cori just got them alone. It was obvious that at least Fleur and Priya felt embarrassed when they had a bad mission, they didn't want to disappoint Bruce or Dick. Cori made sure they had a safe space, they could talk to her without shame. Which worked, until the incident, but even before that.. Dick was always a tough nut to crack.

Richard Grayson was the first sidekick, Bruce had all the say in raising him. It was obvious, he was the best at hiding his emotions and Jason was the worst. Cori always tried her best, she tried to give him a safe space, but he never took it. He was Robin, then he was Nightwing.

"Cori's right." Priya said, her face hardening again. "Plus, we should check up on Tim."

"Lead the way." Dick conceded, motioning for Cori to move. Cori looked behind the two bats and gave Kaldur a nod.

"Thanks, for looking out for Fleur." Cori said, sincere in every word.

"There is no need to thank me. I am here if any-" Kaldur looked between the three. "- of you need anything."

"Now go, I do not think Fleur will be able to get home unless she steals a car."

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Fleur knew she couldn't steal a car, but she was tired and she didn't want to have to walk all the way back to her apartment. She took a deep breath, rubbing her hands over her face.

"Get in the car." Dick said, suddenly appearing in front of her. Fleur rolls her eyes, getting ready to walk past him. "Now."

Even if Fleur was pissed at Dick, he still was her older brother. She was about to get in the passenger's seat when Priya pushed in front of her. "Shotgun!"

Fleur couldn't help the warmth in her stomach at the action, it was almost like they were actually okay. But she knew they weren't.

"I'll meet you guys there." Cori said, rubbing her hand over Fleur's shoulder, comforting. Cori looked over at Dick. "Let's hope your drivings improved since last time."

"I was 15." Dick said back at her, falling into their natural bickering. There was a hopeful look in his eyes, again reminding Fleur of the old days.

"Let's get moving." Priya said, alreadying in the car starting to close the door. Dick rolled his eyes at her, before following and also getting into the car. Fleur looked back over at Cori but she was getting into her own car, so that just left Fleur.

She took a deep breath and got into the car.

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Mason liked being at Fleur's. The guest room was practically his at this point, she'd buy specific things she knew he liked and put them in there. Her house also had the faint smell of cinnamon and lavender. It was just comforting. He also liked the people that would come over.

First of all, the fact that she was Bruce Wayne's daughter was extremely cool. He's come over once or twice and Fleur made Mason stay in his room, but still knowing he'd been in the same building as Bruce Wayne was amazing. Then there was Alfred, he came over slightly more frequently. Alfred usually brings some kind of baked good, and even made a double batch when he knew Mason was over. He seemed to be one of the only other people that knew about him, Fleur trusted Alfred. So Mason did too.

Then obviously, there was Tim. Being the closest in age to Mason, Tim came over a lot. Mason liked Tim, a lot. He was so clever, and he didn't seem intimidated by Mason. Having the family he did, not a lot of people approached Mason. But Tim did. It was nice.

But Fleur was the best part. When Mason was around her... he felt, normal. He didn't have to hide his power as much, Fleur barley hid hers unless they were in public. And she helps him, to control and to learn. When Mason's around her, he feels how people describe having an aunt.

So as Mason laid in his bed, bored out of his mind, he thought about how Robin- the robin -was just laying on the couch. Everyone else had left, he heard them, so Robin was alone. That couldn't be fun, so it wouldn't hurt Mason to just go out there and keep him company. Fleur worked closely with Robin too, so if Robin liked Mason then it would boost Fleurs opinion of him. He was already out his room before he actually found sound reasoning for talking to Robin.

Tim was in immense pain, and honestly, it was his own fault. When Cori had left, she had already given him pain meds, they were supposed to make him drowsy. So when he realised that he was alone with Mason, he didn't realise that trying to escape would not go how he planned.

So now Tim was laying on the ground while both legs throbbed in pain. His arm was thrown over his eyes so he didn't notice when Mason entered the room until he made himself known. "Oh my god, are you okay Robin?!"

"Hm?" Tim said, not having the energy. "Just waiting to be taken from this mortal plain."

Mason could help but chuckle at that. "Do you need help?"

"If you have the time." Tim said, struggling to sit up as Mason rushed over to him. The minute Mason's hand went to Tim's back to help him up, Tim realised how shitty this idea was.

His whole body was hot, and not just because of the pain. When he was sitting on the couch again, panting from exertion, he was face to face with Mason. They maintained eye contact for a full minute before Tim's eyes flickered to Mason's lips, then the door slammed open.

"I don't need you two looming over me." Fleur snapped, storming into her apartment. Dick and Priya following behind her. Tim unconsciously sat up straighter.

Obviously out of the old and current sidekicks, Tim was closest to Fleur, but he had known Dick and Priya for a short time before they both left. They were both nice enough, but they never seemed truly there when he was around. Like a piece of them was missing. Fleur just overcompensated with Tim.

"I wouldn't call what we're doing, looming." Priya said, as Dick shut the door behind the both. Fleur sighed, finally stopping when she saw Tim and Mason by the couch.

Her shoulders fell and she had a tired smile. "Hi, Mason."

"Hey Fleur. I was just helping Robin." Mason said, stumbling as he stood up. Fleur let out a light chuckle before beaconing him over. When he reached her, Fleur cupped his face, looking all around for any injury. "I'm fine, I was in my room."

Dick and Priya shared a look. They didn't understand why Fleur would be so worried about this random kid named Mason being alone with Tim. They don't understand the secret fear Fleur has everytime Mason and Valencia come over, that it'll be worse. Something she can't fix.

After Fleur was satisfied that Mason was okay, she gave him a hug, which he eagerly returned. Again the interaction confusing Dick and Priya. Fleur let go of Mason and quickly walked over to Tim, as she went over the door opened, Cori making a beeline for Tim as well.

"T-Robin, I told you to stay put." Cori lectured, noticing Mason standing to the side and that Tim was not in the same position she left him in.

Fleur was helping Tim elevate his leg. Her hand then moved to Tim's shoulder, rubbing over it in a calming way. "Don't overwork yourself, it won't do anyone any good."

Priya was hit with a wave of deja vu. Jason was sitting somewhere in the batcave, he was hurt and Selina was doing exactly what Fleur had just done. Even saying the same exact words. A shaky breath escaped her as she looked over at Dick, stone faced as always. Just like Batman had been when Selina was comforting Jason.

"Priya Wayne and Richard Grayson?!" Mason said, his excitement making it hard to form words. "This is the best day of my life."

"Why's he here?" Dick asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who even is he?"

"Mason Wylan, at your service." Mason introduced holding a hand out. Priya couldn't help but be amused, shaking his hand while looking back at Dick. Something flashed through his eyes before it was replaced with humor.

Cori knew what that look meant. It meant he remembered that night, the one Valencia had reminded her of. She turned to Mason. "How did Robin disobey my orders?"

"Honestly, I think it was the wind. I've always noticed how strong the ac is, I think it just pushed him off." Mason said with a shrug, winking over at Tim. He put his head in his hands, hiding his smile.

Fleur rolled her eyes with a fond look. "Sure, well can you be brave and help me carry Robin to my room through this strong wind."

"Well of course." Mason said rushing over, they each put one of Tim's arms around their shoulders, guiding him to Fleur's room.

Cori watched them with a soft look and her arms crossed. A voice from behind made her turn around. "She's grown up."

"Yeah, not like you've been around to see it." Cori responded to Dick. He sighed at her, crossing his own arms. "Lets not do this Cor."

"Cori." She corrected before turning to Priya, not an inch of her gaze on Dick. "What are you two going to do?"

"Fix this. We have to find out who these jackweeds are." Priya said looking at both Dick and Cori. She could see Cori's apprehension. "Cori, you know us. The only way to fix this is to start at the source, then we can unpack everything else. But we need to stop these villains first."

"You're right." Cori said reluctantly. "Well what do we know?"

"He knew Jason's identity, He's new, He clearly has something against us, and he has a partner." Fleur explained walking out of her room. "He had a very bright red helmet of some kind and the other one used mainly knives and was in all black."

"The Red Hood?" Cori asked, finally remembering something she had seen in the news paper lately. "I saw him in the paper."

"The paper? Tell us more grandma." Dick said, showing a small glimpse of the young boy they once knew. Cori rolled her eyes before continuing. "He's a pretty recent villain, only showed up a month or two ago. His first crime was killing, like 5 businessmen."

"Great." Priya said rubbing a hand over her face.

"Any idea on the other one, she wasn't that tall. Also, her clothes were looser fitting. Nothing I'd really seen before." Fleur asked stepping closer. Dick's eyebrows furrowed, thinking back.

"Even though I haven't been back in a few years, I still have contacts. I think I remember hearing about someone like that." Dick said stroking his chin. "The Fatal Stable, or Atlas Thatcher. This deadly assassin. She's been killing people for Carmine Falcone for years."

"I bet if we looked, we'd see those businessmen The Red Hood killed were probably competitors of Falcones." Cori said with a sigh. "Great, people are targeting the sidekicks again."

"Bruce took down a few of his operations lately, I'm sure that's why." Fleur mumbled, not completely convinced.

"So... What are we going to do?" Priya asked looking around. Fleur sighed looking out her window, the sun was starting to rise, it had been a long day.

"I'm going to change. Then do what I was taught to do." Fleur said clapping her hands together.

"What would that be?" Dick asked as Fleur walked away.

"Find information." Fleur called from her bedroom, grabbing some jeans and a tank top. Before walking into the hall again. "You two are free to fuck off."

Then she was in her bathroom with the door shut. Priya, Dick, and Cori looked between each other.

"Cor-Cori just get Fleur to share what she finds with us tonight. We'll gather some information ourselves, it's better that way." Dick said starting to walk back towards the door. Priya grabbed his arm in a death grip before he could leave.

"I do agree we need to share information, but Dick, we barely know where to start. We haven't been back in years." Priya said to him sternly. "But there is someone I bet would be willing to share."

Cori watched Priya's eyes move to Fleur's room, where Tim was currently. This was something Cori equally hated and loved when it came to the batfamily. They were a trained team, they worked without fully having to speak, and all emotion went away in that moment. It was all about the goal.

"Hey, Tim is healing." Cori said standing between them and walking straight to where Tim was. "He doesn't need his long lost adopted siblings interrogating him."

"Cori, please." Priya said, standing eye to eye with Cori. "I get you're trying to protect them, but that's what we want to do too. We all know there's no stopping Fleur from getting to The Hood and Thatcher but if we can get to them first. She's not prepared for this."

Cori seemed to be swayed, hesitantly stepping to the side. Priya gave her a grateful smile before walking with purpose, Dick right behind her.

They were once again stopped, this time by Fleur. She stepped out of the bathroom, dressed and presentable, a proper Wayne child. Priya once again noticed how similar she was to Selina, her stern glare almost the same.

"He's not getting involved in this, if you want to know what he would tell you, it's that we were at patrol location 4. It's the rooftop you took us, remember, our first time out. And I didn't really injure the big guy but Thatcher got a good stab. Must have had to stop somewhere." Fleur explained quickly and quietly. "That's all he would be able to tell you, now let him rest."

"So you're letting us go with you?" Dick asked accepting the information just given to him.

"We should share information tonight, good idea Dick. A broken clock is right twice a day." Fleur said moving past them and to her door. "These walls are thin."

"Also, I never told you that's what lead I was following."

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Fleur's walls were thin. It wasn't that big of a problem usually, Mason loved to eavesdrop. Fleur had forced him to go back to his room, go get some rest and she'll be back later. But she never said he couldn't hear where she was going.

The minute he heard Atlas' name, he knew he had to call his mom. He needed to make sure Atlas was prepared for hurricane Fleur, or maybe his mom could mediate peace. It's all a misunderstanding, he's sure of it.

"Hey, Sweetheart. Is everything okay?" Valencia asked, she was in her bedroom, folding clothes with her phone on speaker. Mario was out for the day, leaving her to her chores.

"Um, Mom. I heard Fleur talking to some friends-" Mason started to explain, whispering into the phone as he paced in his room.

"What did I tell you about spying-" Valencia started to lecture with a typical disappointed Mom tone.

"It was about Atlas." Mason said quickly, interrupting his mom. Then Valencia's heart dropped, because she remembered what Mario had told her earlier, something she should had warned Fleur about. Atlas had been sent to try and kill her.

"What." Valencia said shakely.

"Fleur and her friends are looking for Atlas. But they don't understand- I mean- Atlas didn't want to hurt them.. did she?" Mason asked, Valencia tried to rein in her emotions.

"Is that blonde friend, Cori. Was she one of them?" Valencia asked, forcing her voice to be steady.

"I think so."

"Okay, good. I'll fix this, okay? It'll be okay, you just get some rest." Valencia said into the phone. After receiving silence she added. "Okay, Honey?"

"Yeah, okay."

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Thatcher means, someone who covers roofs in straw. It dates back awhile. Which means for generations before her, the Thatchers knew their way around a roof. Atlas means, enduring or to endure. Something she's great at. Marie, the name she never uses means, rebellious. Which is fitting considering she never rebels. Except for when she saw the nervousness in that kids eyes.

Atlas was honestly pissed at Batman for letting a kid, who she assumes hasn't even finished puberty, on the streets. She's pissed at Carmine for making her have to kill him, and some girl who was probably Atlas' age. But most of all, she's pissed at herself for failing. For ending up in the Commissioners daughter's apartment.

So she was where her ancestors worked. A roof. It was dark like always, and Atlas was watching. But she was also thinking. About how she could kill a kid. So she wasn't too focused on looking for Hummingbird and Robin. Someone seemed focused on finding her though.

"Marie Atlas Thatcher. Killed her father when she was just 13. But sadly that didn't get her out of the life indentured to a gang." A voice said, panic filled Atlas. Was it Hummingbird, come to kill her while she was off guard. But then again, Atlas recognised the voice as someone else. She turned and was face to face with, Catwoman. "You should really pay attention."

"How did you know all that?! Why are you here?" Atlas asked, tired of all the games. Talia had only been there for a few days and already but Atlas on edge. Catwoman just intimidated her.

"I know what I need to know, and if I don't.. I find it." Catwoman said in a level tone, she didn't seem to be trying to threaten Atlas. She turned her head to the city lights with a soft sigh. She was close to Atlas, close enough for Atlas to notice that her nose was slightly pink from the cold. It humanised her. "You don't want to kill Robin, and it seems Hummingbird isn't really your favorite assignment either."

"I- No, I can do it." Atlas stumbled, frightened about what Catwoman might tell Carmine. She looked back over at Atlas with a soft smile.

"I'm not his little pet. I'm not Talia. She seems to have become a problem." Catwoman said, her eyes wandering for a second, before focusing on Atlas again. "You just find them for me, then the 'hood' and I can take care of it. Not matter what Carmine says."

Atlas couldn't help but nod. Catwoman was entrancing. Especially to someone in desperate need of help. "He's just a kid."

"I know."

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Everyone has secrets. They may try and act all righteous, but they have them. It's impossible not have them. Selina's just learnt when the perfect time to reveal those secrets is. Like right now.

After talking for a few minutes with the lovely Atlas Thatcher, she's realized one thing. That she needs to get involved. She's been watching from afar, watching the story unfold as a spectator, but now she needs to become a character in the story. A story she doesn't think will end well.

So just like all those years ago, she let herself get caught. Her bat stood behind her, silence filling the space in between them. She could hear his cape blowing in the wind. Turning, Selina tried not to let her emotions get the best of her. The only times she's seen him lately is with Tim, his new Robin. Now they're alone.

"Batsy." She breathed quietly.

"Selina." Bruce said, his voice gruff. She looked at her feet before taking a step closer. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"Talia's back... and she's after your flock."

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Let me know if you notice any mistakes in characters or like spelling. I've been half asleep writing and editing this chapter. But it's also a double upload cause I felt bad and I had more planned for this chapter but it got too long so I made a second one to post with it.

Anyway the batsiblings have interacted... they'll love each other again I swear. But I always need some awkward tension.

Anything you guys would like to see with the story?

Enjoy.

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