Chapter 3

As Batman patrolled the streets of Gotham, his thoughts drifted to a few hours earlier, and to Diana. He hated to admit it, but there was always something more between them. Something much deeper than friendship and teammates, but their timing was off, and he surprised himself after Donna's funeral. He only meant to hold a friend. There was nothing he could say that would have helped her in dealing with her pain. However, when she was in his arms, he felt the electricity in her touch, the warmth of her breath on his skin, the beating of her heart.

"B" Oracle's voice broke his train of thought.

"Go." He said touching the com-link in his cowl.

"I have a hit on your request." He had called Oracle after leaving Diana. He had transmitted the information powerhouse everything Diana had given him, including the photograph. "GCPD found a girl matching your description in an alley on 3rd Ave and Walker St." His chest tightened, the last thing he wanted to do was given Diana more bad news. A map of the city popped into his head, he was five miles away from the crime scene.

"I'm en route, who's on scene?" He asked as he launched himself off the roof firing a grapple towards the next building.

"Montoya's lead dick, she's waiting on the ME." She said as he swung through the darkness. He began making lists and plans of what needed to be done. The canopy opened as he landed near the Batmobile. The high-powered supercharged engine rumbled to life, and he tore through the streets of Gotham. Over the last several years, Gotham's motorists learned to move out of the way of the Batmobile, which made the getting to the crime scene a short trip.

He parked the vehicle a few blocks away and made his way through the darkness to the crime scene. The girl's body had been dumped behind a large dumpster in the back part of an alleyway several yards from the roadway. Batman appeared behind Montoya, but over the years she had built up a tolerance for his startling appearances.

"What have you got?" He asked looking over at the fat coroner and his assistant who were examining the body.

"Deceased white female, approximately 14 years of age, approximately 5'5" 120 lbs, black hair, blue eyes, school uniform, looks like she took a beating, and was strangled." Montoya said not looking up from the dead girl. Flashes from the crime scene cameras lit up the alleyway briefly. "One dead teen, it's not the usual murder that brings you out Batman." She was used to him not answering him, tonight was no different.

Batman crouched next to the body and began looking her over. The girl's dark hair covered her face. As he moved the hair from her face he released the breath didn't know he was holding; it wasn't Diana's friend. She was lying on her right side, with her left arm lying stretched out in front of her. She was still wearing her school uniform of a plaid skirt, white shirt, and dark blue navy blue blazer. The black shoes she was wearing had a high-gloss shine, but had a deep scuff on the outside of her right shoe, and one of her white socks was bunched around her left ankle.

To him there were too many things wrong, the plaid pattern of the pleated skirt wasn't used by any of the private or Catholic schools in the area, the Mary Jane-style shoes were expensive, and looked custom made. The white shirt she was wearing was made from silk, not cotton or a cheaper material blend. All the schools in Gotham that used this style of uniform had a crest on their blazers, this one didn't have one.

"She's been dead less than two hours." The coroner said pulling a thermometer from the girl's liver. He lifted the skirt with an uninterested look on his face. "No obvious signs of sexual trauma, but we won't know more until Dr Rivers has a look at her."

"She was strangled," Batman said pointing to the purple bruise on her neck, "but not here." The fat coroner looked at the marks, and around the alleyway, nodding in agreement. Using a small high-powered flashlight, Batman moved away from the girl and began looking around the alleyway. He found what he was looking for twenty yards from the girl's body, on the wall, near the ground. "She was grabbed here, scuff marks from her shoe." He said pointing to a small mark on the wall. "The killer was larger than her; he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her deeper into the alley." He slowly moved towards Montoya and the coroner. He pointed to the wall where there was a greenish sticky substance. "He choked her here, and then threw her there."

Using his own flashlight, the coroner looked over the girl's blazer, "got something green and sticky on her left elbow."

Batman nodded. "You'll get me a copy of the report when Dr Rivers is done?" He asked the coroner, who was still looking at the green sticky substance with renewed interest. How often did an urban legend ask for ones assistance?

"Yes sir, we'll get it to Det. Montoya, she can get it to you." The coroner said, motioning for his assistant to bring the body bag over. As the two began loading the girl into the bag, a small earring fell from her outstretched hand and bounced on the pavement.

Batman snatched the crime scene technician's camera from his hands and took several photographs of the earring. He held out the camera back to the startled tech, who took it with shaky hands. He crouched next to the earring; it was a small inexpensive gold loop piercing a silver heart. Batman pulled out his PDA and called up the photograph Diana had provided. He zoomed in on Sarah's earrings, gold loops piercing silver hearts.

Across Gotham-

Sarah was lying on her side staring into the darkness at what she thought was the wall. She felt the bed move as the man got out of the bed and heard his footsteps in the carpeting as he walked towards the bathroom. She pulled the sheets up to her chin to cover her nakedness, and tried to stop the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She couldn't stop the tears or the sobs as she cried.

Gotham several days ago-

She remembered when the handsome man approached her a few days ago outside the mall, how flattered she was and how she played coy. He introduced himself as Rudolph, and he had been accompanied by a young girl who Sarah thought was his daughter.

The girl, Jenny, was wearing an expensive looking school uniform. Sarah mistook Jenny's shyness for submissiveness, the girl stood to Rudolph's left, a foot behind him, with her head bent down and her hands clasped together in front of her. Rudolph had coaxed her to his large black car, and then she blacked out.

When Sarah woke up, she was naked lying on the same bed she just awoke in. Rudolph had been sitting in the chair across from the bed. He had removed his jacket and shirt, and was staring at her with a sick, hungry look in his eyes.

That was when her "training" began. She quickly learned that Rudolph had a voracious sexual appetite, was sadistic and knew how to hurt her without leaving a mark on her bare skin, telling her that his customers liked their girls unmarked. The word "customers" filled her with such dread that she immediately began crying, which only fueled Rudolph's sadistic nature.

The following morning had surprised Sarah. When she woke up, Jenny was sitting next to the bed with a clean uniform in her lap. She told Sarah that she was to shower and dress in the uniform. Sarah told the girl that she refused to be used as someone's toy. Horrified, Jenny begged her not to fight, Rudolph loves when his girls fight, and would hurt her badly.

The two girls were left alone in the room during the day. That night, Rudolph and two his men took Sarah and Jenny to an upscale hotel. Both girls were dressed identically. As they rode in the elevator, Rudolph grabbed her by her hair, which had been pulled back into a tight ponytail and pulled it down towards the floor, causing her to face the ceiling of the elevator. She cried out in pain as she tried to maintain her balance. He told her that she was to keep her mouth shut and to watch. He let go of her hair as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to the penthouse.

Rudolph led Jenny deeper inside, while one of the bodyguards grabbed Sarah by the elbow and followed the couple. Rudolph put on a huge smile as he approached a small man who appeared to be in his fifties, who was standing at a table decked out with various drinks and food. The green silk robe he wore hung to his thigh, and was left open showing that he wasn't wearing anything else. Rudolph greeted the small man with a big hug, calling him Truman. The two talked as if they were high school buddies. Rudolph told Truman that she was a new girl in training and would be available in a few days. Rudolph motioned for Jenny to come to him, his smile may have looked friendly, but Sarah saw it for what it really was.

Jenny disappeared behind the bedroom door with Truman, while Rudolph sat on the couch with a glass of champagne and a handful of cooked shrimp. The bodyguard pushed Sarah into the couch next to the man she hated with all her heart. He said something to her, but she blocked it out, desperately trying to think of a way to get away from the sadistic monster.

When they had returned to Rudolph's apartments, he locked both girls into Jenny's room, and retired for the evening. Sarah spent the next several hours trying to comfort the young girl, herself dreading when it was her turn. Sarah had told Jenny she knew of someone that could help them if she could get a message to her. Jenny told her that Rudolph sometimes lets her go out alone for a few hours when she has been good, or if she gives him something extra special. Sarah shuddered at the thought of what something special could mean. Sarah made plans to escape, and told Jenny that she would take the young girl with her if she would help. At first Jenny resisted the idea, but Sarah managed to convince the young girl that where they would go was safe, friendly, and she wouldn't have to see a man unless she wanted to.

Sarah knew that Diana was busy saving lives in Thailand. She also knew that Diana would be visiting the next night. She gave Jenny one of her earrings and gave her the address to Martha's Home, and told the girl to give the earring to Gabriella and to ask for Diana when she got there.

Rudolph had let Jenny go in the afternoon, after she had given him what he wanted, and he had gone out as well. When he returned that evening there was a new spring in his step and he acted like he was walking on air.

By 9 PM, he had come for her. He took Sarah into his room, and had his way with her in every way he wanted. After he had sated his need, he relaxed with his back against the headboard, a lit cigarette dangled from his lips. Without warning his hand snapped out grabbing her by her dark hair and he pulled her to him. Through clenched teeth he told her she would never see Jenny again because he had killed her and that if she wanted the same thing to happen to her she would learn to obey. She cried out in pain as he roughly took her again and again until she passed out.

Now-

She heard the toilet flush and the shower start up. In the dark, Sarah cried harder and harder, never had she felt so lost and so alone.