Lilly. That was her name.

I'd been accompanied by three men back to the surface. It didn't take us long to get to the alley where I had told the girl to wait for me. She was crouched behind a stack of wooden crates, shivering in the chilly air. I'd given her my other coat, smaller but much better to ward off the cold. She heard me and the men approach and stood up with a cautious look on her small face.

"You're back!" she breathed out a sigh of relief.

I smiled a little and nodded, "I found your daddy, and you can go be with him now."

Her weary face pulled into a smile, but it quickly faded as she noticed the men standing behind me.

"Who are they?" She took a step behind me, hiding from them. I couldn't blame her. They were rough looking men with guns strapped over their shoulders and waists. You don't have to be a 9 year old to be scared of them.

I knelt down to her level and said reassuringly, "These are the men who are gonna help get you to your dad."

She looked around me and glanced at the men, still unsure.

"Don't worry," I said, grabbing her attention, "I know they look mean, but they're okay, I promise. They're gonna take you to your dad, okay?" I didn't care what the men thought of me saying that. Thankfully, they didn't say anything. I wanted Lilly to feel safe… even if I wasn't entirely sure either of us were.

She looked down at the ground for a long moment, then nodded slightly.

"Okay…"

I smiled at her again and stood, keeping a hand on her shoulder so she'd be close.

"Alright, let's go," I told the three men.

One of them nodded and stepped forward, reaching for the girl.

I stepped in front of the girl defensively and shot him a glare, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm taking her to where her daddy is," he sneered, "These two will take you where you need to go."

I heard the poor thing whimper behind me, and I internally cursed the men for undoing any sense of security she might have felt with this situation.

"No, I'm going, too. I need to make sure you keep your end of the deal," I said with more stubbornness than courage.

The same man took a step forward and dug his fingers into my shoulder.

"Lady, I don't know why in the hell the boss agreed to this, but I follow his orders. And those orders were: I take the kid to the hole we keep the police in, and these two take you to where you need to be."

Gritting my teeth I looked the man in the eyes defiantly, ignoring the sharp pain of his digits pressing into my shoulder.

After a moment of thought, however, I saw I had no choice. They didn't want me to know where the police were being kept, that was obvious. They still thought I might try to run and inform what police were left hiding in the city. Even if I were involved in that, I'd never risk breaking the deal and putting the girl and her father in danger- but I'm sure they didn't think of it that way. At this point, all I could really do was go with what they gave me.

My face lowered and I nodded, saying softly, "Aright, just… give me one second."

The goon's grip loosened slowly and he stepped back.

Turning around, I saw the utter confusion in the little girl's face. I knelt down in front of her, but I couldn't really bring myself to say anything.

"What.. What do they mean? Where are they taking you? Why can't you come with us?" Her voice was tense, close to breaking.

I sighed and looked her in the eyes, "I can't go with you. The deal was that you will be taken to be with your dad."

"But…" she trailed off, obviously not ready with any other plausible protest.

I felt somewhat flattered from the fact that she had grown so close to me in such a short time. So close that she assumed I'd be coming with her to be with her father.

I heard the man behind me clear his throat loudly. Sighing, I put my hands on the girl's slumping shoulders, "Look, you gotta go now. I promise you'll be okay. You get to be with your dad."

The girl stared at the ground, water pooling in her eyes.

I leaned closer and said, "Hey, you never told me your name."

She sniffed, "It's Lilly."

I slowly, if not a little awkwardly, put my arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. She immediately hugged me back tightly. This lasted for just a brief moment, then I pulled away and looked at her one last time.

"You're gonna okay, Lilly. I promise."

"Will I see you again?" she asked.

"… Of course," I lied to her, a soft smile on my face.

After that, I stood and turned to the men. "Okay we're ready."

"Sure you don't need some tissues first?" One of the men quipped.

The same man from before stepped forward again and grabbed Lilly by the shoulder. Before he could pull her away, I grabbed his arm with all the strength my own arm had.

"She will be taken to her father, and she will not be harmed," I hissed through clenched teeth. None of this was courage. It was all anger and fear rising in me, trying to somehow reassure myself I was leaving Lilly in the right hands.

The man gave me a sardonic smile and replied, "Like I said, I follow the boss's orders." With that he shoved past me and began to pull Lilly down the alley.

Her face was horrified, but she was brave enough to hold back her tears and follow the man, constantly looking back at me for some sort of reassurance.

I was going to wave when one of the two other thugs grabbed me in the same rough manner and started to pulled me in the opposite direction. I felt hard metal press to my back, and I assumed that was one of their guns. In just a few seconds we were on another street, and Lilly was out of my sight.

I prayed to whatever deity there might be listening that I'd done the right thing.

A/N:

Made this its own separate chapter so if you ever re-read and find this part to be tedious or just uninteresting, you can just head on over to the next chapter!

Cuz who wants to read a chapter with no Bane and some adorable little 9 year old? Pssshhhh.

Um. Wow, I usually have a lot to say about stuff I post. Explanations and whatnot, but that's it really. Hope you're all enjoying it so far! Next chapter will hopefully be longer.