Chapter Text
She's crying.
She can't stop crying.
She's tried.
It never works.
———
Ally slams then locks her bedroom door shut and covers her ears before Bruce or one of the others starts yelling at her again.
She slides down from the door as her legs feel like jelly and her heart aches harshly.
Her throat has a lump in it she just can't swallow and her eyes start blurring from her barely held back tears.
Her wings curl around her as the tears start falling and she can't stop it.
Her tail wraps around her leg as her hands reach for her cracked but still there horn as she pulls harshly at it, her other hand is curled tightly into her arm as she draws blood from the shredded skin while her claws sink deeper and deeper.
She hiccups as her choked breaths turn into loud sobs and wails.
She gets up on shaking legs and makes her way to her walk-in closet, once she's inside the closet fully, she closes the door and collapses as her legs shake and tremble.
She knows she shouldn't be crying over this, they were only joking, she just took it too far, it doesn't matter that the jokes were making her upset, it doesn't matter how she feels.
She needs to suck it up. And toughen up.
She tries to take a deep breath before choking and coughing on her own tears, she can't really feel the pain from her arm as blood flows down, her claw not pulling on her horn bloody as she's still gripping her arm.
She can't breathe.
There's black spots in her vision.
Her everything aches.
She feels so tired at this very moment.
She just.
Wants.
To.
Sleep.
———
She wakes up achy and still exhausted, her wings curled around her as her tail wraps around her leg.
She doesn't know why she keeps waking up so tired.
She doesn't want to open her eyes.
Her limbs feel so heavy.
Her throat feels so dry.
She's thirsty.
And hungry.
And in pain, her arm has stopped bleeding, it just aches now.
She ignores them, knowing she would have to leave her room to do something about those things.
She stopped stashing food once Bruce confronted her about it, he seemed angry.
She doesn't have good experiences with angry men.
She decides that she can't live like this anymore.
She doesn't feel safe.
She isn't safe.
———
The first thing she does is make sure her bag doesn't have any trackers inside of it, she finds five after a thorough search, she puts them inside the loose floorboard she used to hide food in.
She doesn't have any money, food or water, but- she'll be fine.
The second thing she grabs are a pair of beat up sneakers, she has to make sure they don't look nice so no one tries to take them, then again, no one really looks at her shoes, she just wants to be safe.
She makes sure to put any and all trackers she finds inside the loose floorboard as well.
She looks through her closet before deciding what to wear, she can't wear anything nice or that'll bring unwanted attention, she also needs to get rid of the trackers as well.
She picks out a pair of ripped jeans that look like her old ones, a plain black shirt that she'll hide behind her red hoodie, and she grabs some short socks so she doesn't risk more than she already does.
She puts around fifteen trackers inside the floorboard before closing it up like last time.
She grabs her bag, putting the picture of her mum inside, and the clothes she'll change into.
She sits down on her bed, her chest feels tight, her breaths come heavy, her body tense. She's ready, it won't be the first time she's run from a bad home, she just- didn't realise how attached to the older kids she got.
She'll run, she always does if it's better for her, she can't stay and risk getting hurt just ‘cause she got attached.
———
She waits for a school day, barely coming out of her room ‘till then, she only goes out to eat dinner while subtly grabbing non perishable snacks she then hides in her bag.
She knows only Damian and Duke still go to her high school, the others either in college or working. She'll be able to avoid them while at the school, she'll head to the bathroom and change and wait, then she'll sneak out during class.
She'll miss school, she already knows that she'll never be able to go afterwards, she wonders if she'll ever grow to her predicted height while on the streets, or if she'll ever be healthy enough for it.
She gets ready for her last day of school, she takes advantage of her last hot shower as well, when she's dry, she puts on her school sanctioned outfit. A black skirt that goes just below her knees, a white button up top with a tie, white socks and black shoes.
Her wings twitch as she waits for Alfred to knock, her tail swishing back and forth in anxiety.
Her fangs bite her lip as she waits. Finally a knock, “Miss Ally, it's time for school, please be ready and wait in the car.”
She stops biting on her lip as she takes in a shaky breath as her plan moves forward.
———
She sits in the backseat of the silent car, she didn't bring her phone, too easily tracked for her to risk it.
She lets out a breath she didn't realise she was holding when she gets out of the car and shuts the door while the other two do the same.
They move forward in silence, going separate ways once inside the school. She doesn't have many friends, most kids knowing of her crime alley origins and others too scared to talk to a visibly cracked and broken Gargoyle, her temper also doesn't allow her to just ignore the way others would call her or her past family and new family horrible words, her claws have more blood on them than she'd prefer, but she'd rather face punishment than let others get away with calling her a whore, bitch, street rat or worse.
She gets through her first two classes before snack starts, instead of moving to the cafeteria, she enters the bathrooms, and waits. Her wings twitch as they curl on her back, her tail wraps around her hand as she runs her other hand across the rough texture, her ears twitch as she listens for any sort of sound.
She had snack time detention anyway for scratching a kid who called her oldest brother Dick a ‘pedo’ when they saw the two of them bonding online.
She waits and waits.
When the bell finally rings… She waits a couple minutes more for any stragglers not wanting to go to class to get told off by the teachers. A few minutes later, she takes a peek out of the bathroom doors, making sure there are no kids or adults in the hallways.
She goes back in and quickly changes in one of the stalls, she leaves her school clothes on top of the toilet.
She makes her way to the front, making sure to avoid any cameras or windows, she takes extra caution when she's at the secretary desk just in front of the school doors.
She waits ‘till the woman at the front has to answer a private phone call, where she has to go away for a moment, and she sprints out of there.
Once she's a couple blocks away from the school she starts moving towards the closest bus stop that'll go into crime alley.
Her chest feels heavy as her tail drags on the ground and her ears and wings droop down.
She doesn't know why running from this house makes her feel like this, she's run from plenty of bad houses before. She got too attached, she needs to do better, she can't afford to feel like this, it's dangerous.
Once she makes her way to the only bus stop that'll take her to crime alley, she gets in and takes a seat, they don't ask her for money, with the way she's dressed and how bad she's cracked and broken, they already know where she's going.