Summary: After Lauren's family was killed by the Joker she tries to hide from the police to avoid abusive foster parents or group homes. But when batman finds her she is adopted by Bruce Wayne who feels duty to the young girl. Lauren is a little too observant and quickly figures out just who Bruce Wayne is. Now Lauren is trying to find her voice again in a world gone mad, learn her part in Bruce's charade, and preferably not get killed by a crazed clown. Post Batman Begins, Pre- and during the Dark Knight. First of a series.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

A.N.: this is completely un-Beta'ed, sorry. Originally this chapter was going to be all about Bruce and Rachael, sort of screwed the pooch on that. So the Rachael-Bruce confrontation has been postponed to Chapter Nine along with the Batman segment that was also originally going to be in this chapter.

Oh, and I'm heading this off at the pass, Lauren is still Lauren. I am not changing her name. This idea has been in place from the beginning. If you look back you will see that I included all of her family's middle names in the first chapter. (this will make sense at the end of this chapter)

Thoughts

∞time or place change∞

Sign language (not direct translation)

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Written stuff

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Gotham's Saddest Daughter

Chapter 8

A Little Peak Inside

∞Wayne Penthouse, 3:00 p.m., Lauren's POV∞

Lauren sat once again at the table with Sasha beside her plate. This time she was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich under the watchful eye of Alfred who had promised her that Sasha didn't actually want any of the crumbs.

After leaving her house, they had returned to Bruce's apartment where men where installing bookcases in her room. Bruce had left as soon as he had changed suits and gone to talk to some man called Lucius. Lauren secretly wondered if he had long white hair and a funny accent, but didn't think she would like it much if he did. Batman didn't need to be around people like him.

The boxes from her house had arrived about half an hour after Bruce had left, and were currently sitting in the hall waiting for the men to finish securing the bookcases, so they could move the books into her room.

Lauren finished her sandwich and turned to poke on the side of Sasha's bowl. The beta, pleased with the attention, opened his fins wide and began swimming from side to side while keeping his head towards Lauren. The girl smiled at her pet, a light fluttering dancing around the numbness in her chest. Sasha posed and postured for a while, before becoming bored with it, and returned to ignoring Lauren.

Luckily it was about then that one of the men came into the room to speak with Alfred.

"Everything is in place, I trust."

"Yes, sir. The shelves are bolted in the wall and the ladder is held on by a wrap around wheel system. A four hundred pound baboon could hang of it and it wouldn't come down." The man said matter-of-factly.

"Very good." Alfred nodded as the man left. "We can move your books into your room now, Miss Lauren."

Lauren grabbed up Sasha's bowl and Hatter before walking quickly to look at her newest toy. Where before the wall between the door to the rest of house and her closet was empty, now there stood a brown bookcase that rose all the way to the ceiling. A matching brown ladder leaned into the top most level of the case and rested on the floor with large wheels.

Lauren smiled widely at the thought of riding the ladder, but her fun was quickly cut short by Alfred.

"Now, Miss Lauren, this ladder is not a toy it is a tool." The small gleam in the butler's eyes clearly expected her not to listen to portion of his speech. "You will need it to get the upper levels, but Master Wayne and myself do not want you going any higher then the third shelf without one of us here."

Lauren nodded immediately. It would be easier to kick off from the bottom anyway.

"Very well. Let's start bringing in your things." Alfred gently took Sasha from her and set him on the table near her bed where he wasn't likely to get knocked over, while Lauren sat Hatter against bookshelves and ran into the hallway to push the first box into her room. The box she had retrieved turned out to be mostly her mother's books. Alfred placed them on the higher shelves, as she wasn't likely to read them soon.

I will to read them. You just watch. Lauren silently huffed at the idea that she couldn't understand them. She was the best reader in her class.

The two worked like this for some time. Lauren bringing in boxes while Alfred stood on the ladder and placed the books he thought she wouldn't be reading on the higher shelves, while she put everything else on the lower shelves. They where half way through the last of Andrew and Daniel's books when there was a buzz from the door.

Alfred stepped off of the ladder with a look of interest and left to answer the door. Grabbing Hatter, Lauren snuck after him, hoping to see who was there. Her curious seed, the feeling that was growing in the numb, mixed with excitement and made her giddy in a way familiar to children, as she followed after the older man.

"Ah, Miss Dawes." Lauren peaked around the corner to get a look at the woman Alfred had just addressed.

"Hello Alfred. Is Bruce here?" Miss Dawes stood in the doorway, a bag hanging from over her shoulder. Lauren thought her face had the same look that her mother's had when she wasn't happy about something.

"I'm afraid he stepped out to Wayne Tower. He should be back before long, if you would like to wait. Why the sudden need to speak with him."

"This." Miss Dawes pulled a paper out of her bag and showed it to Alfred.

"Yes, our newest house guest. She's spying on us from around the corner if you would like to meet her." The butler pointed towards where Lauren had pulled her head from a moment before.

How does he do that?

"Miss Lauren, come here and say hello Miss Dawes," Lauren inched out from behind her wall, and wearily walked towards the woman while shooting her suspicious looks. Completely unfazed by her reaction Alfred continued, "She is Master Bruce's oldest friend. They've known each other, since they were younger then you."

Whoever Miss Dawes was to Bruce, she was giving Lauren an odd look that was making her a little nervous.

"Hi." Miss Dawes leaned over and tried to smile at her. "My name is Rachael…"

Lauren continued to give her hateful looks. She still couldn't figure out what the look in Rachael's eyes was. The way she had looked when talking to Alfred though, she clearly wasn't happy, but now she was all smiles and speaking softly. Another liar. Just like Ms. Meadows. She probably wants to send me away.

But she is Bruce's friend. Another voice countered.

Says Alfred.

Alfred wouldn't lie.

Well maybe she isn't really his friend. Ever think of that.

Maybe she is.

Well then…she could want him all to herself. And not want me here so she doesn't have to share.

I won't take up much space. Just a little. The two voices merged back into one. Like at school, I'll just take up a little space. She can keep him. It's okay. Suddenly Lauren wasn't feeling so curious anymore. So without any response to Rachael's attempt at an introduction, she turned and ran back to her room.

∞Alfred's POV∞

"Well, that was interesting."

Miss Dawes started in shock after Lauren. "Is she always like that."

"In what way? Quiet? Yes, she hasn't spoken a word since Batman found her. Curious? As far as I've seen? Definitely. Skittish? I'm not entirely sure. Though she did run away from her social worker. " Alfred mulled over Lauren's reaction and quickly came to the conclusion that the last was somehow involved with this. "May I recommend you go patch things up while I make some tea?"

Rachael nodded and headed after Lauren. Things really are starting to get interesting.

∞Lauren's POV∞

Keeping Hatter with her, Lauren returned to putting her books away. The feelings that were swirling around the numb had changed from the feather light ones she was used to, to thick, gooey ones. They were familiar, their unwanted presence sticking her insides together and not allowing her thoughts to wonder.

∞Flashback∞

Lauren stood at the door to the class room, looking for an empty seat. It was her first day of first grade, unfortunately, for everyone else in her class, it was their sixth. The night before the first day of school Lauren had come down with a case of the chicken pox, thus forcing her to miss the first week of classes. Now here she was the only one without a group of friends.

"Hi." The voice came from Lauren's right beside the book case full of brightly colored bins. "My name's Emma." Emma was a little taller then Lauren, and had straight black hair that was pulled back in a pony tail that hung to her shoulders. She wore a blue short sheaved shirt and blue jeans that made her legs look like toothpicks.

"I'm Lauren, but you can call me Alice."

"Alice?" Emma screwed up her face. "Why Alice?"

"It's my middle name. Only my mommy and daddy call me Lauren."

"Okay, Alice. You can put your bag in here." Emma pointed to an orange bin marked "Lauren." "When ever we need to get something out of our bags, Ms. Upton will tell us."

Lauren smiled at her new friend and put her bag in her bin after pulling out her pencil case notebook. "Where do I sit?" The blonde asked looking around at the various tables.

"You can sit with me." Emma hooked her arm with Lauren's and led her to the table in the very back of the room where a mousy girl with a large white ribbon her hair was sitting. "This is Amber, she is my very bestest friend. Now you can be both of our's very bestest friend too, Alice." Amber looked at Lauren critically. Like Emma, Amber was wearing jeans and a short sleeved shirt, though her shirt was purple.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Amber asked with a sneer.

Lauren looked down at her pink sundress and lacey, white, short sleeved shrug. "I always dress like this."

"How are you going to play in shoes like that?" Amber pointed at Lauren's white dress shoes.

"I don't know…"

"Amber!" Emma pulled Lauren closer to her side, wrapping her arms around the one of Lauren's she still held hostage. "Don't be a meany! Alice is our newest, bestest friend. And bestest friends don't say stuff like that."

"I'm sorry." Amber muttered.

But Amber wasn't sorry, as Lauren quickly found out. Emma turned out to be one of the most popular girls in the first grade, and it seemed that not even Amber would cross her to her face. So whenever Emma was around, Amber was the perfect friend, but whenever she wasn't looking, Amber would trip Lauren or hide her things.

By the end of the week Lauren's knees were covered in bruises and half of her things were missing.

"Please don't." she cried as Amber stood poised with an open bottle of glue over Hatter, who Lauren had brought in for show and tell.

"Why not. You ruined everything. Emma has been my bestest friend forever. But now she's always with you. I don't want to be your friend. I want my friend back!" Amber glared at her not-so friend with all the might of a six-year old.

"I'm sorry." Lauren looked at the ground. "I didn't mean to. I promise, I'll stop being Emma's friend."

Amber put the glue down a satisfied smile on her face. "Good. You should never have been her friend in the first place."

Lauren didn't want to hurt Emma, so she started reading more. At recess whenever Emma tried to get her to play, she would say she wanted to finish this book or this chapter. At lunch and during breaks she did the same thing. Amber stopped tripping her and after a while all of her things ended up in her bin again.

The weeks passed and everyone became used to Lauren's ways. They stopped inviting her to sleep-overs, knowing she'd say no. They stopped asking her to join in at tag, for the same reason. But whenever they worked in groups, she was automatically with Emma and Amber, and at lunch she had a place to sit. When Emma sent out invitations to her birthday party, Lauren was one of the first to get one, the same with her Halloween party and her Christmas Tea.

That was her little piece of space, and she became used to it, just as the other's did. And after a while, she didn't want any more. She had her brothers and sister to play with anyway; she didn't need to go to sleep-overs. Amber probably didn't have brothers to play with, or a sister to read to her. Besides, she had Sasha, and Amber probably didn't have a beta. Lauren was better off with her little piece of Emma, Amber needed her more anyway.

∞End Flashback∞

Lauren pulled herself away from the gooey feelings and let the numb take hold. She didn't need Bruce. She had thought of him like her brothers and her daddy, but he wasn't. Bruce was her friend, and she only every got little pieces of her friends. But that was okay.

Lauren smiled to herself. Miss Rachael probably needed Bruce more anyway.