Disclaimer: I do not own this. I just own most of the Callaghan family and anyone else you don't recognize.

Between the Shadow and the Soul

Acquainted

My name is Sybil Callaghan and I am a Sensitive. Other people might call me psychic or empathic but that isn't really what I am. I'm a raw, untrained blend of psychic talents. For the most part that is my fault. As a child no one bothered to get me a person with developed gifts to help me control what I had. It would have looked bad for my uncle, after all. Needless to say I'm not fond of him or any other politician. Now that I'm an adult it's simply my own fault that I haven't sought help. I know why although I can't admit it out loud. I don't trust people enough to let someone try to help me.

Bruce Wayne wasn't the only one who lost his parents when he was a child even if he acted like he was for a while. Ever since he came back he's been light-hearted about the whole thing. Maybe I should go abroad. Apparently it works wonders.

I was six when my parents died. A drug addict rammed his car into my parents' and killed them. Dad died instantly but Mom lingered for about ten minutes. I was in the back of the car. Those were the days that I refused to wear a seatbelt. Needless to say, the crash did not leave me uninjured thanks to that little habit. My head had smashed into the crumpled side of the car and I was bleeding. I can still remember feeling my mother dying. It was one of those bad days when my sensitivity was high. She was afraid. Afraid of dying and leaving my sister and me alone.

Erin was barely a year old when our parents died. She doesn't remember them. She only remembers me. I took care of her. After I got out of the hospital and gave my statements to the police, I felt empty inside. I hadn't stopped crying since the men in uniforms got me out of the car. Then I got home and I realized my sister needed me. I had something to do with my life. That's been my purpose ever since.

Now I'm twenty-six and Erin just turned twenty-one. Somehow we've turned into complete opposites. She's small, curvy and blonde. She loves being in the spotlight, which is lucky since our uncle is the mayor. It seems there's a special unit in the press dedicated to covering Mayor Garcia and his family. He loves to play up the fact that his sister and brother-in-law were killed thanks to the drug trade and that he's dedicated to cleaning up the streets. He's all about image. I haven't forgotten that he barely paid attention to us when we were children except when the press was around.

Technically I live alone in a small apartment in the city but Erin comes over so often it's like I have a roommate. She brings light into the tiny world I've made for myself. I humor her when it comes to hunting for rich husbands and glamorous parties. She and I both know I don't belong in her world. I circle around her spotlight, making sure that no monsters intrude on her happiness. The problem with my role is that I can never be part of her light and so we're separate. There's a distance between us. Erin is the princess and I… I'm a freak.

She tries desperately to make that not true by dragging me to parties and buying me all the latest fashions. She sets me up with her posh friends and hopes we'll mesh. But it doesn't work. I know what I am and I accept it. There's no changing my nature. Still, the one thing Erin and I have in common is stubbornness. She has yet to give up on me and I don't have the heart to tell her there's no hope.

So it's my fault, really, that I ended up playing a game for her life with the one man in Gotham that has no rules. What happens next is my doing and I can't make excuses for myself. I am Sybil and this is my story.