Batman (Nolan-verse) fanfiction.
Summary: Crime is universal. Alex leaves one hellhole for another and hopes that a change of address is enough to hold them off. No particular timeframe but closer to BB than TDK. (Batman/OFC)
A/N: May contain traces of references to other movies. But there will be no crossovers.
GHOST TOWN
Chapter 12
The terminal is practically empty at half past seven, with a handful of zombie-faced commuters passing through checkout to go to work first thing on a Monday morning. Alex is one of them. Maybe not as zombie-faced as she'd like to hope; she's had six hours of sleep which should be enough to survive the day ahead. While she lines up at the only counter in service, her eyes wander over the scant crowd. She knows it's stupid but she stays on the lookout for someone who might possibly be Batman, on the very, very slim chance he was on the same flight back to Gotham. Six feet tall, muscular, clean shaven. She gets several glances in return from the men whose jaw lines she's been studying, and she averts her eyes with a furious blush. She doesn't want any of them to get the wrong idea. In any case, none of them seem to recognise her.
She stops by her apartment to drop off her travel bag and get changed before rushing out again. In her haste to reach the subway, Alex almost forgets to pick up her daily copy of the Gotham Times and backtracks a few steps to the newsstand outside the station. The front page of the paper catches her attention right away. Where was Batman? Girl Brutally Slaughtered by Arkham Escapee.
"Oh no," she breathes, frozen in place.
"Terrible, ain't it?" The newsstand owner remarks offhandedly. "Girl was at a bar with some friends on Saturday night, then gets nabbed by a psycho who likes carving 'em up. She was found in seven pieces the next day."
Alex just looks at him queasily. If she had eaten breakfast, it would be on the floor right now.
"Well, you gonna buy it or not?" The old man raises an eyebrow. She drops some coins into his outstretched palm and takes the paper. As she reads the story on the train, skipping over the gruesome details, she cringes with a mixture of guilt and indignation. She knows why Batman wasn't there to save that girl or catch the lunatic still on the run. But the way the journalist laid on the blame at Batman for apparently 'failing Gotham' was unfair and absurd.
Her brows are still furrowed when she gets off at Wayne Tower station -- her day hasn't yet started and she's in a bad mood already -- and she's a terse conversationalist in the elevator, sitting out of whatever mindless small talk the yuppies are engaged in. Finally, the carriage clears, giving her a moment of peace before her level comes up.
The girls at reception ignore her when she walks in; out of the ordinary behaviour for them, but today Alex couldn't care less. She dumps her handbag under her desk and hangs up her jacket, then heads straight for the coffee pot in the kitchenette.
"Is it going to be one of those days, Alex?" Jessica glances over her shoulder with an amused expression as she lifts a crumpet out of the toaster.
"It is." Alex affirms. She didn't normally take a coffee until eleven.
"Need to get it off your chest? Wouldn't have anything to do with that dinner with Mr Wayne the other day, would it?" Jessica probes gently.
"What?" She'd forgotten all about that. Friday felt like a month ago. "No, it's not that. That was... surprisingly not too weird, actually."
"Really?" The other woman grins. "Could our Alex be warming up to the airheaded playboy? Wonders never cease!"
Alex rolls her eyes but manages a good-humoured smile. "Warming up's a big overstatement. Have you seen the news this morning? That is what's bugging me, to be honest."
"About Batman?"
Alex nods.
"Serious? You too?" Jessica pushes aside her plate of breakfast and leans back against the counter, regarding Alex with wide eyes. "Lucius came in this morning going on about the hacks at Gotham Times, writing sensationalist garbage, and that's a big deal for him 'cause he never rants about anything. I mean, I read the story too, but I didn't realise people got so passionate over this sort of thing."
"Is that what the city truly thinks? Or just the views of one writer?"
Jessica shrugs. "I don't know, I haven't asked around."
They're interrupted by one of the girls from the lobby coming in for a can of diet Coke. She throws a snooty look in Alex's direction and then walks away without speaking to either of them.
What on earth is going on? "Hey," Alex asks, "do you know what's up with the reception girls? Did I miss out on a memo or something?"
"Oh, about that..." Jessica wrings her hands together sheepishly. "You know how they're ultra protective of their prince? I kind of, uh, accidentally mentioned in passing to Carol Gardener about your dinner with Bruce Wayne..."
"Carol?" Alex repeats dubiously and pokes her head around the corner. Carol was the timid pixie of a woman in the accounts department, about fifty-something, with grey-streaked hair and glasses the size of fishbowls. She was probably the most quiet person in the whole building.
"I had no idea it was going to spread like wildfire! I'm sorry, Alex. If I'd known what a blabbermouth she was, I would have been more careful. She's always so quiet..."
"It's OK," Alex sighs. "You're off the hook." She sees no point wasting time over something already done, and at least it wasn't anything too major. Just another rumour that would lose its novelty soon enough.
Jessica exhales in relief. "Lunch is on me!"
"Can't say no to that," Alex laughs and picks up her coffee. "See you at one."
She returns to her post outside Wayne's office and starts working through phone messages left over the weekend. Half of them are personal calls from admirers, more or less either reminding him that he hasn't called back or making offers she'd rather not hear about. Stuck in the thick of it, she doesn't notice someone approach her desk until a throat clears.
"Excuse me, is Bruce in?"
Alex lifts her head and her face blanks in stunned silence to see Rachel Dawes standing there. The DA's assistant makes a small gasp of recognition and stares back with mirrored surprise.
"Oh! Aren't you...?"
"Alexandra." She fills in. "Nice to see you again, Ms Dawes."
"Call me Rachel, please," the brunette smiles pleasantly. "I didn't realise you worked here. How long ago, if I may ask?"
"Just two weeks," she replies. "Mr Wayne isn't in right now, but if you don't mind waiting a few minutes, he should be here soon."
Rachel nods and takes a seat on the waiting lounge, but keeps a keen watch on Alex that makes her uncomfortable. True, this unexpected coincidence would warrant such a show of interest, and Alex herself is curious how Rachel connects to Bruce Wayne and criminal law, but she doesn't feel it's her place to enquire. She turns back to her work, but is interrupted again when her boss makes his entrance.
"Rachel?" He cocks a head as he strolls towards them.
"Hello Bruce," Rachel stands, a cryptic smile strung on her face that doesn't entirely reach her eyes. "I hope you don't mind me coming unannounced."
"Not at all, not at all," he gestures genially for her to enter his office. He follows her, pausing by Alex's desk to take in his more important messages. "Morning, Alexandra. Did you have a nice weekend?" His question is perfunctory; she sees his eyes flick momentarily to the newspaper she has folded in a corner next to the computer.
"I did. And you, Mr Wayne?" She notes pointedly the violet-coloured bruise high up on his cheekbone that most definitely wasn't there prior to the weekend.
He offers her a wry grin. "Polo. I hate that game."
From the doorway, Rachel gives him a funny look.
The two disappear behind the heavy door and stand off to the side where only Rachel's back is visible from the oval window. It's impossible to tell what kind of conversation they're having; even a rowdy argument would be well contained in those soundproof walls. In any case, Alex decides she can always turn to Jessica for outrageous speculation.
--+--
Bruce had a feeling Rachel would show up. She had called the Manor on Sunday when the grisly murder came to light, as Alfred told him, wondering where he was. Now she stands in his office, awkward silence between them, staring at the floor.
"If you're here about Zsasz's escape, I already know. I'm onto it."
She shakes her head slowly. "No, I'm here today, just as a friend. You probably don't want to speak with me after... last time, but I came to see how you were."
He sighs. "I'm fine, Rachel. I am." He's tired, more than anything else, and the last thing he wants to do is talk.
She bites a lip at his gentle rebuff, but it's not enough to deter her. "How did you really get that bruise?"
"I was in Boston." During the scuffle with Yakavetta's men, one of them managed to land a lucky blow with the butt of a gun on the side of his mask. Thankfully it wasn't a visible spot, or Alex would have instantly pieced the puzzle the second she saw him today. Sometimes he wondered how close she was to finding out.
"Oh." Rachel says in understanding. "Um... does she know?"
"Know what?" He responds, purposely evasive.
She humours him. "About your nocturnal habit."
"No."
"Well. That can't be healthy."
"Thank you, Oprah." He snarks without menace, but she's smiling.
"You should tell her." Rachel says softly.
He stares at her for a minute. "You're crazy."
"What do you stand to lose? She cares about Batman, she's not going to sell you out."
"That's not what worries me." Uh-oh, he's said too much. Rachel's got that gleam in her eye she gets when she's investigating a case, and she isn't letting go until he's spilled everything. "She won't like who I am," he says eventually, dismissively, sounding small and pathetic to his own ears.
Rachel frowns. "What do you mean? How would you know?"
"I'm Bruce Wayne. She knows me. I stand for everything she despises."
Rachel laughs incredulously. "Bruce, you designed yourself to be unlikable. That's not who you are."
He isn't so sure. If he's capable of being Bruce Wayne, what does it say about him?
A quick buzz goes off in Rachel's bag and she peeks inside. "That'll be Harvey. My time's up." She pushes a lock of hair from her face and straightens up to face him. "Tell me at least you'll think about it."
He doesn't answer.
"She'll move on, Bruce. We all do." Rachel gives him one last smile, a rueful one, then turns to leave.
A/N: Zsasz is a canon Batman villain but I've changed his MO in this story (he slits throats... not gruesome enough haha). There was going to be a Batman/Alex scene in this but it would have been too long, so the chapter has been broken off here. Thanks for reading!