THIS CHAPTER WAS UPDATED AND PROOFREAD FOR TYPOS, GRAMMAR, AND PLOT/TIMELINE ISSUES AS OF 7/17/2020
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The Tumbler rolled into the Batcave at a ripe and early four AM. Bruce parked it and got out, the coldness of the cave sending shivers down his spine. Bruce removed his cowl as he made his way to the computers, only to be met by Alfred still clad in his suit, holding a mug filled with a steaming liquid, coffee no doubt. Bruce wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but when it came to his late night escapades, he needed his caffeine fix.
"She finally went to bed around three," Alfred spoke, referring to Anslee, as he watched Bruce take a drink of the beverage.
The burning liquid melted its way down his throat, warming him up from the inside, "Maybe Waynes have a knack for being night owls," Bruce chuckled.
"She asked for you, wished to bid you goodnight," Alfred informed, which slightly threw Bruce off. He stopped midway through another sip to look at Alfred as if he'd just sprouted a third arm or something.
"She wanted to tell me goodnight?" he asked.
Alfred nodded, "I don't know what you said to her, but she seems a lot less miserable than usual."
Bruce took another sip before setting the mug down, "Joker's recruiting men," he responded as he went to the computer, beginning to rapidly type things into the keyboard.
"Perhaps that's something we can discuss in the morning, it is quite later, Master Wayne," Alfred cut in.
Bruce stopped typing and sighed, Alfred was right. Bruce removed his hands from the keyboard and stretched them above his head. The cracking noise his back made was just another reminder to him that he wasn't as young as he used to be. Not that he needed any other reminder . He could see the years pass by just by watching Anslee grow up.
"For your safety, I'll head to bed myself, but I'm gonna check on Anslee first," Bruce spoke before heading to the changing area to change out of his suit and back into normal clothes.
XXX
The manor sat quiet as Bruce made his way up the stairs to Anslee's room. He'd made it his personal priority when she moved in to make sure she'd always gotten the best at the manor. That even meant the best view. Bruce had given her the west wing, thinking she'd appreciate the sunsets of the city from her bay window or her small balcony.
Even now, as much as she tried to hide it, Bruce knew she was happy to finally be home after two weeks. The only thing he wanted was the real Anslee. The happy and giggly and outgoing Anslee that Rachel always told him about. He wanted his child to feel comfortable to be herself around him, Perhaps it was his fault she couldn't act like herself around him. He did plan for her to hate him didn't he?
To Bruce, almost everything in his life felt planned at this point. During the day he was Bruce Wayne, the man who embellished in his elegant lifestyle and lived everyday like it was his last, followed by hours in the night donning a cowl hiding from the world. When Bruce first pursued Batman, it felt freeing to don the cowl and take care of all the scum and evil in the city. But now it just felt like it was becoming a burden he took on, and one he would never wish upon anyone else.
Bruce opened Anslee's door slowly, a few rays of light shown through the crack and shined softly in the teen's face. She seemed peaceful when she slept, almost like she was a little girl again, not having to worry about the things she did now. Bruce had entered her room and sat down on her oversized bed next to her. Her dark brown hair and olive toned skin reminded him of Rachel. It sparked an ache for the woman, starting from his heart, and slowly spreading throughout his body until it engulfed him into a numbing feeling. Missing someone as much as he did Rachel was a pain he often experienced like none other. This was one that couldn't be cured with painkillers.
Bruce sat and watched her. Watched as her chest moved up and down as she breathed, memorizing the rhythm to which she inhaled and exhaled. Silently, Bruce leaned over her, feeling her breath on his face. He gently reached down and pushed a strand out hair out of her face, being careful, feeling as if even touching a being so perfect in his eyes was a crime. Bruce reached down and placed a kiss on her forehead, just above where her stitches had started. He couldn't even fathom how brave she was. How tough and head strong she grew up to be. Bruce half smiled down at her before placing one last kiss on her forehead, before getting up and walking towards her door. Before completely closing the door, he gave her one last look, almost as if he were looking to make sure she were still there and hadn't disappeared in the time it took him to get from her bed to her door.
Bruce whispered a last, "I love you, Ans," before shutting her door softly and heading towards his room so he himself could go to sleep.
XXX
The next morning, Bruce allowed himself to sleep in, knowing Anlsee probably would have done the same since she was woken up so early the day before and was up until 3 that morning. But when he had woken up eventually, Anslee had already been awake. Bruce had made his way downstairs like he did in the morning, usually meeting Alfred down there to get his protein smoothie and then get on with whatever he needed to do for that day. Instead he was met by Anslee sitting in the kitchen at the island, scrolling through something on her phone with a cup of coffee in her hand. He watched as she took a drink while Alfred stood on the other side and read the newspaper from that morning.
"I see you two have gotten an early start," Bruce commented.
"Mhm," Anslee muttered, not taking her eyes off the screen.
"She was awake not long after I was, so I took the liberty of preparing a few hot beverages to start the morning," Alfred looked over at Bruce with a small smile.
Bruce turned his attention back to the seventeen year old sitting on the barstool, "Anslee," he spoke, trying to get her attention.
Immediately she looked up from her phone and back at Bruce, "Yes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she took another sip of her coffee.
Bruce smirked back at her, she was a Grade A Drama Queen all on her own, and she wasn't afraid to have an attitude when it came to Bruce to let him know she meant business. Bruce nearly chuckled at her actions considering it reminded him of Rachel. "I was thinking perhaps you and I cou-"
But Bruce was cut off when Anslee's phone started to ring, and a picture of Rachel and a younger Anlsee flashed on the screen, "Hold on, it's mom!" Anslee spoke as she got up from her seat. Before Bruce could have a chance to object to her answering the call so he could finish, Ans had swiped the answer button and put the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" she asked, a smile forming on her face.
"Hey Ans, I didn't interrupt breakfast or anything did I?" Rachel's voice chimed in over the phone.
Anslee glanced over at Bruce, "No, you didn't interrupt anything, how did the case go yesterday?"
Rachel chuckled at how eager she was, "Case was fine, unfortunately Maroni walked."
"What? They let Maroni walk?" Anslee asked, frowning. Bruce averted his attention to Anslee, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, the witness tried to kill Harvey, and he suspected it was Maroni's ploy all along because he bought the gun used to threaten Harvey from China, not America. But there was no way to link the gun to Maroni and there wasn't much of a case left to fight. So they let him walk," Rachel explained with a sigh.
The teen sighed, "I'm sorry, that sounds incredibly frustrating," she responded to the woman.
"It is, but Harvey isn't too beat up about it. But enough about me, how's the weekend going so far?"
Anslee hesitated before answering, "You know how it is, nothing too exciting."
"Hang in there, honey," Rachel smiled from her end of the phone.
"Believe me, I'm trying," Anslee smirked in return.
"I've gotta get going, but I just wanted to check on you. Try and have fun and give your father a chance. I'll see you Monday after school, love you," Rachel bid her goodbye.
"Love you too," Anslee sighed before moving her phone from her ear and hitting end call. Ans looked back at Bruce, "you were saying?"
Bruce looked back at her and how her demeanor changed when it came to him and not Rachel, it irked him slightly, "Nothing," he spoke before looking to Alfred, "I believe I'm going to meet with Mister Fox today, Alfred."
"Mister Fox called this morning actually, requested you call before meeting with him. He knew the young miss was over for the weekend," Alfred gave Bruce a knowing look.
Anslee sighed as she looked at Bruce, "This weekend's about Anslee," she reminded him of what he said yesterday.
Bruce smirked, before nodding, "I did say that, I'm sure a phone call won't kill you, Ans."
"I give it three hours and you'll be out of this manor and into work," Anslee narrowed her eyes at the man.
"You wanna bet on that?" Bruce leaned over the counter, narrowing his eyes at her as well.
"And if you win?" she asks.
"You have to watch a movie with me in the living room, my pick, no complaining, no phone, no laptop, you and I watch the entire movie."
"And if I win-"
"Anslee Grace if you win, you will never have to do anything with me again, no bonding, nothing. You can spend your weekends here as you please," Bruce responded.
Ans looked back at her father with a frown, way to make her seem like the worst person in the world at the moment, "As tempting as that sounds, I'm not that terrible of a person, why don't you just owe me one if I win?"
"Alright deal," Bruce held out his hand so they could shake on it, a cocky smirk played on his lips.
"You look a little too confident, Mister Wayne," Anslee shook his hand as she kept her eyes narrowed at Bruce.
"I'll see you in three hours with my movie picked," he spoke before turning to leave the kitchen.
"I'm sure you will," Anslee commented as she picked up her mug and took another sip, watching as he strolled out of the room with ease.
"Both of you made that more dramatic than it needed to be," Alfred spoke as he kept his eyes on the newspaper.
Anslee chuckled, "When do we not?"
XXX
After the breakfast negotiation, Anslee headed back upstairs to get ready for her day, not like she was going to go anywhere or do anything, she just didn't have anything else better to do in all honesty.
The teen stood in her bathroom, staring at her reflection like she'd done when she was in the hospital room two nights prior. The stitches on her forehead hadn't faded in the slightest, and as she stood in her track shorts and her sports bra. Her gaze was focused on the large bruise on her right side. It was prominent, not something you would miss, even at a glance. The purple hue had begun to set in, some places were darker than others while some were still an off yellow color. She had one on her shoulder to match it. Not to mention the sharp pains that erupted when the bruises were touched or if she moved her body the wrong way, They were reminders to her that she was just another victim of this city. All she could do was stand and stare, feeling sympathy for herself.
XXX
Bruce had made it his priority to make sure he wouldn't leave. He was determined to prove a point to his daughter he could make time for her. The only thing he'd have issues with in the future was doing exactly that when Anslee came over again the weekend after next, especially with the case of the Joker and psychos like Crane running the streets of Gotham. But before anything, he needed to get a hold of Lucious. Bruce pulled out his phone and hit a button since Mr. Fox was on speed dial. The brunette put the phone to his ear and almost immediately got an answer.
"This is Fox."
"Lucious, it's Bruce, Alfred told me you wanted to get a hold of me and coincidentally I needed to speak to you as well," Bruce responded.
"What can I do for you, Mister Wayne?" Lucious chuckled from the end of the line.
"I need a new suit," Bruce answered, looking around to make sure Anslee wasn't in earshot of the conversation.
"Three buttons is a little nineties," Lucious chuckled once more.
Bruce smirked, "I'm not talking about fashion, Mr. Fox, so much as function," the man pulled the phone away from his ear, tapping the screens a few times before hitting send, "I just sent over a few diagrams of what I was thinking."
"Mhm," Lucious spoke, removing his phone from his ear and opening the files Bruce sent him, putting the call on speaker in the process, "You want to be able to turn your head?"
"Sure make backing out of my driveway a lot easier," Bruce smirked.
"I'll see what I can do," Lucious chuckled, "how's rest been with your frequent late night escapades?"
Bruce didn't answer, only letting out a small nervous chuckle signifying that his rest hadn't been as much as he would've liked it to be.
"You should get some rest," Lucious scolded, "You need to spend time with Anlsee while you can, it's Sunday and I can bet you that girl has spent all weekend in her room."
"She's been a tiny bit more open, she actually got into an accident Friday night, a mugging to be exact," Bruce's tone had changed to a darker one just thinking about Friday night, it still made his blood boil.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but even more of a reason to get rest. You're not invincible, you can't keep taking the amount of beatings you have lately and get away with not sleeping. Your body needs it, especially when dealing with a girl like Anslee," Lucious spoke in a lecturing tone.
"Speaking of which, I have to make sure she took her medicine this morning, I'll speak to you later, Lucious," Bruce spoke before hanging up the phone, placing it back in his pocket. Bruce walked out of the study and towards Anslee's room.
Bruce stood outside Anslee's door, he knocked two times and called her name, but he didn't get a response.
"Anslee, can I come in?" he asked, still no response.
Bruce frowned, usually she would answer immediately. It raised a bit of concern for him. Bruce placed his hand on the doorknob in hopes she didn't lock it. He turned it, letting go a sigh of relief in his head. He pushed the door open and walked in, looking around to find her. He didn't find her. But when he looked around again he saw her bathroom door was open with the light on. He frowned as he walked towards the bathroom, finally stopping in the bathroom door to see his daughter peering at herself in the mirror.
"Ans, what are you doing?" he asked before he really got a good look at her. The bruises, her stitches. It reminded him of himself after an eventful night as Batman.
"He did this," she spoke, frowning at her reflection as if she didn't even recognize herself anymore.
"And he was put away for it," Bruce answered, taking a step into the bathroom.
"But he didn't learn a lesson."
"He'll learn one as he rots in prison recovering from the beating he got," Bruce took another step closer to her. Anslee turned her head to look at him as she slowly inched backwards away from him.
"Did you need something?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Just wanted to make sure you took your meds this morning," he looked at the ground and then back up at her.
"Yeah, now can you please get out so I can shower?" she asked in an annoyed tone.
"Of course, princess," Bruce snickered as he turned and walked out of her bathroom.
"I can't stand you sometimes," the teen groaned as she walked forward, taking the door, shutting and locking it. Anslee walked back to her mirror, staring at herself one last time before rolling her eyes and sighing. She moved from the mirror and stripped off the rest of her clothes, starting the shower and stepping into the hot water.
XXX
Three hours had come and gone, in fact it had been almost eight hours since they made their little bet. Anslee figured Bruce hadn't claimed his prize because he went into work, but honestly Bruce was in the cave working on things to do with the Joker. When he had realized the time, he was quick to rush out of the cave with the help of Alfred, and make his way to his daughter's room.
Anlsee lay on her bed, her laptop laying next to her as she looked through a Word document with things for a project she had due the next day. She nonchalantly scrolled through it, skimming information and whatnot. When her door opened and Bruce walked in, she nearly cackled.
"How was work?" She asked as she kept her eyes glued to the screen.
"I wasn't at work," Bruce stood at the edge of her bed with his arms crossed over his chest.
"It's been more than three hours and you've been MIA for nearly all of them."
"I was busy thinking about how much fun we were going to have," Bruce chuckled.
"Likewise," Anslee looked up at him.
"I was going to make popcorn and pick the movie if you'd like to head downstairs," he flashed her a small smile.
"No thanks, Mister Wayne, you had your chance," Anslee snickered before turning her attention back to the screen.
Bruce groaned before reaching over and pushing her laptop screen shut, "Anslee," he snapped at her, "you've been away from your mother for over a day, you can drop the act."
"What act?" Anslee stood from the bed and cocked an eyebrow, "The disdain dripping from every word has been incredibly real," she placed her hands on her hips to emphasize her point.
Bruce looked her up and down, who did she think she was? Other than her mother's daughter considering the attitude was something she'd inherited entirely from Rachel. "I know I haven't exactly been the dad you've wanted or needed, but I've been trying my best here, Ans. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Anslee narrowed her eyes back at the man as she tilted her head sideways, "What's the hard way?" she asked.
Bruce snickered, "I will pick you up and take you over my shoulder all the way downstairs where you will be placed on the couch to enjoy a movie with your father, or you can come peacefully. You're choice," he shrugged.
Anslee could tell by the tense of his shoulders that he wasn't joking. She wrestled with the thought of giving him the chance or ignoring his warning, but ultimately decided it was best to not aggravate him further. The weekend was nearly over. Odds were Bruce would get bored with the movie and make up some dumb excuse and leave for one of his super ritzy parties.
"Fine," Anslee frowned as she walked past him and out of her room.
"Living room!" Bruce called after her.
Bruce and Anslee watched the movie in peace, in all honesty Anslee hadn't minded it. He had chosen an oldie, The Godfather, a classic and a personal favorite of his and coincidentally Anslee's.
Almost three fourths of the way in, Anslee had fallen asleep wrapped in a blanket, laying longways on the couch while Bruce sat at her feet. It had been eleven o'clock when the movie had ended and when Bruce had stood from the couch, making sure to check and see Anslee was completely asleep before sneaking off to the cave below his mansion.
Bruce had suited up, leaving his cowl off while he looked through some files at the last minute. Alfred had at the moment exited the elevator, approaching Bruce.
"Miss Wayne is asleep on the couch, did you want me to wake her and have her move back up to her room?" the man asked as he stood next to the brunette.
"No, she fell asleep during the movie, I didn't want to wake her since she's got school tomorrow, let her sleep, wake her up in the morning, would you?" Bruce asked as he rapidly typed into one of the keyboards.
"Miss Dawes actually called earlier, Miss Wayne has a last minute doctors appointment scheduled for her shoulder in the morning and Miss Dawes requested she pick up the young miss tomorrow morning around nine AM, and she'll drop her off at school after," Alfred informed Bruce.
"I see," Bruce scanned the screens one last time before looking at Alfred, "Don't wait up on me tonight, Alfred, I've got much to do, it'll take me awhile."
"Noted Master Wayne, please, just get some rest after your crusade," Alfred pleaded.
"No promises," Bruce smirked as he slipped on his cowl and made his way towards the Tumbler.