Countless tables needing cleaning. Sweat dripping down from her face to her white work shirt below. Feeling fatigue all across her body. Conditions that some bared almost every single day. Some that didn't care about the work as long as it brought in the money. To others conditions that terrified them to the core. But these conditions didn't frighten her. No not for this young woman. A woman known as the worldwide criminal Ten from the Royal Flush Gang. But known to a few others just as Melanie Walker. A young woman that was so mysterious to everyone around her that would witness her walk on by them on any given day.

Mysterious not by choice. Mysterious because of her lifestyle. The lifestyle of being a criminal. A criminal that would move from city to city all across the world never staying in one place. Never staying in any city for a long period of time. A reason that her father would explain as not being needed anymore. Not needed due to the job being completed and the next big score that was awaiting for them.

A lifestyle that she always hated. Hated for not ever being able to form a bond with anyone. To never be able to have any friends. To never be able to know what it was like to have a normal life. To never experience what it was like to have someone truly care for her that wasn't apart of her own family.

But then it happened. She had seen him. Seen a boy roughly the same age as her just outside of a local juice bar. A boy that had instantly intrigued her. Intrigue that forced her to take a chance. A chance she knew she shouldn't have taken. But something inside of her pushed that thought to the side.

And she was glad she did take the chance. Take the chance to know the teenaged boy. A boy named Terry McGinnis. Someone that made her intrigue only risen every passing second she had spent with him. Intrigue that made her finally do something that she never thought she would ever do. To do something that she thought she wouldn't ever get the chance to do. To share a kiss. A kiss that had lit a spark inside of her. A spark she had never felt before. A feeling she never wanted to go away.

But her family had other ideas. Ideas of continuing their way of life like that had done before. A lifestyle none of them had no problem continuing. But she didn't want that. Not anymore. Her heart wouldn't allow it. Wouldn't allow her to be taken away. Be taken away from Gotham City. Be taken away from Terry.

There was only one problem. A problem she wished she didn't ever have to face. A decision of having to choose between what her heart wanted and her family. From choosing between the man that she loves and her own flesh and blood. A decision she had instantly hated her mother for even making her choose.

A decision that would soon haunt her from the series of consequences that were to follow. The consequences of watching each member of her family being apprehended by Gotham City's greatest hero The Batman. The consequence of having to look towards Terry's face as she was loaded into the back of a police car. To witness a look of pure sadness across his face.

A look that had haunted her during her time in prison until that fateful day. The day she had been released out of prison and was determined to start a new chapter in her life. A chapter she hoped was with him. Was with Terry. But life had a funny way of getting in her way. Getting in her way again when things started to turn for the better with a simple ransom note.

The ransom of her family by a criminal gang known throughout Gotham City as The Jokerz. A note with specific instructions that needed to be followed to ensure her family's safety. A note that had forced her to go back to her life of crime for one last time. Only this time she was going to make sure to get what she wanted. Get to see the man that she had often dreamed about on most nights. Dreamed about seeing him again.

And she had gotten her wish. Only it wasn't how she had planned it out in her head. It wasn't running into him on the streets. It wasn't from seeing him inside of a random night club. No instead she had used the skills that she had been taught over the years to wait for him inside his very own apartment. An apartment that she had slowly learned some new information about him. Information that made her heart pound even more. The look as if he was the only one that occupied the small residence with no signs of anyone living with him anywhere inside of the apartment.

No pictures of any girlfriends in sight. No instead only a few pictures were seen on a small dresser in the corner of the room. Pictures that she instantly recognized as his family. Pictures of Terry with his little brother Matthew. A picture of him with not only Matthew but his mother Mary. A picture that had brought a smile to her face before she had noticed something being hidden underneath one of the picture frames. A folded up picture of Terry along with his deceased father Warren. A picture she had to quickly put back as the senses she had acquired over the years came to life before she witnessed him walk into the apartment.

A moment she had been waiting for so long. The moment she would be able to see him again. To be able to talk to him face to face. A moment she had dreamed about for so long. A moment she wished would happen more often after this given night. A night of confessions and apologies. Apologies for choosing her family over him. Confessions of needing a place to stay. A place to stay in order to hide from him. To hide from The Batman. A request that was met. A request that had made an inner desire of her's come to life. The desire to be in his arms once again.

But as much as she wanted to stay she had to leave him once again for her family. Only this time she made a promise to herself. A promise to make her way back to him. To retire her life of crime once and for all to live out the rest of her life with him. If he would have her in his life. A situation she is still uncertain of to this day. A situation that makes her question Batman's character. Question him as a human being. Question him if he is even a hero.

All because of the letter. A letter she had handed to him. A letter she wanted him to give to Terry for her. A letter that would explain everything. Everything that she had not told him. And most important of all the location where she could be found if he wanted to find her. Information that she would never give to anyone else. Only him. Information that now as she waits inside of the restaurant getting ready to end her shift makes her heart not only beat with hope but also doubt.

Doubt that he would ever come. Doubt that he truly cares for her. Nobody truly did before. Not her father. Not even her own mother. Not after learning the truth. The truth that the ransom note was a fake. Not a ransom but instead a test. A test made up by her father to test her loyalty to the gang.

But then there was hope. Hope that he would walk through those doors. Walk through those doors with love in his eyes. Love for her. Hope she was holding onto by a thread. A thread from the memory of the last time they were together. The memory of what it felt like. What it felt like when he had kissed her. Kissed her with so much passion. How it felt to be in his arms as the sun rose up in the distance. How tight of a grip he had on her as though he never wanted to let her go.

As she glances over her shoulder for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour at the entrance doors to see no movement anywhere in sight letting out a sigh Melanie turns her head back forward as a look of defeat comes across her face. A look that had come across her face just a few days ago when she had been told that her letter had been delivered to Terry. A letter she hoped would lead him back to her.

Suddenly as she hears the sound of the entrance doors slowly opening figuring it is a late night customer looking to get in a few drinks at the bar before the restaurant closed for the evening letting out a sigh Melanie drops the rag in her hand down onto a nearby table as she slowly turns around before her eyes widen when she sees him. Terry slowly approaching her from the entrance.

An image she never thought she was ever going to see. An image she has to blink a few times to make sure is real before slowly unaware to her knowledge her feet start moving forward towards him to only have her within moments be taken into his arms. A feeling she never thought she would ever feel again. A feeling that makes her heart skip a beat before her eyes widen and tears of joy come down her cheeks as she feels him gently pressing his lips to her own.