PRELUDE

The moonlight glistened off the lake, reflecting its brilliant radiance calmly in the ripples of the dark water. The sounds of traffic could be heard in the distance, but it remained tranquil and serene in this place off the beaten path where the trees grew rich and lush and the grass was forever green even in the darkness. It was a place of peace, a place of relaxation, where a care in the world couldn't find you and all problems were forgotten.

She brushed a dark strand of hair from her face. The moonlight caught the diamonds on the band of her left hand, causing them to sparkle brighter than the stars. But her eyes…her eyes no longer sparkled like the emeralds they used to be. All hope inside her was dead. All peace destroyed by the anger inside. There weren't enough trees or stars in the sky to rid her of her pain. Not even in the place that had once sparked a love in her that would have caused her to go to the ends of the earth and hell itself…which she had done…but her love was still lost and long since gone.

Her hand fell back to the earth, trailing over the grass gently as if touching a lover's skin. That much was true in a sense; her lover was buried just beneath the grass her fingers combed through. She had buried him there more than two years ago. After he had been killed, murdered by Batman…by Bruce Wayne. He had once been her friend, years before he disappeared. When he came back so much had changed. She had been married to the love of her life and Rachel Dawes was the new D.A. and Bruce was a rich and pompous prick. Things just derailed from there. It wasn't until the most sinister of nights that she lost everything in the world she held so dear.

She remembered it clearly, often saw it play in her dreams. She fell from the railing after Batman had thrown her over the side…she looked up to see her husband rushing for the stairs to her aid, saw the dark knight throw the metal blade at him in his mistaken foresight, saw it sink into his torso as he fell to his knees in shock. She could still feel the rawness in her throat from the scream that had erupted from her, like a scar that didn't heal correctly. His blood had seeped through her clothes as she held him and when she had searched for Batman to get the help she needed to save him – he was gone, vanished into the night without so much as an apology or word of grievance. He left her there to hold her dying husband. Nothing she could do or say could fix him, could save his life and spare him from the reaper that so eagerly wanted to peel him from her – to take him away from her when she had just gotten him back after a night of searching through the fogged city. She watched him breathe his last, watched the light fade from his pure blue eyes…watched her whole world give way to the nothingness left inside. She had died that night with him, a large part of her at least. Part of her went on to finish what needed to be done.

And so she had buried him at this very spot, where their love had started and, in a cruel way ended. She had left Gotham, journeyed to the ends of the earth and over snow capped mountains to find the place she was looking for, the one man that could help her achieve her means. He was waiting for her there, welcoming her as he said he would. He trained and mentored her into the perfect balance she needed to be ready for. She was now – ready. It was why she had come back. She had unfinished business to attend to. She had sorted through her wondering thoughts on that mountain in her training and had come to the perfect conclusion, the perfect plan.

The baby fidgeted in her arms, cooing slightly in his sleep. His pink full lips opened in a yawn and he blinked his beautiful blue eyes up at her. Her heart warmed at the sight. Her love had not ended entirely, part of him was still alive, eyes drifting back to sleep in her arms. He was what she had left, and she'd never let anyone rip him away from her the way his father had been torn from both of them, leaving a vacant emptiness where he should be. But she planned on reciprocating that pain onto Bruce Wayne, hurting him where no form of medicine could ever take away the pain, where the guilt and memory would tear him apart and she could revel in his sorrow.

Emmeline Crane leaned back against the tree with a cruel smile, eyes fixed deviantly on the water. Her plan would work, her revenge would be sought on to those who had betrayed her, leaving her to the darkness she had found so lovingly embraced. They would come to find she was no longer the sweet and caring young woman she had been, least not to them. She was a twisted version, formed from the pain, sorrow and anger that had reshaped in her being. The old Emmeline had died that night with Jonathan, giving birth to the reformed iniquity that she was. She held her son close to her, other hand still trailing the grass as she hummed to herself and her son, smiling still at her dark wondering thoughts.

I thought I'd write a prelude to this to see what it could possibly lead to. I'm not entirely sure if I'll go along with it or let your imaginations carry you to what she could possibly be capable of. I've been writing more on HP fics for my friend that I don't post but I saw this was still getting hits...So I wrote it as a teasing treat. Hope you enjoyed. Maybe there will be more to come.

Beezer