Burn Out

"So…Abby, I was wondering…is Sasha seeing anybody?"

Abby rubbed the temples of her forehead. "I've answered this before and I'll answer again, T.J. Yes, she is seeing somebody."

T.J. moaned on the other side of the phone conversation. "But you haven't told me who yet."

"Would good that do you anyway? It's not like you can actually put up a good fight."

"I wasn't concentrating on fighting, but I was thinking about talking to him."

"Talking?" she snorted.

"Yeah and tell him…"

"Exactly, T.J., you will say nothing to him because you have nothing to say besides 'Sasha's my girl.'"

"It's worth a shot. So, are you gonna tell me?"

"No, now stop pestering me and move on. It was only a few days worth of a crush."

A knock came from her bedroom doorway. She looked up and saw Bruce.

"Hey, you have not met me until you realize how persistent I am," T.J. argued.

Abby gestured for Bruce to come in. "As much as I want to discuss this all night, T.J. I really have to go."

"Fine, but you haven't heard the end of this."

"Move on." Abby pressed the end button on her phone and looked up to Bruce. "Hey, Dad."

Bruce took a seat next to her on her bed. "Hey, Abs. What's T.J. up to this time?"

"The usual. He likes Sasha and he can't get over that she's going out with this other guy."

"Ah, teen drama."

"I know, its Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in real life. So what's up with you?"

"I need to talk to you about something. Lau got away with the mob's money and he can't get charged when he's in another country. So, I'm planning to go to Hong Kong for a couple days to convince him to come back."

Abby smirked. "So Batman's going international?"

"I guess you could say that. Now, both Alfred and I will be gone during that time so you'll have to stay at your mom's during that time."

"Why can't you just take me with you? Tomorrow's Friday and I have the rest of the week off."

"This is isn't a regular business trip that I take for Wayne Enterprises. This is Batman business. I can't spend my time worrying about you while I'm trying to catch Lau."

Abby groaned in defeat. "Fine, I get it. But at least you can kidnap your enemies anytime you want. I have to be the good person and let the bad guy go or else it'll just prove to them that I have the same moral standards as them."

Bruce shot her a puzzled look. "Are we talking about Batman and Lau here or you and Renee?"

"A little bit of both I guess…"

"What happened?"

Abby hated it how he somehow knew something was wrong. She didn't know whether it was the tone in her voice or his fatherly instincts, but she was annoyed yet appreciative of it.

"I don't know," she sighed. "A couple days ago, Renee tried to hurt T.J. and when I stepped in, she started to throw things that I don't normally pay attention to. The part that I can't get over is that I did nothing. To add to that, I can't get what she said out of my head."

"What did she say?"

"She talked about me being overemotional and how you leaving affected that. I'll admit it did, but that can't be the reason why I am the way I am. Do you think that's why I act this way?"

"Act in what way, Abby? As far as I know you're smart, open minded, beautiful and kind to anyone you meet."

"Hm, that's when I want to be."

"That's just my way of telling you not to listen to a word that Renee says." Bruce gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks, Dad. But the other thing that's been kind of bothering me and this is just a hypothetical question, so don't freak out, okay?"

"I'll try to stay calm."

She took in a deep breath. Abby had been contemplating whether or not she should ask such a question. Ever since becoming Gotham's Dark Knight, Bruce had grown paranoid over her safety. He even went ecstatic over her getting a bruise from boxing practice once. She would have to be gentle about this.

"Would it be possible that," she began, "a criminal could come after me not because I'm Batman's daughter, but because I'm Bruce Wayne's daughter?"

"Possibly. For ransom, maybe. Why? Is there someone bothering you?"

Abby caught the immediate concern in his voice. "No. I'm just curious. I can understand people coming after me because of Batman, but not the other way around."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to think for a second that you are in any kind of danger. I make sure of that every night."

"Basically there's nothing to worry about?"

"Exactly. I promise you nothing bad will happen while I'm around."

Bruce pulled her into an embrace. Abby wanted to believe what Bruce said, but the thought still lingered in her head. Aaron's worries had plagued her thoughts as well. She didn't want to believe that something bad was going to happen, but the feeling was still there. Maybe it was best to forget it even existed to help her sleep better at night.

Abby was riding in the back of Jared's truck with Aaron after an afternoon at the mall the next day. She had bid her goodbyes to Bruce and Alfred that morning before they had left to Hong Kong. Now she was taking a ride from Jared and Aaron to her mother's home.

Jared pulled up to the front curb of Rachel's home. "Is your mom home yet?"

Abby looked over to the dark home. Only the front lights of the home were on as it began to grow dark in Gotham.

"No," she answered him. "She's out at this ballet with Dent, but I have a key with me."

"All right then. Just call us if there are any problems."

"Will do."

Aaron kissed her swiftly on the lips. "I'll see you later."

"I'll see you too," Abby smiled.

With one last wave towards Jared, she left the car and headed towards her front porch. She took out her key, but as she inserted it into the hole her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She answered it. "Hello?"

"Are you home yet, Sweetheart?" Rachel's voice came.

Abby opened the door. "I'm just getting inside."

"Good. So did you have fun at the mall with your friends?"

"Yeah. Wait, aren't you supposed to be at the ballet with De—Harvey?"

"We were supposed to, but plans change. You can thank your father for that."

After closing and locking the door behind her, she turned all of the lights on. "And why should I be thanking him?"

"When your dad left he took the Russian ballet with him."

Abby was shocked by this. She knew that Bruce would have to do something to prevent the press from being suspicious of his activities, but she never knew that he would use the whole ballet.

"I'm pretty sure he had some very legitimate reasons."

Rachel didn't take the suggestion lightly. "I don't really care about his excuses now, Abby."

"Sorry, geez. So are you on your way home now?"

"Yes, I'll be home in a minute or so."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

Abby hung up after Rachel's farewell. She took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV. There wasn't much on. It was strange considering it was a Friday. All there seemed to be on was soap operas that she could care less about. When she found a movie that she hadn't seen in a while, she stopped looking through channels. Barely paying any attention to the movie she relaxed on the couch. Just as the main character was about to save his girlfriend from the villain, Abby heard the door open.

"Abby, I'm home," Rachel called.

Abby called back. "I'm in the living room."

She turned her head over in time to see her mother enter the living room wearing a formal dress.

"So how was your day?" Rachel asked.

"School was boring, but the mall was fun. How was yours besides the ballet getting cancelled and everything?"

Rachel sat next her on the couch. "It was okay. We're still scrambling around for Lau, but other than that everything's fine. So how does leftover spaghetti sound for dinner tonight?"

"Not bad. I'm starving so I'll take it."

"Rachel?" said a foreign voice from the doorway. "Where are you?"

"We're in here, Harvey," Rachel answered the unknown voice.

Abby couldn't believe what she was hearing. The voice at the doorway sounded familiar yet Abby didn't want to wrap her mind around it. Her worries were confirmed when he came walking into the living room. Harvey Dent stood in front of them, smiling. Abby was in too much of a shock to even responding to this situation.

Rachel got up to greet him with a kiss on his cheek. "Is the car parked, okay?"

"Yeah, I just had to park it behind yours if don't mind of course."

"That's fine." Rachel's eyes moved from Dent to Abby. "Abby, this is Harvey; he's going to join us for dinner tonight."

Dent held out a hand towards Abby. "Pleasure to meet you."

Abby had only spoken to Dent once or twice, but it was easy to see that he had the habit of smiling. He would always smile when he was greeting someone, in front of the camera or probably to even lie. His appearance made his smile fit. He had golden blond hair, a tall composure, and blue eyes. You could say that he looked just like a Ken doll.

Abby only stared at his hand. "Likewise."

Dent took back his hand without another word. Rachel broke the awkward silence. "I'll go get changed into something comfortable and start on dinner. In the meantime you two can just stay in here. Feel free to sit down anywhere you like, Harvey."

"Are you sure you don't want me to heat up the food now, Mom?" Abby asked, almost desperate. "I mean it could save us some time."

Rachel shook her head. "Nah. You deserve a little bit of rest after a day at school and at the mall with your friends. It won't take me that long anyway. Harvey, you go ahead and make yourself comfortable and I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

"Great," Harvey gave a warm smile as Rachel left.

Abby resisted the urge to groan in defeat. She knew Rachel didn't want her to rest after a restless Friday. In fact, Rachel made Abby clean and put away the dishes one evening after a tiring boxing practice because she was slacking behind in her chores. Abby knew what Rachel's motives were in this: to make Abby actually have a conversation with Harvey Dent. Don't expect me to warn you next time, her mother had said only the week before. Rachel had been true to her word indeed.

Dent took a seat into the armchair next to the couch. When he turned to look at her, she returned her attention to the movie she was watching. None of them spoke a word for what it seemed to be hours. Abby wasn't even fully paying any attention to the movie. Her focus kept going back to Dent and how he was only feet away from her. The silence brought her back to a year ago when Bruce came back after his long absence. Then, she couldn't seem to keep up a full conversation with him without contradicting him. But it was different with Dent. She didn't hate him nor like him. She didn't even know him. Abby knew enough that he wouldn't do anything to hurt Rachel, but not enough to actually know him.

"So," Dent was the first to speak. "How's school?"

"Boring and irrelevant," Abby only said about the manner.

"Your mother told me that you're on the boxing team. How's that going?"

"We're out of season now, but we did win the last game."

"That's great. So is that what you want to do when you grow up? Be a professional boxer?"

"No. The only reason I went onto the team at first was because my boyfriend who was just my friend at the time convinced me to tryout." Abby smiled at the memory. "Then I started to like it because it gave me a reason to hit people when I wanted to."

"Do you have any idea what you want to do then as a profession?"

"No. I haven't given much thought to it actually. I don't have any hobbies that I'm passionate about or good at, so I haven't actually found my match yet."

"Don't worry, you will. There's going to be that one time in your life when it dawns on you of what you actually want to do with your life."

Abby thought of Dent as a school councilor when he said this. He obviously took education as seriously as Rachel did. But then again Abby would think so considering where he's at.

"So how are you and your dad getting along?"

She was taken aback by the sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, and I don't mean to pry, but he did return just a year ago didn't he? How has the shock been since then?"

"It's been fine. Before though, I was shocked, happy, sad, and angry all at the same time. It was tough, but my dad and I worked it out."

"That's good. So how did you cope until then? Your mother told me that she forced you to live with him when he came back."

Abby hated how Rachel told him everything. It was as if she didn't have the voice herself to tell him, but then again this was the longest conversation they've had.

"Not well, I'd have to say," she answered. "I was still conflicted on my feelings toward him and being around him wasn't making anything better. So I ran off the night before I had to go live with him. A few muggers came when I had gotten lost and then he came."

"Who?"

Abby hesitated before answering him directly. "Batman."

"The Batman?" Dent raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Is there any other?"

He ignored the question. "Is that the only time you've met him?"

"No. I had a couple of other run-ins with him and that was it."

"Why did you keep running into him?"

"If you knew me, you wouldn't be asking that question," she added, almost sourly.

"And you haven't seen him since?"

"Nope, not since last year. But I'll be the first one to admit that those run-ins were helpful to me in reconciling with my dad. It seemed like once Batman came around everything started to change."

"And things are still changing. Gotham is on its way to becoming a better city. We just need to have faith in it."

"Dinner's ready!" Rachel's voice echoed through the kitchen.

Abby was the first to get up from her seat. "Coming!"

She gave a silent sigh of relief. Finally!

Rachel had everything set up on the table except for one crucial part.

Abby quirked an eyebrow. "Where's the food?"

Rachel gasped. "Oh I completely forgot about the spaghetti. Could you go get it for me please? It's in the oven."

"Sure."

"Thanks, Abs."

Abby made her way to the oven. As she did, she could distinctly hear Rachel and Dent whispering to each other. She rolled her eyes. Didn't all adults understand that if they talk about their children while the subject of the conversation was in the room it wasn't a secret? Abby took out the three full plates of spaghetti and put them on the counter.

"While you're at it, Abby could you please pour the tomato sauce on?" Rachel requested.

"Sure. Where's the tomato sauce?"

"The pot is on the stove."

Abby grabbed the plastic serving spoon from the counter above and took the pot of tomato sauce from the stove. Once she poured a considerable amount of sauce on each plate of spaghetti, she placed the pot back on the stove and rinsed the spoon. As she was putting the spoon back in its place, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Abby glanced at it.

It was a text from Aaron.

Hey, how's it going? It read.

Abby texted back: Mom surprised me with Harvey Dent and two day old spaghetti for dinner. :/ No bueno.

His next reply came in a flash: Ouch. Good luck with that. =P

She smiled at the text and replied: I'll try to survive. :) I'll talk to you later.

As she raised her hand to put the plastic serving spoon back, her arm had knocked something over. Her eyes widened when she realized it was the Tabasco sauce with the cap wide open. Acting quickly, she put the spoon on the bottom shelf of the cabinet and capped the bottle immediately. Strangely enough, it didn't look like it had made any type of mess. Shrugging it off, she took all three plates to the table. She served the plates of spaghetti to Dent and Rachel before sitting down in her own seat with her plate of spaghetti.

Rachel began cutting her spaghetti. "So what were you guys talking about in the other room?"

Dent was the one to answer the question. "Nothing much. Though we were discussing future careers."

"Like what?"

"I think that's the same question that Abby has been asking herself."

Rachel looked to Abby. "Is there anything you'd like to do, Abby?"

Abby swallowed her forkful of spaghetti. "Not anything I've thought of. Do I really need to think of the future now? I'm only a sophomore."

"It's a good idea that you do," said Dent. "For college's sake of course."

"And don't think that I'm going to let you flunk out of college like your father did," Rachel sternly said.

"Technically he didn't flunk out," Abby pointed out. "He just disappeared and by the time he came back it was too late to finish school."

"Well you're not disappearing or flunking anywhere when it comes to your education."

"Have you ever thought about doing anything in law enforcement?" Harvey suggested.

Abby shook her head. "No, but my boyfriend, Aaron's dad is a cop."

"What's his name?"

"Liam West."

Dent smiled. "One of the few good ones."

"Yeah, he mentioned that you were in Internal Affairs for awhile there."

"Yep I remember. West was one of the few that actually had a pretty clean record. Most of the others were men and women that I had caught working for the mob."

"Maybe they're trying to redeem themselves. They're exactly bad people, you know."

Abby had met with some of Liam's coworkers on occasion and never thought of them as criminals. The leaders of the mob on the other hand, they were the real criminals.

"It doesn't matter. Their record is not clean and that should be carefully noted at the police department. Case closed." Dent stated firmly.

Abby didn't reply to Dent's accusation. Gotham hadn't been one for keeping records of police officers faults or any authority figure for that matter. Crane was the perfect example for that. She would never forget her mother's frustration towards the man for letting felons get away as mentally ill.

Dent's smile returned when Abby continued to remain silent. "I'll bet you anything that you'll do whatever makes you happy and that you'll be successful at it." He reached into his pocket and brought out a silver coin. "Heads: you'll have a good future with a successful job. Tails: you'll…probably be somewhere opposite of that."

"Harvey, is this really necessary?" said Rachel with annoyance in her eyes.

"Yes. I always use my father's lucky coin. It got me my first date with you and brought us that much farther in testifying Sal Maroni. I think it would be fair to show Abby how the coin works."

It would be really fair if you didn't use that coin. Abby wasn't the least superstitious, but according to those instances she didn't want to bet her future by chance. Dent flipped the coin into the air and caught it on the top of his hand.

He grinned. "See. Heads."

"Now that you've done your coin flip for my daughter, please eat your food now," Rachel nearly scolded.

It was then Abby realized that Dent had not touched his food. Apparently he was too distracted with the conversation they were having. Doing as Rachel told, Dent took a bite of his spaghetti.

Abby mindlessly twirled her fork around her plate. "So how was your guys' day?"

"Very stressful is one way to describe it," said Rachel. "With Lau gone we're trying to get him back here, but the Chinese government is not cooperating."

"Why would they not cooperate? If he was causing trouble here then he probably is causing trouble there as well."

"He's probably being discrete about it. Only someone who did their research right would realize that something was up."

Dent coughed before speaking. "We would have him if Gordon had let me in on what he was doing."

Abby raised an eyebrow. "You're working with Gordon?"

"Yes. He has access to the Batman who can help us clean up this city once and for all." He swallowed his next bite of spaghetti hard.

"What exactly are you planning to do with Batman?"

"I'm just working with him toward a common goal. As far as I know Batman will bring Lau to me, and your mother and I will get him to talk."

"You sound like you don't trust him."

"You sound like you do."

Abby stuffed her mouth with another fork full of spaghetti before she could say anything else. She didn't want to endanger Bruce's identity more than she already did. Dent must've suspected something when she talked about Batman. She tried to stay as vague as possible, but her tone was hard to control. Abby really did miss Batman. Yes, she saw him every day. But it wasn't Batman. It was Bruce. Sometimes she wished that she never knew of Batman's identity so that they could go back to the way things were before.

Abby was taken away from her thoughts when she heard Dent gulping down huge amounts of water.

Rachel gave him a wary look. "Harvey, are you okay?"

"I don't know," he said almost breathless. "What's in this sauce?"

"Crushed tomatoes. What else?"

"Whatever it is, it's very hot."

Hot? Since when were tomatoes hot? Abby tasted hers and became confused. It tasted like regular tomato sauce. Is Dent hallucinating or something? She then thought back to when she was putting away the plastic serving spoon. Something spilled…but yet made no mess on the counter. Her heart nearly dropped to the ground. Dent's plate of spaghetti must've been right under the cabinet where the…Tabasco sauce spilled! It was no wonder she didn't find any drops of it on the counter.

Dent got up from his seat, panting. "I'm going to get some water."

"I'd get some ice cream too if it's really heating up in mouth," Abby guiltily added.

Rachel's head snapped towards Abby. "What did you do?"

"Why do you think stuff like this is my fault?"

Rachel only narrowed her eyes.

Abby sighed. "It was an accident, I swear. I didn't notice the Tabasco sauce was open until it spilled."

"You spilled Tabasco sauce on Harvey's food!" her mother hissed.

"Not on purpose!"

Dent interrupted Rachel before she could get another word out. "Rachel, do you know where that ice cream is that Abby suggested?"

"Top shelf in the freezer. I'll get you a spoon and a bowl."

Abby got up from her seat, taking her plate with her. "I'll go work on that homework now."

"Don't think this discussion isn't over young lady," Rachel whispered sternly to Abby.

Without one glance towards Dent, Abby put her plate in the sink and sped to her room.

Abby sat in her room later that night. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel like talking to anyone. She only wanted to think. Granted, Aaron did call her earlier and she explained to situation to him. He defiantly got a laugh out of that. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed or ashamed of the situation. It was an accident after all. But there was another feeling that was arising within her: pride. Abby didn't understand it. It wasn't planned nor did she want it to happen yet she was proud of what she did.

She looked down to her golden locket that rested on her chest. Her fingers rubbed against it, feeling the active gloss of the locket. Abby clearly remembered the night that it was given to her by her father. Bruce had given it to her as a seven year late birthday present on the night of his birthday party, or as Gotham knew it the night that Wayne Manor was burnt down, or better yet as Abby knew it the night that she discovered Bruce's Batman persona. She had worn it since that day to signify that Bruce Wayne was her true hero.

A knock came from her door. "Abby?"

It was Rachel. She sighed. I might as well get it over with.

"Come in," Abby said.

Rachel emerged from the doorway with a weak smile. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Forget about the formalities for a second and just ground me."

Her mother sat on the edge of Abby's bed. "I'm not going to ground you. I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Abby raised a brow. "I accidently poured Tabasco in your boyfriend's spaghetti. Case closed."

"Not in my book it isn't. I know what you did was an accident and I admit I over reacted. But that's not what I want to talk about. You've been pretty calm this year comparing to last year, but when the topic of Harvey comes up you tend to avoid it. Why?"

Abby bit her lip. She didn't know the answer herself.

"Do you like Harvey? Is there something that bothers you about him?" Rachel pressed.

She ran a hand through her thick brown hair. "It's not that I don't like him…he's just….he's just…not Dad."

Catching her mother's confused look, Abby continued. "De—Harvey is still a complete stranger to me. I trust that you know him and I trust him not to hurt you, but I still don't know him. Even when I was talking to him tonight, I felt uncomfortable. But with Dad, there are no secrets between us. What I'm trying to tell you is that I just got my dad back, I don't need another one right now."

Rachel nodded. "I understand what you're saying, but there's nothing I can do about your comfort zone around Harvey."

"I'm not saying to stop dating Harvey, if that's where you think I'm getting at. I just need some time before I can fully accept that Harvey's going to be an active part of your life."

"If that's what you want, I'll do that. But I do not make any promises for Harvey. He's was actually looking forward to tonight. He really wanted to meet you."

Abby was taken aback by the statement. "Why?"

"I've mentioned you plenty of times that he wants to know you. I think it's sweet although I'm surprised that he didn't run for the hills when I mentioned that I had a daughter."

She smiled at the thought. Dent wouldn't have been the first to do that.

Her mind suddenly went somewhere else when she took one quick look at her locket. "Hey, Mom can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you in love with Dad?"

Rachel didn't answer right away. The question seemed to have surprised her. "Why would you ask that?"

"It's just that last year when Dad came back, you seemed happier. Then when Dad told you about Batman it's like you completely shut him out. What's the deal?"

"I'll admit I was very happy that your father had returned. But when I realized that he was Batman, I couldn't handle his double persona."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"Why do you want to know anyway?" Rachel nearly demanded.

"I was curious and to be truthful…I want a real family. You know the traditional type of family that lives under one roof. I keep hoping that's going to happen, but Harvey seems to be in the way of it all."

Finally, Abby had said it. It was as if her thoughts flowed right out of her mouth.

Rachel's only reaction to the confession was a heavy sigh. "I had a feeling you were going to say that. I'm sorry, but that's probably not going to happen. You need to understand that life changes and we need to go along with it. I couldn't wait for your father forever, so I moved on. Harvey's going to be a good kind of change, I promise you that."

"Sure," Abby grumbled.

"I love you. Nothing will change that. Your father on the other hand, is something I can't handle anymore. I love him for being a wonderful father to you, but other than that I can't handle the confusion. Do you understand?"

Abby had no choice but to nod. Her mother was happy with Dent and that was it. There was still no denial though that Bruce was in love with Rachel. However Rachel didn't deny that she was in love with him.

Rachel lightly brushed a lock of Abby's hair behind Abby's ear. "It's getting late. You should get to bed."

"Is Harvey still here?"

"No. He went home. After having a scoop of the ice cream his tongue started to feel a lot better."

"That's good," she replied. She wasn't sure if she meant it or not.

"According to what your father said, he'll be back by tomorrow evening. So I'll drop you off at the penthouse at five."

"Cool. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Abby's feelings were once again mixed. She was hurt that Rachel denied Abby's wish and annoyed that Dent was getting in the middle of it. One thing was for sure, it was hilarious the way Harvey Dent reacted to a little bit of hot sauce compared to the way he acted around the mob. Abby smiled at the thought.

Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter mainly because this was Abby's first real encounter with Harvey. It was interesting the way that Abby handled things. Anyway I was planning on making a fan page for these stories on Facebook. I've seen a couple of fanfics do it and I thought I'd give it a shot. But I need to know who's going to join. There's a poll on my profile so if you can, please use the poll so I can see how many people are on board with this. I'll only put my Batman Begins/Dark Knight fanfics on it. This other one I'm planning to write later on will have it's separate page. It'll be a good way to stay updated in case I have any problems updating and faster way to get feedback.

~Emyrox567