Innocent (A Treacherous Novel)

9

Gotham City, New Jersey

May 24, 2003

Ashley was the most moody human on the planet now, or at least that's what Dick thought as he watched her cry over ice cream to some dog commercial. "Are you okay?" Dick asked, treading lightly as her head snapped in his direction and her eyes narrowed before she groaned.

"Leave me alone" Ashley told him before a cramp hit her once again and began to rub the crease between her thigh and torso. "Where's Aunt Dinah?" She groaned in pain. While Ashley moaned and groaned on the couch and Dick watched in concern while the usually brooding bat kept his nose pinched and his eyes shut while he listened to the children. With a disappointed sigh and the first prayer he had said since he was child, Bruce wished this would be over quickly. Ashley laid down on the couch with her head in Dick's lap since she had discovered that laying down made her feel less pain.

"I don't care what you say, she's out of commission until she's off of her period" Dinah said as she hit Bruce, who probably had said nothing short of desirable to her aunt of her condition and startled Ashley back to conscienceness. "Ashley Renee, come on" Dinah said as she held up the pads and tampons. "And it will be every month from the beginning to the end that she's out of commission" She told Bruce, daring him to argue with her over it.

"I wanna be out of commission" Dick complained as he rubbed the bruise he gotten from their last fight with the Riddler. Ashley hit the boy on the lower thigh with a surprising amount of that made the boy yelp in surprise while she got up from the couch and popped her back. "What?" Dick complained as he massaged the area she had just hit.

"This sucks!" She told him angrily. "You don't have to wake up in a pool of your own blood and be in constant pain, asshole" She yelled.

"Language Ashley" Bruce told her as he removed his hand from his face. Ashley deadpanned as she grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at her father and cackled as it hit him in the head.

"You'll be in the psych ward before I can put you in a nursing home" She told him as she left the room as angry tears streamed down her face.

"Jesus" She heard Dick say before she stepped on the first stair and quickly made her way up to her room. She didn't know if she could deal with anyone just yet. After she got into her bedroom, she huffed and grabbed her copy of The Outsiders from her nightstand and sat in her window seat and idley began to read as her mind wandered into a daydream.

"Ashley" Dinah's voice flitted as she came into the room. She sat in a chair near the seat Ashley was in and looked at her expectantly. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing" Ashley told her, bottling up her feelings once again. "I'm fine" She said to Dinah nonchalantly.

"We both know that when you say your fine-" Dinah began

"-That I'm not fine at all" Ashley finished. "I know" Ashley said steadily as she looked into her aunt's eyes. "It's just hormones Di, I'm fine" Ashley told her, who was just looked at by her aunt in disbelief. "I promise" She told her aunt.

"Well, I guess should explain how all these work then before Oliver and I head back to Star City" Dinah told her.

"Aunt Di?" Ashley asked out of nowhere.

"Yes baby?" Dinah questioned.

"You know I love you right?" Ashley asked as thought she was unsure of the answer.

"Yes I do" Dinah confirmed. "Just like I love you too...where's this coming from?" Dinah asked Ashley.

"I just feel it in my gut" Ashley told her and shrugged. Dinah made a mental note to have Bruce keep a closer eye on her.