Help Me, Mr Batman

Chapter 2: Meet Kaine*

Bruce didn't quite know which emotion he was feeling the strongest. Confusion was a big one. He was so sure Alfred had told him that the foster would be a little girl. Anger was scorching through him. She was obviously scared. He didn't want a child but this child was beyond damaged. Nausea was another that wouldn't quite leave him alone. He had seen her scars. Her long sleeve shirt hid her hands well but his keen eyes could see the pearly white stripes on her finger tips especially when she clenched them at her sides. Plus, the most obvious scar was blantily showing across her neck. It was bold across her tanned skin. There was no way to miss it even with her head tucked down. It sickened him to think about it. He keeps walking down the hall as Alfred follows dutifully behind him. The familiar steps to the Bat Cave were his automatic path to safety.

"Alfred, I thought you told me she was a little girl." Bruce manages to say as they enter the music room. His hands flit across his father's piano as he plays the familiar chord that opened up the grandfather clock's hidden door. Alfred walked into the elevator with a sigh, "No, I said 'She's coming today. You asked 'Who is she?', and I replied 'Your foster daughter'. You assumed a little girl."

Bruce followed him into the elevator and watched as the door slid shut. He puffed out a breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I thought you meant a small child, not a twelve year old." he huffed, thinking about the jagged flesh along her neck that obviously showed at one point in her life she has had her neck sliced wide open.

Alfred chuckled, and held open the elevator door for Bruce when they had reached the bottom floor of the ride. "She may be short but I assure you, she's sixteen and she's been through quite a bit." Alfred tells Bruce as he walks past the butler to head to his work station. The computer greeted Bruce as he sat in his chair.

Bruce didn't turn around to face the computer just yet, choosing to look at Alfred as he asked his next question, "What did her file say?"

Alfred simply sighs and admits, "Nothing, sir. That's the real problem here. I know her name. Kaine. She has no last name. Her height is 5'0 ft. She only weighs 97 lbs. Her birthday is later this year. That is the simple basics. She was found by Gotham Police as a baby in critical condition."

Bruce takes in the information Alfred gives him with deep interest. "So what makes you think she's been through more than what her files say?" He asks the older man, palm under his chin as he listens intently to his butler.

Alfred contemplates his next words before stepping up to the computer to stand next to his ward. Bruce spins to face the computer, still awaiting the man's answer. Alfred opens his mouth and summarizes, "She was going to run when she rang the doorbell."

Bruce's eyebrows shot up in surprise but Alfred continued, "She has a stutter. She flinches at noise, even your own voice scared her to pieces. When you saw her scar, you were angry."

"Of course Alfred, she is a child." Bruce emphasizes, sitting up to log in to his computer.

"She saw that and shook like a leaf. She is in a fragile state of mind. But, Master Bruce, I saw something in her. A spark, if you will, that hasn't been extinguished just yet. When I challenged her at the door, she persevered. She tried to speak to me but stuttered greatly from no doubt a traumatic response she's gained. When I was patient with her, she grew bolder. It didn't stop the stutter but it didn't stop her all together either." He answers boldly, clasping the back of Bruce's chair.

Bruce said nothing in acknowledgment but continued typing away on the computer. Alfred simply remained quiet as Bruce slid around his computer's programming to get through to the government records that held Kaine's files. Her files were excessive and held many folders.