At night, much of Gotham City became quite beautiful, even a tad enchanting depending on where you were viewing the city from. Even so late at night, the lights continued to glimmer with the promise of parties and the like for any carefree night owl. But one would notice, if they traveled away from the commotion, that the glimmering, warm lights would become dull and foreboding. The lights would become signs that someone has wandered far away from where they wanted to be, and that they should soon turn back, if not immediately.

That was where Marie was currently. She stared at the dim, orange tinted street lamps as she and Black Mask were being driven to a meeting place where they would be doing business with an associate of his. A leather satchel rested on her lap, filled with papers and math work that she was assigned to keep organized and up-to-date as she and her boss made new deals with anyone. She made sure that all the numbers added up when it came to these deals. If there was anything that Black Mask hated more than being stared at, it was being screwed over and made out to be an idiot. Marie kept that from happening. And so far she was doing pretty well. At least, she thought she was. She wasn't dead yet, was she? But this was about to be over. Her last deal. She looked over to Black Mask.

"After this, sir..." she said, gaining his attention. "After this, I'll get the money I need, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah." he said, waving his hand dismissively. "You'll get your cut, then you're free to go. Focus on your job first, before even thinking about getting your money though, got it? I don't want any fuck-ups..."

"Yes, sir." Marie said, and looked back out the window. Black Mask narrowed his eyes a bit as he regarded her.

"Ten grand is a lot of money, small fry." he said. "What'll someone young as you do with that kinda dough..." he asked. Marie gripped her satchel.

"Move me and my mom out of this city. I'll get us a small apartment someplace." she said.

"Ain't you attendin' that academy or some shit?" Mask asked.

"I'll take a bus, or buy a bike. I'll make it work." she said.

"Anything to get the fuck outta here, eh?" he asked, and she nodded. "What happens when your old lady asks where you got the money?"

"I'll be straight with her." Marie answered. "She'll be pissed, but...she'll see...this is all for the best..." Mask nodded, and crossed his armed over his chest.

"You're a smart kid, Booker..." he said. "Been workin' for this day for a while. When you first walked up to me in that bar a year ago demandin' to make a deal with me, I nearly shot you between the eyes. I won't lie, I'm glad I didn't. One year's worth of work for ten grand. You got a lot of work done for me. You earned the money your about to make, unlike the rest of this trash I hire..." he said. "I'll miss ya a little when you're gone..." he scratched his neck lightly, and Marie looked at him.

"Wh-"

"We're here." the driver's voice said, stopping her from speaking. The car came to a halt, and she and Black Mask climbed out of the vehicle. Four trucks stopped behind them, each filled with whatever whoever they were dealing with was wanting. Marie didn't know, and didn't care to. She just added up the numbers and matched them up. That's as far as she ever wanted to get into these dealings.

"Where the fuck is this guy?" Black Mask asked after surveying the area, a dingy little storage unit area that nobody used. A perfect spot for a deal like this.

"Over there." Marie pointed to a silver car with tinted windows as it rounded a corner and into sight. It stopped in front of her and Black Mask, and the back seat rolled down to reveal an aged man with gray hair wearing an armani suit.

"Got my order?" he asked as he stepped out of the car with a large suitcase in hand.

"Money first, friend." Mask said. The old man smirked, and held the suitcase up. Black Mask nodded for Marie to take it, and she did as instructed, setting it down on the ground and opening it before removing some papers from her satchel. The old man gave a short laugh.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked.

"She'll determine your trustworthiness..." Mask said, pointing to Marie.

"She's just a kid..."

"Well," Marie said, looking up to him with a small, polite smile, "this kid just figured out you're twenty grand short. Where's the rest of the cash?" she asked. Mask pulled out his nine millimeter and pointed it at the old man, whose hands shot up quickly to the air.

"That's a good fucking question." Mask said. "You should answer pretty fucking quick..."

"I-I swear, I-" the old man was sweating now, looking around wildly. Marie noticed this, and began scanning the are suspiciously. Something wasn't right about this. Usually there was much more than one guy picking up the goods, and they weren't usually in their mid-sixties.

"Quit the stuttering and tell me where my fucking money is." Mask said, readying the gun to fire when the old man failed to produce an excuse. Marie checked the money again, more closely this time. She picked up a bill and held it up against the dim light. There was no watermark. Her heart dropped.

"This is fake." she said, and Mask looked at her.

"What?!" he asked angrily. She stood from her spot, still looking around, her suspicion growing.

"There's no watermark on these. They're fake. This is a set-up." she said quickly. She reached over to the old man and ripped open his shirt. There was a wire. She would have laughed at how cliche it was, but she was too busy trying to keep from panicking. "We really need to get out of here-"

"I don't think so..." a deep voice rumbled, seeming to have come from everywhere at once. Marie froze at the sound of it, fear taking hold of her. Something suddenly sliced through the air and knocked Mask's gun out of his hand, leaving a bloody gash. Marie watched the batarang fall to the asphalt with a clatter, and she swallowed hard. The sound of another, and Mask pulled her in front of him as the second batarang whizzed toward him. Marie cried out as it stuck into her arm. Damn that hurt. Mask shoved her and ran for his car, cursing as he went, and Marie watched as a large dark figure landed right in front of him, blocking his path.

"Shoot him, you sons of bitches! Shoot!" Mask shouted at his men in their trucks, and gunshots were fired immediately afterward, peppering the area where Batman stood. He dodged them. Marie never remembered seeing someone move so quickly. A dull pain brought her attention back to her arm. The batarang was still stuck into it, and she touched it gingerly. That alone made her want to vomit from the resulting pain that pulsed through her. Her tear-filled eyes found their way to Mask, who hid behind his car as Batman continued to dodge the bullets flying his way. She cursed, wishing she could leave him to be sent to prison. He'd used her as a shield, for fucks sakes. But if he was taken now, all of her work would have been for naught. She couldn't have that. Not when she was so close.

She stood, her legs shaking from fear and shock and pain, but she kept herself steady as she forced herself to move over to where Mask hid. She grabbed his arm, and, keeping her eyes on Batman to make sure he was still busy with the lackeys firing at him, lead Mask quietly away behind some storage units. Once they were out of sight, she pointed towards a fence that blocked off a wooded area. Mask nodded and they both ran. Marie somehow managed to hop the fence with only her feet and good arm, and she followed Mask until the sound of guns firing faded away. Once they were certain they were safe, they stopped, sucking in air. Marie's head felt light. And she looked back at the batarang. She gritted her teeth, and grabbed it, pulling it quickly out of her and throwing it down. She coughed at the overwhelming pain, and sucked air through her grinding teeth, trying to keep herself from crying. The pain eventually dulled out, and she was able to breath relatively normally as she caught sight of her boss, who was making a phone call to have himself picked up.

"I'm in some damn woods near the meeting spot, you fucking idiot! Find me! And make sure the Bat stays off your asses!" He shouted into the cellular, and snapped it shut before placing it into his pants pocket. He looked at Marie. "Good thing you checked those dollars before it was too late, kid. Nice job." he said. "Too bad you won't be working for me anymore. Your attention to detail is a skill not found in many people...it's a damn shame..." with that, he reached into his jacket and brought out a small gun, pointing it at her. She froze.

"The hell are you doing?" she asked. His eyes gave a look of false pity.

"You're a smart kid, Booker. I'm sure you can figure it out, but I'll tell you, since you're kind of too damaged to think right now." he said, cocking the gun. "You know too much for me to just let you go, kiddo. You have a lot of information that the GCPD would just love to get their grubby-ass hands on, and I can't have you just walking around with the possibility of caving and outing my operations. It's unprofessional."

"You son of a bitch..." Marie muttered, the betrayal sinking in. "You were planning this from day one, weren't you?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I honestly never thought you'd last this long. I planned to kill you as soon as your first fuck-up. But surprise, you turned out to be too good a worker. You were squared away with everything." he said. "I'll miss ya, kid. Maybe I'll send some cash to your old lady, for your good work. But you...can't do it. Sorry." he said. Marie huffed a laugh.

"I'm a complete idiot..." she muttered.

"I'll give you a second to say whatever you need to whatever god you believe in." Mask said. "I'll give you that decency."

"I don't believe in God..." Marie said, staring right at him. He shrugged again with indifference.

"Whatever. Any last requests?"

"Just not in the face." she said, smirking. He nodded.

"I can do that..." he pulled the trigger then, firing three shots into her chest. Her body stilled, and he sniffed as he cased his gun. Minutes later, two of his workers appears from the woods. They caught sight of Marie, their eyes widening, not daring to question what happened for fear they'd join her. "Let's go." Mask said, walking toward the direction of the vehicle waiting for him, and they followed obediently.

An hour after they left, Marie's eyes shot open, and she sat up. Her chest hurt, and she looked down at the holes in her sweatshirt. She pulled it off of her and inspected the bullet-proof vest, where three bullets were embedded, flattened from the impact. She pulled them off of her and threw them away before putting her jacket back on, pulling the hood back up over her head. Hopefully Batman hadn't seen her face under the hood.

She stood up carefully, using a tree for support. She had been stabbed, shot at, and was without the money she'd worked an entire year for.

Marie Booker was pissed.

"That masked bastard..." she seethed. She'd had a suspicion that he'd try to kill her, hence the vest, but since she'd made it this far, she was actually beginning to believe he'd go through with the deal they made. It was a mistake on her part, trusting a king of the Gotham underbelly. He lead her along, and disposed of her. Typical. And now she was hurt, and penniless, a year of her life gone, thrown away because of her naivety. And it was all her fault. She should never have walked into that damn bar. It was all over, and now all she could do was limp home, broken in more ways than one.

A tear ran down her face as she began her long treck home, and she wiped it away. Life wasn't fair. It was something she'd have to get used to as she realized she wouldn't be leaving this wretched city for a long time.

...

Once home, it was nearly six in the morning. She unlocked the door and stumbled in, making her way to the kitchen, where she retrieved the medical kit to get to work fixing her arm. As soon as she sat down, her mother walked in, worry and tears on her lovely face. She saw the gash in Marie's arm, and the holes in her sweatshirt.

"Oh my god!" she ran over and embraced Marie. "Oh my god, what happened to you?! What happened, Marie? Who did this to you?!" she was sobbing, her fresh tears falling on Marie's face. Marie gently pushed her away, and sighed.

"This..." she indicated the gash. "This was from Batman..." she said quietly. A look of shock and confusion lit her mother's face.

"But...he's supposed to-"

"And this..." Marie pointed to the bullet holes. "Is from Black Mask...my former boss." Her mother paled, and she sat roughly down in a chair beside Marie.

"Boss?" she whispered. Marie nodded.

"We had an agreement..." she said. "One year of work for ten thousand dollars. Tonight was my last night. Instead of paying me, he shot me. The fucker shot me..." Marie took off her sweatshirt to show the vest. "But he didn't kill me." She unstrapped the vest and dropped it to the floor.

"Why?" her mother asked. "Why would you do that?" The tone in her voice hurt Marie. There was so much pain in it.

"The money was supposed to get us out of here!" she said in an attempt to reason. "We were supposed to leave this shit-hole city! I wanted to get us out! Get you out! We were supposed to go somewhere nice, where we could wake up without being afraid all the time! We...we were..." Marie's eyes were wide as she stared down at the table. Her vision was blurring, and she hated how she thought she looked like a small child. Helpless. Her mother's hand found Marie's long black hair, and she patted her head lovingly.

"Marie..." she said quietly. "I understand what you want, but you're so young. You only know this city. No matter where we go, there will always be bad things. You'll learn someday that there isn't this utopia where everything goes right. It's not the way of the world. It's completely chaotic. Cruelty will follow you, even if you were able to travel halfway around the world. You have to learn to live with the bad things that plague our lives, sweetie."

"So we should just ignore it like the rest of these people?" Marie asked.

"No, don't ignore it. Ignorance is what cowards practice. You learn to live with it, to accept it as part of your life. Only then will you be able to focus on the good things around you."

"There's nothing good in this place..." Marie muttered, and her mother leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her.

"You have me, don't you?" she asked. "And I have you. That's all I need to get through my day, seeing your face. You make me happy enough to smile and get through all the muck..." Marie listened to her mother say softly.

"I'm a horrible child..." Marie said. "I tried to make you happy, but all I did was make you cry."

"No, no...I was just worried for you. You're here now, that's all that matters to me. I don't need money, I just need you, okay?" her mother puled back and looked Marie in the eyes. "So no more of this. No more putting yourself in danger. I couldn't bare it if I had to bury you, do you hear me?" more tears fell down her face as she spoke. Marie nodded, and her mother squeezed her. "Now please, let's forget this night."

"Mom, my arm..." Marie mumbled, and her mother quickly let her go. She eyed the blood on Marie's arm.

"Do you...need help with that?" she muttered, and Marie noticed her sway slightly at the sight of it, and smirked.

"No, I got it. You'd just pass out anyway. I'll take care of this. It's my mess anyway."

"O-okay...if you're sure." her mother said, a hint of relief in her voice.

"I'm sure, mom." Marie opened the medical kit and pulled out a suture and thread. This would be hell to get through. "Why don't you make some coffee and put some music on? I'll need something to distract me from the pain I'm about to experience..."