Lost, Found And Lost Again
Summary: A Batman Begins AU Fanfic starting before Bruce returns to Gotham. Alfred saves a young woman who has amnesia. This eventually will be a Bruce/OC pairing but I'm taking my time to build up her character and the other villains first. This is my first fanfic so be patient please. This chapter has been redone from the first posting. And as always, I do not own Batman etc. This Chapter is a T rating. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 1; Stray
The sun was descending slowly over the dirty, gray Gotham City. The sky was streaked with blood reds and dingy oranges. In the distance, storm clouds were building and lightening streaked across the horizon as thunder faintly rumbled. The wind was picking up, carrying the fresh scent of rain with it.
Across the river from the better half of Gotham and surrounded by dilapidated buildings stood a neglected tenement with broken windows on each of its five stories. On the roof, a woman in ragged clothes knelt, watching the sun disappear. Washed in the last rays of light, she smiled slightly. Despite of what she was going through, the fear, the not knowing, the questions left unanswered, it felt good to be free. She keep count of her freedom by the sunsets she watched each night from atop this roof. This one was number twenty.
Sun down, the darkness quickly consumed the sky, punctuated by flashes of approaching lightening. She brought a hand to her face, tracing the scar that curved from just under her right eye downward to her jaw. Shutting her eyes as she tried to remember what happened. A knife? She could remember flashes of blurred images, remember someone's voice, but nothing clear. Fear clenched her heart as she thought of the dark place she escaped from twenty days ago. There she was visited by a man in the mask, who sprayed a powder in her face. How many days she was there she couldn't count for there was no sunlight, only endless night. And rats.
She couldn't remember anything before that.
She laid low during the day, hiding from police and the men she felt were searching for her. She avoided all people just in case. At night she would venture out, in search of food, staying to dark alleys and back streets always careful to keep away from the rats. Maybe someday soon her memories would come back and she could return home. That is, if she had a one.
A home would be nice, a bed, shower, hot food, someone to welcome her. Ha! She glanced down at her dirty, ragged clothes and long tangled hair. Like someone would want this.
One thing she knew for certain, she was not going back to the dark place. She'd rather die.
The wind picked up as she left her perch and descended the decrepit fire escape. Her stomach growled as she reached the pavement. She kept to the shadows and started making her way west four blocks to an alley behind a restaurant. Dinner could usually be scrounged up there from a trash bin. As she walked, she tried to salvage a memory, scanning the depths of her mind for something, anything. Who am I? What is my name? She furrowed her brow and bit her lower lip, deep in thought.
She didn't notice the shadows that followed her.
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Alfred drove to meet his contact in the Narrows. Under any other circumstance, he wouldn't have agreed to the location, but he was desperate to get any information on Bruce. By his side lay an envelope full of cash. Alfred turned the Mercedes onto an alley, making his way to the appointed location. The wind blew trash across the deserted street.
As the months and years went by, Alfred had always remained steady in his belief that one day, Master Bruce would return home, but he also worried about Bruce.
And it seemed Bruce had vanished off the face of the earth.
No, Alfred wasn't one to sit and wait for a phone call, he had spent countless hours and sleepless nights making contacts and offering rewards for information. The last location Alfred had on Bruce was a prison deep inside Asia. But before Alfred could arrange for his release, Bruce disappeared. That was over a year ago.
Now, Alfred was reduced to any means possible to find Bruce, including late night meetings in dark alleys with unsavory characters. He was beginning to fear the worst. Hopefully tonight he would get the answers he most desperately searched for.
Alfred pulled a handkerchief from his jacket and wiped his face. This was the location, a man waved for Alfred to stop. He opened the passenger door and leaned in. He was holding a envelope. The exchange was made and the man left without a word.
Alone again in the car, Alfred slowly opened the envelope. This is it.
There were pictures, first of a monastery with snow capped mountains in the background, then another photo of the same monastery, burned and smoking. The next pictures showed Bruce with another man, dressed in black ninja outfit, monastery behind him like the first photos. He looked so different, older, hardened. But alive. Alfred looked it for a minute. He flipped to the last photo. It showed a burned body, unrecognizable except for its blacken ninja clothes. A small note behind the pictures read simply; No survivors.
No, that can't be right. There must be some explanation. Alfred wiped his face again. He simply would not accept it.
He started the car and made his way down the alley. A single fat raindrop hit the windshield. The wind, stronger now whipped around the buildings, blowing litter across the pavement. Thunder cracked and lightening flashed as Alfred turned the corner, heading home.
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A gust of wind blew back the hood of her sweatshirt, blowing dust and dirt into her eyes. She was raising her hand to rub the dirt out of them when three figures leapt out of the shadows at her. One of them swung something and struck her left knee, tumbling her to the street. The pain was blinding. She cried out and tried to get up, get away, but another man straddled her, trapping her underneath him. She felt fingers tighten around her throat and heard his crazed whisper as he leaned in close, lips brushing her ear.
"Hello precious.. Did you miss me?" He ran his thumb roughly across her scar.
She screamed and clawed at his eyes, trying to push him off of her.
The man cackled, "Oh, I like it when you play rough, babe."
She kneed him in the groin.
" Ahg! You little bitch!" He struck her in the face with his fist.
Thunder boomed overhead and the sky lit up.
Blinking back tears, she looked up at him, recognizing the crazy look in his eyes. No, not them! Terrified, she twisted with all her might, attempting to break free of the iron grip on her throat. He easily restrained her, then hauled her to her feet, still choking her.
"Come on babe, it's time to go home."
She struggled futilely in his grip, desperate to get away.
Car tires screeched to a halt and a man jumped out and attacked the nearest thug, pummeling him with his fists. She felt herself being thrown to the pavement as the man with crazy eyes turned to help his buddies. Each thug tried to knock the man down but he was unstoppable. The thug with the weapon tried to strike him, but he grabbed his arm mid-swing and twisted it violently. The thug cried out in pain and dropped the weapon. The man from the car was fueled by a passion too strong to be defeated. Thunder crashed and the wind howled through the alley.
All she could think about was getting away. She tried to get up, to run away, but her injured knee refused to let her. Sobbing, she crawled as far as a trash bin and hid behind it. She barely could hear the men's cries over the crashes of thunder. After a minute, when she didn't hear them anymore, she chanced a look around the corner of the bin. As lightening brightened the sky, she saw three heaps laying at the man's feet. The man looked up, seeing her. She jerked back, cowering behind the bin and squeezing her eyes shut, willing the world to go away.
A moment later, Alfred walked around the trash bin and knelt down beside her. He slowly reached out and touched her shoulder.
"Young lady, let me help you up. Where are you hurt?" As he gently moved her tangled hair away from her face, his fingertip barely brushed her scarred cheek. She flinched away, but opened her eyes. As the lightening flared, she saw that he was an older man, maybe early sixties, with kind eyes and gray hair. Thunder cracked close above them and fat drops started to patter on the street.
"Please Miss, we've got to get out of this storm," he said in his British accent, offering his hand to her.
She looked at him, considering her options. He didn't seem to want to hurt her. Finally, she took his hand in hers. The man reached down and pulled her up into his arms and carried her to the car. Once in, Alfred reached for his cell phone and dialed a number. The storm let loose it's torrents of water, soaking the filth in the street.
"Yes, Gotham Police? I need.. " The phone was ripped from his hands and snapped shut. Astonished, Alfred looked at the young woman. Her eyes looked pleadingly back at him.
"Please.. No police. I can't tell you why, I just know they will take me back." It was the first thing she had said to anyone in weeks.
"Take you back where?"
"The dark place."
Alfred looked perplexed. Perhaps she had received a hard blow to the head. He started the car and drove down the alley. At the street he turned in the direction of the nearest hospital.
"Everything will be alright as soon as I get you to see a doctor," he said reassuringly.
"No!" She grabbed the steering wheel, causing Alfred to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing. She flung the door open before it came to a stop and jumped out, rolling as she hit the pavement. Immediately, she was soaked by the downpour. She tried to get up, but she was exhausted.
The car came to a stop and Alfred rushed to her side, gathering her up in his arms. She sobbed uncontrollably, "Please, no doctors! No police! Just leave me alone!"
Alfred held her tight in the pouring rain, gently rocking her. "Alright, alright. Hush now, everything is going to get better. I know it will." He spoke softly in her ear, consoling her even as his own tears were being washed away by the rain.
"Please, at least let me take you to my home and tend to your injuries." He carefully took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "I promise you I will take care of you and not involve the police or doctors. You can trust me."
Not waiting for her to answer, he swept her up and back into the car. He retrieved a blanket from the trunk and wrapped it around her shaking shoulders. He got in the driver's seat and turned on the heater. He put the car in drive and headed for home.
The young woman leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder, crying silently.
Alfred spoke soft words of comfort to her as he watched the road .After a few miles, she fell asleep, exhausted from everything she'd been through.
Alfred wondered what he'd gotten himself into as he drove. Was she some sort of criminal? He glanced down, her eyes were closed and her face was peaceful. She certainly didn't look like a criminal. He caught a glimpse of the pictures in the floorboard. He blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Bruce was not dead. He just couldn't be. Alfred knew it in his heart that Bruce was alive and was somewhere. Lost maybe, but not gone.
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AN/ This is my first Fanfic. I've read lots of Fanfics, but now I can start to really appreciate what hard work you authors do to write one. Thanks again for reading and I hope it wasn't too horrible.