Chapter 10

Valerie Gate Hotel

Concord

12:15PM

Agent Hayes walked into the room with Agents Marvin and Stonewall behind her. They were going to be in an over watch position during Bruce's experiment in the park across the street.

"Set up shop at the window, boys," Hayes ordered as she set a case on the bed.

After placing his M4 against the wall near his soon to be position, he popped the case open and pulled out the A3G sniper rifle within. Agent Stonewall would serve as his spotter and he already had his binoculars at the ready.

"Is spot good enough, Marvin?" Hayes asked.

"Yes ma'am, and I already got eyes on Bruce. He's sitting on a park bench awaiting your signal."

"I knew I picked the right spot for us," Hayes replied then activated her headset. "Control here, I am in position with sniper team one, all other teams report in."

"Team two in position."

"Team three in position."

"Team four in position."

"Team five at the ready."

"Team six ready."

"Team seven ready."

Team eight ready."

"Cat Zero-One, what's your status?"

"I am in a concealed location within the park. Bruce doesn't know It, but I already got eyes on him."

"There's a lot of people in the area, try not to lose him when he starts moving."

"Fear not, Control. Working crowds is what I do best, next to stealing wallets of course," Selina whispered into her Bluetooth

"Well try not to steal any during this mission," Hayes replied then switched to another frequency. "Bruce, can you hear me?"

"Yes Control."

"Perfect, you may begin the experiment."

Bruce got off the bench and began to walk around.

Two kids ran past him and their mother wasn't too far behind. He looked around him and saw people immersed in various activities such as having picnics, watching their children play on the playground, or just idly chilling.

His phone goes off and he pulls it out of his pocket.

Seeing Alfred's name on the screen, he quickly pressed the answer button.

"Hello."

"Hello Master Bruce, how are things for you and Miss Kyle up in the Granite State?"

"Perfectly, Alfred. Selina learned how to fly a Blackhawk this morning and we went skydiving out of it with Agent Hayes after we stopped by Pease Air National Guard Base to refuel. I even met one of the tanker pilots while we were there and took a picture with him."

"Sounds like you, Miss Kyle, and Agent Hayes had a very exciting morning."

"We did, every day of our vacation has been exciting so far. Right now I'm in a park conducting a little social experiment."

"What are you trying to accomplish exactly, Master Bruce?"

"I'm trying to see if people are more likely to interact with me without my security team present. And not to worry, they still have me covered from afar."

"What about Miss Kyle?"

"She is somewhere in this park, I don't know where exactly but I got a feeling that she's here."

"Well I hope she isn't getting you into any mischief. Have you had any luck with your experiment yet?"

"None yet, Alfred. I just got started."

"I think you might have more luck if you tried striking up a conservation with some of the people in the park rather than waiting for them to come up to you."

"I will take that under consideration. How are things back at the house?"

"All is well here Master Bruce, Just focus on enjoying yourself with Miss Kyle and Agent Hayes. You'll have plenty of time to think about home once you're back."

"Take care, Alfred."

"You do the same, Master Bruce," Alfred replied then hung up."

"That was nice of Alfred to check in on you, Bruce," Agent Hayes commented over Bruce's Bluetooth.

"Yeah, all is well back home. If only the same could be said for the rest of the city."

"I understand how you feel, Bruce. But I also understand that your butler wants you to focus on enjoying your vacation, remember what Agent Baldwin said about spending too much time thinking about conflicts?"

"I do, Control. I am continuing with the experiment."

"Cat Zero-One, are you picking up any negative vibes towards Bruce from the people around him?"

"Negative, Control. From what I can see, everyone in this park is blissfully unaware that a billionaire is in their presence. Which is a shame because he is such a feast for the eyes, especially mine," Selina said with a dreamy sigh.

"Well don't let your Bruce watching blind you to everyone else in the park. Remember every one of these people could be a potential threat to our boy."

"Bruce watching, we could make a reality show dedicated to just that. Watching Bruce Wayne everywhere he goes 24/7. Even when he's in the shower."

"If your idea of a reality show saw the light of day, Bruce's sense of privacy would be totally destroyed," Hayes commented.

"Oh I destroyed that on the first day I met him. Well I'm about to resume my Bruce watching, Cat Zero-One out."

Bruce continued his stroll around the park, observing various people as he went.

He could've easily gone up to any one of them and struck up a conservation, but for some strange reason he was enjoying not being a people magnet.

Back when his parents were alive, they would always draw a crowd whenever they went out. Random citizens, journalist, fellow billionaires it didn't matter. The Waynes were the ones everybody wanted to be around.

Bruce heard some birds chirping in a nearby tree and went over to observe them.

"Cat Zero-One to control, Bruce just went into bird watching mode."

"Copy, continue to monitor."

"Got it, do your boys still have eyes on him?"

"Affirmative, we got the whole park covered three-hundred and sixty degrees. Plus we got a drone overhead too."

Selina felt the urge to look up to see if she could spot it, but opted to keep her eyes on Bruce.

Bruce heard something move across the ground behind him and turned around and saw that it just a pair of squirrels.

He watched the birds chirp for a few more minutes then decided to go further off the beaten path.

Selina continued after him, maintaining a decent distance but not close enough for him to hear.

Back in the hotel, Agent Hayes is contacted by one of the sniper teams.

"Control, this is Team Seven, we got a visual on a lone male in a dingy looking sweatshirt approaching Bruce."

"Copy. Cat Zero-One, Bruce is about to have some company. I repeat, Bruce is about to have some company."

Selina hunkered down behind a bush before responding."

"I see him, Control. And I already got a bad feeling about him too. I'm moving to a more advantageous position, Zero-One out."

Bruce walked past a nearby flowerbed then he heard somebody call out to him

"Well hello there, kid," The stranger said.

"Hello, Bruce calmly replied. "What are you doing in this section of the park?

"I could ask you the same thing. But anyway, I wish to sell you some of my homemade candy."

"What do you call it?"

"I'm still struggling to come up with a fitting name for it, but I do have a fresh handful in my pocket."

"Let me see," Bruce said.

The guy pulls out a small plastic bag which gave Bruce a clear view of the contents.

But he has able to see them for they really were and they weren't pieces of candy.

Bruce slaps the bag away and kicks the man in the leg.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, selling meth to a kid," Bruce said sternly.

"You little self-righteous…."

But before the drug dealer could finish his sentence, Selina jumps down from the tree he was standing under and slams him to the ground.

"Nice landing," Bruce commented with a chuckle."

"Thanks, Selina replied then gave the guy a hard kick to the ribs. "And here's a piece of advice for you punk, never conduct a drug sale while standing under a tree. You never know what might come falling out."

"I couldn't've said it better myself," another voice commented.

Two men wearing DEA jackets accompanied by a four man tactical unit packing M4s came onto the scene. The big bald guy who appeared to be the leader was holding up his badge as his partner, Agent Alexander went to cuff the suspect.

"So who are you guys?" Selina asked.

"Drug Enforcement Administration at your service, ma'am. That was one helluva takedown you performed. I'm Agent Sprano by the way and the guy hauling off the perp is my partner, Agent Alexander."

"I'm Selina, AKA Cat and that kid over there is Bruce Wayne."

"Out of all the places where I thought I would be meeting the renowned son of Thomas and Martha Wayne, I never thought it would be on a drug bust."

"And I never thought I'd find myself in the middle of one either. How do you know of my parents sir?"

"I used to live in Gotham, Mr. Wayne. Not a day went by where your parents didn't appear on TV or in the newspapers. They were good people, son. It's a damn shame what happened to them."

"It certainly is, Agent Sprano. What can you tell me about the guy your partner just hauled off?"

"His name is Simon Young. He's been selling meth all over the city for months. Concord PD rounded up most of his street peddlers, but we wanted to catch him ourselves."

"So you guys told the cops they could go after the peddlers, but they had to leave the boss to you."

"You got it, Selina." The alternative was them watching us capture Simon and his crew and getting all the credit for it.

"How did you guys know he was going to be here?" Bruce asked.

"A tip from a confidential informant. Well I'm about to head back to the vehicle. You two enjoy the rest of your day now."

"You too, Agent Sprano," Bruce replied.

Shortly after Sprano walked away, Bruce turned to Selina and saw her flipping through a wallet.

"Selina, where did you get that from?"

"I picked it out of the perps pocket after I slammed him to the ground. Big payday for me and Agent Hayes wants us to meet her back at the hotel.

Hotel room

Four minutes later

Bruce sat on the bed as Agent Hayes waited for Agent Baldwin to get back to her on the phone. Selina decided to grab some food before rejoining them upstairs.

With Bruce's experiment completed, Agent Marvin had put the sniper rifle back in the case and he and Agent Stonewall were waiting for further orders.

"Alright Ashley, I'm back."

"So what did Agent Cunningham tell you?"

"After his not so lovely chat with the local DEA field office, he said that the reason for them not informing us of their operation was because they didn't think it was necessary. And from what you've told me, Bruce and Selina handled themselves perfectly.

"They did, and my teams had eyes on them from start to finish. But would it really kill the DEA to give us a heads up if one of their operations happens to be in the same place Bruce and Selina are?"

"Well you know how we federal agencies are when it comes to interagency communications, we never really talk to each other unless we absolutely have to or if national security is at stake."

"It seems like a national security matter is the only thing that brings us together, and the occasional joint operation. Do you think Cunningham would've told us if he knew?"

"Knowing him, fat chance. He probably would've said oh Agent Hayes has those little rascals covered, they'll be fine. Then go back to drinking his triple expresso."

"That pretty much sounds like him. But I think his lack of respect for Bruce and Selina is born out of pure spite."

"I can't understand why he doesn't like them. The kids have grown on me too, in the friends and partners way of course. I sense that your bond with them is much deeper."

"Like I told Alfred after the manhunt, I love them as if they were my own."

"Well I don't wanna keep you from your kids any longer so I'm about to go and give the Gotham field office a call to see how things are going there."

"Ok, Baldwin," Hayes replied with a chuckle then hung up and turned to Bruce.

"Ashley, I'm sorry if Selina and I were being reckless in taking on that drug dealer rather than running away."

"Apologies aren't necessary, Bruce. You and Selina helped get a criminal off the streets and you had every right to tell him how wrong he was. I'm proud of you two. Just don't go around mixing bravery with stupidity and we'll be alright."

"Understood," Bruce replied then Hayes sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm just glad you and your girlfriend are back in one piece."

"So am I. Just out curiosity, how high was your pucker factor?"

"It was at level two, but if Selina wasn't in position to jump him, one of my snipers would've dropped him."

"I knew that I was in good hands between you and Selina, that's why I didn't feel one ounce of fear when I was confronting him."

"My brave boy," Hayes replied then patted Bruce on the head and got up.

"Room service people," Selina said as she walked into the room pushing a food cart and wearing a chef's hat.

"Something smells delicious, what did you bring us?" Hayes asked.

Selina lifted the first dish lid revealing a bowl of roasted shrimp with dipping sauce in a middle, then the second lid revealing a basket full of cheddar bay biscuits.

"I sampled one of these biscuits before coming up with the cart, Bruce. If you eat one of these, you'll never want to eat another type of biscuit ever again."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Bruce began to reach for one, but Selina gave him a glare that pretty much told him to hold on.

"Normally I'm not the one for formal gestures, but today I'm making an exception. I wish to raise a toast."

"To what or who?"

"Patience B, you'll find out soon enough. Agent Marvin and Agent Stonewall, I want you guys to join us in this feast."

"Is that alright with you, Agent Hayes?" Marvin asked.

"Sure, you two can use a break. I also have my laptop tapped in to the hotel security network so if any uninvited guest come up here, we'll know and the four guys I have posted outside will handle them."

"Plus I didn't buy five blueberry lemonades for nothing," Selina added.

With everyone in place around the cart, they grabbed their lemonades and awaited Selina's statement. She removed the chef's hat and tossed it on the bed behind her.

"To our ally in the Bureau and defacto adoptive mother, Agent Ashley Hayes."

"To you, Ashley," Bruce said then everyone raised their glasses.

"I really appreciate the gesture, Selina."

"You're welcome, now let's eat."

"Now that he was in the clear, Bruce grabbed one of the biscuits began to eat it.

"Wow, this really is good. I think I'll have Alfred make these kinds of biscuits from now on."

"I told you that you wouldn't want any other type of biscuit after having these."

"So how were you able to get the cart and hat?"

"I used one of the hundred dollar bills from that drug dealer's wallet. This order didn't cost that much, but hundreds are the only bills he had. Now as for the chef's hat, one of the cooks let me have one of his extras and they remembered seeing me walk in with the agents so they let me take the food up. They'll pick up their cart when we leave."

"Fair enough. I know my experiment didn't turn out the way I thought it would, but I actually enjoyed the time to myself in the park. It allowed me to slow down and actually appreciate the beauty around me.

"Your little experiment worked out me too. I got to take down a punk and bagged a lot of cash too."

"I know I told you not to steal any wallets, but I can always make an exception if it's stolen from a crook."

"Bruce doesn't mind stealing from crooks either," Selina replied then went over to the shrimp as Bruce grabbed another biscuit.