Chapter 1: Playing Pretend
Characters: Dr. Penelope Young, Nyssa Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne
The loud hum of the helicopter almost drowned out the sound of the explosion at Wonder Tower. It was only fitting for this be the setting of his first encounter with Batman. It was where the Head of the Demon died. It was where Arkham City fell. It was a beautiful sight to see the rebuilt monument crumble once more.
He knew Batman got out of there safely. In fact, he made sure of it. The death of The Batman was important to the fall of Gotham, and The Arkham Knight wanted to make sure that it was a much better event than something so impersonal.
The night was a success. After a report was sent to HQ, The Arkham Knight decided to take the rest of the night off. He walked towards the bedroom, sheading pieces of their highly mechanized suit as they walked through the presidential suite of the pleasantly desecrate Gotham Royal Hotel. They stored the pieces in a specially made suitcase in the closet before finally taking off the helmet and returning it to its place.
She closed the case and stood, slowly sliding the closet door shut. She eyed herself in the mirror of the door for a bit, smirking softly as she thought about where she had come from.
"Penelope, come to bed. You'll need plenty of rest."
"Of course, Nyssa." Penny smirked before complying.
Two days later, Penelope was playing a much different role.
Every part of her old self was telling her that what she had done was reckless, but her new self was telling her that this was the perfect opportunity.
Wearing nothing put her panties and a large man's dress shirt, she sat on the nice antique couch in one of the many living rooms of the mansion, watching the local news.
"Anything interesting happen last night?"
Dr. Young, as the blonde and British Liara Waters, turned around, watching her bedmate come down the stairs in a pair of pajama pants.
"Not particularly." She shrugged and went back to the TV. "How did you sleep?"
"Better than usual." He came around and sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
What she had told him was that she was an executive from the League's cover company come to reaffirm relations with Wayne Industries and other Gotham-based companies. She had no idea part of that involved having sex with Gotham's most eligible idiot.
Fourteen years ago, if anyone had told Dr. Penelope Young that she would spend the night with Bruce Wayne, she would say something like, 'I don't 'spend the night' with idiots like him. Now get back to work.' Now, she didn't know what to think. Part of her was offended that he didn't recognize her, but then again she didn't blame him for it. They had only ever met a few times when then Warden Sharp dragged her to Arkham fundraising events. Then, it was like he looked right through her. Now, she understood Nyssa's warnings. He was infuriatingly charming, but she took comfort in knowing that he wasn't her type. If she had been her regular self, she would have never even looked at him.
"So what are you doing today?" Bruce asked, focusing more on her than the news.
She didn't hate being there. In fact, she enjoyed the previous night, but she needed to stay on target. His question was the perfect opportunity to get out of there." I have a conference call with Nyssa in two hours. I should get going soon, actually."
"Well can I take you out tonight?"
"I'll see what my schedule is and I'll call you." She got up and went towards the stairs. Penelope stopped in her tracks when her ears tuned into back to the TV.
"The founder of the Penelope Young Foundation died today in her home in Metropolis."
Penny spun around and stared at the screen, fighting the urge to cry at seeing her mother's picture on the screen.
"Jennifer Young, the mother of her foundation's namesake, was found murdered in an apparent robbery gone wrong. Police have no leads. Penelope Young, of course, was the Head of Research at Arkham Asylum who, according to authorities, was forced to create the super drug that caused the invasion of Arkham Island by The Joker, and was killed in said invasion. The foundation was created to help victims of so-called Super Criminals and their families both in Gotham and Metropolis. Jennifer was sixty-five."
Penny sucked in a breath and covered her mouth. Her eyes shined over as she shoved back her tears. Jennifer Young was the only person Penelope had ever really cared about growing up since her father was completely absent.
She couldn't cry now, though. She couldn't alert Bruce. She had to morn later.
She ran up the stairs to grab her clothes. Gotham and Batman would have to wait for their demise. Someone else was going to face justice first.