Her feet kicked the ground hard with a force that made Alice believe she would be able to out-run anyone and for a few seconds some sort of irrational relief sprout in her chest, it enhanced in waves through her body with each step she took away from the burglars. A pain shoots out from her hand and shoulder, as her arm was pulled back forcefully taking the rest of her with it. She cried out in pain, as her back hit the cold wall with a violent thump knocking the breath out of her chest, she bent over wheezing for air, only to have a dark rough hand gripping her neck and forcing her up against the cement surface.

Black dots danced behind her eyes and she inhaled deeply, a nauseating smell assaulted her senses. "Ya stupid bitch! Who the fuck do ya think you're messing with!?" Yellow Smile yelled into her face.

"What the fuck!?" By the corner of her vision, she could see Piggy with her wallet open. He got up lubberly and threw the wallet to the ground in an angry movement. "It's empty!"

The hand on her neck squeezed harder, Alice trashed against her attacker, nails scratching and feet kicked aimless, trying to make contact with something. "Socorro! Ajudem-me!" (Help! Help me!) Alice screamed desperately for help "Someone hel-!"

"Shut up!" Yellow Smile hissed, slapping her hard with the back of his hand. The blow echoed on the dark alley followed by quietness. A minute passed without any words or even sounds escaping the three people. They stayed in a unanimous silence, waiting and hearken for something, some kind of background noise that would announce another person or sirens indicating someone had heard the pleas of the scared woman. However, the silence lingered in the small dirty alley, its presence heavy and dense and Alice finally understood that no one would come to her aid, no matter how much she screamed or begged, nobody would interfere, nobody cared. She was on her own. And just like a veil, the quietness was lifted with a disturbing snicker from the men.

"Now be a good little bitch and compensate us for all this shit."

Rough fingers grabbed her wrists while his other hand roamed all over her body, tasting her, feeling her. The hair on her neck rose and her stomach twisted in a thigh knot in horror and disgust and for a moment, she didn't move. It was as if her brain had stopped functioning correctly and couldn't process what was happening. The man's hot breath fanned her face, her body shivered with the sudden approach. His tongue found her neck, living a trail of wetness over her exposed skin and Alice retracted even more into the wall. With eyes closed, she tried to shut down, to detach her mind from her body and imagine she was somewhere else far away, in a safe place.

However, every time she was about to conjure an image, a memory, anything, the movements of the man dribbling all over her skin would awake her to the reality in front of her. Adrenaline was running high through her veins, making her body and mind very aware of every action of the two men. Every noise and touch would make her flinch.

"That's right, see nothing like a little pain to tame a woman."

The cold breeze of the night hit her abdomen as the man's hand ripped her shirt from under the waist of her pants, and just like a switch, she moved in reaction to the situation. Something burst inside her, a new wave of fear made her fight back more fiercely than before as if by instinct she knew this was her last chance. No one was coming for her that was clear. She needed to fight for herself, to try until the very end regardless of the outcome, or she would not be able to live with herself.

With both hands pinned up strongly above her head, she did the only thing she could, she bit. Her teeth sink deeply on the soft flesh of the man's left ear. Yellow Smile screeched low as he tried to pull away from her iron bite. With more space to move, Alice used the man's hold on her to pull her foot up, and with all her strength, she kicked his chest. The assaulter released her with a cry, his hands holding one side of his face protectively, shielding the now earringless and bloody ear.

With a metallic flavor filling her mouth Alice spat to the ground, forming a small puddle of blood mixed with saliva, in the middle a rusty sphere shine in the dim light of the alley. Chunky arms hugged her painfully from behind before she could even take a step away and she yelped as her small body was lifting from the floor.

"You aren't getting away!"

Alice could smell the sweat from Piggy as her back seemed to sink into his huge belly, as if his rosy fat was absorbing her, swallowing her.

"Let me go, porco nojento!"(Filthy pig!) She shouts out. Her head fell forward, chin touched her chest and gaining as big of an impulse as she could, she hoisted back with all her power. A nasty crack reverberated behind her, as the crown of her skull collided with Piggy's nose. The man drooped her, falling into his knees crying and cursing. Oscillating, Alice tried to stand up, a gush of dizziness attempting to knock her out. With trembling legs and both assaulters down, Alice took this chance to flee. As she attempted to move away, a hand grabbed her ankle making her tumble; her hands come down barely in time to sustain her fall. Trying to free herself she kicked his hand off however, a sharp pain on her leg made her stop and retract her limbs into herself. Instinctively her fingers found the wound, and a gasp escaped her lips as pain shoot out through her limb, like dozens of needles piercing her skin.

Her heart hammered hard on her chest, rousing an agonizing and ceaseless pulse on her injury. It drummed loudly on her ears, demanding her body to move and react at the same quick pace, but she couldn't as Yellow Smile climbed on top of her; his weight keep her from moving. He raised his hand, a blade stained red was firmly secured in his grasp, and a ghastly smile materialized his thoughts. Teal orbs followed the knife smooth movements, until it disappears under her chin, stopping right above her neck.

No…!

"Wench, clearly ya don't know ya place." The blade dug deeper into her fair skin, drawing a thin red line. "But don't worry I will show ya, in a very slow way so even a stupid bitch like ya can understand." As he pronounced the word 'slow' he moved the blade, enlarging the cut with every single letter.

Please help…!

"Yeah, bro! Show her what happens when she messes with us!" Piggy cheered while crawling towards them, he positions himself over her head and pinned her hands to the concrete ground, his smile red from the blood that keeps dripping from his broken nose.

Someone…!

A swift hiss echoed, almost inaudible, on her ears. Alice felt it more than heard it, a rush of air passing near her, followed by a cry of pain. She opened her eyes with the suddenly weightless above her body. Yellow Smile was no longer straddling her, he was sitting down beside her, pain and confusion distorting his face. The arm, which seconds ago, was holding the knife was now pending awkwardly on his side, like the arm of a rag doll; the blade was still in his hand but his hold on it was loose. His dark eyes were googly, almost popping out as he stared at the red shining object stuck on his shoulder. With his free hand, he yanked the red thing with a grunt, and stared at it, analyzing and registering the shape, color, size.

"B-b-ba-t-BAT!" He yelled dropping the red object as if had burned him and crawled away from it.

Suddenly the pressure in her wrist was gone as Piggy stood up with a similar expression as his companion marking his features. Turning, the man wobbled away as fast as his chunky legs allowed him. Confused, Alice regarded the fallen small metallic object marred with blood.

What's going on?

A high-pitched yelp made Alice turn towards Piggy, who stood petrified, panting as if he had just run a marathon. His body started to shiver visibly and after a few seconds, a dripping noise and a pungent smell filled the air. The brunet looked incredulous to the dark puddle forming on the floor at his feet.

"Tt how unsightly." Someone said.

The voice was toneless with a hue of severity in it and came from the same direction as the fat bugler, but his big body occluded her sight.

Abruptly Piggy dashed out as if possessed, trying to use his big frame to crash against the person who was standing in his way. A shadow jumped away from his rampage, doing a graceful stunt over the man's head and landing behind him. Yellow and black swung in the night breeze, like a flag; a caped boy stood proudly in red and green garments. In a swift movement, the kid kicked Piggy's ribs, there was a crack followed by a grunt of pain, and the man bumped against the cement wall falling limp on the ground.

"Only one left." The kid turned to the other assaulter, who kept staring dumbly at him holding his damaged shoulder.

At first, Alice thought that Yellow Smile had started crying however, he throws his head up and unleashed a maniac laugh that made her shrink against the wall as far away from him as possible.

"It's not the Bat! It just the brat!" He barked out erecting into a fighting stance, weapon in hand. "There's nothing to worry about!"

"Fool." The boy said contempt in his voice.

Yellow Smile grinned, pointed the tip of the knife to the caped kid, and lunged forward like a wild boar, prepared to stab his opponent without any drop of conscience.

"No! Careful!" Not wanting to see or hear the horrible outcome, Alice closed her eyes and covered her ears.

A minute or so passed until Alice felt a nudge on her foot. Flinching she tried to make herself smaller but after a second nudge, this time with more force, the brunet cracked one eye open, a small pair of military-type green boots showing from between disheveled tresses. With surprise all over her features, her wide teal orbs roamed up and down over the boy's body searching for any wounds she was sure he had. To her growing surprise, she found none.

"It's over, how long do you intent to stay on the filthy ground?"

"You are not hurt?" Alice said, relaxing a little.

His answer was a deep frown and a click of his tongue.

His he annoyed?

Ignoring her question, the boy gathered the fallen bags of groceries and her wallet and placed them beside her.

"Thank you."

"You need medical assistance."

"Hum, n-no…"

"I disagreed." He said, eyes fixating on her bloody leg.

"I'm fine!" She defended harshly.

"The cops and ambulance are already on their way."

"What? I-I don't need an ambulance!"

"Son of a bitch." Alice cringed at the sound of Piggy's voice. As he tried to get up his head turned to the forgotten knife on the floor.

He was too slow, the kid ran to the blade and kicked it away from his reach. With a good punch in the face, the fight was over. The hero took a pair of flex cuffs from his utility belt and went to restrain the men.

Over the man curses, sirens could be heard approaching. With no desire to stay and wait for the ambulance, Alice took the opportunity of the boy distraction to flee. She grabbed her bags and limped away, as fast and silent as she was able to. Fortunately, he didn't follow her or tried to prevent her from escaping, maybe he didn't notice her or didn't care nonetheless.

Returning home was painful and slow, it took her the double of the time to arrive. She tried to blend in with the people passing by, hiding her wound and bloody pants with the grocery bags. Her eyes jumped in every direction, aware of all movements and sounds. The moment she passed the doorway, she felt her legs shaking and her lungs deflating, a gasp of relief escaped her dry lips. Laying the bags on the countertop of the kitchen, she fell on the sofa exhausted.

"What's wrong? What happen?"

Lea was sitting next to her, laptop on her legs. She was regarding her with a puzzled look; it was a mystery to Alice, how her niece always noticed when something was off. Even so, the brunet tried to evade the girl.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't take me for a fool. I smell blood."

"That's because I'm bleeding."

There is no use trying to hide it…

"That's why I asked what happen!"

Alice didn't want to tell Lea she had been attacked, the girl would freak out. However, her niece wasn't going to let this matter go. She could see the stubbornness sparkling in her blue-green pools, so akin to her own, so much like his…

"Fine." The word fell from her mouth with exasperation, like a dry leaf in a gust of wind. "But first go fetch me my medical kit please."

Lea put her laptop aside and disappear towards her aunt's room, emerging a couple of minutes after, holding a big bag.

"Thanks."

Looking at her jeans stained with blood and dirt, she groaned and cut them from the hole of the knife all the way down. A perfectly good pair of jeans ruined…

Now with the fabric out of the way and better access to the cut, she cleaned it with water and a towel. The wound was by now, nothing more than a thin and superficial laceration.

"Everything was going well until I decided to take a shortcut…" While patching her leg up, Alice told Lea everything. Of course, she censored some parts of the story she thought the little girl didn't need to know. Even so, Lea listened carefully without interrupting a single time. She sat straight and unmoving while absorbing every detail, her features and emotions changing with the story. "… and I couldn't believe my eyes, a boy who looked no older than you beat up two grown men, without sustaining a single injury. It was amazing."

"I think I know who he his." Lea spoke at last. She typed something on her computer and turned the screen in Alice's direction. Various pictures of a boy, with short black hair dressed in a red top with black sleeves and black pants, green military boots, gloves and mask, and a long black and yellow cape resting on his back popped up.

"Sim! (Yes!) That's the boy who saved me."

"He's one of the vigilantes who watch over this city, fighting the crime and protecting the citizens. His name is Robin."

"Robin." Damian turned to face Batman as he descended from the other building into the rooftop beside him.

"Everything is under control."

Batman glanced down silently, his gaze lingering on the two men tied up and being taken into custody by the police and them to the medical team wandering from police officer to police officer. Robin observed the older vigilante intensely. There was something on his mind or maybe he wanted to say something, Damian wasn't sure. He had a hard time figuring his father when he had his cowl on. The piece hides almost every part of his feature making the normally difficult to read man even more challenging to understand. It was something that left a stain on his pride and put him in a sour mood.

"You reported a young woman being attacked by two men, where is she?"

Damian frowned. That was a good question. In the few minutes, it took him to subdue the felonious the woman disappeared. Not that he was particularly concerned about her, he didn't know her and he had fulfilled his duty effortlessly and perfectly. He had protected the innocent from the evildoers and assured their arrest.

"She's gone." The boy responded.

"Gone?" Damian scowled deepen; he recognized the reprimand tone in his father's voice too well. "You requested medical assistance, did you not?"

"Yes, I did. The victim was stabbed on the leg by a small blade belonging to the criminals. However, she refused medical treatment and run off when I was arresting the men."

"Robin your job is not to merely beat up criminals, it's to save and assure the safety of the people."

"I don't see why I'm at fault." The young hero defended himself.

"Your actions tonight display you still don't understand your duty towards this city when you put that mask on."

"But-!"

Batman put his hand up, palm facing forward in a gesture of authority and cessation, making Damian shut up.

"Furthermore, you didn't realize the victim was getting away and that is a grave problem, it could have been another enemy. This indicates an unusual lack of awareness of your part. I fear you aren't resting enough with the school and the patrol, plus the time you spend training. From now on I'm reducing your patrol activities only to the weekends and holidays."

"That is absurd! Father, I vouch that is not the case. This…" Damian fought to find the right word on his angry state. When he spoke again, it was in an icy and rigid voice, each word spelled a stab on his pride "miscalculation won't be repeated."


And that was the third chapter! I'm actually happy how this one turned out. Sorry, it took so long to update. I hope you enjoy it.

Until next time,

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