Summary: After Lauren’s family was killed by the Joker
she tries to hide from the police to avoid abusive foster parents or group
homes. But when batman finds her she is adopted by Bruce Wayne who feels duty
to the young girl. Lauren is a little too observant and quickly figures out
just who Bruce Wayne is. Now Lauren is trying to find her voice again in a
world gone mad, learn her part in Bruce’s charade, and preferably not get
killed by a crazed clown. Post Batman Begins, Pre- and during the Dark Knight. First
of a series.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

A.N.: this is completely un-Beta’ed, sorry.  Originally
this chapter was going to be all about Bruce and Rachael, sort of screwed the
pooch on that. So the Rachael-Bruce confrontation has been postponed to Chapter
Nine along with the Batman segment that was also originally going to be in this
chapter.

Oh, and I’m heading this off at the pass, Lauren is still
Lauren. I am not changing her name. This idea has been in place from the
beginning. If you look back you will see that I included all of her family’s
middle names in the first chapter. (this will make sense at the end of this
chapter)

Thoughts

∞time or place change∞

Sign language (not direct translation)

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Written stuff

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Gotham’s Saddest
Daughter

Chapter 8

A Little Peak
Inside

∞Wayne Penthouse, 3:00 p.m., Lauren’s POV∞

Lauren sat once again at the table with Sasha beside her
plate. This time she was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich under the
watchful eye of Alfred who had promised her that Sasha didn’t actually want any
of the crumbs.

After leaving her house, they had returned to Bruce’s
apartment where men where installing bookcases in her room. Bruce had left as
soon as he had changed suits and gone to talk to some man called Lucius. Lauren
secretly wondered if he had long white hair and a funny accent, but didn’t
think she would like it much if he did. Batman didn’t need to be around people
like him.

The boxes from her house had arrived about half an hour
after Bruce had left, and were currently sitting in the hall waiting for the
men to finish securing the bookcases, so they could move the books into her
room.

Lauren finished her sandwich and turned to poke on the side
of Sasha’s bowl. The beta, pleased with the attention, opened his fins wide and
began swimming from side to side while keeping his head towards Lauren. The
girl smiled at her pet, a light fluttering dancing around the numbness in her
chest. Sasha posed and postured for a while, before becoming bored with it, and
returned to ignoring Lauren.

Luckily it was about then that one of the men came into the
room to speak with Alfred.

“Everything is in place, I trust.”

“Yes, sir. The shelves are bolted in the wall and the ladder
is held on by a  wrap around wheel system. A four hundred pound baboon could
hang of it and it wouldn’t come down.” The man said matter-of-factly.

“Very good.” Alfred nodded as the man left. “We can move
your books into your room now, Miss Lauren.”

Lauren grabbed up Sasha’s bowl and Hatter before walking quickly
to look at her newest toy. Where before the wall between the door to the rest
of house and her closet was empty, now there stood a brown bookcase that rose
all the way to the ceiling. A matching brown ladder leaned into the top most
level of the case and rested on the floor with large wheels.

Lauren smiled widely at the thought of riding the ladder,
but her fun was quickly cut short by Alfred.

“Now, Miss Lauren, this ladder is not a toy it is a tool.”
The small gleam in the butler’s eyes clearly expected her not to listen to
portion of his speech. “You will need it to get the upper levels, but Master
Wayne and myself do not want you going any higher then the third shelf without
one of us here.”

Lauren nodded immediately. It would be easier to kick off
from the bottom anyway.

“Very well. Let’s start bringing in your things.” Alfred
gently took Sasha from her and set him on the table near her bed where he
wasn’t likely to get knocked over, while Lauren sat Hatter against bookshelves
and ran into the hallway to push the first box into her room. The box she had
retrieved turned out to be mostly her mother’s books. Alfred placed them on the
higher shelves, as she wasn’t likely to read them soon.

I will to read them. You just watch. Lauren silently
huffed at the idea that she couldn’t understand them. She was the best reader
in her class.

The two worked like this for some time. Lauren bringing in
boxes while Alfred stood on the ladder and placed the books he thought she
wouldn’t be reading on the higher shelves, while she put everything else on the
lower shelves. They where half way through the last of Andrew and Daniel’s
books when there was a buzz from the door.

Alfred stepped off of the ladder with a look of interest and
left to answer the door. Grabbing Hatter, Lauren snuck after him, hoping to see
who was there. Her curious seed, the feeling that was growing in the numb,
mixed with excitement and made her giddy in a way familiar to children, as she
followed after the older man.

“Ah, Miss Dawes.” Lauren peaked around the corner to get a
look at the woman Alfred had just addressed.

“Hello Alfred. Is Bruce here?” Miss Dawes stood in the
doorway, a bag hanging from over her shoulder. Lauren thought her face had the
same look that her mother’s had when she wasn’t happy about something.

“I’m afraid he stepped out to Wayne Tower. He should be back
before long, if you would like to wait. Why the sudden need to speak with him.”

“This.” Miss Dawes pulled a paper out of her bag and showed
it to Alfred.

“Yes, our newest house guest. She’s spying on us from around
the corner if you would like to meet her.” The butler pointed towards where
Lauren had pulled her head from a moment before.

How does he do that?

“Miss Lauren, come here and say hello Miss Dawes,” Lauren
inched out from behind her wall, and wearily walked towards the woman while
shooting her suspicious looks. Completely unfazed by her reaction Alfred
continued, “She is Master Bruce’s oldest friend. They’ve known each other,
since they were younger then you.”

Whoever Miss Dawes was to Bruce, she was giving Lauren an
odd look that was making her a little nervous.

“Hi.” Miss Dawes leaned over and tried to smile at her. “My
name is Rachael…”

Lauren continued to give her hateful looks. She still
couldn’t figure out what the look in Rachael’s eyes was. The way she had looked
when talking to Alfred though, she clearly wasn’t happy, but now she was all
smiles and speaking softly. Another liar. Just like Ms. Meadows. She
probably wants to send me away.

But she is Bruce’s friend. Another voice countered.

Says Alfred.

Alfred wouldn’t lie.

Well maybe she isn’t really his friend. Ever think of
that.

Maybe she is.

Well then…she could want him all to herself. And not want
me here so she doesn’t have to share.

…I won’t take up much space. Just a little. The two voices
merged back into one. Like at school, I’ll just take up a little space. She
can keep him. It’s okay. Suddenly Lauren wasn’t feeling so curious anymore.
So without any response to Rachael’s attempt at an introduction, she turned and
ran back to her room.

∞Alfred’s POV∞

“Well, that was interesting.”

Miss Dawes started in shock after Lauren. “Is she always
like that.”

“In what way? Quiet? Yes, she hasn’t spoken a word since
Batman found her. Curious? As far as I’ve seen? Definitely. Skittish? I’m not
entirely sure. Though she did run away from her social worker. ” Alfred mulled
over Lauren’s reaction and quickly came to the conclusion that the last was
somehow involved with this. “May I recommend you go patch things up while I
make some tea?”

Rachael nodded and headed after Lauren. Things really are
starting to get interesting.

∞Lauren’s POV∞

Keeping Hatter with her, Lauren returned to putting her
books away. The feelings that were swirling around the numb had changed from
the feather light ones she was used to, to thick, gooey ones. They were
familiar, their unwanted presence sticking her insides together and not
allowing her thoughts to wonder.

∞Flashback∞

Lauren stood at the door to the class room, looking for an
empty seat. It was her first day of first grade, unfortunately, for everyone
else in her class, it was their sixth. The night before the first day of school
Lauren had come down with a case of the chicken pox, thus forcing her to miss
the first week of classes. Now here she was the only one without a group of
friends.

“Hi.” The voice came from Lauren’s right beside the book
case full of brightly colored bins. “My name’s Emma.” Emma was a little taller
then Lauren, and had straight black hair that was pulled back in a pony tail
that hung to her shoulders. She wore a blue short sheaved shirt and blue jeans
that made her legs look like toothpicks.

“I’m Lauren, but you can call me Alice.”

“Alice?” Emma screwed up her face. “Why Alice?”

“It’s my middle name. Only my mommy and daddy call me
Lauren.”

“Okay, Alice. You can put your bag in here.” Emma pointed to
an orange bin marked “Lauren.” “When ever we need to get something out of our
bags, Ms. Upton will tell us.”

Lauren smiled at her new friend and put her bag in her bin
after pulling out her pencil case notebook. “Where do I sit?” The blonde asked
looking around at the various tables.

“You can sit with me.” Emma hooked her arm with Lauren’s and
led her to the table in the very back of the room where a mousy girl with a
large white ribbon her hair was sitting. “This is Amber, she is my very bestest
friend. Now you can be both of our’s very bestest friend too, Alice.” Amber
looked at Lauren critically. Like Emma, Amber was wearing jeans and a short
sleeved shirt, though her shirt was purple.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Amber asked with a sneer.

 Lauren looked down at her pink sundress and lacey, white,
short sleeved shrug. “I always dress like this.”

“How are you going to play in shoes like that?” Amber
pointed at Lauren’s white dress shoes.

“I don’t know…”

“Amber!” Emma pulled Lauren closer to her side, wrapping her
arms around the one of Lauren’s she still held hostage. “Don’t be a meany!
Alice is our newest, bestest friend. And bestest friends don’t say stuff like
that.”

“I’m sorry.” Amber muttered.

But Amber wasn’t sorry, as Lauren quickly found out. Emma
turned out to be one of the most popular girls in the first grade, and it
seemed that not even Amber would cross her to her face. So whenever Emma was
around, Amber was the perfect friend, but whenever she wasn’t looking, Amber
would trip Lauren or hide her things.

By the end of the week Lauren’s knees were covered in
bruises and half of her things were missing.

“Please don’t.” she cried as Amber stood poised with an open
bottle of glue over Hatter, who Lauren had brought in for show and tell.

“Why not. You ruined everything. Emma has been my bestest
friend forever. But now she’s always with you. I don’t want to be your friend.
I want my friend back!” Amber glared at her not-so friend with all the might of
a six-year old.

“I’m sorry.” Lauren looked at the ground. “I didn’t mean to.
I promise, I’ll stop being Emma’s friend.”

Amber put the glue down a satisfied smile on her face.
“Good. You should never have been her friend in the first place.”

Lauren didn’t want to hurt Emma, so she started reading
more. At recess whenever Emma tried to get her to play, she would say she
wanted to finish this book or this chapter. At lunch and during breaks she did
the same thing. Amber stopped tripping her and after a while all of her things
ended up in her bin again.

The weeks passed and everyone became used to Lauren’s ways.
They stopped inviting her to sleep-overs, knowing she’d say no. They stopped
asking her to join in at tag, for the same reason. But whenever they worked in
groups, she was automatically with Emma and Amber, and at lunch she had a place
to sit. When Emma sent out invitations to her birthday party, Lauren was one of
the first to get one, the same with her Halloween party and her Christmas Tea. 

That was her little piece of space, and she became used to
it, just as the other’s did. And after a while, she didn’t want any more. She
had her brothers and sister to play with anyway; she didn’t need to go to
sleep-overs. Amber probably didn’t have brothers to play with, or a sister to
read to her. Besides, she had Sasha, and Amber probably didn’t have a beta.
Lauren was better off with her little piece of Emma, Amber needed her more
anyway.

∞End Flashback∞

Lauren pulled herself away from the gooey feelings and let
the numb take hold. She didn’t need Bruce. She had thought of him like her
brothers and her daddy, but he wasn’t. Bruce was her friend, and she only every
got little pieces of her friends. But that was okay.

Lauren smiled to herself. Miss Rachael probably needed Bruce
more anyway.