Renegade, Another Bat?

Chapter 26 - We've all got battle scars

Chapter 26 - We've all got Battle Scars –

'And now it istime for me to get up again, stronger than ever before.'

*IMPORTANT*

I just realised that the time-line is about 4-5 months out... the story states that Sky was abducted just after her 5th birthday in October and Skylaina would have been found in May... but it is around late November – early December in the story as of this chapter so... please overlook stuff-up and pretend that it makes sense. Thanks!

Bruce P.O.V

"Are you sure it's safe for Dick and Sky to perform, Bruce... I don't want them to get hurt from being out of practise."

"Trust me Jack." I said as I placed a hand on his shoulder. "The only thing they do is acrobatics; it is in their blood. Besides, I installed a trapeze when I took in Dick. This is their life." Jack and I started walking around the ring watching the circus folk practise.

"Is something wrong with Skylaina? She seemed...different."

"Jack." I started. "Sky was abducted by horrible people, for 2 years she was... tortured, and abused. She had lost trust in people, her hope was dying Jack, she's not broken... No, she is shattered. She's lost faith in humanity. She's not an innocent little girl anymore." As I talked to my kids old ring-master I realised that Sky is more damaged than I first saw.

"But how can Sky be so... Damaged, she is only a child."

"No, she just looks like one... When you looked into her eyes what did you see? Cause when I look at her, really look at her; I see a girl that was pushed to the edge, forced to see, and do things, that no one is ever meant to experience. She is just a kid who grew up way too fast... A soldier ready to follow orders."

"Your right Bruce... When she was younger, her eyes were brighter that the stars, they were so full of life, happiness and hope. Now, I don't know what to think. Her and her brother were the life and soul of the circus, everyone loved them... What happened to her, that changed her so much?"

"I know that at one point, Sky was forced to become an assassin. They made her kill... and her innocence, can never be replaced. She was forced to take the life of so many people, and that memory will haunt her for the rest of her life. She can never have a normal life because of what they did to her, she is scared for life, both physically and mentally..."

"Physically?" Jack asked. And he sounded scared."

"Sky is strong, Jack. Much stronger that anyone that I have ever met. From the age of 5 onward, she was forced into the life of a ruthless assassin, but she held on for so long, longer that any grown man would be able to... Do you know when her first kill was, she had been 6 for over a month, and she was stolen just after her 5th birthday. She was rebellious for over a year. Can you imagine how confused and hurt she would have been? Her parents' were murdered right in front of her at the age of five, Sky was ripped away from her brother and the entire circus, everything she had ever known, immediately after. Sky was trained and abused, hurt in every way possible... Skyla told me that, the people she was with the first time she was made to kill, (the Court of Owls) messed with her head. They told Sky that her parents killed themselves, just so they wouldn't have to be with her. That her parents never wanted her and that she was a useless waist of space that no one cared about... and that they were the only people willing to take care of her. That her master was the only person that could help her. They beat her until she obeyed, used everything they could, to manipulate her, into becoming their perfect soldier..."