Title: The Key

by Erin Griffin

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Rating: PG

Pairing: Gabby/Dinah (eventually)

Summary: As Gabby meets Dinah, she slowly realizes that the new girl is much more than a mystery.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Maybe later on, I'll introduce someone new, and I own them, but the cool people, I don't.

Author's Note: This is the first really long story I have written since The Slayer of New Gotham, and I am hoping that the muses will be nice to me long enough to let me finish it. I know where this is going so far, so I have a good 4 chapters in me. Enjoy, even though it isn't beta'd.

Chapter One

Static

My life was never something one could call abnormal. Other than the fact that I fell in love with another girl when I was eleven, everything in my life was- dare I say it- perfect. I had parents that loved me and loved each other. My grades were good. I had friends who were there for me when I never expected them to be. Yeah, things were good. But the winds of change brought a peculiar breeze that burned my body and my soul not that long ago. While the rest of New Gotham High laughed and called her Zipper Girl, I considered her a mystery. Her name, in fact, was Dinah Redmond. She looked and acted that first day as if she walked off of the set of Full House with her blonde hair, bright blue eyes and chipper explanation on where the word 'zipper' was coined, but there was a sadness in her eyes that showed up if anyone ever took the time to look, and I mean truly see her. I did.

I felt bad for her when Kelly had started calling her Zipper Girl, not exactly the best name I've heard, really, but it was just enough to start the rest of the school in calling her that. I wanted to move away from Kelly's table to go talk to her, but she was gone before I came up with a good enough excuse to sit by her, and she'd left her full try on the table. Two and a half periods later, Ms. Gordon's fifth period literature class was interrupted by the door opening, and Dinah being unceremoniously pushed into the room. I didn't see who it was, just the hand as it disconnected with the back of her shirt. "Skip school again and I will surely kick your ass," the owner of the hand said distantly, as if she was already walking down the hall.

As the door closed, Ms. Gordon said, "Thanks, Helena!" Dinah sat down in the empty seat next to mine and didn't say a word for the rest of the day. I went home that night wondering what Dinah was thinking about.

The next time I saw her, she had her head on her knuckles as she looked straight ahead of her, obviously lost in thought. She didn't look my way as I walked towards the empty seat next to her. It wasn't until I'd sat down and started to put my books in order around me that she saw me. She had a look on her face that suggested that I had grown a few heads, but said nothing, instead scooting over an inch or two. I reached out to shake Dinah's hand and to introduce myself properly, but my movement made her jump and move further away from me. When my hand went to the table top, Dinah relaxed. "Sorry," she said, not meeting my eye, "It's nothing against you- I don't even know you. It's just..." she trailed off, but she didn't have to finish her sentence. "I don't like to be touched." I'll never forget the fear I saw in her eyes when she finally looked at me, as if she was somewhat afraid of me. Her comment, uttered in a low voice, got my attention. I was really curious now about where she'd been. The only other person I'd met before then who didn't like to be touched was a rape victim only months before. I nodded.

"I understand completely, and I'm sorry for invading your space like that." Dinah seemed taken aback by my apology, and I gave her a smile to reassure her (hopefully) that my intentions for sitting by her were good.

"S'okay." Dinah said. I tried again.

"My name's Gabby."

"Dinah." Of course, I already knew this, but I didn't say so. Other than the fact that she looked like she could use a friend, I don't know why I spent so much energy in getting her to talk to me. I guess I needed a challenge, and boy was she a challenge if I ever did see one. It was hard to get her to even tell me any of her hobbies, as if she never thought to have any. Eventually, I got her on the subject of movies we'd seen, and I couldn't get her to shut up. Which was a good thing. A couple of weeks of idle chit chat got me almost nowhere when I asked her if she wanted to hang out over the weekend, and she shyly said she'd ask Barbara, who was her guardian.

It was then that I asked her about her family, and she told me about how she met Ms. Gordon and how she'd come to live with her. She'd run away from her foster parents after an argument, and to New Gotham, where she had family. She met Ms. Gordon, who took her in when Dinah couldn't find her family. Sweet story, but unlikely. I knew even then that there were holes in her tale, but that was the first time she ever really opened up to me, so I saved my questions about her biological parents for another time. As time went by, I noticed that Dinah changed a lot. She got more outgoing. She had gotten some matching jewelry with what looked like birds (or bats depending on the lighting) that she'd touch as she fidgeted... and I've noticed that she fidgeted a lot. She also seemed even more of a mystery as time went on.

I remember the day I really wondered about her past. I was watching TV one Sunday when there was a knock at my door. It was Dinah, and she'd surprised me. Not just because her visit wasn't expected, but she looked as if she had just come from an aerobics class. She wore a light blue jacket over a white tank top and black stretch pants, and there was even some sweat still drying on her temple. She had been crying, and before I could ask her why, she'd launched herself into my arms and I almost fell over. She started to cry in earnest, and all she said in that time was 'She-" Dinah couldn't seem to finish her sentence. At one point, I thought I heard her say 'my mother...' but when I asked her to repeat herself, she looked at me as if I was crazy and told me that she said nothing.

I lied and said, "Must have been the TV I heard." In my mind, I knew that unless Spongebob Squarepants had Dinah's voice, it had to have been my mysterious friend who had spoken. She stayed a few hours, and I played along when her sudden arrival and crying episode went unspoken. We watched TV and a movie, and in the corner of my eye, I kept a close watch on her. Though she seemed to be better, it felt to me as if the air in the room had changed. It felt as if there was a tension or a static charge all around us. It seemed, also, as if I could pick up what was wrong even if she hadn't said a word. In my mind, it felt like the word 'abandoned' was coming from her, and was repeated softly in my head. Did her mother leave her somewhere when she was younger? Did Dinah remember it? It would make sense. But why would that make her break down and cry now? Did she find her mother? Did her mother find her? These questions ran madly through my mind, along with the word 'abandoned'. I felt strange that whole time. My head seemed to pulsate, and I could feel it. It didn't hurt; it just seemed as if I had a second heartbeat in my left temple. The static in the room had after a while started to hum, and indecipherable whispers surrounded the word 'abandoned'. What is going on?

[I walk through a distorted version of an alleyway. It is dark. I look down at a small piece of paper in my hand. There is an address. It is my first day here, and I just witnessed a man's murder. No one would have believed me if I told the truth, so I lied to that cop. He seemed nice, too. The night is getting colder, darker than I ever thought it could. It's creepy, but I've seen worse in people's heads. An odd thought: This doesn't look like a place to hold a party. Am I lost? No, this is as the paper says. Where's Jerry? If I had somewhere to go, I would leave. I hear noise behind me, and I turn to see who's there. No one. I am just being stupid. I turn back in front of me, and see Jerry there. I am relieved. "Oh god, you scared me. I thought you were-"

"Dangerous?" At his look, relief turns to fear. I try not to show it.

"Kind of a weird place to have a party," I say nervously.

"One thing you have to learn about New Gotham, Dinah: things aren't always as they seem." This is my queue to run, though something tells me that it is exactly what he wants, a chase. It is my only hope, though, and I make a break for it. He grabs me and pushes me against the wall. That hurt. "Aw, don't be scared Dinah!"

"The lady isn't interested." I know who it is before we turn to glance at her. I've seen her in my dreams. I can only watch as a fight between them begins, and this woman saves me. I honestly never thought I'd find her. I didn't know what happened to her after that night. "You can just say thank you," I snap out of my thoughts when I realize she's speaking to me now. "It wasn't that spectacular." We both know that it was. Finally, I find words I wanted to say since I was nine.

"No, it's... it's you. I saw you in my dream. I-" She only gives me a weird look. I wasn't expecting that reaction. To be honest, I didn't know what I expected tohappen when I actually found any of the people I saw in my dreams that fateful night when I was nine. I feel my lips moving, but I can't hear what I say next. The alleyway disappears, and in its place is a sight I've seen many times in my childhood and on into my early teens. I am in a house I've never seen before in my waking life, but feel as if I have lived there forever, and I am standing in the hallway. There are for white doors along the hallway, and all doors are open except for one. I walk down the hallway, as I always had. That door is always closed, and I never paid it any mind. But something is different this time as I walk by it. There was someone in there. I hear whispers. I cannot make out what they are saying, but they are talking. It sounds urgent, but what are they saying, and why do I feel that it is about me? I reach out t open the door, but I am afraid. What if they don't want me to hear it? Are they keeping this secret on purpose? Will I ever find out? Do they plan to tell me? Who are THEY anyway? I stand there, almost frozen in fear. I realize that I only hear one voice, but they are saying many different things all at the same time. Who is it]

"Gabby?" I opened my eyes and saw my mother standing over me. I looked around. It was dark, both of my parents were home, and Dinah was gone. The TV was on an episode of Lassie, and it was at a lower volume than I remember the TV being on before. I had obviously fallen asleep. "We brought home dinner, but you were conked out and we didn't want to wake you up. It's in the oven if you want it." I smiled and stretched.

"Thanks, but I'm going to go sleep in my bed." I gave her a hug before turning off the TV and going to my room. I didn't care about changing. I was already in my 'lounge around the house' clothing. I lay on my back on my queen sized bed and looked up at the rainbow flag tac'd up on my ceiling. That was a very weird dream. It felt so real, the way I- Well, it wasn't even me. I truly felt like I was Dinah, like I knew the woman who saved me. I've never had a dream where I was someone else, at least, never in their perspective. That dream about the hallway, however, I've had before. Many times in fact, but this time it was different. When I usually have that hallway dream, I don't even notice the door that is closed. I would walk right by it as I'm on my way to somewhere else. The fact that there were whispers behind the door surprised me. The fear of opening the door surprised me even more. 'Something's not right,' I thought. I guess I should have gotten that creepy feeling of foreshadowing as I thought that, but I only covered myself up and went back to sleep.