Disclaimer: All the characters used in this fic belong to DC Comics and are based on the characters in The Dark Knight. I own absolutely nothing but the plot and my characters.
Chapter 2: Pray
A/N: The writer's block has officially left my system. It's safe to assume that this will end at chapter 13.
Song: Like A Prayer by We Are The Fallen
The silence drifted by, taking minutes off the watch on Bruce's wrist as he carried the sleeping child down the halls of the hospital. Anna had stormed out of her father's hospital room, bitterly cursing under her breath. Things had not gone well between the two. Of that he was sure. He had been a fool to believe that she had a chance of getting through to him. Men of Richard Napier's nature didn't willingly atone for their past sins.
Bruce had met many a man of that sort.
Even through the thick hospital walls, he could still smell the fresh shower of rain that fell upon the tortured city that had become one of demons and devils. To think that so much had happened in such a short time. Surely, Gotham was on it's last leg, waiting for the fiends of the city to deal the fatal blow, and plunge the people into an everlasting state of Purgatory. Soon, the mirror image, that was once a peaceful, prosperous city, would break, letting flow the blood of millions.
His thoughts were like a prayer to God, begging and pleading in humble sincerity for the city to be spared. Not for his sake, but for all the good citizens who had invested their souls into living a peaceful life. Once the misery ended, he would hand himself over as the Batman, and leave Gotham's salvation to the citizens.
"He's impossible," Anna huffed, turning on Bruce. "Tell me why he's being this way. Do you know why, Bruce?"
He sighed, hushing her with a finger as he glanced down at Amy's soft blond hair. "I don't have the answers to everything, Anna. I can't tell you why your father did the things he did; I can't tell you why the people we both love have died; I can't answer all the questions you have buzzing in that head of yours. I'm not all-knowing, Anna."
Before she could respond, Bruce turned down one of the corridors and approached the elevator as it opened, dashing inside to hit the "6" on the panel. His new plan, instead of taking Amy out to her mother's car, was to visit Alfred. The world could have guessed that the old goat got lonely every now and again.
"Bruce, I need to take Amy home," Anna said, hopping into the elevator just as the door closed. "I really don't feel comfortable staying out for too long anymore. If Jack wasn't such a damned lunatic, it would be different. But hell knows he'll come back for her."
The man laughed, refusing to hand the girl over to her mother. "We're just going to say hello to Alfred, is all. You know how he gets, Anna. He's a restless old man in dire need of company. And you know how fond he is of Amy."
When the elevator finally opened, Bruce stepped out and practically waltzed down the hall to his butler's room. Although the man had long-since healed from his burns, he'd suffered a severe heart attack since the Joker's "break," thus landing him in the hospital once again. Upon his entry, the elderly man, who was well enough to properly sit up and move around, smiled sincerely as the nurse set down his breakfast tray.
"Well, who's this little angel?" he laughed as Amy sat up in Bruce's arms, rubbing her eyes. "And how in the world did she fly to Earth?"
The girl's face lit up in an instant as Bruce handed her off to Alfred, smiling all the while. "You're funny!" she laughed, poking a finger into Alfred's orange juice. Immediately upon setting her eyes on the straw, Amy grabbed hold of it and began blowing bubbles in the juice. "And I'm not an angel, Alfred. I'm a fish!"
"Honey, please don't do that," Anna chided as she walked in. "And you need to ask before you just take something like that from someone."
Alfred laughed, sneaking a piece of butterscotch candy into the child's hand. "It's quite all right," he laughed, pushing the orange juice across the tray to Amy. "I tell you, they're planning on killing me in here. Five square meals a day, and I can't even finish it all! I suspect they see me as this year's Thanksgiving Day dinner."
"That's sweet, Alfred," Anna said, taking Amy into her arms, "but I don't have a lot of time to spare. I'll see you later."
Bruce rolled his eyes as she walked out the door, ignoring Alfred's hearty laughter. He followed his friend in silence down to the ground floor, trying desperately to think of something to say that might stop her. She really didn't have to be so paranoid. Three weeks since the incident, and she'd been walking on pins and sleeping on nails. When the hell would she come to terms with reality and lighten up? Frankly, Anna had turned into a real bore.
"Anna!" Bruce shouted across the lobby as he darted to her side. "Anna, wait. You don't have to do this. You don't have to shut yourself away like this."
She scoffed, pushing him away with her free hand. "Bruce, I know you think this is all just a game, but it's far more serious than that. I've already lost Daniel to this lunatic, and I'm not going to lose Amy. Now, if you want to run around like it's Halloween every night, then be my guest. Just don't expect me to take the same risks."
A horrified scream from one of the nurses echoed across the lobby, drawing everyone's attention. Still stunned, she pointed to the door where a dazed, beaten teenager stumbled in, finally passing out on the blue tile floor.
Without warning, Amy jumped out of her mother's grasp and ran, wailing, to the boy, throwing her five-year-old-boy on top of his. "Aec!" she cried, shaking him with her tiny arms. "Alec, please! Please, wake up! Wake up!"
The child wailed as her mother pulled her away, allowing Bruce to gather the beaten boy in his arms before rushing down the hall to the Emergency Room. People jumped out of the way as Bruce and Anna charged through the hospital, Amy sobbing all the while about "He's gonna die! All the little bloods are gonna leak outta him!" Bruce wouldn't allow it. Somehow, this boy had made a great impact upon the kindhearted little girl, and he made it a point to save his life.
Upon getting Alec emergency attention, Bruce headed out into the waiting room, having stopped at the vending machine to get Amy a snack. He sat down beside Anna, handing Amy her Cheetos as he stared quietly at Anna's face. More than anything, he wanted to wake in the morning and see her there with him, not as a temporary means, but as a permanent addition to his life. But if she wasn't ready, he'd wait a lifetime.
His hand moved slowly, reaching for the faded scar upon her cheek. It enraged him to know that Jack had become so twisted. Knowing that a parent could damage a child so greatly, and so willingly, was entirely beyond his understanding. Children were a precious gift. They were to be loved and reared in a healthy environment. It had been bad luck that Anna and Jack had ended up with someone so screwy.
He remembered a time when the two of them had ended up in the same class, back in the fourth grade. Jack had never been much of a social butterfly. He'd keep to himself, deciding to read or stare at the class fish instead of socialize. It almost seemed like he hated people altogether. It had always made Bruce wonder. He'd wondered straight through middle school, up until the time that Jack had been pronounced dead.
After that, well... he'd just stopped wondering completely. There was no reason to wonder about the dead.
Bruce flinched as his hand grazed Anna's face, drawing her gaze to him. He withdrew his hand, turning instead to watch Amy gobble down her Cheetos.
"What now, I wonder?" Anna whispered, glancing at him. "Do we stay here for the night?"
The man shrugged, inspecting the bloodstains on his shirt. "That's a safe bet," he replied with a smirk. "Unless you want to listen to a screaming five-year-old."
She smirked, lowering her head. "I guess you're right... Bruce, would you mind going to get us some clothes and something to eat? I'll wait here."
"Sure," he said, standing up. "I'll be back in twenty."
As he walked out the doors of the hospital, he could almost hear Anna's words to Amy: "Just stay calm, sweetheart. The doctors will do everything they can for Alec. All we can do at this point... is pray."
Again, finis.