A Family

by BaconYourFace

What happens when two girls enter the Bat Family? Follow Christine Carter and Autumn Cross on their experiences as part of the family. Yes, Tim, Damian and Alfred are in this too (major characters, yes) Warnings: contains some gory scenes, swearing, and NO SLASHES. There are a few funny and fluffy chapters later on. Sucky summary but you get the point. Please read and review!

38. As Lightning to The Children Eased

Chapter 38: As lightning to the children eased

A/N: Wow 23 reviews! Cool! Thanks guys! We try our best to reply to all the reviews, but don't hesitate to reply!

Tim's POV

I open my eyes to the cold winter breeze and the gray, gray world. I glance around my bedroom and walk towards the window. I look out into the world and see piles and piles of snow mounded up everywhere. On the road heading towards the manor, on top of the trees, on the gates. Snowflakes are gracefully descending from the sky.

My face slightly brightens, and the memory of me as a child on one of the rare times before Christmas when my dad was home resurfaces. We would play outside in the blanket of white, white snow.

I turn around and throw on a warmer shirt and quickly stretch. I'm surprised that I was able to sleep at all with the thought of Bruce going to the carnival and Autumn - Autumn! That's right! Bruce must have brought her home by now. My littlest sister is probably sound asleep in her room!

I walk out my room and down the hallway. I stop by Autumn's door and debate whether I should check in on her. Maybe, I should. I stare at the cold doorknob. Maybe, I shouldn't. She's probably tired, and knowing her, a crack of the door would probably wake her up.

So instead I keep moving. I head downstairs to have breakfast.

As I walk down the stairs, I notice the atmosphere getting heavier and heavier. Once I reach the kitchen doors, the tension is starting to crush me. I enter through the doors, despite the atmosphere, and I notice the colorless, forbidding aura in the room.

I'm surprised to find Alfred still cooking breakfast up until now. He's usually up so much earlier and breakfast would always be ready by the time I wake up. "Good morning Alfred." I greet.

"Morning Master Tim." But he doesn't turn around to face me. "I'm afraid breakfast is not ready yet, as you can see. Why don't you go wake your brothers and sister up."

"Okay…um, Alfred. Are Dick and Jason back?"

"Yes. Why, by the time they got home, they went straight to bed."

"What time did Dick get back?"

"Master Dick came home half past four if I remember correctly."

I nod. "Oh, okay…"

I turn to my right, about to go wake everyone up. "Hey Alfred...are you okay?" It feels weird saying that to Alfred. No one usually asks him that question - it's always the other way around.

A long hesitant pause. "I'm alright Master Tim. Now go and fetch your siblings."

I nod and go back up stairs, running away from the weird vibe.

I walk into Dick's room, knowing that he's the easiest to wake up no matter what time he's slept. I really don't wanna wake him up, but Alfred told me to. It's either face the slightly pissed off Dick or face the scolding grandfather...slightly pissed off Dick, no argument there.

"Dick. Wake up. Dick."

He groans and rolls over. "Five more minutes…" He mumbles.

"No. Dick. Wake up!" I say louder, but he doesn't budge. "HEY DICK WAKE UP!" I yell into his ear.

He sits up, swinging his arm and nearly slapping me. "I'm up! I'm up!" He jumps out of the bed and looks at me. "Shouldn't you be in uniform?"

"The snow is blocking the roads. It has been since this morning."

"Oh...then lucky me that I was able to get home."

I nod. "Uh-uh. Alfred told me to wake everyone up." Nothing unusual with Alfred wanting all of us be awake early in the morning even if there's no school. No. Nothing unusual there!

He nods. "Okay. You go wake up Chris and Autumn. I'll go wake up Jay and Dami."

"Oka - wait, since when did you start calling The Demon 'Dami?' It's always Little D or Demon Spawn, when you're pissed off at him."

He shrugs. "Autumn calls him that. I like the cute nickname." He says, as if that explains everything.

We both move down the hallway. I head down to Chris' room first. I knock on the door three times and walk in.

She's sound asleep. I walk closer to her bed and start to shake her. "Chris! Get up!" I say in a loud voice. "CHRIS! GET UP!"

"Go away…"

I roll my eyes and take one of the pillows and slam her face with it. "Wake up!"

"Tim! Stop it!" She says groggily.

"C'mon! Alfred told me to wake you up. You wouldn't want Alfred to get mad now do you?" I grin.

Her eyes flicker open. "Okay! Okay you got me! I don't want Alfred to get mad!"

"Good. Now to wake Autumn up."

Chris pushes herself up and then grins at me. "Oh yeah, she's probably back by now." She says, putting on her slippers and standing up with a yawn.

I nod. "Yeah. We're gonna decorate the house today, and it's gonna be her first time to spend Christmas here with us."

"Yeah I know that. I told her that she'd have to whether she liked it or not." We both start walking out of her room and down the hallway.

"Hey Chris. Why are you suddenly nice to Autumn? It's weird…"

She shrugs. "I guess we both realized that fighting is useless and that if she was going to live under the same roof as me, it's best that I at least welcome her into the family."

I raise an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Like sisters. I always wanted to have a little sister." She grins, and I stop.

"Little sister?"

"Well yeah Tim. She's the youngest in the family, making her Dick's, Jason's, yours and my little sister."

"What about the demon?"

"Oh yeah his too."

We stand in front of her door, and I start to knock on it. "Hey Autumn. Wake up!"

Chris glares at me. "You drag me out of bed, but you just knock on her door?!"

WIthout asking, she places her hand on the door knob and twists it, but the knob does not twist. "It's locked." She points out, letting go of the knob.

"You have a paperclip?" I ask her.

"I don't know Tim. Maybe Autumn locked the door for a reason. A girl does need her privacy."

I ponder for a moment, then I nod. "Yeah okay. You're right. She'll leave her room when she wants to."

****Break****

Chris' POV

I stuff my mouth with Alfred's amazing pancakes. "Where has Pennyworth gone?" Damian asks everyone at the table.

"And Bruce?" Dick asks.

Then Jason's eyes stride to the empty chair beside him. "She's not up yet." He states with no clear reaction.

"Dad's probably downstairs. I don't know where Alfred is, and Autumn's probably asleep." I answer all our questions.

Tim puts a fork in his mouth with his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know. Something's not right..."

Jason shrugs. "I'm sure they're fine."

I nod and turn my head to Dick. "So Dick. What was so huge that you had to vanish in a rush?"

He breaks into a grin. "Guys...guess what...Wally's back!" He almost yells.

I stand up. "What? Really? I have to go see him!"

"Yeah sure little sis," he gestures for me to sit back down, "but the roads are blocked for today."

"How is he? Is he okay? When did he wake up?" I bombard him with a bunch of questions.

"He's okay. He woke up last night, just after Bruce rushed to the carnival. At exactly 6:36."

"What?" Jason asks. "What carnival?"

"Ooooh...maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that." Dick says.

Jason glares at all of us and crosses his bulky arms over his chest. "All of you. Explain. Now." He commands in his best Batman impression. And to be honest, it's not a bad impression, considering the fact that Jason has been a crime lord. A crime lord that controlled crime using fear.

So we start to explain to him the events of last night. He takes the news in silence with his eyes on his half touched meal.

He stands up. "Something really is wrong." His eyes darts to everyone of us. "So none of you actually saw Autumn come home, walking in through the doors of Bruce's study?"

We all shake our heads. "No."

"No one saw Bruce go up the stairs?"

"No."

"Now that you point it out, that is weird…" Dick says. Then he looks at all of us with a determined look. "Dad's keeping a secret, and I think it has something to do with our little sister.

****Break****

We split up. Jason and Tim went out to look for Alfred, Bruce, and Autumn around Gotham. Damian and Dick split the manor in half and are looking for the three of them inside. I took the Batcave, and after scouring it I'll hack into first national then worldwide systems and try facial recognition softwares, GPS tracking, phone tracking, that stuff, plus consulting some friends. I'm supposed to call Babs for help if I need it when she's done seeing Wally.

As I walk down the cold rock staircase, I look around and realize that the Batcave is bigger than I remember. I've always been too busy doing work to take in the enormity of this place. The last time I did was the first time I walked in here, when I was ten.

I walk around as I yell, "Bruce? Alfred? Autumn?" I look in the landing area, the vehicle storage, the main hub with the Batcomputer, the crime lab, the changing area where our uniforms are...

After...I don't know how long...I enter another lab. I rarely go into this lab, so I don't really remember what it's for. In the center of the lab is a long, metal table. Near it is a computer, some equipment, and some tubs. In the room I see a countertop with a sink, some more equipment, and a testing area with flasks, beakers, and other items of the sort. Surprisingly, this room has bright, adequate lighting.

I look down into the trash can and see a pair of white latex gloves with dried blood on them. The blood doesn't look too old, though. I walk over to where most of the equipment is, and notice some of them aren't super neat. I look through the cabinets in the room until I find an ultraviolet flashlight. I turn off the lights and shine the UV light at the equipment. Sure enough, some of the tips of the medical instruments shine blue...they haven't been cleaned with the correct solution yet to get rid of all the blood. So either Batman or whoever used the instruments were in a hurry or they were used pretty recently...or both.

I turn around, and in the corner of the room, I spot more cabinets, except larger and made of metal. Then it hits me. Those are for body storage, that's an autopsy table, and those are instruments for performing an autopsy.

I walk closer to the mortuary cabinets (cabinets that are for the copses in autopsy areas) and notice that one of the four cabinets has some red on the handle.

I take in a deep breath as my hand slowly clasps around the handle. I pull open the cabinet and find a long white sheet covering what is obviously a dead body. I look down at where the head of the body is and see strands of dark, wavy hair hanging from a slightly visible head.

Oh no...

I slowly pull away the white sheet to reveal a girl with pale skin, closed eyelids, a tshirt, and sweat pants.

Autumn...

I feel myself tearing up, but I stifle the tears threatening to cascade down the sides of my cheeks. I pull up her shirt just enough to see stitches on her stomach.

So Batman performed an autopsy on Autumn to confirm she's dead...

And now both Batman and Alfred are missing, meaning Alfred knows that Autumn's dead. So where are they? And why didn't they stay long enough to tell us about Autumn?

I want to break down, lock myself in my room and deal with this alone...but Autumn said that I have a family who will listen to me...who will help me deal with stuff like this. I can trust them and rely on them, and I should take advantage of that.

I run out of the autopsy lab and to the chair in front of the Batcomputer. I pull out my phone and dial Damian's number. As the phone rings, I lock away my tears and try to lessen the sadness.

"Carter what is it?"

"I...I found Autumn." I say, trying not to sound distressed.

But the pause tells me he heard it anyway.

"I will be right there. Call Grayson."

"Okay." I don't even have the energy to get annoyed with him for ordering me around.

We both hang up and I dial my brother's number.

Damian's POV

My heart thumps loudly as I run down the hallways and stairs of the manor. As I close in on the study, the thumping slowly rises to my throat.

I push the study doors open and run to the grandfather clock. I set the hands to the correct time, my hands shaking slightly as I do so, and push open the clock.

I run down the stairs as I go deeper and deeper into the Batcave. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I look at Carter, who is sitting at the swivel chair in front of the large computer. She's looking down, but her head rises as she makes eye contact with me for just a few seconds before she returns to staring at the ground, her lips in a thin line.

"Where is she?" I demand as I walk closer to Carter. My voice sounds a little strained, even though I'm trying hard not to show any grief.

"Autopsy room." She doesn't even look up when she answers my question.

As I walk in the direction of the room, I mutter, "Tt. Can't even make eye contact long enough to answer a simple question. Weak."

I know she can hear me. In fact, I want her to. I don't care.

"Shut the f*** up assbutt." She mutters behind me.

I don't turn around to acknowledge her insult. I just keep walking, trying to focus on each foot hitting the ground instead of my heart in my throat and this obnoxious throbbing in my head.

I enter the brightly lit room, which doesn't help the pain in my head, and quickly scan the room. In the corner, I spot one of the mortuary cabinets open, with the body covered by a white sheet.

Already knowing who I will find, I walk over to the sheet and abruptly pull it off. I find myself staring at a very dead Autumn. Her skin is paler than usual...dead pale...and since she's here, she's already been cut open and had her organs examined by Father or Pennyworth.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying even harder to not let my emotions out. Unfortunately, my mind wanders to memories of Autumn.

"C'mon Damian! You can do it!" I finally pinned her down on the ground and all she did was laugh.

"Ha! I got you!" I cried in victory.

She just grinned. "Yup. You sure did!"

"But I never forgot you." She said.

"Why do you care? Why did you remember me, when I nearly forgot about you? Why did you risk your life trying to save me from the clone, knowing that Batman would have nearly killed you for decapitating him?" I asked.

"I find it funny how you're so confused with that. Because I care Damian. Do you really think I have changed that much, that I would stop caring?" She smiled.

"Remember when I told you...I've always got your back?" She promised.

I open my eyes when I hear footsteps outside. I walk out of the autopsy room and find Grayson approaching Carter. He opens his mouth to ask Carter a question, but then he looks at me and closes his mouth, as if I answered his question.

"Did you find anything on Bruce or Alfred?" He asks, some strain in his voice.

Carter turns around in the chair and faces the computer again. She pulls up all the systems she's using to track them down.

"Nothing in the cave, and nothing yet on here." She says, gesturing to the videos and coding on the screen.

"Should we contact Father and tell him we know that..." I don't need to finish my sentence. I don't want to.

"If you want..." Carter says.

"It would be best." Grayson says. I nod. Carter calls Father's phone through the computer. The cave is filled with silence except for the ringing awaiting Father's voicemail.

"This is Bruce. Leave a message." Father's automated voice says.

"Hey Bruce. We just wanted to let you know that...we found Autumn." Grayson says.

"Please come back." Carter continues.

I approach the computer and lean on it. "And bring Pennyworth back, too. We want an explanation."

Carter ends the call, and all of us sit in the silence as it slowly eats at us.

"I'm...I'm going to go check on Autumn." Grayson says.

Carter nods. "Damian and I will let Tim and Jason know."

Grayson gives Carter a sad, yet supporting look before he turns around and walks to the autopsy room. Carter returns it with a forced smile.

"Where do you think Father and Pennyworth are?" I ask Carter.

"I honestly don't know, Damian."

"Me neither..."

"I just hope they come home."

I nod in agreement. Right now, I need assurement that both of them are alive, even though they most likely are. I just really need my entire family now, especially my father.

Dick's POV

I enter the room, and my eyes immediately dart to the Autumn's uncovered body. I rush over there and look down at her. The sheet that I assume was covering her is on the floor, obviously pushed roughly aside, probably because of Damian.

I know I may sound cold, but as I look down at her, lying dead before my eyes...I feel nothing. I know I'm just a little sad, but for some reason I don't feel it right now. No remorse. No guilt. No anger. No happiness. No sadness. Nothing.

Maybe it's because I never knew how to feel about her, not then, not now. Yeah, I guess I was warming up to her a bit, but I...I don't care.

Even though I'm recalling all the times she was with us, against us, just being present...I don't feel any anger from when she nearly killed us. Don't feel any gratitude from when she helped bring Jason back that night he was drunk. Don't feel any triumph from when she made Damian act like a boy falling for a girl.

I don't. Feel. Anything. And I don't know why. And it's scaring me.

I sigh. Then I wonder, what was Bruce planning on doing with her body? Was he just going to leave her in this mortuary cabinet? Or was he going to bury her? And if so, where? I doubt he would bury her next to his parents' graves.

It doesn't matter. It shouldn't need questioning. She's a part of this family, of the Wayne family. She deserves a proper burial. So she'll get one.

I pick up the white sheet and gingerly place it on Autumn, covering her entire body. I don't bother closing the cabinet because Jason and Tim will certainly be here soon.

I walk out of the autopsy room and find Chris standing in front of the Jason's Robin uniform. I approach her and notice she's on the verge of tears. But I know she's trying to keep it in. That's what we were all taught to do. I look around and don't find Damian in sight. He probably went to cool off.

"Hey. You okay?" I ask, my hands in my pockets.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"Really? 'Cause you sure don't look okay."

She doesn't respond. She keeps her eyes on the uniform behind the glass case.

I know she's struggling, and I know that in times like these, all people really need is a friend. Someone to help them through it, even if it seems that they don't want it or need it.

I put my arm around my little sister and lean down to kiss her head. "I know she was your friend, but things will get better. They have to." Things may not have always gotten better for me after all the tragedies of my life, but I wish they had. I just need to make her believe things are still gonna be okay. The tendency to be pessimistic is kind of a trademark in this family, so that's why I'm always there trying to shine some optimism.

Chris still doesn't avert her gaze from the case. "Another death in the family. For you, I mean. This is my first. Well, except for Mom and Dad. But that doesn't really count since I don't really remember it, right? And I was too young to know what the hell was going on at the time. Well, now I know what it feels like to actually lose someone close to me. Another step closer to being a true vigilante in this family." Her lips thin into a line.

"Sadly, yes. But don't think about it like that. It's not healthy." I'm usually the one feeling the tragedy, and when Jason and Tim were feeling some of their first tragedies in this house, Bruce and Alfred were also on the "Reassurance Squad" with me. But now, it's just me.

"I have a question. How badly does the pain affect you over time?" This time, she looks up at me, but still doesn't make eye contact.

I sigh. "Really...it's up to you. You can let the pain eat at you for the rest of your life little by little. Or you can pretend that everything's okay, that your life is going alright. Then the pain will just be buried under all the adventures you have when you're busy not mourning and feeling down. Once in a while, the pain may resurface, and it will hurt. A lot. But you'll be able to shove your feelings down, because before you know it, you'll realize you've been playing this game all your life. Then you'll know that you turned out okay."

She looks straight ahead and nods. "Then it looks like I'm gonna need help with this dealing-with-pain shit."

"Now that's what you've got your family and friends for. They're the ones who will take you on your not-pain adventures."

In the reflection of the glass case, I see her smile a bit. But in an instant, I see her shoulders relax and her lips form that line again. "But it still won't change the fact that Autumn's dead. I can't really get rid of the pain, so it will always be there. No matter what."

I sigh. "Chris. I'm sorry." I say half heartedly. "After how long, you guys were finally getting closer. Then suddenly...this happens."

"I know." She says this with a bit of harshness in her voice.

"I know it's a burden, a heavy one. To be a vigilante and a part of this family. Unfortunately, you're gonna turn darkside." But doesn't everyone turn darker, even after just a few short years of living in this hell on Earth? "But...you've gotta stay strong. I don't want my little sis to turn into...well...Batman."

At that, I flinch and she tenses. We all love our dad, but would we really wanna turn into The Batman?

"My point is. Don't let the darkness take over. I know about tragedies. Life's hard. But you can't let the darkness dim your soul. Stay strong, Chris."

She chuckles sadly, her face becoming dimmer and dimmer. "You know what, Dick…" she says softly. "That's exactly what Autumn told me. She told me to hold on. To never give up. To stay strong."

"She came to her room one night. On the 15th, her thirteenth birthday." She starts to recall. "She thought she could sneak into her room without anyone noticing. But I think...I think she wanted someone to find her there. We talked for a while. It was pretty much the last time I saw her. She told me she was coming back. She told me that, when she did come back, she kinda promised that we would be more like sisters. But...but she was hesitant about it. She tried to smile. I knew it was fake, but I waved it off. She said she had something she had to do first. But I get it now...the fake smile, the little token, the little talk. The things she asked me to do for her. She...she was trying to say goodbye..."

My heart shatters at the sound of her voice, how hard she's trying to mask the pain. "She said she was coming back. But she's never coming back, isn't she? Not anymore."

She'd sneak out of the manor whenever she was grounded. She'd avoid eye contact with everyone during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't feel anything about her death, nothing. It hardly affects me. But now, I feel like a piece of this family is just gone. Like something is missing and it will never be restored. Ever.

I look down at my sister. I know it's tough for her right now. I pull her in a tight hug, but she doesn't squirm. She just falls into my hug and hugs back.

"She was just a kid. She didn't deserve this." I mutter. She tried to be good, but all we saw in her was evil. Were her morals really different from ours? What she wanted was to protect the innocent, and that's what we want too. Her methods were different, but was it right to really call her evil?

"Dick. We pushed her away. When we finally welcomed her. When we finally saw her as a sister. This had to happen." Sometimes, even I wonder if we'll ever have our family the way we want it. When things are finally going the way we want them to, life takes us for an unexpected turn.

"It's okay, Chris." I hush. "It's okay." I release her from the hug, and she reluctantly lets go. "C'mon. Go to your room and just rest a bit. It's still morning and it already feels like a long day. We'll take care of finding Bruce and Alfred."

"Don't think you can let me shy away from my duties as Nightingale. I want to find Batman and Alfred, so let me. We all gotta do what we gotta do, no matter what." She puts a smile on her face, and for a second I'm convinced. Then I remember she's faking. She walks toward the staircase.

"Hey. We'll find Bruce and Alfred." I don't need to yell. The acoustics in here are amazing.

"I don't doubt it." She makes quick eye contact with me, but she turns her head and continues walking up the stairs almost as quickly.

Damian's POV

I hug myself, suppressing a shiver while sitting on the rooftop of the manor. I look out at the snowy ground and the dark, gray sky. It's cold, but it's colder down there in the cave.

The last time I was up here was with Cross. I turn my head and look to my right. I see a fading ghost of a white mask looking out at the world in the same position as I am. The ghost with dim green eyes notices me and turns her head. She smiles at my direction, a big toothless grin on her face that is trying to be genuine.

Then as quick as she appears, she fades away. The last I see of her is her smile that still flashes in my mind. I hadn't realized that I smiled back until my lips turn upside down. My eyes direct back to the thick clouded sky.

The cold wind howls through the pine trees of the forest.

For a reason unknown, I feel as if there is pressure on my left side, bringing me down and crushing my shoulder, as if someone is supposed to be there. But I know that if I turn my head to glance there, hoping to find teal green eyes staring back at me with concern flashing in the eyes of a girl a few months younger than me, I know I will only be disappointed because I'll find that no one is there.

I wonder how she felt...to die alone, to be murdered in cold blood (from the looks of it, she obviously was). At her last moments, did she cry? Did she beg? Did she hope that someone would to save her?

And at her very last moments, when she knew no one was coming to help her, did she hate us for it?

She was my friend. My only friend, starting from The League and ending right here. There are times when I think that she just followed me here. I doubt it was a coincidence that the two of us, meeting in The League and training together only to be separated by our parents, would end up meeting again many years later.

A smile, a laugh, a chuckle, a smirk. A memory. It's all that's left of her now. She never forgot about me, so I won't forget her. Now that wouldn't be fair now would it?

****Break****

Tim's POV

My cycle zooms past the black iron gates and speeds down the road that leads to the parking garage. When I approach where I usually put my cycle, I jump off immediately after I turn off the engine. I burst into the manor, run into Bruce's study, and enter the Batcave.

"Tim. She's in the autopsy lab." Dick greets when I reach the bottom of the stairs.

My heart sinks. When I got the call, I was hoping she was just really injured or something. I could hear the strain in Chris' voice, so I knew something was wrong with Autumn. I was just hoping it wouldn't be this severe.

I enter the room. Slowly, I approach the body under the sheet. I begin to pull the sheet back, but I can only manage up to her neck. When I see her pale face, her eyes closed, my hand and arm freeze. I drop the sheet as I shut my eyes tightly.

Please be a dream. Please be a dream. Please.

I open my eyes and still see Autumn's body. Dang it.

I can't believe she's dead. She's supposed to be a survivor, a fighter. She couldn't have gone down easy. She's...she's not supposed to be lying down here. She's supposed to be alive.

I bow my head and close my eyes, no longer able to stand seeing the sight of her. Instead, I think of her, when she was happy, when she was murderous, when she was reserved. All the times she wasn't dead, because she can't be. She can't...

I've lost too many people already. My mom, my dad, friends...I don't know if I can take it anymore. And yet, I know I can handle it. I know I'll be able to live through this, but it'll be tough. But hey, this is part of living.

There's a part of me refusing to believe she's dead, even though I have proof she is right in front of me. The denial. It might not be the pain that will be hard to deal with. It might be the denial. I know she's dead, and my brain will keep fighting against the possibility that she's alive. I will keep denying it, and I'll keep fighting that denial. I don't know if this battle will ever end.

I lift my head and open my eyes, keeping the sadness from spilling out of my eyes. I take one last look at my friend, my dead friend, to tell my brain she's gone, even though I know it won't listen. I cover her face and walk out of the room in silence.

Keeping a poker face, I approach Dick, who's sitting at the Batcomputer searching through security cameras.

"How'd she die?" I ask. I didn't have the strength to examine the cuts on the body myself.

"I don't know. I didn't think about examining Autumn's body." He keeps his gaze on the security footage.

"Well...Batman performed an autopsy, meaning he made a report."

"Is there a physical file in the lab?" Dick asks.

"I didn't see the file box in its usual spot."

"Then he may have made a digital file."

"Well can you access it?"

"I can try." He closes the footage and accesses the files from the autopsy computer (all the data on the computers in the cave are sent to the main computer aka the Batcomputer). There are only a few files under the folder 'Autopsies' since we don't really perform the autopsies for our cases. We leave that to the coroner at the GCPD.

Dick mutters the names of the files as he reads them. "Hmm...John Doe 23. Paul Berrin. Michelle Striker...here. Autumn Cross. Damn. It's blocked."

"Is there a firewall?" I ask.

"Yup. I could probably get past it in time, but there's probably a good reason Bruce locked it up. Tim, let's leave it to Bruce to tell us what happened. I don't think you want to find out by snooping around."

I really want to know what happened to Autumn...but Dick is right. Bruce doesn't want us seeing the report, so he probably already is planning on telling us everything himself. I'll leave it to him, then.

I nod, and I'm about to walk out of the cave when Dick's voice stops me. "We'll get through this together, okay?"

"Dick. I don't know how long it will take for us to 'get through this'" I say a little harshly.

"Just trying to shine some light into the situation." He mutters.

"You can't shine light when the darkness has already taken full control." What good will come out of this loss?

I walk up the steps and nearly run into Jason when I enter the study.

Jason's POV

"Sorry, Tim." I say when I run into him.

He doesn't speak. He just hums and walks past me. Damn it that's not a good sign.

I walk into the cave, and as soon as my foot lands on that first step, the cold hard pressure hits me right in the chest like a cannonball. I find Dick right in front of the computer, blue computer light making him look like a shadow. "Dickie." He clicks an exit button on the screen and swiftly turns around.

"Hey Jase." He greets back.

Taking in his uncomfortable posture, I narrow my eyes at him and glare straight into his eyes. "Where's Autumn." Something's wrong.

His eyes drop to his feet, then he lifts an arm and points to the right. My eyes follow where his finger points. The autopsy room. I bite the inside of my cheek. "Dick, why is she there?"

I walk towards the lab with Dick right behind me. "Jason…"

I stop right in front of the cabinet where a still body lays. My eyes widen as my mouth drops slightly. "A-a…" I stumble towards the body and look down at the kid. "N-no." My hand clenches the white sheets, crumpling it. "This can't be her!" I growl at nobody. My hands start to shake as I try to touch her face.

My hands fall on her and I start to shake her. "Kid! Kid! Wake up!" I yell, but she doesn't move. She stays unmoving.

"Jason!" I hear Dick's muffled yells and large arms trying to hold me back, away from the cabinet, away from my sister.

"Autumn!" I struggle, trying to get away from Dick's grasp. "Let go!" I scream. "Autumn! Wake up!" I yell at the still figure.

"Jason! She's gone!"

"NO! SHUT UP!"

"Jason!" He yells, still trying to hold me back, away from the cold body.

"Autumn!" The cave walls around me starts to blur, and tears start to wallow in my eyes as the truth starts to sink in quickly, harder, deeper. "AUTUMN! WAKE UP!"

"She dead!"

"NO! SHE'S JUST- SHE'S JUST A SLEEP!"

"JASON!"

"She's my sister...she can't die." My voice gets softer as I stop struggling, and my arms become sore and tired. "She-she can't…"

"Jason...the body is right there…" His arms around me start to relax a little. "It's evidence enough…it's reality, Jase."

A few tears escape my eyes. "Autumn…" My shoulders start to drop and Dick lets go. Slowly, I move back to the cabinet and look down at the kid. Her eyes are slightly furrowed, and her mouth is in a thin line. Her face is completely unemotional, still and resting. Her annoying little grin...gone.

****Break****

Bruce's POV

With a heavy black hoodie and tattered jeans covering my identity. I stop examining the crime scene, here in the carnival. I've collected all of the evidence and swiped off all the blood, making sure that no evidence of Autumn's blood was here. I didn't bother calling the GCPD either, because if they do find any of Autumn's DNA, then that could be risking identity.

It's already noon, and I don't think I'll be able to find anything else here.

I climb onto the motorcycle, holding the case full of evidence, and I drive back home. I park my motorcycle in the garage and walk into the manor. The mansion is filled with tension immediately, but it's empty. I don't see anyone as I pass by the halls and into the study still holding onto the case.

I walk into the cave, down the stairs and to the computer. I begin typing and have the computer analyze a different sample of blood. After a moment, the computer confirms that it is Autumn's. I try fingerprints, but I get no one else's but Autumn's. There's no trace of her killer.

"Nothing." I growl.

The crime scene happened last night and from the looks of it; the murder happened at around 1:04 am. By now, the killer has already gotten away.

"Bruce." I hear a bark from behind me.

"Not now Dick."

"Not now? Then when?" Jason's harsh voice echoes coming from the Autopsy lab.

"Dad, we need to talk." Chris' seemingly tired voice bounces on the walls.

"Father. We need to know what happened."

"We need you to explain Bruce."

I continue typing, not turning my head to look any of them in the eye. "I don't need to explain anything." I say sternly.

"Yes. You do. Bruce." Jason hisses.

"Dad, we need to know what happened." Chris tries.

I turn around, facing all of them. I see Dick with an unreadable look, Jason with a confused mind, Tim with a shadow of denial, Chris with blue watery eyes, Damian with chilled skin.

"You want to know what happened?" I bark out. I stand up. "Autumn is dead." I clench my fists. "That's what happened. She jumped into a fight she couldn't handle and died." I growl. "She bit off more than she could chew and so she choked."

"But-" Tim takes a step back and looks down. "How?" His voice becomes small.

I sigh. "I'm sorry. But- We all know the answer to that."

A long silence stretches on. "She was murdered." Chris whispers.

Jason clenches his fists as his eyes turn red. "WHO KILLED HER!?" He yells.

I shake my head, and his breathing gets heavier. "We'll find out who killed her. We'll avenge her."

Dick looks at Jason. "Jason-"

Jason's head darts to his older brother. "What!? You gonna stop me?" He hisses.

Dick slowly shakes his head. "I'm not against your choice, it's just...now's not the time, Jase."

Jason's shoulders drop, and his eyes are downcast as Dick continues to speak. "Try to think of what Autumn would've wanted…" He soothingly tries to convince his brother.

I rub my head. "There will be time for that." I mumble. "But for now…" I look at all of them. The cave has gotten so much darker and the air has gotten heavier. "We're going to bury her."

With explanation kind.

****Break****

Chris' POV

I walk into my room and shut the door behind me. I sigh, wiping away the tiny tear at the edge of my eye. I look at my bed and find the music box still laying there in the middle of the mattress.

"Take care of that thing for me would ya?" She said with a tiny smile.

"Yeah...you know how sisters work. They fight, but they also get along. And they don't need to have the same parents to be sisters."

I hover towards the music box and hold it as I sit down on the edge of the bed. "Stay strong, okay?" A little voice echoes in my head.

"You know. We could have been closer sisters." I whisper with a frown. "But if I didn't shove you away during the first few months. We could have had more time." It was only during the last few weeks that we finally got closer.

"It's okay. I don't blame you."

I look down at the floor as I let the tears fall from my cheeks. I look back at the music box. It's an old box, probably made out of a weak material but strong enough to last really long as long as it's taken care of. It looks like it was colored pink, but the color's already faded.

"Used to play my Mom's favorite song."

Curiosity replaces the pain for a moment. I press the lock on the front of the box and the top half of the box opens, revealing a tiny, dusty, old ballerina statue on a circular stage. A tiny smile tugs at the edge of my lips as I stare down at the box, probably holding memories of more than one generation.

"Hm…" I hum, examining the edges of the box to search for some kind of on button to make it play. But don't music boxes like these play immediately once they're opened? There isn't any on button, and it's not playing.

I stare at the ballerina for a while. It's standing on top of a thick circular stage, and I'm guessing under the stage is a hole inside the box leading to whatever is inside (like the gears and stuff). I raise an eyebrow once a tiny white piece of paper sticking out from under the stage catches my eye. I don't know much about music boxes, but I don't think paper is supposed to be inside a music box.

I hold the stage and pull it up carefully. "So it opens." I mumble. The stage lifts, revealing a black hole with gears inside it and...a piece of paper?

I fish inside the box for the piece of paper stuck in between the gears and carefully pull it out. I close the stage and the music starts playing.

A soft lullaby plays and echoes in my ear as the ballerina spins around in the stage.

I look at the white piece of paper in my hand.

Chris.

Check your phone!

I drop the paper, and my eyes square on my phone. I haven't checked my phone since last night. Weird. Why would a note inside the music box tell me to check my phone? Since the music box was given to me by Autumn...why would Autumn tell me to check my phone?

I crawl over to my phone on the table beside my bed. I hold the cold phone in my hand and turn it on.

New Message.

I unlock my phone and check who texted me.

Autumn Cross.

My eyes slightly widen as I look at the date it was sent.

A/N: "The truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind-"

-Emily Dickinson