Chapter 24

Bruce struggled as his nightmares flared back to life. Toothy grins, poisonous spikes, torture devices, exploding penguins and toxic gas filled his nightmares and stuck in his mind with every waking minute. He knew it was real, but he just didn't know when or how it would start. Pamela Isley and her new plant powers were unexpected, but she seemed far too sensible to get herself into trouble with them. He was starting to doubt who would become these monsters but he was still certain about Jonathon Carr. He was losing his grip on everything apart from Harleen but he couldn't quite see where he was going, or how long it would be.

He finally broke free of the images that trapped him. It was only 3am but he couldn't go back to sleep. Selina had gone away again as was normal and he missed having her to talk to. She was a great comfort to Bruce and when she wasn't around, he did struggle to cope. But he had a new focus. His basement creation was coming together, the gym was full of equipment to get him in shape for the future. His car collection had moved underground and Alfred had been helping Bruce create a brand new computer system and they'd linked it to his other projects.

He knew that Selina, Dick and Babs thought he was insane, but they wouldn't have him sent back to Arkham. They would see in time, they'd realise that he was right. He just knew that these visions in his head were the future and he had to be ready to try and stop hundreds dying. Gotham was a city divided, the rich were spectacularly rich and the poor were desperate. Crime often became the only option to keep families together and fed and Bruce had to do something with his fortune. He funded so many projects around the city, but this was much more personal. The Criminals would really have something to fear once he was ready.

He wandered down towards one of his work benches and looked at the blueprints of his suit design. He sat down in his chair and tapped a pen against his lips for a second before he put the paper down and went to work. All the materials that were at his fingertips went through Wayne Enterprises and to Lucius Fox, the only other person that had a small idea of what Bruce was planning. He was a technological genius and Bruce needed his help. He paid him a small fortune to keep the secret and the promise of protections should anyone find out. But there were things Bruce wanted to make himself and his suit was one of them. He knew the persona, his delusions had imprinted The Batman into his psyche, but the design changed frequently. He needed something strong, but flexible and bullet proof. A voice changer and an assortment of gadgets to help him travel around unnoticed and take out the psychopaths he knew were coming.

Hours passed before Alfred came looking for him, the older man had taken to his new role easily and had a surprising proficiency with the tech they were creating. Bruce only came aware of company when Alfred put his mug of coffee down on the table and then put a plate with a slice of toast in front of him.

"Morning Alfred," Bruce said quietly, concentrating on his task at hand.

"Good morning, Master Wayne," Alfred replied. "Please eat something. I will not explain to Selina why you are losing weight if you don't."

"I will Alfred," Bruce smirked. "Just… working."

"Master Wayne, you and I both know how I feel about this… 'Job' of yours. Please don't refer to this as work whilst it's still in its infancy." Alfred sighed and went to his own work station to work on the cowl that Bruce had wanted. The voice changing technology had to be perfect, no one could recognise that it was Bruce Wayne under the cape.

"Lucius Fox will be here in two hours, let's not get too far ahead," Alfred said. "If we have to redo everything because it won't work otherwise, I might weep."

"Such a pessimist, Alfred," Bruce said. "It'll do you no good."

"I am not the one, sir, making a suit to fight serial killers, gangsters and aliens," Alfred retorted. "Just please make sure you won't get killed for this cause."

Bruce fell silent and sipped his coffee as he pondered Alfred's words. He was right, but Bruce knew that someone had to take action and this was it. He owed a lot to Gotham and he knew that this would probably kill him in the end. Someone had to take the fall for Gotham's criminal under belly and if it had to be him – so be it.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Pamela sat at home, wondering what on earth she could do. She didn't need sleep – not like humans at least, she didn't need to eat meals but she could if she wanted to and she didn't want to see other humans. She didn't really know if she was human at all anymore. Her green skin was brighter in the day as she absorbed the sun, it got darker during the night as her new biology adapted to her daily cycle. She'd tried to get hold of Harleen, but the 30 unanswered calls meant she was probably with Jonathon and she didn't want to even consider that option. She wasn't happy for Harleen, she felt the young woman had made the biggest mistake of her life – but it wasn't her place. She just got pick up the pieces when it all went wrong.

She finally got up and put a long coat on, slipped on her shoes and walked out into Gotham. It rained so much here that she no longer noticed it, almost no one in the city did anymore. There was a permanent cloud over them and nothing would shift it. Night in the city wasn't safe, the Police were worn thin by the criminals that ran the place. She just needed to walk and move. She headed to the park and felt the trees and grass whisper a greeting to her. She smiled a little and let out a long breath. She got lost in her conversation with the plants around her as she walked and ignored the other people around her.

She found a bench under a tree and sat down, closing her eyes to keep her peace. She just felt at ease out here and time seemed to slow down as Nature around her whispered and spoke to her in loving tones. She was lost in her silent telepathy with the natural word when the closest plants started to scream at her.

"Danger! Danger!"

"Gimme your bag or I'll shoot you!" A large thuggish man growled angrily.

"You won't," Pamela said with a sigh. She rolled her eyes and looked at him without a single care.

"I will ya fucking piece of green shit!" he yelled. "You have one last chance!"

"What do you think I've got that would be of interest to-" She didn't get to finish as he fired his gun, the bullet went through her shoulder and she didn't feel it.

"Nice try," Pamela chuckled. She lifted her hand to her shoulder and looked at the green fluid from the wound. She fisted her hands together and vines sprung from the ground, they were razor sharp and moved like snakes. The man trembled and started to back away. Her rage intensified and her vines shot forward, wrapping themselves around him and strangling him. The razor sharp edges cut through his skin like a hot knife through butter.

"What the f-"

Another thug came rushing forward and even more vines wrapped around him and killed him too. Pamela didn't feel a thing. Her wound had already healed up, a pink flower head blossomed beside her and she stroked its head like it was a pet dog or cat.

"Well done, my beauty," She hummed. "Thank you for protecting me. Now, help me make this look like it never happened at all."