Swan Song

Rated: T

Tensions in Gotham skyrocket as a man out for revenge seeks the blood of those who ruined his family. Unfortunately for Bruce, Wayne Enterprises is caught up in the disaster, putting him in harm's way once more. Knowing that it's too much for Alfred to handle alone, and that Detective Gordon can't always be around to save his skin, Bruce takes matters into his own hands and hires some extra help. (Canon pairings and eventual Alfred/OC because Alfie doesn't get enough love!)

000

"No one's going to think less of you for coming alone, Master Bruce."

The young Wayne heir sat in the back of his shiny black car, tapping the pearlized cardstock invitation on his left palm. He looked down and read it for the thousandth time, and debated tearing it up for the hundredth.

Gotham Children's Hospital Charity Gala – Mister Bruce Wayne and Guest.

Of course no one expected him to actually attend with a date, but since he had taken Selina to the last party he had attended, he felt that he had established a precedent he should have followed. Selina refused to appear, however, when he went looking for her in her usual spots. It hurt that she ignored him. She was one of his few friends, though she seemed to deny that fact.

Even though it hurt, he hoped, truly hoped, that she really was avoiding him, and that she hadn't had something awful happen to her. The thought was frequently on his mind.

"I know," Bruce replied after a moment, "I just hope no one mentions it. I won't know what to say."

Alfred chuckled and looked at Bruce from the rearview mirror. "Master Bruce, if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that you'll have to get used to that. Girls come and go. For someone such as yourself, someone so constantly in the public eye, people are going to notice no matter what. They'll wonder and speculate, and they'll look for some pathetic story for their gossip columns. As long as you're a proper gentleman however, you can ignore all of that and let them have their fill. It's nothing to get worked up about."

Bruce nodded to himself but didn't respond. Alfred was right, of course.

They sat in silence with nothing but the pattering raindrops for abidance for a few more minutes while Bruce occasionally glanced up at the building to his right. They were parked in front of the Gotham Natural History Museum, which had been booked out for the gala. The last time that Bruce had been there, he had gone with his parents. Now if he did eventually go in, he would be alone. Completely alone.

"Alfred, maybe you could—"

"—sit right here and wait for you to call? I'm sure that's what you were about to say. It would be highly in appropriate for a butler to enter a black tie gala."

"R-right. Yes, of course. I doubt I will stay long," Bruce said and tucked his invitation into his breast pocket. Alfred pulled the keys from the ignition, though the car had already been off, and grabbed the oversized umbrella from the passenger seat. He opened the door and then the umbrella before fully exiting.

Alfred popped the collar on his pea coat and looked around, just to double check that everything was clear. There were a few police cars sitting around the block, watching the building. Though Alfred hadn't heard of any reason for caution, it never hurt. Gotham was far from a safe place, and when the wealthy gathered, the roaches of society were sure to be nearby. Once he deemed the block safe, Alfred walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door for his young ward.

Bruce stepped around and adjusted his tailored jacket as he did so. Together they walked up the wide stone steps to the awning that was roped off with security guards standing on either side. The two men, both dressed in suits with inconspicuous earpieces, stepped forward and blocked the entrance. "Please show your invitation," one of them demanded.

Bruce withdrew the invitation and handed it over. The man took it and walked down the awning to check the invitation against a list before nodding to the other security guard.

"Thank you for your patience, enjoy your evening." The guard unclipped the velvet rope blocking the way and stepped aside to allow Bruce to pass. Once he entered into the building, Alfred gave a nod to both of the security guards and turned to head back to his car.

000

When Bruce entered the museum, the first thing that struck him was that it wasn't as big as he had remembered as a child. Of course, it was still quite large, especially on the first floor which split off into numerous large exhibit halls, but…. Not as towering. He used to feel so small when he looked up at the grand staircase leading up into other parts of the building. Now, he realized that it was almost the size of the one he had at home, only a bit wider.

A few people smiled at him and nodded, and he returned the gesture. No one approached him, and he did not approach anyone. He didn't see any familiar faces. He hadn't even seen one member of the Wayne Enterprises Board of Directors, which he found surprising. Though he kept a straight face and an even stride, the hair on the back of Bruce's neck started to stand the deeper he went into the crowd of strangers.

"Bruce."

He turned to see Detective Gordon giving him a slight wave. Inwardly, Bruce gave a sigh of relief and side stepped to meet his friend.

"Detective Gordon," Bruce replied and extended his hand. They shook and he smiled. "It's good to see you. I didn't think I would know anyone here."

"I thought the same thing. I recognize some of the security guards, but that's about it."

"Did you also come alone?" Bruce asked, and stood next to Gordon. He shoved his hands into this pockets and watched the crowd. He stuck out like a sore thumb, if only because he was the shortest one there.

Gordon chuckled. "No, no… I'm actually the plus one." Just after he said that, a woman came up behind them. She was carrying two glasses of champagne.

"I see you've made a friend," she said and handed off one of the glasses to Gordon, "sorry about that. Every time the Director sees me, he tries to rope me back in. He's a hard man to say 'no' to…" She sipped her drink and then smiled at Bruce.

"I'm sure… Anyhow, Lee, this is Bruce. Bruce, this is Lee. She's…" Gordon's words trailed as he looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening. As he opened his mouth to continue, Lee sighed.

"Girlfriend. I'm his girlfriend. He always has to check to make sure none of our coworkers are around before he says it. No one's going to care, of course, but he's weird about it. So you're Bruce Wayne? It's a pleasure to meet you. I wish I could say I've heard a lot about you, but Jim's pretty private when it comes to things that may be work related—not that you're only work related of course." She added the last part on quickly, as if she had been afraid she had offended him. She hadn't.

"Of course, that's understandable. So you also work at the police department?" Bruce asked and stared back at her for a response. He was making it a point to keep his eyes from wandering. Lee's dress was a very pretty midnight blue, but it was also rather low cut, and he was still a teenage boy.

Lee nodded. "I'm the medical examiner. Back in the day, I used to work for the Children's Hospital—which is why I received an invitation, I suppose. I swear, they think they can bribe me into going back…" She rolled her eyes and took a sip of champagne.

"Working for the police department seems like it's a pretty big change from working with children," Bruce said. A waiter approached him and offered him a glass. Bruce almost refused until he noticed that the color of the liquid was a bit off. It was sparkling grape juice. He took the glass and realized that he felt a bit more comfortable with a drink in hand. It made him blend it a bit more with everyone else.

"Well, she did have other jobs in between. She actually worked at Arkham for a short period. That's where we met, actually," Gordon replied.

Arkham seemed like it would have been even worse of a job. "Children to criminally insane? That seems like an even further jump."

Lee shrugged and opened her mouth to reply before shutting it. She looked around and waited for a server to pass her buy. She stepped a bit closer and lowered her voice. "To be honest, it isn't something I care to talk about. All I can say is that working to help children is one of the most rewarding experiences possible. Working for the Children's Hospital, however, is not."

Bruce nodded and furrowed his brows a bit. He wasn't sure if Lee was aware or not, but Wayne Enterprises subsidiary, WellZyne, was one of the major donors to the hospital. He was about to ask her another question regarding the matter when the lights dimmed and the servers started ushering the guests into the ancient Rome exhibit hall for opening comments.

000

Alfred sat in the front seat of the Wayne car with a newspaper in hand. He had finished reading it that morning but had saved the crossword for his downtime. Though Bruce promised he wouldn't be staying long, Alfred expected he would have at least an hour before he was summoned to the front again with the umbrella. So he sat quietly, parked under a streetlight so he could see his puzzle, with his mobile on the dashboard, and waiting for his call.

He was focusing hard on his paper, trying to figure out a seven letter word for 'if it all goes wrong,' when there was a sudden wrapping on the window, just next to his head. He was ashamed that he jumped so violently. He must have been losing his edge.

His hand immediately went to the side of his seat, just inches away from the firearm he had concealed, just in case. He tried not to keep such things around Master Bruce, but with the last attempt on his life, he had made the judgement call to keep some sort of protection around. It was unneeded, however.

Selina Kyle stood outside of the car, a sly smile on her face and two fingers waved in some sort of mock wave.

Well, Alfred had thought it was a smile, at least. Once he opened the door and got a proper look at her, without the water covered window and streetlight shadows obstructing her from his view, he realized that she was grimacing. "Bloody hell, girl, you gave me a fright. What are you doin' here?"

"Please tell me that Bruce is across the street getting a latte and not inside the museum with all of Gotham's prime targets?"

Alfred raised his hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. It had stopped raining, at least. "Of course he's in the museum. Why else would you think I'm sitting out here waiting for him?"

Selina put her hands in her curly hair and paced around a bit. "You have to get him out of there, Alfred. There's going to be an attack. Some heavy hitters are going to go after some of the big names in the room tonight. I don't think they'll care who's caught in the crossfire."

Alfred turned and looked towards the closest police car parked on the block. It was empty. "Damn! Damn, damn, damn! How did I miss that?" He reached into the car and grabbed his phone. For a moment, he almost reached under the seat to grab his gun. He decided against it. If he walked up to the security guards while carrying, it was most likely that they would turn on him before he could explain himself. "Why couldn't you have told us this before we left? Bruce has been lookin' all over for you, and you just now turn up!"

The teenage girl shrugged and frowned. "I dunno what to tell ya. I was busy, okay? As soon as I heard, I came straight here to try to warn you guys."

He continued muttering profanities under his breath as he called Bruce's mobile. Immediately, it went to voicemail. Bruce had hung up on him. Alfred cursed and picked up his pace, hurrying to meet the two security guards placed out front of the museum.

000

Author's Notes: Well, we'll see how long I stay motivated to finish this. I have a rough concept in my mind, but plenty of stuff is subject to change. A few things to note: I will be aiming to bring in most characters who are still around at the end of season one. I am into season two of the show, but I've decided that the plot will not include the Rise of Villains arch. I may include some of the threads in the story in their own way, especially for characters like Ed Nygma who are already very involved.

A note on the 'romance.' So, if anyone is a reader of mine from past stories, you already know that I am all about the 'slow burn.' Things take time to develop. I do not just throw together characters and say "Now kiss!" It will be a long, tense process that will hopefully drive everyone crazy because of the realism of developing relationships =) . I also try very hard to make a story that could fit in the canon universe. I will try my damnedest to keep character personalities in line. I've never attempted a crime drama…. So we'll see how this goes!

Thanks for reading!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F