Chapter One: The Intruder
Claire Harding sighed loudly as she looked up from her textbook. She was sitting on her bed, back against the wall and legs crossed, surrounded by papers and medical journals trying to cram a little bit of study in before the weekend. It was wintertime in Gotham city and unfortunately for Claire, her tiny apartments heating system only had two settings: it didn't work at all, or it worked too well. It was currently on the latter, and the young woman was sweating like a sinner in church. Uncrossing her legs carefully as to not disturb the papers, Claire scooted off her bed with a slight hop and walked quickly into the next room, which was her very tiny living/entry room and unlocked the 'balcony' doors (she scoffed at the thought of the small surface outside the doors as being a balcony. She could barely stand out there without fearing she'd fall and die.) Deciding that if she left the doors open for a few minutes it would leave the apartment a little cooler, Claire pushed the doors open, a small smile gracing her face at the snow that was falling. Moving back inside as she heard what sounded like an explosion a few streets away, Claire took in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes closed before walking quickly back into her bedroom searching for her phone, shivering from something other than the cold. The young woman quickly found her mobile on her dresser and began dialling the Gotham PD hotline when she heard a loud crash and thud from her living room. Jumping, Claire turned on the spot, facing the doorway; her heart entered her throat as she laid eyes on the black clad figure lying on her floor. His armour was ripped and torn and burnt away almost everywhere and provided no shelter for his body anymore, having become unwearable. Claire hung up the phone and dropped it to the floor without even looking as she began to take steps towards the figure. At the sound of the phone falling his head whipped to look at her, the mask he wore in a permanent glare even though his eyes looked glazed over. Claire's breathing was uneven and her hands shook as she carefully and hesitantly walked past the figure (who was now watching her intently) and closed her balcony doors, drawing the curtains shut. With a shaky breath the young woman turned around, her back pressed against the doors and she jumped when the figure let out an excruciating yell of pain and that's when she saw the pool of blood that was beginning to form under him on her carpet.
"Oh my god!" She breather out and before she could blink she found herself on her knees by his side attempting to find where he was bleeding from. The mask figure tried in vain to push her away with guttural grunts but Claire persisted, pushing his interfering hands away from her as she spied the gash in his armour, where blood was leaking profusely. She slowed for a moment before turning to the man who was now staring at her slightly confused (from what she could tell). Grabbing his hands she quickly pressed them to his wound and attempted to get behind him and sit him up.
"Look, I want to help you but I need you to take off this sui- Oh my god!" She cried almost dropping him and the man finally spoke.
"What is it?" He demanded in a gravelly voice that made Claire falter. "Y-your mask has been cracked open at the back, you're bleeding there as well. I suspect you've cracked your head open." She came around to his front again, the man looked about ready to pass out and Clair snapped her fingers in front of his face.
"Batman! Hey look! Listen, I can help you I'm a medical student, but I need you to take off this suit. The whole thing, I need to treat you, you could literally die." She told him, squeezing her eyes shut again and shifting her mind into hospital mode. Batman shook his head but before he could protest Claire cut in. "I don't give a shit who you are! Your secret is safe with me, but you will die if you don't receive immediate medical attention and I don't need Batman bleeding out on my apartment floor!" She exclaimed flicking her fingers in front of his face again and the man stared at her, searching her face for something. Claire didn't know what it was but he apparently found it because the next thing she knew he was nodding and helping her lift himself so she could take him into her bedroom. They stumbled into the room, his arm wrapped tightly around her, but not enough in the right frame of mind to carry himself. Claire lent him against her dresser as she swept all her books and papers onto the floor, discarding her study completely as she helped the man sit down on the soft bed. His first reaction was to try and lay down but Clair stopped him.
"I don't know how this armour works, you'll need to help me get if off…" She trailed off when he motioned to a panel on his neck. Claire pushed his cape all to one side and pressed a button in on the panel, breathing in sharply when the suit seemed to unlock itself, pulling open down his spine. He had already begun taking his braces off when he almost fell forward, the young woman catching him and leaning him back against her slightly. She reached forwards and starting from his neck, pulled the suit away from his body and down his arms. It was hard doing it from behind but she couldn't risk him falling back again. Seeing it was only his torso and head that were injured Claire left the armoured suit hanging at his hips as she made her way to his front as he seemed to be a little more stable now. She slowly and carefully lifted her hands to what was left of the back of his cowl, gripping it and taking a deep breath as she lifted it from his head, the man only wincing slightly as the shell grazed his wound. Claire's eyebrows formed a frown when she found herself staring into the face of Bruce Wayne but she pushed all the questions and thoughts away when he fell forward again and she laid him down, fetching her medical kit from under her bed moving into complete hospital mode.
Claire tended to his skull first. After cleaning the blood away she concluded that the mask had taken most of the damage and left him with a large gash. She thanked god it wasn't a cracked head and stitched it up cleanly. Next she focused on the apparent stab wound in his side. This was much more complex, the young woman finding shards of glass trapped inside the wound. It was bloody and terrible but it didn't hit anything major so once again, Claire thanked god she wouldn't be dealing with a dead billionaire/vigilante. He stayed awake the whole time, wincing slightly every so often but not making a sound otherwise. He also watched her every move which unnerved Claire to no end It was almost like he expected her to produce a knife and stab him again. The young woman shook the thought away as she stitched him back together, getting him to sit up when she told him she needed to wrap the wound. He obeyed tiredly, his eyes drooping, but the intensity of his gaze didn't falter. When Claire had finished wrapping the wound she told him to lie back down.
"Stay here, take off the rest of this suit and go to sleep. You need rest, you've lost a lot of blood." Bruce didn't even attempt to argue; instead he removed the suit (after Claire had turned around of course) and laid down, closing his eyes. As Claire made to turn the light off she cast one more look at him, the surprise at discovering Batman's identity finally hitting her and she flicked the switch, and left the room, shutting the door behind her. She leaned heavily on it as she sunk to the ground blinking and struggling not to have a panic attack. Her breathing quickened and the young woman closed her eyes and took deep breaths willing the attack away. When she had calmed down sufficiently and her hands had stopped shaking, Claire stood up with all the grace of a rhino, making to clean up the blood stain that was forming on her floor.
A/N: Hey guys! this is just a quick idea I had and couldn't get out of my head. I'll write a little more and post it up, but tell me what you think!