It's a bit on the violent side. Just thought I should warn you.


"So what did you ask Santa for?"

Mom's voice rose over the din of the city streets, her hand was tightly around mine, as we marched along the busy sidewalk, reducing the snow and ice beneath our feet to slush.

Mom's breath left her in wispy clouds. "What if Santa can't arrange that?" She asked, stopping to rewrap my scarf around my neck. "Then Santa's a loser." My mother actually snorted.

Knowing what I know now about the jolly old fat man. I feel bad that I called my mom a loser. But the sound of her laugh has stayed with me.

I always thought that the day I met Batman would be one of the best days of my life. After all I was pretty sure that I'd make a great Robin. But I also believed in happily ever after, wishing on stars and the boogie man.

The night I came face to face with Batman, was one of the darkest of my life- and his too.

I learned that wherever Batman was, wickedness was sure to be.


It took some time to become accustom to the scar that marred her daughter's chest. "It's my battle scar." Thankfully it seemed to bother her, more than it bothered Delilah. "Yes, Ma'm. And you were brave." Their life had fallen into a careful routine. "Not at first, but I did okay." Recovery was done in baby steps, despite how the child wanted to leap and bound forward. Nothing was more heart wrenching or exhausting than having to hold Del back. "Okay, nightgown or Pajama pants and top?" Another long day had finally worn down to an inky black. Paige couldn't wait to crawl in bed. "Nightgown."

"Excellent Choice. Arms up."

"It's a stick up, right?"

"Yep."

"I'll tell Batman!"

"I'm not afraid of no bat." Paige teased, pulling the fabric of the grown down. Indeed there were far greater things to be frightened of.

"Okay, in bed."

Like clock work the child burrowed herself into her blankets.

"Snug as a bug in a rug?"

"Yep."

"Batman?"

Delilah held out the doll for her inspection "Yep."

"Is the night light in the hall on?"

"Yep."

"How much do I love you?"

"More than all the stars."

With that her mother pressed her lips to her cheek.

"Good night, Baby."

"Night."

With that her mother crept through her door.

"Have you had your Zesti today? If you haven't you might want to put it back. It's alleged that five more deaths may be linked to the beverage. And While Zesti Cola is determined to stand by their product, many store chains are eager to pull the product from their shelves."

The murmur of the television blurred into silence but just as the girl had slipped off; a piercing scream ripped her from her dreamless sleep. "Mama?" Del shivered, as her feet touched the floor, but when she was answered by the sound of glass shattering, she ran into the hall. "Mama?" Even in the darkness Delilah could make out the glint of the knife in her mother's hand. But she was not alone in the room. She had been cornered into the kitchen by two black shapes. "Run!"

But Del was frozen by the sheer terror that seeped from her mother's command.

"Don't just stand there Idiot! Go get the little runt." When one of the men made a move toward her, Paige reacted, stabbing the closest man to her. Del willed her legs to move, the moment she saw the dark stains hit the kitchen wall. "Jesus Christ you, fucking bitch!"

Racing for the front door she scrambled to twist the deadbolt, just as it clicked back, someone grabbed her by the back of her gown. The child screamed, fighting to hold onto the doorknob as her assailant tried to rip her away. "You're squirmy little shit." He smelled of booze, gunpowder, and something rotten. But somewhere in the struggle, the door had released. Letting her body fall, Delilah hit the ground hard, more aware of the fact that the front door was open than of the pain that buzzed in her elbows. She was so close to freedom, she could see the shadows of the house across the street, feel the cold air touching her face.

But Delilah was moving backwards, he was dragging her by her ankles, "No! Let go! Let go!" She cried, grabbing the bottom of the door.

"You let go!"

"Help! HELP ME!" Not even a light came on in the darkness. Her nails dug into the door, until there was nothing left to hold onto. The door was kicked closed. "Yo! What do you want me to do with this thing?"

"Lock it up or something. Do I have to think of everything?"

"Leave her alone! It's me you want!"

Del's screams, only met the man's hand.

"Pipe down pipsqueak."

But when Del was able to work her lips over, she opened her mouth, and bit down as hard as she could with her tiny teeth. He howled, dropping Delilah to the floor. Her mouth tasted of blood. But as she looked up, she found a barrel of a gun in her line of sight.

"I'm tired of playing games."

Pushed into a closet, Del was locked inside, forced to hear her mother's angry screams. No matter how she pushed or banged on the door, it held fast. When the child felt a metal hanger under her hand, it hit her. Isn't that what mom used when she had gotten locked out of the house? Straightening the hanger, the girl forced it through the doorjamb, so both ends were facing her. She pulled, with all her might, until the wire finally pushed against the latch and released the door, causing her to tumble out.

There was a massive pool of blood soaking the carpet, and there, laying on her side in it's center,was her mother. Just as the girl made it to her feet, the flash of a round lit up the darkness. Her mother's eyes were wide and weeping. Her daughter, her precious little girl was running to her. And there was nothing Paige could do to stop her.

"Fuck, it got loose."

"I thought you locked that door!"

When the first man went for her, she leapt, grabbing the back of the couch, bouncing on to the cushions and rolling to the glass littered floor. Just as he reached for her, Delilah's fingers tightly around a shard of glass. When he lifted her off the floor by her gown, she stabbed. "I'll be the last thing you ever see!"

As she fell, the large bay window imploded, causing Delilah, to roll towards the sofa, trying to protect herself from the shower of new glass.

"It's the Bat!"

Her head snapped up as gunfire rang out. Batman. Crawling on her hands and knees, Del, moved to her mother. The floor was saturated. "Mama!"

Placing both hands on the hole in her mother's side, she pressed, willing with all her might to stop the blood from escaping. "Mama, what do I do?! Tell me what to do!" As the batteranges whizzed by her head, Paige's arm reached up, pressing the girl's head down. "Stay… down."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as one man was launched through the wall, the other, flattened as if he stood even the slightest chance.

"Paige!" his eyes were wide as he crouched to her side.

"Help me save her, please. Please, please PLEASE!" Delilah sobbed when his gloved hand pressed onto of her small ones.

The quiet was broken with the screams of sirens. The flashing lights brought sleepy eyed neighbors shuffling to their front yards, unaware of the terror that had taken place just a short distance away from their beds.

"Keep her safe…and happy...for me."

When the paramedics rushed in, the dark knight rose to his feet, Picking up the bloodied child as if she weighed nothing at all.

"Wait! Mama has to come with us. Mama has to come too!"

But he kept going, glass crunching under his booted feet.

"MAMA!" The harder she screamed, the harder he held her, unsure if he was muffling her cries into his shoulder for her…or himself. No one dared to take the child from him until she had been reduced down to hiccups.

"There's nail marks on the front door, bloody foot prints, and a broken closet door with a hanger wire nearby. And he says that the kid was the one who stabbed him in the eye..." Delilah followed the detective's thumb as he motioned to the two who were now in handcuffs. They were slumped against the cop car bloodied and beaten.

"For something so small, she put up a hell of a fight and in her condition…." The officer shook his head.

"We need to get her out of here before the media shows up. They'll have a field day with this."

Delilah's foot jerked as the last piece of glass was removed. Forcing her to look away from the group of officers who seemed to be milling about down to the paramedic who was tending to her dangling feet. "Sorry kiddo, I just have to wrap them up."

"Delilah, do you have any other relatives? Aunts or uncles? Grandparents?"

"Just Mama." she whispered, whipping her nose on the blanket, minding the oxygen tubes that now sat by her nostrils. Now that the adrenaline was wearing thin, her small body was filled with anxiety. Go? Where else could she go? This was all she ever had.

Delilah was the first to notice the sleek black car, but then one by one the officers were craning their necks just to get a look as an elderly gentleman stepped out. Carrying his coat over his arm, he worked his way toward the group. "I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to back away from the tape line."

"I'm here for Miss Delilah." He announced, fishing a white sheet of paper from his breast pocket. The officer who checked it, seemed paler than he did before. He lifted the tape so he could duck easily underneath. "Let him through."

Delilah didn't move as he approached, watching the lights of the cruisers gleam off of his silver hair.

"Miss Delilah, my name is Alfred." he said, crouching in front of her, minding the paramedic's work space. "I work for Mr. Wayne and he would like it very much if you came to stay with us."

"How long do I have to stay?"

"Indefinitely, my dear."