Batman

Abby carelessly tossed her spaghetti around her plate in thought. For the past few hours, she had thought about how she would approach the topic. Especially to Bruce. It would be obvious that he would have little knowledge towards the matter, but it was worth a try.

"What's wrong Abby?"

Bruce looked at her with confused eyes.

"Nothing, I'm just not hungry."

This was the first time they had eaten dinner in seven years. Most of it wasn't by her will, but if she was ever to get away with running away to the boxing match, this would be the only solution.

"Are you sure? Spaghetti's your favorite."

"Yeah, but I've just been having a few things on my mind lately."

"What kind of things?" he inserted a bundle of spaghetti in his mouth.

"Like…"

She again thought how she would approach the matter she was about to ask. Abby then just spat it out.

"Like, if you ever going to look for Batman where would be the first place you'd look?"

Bruce unexpectedly went into deep thought.

He sighed then answered, "Well, obviously where most of the crime is: the Narrows. Why?"

"Just asking. Everyone seems to be having different opinions about him…and I don't exactly know who he is."

"Well, no one does, just give it time then you'll see who he really is."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she muttered so low that Bruce couldn't hear.

That was all the information she needed. Abby was going to the Narrows to find Batman. It was already final.

She continuously eyed the creases of her bedroom door. Abby wanted to be sure, she wasn't going to be caught. Who knew how angry Bruce would be to find his daughter looking for a vigilante in none other than the Narrows. She occasionally heard muttered conversations, footsteps by her door, and the sound of the nightly news on T.V. Abby was about to drift off to sleep when the lights finally turned black. In her enthusiasm, she quickly crept out of bed and grabbed her things.

Flash light…pepper spray…cell phone…rope. Yep, I have everything. She slung her backpack to her back. Abby quietly opened the balcony doors. She tip-toed over to the edge of the balcony and began to knot the rope on the rail. Looking down she realized that the manor was much taller in size than her own home. Grasping the rope, Abby leaped over the railing. Instead of her feet landing on the edge of the balcony, she began to fall. She nearly almost let out a scream of fear. Luckily the rope stopped as her feet almost touched the ground. Abby sighed in relief and climbed down. She was sure that her clumsiness would kill her one day.

Abby was able to catch a cab that was willing to take her to the Narrows. She wondered how she would approach this bat figure. Would he act harshly towards her for looking for trouble? Or will he be able to help her situation? Only Batman could answer those questions. And for him to answer those questions she would have to look for him…or have him find her. The cab gave a slow stop near the bay.

"You sure you wanna stop here, kid?" asked the cab driver, roughly.

"I'm sure," she said.

Abby handed him the money and got out of the cab. It was then she got a good look of the Narrows. Every corner of the place was either contaminated or had graffiti on it. The buildings and the streets carried some type of grime. People didn't dress as fancy as they did in the city. They wore worn out clothes that desperately need to be replaced. Some of them didn't wear shoes. Abby couldn't believe how horrible it was down here. It was no wonder Rachel banned her from this place. The last time she had ever been to the Narrows was seven years ago on that fateful day…

She hurried down the street in search for the masked vigilante. This idea seemed a whole lot clearer in her head. Unfortunately, Abby didn't account for dark of the night or the fact that Batman would blend right into the blackness. An hour…maybe two hours passed since she last came out of the cab and everything came into a dead end. She was about to give up when she spotted a suspicious group of people. A familiar figure appeared from the crowd. He had slicked dark hair and rectangular glasses. Her mouth dropped. It was Jonathan Crane!

But what was he doing here in the Narrows? He and the group walked into the bar near them. Something in her gut told her that something wasn't right. Placing a hood over her head, she walked towards the backroom of the bar. There was no way the guards upfront would let her in. Plus if they saw who she was, it would not be good thing. Abby cautiously crept along the back wall of the bar. Once near the door, she slowly pushed it open.

"Wait, what about Falcone?" asked a rough voice.

She stopped. The group must've moved in the back.

"He is currently…not himself," said a smooth voice.

It was Crane.

"So, what? You're in charge?"

"Well the people I work for do have high expectations that I have this plan done."

What plan?

"Alright, then what about the drugs?" asked another unrecognizable voice.

"Yeah, the police are starting to get suspicious," said the rough voice.

"And since when do the police actually look into things?" cornered Crane.

"Since that bat freak came into the picture!"

"The Batman is nothing we should be concerned about. We should be concerned about putting the rest of the drugs in."

"And what's the point of this stink'n plan? I mean I could be making a whole lot more money begging off the streets."

Crane sighed. "Really?"

"Yeah, actually I'm thinking about quitting."

"You do know that this is a lifelong commitment, right?"

Abby took a peak at what was happening. Crane stalked towards the stubby man with the rough voice.

"So? Marrying my ex-wife was a lifelong commitment, but did I stick to it? No!"

Crane smiled, "Well you go ahead then."

"That I'll do."

The stubby man rushed towards the door, blocking Abby's view of Crane.

"Wait let me clarify one more thing with you," said Crane, sustaining his calm smooth voice.

The man turned around, "What?!"

He suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. From then on he scrambled around the room as if he were afraid of everything in sight. She looked up at Crane. He wasn't wearing his glasses anymore. Instead he wore a potato sack on his head. Abby thought he looked somewhat like a scarecrow.

"Now, if anyone wants to quit now, please say so now."

She jumped at the height of his voice. What could be so important that losing one person could lead to tragedy? All of the men inside remained silent and still as the stubby man continued to scream.

"We are going to pick up the drugs at the apartment two nights from now and I don't expect anyone to be late."

Abby took that as her cue to leave. She slowly backed away. CRACK! She froze. Abby had stepped on a soda can.

"What was that?"

His sounded anything but happy.

"Go check it out!"

Without thinking anything through, she ran.

"It's some kid!" said a voice in the distance.

"Well go get them!"

Her pulse seemed to go up in higher numbers than it did before. Herds of footsteps followed close behind her. She didn't look back. Abby hoped that she could get across the city without tripping. Crane was obviously planning something big. Something he didn't want anyone else to know of. Even it was just some random teenager.

Abby tried to scream, but her breath was already occupied getting oxygen to her lungs. She turned in an alley way to catch her breath. Her legs would definitely feel soreness in the morning. A force suddenly pushed her to the ground.

"There you are," the violent voice said.

Fear took over her body. The man stood over her with venomous eyes. She immediately swept her feet towards his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Abby stumbled to get up, but the man grabbed her foot.

"You're not going anywhere, kid!"

"Not with you she's not," said a dark voice.

Abby looked back to find Batman hovering over them.

"Let go of the girl."

The man obediently followed his orders. Batman then picked him up, holding him by his shirt.

"Tell the rest of them she got away."

"O-okay, j-just don't hurt me," the man begged.

Batman dropped the man to the ground. He stumbled up to his feet and ran off. Abby breathed slowly in shock. This was definitely not the way she had planned to confront Batman.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I think so."

She tried to stop herself from shaking, but it was unsuccessful. Abby got up to her feet.

"What're you doing out here?"

"Looking for you," she answered flatly.

"That wasn't a very smart choice."

"I had to. I was getting weird phone calls and emails—"

"From who?" he demanded.

"I don't know, I thought you could figure that out. They keep saying for my mom to keep her nose out of their work or else we're both going to pay."

Distress could be found everywhere in her voice.

"Then just tonight, I heard Crane and these guys talking about picking up these drugs at this apartment."

"What apartment?"

"I dunno they weren't very specific about that."

Batman gave a heavy sigh and stared at her for a while.

"You should probably get home."

"Yeah, home," she snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Abby paused. Would she be able to spill out her feelings in front of this stranger? The only person she had really trusted with her secrets was Aaron. But apparently he was preoccupied with his thoughts.

"Things are pretty crazy at home," she said. "It's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Nah, I'm alright. Besides I should be getting home."

She turned towards the streets.

"I could give you a ride home if you'd like. Where do you live?"

Abby thought about this for second. It would be safer for her to be with Batman than to wonder the streets alone. Besides he was probably trying to get her to talk.

"Wayne Manor. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes, follow me."

Before she could say a word, he was walking towards the dead end of the alley. Abby quickly scurried along. She had no idea where he was going, but if she wanted to get home in one piece, it was her only chance. A brick wall suddenly appeared in front of her. Where had Batman gone? He probably changed his mind about taking her home.

A hand grasped her shoulder. She gasped nearly forcing the hand off of her.

"Relax, it's me."

Batman's voice only made her angry.

"Don't you ever do that again," she gasped.

He seemed to have ignored her. "Grab my hand."

Batman held out his dark hand towards her. With little hesitation, Abby grabbed it. He pulled Abby under his arm and held on to her waist. A force quickly brought them off the ground. Although it was too dark to see how high they were, she could sense that they were in very high places. She clenched his arm as they landed roughly on a hard surface.

"You can let go now," he said.

"Oh, right."

Abby released him from his firm grip and looked around at her surroundings. They were on top of an old rooftop. According to the dust and sensitivity of the building it seemed to be abandoned.

"So, how exactly are we getting my place?"

Batman didn't answer. Instead she heard a speeding car in the distance. She squinted and saw a large vehicle heading towards them.

"Is that your ride?" Abby looked back at Batman nervously.

He nodded. The vehicle stopped swiftly right in front of them. It reminded her of a shielded dome. Its roof opened revealing two empty seats.

"What exactly is that?"

"The Tumbler," he climbed into the driver's seat. "C'mon."

She hurried over to the contraption. Abby climbed in, sighing deeply to herself. No one was going to believe her. The roof closed over them and it took off. She couldn't believe how fast it was. Let alone how it got on the roof.

"So, you're Abigail Wayne, right?" he asked.

"Abby, but yeah. How'd you guess?"

"It's all over the papers."

"Oh yeah, that," she said irritably.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, except that my normal life is down the drain now."

"I'm pretty sure, it's not that bad," he reassured in his rough voice.

"Reporters were pilling in front of my school. It's bad."

"Compared the number of policemen hunting after me, it's not that bad."

"Yeah, now I can't step out of my house. What's worse is that my father and I…aren't at very good terms."

"Why?"

He seemed to be eager to this for some reason. None the less Abby continued. She needed to talk. Even it was going to be with a complete stranger.

"Well…he just doesn't understand me. I try to explain myself, but he doesn't seem to get it."

"Maybe you need to be clearer in your explanations."

"Maybe…I don't know. I think it's more than that. He left seven years ago. I thought he would come back just like he always did, but I was wrong. He was soon pronounced dead…and I remember that day clearly because my mom and I were making pizza," her eyes became watery. "And once I heard his name I rushed to the television. Once Mr. Earle said he was dead…I cried so hard. My mom hugged me, but I knew she was crying to. He hurt me and my mom. I'm not sure if I can forgive him."

Abby let out a few tears. As much as it hurt, it felt good to get it out.

"Just give it time, I'm pretty sure he's hurting too," said Batman.

She gave a weak smile, "Thanks for listening. I've had a lot of drama in my life at the moment."

"No problem."

The Tumbler came to a stop.

"Here you are."

Abby shot him a shocked expression, "We can't be here already. It was only few minutes."

"This car is fast," was all said to the comment.

The roof opened again. He was right. She saw Wayne Manor on top of the hill.

"We'll I'd better get going before my father discovers I'm not there."

She climbed out and headed towards the Manor.

"What bothered you the most?"

Abby turned around, "What?"

"What bothered you the most about your father?"

She thought about this for a few moments. Out all the pain he put her through, she thought about what exactly bothered her.

"He didn't say goodbye."

Batman nodded and closed the roof. The tumbler sped off leaving Abby confused and somewhat better about herself.

Thanks for reading! I'm going on summer vacation soon, so maybe I'll be able to update more. But that's depending on what I have planned to do over the summer. Anyway, speaking of plans, I am planning to have sequel to this set during the Dark Knight. It's still in early planning, so I'm still working the titles. So far I have: In the Shadow of the Knight or Decode. If you guys want you can recommend titles, but for now this story needs to be finished before I can seriously start working on it.

-Emyrox567