Innocent (A Treacherous Novel)

Prologue

Gotham City, New Jersey

November 18, 2002

"Thank God for Thanksgiving break!" Ashley said as she plopped down beside her aunt, who had recently returned to Gotham City and was laid down in her room in Wayne Manor.

"A whole week off of school and sleeping in and you're waking me up at" Dinah said and checked the time. "8:30?"Dinah asked.

"I'm sorry" Ashley apologized sheepishly.

"It's okay" Dinah said and scooted over to make room for her niece. "Lay down for one more hour, then we can do something" Dinah promised her niece who nodded and crawled under the covers. Ashley immediately felt safer under the covers with her aunt than she had anywhere else in the manor. As Dinah dosed off, Ashley stared up at the ceiling and sighed peacefully as she wondered about what would happen today and if her nightmares would stay away tonight. "Your mind is running a million miles a minute, kid" Dinah said with her eyes closed. "I can feel it" her aunt added.

"I'm sorry" Ashley told her.

"Don't apologize" Dinah told her. "A lot happens here" Dinah said to Ashley, who only let out a sad sigh as a response. "Are you still having the nightmares?" Dinah asked her quietly.

"Yeah" Ashley said and started crying. As Dinah watched her, her heart broke and she pulled her niece in as she did when she was young. 

"Do you want me to ask J'onn to take them away?" Dinah asked her quietly. 

"Dad won't let me" Ashley said through her tears, furiously wiping them away as if she were mad at herself for feeling any sort of emotion. "He said it's my reason to fight the war" Ashley told her as she attempted to burrow herself further into her aunts' side. 

"What war?" Dinah asked, concerned. 

"The war in Gotham" Ashley told her, and Dinah's heart dropped. Dinah held her just a little bit tighter as the dread settled in her stomach. There was only a bad outcome from this in Dinah's mind and it killed her to know. 

♠♠♠

"I wanna go to the circus" Ashley asserted herself to her father as she sat down at the breakfast table the next day. Her aunt raised an eyebrow at her sudden burst of confidence that she had had seemingly out of nowhere.

"Why Ashley?" Her father asked before taking a bite of his breakfast.

"I've never been" Ashley said before adding "Plus it could inspire me to learn new tricks" Ashley said.

"Tricks?" Her father asked, his imposing figure staring her down.

"Come on Dad!" Ashley begged. "I never get to be a normal kid-" She tried to explain herself.

"Ashley!" Her father said with a stern tone. "You are far above normal, there's no point in trying to compare yourself to the masses" Bruce said sternly.

"It would help with my people skills!" Ashley practically begged.

"It wouldn't hurt, Bruce" Dinah agreed.

"She should be training, Dinah" Bruce argued.

"She's ten, Bruce. Let her act like it" Dinah said, sitting back and staring down at her former brother-in-law.

"She's a member of-" Bruce began

"If you say Gotham Elite, I will castrate you" Dinah told him with a raised eyebrow. "Or are you forgetting her maternal grandparents are detectives?" Dinah asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine" Bruce said, giving in. "We'll go tomorrow."

"Thank you" Ashley said happily and began to eat her breakfast as her father glowered at her aunt. Breakfast continued in silence for the next thirty minutes until Alfred entered and cleared his throat.

"I believe it would beneficial for the young mistress to go brush her teeth so she and Miss Lance isn't late for their day with Mister and Missus Lance" Alfred said as he stood in the doorway.

"Of course" Ashley said and bolted upstairs.

"Act enthusiastic when you're with her, Bruce. Maybe she'll want to be around you" Dinah said as she put her face in her hand in disappointment.

"I am enthusiastic" Bruce glowered and raised an eyebrow.

"We have two different definitions of enthusiastic" Dinah said and rubbed her temples. What can you do to make the world's most stubborn man want to act like a good, enthusiastic father who wants to bond with their child and not make them into a one-woman army with the weight of the world and her father's expectations on her shoulder? 

"Quit looking at me like that" Bruce said at her face that was a mixture of anger and disbelief. 

"One of these days, I will gut you like a goddamn fish" Dinah said and shook her head as she got up to leave. 

"Ashley's turned out just fine" Bruce said with a shrug. "She could be killing right now, but instead she wants a day with her grandparents" Bruce defended. 

"You dense motherfucker" Dinah said disbelieving her ears. 

"I have had sex with mother's, yes" Bruce deadpanned and raised an eyebrow. 

"If it weren't for Ashley, I'd kill you" Dinah said and stood up to leave the room.

"What did I do?" Bruce asked himself and raised an eyebrow. 

"As Miss Lance would say, Master Bruce" Alfred began. "'You were being yourself'" Alfred told him and began cleaning up the morning mess. 

"Dad" Ashley said as she slid back into the dining room. 

"Ashley?" Bruce asked from the head of the table. 

"I want to start playing basketball" Ashley told him assertively. 

"We'll speak about it later" Bruce said and Ashley smiled. 

"So it's a yes" Ashley said and ran out of the room as she screamed her aunt's name. Bruce shook his head as he listened to the retreating sound of his daughter's footsteps. 

"Did any leads on the Dock's killer show up on the batcomputer?" Bruce asked, needing an escape. 

"Not to my knowledge, Sir" Alfred said and cleaned up Bruce's plate. 

"Time for me to get to it then" Bruce said and dismissed himself, practically running into the batcave to begin finding himself another serial killer. 

♠♠♠

"Dinah" Ashley said as she pulled on her aunt's hand and pointed to the Hollister that was nearing them. 

"Mom" Dinah yelled back to her parents who were talking as they struggled behind the aunt-niece duo. "Ash wants to go into Hollister" She told them and they nodded their intent. Ashley smiled and Ashley practically sprinted inside the Hollister shop. "Ashley get back here" Dinah said and sprinted to get closer to her niece. 

"What if I wear Hollister to the circus?" Ashley's eyes sparkled at the thought as she looked around. 

"Why do you want to go to Hollister?" Dinah asked her niece as she looked at the shirtless mannequin. 

"Because it's not Gucci" Ashley said with an eyeroll. "I don't want to look like Dad" Ashley told her seriously as her little lithe frame looked around the store. "I want to look like me" Ashley told her and Dinah nodded her approval. 

"Something tells me your Dad won't approve of Hollister" Dinah said as she thought. "What if instead of Gucci, we went to Prada?" Dinah asked. Ashley couldn't help but sigh as she looked around. 

"I'm still shopping at Hollister" Ashley insisted. 

"I wouldn't expect anything less" Dinah said. "Hollister first, fancy circus attire next" Dinah told her and Ashley grinned as she started grabbing items before her aunt could even see what she had grabbed.

A/N It's short and not so sweet but it's a prologue that will eventually be re-written because I hate it. Happy New Year and RIP Betty White