1: Morning Rituals
It was the silence in the house that woke him. He'd been in Europe all summer and had gotten used to being summoned by the cities, cursing the sound of traffic but being filled with excitement for the day ahead. So, when nothing conspired to rouse him from his sleep, he bolted awake at quarter to seven, half-expecting the world to have ended. Then, he realized today was his first day at public school. He couldn't say he was relieved.
"Master Bruce?" Alfred, his legal guardian and father figure, opened the door gently. "The car will be here shortly, I suggest you ready yourself. Would you like some breakfast?"
"No thanks, Alfred," Bruce said, stumbling out of bed and rubbing his eyes blearily. "I'll grab a McMuffin on the way to school."
Alfred scowled at him but said nothing as he left the room. Bruce knew how much he hated junk food but it was a miracle he'd managed to get himself out of bed at all so he figured he deserved to treat himself.
The first thing Bruce did when he stumbled over to his dresser was check his phone. He hadn't seen his girlfriend - Selina - in weeks and was thoroughly excited to see her again. They'd kept in contact while he'd been in Europe and he'd teased her about Rome. It was one of the places she'd always wanted to go. Bruce had tried to convince her parents to let him take her on vacation with him but seeing as they'd only just started dating at the time, Selina's parents had rightly declined.
But now they could spend all the time they wanted together because they'd be going to the same school. Alfred had become dissatisfied with Bruce moping around the house most of the time and Bruce knew private school wasn't challenging enough. Therefore, they'd come up with a compromise. If Bruce was able to survive one year at Gotham High, the biggest public school in the city, then he would be able to go back to Elliott. Not that Bruce particularly liked Elliott Collegiate Academy but he felt that was the lesser of two evils, so he'd agreed to the deal.
The text he'd sent her this morning was: Thinking about u :) cant wait till we get to school! :D Gotham High's got some roomy closets ;) xxx
Bruce smiled evilly at the text and sent her one back, one Alfred would surely ground him for should he ever read it. He then crossed to his closest and threw on a grey t-shirt on it and a pair of black Gucci jeans. He picked up his $500 leather jacket from the floor and shrugged that on too. His hair was mussed but he couldn't be bothered to brush it. The car would be here soon and he was short for time. Alfred would probably attack his hair on the way out the door so he didn't bother. His cell vibrated again as he shoved his crap into his backpack. He looked down eagerly but was surprised to see it was from Vicki.
All it said was: Good morning, enjoy your day. :)
Bruce decided to ignore it, a little irritated that it hadn't been from Selina. Like many of his friends from school, he hadn't seen Vicki much over the summer. He assumed she'd spent most of her summer with her friend Kendra in Gotham. He couldn't wait to tease her about it when he got to school, considering it had apparently rained most of the time.
Yes, this new school was looking good already.
Harleen Quinzel was late, as ever, when her mother's shrill voice called up to her from the hall. "HARLEEN QUINZEL YOU BETTER NOT BE LATE FOR THAT BUS!"
Harley flinched when her mother used her dreaded name. "I'm not gunna be late, 'ma!" She screamed back. "And it's Harley!" She finished adjusting the dice earrings and looked at herself in the mirror one finally time. God, she looked so ordinary. Pale white school, dull blue eyes, blonde hair and pigtails, Hello Kitty t-shirt and faded red and black skinny jeans. Sighing, she grabbed her crimson handbag - careful not to prick herself on the cactus Pamela had brought her last Christmas - and headed out the door.
She came down stairs to the sound of her father and younger brother murdering someone on Halo. They were both swearing loudly. She could smell bacon wafting from the kitchen but decided to go without. She was too excited about seeing Pam and...him... again to keep anything down.
Running for the door she yelled, "Bye, guys!" Before her mother could force anything down her throat.
She had to run for the bus stop as it was just pulling away when she leaped her picket fence. Goddamn suburbia. It must have been much easier to get to the bus on time if you lived in Gotham City. You know that and it being much easier to get killed by some psycho. She saw Bane and Croc laughing at her from the backseats as she sprinted after the ugly yellow thing, flapping her arms manically until the driver pulled over.
She jumped on and paid the driver, taking in deep breaths as the boys at the back mocked her. Luckily, he was among them. Bane, Croc and Firefly (as they'd been nicknamed by fellow students) were the biggest bullies in the school second only to Talia al Ghul. Again, Harley found herself sighing. They hadn't driven past Pam's house yet (there was no flowery smell in the bus) and Lydia was nowhere to be seen either. The only people on the bus were Oswald Cobblepot and Jonathan Crane - both pretending to look completely absorbed in whatever books they were trying to read while Bane spat spitballs at them - and Victor Fries who - despite it only being autumn - was firmly wrapped up in a large winter coat, a thick scarf and a beanie with his hands tucked in his pockets. Harley was pretty pale, but this guy was practically blue!
Victor looked quite sad sat on his own so Harley decided to join him. "Hey, Vic!"
Victor gave her a cold look, "Hello, Harley."
"So...how was yer summer?"
"Too warm."
Harley was suddenly starting to regret sitting there.
If there was one thing Vicki Vale was not in the mood for, it was school. Sure, it was good to catch up with everyone after a long break (and the fact that one of her best friends was coming to Gotham High) but it also meant being introduced to Bruce's new girlfriend, whoever she may be.
With a heavy sigh Vicki slowly pulled herself out of bed and glanced at her clock. At least she wasn't late. She stumbled over to the bathroom, pulled herself out of her pajamas and stepped into the warm spray of the shower. Once she was done, she dried herself and found the most presentable clothes she could see on her floor. This is why Bruce has always friend-zoned me, she thought sadly as she dragged a brush halfheartedly through tangled blonde hair and applied concealer to the three new zits that had formed on her chin.
She tired her best to navigate the bed to get out the door but found herself having to walk over it instead. Their apartment, the one she shared with her mother, was tiny. Her bed hardly fit in her room. That was a drawback of living in the Narrows. That and all the crime.
Vicki was just reaching for the handle of the fridge when she spotted someone in the reflection of it. Whirling around, she got into a fighting stance only to spot a familiar face. "Kendra!" She shouted, angry. Her best friend, Kendra was sat on her counter top, eating a large bowl of serial. "What the hell are you doing in an apartment? Can't you eat at your own house?!"
"Well, single dads aren't exactly the best when it comes to grocery shopping," Kendra replied calmly. "Your mom buys the best food."
"Yeah, I know," Vicki said but she was less furious than she had been earlier. Still, Kendra should know better. Vicki lived in a bad area whereas Kendra lived in the Meadows, full of middle class families and picket fences. "How did you get here and how did you get in?"
"I took a bus," Kendra told her and Vicki rolled her eyes. She didn't think of just taking that bus past her apartment complex and going to school. "And your mom let me in. Said she had to leave for work early. Emergency at the hospital or something. She said I could help myself." Kendra shook the bowl in her hands slightly.
"Okay," Vicki breathed. "But wake me up next time, I could have karate-chopped you into next week."
"You're the captain of the swim team not kung-fu panda," Kendra sighed, readjusting her blue glasses.
Vicki rolled her eyes then returned her attention to what her friend was wearing. "New hoodies look good."
Kendra beamed at her. "I know, right?" She was wearing some of the new hoodies Vicki had managed to get for the swim team out of the school budget. They were a subtle shade of blue with the words: GOTHAM HIGH SWIM TEAM written across the chest with the school's insignia of the letters G and H inside a black bat with a gold outline. Pretty damn cool if you asked her. It was a small victory against the football that seemed to dominate the school budget so much. The swim team, book club, debate team and school newspaper had all suffered for years thanks to Bane and Croc splashing out on unnecessary items. Well, no more.
She also noted her friend Kendra was looking better. Ever since her mom had died so horribly couple of years back, she had seemed to be drifting further and further away from the person she once was and last year she had finally snapped. She'd totally broken down, started screaming in the middle of class. It had earned her the moniker "Scream Queen".
Today, however, Kendra's usual sarcasm was back which was good. Her raven hair with purple and blue highlights was once again tied into a braid that trailed down her left shoulder and she was back to wearing her ripped jeans and fingerless gloves - even if they looked totally out of place with the blue hoodie. The only tell-tale sign that something was up was the dark bags under her deep brown eyes but those never went away anyway. Still, she was starting to enter Jonathan Crane territory.
After the two girls had finished with breakfast and catching up on all the latest gossip about their classmates, Vicki and Kendra headed out the door and through the dingy apartment complex. True, it wasn't the worst places in the world - at least she didn't live near Crime Alley - but it wasn't the best place either. As if to prove her point, her drunk neighbor Howard stumbled through the door said, "Evening l-ladies..." Before promptly passing out. Vicki stepped over him and kept walking to the car lot.
Overhead, the sky was becoming cloudy and it looked like it would rain soon. Vicki slid the keys into the ignition of her VW Bug and turned them. The rusty old car spluttered into life on the third turn, only to cough to a stop after about five seconds. "Are you kidding me? You were fine last night!" Vicki threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. She tried another ten times before turning to Kendra and sighing. "Looks like we're taking the bus."
"Perfect." Kendra muttered, clambering out the car.
Vicki wasn't bothered about public transport. Taking the subway or a regular bus was fine. But there was something about that ugly, mustard yellow bus that made her stomach turn. And it was always late, due in part to the horrendous traffic congestion Gotham suffered from. There bus had to go around the entire city before turning tail to the outskirts of the city where the school was located.
The two girls waited in the rain and pulled up the hoods of their identical clothing as the rain poured down on them. Somehow, their hair still managed to get soaked through. The school bus was just about to pull up when Kendra grimaced and looked over Vicki's shoulder. "Holy shit." She mumbled.
Vicki turned to see what Kendra was looking at. Then she blanched.
"Hello, ladies! Miss me?"
It was him. It was the Joker.