Bruce ended the transmission he was receiving from London's cell phone and he shook his head. London wasn't crazy. He was just an ordinary man who had everything torn from him. The situation had changed. As the clock turned one minute until the meeting, Bruce quickly contacted Alfred on the wireless phone.
"Yes sir? Time to call Loeb?" Alfred said.
"No. I need you to find anyone with the last name: London. Quickly, please." Bruce replied.
"Hold one one moment, sir." Alfred said as he input the name on the Manor computer and quickly searched through the list of employees both in current and fired or let go.
"Got one match. Robert Jay London. 39, had a wife at the time of departure. Due to budget cuts it seems." Alfred said.
"What job did he have?" Bruce asked, seeing the sniper flashing his laser across the expanse of the Pavilion building and nearby structures.
"Senior technology analyst. He mostly worked on tech systems and sometimes bank accounting. In short, good with computers."
"That explains the tough firewall." Bruce said, nodding his head as the pieces came together at last.
"Yes. Is he one of the crew?" Alfred asked.
"Yes. He's the leader of them. Thanks, Alfred. Be ready to call Loeb. The voice change works good and the phone's untraceable. Just be sure to smash it and take out the SIM card when you're done. We've got one chance." Bruce said before cutting off the comms-link and preparing to jump onto the open floor where London and his men were.
"This is it. Do it right." Bruce said to himself before leaping and soaring through the sky.
"Here he comes! Get ready!" Joint said as he loaded his silenced SMG and prepared for Wayne to land.
London wiped the tears from his eyes and picked up his pistol, shining a spotlight on Wayne as he soared in with a parachute-like device on his back. Francine stayed silent and waited for the outcome, scared for both London and Bruce. Who could she trust? What if Bruce really did take that money for himself. She knew he was hiding a secret life from her but what kind of secret was it?
Bruce arched his whole body and the cape down, swooping through the opening and landing hard on his feet. The men all pointed their suppressed weapons at him and he looked around slowly, taking in every possible detail. He eyed Francine and her sister tied up in the corner, with London near them and his gun drawn.
"I'm surprised you showed. Good job." London said, pointing the pistol at Bruce head.
"Nice outfit. You changed it up I see. Got a nice, cool cape with matching boots. That's really cute, Bruce. I dig it." London said, circling Bruce as his men stood guard.
Bruce didn't speak, only looking at London as he stayed still, the cowl feeling useless as the men already knew Bruce's identity.
"I was expecting you to wear your mask. You seem pretty confident in killing me. Showing your face and all." Bruce said after a moment of silence.
"It's either I kill you or you kill us." London said, stopping in front of Bruce and pointing to his men.
"That's not how I do things. I want to help you, Robert." Bruce said, sounding as sincere as possible.
London backed up, breathing heavily and pointing the gun at his head as he pulled the detonator out, his thumb right over the red button. Bruce stood still and watched as London teasingly etched his thumb over the button.
"You and I both know you don't want to do that. You're not like them. I know you're not. You wouldn't kill anyone unless you had no other choice and right now, there's plenty of options and I want to help you." Bruce said, slyly reaching in his belt as his cape hid his right arm.
"What's your peace offering, Wayne? Money? That ship has sailed, you bastard. Money won't solve my problems now. I'm a dead man walking. Money isn't worth the ground I walk on now. I want my life back. No check can cover that. All of you are the same. I'm glad you can see that now." London said, turning his head to Francine.
Bruce looked at her and gave her a nod.
"You're not going to get hurt. I promise. He won't hurt you either."
"I won't. But you will be." London said, dropping his gun and running at Bruce, throwing a punch and clocking him in the jaw.
Bruce turned around and swung a left hook, getting London right in the chest. London growled and tackled Bruce, punching him in the gut as his crew ran to join the fight.
"No! This is my fight!" London yelled, motioning his men back as he continued to punch Bruce, not even putting up a fight.
London picked him up by his cape and kneed him in the back, groaning in pain as he blocked London's next strike. Bruce grabbed his wrist weakly and tossed him backwards as he rose.
"C'mon! Put up a fight!" London said, holding his fists up as Bruce wiped blood from a cut on his lip.
Bruce took a deep breath and pulled out two glue bombs and a smoke capsule, flinging the two glue bombs at London's feet and slamming the smoke capsule below his own feet, a cloud of smoke quickly dispersing across the room, prompting the men to fire at the smoke column. He felt two bullets graze his suit and he pulled out the grapnel-gun, aiming for a large pipe he had noticed when he first flew in the Gotham Pavilion center. The men continued to fire and while suppressed gunfire continued, Bruce reached into his belt and sent Alfred the high-frequency signal.
He stayed quiet as London urged them to stop. Bruce watched as the smoke cleared and he held four batarangs in his hands. As the men looked around, one of them, Joint was his codename, tried to help London from the glue traps that enclosed his feet. Bruce took a deep breath and flung all the batarangs at the men as he glided to the ground and prepared to fight. Two of the men got the batarangs in the back of their heads and their backs, the body armor mostly protecting them. Bruce swift-kicked one of the running men and elbowed him in the face as his head cracked against the stone floor. Joint pulled the batarang from the back of his head and laughed as he saw blood. He fired his SMG, Bruce ducking as bullets hit the floor and stone bits flew up, scratching his pitch-black cowl.
"Kill him!" London yelled, reaching for the detonator as the rest of the men ran at Wayne.
The men circled Bruce and he ducked as one threw a punch and another tried hitting him with the butt of his sniper rifle. Bruce grabbed the front of the rifle and broke the stock in half, hitting the shooter over the head with it as Joint shot Bruce twice in the chest, the Shark armor protecting him but still hurting like hell. Bruce flung another smoke capsule at the floor and the men became disoriented, some hitting each other as Bruce moved through the crowd and knocked out two crew members together after slamming their heads together. He was knocked in the ankle with Joint's leg and he felt it give out, screaming in pain as Joint grabbed his cowl and repeatedly hit him in the back. Bruce kicked his kneecap, hearing a disgusting crack and Joint's cries. Bruce turned around and kicked him in the chest with his uninjured left leg, making him fly backwards.
He turned around to see London take his military-style boots off and grab the detonator; prepared to push the button without remorse or regret. Bruce was put in a chokehold by the last standing man and he brought Bruce to London's knees. Bruce was hit in the head with the man's knee and had his head slammed into the stone ground, the cowl hardly preventing any pain.
"It's over, Bruce. What were you trying to prove?" London asked, malice in his very soul.
"What were you?" Bruce growled painfully.
"That people like you can never be redeemed. You're too far down the rabbit hole, sucked into that hole of selfishness." London said while shaking his head.
"And you're not selfish?" Bruce said, knocking out the guy behind him with a hard punch to the nose and standing in a fighting stance.
"No. I did what I had to do in order to show this city that-." London began.
"That anyone rich is corrupt and only cares about themselves? That what you were going to say?" Bruce interrupted.
"Yes!" London growled, firing his pistol at Bruce's stomach as Francine screamed.
"Ugh... that's not true, Robert. You know that. We're all people." Bruce said, standing up straight and ignoring the pain from the bullet.
"Do you know how my childhood was? I had both my parents killed right in front of me. And you know what?" Bruce continued, a sense of clarity suddenly overcoming him.
"I spent the next fourteen years trying to train my body and mind so I could find the killer. That'll never happen. But because of all that built-up anger and hate for everything about this city, I tortured my mind and body to the point of way beyond desperation. I'll never find the man who killed my parents but now, I've realized that I'm doing my best to stop being selfish. This city deserves more than me or you. We both think we're doing the right thing but are we? Are we really, Robert? You don't want to press that button as much as I don't want another family to be gunned down like mine. I'm tired of the corruption and I know you are too. If you put that detonator down... I'll take my mask off and offer you a chance to live without more regret in your heart. I know what it does to people. People especially like us. It tears us apart and kills us." Bruce said as Robert began crying silently.
"Don't do this, Robert. There's still more to life. This is all up to you. Those people who took your money deserve justice, not a quick and painless death where they don't have to see all the damage they've caused. If you put it down, I swear to you that will not stop in finding out who stole your and the others' lives. I swear on my life, Robert. You don't want to do this." Bruce said, sweat building up inside his cowl.
London's hands were shaking terribly and he was red in the face. He didn't want to do this. Wayne was right. They deserved true justice. London grit his teeth and screamed when he heard and saw police sirens below.
"Why... why did you call them?" London yelled, his thumb resting on the button.
"For your safety. Please... don't do this." Bruce replied.
London's eyes were blinded by tears and he screamed in stress as he threw the detonator down and fell to the ground. Bruce took the detonator and disconnected the two blue wires inside, the device powering down. Bruce breathed easy and kept his promise. He bowed down next to London and took off his cowl, holding London up as he cried in his shoulder. Francine was crying as well and smiled weakly at Bruce as the sounds of footsteps were heard. Bruce picked up his mask as London sat on the ground with his fingers laced around his head and ran towards Francine, kissing her long and hard as flashlight beamed through the top floor.
"Robert." Bruce said as he put the mask back on and stared into the night.
"You're my hero."
With a quick jump, Bruce jumped into the night sky, seeing the five police cars below the Pavilion center. Bruce headed towards Old Gotham as he soared over four hundred feet in the sky and felt a giant weight come off his shoulders as he let the cold breeze cool him down.
I've saved lives and redeemed someone's humanity. I'll never find the mugger but that doesn't matter. My motive can't change now. I've done something in this city. I've given Gotham something it hasn't seen in a very long time.
Hope.