CHAPTER 1
The Narrows
3:01 AM
The night was cold, colder than any other night of the week. It was already reaching the end of September, and the brisk chill of the wind gave way to the season changing.
Her footsteps were light, as she ran briskly across the road, to the other side. She afixed the black woolen hat on her head as she paced down the sidewalk quietly, her hands swinging slowly by her sides.
Behind her, somebody made a low whistle. The woman felt a chill of danger run down her spine, and she began to quicken her steps. Her fists clenched at her sides as she turned into the mouth of a dark alley.
The woman turned rapidly, dark hair cascading in dissarray down her back.
The alley was cluttered, only slightly aglow from the street lamp from the distance.
The man was now walking towards her, seemingly raged, but he stopped a few inches in front of her, trailing his fingertips up her arm.
Dark green eyes burnt holes deep within his own, colourless, seemingly soulless.
He stepped towards her, encircling her with slow, timid steps. Fancy dress shoes, now a little splattered with mud, echoed loudly against the tall brick walls. A dark yellow smile emerged on a scruffy looking face. A subtle glint in his eyes, scanned down her slender body, clad in all black.
He's never seen such a woman like this before, especially in the most dangerous sectors of the narrows.
The black woolen hat sat now loosely on her head, hair untucked, fanning out, and lengthy over her shoulders.
He took it all in, just how she almost blended into the shadows; just how her beauty seemed to glow, even in the darkness.
"What do you need?" She asked, sternly, clenching her teeth.
He stopped, his back facing one side of the brick walls that framed two sides of the alley. A large, awkward hand was brought up to cup her cheek.
"It's not what I need, but what you need." He spoke, mock lovingly, his voice edged dangerously.
She winced, taking a sudden step back. Mostly because she needed to regain balance, but also because he was a little close for comfort.
The man didn't exactly like the motion of rejection, even if unintentional. Her heart raced, as adrenanline pumped through her veins.
Turning as quickly as she could, she began to run back from where she came. She pumped her arms frantically, kicking her legs hard. All her muscles were working, pushing her forwards faster, and faster.
A low, and gruff groan of anger came from right behind her. He'd caught up to her awfully fast.
Strong hands gripped her shoulders suddenly.
The woman now was thrown back into the shadows of the alley. This time, this man, whoever the hell he was, was one where she could not easily fight back, but she had hope.
As she lay on the cool cement of the alley, with her black jeans shredded at the knees, and along and up the side of her thigh, she heard his footsteps, now slowly approaching her.
Her breath was heavy now; heart pounding violently at her ribcage.
Looking up, he was right over her. Standing there with a smug, angered expression.
She flipped over onto her back, pulling her knees in. She'd managed to kick him right in his midsection, missing the sensitive spot by mere inches.
Still, it made him stumble and worked as a distraction.
Although he hadn't lost his footing, she managed to get herself up in time.
Regaining her composure, she took a step forwards.
A fist came flying at her. She swung her head back, but he was wearing a large ring that cut at the side of her mouth, and slightly across her lip. Blood began to run down her chin.
She let out an exasperated growl and lunged at him. Her weight pushed him, as well as herself, and they both landed on the hard on the pavement.
Her knees hit the cement hard, making her cry out in pain.
His head had then come in contact with the cement, and the awkward crack sent shivers down her spine.
Before the man had any chance to attack, he was out cold. His breath became sparse.
"I'm impressed." Came a voice from up above.
She tilted her head up as she was now crouched over top of the unconcious man, one knee resting on the cement, while the other was propped up, swelling from the hard hit.
A large black shadow sat on the fire escape above her, a billowing cape blew gently in the breeze.
"You could have helped me." She wiped at her chin with the back of her hand.
The red of the blood contrasted sharply with her skin. She let out an exasperated sigh, and examined the man's awkward position against the ground, as she slowly stood up.
"But, I guess your help wasn't needed..." She mumbled under her breath.
The dark figure leapt down from the fire escape, and landed with a muffled woman's head shot up, and she nearly smirked.
"I've got some rope, tie him to that post over there, and i'll call for backup." The black figure was taking slow steps towards her, holding rope for her to take.
The woman squinted, slowly beginning to register who it was.
The Dark Knight, standing right in front of her, towering just above her. But, was he not a criminal? A wanted criminal? He'd also supposedly disappeared, but he was standing right in front of her...
She eyed him carefully, not letting herself blink in fear that he'd just vanish.
His mouth was now an unmoving line, almost a grimace.
Taking the rope he held out for her slowly, she noticed his deepened frown lifting, and his jaw unclench.
"Are you alright?" He asked, softening the tone of his voice.
Batman noticed that she relaxed a little, her shoulders untensing. It was strange, the Batman was supposedly gone for good, but here he was.
His eyes scanned the bloody cut on her lip, and the one that was cut into the corner of her lips.
"I've had way worse, so, I'm good." She smirked grimly, before stepping around the fallen thug, with the rope under her arm, and a look of subtle pain on her face.
Her knee was slightly twisted, and it hurt, but was bearable enough.
"You'll need some ice for that," Batman said before dissapearing into the shadows.
The woman sighed, rolling her eyes. Thank you, captain obvious. She thought to herself, wiping the sweat beading at her forehead. And, of course, he would dissapear just like that.
After she had tied up the thug to the lamp post, which sat just outside the alley, alongside the dim street, the sound of sirens caught her guard.
She took a deep breath, lifting the hood of her sweater over her head, and turning back into the dark alley.
This time, she wouldn't hang around for the cops. This time, she needed to get home and take a hot, steaming shower. And another thing she needed was the bag of frozen peas. Obviously for the swelling of her knee.
Her running was careful, but awkward. It was a half-limp, half-run.
She would turn her head to look behind her once every often. It was just to make sure she wasn't being followed.
She let out a sigh of relief, her breath heavy now. No one seemed to impose a threat, even the dingy homeless never paid much attention to her.
She blended right in.
What she hadn't realized was what followed her from up above.
The Batman ran soundlessly across the rooftops. His focus was primarily to see the young woman get home safe. He'd also wanted to see if that thug had any backup that would follow her.
But there was no one. The night was din, and eerily quiet.
She made it through the alley, this time in one piece. The blood from her lip was dried, slightly curtled, but she didn't pay much attention to it. All she needed was to get home, into her apartment, which was just a few buildings down.
When she was safely tucked away in her small, but spacious apartment, she locked herself into her bathroom, down the hallway from her bedroom. After all the black pieces of her clothing were literally ripped from her body, she felt relief.
The feeling of the hot, steaming water, running down her sore muscles was the best feeling yet.
Her mind replayed the night's events. From the odd man she had taken out. He was unlike the other 'criminal' she'd encountered. He seemed a bit off. It also reminded her of something she'd heard before.
Working at the Italian bakery, located somewhat in the Italian district close by the outskirts of the narrows, her boss Francesco Rossi had told her a rumor. Rumor mentioning a new leader of a mafia in Gotham City. The mafia supposedly had set up pawns around the narrows, men in cheap, counterfeit business suits, roaming the streets, used as a distraction to what the growing mafia family were building.
"The leader is said to be residing in Uptown Gotham, in one of the upper class neighbourhoods. For now, whoever they are, are under the radar of the cops, but I'm not sure that will last long, with whatever he is planning deep in the narrows." Francesco had stated. "But with the Batman's dissapearance, this man is using that as an advantage, to whatever he is setting up in the narrows. My dear Isabella, don't get yourself to involved with anything peculiar around here, it's dangerous enough already."
Turning the water off quickly, Isabella stepped from the shower, running a towel across the droplets running down her fair skin. With the towel wrapped tightly around her torso, she walked back into her cluttered bedroom. Her mind was still on what her boss had told her, and the suspicious thug. She pushed open the door of her bedroom quietly, and furrowed her brow.
A chilling breeze ran through the room. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a black figure, moving. Quickly, she jumped around. A muffled scream left her lips. The room was dark, but as soon as she hit the lights, the figure was hurdling through the open window, onto the fire escape, and into the night.
"What the..." She stood there, awestruck.
The Batman had found her home, and who knows how long he'd been in her room. But why? What would he need from her? She closed her eyes for a brief second, listening to the wind chiming through the open window. Opening her eyes, she was looking around her things, maybe getting some idea of what the batman was looking for.
Her wallet lay sprawled open on the top of her dresser. Stepping closer, she realized her ID card was missing.
What in the hell...
She grimaced when the cold breeze touched her exposed skin, and she let out a hiss of anger.
A moment later, she was shoving the window down, tightening the lock, and pushing the heavy curtains over the large glass pane.
She'd have to deal with this tomorrow night.
Gotham City Center, Wayne Tower
7:45 AM
Flashing lights blinded him the moment he stepped from the Rolls Royce. Paparazzi were crowded all around him, the only barrier were the police, and Wayne Tower security guards.
He flashed his trademark smirk, the one that the city was most familiar with.
The crowd raged in excitement as he walked forwards.
Questions were thrown at him from every direction, questions he hadn't had to urge to answer. They were mostly all about his, and Poppy Taylor's sudden engagement.
Poppy Taylor was a high society English citizen, who had come to move in with Bruce in his newly rebuilt Manor home.
Bruce Wayne had proposed to her the night before.
As soon as he stepped through the front doors of Wayne Tower, he drew out a sigh of relief, and headed straight for the express elevator's. He'd collect his thoughts on the way up to the top.
Bruce Wayne's Office
8:06 AM
"Mister Wayne, you are here a little early." Lucius fox walked into Bruce Wayne's office, after briefly knocking. He held a folder tucked under his arm.
Bruce looked up from a pile of paperwork with his brow raised. He grinned widely.
"Thought I'd catch up with some contracts that I missed signing, and important information from those meetings I missed."
"Now that is something a unexpected from you, Bruce." Lucius sighed, before seating himself in the leather chair in front of Bruce's desk.
"I arrived home earlier than usual." Bruce stated.
The folder Lucius held was now being placed on the edge of the desk, and Bruce looked at it in curiosity.
"I've got some information gathered on a new forming crime organization. It's not much, but enough to keep the Batman himself busy. Their operation resides deep in the narrows. We are unsure who exactly runs it, but if we get Batman on the case, maybe we can get a closer look into it."
Bruce nodded, taking the folder into his hands, and flipping through the papers inside.
"Thank you, Lucius, I'll make sure Batman receives this by tonight,"
Lucius nodded sternly, a smile forming on his lips.
"If anything else, be sure to contact me, I'd appreciate knowing what information you uncover, and what batman uncovers." Lucius stated, pushing the chair back, and standing up.
"I'll be sure too, thanks again Lucius."
With that, Lucius smiled warmly, and left Bruce to his own.
After a few minutes of flipping through the papers Lucius had given him, Bruce leaned back in his chair, running a hand over his face tiredly. He thought back to that woman he'd encountered in the narrows. Her face was not exactly clear in the dark, but he remembered her bloody lips.
Also, he'd gotten into her apartment after following her home, and had taken her identification. He'd personally drop it off as Batman later. The woman's name was Isabella Smith. It was almost suspicious to him. He hadn't gotten any information from his computers down in the cave earlier in the morning. Tonight, he'd make sure that he would look into it.
What was her main reason for roaming around at night? The other question that ran in his mind was her living quarters. The narrows were quite a dangerous place for a woman like her to be living in. Bruce sighed, crossing his arms, and turning in his large leather chair to stare out the tall window.
The sun was filtering through the window brightly, causing him to squint.
He thought of Poppy, and his engagement. They were happy together, and that's what was most important. But Bruce somehow had a strange feeling lingering, that the two of them were not meant to be.
Isabella tossed the covers of her bed off her body, and just lay sprawled across her bed. She was looking up at the ceiling, and taking in every crack, and leak that showed just how aged her apartment building was. She rolled over on her side, and sighed, glancing at the time. 9:02 am.
Gasping, Isabella leapt from her bed, running straight to her drawers and tossing on a pair of panties and a bra, while quickly fishing around her drawer for her work attire. A t-shirt with the bakery's logo across the back, and a pair of dark pants. She pulled out her work shoes and tossed them in a tote bag, and headed out of her bedroom, for her front door.
Slipping on her slightly worn out sneakers, she locked her front door from the outside, and headed for the small, cramped elevator, pressing the button for the basement level immedietly after entering.
She had braided her dark hair, and flipped it over her shoulder, down her back as the doors of the elevator pulled open. The soft chime of the doors echoed through the small foyer, that held a glass door towards the very right. Isabella pushed it open and hastily walked towards her car.
The parking complex was cool, and oddly dimmer than usual. She sighed, ignorning the eery feeling creeping down her spine as she wove her way towards her Dodge neon.
While unlocking the driver door to her neon, she saw movement from the peripheral of her vision. Isabella tilted her head up, and noticed a suspicious stranger walking along the wall on the other side of the garage. His head was slightly tipped in her direction, while slowly his hand was gently tucking away into the jacket of his dark suit. Suddenly, he'd dissapeared completely from her view.
Nervously, Isabella stepped into her car, shutting the door loudly. Her heart raced as she started up her car. Absentmindely, she looked at her rear-view mirror, and noticed a pair of headlights, taking a turn behind her.
Isabella's heart raced as she,pressed the gas a little harder as she drove towards the light filtering through beneath the rising garage doors.
The sun was now being swallowed by heavy looking clouds. A pre-storm rain shower began, and the streets were slightly dimmer.
Isabella checked her rear view mirror, swallowing hard as a dark blue van began to follow her, almost rear ending her.
She could not make the person behind the steering wheel, but she had a strange suspiscion that it was the same man from the garage. Her heart was now pounding, and she felt anger fletching deep from within her.
She pushed the accelerator hard, revving her engine as she skidded down the street. As reflexive as she could, Isabella rotated the steering wheel to switch streets.
The river shoreline was quickly coming into view.
A small, russet commercial bridge was straight ahead. It wasn't the one she usually used to get to work, but it would be the best bet to get out of the narrows.
The sound of rubber skidding across the road distracted her.
As her car drifted through an intersection, she noticed the blue van coming from the other direction.
She felt her breath hitch in her throat.
Life flashed before her eyes, as she realized the van had collided from the passenger side, and as if in slow motion, was pushing her towards the other side.
Isabella couldn't even scream. Her eyes shut, and she heard herself praying.
Her car was turning against the blue van, and glass became a rain shower eyewhere.
The loud crunching of her car colliding with the large warehouse was everything she heard before she felt herself vision blur.
Then everything went black.