Hey guys, new chapter time, yay!

FairyTales And Pixie Dust: Darn right he needs hugs (huggles Ratigan)! Thank you for your kind review.

In this chapter, we get to know Danielle a little as an adult and see why she wasn't there when the movie took place. As stated before, I own nothing but my OC's.

18 YEARS LATER

Danielle Ratigan walked down the street, silently, mournfully. In her hand she carried a single white lily. She hung her head low, making sure not to make eye contact with anybody, lest they see the tears stinging her eyes.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she got to where she was going; the Thames River Cemetery. Upon arrival at the cold black steel gate, she was greeted by the groundskeeper. "Mornin', Miss Ratigan. You here to see him again?" Danielle nodded. "Go on in, you know where he is."

"Thank you," Danielle spoke quietly. She went through the gate that the groundskeeper had just opened and wandered down the dirt path that went through the cemetery. She gazed at the various headstones, reading their names and dates. She felt a twinge of sadness for each mouse buried underneath the stones, wondering if they had left behind families.

After quite a bit of walking, Danielle made it to the grave she was looking for; a lone grave on top of a hill, with a black marble headstone. She knelt down beside the grave and read the sad inscription etched into the stone:

PROFESSOR PADRAIC JAMES RATIGAN

THE WORLD'S GREATEST FATHER

BORN MAY 27, 1847

DIED JUNE 20, 1897

It had been a month since her father was killed. She remembered the day she found out the horrible news like it were yesterday...

She was on the train to London from Bristol, having just graduated from Miss Rebecca's School for Elegant Young Ladies with all highest marks. She was looking forward to seeing her father again, having not seen him since Christmas. She took his most recent letter to her out of her purse, opened it and read it. The letter read:

Dearest Danielle,

Words cannot describe how proud I am of you for your upcoming graduation. I am especially proud of the fact that you were made valedictorian, which doesn't surprise me in the least. After all, you are a Ratigan, and we Ratigans pride ourselves on our academic prowess. I only regret that I cannot come to your graduation; as you are aware, my sweet, I am a wanted mouse, so the only way I could even get into the ceremony was in disguise, and I'm not about to let a mask hide my pride and love for you.

When you come into town on the twenty-second, I will be there at the train station to pick you up, or I will send one of the men in my stead if I can't make it. Just know that I love you, my little princess. I always have, and I always will.

All my love,

Daddy

Danielle smiled and hugged the letter to her chest. She knew that her father was despised throughout the empire, and with good reason. Ever since she could remember, he had organized and committed many evil deeds, claiming to be the World's Greatest Criminal Mind. But he had always treated her with great kindness and love, so she figured that he couldn't have been all bad.

The train pulled into the station in London. She hurried off, dragging her luggage behind her, trying to find her father or one of her many "uncles." Instead, she found a policeman. "Danielle Mary Ratigan?" he asked. She nodded. "I'm Officer Turner. I have orders to bring you to headquarters." When he saw the fear in the young girl's eyes, he smiled. "Don't worry, Miss Ratigan, you're not in trouble. It's about your father."

Oh no, Daddy's finally been arrested, Danielle thought. "Please, Officer, my father is all the family I have. Whatever you're asking for his release, I'll pay it, just give me time."

Officer Turner sighed. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, miss. Yesterday morning, some of our men found your father's body on the banks of the Thames. Our autopsy specialist says that he drowned after falling from the clock tower, after a vicious fight with his foe Basil of Baker Street. I'm so sorry, my dear."

Danielle shook her head. No, it couldn't be true. She refused to believe that her father was dead. He had simply gone into hiding, and the police had found a rat who looked just like him who had gotten drunk and fell into the river. But when Officer Turner took her to police headquarters to view his body, the proof was undeniable. There, on his back on a stone slab, lay her father. He was a mess; his fine clothes torn, his fur and hair matted and damp, his claws sharp and tainted with blood. Danielle whimpered as she felt her legs give out underneath her, until she fell to the floor of the autopsy room and wept harder than any girl had ever wept for a deceased parent.

There had been a public celebration when London found out that the dastardly Professor Ratigan was dead. Many wanted to burn his body, cut off his head and put it on a pike outside Buckingham Palace. But Danielle paid for a private burial and a plot of land in the cemetery in secrery, not wanting anyone to find out and try to interrupt. Her father deserved a proper burial.

Danielle lay the lily on her father's grave, tears running down her face. "I miss you, Daddy. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about you." She got up onto her feet, walked down the path to a sewer opening, and climbed down into it. Little did she realize that she was being watched...

Duh duh DUUUUUH!

Hopefully I wrote a good description of what Ratigan looked like when he fell from Big Ben (I know that's technically the name of the bell and not the clock tower itself, but I'm stupid so there you go.)

For those of you doing the math on Ratigan's birth and death dates, he was fifty when he died (that sounds about right, right?), and I made his birthday May 27th because that's his voice actor Vincent Price's birthday as well...God bless you Mr. Price, may you rest in peace! And yeah, I made his middle name James after his inspiration, Professor James Moriarty from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

Who's watching Danielle? Well, you gotta tune in to find out!

Hope to see you for the next chap!

All my best, DiscordantPrincess.

PS, check out my GMD poll on my profile page...that is, if you want to.