Alexandria had walked out with Lori and Todd. The three decided to grab some drinks at a local bar after the party had ended around midnight. Lex was grateful to leave the Knight's, not that she didn't love them, and all that they did for her, but there was just so much a single person could take.
It was past three when the three of them left the bar. All of them had been somewhat buzzed. Lex had parked her car down the street, it was the only legal spot she could find, when meanwhile Todd and Lori got a spot across the street.
"Alright, Lex, I love you, I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure to tell Brucie good night, kay?" Lori drunkenly said. She reached over and gave Lex a sloppy hug. Alexandria laughed. She was glad she wasn't as drunk as her friend.
"OK, good night, Lori." Lex cautiously said as she carefully handed Lori to Todd. He smiled at her.
"Night, Lex. I'll make sure to see you soon." Todd said. Lex suddenly wondered if Todd had anything to drink. He was too sober. Todd and Lori slowly walked to the edge of the sidewalk.
"Yep, bye, Todd." Lex waved and walked down the sidewalk to her car. She only had her clutch which held her keys, phone, and some money.
The cold air sent chills all through Lex. Goosebumps rose on every part of bare skin. Minutes passed as Lex walked through on the desolate sidewalk. Her feet were killing her. She hadn't remembered walking this far. She must have past her car, it was dark outside. Alexandria grumbled as turned back around. She rubbed her hand over her face as an attempt to keep her keen. If only she hadn't done so.
Approaching her, now from in front, were three big men. They blended into the night, covered in dark clothes and hats, giving them no real shape or figure. Their shadows were haunting and scary from the dim streetlights as they silently walked closer to Alexandria.
She barely picked up at the approaching footsteps and removed her hand. In the dark, she narrowed her eyes at the men. They were only a few feet away. She held her head high as she passed them. As they passed, the man closest to her reached back and clutched her wrist. He pulled her backwards and threw her against the brick wall of a small dark side street.
Alexandria lifted her eyes to the three men. They stood around her, encasing her in the dark. She rolled her eyes.
"We heard you were back in town, Miss. Ward." The tallest man, who stood in the middle, grumbled. He reached out with his gloved hand and held the fabric from her gown in between his fingers. Lex sighed.
"And who might you be?" She asked. The man to her right suddenly lurched forward, his hand pressing into the brick next to Lex's head. He was only a few inches away from her, his body pressing into her side. He leaned his head forward so that his lips were against her ear.
"Admirers." He whispered. Alexandria was sick to her stomach. She decided now would be the time to take action.
In one swift movement, Alexandria forced her forehead against the man. The sudden blow knocked him back several feel. The force rendered Alexandria unwell for a few seconds. She grabbed her bearings before the tall man lunged forward. His hands wrapped around her neck and hoisted her up. His thumbs pressed hard into her throat. Behind them, the third man was grabbing something, something in the shape of a bat. She had to act fast.
Forcing her dress to rip, Alexandria thrust her heeled foot into the thigh of the man. Instantly, she dropped and caught herself. Without further delay, she gave the man several quick punches, to the chest, neck, then nose. He fell limp to the cement.
In a flash, the third man swung the bat down onto Alexandria. Before it reached contact, she lifted her forearm to catch the blow and grabbed the edge of the bat. She slide the bat from his grip and used the end to but him in the head with. Falling backwards she turned to the next and final man.
Lex calmed her breathing. The man pointed a shiny gun at her head. He stood several feet away. He cocked his head to the side and chuckled. Alexandria stood evenly on two feet, the bat in her right hand.
"Miss. Ward, I was not expecting such a fight." He said. He clicked his tongue.
"Sorry to disappoint." Alexandria returned. Her voice was harsh but still held humor. She had nothing to fear, but she couldn't speak for the man.
The man smiled in the dark. He pushed his thumb over the safety.
"I didn't want it to end this way, Miss. Ward." He said. He mocked being sad.
Lex watched the fingers of the man as he moved them around the trigger, she rubbed her thumb against the bat, ready to strike. Before she was given the chance, the familiar sound of a metal spinning through the air caught her attention. Simultaneously, the man dropped the gun as a black disk in the shape of a bat stuck into his hand. He jumped back screaming frantically. Alexandria watched in curiosity. She wondered if this was the Batman.
The tall thug had just now decided to stir, poor timing on his part as a black figure suddenly landed in front of his body. His cape adding a dramatic effect and swaying in the breeze. He was facing away from Alexandria.
"Lights out." The dark figure grimaced. His voice was eery and unusual. It was throaty, scary. The man looked up with frightful eyes at the masked vigilante. Batman kicked his heel out and it collided with the man's head, leaving him unconscious. Next, the dark knight took big dominating strides to the man with the disk in his hand.
With the Batman now stalking towards him. The man scrambled onto his knees on the sidewalk looking for the gun in the darkness. Just as he clasped it in his capable hand, Batman stepped on his wrist. The man yelped in pain.
"No guns." Batman threatened. He kicked the gun away and with the same leg, kicked the man on the right side of the head.
Alexandria leaned against the wall. She watched the Batman and how he handled the thugs. She wasn't afraid of the vigilante, not one bit. She was intrigued by him if anything.
The Batman turned around and faced her. It was the first time she had ever seen him. His black boots mended into the dark chiseled uniform. The padding and support on his forearms were sharp and dangerous, his cape blew against the wind, and his cowl. His eyes were concealed under a set of white lenses, his bare mouth and chin were the only thing visible. The cowl was designed with marked lines and features representing that of a bat and of an angry expression. It was the Batman.
"Are you alright?" He asked in his scratchy voice.
"Obviously." Was all that Alexandria replied. She gestured to her unharmed body. The only thing out of line was the rip in her dress.
"You put up a good fight against those thugs." Alexandria shrugged. Like hell she did, first of all she had been out of training for a year and second she was completely intoxicated.
"No, I could have done better." Alexandria muttered. She stared into the white lenses of the Batman. Without any further prolonging, the Batman turned back down the side street. Before completely disappearing into the darkness he murmured, "Your car is the third on the right. Drive safe."
Alexandria cocked her head and looked for that parking spot. Sure enough he was right. She knew she had passed it earlier. She glanced back to the dark side street. He was gone. Lex pursed her lips and walked to her car. She had somewhat sobered up after the turn of events.
The three thugs were still crumbled on the cold sidewalk completely unconscious as she walked away from them. Within a few seconds, Alexandria was gone, too.
On the car ride home Alexandria's mind raced with thoughts and questions about the Batman. She had finally met him. And yes, he was intimidating, but not to her. She could see how he was a figure and hero to Gotham.
Lex sped back to the manor. All she wanted to do now was lie cuddled up in her bed. In the back of her mind she knew she would bruise from tonight, as much as she was used to it. Her neck would surely leave marks and her head would hurt from both the brick wall and alcohol. She thanked her lucky stars that it was the weekend.
While Alexandria arrived home and instantly went to bed. Batman's night had just begun. He didn't mean to be in the same place at the same time as Lex and her friends. It didn't help that the bar they went to the Stacked Deck. A seedy nightclub where Gotham's criminals sometimes hung out at. The criminals were basically hiding in plain sight among the young crowd of elite Gothamites.
Bruce sat hunched over on a gargoyle of Wayne Tower. He hadn't expected a fight like Alexandria's. Those thugs were big, tall, and broad. They weren't the average street thug and Alexandria had held her own. Bruce was almost positive she would have walked away without a scratch if he hadn't showed or was witness.
An annoying instinct brought Bruce to believe something wasn't right. Alexandria's technique was familiar, although it may have been just a few punches and kicks, she was trained, she had style. A style he was familiar with.
The rising sun peeked out from Gotham Harbor. It was Saturday morning. Batman lowered himself from the gargoyle with the grapple gun. He fell onto the street and walked briskly to a nearby alley. The tumbler was parked in the shadows of the buildings. Bruce stood over the tumbler and it's engine started. He revved out into the street towards Wayne Manor.
"How was the party, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked. He set down a tray of hot tea in the Batcave. Bruce hadn't moved from the supercomputer since he returned earlier that morning. Bruce paused before answering. He sat back in his chair, his uniform still on except for his cowl.
"Entertaining." Bruce said finally. He had to say, the party was like all the other Gotham parties until Alexandria arrived reasonable late.
"Mrs. Knight does have a reputation. How was meeting the miss. Ward? You did meet her?" Alfred asked. He would be rather upset if Bruce hadn't interacted with her. Alfred had remembered the Wards and the few times they visited Wayne Manor.
"Yes, Alfred." Bruce said. He tossed a look to the old man. "You'd be glad to hear that I sat next to her the entire dinner."
Alfred smiled as he poured tea.
"I am glad to hear it, Master Bruce. Tell me about her." Alfred hoped to hear something intriguing.
"Beautiful. Different, very different actually."
"Different how?" Bruce leaned forward over the keyboard and began typing and clicking. He pulled up a citizen profile on the screen. Alfred moved closer to get a better look.
"Not your average elite Gothamite." Bruce paused and pointed to a timeline on the screen. "There's a five year gap here. There are no reports of her whatsoever in those five years. Apparently she was still in Russia and just traveling around."
"But you don't believe it." Alfred said. He already knew what Bruce's answer would be.
"No. After the party Alexandria was assaulted by thugs. I watched her fight them on her own. She didnt need my help. She knows how to fight Alfred and her technique is the same as my training." Alfred raised a brow. He returned to pouring the tea.
"Are you saying you believe Alexandria trained with Ras Al Ghul?" He asked. He returned to Bruce's side with a hot cup of tea.
"Possibly. I'm going to look into it." Bruce said, taking the tea. He looked back to the monitor.
"Master Bruce, please do not scare the young lady. How are you going to look into it? Who are you going to confront her as?" Alfred's words so what mocked Bruce's. Bruce paid no mind to him.
"I'm not sure yet."
With that Alfred left the man alone, but not without a simple scolding telling Bruce that he should eat, sleep, and be normal for a change.
Alexandria slept till three. She groaned as her eyes fluttered open and squinted against the bright rays of the sun. As predicted, she was sore. Her head was achy and her throat felt constricted.
She lay with her sheets wrapped around her bare legs, staring at the ceiling.
All she could possibly think of was how out of shape she was. She hasn't done all that training to be unbelievable sore after a failed assault by three cocky men.
Suddenly she sat up and went into her closet. She stooped down to a bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of tight black athletic pants. She put them on as well as a simple black tank top. Making way downstairs she entered the garage and walked to the hole. She pulled the latch open and climbed down the thin metal stairs.
She lifted the light switch on the side of the cave wall. Bright white lights illuminated the place. A few metal examining tables were lined up next to each other. Alexandria passed them as she continued further into the tunnel. She reached the black mats. The four 10×10 cushioned mats were pushed together to form a giant square in the middle of the lit area.
Another table, although stocked with her knives and disks were neatly displayed on the counter top next to the mats. Multiple dummies of all shaped and sizes lined the wall opposite her. They were an exact distance of fifty feet from where she stood. Lex picked up one of the disks. She stared at the dummy across from her, a simple 6' life size one. The disk slipped through her fingers as she played with it. With a quick flick of her wrist, the disk flew into the dummy's forehead. She still had good aim.
For hours Alexandria continued to practice throwing knives and disks and practice skills and fighting techniques she hadn't used in years. By the end of the night all the disks and knives were lodged into all parts of the dummies.
Alexandria sat on the black mats. Her breathing was hard as she stared at her old uniform. It hung on a metal hanger-like rod. Her mask held securely above everything else. It stared back at her. She glanced for the time on a nearby clock. It was nearing 11PM.
She sighed. She knew she shouldn't, she had made her past the past. That's why she came to Gotham, to retire. But Alexandria couldn't help the gnawing ache to put the mask back on. Although her will against everything was strong, she gave in.