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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 3, a little bit longer than the others. It's starting to get into the story a little bit but expect a huge intro. into the story in the next chapter. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing, DC Comics for the characters, my brainstorming partners and everyone who helped me make the last chapter have the most comments I've ever gotten :)

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Chapter Three:

We left shortly after Bruce offered me the job. Instead of getting a cab home, Bruce had Alfred drive us. It was one of the nicest cars I’d ever seen, a Rolls Royce, I think. I’m not sure what year it was because I’m not a car person, but it had white leather seats and a polished wood interior. Leslie and I sat in the back. She didn’t say much after I agreed to assist Bruce. But she didn’t seem to think it was such a good idea before I accepted the job. In her thinking, Bruce was up to something, which involved me getting hurt in some way. But that was Leslie for you, always caring about the welfare of others. I guess that’s what made her such a good doctor.

Alfred took us by a small second hand store before we went to the Clinic. As much as I loved being Stephanie, it was time for Cinderella to leave the Ball. I hadn’t really planned to go anywhere but out dressed like this today, and Jen took my guy clothes. She said I wouldn’t need them. So while I sat in the car with Alfred, Leslie went in and got me some appropriate clothing: boy jeans and a t-shirt with a baseball team logo on the front. Then we drove to the Clinic.

“You are a very lovely young woman, Stephanie,” said Leslie as Alfred drove away. “How your father can not see that is far beyond me.”

I smiled and gave her a big hug. The two of us walked inside arm and arm . I just hoped she didn’t lose much business while we were gone. Though it was a free Clinic, she got a stipend from the government to keep it open. I suppose that helped some. To lose almost a whole day’s work; that must have been quite a blow. When I asked her about it on the way to Bruce’s this afternoon, she told me not to worry about it. But I did worry, I worried a lot. I was worrying even as I wove my way through the empty beds and into the locker room.

I reluctantly took off everything new that was Stephanie’s. When I took the inserts out of my bra, I held them sadly in my hands. One day I hoped that I wouldn’t have to do that. Most normal girls got to have breasts at puberty; I could see hair on my chin. Not that I got much but there was enough to shave every once in a while. Having less hair helped me pass a lot easier though. Even in Gym class, it was hard to tell I was a boy unless you looked below. Even then, I didn’t have much to show for it. Standing in the locker room, pulling up the boy jeans, I had horrible memory flashes of Gym class. I was always small which made me the butt of the older kids’ jokes and torments.

I tried not to cry as I thought about it. I think I was taking too long because Leslie came in to check on me. I was sitting on the bench, shirtless. She came over and sat down next to me, pulling me to her chest. That’s when the dam burst. It was so hard being a teenager and knowing you were in the wrong body. It was a struggle every day to get out of bed in the morning. I even showered with my eyes closed sometimes, afraid of the foul body that God gave me. Not that he cared one way or the other. I’m a bitter Atheist, for a good reason. It was the only thing that my mother and I didn’t see eye to eye on. She wasn’t a devout Christian but she kept telling me that God had a plan. I wanted to know what his plan was with me: torture? He put me in the wrong damn body, completely ruining my whole damn life. Everything came to head when Mom got sick. It came on so suddenly and two months later, she was gone. What kind of God takes away the only good thing in my life? How can he torture me more when he tortured me so much already?
After Mom died was when I really turned my back.

“What time does your father get home, sweetheart?”

I looked at the clock on the wall. He worked weird shifts sometimes, especially for a guy in a print shop. I asked him about it once and he told me to mind my own damn business. When I asked him a second time, he popped me one. So I stopped asking. But he had the strangest hours, coming and going at all hours of the night. A lot of the time, he came home drunk too; so I don’t think he was working all night. I told all of this to Leslie and she nodded.

“Maybe you should stay with me tonight?”

I pulled away from her, wiping tears from my eyes. I shook my head. “I can’t. If I’m not there to cook him dinner he’ll flip out.”

Leslie looked like she wanted to break something. “The nerve of that man. When he got your mother pregnant so young I wanted to strangle him, your grandparents nearly did. When they got married, I thought he’d changed. He was such a bright boy, went off to college and everything. Your mother did too of course but your Dad was the real genius around here. He could have worked anywhere. He got a lot of offers: STAR Labs, CADMUS, even Luthercorp; why he chose that stupid TV show is beyond me.”

I knew all of this, of course. Leslie liked to reminisce a lot. She liked to talk about when Mom was younger. My grandparents weren’t very well off but they made ends meet. My grandfather worked in a factory, my grandmother was a housekeeper. They both died in a car accident when I was six. Dad didn’t have any family and Mom only had one sister, Barbara. Yeah, my cousin was named after her mother, how cool is that. Aunt Barbara died in childbirth; Uncle Jim named their daughter after her. Besides Dad, Barbara and Jim were the only family I had. I never knew how Leslie knew my grandparents but she always used to tell me that she watched Mom grow up.

After I cried some more, I finished getting dressed. Leslie helped me take off all my makeup. Then she did her best to make my hair look masculine. There was no hiding the feminine looking eyebrows but I told her Dad wouldn’t look that close anyway. She helped me put my clothes in a bag and instead of taking them home; she said I could keep them here. She also told me she’d help me put together a nice wardrobe for when I had to be Stephanie with Mr. Wayne.

When I left the Clinic, it was just getting a bit on the dark side. Luckily, I was only a few blocks from home. I power walked most of the way, afraid to be stuck out here after dark. As I said, it’s not a very good thing to do. About town minutes later I arrived at the apartment, panting. When I took out my key and unlocked the door, there was someone coming down our stairs. It surprised me a bit, having never known my Dad to have any kind of visitors. He was kinda thuggish looking with a square jaw and beady eyes. He smiled at me when he passed. I shivered in disgust. I waited to make sure he was gone before I ran up the stairs.

When I got inside, Dad was watching TV. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Leslie had to make a house call so I had to go with her.”

Dad looked at the clock. “It’s nearly five, where the hell did you go, the moon?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, I’m back now.”

“Good... I’m starving, make dinner.”

Welcome to my life.

_____________________________

I went to bed late last night and when I woke up, I was actually fairly refreshed. But at the same time I was dreading the day, it was after all the last official day of summer vacation. School started tomorrow and I know I should have been excited, senior year and all but I just couldn’t find myself caring. Though I suppose there were some advantages to it. In a couple of months, I’d be eighteen and I wouldn’t need my father’s consent for anything anymore. That meant I could do whatever I pleased. I definitely didn’t have enough money to do what I wanted to do but I was saving. The only other person who knew about my plan was Jen and as much as I wanted her help---she offered---I wanted to do it on my own.

I might have been well rested but I still had a wicked nightmare last night. I think it was brought on by a combination of the day’s events and something I saw on the news. It turns out the Bat now had some competition in the vigilante business. Last night, the masked man the press were dubbing the “Roving Raver” struck again. He apprehended a mugger. He left his usual calling card too, sprayed painted on the man’s face: two red R’s. The police promised that when normal citizens took the law into their own hands there would be prosecution for it. Of course, first they had to catch the guy. It was kinda refreshing that there was someone out there protecting the city while the Bat took a vacation or whatever. RR had been popping up all over the city in the last month.

Not that that was what my dream was about. In my dream, I was in girl mode and I was at Wayne Manor. At first, everything was real good. Bruce and Alfred were as nice as can be. Then I went to the bathroom and Bruce walked in. I was confused because he should have been in bed resting. But I was at the urinal---apparently in my dream, the bathrooms at his house had one---and I was standing there. He saw me with my skirt pulled up. Then he got real angry and started beating the hell out of me. I screamed for help and Alfred came but he started beating on me too. That’s when the Roving Ravager came---he was a blur of course. Instead of helping me, he started to laugh too. Then everyone started to laugh. It was the most horrible dream ever.

The dream stayed with me all morning. I hated holidays because Dad never worked. When he was home and sober, ---a rare thing on both fronts---he wasn’t as bad. But he was still a cranky son of a bitch. He also treated me like a slave. After I cooked breakfast, he usually made me do all the chores. I didn’t mind doing some of the feminine things but he wanted me to do everything. He said it was helping me build character but all it was really doing was showing me how lazy he really was. Today was no different. He sat on the couch, watching the Game Show Network while I tried my hardest to clean around him and not disturb him. Today was Cluemaster day after all; they were showing all his best episodes.
It was like Christmas for my Dad.

At noon, I reheated leftovers and then slipped out without him even knowing. Jen was waiting for me at the corner. She wanted to know how my day at the clinic went as Stephanie. First, I told about how Leslie was cool about it then I told her about Tony. He was cute after all. When I got to the part about Wayne Manor, she pretended to be jealous. Then I told her about Tim. When I described him, she thought he sounded cute until I told her about his flaws. Jen and I had the exact same taste in men, so what I didn’t like she didn’t like.
We spent the whole day pretending to be girlfriends even though I was in guy mode. She wanted to do something wild and crazy. She called this the last official day of childhood. Apparently, tomorrow was some important rite of passage for her. I didn’t get what the big deal was. But things like this were real powerful blah, blah, blah. I wasn’t feeling up to anything crazy so we parted about a block from my house. Jen never went any closer than that for fear of my Dad seeing us together. He didn’t like it that my only friend was a girl. I tried to tell him she was my girlfriend but he caught us giggling together once and knew I was full of it. So Jen stayed away whenever she could.

When I got home, Dad was passed out on the couch. I spent the rest of the night cleaning up his mess. Then I dropped off earlier. The worst day of my whole life was coming back around on me again: the first day of school.

_____________________________

“You’re wearing your hair like that?” asked Dad at the breakfast table.
I picked up my spoon and looked at my hair. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. I always liked ponytails. Though I had to admit this one might have been a little higher on my head than I usually wore it. When I was getting dressed this morning, I decided to push androgyny as far as I could go. I’d get to be Stephanie after school today with Leslie and then Bruce but I wanted to be half of her in school at least. That’s why I was pushing the envelope. The clothes were still Steven---at least on the surface. I was wearing a pair of panties underneath, not that I needed to worry about changing. I opted out of Gym for my last year, having taken two semesters of it in my junior year. It was kinda rough---especially all the ridicule---but it was worth it.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, putting down the spoon. “It always looks like this.”

My father frowned, dipping his spoon in his soggy cereal. “It looks girly like that.”

I huffed. “Everything about me looks girly to you.”

He gave me a stern look but didn’t go any further. He knew as well as I if I walked into school with any mark on me that it would draw attention to him. So he stayed his hand but I was certain as soon as I got home tonight I was going to get smacked. I guess it was something to dread. After my smart comment, neither of us said anything at the breakfast table. He hated it when I went to school though because I didn’t have enough time in the morning to fix a real breakfast. So on school days it was either cereal or toast.

“When are you going to be home tonight?”

I shrugged. “I promised I’d help Leslie a little more now. She thinks I’m old enough for some more responsibilities.”

Yes, that’s right. I didn’t tell him about the Wayne job. There was good money in that and I wasn’t going to jeopardize that deal because of him.

“Why you still work for that old bat is beyond me.”

“She’s not an old bat,” I snapped.

He huffed. “You remember that the next time she forgets your name or something.”

I got pissed, slamming my bowl on the table. Milk and cereal sprayed all over, even drenching him a bit. Before he could say anything though, I pushed up. He glared at me. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but instead I grabbed my backpack. I could stand most of his insults because they were directed solely at me but I hated it when he attacked people I cared about. So I did the only thing I could think of now, I turned and left. I heard him shout something profane at me but I didn’t care. I stormed down the stairs and out the door.

I was a few minutes early for the bus so I paced a bit. I don’t know what the hell my mother ever saw in him. He was the biggest scumbag on the face of the planet. As soon as I was eighteen, I was going to get the hell out of this dump. I’m not sure if I had it all planned out but I did have enough cash for an apartment at least. It wouldn’t be a big one but it would be better than living with him and all his shit. If I had to get another job---a better one---then so be it. I hadn’t planned to work for Leslie forever anyway. It pained me to think about leaving her but I might not have a choice. Even with Mr. Wayne’s money, I’d still need another job.

The bus finally came. It sucked that I was crying by the time it showed. When I walked on, it was clear that everyone could see my tears. I got a lot of jeers and things thrown at me. My biggest tormenter, of course, was Fernando Garcia, a thuggish football player who thought he was hot shit because his father was a big real estate mogul. Fernando and his friends had been tormenting me since grade school. They went out of their way to make my life a living hell. When they say me crying, it was like open season to them. I ignored all their catcalls and names. But you could only take so many “sissies” and “fags” before it got to you.

I pushed down the aisle and found a seat next to Jen. She frowned and shook her head, standing up and giving Fernando the finger.

“Don’t mind those assholes,” she said as she sat back down.

I nodded. “I think Dad is starting to notice how girly I’m looking.”

“Did he say something again?”

I shook my head. “No, but he made a comment about my hair.”

She frowned and took a deep breath. “I wish you’d just tell your uncle. He’s the big man, right? He can have the police arrest your Dad in a heartbeat.”

I nodded. But I didn’t want to bother my uncle with my burdens. Besides, it wouldn’t matter in a month or so because I’d finally be free of the bastard. I could go out and live my own life. Then everything would be right with the world. I could go to school as Steven and spend the rest of my day at home as Stephanie. I think if there was anyone more excited than me about this plan it was Jen. She was a few months younger than me and though she didn’t have the gall to move out on her own, she was excited for me nonetheless.
The bus made a few more stops before we got to school. I’m not going to bore you with my school day. It was like any normal first day. I went to home room, got my new schedule, had a new locker assigned to me. All underclassmen had the same lockers for three years but when you became a senior, you got a new one assigned in the senior specific hall. These lockers were blue---as opposed to the others which were yellow. They were also newer and a bit bigger, allowing more stuff. I usually took my books for the morning classes in one stop and then switched out before lunch. It saved me some trips. It also helped me avoid my tormenters because I didn’t have to go by my locker where they were bound to congregate to annoy me.
When I went to my locker before lunch, Jen was waiting. She looked particularly cute in a floor length floral dress. She was bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet, waiting impatiently. This was the first year that the two of us had lunch the same period. It was also the first time we’d get to use the senior cafeteria. The Senior Caf. was bigger and had a lot more varieties for us to eat. As an underclassman, one was prone to complain about such things but it was a privilege that only seniors got, like being able to drive cars to school if they had them.

“What took you so long?”

“Spencer” I said, referring to the aging history teacher.

He was notorious for falling asleep in the middle of class. When he woke up, he acted as if nothing happened. But he had a tendency to start teaching the same thing he had been before he fell asleep. Being a student of his was very troublesome. Most of his students tried to drop out or switch to another teacher before the first week was done. After that, we were stuck. I thought about switching too, but I kinda liked the old guy. Older people tended to be much more knowledgeable in things and even though he repeated himself, he knew a lot of stuff.

“Are you going to drop?” asked Jen as the two of us walked down the hall.

“Nope” I said with a smile. “I like him.”

“Figures.”

In order to get to the Senior Caf. we had to pass through one of the underclassmen halls; mainly baby-faced freshmen populated this particular one. They all looked scared and out of place being the new fish in a very large pond. They were kinda cute like that and looking at them wandering about brought back fond memories. As Jen and I were passing by where our old lockers were something else brought back some not so fond memories. Fernando and his goon squad had found a new victim. He was a short, scrawny kid with black hair and freckles. He wasn’t as girly looking as say me but he was smaller than the others, singling him out as fresh meat.

Jen saw my look. “Forget it.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to let him turn into me.”

Jen sighed. “Well I’m going to get the principal, don’t do anything too stupid.”

I didn’t mind if the violence was directed at me but I hated seeing others get pushed around. Usually I just tried to do what Jen was doing, going to get someone in authority. But this particular incident got under my skin for some reason. So I took a deep breath and stormed over. I pushed my way through the fish eyed on-lookers. At first, Fernando didn’t notice me. He reared his arm back to push the little freshman into the lockers when I did something stupid. I grabbed his arm, holding it in place. It got an immediate reaction.

“Oh, the fag has come to play too, I see.”
Fernando’s friends laughed.

“Leave him alone, you jack ass.”

Fernando let go of the kid and went for me. He grabbed my shirt and slammed me into the lockers. It hurt like a bitch. “You want some of this Stephanie, so be it.” He emphasized the “phanie” at the end, as if calling me a girl’s name made me even more of a sissy.

He slammed his fist into my gut, causing me to double over in pain. Then slammed his knee into my mouth. I could taste the blood. When he let me go, I dropped to the ground. I think he probably would have done a lot more if not for the Vice Principal. He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing most students to scatter. Then he wrapped his arms around Fernando from behind, pulling him away from me. It helped that the guy was also the wrestling coach. Fernando kicked and squirmed. Even his friends looked a little scared of him. The VP looked at them and me.

“You guys, my office right now!” Then he spoke softly to me. “Miss, do you need to go to the nurse’s office.”

Jen interrupted the giggles from some of my fellow on-lookers. “I’ll take her, Mr. Crow.” She helped me to my feet.

The freshman followed us most of the way. “Thanks for that” he said quickly. “My name is Jason.”

I shook his outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’ve never had a girl stand up for me before, that was awesome.”

I opened my mouth to spoil his hero worship but Jen cut me off.
“That’s Steph for you, helping the innocent.”

I frowned. Jason continued talking. “Well, I’ve gotta get to class, thanks for everything.”

He took off. I looked at Jen and rolled my eyes. “Really?”

She shrugged. “I think he might have a little crush on you. I didn’t want to crush his spirits by telling him you were a guy.”

Even though I liked the idea of people thinking I was a girl, it would just cause problems here at school. I told her that and she just shrugged. The two of us went to the nurse’s office. The nurse gave me some ice for my lip then made me stay there through the lunch period. When I got to my next class, I found out what had happened to Fernando and his goons. His goons had gotten in school suspension and Fernando was expelled. Apparently, he actually broke free from the VP’s grasp and tried to hit him. So he was escorted out of the school in handcuffs, which I was sad to say that I missed.

It didn’t take long for what I did to spread around the school. The only problem was that everyone now thought I was the “girl who stood up to that ass, Fernando”. I guess I could live with that. It made me popular pretty quick though. However, I couldn’t get used to it too much, especially when Fernando’s girlfriend, Jordana, singled me out in my last class of the day. She threw a bitch fit, calling me all sorts of names, stuff that would make a truck driver blush. Her insults landed her a nice suspension, too. After that, I was feeling pretty good about myself, having ruined the school career of one of my tormentors and getting several of his lackeys in serious trouble. Did I feel bad ... not in the least? Those who do harm to others need to be punished. Fernando was a real ass and maybe some time wherever he was going would help him get better.

“So today you start at the Manor; right?” asked Jen as she met me outside my last class.

I nodded. I could have started yesterday but Bruce wanted me to have my extra day of freedom. So after I spent a few hours at the clinic, he’d send a cab to pick me up and take me to the Manor. I’m still not exactly sure what my job there was going to be, but whatever it was I was kinda excited about it. I talked a little more about the place as Jen and I got onto the bus. I took the bus as far as the Clinic where I got off. Jen lived in a better part of the city, so she got off before me. When I got off, I found Leslie inside waiting for me.

“I’ve got some nice things for you to wear today, much more respectable than those shorts.”

I smiled and nodded. She gave me a day off yesterday, too. I’m not sure when it happened but now I’d be Stephanie all the time here as well. I loved the idea of it actually; it made me feel like Steven was the disguise. I couldn’t get to the locker room fast enough. What I found in my locker was a pair of pink scrubs. They were really cool and I dressed in them quickly. Leslie had also bought me an outfit to wear to the manor: a blouse, skirt and a pair of one-inch heels. It was really cute and much more professional looking. After I came out dressed in the scrubs, Leslie asked me about the fat lip. So I had to tell her what happened.

“At least the little bastard got in trouble for it.”

My short time at the Clinic was kinda slow. We got a mother with her sick child---he had the flu. Then a man came in after dropping a hammer on his foot and another came in with stomach pains---thinking he was having a heart attack. It turned out to be indigestion. Our final customer was a bit of a surprise actually, it was Tony, again. This time he was complaining about a sore wrist. But both of us could see through his ruse. It was obvious he came to see me ... probably thought I’d be the cute candy striper again. He kinda frowned when he saw my scrubs. Leslie looked at his wrist and Tony bombarded me with questions, he was cute but a little too nosey for my tastes.

Before I knew it, my time with Leslie was up. “Don’t let him make you do anything too outrageous and if he does, you call me immediately?” she said as she followed me out to the cab.

I laughed and nodded. The ride to the Manor was a quiet one. This time the gate opened immediately upon my arrival. The cabbie whistled when he saw the house, I guess this was his first time. He didn’t wait to get paid; apparently, it was all taken care of. When I got the front door, Alfred was already standing there waiting for me. He complimented me on my outfit then led the way through the winding halls to Master Bruce’s tower, as he affectionately called it. When we got to the parlor, I half expected to see Tim lounging on the couch again but he was nowhere in sight. Good riddance as far as I was concerned.

“Master Bruce” said Alfred, knocking on Bruce’s door. “Miss Stephanie has arrived.”

“Show her in, Alfred.”

Alfred opened the door and left me alone. When I walked into the room, Bruce was sitting up in bed, looking a little better today than he did yesterday. His CCTV’s were not on either which was a good thing because the other day it made him look a bit paranoid. He smiled when he saw me and complimented me as well which made me blush.

He got right down to business. He started sending me on menial tasks, sending me up and down the damn tower so many times that I wanted to kill him. I felt like his slave, doing the stupidest things. But I did get to see a lot of the Manor, having to run from one end of it to the other. I was practically in and out of every room, having been given a key to do so. The only room I wasn’t sent to was the one directly beneath him in the tower. When I asked him about it, he said it was storage and not to worry about it. After an hour of errands, my legs were burning from being overworked. After another hour, he finally told me it was time for dinner. I had no idea I was eating with him but he insisted. Boy was Dad going to be mad without me there to make him his meal.

Alfred came and escorted me to the dining room. It was just as big and just as grand as the rest of the place. It had an enormously tall ceiling and one of the longest tables I’d ever seen. The room fit the castle motif to a tee, especially with all the suits of armor lining the walls. While Alfred left me alone, I did some wandering again. Like a cat, I went over to one of the suits, curiosity getting the better of me. This particular one was holding this real wicked looking poleaxe. I tried to imagine what something like that would do to someone as I reached out and touched it. I must have touched it a little too hard because it wobbled on its pedestal and fell at me.
I yipped like a dog and sprang backwards, my gymnastics taking over. I didn’t even know I could do a back flip anymore until I did. I executed the maneuver with ease. Unfortunately, the suit of armor went clattering loudly to the flood. I cursed and rushed over quickly, trying my hardest to lift the damn thing up. But it weighed a ton. As I was struggling with it, two hands appeared out of nowhere and helped me lift. I snapped around and saw Tim.

“Do you make a habit out of sneaking up on innocent girls?”

“I don’t know, do you make a habit out of touching things you shouldn’t?”

Touché. Then my heart did that thump thump thing, stupid heart. “Where did you come from anyway?” I asked as the two of us walked over to the table.

“I heard the loudest noise in the world and thought we were having an air raid.”

I frowned and he laughed. His laugh was kinda annoying. ‘What do you do here anyway?”

He ignored my question. Instead, he reached out and gently touched my lip. “Who did this?” he asked, sternly.

I smacked my hand way. “It’s nothing, I broke up a fight in school.”

Tim looked kinda pissed. “So you got hit for it.”

“The guy’s a jackass anyway.”

“A guy?” Tim looked even more pissed. “What kind of a guy hits a girl like that?”

“Well…ummm….you see….”

I was interrupted by Alfred who arrived to tell us dinner was ready. Only Tim and I were seated. Apparently, Alfred ate elsewhere and Bruce couldn’t very well leave his room. Suffice to say dinner was a very quiet affair, which I was more than used to at home. Though Tim kept looking at me, fuming. I think he was still kinda pissed that someone hit me. I’m glad I didn’t tell him about getting punched in the gut; he probably would have gone nuts. Which kinda confused me a bit? I was a stranger to him and yet he was getting so worked up over it. As far as I could tell, he didn’t even like me.

After dinner, I did some more errands, which annoyed me. At the end, I found myself in front of Bruce, panting.

“Tired?” I nodded and he smiled. “Good, now I know you can take it. I saw you huffing and puffing up those stairs the last time you were here. We need to work out some of that and get you back to how you used to be, back when you were a gymnast.”

“You know about that?”

He nodded. “I like to know who I have in my employ, Steven.”

Shit. “I didn’t mean….I mean...I had no intention….”

I started to tear up. He spoke in a soothing tone. “Its ok, Stephanie. I’m not angry or upset. I knew the moment I saw you. You’re a brave girl for doing what you’re doing and I applaud you for it. It shows you’ve got guts and resilience, I like that.”

I smiled. “You’re not going to tell anyone else, are you?”

He smiled and shook his head. “If you mean Tim, then the answer is no.”

I sighed in relief. “What’s that guy’s problem, anyway” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I quickly put a hand over my mouth. “Sorry.”

Bruce laughed. “I’ll let him tell you. Suffice to say, Tim has had a troubled past.”

We talked a little more about things then he dismissed me for the night. Once again, he offered to have Alfred drive me home but I refused. So Alfred called a cab and waited with me outside until it came to pick me up. When it arrived, Alfred paid the driver up front, told him where to take me and bid me a good night.

____________________________________

“Why are you stopping?” I asked, as the cab pulled over to the curb.

The driver looked at me in his rearview. “This is as far as I go, kid.”

“But he paid you to take me to my apartment.”

“Look” he said, agitated. “Any moron who’s worth their salt knows not to go into the Narrows after dark. I’m not a moron. So sorry, little girl, this is as far as I go.”

“You’re a prick,” I said as I pushed open the door.

“Well I’m a living one, ain’t I” said the driver and I walked away.

What a fucking jackass. Who leaves a girl like me alone on the street after hours? Well I wasn’t technically a girl but he didn’t know that. I flipped him off as he was pulling away but I don’t think he saw me. So I cursed and spit in his direction. After that, I shivered a bit and got my bearings. I was a few blocks from home so I guess it wouldn’t be too bad if I walked it. I’d just have to move a little faster than I was used to, which was bad for me because my legs were on fire from all the moving today. I tried my best though, moving at a speed usually reserved for people in a rush.

But at night in the Narrows, everyone was in a rush.
I walked an entire block on my sore legs, they didn’t bother me one bit. But as soon as I got about halfway down the second block, I started to feel the burn. I stopped to catch my breath. As soon as I did, I realized it was a mistake. Up ahead there were at least three of them---college age thugs. They didn’t see me at first and I thought I was lucky. Then one of them caught me out of the corner of his eye or something. I cursed and tried to run across the street but they were faster. The first one grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me. I screamed and struggled but it was no use.

“Why fuss baby, dressed like that.”

He carried me into a nearby alley with his two friends laughing. They threw me against the wall and surrounded me. I fell to the ground but got to my feet quickly. I tried to run but they cut me off. I tried to push through them but they were too strong. One grabbed my ponytail and pulled me back into the wall again. I started to cry then screamed again. But even if someone heard, they wouldn’t do anything about it. This was the perk of living in the Narrows. Someone could get shot in front of someone else but no one would do a thing. It was a dog eat dog world in this part of the city. Things changed when the Bat showed up but the Bat was gone and crime was at an all time high again.

“Let me go” I sobbed.

They laughed and mimicked me in mocking tones.

“Frankie” said one of the taller ones to a shorter, fat one. “Show the little bitch what she’s in for.”

Frankie---the fat one---pulled out a knife. The third guy held me from behind as Frankie cut the buttons off my blouse. My original plan was to change at a nearby restaurant down the street; I was carrying my boy clothes in a bag. But I’d completely forgotten about it when the cabbie pissed me off. Now I was stuck in this alley, with these disgusting bastards. And things were about to get even worse as soon as they realized that I wasn’t what I was supposed to be.

“Take it slow, Frank,” said the tall one “I want to see a little white flesh before I get some titty.”

The Fat One nodded, cutting more buttons off, but slowly.
I screamed again and they laughed even louder.
I’m not really certain what happened after that. Whatever it was, it happened so quickly. They were laughing, having a good time watching me suffer and then something happened. I think the one behind me screamed. He was holding real tight to me then he was gone. His friends looked a little confused too. The Fat One abandoned his cutting and the tall one pulled out a small gun, pressing the barrel into my abdomen.

“I’ll shoot her,” he said with a shaky voice.

“Doubtful” said a cold voice from the dark.

I turned and squinted. There was a figure there, partially shrouded in black. The tall one raised his gun and fired but was clear he was shooting at nothing. Then the figure appeared again, dropping down from above. He slammed into the Fat One hard, driving him to the ground. The knife flew into the darkness. The dark figure slammed his fist into the bastard’s face. The tall one squeezed off another shot, the bullet went wild. The noise was loud and echoed off the narrow walls around us. Both of us clasped our ears, I dropped to the ground. He dropped the gun and stumbled backwards. The figure was there again, this time in between the two of us. He had something in his hand, something metal. It was short at first then extended in length.

It was a metal pole I think. He spun it in a quick circle then brought it down on the tall one’s shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain. When the man doubled over, the figure struck him again.

“Harming women is for fools and cowards,” said the figure in his cold tone, slamming the pole into the guy’s chest a second time.

The figure spun the pole around, driving it across the tall one’s face. My final attacker dropped to the ground and didn’t get back up. The figure nudged him with his foot. When the guy didn’t move, the figure bent down and I heard a hissing sound. When the figure stood back up, there was a spray painted pair of red R’s on the man’s prone form.

“Are you all right, miss?” asked my mysterious rescuer.

I nodded, speechless.

“Do you need medical attention?”

I shook my head.
I thought I saw a smile. Then he was gone. He just disappeared, running into the darkness. I stood in the alley a long time, watching him go. I stayed there for a few minutes, then pulled out my cell. I fumbled through telling the operator the details but I didn’t give her my name. Nor did I wait around for the police to arrive. I was too scared that they’d want me to file a report and find out I wasn’t a girl. So I ran as hard as I could toward home...not caring that my legs were killing me nor that I was dressed like a girl. Thankfully, when I got inside Dad was out cold on the couch. So I ran into my room and flopped down on my bed.

I cried myself to sleep.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF