Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or any affiliated characters, just Maya.

Just to Tear it Down

Chapter 1 – Luck

"You look wonderful Maya."

I tore my gaze away from my reflection to look at the man standing in the doorway. He smiled and offered me his hand, "Well that's good 'cause it ain't gonna get much better than this, hun." It was true, the only time I ever even bothered to gussy myself up was at these parties Bruce insisted on throwing every once in a while. Bruce bought me a long flow-y ball gown every time. This time he got me a floor length crimson dress with black embroidered flowers along the right side and across the bottom. I always felt horribly over dressed.

We walked into the glass party room my arm in his I could feel all of the girls' stares burning into me. It was funny because Bruce and I were only friends, but, again, this happened at every party so I was used to it. I mentally scoffed at all of the girls there and their tight short dresses and their... enhancements… Pfft! Who needs 'em? Not me, but apparently Bruce does. I laughed as he released my arm and made his way over to a group of three of those women.

I shrugged as I felt the girls' turn their attention away from me as I began searching the crowd for Barbara. I found her at the bar sipping on some champagne. I didn't know Barbara that well, but because I had been staying with Bruce for the past 3 months I knew her best out of everyone else there. I was kind of between jobs after the Joker and… Scarecrow… decided that it would be fun to rob and then destroy the Gotham Laboratory.

It really broke my heart to see her in that wheelchair. She looked so pretty in her long purple dress. I knew she wanted to get up and dance like everyone else even though she'd never say it out loud. "Hiya Barbara, how's it going?" I asked as I walked up beside her grabbing a glass of champagne from the cocktail server.

"Same old', same old'," she replied turning her gaze towards me.

"Ah, yeah well it could be worse. The music could suck," I laughed trying to make her smile. I succeeded.

"Well that is true, but if you like the music so much why aren't you out there dancing?"

"To be honest… I don't really know anyone here well enough to dance with them and I don't really wanna go out there and rock out with myself 'cause, quite frankly, I'd look crazy!" I smiled showing her some of my "sweet" dance moves. Not pretty, I thought to myself.

As the night went on I spent most of my time talking to Barbara about looking for a new job. She, of course, suggested I work at Wayne Enterprises, but I, of course, said no. I had no interest in petrochemicals, botanicals, or pharmaceuticals. I was quite content with just waiting for the Gotham Laboratory to be rebuilt so I could continue my own research, not work on some medicine that a random guy in Wyoming needed. Call me a bitch, but I just couldn't devote my life to that. I wasn't the Batman; I didn't care about every single person on the planet. Looking back, maybe it would have been better, would've made my life easier, would've prevented the Scarecrow from stealing my lab notes and burning the whole place down, and would've—never mind, hindsight is 20/20 after all.

At around 1:30 in the morning I decided that it was time for me to get out of there before I drank myself silly. I said goodbye and good night to Barbara and gave her a hug before I left the ball room. I didn't bother saying good bye to Bruce. I mean, he was a little bit…. pre-occupied. I'll just see him in the morning, I thought to myself as I made my way through the foyer to the other side of the manor to my room.

Under the grand stair case I noticed a male figure slumped against the wall. I looked around me to make sure there was no one else around and then slowly walked over to him. "Oh God, it's one of the cocktail servers!" I gasped as I saw the two gunshot wounds in his chest. I quickly knelt beside and checked for a pulse… Nothing. "Fuck!" I exclaimed terrified and angry, "Who could have done this? Where are they now? How did they get i-?" I stopped mid sentence as I heard the sound of a gun being cocked next to my ear.

"I don't really think how we got in really matters right now, sweetheart," a man coolly replied and I heard two other men snicker. I dared not turn my head I just looked out of the corners of my eyes. It didn't take a genius to recognize the man pointing the silenced pistol at my head. It was Two-Face flipping that damn coin again and again and again. "Now, tell me. Are you feeling lucky? You live," he showed me the clean side then flipped it over to show me the burnt side, "You die." He grinned, and I swear it was the most evil grin I'd ever seen on someone's face. He tossed the coin into the air and I closed my eyes tight and tensed up. I heard the coin land in his palm and him flipping it onto his other hand, "Well aren't you lucky, now just get the hell out of here," he demand. I couldn't move. I was too scared too, my legs felt like lead weights. "Either you leave now, or we'll see if your luck holds out," he smirked flipping that coin again.

My eyes popped open and I dashed out of the manor. Oh my fucking God! What the hell just happened? Was that really Two-Fa—. That WAS Two-Face! I gotta tell Bruce. I mean… He's in his fucking house! But I can't go back… He'll kill me! I'll call him! I stopped running when I reached the street. I pulled my phone out from between my boobs. Ew, sweaty. I dialed his number… No answer. I tried again… Nothing. Ugh, that man! What am I gonna do now? Bruce and Barbara and everyone are in danger!

I was about to turn around and run back to the manor, but 2 cars full of Two-Face's henchman pulled up. I didn't have time to hide. Two men pointed at me and started running towards me. I panicked and ran in the opposite direction, which of course meant away from Wayne Manor.

I heard them gaining on me. I was running as fast as I could in 4 inch heels, which turns out isn't all that fast. I rounded a corner into an alley as I heard them firing their pistols and almost tripped over a crack in the concrete. I caught myself on the brick wall of an apartment building. I didn't have time to catch my breath; I could still hear their footsteps chasing after me. I was tired; I just couldn't keep running. I had to find another way. Climb? No if they see me they can just shoot me. Um… I looked around me frantically. The sewer! Perfect.

I quickly slid the cover off the sewer. God that smells gross! There was no turning back now. I had to go in. I didn't have time to think of another plan. I climbed down the ladder and made sure to close the cover quickly. It made a loud bang and I was silent as I heard the thugs' footsteps overhead. I was sure they'd heard me and I was sure I would be dead in the next 30 seconds. I wouldn't have been able to run. But they didn't. They walked away. I guess there was a reason they weren't the brains of the operation.

I sat against the stone wall of the sewer with my head cradled in my hands. I realized I had nowhere to go. I didn't know where I was; I had never been to this part of the city before. I don't even think I can make it back to the manor from here. Even if I could get back there it wouldn't do any good… They were at the manor. That's the last place I should be right now. I was shaking. I was terrified. I had dropped my phone some time while I was running so I couldn't call for help.

I sat there for a good thirty minutes before I heard movement in the water to my left. My head snapped up and my heart began to race. Whatever that was… It sounded big! There it was again! I stood up slowly backing away from the sound when I heard what sounded like something large emerge from the water. I felt a tear run down my face and giant shadow was cast over me.

"What do you want, bitch?" I stopped backing up as the creature stepped out of the shadow and into the small amount of light let in by the sewer grate.

"Killer Croc!" I exclaimed under my breath.

"Aren't you gonna scream, bitch? Aren't you gonna run? That's what everyone does when they're scared!"

"Well I'm not."

"So what? You tryin' to tell me you ain't scared?"

"Oh… I never said that."

Hope y'all enjoyed! More soon! Review please ^_^

C-ya soon

~Angel