Princesses of Gotham
(rough draft)
A Batman / Disney crossover fanfic by Raberba girl
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Summary: An AU where Bruce Batman Wayne adopts Disney Princesses instead of Robins.
A/N: This fic is heavily censored on FFN. Please read it on AO3 instead.
Part 1
Hilda Blanchard wasn't stupid enough to let anything related to her Beauty Treatments anywhere near her home in Bristol.
No, she had a house in the city dedicated to that purpose: it was a useful property where Hunter could stash and process the products, then dispose of the waste material afterward. Hilda undertook her Treatments there, keeping her real home free of any danger or sullying.
Staying beautiful could be ugly work, but at least it was contained within the ugly city limits of Gotham. Once Hilda returned to Bristol, she was free to enjoy the fruits of her labor for the next year or two, void of any reminder of the dark side of her beauty regimen until her Mirror signaled it was time for another Treatment.
Hunter Boarman was pretty sure that he wasn't Hilda's boyfriend; their relationship was too transactional for that. Sure, if he asked very nicely and not too often, she'd [ . . .].
His feeble attempts to reciprocate in some way (a long time ago, before he'd given up) had always been rebuffed with unhidden disgust. The only passion Hunter had ever seen his mistress express was when she was in the midst of a 'Beauty Treatment' - the manic euphoria on her face, even before she rinsed off all the gore, always sent chills down his spine (and not good ones, either). It wasn't even the victims' fear or pain that got her off; she always left the dirty work to him. It was herself she was absolutely obsessed with, her own perceived beauty.
As far as he could tell, her bed was forever cold and the space between her legs empty, but when she was bathing in the blood of virgins or whatever the hell else she got up to with the sick stuff he acquired for her, she was happy. And those were the only times she was ever happy.
Florian Prince - no relation to Diana - was 20 years old and ambitious, ready to start rising up in the ranks of his uncle's gang. No one was taking him seriously yet, but they would. He just had to come up with something attention-grabbing, something that would make his uncle realize that he was up for the task and could get anything done for the good of the gang. He had a lot of things he was working on, the trick would just be to figure out which one was the winner.
Six-year-old Mary Margaret "Snow White" Blanchard, blessed with precocious beauty and the meta ability to talk to animals, was bored. But she was a very good girl, so while Stepmother did her secret work in the house, Snow White wandered through the vast grounds of the Blanchard Estate and played with her animal friends. She was hungry, but because she was a good girl, she was going to wait until 6:00 to ask for food, and in the meantime, she'd try to quiet her aching stomach with berries and clover and whatever else she could find in the wilder parts of the estate, beyond the well-kept lawns and gardens.
She was a good girl, so she was always respectful and obedient to adults. It was forbidden for her to leave the estate without permission, but when a handsome man climbed over the wall and dropped down in front of her, she didn't think to question him, because he was an adult.
o.o.o
Snow White hummed as she wandered through the grass and trees, accompanied by a crowd of her friends - birds and deer and rabbits and squirrels and a turtle, anyone around who noticed that she was outside and available to play.
As she got caught up in her own wordless song, she stopped and vocalized directly to a trio of birds. They fluttered in excitement and harmonized with her, which she found delightful as always.
They sang back and forth to each other until the stranger arrived, sudden and scary and very handsome, but...she didn't know him.
"Oh, no, it's okay, honey!" he said as he smiled up at her.
Snow White, huddled in the tree branches with her flying friends huddled protectively around her, said nothing. But she studied his face, and she decided that she liked his pretty eyes very much.
"What was that song you were singing?" he asked, friendly and curious.
"It's a love song," she told him. "Someday, my True Love will come and he'll sing it with me, and we'll be together forever, and happy."
"That sounds real sweet." And then...he began to sing. With the same tune she'd been using, but he added words, and it was like they flew straight to her heart and made it throb with longing. "[. . .]"
"Ooohh," she whispered under her breath, entranced. Maybe this really was her True Love? He was very, very handsome. He was a lot older than she expected, but surely, if he was her True Love, he would be willing to wait until she grew up, right?
"[. . .]" When he finished, they smiled at each other.
"Are you a prince?" she asked breathlessly.
His smile grew wider. "I sure am!"
"Ohh, I'm so happy to meet you! My name is Mary Margaret Blanchard, but everybody except Stepmother calls me Snow White," she offered shyly.
"It's lovely to meet you, Snow White. Do you live here?"
"Mm-hm."
"Is it okay if I come see you again? Tomorrow night, maybe?"
"Oh! Well, I'm not supposed to speak to strangers, but..." She blushed. "I'll be here. Tomorrow night. If my True Love comes looking for me."
"Sounds like a date. I've got some things to prepare for, but I'll see you again soon, honey." He blew her a kiss, then climbed back over the wall, already deciding who best to contact in order to sell a pretty little meta girl who could talk to animals. A minute later, Snow White heard his car door shut and the engine start up again, and he drove away.
She giggled and leaned back on the branch where she was perched. "Oh, he was so handsome!"
"I didn't like him, dear Snow White," one of the birds ventured. The others didn't look happy, either.
"Oh, how can you say that?" Snow White exclaimed in dismay. "He was so handsome and kind!"
"There was no kindness in his eyes. I think he is hunting you, Snow White, with honey instead of with claws."
"Oh, that can't be true," Snow White pleaded.
Just then, she heard Hunter calling her name from far away. "Coming!" she called back. She scrambled out of the tree, strangely glad for the excuse to run away from her friends.
o.o.o
Hilda studied her reflection in the enchanted Mirror. She liked to think that she still had some time before she needed another Treatment - her skin was still supple and unwrinkled, her hair still untouched by gray, her eyes still bright. However, a few comedones had developed on her face, which was usually the first sign that the spell was breaking down. Once it started to decay, the progression was very quick, so she needed to select a new target for spell renewal as soon as possible.
"Mirror that reveals the truth," she crooned, "who can best restore my youth?"
The mirror's surface rippled and an image began to form. The choices, based on parameters she had set long ago, were always beautiful girls or young women who were currently close enough to obtain without needing to travel far. They were prioritized based on how easy they would be to make disappear - wealthy girls, with their access to high quality food, healthcare, and personal products, tended to be more beautiful in general, but it was much more noticeable when they went missing. Targets from lower classes were easier to obtain without a fuss, but their hard lives and lack of resources tended to spoil their looks early, and they were usually only of any use if Hilda could get to them when they were very young.
It was a delicate balancing act, and not a wholly pleasant exercise. Hilda loved to look at beautiful things, but when those things were human, her pleasure was spoiled by envy. Only when she was able to make a final selection and claim a new target as her own did she start to feel soothed, culminating at the end of the ritual when the target's beauty truly became hers.
So she steeled herself for the usual conflict of emotion, and was unprepared for the first option she viewed to be the face of her very own stepdaughter.
Hilda stared at Snow White's lovely, dim-witted face smiling up at her and felt breathless for a moment. Some of it was rage at the pure audacity of the little hussy to actually surpass her in beauty.
Some of it, though, was relief and delight - of all the people in the city, the sole other full-time inhabitant of her home was among the easiest to obtain. Hilda had already been keeping Snow White out of the public eye for over a year now, ever since her father had died. The girl had no friends and almost never set foot outside the estate; she did her schooling at home, with the use of an Internet-based curriculum. Only a basic paper trail would be needed to explain the child's permanent lack of presence in Gotham.
Hilda released herself from the power of the Mirror, extinguished the candles, and went out to where Hunter was waiting, sullenly scrolling through his phone. "Hunter."
He came to attention. "Yes, Mistress?"
"I have a new job for you. It's Snow White."
His mouth came open, but he said nothing, merely gaped at her like a dying fish.
"Take her into town," Hilda said meaningfully.
"For...the ceremony?" Hunter fumbled, uncharacteristically hesitant.
Hilda frowned. "Yes, of course, you fool. Snow White is to be my next Treatment."
Hunter was still gaping. "But she's- She's only six!"
"And?" Hilda said impatiently. "You've brought me children before."
Hunter swallowed. "It's just...it's- It's Snow White."
"Are you refusing to obey me?" she said incredulously. She had thought her devoted little slave was incapable of refusing her anything.
"No, no, my Queen, I would never! I just- It's just... She's your own daughter."
"She is my late husband's daughter," Hilda said coldly, "and I see I can no longer trust you to do your job. I will no longer be requiring your services, Hunter."
"No- No, Mistress, please," he begged. "Of course I serve you in everything, Mistress, I was only surprised! Of course I will obey you. Please, I beg you, please don't get rid of me..."
He was groveling, and the sight of his pathetic subservience disgusted her as usual. It was useful, though, and right before a Treatment was the worst time to have to go hunting for a suitable replacement. For at least this one job, she would have to rely on him.
"Very well," she said. Suspicion made her add, "Send me a photo of the girl as soon as you've secured her at the house. I want proof of your obedience before I waste time traveling all the way across town."
"Yes, Mistress. Anything, Mistress."
"Go now. Get out of my sight."
He kissed her feet once more, then hurried out of the room.
o.o.o
Snow White was so excited - Hunter was taking her out! Right into the city, where all the people were!
Her face was practically glued to the window as she stared at everything passing outside the car, drinking it all in. There were so many people, every one different from each other; some drab, some colorful, some with dogs or children, many with bags, a few on bicycles... There were so many cars and trucks, too, and so many lights! The bright colors glowed beautifully in the darkness, and Snow White started to make up a little song about how lovely and exciting it all was.
The drive went on and on, though, and it was late. Snow White eventually felt sleepy enough to lie down across the seat, and the next thing she knew, she was being unbuckled and picked up in Hunter's strong arms.
"Mmm," she mumbled, snuggling into him. "Where are we?"
"We're here," he whispered, but he didn't explain where 'here' was.
Snow White was still half-asleep when he brought her inside and laid her down. The bed was uncomfortably hard, but she was too sleepy to protest. [. . .]
Then he grabbed her shoes.
"My socks-"
"There's no time," snapped. "Put your damn shoes on, hurry up."
"You're saying a lot of bad words," she observed timidly.
"Fuck!" he shouted in her face. "Shit! Whore! Shut up and get moving if you don't want Mommie Dearest to fucking kill you!"
She stared at him. "S...Stepmother? Wants to kill me?"
He flung out an arm to gesture at the macabre workroom. It was dark because the window had been boarded over and the electric light disabled, lit only by clumps of candles. The spine-chilling contents were still visible, though, the tools of witchcraft and butchery stored and displayed all around. "This is her house. Her real house, not that mansion in Bristol where she pretends to be a lady. This is where she's happiest, cutting up little girls and bathing in their blood, and you're fucking next on her list unless you shut up and listen to me."
He yanked her along, hurrying out to the car and practically throwing her into the back seat. He heard her struggling to buckle up as he got behind the wheel.
His heart raced as he drove, and so did his thoughts. He wondered where the hell he was supposed to take her and what the hell he was going to do about the sacrifice Hilda was expecting. Should he just...give up, get out of town?
'First things first,' he thought. 'Ditch Snow, then worry about your own hide.'
Once he was a decent distance away from the slaughterhouse, he stopped in a random area of town and stormed around to rip the back door open. Snow White huddled in her seat, staring up at him.
He reached in and unbuckled her, then dragged her out and set her on the sidewalk. He shoved her, not hard enough to knock her over, but forcefully enough that she stumbled. "There, you're free. Run."
Between Gotham's foster care setup mostly being a front for child trafficking and the extent of corruption that remained on the police force despite the new commissioner's efforts, Snow White's chances were probably better on the literal street. As young and naïve as she was, she'd probably die, anyway, but starving or getting stabbed or shot or whatever was better than what her stepmother had planned for her.
"But- But where am I supposed to go?"
"I don't give a fuck! Anywhere is better than where that woman can find you." He fumbled for his wallet and shoved a wad of bills into her hand. "There. Now go."
She stared up at him desperately.
He made a kicking motion at her in frustration, the toe of his boot brushing hard against her legs. "Run, you stupid little shit. Get the fuck out of here! RUN!"
Snow White ran.
Hunter watched her go. Then, when she turned a corner and was out of sight, he dragged himself back into his car, feeling nauseated and old. He rested his face against the steering wheel and let himself cry for a few minutes.
Then he swallowed the rest of his tears, sat up, and roughly wiped his face. Fuck Snow White; she wasn't his problem anymore. Now he needed to figure out how to save his own skin.
o.o.o
The crime scene was tucked out of the way and the police had finished with it, so Batman was alone as he examined the area and noted clues. Of course he was always alert for any potential human approach, but he ignored the usual night activity of Gotham's animal population until, after about twenty minutes, something prompted him to look up.
There were...quite a lot of animals now gathered around the crime scene. Apparently they hadn't just been passing by; there had to be at least thirty rats and half as many mice gathered in a wide, loose circle around him. There were also six or seven skinny street cats, a couple of stray dogs, and two owls.
They were all watching him.
Batman stared back, disconcerted. Most of them weren't perfectly still, they were fidgeting and some of them were wandering a bit, but their attention was clearly centered on him. The predator and prey animals would sometimes side-eye each other hungrily or warily, but whatever mysterious force had brought them together was strong enough to repress their instincts to hunt or flee each other. They had come for him.
"...What do you want?" he ground out, his back creeping with unease.
When he spoke, the animals turned and started trotting away, all streaming in the same direction. He watched them go...until the dog and two rats bringing up the rear stopped and looked back at him expectantly, maybe even impatiently.
Batman hesitated a little longer, debating the pros and cons of following them. Then he gave in, though he pulled out his grappling gun and followed by air instead of walking.
He kept an eye out for danger as he flew, the owls circling him on their silent wings. The stream of animals led him through a maze of alleys and side streets, mostly avoiding humans. The few people who happened to cross paths with the animals retreated quickly, clearly wanting nothing to do with whatever eldritch nonsense this was.
The animals finally pooled together and halted in an unremarkable dead end alley. Batman crouched on a nearby rooftop and peered down at the small figure below.
It was a young child, sobbing as if their heart had broken. Two raccoons and a squirrel were cuddled up close to them, and a few crows were fluttering around uneasily, occasionally vocalizing at the child.
"I know," they gasped out as if responding to someone, though Batman couldn't detect anyone else nearby. "But I can't, I just can't run anymore... Oh, what am I going to do...?!"
Batman let himself down and tried to make some noise as he landed, the rodents and cats edging aside to make more room for him. The child still didn't seem to notice him over the sound of their crying.
"Hello," he tried, toning down his usual Batman growl.
The child looked up, then gasped and scrambled away when they (she?) saw him.
He held up his hands and crouched down, his cape pooling around him. "I'm not going to hurt you."
She stared at him, then sniffled and wiped her nose in an oddly elegant gesture. "You're...you're Batman?"
"I am."
They regarded each other for a moment. The girl looked to be about six years old and was extraordinarily beautiful, almost disturbingly so. No ordinary human was that pretty, particularly when her skin was bleached white (was the poor thing a survivor of a Joker attack? There was no lingering trace of a distorted smile, though) and her lips were as naturally red as if there were no layers of skin to mute the color of blood (his cowl detected no lipstick chemicals that might have provided an alternate explanation for the color). Her hair and eyes were dark, so she probably wasn't an albino. Perhaps she was a meta? In addition to the strange appeal of features that should have been off-putting, that would explain the unusual behavior of the animals.
Her outfit hadn't been high quality to begin with, and it was now stained with the grime of Gotham's streets and torn in places where it might have caught on nails or broken fencing. Her face was streaked with dirt and tears, and though the state of her hair indicated that it couldn't have been uncared-for for more than a day or two, this child might not have a safe home to go back to.
"Will you help me?" she asked timidly, her voice very high-pitched even for a little girl.
"Yes," he said. "What's your name?"
"Oh." She wiped her eyes, again with a grace and delicacy unexpected in someone so young. She straightened her back and rearranged her knees more tidily under herself, almost posing. "My name is Mary Margaret Blanchard, but most people call me Snow White," she introduced herself politely. "How do you do?"
"...Snow White?"
Her lips quivered, and her eyes filled with tears again. "Papa used to call me that," she whispered. "He said that's what Mama called me when I was still a baby in her tummy. So...so everyone who likes me calls me Snow White. Only Stepmother calls me Mary Margaret." The tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Snow White," Batman repeated, this time more decisively. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," she responded, back to her polite script.
"Do you know your papa's name?"
"Oh." Her face fell. "Papa is in Heaven now."
"And you live with your stepmother?"
"Yes. Or, I did but...she tried to kill me." She sobbed once, and one of the raccoons nuzzled into her. She hugged it, and Batman took the opportunity to glance around. He realized that most of the animals who had fetched him had slipped away during the conversation; a single cat was still in sight, but it was now busy foraging for food and completely uninterested in the humans. The only other animals remaining were the ones who'd stayed with Snow White in the alley.
"What do you mean she tried to kill you?" Batman asked in concern, returning his attention to the girl.
"She... Hunter...he took me somewhere, but it wasn't home. And...[. . .], and I was so scared."
Batman felt chills of horror and revulsion pass through him, sickened that anyone could even think of doing something like that to a child.
"I thought Hunter was going to kill me...but then he stopped, and he untied me, and he [. . .] made me run. I had to run so that Stepmother wouldn't catch me and try to kill me again, but...I'm so tired, and I don't know where to go, and I don't know what to do...!"
As she wept again, Batman's thoughts whirled. Snow White was very young and could easily have misunderstood the situation, but it was clear that something traumatic had happened to her, and it might not be safe for her at home. He would have to figure out who her legal guardians were and investigate the home situation and whoever this 'Hunter' was. In the meantime, he needed to take her somewhere safe, to someone who'd know what to do with children in general and trauma survivors specifically.
"Do you know your stepmother's name?" he asked.
"Stepmother," she answered obediently, and he suppressed a sigh. "What about Hunter? Do you know his last name?"
"Oh...well...Hunter is Hunter."
"I see. What do Hunter and your stepmother look like?" He took note of her (mostly useless) descriptions, then asked, "Where do you live? Do you know the address, or even just the street name, or the names of any streets nearby?"
"It's Papa's house, really," she explained. "Stepmother only came to live with us after the wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding, with flowers and silk everywhere, and I was the flower girl, and I had a pretty dress and such a cute basket...!"
Batman tried to steer her back on track, but he wasn't able to get any real information out of her. Her house was "far away" and the place where she'd been assaulted was "somewhere I'd never been before - it was so very dark, and Hunter was acting so strange! Oh, I was so frightened..."
He stood up and held out his hand. "Will you come with me, Snow White? I'm going to take you somewhere safe, where there are other children like you. You'll be taken care of until I figure out what's happening with your family."
She took his hand without hesitation and smiled up at him trustingly, the squirrel still balanced on her shoulder. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Batman! You're very kind."
When she realized that he intended to carry her by grappling line, she made a fuss about saying goodbye to her little raccoon friends. To Batman's slight disgust, the squirrel stuck with them, clinging tightly as they swung through the air. The crows followed them all the way back to the car, and even after Batman drove to GCPD headquarters and got out, he found that the birds had landed nearby and were watching.
Snow White fell asleep in Jim's office while the men talked and researched, trying to find at least one decent foster placement they could trust to not turn around and traffic Snow White as soon as she passed through their doors. 'Foster care in this city needs so much improvement,' Batman thought in frustration, making a mental note to expand the Wayne Foundation's programs.
For now, the best option seemed to be an establishment run by a respectable elderly widow, specifically geared toward girls who didn't fit in with regular foster families. "I'll drop her off," Batman offered. He didn't want to rouse a social worker out of bed or take anyone in the GCPD away from their duties.
The crows were still outside when Batman emerged from the building, leading a now wide-awake Snow White by the hand.
By now, the child was comfortable and lively enough that she was literally singing - not just humming, but singing full-fledged songs that Batman didn't recognize. Her voice was amazingly good, too - not just for someone her age, but good, period. The only thing that made him wince was the almost painfully high pitch and the fact that it wasn't usually a good idea for civilians to make a lot of attention-drawing noise in Gotham, particularly at night.
"Snow White, that was very lovely," he interrupted as they got out of the car again, "but it's time to be quiet now. People are sleeping, and we don't want to disturb them."
"Oh! Yes, of course. I'll be quiet as a mouse," she added in a whisper, and demonstrated with her hand over her mouth in one of those incongruously elegant gestures.
Batman nodded in acknowledgement and went up to the door of Ma Gunn's School for Wayward Girls.
The door was eventually opened by an elderly woman who was fully dressed despite the late hour, looking sharp and spry despite her obvious age.
"Thank you for responding," Batman said. "This is Snow White Blanchard. She needs a place to stay for a while until I can determine whether it's safe to return her to her family."
"Her name's 'Snow White'?" Mrs. Gunn said dubiously.
"It's what she likes to be called. If you could make an exception for the squirrel as well, I would appreciate it. I believe it's a trained animal."
Mrs. Gunn gave the creature an unfriendly look. The squirrel poked its head out from the shield of Snow White's hair and chittered energetically at her.
Batman was feeling a little less sure about this decision. "Your school is advertised as a recommendation for girls in need of rehabilitation. Snow What has experienced some recent traumatic events, and I'd like to know that I'm leaving her in good hands while I try to get to the bottom of this."
Mrs. Gunn straightened and smiled at him - not exactly warmly, but in a way that was still reassuring in its confidence. "Oh, yes, I have quite a lot of experience with girls like Miss Blanchard. Not to worry, Batman; we'll take good care of her here." She stooped a little to address the child directly. "When was the last time you ate something, dear? Are you hungry?"
"Oh, yes, ma'am," Snow White said eagerly.
"Come along, then, and we'll see what we've got in the kitchen." Mrs. Gunn put an arm around the child and drew her inside.
Snow White turned in the woman's hold and looked up with shining eyes. "Thank you for all your help, Mr. Batman! I am so very grateful for your kindness to me in my hour of need."
Batman felt the corner of his mouth quirk in amusement at her oddly formal speech. "It's my job. Good night."
"Good night!"
Mrs. Gunn nodded at Batman and shut the door. He watched the crows relocate to a window that presumably looked in on the kitchen, then returned to his car. Whatever situation little Snow White had fled from was very concerning, but at least he could devote himself to her case with the assurance that in the meantime, she'd be safe and cared for.
TBC