Many thanks to imaninja for helping me with bonding time with cass :) Also, a special thanks to scotty1609 for politely pointing out that i was spelling Barbara's name wrong. Woops. So thnak you so much!

Please enjoy the story and tell me what you think :)

Constructive cristism is always welcomed :D

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.3

Loneliness Uaigneas

School went by fast for Aoife. It was a productive day for her. She read majority of her book, she got a B on her Math test, and she played kick ball at recess with some kids who needed an extra.

However, she couldn't help but feel a bit… well she honestly didn't know how to describe it. She felt… empty almost.

When the kids who needed an extra for kick ball approached her, they seemed nervous to talk to her.

Am I scary? Aoife thought to herself, sadly. I don't think I'm that scary. And I'm not intimidating. I'm the smallest one at school. She felt lonely.

The small girl started on her way home, still pondering about school, when she noticed Cassandra waiting for her.

"Hello Cassandra." Aoife smiled as she ran up to the woman. "What are you doing here?" Cassandra walked with Aoife down the street.

"Barbara said that I should walk you home. She worries for you." Cass informed gently, and Aoife smiled.

"She's always really protective of me. It's… nice how she's like a real mom to me." Aoife said with a small smile. Cassandra grinned slightly, understanding exactly how Aoife felt. Barbara acted as a mother to the young woman as well.

"How did you and Barbara meet?" Cassandra inquired.

"Well, I kinda found out about the secret identities of everyone, and Dick helped me and Bruce started looking for a family for me, and Barbara adopted me." Aoife shrugged. She then explained her abilities to Cassandra. The girl was surprised how her story didn't seem to shock Cassandra all that much. Or if it did, the woman didn't show it much on her face.

"You have a very interesting life, Aoife. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Aoife shrugged.

"Do they scare you?" Aoife's golden eyes met Cassandra's brown ones.

"My dreams?" the little girl questioned, and Cassandra nodded.

Aoife thought about it for a moment.

"Sometimes. Sometimes I see things that I don't want to see. It was worse when I didn't know how to control it, though." Aoife shuttered. "One time I saw Jason stab a man in the head, and then he scalped the guy. And the man was screaming the entire time... it was a slow death. Painful. He just kept… screaming. And the words were nothing coherent. Just painful sobs and screams and…"

"You are shaking." Cassandra pointed out, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Aoife looked up at the woman with a weak smile.

"Sorry. I don't like thinking about it, and when I do I just see it all over again. But it's okay. Like I said, it's better now."

Aoife's mind went back to her latest dream.

What if I'm losing control? I don't want to go back to watching Jason's action's. I think if I did, I'd go crazy.

Aoife suddenly tried to ignore the thoughts in her head. She just wanted to push it aside. She had done it before and she would do it again.

"Hey, Tim got me this video game called Halo. Do you wanna play it with me?"

~*~*~*~*~One Hour Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"Awesome!" Aoife exclaimed as she killed Cassandra's character for the billionth time. Barbara was watching as well as she glanced up from her laptop occasionally.

Cassandra shot Aoife a spot on perfect bat glare.

"One. More. Time." She growled, and Aoife just giggled.

~*~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~*~

If there was one thing Jason hated, it was disposing of dead bodies.

"You just couldn't last that long due to blood loss, could you?" Jason grunted as he dumped the body off at a grave yard. (With the man's wounds the Police would chalk up the death to some cult.)

It didn't matter much to Jason. He was a scum bag and his death weighed nothing on Jason's conscious. He got the information he wanted.

As Jason hopped into his car, and started to drive back to his hideout.

So Slade is in Gotham. In for business. But his employer… Aoife didn't give me much to go on. Crazy guy… any escapees from Arkham? Hmmm… I think I would've heard about that. I'll try to talk to Aoife tomorrow. For some reason, her dreams feel that it's important that she sees these things. But the poor girl is confused. She doesn't know what to do with the information that's presented to her. Jason ran a hand through his hair.

I hope she doesn't see things too Graphic. She grew up having to watch me kill people, I doubt she wants to see more of that.

~*~*~*~*~Later in Aoife's Room~*~*~*~*~

"Good night, Aoife." Cassandra smiled as she tucked the little girl into bed.

"Good night, Cass. Thanks for the fun day. It took you about a hundred tries, but you finally beat me at Halo." Aoife chuckled.

"If I want to do something, nothing can stop me. Not even your luck when it comes to finding good weapons on the ground." Cass informed as she got to her feet.

"Sleep well, Aoife." She whispered as she turned off the light and exited the little girl's room, closing the door behind her.

"Thanks." Aoife said with a small smile. However, she wasn't sleepy in the slightest.

The little girl silently crept out of bed and crawled out of the window onto the rooftop.

Aoife sat on top of the roof, looking out at the city. The lights were bright, and the sky was pitched black, the lights draining out the stars. She could hear the honking of cars and shouts of angry cab drivers.

She just sat there, watching everything as if she'd miss something important if she blinked.

"Aoife?"

The little girl jumped a bit, not expecting to hear the voice behind her.

She turned her head around and smiled at the sight of Dick Grayson in his black and blue Nightwing gear.

"Hello." She smile brightly at the man.

"A little cold up here, don't you think?" Dick inquired as he sat next to Aoife.

"It's not that bad." She said with a shrug. Dick wrapped an arm around the girl, and she leaned into his side comfortably. She wouldn't admit it, but she was a bit cold.

"So what are you doing up here?" he questioned.

"Thinking." Aoife informed.

"About?"

"Everything. The meaning of life, which came first the chicken or the egg, how man planetary systems are there, what is a parallel version of me is like, what it would be like if I were a boy, y'know, stuff like that." Aoife explained with a shrug. Really she was just trying to ignore her dream that she had the night before. She didn't like thinking about how she might have been losing control. Then she was also battling with the thought that she may never have a friend her own age.

"Y'know, girls your age should be wondering when the next Barbie doll comes out." Dick informed.

"Dick, I don't play with dolls." She stated. Dick chuckled.

"Of course you don't."

It was quiet between the two as the cars honked below them.

"Aoife?" Dick questioned softly.

"Hmmm?"

"Are you happy?" Aoife looked up at him with a baffled expression.

"What? Yes! Of course I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be?" she questioned.

"Well… you seem a bit closed off. Are you lonely or something?" he inquired.

"I'm different." She sighed, and Dick looked at her perplexed.

"Of course you're…"

"No, I mean, no one at school likes me enough to be my friend. I just don't fit in. I don't really like what they're talking about or I'm not really interested, so I usually just read." She shrugged. "I don't have many friends in school." She informed and Dick hugged her tightly.

"You'll make friends, Aoife. I know you will."

Despite how Dick's words comforted her, she still felt hard on herself.

What's wrong with me? Why don't I like things girls my age like? I mean, I like hanging out with Steph, and Cass, and Jason, and Dick, but… none of them are my age. And Damian is always grumpy, and I hardly get to see Colin. Am I just destined to never have friends my age?

Dick could feel Aoife hug him tightly, and he knew that she was still upset.

"Everything'll work out." He whispered, then picked her up. Dick notice that she was getting tired by the way she was blinking her eyes to keep awake. He carried her into her bedroom, and Aoife leaned against his chest comfortably as he held her.

"You should get some sleep. You wouldn't want Babs to get upset because you're still awake." Dick placed Aoife in her bed, and then kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Dick couldn't help but feel like he was her Dad. He wouldn't mind having a daughter like her.

"Good Night." He smiled, then left her room, and Aoife drifted off into her dreams.