Disclaimer: I do not own Edward Scissorhands or Batman Forever.

I got the idea for this crossover when I was watching Batman Forever (my favorite Batman movie!) a while ago. All of a sudden I thought that the girl in the almost-gang-rape scene looked like Kim. My sister said I'm crazy but I definitely saw a resemblance xD Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

Kim looked down at the street below through the dirty glass. Dirty cars drove past a homeless man with a matted beard on the sidewalk. A group of teenage boys swaggered towards him, their baggy pants somehow managing not to fall off their skinny hips, looking for trouble.

Dirty. Trouble. That's Gotham in a nutshell.

Sometimes Kim felt so out-of-place here. Though she rarely had enough to cover the water bill, she felt like the cleanest person walking down the street; therefore, the biggest target. Even alone in her cramped, one-bedroom apartment she felt like she was being watched. Just like it was back in Suburbia. Still, Kim had to admit that it was much better to be here than in Suburbia. The eyes of strangers are much more bearable than the eyes of loved ones...

She flinched away from that memory, fixing her eyes instead on a fly that had somehow gotten in. It kept beating itself against the glass in an irregular rhythm, in a buzzing frenzy, trapped.

Kim had felt just like that fly sometimes. Beating the windows to get out, her cries ignored...

Trapped.

Her heart felt that way now, locked up in that castle with him...

Trapped.

God damn it!

She grabbed her key and ran out the door.

...

She stormed down the stairs of her building out onto the sidewalk, ignoring the whistles and lewd variations of "Hey baby," from the deluded teenagers behind her. She did this frequently to ward off the demons in her head. The need to be on her toes in order to prevent being jumped and raped usually overrode her instinct to brood over what happened with him.

With Edward.

Shit!

It wasn't working. Snapshots of that night kept flickering before her eyes. She in a white dress, pleading to be held. He in his usual black, reaching for her with longing but pulling back in fear and frustration. Jim tackling Edward in the street, Jim appearing in the castle with a gun, Jim suddenly dead below the window. The moment she told everyone Edward was dead - it would've hurt less if she had taken that 3-story fall.

Stop it, stop it, STOP IT! Kim shrieked to her memories. But they didn't stop. If anything they came faster.

The weeks after that were a blur. Only two things remained the same day after day: waking up feeling like her heart was torn in half, and the stares. Kim thought she could have endured her ripped heart if only everyone would stop staring at her. It was unbearable to see her mom always looking at her with pity and concern and her dad with incomprehension and concern. Kevin - well, Kevin stared at her all the time before anyway, but never with fear. Her classmates, even her friends gaped at her like she was an alien. None of the teachers or even the guidance counselor knew what to say.

Suburbia was a fishbowl even at the best of times, but Kim felt like the only fish. She heard the whispers, the rumors - no one talked about anything else for months. Sometimes she wished something would happen to someone else, just so people would have something else to talk about. But as depressed as Kim got, she would never really wish that on anyone. It hurt too much to hear your loved ones talking about you like you're about to go off at any second.

What hurt the most though, was her own head. Kim was never really by herself when she was alone. Her repressed thoughts were constantly threatening to break through that wall she'd thrown up. She hated to look in the mirror; every time she did, she saw someone pale and dead, devoid of life. Pretty soon she started reminding herself of someone else entirely, also pale, but with life struggling to surface. She then stopped looking into mirrors altogether.

Kim managed to survive the rest of senior year, picking her grades up while she was at it. She found that schoolwork was a pleasant distraction from everything else. That summer wasn't too bad, either: she was hired at the corner drugstore. The hot days were spent making money in the air conditionined store, stocking shelves and avoiding ringing up anyone her age. That fall, she started the new school year at a community college, all that her minimum wage and her parents' salaries combined could manage. Kim found an anonymity there that high school had never afforded her, and she welcomed it gratefully. Hopefully when she transferred, her demons would be under control and she could start over.

Kim remembered well the night she'd snapped, on a mild September night about a month ago, just three months shy of the one-year anniversary of the night at the castle. There was no way to stop the memories now. Kim recognized that there was nothing to do but just let them be...

Kim carried the dirty dishes over to the sink, helping to clear the table after dinner. She had been wondering whether or not to start the paper her history teacher assigned that day. Kim had finished senior year with straight A's when she was normally a B student. Her exceptional grades continued in college. Moms' voice interrupted Kims' musings.

"Kim, honey, I think we need to talk."

The dishes clinked against each other as Kim set them down. She leaned her left hip into the counter, facing her mom, "About what?"

"About your grades, honey," Mom said, wiping her hands on a towel.

"What about them?" Kim frowned in puzzlement, "I know I told you that calculus test was hard. I'm sure I failed it, but I also told you we haven't gotten them back yet, so I don't know..."

"No, honey, I'm sure you passed your test," Mom assured her, "But I saw your progress report with the mail. You'll be happy to know you're getting all A's." Kim scowled again - she hated when her parents got to her grades before she did - but didn't say anything. "It's... unnerving, Kim, to see you doing so well in school... in college at that..."

"Well, I have to get good grades to transfer," Kim pointed out, shrugging,"Maybe I can even get a scholarship."

"Of course that's all very well, sweetie," it was Mom's turn to frown slightly, "But Kim, you don't seem to do anything else anymore. You come straight home from school and go to your room to do your homework. Your school had tryouts for their cheerleading squad but you just shrugged when I told you about it. The only things you say about your day are about your professors, not about any friends you're making. All you do on the weekends is work and study. Even this summer, you worked all the time and didn't go out with your friends -"

"They don't call," Kim involuntarily blurted out, "They never call, they don't even try to talk to me, all they do is stare and whisper." Her voice cracked, and she stared at the kitchen floor.

There was a short silence. Mom reached out after a minute and rubbed Kims' arm soothingly. "Kim, are you sure you're okay? It's been almost a year, but you're still hurting. I know it can be hard losing someone you love." Here, Kim started to cry. Mom gathered her daughter in her arms and continued, "Oh, sweetie, don't cry. It was an accident, a horrible accident. I'm sure Edward didn't mean to kill Jim; it was just a misunderstanding. And it certainly wasn't your fault."

Kim started to cry harder. She still hadn't told anyone what had really happened: it was still too close and raw for words. In the deepest part of her mind, Kim knew that it was her part. It was time to tell.

"It was my fault," Kims' voice was muffled by Moms' sweater, "It was, Mom, if I hadn't -"

"Sshh, Kim," Mom cut her off gently but firmly, "It wasn't your fault. I thought it would be best to just leave you be for a time, but you're not recuperating. You know you can tell me anything, but I understand if you don't, if you feel like you can't. Would it make you feel better if you saw somebody?"

The question was asked softly, but Kim flinched as if words could bruise. "What?" She wrenched away from her mother.

"I won't press you if you don't want to," Mom held her hands out in a gesture of peace, "I'm at my wits end with you, Kim, and I just thought I'd ask."

"Ask to get rid of me?" Kim yelped.

"No, honey, not at all -"

"You say I can tell you anything, but then you turn around and ask it I want to be shipped off to a mental institution?" Kim shrieked.

Mom looked as small and helpless as Kim felt, "I didn't mean it like that, Kim. I won't bring it up again, I promise, just calm do-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Kim was beside herself with fright and betrayal, "My own mother doesn't want to listen to me! You want to send me away to become someone elses' problem!" She fled, leaving her shocked mother staring after her.

The door to Kims' room slammed with enough force to shake the house. She threw herself face-down on the bed and cried longer and harder than she could remember. All her pent-up emotions came out at once as chest-splitting sobs. She cried for the discomfort and humiliation of being stared at and talked about, the abandonment by her friends, the loneliness of being misunderstood and singled out, the terror of never again being normal, the longing for Edward, her love. Exhausted, Kim sank into a dreamless sleep with tears still lingering on her cheeks.

After a few hours, Kim sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She felt drained and hollow, totally empty. For a while she sat on the bed, one leg under her and the other hanging off the side, listening to the house. All was quiet. Breathing deeply to settle herself, a thought came to her.

I can't stay here.

The thought neither shocked nor frightened her. She was so sick of having eyes on her everywhere she went. She hated the overwhelming wanting to go back to the one place - the one person - she couldn't because everyone else thought him dead. She couldn't stand anything anymore.

She slid off the bed and reached underneath it for her suitcase. She pulled it out and blew off the dust with a shudder. It was the same one she'd used on the last camping trip she took with her friends. The night she came home was the night she met Edward. Quietly, she packed, going over a mental list while a plan formed. She emptied her stash of emergency money hidden inside her sock drawer, knowing her parents would track her if she used her ATM card.

Not wanting to take the chance of walking through the silent house, Kim left through her bedroom window. She shoved her suitcase out first, then followed it after checking her room one last time to make sure she didn't forget anything. Once she was free of the frame, she closed it as much as she could. She then picked up her suitcase and started off into the night. Walking through Suburbia at night was a relief. No one else was awake to gawk out their windows at her. The driveways were empty of people whispering about her as she walked past. Kim felt almost at peace as she made her way into town, towards the bus station.

She bought a one-way ticket at two in the morning. Then, having a brainwave, nearly emptied her bank account at the ATM outside. For the first time, Kim genuinely appreciated having a job. I just hope I can find another where I'm going, she thought. To kill a little more time, she went up the road to a 7-11 and loaded up on snacks. An uncomfortable but uneventful rest of the night was spent on a bench. By seven the next morning, Kim was on her way to Gotham.

And the rest is history.

So thought Kim, coming back to her senses. With a silent curse, she realized she was on a street she didn't recognize at all. Neon lights assailed her eyes. Young women in minidresses and stillettos sauntered up and down the sidewalk. Music blared from the building right next to Kim, and across the street a heavyset bouncer tossed a drunken customer face-first into a puddle.

"I think it's time to get out of here," Kim muttered. She turned around and jumped. A man a good six inches taller than Kim was leering down at her. He wore a zipped-up leather jacket and black skinny jeans. It was his face that scared her: it was brightly painted like a skull. She involuntarily took a step back but bumped into something. A pair of arms pushed her up again. Whirling around, Kim saw it was another guy, dressed similarly to the first. Several snickers rang out as a whole gang of them formed a circle around their trembling prey.

"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart," the first guy, the leader, promised in a gilded voice, cloying but menacing, as he moved towards her.

...

Thanks for reading; reviews are rewarded with cupcakes! :D Chapter 2 is on the way!