(A/N: More of "Robin's Reckoning" flashbacks~

OH one more note, I know some of this stuff she says and the way she acts is a bit… well, too intelligent for a five-year-old, but the intelligence is all part of her… 'gifts' *yes PLURAL* No more give a ways on that part, just read and Enjoy~)

Bruce was rarely there the rest of the week so I hung out with Dick. We talked a lot and I learned stuff about him and he about me. We also kept exploring the house and making his room as much his as possible.

It still sucked not having Bruce around as often, though. I was used to seeing him and even spending time with him just about every night… I was beginning to feel a bit abandoned, and I knew Dick was, too… After a while, Alfred even noticed.

"Those poor kids. Bruce has been out too often recently. Dick will think Bruce is always gone and Kristi… I hope she doesn't begin to feel abandoned. She's so used to him being around more often…" Alfred was thinking… and his thoughts got me thinking.

Why WAS Bruce gone so often recently? Was it work or that something else I'd been assuming for a long time? Was he hiding something? If so, what on earth could it be?

I bet, if anyone, Alfred would know.

"Alfred?" I asked him one evening while he was cooking supper.

"Yes Miss Kristi?" he replied, still working over the oven.

"Why is Bruce gone so often recently?" I questioned him, then, I concentrated, seeing if I could read his mind willingly.

His thoughts did end up answering before he could.

"I knew that she'd begin to worry… He really needs to stop going out as –" he began to think and then he suddenly stopped. I knew my signal hadn't been interrupted, but Alfred had simply cut off his thought process.

"He's been really busy at work recently –" Alfred started to explain and I got an angry look on my face, cutting him off.

"You're lying and I know it! YOU know that I know too and you still do it! WHY are you lying Alfred?" I asked him, shocked and upset. I rose from my chair and stormed off while Alfred called behind me.

"Miss Kristi! Please, you have to understand –" was all I heard before I got to my room and forcefully slammed the door behind me. The frame shook with my anger (I even thought it was going to break) and the utter silence afterwards dared anyone to try and come after me.

No one did.

…. …. …. …. ….

I stayed in my room the rest of the day. When I first went in there, I sat on my bed and cried. I just didn't understand WHY he wouldn't tell me. It aggravated me… but it also sort of scared me. After a bit, I ended up going to sleep and I slept for a good few hours.

When I woke up, I felt someone rubbing my back. and whoever it was sure felt a lot like Bruce.

"Kristi…" Bruce said softly, "I know you're awake."

I groaned, shutting my eyelids tighter. "Go away." I told him firmly. I felt his hand disappear and I waited a few seconds before opening my eyes. Maybe he had –

I jumped a bit when I DID open my eyes. Bruce hadn't left; he'd just moved to kneel beside my bed, his chin rested on the edge of my mattress.

"I'd decided it would be best if I spoke with Dick before I talked with you about my… absence recently. I knew that he'd be easier to earn forgiveness from since he hasn't really known me as long and doesn't know how I normally act… which would give me more time to speak with you," Bruce explained to me. "I know I've been gone so often recently, but now I'm here to talk."

I suddenly bolted upright in my bed. "Why are you gone so often? I don't understand it. Are you… are you… abandoning me?"

Bruce's face was utterly shocked. "Lord, if I'd known she'd have THIS sort of reaction –"

"What on earth would give you that idea?" Bruce asked his shock still very evident in his voice.

"Well… whenever I asked Alfred where you were, and also before I heard him think something along those lines," I told Bruce in a whisper. Then I raised my voice a bit. "You still didn't answer my first question."

"You know, you're too smart and observant for a five year-old," Bruce told me seriously.

"You still haven't answered my question…" I said slowly, my aggravation seeping into my tone.

Bruce sighed. "I guess there is no way to get around this…" he muttered under his breath, looking at the ground. Then, he raised his head to look at me and continued, "Kristi… I've been gone… because I –"

Of course, just then, at the worst possible time, Alfred came into the room and Bruce stopped.

"Master Bruce, Luscious is on the phone for you," he said and Bruce looked up at him.

"Can you tell him to hold? I –" he began to say but I cut him off.

"No Bruce, just go," I told him sternly, trying not to let my sorrow sink into my tone.

Bruce looked at me. "Kristi, I can stay for a moment –" he tried again but I only cut him off a second time.

"GO," I all but snapped at him, "I didn't want to talk to you anyways…"

Bruce looked a bit hurt, but he left. Alfred lingered for a second in the door way.

"Miss Kristi, do you want to talk about anything?" he asked me and I just shook my head, burying it in my pillow.

I heard Alfred sigh. "I came in at a bad time… I should have told Luscious Master Bruce was busy…" he thought. Then, I heard the door click behind him and he was gone.

…. …. …. …. ….

Bruce never did finish the sentence he stopped on from that day. Instead, he grew closer to Dick over the next week and farther from me. I hated it.

When he was at work, Dick and I hung out. We grew close, actually. I didn't hate him, like some kids would, because he was growing close to Bruce. I understood why, Bruce really was a good guy. I was just upset with him.

So, my day was going on as usual, Dick and I were sparring (we only called it that for Bruce's sake, we actually just goofed off) in the middle of the evening when Bruce came in.

I grew quiet, stopping our wrestling, and stood up slowly. Bruce flashed a glance at me, an upset look in his eyes, but he didn't say anything as I left the room, saying good-bye to Dick before heading out the door.

When I closed the door behind me, I paused, hesitated outside of the door. For some reason, I felt the need to stay but I didn't want to see Bruce, though I knew he wanted to talk to me.

I stood there for a bit, just thinking about it, when I heard the clinking of fencing equipment followed by Bruce and Dick laughing. I turned around and considered going back in again, when Alfred came down the hall.

"Excuse me Miss Kristi," he said. I moved and he went into the work-out room. I watched him as he spoke with Bruce. He seemed urgent.

I only heard one word spoken and one word spoken mentally when I tried to listen… "…Commissioner Gordon…" from Alfred and, "Tony Zucco," from Bruce… I knew what this was about.

Bruce left the room and I merely stood in the shadows as Alfred left and then Dick came out of the room. He began to walk down the hall when I stopped him.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Kristi, I heard them talking about the Commissioner, so I know it's about the man who killed my parents! I have to hear what they're saying," he told me and headed down the hall past me, though I quickly followed.

Dick headed down the hall, knowing I was there, but allowing me to follow. We didn't stop or talk until we got to Bruce's room. His door was slightly ajar, which I where we stood, listening as Bruce spoke with the Commissioner…

"You might not have to keep the boy any longer," was the first thing we heard and my eyes widened, Dick was leaving?

"Oh?" Bruce asked, not sounding too enthused.

"We just put these up and already we are getting a few bites," Gordon continued, handing Bruce something. "Zucco has been spotted on the lower east side. Off the record, we hear he's trying to skip town.

"How soon?" Bruce questioned as Gordon stood up.

"It could be tonight, this Batman's got Zucco real spooked," he told him, walking around to where Bruce was seated, "Zucco's friends, too, nobody will touch the guy."

"And if Zucco gets away…?" Bruce persisted, watching as Gordon looked out the window.

"Eh… we could lose him for good," he told Bruce, not turning around.

Dick took a step back and headed quickly down the hall, not speaking. I followed him again, but this time, after we went a few feet away from Bruce's room, he tried to stop me.

"Dick, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm going after Zucco, I can't let him get away!" he told me.

"Well, I'm coming with you," I told him sternly.

"No, you're only five," he told me dismissively.

"And YOU are only ten!" I snapped back. "Besides, I can help you."

"How?" Dick questioned, unconvinced.

"I can read minds, we could find him a lot faster," I told him. His eyes widened a bit, but then he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't believe you," he told me, "so prove it."

"Alright," I said, mimicking his actions and also folding my arms across my chest, "think of something and I'll tell you what you are thinking."

"Okay…" Dick started. Then, I heard his thoughts.

"Zucco is a dirt bag… I'm going to kill him what I get my hands on him… He's a – Dick! You shouldn't say words like that!" I said, cutting off his thoughts whenever I heard it. Dick blushed a bit.

"I guess you can read minds," he said sheepishly. Then he sighed, "Alright, you can come."

I grinned and we continued on down the hall. Dick led me up some stairs and onto the roof. We went over the edge and he paused before leaping out, grabbing onto a branch, and landing on the ground. Then he turned around, waiting for me.

I hesitated.

Dick sighed, coming closer. "Come on, I'll catch you," he said, his tone earnest, and I trusted him.

I jumped down and landed in Dick's arms. He set me down and we began to run.

We headed into town and caught a bus which took us to the pits of Gotham, where all the scum bags lived.

"Are you sure you two want to get off here?" the bus driver asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah," Dick answered. Then he pulled a picture out from under his sweatshirt. "Hey, do you ever pick up this guy?" he asked.

The bus driver looked closely at the picture before telling us, "Can't say as I have." Dick put the picture away as the driver continued. "Who is he, you're old man or something?"

Dick turned around, taking my hand as we walked off the bus while answering the driver at the same time. "Yeah or something…"

Then, the bus left us and we walked down the street.

Dick and I walked along, heading into every store we passed by and asking if they knew who or where Zucco was. We got the same result every time it seemed; no one knew who he was, it was like he didn't even exist.

When we were walking down the sidewalk again, heading towards another store, I noticed a mysterious man walking towards us. I hid behind Dick as we walked and he put one arm around me, as if he was shielding me.

The man brushed past us, shoving us to the side a bit. Then, he stood in front of us and growled, "Who you lookin' at boy?"

"No one," Dick answered, one arm still shielding me.

He looked like he was about to start a fight with us whenever I heard a noise, like a plane flying low coming towards us. The man heard it too and he freaked out by it. Dick and I watched as he ran away just like the majority of the people who were also out seemed to do, all of them going to hide.

The lights in houses went out and Dick reacted. He pushed me back so we were under an awning just as a spotlight shone down on the street. I could hear the plane overhead as we stood there, breathing softly, trying not to make a sound.

Dick held me back and took a slight step forward, peering out from under the awning and up at the sky just as the craft began to fly away.

"What was it?" I asked him when he took a step back, grabbing my hand as we began to walk down the street again.

"I don't know," he told me, "but it was shaped like a bat."

We walked along for a while, not really stopping to talk to anyone anymore. The streets were mostly quiet anyways, that is, until we passed a certain alley.

"Who do you think taught you how to grip Gigi? You can't go stealin' money from me!" a man's voice shouted from the dark alley. Dick paused, with me behind him, and peered into the darkness.

"B- But I ain't Lenny, honest," the woman explained shakily.

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that," the man said, reaching for the woman's purse.

"No wait!" the woman said, struggling against him as he eventually got her purse off of her arm. He began to dig through it and she still tried to snatch it back, but, just then, he pulled out something he was obviously looking for. It appeared to be a wad of cash.

"Look Lenny, I can explain…" she said.

"We're beyond explanations," the man told her and grabbed her arm.

This whole time, Dick looked furious. He obviously didn't like this man picking on the lady there, and when he grabbed her arm, Dick bolted into the alley.

"Leave her alone," he said firmly. I scrambled up behind him, staying back a bit, but still waiting to help him if he needed it.

"Dick, come on, don't do this," I hissed at him under my breath. "He's twice your size!"

"These kids belong to you?" he asked the girl, who was still in his grasp.

"Let go of me!" she simply replied, pulling against him.

Dick walked closer and I inched up behind him. "I said leave her alone!" he shouted and gave the man a fierce kick to the shin. He released the woman, grabbing his leg instead, and the woman ran a bit, pausing a safe distance away to watch.

"You little creep! When I get my hands on you…" he threatened, coming at Dick, making him back up.

"Get away kid!" the lady warned just as I yelled.

"Above you Dick!"

"Jump!" the lady told him and Dick did, reaching up and grabbing onto the ladder. He quickly scaled it just as the man leapt at him.

The man got up just as Dick made it to the top of the ladder. He stood up and glared at me.

"Come and get me!" Dick challenged when he noticed the man take a step towards me. The man whipped his head around and I ran over to the lady he'd been picking on. Then, the man began to climb up the ladder towards Dick.

The lady gasped, but I merely shouted up to Dick, "Kick him!"

Dick grabbed onto the next ladder and swung out at the man, making him fly off of the fire escape and into the dumpster below. I cheered as Dick came back down.

"Come on," the lady said and Dick hopped down. We headed off with the lady, leaving the man behind, who was screaming to be let out.

The kind lady took us to a café where she sat us down to eat. Dick and I scarfed down the food, we'd missed supper at home, so we were starved.

The lady laughed. "So when's the last time you two ate? Christmas?" she teased.

Dick gulped down his milk and spoke. "Sorry, but we're kind of in a rush," he told her through some of the food that was still in his mouth.

"Well you can't expect to find your uncle at this hour," she told us, pointing to the picture. We'd told her he was our uncle, and that we were sibling, just so she wouldn't ask questions. "This is the only place around that's still open," she told us as our waitress came over and refilled the lady's glass. "Right Bertie?"

Bertie (our waitress) nodded. "Mm Hm," she replied. Then, she noticed the picture and suddenly exclaimed. "Hey! I know that dead beat!"

Dick's eyes widened. "You do?" he asked, surprised, and we both waited anxiously for her to answer.

"Yeah, he's been here, always barking orders," the lady told us, "never tippin'. Heh, I've seen him come from that buildin' across the base."

All three of us looked out the window and then back at Bertie. "That place has been condemned for years, right?" the lady said.

"Yeah, and may it fall on his head, the louse," Bertie finished as she walked away.

After we finished eating, the lady paid for our food and Dick and I left. We headed along the road. Dick wanted to check out the building Bertie had told us about so now we were by the water, staring at the tall, crumbling structure.

Suddenly, we heard a noise in the alley by the building. Dick dashed across the bridge and towards the sound. I stumbled behind him just as he stopped to look into a boarded up window. I stood on my tip-toes and peered in too.

Dick and I both had similar expressions of shock on our face as we realized who was packing in that room at that moment… Tony Zucco. He emptied his drawers into the suitcase before tossing the wooden drawer across the room, making it shatter. He had a vicious scowl on his face.

Dick took a step back. "I have to call the cops," he thought and turned around, grabbing my hand, and running towards the phone booth. He would have made it, if he hadn't stepped on that can…

The loud crunching sound made Dick and I freeze. We both turned and anxiously looked back at the window. When nothing happened right away, we both made for the booth again. I stayed one step behind Dick as he picked up the phone. Suddenly, someone was picking me up by the back of my shirt. I screamed and Dick turned around just as Zucco pulled him out of the booth.

"Let her go!" Dick told him and Zucco dropped me, only to grab onto Dick with both hands. "Let go of ME!" Dick told him.

"The circus boy! My little material witness." Zucco scowled. "What are you doin' here?" he asked when I suddenly kicked him in the shin. "OW!" he shouted, letting go of Dick. We both tried to run while Zucco held his leg.

"Why you –" Zucco growled suddenly recovering and grabbing onto my shirt, yanking me backwards.

"DICK!" I screamed and Dick turned around.

"Hey!" he shouted at him. "It's me you want, not her!"

"You darned right!" Zucco shouted, throwing me aside and grabbing Dick. Dick struggled as Zucco clamped a hand down over Dick's mouth so he couldn't speak.

"I was just about to leave town because of you," Zucco told Dick as he struggled. "Looks like I'm gonna have a change in travel plans."

I was just about to scream for help when Zucco was suddenly on the ground. Batman stepped out of the shadows and I gasped.

"The only place you're going is up the river you scum," Batman growled. Dick scrambled out of the way, looking a bit scared as Batman headed over to Zucco who was still on the ground. That's when Dick suddenly realized Batman was on his side and charged at Zucco again.

"You creep, I hate you! I HATE you!" he shouted. Batman just missed his shirt as he tried to stop Dick, who ended up getting three punches in before Zucco shouted and threw Dick off of him.

I scrambled over to Dick and helped him up, but when he stood, I stumbled back a bit and the railing that was supposed to stop people from falling into the water gave way. I gasped as I fell into the water. I spluttered as my head broke the surface, coughing up water and getting in a quick gasp of air before going under again.

I couldn't swim.

"Kristi!" I heard Dick shout, though it was muted because I was under water. I heard a splash next to me and suddenly someone's arms were around me and my head broke the surface again. Dick struggled to keep us both above water as the current sucked us down stream… I couldn't believe he'd jumped in JUST to save me… He'd been looking out for me all night, actually. Dick really was the big brother I never had, but always wanted.

"Help!" he shouted as we went farther and farther away. I thought I saw Batman dive in but I couldn't be sure as I was still coughing and constantly getting water out of my eyes.

Dick and I were nearing the spill way quickly and I thought we were goners, but, just then, Batman grabbed onto us. He tried to slow us down at the bridge, but he lost his grip.

"Hang on!" he shouted as we went down the waterfall. In mid air, he shot out a grappling hook and hauled us back up onto the street. I coughed up some water while Dick stared up stream.

"He's gone… he got away…" he said. Then, he suddenly whipped around to face Batman. "NO! You had him! You let him go, you let him! WHY? Why'd you do it?" he shouted, pounding his fists angrily against Batman's chest. "Why?" he breathed, calming down a bit.

Just then, the thing that had been shining the spotlight down on the street earlier lowered down next to us until it was level with the bridge we were on. Dick looked at it in awe as Batman came over and scooped me up before standing next to Dick again.

"Where are we going?" Dick asked him.

"Home," Batman answered simply and he hoped onto the wing, taking me and him into the driver's seat (I being on his lap) while Dick climbed in back. Then, the top closed in over us and the jet took off.

(A/N: YEAH! That was a long chapter, but I hope you liked it~ LOL I rewatched part 2 of Robin's Reckoning just to make sure I got this right~ It's basically word for word except where I added Kristi in~ REVIEW!)