Misconception:
Chapter 2:
Disclaimer:
I do not own anything Batman related.
Batman crept to the scene of the third murder that week, minutes before the cops were to arrive. The apartment was dirty and quiet as he walked from room to room searching for what he hoped not to find. He walked into a small room and found a girl's body lying stiffly on the floor of the dark and abandoned apartment.
Her face was white and angelic; her eyes were closed. She was no older than ten years. He felt his heart sink at the sight of her. Bruce knelt down carefully and observed her dead form. He felt anger stir in his chest as he reminded himself that a person did this to a human being, a little girl. He pushed his emotions aside for the moment and focused on the task at hand. He carefully tried not to contaminate the crime scene as he looked. An end table had a glass of water tipped over and broken, the throw rug was out of place, and finger nail marks were on the door frame. These were signs of struggle but they ended where the girl's body was found. No marks, bruises, or broken bones. 'Drugs killed her.' Bruce deduced, and proceeded to take a blood sample. In conclusion the killer had made her paralyzed, and left her to die. He felt his fists clench at the thought of the murderer; that a person would sink that low, and kill an innocent child. At that minute he heard sirens wailing as they came closer, and he reluctantly left the girl lying there unmoving.
A new murderer was on the loose, a new challenger, and another puzzle fro Bruce to solve. There had been a total of six killings, and all of them had two leads; they were all children and they were killed by the same drug. It disgusted Bruce to no end that a person would be that evil to kill someone, let alone a child. Batman waited on the rooftop adjacent to the scene, and waited for Gordon to arrive. Nowadays Blake often tagged along with the Commissioner, still not trusting the vigilante. After the events involving the League of Shadows and Talia, he had come to allow Batman to do more. Blake also knew not to try to mandate over him. He no longer demanded that Batman not do something, or get involved. Blake now knew that the dark knight was just as stubborn as he, and would not stand down from doing it his way.
The Commissioner was the same as always, and provided Bruce with the information and access that he needed to the GCPD files. The event hadn't changed them much at all. The League was not able to damage the already worn but strong friendship. His thoughts then drifted to Talia, and he wondered what position she was in.
When he thought of her, he saw a sad and confused person. If one did ask Bruce what his opinion was of her, he would say she was lost in herself. Much like he had been following the death of his parents. He did feel sorry for her, even if she did cause him a lot of pain. She was a lost soul, looking for the meaning to her life, and now she had to coop with the idea of defeat after putting so much time and effort into it. It had been eight months since he had seen her last. Last time she had been trying to kill him; she probably would kill him if she saw him now. She was not of genteel spirit, anyone who knew who she really was already knew that, and she didn't seem the forgiving type. He didn't care what she thought of him, he just hoped that she had listened to his word, and left the unsatisfying pursuit of revenge, and that she would stop harming people for her own selfish desires.
Seven months earlier…
Talia couldn't wait another moment. She and two of her men trekked across the snow covered landscape. The letter that had been mysteriously sent had been gnawing at the back of her mind for a month. She was born naturally curious, and she usually was more controlled about it, but this was just driving her mad. The thoughts of the letter invaded her thoughts while she was training or trying to focus on doing something else, until it became unbearable. She had finally given in, and ordered two of her better fighters to get ready for a departure.
Now they found themselves on a familiar route, towards the destination; home. The place she had spent a lot of her childhood in. She was about 19 when her father asked her to leave. That was when Bruce Wayne had come. She had not been happy about having to leave, but her father said it was for her own good, and Talia reluctantly left out of loyalty to her father. On her way down off the mountain from the monastery, she spotted a lone figure hiking up the mountain towards her home. 'So that's my replacement…' She had thought completely irked that at her father's plan. She had turned away from the monastery and didn't return until after the place had been destroyed by fire.
Now she was going to return to the rubble, and the charred remains of memories. Luckily she had her father's men, and though she would never admit it to anyone, she needed them. Some of them she had grown up with and though never spoke to them, she did have silent friendships with them. One of them was traveling with her towards her home.
At last she saw the village that still remained there on the slopes, unchanged. When she walked through town, none of them spoke to her out of fear. After they had passed through the town some miles later they came through a very snowy mountain pass. She was climbing up the steep and rocky path to the half destroyed place. Snow fell in blankets, making it harder and harder to see, and move. Through it all they made it to the top. She was completely exhausted, but she didn't falter as she stepped forward. One of the front doors was off the hinge, so she stepped inside pushing it aside. Nothing lit the insides of the broken place. Wooden beams still lay on the floor, and the ceilings were caving in. It looked the same as she had left it. The sight of it made her heart clench. Sun light and snow made its way inside through cracks and holes. She walked up to the chair where her father had used to sit in, and put her hand on the arm of the chair.
"I will never forget…" She whispered in promise.
"Focus will make you stronger, Talia." She froze on the spot, and the person spoke again. "Are you ready to begin?" A voice so familiar, yet foreign to her, spoke from behind her. She stood, still looking forward, and nodded.
"Yes."
"Will it be installed soon?" Bruce asked Fox, and the man nodded.
"Yes and to add one more thing… the system is highly sensitive, and will catch movement from a far distance." Fox showed the blueprints to Bruce. They walked inside Wayne Enterprises.
"It will be nice to play it bit safer…" Bruce nodded, and they took a turn into the elevator. The doors were about to close before a hand came down and stopped it from closing. Both Fox and Bruce stopped conversing, and looked up to see a red headed man with a mustache. He was about the Bruce's height, and, though, a little more hefty.
"Excuse me gentlemen, but I'm catching a ride up." He came in before they could say anything. He chose to stand in between them, drawing more attention to himself. He looked at each of them in aloofness, and ignored them. Bruce was fine with this, and from the man's behavior and features he had a pretty good idea who this man was. "Point me to Wayne's board room, if you please."
The elevator finally binged as they made it to the top of the building, and they all walked out. Bruce, and Fox eyed the man as he walked in the hallway like he owned the place. Bruce noted the man had a slight limp. He had no idea who they were. Fox being the CEO and Bruce being the owner of the company.
"If you'd just follow me…" Fox motioned with his hand.
"Don't you have to get to your work… on the lower levels…" The man eyed Fox and Bruce with a slight scowl.
"Oh pardon me," Fox smiled mischievously. "I'm the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. I believe you have a meeting with my employer and I." The man raised his eyebrows and his demeanor was only slightly more respectable.
"Where are my manors? My name is Gregorian-"
"Falstaff." Bruce stated, and Falstaff looked at him with disinterest.
"Who are you?" He said his name
"The owner."
"Oh, yes, now I remember you, son of Thomas Wayne." Falstaff stated
"Yes, you knew my father. You met when you borrowed some of the prototypes."
"Heh… You look and act like your father..." Falstaff said while looking away from Wayne in disgust.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Bruce walked around the man and opened the door to the conference room. Fox went to his own office to retrieve some documents.
"Pity he died… The deals my company made with his were altered because of his premature parting."
"I'm sorry that it caused you trouble." Bruce gritted his teeth, and had to look away from the man to keep from losing his temper.
"It's quite alright. His death I suppose can be excusable … but barely." Falstaff said in a cold voice. A couple minutes passed in silence as they waited for Fox to return.
"So… Brad-"
"Bruce Wayne." Bruce stated in a hard voice.
"Of course," Falstaff said airily, and watched as Fox returned to them with the files. "I called for a meeting the other day, but I got sidetracked with other business."
"I see," Fox sat down to join them. "What was your reason for coming down here sir?"
"I want to make a deal with you." Falstaff drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Call it a truce, for all the dispute between our companies."
"Oh? And what do you propose?" Fox raised his eyebrows.
"To keep… accidents from happening," He looked at Bruce who was watching him with a deadpan expression, and looked back at Fox. "I propose you allow me to purchase the chemical lab on the outskirts of Gotham, near Gotham Bay."
"Absolutely not." Bruce spoke with an even voice.
"Why not?" Falstaff questioned angrily after blinking in surprise. He was obviously not used to hearing the word "no".
"I have my reasons…" Bruce waved his hand, and put on his airheaded façade. "Besides that branch has brought us good income, right Fox?"
"What?" Fox looked at Bruce in confusion, but Bruce nodded. "Oh…Uh… yeah, right. It has done very well." Fox played along.
"I see, and I suppose you'll not let me have any other part of this company!" Falstaff's eyes turned slightly fiery.
"Now Mr. Falstaff-"Fox tried to get him to be calmer. Falstaff huffed, but he relaxed his stance.
"I can't say that I'm surprised at you Wayne, but you'll see, I'll find a way to have it." Falstaff spoke in a calmer voice and stood to leave both Bruce and Fox sitting there quietly. The door closed a little harder than usual. Fox turned to look at Bruce in question.
"Those labs barely contribute to the company's success. Falstaff has been after them for years. " Fox sighed and Bruce nodded.
"I've figure Falstaff has other reasons for buying that place." Bruce stated.
"Right you are Bruce." Fox glanced at the closed doors.
"Falstaff is not giving up on buying it, he wants it very much. He probably wants it for the location, being so close to Gotham Bay." Bruce stated tiredly.
"Falstaff is not an honest businessman; he was tried three times for the import of illegal drugs." Fox nodded in agreement.
"Those labs not only produce chemical weaponry, but they an enormous supply of rare and inaccessible ingredients to the public. My guess is that he wants to use it to make drugs."
"And he doesn't know how to develop or where to find the ingredients. That's why he's always hated Wayne Enterprises; because we always have something that he wants." Fox shuffled his papers.
"He needs to sell mob businesses new products." Bruce muttered, and Fox sighed quietly.
"Oh boy, I think I see a major storm coming…" Fox muttered, and Bruce nodded in response, he was not looking forward to that when it came.
Gotham's moon rose high in the night sky, obscured by the smog clouding over the city. The Dark Knight arrived to where Gordon and Blake where waiting on a rooftop, and startled both of them when he spoke from behind them. Blake looked to be trying his best to keep a deadpan expression and not scowl. Batman, as always, ignored him, and spoke to Gordon straightaway.
"Do you have the credentials?" He asked, and Gordon handed the papers to him, and Blake huffed quietly.
"Any leads?" Gordon asked the dark knight, and Batman nodded.
"Now I'm certain the killer is targeting children from the ages ten to fourteen. All of them paralyzed before they passed, and all murdered by the same drug." Batman replied, remembering the murder from the night before.
"I'm working on the blood samples. " Blake informed.
"I already got one. It's a Neuromuscular-blocking drug, a drug usually used by doctors working with anesthesia and surgeries." Batman replied. Blake looked slightly peeved but didn't say anything.
"So it's someone with access to these drugs. A doctor." Gordon concluded, and took a gulp of his coffee.
"Or a patient…" Batman pointed out.
"That's the problem; there are hundreds of doctors on staff at all the different hospitals in Gotham." Blake shook his head. "We can't check them all. Besides it could be anyone stealing or smuggling in those drugs."
"I'll look into it." Batman nodded, and turned to leave, but Blake held up his hand quickly.
"Hold it a moment, before you go and disappear" Blake spoke, and Batman turned to face Blake. "I have a problem with your interference."
"Lieutenant…" Gordon started off in a warning.
"No, it's not because I think he needs a brain check, which he does, but because he's been doing most of the work for us, we are relying too much on him. Doesn't he have a life… at all?" Blake crossed his arms, and turned his back to the dark knight facing Gordon.
"No, and believe me, I think he doesn't have anything better to do." Gordon nodded, and Blake turned to see that Batman was gone. Blake shook his head in defeat and left the roof through the door.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! All I have changed is the sequence between Fox and Bruce. As Kaylie 628 bravely pointed out, Fox was out of character. I hope this is better, and makes up for the out of character mistake I made! See you next time that I update!
