An Assassin's Guide to Family

Chapter 3: Past

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The night Bruce Wayne's parents died Sally Wayne had been at home, too sick to go out and celebrate, stuck under the care of Alfred. When Alfred left in a rush Sally had been scared, she'd hidden underneath the sheets until her brother returned home. He'd crawled into the bed beside her and began crying into her shoulder.

Sally had only been told what happened after she'd comforted Bruce till he slept.

Years had gone by and the once close siblings slowly drifted apart, Bruce's secret life driving a wedge between the two. They had no time to talk, to hang out. His life was about work and crime fighting. Sally's life now beginning to move on, leaving Bruce in the past.

After years of continuous distancing between the two, the day finally came where Sally and Bruce split, the wedge tearing through the relationship entirely and leaving the two alone to fend for themselves.

Sally had gone on a trip to the beach her mother had taken her once for what her mother called "A girl's day out". She'd loved the location, begging her mother to take her there whenever physically possible. The sea called to her and she found it hard to deny.

She'd relied on the beach as a crutch once her parents died, using it as a way to get closer to her mother. Until the trip she'd taken in her twenties. She'd gone on a whim, needing to get away from the deep muttering of her brother and the dark shadows that haunted every corner of the manor.

When she got there she met a man, strong yet calm like the ocean itself.

Sally had fallen in love, he'd expressed his own feeling towards her after another two trips and combining this with her growing wish to leave behind the depressing and dreary Gotham she'd finally come to a decision. She was going to live in New York to start a new life and forget the burdens of the past.

She packed for a week, getting all her affairs in order and making sure she collected her belongings. Her brother didn't find out till the final day.

That day Bruce yelled at his sister, he yelled at her for not thinking ahead, for falling in love with a man she'd met on a trip to the beach, for leaving him. Sally took it, her face a form of quiet solemness as she knew this would probably be the last time she spoke to her previously beloved sibling, driven crazy by his desire to find the killer of their parents.

Instead of yelling, she gave him the cookies she'd baked, bid him goodbye, and drove away.

Bruce never did see her again.

He'd dwelled on this moment in silence, the only other person who knew had been Alfred who kept the images of Sally away from Bruce.

It was like this for 14 years.

Until Bruce got a phone call.

His little sister had died, beaten to death by her second husband and leaving behind one child. A 13 year old girl.

Apparently he was the one who was appointed to raise Percy as told in Sally's will.

His sister had a child and he'd never known. She'd not called, texted, or emailed him. She'd had her own secret life and he'd not bothered to check in.

And now he was the one who had to watch over her only remaining memory.

Bruce had dwelled on the fight he'd had with his sister, and over the years he'd realized how one sided it'd been. He'd regretted it. So when the phone call came in he was off instantly, leaving his other kids in the care of Barry Allen who would be able to come at the earliest notice.

When he reached the police station he'd already been informed of what they'd found out about the situation and he was one to admit that his blood was boiling. The kid had seen it all,  been forced to defend herself against a man twice her weight.

When he landed his eyes on her he couldn't help but tense. She shared Sally's kind eyes, those same eyes were now distant, surrounded by puffy skin, and dark in nature. She had black hair like the rest of the Wayne family, Sally's hair had been the thing to make her stick out. When she noticed him she tensed like he had, her eyes immediately searching him like he did with a threat. The thought saddened him.

As he walked into the station he wondered if she'd end up like him, alone and spending nights trying to take retribution for her parents. The thought was quickly purged. He would never let Percy become like him, he'd keep the girl away from crime fighting. She'd be safe from the thing that'd corrupted him if it was the last thing he'd do.

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