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Chapter Six

Part 1

Bad News

The morning when Tamara thought she'd lost her brother again was the first time she'd been woken up by Alfred in over three years. She knew then that something was wrong. She sat bolt upright in bed and as soon as she saw the grave look on Alfred's face she knew that something bad had happened.

"What's happened? What's wrong? It's Bruce, isn't it?"

Alfred raised his hands to quieten Tamara. "I'm sorry, Miss Wayne," he apologised. "I would have told you when I got in last night but I didn't want to wake you."

"When you got in?" she questioned, getting out of bed and hurriedly wrapping her robe around her, as she was dressed only in thin pyjamas. "What do you mean? When did you go out?"

"Miss Wayne," he began cautiously. "I received a call off your brother last night. He was in a bit of state. I haven't been able to get much out of him, other than it seems his blood has been poisoned somehow."

"Poisoned? What? How?"

"I don't know," Alfred shook his head. "He's asleep right now."

"How is he?"

Alfred sighed and looked uncomfortable. "He's getting worse," he admitted.

"Well call a fucking doctor then!" Tamara cried, hurrying out of her room and jogging down the corridor to Bruce's bedroom. She never swore in front of Alfred, but right now she was terrified and she wasn't thinking clearly.

Alfred caught up with her before she entered Bruce's room and blocked the doorway.

"I don't think it's wise for you to see him like this, Miss Wayne," he said.

"Call a doctor, Alfred," Tamara repeated. "I just got my brother back, I am not losing him again goddammit!"

"And how would I explain his condition to a doctor, Miss Wayne?" Alfred asked. "How would I tell him about Batman?"

At this, Tamara fell silent.

"Exactly." Alfred placed a kind hand on her shoulder. "I've called Mr. Fox."

"Lucius Fox?"

Alfred nodded. "He'll know what to do."

The two days during which Bruce was unconscious were close to unbearable. Tamara took time out of work experience, and aside from her initial phone call to Jonathan to tell him she wouldn't be in work for a few days, she hadn't spoken to him once. She knew things were still awkward between them after the argument but she wasn't in the right frame of mind to set things straight right then. To make matters worse, she still had to organise Bruce's party – all of Gotham's rich and famous had been invited and there was no way she could cancel on such short notice. Thankfully, the day he came to was the day of his twenty-eighth birthday. As they had been doing during the hours in which Bruce had been unconscious, Tamara and Alfred were both sat by his bedside when he finally opened his eyes. He was a state – shivering slightly and red-eyed.

"How long did I sleep?" he croaked hoarsely.

"Two days," Alfred told him.

"Happy birthday, Bruce," Tamara smiled weakly. "You're twenty-eight."

As soon as Tamara spoke, Bruce's eyes widened and he grabbed onto her wrist desperately. "Tamara – Tamara I have to tell you – it was Cr – it was–"

"Shush," Tamara soothed him. "Calm down, Bruce. What was it that poisoned you?"

He sighed, catching his breath. "It was some kind of gas," he explained slowly. "I only breathed in the slightest amount."

Tamara shuddered. "God, I hate to think what would have happened if you'd taken in more than that."

"I've felt these sort of effects before," Bruce continued. "But this time the effects were far more potent. It was some kind of weaponised hallucinogen, administered in aerosol form."

"Who did this to you?" Tamara asked slowly, shaking her head.

"That's what I need to talk to you about, Tamara-"

Bruce was interrupted once more by the arrival of Mr. Fox.

"You have been hanging out in the wrong clubs, Mr. Wayne," he smirked.

Bruce looked at Alfred and Tamara, confused by Fox's presence.

"I called Mr. Fox when your condition worsened after the first day," Alfred explained.

"I analysed your blood to isolate the receptor compounds and the protein-based catalyst," Fox stated matter-of-factly.

"Am I meant to understand any of that?"

Fox laughed slightly. "Not at all. I just wanted you to know how hard it was. The bottom line is, I synthesised an antidote."

Bruce took interest in this. "Could you make more?"

Fox raised an eyebrow. "You planning on gassing yourself again, Mr. Wayne?"

"Well, you know how it is, Mr. Fox – you're out at night, looking for kicks, someone's passing around weaponised hallucinogens…"

This issued a small laugh out of everyone in the room, more out of relief that Bruce had got his sense of humour back than anything.

"I'll bring what I have," Fox said. "The antidote should inoculate you for now. Alfred, Tamara, always a pleasure."

"Goodbye, Mr. Fox," smiled Tamara.

"Lucius," Alfred nodded.

Tamara turned back to Bruce. "What did you say you needed to talk to me about, Bruce?"

Before he could answer, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Alfred muttered, beginning to stand up.

"No, you sit down," Tamara said, standing up herself and pushing Alfred down gently. "You've been on your feet constantly these past few days. Have a rest."

"But Tamara, I really need to talk to you-"

"Later, Bruce, okay?" she smiled, before leaving the room and making her way downstairs. She crossed the entrance hall and opened the large front doors, surprised to find herself face-to-face with Rachel. Deep down, part of her had been hoping it would have been Jonathan, but she supposed he had no reason to make the journey to the Palisades.

"Oh, Rachel," she murmured, surprised. "Can I help you?"

Rachel nodded. "It's Bruce's birthday today. Is he here?"

"He's in bed. He's not been very well recently."

Rachel's face dropped slightly. "Will he be okay?"

Tamara smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he's feeling a lot better today. Do you want to come in?"

Rachel considered it for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I have to get back to work. I just wanted to leave this."

She pulled a small box out of her pocket which Tamara took off her.

"Thanks, I'll give it to Bruce."

They were just saying their goodbyes and Tamara was shutting the door when Bruce arrived behind Tamara, now wrapped in a blue robe and looking slightly more awake and healthy.

"Rachel?"

"Gosh, you do look ill," she worried.

"Just been burning the candle at both ends," Bruce shrugged, putting on his usual playboy front. "It is my birthday, after all."
Tamara resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Considering how badly he wanted this woman, he was going completely the wrong way about getting her.

"I know," Rachel nodded curtly. "I'm sorry I can't come tonight." She didn't sound sorry at all. "I was just dropping off your present," she gestured to the box in Tamara's hand.

Tamara handed it to Bruce and took this as her cue to excuse herself and give the couple their privacy – of course, she only went around the corner, so she could still hear every word of their conversation.

"You've got better plans?" Bruce asked.

"My boss has been missing for two days," she replied bluntly. "In this town it means I should probably start by looking at the bottom of the river."
"Rachel-" began Bruce. Good Bruce, thought Tamara. Offer to be her shoulder to cry on, show a little sensitivity for fuck's sake!

They were interrupted by Rachel's phone ringing. "Excuse me," she muttered as she pulled it out of her bag. "Rachel Dawes. Who authorised that?" she cried. "Get Crane down there right now. Don't take no for an answer! Call Dr Lehmann, tell him we need our own assessment on the judge's desk by morning."

Tamara's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Jonathan's name.

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, clearly just as concerned as Tamara was.

"It's Falcone. Dr Crane moved him to Arkham Asylum on suicide watch."

"You're going to Arkham now? It's in the Narrows, Rachel." Tamara raised an eyebrow at how much more concern her brother showed for Rachel going to Arkham when Tamara went there every day.

"You enjoy your party, Bruce," she dismissed him. "Some of us have work to do."

"You be careful."

"Happy birthday."

The door shut and Tamara walked back into Bruce's view, making him jump slightly.

"I was there that day," she said. "The day Jonathan interviewed Falcone and asked to have him moved to Arkham."

Bruce looked concerned. "Did he seem insane? Falcone?"

Tamara bit her lip and shook her head slowly. "Not to me. Then again, what do I know? I only spoke to him briefly before Jonathan sent me out, anyway. He didn't want me getting upset by it. When Jonathan left, Falcone was pretty shook up. I could hear him screaming."

Bruce groaned in frustration, pushing his hands through his dirty brown hair. "Did none of this seem suspicious to you, Tamara?"

"No," she frowned. "Should it have done?"

"Jonathan's bad news, Tamara."

"Stop it, Bruce. Not now."

"HE'S THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO ME!" Bruce yelled. "He's the one who attacked me."

Tamara shook her head furiously, flinching at his raised voice. "You probably imagined it Bruce, it could have been anyone, you were hallucinating…"

"No, Tamara, it was Jonathan. It was your boyfriend. I went to an apartment in the Narrows which is used as a drop-off point for half of the drugs that Falcone has been shipping in and Jonathan came in with two other men. He told them to get rid of all the evidence so they began to torch the place. I took the two men down but Crane caught me by surprise by spraying me with the hallucinogen. He set me on fire and I fell out of a window into the streets. That's the truth, Tamara. You know I would never lie to you."

Tamara continued to shake her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "It can't be true," she whispered. "It's not true, it must have been someone else, someone who looked like him."

"It was Jonathan, Tamara," Bruce said more gently, gripping her upper arms tightly. "Were you with him at around eleven PM that night?" Tamara didn't answer. "Tamara, were you with him?"

She shook her head slowly. "No."

"Where were you?"

"At home."

"Why did you come home? I thought you were spending the night?"

"He got a phone call at about nine," she whispered. "He said it was urgent and to do with work and we argued and he left and," she began to sob. "Oh my God this can't be happening."

"I'm sorry," Bruce said genuinely, hugging her. She didn't hug him back, just stood embraced in his arms, crying. "I know that you liked him a lot."

She pushed away from Bruce, her face red and angry. "No, Bruce, I love him!" she cried. "I've never felt this way about anyone before." She paused for a moment, her face determined. "I have to go to Arkham."

"No," Bruce ordered sternly. "You have to stay here and play host for my party while I go to Arkham."

"That's not fair! He's my boyfriend, Bruce, I need to see him!"

"It might not be safe for you! Just stay here until I get back, okay?"

"No."

"Tamara."

"No, Bruce."

"Tamara, please, just stay here. I'll take you to Arkham later this evening if you do. Please?"

Tamara considered this for a moment before she finally nodded. "Okay, fine. Just be careful, and don't hurt Jonathan."

Tamara had actually been looking forward to Bruce's birthday party. She'd put a lot of effort into making sure everything was perfect and she'd even gone out to buy a new dress, which certainly wasn't cheap, even by her standards.

"But Master Wayne, the guests will be arriving," she could hear Alfred arguing with Bruce outside of her bedroom as she applied the finishing touches to her make-up.

"Keep them happy until I arrive. Tell them that joke you know."

By the time Tamara emerged from her room, Bruce was gone and Alfred looked incredibly exasperated, stood amongst the tables of food and the party decorations that had been set up earlier. The string quartet were sat in one corner, beginning to set up.

"And I suppose you know where he's off to, Miss Wayne?"

Tamara nodded. "I do, and I'm just as unhappy about it as you are Alfred, but you know there's nothing we can do when he's in a mood like this."

Bruce made his way to the study and hit four notes on the piano – this opened the hidden door behind the bookcase, which revealed a stone staircase – this staircase led to the wrought iron one he had seen in the caves that day and was a far easier way to access the caves beneath the Manor. He stepped onto the dumb waiter and pulled a lever to release the lift, and he plummeted down through the centre of the spiral staircase. The lift hit the bottom with an awful rattle, but the only thing Bruce was after was his Batsuit. This was a matter of saving not only Rachel, but Tamara too – the two women that he cared for the most. This was personal now.

"Having fun?"

Fox looked up from his desk to see Mr. Earle stood over him. He frowned; it was getting late, and as it was, Earle never ventured down into Applied Sciences anyway.

"Bill? Now, what's a big shot like you doing in a place like this?"

"I need some information." Of course – it was never going to be a social visit, now, was it? "The Wayne Enterprise 47-B, 1-ME. "

"1-ME," Fox nodded thoughtfully. "It's a microwave emitter. It was designed to vaporise an enemy's water supply. Rumour was they tested dispersing water-based chemical agents into the air, but isn't that illegal?"

"I want all the information on the development of this project – all data, files, back-up disks – on my desk right away."

Fox frowned. "Did you lose one?"

"I'm merging your department with Archives, and I'm firing you." He smiled patronisingly. "Didn't you get the memo?"

"Miss Dawes is here, Dr Crane," a voice buzzed over Crane's intercom.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Thank you," he replied. Why did Dawes have to show up now, of all times? This was the night that everything was meant to kick off. He didn't want to have to use the toxin on her, but if he couldn't get rid of her he might be faced with no other choice. Just as he was about to make his way down to the entrance hall to meet Rachel, his phone went off. Sighing in exasperation, he pulled it out of his pocket. The caller ID showed that it was Tamara calling him. Now? Of all times? He didn't have it in him to ignore her call, anyway.

"Yes?"

"Hey, baby." She sounded a little too happy. It was somewhat forced.

"Is something wrong?"

"No!" she cried. "No, not at all." Well, that was enough to convince him that she was lying. "I was just wondering if you're going to be coming to Bruce's birthday party tonight. It's only just started, but it would be nice for me to have some company."

He sighed, running a hand over his face. "I can't Tamara, I'm sorry. I'm very busy tonight."

"Is Rachel there yet?"

He froze. "What?"

"Rachel Dawes. She was at my house earlier today, but she had to leave to go to Arkham. So is she there?"

"She's just arrived," he answered honestly.

"Oh, I'd better let you get on then," she said. She was silent for a while and for a moment Jonathan thought she'd hung up on him. Then he heard a sharp intake of breath and Tamara gasped, "I'm coming down there."

Jonathan's stomach flipped nervously. She couldn't come here, it wasn't safe for her. "No, Tamara," he said a little too hastily.

"I don't care," she replied. "I'm coming. I'll see you later."

Jonathan hissed under his breath. She had hung up that time. She couldn't get caught up in all of this. He made a quick phone call, knowing that he had to hurry. Rachel would get suspicious if he kept her waiting any longer.

"Yes, boss?"

Up until meeting some of the thugs that Jonathan had hired, he'd never believed that someone could actually sound stupid. Some of these men definitely could.

"You know Tamara Wayne?"

"Well, duh," the man laughed. "Everyone knows her, boss. Ain't you fuckin' her?"

Jonathan ignored the crude question. "She's going to show up at the Asylum at some point this evening. When she gets here, take her to my house. Don't bother getting her to go quietly, it won't do us any favours. Just don't hurt her, and get her to my house, and make sure she doesn't attract any unwelcome attention. Understood?"

"Sure, boss."

Jonathan hung up and bit the inside of his cheek nervously. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she got caught up in this mess. He was going to protect her through all of it.

Author's note: Hope you're still enjoying it. We've reached the finale of Batman Begins now so it's about to get really exciting! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, it means a lot :)