AUTHOR'S NOTE: I got inspired to make changes and do a little research after reading 'Dark Victory' so here is the improved version of 'Shadow of the Bat'. Chapter 3 has been re-written near enough by the way & I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to tell me what you think :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything DC apart from characters created myself.

The Dawn is Coming

The dawn broke over Gotham and it was officially a new day. It had been five months since certain events concerning a homicidal maniac whom nobody wanted to mention the name of had near enough rotted the city away from within, needless to say morale of the city was at an all time low. Gotham was in turmoil as the peoples' beliefs had been shaken. The White Knight that was supposed to save them was no more, murdered by the one they once trusted the safety of the city with. So many of his actions during the events were questions left unanswered. How could he have let so many people die and then let Harvey Dent take the heat for it? The he let that unnameable maniac of all people live, how could he do that? Did this masked vigilante care about human life at all? Was he even human? Of course, he must have been. This still didn't change the fact that the urban myth that was Batman had become a symbol of hatred for many people.

Maybe he really was no better than him. Maybe the Batman had been simply fooling them all into making them believe he was something he was not since he first arrived on the scene a little less than year ago? Then again, he did help save the city. So what the hell was going on with the Dark Knight? Gotham appeared to be divided in their opinion of him; he still had his supporters that didn't believe the story of Dent to be true and understood his unwillingness to give into the terrorists demands. A lot of others were in a limbo about what to believe. As for everyone else they had pretty much made up their minds that Batman was a monster – no better than he who shall not be named. Maybe he had in a way succeeded in bringing the Batman down to his level after all? What the people of Gotham didn't know is that he had forced Batman to do something; he ultimately had to make a choice. Killing Harvey Dent to save Jim Gordon's son, he would obviously be ecstatic when he found out what had happened. After all, it was all a part of the plan – and what a glorious plan it was.

Front pages of various newspapers graced mug shots of his mangled face deprived of makeup and it had been that way for months. It appeared that somebody working on the force had leaked them out to the press for a handsome sum of money – after all, you could get anything you wanted in Gotham if you were willing to pay the right price. Recent news of his committal to Arkham had spread like wildfire throughout the city that loathed him.
The Gotham Times: 'PSYCHOPATHIC CLOWN COMMITTED TO ARKHAM'
The Gotham Gazette: 'SATAN HIMSELF SENT TO HELL ON EARTH'
The Gotham Post: 'GOTHAM'S MONSTER GIVEN HIS CAGE'
To certain disturbed individuals he was a martyr of chaos, a tyrant of spectacular abilities. Although this small group of followers were desperate to repeat such actions, they would wait for their man of the hour to call upon them for escape plans. Once he was out they would assist him in his quest to watch the city they hated burn. It was only a matter of time; he would send them a sign. He had his ways. He always had an option, another plan. Until then, the rest of Gotham could only hope for a fate worse than death to come to him, to them that son of a bitch would deserve every bit of pain included in it.

The hustle and bustle of the city was an even more unsettled one. The morning traffic, as usual, was gruelling so the honking of car horns and general feeling of frustration was inevitable. However the heat wave that had recently swept across the city didn't make the waiting any more pleasant. Amongst this morning madness of beeping vehicles and unbearable heat stood Wayne Tower, the crown jewel in Gotham's skyline. This was the place that all people of business wanted to be, the billion dollar company that they all aspired to work for. It was the top of the ladder and only the most capable individuals in their field of expertise were permitted to work there. Chances are, if you'd made it all the way to Wayne Tower, you were one of the best.

Within the structure of Wayne Tower were many different departments of interest. One of which had been of particular interest was the Applied Sciences Division, unknowingly to those that worked in the building; it was the source for all of Batman's equipment. Various vehicles that had been designed by Lucius Fox and worked on intensively, the tanks, the bikes, even the suits – the man was clearly a driving force concerning the existence of Batman. With the vastly improved Bat Cave underneath the newly rebuilt Wayne Manor, there would be more than enough room for such glorious inventions. There was still a little work to do on the place as the man himself Bruce Wayne had to build it in with his own two hands – with a little help from Alfred of course. After all, how could he explain such a thing to those working on rebuilding the place? Surely the bat would have been let out of the bag then. No eccentricities could explain such a thing, after all can the rich can afford to be strange but not that strange.

In the depths of the under construction Bat Cave, Lucius had been contributing towards the project in his own special way, of course with Bruce helping along. A computer of the highest technological advancements was being put in place for the Dark Knight's own personal use, much like that in the Bat Bunker** but with a lot more screens, there must have been about 30 in total. The spyware would be added at a later date if necessary by Bruce himself as Lucius would never have agreed to build such a thing if he knew this. Various CCTV cameras would be watched on said computer – banks, GCPD, night clubs, pretty much everywhere that was a target for criminal activity. The only place free from CCTV was Arkham. It seemed Arkham was a difficult place to bug but Bruce didn't have the time to worry about it as he was far too busy with other things.

Bruce was 'sick' on this particular day and had decided to take a day off work to get ahead on the Bat Cave. He didn't really need an excuse, he was the boss after all so he didn't really have to answer to anybody but still, he needed to keep up appearances to his employees and various business partners. The company's reputation reflected off him, even if he was acting as a lothario in the public eye, it was still publicity and ultimately a disguise. Besides, how could such a 'selfish' person be associated with a masked vigilante that appeared to help people? Bruce knew if he was uncovered now, due to recent events he would lose everything. Naturally now more than ever was important to keep the Batman's identity a secret.

As Bruce worked away on the computer with his tool kit using some cleverly compiled instructions drawn up by Lucius himself to help him, a clattering tray made its way down the new metal staircase. All the way down from a secret entrance recently built into the manor. Bruce didn't bother to look up from what he was doing, he knew the clattering tray didn't really want to disturb him but he knew it probably would anyway. The tray stopped as it was placed on a small metal table.

"Sick again I see?" the friendly voice asked sarcastically. Bruce decided to slide out from underneath the unfinished invention and bicker to this distraction of his. Getting up he saw his old friend and guardian Alfred standing there watching him as usual. Why must he always distract him whilst he was trying to work on something that was this important? Then again he could never hold a grudge against Alfred for anything; he'd done so much for him and continued to do so. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that was making Bruce so cranky? The heat wave had been merciless and Wayne Manor still had no air conditioning working properly so he guessed that must have been the reason why.

"What have you come down with this time? Not a bad case of diarrhoea I hope." Alfred commented with a slight smirk, he always did have a childish nature about him. Bruce scoffed and smirked at the remark, typical Alfred making jokes at his expense. He took a seat on one of the aluminium chairs next to the small metal table, sweating from working for so long. Alfred took a guess that he'd been up pretty early working on this thing and this new found obsession of his was possibly there to take his mind off the passing of Rachel and Harvey.

"No but I'll let you know if there's any developments there." Bruce fired back trying hard not to laugh. The childishness was practically dripping off him but it was fun to be able to take life a little less seriously again. Since the deaths of Rachel and Harvey, Bruce had been questioning a lot of things and been in an emotional limbo. He had been in a pretty bad state until the Bat Cave project came into the picture so in a way it was keeping him happy. What was worrying for Alfred would be when he no longer had it to occupy him. The devil of a human being who had caused all of this reflection and bottled up emotions for Bruce haunted his dreams often, there were nights when his sick demented laughter repeated in his head until it startled him awake. That monster had taken so much away from him and ironically he'd also changed things forever in his own special way. However he was the last thing Bruce wanted on his mind right now.

"I couldn't sleep again, it's so damn hot up there I'm starting to think I'd be better off sleeping down here." Bruce informed Alfred who knew all too well what he meant. The heat wave wasn't helping the situation any further as the air conditioning in Wayne Manor had already broken so it hadn't been easy sailing. Would have thought getting someone to fix it would be no problem for the Prince of Gotham but with the heat wave, it was difficult to get hold of anybody. Bruce guessed people living in the city who needed the help a lot more than he did were the ones getting it and for now that suited him just fine. Though Bruce still had his penthouse in the city fully air conditioned, Wayne Manor was his real home and besides, he couldn't very well go through the bother of driving back and forth from the apartment to the manor so often to do work on the Bat Cave.

"Well the air conditioning should be fixed up sooner or later. Would've thought we'd have no trouble getting someone out here but I suppose it's a busy time with the heat wave and all. By the by how many sick days is this now?" Alfred summed up exactly what Bruce was thinking and then questioned. He wished Alfred hadn't done this, he felt like a kid being scolded by a teacher.

"They weren't all sick days but I'm not sure Alfred, why don't you tell me? You're good at keeping track of these things." Bruce maintained his cheeky charm as he picked up a cup of coffee off the tray and took a sip. It was a shame that nobody else got to see the real Bruce Wayne but Alfred and Lucius. They were the only two people who really knew what he was like and the only two who knew he was in fact the Dark Knight. Bruce had thought about telling Commissioner Gordon who he really was since the accident but he figured the less people who knew who he really was the better. Although he trusted Gordon, the truth was that Batman was now a fugitive. He knew that Gordon wouldn't turn him in as he was still secretly meeting with him every now and then however Bruce had come to the conclusion that uncovering himself to Gordon wasn't on a need to know basis. He knew Gordon wasn't bothered about who the man under the mask was, he was just happy he had someone to fight the good fight with him because at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered. Besides he considered himself forever in Batman's debt for what he'd done to save him and his family.

"Well sir, I believe it's been a month and a half's worth over the past four." Alfred informed Bruce whose eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. Of course he knew he'd taken a lot of time off but he hadn't really been keeping track of the days. To be quite frank, Bruce couldn't have cared less how much time he'd taken off as he was doing something so much more important. It's not like the company was going to go under without him being there.

"You know I can't help but wonder what your business partners would think of your cancelling meetings to play hooky all this time." Alfred continued trying to make Bruce feel guilty for his neglectful actions on the company's behalf. Bruce took another sip from his cup of coffee and proceeded to get up off his chair and take a look at what he'd achieved with the computer so far whilst talking to Alfred.

"Well, if I tell them I'm sick or had to go out of town on urgent business then at least I'm keeping up appearances. Besides if I was playing hooky I wouldn't have been doing anything with my time and as you can see, I'm a busy man." Bruce said as he picked up a screwdriver and motioned towards the under constructed computer. Alfred did his best not to roll his eyes because Bruce did have a point. The Bat Cave was in dire need of attention and this was something that needed to be done.

"I suppose you're right, it was just the reputation of the company I was concerned about." He concluded and Bruce shook his head slightly.

"There's nothing to be concerned about Alfred, Wayne Enterprises is doing fine without me. It's in more than capable hands." Bruce knew he was neglecting the company again but as far as he was concerned, the family business would have to take a backseat to something much more important. He was Batman and despite a lot of people's beliefs in Gotham, he was still needed to clean up the streets. However what Bruce would never give into was the fact he was exhausted. Running away from the police on top of fighting crime was making this double life of his that much more difficult, he could handle it of course but there was ultimately a price for that and it appeared that this price was taking its toll on him.

"Yes, well your health hasn't exactly been in the good books lately either." Alfred told him, he knew this lack of rest was doing Bruce no good. The nightmares, this heat, the work on the bat cave, the company, the police chasing him and fighting crime – he had a lot of things on his plate. There was also always the threat of the maniac's escape constantly hanging over his head, being committed to Arkham meant he couldn't keep an eye on him and that would have unnerved Bruce if he didn't have so many things to worry about already.

"What are you talking about? I feel better than ever." Bruce refused to believe he'd taken all he could. He was a fighter and a damn good one at that.

"I don't think that's true, I think this is all a bit too much for you if you ask me. You know you could do with a proper vacation, you haven't exactly had much time to relax with being chased by the police, catching criminals as well as other things." Alfred said and Bruce knew immediately that he was referring to his grieving of Rachel as well as the incident with Harvey. He still blamed himself, this was evident but Alfred tried his best to mention it as little as possible. Right now it seemed appropriate to get Bruce to pay attention and it did.

"I know you're concerned about me but I don't have the time to take a vacation right now. I just need to get this thing done so I can help the city get back on its feet again." Bruce's voice sounded somewhat defeated, not like his usual self at all but he couldn't be blamed for that, he was under a lot of pressure after all. Alfred however stifled a laugh at the remark of Gotham getting back on its feet, although he knew what Bruce was getting at, the city never was in very good shape to begin with.

"You make it sound like Gotham was actually standing on its own two feet at one point sir." Bruce took this in and nodded slightly in agreement, he got what Alfred meant but he liked to think it wasn't this bad whilst Harvey was around. If truth be told it really wasn't because when Harvey was around Gotham appeared to have a brighter future. Now that he was gone, that brighter future seemed uncertain.

"Well, in comparison to now it was." Bruce concluded and proceeded in kneeling down, screwdriver in hand still and looking at Lucius' instructions, deciphering what parts went where. Of course he still didn't have all of them but Lucius was working on that. Alfred walked over to where Bruce was looking at the instructions given by Lucius and glanced over the computer that was actually shaping up quite nicely.

"How long do you think it'll be till it's finished?" Alfred asked a thoughtful Bruce who was now mulling over the complexities of the machine. He was a smart man but damn did Lucius know how to make simple things sound confusing. Bruce looked up at Alfred who was now practically standing over his shoulder looking down on the instructions now.

"Right now I'm not too sure, Lucius didn't give me an estimated time on it. Hopefully it'll be within the next week or so, depends how fast I can get it together and how long it takes for him to finish off the other parts for me to test it out." Bruce tightened another screw up on it. It was a huge thing, easily eight times larger than the average computer. Alfred was quite impressed with how quick the thing could be put together but he was still concerned about his young master. How could Lucius ever fall for this after last time? Bruce really couldn't risk losing the help of such an intelligent man who was already in on the secret.

"Well, good luck with that sir, especially with telling Mr. Fox what you're planning to do with it. I'm surprised he hasn't already had suspicions since the last one." Alfred told him, thinking for sure that Lucius would detest to whatever Bruce was planning to do with this. He threatened to quit his job the last time such a machine was in use, though this time Bruce wouldn't be picking up on people's cell phone calls to track people down. That would secretly have to be used as a last resort. He needed Lucius on his side if he was going to carry on saving the city.

"I'm sure he has but he already knows how necessary his help is. I couldn't have done it without him last time Alfred so effectively if he helps me, he helps the city. After all with everything taken into account, he's the only one who can." Bruce informed Alfred who nodded in agreement. It was funny how the idea of Batman had gone beyond one man as it needed three others to survive; Alfred himself, Lucius and Jim Gordon. It made Alfred happy in a strange way to think of this, they were like a team together without even knowing it. They all had their responsibilities to help and in their own way they all did what was needed to save the city. Even to save Batman himself on occasions.

"I see, well I shall leave you to it then." Alfred concluded and made his way over to the stairs, leaving the tray of coffee behind for Bruce who let out a deep sigh and looked up at the computer. He was feeling the stress but he wouldn't let it get him down. Alfred heard this and looked over at Bruce who looked exhausted. That's when he remembered some advice he'd given him five months ago. He felt it was relevant; it always seemed to be with Bruce because the fact was that he never quite knew when to quit.

"Oh and Master Bruce?" Alfred shouted from the staircase as he stopped on his way up into the house. Bruce naturally turned around to see what he wanted, hoping he wasn't going to say something critical again. He didn't need the stress of it right now.

"Know your limits." Alfred told him for the second time and smirked knowingly at him. Bruce smiled and nodded, he was all too familiar with this. Though it reminded him of that time, it strangely provided him with some sort of comfort. It reinforced his belief a little and he knew just what to say back.

"Can't afford to old friend, can't afford to." He repeated and proceeded to get back to his work. Alfred smiled and carried on his way up the stairs shaking his head.

"Stubborn as always, just like his father." he mumbled to himself as he went to see if the news had anything to offer them.