Scurried footsteps hitting the pavement at an incredible speed and heavy breathing sounded throughout the night. The young child's dark hair was flowing away from their head as they raced on the sidewalks away from the quiet avenue. The denim overalls they were worn and in tatters, they had lost a bright red shoe, and their shirt was ripped in several places in the sleeves.

They couldn't stop running, they were told to keep running.

Bounding a corner sharply, the young child lost their balance and tripped on a sidewalk step unevenly paved. Letting out a cry, they stumbled and crawled away from the street. The child was crying now, alone in the dark, hiding from the danger they ran from.

ELSEWHERE

"Call it in, Gordon." The specialist stated quietly, "I can't find a pulse and she has been like this for an hour, at the very least. The blood is dried around her temple. Blunt force trauma to the head, defensive wounds, but clothing fibers under her fingernails. She put up one hell of a fight."

Commissioner Gordon sighed, he had seen too many home invasions for an entire lifetime. Running a hand through his greying hair, he took the phone from his pocket to wake up the coroner. Supressing a yawn, he dialed and spoke quietly on the phone, apologizing for waking the examiner.

The apartment door had been kicked open with enough force to splinter the door, the blue paint scratched and faded. The welcome mat was spotted with blood and brain matter. A house plant and mirror were discarded on the floor in a broken heap. Leaves, dirt, and blood were mixed with shards of glass. The only two people in the apartment were Gordon and Evans, a trusted paramedic. The hallway was mostly unscathed, the violence hadn't spread farther than the entryway and the living room. The hallway led to three closed doors, the first door on the left was the small but clean bathroom, with a childish theme of various ducks. A few rubber duckies lined the cupboard above the toilet, a few on the sink, and four in the bathtub. The shower curtain featured several ducks on a clear curtain in front of a second baby blue curtain.

Gordon felt his heart sink. This woman had a child.

There was no indication that the woman had a young child with her at the time of the invasion. The closet was closed, but now that Gordon had seen the bathroom, he was willing to wager that this woman had a room for her child.

Thinking about the whereabouts of the child, Gordon made himself seem less frightening in case the child was hiding behind the shower curtain. Slowly grasping the curtains, he pulled back the two tightly in hand to find a bare tub. Releasing the shower curtains from his grasp, he walked from the bathroom slowly to go towards the hallway doors. Twisting the glass knob lightly, he found himself in the mother's room. Her bed was crisply made, no wrinkles in the duvet, nor a throw pillow out of place. He checked the wardrobe and under the large bed. The child wasn't hiding in her mother's large room.

With only one more option, Gordon made his way to the room across the hardwood hallway. The door had a wooden teal S on the front, leveled at Gordon's eyes. With the same slow speed he opened the door with an audible creak. This room was a bit smaller, but still spacious enough to have a small wardrobe, a nice bookshelf, a wooden toybox, and an elevated bed that was above a small playmat with a map of a city. The roads on the city's parking spots had hot pink dingy cars all over it. The bed had a small ladder to get to the top. It too was painted teal. The wardrobe had a photo of the mother with her small little girl, her black hair bound in two pigtails bound by red ribbons.

Gordon checked the wardrobe and found nothing. The child wasn't here.

"Gordon," Evans called out.

Gordon turned away from the child's room and made his way to Evans.

Gordon found Evans near the balcony, looking down at the fire escape with great concern.

"What is it Evans?" Gordon asked, looking down to see nothing in the alley but dumpsters and broken fences.

"Not there, Commissioner. Here." He replied, holding up a small lone red shoe.

"There isn't a match to this one in the closet, the girl must have lost it while running down the fire escape."

"Christ," Gordon muttered, looking at the devastation of the entryway and the living room.

"We have to get all units on this, our primary witness is the child. That sick sonnavabitch is still out there and could be looking for her." Gordon realized.

…..

The young girl wiped her tears on her torn yellow sleeves and wrapped herself in a ball, hiding from the view of the street. She had taken refuge beside a large dumpster and tried to keep quiet, but her sniffles were betraying her attempt to be quiet.

She knew that she couldn't stay there, her mother had warned her that she had to be a brave girl and run from the apartment.

She had been playing with her little pink cars when someone was shouting bad words from outside the door and yelling loudly. Her mommy had run in the room and carried her to the fire escape. She had wanted mommy to come with her, but mommy told her she had to run. She didn't want to leave. Not without mommy.

The little girl stood back up, still hidden behind the dumpster.

She wondered what to do now. She didn't know where Mommy was, she had only just heard the door breaking down when she landed on her feet from jumping from the fire escape.

Looking at her surroundings now, she noticed that she was missing her red sneaker. Her teal sock was dirty and there was a hole that allowed her big toe to feel the pebbles on the ground.

She had to go back to find mommy, she decided.

The tears were still in her eyes and she had dried blood on her elbow and her hands, but she walked determinedly towards the same way in which she ran from initially.

The streets were dimly lit from the lamps, and the young girl instinctively thought back to what her mommy had said was a rule. She had said that when the lights were bright and when the moon was out, it meant bedtime.

The young girl was smiling at the thought of not having bedtime.

As the young girl continued walking she felt silly for only having one shoe. Before she could think any differently, she took off her other red sneaker and left it on the sidewalk. Feeling the cold pavement on her socked feet, she skipped along.

She didn't see anyone on the streets, but she heard a lot of cars and commotion on the road.

"Hey!" She heard someone yell.

She turned to see a car with no lights on stop in the middle of the road. Fearing danger, she ran as fast as she could towards another dark alleyway. Mommy had said to run, she had also warned her not to speak to strangers or accept candy from anyone.

The man behind her was quick, but she was small and could fit in small holes in the fence. Running towards the fence in the alley, she squeezed into the small open space, pushing and grunting, trying to break through. After a few seconds of discomfort, she managed to get through the fence, and darted along another sidewalk.

The man cursing behind her began to climb the fence she had crawled through.

The young girl kept running, her small legs only allowing her to get so far.

Turning her head, she looked back as she ran forward. Before she could turn back she felt herself fall on her backside, as she collided with what felt like a sturdy pole.

Slowly, she glanced upwards, her mouth open and her eyes wide. A large dark creature was standing right in front of her. It had pointed ears and a scary stance.

Fighting a scream of terror, the young girl was paralysed in fear. Was this the danger mommy was warning her about?

Before she could scramble away, it spoke.

"Hi Sadie," it said quietly.

"What are you?" Sadie asked, her eyes still wide, interlocking her fingers and leaning back from Batman.

"A friend," it replied slowly, kneeling down to meet Sadie's level.

Sadie blinked, "You look scary."

The creature smiled sadly, "I know."

Sadie sat for a moment, staring at the creature, it laid out a big hand for her to look at. It had five fingers like she did, but it had large ears and a pointy nose.

Sadie analyzed the creature in front of her. Getting onto her feet curiously, she stood in front of the kneeling figure. He had a large black bat on his chest. Feeling bold, Sadie quickly poked the symbol before she changed her mind. After nothing happened, felt brave enough to reach for a pointy ear.

"Your ears are huge." Sadie whispered, amazed.

"They help me hear things that others can't." The creature replied, allowing Sadie to continue to poke.

Sadie walked around him twice, the third time she pulled at his cape.

"I like this. I want one." Sadie declared.

"You can borrow mine," another voice said from the shadows behind her.

Sadie, fearing what or whom was speaking behind her, hid behind Batman, wrapping her small fingers in his cape.

Peaking from behind Batman, she blinked, curious as to who was saying something.

She glanced up again and saw a young boy, about a foot taller than her speak. He was wearing boots, black pants that looked like tights, and a red shirt with an 'R' on the front. His mask covered his eyes, but his cape was impressive.

"Do you want to borrow my cape?" The boy asked, softly.

Sadie placed her hands on Batman's shoulder, peaking to see his reaction.

He gave her a nod.

Sadie let her hands inch closer to the young boy.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," the boy replied, stepping forward and tying the cape around the back of her overalls.

As soon as he was finished, Sadie turned to face the yellow side of the cape.

"It matches my shirt!" Sadie exclaimed.

"Yeah, it looks better on you than it does me. Don't you think Batman?" Robin asked, giving Sadie a nod.

"I agree, Robin." Batman smiled.

Sadie ran in a circle, seeing the cape billow around her small frame. The cape came down to her feet. She stood on her tippy toes, feeling happy she could play with Robin's cape.

"Sadie," Batman called out, "can we take you to see one of our friends?"

Sadie stopped playing and looked up, her bright green eyes staring, "I need to ask my Mommy first."

Damian had to keep his face clear of emotion, he felt his eyes widen slightly before he took a deep breath. He looked to his father for guidance, what in the hell were they going to tell her?

"Sadie, your mommy had an accident." Batman said quietly to Sadie.

"Was this after the bad man tried to open the door?" Sadie asked.

Batman nodded, "Yes,"

Sadie wrapped the cape around herself, "Can I see my Mommy now?"

Batman shook his head, "Sadie, your Mommy died because of the accident."

Sadie began to shake her head and felt tears prickle in her eyes, "Mommy's dead?"

Sadie began to wipe away her tears with the cape. She let out a quiet sob and started shaking.

Before Batman could move forward, Robin held open his arms. Sadie rushed to embrace the young boy who had given her his cape. She didn't say anything for a long time; but continued to hold onto Robin.

Damian gave his father a nod, telling him that he could handle this.

Robin carefully picked up Sadie and allowed her head to rest on his shoulder.

Robin walked towards their vehicle and sat in the backseat with Sadie. They needed to go to the police station and speak with Gordon.

…..

After they arrived at the GCPD, Sadie wouldn't let go of Robin to speak to the child psychologist. The child psychologist, Dr. Arthur Montgomery tried to speak to Sadie calmly, but Sadie held onto Robin for dear life.

Robin spoke up, "Dr. Montgomery, I can stay with Sadie and you can ask her the questions. She isn't letting go."

Dr. Montgomery nodded, "If she feels safe and comfortable with you there, I will allow it."

Robin turned to his father and spoke in his native tongue, "Find that bastard and rip him a new one."

Batman narrowed his eyes, but turned towards Commissioner Gordon, "I'll find him."

The Commissioner spoke up, "I have every available officer looking for the suspect."

Robin turned away from the Commissioner and his father and walked alongside Dr. Montgomery to the quiet room painted bright colours and spacious.

Sadie had not said anything on the ride to the GCPD, Robin felt at a loss. He didn't know what to say, but he was ready to support Sadie.

She was far too young to be exposed to the violence of the city.

After a long few hours, Sadie was sleeping on the light green couch in the GCPD. She fell asleep holding Robin's hand, as he promised he would stay with her as long as he could.

Dr. Montgomery had asked all the questions he could and made sure Sadie was going to be okay in the immediate.

As it turned out, she had family in Star City. Her aunt, Phyllis was close to her mother and Sadie was familiar with her aunt.

Sadie was sleeping on Robin's leg, as there were no pillows on the couch.

He was grateful that his cape was thermal, it would be a good item for her to use as a substitute blanket.

Damian felt a surge of anger, this man who murdered Sadie's mother deserved to be put down. No innocent child deserved to lose their parent to senseless violence.

It was times like these that made Damian question his allegiance to his father's no killing rule. If he were with the League of Assassins, they would find this man and torture him before wiping the earth clean of one more piece of scum.

His father taught him that this was not the way. But he still felt enraged enough that he wanted to track down Sadie's mother's killer and dismember him slowly, while he was alive.

Before he could think more of his old ways, the door opened slowly.

In the doorway, his father stood silently.

Robin looked up, "Did you find him?"

He nodded, "He was a street junkie, looking to rob their apartment for money to buy heroin."

Damian closed his eyes and pursed his lips.

"How is she holding up?" He asked.

Damian opened his eyes and gently brought the hair from Sadie's face, "Heartbroken, in disbelief, sad."

His father nodded, "I ran a background check on her aunt. It looks like she is going to go into a stable home. Her aunt has been married for three years and they are financially able to take care of her and get her the help she needs."

Damian nodded, "Father, let her keep my cape."

"Robin-" His father started.

"I want her to have it, she needs to know that there are good people that will help her through these difficult times. She deserves to have it."

"I was only going to say that I think that is good of you to offer that."

Damian let out a sigh, he had to get up.

As he moved gently, Sadie opened her eyes.

"Where are you going?" She asked quietly, her lip beginning to quiver.

"Sadie, your aunt is coming to get you. Aunt Phyllis." Damian stated.

"Oh…." Sadie wondered, thinking about it.

Damian nodded, "Sadie, I want you to have my cape."

Sadie looked at Damian carefully, "You want me to keep it?"

"Yes," Damian confirmed.

"Thank you." Sadie mumbled, playing with the corners of the cape.

Damian got up quietly, he was about to leave when he heard a cry.

"Wait! You're my friend, friends see each other, will I see you?" Sadie asked hopeful.

Damian nodded, "I will see you as soon as I can, but can you do something for me?"

Sadie blinked.

"Be good to your aunt and uncle."

"I promise."

Damian was about to turn again when he felt warm arms wrap around his torso. He faced the small child in front of him and embraced her back.

Nights like these were difficult, but it was in these moments that Damian felt that he had made the best decision.

His heart was heavy, but he knew Sadie was going to get better eventually with the support of her family. He would want to keep in touch, even if it was done quietly. It was a trait he inherited from his father, and in that moment his father couldn't be prouder of his maturing son.