Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or Christian Bale, or anything related to either them or DC comics! I am not making any money off of this! It's merely for my own entertainment, and hopefully to entertain others in the process! Thank you!

(A/N: For this next part, I didn't feel like translating everything from French to English and so on and so forth. But, logically natives of France would speak French to each other, not English. So please, use your imaginations and realize, that though written in English, obviously they'd be speaking in French. Kthx!)

...||October 30, 1981. Marseilles, France. City Orphanage, Public District No. 4||...

Two years and they still talked about that tragic day at the Abbey, about her miraculous survival. Gone were the private Christian School lessons. Gone were the welcoming, loving, and proud faces of the Sisters who'd helped raise her. Here she only knew sadness, and torment. Not just from the children, but from the recesses of her own mind.

She couldn't stop dreaming of fire. Every time she closed her eyes it was everywhere, licking at the edge of her reach but never touching her. Making her temperature rise and her blood hot, but never actually burning her. There were few nights went by that she didn't wake from a dream with her sheets soaked from perspiration, and also from a more shameful side effect of her fear.

Not only did the children pick on her mercilessly, but many of her teachers looked upon her in similar loathing as well. She couldn't help it if she was able to point out a flaw or two in a teacher's instruction. It wasn't her fault that she could see the broader scope of Galileo's and Einstein's theory of relativity and space; that she could define just how small and minuscule we all really are in the grand scheme of things; the universe. She only wanted to learn, to help, to grow. But she seemed squandered at every turn. All because of that stupid fire.

She still prayed every night, and occasionally visited the old Abbey, which was still in reconstruction. There she was welcomed with hugs, and tea and cookies. In those small moments she wasn't a freak, just a young girl with a gift. A blessing from God just like any child brought into this world. In those moments she remembered women greater than her who had faced trials much worse than hers, and survived, all for a greater cause. To change the world. Putting a fine point on it however, a lot of her hope she only maintained to make the Sisters happy. They had taken her in, raised her, taught her. She didn't want to let them down, she owed them that much.

-----

With All Hallows eve looming near, the entire orphanage was in a tizzy. Kids deciding on costumes, running rampant with the idea of how many sweets their pillow cases and candy bags would rake in. Even Barbara had found herself looking forward to it. She decided she wanted to dress up as a doctor. It was simple enough. White coat, pocket full of pens, and a Stethoscope the Orphanage's resident nurse had loaned her.

The nurse had seen Barbara on many occasions. Scrapes, bruises, black eyes, on one occasion a broken wrist. She often caught herself thinking, though, that never once had she treated Barbara for a common cold. No spot of flu or fever. No sniffles, or ear infections. Every time she treated little Babs was only for wounds of some sort or another. She had taken pity on the girl, tried to take care of her as much as she could from her position of little power in the west wing.

Barbara had been so ecstatic over the medical instrument around her neck, she'd spent most of this Sunday morning in her dormitory with the Stethoscope plugged into her ears, breathing into it, listening to her own heart beat, holding it up to the walls. Having such a grand time that she'd forgotten to remove it when she ventured to the playground that resided in the courtyard of the Orphanage. She was minding her own business, caught in her own world of beauty and light and sound, that she ignored the danger she sensed tickling at the back of her neck.

She had found a spot in the grassy area of the courtyard and was kneeling down, stethoscope pressed to the ground, listening to the earth worms slithering underneath. Her eyes were closed and she had a soft smile on her face. She looked so innocent in that moment, so surreal, and pure. So enraptured in this world of sound. Lost in such a wonderful place, she hadn't noticed the playground go quiet, nor that most of the children had retreated indoors.

A hard kick to her stomach harshly jogged her from her momentary bliss when the air was forced painfully from her lungs. From her back, Barbara looked up only to see a pair of hands lift her from the ground by her shirt only to shove her back towards the wall. It was Enrie; a vicious 14 year old with a juvenile record as tall as she was. He'd had his sights set on Barbara ever since she'd come here. At first Barbara had tried talking to him on several occasions. The boy had seemed alone, just like herself, and she had tried reaching out to him. She didn't realize Enrie was alone because he chose to be that way. A very bad mistake on her part, for as far as she could guess, he'd mistaken her would be kindness as permission to dog her til her dying day. She made it a point to avoid him at all costs, these days.

Barbara swallowed hard and slowly backed away from him, her cherished stethoscope lying bent and forgotten on the ground. "I don't want any trouble, Enrie. I will go, and leave you be. Please?" She implored him, stretching her hands to him in supplication.

Enrie only smirked and grabbed one of her outstretched hands roughly by the wrist. "I think you do want trouble. I think you've wanted it since the day you came here." He looked her over with a glint in his eyes that made her shiver in disgust.

Barbara swallowed hard yet again. He was backing her into a corner, which she didn't realize until she felt the intersecting wall press against her arm and by then it was too late. Her eyes widened and she tried to run but the older boy blocked her in with his arm. He was so close she could feel his breath on her face. She took a shallow breath in, trying to swallow down the lump of fear in her throat, trying to not throw up at the way he pressed his face against her neck and inhaled deep through his nose.

"Please, Enrie, I beg you to-"

"Beg me to what?" He cut her off. "I haven't even begun to make you beg yet!" He put his hand in her hair, and another wave of nausea threatened to bring her to her knees.

One of the windows facing the courtyard on the third floor opened suddenly, and Nurse Helena poked her head out, yelling down at them, "Enrie Angiers you leave that poor girl be this instant!" Barbara had never heard such anger in the woman's voice before. She sounded murderous.

Enrie glanced behind himself, and taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Barbara lifted her knee, connecting hard with a certain part of Enrie's anatomy. When he cringed over grabbing for his wounded pride, she dodged him and took off running. He buckled his pain and slowly clambered up to chase after her.

Barbara made her way for the chain link fence which stretched along the entire back length of the courtyard. He panic began to rise when she discovered there was no gate. There was, however, a very small break between the fence and the building. She just may be smallenough to squeeze through. Nearly free from the confined space, her wrist was wrenched back as Enrie reached and grabbed hold of her jacket. Barbara screamed but managed to roll herself out of her coat, leaving it in Enrie's hand.

The boy grunted in murderous rage and threw the jacket on the ground, furiously. When he heard the whistle blow behind him, an officer coming out the door with the nurse right behind, Enrie squinted his eyes in a hateful glare. It was only a moment til the glare turned into a smirk. No way was he going back to that detention center. At least not before he got that little bitch back for ruining his sport.

Enrie turned, grabbed hold of the grating and, from years of experience no doubt, he deftly climbed over the seven foot high fence, making it appear easy. He then crudely cupped his crotch with one hand and gave the "pigs" and the nurse a "two fingered salute" with the other. He then turned, taking off in the direction the little girl had ran.

-----

Barbara was crying. The tears streaming down her face froze to her cheeks as the cold October winds stung her face. She could barely see past the water in her eyes, and she didn't rightly know where she was going, only that she wanted to be as far away from that orphanage as possible. Her lack of direction became dangerously evident when she took a wrong turn which led her right down a dead alley. She hadn't even really noticed it was a blind alley until she'd almost run dead into the wall.

Shocked, Barbara stammered back and turned to exit the alley when she caught sound of fast approaching footfalls. There was a set of gated stairs that led down to a basement door of the building next to her. There were trash bags all around and she nearly gagged from the smell of rotting refuse. Disregarding everything, she jumped over the gate, practically fell down the stairs before she pressed herself to the corner, hugging her legs tightly to her chest. She was fighting with herself now. Part of her was terrified of this cold dark trap she'd cowered in, another part was telling her that hiding meant surviving, and even another part was screaming at her to get up and keep running. Barbara closed her eyes, hugged her legs tighter and rocked subtly back and forth. She shivered almost violently and it was only partly from the cold.

He'd seen a flash disappear down this alley, he knew it, only when he turned there had been nothing there. "Hide and seek is it, now?" Barbara heard him chuckle softly, making a cold shiver race up her spine. "Just so happens to be my favorite game." He continued and she closed her eyes, praying to God to make her invisible. To turn her to stone. Make her a bird to fly away. Save her from this young madness.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are?" His sing song voice reverberated off the alley walls, making Barbara want to curl further into herself. She heard his footsteps get closer, and then stop and she held her breath.

"You know, it is very dark in this alley. Perhaps I should... Blaze it up." She heard the tell tale sound of a Zippo clicking open and a flame flickering to life. Sheer terror rose like bile in her throat and she screamed. Quickly she stood and attempted to run out of the stairwell when there was suddenly a wall of boy in her path. She ran into him hard and fell back to the ground. He had the lighter in front of him as she crabwalked back against the wall, like a caged rabbit.

The evil smirk was back on his face, "What's the matter little girl? You're not afraid of a little fire are you?" Enrie moved the lighter close, trying to set part of her clothing on fire. As soon as the flame got within arms reach of the girl, however, it sizzled out as if a drop of water had just fallen on the flame. Barbara swallowed hard when Enrie stared at the lighter and scratched his head. The flame of a real Zippo could withstand up to 35 mph winds. Slight movement would not blow it out. Barbara used the wall as leverage as she walked her hands up it to pull herself to a standing position.

A soft thunderclap reverberated in the sky and she looked up through the buildings. When had the grey clouds rolled in?

She tried to implore Enrie's good side again. Leave it to her, in the most dire of situations to always try to see the good in everyone. "Please, Enrie, don't do-"

"Shut up!" He put his hand around her throat, using it to hold her against the wall. She tried to beat his hand away, but he only gripped tighter when she did. He ignited the lighter again and once more attempted to set the hem of her shirt on fire. Just like the last time, however, the flame sizzled out the second it got within a foot from the girl. Trying a different approach, Enrie brought the lighter to the hem of her shirt and then tried igniting it. The wheel sparked but never produced a flame.

Enrie looked up into her eyes then before whispering, "What the hell are you? Fucking witch!" He roughly grabbed Barbara by her hair to pull her out of the stairwell with him. With his hand still gripped painfully in her hair, he pushed her down to her knees and pulled her head back in a painful angle.

"Enrie, why are you doing this?" she tried to implore him one last time.

Suddenly, he slapped Barbara so hard she went sprawling on the alley floor with a bleeding split on her cheek. Why the hell did she always have to say his name that way? To look at him with those eyes? Like she was trying to pull something from his dark and demented soul? There was nothing there left to save, so why the hell did she keep trying? It drove him insane! Like the look she was giving him now; a mix between hurt dear and lost kitten. It made him want to gauge her eyes out just so she'd stop looking at him like that.

Enrie licked his lips and wiped his hands over his face. When the hell had it started to rain? It wasn't hard rain, just sprinklings. Bad sign. He had to end this now, had to. She'd taken some of his power away, and he was going to get it back. One way or another, he would take that power back. Fuck the pleading in her eyes.

He dragged her by her hair again, shoving her on top of a pile of garbage bags. He picked up a discarded piece of newspaper and once more ignited the Zippo. He held it to the edge of the newspaper and it flared to brilliant crimson life. Barbara was terrified but also mesmerized by the sight.

"What's that line you God-mongers say?" The fire reflected ominously in his eyes as he stared at the dancing flame. He then turned to look at her, their eyes locked. "Oh, that's right... Earth to earth... Ashes to ashes." At that he threw the flaming paper into the debris and the garbage quickly ignited, creating a growing inferno.

Once she realized his intentions, Barbara tried to pull herself out from the mountain of garbage he'd thrown her into, but the flames made fast fork of the assorted refuse. As a natural reaction, Barbara backed away from the fire until once again she found herself cowering in a corner, waiting to be overtaken and destroyed by her greatest fear. She closed in on herself, burying her face in her arms, curling as far into a ball as she could manage. She waited for the painful and bitter end. But all she did was wait. When she dared open her eyes and raise her head, she gasped and cried out when all she could see was fire all around her. She was trapped in the middle of it. The wispy tendrils looked as though they were desperately trying to reach her, but were stopped by some invisible barrier holding them back. The flames licked and whipped like fingers yearning to touch her. She could do naught but stare in bewilderment and horror.

The rain grew thicker, heavier, turning into a welcomed onslaught. Barbara tentatively stood up and examined herself with her hands. She felt her face, the pendant around her neck, her clothing, her hair. Everything was intact. Unscorched and unscathed. She gazed from the dying fire, to her hands, all the while asking in her head over and over, What am I?

The rain was coming down heavier now. She could hear the drops sizzling as they touched the fires and embers. Above everything, however, she heard an outraged cry of, "NO!" which she could only imagine had come from Enrie. Barbara looked up where she saw him pointing at her accusingly, "You should be dying, you fucking witch! I burned you alive! You're dead! I... I killed you!"

Everything suddenly seemed to slow down, as if she were apart from herself, watching everything in super slow motion. Enrie lunged at her with a knife he procured from seemingly out of nowhere with a maniacal war cry ushering from his throat. Barbara braced herself for his strike, instinctively bringing her arms up to prepare for the attack. There was a loud clap of thunder above them that left them both deaf, just as a wicked bolt of lightning lanced down from the heavens. The bolt struck Enrie hard, the metal knife in his outstretched hand acting as a sort of conduit for the energy.

It wasn't until the bolt receded that time seemed to return to its normal flow. Barbara looked on in horror as the boys eyes turned to solid white, and he fell to the ground, lifeless. It was too much. The sounds, the sight, the smell of fire, ash and burnt flesh. Barbara turned away from the scene where she collapsed to her hands and knees and expelled the contents of her stomach. She'd never been so terrified in her life. Terrified for Enrie, for herself.

When she heard the police sirens in the distance she panicked. Somehow she felt as if it were her fault, and the guilt washing over her was unbearable. She didn't want to hurt him, even if he was trying to kill her. She only wanted him to let her go. She never wished him harm. It was all too much. She was overwhelmed, terrified, hysterical, not to mention undoubtedly suffering from shock. So when the sirens grew louder, the fire department responding to the smoke someone had obviously seen from earlier, Barbara came up with the only logical conclusion she could see in her current state. She made for the mouth of the alley, looked both ways down the street, chose one direction and started running. No one was chasing her this time but she ran as if afraid to stop. She had no direction, no road, only that she had to get as far away as possible from this place of terror and death. She needed to get lost, for that was how she felt. So lost. So afraid. So alone. Please, God! Mother! Anyone listening to me! Please!... Help me!

-----

He'd been watching the scene play out with detachment and speculation. Not to mention with a smirk that grew wider on his face when he'd watched her gifts start to truly open up. Like a caged lion, she'd struck out at her attacker. Even if she didn't know it, her mind did. Give her time, he said to himself. Let her lose herself like she seems so desperately to want to. Let her feel that utter desperation that comes with such a choice. Then you will claim her, and she will be yours. By your side. Making the world a better place for many more generations to come. For now he would stay in the shadows, just as he'd always done for centuries.

(Another chappie done! Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Cheers! =^.^=)