The Fight

Her phone vibrated as Abby fixed her hair. She flipped it open and put it on speaker.

"Hello."

"Hey Abs," the voice belonged to Heather. "Do you want to walk with us to school this morning?"

"Sorry, can't. I'm…getting a ride there," she answered uneasily.

"Is your mom dropping you off?" asked Heather.

"Something like that," Abby sighed.

"I guess I'll see you at school then. Oh by the way, Aaron said that boxing practice is today."

"Ok, thanks, see ya at school," Abby closed the phone.

Sunday was not the best days of her life. She stayed locked her room all day in attempt to avoid Bruce. Alfred had brought her three meals, but every time he did he would always suggest that eating in the kitchen would be better. Abby declined in saying that she would rather eat in her room. Once she was fully ready Abby gathered her things and headed down the stairs.

Alfred waited for her patiently at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning, Miss Wayne," he smiled.

"'Morning Alfred."

Abby refrained from correcting her last name. It wouldn't do any good. It would only just make matters worse.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank-you. So, who exactly is taking me to school?"

"Well, I'm driving while you and your father sit in the back of the limo," answered Alfred.

She stopped listening at the word 'limo'. Everybody would notice that thing in spit distance. Abby wanted to tell Sasha and Heather, but not this way. Plus she didn't want to deal with all of the free loaders at school.

"Oh, could you just drop me off a few blocks from the school? I don't want to attract any attention."

"Very well, Miss Wayne."

"Can we go now? I need to load my stuff in the locker room."

"Yes, we were just on our way out."

"Great, I'll just load up."

Abby hurried through the front door. She put her things in the back seat of the limo and looked ahead. Wayne Manor hadn't changed a bit since she had last been there. Abby had to admit the view from the manor was pretty breath taking. She looked down at the garden and smiled. Bruce used to take her there to play hide-and-seek. Of course that was before his disappearance and his fake death.

She looked around and saw no one. It couldn't hurt to go look at it. At least for old time's sake. Abby closed the limo door and walked down the hill towards the garden. She hugged herself as the cold early morning air wrapped itself around her. The garden had definitely changed since she last saw it. Plants were left unfed and the vines freely roamed the area. Aside from all of this something else caught her eye. An old well stood there uncovered. Her father had always told her to never to into that well because of the bats that lived there. But it was covered at the time, so it was made impossible to get in. Abby carefully walked over to the well and looked inside.

A light shined deep down the well. Abby was beginning to think her father's tale of bats inhabiting there was false. In her curiosity, she sat down at the edge of the well ready to jump down into the dark. Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder. Abby gave out a small gasp and turned her head around. Bruce was standing right next to her looking a bit cross.

"'Morning Bruce," Abby smiled weakly.

"What did I say about going into the well?" he asked sternly.

"Geez whatever happened to good morning?" mumbled Abby.

"Just answer the question."

Her heart stopped right there. Didn't she hear that from somewhere else? Oh well, it didn't ring a bell.

"To never go in," she answered.

"And what are you doing?"

"Going in the well."

Bruce let out a heavy sigh and said, "C'mon, you don't want to be late for school."

"Uh, actually…"

"We're still going anyway," he chuckled.

Abby took another long look down before leaving with Bruce to the limo. There seemed to be more than just bats in there.

Most of the car ride held long and painful silence. At least it did until Abby finally spoke up.

"What's down that well, Bruce?"

"Bats, why?"

"I'm just curious," she looked out the dark window. "There was a light down there and I don't if there's…like an abandoned mine down there or something."

"Could be, the manor was built a long time ago, so it's possible."

"Are you sure there's just bats down there?" Abby looked him face to face.

"Positive," Bruce answered certain.

With that Abby dropped the subject.

"Did you read the paper?" he asked.

"Naw, I never read the papers," she said carelessly. "Unless Mom makes me."

The limo gave steady stop a few blocks from her school just as she requested.

"I think you should read this one," Bruce handed her a folded newspaper.

"It's okay, I can wait," she refused.

Abby hurriedly grabbed her things and headed out the door.

"See ya, Bruce," she said before slamming the door.

Once she finally reached her school, relief spread over her. Finally, she thought. Abby was eager to get away from her past all weekend. She quickly stuffed her boxing bag in her gym locker and ran towards the track field. Heather was bound to be there with her team and possibly along with Sasha. This was the only chance she had to tell them the truth before everybody else started finding out.

Abby found the track field to be almost empty except for the track team.

"Hey, Abby! Over here!" shouted Sasha's voice.

Sasha sat on the high stone bleachers waving her hand towards Abby. She waved her hand and headed over the stone bleachers. Sasha grinned as Abby headed up the long stairs.

"You're early today," said Sasha.

"Yeah…well…my ride dropped me off early," Abby comfortably sat herself next to Sasha.

"I see, I'm just here to do a report on the track team," she shrugged.

"Is Heather here?" asked Abby, eagerly.

"Yeah, she's down there running her last lap."

She looked down at the track team. How could they run so fast in this weather? Or in any kind of weather? Abby always hated running, but she didn't hold that against Heather for it. The coach dismissed the team after finishing their final lap. Heather immediately ran up the stone steps toward them. She wore a white T-shirt and black shorts with her hair up in a ponytail.

"Aren't you at least one bit cold?" asked Abby incredulously.

"Thanks to the workout, no," answered Heather taking a seat next to them. "Hey Abs."

"Hey Heather."

"So, what are you doing here so early?"

"Geez, can't I just come early for once and not be questioned about it?" Abby crossed her arms.

"I guess you can, but according to your attendance record lately…"

"Something must be up," finished Sasha.

"There is something I want to tell you," said Abby quietly.

"Is it about that father thing?"

Abby nodded.

"Look, you really don't have to tell us if you don't want to," comforted Heather.

"Yeah, it was kind of wrong of us to interrogate you like that," agreed Sasha. "Besides it's your own business."

"No, I think it's best if I just get it off my chest," said Abby.

"Ok, then go ahead then."

"Um…you guys might know him, but…"

"Is it your mom's boss? Carl Finch?" guessed Heather sounding eager.

"No," she rejected, disgusted. "Okay, I admit they dated, but I'm sure that they weren't that into each other."

"Then spit it out!" both of them shouted.

Abby sighed and said, "It's Bruce Wayne."

Their smiles suddenly wiped into shocked faces. Both of their mouths and eyes were in big Os.

"How can you keep crucial information like that from us?!" shouted Sasha.

"Because I never wanted to talk about it," she muttered.

"You thought your dad was dead, didn't you?" asked Heather.

"Yeah, that was the basic idea."

"Now I see why you want to attack Renee whenever she mentions it," Sasha mused.

"She was around when it happened, unfortunately," said Abby.

"What happened between your dad and your mom?"

"Well," she hugged her knees tightly to her chest. "Long story short, my mom and Bruce started dating at fifteen and my mom gave birth to me at sixteen," Abby closed her eyes and sighed.

"So, your mom pretty much earned her degree while taking care of you?" Sasha looked at her curiously.

"Yeah, pretty much, but she didn't do it alone. Bruce's butler, Alfred, he usually took me in whenever my mom had to go to class and Bruce…well…I barley saw him since he went to Princeton. And this was before he disappeared."

Abby sat there in dead silence for a few moments. It was nice to get things off her chest.

"Well, we'd better get to class," Sasha rose from her seat.

"And I'd better go change," Heather started to walk back down.

"'K see you in English," waved Abby.

"See ya."

Abby sat herself down in English and began to pull out her notebook. Whispers and giggles were heard as she did this task.

"Can you believe she's a Wayne?" said a low voice.

"Please she must be one of those accidental children," hissed another voice.

"Hey Wayne!" called a masculine voice.

She ignored it.

"So the Princess of Gotham thinks she's too important to answer."

Abby spun around in her seat. The voice belonged to a boy wearing his football jersey.

"What did you just say," demanded Abby.

"I said: Princess of Gotham, stupid," he sneered.

"Okay first of all: its Dawes not Wayne, second: I will rearrange your face if you call me stupid again," she scorned. "Thirdly: where in the world did you get that name?!"

"It's on the papers, Wayne," the boy held up a newspaper titling, "THE PRINCESS OF GOTHAM".

Her eyes became bigger than dinner plates. How did they know she existed in the first place? Rachel had personally asked Bruce to not place her identity in the public world. She yanked the paper from the boy's hands and began to scan the picture. It was a recent school photo of her put next to a photo of Bruce. Where would the press get a hold of her school photo? Abby gave back the paper to the boy and spun back around in her seat.

For the next two classes all Abby heard was constant whispering on the subject. She had half a mind to tear those people apart. Luckily, Aaron, Sasha, and Heather were there to defend her. By the time lunch came Abby had on her sunglasses and pulled her hood over her head. It was cowardly, but at least she could avoid the nasty side comments.

"This is stupid," commented Aaron as they sat down.

"I know," said Heather incredulously, "that hood does not go with those sunglasses."

Abby glared at Heather for a moment.

"He was talking about the rumors about Abby," Sasha corrected Heather.

"Oh right, that too."

"I just don't see the point in all of this," said Aaron taking a bite of his carrot.

"What I don't see is how the press got a hold of that picture in the first place!" exclaimed Abby.

"Keep your voice down."

"Sorry, I'm just mad about this whole situation and…another at the moment," Abby took a sip of her water bottle.

"Ok, the school needs to check out their carrot supplies," Aaron scrunched his mouth in disgust and threw the bitten carrot back on his tray. "I'll be right back."

"What do mean…'another situation'?" asked Heather curiously as soon as Aaron was gone.

She looked around and said in a low voice, "I'm staying at Bruce's house for now."

"And that's bad because…?"

"I haven't spoken to him in years and he expects me to be the same person I was seven years ago!"

Sasha put a hand over her mouth, "Do you want be caught?"

"Sorry, again, but I'm just angry right now, at pretty much everything."

Heather suddenly got a big cheeky grin.

"Ok, I know that face," said Abby suspiciously at Heather. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking: Homecoming," Heather pointed behind her.

She turned around. A confetti decorated banner that read: Homecoming, hung over the entrance of the cafeteria. Abby looked back at Heather confused. She knew that Abby hated to dress up, why was she pointing it out now?

"It'll get your mind off your dad," she said smoothly.

"True, but it's a month from now," argued Abby. "And pretty sure I'll still be with Bruce by that time."

"Look Abs, I think I know why you're acting this way," Sasha looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "When my parents got divorced, I didn't want to look them in the eye anymore. But as time went on, I realized that things change and people change…"

"If you're suggesting that Bruce has made this sudden change," said Abby sourly, "then you're in way over head."

"Hey, I'm just saying it from my perspective, but if you want to figure it on your own, then okay."

"Hey, where's Aaron?" asked Heather looking around.

All of them looked around the cafeteria, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe it's those carrots," Abby pointed at the bowl of carrots next to her.

"They don't really smell right," Heather scrunched her nose. "Maybe he got sick."

"Or maybe he got snatched by the football players," Sasha narrowed her eyes ahead.

Abby looked back at the football players vengefully. Aaron was being held to a chair by two of them. It wasn't just the football players; it was the witch herself, Renee Kendal. She quickly pulled off her hood and sunglasses and stormed towards the football players.

"So what embarrassing stunts did our princess pull in her childhood?" Renee held a recorder to Aaron's chin.

"Nothing that you should know of," Aaron sneered.

"Really? Boys," she nodded at the football players.

"Listen, West you're not going anywhere until you talk," hissed one of the football players with the blonde hair.

"And if you continue to stay silent…well it's not going to be pretty," the other with brown hair threatened.

"It's not gonna be pretty either, if you guys don't let him go," spat Abby.

"Oh look, it's the princess," Renee glared at Abby.

"Call me that again and I'll be sure you don't see the day of light again."

"It's okay Abby, I'll be fine," assured Aaron.

Abby was still not convinced.

"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend Wayne," teased the blonde football player.

"Ok, do you want to say that again?" she stared daggers at the football player.

"Okay, I think it's time to go!" Aaron jumped out of his seat and grabbed Abby by the arm.

She resisted Aaron's grip.

"What? Are you angry about me giving your picture to the press?" mocked Renee.

"You what?" asked Abby incredulously.

"Oh, I didn't give them just the picture," she strutted towards Abby until they were face to face, "I gave them the whole story."

Abby tried to move towards Renee, but was stopped by Aaron.

"I wonder why you're father suddenly decided to come back to Gotham. I guess that's just a mystery. But he definitely didn't come back for you or your pitiful mom."

Flames began to rise within her.

"I don't even think he cares what you do with your life. As for your mom, I bet she's just using his money."

It was obvious Renee was ready to get into a web of lies.

"I can see why you're being tossed around between your parents," she smiled smugly. "No one wants you and no one ever will."

That crossed the line. Aaron even loosened his grip on that one. Without thinking, Abby swung her fist at Renee's nose. Renee collapsed to the ground giving out cries of pain. Her Barbie clones immediately rushed to her aid.

"What happened here?!"

Abby spun around to find one of the teachers, Mr. Garcia, looking down at the scene.

"She hit me Mr. Garcia," said Renee sounding like was back in preschool.

"Is this true?" he asked sternly.

Everyone except Aaron and Abby nodded.

"Alright, let's go Wayne."

Mr. Garcia gestured Abby to follow him.

"I'll see you later, Aaron," muttered Abby as she followed Mr. Garcia.

Thanks for reading!

-Emyrox567