Outsiders and Teen Titans Giant-Sized #2

“You sure this is a good idea, Babs?” Dinah commented as she and Barbara Gordon waited in the front hall of Wayne Manor for the guests to arrive, while Carrie was off helping Alfred in the kitchen.

“I think so,” Barbara replied from her wheel chair. “A night to hang out, get to know each other. Some moral support for us non-powered heroes.”

“So… why am I here then?” Dinah asked. “What with my cry and all.”

“Adult supervision,” Barbara answered simply, turning to roll toward the entrance as the doorbell chimed throughout the mansion, announcing the arrival of their first guests.

“What do you mean ‘adult supervision’?!” Dinah said as she followed Barbara. “You’re older then me you know!”

But the woman said nothing as she opened the door to reveal Zinda Blake. The older blond woman had been asked to pick up Cass, Mia and Bette and fly them to Gotham for the night. “Here they are, safe and sound,” Zinda told the other two women as the three teen-agers entered the building. Cass simply smiled and gave a nod as she stood between Mia and Bette. The former gave a polite greeting, while Bette warmly hugged her friends.

“You sure you don’t want to stay Zinda?” Dinah asked.

“Naw,” Zinda replied. “I’m too old to hang around with you young ‘uns. Besides, no offense, but this ain’t my idea of a party, if you get my drift.” Zinda said with a wink to those present before returning to her plane, which had been parked perfectly in the middle of the mansion’s large front driveway.

Renee pedaled up to the estate on her bicycle, knapsack over her shoulder. She caught sight of the plane’s departure and chuckled to herself before heading to the main entrance.

“Gee, if I had known we could get special treatment, I’d have asked for a limo ride,” she said to Barbara, making the redhead laugh in turn.

“This is Dinah Lance,” Barbara introduced the two women. “Dinah, Renee Montoya. The others are already in the den,” she added after the two finished exchanging pleasantries. “Feel free to join then. Alfred should be there in a moment with some snacks.”

“And then there was one,” Dinah said idly, as Carrie entered the hall. “I’m surprised she’s not here yet. She’s always on time at the shop.”

“Steph just likes to show up ‘fashionably late’ for parties,” Carrie told the other two. “She’ll be here. I’m still amazed Bruce agreed to this.”

“Well Dick had to all but drag him off on the trip, not that I expect Bruce to get much rest or relaxation,” Barbara explained.

“Dick will get him to relax if it kills him,” Dinah added. “Assuming he’s not busy with the ladies that is,” she continued with a laugh.

It wasn’t much longer before Steph arrived, the young blonde riding up on her motorcycle, parking it near Renee's bike. “You can all calm down,” she announced as she entered the mansion. “I’m here now, so let’s get this party started!”

“Sounds like someone’s excited,” Barbara said to Dinah with a wink.

“Heck yeah,” Steph answered. “We’re gonna stay up late, play games, swap stories. And in the morning,” She paused tossing her bag with the others, “I’m making waffles!”

“You wanted her on the team,” Dinah jokingly accused Barbara as the group went to join the others in the den.

While the grounds of Wayne Manor were bright and full of the girls’ laughter, there were still plenty of dark places to hide those who would want to crash the party. Although, when Harley Quinn snuck around the shadows, her red clothes and white make-up made it hard for her to hide.

“Dumb old cheerleader types, never inviting girls like me,” she muttered as she ran along the bushes and up to the huge front door of the mansion. “Harley Quinzel never misses a party!”

Bruce Wayne’s little ward was constantly in the tabloids these days, and the imaginations of a city dreaming to live in ‘stately Wayne Manor’ were running wild. So when the word got out that Carrie was holding a party for friends from all around the county, it hadn’t taken long for the news to reach Harley. And with the girl formerly known as Batwoman watching the youngsters, Harley couldn’t pass up the chance to crash.

She was imagining a grand gala as she crept up to the door. Images ran through her head—cakes and cookies, fancy finger foods, girls trading expensive jewelry, expansive gossip, a swimming pool full of diamonds…

Harley was inches away from ringing the bell when she stopped, laughing at herself. “That’s not the way to do it,” she said, and hurried back into the bushes to find a side door or a window, a much better place to sneak into the place.



The party inside was actually a quiet affair—nowhere near Harley’s diamond-encrusted daydreams. A large, spacious room near the middle of the mansion had been made into a kind of den, with comfortable sofas, seats and cushions scattered around and a home theater screen propped up in a corner. Bowls of variously coated chips and puffs dotted the floor, along with several large and already half-eaten trays of Alfred’s best pastries.

Clumped in one corner were the younger girls: Stephanie Brown (aka the Spoiler), Carrie Kelly (only recently apprenticed to the Batman), Mia Dearden (aka Speedy), Bette Kane (long established as Flamebird) and Cassandra Cain (once the dread assassin Kasumi). They sat in a circle, talking and laughing and occasionally dragging more food over to split between them.

Renee stood with Barbara and Dinah, away from the circle and munching on a vegetable platter as well as cookies. “Babs, what am I doing here?”

“Hopefully, you’re having a good time and getting to know your fellow heroines,” Barbara said, popping a handful of carrots into her mouth.

“Yeah, but—“ Renee was cut off by a loud squeal of laughter from Steph, Bette and Carrie. “I don’t know, sleepovers aren’t exactly my thing.”

“Oh whatever, you’re here, aren’t you? Come on.” Barbara grabbed her friend’s wrist with one hand and wheeled her over to the circle of girls—a feat that made Dinah snort into a cup of soda as she also moved over. “Room for a few older-timers over here?”

“Yeah, definitely!” Mia gave Babs an eager smile and shifted over, elbowing Bette to widen the circle and ignoring the other girl’s annoyed glare.

Renee sat down next to Mia, gratefully accepting another tray of cookies. “Playing a game?”

“Truth or dare,” Mia replied, with just a hint of an eye roll to go with her repressed smile.

“Okay, it’s my turn!” Steph bounced on her knees excitedly, looking around the circle with mischief in her eyes. She pointed dramatically at Renee. “You! Truth or Dare?”

Renee couldn’t help laughing. “Oh god, I haven’t done this since middle school…okay fine, truth.”

Steph snapped her fingers. “Damn, I had a really good dare…okay, why’d you become Batgirl?”

The question drew a few groans from the other girls, but a thoughtful look from Renee. Before she could answer though, a loud thump came from outside, and Bette started in shock.

“Oh you baby,” chided Dinah as she walked over to the window, and saw nothing. “Probably some stray animal or something. Nothing to worry about.”



Harley rubbed her bottom where she’d fallen, glaring up at the bright window. It’d been an hour already, and that was as close as she’d gotten to getting inside. She had only managed to climb halfway up the ladder she’d found before she fell—Harley hadn’t even gotten a decent look inside to see if she was in the right place.

Muttering to herself, Harley kicked at a rock and wandered around the grounds, hoping for a better chance elsewhere.



“So go on, you gotta answer,” said Steph, when the scare had passed away and the circle had re-formed. “Why’d you want to fight crime?”

“Well, I kind of always did,” started Renee, finding herself relaxing as she told the story, surrounded by those who would be her friends. “I was a police officer for a year before I went to the dark side. Once you’ve seen what goes on in the streets and the back alleys, you just want to do anything you can to stop it. So once Babs…had to quit, I asked her if I could take over the job.”

“Why Batgirl though?” asked Carrie, kicking her legs up in the air as she lay on her stomach. “Why not 'Batwoman II'?”

Renee shrugged. “I didn’t feel like a real grown-up yet, I guess. By the time I really got into it, the name had stuck. Besides,” she added with a joking smile at Babs, “The old Batwoman was too much woman, I couldn’t have stood up to that.”

Most of the girls chuckled, and the ice was broken. They passed around a bowl of chips and kept on swapping stories and dares as the night grew older outside.



“Aw dammit!” Harley yelled, finally bursting through a window to find only an empty kitchen. “I’m never gonna find them!”

As she muttered and stomped, Alfred stepped into the room, wringing a towel around his hands. “Miss Quinn, is it?”

Harley froze and stared at the butler, caught in the act like a deer in the headlights.

Alfred walked with his calm dignity to one of the large ovens, pulling on a soft pair of oven mitts and drawing out several more trays of cookies. “I’m afraid tonight’s party is strictly invitation only, Miss Quinn. I’ll have to ask you to leave now.”

“Oh come on, just like that? I can’t just leave, I spent the whole night tryin’ ta get in!”

Alfred pulled out a plate and plastic wrap, and started to load cookies onto it. “Would you prefer it if you didn’t leave empty-handed?”

She held up a finger to make some annoyed point, but let it fall as the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies hit her nose. “….do they have nuts?”

“For you, Miss Quinn, of course they do.” He smiled indulgently and handed her the package.

“Well…okay.” Harley grabbed the cookies and quickly tumbled out the window, munching happily despite her muttering as she skipped away across the grounds, defeated, but enjoying the spoils of her battle.

“Movie time!” Carrie called out as she jumped up onto her feet and snatched off the top case from the coffee table. Steph came back in from the kitchen with replacement snacks, rocking her hips back and forth, feeling rather jaunty.

“What's gotten into you?” Dinah chuckled at the sight as she snatched a cupcake.

“Just chasing the stray animals, is all. Man, does Wayne Manor have a pest control problem.” She plopped down in the middle of the girls, as Cassandra looked up quietly from where she sat near the corner of the antique table holding the snacks, drinks, empty glass bottle and more. She shook her head at her friend's exuberance and then turned to check out the television screen as Carrie flipped past the previews.

“Pests? We don't have pests here. I think Bruce would flip. I know Alfred would.” Carrie pursed her lips as the menu screen came on, and then glanced at the DVD holder.

“Hey! Who's the wise guy who brought 'Wimbledon' to the party?” Bette exclaimed as she looked around the room, before settling her green eyes on Mia.

“Oh right! Like I even knew they made a tennis movie,” Mia shot back, rolling her eyes up. “Like I've had the kind of life to go and watch stupid chick flicks. You know, not everything revolves around you! I didn't pick out my colors because of you, I didn't become a vigilante because of you, and I didn't try and become team leader because of you. And I sure didn't bring any stupid tennis movie because of you!”

Bette merely continued to glare as the other girls looked unsure of what to say. Barbara was about to step in when Dinah and Renee both noticed Cassandra, a hand over her silent mouth, her body shaking gently. Slowly, the rest of the occupants all started to turn their heads toward the silent girl, all except for Mia and Bette, who were eye to eye now, kneeling on the floor as they faced off with each other.

Again Barbara prepared to step in and get things calm, but Stephanie had other ideas. Quietly, she slipped something toward Bette, the older girl's hand gripping tightly and she grinned. “Oh yeah?”

“That's the best you can come back with? 'Oh yeah'?” Mia taunted Bette as she pressed her face a little closer.

“Girls,” Barbara started to say, but it was too late as she watched Bette move her arm.

“Nope! Got something better!” Bette declared as the large red pillow collided with the side of Mia's head, sending the slim archer bowling over on her side, completely shocked by the sudden turn of events.

“Pillow fight!” Carrie cried out as she flung another pillow at Stephanie, the instigator, the large padded violet cushion crashing into her friend's face and Barbara could only give a wide-eyed stare as chips, cookies, drinks and pillows flew around the room in a sudden blur of action as she struggled to regain control.

“Babs,” Renee said to the redhead as Barbara continued to call for a halt, picturing the cleaning bill ringing up a higher and higher total in her head.

“What?” Barbara turned to face Renee. “Renee?”

“This is what you wanted,” Renee said as she and Dinah, flanking the wheelchair-bound woman, crashed large cushions into her.



The bus pulled up to the stop, the doors opening and disgorging one person. He slouched under his umbrella, the rain pocking and cascading over the taut material as he held his hand out behind him, to hold onto thin air, much to the driver's alarm.

“Come on, dear,” the man said softly in the dark, and then waved to the driver. “Thanks for waiting. She's kind of nervous.”

The elderly man just looked down at the singular man, blinking and looking around, to see no one else in the wet gloom. “Right. 'Course. Good evening.” He gave a nervous wave and closed the doors, the bus pulling away.

The man looked down the large, well-maintained avenue. Unlike much of Gotham, it was in excellent condition, with the lanes of the avenue parted by a lovely tree-lined center. But then, the wealthy lived down this way, and they'd have it no other way. Let the rest of the city, the county, live in their rundown, grimy, congested villages. This was where the aristocracy lived, and the worn, wary looking man looked down the symbol of power and wealth nervously, his hand clutching the nothing beside him.

“You're sure about this?” He asked as he started to guide himself, and his nothing, down the street. “I mean...really?” He paused to listen, and nodded his head, letting a small smile break his face. “Well then, let's get going. It's already late. We don't want to miss anything.”



Alfred had just finished cleaning the kitchen up, the last of the platters of food and pitchers of ice cold lemonade sitting on the dining table. He looked up as the ladies, younger and older, trooped into the kitchen, grimy from drink and food and feathers and merely shook his head quietly as he stepped out of sight, to work on something else.

The women, for their part, descended on the table, laughing and giggling as Renee walked behind Barbara and plucked feathers from the lovely red hair. Dinah couldn't help but notice the attention being given and chuckled but said nothing of her suspicions. Instead she just looked down at her long-time friend and continued to apologize.

“How was I to know that big pillow was filled with goose feathers?” Barbara looked up at her with horrified eyes. “I mean...who? Who keeps a goose-feather pillow out in a sitting room, Babs?”

“Rich people, apparently,” Mia said as she swiped a cup and poured out something to drink.

“So...Mia, you didn't steal my colors or anything,” Bette admitted as she passed the archer a finger sandwich, trying to look apologetic. “Why did you get into the vigilante thing? I mean, it's not some new teen trend or something, is it?”

“No!” Mia snapped back. She looked around at everyone, who were still flushed from the pillow fight, and laughing among themselves only to look up at her quick, short response. “I mean, no.” She took the sandwich and handed the cup of liquid to Bette and poured a second glass. “Not as far as I know anyway. I don't have too many friends in school anymore.”

“Hey, it's okay,” Renee said as she took a seat next to Barbara. She looked at the young archer and gave her a reassuring smile. She could see hurt in Mia's eyes, and added, “If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. But I've got a hunch you aren't gonna find a better group of people to understand.”

Mia looked over the group, all of them now looking at her in turn, the attention focused squarely on her. She squared her shoulders, swallowed her sandwich and took a deep drink from her glass.

“Well, see, my father was a small-time hood back in Keystone,” she said slowly. “He got into some deep trouble, and the bigger guys, they wanted him to do some jobs for them. Stuff he didn't want to do. He was a good guy in the beginning, but he was a gambler, and he just got...lost, I guess. But he wouldn't go robbing and killing people, like they wanted. And so they decided he needed to be taught a lesson.” She shook a bit, and closed her eyes, then continued, “So they gave him an ultimatum, and snatched me up on my way home from school one day. Mum, she was angry with Dad at that time, and they were separated, and she would tell me terrible things about him. Maybe some were true, maybe some weren't. All I remember is, these scary guys had me in a really nasty, rundown building, and threatening me and forcing Dad to kill someone, but he wouldn't. He came to my rescue, he did.” Her eyes watered as she sat back into her chair and she fiddled with her hands, moving a plate, then shifting a glass, then wiping at a ring of condensation with a napkin, before her other hand reached up to tug at her blond hair.

“And that's when you decided to become a super-hero?” Steph asked as she leaned back on her chair, balancing on the back two legs as she sipped her own drink.

“Not quite. See, Dad, he charged in and all, but...well...” Mia wiped her eyes and then took a deep breath. “After Dad was killed, the guys he owed money to felt that they needed to teach other welshers a lesson and get some profit back so they sold me off to some pimp named Sinless Sol.”

Steph fell out of her chair and pulled herself back up quickly as Bette gave a short gasp. Carrie just stared blankly, and even Cass looked unnerved, though less so than her fellows. The three older women already knew this story, or very similar in Renee's case, and could only look sympathetically. Renee walked over and put a hand on Mia's shoulder.

“I was rescued by the Flash though, the first one,” Mia assured the others. “A few months later. I think. I'm not really sure how long later, but Mr. Garrick showed up with this government guy, and they got me out, and sent Sol away, so Mr. Flag, he's the government guy, so he assured me and my mum and aunt. My aunt, she let me recover down in her home in Hub City, and I learned about that she was this Robin Hood kind of vigilante during the Sixties called Moonbow.”

Everyone looked blankly at Mia, none of them knowing the name, and she clarified, “Yeah, I never heard of her either, but she spent time fighting 'The Man' and being all hippie and stuff. So Aunt Sarah, she let me use her old equipment in my recovery, and I decided that it was a good way to work out some anger, to be Speedy. It's what my aunt nicknamed me and I liked it. I never intended to be a super-hero. I'm not really. I'm just a street kid, beating up street gangs because they're putting my former friends in danger. But none of my friends really hang with me anymore, because I'm damaged goods, or because I don't want to play with their gangs. And so...so...” She let her voice trail off, feeling stupid as she started to ramble like an emotional girl.

“Wow,” Bette said softly, eyes wide and hurt. “You're amazing. That's a hell of a lot more inspiring than my story.”

“Oh?” Mia asked, genuinely curious to know what brought the pampered starlet's child into crime-fighting.

“Like all good stories should, it begins with Dick Grayson's abs.”



The rain was making things harder to see, but the man continued to lead no one up to the last mansion in the area. He stopped, looking over the large iron gate that barred the main drive. “Shouldn't it be open, dear?” He looked down at the nothing that held his hand in return. “Oh. Well that makes sense, sure.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small plastic box, filled with clamps and wires and a small screwdriver. “It sure was good of that nice Mr. Film Freak to pass you the key, wasn't it, dear?”

He quickly worked at the gate alarm, and then the iron bars started to part for the man and his thin air. “Well, I guess you're right, sweetheart. I'm so sorry I doubted you. Obviously, the invitation was for you.” He reached his hand back out after he slipped the key back into his pocket, and took the nothing back into his grip. “Let's get to the party then.”



As the group of girls returned to the video room for their movie, Carrie and Steph were chuckling over Bette's tale. “So you put on a costume and bounced around the city trying to beat up bad guys because of a crush?” Mia asked incredulously as Cass shook her head in disbelief.

“It wasn't a crush!” Bette defended with a grin. “It was true love! Not my fault Dick never realized that.”

“And good thing for you I saw potential in you,” Dinah interjected as she put a friendly arm around Bette's shoulders. “Or Dick and Babs would have had you out of that costume so fast, it would have made your head spin.”

“Well, that was partly the idea, Dinah,” Bette shot back with a wink. “Well, except for the Babs part. No offense.” She looked over and winked at Barbara who just chuckled and nodded appreciatively.

“Hey, that whole potential thing,” Steph spoke up now, wanting to cut off the mushy stuff as she looked back at Dinah. “That sounds familiar.”

“Yeah, Dinah's always dragging home strays,” Barbara said quickly, and stuck her tongue out at Dinah.

Renee had been quiet as the others moved into the room, blushing a bit as Carrie asked who in their right mind went out to be a super-hero because of a crush, and then laughed as Barbara defended herself from Dinah's counter-charge of caring for strays, shooting a glance at the former police detective. The bell to the front door rang as more laughter broke out when the girls tried to find places to sit for the first of several Brad Pitt movies.

“The bonus of coming with your own chair,” Barbara teased them all as Renee laughed louder, walking down the hall to the front door. She put her hand on the knob, and turned it.

As the door opened up, her laughter froze in her throat. Her eyes grew wide and her face paled as she stared into the eyes of Robert Callaway.

“Mockingbird.” Her voice was dry and hoarse, her body trembling with a burst of adrenaline.

“Hi there! You do know my daughter then. Oh that's a relief. She said she was invited to the sleepover, but...well...I wasn't sure. She's never been the girl in the big social circle you know, and I thought...well, she can get carried away, sometimes,” Rob explained as he looked down at his sweet daughter. “And you're one of the chaperons? It's good to know that there will be some adult supervision.”

“Right,” Renee replied, unable to think of anything else to say at that moment. She wasn't sure what to do about this maniac's presence, as he smiled at her, completely unaware that he was facing his enemy, the Batgirl.

“Good evening, Mister Callaway,” Alfred called out as he stepped up with his rain coat in hand. “Of course your darling daughter is welcome. This is Renee, and she will be glad to bring...Jessica, was it? Jessica in to the others. Won't you now, Miss Montoya?”

“Right,” Renee said with blank eyes. Rob held his hand out, as if passing Jessica's hand to Renee. Renee took the empty air. “Come on in, Jess. We've...all been waiting for you?” She looked at Alfred, who shooed her along, while Rob waved at his darling daughter. Jess skipped away in his sight, down that stately hall, her bear backpack slung over her shoulders. He sniffed a bit, and wiped his nose.

“Come along now, sir. Must let the girls be girls, right? Why don't we go out for a drink?” Alfred closed the door behind him, and started down the path to the garage. “I'll drive. I know this darling little restaurant with the most delicious sherry.”

“Sounds good good...uh...Mister...”

“Just call me Alfred, sir. Everybody does.”