WARNING- This may be pushing 'T' rating as far as it can go but I still think it's 'T' AN let start off by saying, in this chapters there's a remark said kindda concerning homosexuality that could be taken as.. well kindda bad. BEFORE you flame me, let me tell you this, my personal view on the subject is plain, love is love, so I'm NOT against homosexuals..(written plenty of yaoi in my day...) ok.. no flames... and secondly.. this chapter gets a bit more graphic on her past, mentions drugs and child abuse and general crappiness of her life.. you've been warned
The day went as well as she could have hoped for. Reporters and photographers flooded the gates to snap shots of her as she entered the school. Everyone wanted to know who she was, why Bruce had taken her in. They'd done the same when her father had his brains splattered and Bruce had given her a place to stay. No respect, vultures each and everyone of them. There were whispers in the hall of course. Some took the chance to prove they were 'better; than her, others grabbed hold of the opportunity, fake smiles and pushing their family name at her, as if 'befriending' her would cause her to push a deal through between Bruce and their parents
Class held her attention as well as any kid. Could she repeat what the teacher said word for word? Could she answer any and all questions? Would she be able to break out and give an essay orally and get an easy A? Of course, she was a Bat! Was she happy to be there? HELL NO! She'd find herself subconsciously reaching for the pager she'd keep at her waist. It was like a phantom limb. Of course it's been taken away with all her other toys when she entered the manor but she could still feel the weight of the bat pager, still looked down as if this Batman would ever call her for something.
Luckily enough, because of their age difference Dick, or Richard as she had to take to calling him inside the hoytty toytty academy, was a grade level above her. She didn't see him during classes which was a relief. With each change of periods she could feel him glaring holes into the back of her head as she switched books or moved to a different room. She was sure he'd even been late to his own classes. Rarely were his own classes next to hers, but he''d apparently found it necessary to make sure she entered each one of her classes before heading to his own. When others were looking they'd both force a smile, make it seem like it was all okay, that they were cousins who truly enjoyed each others time...
Gym came with a sense of relief and a whole new wave of troubles. She looked forward gladly to the physical activities. Being under suspicion by the Bat meant she was pretty well confined. She hadn't had a good work since she got to this crazy, upside down world... Well unless you count the almost bleeding out as she ran to the manor... However, when the other girls were changing in the locker room, primping and preening, worrying about getting sweaty in front of some crush they had, she was holding onto her clothes self-consciously, looking for a dark corner to change in. She'd of course received open glares as she stood there. Coming to the conclusion the girls were not leaving any time soon she decided to head for the attached bathrooms.
Safely locked away in the stall she could hear what they tried to whisper. Or maybe they had wanted her to hear. The upper class was never really good at sparing some ones feelings. The most you could ever hope to gain from these people was a frenemy. Apparently the new debate was that !- she was one drugs and didn't want anyone to see her track marks, which ultimately lead into her staying with Bruce as a means to get clean or 2- She'd gotten work done or stuffed her bra and didn't want t anyone to know. She found it odd that they'd think she'd gotten a boob job this early, but then again, she was a bit more developed than most, and she didn't doubt for a second that given enough cash you'd be able to find a doctor willing to do anything to anyone but still...
She waited, listening as the girls had a laugh at her expense. Eventually, the girls filed out, leaving behind nothing but the dripping of a leaky faucet and her own breathing. Her fingers ran down a slightly raised line of flesh across the top of her chest. Her skin was a map of scars, each having a story of it's own. Many were from Sparrow, several were from before Sparrow even existed. Her Father had been anything but gentle after her mother had died. Being on the streets did nothing to help..
Her eyes traveled to the tender inside of the elbow of her left arm. It had faded, but she knew it was there, could still see where the chemicals of the drug had burned her skin and vein when they'd held her against the slimy brick wall and stuck her with the needle. She could feel his bonny fingers and smell his rancid breath wisping out over yellow teeth as he leaned in close..
She snapped to. There was a cold sweat pouring from her, breath labored and pulse racing as she stared at the stall door. She'd not lapsed into these memories for over a year. Why now..
The door to the gym creaked open, catching the attention of the whole class, including the Female teacher with chopped hair in a jogging suit, She was pretty sure her husbands name was Jane...
"Fischer, you're late!" She barked out. A flash hit her as a memory was dug up. Her father, dragging her along in the heels he'd throw at her, her clothes half hanging off as he dragged her into the alley. The punk teen emerging from the shadows... 'you're late Fischer!'... Several snickers from her classmates brought her attention back quickly.
"Sorry ma'am. Won't happen again." Taking her place in the line up she waited for the instructions of the class like everyone else. Luckily enough for her it was a basketball day. Something to distract her, and she took pride in destroying her opponents that day. However, before she the end of the day she could feel that ache in her shoulder. As some would say 'it hurt so good'. (AN/lol) It ached, but she was glad it did, she was getting a workout, she was getting right back in the saddle, or as close as she could get since she couldn't patrol at night.
The rest of the day slipped by rather uneventfully. Lunch had come and gone with her eating much like a bird and alone at her own table. When the final bell rang, like most pre-teen/ teenagers around the world, she couldn't wait to get out. Of course the moment she stepped from her classroom Richard was there, waiting, following her out to the car where Alfred waited, door open.
"Master Richard, don't you have after school activities today?"
Dani looked back over her shoulder where she'd begun to climb into the car. 'Like.. legit after school activities...?' she thought.. 'He lets him do stuff... other than Bat work...' Her eyes were naturally wide in surprise.
"Well yeah but-" He was cut off by a stern look from the old man "Fine." He grumbled. "Tell Bruce to call if anything happens. ANYTHING." He made it a point to look at her as he said that. Not being able to help herself she stuck her tongue out at him before climbing fully into the vehicle. To prevent further childishness Alfred shut the door, perhaps a bit harder than he needed to, to place a barrier between the two.
OK! Short chapter again. But I should be writing later today... and the next chapter will actually have some fun BAT stuff in it.. yay! I'm almost to the action packed parts! You guy have no idea how bad I just wanna skip ahead to those parts! Plus, I figured he does after school clubs based on the episode where it shows he's a "mathlete" I would assume that means he's in some club.. right? And it just works well for my story so.. yea... deal with it... lol REVEIW
