I watched Batman: Under the Red Hood this weekend and thought of this story. I know I'm overdue for posting on Back to School, butinspiration is a bit dry on that one, but school is driving me nuts so maybe I'll get something from that. In the meantime I give you...another story! Enjoy! -lanamere

Prologue

I run as fast as I can towards the warehouse. I have to get there! I have to! BatMan won't make it in time! I have to save him! Every instinct to avoid BatMan goes out the window. I have to get to him! I have to save Jason! I have to save my brother! Even though things hadn't been right between us ever since he left me to join BatMan and become the new Robin and I refused to come (in fact we hadn't spoken at all), I have to save him! I know that The Joker, BatMan's sick, twisted arch nemesis, has him trapped and chained up in there, beating him senseless to a bloody pulp as I run. I see the warehouse now. I just might make it. I push myself to run faster. Just as I'm about to reach it, the building explodes. With Jason still inside. "No!" I scream.

I wake up screaming. My eyes fly open and I gasp, sitting bolt upright. I'm sweaty and tangled in my sheets. I'm breathing heavily. I squeeze my eyes shut to keep the tears in. I've been having that same dream for a month now. Every night. log lance at the clock that I stole a while ago beside my bed. 11:37 PM. I sigh abedlam back. The night's barely even started! I curl up. That dream has been haunting me for a month now. Ever since the murder. Ever since my mistake, my failure. Ever since that awful night when Jason Todd was beaten half to death in a warehouse by the Joker and then was killed in an explosion. Ever since I failed to save my little brother. I glance around the room in the abandoned warehouse the two of us had called home before he became Robin. There, I see his old Red X mask, pictures of us together, and my own mask and costume. I sigh. I hadn't put it on in a month. Scarlet Sword was on hold, hidden away. Now, only her hidden identity showed. Now I was just Allison Todd, homeless orphan, master thief, criminal, and mourning sister. They are all part of me. But right now, I feel like a homeless orphan, mourning her last family. Not the strength and security of Scarlet Sword's thieving skills. Now I am just a girl. Now I am alone.

Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think! But please no flames! I hope you enjoyed it! Peace Out! -lanamere