Authors Note: This story is written by Novicewriter and co-written by: chaoticlown. The entire story is already complete and we will be posting every day to every other day because that is how we, as readers, like to be treated. :P I hope ya'll like it.

JACKIE POV

I wake up at the sound of my dad's footsteps coming through the front door and the door shutting behind him, he is a cop and works nights. I instantly start to go back to a slumber; it is to early in the morning to be awake anyway. I hear his bedroom door shut behind him and I don't wake up again until almost 8 in the morning with the sun streaming through my window onto my face. I am so used to getting up on my own it is built into my routine. I stretch and start a shower very quietly as to not wake my dad. The mirror shows a reflection much like my father's. A strong jaw for a female with brown eyes and curly sandy hair that reaches just past my shoulders; I breathe fog on the bathroom mirror and write my name with my finger, "Jackie."

My dad works at night and he gets really grumpy when I wake him up before afternoon. After my shower I put on my clothes for the day and pour milk over cereal and start to think about my studies. I have always been homeschooled, I consider myself mostly self-taught, my dad gives me a lesson plan for the week and the he grades my work on Friday afternoons. Saturdays I make corrections. Despite only being 15 I am already completing work that most people do not reach until they're juniors in college. I normally have my work done before my dad wakes up, I try very hard to because the only times I get to see him is between early afternoon and about 8pm. I am normally asleep before he leaves for work.

Just as I put away my calculus textbook for the day I hear my dad's heavy steps descending the stairs. I stand up and look toward the stairs with anticipation and he smiles when he sees me. He is wearing his usual attire, faded denim jeans and a worn brown button up." Good morning sunshine." He gives me a wry grin and I smirk back.

"It isn't morning for the real world, Dad. Just yours." I go into the kitchen ahead of him and pour him orange juice and put two slices of bread in the toaster and hand him the newspaper that gets delivered to our door every morning without fail. He opens it to the funnies and starts to read Garfield, Peanuts, and Dilbert as he does every day.

"Jeeze, don't want me to get scurvy?" He says, eyeing the orange juice.

"Well someone has to take care of you, we all know you wouldn't take care of yourself. Where would you be without me?" We have this conversation almost every morning; soon Uncle Ace will arrive and tell me how big I've gotten even though he comes by every Tuesday.

My dad laughs and downs the drink just like every day, and then when the toast pops out of the toaster he spreads strawberry jam across the bread and starts eating. The front door opens and Ace walks in at one o'clock. Right on time.

"Hey Jackie, Look how big you are getting!" Yup, I can always trust that uncle Ace will have something familiar to say. Then he turns to my dad and starts talking about how he remembers when I was a baby like he is some long lost relative who only sees me once every ten years or so, and I excuse myself back to the living room to watch some TV.

I can hear them in the kitchen talking about work last night and how tough it was, my dad is a cop, and Ace is his partner and his half brother. I am so proud of them, being a cop in Gotham City is a dangerous job, but something in me always is worried that one of them or both of them wont come back home one morning, and that would be the end of my world. I don't have many friends, I know a few from gymnastics, which I got to every Thursday afternoon. I know some girls from Sunday school form when I was little, but we haven't done church in a few years now. I do have one very good friend named Becca who comes over a lot. We met at summer camp one year and have been inseparable ever since. My Dad and Uncle are really my best friends. They've raised me and always been there for me. And I love them more than anyone else. My friends have said it is weird that I like spending time with them and at home so much, but it really doesn't bother me like it does other 15-year-old girls, I really like being home.

JACK POV

"Well last night was a bit rough. Don't you think Ace?" I can't help but move my eyes down the hallway just to make sure Jackie isn't going to come back into the kitchen. I don't like her hearing about my occupation and I've kept it that way since she was very little. I just don't want her to worry about me. The last thing I need to do is to distract her from her hobbies.

"It was. Maybe next time the big guy will take it a bit easier on you." I grin knowing full well what he is meaning. Our nights are always filled with more action and adventure than we probably need, but we can't help ourselves. I suppose it just comes with the job.

"Yeah, but you know him. He would never do that. Especially when it comes to me." I laugh a bit and move on to the remaining section of my toast. Jackie always takes good care of me. In ways she reminds me of her mother, but more of myself. I can't believe it's been 15 years since her mother just abandoned her on my doorstep. She didn't even have the courtesy to knock and hand her over. She just left my little girl there like she meant nothing.

Being a single father can be extremely tough, but my daughter is absolutely the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I may not be perfect and I do have a ton of mistakes under my belt but it will never change how much she means to me.

"Ace, I think I might take the day off. I should spend some time with Jackie and probably buy her something nice to make up for all the time I'm asleep or away." He smiles and agrees softly; knowing that he will be leaving by the time I'm done eating my breakfast. I fold the remaining newspaper up and leave it on the table and stand up to toss the crusts of my toast away. I have always hated the crusts of my bread. It's something that always stuck with me.

I nod a "bye" to Ace and head upstairs to my bedroom. I shut and lock the door (Pure paranoia, I swear) and head to the bathroom. At the mirror I notice that the skin on my cheeks is a bit faded and cracked. The scars are incredibly hard to hide, but somehow I've managed to pull it off for 15 years. I grab the liquid concealer jar from the medicine cabinet and apply it very lightly around the worn skin. It smooth's and dries quickly to my prayers. With scars as deep as these, I have found that I go through more makeup than most women. The biggest part of it is the facial putty used to fill in the gaps.

Most people would never be able to comprehend that I would hide my deformity just to save my loved one the suffering. But I do what I have to do to keep Jackie safe. No one can blame her for being my daughter since she doesn't even have a clue as to who I really am.

I sigh and glance myself over one last time before heading downstairs. I can hear the television going so I assume she is still in the living room. I pop my head around the corner and see that she is indeed still there.

"Hey Jackie, I got the day off. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with your old man and possibly go shopping later? I feel like you deserve something nice. Something big, anything you want." She beams at me and I know that I have her hooked. She just can't say no to me. I know today is going to be a great day now.

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