Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long. I just moved back to my on campus house, so I've been busy packing, then unpacking, then catching up with friends. So, to make up for the weight, this chapter is a wee bit longer. I hope you enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I only own Piper/Haley and her friends. All other characters are property of DC Comics. The song is property of Disney.

Piper walked into the rusty, old looking building, bag slung over her shoulder as the moldy and musty smell filled her nostrils. She couldn't help the grin that graced her face. She recognized that her apartment was merely a place to sleep, not a home. She didn't have a home, and if she were honest, she hadn't had one for a long time, if she had ever had one.

But the old gym that the Outcast had converted into a youth center of sorts felt like the closest thing she had to a home anymore. She grinned and waved at the multiple "Hey Haley" and other greetings she received as she walked in. Before she got ten feet in the door, a group of about five children under the age of twelve ran up to her.

"Haley! Haley! Will you go to the gym with us! Please, please, please!" One of the girls asked with large puppy dog eyes.

Haley cocked her head to the side. "Did you guys already get all your homework done?"

All nodded but one of the boys in the back. "Phil?" She asked, as the nine-year old sighed and threw his hands up in the air.

"I didn't do my math, alright. But it's stupid anyway! Why do I need to know fractions, huh?"

She sighed quietly before looking at the other kids. "You guys go ahead downstairs and start stretching. But stay off the equipment. You know the rules; get caught on there without permission and you're banned from the gym for a week." They nodded and ran off

She knelt down so she was eye-level with the boy. "Phil, you know very well why you have to learn fractions. You don't want to be stuck in the Narrows for the rest of your life, do you?" He shook his head. "Then you need to do well in school so you can get into a good college, get a good job and never have to look back."

He frowned. "I'm too stupid to understand fractions."

"Hey! What's the first rule of the center?"

""No put-downs." He murmured quietly.

"That's right. No put-downs. That means no putting down yourself either. You aren't stupid, okay. Fractions are hard and they come easier to some people, but the rest of us have to work really hard on them, okay? But you can do it, I believe in you. You're very smart and very special."

He smiled brightly at the compliment before Haley patted him on the shoulder. "Now, why don't you go over and ask Megan to help you with your homework. She's really good at math. And then, once you're finished, you can come down to the gym with the rest of us, okay?"

He nodded vigorously, a new sense of resolve before running off towards Megan. The brunette caught Haley's eye, smiled and nodded before turning to Phil, greeting him with a warm smile.

She adjusted the shoulder strap of her bag, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge in the corner. Unscrewing the cap, she took a swig as she looked around the tables where around six children were getting help on their homework assignments. She smiled to herself, happy with what was going on, but her quiet observation was interrupted by the shouts coming from the area with the small TV.

"This is LoBoyz territory, ese. My brother and his friends will eat your brother alive. We don't want any of your kind here!"

"My kind? The Street Demonz will cut you and your punk brother up!" The two teenage boys were getting closer to one another as the one pushed the other backward. The fight was looking to quickly escalate.

Haley slammed her water bottle on the counter before yelling over her shoulder. "Ryan!" She then took over at a near running pace to the two boys. "Hey!" She shouted, grabbing them both by the front of their shirts and pulling them so they were facing her, not one another.

"Nick! Brendan! You know the rules. Colors and cuts stay at the doors. You want to be complete and utter morons, join a gang and get yourselves killed? That's your stupid decision. But you keep your gang affiliations out of the center." She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder giving her a soft squeeze. Knowing it was Ryan without even turning around, she lowered her voice and narrowed her eyes. "And, in case you both forgot, this is Outcast turf. Not Boyz, not Demonz, ours. Now, can you two get over yourselves and watch a movie in peace, or do we need to ban you for a week?"

The two nodded and quietly agreed to behave, as Ryan stepped forward. "Now apologize to one another."

The two muttered half-hearted apologizes to one another, but it was acceptable enough for the Haley, but apparently not enough for Ryan.

"Now, apologize to Haley. She sacrifices far too much for you two to just come in here and disrespect the rules like that."

At that, the two boys looked down at the floor. They may not like one another, but it was well known how much Haley did and was attempting to do for the community. As the fabled leader and founder of the Outcast, she garnered a very high level of respect from all the teens in the community.

"Sorry Haley." Nick said, genuinely sorry for his actions.

Brendan barely looked up from the ground. "Yeah. Sorry Hales."

She nodded, a small smile forming on her face. "It's okay. Look, you know I don't like the fact that either of your brother are in gangs and that you're both thinking about joining. It's a bad decision and it's only going to hurt you in the long run, but I'm not going to kick you out if you join. You know our open door policy. I'm not asking you to be best friends, but you will keep anything gang related out of this building. Understand?"

After receiving nods from the two, she patted them both on the shoulder and dismissed them. Her arm was gently grasped by Ryan as he pulled her over to the corner, away from the others.

"Did you stock the fridge again last night?" He asked. She nodded, causing him to sigh, clearly upset. "Hales, you can't keep doing this."

She crossed her arm. "Look, I didn't even get the money from the club. It was a gift from someone. I think a Bat, but I'm not sure. And, I'm not going to stop working at the club. We might only have snacks here, but that's some of the only food some of these kids get and if we can keep them fed, that's one less draw of the gangs."

"It's dangerous, Haley."

She rolled her eyes before resting her hand on his forearm. "Ry, it's not like I'm stripping or pimping myself out or running drugs. It's a good way to get some money, and, it helps me train for the Outcasts. I'm fine, promise."

"Just promise me I won't find you dead in a ditch somewhere."

"With what we do, can you promise me the same thing?" When he remained silent, she smiled sadly. "How's this? I promise I won't take any risk I feel aren't necessary."

"You think every risk is necessary."

She smirked. "I know. It's part of my charm." She sent him a wink. "Now, stop trying to be all mother-heny. We got kids waiting for us downstairs."

"Who?"

"Well, at least on my end we've got Erin, Madison, Colby, Dean, and Sammy so far. So, it looks I'll be on the gymnastics side. You want to take the punching bag and sparring?" She asked, receiving a nod.

"Alright! We're hitting the gym if anyone who has their homework done wants to go!"

Immediately, half a dozen kids left the TV and studying area and rushed down the stairs with a few more straggling after, causing Haley to chuckle. Tara walked up behind her and rested an arm around her shoulder.

"You know they'd kill to be in the Outcast, right?"

"Yep, but they know the rules. Nobody under the age of 13 can patrol, and only then if they keep their grades up. Now, come on. Can't keep the kiddos waiting."

Walking down the stairs, a dozen and a half non-Outcast members were waiting, as well as about a dozen Outcast members. The gym wasn't technically a gym, but rather a very wide open area and was pretty run down; it actually looked like the gym from Space Jam pre-spit shine.

On the right side were a few old gymnastic mats placed along the ground to be used for sparring. There were a few punching bags placed throughout as well. On the left side, more gymnastic mats littered the ground, but on top of them sat older, run down gymnastics equipment. There was a balance beam, a rickety set of uneven bars, and an area to work on floor events. An older stereo sat in the middle of the floor, Haley walked up to it, grabbed a CD, and pushed play. The Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Higher Ground" began to pulse throughout the old area

"Alright, let's do it!"

They had been at it for about an hour. For the first forty, Haley had walked around on the gymnastics side, shouting out instructions and acting as spotter for the uneven bars and balance beam, catching youngster after youngster who wanted to have a go at it. But now, Haley was standing next to the balance beam where she was "coaching" one of the eleven year old girls, Colby, on a routine. The girl had been getting "tips" from Haley since the youth center had "opened" three years ago. The girl had definitely been blessed with some natural talent and, with some work, was shaping up to be a fine gymnast, especially given the equipment they were limited by. Haley smiled broadly as Colby hit a twisting somersault perfectly, then did two backflips then a twist off the balance beam and stuck the dismount.

Haley fist-pumped excitedly before rushing over and giving Colby a high-five. "Awesome, Colbs! You nailed it."

The young girl smiled brightly at the praise, but, as always, asked "what can I do better?"

Haley chuckled. "You sound so much like I did when I was your age. You did all that really well, we just need to make it a little more crisp and add an element or two." Out of all the kids who came to the center, Colby was, by far, the one she was closet too. She had lost a brother to a turf war between gangs a few years back, and Haley could definitely relate. Feeling the child could go the wrong way without the proper guidance, she took her under her wing, taking a special interest in making sure she was doing okay in school and wasn't having any problems at home. A druggie mother and absentee father, however, basically made the latter a given, so Colby spent as much time at the center and with Haley as she could.

"Now," Haley swung an arm over her shoulder. "Have you thought any more about trying out for the gymnastics team at school?"

Colby sighed. "I want to but…that stuff's expensive. How am I going to afford it?"

"Don't you even worry about that. If you want to do this, go for it, and when you make the team, we'll take it from there, okay?" She pulled the girl into a side-hug as she nodded her agreement.

"Alright guys." Haley yelled. "It's getting dark, you know what that means. It's time to start heading home."

A round of groans and protest filled the air, as the all the kids made their displeasure known at the thought of leaving. "Guys, come on. You know Gotham isn't safe after dark. Let's go."

"But Haley!" One of the youngest children in the center, seven-year-old Madison protested. "You didn't even get on the bars today!" The children surrounding her spoke their agreement, causing the leader of the Outcast to sigh.

"Alright. Alright. If I do an uneven routine, will you guys leave peacefully?"

Seeing the multitude of nods, she sighed before nodding. "Alright, alright." She said, walking over to the bars as she stretched her arms. One of the kids ran up the stairs and yelled "Haley's doing uneven bars!" causing all those who were left upstairs to hurry downstairs.

She looked to Ryan. "Number 12." He hit the coordinating number on the CD play and Thousand Foot Krutch's "Break the Silence" blared.

Jumping up, she hit the high bar and immediately hit a handstand, then repeated it, only twisting at the top. Gaining some momentum, she did a release, twisted in mid-air, then grabbed onto the bar, spinning, connecting it to a move to the low bar, on which she did a handstand, then another switch back to the high bar.

She continued an amazing routine, collegiate level caliber, for a good minute or two, before hitting a double twisting dismount. She took a little hop and step on the landing, but, overall, was pleased with herself.

She turned to the kids, who all applauded, ooohed, and awed. "Thanks guys, but its closing time. You'd better go home, cause you can't stay here." And, with a round of goodbyes, everyone too young to be in the Outcast was gone.

As the door closed and the last child left, Danny, a 6'4" seventeen-year-old Outcast member closed the door behind the kids quickly and turned around, smiled. "The kids are gone!"

"Freedom!" Alex shouted, throwing his hands in the air in joy, causing Tabitha, a pretty blonde, to high five her twin sister, Tiffany, before looking over at the others.

"So what are we going to do? Wolves and Owls are on patrol tonight, so we have the night to ourselves?"

"Cards?" Ryan suggested.

"Nah, I'm pretty beat from chasing the kids around tonight." Alex ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair.

"Movie night?" Tara suggested.

"Yeah. But which one?"

A wide smile grew on Tara's face. "Welcome to the Good Burger…"

Tiffany smiled back. "Home of the Good Burger…"

"Can I take your order?" Tabitha finished, before Haley started doing the running man while singing.

"Kurt go to jail, Kurt go to jail. Kurt go to jail, jail, jail."

The other girls joined in and were soon dancing along with the song.

Two hours later, the seven Reapers of the Outcast were sitting around the small TV found in the center, watching the beginning of Boondock Saints, having already finished Good Burger. The twins, Tiffany and Tabitha, were sitting on the couch between Alex and Danny. Tara was sitting backward on a chair, resting her chin on her hands while Ryan and Haley were lying on the ground; she was lying curled against his side, her head resting on his shoulder.

About halfway through the movie, Haley stood up and yawned while stretching. "Guys, I don't think I'm going to make it through the rest of this movie. I'm going to head back to my place."

"Want me to walk you?" Ryan asked as he sat up and started to stand.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"Haley…"

"Ryan, I'm the leader of the Outcast. Give me some credit. Besides, the Wolves and Owls are out tonight, so we've got eyes everywhere. Nobody will get a drop on me. Stay here and watch the movie."

"You sure?"

She smiled and nodded. "Sure I'm sure."

She gave the others high-fives before grabbing her new coat from by the door and walking outside.

She smiled to herself as the fresh air hit her face. It was a warmer night in Gotham, which meant the walk back to her place wasn't going to be unbearable, which was a definite welcome change to the previous week. Looking up, she couldn't help but grin as she saw it was a clear night in Gotham City and that the stars were visible – or at least as visible as they could be with all the artificial light of the city.

Taking off at a jog, she hurried to her apartment, running into her room and quickly grabbing her stuffed monkey, a pillow, and a blanket before jumping onto the fire escape. She hurried up to the roof of the building and laid down, propping her head up on the pillow and covering up with the blanket while cuddling with Abu.

She searched the sky intently, looking for the right star. Finally, she found it. Betelgeuse- one of the brightest and most visible stars in the night sky, always making it easy to find. Jason's star.

After her father had passed away, Piper had had an extremely hard time dealing with it. So, on a clear night, Jason took her outside and told her how, after people died, they got a star and that's how they looked after the people they loved who were still on Earth.

So, after Jason died, she found a star for him. Since she was in a city, she couldn't see the stars most nights, so she picked the brightest one, that way it was easiest to spot out. And, on the clear nights that were oh so rare in Gotham, Piper would sit outside and look at the stars, holding on to the only connecting she could.

"Hey Jay-Jay." She said quietly as she looked up at the star. "Sorry I haven't come to talk to you for a while; it's been cloudy and pretty cold. So, you'll never believe what happened. The other day, we actually got the chance to save a superhero. Yeah, we saved Nightwing. Can you believe it? And I met Red Robin. Can you imagine how cool it would be to know those guys? Seriously! But, anyway, so the Joker was there and he…" her voice continued on as she continued to recount the story until she fell asleep under the stars.

Jason pulled beanie down lower as he walked around the neighborhood, sunglasses in place to hide his face. He eventually stopped walking to lean against the wall, slurping on his Coke as he watched the scene across the street.

It was the middle of a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Since the weather was so nice and, honestly, perfect, a good majority of the neighborhood kids were outside playing. It was a scene not seen often in Gotham, since most kids feared the gangs of the area, as well as the criminal underworld. However, these kids seemed perfectly at ease playing on the street, and Jason soon saw why.

Nearly twenty members of the Outcast were walking around, including the seven Reapers. Jason knew who all of them were since he had spent the last two weeks gaining intel on his sister, all her friends, and the Outcast. He knew the Reapers were the seven oldest members of the group, all of which had been there either since or right after the inception of the group. There were the leaders, with each being in charge of different aspects of the training or growth of the group.

Tiffany and Tabitha were in charge of teaching the kids to learn how the city moved, Tara was in charge medical, Alex was in charge of splitting the kids into different groups and meeting with those factions leaders, Ryan ran training sessions for hand to hand combat and weapons usage. Piper was the overall leader of the group. She did a bit of all those things, kept the youth center running smoothly, and kept track of the progress they had made on the crime rate and how much "territory" they had.

Jason smiled to himself as he watched how the kids all naturally flocked to his sister. She was so energetic and happy, but, he asked himself how much of that was fake. He saw how her smile seemed to falter when she thought no one was looking and how very alone she was. There were so many kids, any of them would have stayed with her on a regular basis or their parents would have let her stay with them.

But she stayed by herself, seemingly keeping the world at arm's length. And, that killed Jason because it was the same thing he did. And he knew the pain it took to get him to that point and, even worse, the pain maintaining that distance caused.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he saw his sister begin to double dutch along with a few of the neighborhood kids and an older boy, whom he knew from his intel to be Ryan. They were doing quite well until Piper's foot hit the rope and she tripped over it. Jason was already pushing himself from the wall, ready to help her, but stopped as he saw Ryan grab her and fall with her, taking the brunt of the hit as the two hit the ground laughing, her head resting on his chest as he kept his arms around her waist. Jason rose an eyebrow behind his glasses, taking note to gather more information on this Ryan character.

Piper then stood up and started toward where the kids were playing Hopscotch, but stopped short when she saw a younger girl sitting on a building's stoop, a dejected look on her face. Piper walked up to her and bent down, saying words that Jason couldn't hear. The girl's face scrunched up like she was about to cry, but before any tears came out, Piper jumped back, spun around, and started to sing, loudly.

"Now I'm the king of the swingers
Oh, the jungle VIP
I've reached the top and had to stop
And that's what botherin' me"

She stared strutting around the area, snapping her fingers and doing a dance type walk around all the kids, most of whom had stopped what they were doing to watch her.

"I wanna be a man, mancub
And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men
I'm tired of monkeyin' around!"

"Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you"

She grew louder, and taking the girl's hand, pulled her to her feet and started dancing with her. The young girl couldn't help but smile from ear to ear and start dancing.

"I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
You'll see it's true
An ape like me
Can learn to be human too"

Piper picked the girl up and started dancing around with her as others started to dance as well.

A lump formed in Jason's throat as he remembered a very similar scene from their childhood.

A 10-year-old Jason walked into the apartment to find his mother passed out on the couch again. He rolled his eyes and pulled one of the flimsy blankets off the back of the couch and covered up his mother. Then, knowing what his responsibility was, he took off down the hallway until he saw his sister in the tiny room that they shared. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and tear tracks on her face.

"Hey Pipes." He knelt down in front of her and wiped at her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I-I c-couldn't wake M-mommy up."

Jason smiled sadly at his sister. "Mom…well, she's not feeling good. But, she'll be fine." He quickly added. "Have you had supper yet?" When the five-year-old shook her head, he reached down and picked her up. "Come on, let's go find you something to eat."

Carrying her into the kitchen, he sat her down on the counter before looking around. He frowned as he saw it was nothing but bare cabinets. Of course, their mother had been too busy looking for her next score to provide food for her children, not that they had much money since Willis had passed away. Shaking his head angrily, Jason walked over to his sister again.

She looked like she was about to start crying again. "There's no food, is there?"

He frowned. "Not here. Come on, we're going to have to go to the shelter." He hated the look of fear and sadness that washed over his sister. She hated the shelter, claiming that it smelt funny. Plus, being around that many people scared her, and rightfully so. Jason knew a few of the men weren't exactly safe for kids to be around, so, he only went to the shelter as a last resort, and even then, wouldn't let go of Piper's hand for the world.

He sighed inwardly as fresh tears dripped down her face. "I-I-I'm not h-h-hungry. I d-don't wanna g-g-go."

Picking her up, he held her tight against him, carding a soothing hand through her hair as they quietly left the apartment. "You have to eat Pipes. We have to go. I'm sorry." Feeling her start to shake as they stepped outside, he looked around quickly for something to cheer her up, before seeing an opportunity. Setting her down on the stairs quickly, he stepped back by the fire escape ladder.

"Now I'm the king of the swingers,
Oh the Jungle VIP.
I reached the top and had to stop
And that's what's bothering me."

He jumped up on and swung around on the ladder, causing his sister to shriek in delight as he jumped down and kept singing and dancing toward her.

"I wanna be a man, mancub
And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men
I'm tired of monkeyin' around!"

Picking her up, he spun her around quickly as she laughed. He then continued to spin with here in his arms as he danced around the alley.

"Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you"

"I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
You'll see it's true
An ape like me
Can learn to be human too"

He went through the entire song before stopping, and, seeing the bright smile he had placed on his sister's face, he was glad he had chosen to make himself look like an idiot to make her laugh.

"Come on, let's get you some dinner, and we won't even go to the shelter."

Jason had ended up pick-pocketing some old man that night in order to take Piper to a little diner where they served her favorite: Chicken and dumplings. He got her the large portion and a small grilled cheese for himself, not having stolen enough money for them both to get a big meal.

And that song became somewhat of a signature song for them. Anytime Jason wanted to get a smile or laugh out of his sister, he would bust into the song and dance, and, without fail, find what he was searching for.

"Like someone like you, can learn to be like someone like me." Jason quietly finished from his spot against the wall. Seeing his sister dancing and acting like a normal sixteen year old with her friends gave him hope that maybe his sister could live a normal life.

Although he had contemplated going up to her today, he realized now that she had a good life, or as good of a life as some street kid from Gotham could get. What would be accomplished by him going up to her and telling her who he was? If she wanted to come stay with him, what was he going to do, take her to his shabby little apartment that, in all honesty, wasn't in any better shape than hers? Would she even want anything to do with him?

And how would he explain his sudden reemergence? She was smart, so what if she saw through his cover story and realized who he really was? A murder. A crimelord according to some. A black sheep who destroyed everything he touched.

No, he wouldn't do that to her. She still remembered him as the smart, energetic, innocent eleven-year-old he had been the last time he saw her. He wouldn't ruin that for her. He wouldn't rob her of all the good things she remembered about him like he had done with Bruce, Dick, and Alfred.

He sighed, knowing it was for the best that she was never the wiser about him being alive. A distant sound of police sirens grabbed his attention. Catching the scene in front of him, he reasoned that he could abandon his post for a few hours to show his face to the criminal underworld. The Outcast would take care of Piper for him; they had thus far. So, he casually walked into the alley, humming "I Wanna Be Like You."

As she finished a run-through at the hopscotch game, Piper looked over toward the building across the street, staring at it intently.

"Haley, you alright?" Ryan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just…thought I saw someone."

"Want me to send some people to check it out."

"No…I'm sure it was nothing. Probably just imagining things." She continued to stare at the place where Jason had been standing just a few moments before, then turned away.

Jason smirked to himself and cracked his knuckles as he stood over the gang members. He had just worked over some of the Demon Boyz crew for trying to sell to some kids on the upper east side. He had spent so much time watching over his sister that the Red Hood had forgotten exactly how much he enjoyed kicking the crap out of the bad guys.

He had been at this for a few hours now and it had felt great, so much so that he wasn't ready to stop yet. However, he also had the urge to go check on Piper, so he compromised; he'd do a swing by, make sure there were no suspicious characters around, then head off to break up so more drug deals or whatever else he found that night.

He was about to cast his grappling hook when he felt the ground shake and heard a large explosion. Reaching out to the wall to steady himself, he looked toward the cause, his hand already going to his gun.

The sight before him, however, stopped him cold, causing him to drop his gun to the ground with a clatter.

Because the west side of the Narrows – where he had watched his sister just that morning – was alight in a giant flame.

"PIPER!"

Well, there it was. Cliffhanger, I know, I'm sorry. Anyway, next chapter is where things really start to pick up, so hold on to your seats. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Please leave me a line or two and let me know what you think and what you'd like to see me do differently. Thanks a million. Love ya!

Casey
*2nd Corinthians 4:8-9*