Rose

Chapter 1: It Starts

It was one of those nights that no one wants to be out. It was cold and damp, the air was filled with the disgusting smell of trash, but it was our usual night to go out and have a family dinner. Mom was very adamant about us spending time together especially after dad died. I understood her process of grieving by distracting, herself but I prefer to be in my room, drawing or reading.

It had been about six months since the Gotham City PD came to the door to let us know about the accident. Dad was working late when something caused a massive explosion that engulfed the lab. While some claimed the "accident" had actually been the work of Gotham's notorious criminal, The Joker, sadly it was declared just an unfortunate accident.

"Rosie, how was your day at school dear?" Mom asked, "Did you have that science test today that you were so worried about?"

"It was school, nothing new," I said," The science test was cancelled because Mr. William was sick, so I have to wait till tomorrow."

"Have you made any new…" Mom was trying to ask but was cut off by a car suddenly stopping in front of us. It was so unexpected, mom almost rear-ended them.

"Jesus, are you okay?," Mom asked, " People really need to work on their driving!"

"It's Gotham, Mom, what do you expect?" I asked even though it really wasn't a question. Right as mom was about to answer, two men all dressed in black from top to bottom, got out of the car in front of us.

One was really tall with what seemed to be a scar across his eye, while the other one was short and chubby. They approached mom's side of the car, and tapped on the window.

"Yes, what can I do for you gentlemen?" Mom asked warily. They just stared down at both of us, making my skin crawl, and finally after a few minutes they spoke.

"I am going to have to ask you to get out of your car," said the tall one with a mean tone "We have some important questions for you about your husband's work." At the mention of dad and his work, mom's face turned from worried to frightened. She looked at me and told me to stay in the car.

The men and mom talked for what seemed like an hour and the whole time she never once moved from in front of the door. I strained to listen the whole time, so I only caught parts. Finally mom got back in the car, immediately locked the door, and drove off.

"Well what was that about?" I asked after a few moments of quiet.

"Nothing, honey," She said without looking at me, "just some of your dad's old work buddies checking up on us.". When we got to the restaurant she seemed almost back to normal. We did our typical dinner small talk, and after an hour and a half, we were finally on our way home. The ride home felt like forever, mostly because I just wanted to be home already, but mostly because the ride home was silent.

"Mom, who really were those guys?" I asked as we pulled into the driveway, "and don't lie to me. I am 16 and not a little girl anymore."

"Rose…," Mom sighed, "You are right, those guys were asking about what dad was working on, and if I knew where the research was."

"Why would they want to know? He was just a normal lab technician, right? Just working on medicine?" I asked.

"Your father, well he, he was more than that. He was actually on the brink to uncovering a serum," Mom said, "one that could cure anything and give the recipient super genes."

"You mean like Superman genes?" I asked confused. She nodded and we both went into the house.

As we were getting to the front door, we both noticed it was open just the slightest. Mom made a noise and pushed me behind her so she entered first. At first everything seemed fine, but as we got to the living room and study area, it looked like a tornado ripped through.

"My God, what happened?" I asked. Mom didn't answer all she did was pull her phone out and called the police. While she was on the phone, I took a look around the area and noticed it looked like someone was looking for something, mostly because it did not look like anything was missing at all.

"The GCPD should be here in a few minutes," Mom yelled, "make sure you don't touch anything."

The police arrived shortly after and went through taking pictures and asking questions.

It wasn't until almost three hours after we got home that I was allowed to go to my room. I gave mom a kiss and headed upstairs for my night time rituals. After I was done with my shower I realized someone had been up in my room, and apparently they still were.

I was coming out of the shower and heard voices coming from my closet. I probably should have called mom, but instead I grabbed my baseball bat and walked slowly to the door. As I got closer to the door, the voices got louder and louder, and when I finally arrived at the door, I took a deep breath and opened it.

Standing inside my closet was a tall man in all black with a mask and a younger man in a yellow, red, and green outfit. After a moment I realized exactly who they were.

"Omg, you… you are Batman, and that means you are Robin," I said excitedly and then the realization, "Wait why are you in my closet in my house?"