Again, a big thanks to everyone who's reviewed, alerted, or favourited this story.

I promise you there will be more of Jack soon!

A random little sidenote: Samantha Douglas, who was mentioned in the first chapter as being Oliver's new girlfriend, is supposed to be the younger sister of Brian Douglas-you know, the poor soul who pretended to be Batman and was caught by the Joker? We can only wonder what happened to him. Now, that's not really important to the story at the moment, but later she might make an appearance.

"What happened with you?" a girl asked as soon as Jeannie walked into class the next morning.

"I had a wrestling match with a tree," Jeannie said. She dropped her books loudly on the desk and dropped into her seat, massaging her temples. What with her parents' two-hour lecture on the dangers of Gotham and all the perils a girl of her age could get into when she was alone at night, she had been awake well past midnight. She didn't need to worry about not being able to catch up on sleep, though—she was grounded for the next week.

The girl, whose name Jeannie didn't remember, looked as though she didn't know whether to believe her or not. "I guess you lost?"

"Obviously." Jeannie felt a prickle on the back of her neck and lifted her head to see Jack Napier staring at her. She offered him a small smile, but he didn't return it. Her heart sank. Well, if he wanted to be that way…

"You're Jeannie, right?" the girl asked. She had long brown hair and bright green eyes.

Jeannie nodded.

"I'm Emily Nashton. Nice to meet you." The girl grinned widely, exposing silver braces. "I've always wanted to talk to you, but I never got the chance until now."

Jeannie smiled in return. She'd made a new friend without even trying. Perhaps she wasn't so unlucky after all.

Jack didn't look at her for the rest of the day. This bothered Jeannie more than it should have. Her curiosity was fully awakened now; why was he wandering around the forest in the middle of the night with all those cuts on his face? He surely couldn't have tripped and fallen too…could he?

"You got a crush on Jack Napier or something?" Emily asked her at the end of last period. "You've been staring at him all day."

"N—no, I don't," Jeannie stammered. "He's just…mysterious."

"Mysterious is right," Emily said. "Last year he got caught bringing a knife to school. He was suspended for a week, but it was enough to make all the kids leave him alone. He used to get bullied a lot, especially when we started seventh grade. He was called Scarface for a while—original, huh?—but after a month or so everyone stopped. No one knows why and the bullies refuse to speak about it." Emily was grinning at the gossip. "Maybe he cut them—"

"Ugh, stop it!" Jeannie exclaimed. "I already know Gotham has a high crime rate; I don't need you making me feel worse!"

Emily laughed. "Sorry. But you know, it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Maybe it's just exaggerated since it's such a big city."

"Maybe," Jeannie shrugged. But then she thought of the drunk men the previous night and wasn't so sure.

The rest of the week passed slowly. It was a good thing her teachers were giving her lots of homework—being grounded, she had nothing to do otherwise.

The last day of her punishment turned out to be bright and sunny. Jeannie was allowed to sit outside in the backyard, and she lounged on a chair, feeling the gentle spring breeze ruffle her hair. She was feeling oddly content. School had settled into a more comfortable routine ever since she had become friends with Emily. The only mystery now was Jack Napier: he hadn't so much as looked at her for the rest of the week. Jeannie was more stung by this than she cared to admit.

She had just opened up a fashion magazine she'd stolen from Rebecca when the doorbell rang in the distance. "I'll get it!" she heard Harriet cry. Jeannie grinned and strained her ears. Harriet never had visitors.

"Zach!" her sister cried. Jeannie's grin grew even wider. Despite only having known him for four months, Harriet and Zach were dating in earnest. It was a good thing Mr. and Mrs. Kerr didn't let them be alone in a room together—Jeannie suspected she would become an aunt if that happened.

The back door swung open and Harriet stepped out with Zach in tow. "Oh...it's you," she said to Jeannie in a voice that implied Get out of here.

Jeannie rolled her eyes and stood up. "Don't let me disturb you," she said, grabbing her magazine and going back inside.

Mrs. Kerr was spying on the couple outside. "Mom, take a breather," Jeannie said, patting her on the shoulder. "They're not gonna go at it in the backyard."

"I know," Mrs. Kerr said as her face turned slightly pink. "But this is Harriet's first boyfriend…"

"And her last too, probably," Jeannie remarked cheerfully.

Before Mrs. Kerr could chastise her, Liam stuck his head around the door. "I'm going over to the bookstore," he said. "My professor says that he'll give extra credit to anyone who can intelligently argue against the author's points."

"What book?" Mrs. Kerr asked.

"Philosophical Issues and Criminological Theory."

Jeannie suddenly had an idea. "Liam, can I go with you?" she asked. "I've hardly been out of the house this weekend and I'm running out of books…"

"But you're grounded," Liam said.

Jeannie turned to her mother. "Please, Mom? I'll stay with Liam all the time."

Mrs. Kerr sighed. "Fine. You're paying for whatever books you buy, though."

"I will," Jeannie said excitedly as she rushed up to her room to get her piggy bank. From downstairs, she heard Liam groan.

Five minutes later, the two of them set off for the bookstore. Jeannie was surprised when Liam didn't turn onto the main road; instead, he was heading straight for the forest. "I thought we were going to the bookstore," she said.

"We are. This is just a shortcut." Liam headed down a path that Jeannie hadn't previously noticed. Then again, it had been dark when she had last come here.

The woods seemed much friendlier in daylight. Birds chirped and a brook ran merrily beside them. Jeannie saw the small hill where she had tumbled down and where Jack had found her. He must have been walking down the path and heard her crying.

"Now," Liam said when the trees began to thin, "We're going into one of the most dangerous parts of the city—"

"I thought Gotham itself was one big danger?"

He pretended she hadn't interrupted. "—So walk fast, keep your head down and don't look at anyone."

"Sure," said Jeannie, feeling rather excited. "Are we stopping here for you to do a drug deal or something?"

Liam groaned. "See, this is exactly why I didn't want my kid sister tagging along."

"I'm thirteen!" Jeannie protested.

They emerged from the path onto another street. "Remember—keep your head down," Liam warned.

That didn't mean Jeannie couldn't look around, though. She made sure she was keeping up with her brother's brisk pace before she stole a glance around her.

It was as if they were in an entirely different place. Grove Street was full of large suburban houses with well-kept lawns. This street (a dilapidated sign informed them it was called River Street) didn't even have lawns. The houses all seemed to be strung together in one crumbling, red-brick line. Most driveways didn't have cars and the paint jobs on the houses were peeling. Jeannie could hear people cursing, televisions blaring, and doors slamming. The smell of cigarette smoke filled the air.

"Hey, little girl!" a slurred voice yelled from one of the doorsteps. Jeannie lifted her eyes up to see an overweight, balding man wearing a muscle shirt and smoking a cigar. "Wanna come play with me and my buddies?"

"Don't look," Liam hissed.

Someone catcalled from another house and Jeannie felt her cheeks flaming. In order to distract herself, she pretended that she was the heroine in a mystery novel and she was going to investigate the scene of a crime.

Her thoughts distracted her sufficiently until they came within earshot of a man yelling. "That will teach you to waste money, you little swine!" There was the sound of something being slammed against a wall.

Jeannie couldn't help it: she turned, and her eyes widened when she saw a man towering over the hunched form of Jack Napier. Jack was pinned up against a wall while the man—his father?—spat and cursed at him, calling him names Jeannie had only heard when she'd accidentally watched an R-rated movie.

"You waste ten dollars to buy a goddamned book?" the man screamed. His fist came down again and he slapped Jack hard across the face. "That'll teach you the value of goddamned money!"

"Liam," Jeannie whispered, tugging on her brother's sleeve. "That boy is in my class!"

Liam barely glanced at them. "Unfortunate," he said.

Jeannie couldn't believe her brother didn't care more about this. A fourteen-year-old boy was being abused in broad daylight and he wasn't even worried about it? Mr. Kerr was supposed to be a police officer. Where was her brother's sense of compassion?

They had already passed the house, but the man's yells still reached Jeannie's ears. Her stomach turned when she replayed the memory of the man hitting Jack. No wonder he had looked so injured when he had found her in the woods…no wonder he had been in the woods in the first place.

Shaking slightly, Jeannie finally came to the realization that her life wasn't, in fact, the catastrophe she made it out to be.

Not one bit.

"Liam," she said when they'd finally arrived at the bookstore, "Do we have to go back that way? Isn't there some other—"

"It's the only way I know of, Jeannie," he told her. "We'd have to cross one of the main streets otherwise, and I was nearly run over yesterday."

She sighed and gathered up her new books in her arms. She didn't know what she'd do, what she'd say, if Jack saw her.

They were at the bookstore for half an hour—long enough for Jack to have either run away or go inside—but Jeannie still felt unsettled as they set off back the way they'd come. The sun was just starting to set over Gotham, illuminating the massive glass skyscrapers and casting a brilliant glow over the city.

Liam led the way again; hurrying Jeannie down the sidewalk and concealing his bag inside his jacket in case there were thieves around. Jeannie was so determined on not looking up this time that she barely noticed when she nearly walked right into someone else.

"S—sorry," she squeaked in spite of herself. She automatically glanced up and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized the brown eyes and curly blond hair of Jack Napier. He was holding a cloth to his cheek and his clothes were ripped.

Time stood still for a split second as they stared at one another—surprised blue eyes meeting cold brown ones— then Liam said, "Come on, Jeannie!" and the moment passed.

Jeannie didn't turn back around, but she could feel Jack's gaze boring into her. She wondered, yet again, what exactly compelled her to this boy.