Molly shivered against the cold brick wall.

"Come out, come out wherever you are," a rough voice cooed after her. She shuddered. When would these creeps learn? Not every woman in Gotham was a piece of meat just waiting for the big dogs to chomp into them.

Skitter skitter

"Oh," Molly moaned quietly. Please don't let it be rats...or mice...or both.

"Wait, shh!" The man snapped at his group. "Think I heard her. Oh little mouse, you in there?" A dark figure stepped into the mouth of the alley and Molly slapped one of her hands across her mouth to stifle a shriek. "Come on, little mouse, we ain't gonna hurt ya. Well, not much," he and his bodies chuckled and Molly felt the cold tingle of fear – and of being watched – trickle down her spine.

A mouse? He thought, grinning as he pressed his face to the dirty window and watched the scene below. A mouse near my house? Oh, it must be her! The Dormouse! She's come back to visit me! Has she Alice with her? He looked closer and his nose wrinkled in disappointment. It was only her, no Alice, no Alice at all. But it was a start. She could help him find his Alice. He looked over at his discarded hat. He reached over with his spindly fingers, plucked it up, and perched it upon his head. He turned to look at the rest of the men in the room and smiled sinisterly. His rabbits were perfect and they would help him. He turned back to look at the alley and frowned. Dormouse had disappeared. Oh, but he could find her again.

He would see his friend soon enough.

Of course, that would be after tidying for her company. It was quite rude to have a guest over when your house was a mess.

Being rude wouldn't do at all.

She might not want to be friends with him anymore.

And then she might not help him find Alice.

Molly's tears stained her cheeks as the man grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall.

"You're a pretty little mouse, ain't ya?" He mumbled.

"Pl-please, please don't," She whimpered. "I don't-"

"Shut up," He growled. Molly thrashed slightly, trying to wiggle her way free, but it was no use. The large man was bigger and stronger. She'd never get free.

"Please! Please, help!" Molly yelled. The man slammed his hand over her mouth.

"Shut up, bitch!"

Molly glanced down at his hand and did the only thing she could think of.

She bit it.

He hissed in pain and pulled his hand away from her mouth, shaking it in pain.

"Please! Help!" Molly screamed.

"Picking on a poor, defenseless woman? How typical," Molly thanked God for whomever had spoken. "Looks like someone never taught you manners."

"Listen here," the man said, turning away from Molly. He kept a firm hand pinning her against the wall. "You shouldn't butt into other people's business." His grip tightened and Molly pinned her eyes shut.

"But it's just so fun."

Molly felt the man let go of her before sinking to the ground and staying there. Her legs had long since turned to jelly due to fear.

She kept her face in her hands, not wanting to watch the fight.

She should've paid attention.

Crrcckkk!

Molly let out a pained noise and felt her head where a wayward limb had missed its target and had hit her instead.

She could feel a wet patch of blood. She could see the red.

The red was making her dizzy.

She was feeling woozy.

She fought to keep her eyes open and watched as legs approached her and knelt beside her. It was-

She'd just been saved by the Boy Wonder.

"You okay?" he asked. Molly started to shake her head 'no'.

She started to tip.

"Woah! Let's get you to a-"

A/N: So I finally started the Dormouse origins story. Hope you enjoy.

Just a sidenote: I am so happy about the response that Blood and Crumpets, Liberate, Restraints, and Infestation have had. It's incredible that I've been able to change peoples' hatred of Zsasz into absolute fangirlishness about him, and that people who have hated the Penguin have been onboard with the whole DormouseXPenguin thing. It makes me really happy, like you have no idea how happy. So just...Thank You. Thank You times a million, times a billion, times a google plex. Just...Thanks. So much. It's great knowing people enjoy what I write and knowing that mere words can change peoples' opinions about characters that they might not like or appreciate otherwise. I just wanted to thank everybody for just...being awesome and being, well, you. So...

Thank You.

That is all, Goodbye.

I'll be typing to you soon.