Dawn Leeson grew up with a privileged lifestyle. She went to the best schools and found that she had quite the aptitude for gymnastics from an early age. She would put her natural agility to good use and soon found herself excelling in the fields of fencing and dance. Dawn's remarkable physical gifts would be complimented by an incredibly resourceful, quick witted mind allowing her to adapt to her environment and improvise according the situation.
Despite these attributes, however, she was constantly at odds with her father. He was a weapons developer for the military and his lucrative enterprises allowed the pair of them to live the opulent lifestyle. Dawn understood that the presence of weapons in the world was a reality and wasn't going to change over night, however as a child growing up she was always told by her father that it was better in the long run for people like him to be in control of the guns in order to keep them away from the bad guys. This would turn out to be lie as Dawn discovered records of arms deals made to terrorist groups with her father's name. She was livid and confronted her father, stating that she would go to the authorities. Mr Leeson warned her not to and that she should remain quiet for the sake of her deceased mother’s memory. Dawn left without saying a word but was pulled up by the police and arrested on the spot.
She spent 2 years in prison without so much as a word from her friends or family. She would manipulate the other inmates and guards in order to make her life easier and due to her jet black her she would earn the nickname “Rook”. Her actions would also lead to physical confrontations which taught her -sometimes painfully- how to use her agility and quickness to gain advantages in a fight. A prison break attempt caused enough chaos for her to slip past the guards and try to find any form of communication with the outside world. What she found was a newspaper stating that a multimillionaire business tycoon had died in a plane crash- her father. Distraught, she was suddenly struck from behind and knocked unconscious.
Dawn awoke in her old home. She was confused both by her location and the fact that her assailant hadn’t bound her in any way. As she shook the cobwebs loose, her eyes fell on a man dressed as what looked like a dog. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief before dismissing the vision as a figment of her imagination. She even dismissed the voice which told her that he was sent by Mr Leeson as part of a fail safe plan should anything happen to him. It was only when the man proceeded to name Dawn’s mother and list personal details that she reacted. Violently. She flew at the man, incensed by what she was hearing. However still being groggy, she was easily restrained. The man explained how Dawn’s father was being pressured and intimidated into supplying the terrorists and that her arrest and jail time was to keep her quiet as well as giving leverage to those who were pulling her father’s strings. He would go on to explain how the terrorists were eventually unearthed and were desperately trying to cover their tracks, which prompted her father to approach him and pay for his services in order to keep Dawn safe. Mr Leeson added a further stipulation, namely that should anything happen to him, Dawn was to be named the owner of his company.
Dawn was shocked beyond words. She fell to the ground as waves of conflicting emotion rolled over her. The strange man knelt beside her and explained that his obligation had one more step: to train her to defend herself. Dawn looked him dead in the eye and said that that wasn’t enough. She stated that she didn’t want to just defend herself- she wanted to be able to defend others as well, and that no family should be torn apart for any reason.
A year has passed and Dawn, now using the name “The Rook”, strides over rooftops and glides over streets, hunting whatever remains of the terrorists and protecting the people from evil.