What Makes a Man?
Chapter One
Bruce Wayne was the man. Gotham's richest, most affluent, influential fellow. The king of the bachelors, master of business strategy. He was the man-about town, the one guy everyone wanted to know.
That was exactly the person Bruce Wayne needed to be. He needed to have that air of debonair, the certain trace of aloofness that was attributed to his extravagant lifestyle. Yet it wasn't the real Bruce Wayne. That was a different man altogether. Behind the cast iron gates and spacious manicured grounds, behind the large solid hardwood doors, as ancient as the ground they were taken from. Behind the antique statues and million dollar collector paintings, behind even the old grandfather clock in the study-
Behind the eyes of the Bruce Wayne that everybody thought they knew, there was real him. Batman.
That is-Batman, and the people who knew him. Knew who he was, mask or no mask.
Jason Todd, current Robin and ward of Bruce Wayne, sat directly behind Barbara Gordon,a.k.a Batgirl- as she at her brand new computer, demonstrating an impressive piece of new technology that was of great interest to the young Jason.
"…And this" she said, typing rapidly "Is where we put in the data collected from the DNA strands- then you click" She taps the mouse button. "And voila!" The giant monitor sceen suddenly lit up with a map of the entire country, with numerous red dots at various locations all over it.
"This could seriously help me find my biological mother?" Said an awe-raptured Jason. Barbara frowned and shrugged "Only if she has had her DNA registered on the program. These dots are for a registered criminal- at every location he has been captured, his data is entered. The older the entry, the less vibrant the colour." She points to California "He's currently incarcerated in San Quentin Prison".
Jason sighed frustratedly and stood to his feet, angrily spinning the chair, knocking Barbara in the process.
"Ow, Jason..."
"Come on Jason..." said Dick Grayson from his perch upon a table near to where the others were. "Its early days technology yet..." The former Robin, now known as Nightwing, stood and made his way over to stand behind Barbara, whilst an obviously disapointed Jason chewed the inside of his cheek.
"What's the point of it? " Asked Jason, exasperatedly "How can it help trace criminals?- Or anyone-if their information has to be put in first?"
"Well, it doesn't have to go with a name." Said Barbara "They can use samples from crime scenes and trace their activity. Eventually they'll have scan pads that can immediately put the data into the system, simply from the contact of the specific induvidual they're looking for. Its incredibly useful. Extremely efficient."
"Well…thanks for showing me, I guess. Still, I'm not any further ahead than I was before…" Jason remarked, as he left the cave.
Dick sighed and offered a reassuring smile to Barbara. "Adolescence…he's impressed Just, pre-occupied."
"I'm not offended" said Barbara, shrugging, "He's got a lot on his plate, I get that…"
"Speaking of plates" Segued Dick, with a sly grin " "I hear that the new restaurant down on Seventh Avenue is really good"
"Oh? What's it called" Asked Barbara, with forced casualness, trying not to betray her hidden interest.
"The Restaurant on Seventh Avenue" He replied in a mock-patronising tone. She laughed, which for an inexplicable reason, sent warm shivers down his spine. "Anyway" he continued "If we don't find anything more important to do tonight, maybe we could go check it out?"
Barbara nodded, not being offended by the "important" reference. She knew exactly what he meant, it was all part and parcel with the vigilante gig. What was even more signficant was the fact that both of them knew exactly how to say things to the other one. There was a real level of familiarity in their friendship. In a lot of ways, Dick knew he would always be close to his mentor, Bruce, but deep down- there was a level of intimacy that he shared with Barbara…and although neither had yet said anything or expressed those emotions to the other- they sort of understoof it. Kinda. Of course- nothing was official. Yet.
They both sat, lingering in comfortable silence, when Bruce- as Batman- walked into the room carrying a large case.
"Dick, can you give me a hand with these?" He said, placing the heavy case on the table that had previously been occupied by the younger man.
"Sure, doing some maintenance?" Dick asked, as Bruce un-did the latches, lifting up the heavy metal lid.
"I'm trying to decide whether or not to retire these. They're not totally gone- but they've been playing up a bit, and I think you could help me decide."
He pulled out the pieces of equipment one by one, the first being a grapple hook, which didn't extend at the press of the trigger.
"Its been sticking- I've pulled it apart and examined it- and for some reason, the darn thing just doesn't shoot on time."
Dick takes the equipment and looks it over. "You're not gonna be able to get into the chamber itself to have a look, are you? You might be better off taking it to Lucius. I wouldn't use it."
Bruce nods. "I agree, but its always good to get a second opinion." He was about to place the faulty grapple hook back in the case when the bat-phone began to ring- he indicated to Dick to replace the case as he answered the phone.
"Commisoner- Batman here"
"Batman- I'd like to have a word with you about some leads on the string of assault charges. When can I see you in my office?"
"I'll come over now." He replaced the receiver and turned back to Dick and Barbara who, having overheard the conversation, began throwing apologetic looks at each other.
"Sorry to do this to you, I know you had plans…"
Barbara let a sly smile play on her lips "Oh, really?" she said, casting a glance towards Dick, who couldn't avoid a slight reddish tinge to his cheeks.
Bruce chuckled as he left the two to themselves in the Batcave.
Gotham City Police Department.
Commissioner Gordon's Office
Gordon had been waiting with documentation and evidence already laid out on the table. They had been tracing the activities of this particular induvidual and his group for months. He held he papers up once more, to reiterate certain details for himself.
Nells Kalinsky alias Sweet Satan
Age:38
Profile: Mixed race caucasian, 6 foot 2, dark hair worn in a ponytail.
Wanted on the charge of "pimping". Suspected of prostutiion and drug related gang disuptes. Suspected perpetrator of a series of gang rapes.
Status: Currently un-convicted. Not enough evidence.
Gordon rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. The police department had been on the case for months, to no avail. He had decided it was time to bring in the bat, who incidentally, entered the office at that very minute.
"Take a look at these" Said Gordon, by way of greeting. "We're running out of resources." He began to pace around the room, verbalising hs thoughts to Batman, a man he considered his equal when it came to law and order within the city. He continued "Its peculiar, you know- we don't have a shortage of assault victims claiming it was him- but all the kits and forensics say it wasn't. They're either confused, or something is going on here outside our area of expertise."
Batman nodded, overturning the various documents. "So its up to me to figure out exactly whats going on, whether or not Kalinsky is to blame, and if so- how he managed to get away without a trace of DNA."
"Think you can take the case?" asked the commissioner.
The caped man before him began scanning the file information into his portable computer. Then, with only so much as a brief nod, he was gone.
"You're the man."
And with that, Gordon went back to the paperwork.