It took a lot to truly impress Bruce Wayne. But he wasn't at all ashamed to admit that this did it. He knew that he'd covered his tracks well when he assumed the identity of Batman. It would be extremely difficult, nigh impossible to figure him out. And yet… his niece had managed to do it with two days and a newspaper article.

Still… he supposed he shouldn't be all that surprised. Persephone was more like her mother than she seemed to realise. And Sarah always had been smarter than him, even as children. It would have only a matter of time before she figured things out.

'It wouldn't hurt to give security another upgrade, though', he thought as he and Robin departed for patrol that night.

—

Percy shot up in bed, cold sweat trickling down her back and making her shiver even as she threw the blankets off of her. She'd had a night terror. Again.

She should be used to it by now. After all, she'd been having these dreams since she was 12. But was there really any way to get used to seeing those you'd killed staring back at you every time you closed your eyes?

The sky was still pitch black, and the alarm clock on her bedside table blinked, 12:27 am.

It was way too early for anybody else in the house to be awake. Even Alfred had to sleep. But as she walked by Dick's room, she saw his door open, and him not in bed.

'Ah. So still on patrol then', she thought, frowning slightly. Alfred wasn't kidding when he said that Dick hardly got any sleep. How did this kid function?

The house was completely dark. It always was. But now, somehow, it seemed worse. More suffocating. She knew Bruce was Batman, and that his alter ego was more him than Bruce Wayne was, but there was literally no colour whatsoever inside of this manor. Everything was coloured, either black, grey, or if he was really risking it, some sort of dark shade of cranberry.

It was quiet too. Completely silent to the point where she could hear some kind of ringing in her ears. Every movement she made sounded painfully loud. She was homesick for New York, the city that never sleeps. There was always some sort of background noise there: the traffic down on the street, neighbours in their apartments around them making various bumps and crashing sounds, some random person yelling on the road. Even during her time in camp, she couldn't remember a time when it had been so silent.

Gotham was a big city, she knew. She loved big cities. But right now, stuck out here in this dark, isolated mansion, she couldn't tell. And that seriously irritated her.

So she ran back to her room, threw on some random clothes and a hoodie and headed out. It should go without saying that at this point, there was an essential arsenal of various daggers and knives strapped to multiple places on her body along with Riptide, which was eternally clipped into her hair.

She knew Gotham was a dangerous place, the newspaper she had used to figure out her uncle and cousin's real identities was proof enough of that. But she also had no doubt that she could handle herself. At the end of the day, no matter how insane or murderous the criminals of Gotham were, they were still just mortals.

After facing the Lord of Time and Mother Earth herself, it would take a lot to truly scare her much less actually injure her.

Careful to make as little noise as possible, Percy climbed out the window of her room on the first floor. She rolled as she landed on the grassy ground, making sure to distribute her momentum and weight evenly so that she didn't injure herself, just as she'd been taught how to do since the age of 12.

Wayne Manor was quite isolated from the rest of the city. She assumed that when Batman and Robin took to the streets, they rode some sort of vehicle, and she probably would have too, but there was no way her uncle hadn't bugged his stuff. He'd probably know the second it left its parking spot in the manor's garage, and for some reason, Percy felt the need to keep this little excursion to herself. Besides, she could always do with a walk.

—

Percy had only been walking around the city for about 10 minutes when she ran into her first group of would-be muggers. They were cornering an old man against the wall of an alleyway. The poor man's grocery bags had been dropped on the ground, and his eyes were wide with fear when they caught sight of the pocketknife, the leader of their little group was waving around.

"—So why don't you empty your pockets there, old man. I'm sure you've got something worth keeping in that wallet of yours. It's not like you'll be needing it much longer anyway", he said, sneering.

"Oh I think he'll need it for as long as he feels like needing it", she said, flipping up her hood and stepping out of the shadows that had been shrouding her from their sight.

The group whipped around, not having heard her approach.

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do to make sure of that, huh?". He pushed the old man back and away, his sights now set on his new target, despite the feeling in his gut that told him not to.

"I'm going to collect the poor man's groceries which you have disrespectfully spilt on the ground, I'm going to walk over there, and I'm going to walk him home to make sure he gets there alright like any other self-respecting person would do", she stopped her little speech to take a few steps closer. "And you are going to put that little knife away, gather up all your little friends and get out of here. And don't let me ever see you ever again. Got that?", she asked, peering up at them from under her hood. Only the glowing sea-green of her eyes and the sharp twitch of her lips could be seen through the shadows it cast.

"Yeah. We'll see about that", he said, starting towards her with the knife, but his voice held decidedly less confidence than it had before, and she could see his buddies behind him beginning to get a little skittish.

She could tell just from the way he started towards her that it wouldn't be necessary for her to use any weapons of hers to fend him off. He obviously had no training whatsoever and had no idea how to properly wield his knife. His stance was all wrong, and he was off-balance.

When she didn't move, he began to gain a little bit of his confidence back.

"Come on", he taunted, "Fight me like a man". He slashed the knife through the air a few times to try and scare her, and his buddies behind him laughed like the morons they were.

"Now why would I do that?", she asked, the smirk on her face causing him to falter, "I'd much rather fight you like a woman".

With that, she leapt into action, shifting her weight on her feet slightly and kicking upwards to kick the knife right out of his hand. It clattered to the ground some few feet away, and he gawked at her like an idiot.

She just rolled her eyes and lowered her leg. Taking one step towards him to gain her balance back, she swung her right arm forward, punching him straight in the face and knocking him out cold. The sound of bones breaking as his nose broke made his friends wince.

She looked over at them, lip curling in disgust. "Pathetic children, the lot of you. Go! Run along now and go home". They didn't need to be told twice as they ran off back down the alley and out into the street, either forgetting about or really not caring about their felled leader. "Who tries to rob an old man anyway? Cowards", she spit to their retreating forms.

The old man, for his part, looked quite shaken up, so she removed her hood in an effort to make herself seem less intimidating.

"Alright there, sir?", she asked, throwing him as friendly of a smile as she could manage. He nodded hurriedly, apparently not finding her smile very reassuring.

Percy turned and began to collect the scattered groceries just like she said she would before handing them off to him again.

"Think you can get home from here?" she asked him.

"Uh, y-yes, yes. My apartment is just here. Thank you, young lady", he said hesitantly, obviously still not entirely sure of her motive.

"You're very welcome, sir. Have a good night now". She threw her hood back up over her face and continued on her way down the city street.

Gotham was no New York, but it still did its part in at least partly filling that hole in her heart that the city she was born in had left. It was a big enough city, but there were much fewer people walking around than there should have been considering the number of people that lived there. Percy's mind flashed back to that newspaper article she'd seen earlier that day- the poor girl Mary who'd been killed- and then back to the mugging that she'd just stopped. There was too much crime in this city, both big and small. And even though Batman and Robin were on patrol to protect it, they couldn't be everywhere at once. Then again, neither could she.

Percy smiled a truly genuine smile for the first time in a long time as her body dissolved into sea mist. Batman and Robin needed help, and she was going to give it to them.

A/N:

Phew!

Let me tell you guys, editing these chapters is a trip! I wrote these a while ago, if it's not obvious, and though I do my best to polish the turd before uploading, some of the writing definitely still sounds like it was written by a 13-year-old. Sorry about that. Also, this chapter is only like 1,800 words. What's up with that, fetus-me?!

Anyway… sorry it's been so long. It's the end of the school year and everything's a bit hectic right now. I should have the next two chapters out soon! As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a review, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Goodbye, my lovelies! :3