Brothers In Arms (Batfamily) - Completed

Chapter 11~ I'll Be Watching You

Mad_Eyed_Maddy

The same night

Alice was looking out of her bedroom's window, glancing at Gotham's darkness. She had been sent to the orphanage one week ago, right after her mother was murdered in the bank. She had hoped that someone would come and take her out of this place, telling her that all of this never happened, that she wasn't alone on this planet. But it never happened...

In the orphanage, she was sharing her bedroom with two other girls, both older than her and they weren't paying attention any kind of attention towards the little girl at all. To be honest, Alice felt like she wasn't existing at all.

However, that night, while she was alone in the bedroom, glancing out of the window like every other nights, she saw something moving quickly in the orphanage's garden.

Out of curiosity, she tried to see what it was, but it had already disappeared. Alice frowned and sighed frustratingly until decided to move towards her bed. She knew the two other girls wouldn't come back in a long moment as they were, as usual, with their friends in the orphanage.

Alice hadn't tried to befriend anyone because firstly, she was shy and secondly, she didn't wanted to have friends. The only thing she wanted was to get back to her house and to hug her mother tightly. She had toys in her new bedroom, even though there was only a few. She hadn't touched them, not even glanced at them.

She went inside her bed, covering her body with the surprisingly warm blanket and turned off the light. She was beginning to feel her eyelids getting heavy when she heard a soft knock coming from out of the window. Thinking she had dreamt, she didn't make a move but instead she snuggled even more under her blanket. However, a few seconds later, she heard a knock once again.

She groaned in annoyance and got on her feet to see what it could be. She walked towards the small window and peered through the darkness of the night. As she looked on her right, she saw a silhouette perched on the roof just above her. The shadow waved at her. Surprised, she didn't make a move and blinked a few times.

After a few seconds, the shadow gestured her to open the window and after a few more seconds, she opened it.

"Hey Alice," a voice said in a soft tone, "Do you remember me?" The little girl blinked, trying to make her eyes adjust to the night a little bit.

"I recognize your voice, but that's all..." she replied softly.

"I'm Red Robin. Can you let me in? It's not extremely comfortable up here," he laughed. The little girl opened the window wide and moved aside to let the teen inside the room. Once inside, Alice immediately recognized the man who was there the night her mother died and who had tried to comfort her in the police car.

He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and started to observe it. There was only three small beds, two wardrobes, three very small desks with homework papers on all of them. The floor was made out of old dark wooden parquet and the walls, painted in an old pink, were empty, except for a single band's poster. It was a simple small room and it was cruelly lacking any sign of joy.

Alice was sitting cross-legged on her bed, glancing awkwardly at the floor. "How do you feel here?" Red Robin asked, breaking the silence between them.

"People are kind. They take good care of us," she replied slowly, "But the girls who are with me ignore me, but I can understand them. They are older, what would they do of me?"

"I see... So you feel left out?"

The girl nodded. "I don't want to make friend with anyone. I don't want to play with whatever toys. I just want my mother to be alive and to come here to take me back home." Tim, under his mask, saw that the girl's brown eyes were starting to get wet. How could he blame her? She had lost everything...