Hello this is my first Gotham fanfiction so let me know what you think of this first chapter. So just to clarify this is simply a set up to the story and the main character Ben, and while this is set in Gotham and certain story lines will be the same other chapters will go in a completely different route from the show. Would definitely like some feed back, Anyway onto the chapter

Chapter 1 "Family first"

The young man stared intently at the monitor as the latest reports came in. The investigation had been draining both emotionally and physically on the young agent but soon it would all be over with and he would have closed his first big case.

He took a moment and rubbed his dry eyes that had been staring at paperwork for far too long and took a sip of stale coffee that had gone cold hours ago. Before he could return to the paper that lay before him he heard a knock on his cubical.

With a jump he turned around to see his boss Ava Smith a forty something woman who had been with the service for over twenty years, and who Ben had found could be either a nightmare or a pleasure to work with depending on how you did.

"Hey Ben" her tone informed him that this wasn't going one of their normal conversations, "Yes ma'am, is there something wrong?"

She let out a quick sigh before continuing "there was an incident…your Aunt and Uncle in Gotham…they've been murdered."

Ben felt a crushing pain descend upon him and felt the ability speak go out the window, "I'm sorry I really am Ben I know they were your only family…"

"Wait, how, where did this happen?" Ben felt himself becoming more panicked as the need to get up and go was taking over.

"They were leaving the movies and some mugger shot them last night, those are what the reports say"

"What about Bruce?" his mind went immediately to the more pressing matter. She put up both of her hands to calm him down "He's safe and sound back home…"

"What, what is it"Ben jumped out of his chair grabbing the coat from his chair "Apparently your cousin Bruce witnessed the murder

That was the finally piece of information that he needed to hear "I'm taking my vacation" Ben began going towards the door to retrieve his valuables from the secure area.

"That's fine you have a couple weeks saved up but…hey" She put her arm on him to get his attention knowing that he wasn't completely in control at the moment.

"There's something else that you should know, Wayne Enterprises they've been on our radar for over a year now. There's something going on there and we might need your help when you get there."

Ben stood in the doorway confused "right now you're telling me this, why not a year ago that my family's company is under investigation by the Secret Service, Why right now?"

The young man was trying to keep the irritation out of his voice as he was speaking to a superior, she continued "you know I couldn't do that, you would've compromised the investigation not on purpose but if it went to trial you know how much that would've been scrutinized"

Ben took in the information "You didn't answer my question, why tell me this now?" the question hung in the air as the clicking of keyboards and the endless ringing of phones broke through the silence between the two.

"I know you Ben, hell I read your entire file like I do for every agent that I work with. You're not going to let this go and you're going to try and solve this. So hint, hint I'm giving you this information do with it what you will" She said holding up a manila envelope.

"What about the local office, could they help me?" Ben asked as he took his cell phone out of the lock box and grabbed the file.

Ava gave a disapproving look before saying "First off what I told you was between friends as in not official business, second its Gotham where every cop is somehow corrupt regardless of the agency"

Ben gave her a disbelieving look "they can't all be corrupt"

She shook her head "No not all of them, but those that aren't just stand by and watch it happen, so be careful and remember you have a friend here so please call me if you need help, ok?"

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, the young agent who now had a weight upon his shoulders that he had't experienced before simply shrugged his shoulders and responded "OK...i get it"

Ben woke with a start as the train sped toward its destination like a bat out of hell. Involuntarily his hand reached for his service pistol and then let out a sigh of relief after discovering that it was still there.

The young agent looked outside the window and upon discovering the Gotham skyline was in view began to feel his insides twist into a knot.

He hadn't spoken to his family in a few years and part of him wondered if Bruce would even remember him, however if memory served the kid was smart and missed little so some memory of Ben was in there somewhere.

Ben's own parents had been distant with him and during his teenage years he turned to drugs and alcohol in a hope that they would fill the empty hole inside of him, unfortunately they didn't and soon young Ben found himself being shipped to his Aunt and Uncle in Gotham.

His parents hoping that getting him away from Metropolis and his friends would stop him from using, reality check Gotham is actually worse than Metropolis when it comes to literally any vice that a person could have.

Ben didn't stop himself from using until Bruce got into his stash, luckily he didn't take anything or else Ben would probably be behind bars right now, somehow the kid at three had more commonsense than he ever did.

So Ben decided to stop and take some responsibility for his life, not saying that it was easy because it wasn't but eventually he became a model student coming in the top ten percent of both his high school and college classes, and as for the Secret Service its surprising what a government agency will look over if you speak three languages.

And through it all Martha and Thomas always had his back and after his own parents were killed in a car accident they became his legal guardians, and now they were gone.

The train pulled into the station and slowly Ben stood, gathering his only bag and stepped out into the aisle and awaited for the doors to slide open and usher him into the new reality that was before him.

Only a few others got off with the young man and he soon found himself in a slight drizzle with no taxis in sight, "damn, Ben slowly pulled out a cigarette and put it into his mouth as he looked around the nearly deserted area.

Before he could pull his lighter out the honking of a horn caught his attention, there beyond the fence was the old butler and friend "Alfred" Ben moved forward and soon the two were standing in front of one another.

Alfred who seemed to have aged twenty years in the span of three, Alfred not only his friend but his mentor as well was reduced to the person before him who appeared to have the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Master Benjamin so good to see you sir" the greeting shocked the young man "Alfred we agreed a long time ago, it's just Ben ok."

Alfred barely hesitated before responding "Right forgive me Ben it's been a rather trying couple of days" the faint hint of a smile appeared across his lips though Ben doubted that the man was in any sort of good spirit.

"It's ok Alfred, it's good to see you" Ben picked his bag off the curb and shook the older man's hand before going to the passenger door.

"You missing some bags?" Alfred questioned unmoving from the front bumper

"No Alfred I travel rather light anymore, let's just go home" The young man sat down in the car and shortly after was joined by Alfred.

"Right lets go home"