It's been ages since I've written for Batman PERIOD - and here comes a cross of BTAS and "Under the Red Hood". No spoilers, just read and enjoy. :D

Warning: mention of abortion, drug uses, etc. And of course lots of feels in every form. Get tissue and whatever you need to calm you down if you can only take so much.

Batman and all its characters belong to DC, but my OC Kristine is all mine. Nor do I own the song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" by Britney Spears. Also, I decided to have chapters and events inspired by Eurielle songs.

Chapter One

Feels Like Yesterday

Kristine Crane used to think she had the answers to everything, but that was what happened when you were young. Pre-adolescent or afterward.

She might have lived in Gotham all her life, in the suburban areas compared to the industrial part of the city, but her mental state really hit the dark places after she lost the boy she'd fallen in love with.

Her innocence might have been lost when her mother was murdered by that clown. But when she grew older after her father healing thanks to Aunt Pamela and herself - all he had left of the wife he loved, whom he called his "key, stabilizing ingredient to the corrosive compound called life", which was really cheesy but sincere - she'd thought things could start going their way after things were mended. Of course, no one said it was all easy, but whoever expected the worst things to happen to them out of the blue the way they did?

I thought Mom being taken away was the worst that could ever happen...but when you're fifteen and aware, it really tears you apart.

She was talking about none other than the one whose picture sat among the framed mementos she kept in her bedroom, in the apartment she shared with her best friend from childhood. When she was alone, Rebecca out with Bruce Dent again, and having just finished the cheesy potato pot pie she heated herself in the microwave. Meant "girl's home alone night" for herself again. Her bestie had a hell of a higher chance than her, after a failed relationship or two - she momentarily forgot them because of the one on her mind.

It had been five years since she'd lost Jason Todd, her first true love.

When she first met him, they were both twelve years old. When she was at home one summer day and heard a commotion in the basement of the family home - her father was at the asylum, her auntie at the university - and acted on instinct when she noticed a window in the living room was opened. Someone picked the lock and came in. She considered calling the police at first, but then she noticed the small footprints, telling her a KID was here. She was scared all the same and decided to protect herself since her dad told her that there were kids her age who could wind up killing people for any reason.

She was only a preteen when she picked up the butcher knife from the kitchen and went in the direction of her dad's laboratory, where he did his private research and where she was forbidden to go into, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Dad's car was not in the driveway, and why would he break into their home through the window without her knowing?

She was about to go downstairs when she nearly ran into the person, raising the knife on impulse at them, courage in her blood and pumping through her streams - and the intruder shouted at her that she was gonna hurt herself as well as make him drop what was in both arms.

Daddy's chemical jars - his years of hard work which will help humanity. Who the heck does this person think he is, stealing this?!

Turned out to be a boy of the same age as her. His hair was black as the night sky, eyes green as the plants Aunt Pam was in love with and would go to great lengths to protect, and his skin was a dark shade of tan. His white t-shirt and jeans were very dirty as if he'd lived on the streets for a while. Part of Kristine had felt bad for him before she remembered he'd broken into HER home.

~o~

"Put that down if you don't wanna break it," she said, keeping the knife aimed into his face, which he sniffed at.

"Or what?"

She growled through her teeth. "That's my dad's stuff. You don't know the hard work he's done or what that is gonna do for people out there."

He raised both eyebrows, jaw tight. "That's supposed to be my problem? And I thought this house was empty." Kristine snorted; of course, he did. But here she was, and why wasn't he scared that she had a weapon while he clearly didn't?

"Yeah, it will be a problem when he comes home and I get in trouble for it as soon as you're gone. Why do you want it?"

"Because I need to sell something so that I get something into my stomach. But you wouldn't understand since you got a roof over your head and a mom to look after you -" Then his face softened as he got a better look at her. "Wait, you're stuck here alone. That mean your folks let you be here when a burglar could just get in as I did?"

You don't know me at all, but you're right. "Yeah, because it's summer vacation. I have a friend, but she's with her parents at where they work. I'm looking after the house and watching TV." Kristine then looked over him again, feeling a terrible pang in her body. She had a really good feeling that because he was a kid like her, he needed someone to look after him, but what else could she do besides what he said? "You said you were hungry?"

His green eyes widened in surprise.

"You're...gonna actually do that?"

"Yeah." Now she was grinning at him, hoping that this wouldn't end like those poor people in the movies she loved - others which scared her too much - when their kindness was repaid in the worst ways. "But that means you put down Daddy's work which wasn't yours to begin with." Now that made the scowl return to his face, but she was the one with the weapon if he said no.

~o~

Their friendship began right there, in her home he had broken into. And after she made him a ham and cheese sandwich and they shared it in the cozy little kitchen. In the glowing white surroundings of cupboards and doors, stainless steel appliances, she and her new friend sat at the island of mahogany wood topped with shiny marble black. She liked being in here because of the beauty, including the dark brown box in the middle of the island, which had the orange and peach roses with leaves Aunt Pam called myrtle. He looked around and lifted his nose, saying that after everything he'd been through, he wished he had what she did.

His name was Jason Todd. He was her age, but he had no home or family like her. Said his dad was in jail and hadn't even come home, leaving him with his stepmom who did drugs and then died from them, leaving him the way he was now. Now he was feeding himself by stealing mostly car tires - and sometimes other stuff when it called for it - and now he was right here, just talking with her as though everything was all right.

Kristine had just met him that day and already felt like they were friends.

Suddenly knowing the rest of the day until Dad came home would be boring, she offered to let him stay awhile until seven rolled around - watching movies with her as well as an easy dinner of salad and the leftover meatloaf from yesterday since she could just tell her dad she had that for lunch - but then was scared because of how dangerous Gotham was at night. When she told him this, he'd snorted and said he could take care of himself just fine, but thanked her for her concern.

"But...yeah, I'd like to see you again sometime."

No idea how happy he made her at that moment, but she was glad all the same. Another friend for her, and a real macho of a boy. So she let him leave, though was struggling with how to sometime tell her father about Jason Todd, since he'd surely be mad that she let a strange kid into their house after he broke in and she didn't call the police.

Kristine kept her mouth shut for a while after that, secretly seeing Jason again and getting to know him more while they did the stuff kids their age did: movies, him beating her at the video games she played in her room when she couldn't go outside whether it was winter season or just cold weather. She liked to torture him with the animated fairytale stuff from her younger childhood - especially The Swan Princess. Oh, and also the works of the 1001 Nights in the book her mom gave her before she died.

Learning this bit, Jason's eyes had widened. "Your mom is dead, too?"

"Yeah, I was five. I remember just a little bit, but I see a white clown face and red lips, green hair, and the worst laugh that makes Pennywise the Clown seem tame." But that guy is out of this world, while this one was real. I would have been dead if not for the one in the bat cape...

Kristine forced herself to finish, trying not to cry. "It's just me and my dad now. I have Aunt Pam, who was my mom's friend for a long time. She helped Daddy raise me."

In the present, Kristine felt her throat thicken and grow sore. She had it easy compared to him, but they both lost mothers - no, that woman was his stepmother. His birth mother left him when he was small, and because she messed up in terms of an abortion that NEVER should have taken place. Ran off like the cowardly skank she was. It made her wrap her arms around him in a hug for the first time in the weeks of summer that followed, when they were at the local park one day, between her neighborhood and where Crime Alley was located. That one place where her dad and auntie warned her was trouble...

She was just buttoning up her blouse for bedtime when she remembered the day she finally told her father about her friend, having dreaded it to come. The crisp white lined with baby blue, joined with scallop-edged solid blue shorts, made her skin shiver with delight and her nerves flare, but maybe didn't warm her up as much as the thing that still rested over her heart to this day, that she kept in this heart-shaped, gold-trimmed box with realistically painted white and red roses and the scripture in elegant corsiva which she read aloud despite herself, to make herself feel better:

"When I saw you, I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew -"

"Love is without reason."

Kristine immediately jumped from her vanity, but not before reaching into the right middle drawer where she kept her licensed pistol, aiming it right at the intruder she never knew was there. Her heart bounced against her breastbone when she took in the sleek red helmet more than the rest of his broad self.

"Red Hood - how did you know and how the hell did you get in?!"

~o~

Words couldn't describe how hurt she was, when she ran from home that day and into the park, but knew she had no choice but to come back before dark. Gotham was most dangerous at night, never mind she was in a safer neighborhood. Thugs from the nearby Crime Alley could still come after her for whatever reason, and what upset her most was that there were older, uglier guys who were known for doing horrible things to girls her age, like they would to older ones and women.

She could not stop thinking about her father's words when she finally told him about her new friend she'd been seeing lately, instead saying she met him in the park - a lie she felt really weird about telling him, but Jason did give the okay.

"I've heard of this Jason Todd from a colleague in the GCPD. He's orphaned but is known for being in trouble with the law. He's taken to stealing parts from cars and was caught once taking a pair from one of the police vehicles. Kristine Roxanna, why would you befriend such a boy?" he'd demanded, not raising his voice but not happy, either.

She'd stood her ground. "He was nice to me, Dad. He did seem like a boy in trouble, but not THAT kind." Sometimes she seemed older than most girls her age, but that streak and her brain intelligence she did inherit from her dad who pursed his thin lips.

"Indeed, they all don't give it off immediately. Nonetheless, it wouldn't be wise to keep seeing him. I just don't wish to see you -"

The next thing she knew, her heart broke to the highest levels, and she was out that door, ignoring his shouts at her to come back.

She wanted to go to Rebecca's house, but she and her parents lived five blocks away, and a lot could happen then. Besides that, she was gonna be intruding on their family dinner. Aunt Pam also lived in the city, having her own greenhouse attached to her place. Kristine really didn't have many options other than to -

"Hey, watch it! And what are you doing out here at this time?"

"Jason!" She'd nearly run into him when she finally got to the park. She was shocked but also happy to see him. "I - I'm so happy to see you!" Unable to help herself, she threw her arms around him and cried so loudly she was sure her voice could be heard to the skies. "My dad, he...he told me not to see you anymore!" Kristine burst out, sniffling and clutching onto him harder.

She felt him stiffen. "Not surprised. You told him everything?"

"No, he somehow knew more than me. Why didn't you tell me you were in trouble with the cops?" she demanded, hurt so much she had no idea what to think, but that didn't mean she hated her own friend. She shouldn't have looked into his eyes, but there was the hardness that matched the rest of his face.

"That part was my business. I thought it wouldn't matter," Jason said coldly, but while it scared her, she didn't have it in herself to release him, but she relaxed her hold.

I'm scared. Scared our friendship is over because of this. "It doesn't matter. I just wish I knew," Kristine insisted. "I'm really sorry! You're still just Jason to me, and I know you did what you NEED to. I would have said stealing is wrong, but I - I have enough common sense at my age to understand." Maybe she'd seen too many movies, read too many adapted versions of her father's studies, but her young heart knew it to be true.

His face softened just a little, but it remained somber and scary enough to keep her heart beating rapidly with fright. "You're right about that, yeah. But...you said you ran away from your father because he said no about me. You really think running away is gonna be the answer? There's nothing out here for you except what I went through, and you're better than that."

She was shocked he had to assume she ran off all because of a disagreement with the man who made her and raised her. She was still just a kid like him, but she didn't even want to live like him. "I never said anything about running from home," Kristine said angrily. "I just wanted someone to talk to, but as soon as I get home before dark, Dad is gonna have my butt and maybe deprive me of my movies."

"Unless I can talk to him myself and explain for you."

Both she and Jason jumped at the sound of the voice which she didn't even notice - actually, Jason was calmer than her - and she gawked at the sight of the huge man in the dark gray suit, white shirt, and blue tie. She recognized that handsome, friendly face with dark hair and eyes. "Mr. Bruce Wayne!" she exclaimed.

"That's me, kiddo." He looked her over, but not the way that her dad and Aunt Pam - as well as the health teachers at school - described, as he took in her floaty sherbet-colored lace top, luminous supernova-themed leggings in dark orange, bright blue, white, and black, and her burnt orange flats with rosettes. Her auburn hair which she got from her father met her shoulders, bouncing with every movement. "I think I might know you, too: you're Dr. Crane's little girl, aren't you?"

She nodded. "That's me, sir. But what brings you out here?"

He smiled at her. "Jason's told me about you. Did he tell you yet that he's gonna be my new ward soon?"

Jason is gonna have a new home. Someplace where he can finally be safe, have a better future than he does now. Like me, but...but with a guy who lost his parents when he was a kid, too. Someone who helps the city because he wants to.

She and Jason had been so wrapped up with their emotions and the hard stuff that she didn't even think about this... "Oh, I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry, Jason, but I wasn't -"

"You weren't thinking," he answered, a smile now showing and making everything all right again. "That's okay. That's why I came out here tonight." He then turned his head with her in the direction south, when her blood grew cold with panic again.

"Kristine Roxanna Crane, if you've run off - ah, Mr. Wayne." Her father was there, light blue shirt a little rumpled from running and no doubt looking for her until coming to the obvious source. Worried parents would do that, and she always thought Jonathan Crane was not like other parents. Still, her brain was fearful of the consequences now that he found her, but then he spotted not only the boy he warned her to steer away from but the billionaire known as Gotham's prince. "It's good to see you, but I wish I could say it was better circumstances," Jonathan said, smoothing out the front of his shirt and walking up, standing behind his daughter who straightened and forced herself to not look at him, resting her matching midnight gaze on Jason who looked at the doctor with expressionless intensity.

Mr. Wayne laughed and extended his hand, the other man taking it in a shake. "No prob, Doc, but is it okay if I asked about the situation?"

"Just that my daughter irresponsibly ran out when I specifically warned her about this hoodlum right here," Jonathan answered, narrowing his eyes at the boy who returned the expression, lip quivering as it threatened to curl.

Kristine had never felt so small, caught in the middle of two men - one boy - that she really wanted in her life. Not one of them, but both. Except her own father was making her choose all because of something that wasn't a fault of his choosing. Mr. Wayne noticed the tension then, face now troubled. "You mean my soon-to-be ward? Yeah, I understand these two have been meeting up for a while now and are good friends despite any differences. Well, I admit Jason's had it rough, but he's still just a kid. I'd been telling him after we met that you should just give people a chance and not judge them based on bad first impressions. You should know yourself, Jonathan, that not everyone is as they first seem. But then again, who am I to tell you what to do with your own child?" He shrugged nonchalantly.

Oh, no, her dad was really gonna get her now - but then his pondering, stern face transformed altogether into a softer version which she prayed meant he was considering. "Yes, you're right, Wayne," he said, at last. "But as her father, I am merely concerned, that is all. Perhaps I was too hasty." But despite the slight smile he gave, Jason didn't seem too keen on returning it, and Kristine knew that he was hurt because of her dad's earlier words, and the one he labeled him with.

He gave off that tough face, but on the inside was a softie like herself. Still, she was happy Mr. Wayne had saved the day, and when she and her dad went back home, he apologized and assured her she was off the hook - but not without a strict warning.

"However, running off the way you did was irrational and irresponsible. I could have lost you the way I lost your mother. Please refrain from taking off without a rational method and a reasonable solution when things are not going your way. Stay and face the issue at hand even if you do not approve of what you hear."

~o~

"A gun - that's much better than a knife. But that means you and I are matched in armory...except I've got more firepower than just that little thing," the Red Hood told her with a chuckle that she would have said excited her had he'd not invaded her space - the newest, most feared man in Gotham City.

Now Kristine looked over the rest of him: that motorcycle-like jacket over a gray turtleneck that zipped up in the front, and the rest of him in black made him suitable for combat. He didn't even bother removing those boots of his, but why would she expect him to when she never invited him?! "Yeah, your reputation precedes you," Kristine said sarcastically, removing the safety even though he didn't make a move of his own. "But I'm gonna ask again what you're doing here when I don't recall doing anything to merit your attention or any of the crooks out there."

From what she and Rebecca heard of this dude, ever since he came to town in a manner of speaking, drug trafficking was up but actual crime rates down in terms of real victims suffering like the Joker would do to everyone else - as he did to Barbara and to Mom. A lot of normal people were calling him a hero, in a way, but unlike the Batman, he wasn't shy from using lethal means.

He snorted. "Nothing really."

"Then what?"

Wait, you said...you said I used a gun instead of a KNIFE.

It made her think back to the day she'd met a certain someone when he broke into her family's home and would have made off with some of her dad's chemicals if she hadn't been there. And when this man in the red helmet didn't answer her, she took matters into her own hands. "You said I used this instead of a dagger - it seems you know more about me than you let on."

"...yes. For a while now. High time I showed up, Miss Crane."

"But just how do you know about me?" she pressed, and it seemed he was starting to lose his patience.

"What does it matter? I could have just stayed away for your protection, but it's reached its end...Kris."

And right then and there, that was the bullet to her heart without him firing a shot of his own. Her hand with the pistol began to shiver and threaten to lose its hold, but she quickly locked the safety back into place before she got her ass into trouble. Her legs wobbled, almost giving out, but she managed to back into the wall behind her. Only one person in existence aside from Rebecca and Bruce Wayne's adopted kids could call her that nickname, but the way this one said it...

"J-Jason?"

He then reached up with both hands, hissing sounds reaching her drums as the helmet unlatched itself from where his neck met with his skull. Then when it was elevated from the head in a painfully slow-mo fashion just to piss her off -

"You can put that thing away now, you know."

Automatically, she did just that, laying said thing back into its proper place but not taking her eyes off his face. The black hair was sleek and shiny, though flattened from the helmet, and through that half-mask were the stormy green eyes which would range from anger to intense calm, other times guilt and sorrow, and finally peace and love. Never one without the other.

This time, she saw grim conflict in that handsome face, along with tense relaxation as he had just reunited with her, but that didn't answer any of the questions she felt overwhelmed with.

"You're alive. But I - I saw your body! We buried you!" she pointed out, the memories of the funeral now flashing before her eyes.

Kristine's heart jewelry box is inspired by two items on Stauer, the heart-shaped one called "When I Saw You" Necklace and Box. The words "love without reason" come from another, round one. Both were fused into the masterpiece you see here.

So, Kristine is the daughter of our beloved Dr. Jonathan Crane. :3 But her mother hasn't been revealed just yet. All in due course - and "Aunt Pam"...can anyone take a guess? (wink) More will be revealed in the next chapter.

I'd appreciate lovely detailed reviews, but please no flaming.