He ran. Faster and harder then he had ever run before but it wasn't enough. He knew that but the voice in his ear kept demanding that he do it anyway. His wings were damaged, so were the boosters at his feet. He was grounded in the worst way, zero and he couldn't see a way up. The voice coming out of his comm kept growling directions that he fallowed through the never ending maze. It was dark, exept for the occasional bursts of light that were too bright. Either way he could hardly see. Hardly breath. His chest seemed to be collapsing in on itself. His head felt like a balloon filling up with helium, any moment now his consciousness was just going to float away. He wanted to tell the voice that he couldn't do it anymore but he knew it wouldn't matter. That he wouldn't listen. Stubern old bat! There was no point in him wasting his breath, not that he had much left. One more blinding flash and then darkness...

"McGinnis? McGinnis, come in. Terry!" The name ripped through his throat, he caught violently. Nothing came back over the Comm. Not even static. The only thing that gave him hope was the constant blinking dot on the screen. He turned, gripped his cane and rose from his chair. "Let's go Ace."

The dog jumped up obediently and waited at the car door for his master to open it.

Bruce walked past the display case, not even giving a sideways glance at the novelties inside. He knew which one was missing. It hadn't been on display for a while now. Instead it spent it's days stuffed into some dumb kids backpack, or locker, or closet. It's nights spent flying around a neo-lit city teaming with punks and goons playing at being the worst criminals in Gotham. They were only poor shadows of the real things.

He hadn't known why he had brought it back out instead of just using his regular car. With the push of a botton he started it up. It was just as old and cranky as he was and stubborn. The doors rose up and the pup lept inside, it took Bruce a bit longer.

He was all strapped in and ready to go. The floor squeaked and groaned as it turned the car to face the opening of the cave. Bruce laid his hand on the stick-shift. He cleared his throat a few times. "Alright old girl. Show me what you've still got."

Then

"Mom? What does, fin-el nat-is mean?" The small girl read as she tapped each letter with the tip of her pointer finger.

"Nothing Kalie girl." Her mother responded picking random things up from the floor and shoving them into bags.

"Does it mean we have to leave?"

"No." She mumbled.

"Then why are we leaving?" Her daughter asked, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"What? Oh, honey." She put the bag she was holding down and placed her hand on her daughters shoulder. "Remember when we went to go visit Aunt August for her wedding?"

"In Keystone City?"

"Yeah. Remember we stayed in her beach house. We'd wake up and there the ocean was and you could run all along the beach and play. We'd have breakfast in the sun and dinner under the stars. Remember how nice that was?"

The young girl perked up a bit more with every word. "Yea."

"Well, what if I told you that Aunt Augustin and Uncle Charlie invited us to go live their?"

She gasped in exitement. "Really? Is this another birthday present?"

The young women paused for a moment smiling sweetly at her daughter. "Yea."

Kalie was suddenly giddy with excitment, ready to bounce out of her socks. "And I can help them take care of Elijah when he is born!" She gasped. "I need my swim suit and shorts and floties."

"I have already got it all. I just need you to go grab Mr. Butters. This nice officer right here?" She turned to the side so her daughter could see the short dark haird girl in uniform standing in the doorway. "She is going to take you downstairs. Mommy just has to double check to make sure she has everything, ok?"

"Hi Kalie. My name is Kacy. Maybe while your mom is fineshing up I'll show you my police car? Officer Beamer said you had alot of questions the last time."

"I can see what all those little botton and switches do?"

"Yup."

The little girl spun around and lept onto her bed to reach for a brown stuffed elephant. "Oo and can I turn on the sirens?"

She laughed. "Let's just start with the lights. Is that okay?"

She jumped off the bed and held the elephant out. "Yea! Mr. Butters always wanted to turn on the lights!"

Kacy held out her hand, a big grin on her face. "Well, come on than."

"See you downstairs mommy." The little girl said brightly.

"Be right there." Her mom responded trying to sound just a bright but the cop could see the understandable sadness in the woman's eyes.

"Okay, you ready for the big finale?"

She nodded her head excitedly.

The officer looked at the eleghent in Kalies lap. "You ready Mr. Butters?"

Kalie held the stuffed animal to her ear. "He's ready."

Kacy pointed to the silver nob. "Flip that switch!"

Kalie flipped it and the top of the car lit up.

"You ready for the force yet kid?" They both turned to see a kind looking old man crouched in the doorway on the passenger side of the car.

Officer Kacy gasped "Commissioner Gordon?"

"I retired that name a long time ago. Jim will do just fine." He said with a smile. "Kalie, my name is Jim. Do you mind if I take a ride with you and officer Kacy to the airport?"

"Okay. Where's my mom? Is she down yet?"

"Your mother will be riding in the car behind us." At the worried look on the girls face, Jim looked to Kacy and then back to Kalie. "Would you like Kacy to ride in the back with you?"

"Okay."

Another man in uniform walked up to Jim. "It's time to go."

Both females got out of the front to go into the back seat. As they did, Jim went to walk around the back of the car to get to the drivers side. Kalie was watching him out of the back window when she saw her mother stop him for a moment. Though she wasn't now, she had clearly been crying. They talked for a moment before her mother hugged him tightly. When they parted, they both looked at Kalie. Her mother nodded her head once, mouthed the wards, I love you, and then turned to get into the police car behind them.

Now

"Why are we even back here? Thought you said you'd never step foot in this city again. Not even if the world was ending and Gotham was the only place encased in a huge dome that would save our lives." The teen said defiantly, leaning aganst the car her mother was currently sitting inside. Her auburn hair, streaked with brown, was a mess around her tanned face. Her wide green eyes specked with bits of light brown, were narrow as she looked off into the distance.

The older women, her caramel hair tide back in a tight bun at the top of her head. Her brown eyes where tired looking at the moment but when they weren't, they were the same shape as her daughters. She took a deep sigh. "Kalie, I'm not that dramatic. We have been over this already."

She pitched her voice to sound a bit higher then normal. "As in, Kalie dear. You know that city, the one you were born in and I told you your whole life that we would never go back to because it is the worst place ever? Well, guess what? I got a job their, so we are moving back!"

Her mother took an even deeper sigh. "Kalie, please. Your going to be late and so am I. We've been here for three months, why are you doing this now?" They could see eachother through the passanger side mirror. She put her hand up to stop her daughter from speaking. "Don't have time. Think about your words, for once, we'll talk when we get home."

"Whatever." She peeled herself off the side of the car and without giving her mother another glance or even saying goodbye, she made her way towards the school.

She deleted another one of her mother's messages demanding for her to come home so they could talk but KC didn't want to talk, not right now. She had wanted to talk this morning but that time had passed. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky lighting up the dark streat. She was in a much older part of the city. There were crumbling brownstones and broken streetlights. She kept her head down as she walked past shattered store front windows and an old movie theater. She remembered going there to see a movie with her mom when she was little. Her last birthday in Gotham, the last day the theater was open. Her mom had bought her one of everything the concession stand had available. They sat their all day watching the same movie over and over again. It had been the best birthday ever. The next day she'd woken up to her mom packing away random bits of her belongings into suitcases. They were leaving Gotham. The street wide eviction notice said that everyone had a week but her mother didn't want to wait. She stopped right infront of the building she used to call home. Nothing had touched it but time. The whole aria was supposed to have been knocked down but it never was. It wasn't until she came back that she knew it was even still here and it was all because of some cranky old man with too much money. She hadn't planned on it but she decided to go inside. Her apartment was upstairs but the steps leading up didn't look like they were in any condition to hold her wight. So she went into one of the apartments on the first floor. They were all laid out the same. Kitchen to the left, living room to the right, bedrooms in the back. This one had been completely cleaned out of any personal items. She walked to the middle of the living room and stopped to sneeze, probably from all the dust. That was when she noticed something shiny laying on the floor at her feet. She picked it up. It was some kind of blade in the shape of a bat. Well, this was Tommy's apartment. He had been obsessed with anything that had to do with Batman, even though the vigilante hadn't been around for years. There were those, mostly old people who swore he was real. That they had even met him, but for the most part he seemed to be more like some kind of modern uban legend. Until he wasn't. She had already left Gotham far behind but Alison had made sure to keep her updated on Gothams "In's and Out's." Updates that had went from everyday to nonexistent within a few years. It had been one of the last tidbits of juicy information Ally had gossip'd before dissappearing off the face of the earth. According to her, there had been a new batman flying around and all the kids at school went from laughing off any "old Gizer" that mentioned him, to practically idolizing him within a week. She wondered if this was his. It was too heavy, too solid, too sharp to be one of Tommy's old toys. She turned the bat-shaped weapon over a few times in her hand and then gasped when she saw the reflection of a man standing in the doorway behind her. She spun around. The look the old man was giving her was seathing with dislike. He just stood there, bent over the cane he was using for support.

"This is privet property. Your trespassing." He growled.

"I...used to live here." She stammered.

"A lot of people used to live here. What does that have to do with anything?" He retorted grumpily.

KC squared her shoulders. "Well, if I'm trespassing, then aren't you as well?"

"No." He answerd sternly.

She gasped as a realization suddenly struck her. "Your Bruce Wayne!"

"I know." He lifted his cane and started to stab at the air in between them. "What I don't know Is who you are and why you are still standing here."

"My name is Kalie. Kalie Cole. My friends call me KC. My mother and I used to live upstairs."

His gaze shifted slightly. "What is that in your hand?"

She quickly slipped the bat into her back pocket and showed him her hands. "Nothing. See."

His arm flinched, as if he was about to grab the frame of the door for support but instead he put his cane back down and closed his mouth tightly. "Hmm."

She started to walk towards him. "Well...I'm gonna go now. It was, nice, meeting you Mr. Wayne." She held out her hand for him to shake it. He didn't. "Okay, well. Have a good night Sir." She slipped past him and started to make her way down the hall, towards the front door.

"Cole? Your mother. Her names Amelia." He suddenly said as her hand touched the door knob.

"How, do you know my mother's name?" She asked without turning to look at him.

"Well, I do own this building." He answed.

"Right." She replied before turning the knob to push the door open and walk out.