From the Ashes

Author's Note: Oh my god! I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! School is seriously kicking my ass! Ah, but I feel great that I'm updating finally. A lot happens in this chapter. Not only does the plot advance, but we get some saucy information on what's going on exactly. Will some of our questions be answered? Will Sasha finally get what she wants? Find out! Oh, guess what I recently realized? If you rearrange the letters in Ashes and replace the E with an A, you get Sasha. What are the odds? Also, remember to review! I really do like reading the reviews and I'd love to start a conversation with you guys. It's fun! Feel free to favorite and follow as well! Enjoy!

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Chapter Nine

Gotham City – Crime Alley

September 8th 17:15 EDT

Blaire Grey shifted uncomfortably in her dress and groaned. Of course, it was one of the dresses she would manage to wear. Not that she would actually show on the outside that she hated it – well, actually, she liked the dress, just not on her. The dress was a simple and girly bubble-like, white dress with elegant black lacing along the fluffy hem and a black bow around her waist and tied at the center of her back. However, she didn't go without her punkish charms; adding in her slightly torn converse, ripped up, black gloves, and simple black choker. Her dark brown roots had grown and blended into the white dye she had put into her hair – an effect she had looked for since it seemed to be her favorite.

Quickly, the young girl walked over to her desk and shut down her computer just in case any snoops were to try an invade her private work while she was gone and began down the spiral staircase of her run-down church of a home. Alex Grey – the woman who had raised her to be who she was – lived there her entire life, and Blaire was going to continue to live there as well. The church was stone-architecture, courtesy of the usual design on Gotham's buildings, with large, stone pillars, and rich wood seats, once graced by velvet cushions and the glowing light of beautiful colors projected by the stain glass windows. Those windows were now shattered, those seats were now torn, that rich wood was rotted, and those large pillars were crumbling.

Yet, it felt like home. It always did ever since Blaire was seven and she began living under Alex's wing – being trained to be the next Crime Alley information broker, and damn was she trained by the best. Her skills in hacking, detective work – it rivaled the famous Batman and the Question. Gliding her hand over split wood, she passed down the aisle and through the dark doors. She closed both doors soundly and secured the chain around the handles before locking the padlock. The buzzing of her phone kept her at a halt as she struggled through the ruffles of her damned dress to find the pockets that came with it.

Finally, she found her phone. "You're here." She said into the speaker without question – she already knew who it was.

"Yup," Jason popped the 'p.' "You coming?"

"Yeah," Blaire replied as she continued down the stone steps of her beloved church. "Have any trouble finding the place?"

There was a silence and Blaire's lips quirked just slightly. "I-I spent most of my childhood at that chapel; you think I would forget?" He answered hastily.

"You never were the best at directions, Jay." She laughed lightly, her rusty, hazy voice slurring ever so lightly.

"Bruce needed to talk to you before the party," Jason said, changing the subject. Though, Blaire didn't respond until she finally heard that one line she'd grown up hearing from her best friend.

Blaire rolled her eyes and scowled as she slipped through the wire fence that divided her little haven from the rest of Crime Alley, careful not to get her new dress caught in the prickly wiring. "Of course, he does. The man can't trust me for a single second, even after I agreed to stop handing out important information to the thugs. Remind him that the only thing that's keeping me from selling him out – literally – is the fact that your life is a stake as well, Jay." She said sharply.

There was a pause. "There's no comment from the all mighty Bat." He finally said and Blaire laughed before catching sight of their luxury car.

"I see you," She said as she approached and the window rolled down to reveal the smirking face of none other than Jason Todd.

"I see you, too, Blaire," He said and got out, keeping the door open for her to slide in before him. She smiled coyly.

"Such a gentleman," Blaire said mockingly and slid into the car.

"Good evening, Miss Grey!" Alfred called over his shoulder from the driver's seat. She smiled and waved at the man through the rear-view mirror. Blaire always liked Alfred Pennyworth, a trusting man that she enjoyed to chat with now and then when she was invited over to the Wayne Manor.

"Hi, Alfred!" She said briskly and looked over to her left at Dick Grayson, and then in front of her where she glared at Bruce Wayne. "Dick, Bruce." She greeted tightly.

Dick smirked. "Hey Blaire," He said. Blaire didn't hate the guy. Actually, she was on really good terms with him, for now. She just couldn't stand how damned cocky he could be.

"You haven't been abiding to our entire deal, Blaire," Bruce said as Jason got back in and shut the door. Blaire smirked. She was full aware of the deal they had. She would remain under protection of the Dark Knight so long as she didn't give any crucial information to thugs, she allowed the Dark Knight full access to her computer system, and that she wouldn't sell out the names of the Bat Family. That agreement also allowed her to not get turned in, and she would still be allowed to see Jason on a regular basis.

However, lately, Blaire had bulked up the security system over her private work place. With a sigh, she pulled out a flash drive from her pocket. "I've gotten in risk of people wanting to find me, so I've had to keep a tighter lock on my system. Here's some encryptions to allow you in, coded by yours truly." She said and handed him the USB.

"Thanks," Bruce said and gave the USB to Alfred who kept it under wraps. "How has your day been?"

Oh, so now he wants to talk like normal people?

"Pretty good, I guess. Hope you like the dress, it cost me seventy bucks." The petite girl said blandly and leaned against Jason. "Not only that, but my messenger decided to get a new gig without telling me, so I had to make the information drop today and, well, it's not fun having to be called a loose end. Needless to say, running with a package in one hand, a dress in the other, half a mile, is very exhausting."

Ah, sarcasm. It was a common tool for the informant. Not quite finished with her conversation, Blaire closed her eyes, hoping to get a little bit of rest while she had Jason's shoulder as a pillow. She could practically feel Dick mouthing smart remarks about what could be mistaken as a display of affection. Sure, it wasn't rare that she'd willingly fall asleep on Jason and he allowed it. They grew up together on the streets; it was a common thing for them. Leaning on each other for support – it's what they always did.

"What information was it?" Bruce asked as though they were talking about the weather.

"Just something from a neighborhood gang to another. Nothing valuable. I got enough to pay for the dress and for tomorrow's dinner." She said with just about as much nonchalance and inched a bit closer to Jason. Opening one eye, she looked up at him. "You haven't said anything." Usually, he would be having a cow about her personally making the information drops. Before he was adopted by Bruce and after Alex Grey died, Jason had been the one to make the drops for her when she hadn't enough money to hire a messenger, even when she tried all she could to let her do it so he wouldn't get hurt.

"You really shouldn't be doing that by yourself, Blaire." He muttered, surprisingly calm for this situation. Blaire didn't quite know if she was hurt or not.

"I had my weapons, I could get by if I had to, Jay. Don't worry." She said with a shrug, closed her eyes again, and yawned. "How's Gotham's little girl on fire doing?" Blaire's lips quirked just a little at the sigh that came from Bruce Wayne.

"Not quite sure." He replied tightly. "Find anything more on Wilt, the Blades, or the Volkov family?"

For a while, she didn't reply, leaving the subject hanging in the air to suffer. Then, she answered, "It's all in the flash drive. Interesting occupation Lev Volkov had." She opened her eyes to see Bruce quirk an eyebrow at her, curious as to why she said 'had.' "I don't know if Lev is alive. Andrii, her brother, is for sure dead. He was part of the Shadows."

Each of the Bats tensed, especially Dick, who looked more worried than anyone else. He exchanged glances with his adoptive father. "Do you think…?"

"Not sure," Bruce said briskly and nodded at Blaire to continue. She returned the gesture politely.

"Anyway, about the Blades and Wilt, there's very little information. In old texts the Blades were fabled to be an elite group of warriors based out of Asia who were guards of great emperors and monarchs. As for Wilt," Blaire paused and tapped her fingers on her legs. "Well, no one knew she existed until twenty years ago when the Blades suddenly became active and hostile towards the so-called innocent." She earned a small glare from Bruce at that.

Bruce sighed and glanced at the small girl. She was about five feet tall, maybe five-foot-one. "Thanks for the information, Blaire. You still have no idea what the Blades did with those weapon designs you stole for them from Scatter, do you?"

The girl suddenly snapped up, her eyes narrow. "I didn't steal anything, Bruce. I was instructed to insert a virus to corrupt the systems for a week. That's all. That was before we had our deal, so don't get snappy with me." She defended quickly, her tone sharp.

The billionaire vigilante just stared at her before nodding curtly. "Right."

Exhausted, Blaire fell back onto Jason's shoulder and brought her legs close to her chest. She yawned, again. "I need an energy drink."

She could feel Dick shift in his seat. "You can have the rest of my Rockstar." He offered. Eyes stilled closed, the bi-color haired girl shook her head with a disgusted expression.

"Gross. Cooties."

"You don't seem to mind Jason's cooties," Dick cooed. "Ow!"

Blaire was pretty sure she and Jason agreed that the punch and kick was what Dick deserved.

Gotham City

September 8th 17:45 EDT

She saw the guest list. She'd been there for thirty minutes. In a dress. She was staring at the glass doors, watching every neatly dressed man and woman pass, catching a glimpse of the occasional familiar face from school. Though, the familiar face she was looking for was the three that would save her life on this night.

Sasha was relieved to know she'd have a few friends by her during the event. Those friends included Ivan McCornick, Barbra Gordon, and Dick Grayson. So far, none of them made an appearance. It was driving her nuts.

The heiress was dressed in a beautiful, cute, highly constructed sweetheart bodice dress. The tiers of the skirt resembled a rose in bloom, accompanied by black tulle on the hem and delicate beading on the bust. It was…elegant. And over four-hundred bucks. Surprisingly, Sasha was coping well in delicate black heels. Her stylist braided a strand of her hair opposite of the side where he bangs swayed into the rest of her hair back behind in a diagonal way. Her eyes were accented by smoky shadows, and her red tinted lips contrasted against her deathly pale skin. Around her right wrist was a gothic, black, fabric bracelet, complimented by elegant lace, and around her neck was sleek, black beads with something that Sasha found a great interest in whilst shopping with her mother.

It was a pendant made of onyx into the shape of a black fox with rubies for eyes. Sasha didn't protest against Rosalie getting it for her. However, it did make her feel a little guiltier about what she would do that night. She would confront Rosalie about her wishes, and if Rosalie decided against it, Sasha would run away for the final time. Never to come back. That was her plan. There was nothing less solid about it.

"Sasha!" An overly flamboyant, male voice screamed into her ear as Sasha couldn't help herself but nearly jump out of her train with a yelp. She turned sharply to meet the playful gaze of her favorite peer.

"Goddammit, Ivan!" She cried and hugged him. "You've no idea how long I've been waiting for your ass!" Sasha hissed and retracted.

Ivan rolled his eyes. "My perfect ass has been here this whole time, girlie," He said and eyed her up and down with a large grin. "Speaking of which, you look so perfect!"

Sasha blushed very lightly and hid her face behind her bangs which Ivan pushed back away from her dark eyes. "You think?"

"A true rose of Scatter Corp, if you ask me." He said, still grinning. "Where's mommy?"

Her expression dropped and she gaped at him. Why on earth would he ask that? "Mommy is in the land of Idon'tgiveaflyingfuck."

Ivan grunted and rolled his eyes, a little too exaggeratedly. "Potty mouth," He muttered and swatted at her. "She lettin' you off the leash tonight or something?"

"Until the press conference, more than likely," She said with a shrug. "I think I'm free to hang with the guys until then."

Ivan purred and rubbed his shoulder against hers. "Mmm, good thing too – did you see the guest list?" He asked her in a sassy tone, arching a brow as high as he could.

Sasha rolled her eyes. Of course, he would go to that subject. "Yes, I did, Ivan." She said and poked him in the shoulder. Hard. Her friend pouted and turned his head away. "I hope you aren't planning on getting me hooked up with someone tonight, because trust me, I have better things to do."

His frown deepened. "You're no fun," He whined, wiggling in annoyance. She rolled her eyes, again, and got up. The first person she ran into while wandering around was Barbra Gordon. The redhead was dressed elegantly in a black grown with a sweetheart neckline. She smiled at Ivan and Sasha.

"Hey, guys, how's everything?" Barbra asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Great!" Was Ivan's response.

"I'm trying; I really am, Babs," Sasha, however, was a little more blunt. Barbra laughed lightly and shrugged.

"It'll get better, don't worry. The press outside didn't bother you, did they?" She asked, looking a bit worried.

Luckily, the press had not bothered her. Yet. "No, Rosalie made sure we got here early. She doesn't want the unauthorized press getting ahold of me just yet," Sasha winced just a little at her last remark. Of course, Rosalie had no problem for the authorized interviewers and reporters questioning her later on when they were allowed. "So, what is up with the big gala and everything?"

Again, Barbra shrugged. "Not exactly sure, but apparently all of Gotham's local business people decided to get together for a meeting of some sort, have a little party, invite the press and show off what they got. They even invited my dad and the mayor, but I don't think he'll be coming."

Sasha scoffed and rolled her eyes. So that's where Rosalie was. Way to tell her about everything. "I feel like such a purse dog…" She muttered and earned a few confused looks from Barbra and Ivan. "Rosalie didn't tell me that I was just a little accessory to look at while she did business."

The wide-eyed stares remained.

"I need a drink,"

It wasn't long until the Wayne family arrived with their guest, Blaire Grey. The girl had a few problems getting in, but Bruce Wayne's usual get-out-of-jail-free card worked the trick to allow her inside to socialize with the rest of the people invited who did not immediately retreat to the back for their meeting. Sasha was speaking philosophy with some strangers who were curious about her endeavors in Russia when she saw the group of four walk through the door. From the corner of her eye she saw Bruce Wayne, nicely groomed and well built, politely talking to a few people before dismissing himself to the same place where her mother would be.

Sasha noticed Blaire standing idly by, tapping her fingers rhythmically on her side, dull, mossy eyes looking over every man and woman that passed. She noticed that the younger girl had a habit doing that – observing, listening, and looking. She was very silent and very intuitive. She also had a weird way of knowing a lot of things. Sasha was told Blaire had all A's and she had an incredible memory. Not only that, but the girl was one of the best artists she'd ever seen. She also heard that Blaire could sing, but she'd yet to figure that out.

"You are such a smart, young lady, Aleksandra," The man said with a respectful nod. She returned the gesture and smiled tightly. "What are your thoughts on Gotham's current state of criminal justice?" He asked her.

Sasha looked at her drink and took a sip before responding. "You mean how we have vigilantes running amuck?" She clarified.

The man, whom she learned his name was Thomas, nodded vigorously. "Yes! I've noticed her mother has a very…narrow minded opinion, no offense to her at all. I myself am rather indifferent to the scenario, to be truthful."

"Oh, well it is good to speak the truth," She said generously, ducking her head slightly. "My stand point on it is actually a bit…well, both indifferent and supportive of the out-of-law vigilantes. What's so wrong with having a little hand taking care of the bad guys? Even if it is just a huge conspiracy, isn't it good that the baddies are getting off the street?" She shrugged slightly.

"Ha!" The man bellowed and smiled. "Again, I must compliment how marvelous you are, Aleksandra," Thomas said and tipped his glass to her. "Onto a more casual subject – how has school been going for you, I'm aware that this would be your first year not taking homeschooling?"

Sasha nodded. "Indeed it is," She began. "I'm glad to finally taking some sort of outside education, but algebra sucks, and physics is a bit boring," The girl said blandly and took a quick look around. "Um, it's been nice talking with you, Mr. Davis-"

"Thomas,"

"Thomas, but I really must get back to my friends."

He nodded in understanding and she left quickly to retreat where Ivan was sitting. He bumped his hip into hers. "Hey, girly, what's up?"

She rolled her eyes. "Making conversation, what about you?" He shrugged..

"Eh…" Was his response and he took a sip of his drink. "This is so boring…" He whined and pretended to kick dust up. "Worst party ever."

"Oh, dear," Sasha murmured and patted his cheek, pursing her lips. "You're so needy,"

Ivan grinned and latched onto her. "I need, Sash! I need!" He cried through his laughter and Sasha tried to pull away, laughing as well.

"Dammit, Ivan," She growled lowly, still giggling. "Get off! You're making a scene, you freak!"

"I found them," An absent voice said and both teens looked to see Blaire standing infront of them next to Jason Todd. Behind them was Dick Grayson looking amused as always. Quickly, Sasha shoved her friend off her and rolled her eyes before greeting the others.

"Hey," She said and elbowed Ivan who managed to sputter a greeting. "You guys are fashionably late,"

Before anyone could speak an excuse, Blaire jammed her thumb at Jason. "He couldn't remember where I lived, even though he's been going there since we were like…seven," She said, rolling her eyes.

"How are you tonight?" Dick asked her, walking up past his adoptive brother and his friend. Sasha caught the look Ivan gave her before excusing himself and running off. She scowled at him and shook her head, but quickly composed herself when she saw Dick's concerned look.

"I feel like my mom's new favorite accessory. You?" She stated blandly as though she hadn't said what she said. The boy eyed her for a while and then smiled in understanding.

"I'm doing pretty okay myself," He said and looked over her dress. "Here I thought you were going to be wearing jeans and hoodie," He grinned and she laughed.

Sasha picked at the hem of her dress and chuckled. "Heh, thanks?" She said in inquiry. "You clean up nice, yourself, Dick,"

Though, she couldn't say he looked any different than when he was at school, set aside the very nice suit he was wearing. She looked over at Jason, who had nearly the same attire only just a bit more careless about it. As if he didn't really care whether or not he looked good at the party for glorified, privileged folks. Blaire was just the same way, even though she had a nice, probably new, dress, she still had on torn sneakers and her hair was a bit messy. However, Dick was a bit cleaner.

"Thanks," He said and looked around. "Anyone else here?"

"Barbra was here earlier, but I think she's somewhere with the commissioner. You already saw the walking fruitcake go by, right?" She joked, referring to her friend, Ivan. Dick seemed to get the joke and laughed lightly. Sasha smiled. "That's about it, I guess."

"And your mom?"

"Same place Bruce Wayne should be, I'm assuming," She said and looked around for something to do. Oh, this night was just beginning.

The building was filling up over the hours and Sasha kept an eye out for her mother. She knew it wouldn't be long until she would have to return to her mother's side and she was trying to spend her limited time socializing as much as she could. For all she knew, she might not be seeing these friends soon enough. They were talking about the usual stuff – school affairs, projects, recent events. Blaire talked very little unless spoken to directly, otherwise she was mindlessly tapping against anything in reach.

"We'll be getting progress reports soon," Barbra said, a tight smile tugging at her lips. "Any idea what grades look like?"

No one seemed to have any idea as they shifted uncomfortably. Some more than others. Ivan had a nervous look and suddenly became more interested in picking at his salad, rather than talking like he usually would. Sasha scoffed at him, rolling her eyes. She didn't really care about her grades, but she was sure that she had an F in math. Yay. That was sure to look bad on her permanent record.

"Well," Dick said, breaking the silence as she balanced on his chair. "I bet I have decent grades, besides, it's just a progress report card. Those don't go in the files."

Blaire nodded in agreement. "It's interesting to see all of the students with bad grades freak out and then wait until the last week of the quarter to raise their grades." She said simply and yawned. The bi-color-haired girl folded her arms over the table and rested her head. Sasha eyed her. How could one girl be so tired this early? Then again, Blaire always seemed tired. She turned her head her for eyes to peek out and she glanced over at Jason. "You are being oddly quiet tonight,"

"Says the introvert." Jason grunted, rolling his eyes at his childhood friend. Blaire continued to stare at him, her mossy green eyes narrowed and deadly. He sighed. "Shut up,"

Satisfied, Blaire smirked lightly and turned her head back into her folded arms. Sasha chuckled and looked over at Ivan, she elbowed him in the stomach. "What's up, fruitcake?"

"Girly, are you tryin' to start a fight?" He questioned her with an arched brow, pointing his fork at her threateningly. Her devilish grin grew.

"I'm bored."

"I will pull those precious locks out of your pretty little skull, Volkov,"

"Bite me."

"You are looking rather delicious tonight."

"Says the fruitcake!"

Sasha and Ivan were unaware of the strange stares they received from the rest of the group. Barbra shook her head and Dick cackled at their interactions. It was a sight to behold with their snarky bickering. Though, Dick knew Sasha and he knew that if Ivan took a wrong step, she would tackle him to the ground. Though, the peaceful air didn't last long when a group of frivolous young girls passed by. They seemed to be sophomores. One of them, a bleached blond looked over at Blaire in a disgusted scowl.

Their tones were rushed as they talked to each other, but Blaire could hear them. She peeked out from her gather and stared at the girls as they glanced over at her and giggled together. She sighed and got up. "It's too damn noisy in here." She muttered in monotone and left to go outside.

Barbra and Sasha's gazes followed the girl as she left, looking confused and they turned to Jason, who, of course, would know what's going on. "Is she leaving?" Barbra asked cautiously. He shook his head no.

"No. It's a thing she does to tune out things entirely. You could tell she was getting anxiety because she was tapping on things to keep her mind off the noise." He replied and glanced in the direction Blaire disappeared. "She'll be back."

The two girls continued to stare at him quizzically. "Aren't you going to see if she's okay?" Sasha asked, her tone surprisingly concerned.

"If I do, she won't talk to me."

"Fair enough?" Barbra murmured and sighed, looking over across the large room. "Seems like the meeting is over." Sasha quickly turned to see the group of officials walking out of a hall and into the room. Two of those people were Bruce Wayne and Rosalie Himura. The two were talking to each other when they spotted the table and came over together. Rosalie made sure to give her daughter a narrow-eyed glance when she saw that she was with boys. Of course, Sasha returned the gesture with a sneer.

Taking a breath, the woman turned back at Bruce and bowed her head. "I understand your concerns, Mr. Wayne. Scatter Corp is indeed very young in America, but I do not think we will need a partnership with Wayne Tech just yet." She said generously, but tightly. She turned to look at her daughter. "Please excuse me and my daughter, we've business to attend to. Will you be joining the press conference?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not, Ms. Himura. I've business to attend to as well, and I'm sad to say that I'll have to leave soon." He looked over the table and his brow furrowed. "Where's Blaire?"

"Doing her thing," Jason replied gruffly.

"Oh," Sasha couldn't help but want to laugh at the dumbfounded expression on his face. "I'll send Alfred to pick you guys up later." He said briskly and left the scene after a couple goodbyes from the two boys. Again, Rosalie eyed Sasha to get up and she obliged. She smiled at Barbra, and Barbra only.

"Thank you for keeping my daughter company, Miss Gordon." She said politely.

"My pleasure," Barbra replied, eyeing the daughter and mother suspiciously. "The press will be here in less than half an hour."

Nodding generously, Rosalie dragged Sasha from the table and close to the wall where they stood. Rosalie's dark eyes were narrow and her arms were crossed. "Who were they?" She asked sharply.

"Just some friends from school," Sasha answered quickly and guardedly. "Mom, I need to talk-"

"Well, good." Rosalie interrupted promptly, nodding her head in approval. "I do hope they are just friends. Cannot allow you to be whisked away by some petty teenage romance, can we?" She chuckled lightly as though the idea were a joke.

Sasha stared at her. "Mom, I really need to talk to you."

"Can it not wait until later, dear? I would rather get a nice glass of wine before having to talk again,"

"No, Rosalie, it can't!" Sasha snapped, her eyes narrow. This was it. This was the time she would tell her what's been tickling her tongue for the past couple months. Rosalie stared at her with wide eyes before she relaxed and gestured for her to speak. The girl sighed, tempted to fiddle with the hem of her dress, but she didn't out of desire to no look like a cowardly fool. Instead, her eyes never left her mother's gaze. "Mother, I've decided that I'm going to start the hero gig, whether or like it or not."

The color red began to rise on Rosalie's face. "Aleksandra, I thought I said-"

"I know what you said, but I'm choosing not to abide by it. This is my life, Rosalie, not yours. You have your opinions and I have mine, it's as simple as that." Sasha declared, keeping her voice low, strong, and determined. "You can chain me up in a cage in your basement, and I'll still do what I want." She took a shaky breath. "And if you declare me no longer your daughter, take away my rights as heiress to Scatter, and give me nowhere to stay, I will still keep my mind set on this. My time in – in Russia, has taught me that I want to help people."

"You owe those people nothing!" Rosalie snarled lowly, her voice dripping with disappointment and anger. "They do not deserve the attention of someone as high ranked as you are. It's a dog-eat-dog world, Aleksandra, you, who trained with Lev, should know that. The minute you start this, the world will show you no mercy, you understand? You'll get killed!"

Perhaps that was true. With Wilt after her throat, there was no guarantee that Sasha would survive even her first week as a vigilante. Though, that did not change her mind. "The moment I came into the world, there was a chance I would be killed. I'll die anyway, so why not do it fighting?" She said, her fists balling up in the energy that ran through her veins. "Mom. This is who I am. I love fighting and want to use my abilities, my talents to help people. Is that so bad?"

Rosalie stared at her daughter, not sure what to say. She held a sad expression on her face when she finally spoke, though. "I suppose not, Aleksandra. Just know that all I've ever wanted to do is protect you,"

"And I'm trying to show you that I don't need to be protected anymore. I can handle myself just fine," Sasha assured her, hoping that maybe there was a chance for them. After all, Rosalie was her only link to her past at that time.

The woman's shoulders rose and fell as she took in a deep, deep breath and turned, her dark gaze towards the floor. Sasha felt pain sting inside her. She'd never seen her mother like this. "I'm sure you can handle on your own just fine, Aleksandra." Rosalie said, her voice strained. She looked up and towards the group of reporters that began to gather in the room. "They're here. We must go to our assigned table now,"

With her head down, coal-like locks hiding her face, Sasha followed her mother across the room to the table. There were no words shared between them for the rest of that night. No words had to be spoken. She knew just exactly what happened. Rosalie Himura gave up her only daughter.

Gotham City

September 8th 23:38 EDT

What made Rosalie give up her daughter was all out of selfishness. She knew this. She didn't want to be burdened with the thought that she, a mother, let her daughter walk away to her death. Yet, the guilt still tore at her heart. Rosalie was a selfish woman, indeed. During the press conference, she had announced her disowning of Aleksandra Volkov, but, by right of birth, the girl would remain heiress to Scatter Corp. Not that it would matter. Rosalie knew very well that it wouldn't take long for that…thing to slaughter her daughter. The worst part of it all, though, was the fact that Rosalie could do nothing to prevent it. For twenty long years she'd fought to protect the few things she had in her life and she just lost it all in a few words.

Why was it that simple?

Rosalie Himura stood on the balcony of the building of the party, fiddling with her wine glass and watching the moon's silver light glisten on the red, liquid surface. Her eyes burned and her breath was short. What was she doing? A sophisticated woman such as herself shouldn't be succumbing to such low standards. It was dishonorable and certainly didn't help her situation. She didn't turn when she heard a heavy thud on the concrete floor behind her. Instead, she shifted so the wavy, dark brown locks on her shoulders fell back behind her where they belonged.

"You let her go." Said a very gruff voice in the darkness. Rosalie sighed and took a sip of her wine. Though, she sip turned into a full-on chug and she downed the alcohol. Still holding her glass in her right hand, she leaned against the railing and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Yes." She answered hoarsely. "I don't suppose you've come to lecture me, hmm?" She forced a tight smile on her lips and she turned, leaning back in a not so lady-like manner. The dark figure didn't answer. Instead, he stood idly by. "Well? I'm waiting! I should've been harsher on her, I should have forbidden her to ever even think about being like – like you! I tried that, and she still won't listen. I blame her father for her stubbornness. Andrii was the same damn way."

"You're a mess," The figure said and he stepped out of the shadows.

Rosalie pointed a wavering finger at Batman and scowled. "And you're an ass!" A slight English accent began to peek out of her voice in her tipsy banter. "A damned, bat's ass. Yes, you are!" There was no comment from the Dark Knight. Taking his silence as a dismissal, Rosalie turned back again, setting her glass down and covering her face with her hands. She shook her head, muttering things lowly in a broken voice. "I'm disgusted with myself, Batman. How can I live knowing that I let my beloved daughter walk to her death?"

"How can you be so sure Sasha will die?" Batman asked cautiously. Her hands slid down so she could glare at any looming shadows. Oh, that woman was having fun listening to this, wasn't she?

"Wilt is an unstoppable force. She'll stop at nothing to get what she wants." Rosalie said scornfully. "My sister – no, that thing possessing my sister is a hunter and my daughter is the prey. Like a hungry lone wolf, she will show no mercy." The woman turned around, her eyes red and puffy. "It won't be long until I die, Batman."

Batman's gaze narrowed. "What do you mean?" His tone was serious and slightly concerned. Rosalie smiled and brought a hand up to her face as she looked up at the sky.

"Wilt will want to get revenge on me for taking what was rightfully hers, and then she will take my daughter's place as heiress to Scatter and head of the Himura Family. When that happens, she will use my murder as bait for Sasha. You cannot let her try to save me. She is not yet ready to face her." She explained carefully.

"I thought you said Sasha has no chance," Batman countered.

Rosalie did not speak for a long time before replying. Her voice was steady, yet unsure. As if she were testing the words with confidence. "I do not think she may ever defeat Wilt, however she can prolong the battle when she is strong enough. In her state, if what you are saying about her is true, she will not be mentally, spiritually, or physically stable to fight Wilt until the time is right. However," She looked at Batman at where his eyes should be. Despite her slight drunkenness, she remained serious. "If it comes down to the final battle, Wilt will have to be killed, make no mistake. Not only will it dispel the demon within her, but it will set her soul free."

"Killing people isn't-"

"That thing is not a person! It is a leech, a parasite using my sister's body as a host!" Rosalie cried in all her anger towards the thing that threatened everything and everyone she loved. "If you cannot kill it, find someone who will."

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