I decided to post this story today since it's Christmas Eve. This is my second fanfic so please no flames and enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own the cover image or anything DC Comics related. I only own the Henderson's, who will probably never be apart of the DC Universe. (This disclaimer is meant for all of the chapters in this fanfiction.)
~?~
"Once again the young… heroes interfere. So it is fortunate we have an operative, on the inside."
Gotham City
September 6TH 9:32 a.m
Alexis' Pov
"Alexis, get up! We have to get ready!" called my sister, Karie.
"I'll be up soon!" I croaked.
This was just like any other day. Karie would wake me up, I would sleep in a little longer, we get ready, get out of the house, then do or best to scavenge money, food, water, even clothes. Then again, life has been like this for the past 4 years now, it's not as if some miracle is going to happen, and change our lives for the better or worse. I remember that day so clearly; how Karie, dad, and I lost everything in one night.
~4 Years Ago~
"Mom, where are you going?" asked Karie, as she saw her mother getting ready to go somewhere.
"I'm going to put up election signs," she replied with a soft smile, "While I'm gone take care of Alexis."
Karie hesitated then replied, "Uh, mom?"
"Yes?"
"Just promise me… promise me that you're going to be okay. It's dark out, and you know how Gotham gets at night," Karie answered, concern on her face.
Mom just smiled, then nodded. "I promise you, your sister and your father. I'll be fine. Besides, if anything did happen the Dark Knight will come and save the day."
Karie then took a while to answer again. "A-alright mom, just remember your promise."
"How could I forget? It is a promise after all." Those were the last words she said to Karie, right before everything went wrong.
Mrs. Henderson was out on the streets of Gotham City around midnight at the time, putting up election signs. Everything was going fine, until she heard screeching tires coming down the road. She turned around to see a drunk driver weaving wildly on the street. His head was out the window and his hands and feet were nowhere near the wheel or pedals. She started to panic, seeing that he could end up hitting her. He can't hit me. I have to go, now. I made a promise to my family and it's one I plan to keep. She picked up her election signs and ran back to her house as fast as she could. "Please Dark Knight, help me now." After figuring out that the driver was not going to get off her tail, she decided to run into the closest store. The store was a hard-ware store. There were rows of tools, wood, different types of metal, anything that you needed to make something, it was there.
She looked out the window to see a dark, bat-like figure on the top of the truck. He was trying to stop the truck, and get the drunk out before anything serious could happen. He popped all the wheels of the truck with these bat-like boomer-rang things. He then tried to pry open the door of the driver's seat. He was struggling to pry it open, because he didn't want to hurt the drunk. I'm pretty sure after a while of trying, he figured that the truck was going to end up crashing into a store. The hard-ware store in fact.
Mrs. Henderson ran to the aisle where there were giant metal sheets. She could hide under some so she won't get hurt.
Batman had to get the drunk out. So he pulled him out and threw him over his shoulder. He jumped off and placed him on the ground. He then used his Bat Cable to pull himself back on to the truck. He jumped in the driver's seat and tried to steer the truck away from the citizens and pull it to a stop. He tried everything, but the truck was out of control. Seeing that it was going to hit the hard-ware store, he jumped out and threw foam pellets in its way so it would explode or stop. He was off by just a second. The truck crashed into the front of the store. There were glass shards that flew as the window pane shattered, but the truck exploded, and was engulfed in flames.
He quickly ran in after the truck exploded to see if anyone was hurt from the accident. He saw a women under some metal plates, who seemed to have passed out. He put her over his shoulder and quickly ran outside. He put her down and checked to see if she had any injuries. After going through all the medical drills, he deduced that a metal plate had hit her on the head, which caused her to pass out.
The cops, firetrucks, and ambulances had arrived. The cops were quickly trying to get people away from the scene. The firefighters were checking if anyone was inside the store, and at the same time, were trying to put the fire out. The ambulances ran to the scene, quickly taking out multiple gurneys.
Batman was about to pick the woman up before she suddenly opened her eyes and said, "Where am I?"
"You were caught in the explosion of the truck, that crashed into the hard-ware store. You passed out and I brought you back out here," he stated simply. Though he was expressionless, he was trying to understand how she could've woken up so quickly after a head injury.
"Thank you so much," said the woman laying on the ground. "but I have this odd feeling that I'm not going to be able to see my family for a while,"
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused by her strange words.
"My body needs time to recover from this accident. I won't be able to see them during that time," she answered, never meeting his eyes.
"How long will that be?"
"It could take years. If I take too long, I might just die in the middle of it. Anyways, I'm Mrs. Henderson." She finally tilted her head to face him. There was a hint of a smile on her face. If only Batman knew how ironic she thought all of this was.
"Batman."
"Could you promise me something, Batman?" she asked. Her eyes shut briefly.
"What is it?"
"Promise me that you'll watch over my children while I'm gone and guide them down the right path."
"Of course," Batman smiled slightly then asked, "What are their names, and where are they right now?"
"They live on 72 Dragoon Crescent. Their names are Karie Blaire Henderson, 10, and Alexis Dilan Henderson, 9. Promise me you will take good care of them," she said as she raised her hand forward toward Batman.
"I'll do whatever I can," he answered and shook her hand.
"Thank you, and tell them that I love them both with all my heart. Tell my husband the same." And with that she passed out again. Only this time she could be out longer than she should be.
Batman carried her on to a gurney. He then told the cops where he had placed the driver of the truck and left to go find Mrs. Henderson's family.
When he found the house he walked up the door step and rang the door bell. He heard a man yell 'I got it!' and the door was open. Standing there was a slightly taller than average man. He had more muscles than an average 30-year-old would. Standing behind him were two little girls. One with blond hair and very faint auburn streaks and hazel-brown eyes. The other, who looked a little younger, had auburn-brownish hair and hazel-brown eyes. You would've never guessed that they were sisters, if it weren't for their eyes.
"Hello, I'm Batman. I'm here to tell you that your wife is in the hospital. She was inside a hard-ware store, when a uncontrollable truck crashed into it, causing the truck and the hard-ware store to blow up into flames. She doesn't have many major injuries, no burns, just some small bruises. The bad news is that she is now in a comatose. Before she fell into her coma, she told me to come and tell you that she loves all of you with all of her heart. I am so sorry for not being able to help her in time. I tried all I could," said Batman.
Mr. Henderson was frozen solid. He was trembling like crazy. He then put his head down. The elder girl was trying to hold back her tears and act tough. When the tears came out, she quickly wiped them away with her sleeve. The younger girl looked sad. She then looked at her father and older sister. She sighed and then stepped in front of Batman.
"Thank you for telling us the news, and also for trying your best to save my mom." She then hugged him, to Batman's surprise.
Batman was confused. He looked at the father; he was still a little shaky, but there was a sympathetic smile on his face beaming at Batman. The older girl did the same. He then bent down to the younger girls' level. They smiled at each other, before Batman returned her hug.
"You've raised them well. They'll grow up to be great people," said Batman to Mr. Henderson.
"I know they will," Mr. Henderson replied back. After smiling at both of the little girls, Batman left.
"I wanna be just like him when I grow up!" exclaimed Alexis.
"Yeah, me too!" said Karie.
"If you want to be just like Batman, then you have to work really hard in school," said their father.
"Anything to be just like him!" shouted Alexis.
"We'll be the best students in school!" added Karie. Their father smiled proudly, then looked up at the starry night sky.
"I know you will. Now let's get back inside and get some sleep. We'll go visit mom tomorrow!"
"Ok!" said both girls as they made their way to their rooms.
6 months later, on the other hand, well, let's just say that we've had it rough. Especially, dad.
~4 Years Present~
Oh well. I changed into some of Karie's hand-me downs, then brushed up. When I walked downstairs I heard Karie and my father yelling at each other, as usual.
"Dad, put the bottle down!" yelled Karie, trying to calm our drunken father down.
"Don't tell me what to do!" he yelled back, before throwing the bottle at Karie. She ducked, luckily from the years of experience from getting hit by them, she knew how to avoid them.
"Dad, stop! You're scaring Alexis and I!" Karie yelled, resuming her previous standing stance. As always, Karie would be the one to step in and take care of the situation, while all I can do is cower on the stairs, afraid of what might happen if I got involved.
"Why should you be scared? I'm your own father!" he screamed back, as he threw another empty bottle of his at Karie.
In times when I'm most stressed or frightened, I go to my keyboard and played the lullaby mom had taught me. Anyone could fall asleep to it. Even my alcoholic, drunk father. A few seconds later, Karie came upstairs, sweat running down her face.
"I'm amazed by how fast you can put someone to sleep with that piece, Dilan," complemented Karie in between breaths.
"Thanks, but I think now would be a great time to go scavenging," I said. I picked up a dirty towel beside me, and tossed it to Karie. "Here."
"Thanks," said Karie, as she caught the towel I passed to her. "We'll leave as soon as I finish cleaning up."
"I'll clean up the glass."
When I walked into the living room, I was surprised to find that dad was sleeping on the couch with a blanket placed over him. Karie, I thought. No matter how hard life is with a dad like him, he's still our dad. I quickly cleaned up the broken pieces, throwing them all carefully and quietly into the recycling bin.
"Ready," Karie whispered coming down the stairs, her guitar slung over her shoulder in its case.
"Ready," I said, slipping out the door quietly.
Once I stepped out the door I noticed something lying in front of it. Naturally, I picked it up and read the address. Bruce Wayne. How long has it been since Karie and I first met him? It was at the Bruce Wayne charity event for struggling youths. Karie had wanted to go scavenging from the rich there, and ended up trying to pick-pocket Bruce Wayne. He wasn't upset at all, and instead, had his butler Alfred make us some cookies.
"Hey, Karie take a look at this," I said, handing the letter over to her.
After a while of reading it, Karie spoke, "This is a letter from Bruce Wayne himself, stating that he has given us both full scholarships to enroll in Gotham Academy."
"Wow, how thoughtful of him. When do we attend?"
"It says September 22," Karie answered. "Huh, what do you know, the day right before my birthday."
"What else does it say?"
"That our uniforms will be mailed to us by tomorrow," Karie said. I watched as her eyes skimmed over the page. She flipped it around a few times, checking to make sure if it was legitimate or not. She finally gave up searching for evidence of scam. "I guess this is the real deal then."
We first went scavenging in the alleys and subways. We didn't find anything, so we decided start our job earlier today. We walked to the park and got into our usual spots at the fountain. We spent most of day singing and playing simple happy songs, as always. I still remember the first time someone threw money into Karie's guitar case. Karie and I were trying so hard to give the money back to the kind man, but he wouldn't budge. In the end, he gave us some more money. When we got tired of performing, we decided to count up all the money we've made. By the end of the day, we had a grand total of $47.82.
"Hey Karie, why don't we use those 2two extra pennies we got to make a wish at the fountain?" I suggested.
"Sure, we still have some time left before we have to head back home anyways," she said, handing me one of the pennies. We walked up to the fountain and recited our wish in our head. Once we were done making our wish, we threw the pennies into the fountain.
"So, what did you wish for?" asked Karie, as she leaned on the fountain and stared off into the sunset.
"I wished I could protect people and make them happy," I answered as I sat on the edge of the fountain also staring off into the amazing scenery.
"Wow, I wished for the same thing too. I guess great minds think alike," smiled Karie. "Come on, we better get back home."
Before we went to bed I asked Karie a question that's been bothering me for a long time now. "Do you ever feel like you're being watched?"
"Always." Was her answer.
That night, it felt like something inside of me was being freed. Like a wild animal, trapped in a hunters trap. I wasn't the only who felt this too. I heard Karie mumble something like 'stupid stomach' in her sleep. I smiled. I guess she was caught in a more dangerous trap. At the same time though, I felt two pairs of eyes watching Karie and I. Sleep was taking over me, so I brushed the idea off and fell asleep.
Please review, alert or fav. It would really make my day and besides if you do, then I'll be fueled to right the next chapter more. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year to all!