Bonds

- A Birds Of Prey Fanfiction

By Mikael Helbo Kjaer

Disclaimer: All characters portrayed in the television series "Birds Of Prey" is the exclusive property of their creators and is used here without their approval. No infringement is intended by the following work of fiction. The Story in the following work is the exclusive property of the Author indicated above and this work may not be posted, reproduced or edited without the express approval of the Author. No commercial gain may come from any reproduction of this work.

Summary: What if the Black Canary had died while taking down the Hawke family? What would happen with the Birds of Prey if Dinah was given into the custody of someone she had never met.? Barbara Gordon.

Author's Notes: This is an attempt at Birds of Prey literature set outside the regular canon. It is based on the question what if Dinah had entered the lives of Barbara and Helena earlier. It will be a slower emotional less action packed story than my other series and I hope it will work out. And yes I am having Dinah playing the Cello again mostly because Rachel Skarsten plays the Cello too.

Chapter 1: Cause and Effect

            Carolyn Lance glanced around her apartment as she pressed the icepack against her elbow. She had bruised it on the head of some of Hawke's goons. They had tried to pick her up for the fifth time this week. She needed to get solid evidence on Hawke before he got lucky. She walked over and opened a door leading from her living room to the room where her little secret and joy slept.

Carolyn Lance looked down with pride and love at her daughter. Dinah slept like an angel with her long blonde hair spread over her pillow like a halo, her cheeks rosy from the heat. She resisted her urge to pull her nearly five year old daughter into her arms, instead slipping out of the room as soundlessly as she had gotten in.

She sat down and turned on the TV at the lowest sound setting to avoid wakening her daughter and looked at the news. The war between the Joker and Batman had been intense this evening she reasoned from the reports of shootings, thieves delivered to the police beaten nearly to a pulp and the vague reports of sightings. Sightings of a man and a girl dressed like bats flying over the streets of New Gotham City. Carolyn smiled slightly. Well Batman and Batgirl wasn't worse titles than Black Canary by far. Maybe, she thought, she should consider asking them to help her with the Hawke family.

"Mommy I missed you," a sleepy voice said and suddenly a warm bundle of pink appeared next to her.

"Oh, Dinah I am sorry. Did I wake you up?" She asked and collected the girl into her muscled arms with ease. She eased Dinah into her lap. "Uh you're getting heavy," she commented.

"You're being silly," Dinah commented in that serious way, that children sometimes assumed.

"You know I love you right," she said and hugged her little daughter, who gave her a kiss on the cheek as answer.

Dinah looked at the TV that lighted the otherwise dark room for a moment, and then asked with curiosity, "Where were you?"

"I had to go see an old friend about some boring paper stuff," Carolyn said and was once more reminded that her daughter was a very bright child. "You shouldn't even be up now little one. I think you are going to bed Dinah and so am I," she said with a barely stifled yawn and lifted the small girl up into her arms as she rose and walked back to put Dinah to bed. That night they slept safely.

A few nights later Carolyn Lance again stood in the dark of her kitchen sweat dripping down her nose, while wincing in pain. Her shoulder was dislocated and her voice hoarse from screaming out her canary cry repeatedly. She pressed her shoulder against a cupboard and snapped her shoulder back into the socket. She bit her lip to keep from screaming. Al Hawke was getting desperate and was throwing everything he had at her now. She had nearly been shot several times tonight and she had just been out shortly to gather some information. There had to be a huge bounty on her head. A chill settled into her guts. What would have happened if she had died tonight or if she disappeared on some mission? Dinah would be left an orphan. She had no family left and there was no chance of seeing anything of her father's side of things either. She needed to make arrangements for her daughter.

She walked soundlessly to her daughter's room, where the little preschooler was sleeping the sleep of the innocent. In that moment she suddenly realized that she had been too egotistical too caught up in her mission to bring criminals and terrorists to justice. She had forgotten what it could cost her, who her job could kill. Still she couldn't stop her heart wouldn't let her. For a moment she struggled with the thought then decided that to give Dinah up, hide her away and continue her one-woman war on crime would be worse than keep her in life. Lost in thought she closed the door and wandered over to her couch and sat down to stare out into the silent apartment.

She needed to find someone, who could take care of Dinah and protect her from her enemies, if this battle cost her life. She thought of finding some strangers totally unconnected with her world off in some remote corner of the US and giving them Dinah. But they would be complete strangers and could she be sure Dinah would be well taken care off there. No, she decided, she needed to pick someone better suited to take care of her daughter in case anything happened. Someone, who was strong and capable enough to handle a potential metahuman and smart child like Dinah, and suddenly she remembered a conversation she had a few months ago about the civilian job of one of her superhero friends. She spent the rest of the night making notes and thinking things through.

A few months later Carolyn Lance hammered a fist into the face of Al Hawke as he held his iron grip on her throat. He was slowly squeezing the life out of her. She threw another weaker punch, but the fanatical man didn't even blink. The image of Dinah flashed through her mind. Carolyn slammed her fists repeatedly into Hawke's arms until his grip was unlocked. Carolyn staggered back, while drawing a massive breath. Hawke reached down and picked up an assault rifle dropped by one of his numerous unconscious men.

Carolyn unleashed her massive canary cry. All the windows within a block shattered. Al Hawke flew backwards. He hammered into a broken metal drum. Blood began flowing massively from his back and side. He had managed to keep a hold on the rifle and now aimed it towards the Black Canary, who had fallen to the ground in exhaustion. He pulled the trigger and held on with all his remaining strength. The assault rifle emptied its clip into the cavernous room. The assault rifle fell from his hands. And the canary cry disappeared into silence.

Barbara Gordon hadn't had the day she expected today. It was still her first week of teaching English literature at the high school and the kids were a whole lot more rebellious than she had expected. Still she didn't have much time to prepare for tomorrow as she had an appointment with Batman atop the Central Police Station an hour after sunset. They were going to find out if there was anything solid about the rumor that a group of cops were working for the Joker or one of his cronies.

She walked upstairs towards her apartment. As she walked down the hall trying to find the key on her bundle, she came to realize that a man was standing at her door looking in her direction. His clothes screamed manager and his attitude held a bit of arrogance that told her he had some kind of power or opinion of his own power. "Are you Miss Barbara Gordon?" He asked in very polite and polished American.

"Yes," she replied.

"Could I see some kind of identification to that effect," he asked. Barbara for a moment mulled if he was government, police or some kind of lawyer. He was probably the latter. She took hold of her key, fished out her ID and handed it to him.

He studied it for a while then handed it back to her. "I have to talk to you about the estate of the late Carolyn Lance," he explained. "Can I come in?" He asked.

"Carolyn. what has happened to her?" She asked urgently. The man glanced around and then looked at the door. Barbara grimaced at the cold man and unlocked her door. She walked in and indicated for him to follow her. She put her groceries down, threw off her jacket and guided the man, who had taken of his coat as well into her living room.

"I must regret to inform you that Miss Lance died a few nights ago in a gun battle. She died on site and was only found the morning after. She had however feared that something like this might happen and contacted my company for legal services with regards to her death months ago. Now Miss Lance worked with the government for many years as an undercover agent and espionage operative. In the last few years she mostly operated under the moniker Black Canary and as such made many enemies I presume. Her occupation combined with very low expenses has however also left Miss Lance in possession of a small fortune, a sizeable government pension and some other financial resources. A few months ago she set up her will and recorded a personal message specifically for you Miss Gordon. In the will it is stipulated that I read some of it before you can see the message," he explained and opened his briefcase.

Barbara just mutely nodded, while she recalled all her meetings with the heroine that had blazed the trail all female heroines hoped to follow. Carolyn had been a good friend to both Bruce, Dick and her over the years and they had met privately many times especially these last few years as Carolyn had worked ceaselessly to bring down even the last remnants of the Hawke family. Still Carolyn had become increasingly distant not only from her, but from everyone in their business and nobody knew why.

"This is the will and testament of Carolyn Lance." The lawyer began reading the lawyer speak that was there to ensure that the will was legal. Barbara listened intently, "This will stipulates the following. First of all Barbara Gordon as identified above is given full command of what remains of my estate in case of my death provided it happens before 2007." He continued to read out loud about Barbara being told of her secret identity, of her being given access to all the information sources in her contact net documented in some books, which were in her safety deposit box. And all conditions were contingent on it not being 2007 yet. Then after a while the man stopped and looked up. "Now you should watch the personal message," he suggested and took out a video cassette. The man got up and left the room. "I will be outside, call me back when you have seen the message," he said.

Barbara took it, turned on her TV and popped the cassette into her VCR. Soon a slightly skewed image of a tired looked Carolyn Lance appeared on screen. "Hi, Barbara, I guess this is bad news. If you're seeing this it means I have died probably in the line of duty and I am about to do something to you that you might not appreciate. Some time ago you remarked that you felt I was becoming reclusive and withdrawn. You were right. And it was intentional. I have been keeping a big secret from you all. In 1985 I met a brilliant and powerful man, whom I fell deeply in love with. He wasn't who I thought he'd be and it ended badly for me, very badly for him. Some months later however I was given a gift. My daughter Dinah is probably the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. But I had to keep her safe and I opted to do it by keeping her existence a secret and living with her in hiding. I could go on and on like any mother would, about how smart, sweet and beautiful Dinah is, but I won't waste your time like that. I don't know how much time has passed since I recorded this, but I know if you're seeing this then I am dead and Dinah is alone somewhere. She needs someone to take care of her Barbara. I hope you will agree to be the one to do it. Now you probably gonna be angry at this, but there is a child in need and you're both a friend and a teacher. I need you to do this not for me but for Dinah. You know I was metahuman and so was Dinah's father. These things tend to run in families and therefore she might be one as well. Please take care of her. I beg you Barbara," the image of Carolyn Lance disappeared into electronic snow.

Barbara sat staring at the screen for a while, then mechanically walked over and activated the encrypted phone to the Batcave. "Bruce this is Barbara. I have just learned that Black Canary is dead. I need to take care of something for her so I am probably unable to help you for a few weeks. Contact me personally if you need to speak with me," she said.

Barbara turned off the TV and went out to get the lawyer back. "So what is next?" She asked.

"The remainder of the will," the lawyer explained and sat down to read the rest. "It is my express wish that Barbara Gordon is given full legal guardianship of Dinah Lance my daughter as attested by the attached documentation pending her acceptance of this of course. All money specified in section 3 I intend to go towards my daughter's life and education is to be placed in a trust fund under Barbara Gordon's complete control. Finally I ask that Dinah is given access to the video messages I have recorded for her, so that she may remember me unless these messages cause her too much emotional distress. I leave the decisions about this in the hands of Barbara Gordon as well," the lawyer continued like this for a while then mentioned something about signatures and drew out some forms.

"What are these?" Barbara asked.

"When you have signed these forms, we will apply for legal guardianship over Dinah Lance for you," he said and pushed them across the glass table.

"When I have signed them what happens?" She asked and lifted them up to read.

"A few days will pass, while Miss Lance remains in the custody of child services and the paperwork goes through, then she will come here or wherever you want her to stay," he explained.

"Here of course," she muttered.