Disclaimer: I do not own Bat-man or any characters in this fic. The main character is an orignial but he is based on an existing character that I also do not own.
Enjoy.
Chapter 1: Childhood in Darkness
The room they locked him in was dark.
They hadn't bothered to install lights into the cell because it had been built for darkness.
Curling up into a corner of the cell the boy shivered, looking frantically around the cell. His eyes adjusted to the din, and he relaxed when he realized he was alone.
Many times before this one his grandfather had drugged him and put him into darkened rooms, with three trained fighters. The second he would wake the fighters would set upon him kicking and punching him…hurting him. The first three times he had been knocked unconscious within the first minute, but after that he got smarter. He soon managed to fight back, holding his own for longer periods of time. By the fifteenth time they had locked him in the darkness, he could take down more then 10 full fledged assassins. That wasn't enough though…it was never enough for grandfather, nothing was.
Now every night while the boy slept he had to keep his wits about him. Sometimes in the night the fighters would come into the room and start to attack him while he slept. How often had he been woken by a fist in the dark? Truthfully he'd lost count. Like all other aspects of his life, sleep was not a peaceful act anymore…it was a survival test; which was why he slept in a different part of his room every night, a small effort to keep the element of surprise. Ignoring the illusion of comfort of the bed he curled up in his corner under a table, a blanket wrapped around his narrow shoulders as he drifted in and out of sleep.
Inevitably in his dreams, she was there…
Most of his memories were of the darkness, but one memory that he couldn't place told him of another life he had long ago.
A woman with dark hair, whom he called 'mother', would tell him stories while he sat in a bed, in a room with lights and colors. As he fell asleep she would kiss him goodnight and leave the room, always leaving one light on so that he wouldn't get scared.
After that memory everything was darkness.
He must have been four years old when his mother brought him to grandfather. He'd clung to her legs when the man came forward, a smile on his face that scared the boy to his core. Then his mother had turned to leave and as always he followed her…like the ducklings in some of his story books. A hand had clamped onto his shoulder and looking up he had seen a tall scary looking man in black robes. He called out for his mother but she'd just kept walking, out the door, and out of his life.
He'd cried for a long time, sitting on the floor crying for his mother, scared, and alone. When he couldn't cry anymore, couldn't speak or even whimper his grandfather had come forward again. He had nodded to one of the big scary men in the room and the man had grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. He'd flailed uselessly scratching the man's arm with his finger nails and kicking his legs.
"That is what you are forever going to do, fight," His grandfather had said gripping his chin hard and forcing the boy to meet his eyes.
"Listen to me boy…you are not a child anymore, today will be the last day you cry. If you cry you will be punished, if you show fear you will be punished, if you disobey you will be punished. You will train when I tell you, you will eat when I tell you and you will sleep when I tell you…only when you have my permission will you do anything."
The boy had whimpered a bit but still had no strength to cry.
"You live to serve me boy, it is why you were born, I am your master now and you are my heir."
"Mama," the boy had whimpered. His grandfather had curled his lips into a venomous smile, "You don't have a mother anymore... and after I train you, you yourself will make sure you don't have a father either."
That was when he had cried again and just like his grandfather had said…he was punished. The big man had taken him to this very cell and locked him in the dark. He'd cried and sobbed, begging to be let out of the darkness but they had left him in there. Finally he had hidden under the small bed in the room and stopped crying…he couldn't anymore, so he instead he thought of what his grandfather had said. The boy had a father…his grandfather hated his father. His father must have been a good man. He wanted to meet him now. After an hour his grandfather had come to retrieve him. For the remainder of that horrible day, his grandfather had given him orders. He'd eaten when ordered, bathed when ordered, and slept in the darkened room when ordered…since that horrible day he had never cried. Since that horrible day…he had never seen the light.
What was left of his childhood would be spent in darkness.
Age 5
He tensed as daggers hit the wall behind him, narrowly avoiding his body. He stood perfectly still, knowing what would happen if he disobeyed his grandfather's order's to remain at the wall. The five men in black continued to throw the sharp knives at his body. He felt traitorous tears push at his eyes and biting his lip he tried to ignore them. A knife sunk into the wall near his head with a dull 'thud' and he bit his lip harder, drawing blood trying not to scream. A knife struck the wall, slicing an inch into his arm in the process. He let out a whimper of pain and instantly arms grabbed him and tugged him to the dark room.
Two days later when they let him out they had put him at the wall again. Two knives sliced cuts into his skin…he didn't even bat an eye lash.
Age 6
He pounded uselessly against the coffins wooden lid, screaming and clawing at it. He ignored the pain of splinters digging into his finger tips as he clawed at the lid. Hot tears streamed down his face, and broken sobs filled his throat as he pounded against it.
"You are not allowed to cry boy," The radio in the coffin next to his head crackled as his grandfather spoke through it.
"Please…out," he begged.
"I didn't give you permission to speak boy…you will remain in there for another hour, until we bury your fear." With that the connection broke and the boy was forced to whimper in silence. After a few minutes he fell asleep, waking only until he heard the sound of shovels hitting the top of the coffin lid. He was lifted out of the coffin and pulled out of the ten foot deep hole they had put him in.
His grandfather gripped his shoulder with a smile.
"Good boy, we have buried your fears of claustrophobia yes," His grandfather asked. The boy franticly nodded his head.
"No complaints or words of fear," His grandfather asked. The boy shook his head.
"Good."
Age 7
The boy gritted his teeth as the bear sliced claws along his arm. Rolling away from it he turned to face the massive grizzly as it roared at him.
His grandfather's men had kept it for nearly two weeks in a cell, shocking it, throwing things at it…starving it.
Now mad with hunger the bear struck out at the only chance for food it had had in nearly a month. The boy spun out of the way of its claws again and backed against a wall.
The boy saw the sword that was tossed down from the observation deck above.
"Kill it," his grandfather ordered. The boy knew what would happen if he disobeyed and low so that his grandfather wouldn't hear he said, "I'm sorry."
Grabbing the sword he lunged towards the bear. At least the bear would be free in death…the boy however was trapped in his living hell of a life.
Age 8
"We're honestly supposed to listen to this little brat when the boss dies," One of the men asked. The boy stood silently at his grandfather's side when the assassin berated him, while inside he felt like he'd been kicked in the gut. His grandfather frowned.
"What is the problem with this boy taking over my league of assassins?"
"He's a brat sir, with all do respect are we supposed to take orders from him or change his diapers?" A few men chuckled in the huge congregation of black clad killers that were in his grandfather's headquarters. His grandfather calmly took out a gun and gestured to the boy. He calmly walked over to stand next to the assassin who had spoken and stared resolutely ahead. When the bullet grazed his arm and dug a tunnel into the edge of his shoulder he didn't flinch or move, like his grandfather had warned him against.
When his grandfather did the same to the assassin the other man howled in pain.
"This brat is a better killer then you," his grandfather said.
Then he shot the assassin in the head and those who had chuckled earlier. The other assassins murmured a bit before dragging there dead comrades out of the room.
The boy realized his grandfather had been complimenting him…that sickened him more then anything in the world.
Present Day- Age 9
The boy sat in his room, hiding once more in a new spot so he could sleep. This time he was beside the bookshelf that held all of the weapons his grandfather had given him. According to his grandfather the boy would soon be filling up a trophy room with weapons and belonging of the people he would kill once he led the League of Assassins. Earlier that day the league's new personal doctor had snuck the boy a birthday present. The new doctor, Doctor Cassidy, was the only one who showed the boy any form of kindness in the headquarters she looked so sad when she had to treat the boys for wounds he received in training. The pretty woman had only been there for a week, but the boy already liked her more then anyone else in his life, and that was before she'd given him the gift. So it was that the boy had a cookie in his stomach instead of just his standard meal of meat, vegetables, fruit, water, and milk. His grandfather wanted him healthy so he could lead his empire after all so treats were out of the question. He could still taste the cookie a little and he'd wished he'd saved it but the warm treat had smelt so good he couldn't resist. The cookie was already more then anything he'd received but the doctor had also given him his first set of clothes that weren't black. He was wearing them right now…since his grandfather would probably get rid of them the next day.
Today was his 9th birthday…a way of showing he'd survived 5 years of assassins training. It was also one year closer to his inevitable 10th birthday, when his grandfather fully intended to make the boy kill his first human target. The bear he'd been forced to kill, still haunted him in his dreams.
Make a wish…
His mother's voice drifted briefly through his memory of his fourth birthday; the day before he'd been brought to grandfather. If he'd known what would happen he might have wished to stay with his mother. Now though, he didn't even really think of her as his mother anymore. She'd abandoned him was what the assassins would say when grandfather wasn't around. After all he'd been through…he couldn't love that woman anymore.
Make a wish…
The boy leaned his head against the wall.
What did he wish for? On your birthday you could get a wish…he'd never wished before, maybe it would come true.
Closing his eyes he thought carefully. Then memories of his grandfather speaking of the person he hated and feared more then anything in the world surfaced, the horrible plans he made so that the man he spoke of could be the boys first victim…that could be his wish.
Quietly, he whispered, his voice quiet and shaky from disuse, "Wish for father…save me."
With that he fell asleep.
Doctor Kendra Cassidy carefully snuck out of the League of Assassins headquarters and made her way into the woods surrounding the manor like building. Removing the red wig and glasses she was wearing she pressed the tiny transmitter in her ear.
Miles away the transmission was answered in a dark cave filled with bats.
"Bat-Girl," the voice asked.
"It's me I've found Ra's and his new base," Cassandra Cain answered.
"Was your mission to infiltrate the League successful?"
"Yes, I know why they've been quiet for so long…Bruce, you won't believe this…"
-to be continued-
