I don't mean to toot my own horn but I'm on a roll with these chapters. I don't really have much to say in this author's note so enjoy!
THIS CHAPTER WAS UPDATED AND PROOFREAD FOR TYPOS, GRAMMAR, AND PLOT/TIMELINE ISSUES AS OF 7/18/2020
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The penthouse had been almost completely silent when Rachel and Anslee had come. Though their arrival was unexpected by the old butler who held the fort down while Bruce was away, so not much had been happening.
The only thing that played on the news that night was coverage from what had happened earlier at Loeb's memorial along with conspiracies as to what the Joker might be planning next. It seemed like the newscasters were on a loop; repeating what they'd already announced in ten minute increments until someone could bring them new material to put out there.
It wasn't until late that Bruce had crept back into the penthouse. He'd been out monitoring things as his masked alias, but came home only about an hour after Alfred had called him to let him know that Ans and Rachel had come to seek the penthouse as a safe place.
When he walked in, the TV was still on along with a few other dimmed lights, but the volume had been lowered quite a bit on the television. Bruce could make out the silhouette of Rachel sitting on the couch. When he approached the woman, he was able to see over the back of the couch that Anslee had fallen asleep with her head in her mother's lap. He watched as Rachel calmingly ran her fingers through the girl's long hair.
"Sorry I was late," Bruce commented.
Rachel didn't bat an eyelash when he spoke, "Don't worry about it, I know your work's important," she turned her head to glance up at him.
"How's she doing?" he asked as he glanced down at Ans.
Rachel shrugged, "You know how she is, she likes to bottle it up."
Bruce sighed as Rachel gently removed Anslee's head from her lap and stood.
"Harvey called," she spoke softly, "He said the Batman's gonna turn himself in."
Bruce shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out the window, "I have no choice."
"You honestly think that's gonna keep the Joker from killing people?" Rachel frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Maybe not," he immediately shot back, "But I have enough blood on my hands...and I've seen now what I would have to become to stop men like him."
He looked from the window over to Rachel, "You once told me that if the day came when I was finished that we'd be together."
From the other side of the couch listening was Anslee, who had woken up when Rachel had moved away from the teen. Her eyes were wide open as she listened to her parents speak.
"Bruce don't make me your one hope for a normal life.." she heard her mother speak.
Bruce walked towards Rachel, "Did you mean it?"
A long pause was shared between the two before Rachel looked into his eyes, "Yes," she muttered.
It went silent again between them, but this time for a longer period of time. Anslee frowned and sat up slowly from her laying down position. She peeked over the back of the couch and what she saw made her eyes widen to the size of saucers. Only a few feet away from her were her parents. Arms wrapped around each other. And lips locked in a kiss they obviously hadn't shared in quite some time.
They pulled away from one another and Anslee immediately sunk back down onto the couch.
Bruce stalked away from Rachel towards where his room was, but Rachel's voice stopped him.
"Bruce...if you turn yourself in, they're not going to let us be together."
He bowed his head and didn't say anything as he continued his path back to his room.
Anslee laid still on the couch as she tried to process everything she'd just seen and heard. What did this all mean? What was Bruce trying to imply? What just happened?
XXX
Eventually Anslee had gotten up around 2 in the morning to go to her room and sleep for the rest of the night. Although she couldn't help but toss and turn the rest of the time she had spent there. Her mind had been all over the place and she couldn't focus at all. She didn't know if Bruce really meant what he was saying. Or why they'd shared that kiss at all. God, why were things so confusing?
The girl eventually pulled herself out of bed by the time the clock hit 9 AM, figuring at least maybe Alfred would already be up and about. But when she stood from the top of the stairs, she saw Rachel standing behind the couch staring at the TV.
Anslee frowned and made her way down the stairs to come and join her mother. Rachel noticed her daughter and smiled half-heartedly.
"Morning...I didn't want to wake you up."
"Don't I have school today?" Anslee tilted her head.
"Yeah," Rachel looked down at the ground, "But your safety is more important right now and I don't know what The Joker could try and pull to get to you in such a vulnerable position."
"Where's dad?" she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Work," the mother answered simply even though she knew she was lying right to the girl's face.
The teen nodded, "Why are you dressed like your leaving and going to work?"
All Rachel could do was sigh guiltily at the question
"Are you serious? The Joker puts out a hit for me and you keep me home from school, but he does it to you too and you decide to head off to work like nothing's wrong?" Anslee demanded.
"Look, Ans, I-" but she cut herself off when the TV announced that Harvey's press conference was beginning. Both of the girls in the room looked over at the TV as Harvey came on the screen standing behind a podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I've called this press conference for two reasons," he started, "Firstly, to assure the citizens of Gotham that everything that can be done over the Joker killing is being done. Secondly, because the Batman has offered to turn himself in-"
Immediately the crowd began to react.
"So where is he?" a heckler from the crowd demanded.
"But first. Let's consider the situation," Harvey continued, "Should we give in to this terrorist's demands? Do we really think that-"
"You'd rather protect an outlaw vigilante than the lives of citizens?!" A news reporter cut him off.
The crowd noisily began to assent before Harvey waved at the crowd to be silent again.
Harvey sighed, "The Batman is an outlaw...but that's not why we're demanding he turn himself in. We're doing it because we're scared. We've been happy to let Batman clean up our streets for us until now-"
"Things are worse than ever!" Another heckler yelled.
"God, will they let him talk?" Anslee muttered
Harvey leaned over the podium, impassioned in what he was trying to get across to the people, "Yes. They are. But the night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming."
The crowd seemed to quiet down and Harvey took it as an opportunity to continue.
"One day, The Batman will have to answer for the laws he's broken. But to us...not to this madman."
"No more dead cops!" An officer in the back of the room spoke. The room broke out in chatter that agreed with the chant.
"Where is The Batman?" another yelled out.
"He should turn himself in!" someone added.
Harvey paused before giving a solemn look, "Then so be it, take The Batman into custody."
This was it. This was the moment of truth. Anslee was going to find out who her masked savior was once and for all despite her suspicion she'd been having.
"I am The Batman," Harvey announced to the crowd.
The chattering began to pick up again and cops stormed the stage to place hand cuffs on Harvey, who already had his wrists out ready to be arrested.
"What just-" Anslee spoke.
"Anslee go to your room," Rachel ordered.
"But Harvey just admitted to something you and I both know isn't true!" the girl argued back.
"Go. To your room." the mother repeated again as she engulfed her face in her hands.
"I'm not letting you leave without me!" Ans raised her voice back, "We either go down together or not at all, I'm not letting you go out there by yourself because I'm scared to death that if you do I'm never going to see you again."
"Fine," Rachel snapped, "We're going down to the precinct, get your shoes and let's go."
Anslee was glad she had made Rachel cave, there was no way she was about to let her go out into the city alone. The teen may not have been much help in being a defender, but at least Rachel wasn't out there by herself.
Only minutes later, Anslee came down the steps from her room and as she turned the corner to get to the elevator to take them down to the ground level, she saw Rachel handing an envelope to Alfred. The woman reached up to hug the older man as she bid him goodbye. She released and turned to see Anslee standing there.
"Ready?" she asked.
Anslee nodded and walked towards the elevator, but she turned to Alfred first.
"Bye Alfred," she spoke with a small smile.
"Goodbye Miss Wayne," he gave her a nod.
XXX
The hours that Rachel and Anslee had spent at the precinct waiting to see Harvey seemed to drag on and on. Ans hadn't really minded waiting, all she cared about was making sure that Rachel wasn't by herself with corrupt cops that couldn't be trusted. Then again, she spent most of the time waiting just dozing in and out of sleep since she hadn't gotten much of that the night before.
After an eternity, an officer approached Rachel to tell her they were transporting him out of there to Central Holding. She immediately stood up and glanced down at Anslee, who tiredy looked up at her.
"Go ahead, I'll be here when you get back," she assured her mother.
"I promise I'll be back as soon as I see him," Rachel nodded with a small smile.
Anslee nodded in return and went back to laying her head on her arms that were crossed over one another on the desk. She didn't know why, but she was yearning to see Bruce. She missed her dad at that moment. Maybe it was because she was missing the safety she felt when she was around it. Ans never felt like she had to worry about being under some sort of threat when she was around him.
It made her even more paranoid about something bad happening considering a good majority of the cops in the city were men of Salvatore Maroni. Even after his prosecution, the man was still walking free and ordering people around in Gotham. Anslee wondered how many of them were around her at that moment in time. She had to tell herself to stop thinking about it for the thought itself was making her feel uneasy again.
She picked her head up from the desk again and looked around at all the people that were bustling around her. She didn't recognize anyone. Normally she'd think so see Gordon and a few of his people. But...he was dead now. When he'd launched himself at the mayor, he was hit by one of the bullets and killed on scene. Jim had been a close friend of Rachel for as long as Anslee could remember. He'd even let Anslee watch his kids a few times when him and the Mrs. would go out for the occasional date night. Jim Gordon had been like a father figure to Anslee before Bruce had come back.
Anslee stood up from her seat and headed towards the bathroom. Maybe it was her lack of food that day or her overthinking things, but he stomach was in knots.
The teen walked down the dimly lit halls of the precinct towards the bathroom. She approached the door and went to grab the door knob, but as her hand wrapped around the cold metal knob, a voice spoke from behind her.
"You really shouldn't be walking around here alone, you know?"
Anslee turned to see a cop she didn't recognize standing a few feet away from her, although it was a voice she recognized, "I didn't think I needed an escort to the bathroom, I am at a police precinct so I'd expect the police employed at it are here to protect those who need it."
The man scoffed as he stepped forward more into the light, "Have you seen this city lately?"
"Lived in it for seventeen years," Anslee spoke in return, glaring at the man. She studied his facial features. Crazy green eyes. Scarred cheeks. It really was him.
"Feisty as ever I see," he chuckled, "You're either going to give up like the damsel in distress you've played yourself out to be, Princess, or we can do this the hard way."
She shook her head, "Harvey may have let you win, but I will not let you overpower me," she spat.
"Hard way it is, then," the Joker spoke.
He began to gain on her and Anslee immediately began to run down the hallway away from the man.
"You can't run, Wayne! You can't hide!" he giggled as he banged on the walls while he fast walked after her.
She turned to every door she passed and tried to open them, but almost as if she were in a horror movie, none of them would budge or open. In a frenzy of panic, she continued to bolt down the hallway, taking a right when it forked off at the end.
To her dismay, the hallway ended just a few feet in front of her. She turned back around and ran for the other side of the path. When she was about to pass the opening she came from she collided with another body that instantly hooked an arm tightly around her waist.
"See we could've done this the easy way," Joker groaned as he began to fidget with something in his pocket whilst trying to keep a struggling Anslee at bay.
"Let me go!" she cried out as she tried to thrash out of his grip, the smell of gunpowder and sweat stung her nostrils as he held her.
"Stop!" the man yelled, throwing her backwards into the wall. He heard a satisfying crack as her head hit a metal door frame behind her.
Anslee immediately felt groggy and her vision blurred with little black spots as she slid down the wall he had thrown her against. A groan escaped her lips as she tried to pull herself up and crawl away from the man.
"Ah ah ah, not so fast, Princess," the man spoke from behind her before he reached down to yank her up by the back of the jacket she wore.
Anslee yelped at the fast movement, feeling like she'd just gotten whiplash. The Joker pressed her body against his and held her tightly around her waist.
"You have proven again you've got a little fight in you," he chuckled as he pulled out a dinghy looking washcloth, "but not even you can win this fight in the end."
He pressed the washcloth to Anslee's mouth and nose to block any sort of airway to oxygen. A chemical smell filled her lungs and nostrils as she breathed in. Her body went limp and her eyes rolled back as she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.
"Sweet dreams," Joker giggled as he began to drag her down the hall and out his own secret way into the precinct.
XXX
I mean I think you guys can guess what's going to come next...