Chapter Eleven
Boling AFB
Day three
6:30AM
Agent Maddow and her team were in their hangar gearing up for another day of guarding Bruce and Selina. As they were doing so, Maddow's favorite song, Falling to Pieces by Faith No More was blaring over her tablet. It was the first song she listened to every morning, especially when getting ready for a mission.
"Good morning, Agent Maddow, Ashley said as she and Selina walked in.
"Morning Agent Hayes, Selina," Maddow replied as she performed a final check on her M4. "Are you two going for a morning run?" she asked upon noticing that they were wearing tracksuits. Ashley's was red and Selina's was purple.
"Yeah, but only around the base and Bruce will be running with us too."
"Speaking of B, I'm going to see if he's ready. He was sitting on the couch watching the morning news on our way over here," Selina said then turned and left through the hangar's side door.
"So when do you and the kids plan on leaving out for the Pentagon? I understand you'll be having lunch with your sister."
"Eleven-thirty. Sandra will be sending a Blackhawk to pick us up so you guys can save the fuel."
"Understood, but we'll still be ready in case of an emergency."
"Good."
"Agent Maddow," the leader of the DC National Guard unit assigned to Maddow's team, Captain Stennis said after approaching them.
"Yes, Captain."
"My men are all geared up and ready to roll out."
"We won't be going too far today. Agent Hayes and the VIPs will be on the base until eleven-thirty. They'll be flying out to the Pentagon to have lunch with Colonel Hayes."
"She's my sister."
"What branch of service?"
"Army."
"And you're an FBI agent. I think that's a cool combination."
"I couldn't agree more. Have nice a day."
As Ashley turned to walk away, Stennis couldn't help but to check her out. If she knew, she probably wouldn't mind let alone be surprised. The twenty-eight year old agent had a great figure from head to toe. Through the pants of her tracksuit, he could tell that she had a nice pair of legs and an even nicer looking butt.
"Keeping dreaming, lover boy. The woman is a careerist who considers herself married to the Bureau," Maddow said interrupting his thoughts.
"I wasn't even thinking about getting with her, Agent Maddow. I was just admiring her figure. I always take the time to admire beauty when I see it."
"Well tread lightly. I have worked with her sister before and let's just say she can kill you in a hundred and fifty ways. I know all soldiers are trained to kill, but not like Sandra can."
Stennis felt absolutely stiff upon hearing that.
Bruce sat on the couch with a grim look on his face as the news continued. Overnight, Gotham was rocked by another round of robberies, arsons, and other various crimes. The GCPD was have a helluva time rounding up the criminals…as usual.
"Things should've gotten better after we defeated the Court," Bruce mumbled. All of a sudden he heard a click and the screen went black. "Hey, I was watching that."
"Well not anymore," Selina replied as she hopped on the couch and placed her legs on his lap. "The whole idea of being on vacation is being away from the normal everyday stuff."
"But things in Gotham have gotten worse since we defeated the Court of Owls, Selina."
"Criminals running wild, cops being keystone-ish? Looks like another typical day in Gotham to me. But anyway, Ashley is waiting so suit up, chop-chop," Selina replied with a clap of her hands before heading back outside. Bruce went back to the room he and Selina were sharing to put on his yellow tracksuit.
Ashely was standing near the side humming a tone when Selina came out and rejoined her.
"So where's Bruce?"
"He's getting ready as we speak. I found him brooding over the news about Gotham reverting back to its old not so charming self."
"I figured that would happen after the military left."
"Yeah, but I think Bruce has an unhealthy obsession with the city."
"You can't really blame him for caring about it. It is home after all.
"It's mine and yours too, but I don't see us brooding about it. He really thinks he's gonna make a big difference someday.
"I applaud his sense of duty, Selina. But I think he should tread cautiously, Caring too much about something can be just as bad as not caring at all."
"Have you known of somebody to be get ruined because they cared to much about something?" Selina asked.
"Personally, no. But I have heard stories about people being ruined in some way shape or form by being too obsessed with something.
"Did any of them end up on the receiving end of an Apache's thirty millimeter like Sid over his obsession with me?"
"No, the kinds of ruin they met were of the social and or financial nature. I once heard a story on the news a about a woman who blew all her money gambling and lost everything she owned afterwards."
"Gamblers, what a bunch of careless idiots. They get no sympathy from me," Selina commented.
"I'm ready to run, Ashley," Bruce said as he walked out the door. Selina couldn't help but to roll her eyes at his yellow tracksuit.
"Do you have any idea how loud you look in that thing?"
"It could always be worst, Selina."
"What could be worse than a yellow tracksuit, Agent Hayes?"
"A Hawaiian shirt."
"After our lunch with Sandra, I think we should stop by the mall or whatever and get Bruce Wayne a new tracksuit."
"We'll see. But anyway, let's get this run started," Ashley replied. Bruce and Selina got themselves then Ashley counted from three to zero and off they went for their run around the base.
To minimize the risk of running into any personnel or vehicles by accident, Ashley. Bruce, and Selina ran along the fences and past the main gate. They kept running until 7:30, the sun was already rising.
"Great run, huh?"
"It was very invigorating, Ashley. A great way to start the day," Bruce replied.
"Yeah, but now I'm hungry," Selina said.
"Me too. I'm gonna head to the kitchen and make us all a great breakfast."
"Sweet, and Bruce?"
'Yes, Selina."
"You're changing out of that fucking tracksuit when we get back inside."
While Ashley was cooking breakfast, Bruce and Selina drifted off to their own activities until it was ready. Selina was busy climbing the rockwall and fast roping back to the ground while Bruce hammered away at a punching bag after switching over to a short sleeve shirt and jeans. After a while, Selina got bored with her activity and went over to talk to Bruce.
"You're hitting that bag pretty hard, B."
"Yeah, I have to keep my fighting skills fresh."
"Hmm. I think it's time to test another aspect of your fighting skills."
"And what would that be?"
"Your defense, starting…now," Selina said then delivered a swift punch to Bruce's shoulder.
"Oww, I wasn't ready for that."
"A real mugger wouldn't give a shit about your level of readiness. So pretend I am a mugger and start fighting back." Selina proceeded to throw a second punch but Bruce was ready for it this time and ducked swiftly before her fist met his face. He also jumped to other side of Selina forcing her to adjust.
As he focused on dodging Selina's punches, Bruce was conjuring up a counter move that would end this fight in one go. His biggest concern was not hurting Selina.
Her next move was to try for a kick which landed right on Bruce's leg. Apart from a grunt, he ignored the pain and jumped out of way before Selina could tackle him. She ended up hitting the floor instead. She sprung back to her feet just in time to see Bruce running back to the lounging area. She knew from experience that if a potential pickpocketing victim managed to get out of grasping range, it was pretty much game over.
"Well played, Bruce."
"Are you okay?"
"It isn't my first fall and it won't be my last," she replied as she trotted over to him."
"Alright you too, breakfast is ready," Ashley announced from the kitchen. Bruce and Selina ran in and saw what she had made. Blueberry pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns and orange juice. The feasting soon began.
"So Ashley, how many people besides your sister work at the Pentagon?" Selina asked.
"Twenty-three-thousand, it's a combination of military and civilian personnel along with some non-military support personnel too. The place even has its own police force."
"When are the Pentagon cops like?"
"In terms of performance and competence second to none. Considering that they help guard the nerve center of our military, they have to be."
"We'll be seeing a lot of high ranking military officials when we get there, Selina. Who knows we might even get the meet the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense," Bruce said.
"And what does the Secretary of Defense do?" Bruce would've been more than happy to answer, but he knew better by now not to answer any questions Selina didn't address to him.
"He is the Chief Executive Officer of the DOD and the chief civilian advisor to the president on military matters. In terms of command over the military, he is second only to congress and the president himself."
"Civilian oversight of the military is a very important thing, Selina. It keeps things in balance," Bruce added.
"I'm just hoping Sandra's office isn't a giant ice cube," Selina commented.
"She may have an ice queen persona, but she isn't supernatural."
"I wouldn't rule that out completely, Ashley. She did send a chill down Bruce's spine when she shook his hand and put fear into the Thomas brat just by looking at him," Selina replied before stuffing three pieces of bacon into her mouth.
"Whatever the case, I'm just glad she's on our side and back in Ashley's life."
"Me too, Bruce," Ashley said.
A few hours later, it was time for departure. Ashley and Bruce joined Selina at the front of the hangar as the Blackhawk Sandra sent came in for landing.
"I had a feeling you were going to break out a tailor suit for this trip," Selina commented upon looking at his attire.
"There's a good chance we'll be meeting some of our nation's top military officials. I'd figure I would try and make myself look sharp."
"You do look good in it, I'll give you that."
"I think he looks great, Selina," Ashley said. Instead of the blouses she usually wore, Ashley opted for a plain blue shirt that went perfectly with her FBI jacket and black pants. Selina opted to remain in her tracksuit. When Bruce asked her about it earlier, she told him that she felt like wearing something different today.
"It looks like our bird has landed," Selina said after the chopper touched down. The trio kept their heads low as they boarded. Once they were settled in, they put on their headsets and were greeted by the pilot.
"Good morning, everyone. I am Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Sean Miller and I will be your pilot this afternoon. I understand we have the one and only Bruce Wayne flying with us, do we not?"
"Yes sir," Bruce answered.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne. Agent Hayes, if you look down at the spot on your right you'll see a red plastic bag containing ID tags for you and the kids. Colonel Hayes told me to have you three put them on before we leave."
Ashley pulled out the tags and gave two of them to Bruce and Selina. The third one was hers.
"Wow, we got level five security clearance," Selina said as she looked at hers before clipping it to the lapel of her jacket.
"Your sister must've pulled some really big strings for us to get these, Bruce commented.
"All the more reason for us to be on our best behavior," Ashley replied.
"Got it," Selina said.
"X-ray 5-1 to Diamond, we are lifting off from Bolling and inbound. ETA, twelve minutes."
"Copy that, your escorts out of Reagan International will be joining you shortly."
Two minutes after liftoff, the Blackhawk was joined by two AH-64D Apache Longbows that formed up alongside it.
"Sunshine, check. Blue skies, check. Apache escorts, check. But I can't shake the feeling that we're missing something."
"And what would that be, Selina?" Bruce asked.
"A in-flight movie."
"I don't think it would make much sense to have a movie for a twelve minute flight."
"Why does everything have to make sense?"
"Not wanting to get into a mid-air argument with Selina, Bruce simply shifted his gaze to the city below.
AN. I decided to save the lunch scene for the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this one.