Disclaimer: I don't own "Batman Begins"

When I awoke the next morning, I awoke to disappointment. I had shot out of my bed with excitement, in hopes that Batman had come during the night. The thought of finally knowing what happened to my parents filled my head all night, and just now when I woke up. Rapidly putting on my green sweatshirt, I raced outside to the balcony, which Rachel had in her apartment. At first, I thought he might come into the apartment. But then I thought that if he did, he might put it somewhere where I would see it when I would wake up. Nevertheless, I was searching high and low outside, underneath flower pots, and on the fire escape. And when that didn't work, I went inside. Maybe he did come inside the apartment, and I just slept through it. I looked under the small space underneath the roll-away bed that came out from the couch. To get better a view, I turned the lamp on that was sitting at the coffee table. Nothing under the couch. I looked in the kitchen. In cupboards, in cabinets, even the refrigerator. I was growing desperate by the minute. But I never showed it when Rachel came into the kitchen, just putting on her jacket, getting ready for work. She looked up, and saw me searching through the refrigerator, and put on the famous amused smile almost everyone seemed to be giving me.

"Looking for something to eat?" she asked.

I jumped, almost bumping the top of my head on the top shelf in the refrigerator. Turning around to face her, I was growing nervous. I didn't want to lie to her, but then I didn't want her to be mad if she found out I spent most of my nights waitng for the Dark Knight to come see me again. No one is supposed to know about my secret meetings with Batman. No one. Not Rachel. Not Ally or Nathan. Not my relatives. Not Bruce or Alfred. Especially Bruce or Alfred. I haven't known them to lose thier tempers, because they were so gentle to me. But if I told them that I knew Batman, I couldn't even imagine how furious they would be, after they put their trust in me. And I didn't want to lose Rachel's trust.

"Um..." I said. "I was just wondering if you had any orange juice,"

Rachel smiled, and opened the refrigerator door to reveal the orange juice carton on the bottom shelf

"Oh," I said putting on a smile. "There it is,"

"Why don't you go get ready for school?" Rachel asked. "I'll make you some breakfast. Any favorites?"

"Scrambled eggs sounds good,"

"Scrambled eggs it is,"

My head was still filled with thoughts of Batman as I got my green and black uniform on in Rachel's bathroom. Why didn't he come last night? I left a note on my window, and he promised. Did he get held up at something? My thoughts then trailed to the batarang I had that was hidden deep in my backpack. Did he leave that as a sign? Or did he drop it when he was flying? I couldn't find the answers to this question as I brushed my hair into a ponytail and went to eat breakfast with Rachel. As we ate, she told me all the stories about how my mother, Bruce and her used to have these little adventures when they were around my age. She told me that my mother was their protector at school, since she was 4 years older than them, and "had a lot of guts". It was true that my mother was very gutsy considering her occuptaion choice. One particular story was when they found an arrow head in the garden I liked to go into. She told me this as we walked down the street to school

"So then I hid under the table with it," she said to me. "Of course, Bruce found me, and I told him 'Finders Keepers' because I was the one who found it. But since it was in his garden, I let him see it. But Bruce had to be a little mischevious and grabbed it out of my hand,"

I giggled a bit, imagining the story in my head.

"I like the garden," I replied to her. "Bruce doesn't let me go in there though,"

To this, Rachel was silent a bit. I looked at her as we stopped at the en of the sidewalk, waiting for the walk sign to show it's light.

"What is it?" I asked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"...You know, that is very ironic," she said. "Because that actually leads up to what happened to Bruce,"

"What happened?" I asked as we walked down the walkway.

"He was hiding on top of a well, and it was boarded shut years before,"

The well. The well I fell asleep by when I dropped my broken locket.

"I couldn't find him, and he fell in, fracturing his wrist. I rushed inside to tell my mother, Alfred, and his father...An hour later they got him out of there. And as his father carried him inside, he gave me the arrowhead...I still have it. It's in a box on top of my dresser...But after they pulled him out of that well, he...changed somehow,"

Rachel was hesitant in her words.

"How?" I asked.

"...I asked him what happened to him the next day," she continued. "And he replied that he was attacked by a swarm of bats in the well...And ever since then, he's been afraid of bats,"

So that's what Bruce was afraid of. Bats. Why? Most were harmless. And bats never bothered you unless you bothered them. Plus, I never thought the Bruce would be afraid of anything...Note to Self: Never tell him about Batman if worse comes to worse.

"I thought grown ups weren't afraid of anything," I said.

Rachel smiled.

"Grown-ups are no different than children, Sarah," she said. "We all get scared,"

"Wow..." I said in a sort of whisper. "I never knew that about Bruce,"

"...There's a lot of things you don't know about Bruce Sarah,"

"I know, but...I mean he'd tell me all these things, right? In time?...Rachel?"

Rachel looked at me as we neared the school.

"Sarah," she took my hand. "Sweetheart, you can't expect everyone to tell you everything. Bruce may or may not tell you everything about him, but there will always be a way for you two to help each other. You're very much alike you know,"

"I know," I said. "...But I'd rather have people be honest with me,"

Rachel nodded in agreement as she looked at her watch.

"Oh no," she said. "I'm gonna be late. OK, Ally and Nathan are taking you home with them, and I'll pick you up around 7:30 all right?"

I nodded and waved goodbye to Rachel as we both went our seperate ways. I thought about Bruce and his fear of bats. I found it quite strange. I had two people in my life who were complete opposites. Bruce as afraid of bats, and Batman had some sort of obsession with the strange animal. Bruce is a billionaire; Batman is some sort of caped crusader. Bruce had a kind and gentle voice; Batman had a really raspy one that made him sound dangerous. So, what could these two people possibly have in common, besides the fact that they both have...light green eyes?...Ugh. The eyes thing again. Where have I seen those eyes? Do you think that...No. They couldn't be the same. Bruce couldn't be Batman. I would know if he was. And he'd tell me too. Bruce Wayne was NOT Batman. How could I even let myself think that? When I walked into the doors of school, I prepared myself for another week of school. But I never imagined that I would be praised like I was one of the most popular girls in school. The first step I took, a bunch of cheerleaders with their green and black pom-poms came and asked if I wanted to join their squad. They had enough but they said they could squeeze in one more and make me captain. Then a group of boys grabbed my arm and led me away as they asked me if I wanted an escort to Bruce's birthday party. I felt like I was being suffocated by this mass of students. I didn't understand. Last week, they ignored like the scum I was. Now I'm popular? Did I step into some freaky parallel universe or something? Before I could even try to step out of the crowd, Ally came to the rescue. She grabbed my arm, and pulled me out of the crowd and into the girls bathroom.

"Dang," she said peeking out through the door. "And I thought the paparazzi would be worse. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said taking deep breaths. "What just happened out there?"

"That," she said as she checked her hair in the mirror. "Was a crowd of students lining up--well, more like buzzing around you--To become your best friend in the whole world,"

"Why?"

"Hello! You're the goddaughter of Bruce Wayne! You're debuting tomorrow night as the Princess of Gotham! You're the girl every girl wants to be. Every guy wants to be with--"

"But they already knew that, and they still treated me like some sort of alien from outer space,"

All just simply smiled, and looked at me.

"Tell that to Gotham Teen," she said. "They're the ones who got the information on you from an anonymous source,"

"What information?" I asked more questions. "What anonymous source?"

Ally, always one being prepared, took out her copy of Gotham Teen from her backpack. My eyes went wide as I saw my picture on the front cover with Bruce by my side. The title of the issue was "Princess In The Making". I flipped the pages to the cover story of me. A lot of things they had written about me were untrue, however.

"What is this?" I asked as I looked at a page. "'After the death of her parents, twelve-year-old Sarah Chante was considered to be put into mental care because when the police gave her the news, she immedietly started throwing household things around the room she was in'. Who would believe this?"

"Not me, that's for sure," Ally said. "Do you want to continue?"

"No," I said dropping the magazine. "I can't even look at it,"

Ally picked up the magazine, as I held myself to try and stop shaking from anger and anxiousness. Who would tell this to somebody? When I heard about my parents I just stood there like an idiot. Inside me, tears were swelling up in my heart, and a lump formed in my throat as I heard Ally read another article about me and Bruce this time

"'30 year old Bruce Wayne had returned around that time, and had heard about the girl's loss'," she read. "'Being somewhat like her, and feeling sorry for the young girl, he immedietly took the girl under his wing. But word from our sources say that she hasn't been very happy with Gotham's billinoaire playboy, and hasn't been paying much attention to her, given the fact of his little escapade a few nights after his return when he came into a restauraunt with two women, bought the whole hotel, and swam with the European models in the swimming pool that was only used for decoration',"

I whipped my head around at this.

"What?" I asked. "When did this happen?"

Ally just showed me the pictures of Bruce and the European models he was apparently with. They say a picture was worth a thousand words. But when I saw him climbing into that small pool, and walking out of the hotel with a wet suit, I had a million words that I wanted to say. I never knew about this. Why didn't he tell me? Tears swelled up in my eyes. What was going on? Why wasn't Bruce telling me anything? The Princess of Gotham thing, the lie about my emotional state, and now I find out he was buying hotels?...

"Maybe Josh was right," I said simply.

"About what?" Ally asked. "...What did the Jerk-Wad tell you this time?"

"The other day, Bruce took me to the zoo. Josh was there, and he kept telling me these things about Bruce, that he only took me in to improve his image," I explained as I wiped a tear away from my cheek.

Ally, from the corner of my eye, put her hands on her hips, and looked at me sternly, like a mother would at a child if it had done something wrong.

"Don't you ever listen to Josh," she said. "He's a loser. Everyone knows that,"

"Yeah," I agreed. "But now, everyone's going to believe this stuff that's written about me,"

I shook the magazine in my hands after I had taken it from Ally's fingers.

"Don't worry," she said. "Leave it all up to me. By the end of the day, everyone will think that you are truly a Princess of Gotham. All you have to do is act the part,"

"How?" I asked as Ally got her backpack.

"Well," she started as she peeked out of the bathroom. "For starters, always smile. Come on, show me a smile,"

I winced sort of. This was going to be harder than I thought. But how hard could smiling be? My lips played a smile on my face. Ally nodded in approval after the coast was clear.

"Good," she said as we walked to our first class. "Now, shoulders back, stand up tall..."

I did those things. So far, so good...

"...And when you walk, shake your booty a little bit,"

I stopped.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

Ally stopped and cringed.

"Um..." she said. "Sorry. Let's wait for that until we're in the ninth grade,"

"Thank you," I said.

I would do anything, really, right now to be something they expect me to be. But the last thing I will do is walk around school, or in public or private for that matter,shaking my butt. Throughout the day Ally continued to give me lessons. During break, she taught me how to walk down the stairs with "grace and poise". She said that I would make a good impression with this at Bruce's birthday party. I didn't think that I would impress that many people. But lately, I've heard talk from students who say that their parents "Can't wait to see that little angel in a beautiful dress at one of the most grand parties of the year". Nathan even helped too. He said when I walked around, I should imagine I'm floating or flying. Compared to Ally's "Grace and Poise" Technique, that was actually a better method for me, since I already knew what it felt like to fly. By the time lunch came around, I was now turned into a full-tme popular girl. I was waiting for Ally to come to the cafeteria, so I was left alone, with Nathan as my "bodygaurd". Boys asked me if they could be my escort at the party, but Nathn stepped in front of me, puffed out his chest as if to match their size, and said in the most stiff manner as possible:

"That position has been filled," he said. "By me,"

Even though they gave me weird looks for letting a second grader be my escort, they still invited me to parties they were having later this weekend. I told them I'd have to ask Bruce, and told them thank you for inviting me. As me and Nathan finally got our food from the lunch line, we both looked around to see if there was any place to sit. We were finally deciding to go outside, when I heard a voice from behind me.

"You're that new girl, aren't you?" it said.

I turned around, and saw a blonde girl my age staring at me. There were other girls who were blonde, and they stared at me too. But I couldn't be impolite and not answer, even though I found their staring odd.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm--"

"We know who you are," the blonde girl said. "Sarah Chante. Twelve years old. Grew up in the Narrows..."

"You're the girl that had that nervous breakdown?" asked another blonde girl.

The first blonde haired girl sighed. Inside me, my stomach turned. I had hoped these girls hadn't read that article

"Veronica," she said. "Can you just shut up? No one talks while I'm talking,"

I cringed a little bit as the girl turned from nasty to nice when she looked at me. Nathan didn't seem to like it too, so he hid behind me. Like the way I hide behind Bruce when I'm scared or shy.

"I'm Haley Kingston," she said. "I'm sure you've heard about all my modeling for teen clothing,"

"Sorry," I said. "No,"

Haley Kingston didn't seem to care about that. Instead she patted a seat next to me. Again, I couldn't be impolite, so I just sat down next to her.

"I can't stay long," I said setting down my tray. "I'm meeting a friend of mine,"

"Oh, it'll only be a minute," Haley said. "So...were you popular in your old school?"

"Well...I don't know, I mean..."

"Of course you weren't. If you were, you'd be as popular as me by now,"

"But I--"

"Excuse me. Talking here,"

I just sat there and looked at Nathan, who sat beside me with a nervousness in him. That was rude. And I thought Josh was bad...wait...never mind. I'd rather take Haley Kingston's rudeness over my relatives meaness any day of the week.

"What's it like living with a billionaire play boy?" Haley asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, do you think he's hot or somthing like that?"

"Why, do you?"

The blonde girls went "Aww" as Nathan stuck out his tongue in disgust. I would've done it too. They just asked me if I had a crush on Bruce. Ugh. Why did I have to go through with this?

"How cute," Veronica said. "She's shy,"

"No wonder you live with him," Haley said. "I've read somewhere that's what he liked about girls,"

"For your information," I said. "Why would I think that my godfather is hot? I mean, aren't we a little young to be thinking about boys right now?"

"You're never too young,"

"And not to mention the fact that he's turning 30 tomorrow. We're twelve,"

"Who cares?"

"Haley?" I heard Ally's voice. "What are you doing to my friend and my brother?"

We all turned around, and found Ally with a disgusted look on her face. Haley's face turned sour as she wrapped a long, thin arm around me, that made me shudder

"I'm teaching her how to be popular," she said. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes there's a problem," Ally said as she pulled Nathan out of the seat. "I don't think Sarah's ready to sell her soul to the devil,"

"You think that's supposed to insult me?"

"...Hey Haley, you know something?"

"What Farris?"

"There's a mole on your cheek,"

Immedietly, Haley took her arm off from around me, and took out her compact mirror. I took the chance of getting out of there as fast as possible with Ally and Nathan. We took off in the hallway, and when we were as far as possible, we just looked at each other. Ally started giggling a bit. Nathan cracked a smile, and I was holding in my stomach to refrain from laughing. Even though it was cruel, Ally's trick on Haley Kingston was pure genius. For the first time in my life I felt normal with the way I was laughing with my two best friends in the whole world.

"Wow," Ally wiped a tear of laughter away. "I can't believe she fell for that. What did they do to you, anyway?"

"Oh, nothing," I sighed as we walked down the hall. "She asked me if I was popular in my old school, if I knew all about her modeling career, and if I thought Bruce was hot--"

"Ewww," Ally gave off a disgusted look. "Why would she ask his goddaughter of all people?"

I shrugged. This had been one crazy day...But it was just about to get crazier.

I sat in my history class, with Ally beside me as we worked on tonight's homework. We had free time, and we wanted to get done as fast as possible if Nathan wanted me to teach him how to swim, and if Ally wanted to see if we could find a dress that would fit me in her closet. We were almost done, until one of the principal's aides came inside the classroom, and whispered something to the teacher. They both nodded in some sort of agreement, and turned to me.

"Sarah Chante," the teacher said. "Mrs. Rose would like to see you in her office,"

Some of the studens started "ooing", but Ally told them to shut up. Since it was almost the end of the day, I took my backpack with me as I walked out of the classroom. I walked behind the principal's aid with ease and calmness. I knew I wasn't in trouble or anything, so why would I have to worry?Before long, I was in the principal's office, waiting to be asked to come in. The aide told me to wait outside while he announced my arrival. I waited patiently for about 2 minutes, until they asked me to come in. Shifting my backpack up my shoulder, I walked into the office. But I never expected to find Jim Gordon, a friend of my parents, and Comissioner Loeb standing with Mrs. Rose.

"Sarah," Mrs. Rose gave me a comforting smile. "Have a seat,"

"If you excuse me, Mrs. Rose," I said with the most polite manner possible. "But, can you tell me what's going on?"

There was silence, which set me off uneasily. I saw Mrs. Rose glance at Gordon, who glanced a Comissioner Loeb. I started to worry.

"Is Bruce all right?" I asked, concerned of my godfather's well being.

"Oh, he was fine, last time we saw," Comissioner Loeb replied. "It's actually you that has to be all right,"

"Why? What's going on?...Jim?..."

I was growing nervous by the second. To comfort me, Jim bent down to my level, and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Sarah," he said. "We just want you to know that we're going to do everything we can to keep you safe, and to keep everyone else from getting hurt. Most of all, you,"

"...Jim," I said with breaths. "What happened?"

Jim looked at Comissioner Loeb, who turned to me.

"Last night," he started. "The department recieved a call from Matthew MacCallister. We didn't actually get to talk to him, but dispatch was able to catch some of the conversation that took place,"

"What conversation?" I asked.

"We've no idea. But it was most certainly about you,"

"...Me? Why would they talk about me? Who was he talking to anyway?...What's going on?"

"We found Matthew MacCallister's body in the parking garage near his firm. Autopsy said they found a bullet in his head,"

Jim squeezed my hand to comfort me for this next part.

"It was the same calliber your parents were shot with," he said softly to me.

I looked at Jim with fright in my eyes.That man...that murderer...the murderer who killed my parents. Who killed Matthew MacCallister. He's out there. He's still out there. Waiting. Waiting for me. Waiting for the golden oppurtunity to come and find me. And kill me. He wants to kill me. But why? What did I ever do to him? I wanted to crumple on the ground, but I couldn't. I mean, I wouldn't. I was tired of crying, and letting people think I was some insecure little girl, who always hides herself in a book to get away from reality's problems. But I couldn't stop myself from shaking and gasping as if I was choking before, and was just now getting air. Jim gave me a comforting hug, and told me everything was going to be all right, and that they'd catch him as soon as possible. But soon was not soon enough. I had to find Batman. And fast.

I walked out of the office to find Ally and Nathan with worried looks.

"What happened?" Ally rushed up to me. "We saw a police car outside by the buses,"

I didn't say anything, but let myself lean against the wall, as if to catch my breath. Nathan held my hand.

"Please tell us, Sarah," he said softly.

"...That man who killed my parents," I said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "He's out there looking for me right now,"

I heard Ally gasp, and felt Nathan's hand squeeze mine tighter. I looked at them to find fear dancing in their blue and green eyes. They know now that I was still a target when we all thought that I was safe. But I wasn't. I wasn't with Bruce or Alfred. I wasn't with Rachel. And the only times I would ever get to be with Batman was at night. Right now, I could be an open target...So could Ally and Nathan, just for being with me.

"Ally, did you call your mom to come pick us up?" I asked.

"Yeah," Ally replied softly. "She's sending the limo driver,"

"We have to stay in here, and stay together until we're picked up,"

"OK. We understand. We'll stay with you,"

I was glad to have friends like Ally and Nathan with me right now. We walked around the school, partially in silence, and the rest was me telling them what happened to poor Matthew MacCallister. At first they couldn't believe it, because they thought it was scary enough to be in a horror movie. It was, but this was more than scary. This was reality. We walked into the auditorium so that we could be alone in our conversation.

"Sarah," Ally started. "I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "The police are doing everything they can. They've got police scanners on 24/7, they've called Wayne Manor, my relatives, Rachel, and your parents to inform them..."

"What about you?" Nathan asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Well," I sat down on th edge of the stage with them. "I figured when Bruce gets back from his business trip tomorrow, I can call him before school, and ask if I could be home schooled until all this is over. That way, I could stay safe, and I'd be out of danger,"

"Wow," Ally said. "You've really got all this planned out,"

"My parents always said to have a strategy before you put it into action. And back-up plans in case that doesn't work,"

"Home schooled?" exclaimed Nathan. "You can't. Who's gonna protect me from Josh and his buddies?"

Nathan hugged me from behind, and buried his face in my shoulder. I hugged him back. I was his protector. I knew that. Just like Batman and Bruce protected me from the dangers of Gotham. But I couldn't just abandon Nathan like that. He was like me when I was his age. Scared and insecure. I turned to Ally as if to ask "Will you help me watch him?". But before I could start to say anything, she spoke.

"No need to ask," she held up her hands. "Josh is gonna wish he never had a crush on me if he does something to Nathan like he did yesterday,"

"How so?" We heard Josh.

Looking up, we saw him coming down the aisle with two of his buddies. I groaned in my head. Another day ruined. I looked up at the cieling as if to pray: Please, don't let me get in trouble again. Ally stood up with a stance, as I stood with Nathan in front of me, my arms wrapped around his chest.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" she asked. "Like doing petty theft at the candy shop down the street?"

"Actually, yeah I do," Josh said as his two goons nodded with him. "We've got a game to play. It's called 'Hide and Seek',"

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"That's a stupid game," his mouth ran away with him.

"Shut up, you little shrimp!" Josh shouted.

"Hey!" Ally and I exclaimed.

That thing inside me. It snapped again. I moved Nathan toward his sister, and jumped off the stage. I walked slowly toward Josh...like Batman would. My eyes darkened. Just like Batman's. My head was high, and I stood up tall. Just like Batman. And I spoke in a voice so hard and harsh...Just like Batman.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" I asked.

I never felt this brave before. It felt so powerful. I didn't even flinch when I saw the look on Josh's face.

"Since when did you get all so brave?" he asked.

"...Since now," I said with the same voice.

...Can I just say one thing?...I LOVE this newfound courage of mine. I wonder what else I could do with it.

"Why you little--" Josh started.

Uh-Oh. I knew this was coming sooner or later. Josh took a swing at me, but I ducked out of the way. When I regained my composure, I found that the hit that was meant for me, swung around, and hit Josh's buddies, knocking them down to the ground, and Josh going down with them. They laid on the ground for a second about 5 inches away from me. I took this golden oppurtunity to escape while I could. I started running up the stage.

"Come on!" I shouted at my two friends

I didn't want to leave Ally and Nathan behind to face the wrath of my cousin and his friends. They both ran with me to the back of the stage, that was draped with black curtains and props and backdrops for school plays and stuff. We all hid in seperate places. Nathan hid in a small castle tower that was small, but big enough to hid him at the top. Ally his in a bunch of costume boxes, covering herself with feathered hats, and way-too-poofy dresses. As for me, I hid up on the catwalk after quickly climbing up a 30 foot ladder, and hid behind black curtains, concealing my prescense. From a small space of vision of the dark drapds, I saw Josh and his two buddies come up to the stage, and searched for me and my friends.

"Where'd they go?" Josh asked aloud.

"...Do you think they disappeared?" asked one of his goons.

Disappeared. Yeah right. Who would ever disappear out of thin air? Honestly? I mean, how many people would...wait a minute...disappear...black drapes...I looked around to see if there was anything else. To my luck, there was. There was a plain black bandana and black mask hidden in the corners picking up dust. Quickly, I took the two rubber bands that held my braided ponytail, and made two pointed ears out of the bandana. Then I dusted off the mask, and put it on my face. There was a loose drape on the floor, so I quickly draped it over my shoulders...In case you haven't figured this out, I was forming a plan in my mind, as quick as the speed of light. After I had finished putting on my "costume", I looked again through the small sace of the hanging drapes, and saw Josh moving towards the boxes of costumes, as he pulled something out of his back pocket. I realized it was the same knife he tried to use on me when I first came to school. I let out a silent gasp. Ally was in those boxes. Looking around again, I thought there was something extra I could use. A light box was to my left, and I quickly moved toward it. A huge lever the size of a papaya indicated that it was the power lever. My fingers entwined around the handle, and I closed my eyes.

Come on Sarah. I thought. You can do this. Ally and Nathan need your help. If Batman can scare people in the dark, then so can you.

I nodded after that bit of encouragement I gave myself, and pulled the lever down, turning off every light in the auditorium, even the emergency light switch.

"What happened?" I heard Josh's voice.

"I think the power went out," said a goon's voice

"That was a rhetorical question!"

I could only see just a little bit in the dark. After those two encounters with Batman, I had gotten use to seeing in the dark. There was a rope tied to the side to use for flying portions during plays. I quickly untied it and wrapped it around my waist, as I made a few noises, to try and scare my cousin out of his wits. This time, it was my turn to make his life a nightmare. I was going to scare him good. I jumped on the catwalk, making it rattle just a little bit, but loud enough to echo throught the room. I heard the boys yelp, and one even screamed like a girl...I think it was Josh...After I tied the rope around my waist, I made a loud deep raspy growl in my throat. I tried to make it as realistic to Batman's as possible as I climbed up on the railing, carefully as an trapeze artist

"Wh-what was that?" I heard Josh. "Who's there?"

Time to make myself known. Not as Sarah Elisabeth Chante, the insecure little girl who his herself in books and unkept gardens that made me live inside magical worlds...but as a girl with a mask.

I hope I don't fall from this rope I thought to myself as I jumped up from the railing of the catwalk, spreading my "wings" out as far as I could.

I emerged from the curtains that concealed my hiding place, and flew over Josh and his friends. They saw me, and they yelled in fright, cowering with each other, huddling like a bunch of scared mice. I landed with a crouch, and glared at them through my mask. I realized now that I could be brave as another person. Like someone out of a storybook that I had longed to be. I was another person. I was Batman...well, sort of. But they thought I was the real thing. They thought I was THE Batman. The Batman who put Falcone behind bars. The Batman that made the police force thing of him as threat. The Batman who saved my life on his first night in protecting Gotham. My eyes glowed at them like the moon in the darkness. I could feel Ally and Nathan peek behind their hiding places as they watched me (or in their eyes "Batman") confront the bullies that taunted and teased them to get the day go by faster. I saw Josh tremble with fear, the knife in his hand shaking vigorously. I just stared at him as his two friends backed away slowly, hoping I didn't notice them. But I did. I took one look at them and only said one word.

"Boo," I said in my raspy voice.

The two friends screamed and ran for it, jumping off the stage, and pushed open the doors out of the auditorium, showing the hallway, which shown the only light into the darkened room. It would've shown my face if I hadn't covered it with the "cape". Josh just stood there, staring at me with a petrified look. Good. He should be scared of me...I mean, he should be scared of Batman...I mean, well, you guys know what I mean. With one swift move, just like Batman would, I grabbed his arm, and grabbed the knife out of his fingers, throwing it off the stage, and grabbed him by the collar. If I was strong enough, I would've been able to lift him off the floor, but I brought him to my face, and let him fear the look in my eyes

"Who are you?" Josh asked in a scared way.

"You know who I am, Josh Mason," I said in that raspy voice. "I'm Batman. The Dark Knight. The Caped Crusader. The man in the mask who will haunt your dreams, and follow you wherever you cause trouble,"

"...You-you know who I--"

"I've heard all about you from a friend of mine. I swear, if you ever hurt her or her friends, I will know, and I will find you no matter where you are,"

Josh was now stuttering in his words.

"I-I promise. I, I won't hurt anyone anymore," he said. "I swear to--"

"SWEAR TO ME!"

"I mean, I swear to you! I swear to you!"

I felt satisfied and smiled in my head. I pushed him roughly to the hard wood floor of the stage.I pointed one hand out from under my cloak and pointed to the door to show him his exit. He stumbled off, and ran for it. I watched him leave, his legs flailing about in a hurry. I felt Ally and Nathan come up behind me. I swiftly turned around, and they stood back in fright. Ally grabbed Nathan, and pulled him behind her.

"Look, mister," Ally said. "If you've got a--"

"Ally, relax," I said in my normal voice. "It's me,"

"Sarah?"

"Cool!" I heard Nathan. "You're the Batman,"

"...Well, not really. I just put this stuff on to scare them off,"

I heard Ally laugh and clap her hands once.

"Well you sure did," she said. "Where are you?"

"I'm only two steps in front of you," I said holding out my hands. "Come on, I'll take this stuff out and we can go to your house,"

The rest of the day was pretty normal. Except Nathan kept asking if he could hear the Batman voice again. I did it a couple of times, until I thought I was going to lose my voice. Ally and I did our homework in her room, eating popcorn and drinking Kool-Aid. During this, we kept frinking it as much as we could until our teeth turned red. When Ally's mom saw this, she told us to go brush our teeth until it was all off. After homework, Ally looked in her wardrobe closet and said she found the perfect dress for me to wear for Bruce's birthday tomorrow. Indeed it was pretty. It was a black dress with white designing. A little black jacket with a white button went over my shoulders. Ally said she would have someone send it over to Wayne Manor, so it could be there for me when I came back home. When all the important stuff was done, Ally, Nathan and I spent the rest of the night recreating the scene where I had my little "Batman" episode. But then I remembered about what Batman promised when Rachel picked me up. He was supposed to give me information on my parents deaths last night, and he didn't come. Why? The next time I saw him, I was going to ask for it immedietly, and tell him that my parents killer was after me. And if that wasn't bad enough, I also remembered about Edgar's battle to get custody over me. Like I said before, I wasn't going with him. I was going to stay with Bruce. And if that didn't work...well, I'll think of something. I sat on my roll-a-way bed on Rachel's couch, playing with the batrang I found the other night that belonged to Batman. The thin edges ran along my fingers, but not enough to cut my skin. Getting a creative idea, I took out a piece of paper, coloring pencils, and something to put my stuff on. Placing the batarang, I traced it on the piece of paper, carefully, my tongue sticking out as if I was in concentration. After perfecting the bat drawing, I traced a small heart on the center of it. I colored the bat black, and the heart gold. After drawing all this, I looked at it, pondering. It was an interesting drawing. I wondered why I would place a gold heart in the center of the bat. Maybe it was something inside people. Like Batman. Outside he looked dangerous and cold and dark, but inside, he was nice and comforting. He sheltered me with his dark cape. He made me feel safe when I wrapped his arms around me, in order to protect me when we were flying, or when something was scaring me...I wonder where he is now...

"What's that you got there?" Rachel came in.

"Nothing," I quickly put away the drawing and batarang under my pillow

Rachel smiled at my quickness to cover up my private things, and sat with me on my bed.

"Ready for tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yep," I replied.

"I heard about the Princess of Gotham thing. You must be excited,"

"Not really,"

"...Is something bothering you Sarah?"

I shrugged. I was bothered about a lot of things. Was Bruce going to be okay from whatever he was sick from? Was Batman ever going to come back? Would my Uncle Edgar stop terrorizing me? Would my parents killer go away and forget about killing me. The answers to the questions were: I don't know, I don't know, not a chance, and no. Instead, I asked her a question.

"Rachel," I started. "If you thought you knew someone, and then you find out they did something you never thought they would do, what would you do?"

"...I take it you found out about Bruce's little double date with those European models," Rachel replied dryly.

I snapped my head up, and looked at her.

"Wait," I said. "How did you--"

"I was there that night," Rachel replied. "I was having dinner with my boss, and I saw him walking out with his suit all wet. He and I stopped and talked, we even talked about how you were..."

"Me?"

"Well, since I couldn't come to the funeral, and I found out you were with him, I wanted to know how you were coping without your parents. I mean, after Bruce's parents died, he changed even more since the bat incident,"

"Oh...Well, what did he say?"

"He said, that you were doing fine, that you were just now talking after about a week's silence, and how much you looked liked your mother...Well, except your hair is blonde, and hers was brunette,"

I smiled a bit.

"What did you tell him?" I asked.

Rachel's smile turned into a frown. There was a long silence, and I thought an hour had passed when she spoke again.

"I want you to know that I was really disappointed in him," she explained to me. "He told me that all of those things, the fancy cars, the double dates, buying hotels, jumping into small swimming pools, wasn't him. He tried to explain to me that he was much more inside,"

"Isn't he?" I asked.

I knew Bruce. It wasn't like him to do that. I could tell he didn't care about that stuff when I first met him. That's why I liked him so much. Because he wasn't like the rest of the Fancy World of Gotham. I really did think he was more. But Rachel made me change my mind.

"Sarah," she said taking my hand. "It's not who you are underneath. It's what you do that defines you,"

Those words rang in my head for a while, as Rachel went to go to her room to go to bed, and leaving me on my own, hugging my chest to my knees. I thought about what she said...she was right. It is what you do that defines you. I turned off the light and liad my head on my pillow. But somehow, I couldn't sleep. My head with thoughts and questions that were still unanswered after all this time. When my mind thought of my parents killer coming after me, I feared I would have a nightmare, and wake up screaming in the middle of the night.I slipped my hand under my pillow, and took out the batarang I hid from Rachel, and looked at it. It suddenly calmed me, and I realized I wanted the metallic bat to stay with me through the night. I took out a flashlight I had with me, set the metallic thing upright, and set the flashlight in front of it. After I had done so, I immedietly fell asleep, the shadow of the bat watching over me through the night as I slept.

(A/N: Hey, to make up for not updating sooner, I made a really long chapter. Tell me what you guys thought. What you want to see next. Did you like Sarah's little Batman stunt against Josh? What's the part you're most anticipating?...Yeah, I'm gonna stop asking the questions, and work on the draft for the next chapter. It's gonna be a doozy)