Disclaimer: I don't own "Batman Begins"

I stayed at Wayne Manor with Bruce and Alfred the next two days. Mostly staying in my room and reading, the days were fine when they flew past me. Bruce and Alfred said that they had some stuff to do at Wayne Enterprises, and that they trusted me alone in the house. I was fine with it. Besides, I could catch up on my reading and such. I would've liked to go out to the garden and read, but I promised Bruce that I wouldn't go over there anymore. A promise is a promise. Even though I liked to read, I was doing something else besides going into worlds where all my troubles went away. This is where we come to the rising action of our story. Remember when I told you my parents died while working on a case that had something to deal with Falcone? I decided to go and get some evidence on him, and turn it to the police. It would be the least I could do in memory of my parents. Now, I know it's not safe for a twelve-year old like me to go out to the docks in Gotham at night, but I had this sudden urge to go. I quietly planned my strategy for the last two days. It would be hard, and I would be scared, but I would be out of sight. I would be inside the truck before anyone sees me, and videotape what kind of drugs they had...plus the thrill of getting Flass busted for helping smuggle drugs into Gotham. After I carefully set my stuff in a navy backpack under my bed so no one would see, I saw a car pull up in the front of our driveway. Thinking it was Bruce and Alfred returning home, I rushed to the window. My face fell as I noticed it was Uncle Edgar in his business suit. What was he doing here? Was he mad at me for getting Josh in trouble? He shouldn't be. Josh almost sent me into the ER. I saw him go in the house, and I panicked. Was he breaking in? I quickly rushed out of my room, and down the steps only to find Alfred opening the door for Uncle Edgar. Wait. When did Alfred get here? Was Bruce home too? Alfred and Edgar looked up to find me slowly coming down the steps.

"Miss Sarah," Alfred smiled. "There you are. We were wondering where you were,"

"Sarah," Edgar smiled.

My heart raced. He just called me by my real name. Not Scummy. What was going on here? Alfred left us when he went to go get Bruce, and I was left alone with my uncle. I didn't like it. It felt uncomfortable to be around him. He looked around as he walked toward me.

"I can see that you are in excellent hands," he said. "Are you comfortable here?"

I didn't say anything to him. I just merely stared at him.

"You just won't talk to me will you?"

I shrugged. He should know by now that I won't talk to anybody. I wanted to get out of there, but I felt frozen on the spot.

"You know," Edgar said to me. "Josh is in a juvenile center...He's going to get a parole soon,"

Parole? For attempted murder? My face started to grow angry, and I glared at him. After all they had done to me, it was starting to shake my body. Edgar took notice of my sneer of disgust.

"Don't you dare look at me like that...Scummy," he whispered to me.

My face fell. My anger had fled, and my meek and mild self had returned. Edgar changed his mood when Bruce entered the room.

"Ah," he said. "Mr. Wayne. Wonderful to see you sir,"

"Did you need something Mr. Mason?" asked Bruce.

"I was wondering if I could have a word with you in private," Edgar turned to me. "Sorry child. Only grown-ups,"

"Actually, Sarah can come with us. I'm sure there's nothing to hide,"

Bruce gave me a smile, which made me feel safe as I walked closely to him, and as far away from Uncle Edgar as possible to Bruce's study. I sat in an window seat, while they sat in arm chairs. I watched them as they talked to each other back and forth.

"Mr. Wayne," Edgar started. "I know you've been very lonely since the death of your parents, and it feels nice to have someone like you who has that sort of experience..."

"Sarah and I had way different experiences, Edgar," Bruce interuppted. "My parents were killed in front of me, Luke and Jennifer's death wasn't of Sarah's knowledge until the morning after their death,"

"...I want custody of Jennifer's child,"

My eyes bulged as wide as they would go. I shook my head slowly. I didn't want to live with Edgar. I wanted to stay with Bruce and Alfred. Bruce knew what I was going through, and Alfred was like a grandfather to me. Edgar and my mother's family didn't know anything about me, other than I grew up in the Narrows. Bruce seemed to notice my fear, and turned to Uncle Edgar.

"Edgar," he said. "I'm sorry, but the custody of Sarah has been granted to me, and frankly, I don't think Sarah's comfortable being in the same room with you,"

"She'll have to get used to it," Edgar spat. "You have no relation to her, and I am the only family she has, along with my wife, my son, and my brother and sisters. Besides, I've already entered a file to Judge Faden asking for custody. The hearing is next week,"

A let out a silent gasp. No! I didn't want to go with him. I'd kick and scream if I had to, but I wouldn't go with Edgar. Bruce shook his head

"I'm not allowing it," he said

"She'll be fine. She'll...it's like that phrase you hear. You teach an old dog new tricks,"

"Meaning?"

"Well, look at Sarah," Edgar waved a hand at me. "She grew up in the Narrows. A hostile enviorment, full of crime and drugs, and murders. Give her to me, I can teach her to be more civilized,"

A look of shock was on my face. He thought I was a bad kid. That I wasn't good. Bruce seemed insulted by this.

"Mr. Mason," he said. "I want you to leave right now,"

Edgar looked at Bruce, and then me. I was glaring at him. How dare she say such things to me! It was cruel! Edgar got up from his seat, but then he turned back to me and Bruce.

"Although, Mr. Wayne," he said. "If you do refuse to cooperate...I will have a warrent to take her forcibly,"

I watched my uncle leave the room, and Bruce and I just stood there in silence. I did not want to be taken away. This was a good life for me. I felt safer than I had before. I didn't want to leave. Besides, why would Uncle Edgar want me? He hated me. Bruce looked at me.

"Sarah," he said. "Why don't you go and see if Alfred needs any help with dinner? I'm gonna go see if I can talk to Judge Faden about this,"

Knowing that Bruce would try to take care of it, I left the room a little relieved. My mind started to race with thoughts though. What would happen if I had to go live with Edgar? Would I never see Bruce or Alfred again? And if Josh was going on parole, would I feel safe at night? I mean if I had to live with them, I'd run away to the Narrows and stay there. I walked into the kitchen to find Alfred making spaghetti. My favorite food. He was making it with the meaty sauce that I liked. Although I barely ate it when dinner came around. I just sat there twirling my fork around in the pasta. Alfred thought I was getting sick or something, but Bruce knew better.

"It's anxiety Alfred," he said. "You sure you're not hungry Sarah?"

I nodded.

"All right. Go on upstairs to bed, and get some rest,"

Taking no hesitation, I walked out of the dining room and up the marble steps into my room. Sure it was anxiety, but it wasn't what Bruce thought it was. He thought I was scared of going to live with my uncle.Sure I was, but this was about sneaking out to get evidence on Falcone. Nobody else would do it, and I was the only one who knew about what they talked about at the restaraunt. When night fell, I turned on my lamp so I wouldn't have to stay in the dark, and waited. I had to wait and see if the coast was clear. Around 10:00, I opened my door slightly. The lights were off in the hallway. Making sure my light was still on, and pillows under the covers to make it look like I was sleeping (How original), I snuck out with my flashlight, and my backpack over my shoulder. I know what you're thinking. How can me, a quiet shy twelve-year old, get the courage to try and bust up a crime lord? I'm thinking the same thing, and frankly, I don't have the answer. I finally reached the docks, and I turned off the flashlight I had in my hand to not create attention. Men were carrying stuff in cardboard boxes into a delivery truck. Quietly, I edged closer, but still kept a close look. One of them stopped what they were doing.

"Wanna go take a break, Steiss?" he asked.

"Yeah," Another man said.

The two men left the scene, and I could tell that the coast was clear. This was my chance to get in the truck. Quietly, I climbed into the truck before anyone could notice me. It was dark, so I took my little flashlight, and ducked behind an unorganized pile of boxes, so no one would see me. Silently, I took out my video camera. It belonged to my dad for when he did undercover work, but then he gave it to me after I was begging for one when I was 10. Also taking out a pocket knife I took for camping, I cut the duct tape off of the box, and opened it, revealing stuffed bears. Wait a minute. Stuffed bears? Why would Falcone bring in stuffed bears? I opened another box, to see what was also inside, but this one was filled with stuffed rabbits. I flimed the shipment adress on them. The rabbits went to the Narrows. But why? What business did they have in the Narrows? Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation in my nose. Uh-Oh. I was gonna sneeze. I tried to stop it, but before I could, it came out. I sneezed loudly from the dust particles that came into the air. And my worse fear came true. I was caught.

"There's someone in there!" shouted a man who came back from his break.

Before I knew it, two men came up into the truck before I could hide, and grabbed me. They dragged me out of the truck as I struggled to get out of their grasp. My camera dropped and broke during the process. Great. Now I didn't have any evidence anymore. I had it right in my hands, and I let it slip. I continued to struggle as much as I could. I could scream, but who would come? This was Gotham, as you know. And Falcone was in charge of the city. I began to regret my decision, as Falcone and Flass (Big surprise) came up to me as I struggled.

"What's a kid doing here?" asked Falcone. He turned to me. "Isn't it past your bedtime, or something? Who are you?"

I didn't want to give him the advantage of me telling him my name. But Flass knew me and my parents so he told him.

"Her name's Chante," he said. "Sarah Chante. Her parents were the detectives investigating last week,"

"Oh," Falcone said. "Those two goons who tried to bring me down?"

I glared at him. My parents weren't goons. He didn't even know them. Falcone took out a gun, and a pair of handcuffs, and threw them to a guy with long hair.

"Take her around back," he said as the two holding me shoved me to the other guy.

"And do what?" the guy asked as he grabbed me.

"...Use your imagination,"

I let out a silent gasp as I tried to free myself from the guy's grasp. They were going to kill me. They were going to kill me. This rang through my head for what seemed like hours. Tears of fright streamed down my face as I came around a warehouse. There was a pipe close, and the guy put one end of the handcuffs on me, and put the other end on the pipe. I was trapped. The man threw the keys as far as possible so I wouldn't try and get to them. He cocked the gun. This was it. This was going to be my untimely death. Why did I go out tonight? Why was I this headstrong person? Why didn't I just go to the police tonight? I closed my eyes, waiting for the doom to come to me. Instead, I heard a noise. It wasn't a gunshot. Just a crash. The gunman looked around forgetting his assignment to kill me. After a few seconds there was another crash, and another, and another. I looked at the gunman. He was sweating, but he kept moving until he turned the corner. I didn't know what was out there, but I took my chance in trying to find something to pick the lock on the handcuffs. Usually people use hairpins to get out of stuff. But I didn't have anything on me. I searched for something I could use, only stopping when I heard more shouts, coming from various men. I grew scared. But then...silence. There was nothing else to hear. Only silence. I would've been glad to accept this wonderful sound, but whatever it was that made those men scream made me want to scream. Franticaly, I searched for something to get me out of the cuffs, and run for my life. My wrist in the cuff was bleeding from yanking my arm too much, trying to get as far away as possible. Suddenly I heard a woosh sound. Stopping what I was doing, I turned my head around slowly to see who was there. There was no one. But what made that sound? My mind was playing tricks with me. I had to get out of there.

"Need some help?" asked a voice.

I stopped what I was doing. That voice. It sounded like a raspy animal's voice. It crawled on my skin. Slowly turning around, I saw a man. But...it wasn't a man. A man would NOT wear something that resembles a bat. But he frightened me. I screamed, and tried to get the cuff off my wrist. My first thought was that he was going to kill me. I mean, how often do you see a guy in a bat suit? Less than zero, that's for sure. The man grabbed me and held me still. I tried to get out of his grasp, but he held me so tight, I couldn't move a muscle. He took something from his belt. A knife. I tried to get out again, but he held me tighter. I took quiet, quick breaths. I thought he was going for my skin, but instead, he went for the keyhole to the cuff. I heard a click, and once my wrist was free, I tried to take off. But the man in the bat suit grabbed me around the waist, and the next thing I knew, I was flying up toward the roof. The man in the bat suit set me down on the ground, and I looked around nervously. I backed into a corner, and I slumped to the ground, hugging my knees to my chest. Every second I was growing scared. I might as well have begged the gunman for death. If he would just shoot me, I would be with my parents right now. I awaited the doom that might happen to me. Instead, I felt my arm raise up, and the end of my long sleeved shirt rip. Slowly looking up, I saw the masked man bandage up my bleeding wrist with the piece of torn cloth. I was puzzled at this. Someone like him would have killed me. Why was he helping me?

"Why did you save me?" I found myself asking.

The man in the bat suit looked at me and just stared at me. This was the first time I've ever spoken since the death of my parents. Although, I never expected to start up again by talking to a man with a mask.

"They were going to kill you," he said in that raspy voice as he stood up.

He walked over to the ledge, and crouched on it, overlooking the city below him. It was strange to see a man like this. I slowly got up, and walked toward him, his back turned to me.

"I...I thought that..." I couldn't say anything.

"...That I was going to kill you," he finished for me.

"...Yes...What did you do to those men? I heard...screaming. I-It scared me,"

"They're taken care of,"

"...What about Falcone?"

The man turned to look at me. I sort of jumped. Even though he saved my life, I still felt a bit scared to look at him. All I could see was his eyes, and part of his face in his black mask. He extended his hand toward me.

"Let me show you," he said.

I looked at the hand as if it was poisonous.

"I'm not going to hurt you. If I wanted to, I would've done it before you could even blink,"

I looked into his eyes. They say you can trust someone by looking into their eyes. And yet, there was a sort of familiarity in them. The skin around his eyes were covered in black dark as night. Then again, I suppose I could trust him. Cautiously, I entwined my fingers around his hand. He gripped it firmly, but gently, as he led me up to the ledge. Putting a hand on my back so he would know whether or not I would fall, he showed me a sight that I would never forget. There was Falcone tied to a giant light by chains. His suit was torn in pieces, its rags hanging from his arms. The light was on, and shown toward the sky. Looking up at the dark clouded sky, I saw the shape it made. I had to squint just a little to see what it looked like, but an image suddenly appeared in my head. It was a bat. At this thought I looked at the man. He definetly looked like a bat what with the cape and all.

"Why did you do that to him?" I asked as I stepped down

"It's a sign to know I'm here," he replied in that raspy voice.

"For what?"

"...To bring Gotham back,"

I shook my head.

"Sorry but..." I said softly. "You're a little bit late to save the day,"

"Is that why you were out here?" he asked me. "To play hero?"

"No...I came here to finish what my parents died investigating on,"

"What were you parents investigating on?"

I was a bit silent at this, though I wanted to talk. You know how you don't talk for a long time, and when you finally do, you kind of lose the habit of being silent? This was one of those times. But I didn't want to say anything to him. This isn't the kind of information you give to a guy like him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"...Sarah. Sarah Chante," I replied softly.

"...Chante. I've heard of that name. Parents Luke and Jennifer, right?"

I snapped a look at him. How did he know my parents? How did he know their names?

"Yes," I said softly as he walked slowly toward me. "How did you know that?"

"...Word gets around fast," he replied dryly.

I stared at him. This guy was unbelievable. First he beats up all of Falcone's thugs, and Falcone, then he takes me up to the roof and shows me his little bat symbol, and now he's telling me about my parents.

"Who are you?" I asked in a breath.

"...Someone like you,"

"That's not a good answer for me. Someone like me should be scared right now,"

"Scared?"

"Yeah. I mean...WELL LOOK AT YOU! You-you-you-you you're flying off rooftops, and saving kids who aren't worth saving, and you're showing me all these things that's gonna take me a long time to forget, and you're wearing a mask! And this gives me every reason to be scared right now, because I'm not that brave. But I am brave enough to admit it, and I'm not afraid to show that I'm afraid!"

I ended up taking big breaths. Never a time in my life had I been so scared to just burst out things. I thought someone might've heard me, but I didn't care. The man in the mask just stared at me.

"If you'll excuse me," I said. "I have to get home,"

"I'll take you," he replied when I started to go down the escape ladder.

"Thanks, but, I've made it this far without an escort, and you don't know where I live,"

"...I know where everything is,"

I looked at him puzzled as he came toward me, his hand extended like before. Shaking my head, I took it. It would get me faster to Wayne Manor, and hopefully Bruce and Alfred didn't wake up to find me missing. We stood on the ledge, overlooking the city.

"Tell me we're not going to jump off the roof," I said after I looked down from the great height.

"No," he said wrapping something around my waist. "We're going across the rooftops,"

"What are you doing?"

"This will keep you from falling, but you have to hang on to me,"

This was insane. Man couldn't fly. No one could defy the laws of gravity. It was impossible. Nobody could fly, except when they're in airplanes. He crouched down getting ready to take off. Quickly, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and we were falling to the ground. I let out a short scream, as I felt the air rush past me, but then...I felt a sort of gliding feeling as I heard a woosh sound. Looking up, I saw that we were flying. We were actually flying. This wasn't real. This had to be a dream. But here I was looking down on all the city. It felt wonderful. It felt like I was...free. It was a wonderful feeling to be free. You're locked up someplace, and when you get out, you cherish a moment as if you never want to let go. Finally the man flew over Wayne Manor, and we landed in front of the garage. He set me down on the ground, and turned to leave.

"Wait!" I called back.

He turned around, wondering what I was going to say.

"Not even a goodbye?" I asked. "That's kind of rude you know,"

"...Just be careful next time," he just said to me.

"...One more thing...Who are you, exactly?"

The man was silent, but there was a gleam in his eyes.

"I'm Batman," he said.

(A/N: Whoa. This was long. But I finally got this chapter done. Review please!)