A/N: NEW STORY! I'm excited don't judge… So, in this Dick is 10 (just turned) and my oc is 8 but extremely smart for her age… This is the cause for some of her vocabulary.
Warnings- Cursing and violence.
I let out a shriek of terror as another bullet whizzed by my head, "COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BITCH!" The man yelled from behind me.
I skidded around the corner of the alley and kept on running into the narrow path of darkness. I looked around frantically for a fire escape or somewhere to hide when I ran to a dead end (cheesy? Yes, yes it is). I grinned in relief when I a saw the bottom of a ladder leading to a fire escape. I turned and looked at the opposing wall, backing up a bit I ran at it and jumped. Pushing my foot off the wall, I propelled myself towards the ladder. I grabbed the bottom step and was pulling myself up when I felt a violent jerk at my foot.
I looked down panicked and cursed openly when I saw the three men below me, "Gotcha you little thief." They all smirked cruelly.
I kicked my foot out and hit him in the face; he let me go with a grunt of pain. I tried to scramble up the ladder but they got ahold of both of my legs and pulled. As I fell towards the concrete, my head hit the bottom the ladder with a sickening 'crack'. I let out a cry of pain when I hit the ground, holding my head in my hands and curled into the fetal position. A heard one of the men let out a deep laugh, "Nowhere to run or hide now brat." He taunted me.
I whimpered in pain when a hard kick was delivered to my back. And another kick and they just kept going… They were taking turns, kicking me in various places and then they picked me up from the ground. I tried to wiggle out of the steel grip on my arms but it was no use. I was fading in and out, my body was aching all over, I was bleeding out, and worst of all I was terrified. I was terrified because I was certain I was going to die tonight.
An agonized scream tore from my throat when I felt an especially hard blow to my ribs and heard the bones snap. I screamed again when I felt something sharp puncture my skin and drag upwards… But then the pain of the object was gone and so where the men holding my arms. I dropped towards the earth but a pair of strong arms caught me and held me close.
I started to struggle weakly but a soft and comforting voice rang out, "Shhh. It's okay now. Shh you're safe. You're safe." My struggles stopped as the voice lulled me into a sense of security.
Too weak to struggle or fight, I let the person cradle me to their chest and I turned my head towards them. Then I started to fade. My vision was becoming blurrier and my eye lids were heavy. The person noticed this and whispered softly, "Don't fall asleep. Not yet…Stay away..." but I had already submitted to darkness.
I groaned as I heard hushed voices speak around me and tried to burry myself into the softness I laid upon. Soft? Wait, that means… Oh god please don't let me be in a hospital. Please, please, please... I opened my eyes wearily and took in my surroundings. Okay defiantly not a hospital... I thought to myself as I took in the cave like walls, the giant monitors, and the occasional bat.
I was following the black creature with my eyes when someone beside me cleared their throat. I jumped and let out a startled squeak, forgetting I wasn't the only one in the cave. I turned my head to the side to look at the perpetrator... Only to let out another high pitched squeak. There standing next to me was a tall man cladded head to toe in black with bat cowl covering most of his face and a cape flowing out behind him. Next to him was a boy who looked to be about my age, maybe a bit older, with a mop of black hair, wearing a domino mask, green tights, a red tunic, and a black cape with the inside lined with yellow. Then lastly there was an elderly looking man with grey and thinning hair dressed in a black and white suit.
After staring at the three men I finally got the courage to speak, "Who... Who are you?" my voice, despite me trying to be brave, trembled when I asked the question.
The elderly gentlemen smiled softly at me as the tall man with the bat on his chest stepped forward slightly to answer, "I'm Batman," he started softly and gestured to himself, "This is Robin," pointing to the boy who waved shyly, "And this is Alfred." He finished and Alfred stepped forward,
"It's very nice to meet you Miss?" He left the question hang in the air.
"My name's Alice Gray." I replied shyly.
He smiled kindly, "That's a lovely name Miss Alice." He told me.
I blushed and looked down, "Thank you." I told him bashfully.
Alfred nodded and stepped back when Batman came closer to me. Still a bit intimidated by the man, I shrunk away slightly. He noticed this and frowned, "I'm- We are not going to hurt you Alice. We only want to help." He spoke gently.
I nodded and raised my head up a little bit. Batman took this as encouragement and started to ask questions, "How old are you?"
"I'm eight years old." I told him, a bit proud of the fact.
The corner of his lips tugged down slightly at the fact, "Why were those men hurting you?"
I winced at the memory and answered, "I had… Had stolen some money from his pocket." My head lowered some from the shame that filled me.
His eyebrows furrowed, well at least it looked like they had (I couldn't exactly tell from behind his cowl), "Why would you do that?" There was no anger, just curiosity.
"I was hungry because I haven't eaten for a while." A replied, my head lowering further.
"Your parents?" He sounded strained, like he didn't want to hear the answer.
"They died… A man had broken into our... our house," my eyes started to water, "He had tied us all up in the living room and... and he hit my mom and my dad..." I took a deep breath and Batman started to talk, "Alice, you don't have to tell..." I cut him off, "No, I have to tell someone." I told him looking up at him with my large grey eyes.
He sighed but nodded his head anyway, "He just kept hitting them, not even sparring a glance at me. He would punch, kick, and slap them. Over, over, and over. And then," I let out a shuddering breath, "He brought out a gun," Alfred and Batman tensed even more at the mention of the revolting object, "That's when he turned towards me. He just smiled... He smiled and then began to talk. Saying how he'd heard a lot about me and how much better off I would be without my parents. I didn't even register what he was saying because I was so scared about how close he and the gun were and the fact that my parents were on the verge of passing out from the amount of hits they took and all the blood they lost." Tears were flowing nonstop down my face know and Batman had his arms wrapped around me.
I tried to shake the images that were burned into my mind but they just kept replaying themselves, "Then I heard a loud bang and screams. I remember my dad going still and then another bang and my mom doing the same thing. I tried to tell myself they were sleeping and the man had just knocked them out, but there was just so much blood," the word came out in a whisper, "That's when I realized the screams were mine, my mommy and daddy were dead, and the man who had murdered them was gone. I don't know how long I sat tied in that chair screaming and crying before the cops came. They came in and saw my parents and me. They got me out of there and cleaned, kept reassuring me everything was going to be okay but nothing was okay," another sob tore from my throat, "Since I had no other family they put me in an orphanage. Everyone was so nice; they smiled and reassured that I was going to be safe with them. But it was all an act for the cops who dropped me off. A day after I was there I had accidently bumped into the head lady, that's when the beatings started. They'd hit me for no reason or if I did something wrong on accident. They told me that I deserved it. That I was reason my parents were dead. If I would have been stronger they told me they would still be here. That no one would want a kid who had let their own mommy and daddy died." I paused and looked up at them, they all looked absolutely furious and disgusted, and I flinched at the expressions. But Batman just hugged me tighter while Robin and Alfred gave me small smiles.
I smiled weakly back at them and continued, "But it only got worse," I sniffled slightly, "The older boys there started to touch me but that's when I snapped. The first time the oldest did it I kicked him and ran out the doors of the orphanage. I ran and ran. I ran until my legs burned and my sides ached. They didn't bother looking for me and I was glad. I didn't want to go back there. I don't ever want to go back there, that's why I live on the streets. I didn't want to go back," I looked up at Batman with tears and fear clouding my eyes, "You won't make go back, right?" I asked, my voice was small and timid.
"No. I won't ever send you back there. Never." He told me, looking down at me with a stern yet soft stare.
I had to make sure, "Promise?" my lip trembled.
"Promise." He told me firmly.
I jumped out of his hug only to throw my arms around his neck and hug him tightly, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." I kept muttering this into the crook of his neck as tears of joy escaped my eyes.
Batman put his arms around me and hugged me tighter like he was saying you're welcome. I don't know how long he held me as I kept thanked him but we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. We looked over to who had done it, Robin, and he raised his eyebrow, "So what do we do now?" He asked looking at Batman.
I looked up at Batman wondering the same thing.
Sorry to do a cliffy but I couldn't resist! Haha, anyways what do you think? Batman went to Daddy-Bats on her but come it's a crying and beat up 8 year old girl. Plus he has this instinctive feeling of protectiveness over her. So if the characters a little oc I'm sorry, but I hope you liked this chapter. I can't wait to see if some are liking the story as much as me so far.
Until next time!
-Cheers
