A/N: Hello there, this is my first attempt at writing a story for this website. The idea behind it is that it combines characters from the Batman universe with the premise to the action film Die Hard. I figured it's appropriate for the season since Die Hard is in a lot of ways a Christmas film. You can expect this story to update daily. I actually wrote the entire story out prior to publishing it in order to avoid overly long gaps in updates. I did consider posting the whole thing at once but I figured it'd be better to have there be a small buffer between the chapters. That about covers all the details about this story so far.

Christmas, a season associated with the feelings of joy and kindness. But on the streets of Gotham, things aren't always so happy. The city has one of the highest crime rates on the east coast and even at the most wonderful time of the year, anything could still go wrong. But when in the safety of your own home, surrounded by those who care about you, those worries seem to just disappear. And up in the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises, that was exactly what was happening.

Despite being one of the richest and most well-liked men in the city, the Wayne Enterprises CEO Bruce Wayne only made public appearances when he felt like it. Usually at events he was either hosting or personally invited too. And more often than not, he was late to these occasions. This was because of Wayne's habit of dressing in a latex suit and beating up supervillains. But on this particular night, Bruce had been at the party since almost the very start.

Bruce wandered through the crowd of people that had gathered on the twenty-seventh floor for the company's Christmas party. What had once been an upstairs lobby was converted to a beautiful ballroom with all the fixtures a party needed. He waded through the dense mass of guests in hopes of finding someone who he knew well enough to have a meaningful conversation with. After a short search, he spotted the familiar face of his business partner and friend Lucius Fox over by the big Christmas tree in the middle of the room.

"Lucius, good to see you." Bruce said.

"Ah, Bruce, I was just looking for you." said Lucius. "Enjoying the party?"

"Trying to, I just can't shake the feeling that something bad will happen."

"Just try to relax. Even you deserve the night off once in a while."

Bruce took a few seconds to consider Lucius's words. Perhaps he had spent too many late nights jumping across rooftops and dodging gunfire. He looked back to Lucius and politely nodded.

"All right, maybe I do deserve one nice night." Bruce said.

Lucius and Bruce shared a brief laugh together. "Well Bruce, I'll let you go for now. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who'd like to see you."

"Sure, we can talk later. Oh, and let me know if Alfred gets here. He told me he'd be coming."

Bruce left Lucius and made his way through the party with the goal of continued socialization on his mind. He was approached by a few slightly drunk partygoers as he walked about the packed ballroom but was able to brush them off pretty easily. His search for some company was once again short when he noticed his friend and crime-fighting partner Barbara Gordon by herself leaned against a wall by the elevators. She had a half empty glass of champagne in one hand and a gingerbread man with the head bitten off in the other. Barbara noticed Bruce and she smiled at him.

"Hey Bruce!" Barbara waved at Bruce as he got closer to her. "Nice to see you're on time for once."

"I guess Gotham has a quiet night every once in a while." joked Bruce. "Anyway, I'm glad you could make it Barbara. Is the Commissioner here?"

"Dad said he'd try to come but he can't make any promises. Work keeps him busy."

"I get it. Dick said the same thing. Apparently things are pretty hectic for him in Blüdhaven."

Barbara's expression changed ever so slightly to one of disappointment. "So does that mean he won't be coming?"

"We'll see. You never know, he may surprise us."

Both wished their talk could continue, but it was unable to due to a young man in a tuxedo went over to Bruce and began asking for a picture with him.

"Uh, I'll see you later, Barbara." Bruce began to walk away as the man he was with took his phone out. "It seems everyone wants to see me."

As he was led over to the big tree in the middle of the room and Barbara disappeared back into the group of his many other guests, Bruce couldn't help but feel relaxed. Lucius was right, he told himself. I do deserve one night off. Maybe injustice can take the night off too.

Despite these comforting thoughts going through his head, the group of uninvited guests downstairs had some words of disagreement.

In the building's lobby, a security guard was slouched in a chair behind a circular desk. He had been passing last several hours by filling out the crossword sections of the various newspapers available throughout the city.

"Hmm... Eleven across… A famous cat and an American president… Eight letters..."

The guard became aware of the doors in front of him opening up but paid it no mind. He was used to being ignored by the visitors. But the noisy chatter of voices that followed the door opening forced him to take notice.

"And so the farmer says, 'Get that bull out of my kitchen'."

"Haha, you are simply a delight darling."

The security officer put down his newspaper and looked at the source of his voices. Casually walking towards him was a middle-aged man in well maintained green suit and a slender woman whose identity was mostly concealed by an enormous wide-brimmed hat and trenchcoat. The couple made it to the security desk and the man leaned forward.

"Hey, buddy, which floor is the company Christmas party on?" asked the man.

"Uh, twenty-seven."

"Thank you. Y'know what, you've been so helpful we'll give you a gift."

"What gi-"

The guard's question was answered when, in one fluid motion, the woman pulled a silenced pistol out from her trench coat and shot him in the chest twice before he could react. The couple walked past the guard and to a room behind him which had the label "Security Office" behind it. They stepped into a small room full of monitors and other technology. Once inside, the man and woman both transformed their appearances. The woman removed her hat and shed her coat to reveal that underneath she wore a white leotard with pointed shoulders and fishnet stockings which created the effect of her being an extra in an 80's music video. Her improbably large tri-hawk haircut added to this image. The transformation of the man was much more literal. His skin, hair, and clothing rippled and warped until his true, hulking form of a man made of clay became obvious.

"Looks like we're in, Magpie."

"You call the boss and I'll check for anyone else on this floor." Magpie took a walkie-talkie off her belt and tossed it to Clayface. He caught the communicator and sat down in front of the monitors. As he did this, Magpie began to put on a pair of red gloves and matching sunglasses.

"I'll be back in a flash." Magpie held her pistol at the ready and went off to another part of the lobby.

Clayface looked at the security monitors set up around him and stopped on a screen that showed a black truck idling in the parking garage. He extended the antenna of his walkie-talkie.

"Hey boss, we're in." said Clayface. "We got the guy at the door and Magpie's taking out any other guards down here.

"Excellent work." crackled in a voice from the other line. "You be sure to replace whoever was at the front desk. We'll move on to executing phase two of the plan. Oh, and make sure nobody but us gets to the twenty-seventh floor."

"Sure thing, boss." Clayface watched with interest as the back doors to the truck on the monitor began to open.

After many photo ops, seasons greetings from people he barely knew, and cups of eggnog, Bruce had ducked into a side room for some alone time. He looked out the window at the snowflakes as they fell to the dirty streets. Bruce heard the door behind him creak open and footsteps entered.

"Having some alone time, eh Bruce?"

Bruce turned around and saw Lucius entering the room. He smiled warmly at his friend.

"Yes, I guess I am." Lucius stood next to Bruce and looked out the window as well.

"Enjoying the party?" asked Lucius.

"I guess so. But there's just one thing that keeps rolling around in the back of my head." Bruce admitted.

"Oh, and what's that?"

"You locked up the Batman R&D lab we have, right?"

"Sure did. Your office is sealed nice and tight. Wouldn't want anyone finding my prototypes."

Bruce let out a short sigh of relief. "Thank god for that, can't have anyone in this building but us knowing about those. Well, except maybe Barbara. She already knows."

"Oh, I didn't know she was at the party. Is her father here too?"

"Not yet, but I hear he may show up later."

"How interesting. Well, I'm off to the party again. You can catch up whenever you feel like it, Bruce." Lucius turned back around and left the small room in favor of the congregation outside.

Once again alone, Bruce stared back down at the streets below him. Thoughts crossed his mind while looking out. Thoughts of all the potential crimes he could be stopping as Batman instead of eating slices of angel food cake and listening to Christmas carols at his own lavish party. He made the decision to leave these ideas alone for now but almost had to physically pry himself away from the window. He headed back to the celebration outside and did his best to enjoy the moment he was in. After all, he told himself, he can't be Batman every night.

Inside the parking garage, two short, portly figures pushed, or at least tried to push, a large metal chest on wheels in the direction of the building's elevator. The duo was dressed identically in suspenders, bow ties, and little ball caps with tiny flags on top of them. To most, they were known as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Two gentlemen who most of the criminal underworld regarded as not that intimidating but could probably kill you anyways. The two of them reached the elevator and Tweedledum pressed a button to call it down.

"New boss sure is different from Jervis, eh?" said Tweedledee.

"Ah, old Tetch had his charms for sure but this guy's all right." replied Tweedledum. "Besides, we're stuck with him 'til the Hatter gets out of Arkham."

The elevator arrived and the duo wheeled the container onto it before stepping on board themselves in almost perfect synchronization. As they went up, Tweedledee eyed the metal box suspiciously.

"What exactly is in here?" Tweedledee asked.

"Weren't you paying any attention?" said Tweedledum. "There's a rocket launcher in here. Boss says we're s'posed to set it up here and use if the cops come to investigate."

"Sounds pretty easy."

"Shh! Quiet, we're here. Never know if there are any night guards around."

The lift doors opened and the two of them exited to the completely dark and uninhabited floor of the building. "Looks clear." Tweedledum started to push the container over to the window. "Dee, you radio the boss."

Tweedledee grabbed a walkie-talkie off his belt as Tweedledum pushed the metal chest away. He pressed down a button on the walkie-talkie. "Hey boss, Dee here. Dum's setting up the last of those crates."

"That's great news." said a voice on the other end. "Now all that's left is for Team C to do their job. Wayne Enterprises will soon be ours."

Down in the basement of Wayne Enterprises, Team C was getting ready to do their job. In the dim, musty basement two sets of footsteps echoed throughout the room. The first set of footsteps belonged to a towering, burly man with limbs as thick as tree trunks. The man was dressed in a face-concealing black and red costume that covered every part of him except for the arms. Besides the outfit, his most defining feature was a large machine gun where his hand was supposed to be. To many, this man was known as KGBeast. One of the city's deadliest assassins.

If KGBeast was built like a tree, then the woman who strolled around the basement next to him had the body of a twig. Her outfit consisted of a purple and black spandex leotard and high heeled boots. Atop her head was a black mohawk and her face was painted completely white with small hearts added beneath her eyes which were outlined in black makeup. She was known by the alias of "Mime" to law enforcement and other criminals.

"Do see it yet?" KGBeast asked.

Mime nodded and pointed over to a metal panel with four metal tubes above it. Near the panel, an aging maintenance worker was taking a smoke break with his back turned to the two criminals. KGBeast saw the worker and pointed his gun-hand at him. Mime put her hand on his gun and shook her head.

"What are you doing?" whispered KGBeast.

The Mime took a handgun with a suppressor attached to it off a holster on her belt. She directed it at the old worker and shot him in the back twice. The worker collapsed to the ground. As soon as the worker hit the floor, Mime walked towards the metal panel from before and beckoned KGBeast to follow her. He went after her and muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Mute freak." under his breath.

Mime went up to the panel and opened it up to be greeted by a mess of wires and switches behind it. She began pulling out wires and flipping switches. As she did this, KGBeast went up a small flight of stairs so he was on the same level as the metal tubes that fed into the box Mime worked on. KGBeast grabbed the tubes one by one and pulled them out of place with his bare hands. The noise created by this caused the Mime to wince as she did her wire work. Mime was done cutting wires shortly before KGBeast finished ripping up the tubes. She climbed up the stairs over to KGBeast and leaned in towards him until it got uncomfortable.

"What do you want?"

Mime pointed to her ears, then to the tubes, then finally at KGBeast himself. To illustrate her point further, she disapprovingly wagged her finger in front of him. In Mime's mind, this all made perfect sense. But KGBeast simply pushed her away and grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"Boss, we cut out the phone lines." KGBeast spoke into his communicator. "I still wish you didn't pair me with the mute."

"Mime isn't mute. She just doesn't like to talk." said the same voice that had been talking with the other criminals earlier from the other end of the walkie-talkie. "Now, since all phases are complete, meet me back in the parking garage and the fun can begin."

Barbara Gordon had just finished another gingerbread man from the snack table and was desperately scanning around the room with her eyes for someone she recognized. But the guests seemed to be entirely Wayne Enterprises employees that she'd never met so eventually Barbara gave up on that cause. With the feeling of boredom sufficiently set in, she took out her smartphone and turned it on. She quickly scrolled through her contact list until she stopped at the contact labelled "Grayson, Dick" and pressed it. Barbara waited for a response and a smile formed on her face when she heard a click on the other side.

"Hey, Dick. Just wanted to check in." greeted Barbara. "Is this a bad time."

"Oh, hey there Barbara." Dick's voice came through the other line. "No, we can talk."

Barbara's ears focused in on some noises in the background. Heavy breathing coming from Dick for one thing, a sound that resembled something being broken for another.

"Hold on, where are you?"

"Just taking care of some business with Blockbuster. Where are you? Sounds pretty noisy."

The next thing Barbara heard was a grunt from Dick and the sound of somebody getting hit. She hoped it wasn't Dick and tried to continue the conversation. "Uh, I'm at Bruce's Christmas party. Just hold on for a sec while I get somewhere quiet."

Barbara made her way down a hall and entered the office of some Wayne Enterprises employee. The whole all she heard was the sound of Dick struggling with something.

"Are you okay, Dick?" The next thing she heard was the faint breaking of glass and Dick panting.

"Yep, I'm fine. This guy is tougher than he looks." replied Dick. "Anyway, hope the party's going well."

"Yeah, I think it is." Barbara said. "Actually, I was calling to ask if you'd be here."

"Things are kinda winding down on this fight with Blockbuster so once I take care of him I'll try to get there."

More grunting and the sounds of somebody being punched became audible.

"All right, I'll let you go now I guess." Barbara remarked. "Stay safe."

"You too, Barb. See you 'round."

The last thing Barbara heard before hanging up was someone in the background shout something along the lines of "Damn you!".

"He'll be fine."

And she was right. Miles away in Blüdhaven, Nightwing was able to apprehend Blockbuster just fine. Barbara, on the other hand, began feeling a whole lot less fine when the gunshots and screams outside started and sent her brain into survival overdrive.

A/N: I'm not really setting this story any specific continuity or timeline. It's fanfiction, I can do that. Some examples you could see in this chapter are Barbara not being Oracle and Magpie being described with her original outfit instead of her "Beware the Batman" outfit. Speaking of the villains, I tried to intentionally use less popular villains like Penguin or Two-Face just as an experiment. The one exception to that being Clayface. Let me know what you think of the villain lineup though. Or let me know what you think the chapter in general. And like I said earlier, next chapter should be up sometime tomorrow.