A/N Huge, huge apology for the terrible delay. But chapter first and explanations later, yes?

Disclaimer I do not own Batman. I did not invent the band-aid. I am not the mother of a four-year-old.

Chapter Four

Then Frodo's heart flamed within him, and without thinking what he did, whether it was folly or despair or courage, he took the Phial in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his sword.

- The Two Towers

Dick deliberately folded the corner of his National Geographic back and forth, running his fingernail over the crease until the glossy yellow corner fell off into his hand. The small act of destruction was the only sign of his seething anger that he would allow himself. Across the waiting room, a boy of about four began to shriek as his mother pulled him toward a smiling dental assistant. Dick didn't even flinch when a yellow building block sailed through the air and bounced off his forehead.

"Richard!" Miss Somerville's voice snapped through the stuffy air, as if it was his fault some brat had nailed him. "Richard, you're bleeding."

Dick brushed a finger above his left eye and stared blankly at the sticky redness. Heaving her hefty form off the padded bench, Miss Somerville tossed a threatening, stay there, look at her young charge and trudged over to the receptionist's desk. "Would it be possible to procure an ice pack?"

Behind the closed office door, Dick's would-be assailant was screaming bloody murder at some frazzled dentist. Dick smiled grimly, ignoring the blood that trickled down the bridge of his nose. Bite his fingers off, kid.

Miss Somerville returned, trailed by a worried nurse. "I'm so sorry. We've never had such an accident before…We'll certainly speak to the child's mother."

"What for?" Somerville inquired acidly. "She obviously can't control her son. You would do better to remove hard edged projectiles from your play area."

The nurse retreated behind her cotton balls and peroxide and made a big show of dabbing Dick's eye. "This will sting, sweetie."

Dick glared at her and didn't flinch anymore than when the block had come sailing at his eyes. The nurse, clutching her bloodied cotton balls, retreated before the double threat. She paused to whisper to the receptionist what a shame it was how many dreadful women had such beautiful children.

Dick stared at the dead and de-tusked elephant on the magazine cover, hating his luck, hating his life.

Earlier that day…

Dick was poking listlessly at his Mickey Mouse pancake when Bruce entered the kitchen, several hours earlier than normal and dressed to reassure stockholders of his business acumen. "Good morning Dick, Alfred, Miss Somerville," he greeted briskly.

Alfred beamed. "Good morning, Master Wayne. Shall I prepare you some breakfast?"

"Just juice," Bruce said hastily. "I'm having a car brought around in five minutes. The meeting won't be over until mid-afternoon, so don't expect me for lunch."

"Very good, sir," Alfred agreed, producing the orange juice.

"And don't forget about Dick's dentist appointment at eleven," Bruce added, in a tone as responsible as his suit.

Alfred frowned. "I beg your pardon, sir, I thought the appointment was for tomorrow?"

"I moved it up a day, because Miss Tracy requested all of Thursday for a trip to the natural science…" Bruce trailed off. "Didn't I tell you?"

"No, sir."

"Oh." There was a pause in which both men were painfully aware of that silent presence by the window. "Can't you take him?"

"It's the Gotham Gardening Society's winter orchid festival. I am the chairman," Alfred said delicately.

"Oh, yes. You certainly can't miss that. Well, I suppose I'll just call…"

A syrupy voice offered, "I would happy to escort Richard to the dentist."

Bruce managed to look at her without meeting her eyes. "Er…that's very kind, but I certainly can't expect you to…"

Somerville smiled. Ominously. "Nonsense. It would be my pleasure."

- - - - - -

Dick ripped the Band-aid off his forehead and stuck it on the elephant's mutilated face.

"Latex allergy, Mr. Grayson?" Miss Somerville asked sarcastically.

Not entirely certain as to the definition of latex, Dick kept his eyes stubbornly down. Across the room, the volume of the screams increased as the office door opened and the exhausted mother maneuvered her son past the receptionist's desk to the outside door. Dick turned to watch out the window as they crossed the parking lot to the next door bank. The woman was fumbling for the key to her dark green minivan when the machine gun fire erupted.

Three men in black burst out of the bank, spraying bullets across the parking lot. The woman from the dentist's office dropped down by the tire, clutching her son, mouth opened in a scream Dick could barely hear.

When he thought about it afterward, he couldn't remember deciding to move or, in fact, thinking at all. He simply heard the ding of the bell above the door as he slammed it open, and felt his sneakers splashing through slush as he tore across the parking lot. Falling to his knees beside the screaming mother, he snatched the keys from her shaking grip and started hitting buttons on the black key pad. The van locks clicked and Dick pulled the sliding door back. "Get in!" he whispered desperately, tugging on her arm. "You have to get in!"

Her panic-blind eyes managed a moment of focus. She leaned toward the carpeted interior. But as she pulled herself up, her grip on the little boy loosened, and he jerked away, his complimentary toothbrush waving triumphantly as he raced toward the bank. Dick ran too.

He was never sure which came first – the shots or the force slamming into him, driving him to the icy ground and smacking the breath out of him. Everything was quiet. Dick could hear nothing but his own wheezing breath and the gasps of whoever lay on top of him. And then there were footsteps in the slush, and the crushing weight was suddenly lifted from his back. He squinted up in dazed surprise to see Miss Somerville on her knees, painfully stretching up to where a black glove crushed her elbow.

She was whimpering. "Don't hurt us. Please. Don't hurt us."

Dick looked up and up at a figure all in black, whose ghastly white countenance leered back down at him. "Don't worry, lady. I love kids."

If he could just have squeezed a little more air into his lungs, Dick thought he could have killed him.

"Hey, lady, can you give us a ride?"

- - - - - -

Alfred held out Bruce's coat. "Which car shall I have sent around for her, sir?"

Bruce looked blank. "Car?"

"Yes. For Miss Somerville to drive Master Dick to the dentist."

Bruce slid his arms into the silk lining, grumbling. "Do I have to?"

"Unless you want Master Dick riding in an ill-heated, rusty contraption with failing brakes."

The billionaire sighed in resignation. "I see your point. Can't she just go in the limo with a driver?"

Alfred grimaced. "Miss Somerville prefers to drive herself."

"Fine," Bruce muttered grudgingly. "She can drive the…"

- - - - - -

Somerville pointed a shaking hand across the lot to where the midnight blue Jaguar XKR stood gleaming in the pale sunlight. Her captor laughed gleefully. "Now that's what I'm talking about. Hey, Boss!" he called over his shoulder. "We got a ride!"

"How marvelous."

Dick hadn't noticed the approach of the other man until the smooth voice sounded over his head. He jerked convulsively and stared up, fury melting into choking terror as a white, white face and a red, red mouth followed him into the darkness.

To Be Continued…

A/N The mysterious but unexciting explanation for the hideous delay is that I moved back to school (and was idiot enough to think I could keep on schedule with updating while it happened). Between the new job, 17 credit hours, screenwriting class, and writer's block, I've been racing like the proverbial headless chicken. So once again, mega apologies and hopefully updates will be somewhat consistent from here on out. If there's a delay, just know it's been rough week in screenwriting 8)

Notes to Reviewers I reviewed policy on "no interactive entries" and decided it would be better if I posted responses to reviews on a separate site. Henceforth, responses to reviewers may be found at w w w . m y o w n j o u r n a l . c o m (minus the spaces). Search for username Philippa (I'm the only one on the site.) I'm sorry I can't make it appear as a link, but document manager puts it in the preview but won't actually display. Hopefully I will figure out the problem for next chapter.

Responses to Chapter 2 (or 3, depending on your point of view) are up. Responses to Chapter 4 will be coming shortly. But I need sleep.