Where the bats lie (Marvel Comics Batgirl OC)

AN: This one is based on an earlier draft for my other fic, Webs of Retribution. Only instead fo Cassandra my Oc was based more on Barbara Gordon and Stephanie Brown.

I watched the billboard on the opposite side of the road as it displayed the news. It was the same news that was being run on every other channel in America. The death of Goliath. The death of Ben foster. The very first casualty of the Superhero Civil war but not the last.

I listened as the anchors briefly acted sympathetic to his fate before they, much like most of the news outlets began using his death to promote the SHRA. My mood soured as I listened to their words. I couldn't help but wonder if they would speak so highly of the SHRA if they had been there that night. The night he died. The night I lost my ability to walk. I still couldn't believe that I botched it so badly.

Ok, let's start from the beginning. My father used to work for Stark and was part of their weapons R&D Division. So, when Stark shut down the weapons development department, he was amongst the first to get laid off. This in turn caused my parent's marriage to implode and they very soon filed for divorce. Most of my childhood involved me going from one parent's house to the other but I preferred living with my Dad. Mainly because we share similar hobbies and tastes and also the fact that after my mom remarried, she began focusing more on her new hubby and their kids rather than on me. Buts that's irrelevant to this story for now.

Things had been going great but over time, my father was getting worse. He had difficulty keeping a job because he had been fired from a prestigious company like Stark Enterprises. This fact began weighing heavily on him until one day, he got it in his head to become a supervillain to exact revenge on Stark and donned the name Machinist and began targeting Stark. Thankfully, most of his attacks were targeted at Stark and rarely placed civilians in the face of danger. But still, he became a formidable enemy of Stark as well as Iron Man.

I first found out about my father's secret identity when I came home early from school after a huge fight with my mother. I walked in on him trying on his suit and conversing with one of his sidekicks on the phone. It was quite of a shock to me and at the time I didn't know how to respond so I instead snuck away with my father still unaware of my presence.

As I didn't want to lose my father and fact that I understood why he was doing this, I kept my mouth shut as he hadn't hurt anyone yet..... Except for Stark. But that changed when he began teaming up with villain teams such as the Sinister Six and the masters of Evil. At that point, I realised that I had to do something. And so instead of confronting my father and trying to dissuade him, I opted to dress up as a vigilante and foil his plans just like a normal person would have.

I made a makeshift costume out of an old Halloween costume and armed myself with some of my father's gadgets before making my debut. Most of what I did was minor like calling the cops when he was meeting other criminals but I have also sabotaged his tech from time to time.

It was a year later, that I had my first physical fight. A guard had been guarding a drug stash which my father was supposed to deliver and I couldn't find a way past him. And so, I hit him in the back of the head with a baton to knock him out. While I came out of it unharmed, this did convince me to take martial arts lessons. I didn't learn anything fancy, just some karate, judo, jiu-jitsu and a little Krav Maga. After, that my outings began to end mostly in physical altercations. And with each fight, I got better. My fighting became more refined and I became more experienced.

Another year passed and I turned 17 when shit hit the fan. My father was finally captured by the Avengers and he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his crimes and no matter what his lawyer did it couldn't be lowered. When I visited my father for the last time before he was shipped off to prison, he confided in me with his biggest secret.

It seems that he had noticed my secret outings and the gadgets I had stolen from him via a hidden camera he installed. As such he had known that it was me for over a year.

I asked him why he didn't tell me and he responded that he knew he was too far gone into his criminal ways. He had first resorted to committing crimes for my sake. My mother had threatened to revoke visitation rights for my father should he miss any alimony payments and he didn't want to lose me.

The marked the beginning of the Machinist and he had been making bank until one day, he encountered Stark. At that point, he had felt every ounce of resentment, hate and disgust my father felt for the billionaire hit him all at once and he wanted nothing more than to put Stark in his place and so he delved even deeper into the criminal underbelly and the rest was history.

He then told me, that he was proud of me and that he looked forward to watching me grow even if it was from the confines of a cell. We both shed our tears until it was time for him to leave. But before he left, he divulged many things to me, The location of his secret hideout(he refused to call it a lair), any of his gadgets the police or the feds managed to leave behind, his secret bank accounts and even his dossiers from when he worked for Stark. Said dossiers consisted of several conceptual, theoretical and even working blueprints about tech that were being developed before they shut down the department. He wanted me to use them to become than him. And so that's what I did.

I donned the name Spoilsport before beginning the next chapter of my superhero life. And it was going great. And then Stamford happened and the entire world went to hell. I lost several friends as they opted to support the SHRA and I became a wanted fugitive forcing me to join Captain America and his band of resistance fighters.

And then that night happened. The SHRA side laid a trap for the resistance and had come in full force, both sides fought valiantly. I was fighting a squad of SHIELD agents when the large blast of lightning went by, not 5 feet from where I was. I turned to find Goliath with a gaping hole in his torso, blood and gore slowly beginning to flow from it.

The sight was enough to leave both me and those who witnessed it frozen. Except in my case, someone took advantage of my distraction. It was the sound of heavy footsteps that first alerted me of the incoming behemoth. I turned just in time to see the cold emotionless expression of 'Thor', his hand pulled back her backhanded me.

I felt pain course through my body as the back of his hand collided with my back sending me crashing into a wall and knocking me out.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in an SHRA-controlled medical centre where I was told that I was now permanently paralysed from the waist down and then followed that up by basically saying that they are sorry but not sorry as I had brought it on myself. They had of course unmasked me while I was unconscious, called my mother who helped them confiscate my gear, and stripped my hideout bare even down to the drywall.

Thankfully, I kept my bank accounts and my father's dossiers hidden in a secure place so they weren't able to get them.

I was then placed under house arrest for the next two months, I wasn't taken to the Raft or prison 42 as they deemed me a none threat due to my paralysis. Not that house arrest was any better though as I had to endure my mom and her husband and their hell spawns as they berated me for my choices. Both my mom and her husband were cops and hated supers with a passion. I simply soldiered on listening to them training my upper body considering that I was going to be stuck to the wheel for the foreseeable future. That is unless I succeed in what I am about to do today

as it marks the first day out of house arrest and I wasted no time leaving my mother's house as fast as the wheelchair would carry me. And that's how I found myself at this intersection waiting for the light to turn red.

"Nice day for a walk. Isn't it?" I felt my anger surge as I recognised the voice. A sharply dressed man stood right next to me wearing a pair of aviators.

"Just because you are the director of SHIELD doesn't mean that you have to talk like you are in a spy movie," I muttered before glancing at everyone waiting to cross the intersection.

At first glance, they all looked normal but after looking closer, I saw the cracks in their personas. Their moments were stiff and looked forced. A woman seemingly looking at her phone was scrolling nonstop. A man reading a newspaper seemed quite engrossed in the single page for over 5 minutes now.

"What's wrong Stark? You couldn't even face a cripple stuck in a wheelchair without backup?" I asked mockingly. I felt some satisfaction as the billionaire's face grimaced at my words. "Stop wasting my time. What do you want?"

Stark let out a sigh before he started to speak. "Listen, kid Stark industries has top-of-the-line prosthetics, ones which can enable to make you walk again. I promise you won't even see the difference."

"I'm sensing a 'But' coming my way."

"You are correct. In exchange for the prosthesis, and the surgery to implant it both of which would be financed by me, I want you to tell me everything you know about the Secret Avengers."

I pretended to think deeply about his offer but I had made my choice even before he had stopped talking.

"No," I said, quick and concisely. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Stark taken aback by my response.

"Umm. You do realise what I am offering right? Don't you want to walk again?" he asked.

I took in a deep breath before replying. "Of course I do. But, considering the fact that it was your creation that put me in this position in the first place, I am pretty sure I am entitled to that treatment without any catch on my part. Not that I would, even if there were none of course. I think the past few months have shown just how much, trust in a Stark is worth. Even if you revoke the SHRA bill right here right now, I wouldn't take you up on your offer. You can bet on that."

"You're choosing to remain wheelchair-bound instead of putting away your pride?"

"Wow. Pot calling the kettle black much?"

"...."

"...."

"I could have you arrested for obstruction of justice you know."

I scoffed at his word.

"Go ahead then. I'm sure the press will have a field day once they find out that the Great Tony Stark sent a minor, a crippled one at that to the Raft."

"Listen here...."

"Tony, that's enough. Leave her be." I heard another familiar voice call out from behind.

Carol Danvers. Also known as Ms Marvel. Like every other teenage girl around my age, I grew up idolising this woman. In the past, I have even encountered her while I was patrolling the streets and she even gave me flying lessons when I was testing out my jetpack. Now though, in my eyes, she was nothing but a stranger.

Tony let out a sigh as he turned around and walked back. "Listen, kid. My door is open if you ever change your mind. We already lost so much in this war I don't want you or anyone to lose more." he said softly before several sets of footsteps could be heard walking away from me. Yet I instinctively knew someone was still there. And I had an idea who it was.

"So, how have you been?" Carol asked awkwardly.

"Fine," I replied monotonously.

"Listen, do you want me to... uh... fly you anywhere? Beats waiting around for traffic." she tried to joke.

"Not now. But I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." I replied.

An awkward silence fell on the both of us before I heard Carol leave as well. The moment she left the light turned red and the crossing light turned green.

I immediately crossed the road and headed toward my destination. 177A Bleeker Street. I wheeled myself in front of the Sanctum only to be met with my new mortal nemesis who can from One Piece.

Up D. Stairs.

And so I started the painstaking journey up the stairs using one hand to grab onto a railing and the other to drag my wheelchair and after 5 whole minutes, I was in front of the main door. I then knocked on the door and waited and around 10 seconds later, it was opened and I found myself face to face with the famous Dr Stephen Strange. The Sorcerer Supreme.

"Hey, doc. I have come to bargain."