Thank you to the reviewer/s as always, it means so so much.

The only way to know if people like your story, what they think of it etc are those reviews, so I can't thank those enough.

I'm really finding the setting up of the Dark Knight interesting, and I'm finding more and more layers into the world of the movie, I'm impressed everytime.

And finally have reached the point where I can involve these!

type in youtube . com and add;

/-AU8_ybCw8I (I changed the time setting of this one by a couple of weeks)

/ZyE92ha_GHo

The lift descended into the bunker as the lights lit up.

'-which isn't the MO we're looking for,' Bruce finished.

'So it's Lau.'

'It's Lau. I'll go to the daily meeting and propose a deal with LCI Holdings tomorrow. I think it will be popular, but even if it isn't, with you and Fox backing it for long enough we can get a look at Lau's books.'

I nodded and walked off the lift. 'Then we get him. In the meantime, we need to find Crane.'

'And see if we can stop the supply routes into and from Gotham.'

I arrived at the computers and brought up a long program. Bruce kept reading through all the files we'd brought out of Wayne Enterprises.

Time passed and I was getting increasingly nowhere, eventually just staring blankly at the screens like a goldfish until Bruce walked over.

'What's this?'

'I'm trying to program a quick-match DNA system.' I waved a hand. 'The processing from the double helix structure to a single stream of data is too slow.' I felt the urge to stare at the desk with my hands in my hair.

Bruce stared it for a second before leaning down and reaching in front of me and taking the mouse. He then proceeded to type. As what he was doing dawned on me, I got off my chair to let him sit down and left him to it, rubbing my eyes as the lift began to move nearby.

Alfred appeared a few silent moments later. 'Having a little bit of trouble, madam?' he asked.

'No, thanks to Bruce,' I replied, idly tilting my head in his direction.

Alfred looked at me, looked at what Bruce was doing and understood. 'I'll make you some tea. It might be a good idea to sit down for a while.'

I was too tired to argue even if I wanted to and collapsed onto the couch I'd dragged down a few months earlier. Alfred had been apprehensive at first, seeing it as an enabler for all-nighters in the cave but had then discovered he could force us to sit down and rest if need be.

I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the couch, the sounds of Bruce working on the computer and Alfred making tea in the kitchen comforting my irritation.

'Were you programming it to be one side then the other, or going back and forth with each row?' Bruce called.

'Either,' I replied, not bothering to open my eyes or even move. 'I thought one side then the other might be the faster way but having been removed from it I'm not so sure.'

'I'll try them both.'

'You're an angel,' I sighed, letting my weight sink further into the couch.

I must have drifted into half-slumber because the next thing I knew, Alfred was three paces away from me with a tray with a huge mug of tea and fruit.

He gently lowered it to an easy height for me to take it from him and sighed, satisfied when I let it rest on my legs, immediately picking up the tea.

'If you plan on going out in the suit when the sun has finished setting,' Alfred said, 'I ask you to rest now, madam.'

I looked up at him, blinking lazily. 'Alright,' I nodded.

'We've managed to narrow down our leads on the mob's finance,' Bruce called, not moving his eyes from the computers, still typing. 'LSI Holdings, name of Lau.'

'Where is it based, sir?' Alfred turned to face Bruce.

'Based in Hong Kong. But there's,' Bruce went quiet for a moment as he concentrated on the screens, 'there's a large presence in Gotham. We should be able to get him, assuming the MCU or County can keep him. As for the location of the money, the tracked bills are settling and building into multiple banks throughout Gotham, all of which have a connection to LSI Holdings, no matter how hard they try to hide it in some cases. Give it just over a week and we'll have the location of the bulk of the mob's money.'

'Good hunting, sir,' said Alfred, again satisfied. 'I trust you have prepared a plan for Lau?'

'It's in the works,' Bruce confirmed, still typing.

I adjusted my position. 'We don't know for sure yet if it's Lau, and if it isn't then a slip up will cost a lot. We need to look at LSI Holdings' books, see if we can find the trace.'

Alfred nodded. 'In that case, I'll prepare the suits.'

He set off and I dug in to the food.

I spent the night alone, patrolling through the narrows all the way to the Major Crimes Unit, toward the beam of light that Gordon had no doubt turned on. Drug dealers were a scarce find since we'd whittled away at the chain, but I had a lot of petty thieves and creepers with ill intent to deal with. I was nearly at the MCU when I heard a scream nearby from the ground below.

I spun on the spot, feeling my cape whirl around after me and crouched down on the edge of the roof, squinting softly down into the dark for a sign of movement, not moving an inch as I listened.

Another scream. From the next alley. I leapt across to the next building and stopped again, looking down.

A man was standing in front of a little girl, one arm out in front of her and the other held out in front of himself. They were slowly backing further into the dark, away from three others, covered by hoods and masks, brandishing guns and knives.

'No, no, please!' The man yelled as one lunged closer. 'I don't have anything, please! Please, let her go!'

The girl hid further behind him.

I waited, poised with my legs ready to spring upward.

Then one of the attackers stepped toward them again, right in the middle of the alley. Perfect.

I jumped up and went straight down, landing on the shoulders of the first attacker, sending him crashing to the ground. I lazily kicked him unconscious and launched toward the attackers.

I hit a gun clean out of a hand, sending it flying back out of the alley and onto the road. As I dealt with that assailant, the other lunged for me with a knife, firing their own gun at me.

I heard the shrieks of the girl and the whimpers of the man before I registered anything else.

By the time I had a moment to focus on them, all three attackers were lying unconscious on the ground.

Making sure they were unconscious, I spun around a couple of times and then looked at the two behind me.

I was standing between them and the decently well-lit street, making the light hit my back and cloak me in an eerie darkness through which no details could be seen but an outline of a hulking black shape. Even my body shape was hidden by my cape.

The girl looked at me, no longer terrified but not moving from behind the man.

'Are… are you…?' he asked, swallowing.

'What are you doing out so late?' I asked, voice marbled and low. I would have liked to comfort the girl, but appearances had to be kept around adults. With someone there to comfort her it was unnecessary, anyway.

'She's sick, we had to go the hospital. We were nearly home.'

I stayed still for a moment, the silence building the theatrics. 'Walk her home.' I walked past them into the alley, completely into the darkness, feeling a strange pull as I did. She must have caught my cape briefly as it sailed past.

The man pulled himself together and picked the girl up, turning her to try and look for any sign of shapes in the dark behind them for a second before hurrying out of the alley and turning to the right.

I tied the three attackers together and removed their hoods and masks, fetched the gun from the road and dismantled all three, removing the cartilage completely and dumping the remains out of their reach for the police to gather as evidence when they were found.

I then quickly followed the man and child home.

She looked up from his arms at one point in time to see me move swiftly through the stretch of a streetlight and smiled. I saw her smile, making me feel a little grim but pleased nonetheless.

When they'd made it through their front door I turned and retraced a block before taking another route to the MCU.

Jim Gordon was standing on the roof with a mug of coffee, looking up into the sky at the symbol.

I looked around and failed to see Batman, not that that meant much; he stuck to shadows as well as a spider would a wall, and made my way to Gordon, looking down from the small roof, waiting for him to turn around. When he had, I slipped down and stood beside the giant light.

Gordon turned around again a sip of coffee later and blinked, registering his vision correct and hurried over.

'Thank you for stopping the assailants at the voting for the DA. The bills have made it into another bank, SGT. That's another taskforce we're going to get out of our new District Attorney. Where is he?'

Answering the question, Gordon turned around as he searched the skies and blinked again at Batman, who was standing on the edge of the building.

He stepped down toward Gordon.

'We've found a strong lead on the financer,' he growled. 'We'll have him soon.'

Gordon nodded, stepping away from me to bring Batman into the conversation. 'The bills have also stopped appearing with street suppliers. Only Crane remains?'

'Only Crane,' I determined. 'We'll look into SGT.'

Gordon nodded his appreciation and turned to address Batman. 'The thief you… detained yesterday has been charged.'

I vanished into the night and headed for the bunker to discover Alfred had left a bowl of fried rice in the fridge.

I took it with a warm smile and headed home, relaxing into the soft seats of my Mercedes as I drove.

The penthouse drew into sight as I neared the building and I pressed the button to open the penthouse garage, driving down into the concrete underground, parked the Mercedes next to the Aston and stepped into the lift, rocketing upward. The doors opened and I walked lazily through the house, flicking on the TV and put Alfred's fried rice in the microwave.

I sat around waiting for a while and then when I was halfway through eating, noticed the repeat of Gotham Tonight had finally come on. I looked at a clock on the wall apathetically and drew in a long breath. Once again, this would be a handful.

I was right.

Three guests, each involved in the election of Harvey Dent, were arguing over with each other about the value of the Batman and Thunder.

The host stopped a woman and a middle-aged man before their voices raised further. 'If you look at the numbers, the incidents of violent crimes, I mean robberies, assault, even organised crime activities, have declined in the last several months alone, I mean someone's doing something right out there, Miss Worthington.'

I stared at the screen for a moment, suddenly feeling very worn out but very proud as I looked at the graph on screen, proof of our work.

'Yes, that's right,' said the woman, shown in front of some sort of hall, 'and that someone is Thunder and Batman. Since they've appeared in Gotham, I can honestly tell you-,'

They showed the middle-aged man, who I finally recognised as the previous District Attorney, Roger Garcetti, who had lost his position to Harvey Dent in the election, shaking his head and opening his mouth, clearly intent on interrupting. I'd hoped to have seen the last of him when he lost the election. He was the typical rich, righteous, horribly ignorant man that didn't listen to facts no matter who said them. I tried not to stab my food.

'-that the lives of my clients have changed tremendously. Now, no matter how scarred, or hurt they may be, they are no longer afraid because they know, they know that they are out there, watching over them.'

Gotham tonight had the good grace to put the two side by side for a moment. The woman spoke with passion and strength. The man looked superior and was wearing a smile. My guess was that he'd already tried to take credit earlier in the program. This was the politics section, I wasn't sure I wanted to even see Lydia's gossip.

'I want to know whether Mr Dent is going to hunt these two down, or is he going to let Batman and Thunder continue to do the good work that they're doing.'

I decided I liked her.

The host turned in his chair. 'Alan Cypes, is Harvey Dent making it a priority to go after the Batman and Thunder?'

The man on the other side of the desk looked a way for a second. 'Well, uh, I gotta be honest with you Mike, Thunder and Batman are kind of irrelevant at this point.'

The words I'd hoped to hear, and yet I feared they were spoken too soon.

'Gotham has its true protector now, and that man, is Harvey Dent.'

Unless that falls apart and suddenly the entire city depends on Batman and Thunder again. I paused. Batman and Thunder… I sounded like I was someone working with Thunder. I snorted in amusement.

'This is a man who is not afraid to go after the mob, or any of the other criminals for that matter, uh, without wearing a mask.'

'He is bold, I'll grant him that,' said Mike, the host.

I remained unconvinced. The screen showed Alan Cypes as a manager for Dent's team in the election. Not exactly an unbiased opinion.

'Why the refusal to do interviews, Alan?'

Ah. Now that I was interested in. I scooped another mouthful of rice and honed in on the TV.

'Why won't Harvey Dent come on this show, what is he afraid of?'

'He's not afraid of anything, Mike, he's just busy. In fact, you know what he's doing right now, he's in his office, working to put Sal Maroni on trial as promised.'

I remembered thinking at the time of the election that that was one hell of an election promise, and at this point knew it was really only a matter of time before Dent found his way to us.

'Now, isn't that exactly what you want from your District attorney?'

'The only people Harvey Dent has put on trial are the police,' said the angry man. I began to question how he got this far. 'Hard-working, innocent cops.'

Alan took it. 'No. Mike, every cop that Harvey Dent has prosecuted has been found guilty, and each of those convictions have led to information on corruption that stems right back to the Falcone crime family, of which Sal Maroni is head-,'

'The accusation that Sal Maroni is somehow involved with the department is completely unfounded! If there was any evidence to the contrary, I would have indicted Mr Maroni myself.'

Sure.

'But Mr Dent isn't interested in the truth, he just wants to justify his witch hunt into the Gotham PD! The very people who everyday put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us!'

I put my head in my hands.

'Tell me Mike, just how effective do you think this new era of Gotham is going to be, when the face behind it has alienated the entire police force with his internal affairs investigations? What do you think happens to law and order when you go after the law?'

It changes. And improves. I reached for the remote, tempted.

'It's a valid point, Mr Garcetti,' said the host, turning to Alan, 'Alan, Dent's internal investigations have uncovered corruption in the departments, but at what cost? He's going to need these guys pitted against the criminals, right, not himself?'

I drew in a long breath, scratching the back of my head as I tried not to think.

'Mike,' said the woman, 'this is why I find myself appraising Batman and Thunder, now they have no politics. They have no agenda, other than removing the criminals-,'

'If you want to put on some crazy costume and go declare war on the criminals, well that's what you're gonna get!' Garcetti steamed.

'I don't-,'

'WAR! Because the criminal minded people of this town don't go quietly into the night! If you go after them with violence, they'll come right back at you with more violence!'

Somehow I got the impression our previous DA had no issue in leaving the criminals on the streets. No wonder the city was falling apart.

Three people proceeded to talk over each other and I switched off, unable to distinguish.

Finally a lone voice succeeded. Alan. 'I said you should know, Mr Garcetti.'

'Should know what, Al?' asked Mike Engel.

'Should know how the criminally minded are going to react to the net that Harvey Dent is tightening around them. It doesn't surprise me that a man like Roger Garcetti can't understand how Harvey Dent has made Gotham PD a stronger police force, by rooting out the ring of corruption that threatened to bring it down.'

Harvey Dent's whole office didn't play games, then. I ate some more, feeling like I was eating popcorn.

'Corruption that Mr Garcetti himself had a hand in!'

I ate faster.

'What did you say?'

'This entire election, Mike, we've endured smear campaigns, and character assassinations,'

He wasn't wrong.

'perpetrated by Mr Garcetti, and his friends, like the ones that tried to threaten our supporters.'

I studied Alan's face closely. While I could see where he was going, now that the election was over, revealing damaging information wouldn't just be seen as petty feud, I still found this a little petty. On television, really? And Alan looked very smug. I didn't like it.

'You're right outta line!'

'And never once did Harvey Dent stoop to his level to retaliate, but now that the election is over, we can reveal that Mr Garcetti, former chief legal consultant to the, to the Gotham Police union and to the trustee to the Philipasto Community foundation, both organisations interestingly enough with strong ties-,'

'-Oh, f-,'

'-to Sal Maroni, will be under investigation for the misuse of power-,'

'-I'm not standing for this!-'

'- and acceptance of bribes and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.'

It would have been better if the cocky prick hid his smile, it would have carried more impact.

'-You and your guy better be real careful!'

Whoa. What an idiot.

'You think your white knight doesn't have any chinks in his armor?! Well you think again!'

'Is that a threat, Mr Garcetti?' asked the host immediately.

I was staring at the TV with raised eyebrows.

'You figure it out for yourselves! No, you turn that camera off!'

'I think we lost Mr Garcetti.'

'Well,' said the woman immediately, 'like I said Mike, judge and jury is a lot less complicated, making it a lot less corruptible.'

'And so is a man of the utmost integrity and intelligence and conviction, and you know when you meet someone like Harvey Dent, you can't help but believe in them, and I believe in Harvey Dent.'

I blinked at Alan. I'd heard that slogan before, many times. I believe in Harvey Dent. I'd like to, but I hadn't met him yet.

While the section finished I washed the plate and glanced up.

There she was, Lydia Filangeri, talking to Mike Engel. I tuned back in.

'We ran into Bruce Wayne and Chief Scientist and Wayne Enterprises' Police Liaison, Doctor Evelyn Pendragon, at the Ramen House near Wayne Enterprises this morning and asked his opinion on Harvey Dent.'

They showed the clip of Bruce.

"This is the profiteer, correct? Well, anyone who exploits the justice system can expect it to come down on their heads, surely. I think there's no excuse for anyone, no matter how aloof they are, to think they are above the law. Except maybe double-parking fines."

"Do you think Wayne Enterprises is doing enough to support the police?"

"I don't think there will ever be "enough" done, but I'm certainly proud of what we've achieved so far."

It cut a few seconds out there. And there I was, in a thick grey jacket and my favourite, self-made silver bracelet. At least I looked good.

"Doctor, as Wayne Enterprises' very own frequent Police liaison, did you play a role in the arrest of Archie Full?"

"I'm happy to say the police did the work themselves. I don't know whether or not Officer Gordon used some of the equipment we made, but that's not our business to know, it's to work with and to provide, not to pat ourselves on the back. Real credit goes, as always, to the MCU. We do the science, and the tech, it's the brave officers who are the ones that can fight for justice."

'On the topic of Crane, Dr Pendragon had this to say.'

"Well, I wasn't working with the police at the time, but as far as I understand it, the drugs appeared first in the narrows, eight months ago, but I'm told by police that the supplier evaded custody. However, due to the vigilance of the MCU, we are seeing decreasing numbers, and hopefully we will be able to bring the trade to a halt soon."

"How did you come to develop the cure, and are you able to treat any of the users still in Gotham?"

"Well I was working late one night and got a call from a very close friend of mine to say her sister had been affected by the drug. She was able to get her to me and I managed to discover the cure. We immediately handed it to the authorities. As for the users still in Gotham, I know that those who are under the influence of the drug experience horrors, and so anyone that is able to recover will not likely want to take it again. The cure is available at hospitals for any that may have been drugged."

'Dr Evelyn Pendragon become the official Police Liaison with Wayne Enterprises six months ago, working with the Major Crimes Unit to provide funding and forensics from Wayne Enterprises as part of its initiative to honour the previous generation of the Wayne Family. Prior to this position, she was working with Lucius Fox, and joined him on the board when he became the head of Wayne Enterprises.'

'Isn't she seen often with Bruce Wayne?' Mike asked.

'That's right, Mike. Occasionally the two have been seen in restaurants on lunch break with Lucius Fox or to show Wayne his latest high-tech toy.'

'Well more on that coming up after the break.'

I muted the adverts and stared out of the window, debating whether or not to turn the TV off. Gotham Tonight was always a supplier of headaches, but if it was about Bruce or Harvey Dent, then it was worth knowing. Even if most of it was just repeated gossip. I expected the narrative about my penthouse to come up again.

I washed the plate and set it by the lift to return to Alfred and put the kettle on, making a cup of tea and turned around in the kitchen to find the program had returned, as there were pictures of Bruce darting across the screen. Hesitantly, I unmuted it with a lazy flick of the remote.

I muted it again to skip the usual report on Bruce's tragic backstory. When I looked up again when I saw modern pictures of Bruce.

'-Bruce Wayne disappeared without a trace for the better part of seven years. Various reports had him yachting around the pacific-,'

Nope.

'-while others sighted him living in Brazil owning and operating a local modelling agency.'

Definitely not.

Even after all this time I still tried not to dwell on Bruce's life. I'd have gone mad if my entire childhood was gossiped about on camera. Though, considering what else Bruce does these days, having cameras poking at you while you drive around the city probably wasn't that hard.

'But without any contact, or proof of life from the billionaire, reports of his whereabouts dwindled, culminating in the declaration of his death by his trusted guardian, Alfred Pennyworth.'

I bet Bruce was happy about that when he heard. I switched off again, not only was the story of Bruce's resurrection and CEO, and Lucius old news, but it was news I knew better than most.

Then I saw my house. Ah.

'Bruce showed no sign of slowing down, acquiring a state-of-the-art helicopter, designed by Doctor Evelyn Pendragon. Wayne reportedly loved the design so much that he bought the crown jewel of this new, luxury-built tower, the two storey, 25,000 square foot penthouse apartment, with forty-foot ceilings, two gigantic balconies, a parking space, for the helicopter, and a 360 degree view of the entire city below. The only condition of this monumental gift? Wayne hosts all his parties in the grand space downstairs. The price? Who knows, but the monthly maintenance fee is reported to be around thirty-one thousand dollars. Whether Dr Pendragon's pay check covers it, or if Bruce Wayne covers it himself, no one's to say. But that's not all Bruce has been up to.'

Images of the best places around Gotham flickered across the screen, some of which I managed to recognise.

'Over the past few months, Bruce has made appearances at all of Gotham's ultra-posh eateries, clubs, and lounges, creating a commotion wherever he goes with a gaggle of gorgeous women in tow.'

I rubbed my temples, very glad I didn't have a public persona.

'In fact, just last month, escorting all one hundred and fifty Miss Earth contestants, Bruce accidentally crashed a Harvey Dent fundraising event, at the city's newest hotel, the Gotham Grand. Wayne and Dent have never met, but both know Rachel Dawes.'

Ohhhhhhhhh… god, here we go. My head dipped as I felt my will to live fading. So much for useful information. I braced myself for what was to come.

'An old and loyal friend of Bruce, Rachel has recently become something more to Harvey Dent, as the two have been around town together, occasionally holding hands.'

I sighed, glaring at the video of Rachel and Harvey on screen. I liked Rachel. I really did. And I still did; she was Bruce's friend and supposed future partner after all. But the more I saw this, the more I didn't like her. I did try to stop it, but the dishonesty to Bruce was starting to tick away at me.

'Whether Bruce approves? Know one knows for sure.'

Pah. Take a guess.

'But Miss Dawes disapproved of the distraction caused by Wayne's impromptu appearance, asking Bruce to leave the event almost immediately.'

That got my attention. I straightened.

'What?'

Bruce had happened upon a chance to meet Harvey Dent and Rachel had him leave?

Irritation dripped down my spine. That could have proven very valuable. Dammit. Why on Earth would Rachel do that? To keep the focus on Harvey? But surely the Batman meeting Harvey was more important. Does she think Bruce is that petty that he'd ruin everything for Harvey just because of her?

I sat on the bench, suddenly a lot wearier than before, compartmentalising my disapproval of Rachel. It was Bruce's insane and ridiculous love life, if he wanted to dive headfirst into that garbage fire then so be it. I'd said my piece, I reminded myself with a great deal of satisfaction. Beyond that, I had no further job to do.

'When asked about the incident, and Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent told reporters:

"You know, look, I mean, what happened to Bruce's family."

I looked up at the sound of Dent's voice and frowned slightly, hanging onto his every word as if testing him, in much the same way Alfred might.

"and other people like him, it's just, incomprehensible that a kid should have to endure that, in Gotham. A family that has been so good to this town. I'll do whatever I can to prevent something like that from ever happening again."

Bruce meeting Harvey Dent looked to have been even more valuable than it did five seconds ago.

'Later that night, reporters caught up with Wayne at the popular sushi restaurant, Raw.'

What.

What.

The TV showed Bruce sitting down, chopsticks in hand, sushi in front of him.

I began to seethe.

"I don't know Harvey Dent, you know, I – I try to stay away from.. politicians, though, you know, you never know what you're gonna get with those guys-,"

I'd appreciate that line if I wasn't too busy being cross.

"But if anyone id for abolishing the speed ticket, they got my vote."

'Like him or not, Bruce Wayne is our very own Peter Pan-,'

I turned the TV off, too cross to continue watching. Furious, I stormed upstairs and brushed my teeth and went to bed, happy for a late start in the morning.

I woke with the sky already full of sun and rolled over in my bed with a light groan, arching backwards until it hurt. As time went on I'd become more and more stiff when I woke up. I probably wasn't sleeping as well as I used to, with the injuries and fatigue and so on.

I checked my phone. 10:45. Good.

Message from Bruce.

Message from Ryan.

I frowned and read Ryan's message.

Can I come to your house today? Need to talk.

I typed back an Okay, I should be here all day and checked the one from Bruce.

Deal with Lau beginning. Found something interesting in the prints from yesterday.

I groaned. Okay, I'll take a look. I'm working at home today.

I napped for about ten minutes before another message came.

Bruce Wayne; Appointment at WE. I'll bring you lunch.

Alfred taught him well. I smiled at my phone and clambered out of bed, changed into comfy deep blue pants and a thick white blouse before brushing my teeth and making a beeline for the kitchen, tossing my phone on an armchair as I passed.

I made tea while I waited for the taste of toothpaste to leave my mouth and drank it as I pulled various fruits and cereal out onto the bench.

I turned the TV on to check the news, happy to find nothing of interest and flicked it off in favour of playing music instead.

The familiar tune rang all through the house as I went back upstairs into my study and plonked myself into the big chair in front of the desk, absentmindedly waking up my computer and pulling a file from a drawer.

Wayne Enterprises

Department of Medical Sciences

Forensics

I began to flip through the cases sent to Wayne Enterprises by the MCU, delegating which to send back with the claim the work required was beyond our capability and should be left to a third party (Gordon knew what I meant), which were not worth Wayne Enterprises' time in favour of the harder cases, and which I would send to the labs, which I printed and put in the file.

I finished the outstanding ones and printed off the two that had been sent to me overnight.

One, a request for ballistics on a suspected mob shootout, the other time stamped for only fifteen minutes ago, with more than a simple request for advanced forensics, and a request from Gordon himself.

Prosecution about to fall apart. Assistant DA needs solid evidence by tomorrow, noon.

Intrigued, I flipped the page over. Rachel was in charge of a case convicting an official from the mayor's office for accepting bribes and even instigating kidnappings. The case had been rocky, but they'd had no choice but to go through with it before their only opportunity wriggled away.

I flicked through. She needed evidence that put the official or his assistant at a warehouse two months prior, at a horrible crime scene with a tortured police officer.

Batman had rescued him, but his justice seemed to be slipping away. I rang Gordon.

'Hello? Pendragon?'

'Gordon, I received your message. A little different from the usual.'

'The entire police force wants Fergyle put away, but the case is slipping through Rachel Dawes' fingers. You were the best thing I could think of.'

If only he knew. 'I'll look at the case myself,' I said reassuringly.

'Thank you. I'll have my team send you a copy of the case file within the hour.'

After I hung up I sent the files to the necessary correspondence and leant back, stretching. I was part way through surface research into the new bank when the doorbell rang.

I glanced at the computer clock as I stood up. Only half past eleven.

Frowning through suspicion I looked at the lobby camera to see Ryan standing in front of the penthouse lift.

I unlocked it and went to meet him.

When the lift doors opened he let out a very deep breath and immediately stepped into the house.

I determined he was glad to be above the streets.

'What happened?' I asked, already steering him for a lounge chair.

'I looked into the new buyers. Their website barely exists, like they're just pretending. And they offered to do a cash deal earlier this morning. I told them that it wasn't our conduct to use such questionable methods and stressed that our drugs are for medicinal purposes.'

I tried not to wince. 'And at that eloquent choice of words, they…?'

'I went to get coffee and someone came into the office, apparently looking for me. They didn't leave a name. But I talked to the receptionist, and he said he definitely felt threatened.'

I sat Ryan down and made for the kettle.

'How did you get here?'

'Taxi,' Ryan replied.

'What?' I asked in alarm, leaning over the kitchen bench to look at him.

He mirrored my startled expression.

'That's the easiest thing in the world to tail!' I marched to the windows and peered down into the streets, knowing that wouldn't do much more than emphasise the situation. I crossed to one of the penthouse computers and brought up the security camera footage and the live camera to check who rings the doorbell.

I scrolled back to when Ryan arrived and looked out of the window. He got into the lift and then I saw someone likely walk into the lobby. I let out a huge sigh of relief.

'I don't think they know you got into the penthouse lift.' I moved immediately, toward the lift, pointing at him as I walked past. 'Stay here.'

While Ryan watched me go, I grabbed a wallet from the sideboard I had beside the lift, opened it to pull out a pair of black ballet flats and the darkest sunglasses there, slid them on as I stepped into the lift and put the wallet in my pocket.

I hit the button for the lobby, memorising the person I'd seen in the security camera. I didn't regret telling Ryan to watch out, but I doubt he'd have been put in danger if I hadn't. I rubbed an eye with a careful finger underneath the sunglasses as the lift slowed and then stepped out, casting my eyes immediately around the vast lobby as I stormed past the normal lifts.

Sitting on a sofa was the man I'd seen on the security footage, who glanced at me when the lift opened.

I watched him until I'd have to turn my head to keep doing so from under my dark sunglasses. He trailed my movements with his eyes the entire time, doing a good job at passing for a normal citizen if it wasn't for the huge scar on the side of his neck and the tell-tale glint in his eye.

Then I realised I'd seen him before, a realisation I really didn't like. I searched my memory and placed him as one of the Chechen's henchmen. Shit.

I walked straight out of the lobby, crossed the street and marched into a café.

'Evelyn!' cheered the lady behind the counter.

'Rose,' I greeted her with a smile and ordered a chai.

I then sat in the window at an angle so that it looked to others like I was watching the busy road while keeping my eyes trained through the two windows and over the road at the man in the lobby.

He was looking at everyone that came past, especially those leaving.

I could get Ryan out easily enough; take the lift to the private garage, put him in the glazed Aston and drive the long way around the building. What worried me was the intensity with which they were looking for him.

He'd have to stay hidden until I could get rid of them.

My chai arrived and took it with a merry thanks and crossed the road, walked to the lift and rocketed back upward.

Ryan's head whirled around when the doors opened.

I pointed at the armchair near him. 'Get my phone, ring Dad. Do not contact your work, in fact just turn your phone off completely. Pull the whole thing apart.' I put the shoes, sunglasses and wallet back in their places.

'Are they still there?'

'He is, yes. You stay in here until it's safe to go out, do you understand?' I pointed at him again with my spare hand, not stopping for a second.

Ryan nodded and followed me with his eyes through the large open space to the kitchen. I poured the still hot-enough water into a mug of chamomile tea and picked it up, crossing back to him and handing it over swiftly before turning around again and going to the penthouse computer.

'Toiletries, pyjamas, laptop, food, I don't care what it is, I'll buy it, you stay in here.'

I looked at the live footage. He was still there but hadn't moved an inch closer to the penthouse lift.

'I've got Dad,' Ryan said.

I whipped round on my feet and took it from his outstretched arm.

'Dad. Pack a bag, anything you don't want to lose, pack it as well. Pack a whole car if you want. Drive here, to my house, do not go around the front of the building. Ring me when you are close and bring the car to the entrance of the penthouse garage. I'm fine, Ryan's fine, it's just a precaution, okay?'

He didn't question it, able to read my tone well enough. 'Okay, love. I'll see you soon.'

I hung up my phone and put it in my pocket.

'I have a lot to do today, so just in case I don't have the time to tell Dad, remember this well enough to repeat word for word.'

I waited for Ryan to nod.

'You speak to no one. Not even a police officer. The only people you speak to are me, Assistant DA Rachel Dawes, Head of the MCU Officer Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Lucius Fox and a man called Alfred Pennyworth.'

'Bruce Wayne's-,'

'Bruce Wayne's butler, yes. You do not leave the house, you do not go on social media, you do not stick your faces into the windows, you do not go onto the balconies, you don't even answer my phone and you certainly do not answer the door to anyone but those I have already mentioned. Got it?'

Ryan nodded, completely silent and looking a little shocked,

'You do not respond to anything that comes through your work. I don't care if you get told one of them died, if you're being fired, nothing. Do you understand?'

Ryan nodded again, not breaking eye contact.

He me followed with his eyes again, able to sense my anger through the way I stormed around toward a laptop I'd left strewn on a coffee table.

'Evelyn, who are they?'

I brought up a data bank of known criminals and sifted through them. 'Do not repeat this. The man who tailed you here is a henchman of the drug lord known as the Chechen, a close member of the Falcone crime family and currently nearly out of business with only one Jonathan Crane selling his hallucinogenic drugs.'

'Crane's alive?'

'Crane is alive.'

'What will they do?'

'They will try to capture you and use you as a way of getting into the company stores. If even after being tortured, you didn't comply, they'd kill you on the spot. If you did, they'd use you to take the drugs and then kill you. With any luck, we can shrink the drug ring before you have to be stuck in here for too long.'

Aware I was becoming closer and closer to being Thunder, I'd even started to walk like I did as Thunder, I willed by eyes shut for just longer than a blink and spoke again. 'The MCU has been cracking down on drug dealers. Who knows, you're likely to even get Batman or Thunder on your case.'

Ryan was silent for a moment. The he frowned and looked up at me from his mug. 'Didn't everyone get access to the antidote after the narrows last year?'

'Hard to get yourself to a hospital if you're a drug user using a drug that paralyses you. I know I've said this before, but if you ever ingest that drug, breathe, keep your mind as calm as you can and remember that what you're seeing isn't real.'

'Did you ingest it?' he could tell by my tone.

'Yes, it wasn't pretty.'

'What happened?'

'I'd already made the antidote by then, so I got stabbed with it,' I replied half-focused, looking through the records. Suddenly there he was. The man in the lobby. I stared down at the screen, unhappy that I was right but at least happy that I'd found an ID for him.

I pulled my phone out my pocket and rang Gordon.

'Pendragon?'

'Gordon, hi. My brother has just been tailed to my house, he works at a pharmaceutical company. The Chechen's ring has found them, looks like to use the medicinal drugs for recreational. There's a man I recognise from one of the recent case files down in the lobby standing guard, but he doesn't know where in the building Ryan is. It could be the link you need to the drug ring.'

'Thank you, we'll get him out of the lobby as soon as we can. But keep your brother there until further notice.'

'I will. Thank you.'

Finally void of anything further to do, I stood up and looked around, eyes landing on Ryan. 'Come here, you can help me with something.'

I closed the laptop and led Ryan to the study. I sat down in the chair and pulled another one alongside me. 'I need evidence for this case by tomorrow lunch or the man walks free.'

Ryan pulled his chair closer. 'What is it?'

'Official of the mayor's office had a police officer kidnapped and tortured for information on the MCU. The officer reported being visited by the official and his assistant, but we can't place them at the scene of the crime with the evidence we have.'

Gordon had sent through the case file as promised. I printed it out and spread it on a glass table that sat toward the door. 'Look into the method of abduction. He says he felt lightheaded, and that's all he can remember. Drugged, but police forensics were unable to tell with what; he was held for two days after abduction so it had left his system by then.'

Ryan nodded and pulled the forensic report of the officer toward him.

I delved further into the official's records.

We worked in the study until nearly one, at which point my phone rang.

I pulled it out of my pocket, answered the call and stuck it to my ear, holding a photograph up against the light.

'Evelyn, I'm two minutes away.'

I hung up and hurried to the lift, opening the garage doors on my way down.

When the doors opened and I stepped out, my father had just pressed the button to close the doors at street level. I closed the secondary doors at the end of the ramp and helped him with the two suitcases he had brought.

'What happened?' he asked, after clapping me on the shoulder.

'Ryan's company was approached by a drug ring, and they've begun to tail him. They won't get him up here.'

Dad nodded and opened the lift for me. I smiled and pulled his luggage behind me.

'How are you?' he asked.

'Tired,' I laughed. 'I've been working late every day; working on something really exciting.'

He nodded slowly, knowingly as the doors rolled back to reveal the light of the penthouse.

I took him to a spare room first to unload his considerably heavy luggage and then brought him to the study.

At one point I got a message from Gordon saying the man had been arrested.

Joyfully, he passed the time with Ryan and me, helping wherever he could.

And then we heard the ding of the lift opening.

I couldn't take the risk.

'Stay here, don't move,' I warned lowly and when they reassured me with a nod that they would, I crept through the house and down the stairs, curling one hand into a fist and flexing the other, it making little cracks from the movement.

It was, indeed, Bruce, who glided across the shiny floor to the kitchen and set down a brown paper bag that I could smell. Pasta. Lots of it.

Then I remembered the TV from last night and crept around him, getting so close that by the time he'd sensed someone was behind him, my first fist was hurtling for him.

He dove off to the side, loose and expensive suit flapping about as he did.

Suddenly, for a single passing moment, we'd reverted to months before. I tried to kick his shin. 'You went to Raw without me?!'

A smile broke over his face. 'I was wondering if you'd see that.'

Then I put my feet further apart and lowered my centre of gravity, bending my legs and loosening my arms.

He nearly groaned. 'How much longer are you going to do this?'

'Until you can beat me.' I craned my neck from side to side. 'Come on.'

After letting out a sharp sigh, Bruce turned slowly on the spot and swung a fist toward me. I blocked it with a kick and immediately followed with another from my other leg the second my foot landed on the ground again.

Bruce's other arm came to deflect the kick and I did it again, going for a jab with the sole of my shoe. He caught my leg by the ankle and wrenched it forward.

I pushed my foot down hard and hurtled toward him, going for the neck and gut.

Bruce fended me away admirably, though he did win a bruise on his upper arm from a particularly vicious swipe.

I was apparently very glad for a productive outlet and launched into a full assault on Bruce's footwork.

He noticed my underlying mood very quickly and grew more and more on the defensive until I'd managed to get him to put one leg too far behind the other and tripped him with one swipe of my foot to the back of his back knee and he fell backwards. I caught his hand with one hand and with my other hand his other arm before he could fall too far back and hit his head on the hard floor.

When his momentum had stopped, I slowly lowered him to the floor and let out a breath.

He blinked at me for a moment, mind taking a while to catch up, and then put his hands either side of his head and pushed himself up with incredible balance, swinging forward again like a pendulum.

I sat on a kitchen stool and shouted back through the house. 'You're good!'

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

I responded with an exhausted expression. 'Long morning.'

He nodded slightly in understanding and leant past me to pull a container of incredibly expensive spaghetti from the bag.

'I bought enough for you to keep in the fridge,' he said, pulling out a container of a different type for himself, 'so you won't have to feed your guests.'

'They'll be down any second if they smell this,' I said, slinking around the edge of the bench and retrieving plates and forks and spoons. 'Ryan's been thrown into connection with the Chechen's drug ring. I've brought my father here, too.'

'What?' Bruce fired sharply.

'He looked into that buyer he was talking about yesterday and got himself followed. Tonight's going to be fun.'

Sensing he was about to put more on the plate, Bruce tilted his head. 'Rachel rang me, asking if she could come and speak to you about the case this evening.'

'That's fine,' I agreed, thinking. 'Let's just hope we have something by then.'

'She told me it was the police officer.'

I nodded unhappily. 'I don't have the heart to tell Ryan he's caught up in the same loop as the case he's helping me with.'

Bruce agreed. 'I'll help you with the case, I want to see that official in jail.'

'With any luck, we can get the right evidence and then Harvey Dent will come down on him like a ton of bricks. Oh! I heard Rachel stopped you from meeting Harvey Dent?'

A strange expression crossed Bruce's face. 'Probably something to do with the hundred and fifty Miss Earth contestants with me at the time.'

'I can see how that might hinder Harvey's image.'

'More than it hinders mine,' Bruce joked lightly.

I gave an amused huff. 'Would have been useful, though.'

'We'll corner him somehow,' Bruce said, as we heard footsteps on the stairs.

'Who is it?' Ryan called cautiously.

'Bruce,' I tossed back and pulled two likely-looking containers from the bag and put the rest in the fridge.

When they rounded the corner and both blinked at Bruce a little, Dad especially, I held out the creamy dish in one hand and the pesto in the other. 'Dad, Bruce Wayne, Bruce, this is my father, Marcus Pendragon.'

'How do you do,' Bruce smiled, trying not to laugh at how hard I was trying to keep a straight face as he shook hands.

Dad, smiling, took the creamy dish and Ryan the pesto and both sat at the bench on the stools, Ryan on the end with Dad between him and Bruce.

I pushed my plate across the bench and sat beside Bruce.

'I'm guessing Evelyn already told you why we're here,' Ryan said, sounding slightly sheepish.