Chapter 7

The next week did little to allay Robin's fears.

She avoided Alfred at all costs and ate her meals alone. She hardly spoke a word.

"Robin is beginning to suspect," Bruce told Alfred late Saturday night.

"Suspect what, Master Wayne?" Alfred said without looking up from his book. "Your nonexistent social life, these business meetings that don't happen? Or perhaps it's your nocturnal outings and unexplained injuries?"

Bruce rubbed his temples. He knew that tone; Alfred had never liked the idea of Batman. He liked having the girl at Wayne Mansion even less.

"Please, bear with me, Alfred." He shifted gingerly on the couch; he had cracked three ribs the previous night. "She's hurt. I can't just throw her back out onto the street. That would be no better than throwing her to the predators and perverts."

"But you could send her to a hospital."

"Oh, that would go over well- Bruce Wayne, billionaire and playboy, admits a mysterious girl to the hospital with unexplained injuries. I can see the tabloid headlines right now."

"You could admit her anonymously."

Bruce closed his eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing in his ribcage. "And where would she go from there?"

"There are programs for homeless children, she could go into one of them."

"I'm not sending her into the system, that's emotional manslaughter. The poor kids who go into this city's broken foster system come out as train wrecks. If they make it out."

"You could arrange to have her adopted." Alfred looked Bruce pointedly in the eye. "I'm sure that with a little behind-the-scenes dealing, you could quietly have her place with a good family."

"No. I am not bribing anyone." Bruce sat up, wincing as he did. "Until I decide otherwise, she stays." He slouched gingerly out of the lounge and into the master bedroom.

"I take it you won't be going out tonight?" Alfred looked at Bruce with concern. Bruce stopped in the doorway. "No," he said tiredly, "Jim Gordon will just have to wait."

He closed the door to the master bedroom quietly and shuffled into the master bathroom. His could feel where his ribs were cracked, and Bruce wondered if maybe it was time to see a doctor. Alfred had told him last night that he should go to the hospital. "I can see his smug look right now." He turned on both the bathtub's spigots and began to undress.

Once settled into the tub comfortably, he leaned back and closed his eyes. The jacuzzi jets brought a sense of relief he hadn't had all day. Sitting through endless business meetings with three cracked ribs was a pain like no other, and not being able to let on about it didn't make it any easier.

Speaking of people he couldn't let in on his injury… he sighed and sank lower into the steaming bathwater, as if doing so would wash away his troubles. Despite what he may tell Alfred, Bruce really had no idea what to do with the girl. She had been avoiding both he and Alfred for the past four days. Bruce had to admit, however, he would ,too, if he had woken up in a strangers house. "Woken up injured, no less."

He had no idea where she came from, or if she still had any family, whether she had any criminal record. He wasn't even sure if 'Robin' was really her name. How was he to know what to do with her?

He whimpered and shifted uncomfortably. All this stress was doing him no good.

Of course, she had told him something about herself; it was these very matters that drew him to her. An orphan, like him; a runaway as well. And equally strong-willed. "She had to be, to survive any length of time on Gotham's streets. I don't know how she managed it." Robin was tough- no question about that.

"Be honest with yourself, Bruce- why is it that you refuse to send her away?"

Bruce couldn't stand it! His conscience always sounded annoyingly like Alfred. No matter how he tried to dismiss it, it was always right; he knew what it was telling him now.

"If you will really be honest with yourself, you'll find that you sympathize with that girl. You know what she's up against, without parents or family to speak of. You know yourself how hard being an orphan is, even with someone to look after you."

Bruce slid under the water, just barely keeping his nose above the surface. The hum of the jets was calming. The quiet of the mansion had always bothered him, even when Alfred was around.

"You know very well what you want to do- you're tired of keeping secrets and coming home to an empty mansion. You've taken a liking to that girl in spite of yourself."

Bruce sighed. He knew what was coming.

"Face it-you want her to stay."

Brief, I know, but these darn AP classes are really bogging me down! Hopefully, a new chapter will be in place by Saturday. :-P