A/N: The story will have more mature themes from here on out. Part one of this story will soon come to an end. I will continue part two under this title. There is a lot more story to tell. Hopefully, I'll be able to share everything that's in my mind with you all.
Hailey was nervous as she made her way to Gotham on the subway. She spoke to Bruce right before the order of No-man's-land was lifted and a few times after that. She was glad to hear from him and to know he was alright. They agreed that she would finish out her school year in Blüdhaven. So even though the city had reopened, Bruce wasn't expecting her to return. He'd surmised that she really wanted to stay with Dick until after summer vacation. Though Hailey had wanted to stay longer than that.
She didn't want to tell Bruce that she preferred her big brother over him any day of the week. Not that she didn't love Bruce, it was just that they never really were close. Not the way he'd been with Jason or how he was with Tim, who wasn't even his son. Hailey hadn't been jealous. She knew it had to do with the fact that she was a girl. Or maybe it was something else. She didn't try to figure it out. Because if she thought about it too long, she would end up coming to the conclusion that he didn't see her as a daughter. And she knew deep down that he did. Bruce had given her a lot of precious moments in which he'd made it clear that he cared about her. But that was it. They were moments. While living with Dick it had been apparent how he felt for her day in and day out.
Hailey wiped her tears and sighed. She already missed Dick and wasn't looking forward to moving back into the manor. She really hoped that Bruce didn't get upset with her for showing up at his doorstep at stupid o'clock in the morning. But what was she supposed to do? She loved her brother and he was having problems with his girlfriend because she was a burden. She couldn't get in the way of his happiness. And she didn't want to force him to choose between the woman he loved and his little sister. Especially when said little sister had a dad she could live with.
According to Bruce, Sasha was back at the manor working as his bodyguard. That was something Hailey was looking forward to. It had taken some time but Sasha had warmed up to Hailey. But the woman was a stickler to staying professional on the job. Either way, she was someone that Hailey began to admire. She was a bodyguard. That meant she was tough. Jason would have thought she was kick ass. And this was why she hated the manor. It was full of memories. Happy memories. Lonely memories. And memories of loss and abandonment. That was when Sasha had come into her life too. So maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live there again.
Getting to the manor from the subway took time. There weren't any cabs available and Hailey didn't have enough money to pay for a cab regardless. Either way, the walk helped relax her nerves. She had managed to convince herself that things would be better this time around. When she got to the front gate, she felt a bit of anxiety as she reached into the keypad and entered the code. She closed her eyes and waited to be declined entry. Instead, the gates clicked open. Hailey smiled and opened her eyes. She ran down the driveway after closing the gates. She was almost at the front doors when she saw a shadow move from the corner of her eyes.
Hailey turned in time to see a retreating figure. She thought it was Bruce and didn't even think about it before she followed him through the grounds. Bruce easily climbed the perimeter fence and jumped over to the other side. Hailey looked around and found a tree that she quickly climbed. She took too long to gather the courage to jump from the tree to the top of the fence. She almost fell but hung on by her fingers. She used her feet to push her body up before she managed to pull herself up. She saw Bruce running from afar and she quickly jumped down, tucking her body to land on a roll like she'd been taught in gymnastics class. As she sprung up to her legs, she sprinted after Bruce.
Hailey started to wonder where Bruce was going. Why was he running from the manor? But as she caught up to him, after crossing a road and going past a meadow, she realized she hadn't been following Bruce. This man, whoever he was, was Bruce's height and build. That was why she'd confused him for her dad. The man, she noticed, was heading straight for the lake. Hailey hid behind a tree and watched him curiously as he stopped at the shore. He pulled out a gun out of his pocket and was about to throw it into the water. Hailey ran up to him and grabbed his arm from behind.
Since she had caught him by surprise, she managed to take the gun away from him. But then he turned around and grabbed her. He had an angry rugged face. All she could think was that he was scary. Hailey tried to pull herself away but he had a tight grip on her.
"Who are you, little girl?!"
"Let me go!"
"Tell me who you are!"
"No!" Hailey said and tightened her grip on the gun. Without realizing it, she'd pulled the trigger.
The man took a step forward, half collapsing on her. Hailey stepped back feeling scared. The man fell to his knees but looked up at her angrily. Hailey took another step back. She couldn't stop staring at him. Her entire body was cold. She shivered and whimpered.
"Come back here, little girl!" the man shouted as he reached out towards her with one hand. The other hand was pressed to his midsection.
Hailey shook her head and took off running back to the manor. She ran as fast as she could. Tears were streaming down her face. She was so scared. She had just shot a man. Possibly killed him. Hailey wasn't sure. She had to get to the manor. She had to tell her dad. All she could do was think about getting there and holding on to Bruce. He would know what to do. He would be able to help that man before he died. But as Hailey approached the manor, she heard sirens.
Panic fueled her legs to run faster. The man had been at the manor. What if he'd broken in and hurt Bruce? What if Sasha hadn't been there to protect him? The man was trying to get rid of the gun. What if he shot Bruce? Hailey didn't have time to think of a way to jump back over the fence so she rounded the perimeter and ran through the front gates that were already open.
There was an ambulance and a slew of police cars parked in the driveway. And Hailey saw the commissioner as he walked down the steps with her dad next to him.
"Dad!" Hailey shouted and ran closer. She managed to get by a couple of police officers before one caught her and stopped her. That was when she noticed that Sasha was next to Bruce. They were being led to police cars. Their hands were handcuffed behind their backs. "Dad?!"
Bruce turned to look at her but he wasn't really looking at her. There was blood smeared on his clothes and he wasn't wearing any shoes. Why wasn't he wearing any shoes?
"She's covered in blood, Commissioner," said the cop next to her.
"Get them out of here," the commissioner told the other cops.
"Dad!" Hailey shouted again as Bruce was shoved into the back of a patrol car.
The cops around her were talking in panicked voices. But the commissioner calmly walked over to her and reached out his hand.
"Hailey," he said carefully. He leaned down to look directly into her eyes. "Hand me the gun."
"What?" she said looking at the commissioner and then down to his hand. He had some sort of cloth on it. Maybe a handkerchief.
"Hand me the gun," he repeated patiently. "It's okay."
Hailey looked at her own hand that still had the gun and handed it over. "I shot him."
The commissioner took the gun and handed it over to another cop. "Who did you shoot?"
"The man," Hailey said and looked around. The patrol car that Bruce was sitting in was driving away. "Where are you taking my dad? He was bleeding. He needs a doctor."
"It wasn't his blood, Hailey," said the commissioner. He gestured to her. "Is this your blood?"
Hailey shook her head. "No, the man. He's at the lake. He was running away with the gun and I shot him."
"Okay," said the commissioner patiently. "Why don't you come with me and we can talk about it?"
"But the man, what if he dies?"
"I'll send someone over to look for him, okay?"
Hailey nodded and allowed the commissioner to take her to one of the patrol cars. He sat in the back with her. He didn't say anything the entire ride. Neither did Hailey. She was lost in thought. And she couldn't get the image of her dad out of her mind. She had never seen that look in his eyes. Like he was lost and full of grief. What had happened to her dad? Why was he taken by the cops? And Sasha, what did she have to do with whatever happened?
Hailey didn't remember the rest of the drive to the station. She didn't remember getting out of the car. And she didn't remember going into an interrogation room. It wasn't until she felt someone swabbing her hands that she looked around and saw what was happening. There was a policewoman sitting across from her as another woman, another cop, took samples of the blood from her hands. She used a blue light to look at her hands and took some notes as she gathered everything up and put it away. Then she pointed at some scrubs that were on the table.
"Hailey, we need you to change into these clean clothes," said the cop sitting in front of her. Hailey remembered her. She was the one that had gone to the manor with the heavyset cop to ask her about the man she'd see at the benefit. Montoya? "Do you understand?"
Hailey nodded and stood up. The other cop handed her some wet wipes so that she could clean the rest of the blood off of her hands. And without giving her any privacy, Hailey changed out of the bloody outfit and into the scrubs.
"I need to ask you some questions about what happened tonight?" Officer Montoya told her as the other cop bagged up her clothes in evidence bags and left the room.
"I can't talk to you alone. I'm a minor," Hailey told her, remembering that Bruce always had to be present when she talked to the cops.
"Your father is being detained for the murder of Vesper Fairchild so he can't be in here with you," Montoya said through gritted teeth. "And we found you covered in blood holding the gun. Did he make you kill her?"
"What?" Hailey said and began to cry. Vesper was dead?
"Did your father order you to kill Vesper Fairchild?!" Montoya said angrily.
"I'm a minor! You can't talk to me without my guardian present!" Hailey shouted back on reflex. Dick had told her what her rights were. Even as a minor. They couldn't talk to her alone. And if they wouldn't bring Bruce in, they had to call him.
"Bruce Wayne is—!"
"My current guardian is Officer Dick Grayson!" she said cutting Montoya off. "Call my brother! I won't talk to you alone!"
Motoya slammed her hand on the table and stood up. Hailey flinched back in alarm but she pressed her lips together. She wasn't going to talk to them. They needed to give her answers. She needed her brother if they wouldn't let her see her dad. Dick told her a lot of things about his job. Hailey knew what the cops could and couldn't do.
"And all that evidence you took from me without my guardian present is inadmissible in court!"
Montoya's eyes widened and then she glared at Hailey. "He told you to kill her, didn't he?"
"Montoya!" said the heavy-set cop from the door. Hailey hadn't even heard the door open. "That's enough."
"Bullock, I have this—!"
"No, you don't! She's fourteen, not sixteen. It won't work. She's right. You need a guardian present," Bullock said and held the door open from the hallway. "We have to wait for her guardian."
"Fuck!"
Motoya walked out and Hailey was left alone.
Hailey didn't know how long she had been sitting in the interrogation room but it felt like hours. She rested her head on the table and watched the door. When someone finally walked into the room, it wasn't her brother.
"Hello, dear," said a middle-aged woman wearing a wrinkled pantsuit. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She looked like she'd been dragged out of bed. "My name is Mona Long. I work for CPS. I am your new caseworker."
"Why do I need a caseworker? I have a guardian. His name is Officer Dick Grayson. Why isn't he here?" Hailey said pushing her chair back trying to get away from the woman.
"I understand, dear," Mona said in a sympathetic voice. But Hailey knew she was being fake. "Why don't you come with me and I'll take you to him."
"Why isn't he here?"
The woman sighed and shook her head. She stood up and asked someone to come into the room. There was a man with her and he was dressed in scrubs. He had a needle in his hands.
"We need to sedate her," said the woman.
"What are you talking about?" Hailey said standing up and made her way towards the two-way mirror. She started to bang on it. "Is anyone there?! Call my brother, please!"
"Helena, please don't make this harder than it has to be," Mona said in a sickly sweet voice.
"My name is Hailey!"
"She's delusional," Mona told the man who nodded.
He walked up to Hailey who only managed to back up against the back wall before he reached her. She tried to fight him off but she was so scared that she couldn't concentrate on her movements. He had pinned her down and injected her with the sedative. The last thing Hailey saw before her world turned black was the nefarious smile on Mona's face.