It's All Part of the Plan...
A/N: My reviewers are starting to return! Im so happy :D I missed you guys! Anyway...this is a filler chappie, oh and I had to ask you guys one more thing that's been eating away at me: Should she fall for Bruce which would lead to major clashes between him and our Clown Prince of Crime, or just form a bond with him sort of like a brother and sister type of thing...its all up to you my dears! Let me know ;D
Monica woke with a sudden gasp as she tried to get up but fell back against a soft warm comforter. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked around. She found herself in an immense room with crimson walls and expensive looking furniture.
The wound on her lower stomach still burned but not as much as it had before. She looked at the door when she heard the door knob turning as she sunk further back into the comforter. An old butler walked in with a tray in his hand which held assorted pieces of food.
"Ah, good to see you are awake and well, Miss…" the man started as Monica paused slightly still confused. She didn't know what she was doing there or where she was, she could tell the man meant no harm and found it in herself to trust him.
"Van Buren, Monica Van Buren," she told him in a raspy voice as she rose her hand to her throat and attempted to clear it clearly unaware that her throat had taken a turn for the worse.
"No need to apologize, miss," he told her as she nodded and closed her eyes briefly. He walked over and set the tray down next to her as she looked at him with even more confusion when she saw everything he had prepared for her.
"Where am I?" she asked before she could stop herself as the butler pulled back slightly and pondered on what to tell her.
"Wayne Manor, Miss Van Buren," he answered before he stepped back and bowed slightly, "you must forgive my rudeness, I am Alfred," he told her as she smiled slightly at the older man. At least she knew where she was and the man in front of her was being extremely welcoming.
There was something that was still bothering her however, why was she in Wayne Manor? The last thing she remembered was getting out of the warehouse and passing out in a nearby ally.
"But why am I-" she started before she was interrupted by the door opening once more. None other than Bruce Wayne stood in the doorway drying his hair with a towel while looking at his butler.
Monica couldn't help but blush when she noticed he was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist as he turned to her and offered her a smile.
"Alfred I can't find my clothes for the meeting, I'm already running late," he told his butler as the older man sighed resisting the urge to face palm. Monica couldn't help but smirk when she saw the interactions between the two men.
"They are in your bedroom, Master Wayne," Alfred replied as Bruce nodded and closed the door behind him. Monica turned to look at the butler, he could tell she wanted answers.
"You see Miss Van Buren, after waiting for over an hour for your arrival Master Wayne decided to head home, on his way here he happened to see someone stumbling into an alley, he decided to stop and see who it was…lucky for you it was him who picked you up and brought you here before anyone else got to you," Alfred lied as Monica nodded.
It made sense so why argue with the butler. Of course that hadn't been the entire truth, after waiting for an hour for her to show up Bruce had grown restless and after considering what she had been through the thought of her running into trouble crossed his mind.
He had decided to go drive around in the Tumbler to see if something had happened to her. He couldn't afford to lose her when she was her brother's only family member. Such a loss would shock the young police officer and the last thing Gotham needed was for him to falter when the city needed him the most.
He had been lucky to find her when the warehouse blew up, things could have gone far worse if anyone else had stumbled upon her unconscious body. He had merely made that story up to ease her nerves and to explain why she had ended up in his house.
"Pardon Master Wayne, he has never been an organized man," Alfred told her as she nodded and rested against the mass of pillows behind her. "I strongly suggest you eat something off of the tray, Miss Van Buren, it will help you regain your strength," he added as she looked at the food and then back at him.
"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," she told him feeling useless as she reached for a slice of apple and took a bite before falling back against the pillows once more when her wound burned. She frowned and brought a hand up to cover it as Alfred's brow furrowed.
"May I ask how you came to have such a gash, miss?" Alfred asked as she grimaced as the memories came back to her. The old butler could tell he had struck a personal chord and immediately felt guilty for causing her to remember unpleasant thoughts.
"I didn't mean to pry, Miss Van Buren," Alfred apologized as he bowed once more and started to head towards the door as Monica frowned once more. She didn't mean to upset the butler, he had been so welcoming and the last thing she wanted was to seem ungrateful.
"No, it's not like that Alfred…it's just that I hate myself for being so weak," she told him as the old man stopped and turned to look at her and waited for her to continue. "My brother is probably fuming right now, I know I'm stupid for getting myself into these situations," she explained as she remembered the brutal force of the van slamming into her car. "I didn't want any of this to happen…it just occurred so fast, I had no control over it…Joker got some of his goons to crash into our car and a shard of glass imbedded itself into my stomach." She told the butler as he nodded.
So it had been the Joker who was behind everything. It didn't shock the butler in the least, after all Rachel had gotten involved with the clown and got caught in his dangerous game, in the end she had paid with her life. Alfred didn't want any of that to happen to the woman in front of him, but he could tell she was already heading down the same path.
She had already been seen with Bruce out in public at the party her brother had been invited to. Surely this had called the Joker's attention; the man went after the people who were close to his targets first. He like to mess with people's minds and emotions, he seemed to thrive on other people's misery. He would always break them first, and then wait patiently while they destroyed themselves from the inside.
Bruce had been close to losing control last time; Rachel's death had nearly been enough to get him to break his one rule. Gotham's vigilante had managed to prove the clown wrong, and that seemed to spark something within Joker's mind. Batman hadn't fallen for his usual tricks, that alone gotten the Bat more attention from Joker. Everyone had a breaking point, and the Clown Prince of Crime was hell bent on bringing down the Dark Knight.
Alfred worried for the woman before him, if she got involved with Bruce she would surely end up dead. Her brother drew attention to her as well, as a high ranking police officer the Joker had taken interest in him as well.
Alfred merely hoped the clown would leave the woman be, but why should he when he had the opportunity to take out two birds with one stone?
"Get some rest, Miss Van Buren, I shall inform your brother of your stay with us," the butler told her as she nodded and thanked him for the food. She really didn't think she could stomach much but found herself promising the butler that she would try to eat more.
She laid back down and found herself thinking of everything that had happened. Why didn't the Joker kill her when he had the chance? Why did he let her go?
She turned to her side and grimaced as her body ached; the various bruises adorning her arms became visible as she pulled the comforter closer to her body and drifted back to sleep. She would face her brother when the time came, for now all she wanted to do was rest.
Alfred decided to phone her brother and relieve him of the worry of not knowing where she was as he picked up the phone and dialed his number. After an hour of the man shouting at him the butler managed to convince him that allowing her to stay was best for her due to the manor being practically impenetrable, not to mention that the last thing she needed at the moment was to be disturbed from her rest.
Alfred spent the rest of his day cleaning up the manor, mostly Bruce's room before the master of the house arrived looking stressed out and tired.
"I suppose the meeting went well, Master Wayne," Alfred commented as Bruce stared blankly at his butler and at smirked at his sarcasm. The billionaire proceeded to shed his business jacket and unbutton his shirt as he walked into the kitchen and poured some wine into a glass.
Alfred watched with a concerned look on his expression as Bruce sipped the red liquid and turned to look at him.
"How is she?" he asked in a low voice as Alfred straightened up and looked at Bruce who remained still waiting for an answer.
"The doctor said she would be fine if the wound is left undisturbed, the clown did a lot of damage, there are bruises all over her body, none of them were severe enough to raise concern," the old butler told him as Bruce's smirk dropped.
"Joker hit her?" he asked as Alfred smiled much to Bruce's surprise.
"I highly doubt he did sir, as much as I despise the man I do not think he would stoop down to that level," Alfred told him as Bruce nodded and proceeded to check on the woman who was staying in one of the many rooms in the manor.
He opened the door as quietly as he could and peeked inside only to find her sleeping on her side. The dark purple and blue bruises that were visible on her arms disturbed him deeply and only stirred an extreme want to beat the Clown Prince of Crime senseless.
He walked into the room knowing she was completely unaware of his presence as he walked over the side of the bed that she was facing and examined her face. He frowned upon seeing that there were bruises there too; he turned away and exited the room with a sneer on his face intended for the Joker.
"Watch over her, Alfred," Bruce told his butler as he passed him as the older man nodded and bowed his head. Alfred merely watched the younger man leave knowing he would be out tonight in Gotham looking for a certain clown. The butler sighed before replying.
"Gladly, sir."
Well, review and let me know what you think!
