There was a young girl of about six years of age laying in the snow without any knowledge of what she was doing there. She felt numb and alone. She could hear sirens in the background along with a lot of chatter. But the voices and noise sounded far away. A white bunny came up to her and began to dig around her. It began to chew some roots it uncovered and hadn't even noticed the young girl because she was completely still. She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a breath. It was labored and harsh and the sudden noise scared the bunny away.

Then the girl heard what sounded like dogs. They were whimpering and scratching at the ground. But they were nowhere near where she was. They were with the crowd of people quite a distance away. That made her nervous. Her fingers twitched and she began to cough. It was then that the young girl realized that she didn't know who she was or where she was. She had no memories at all. She was just an empty shell. She turned her head slightly to the left and right. It looked like she was in some sort of ditch. There was snow all around her but she could see branches and the sky up above.

Why was she in the snow? What was going on? Why was she alone?

She felt a feeling of panic rise from her gut and she began to breathe faster. She couldn't really move and that scared her even more. So she did the only thing she could think to do, she began to scream. She could hear herself scream and she wanted to stop the noise. But she couldn't. Some part of her told her that she needed to stop that it wasn't any help. But she couldn't control the reflex. It was as if her vocal cords had a mind of their own. And the panic within her seemed to grow even more.

Suddenly she heard feet running towards her. A dog reached her first. He began to sniff all around her and began to jump and bark. Though she could barely hear the dog on top of her own screams. She saw a face come near hers. And a small hand pressed down on her shoulder.

"Hey, hey!" the young boy said sort of frantically. "It's okay, help is coming."

She looked at him but she couldn't stop screaming.

"What is it?" he said his voice firmer and then began to look her over. He said something to the dog and looked at the girl again. He held her gaze with his own. "Are you hurting?"

But she didn't answer. She couldn't. She held his gaze as she continued to wail. But she told herself to stop.

Stop it.

"Why are you screaming?" he asked. He looked her over again but didn't see anything that could cause her pain.

Now!

She stopped. But her mouth stayed open. It was as if her vocal cords just ran out of sound. But it was her sheer will that had helped her to stop the incessant noise. It wasn't helping at all. She'd known it from the moment it started. But she'd started screaming on reflex and couldn't stop. If it wasn't for the boy and something deep down in her, it probably would've gone on forever until she'd gone right mad.

He smiled at her when he noticed that she calmed down.

"I heard you so I came over here as fast as I could. I'm not alone, okay? There are other people looking for you. But my dad made me wait by the side of the road. It's good that I was there because you were on the other side where everyone was looking."

He didn't really know why he was telling her all of that. He was just glad that she wasn't screaming anymore. But he wasn't sure if she understood anything he'd said. She looked more confused than he felt.

"Who are you?" she said slowly and then coughed due to how raw her throat felt.

"My name is Robin," he said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"I…" she closed her eyes in thought and then opened them up again to look at the boy. She was completely certain that she had a name. And that name was… "H-hailey."

"Hailey," he said with a small smile. "Do you hear that?" He looked up and called out. "They're coming. My dad and the others."

"Why am I here?" she said slowly and closed her eyes. A tear ran down her face.

"There was like a big crash. A lot of people were hurt," the boy said and looked down and away.

"John! John!"

"Over here, dad! I found her! I found the girl! She's alive!"


Five years later…

"… What is your emergency?"

"Um, there's a man," Hailey said into the receiver in a whisper. "He-he has a gun. I think he's going to kill my dad. You have to hurry."

"Okay, sweetie, can you tell me where you live?"

"Um, please hurry…he's very angry," she said in a harsh whisper. Then remembered she was supposed to give her location. "325 that's the house number. It's on Tally Road next to the railroad, you know? Can you hurry?"

The operator repeated the address and asked her name.

"I'm Hailey. And Lynn is here too. But she doesn't look scared and the man isn't even looking at her. He just keeps waving the gun at my dad. He asked for money. And my dad went to get it. But he's going to kill him. Please. Please. Please hurry!"

Hailey had the cordless phone in her hands and was behind the desk. She could clearly see into the entrance and part of the living room where her dad and Lynn, her stepmother, and the man who'd forced his way into the house where crowded. When she first heard the argument ensue, she'd thought it was just her dad and stepmom arguing again. But then she heard a voice she didn't recognize and a desperate threat. She sprung into action, slowly making her way into her dad's study and grabbing the phone off the desk. Her dad had seen her when he entered to get the money the other man was asking for and he lifted a hand to his lips so that she knew to keep quiet. She nodded but showed him the phone. Her dad made a motion with his hands so that she would keep her voice down and told her in a very quiet voice to count to ten before she called. She only waited until he was out of the study and the other man was shouting again before she dialed.

A gunshot was heard in the background. Hailey whimpered.

"Hailey, sweetheart, can you tell me what happened?"

"He shot my dad!" she said louder than she intended to but her dad had just been shot. "Please hurry before he dies!"

"The police is almost there and an ambulance is on the way. But can you tell me what the man is doing?"

"He-He saw me. He's pointing the gun at me."

Hailey began to whimper and didn't look away from the man. He looked like he was arguing with Lynn. And she was saying something back. Hailey looked over to her dad. He had fallen back into a seated position and she couldn't tell if he was dead or alive. He was half-hidden by the sofa. He was so still. And the world had gone silent. She shut her eyes tight and breathed and then she heard the operator calling out to her. Hailey didn't answer. Her attention went back to the man with the gun.

"—kill her," Lynn said.

"She's just a kid," said the man.

That was all the operator heard of the exchange since the two people talking in the background sounded too far away. But she couldn't try to make sense of it. She just needed to know that the girl was not in danger.

"Hailey, are you safe, honey? Police are only a couple minutes ou—"

Another shot was heard before the operator could finish her sentence.

Hailey dropped the receiver. She was startled by the sudden appearance of a dark mass that blocked her view. Everything happened so fast. And she hadn't been shot. As a matter of fact, the man hadn't been aiming at her when he fired the gun. He must've seen this black thing and aimed at it because she was perfectly fine. Then she felt a hand on her arm. She looked to her side at a smiling face. A boy who was a little older than she was happened to be there wearing a black mask over his eyes. She could see his blue eyes. And she almost screamed but he tugged on her arm lifting her off the ground and carried her outside through the window before she could make sense of what happened.

"You're safe now," he said with a grin. "Don't worry. That asshole won't get away."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Robin," he said proudly.

Hailey's eyes widened. She'd heard that name before. The boy who had saved her from the snow. Except that boy had had brown eyes and this one had blue eyes.

"You're not the same Robin who saved me before, are you?" she questioned just as the police pulled up.

"Probably not," he said with a shrug. Then he looked away from her placing a finger to his ear. "Batman, she's safe. The police finally arrived, I'm going— What? Why?"

Robin looked at Hailey then shrugged.

"You like bikes?" Robin asked.

"What?" she said in confusion.

"Come on," he told her grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her as he ran. He lifted her onto a red motorcycle with a huge letter R on the side. Then he climbed on in front of her. "Hold on."

"But what about my dad?" Hailey said looking back at the mess of police and the ambulance that had finally arrived.

"Sorry, Batman didn't say. But I'm supposed to take you somewhere. Don't worry though, you'll be safe."

Hailey felt her body sag and her forehead fell on Robin's shoulder. She couldn't help feeling that regardless of whether or not she was safe, she would never see her dad again. A tear slid down her cheek then another until she was crying.

"Oh, damn," Robin said and sighed. "I'm really sorry. Just please don't let go." Hailey's arms tightened around Robin's waist. "Good, girl. We're almost there."

They pulled up to Wayne Manor and Robin helped Hailey off the bike. She had stopped crying and was just allowing herself to go through the motions. She didn't notice the sympathetic gaze that the man at the door cast her. Nor the sad look on Robin's eyes as he handed Hailey over to the other man. Nor did she hear a word anyone said.

Before she knew it, she was sitting on a sofa with a glass of water in her hands. There was a social worker talking to her. All Hailey did was nod. But she hadn't heard a single word. Next thing she knew was that she was led to a bedroom. She crawled into the bed and curled into a fetal position. She wasn't going to fall asleep. She wasn't exactly tired. She just felt numb. Maybe it was shock. Maybe she was scared. Or maybe she was completely aware that her entire world had changed. And that she would never see her dad again.