Disclaimer: I don't own "Batman Begins"

The morning after, I was sitting in the passenger seat looking out on the streets of Gotham, as they rushed passed me out the window. Bruce thought it would be a good idea to show me the sights of Gotham since all I knew in my life were the streets of the Narrows. In truth, I thought it was a good idea. At least it would get me out of the house this weekend. But first, he said, we had to stop by Wayne Enterprises to check up on some things. Alfred was given the day off, which he totally deserved. So it was just me and Bruce today. We pulled up in front of the building, and I looked up at it in awe as I stepped out of the car.

"This is where you work?" I asked craning my head to see the very top.

"Yeah," Bruce said as he stood with me.

"It's really..."

"Big?"

"Unh-uh,"

Bruce just laughed a bit as we walked inside. He told me to stay close to him since the place was like a labrynth. But I couldn't help but look around. The place was huge! Everywhere I looked people were walking out of rooms with cell phones, stacks of paper, people following superiors, and too busy to talk to the other co-workers.

"So," I said as we waited for the elevator to open. "What exactly do you do around here?"

"Well," Bruce started. "What I do around here is I work with a man named Lucius Fox. He's the head of the Department of Applied Sciences,"

"But..."I was confused. "Don't you work in a big office or something? Aren't you the head of Wayne Enterprises?"

"That's kind of complicated," Bruce explained as we walked in the elevator. "See, what happened was when I came back, the company was already being watched by one of my father's old friends, Mr. Earle. So he's the head honcho now,"

"Can't you tell him that now you're back that you can take over the company now? It is technically yours,"

Bruce winced at that.

"I didn't want to interfere in anything," he said to me.

I was confused by this.If Bruce was the owner of the company, why was he working in the basement? Everytime I heard him mention work, I always pictured him in a big office at the top floor with a big view. But then again, if he's the owner, he could probably have any job he could want. When the elevator doors opened, it revealed a large place. It might've been the basement that Bruce worked in with this Mr. Fox. It had a bunch of huge stuff that probably even the garage at Wayne Manor wouldn't fit it all. But still, my eyes were wide with amazement.

"Wow," I said softly.

Bruce smiled at me as he walked with me showing me around. He didn't show me anything specific, but it was really cool. It felt like being in a new world, and discovering new things. It felt like being in a book that no one, not even the author has read. But somehow the author wrote it, from his mind, and his heart.

"I never knew you made a lot of stuff," I said as he finished giving me the tour.

"Yeah," Bruce sighed. "Neither did I until a couple of days ago...One day, you'll take over the company,"

I stopped looking around, and stared at Bruce. He was smiling at me. I didn't know what to say. Me? In charge of the biggest company Gotham has seen? Me sitting in the center of Gotham, having people do my bidding. I didn't if I could handle it.

"But..."I stammered. "...I don't...What do I know about running a business? I could barely run a lemonade stand in the Narrows when I was 8,"

"Don't worry," Bruce laughed. "I'm pretty sure you're not going to take over it until a few years after you graduate from college,"

I sighed with relief as he gave me half a hug. For a minute there...well you get the idea. Suddenly, an middle aged man walked in with a clipboard. He seemed to find us there and smiled.

"Mr. Wayne," he said walking toward us.

"Hello Fox," Bruce smiled. "Sarah, this is Lucius Fox. He works with me in this department,"

"Pleased to meet you," I shook Mr. Fox's hand.

Fox smiled at me.

"You were right Mr Wayne," he said. "She is a delightful child. Is there anything I can do for you sir?"

"Uh..." Bruce started. "No. I was just showing Sarah around the building,"

"Well, if you need anything sir, don't hesitate to ask,"

It seemed that Fox was busy, so he left in a hurry to go to the other side of the room. I immedietly liked him. He reminded me of an uncle that I would always want, but never could get. Speaking of uncles, mine will be just coming into this story in just a little bit. But I won't give you any details just yet. See what happened was, after Bruce showed me the rest of Wayne Enterprises, he decided it would be a good idea to go to the zoo. We were just walking up the gate when I had seen my new friends Ally and Nathan Farris, just exiting Gotham City Zoo. Ally smiled and came running up to me.

"Sarah!" she exclaimed with happiness. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Hi Ally," I smiled.

When Nathan heard me talk, he let out a sudden gasp.

"You learned how to talk!" he exclaimed. "Wow!"

Ally gave a look at her little brother. It wasn't his fault he didn't know that I could talk. He just thought I was mute from the names Ally's other friends called me at school.

"Of course she knew how to talk!" Ally replied. "She just didn't want to. That's all. Oh! Sarah, I almost forgot,"

Ally dug into her prada bag she told me she had gotten for her tenth birthday, and took out "James and the Giant Peach". She handed it to me with a smile. I just looked at it with a little one.

"I forgot to come by your manor and give it to you this morning," she explained. "Must be luck that I ran into you,"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Must be,"

"I gotta go. Mom and Dad want me to come back for my dress fitting,"

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Dress fitting?" I asked. "Are you going to a party?"

"Yeah," Ally replied. "Bruce's birthday party,"

"That's right," Bruce remembered. "I recall inviting you and your parents," He gave me a smile. "You didn't think you were going to be the only little girl there, did you?"

I winced.

"To be honest, yes," I replied softly. "I wasn't making any friends when you sent out the invitations,"

"Well you have friends now," Bruce said. "Two of them,"

"And aren't we just the best?" Nathan gave off a proud smile.

I giggled a bit as Ally rolled her eyes. I guess she didn't like having Nathan around her that much. Maybe she thought he embarassed her in public. Nevertheless, I liked him just as much as Ally. Ally and Nathan waved goodbye to me and Bruce, and we set off into the zoo. I never been to one before. I had always imagined what it would be like. To see animals from far off jungles in distant lands. And yet, it made me sad to see these animals incarcerated in these cages, when they should be free. Nevertheless, the zookeepers took care of them, and tried their best to make them feel as though they were really in the jungle. As we neared the lions cage, I kind of developed a craving for a hot dog.

"Can I get something to eat?" I asked Bruce.

"Sure," Bruce dug into his pocket, and gave me a crisp ten dollar bill. "Meet me back here,"

"OK,"

I hurried off to one of the stands that was close to where Bruce was, but out of his sight. I didn't seem to notice that as I took in the smells of food. I hadn't eaten any breakfast, so I was really hungry. Although, I didn't seem to notice someone behind me.

"Look who's out in the open," I heard a chilling voice.

I whipped my head around to find Josh Mason, my cousin, with a smug grin on his face. It seemed as though his father had gotten him out of juvenile hall. No doubt Judge Faden will drop the charges for the amount of money my uncle would give him.

"What are you doing here?" Josh asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," I said softly as I turned my back against him.

"...Whoa-ho-ho. Look who's talking again. What happened? Did someone feel sorry for you and got you to talk?"

"That wouldn't be any of your business," I said to him as I came up to the stand. "Two hot dogs please,"

"That's why Bruce Wayne took you in," Josh continued. "He only took you in because he felt sorry for you, and it would give him a good image,"

"You don't know him," I said.

"And you do? Please. He doesn't care about you. No one ever did. He just took you in because the world can't stand to look at you. I bet if you were in trouble, someone would walk past you and leave you for dead,"

My whole body trembled with anger, but I didn't want to show it. I gave the hot dog vendor a kind smile, and went off to go back to Bruce. The sooner I would get to Bruce, the sooner I can ask to go home, and be safe and sound. Away from the animals in which cages wouldn't hold them. But Josh seemed to want to aggravate me more, and followed me.

"Hey!" he grabbed my arm, and turned me around. "Aren't you even listening?"

I guess he had pulled on me so quick, that I accidently pushed him into a fountain that sat in the middle of the zoo. Water splashed everywhere, and I sheild myself to not get wet. Josh however wasn't so lucky. He came out from under the shallow water, all wet. I put my food on the bench beside me, and extended a hand. He may be cruel to me, but that gave me no reason to be cruel to him.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "It was an accident. Here. Let me help you,"

"No," Josh grabbed my hand. "Let me help you,"

The next thing I knew, I fell into the water with a yelp, and water splashed everywhere again. This time, I was all wet too. And before I was able to compose myself, everyone, including Bruce, was coming up to the fountain. Bruce helped me out of the fountain and draped his coat over my shoulders.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said. "I just fell in,"

"Well Mr. Wayne," I had now noticed my Uncle Edgar came into my view. "It seems you are doing a very good job with raising the Scum of the Narrows,"

I didn't say anything to him, but Bruce might've had an angry look on his face for calling me that name.

"Why do you keep calling her that?" he asked. "She's the same as you and me,"

"The same?" repeated Edgar. "She's not rich, she never grew up in Gotham, she's a pauper. Not a princess! I warned you about her hostile behavior,"

"The only thing that's hostile is the way you treat your niece and raise your son to hate her,"

"You may think she's the same as everyone else, Mr. Wayne, but she never was. She'll never be one of us. She's not saying anything back to me because she knows it's true, and there's nothing she can do about it,"

I covered my ears through all this nonsense. I broke free out of Bruce's grasp and ran through the crowd. I needed somewhere safe to be. Away from prying eyes. There was a tunnel that led to a cave in the zoo that held nocturnal animals. I didn't know that as I raced in the dark. But as I soon got halfway through the tunnel, I realized I had forgotten I was afraid of the dark. Closing my eyes, which was the only darkness I would welcome, I followed the stair rail until I came to a room that had a little bit of light. I opened my eyes, welcoming it. But then I realized I was in a cave where the bats were kept. Bats. Up until now, I had forgotten about the Batman. And yet, the bats entranced me once again. There was no one in the room, so I was all alone. That was good for me. I didn't want anyone to come to me right now. Sitting in the middle on the concrete floor, I covered myself in Bruce's coat, and just looked at the bats in front of me. I had gone into my own little world again. I then thought about Batman. Who was he? Why did he wear a mask? Why did he only come out at night? How did he know my parents? How can he fly when men had tried for centuries to do it, and only came with the solution of breaking their limbs or dying? Why was he so good to me, and yet very distant? Was he just like me like he said? I didn't understand. Nevertheless, I blocked all feeling, sights and sounds from my head, except for my wet clothes sticking to my skin, the view of flying bats and the faint fluttering of their wings. Suddenly, I was broken out of my thoughts by something draped over my shoulders. Letting out a shuddered gasp, I looked up to find Bruce bending down beside me, putting a wool blanket over my shoulders.

"The staff gave me this," he said. "They wouldn't want you to catch a cold,"

I nodded sighing, wrapping the blanket around me.

"Why do you let him talk to you like that?" Bruce asked me.

I guessed he was inquiring me about my Uncle Edgar. I sighed.

"I have no idea," I said. "I guess...when I was seven, my relatives were having a Chistmas party, and they invited me and my parents. The only reason they wanted us there was so they could criticize us. I don't remember a lot about it, other than that. 5 minutes after we came, we left. Then on the way home, my parents were talking. They thought I was sleeping in the back seat of the car, but I remembered what they said. They said that Uncle Edgar started calling me the Scum of the Narrows, because I was the lowest the Narrows would ever get. Then my dad carried me to my bed, and my mom kissed me goodnight saying that someday I would be the Princess...But I guess that was just wishful thinking for her,"

"...No," Bruce said to me. "It wasn't wishful thinking,"

I looked at him with a strange look.

"Growing up, Jennifer had a lot of hunches," he smiled a bit. "Before you were born, I was in college, and your mother was pregnant with you. We started debating whether or not it was going to be a girl or a boy over the phone. A few hours after you were born, your father called, and told me it was a girl and to cough it up,"

I smiled. That sounded just like my dad making jokes.

"What I'm saying here Sarah is, you're already the Princess. The Princess of Gotham,"

My eyes were wide when he said this. How could I be a princess? I can't go anywhere without tripping or making any sound with my feet. But if Bruce said I was the princess...then maybe I was.

READER'S POV:

After a long day of having fun, minus the part of getting pulled into the fountain and the encounter with Edgar, Sarah was asleep in her bed, a book in her hand, when Bruce checked on her. With a light smile, he took the book gently from her hands, and covered her up with the blankets even more. It was going to storm tonight, and he had a lot of stuff to get to before long. Meaning, going out to Gotham at night with a mask in a cape. Before he turned to leave, he heard the bed shuffle a bit, and turned around to find Sarah with sleepy eyes.

"Bruce," she said in a tired voice.

"Yeah?" Bruce asked back softly.

"...You can turn off the light,"

Bruce was a little bit confused.

"I thought you were afraid of the dark," he said.

"...I'm not anymore," Sarah closed her eyes sleeping.

All Bruce could do was smile, as he turned off the nightstand light, and closed the door. Sighing, he walked down the hall, downstairs, and into the parlor. Playing a few notes on the piano that was there, a door opened. A secret door. Hidden in the shelves of a bookcase that was there in front of him. Going into it quickly before it would close again, he walked down the drafty steps and to an elevator that would release with a pull of a lever. Making sure the doors were closed tightly, he pulled it, and the air rushed past him like wind. When he finally landed, he was in the caverns he and Alfred worked hard to fix up without Sarah's knowledge. This was the Batcave, the cave which he worked secretly to become the Dark Knight of Gotham. Batman. Walking along the cavern, he sat down at a steel table with a few things. A fixed up camera, and something that glinted of gold. Bruce took the gold object in his hands and studied it. It was Sarah's broken golden heart-shaped locket. He had found it the morning he had forbidden her to go to the well again. When he was making steel batarangs, he found it lying in the cold damp ground. It had fallen through the well...or someone dropped it in Bruce's opinion. He had fixed the hinges and it was now opening and closing again, revealing the pictures of Luke and Jennifer. He had also repaired her camera as well, in order to find out what she had filmed in the truck that was at the docks. But it was all jumbled and dark.

"I think it's time for Batman to pay a visit to Sarah Chante," he said softly.

(A/N: Hey. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My goal is to get this done before Christmas, so keep looking back. Review please!)