Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

IMPORTANT: This is a completely different universe (although a lot of the same events happen, just a little differently and from a different point of view).

Now, enjoy and tell me what you think. Don't forget to review!

Chapter 1: Beginning

August 23

It was bright Gotham City morning for most people. But for the child population of Gotham, it was a dark, depressing morning as it was the first day of school and kids of all ages were struggling out of bed, shaking off the summer attitudes they had developed to trudge to school and a start a whole new school year.

"I'll pick you up at 3:30. Have fun, kiddo," Jack Drake waved through the car window to his son who was slipping the straps of his backpack on to his back while staring blankly at the middle school before him. The eleven year old ripped his gaze off of the school after swallowing the saliva that had clumped up in the back his throat and turned to his dad with a weak, fake smile.

"Bye, dad, drive safely," Tim Drake waved shortly before turning to face the school again. Behind him, he heard his father's car speed off and another car take its place. He heard feet jump onto the concrete from the cars behind him and kids of all ages push past him, laughing and chatting with their friends as they made their way to the school. Feeling intimidated by the sheer number of people he did not know and by the size of his new school, he let out a deep sigh and joined the crowds of other students as they made their way to their first day of school.

Tim expertly maneuvered through the crowds, careful not to bump into anyone. However, it was easier said than done and he ended colliding with a large figure. The force of the impact sent the small boy flying backwards, landing him on the ground. He looked up to see an older boy glowering down at him. "Watch it shrimp," he growled as he bent down and grabbed Tim by the collar, bringing him close to him. As he spoke, Tim tried not to flinch at the boy's morning breath. "Who do you think you are? Listen, brat, I run this school. And you cross me one more time and I'll make sure you won't live to see the next time. Got it?"

The younger boy fervently nodded his head, feeling fear creep into him. He was released and his back hit the ground.

"Good, now get lost. Your ugly face is wrecking my morning," the older boy stood up and his crew crowded around him, laughing. Tim quickly scrambled up and rushed down the hall, away from the bully. As he literally ran away, his eyes caught the glance of a blonde girl who was leaning against a row of lockers. He had expected pity or sorrow or disgust but the brief moment that he looked into her striking blue eyes, he didn't see anything.

That was stretch, although her glance was empty, there seemed to be something behind it all. Something thoughtful was there but the moment was over before Tim could diverge into the subject any further. As he walked towards his homeroom, he focused on the look in her eyes.

Spending the rest of the day avoiding older kids, kids his age, and basically just about everyone else, Tim had managed to get through his first day with less pain that he had initially expected. Nevertheless, when the bell rung, Tim flew out of the classroom and through the hallways to the front door. As he escaped the building, feeling a new meaning to the word freedom, Tim took a deep breath and scanned the cars for his dad's car. He felt people push past him, laughing and discussing how well their first day had gone. Tim couldn't disagree any more as he began walking towards his dad's car, which he had spotted moments before.

He tried to keep his eyes on the concrete but couldn't help looking up to catch the eye of the blonde girl from before. She shared his glance boldly and then right before he looked away, the sides of her lips curled up into a small smile.

Tim was shocked at the measly smile. Before he could reciprocate the smile, she turned to walk away to her car. But for the first time that day, Tim actually felt a bit of happiness flood into him. Maybe school wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be.

Then again, he had been wrong before…

September 13

Two weeks had passed since school started. Two weeks Tim had suffered through all types of problems that ranged from cranky teachers to bullies. He hadn't talked to the blonde girl but had noticed that she was in a couple of his classes. So for the last weeks, he amused himself on figuring out who this girl was. He knew her name but that was about it. Other than that holding his attention, the only other thing that even slightly interested him was his English teacher, who was both scary and nice at the same time.

And now on this pleasant morning, Tim made the usual route to school from his dad's car to the main building. He was lost in his thoughts, trying to remember if he did all his homework, and so he wasn't watching where he was going, colliding hard with something. It felt like bad déjà vu as he fell backwards.

"What the…?" He heard a very familiar voice growl. Oh please no, Tim thought as he looked up to see the bully from the first day looking down on him. "What did I tell you, brat?" He cracked his knuckles and Tim sucked in a deep breath, afraid that if he let it go then the punch would come flying at him.

However, the punch never did come. Tim cracked an eye open and saw that a hand had blocked the way of the punch. He followed the hand up to the elbow then the arm to see the owner of the hand, a redhead who was glaring at the older boy. He shoved the older boy backwards. "Hey, what's your problem?" the older boy sputtered as he balanced himself.

The redhead shrugged, cracking his knuckles. As he did so, the older boy's friends surrounded them. The two younger boys swallowed but the redhead didn't look like was going to surrender any time soon as he lunged at the first boy. Meanwhile, Tim ducked a punch from another boy and felt one hit his shoulder hard.

Meanwhile a couple feet away, a black haired eighth grader watched the scene, deciding on what he should do. He was about to go intervene and stop the fight when he noticed a blonde girl approach the fight and so he decided to just keep watching. As he watched, amused, a blacked haired boy and blonde girl his age walked up to either side of him. They each gave him a look before turning to the scene in front of them in silence.

Tim attempted to dodge another blow from one of the older boys but tripped backwards. He felt something hard collide with his left side and he let out a shriek of pain. Then he heard a thump and he saw that the red head had fallen next to him. The older boys loomed over them with smirks on their lips when they heard a high pitched shriek. Struggling to sit up, his sides still burning in pain, he saw the ring leader doubled over in pain with his arms wrapped around his abdomen and a girl standing next to him, arms crossed.

Getting a better look, Tim realized that it was the girl from before who was standing there, tapping her black boots on the concrete, impatiently. Then he heard her speak, "I'm waiting, Jumbo, call your idiots off. Or do you want another kick? This time, I'll aim lower."

The older boy grunted but managed to get out, "Leave the brats alone. Let's get out of here." His friends helped him up while the rest reluctantly moved away from Tim and the red head, passing the blonde cautiously. She merely raised an eyebrow at them before shaking her head.

"You three!" the ones left, the blonde, the red head, and Tim, turned to the shrill voiced teacher. "To the counselor's office now!"

"Wait a minute, did you not just see anything that happened?" the red head demanded as he jumped up and Tim wondered how he could still move after the beating that they just got. "Those guys started it!"

"That's not what I saw!" She screamed. "Now to his office now!"

Tim stood up and brushed the dirt off of his pants before slowly making his way to the building. The red head followed after shooting the teacher a glare. However, the blonde still stood in the spot that she previously did, refusing to move.

"That goes for you, too, young lady," the teacher turned her focus to the girl. Tim stopped mid step as did the other boy and they turned around to watch the blonde who was standing her ground and the teacher who looked like she was going to blow up anytime soon.

The girl just shrugged after a while, muttered a "Whatever", and striding towards the building, past the other two boys.

The black haired boy watched all this and smirked wickedly. "There's nothing that I like better than watching a girl beat up a dude." He turned to the blonde next to him who had a worried expression on her face and grinned at her.

"What?" She demanded, feeling his gaze on her. He just shrugged as the boy next to him piped up.

"How come you never beat anyone up, Kara?" He inquired with a smirk.

"Shut up," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Make me," he taunted. "That's right, you can't."

"Adrian, Kara, break it up," the first boy ordered, chuckling. "Why can't you two ever get along?"

"I hate aliens," Adrian shrugged earning a powerful punch from the blonde. "Okay, that hurt. Jason, call off your alien girlfriend."

"She's/He's not my girlfriend/boyfriend," they replied at the same time.

"Riiiiiight." Adrian rolled his eyes.

Hope you enjoyed!

A/N: All the characters (with the exceptions of the bullies, teacher, and Adrian) are real.

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