Parking the car, Lucius spent a few seconds inspecting the front of the enormous mansion house in front of him. Every time he saw it he wondered at the sheer amount of effort, time, and money that had gone into its construction over a hundred and fifty years before. It was simply staggering on a number of levels.
The Wayne family had been very wealthy for a long, long time.
Putting such thoughts to one side, he opened the door and got out, locking the car behind him without looking at it. The double beep let him know the thing was now secure enough that anyone who tried anything would regret it. Crunching across the gravel to the main entrance, he ascended the marble stairs and stopped in front of the imposing double doors. Pressing the bell, he listened to the sound that could be faintly heard through the portal, then waited patiently.
After a couple of minutes, the door opened, revealing a tall and well preserved elderly man in a nice suit. "Hello, Alfred," he said, smiling at the old family retainer.
"Good evening, Mr Fox," the other man said, returning the smile. "Please come in. He's in his study, expecting you."
"Thank you," Lucius said, entering as Alfred stepped to the side, then closed the door behind him. He waited for the man to precede him, then followed him down elaborately decorated corridors, up two flights of stairs, and through a couple of large baroque rooms to a smaller one near the middle of the house on the third floor. Walking into the familiar room, Lucius looked around for a moment, seeing that it looked the same as it always did, before turning his attention to the younger dark-haired man sitting at the desk in the far corner, typing on a keyboard.
"Hi, Lucius. I'll be right with you," this man said, waving a hand at a chair without turning away from the huge screen in front of him. Lucius and Alfred exchanged glances, ones that shared a certain amount of understanding, then he headed for the seat, removing his coat as he went.
"Allow me to take that, Mr Fox," Alfred said calmly, relieving him of the garment as he shifted the case he was holding from one hand to the other. "Perhaps a small glass of something?"
"Just a little, please," Lucius replied. "The bourbon, I think."
"Certainly. I'll be right back." Alfred left the room almost silently, fifty plus years of practice making him remarkably discreet. Lucius sat, folding his hands on one knee, then waited for his friend and nominal employer to finish whatever he was doing.
Eventually this occurred, the man at the desk clicking the mouse a couple of times, then tapping a key which made the screen go blank. Turning his chair around he regarded his visitor for a moment, then smiled a little. "You made it sound urgent. You hardly ever call me Bruce."
"It's… fairly important," Lucius noted carefully. He looked up as Alfred appeared next to him, holding out a small silver tray on which was a shot glass with an amber liquid in it. "Thank you," he added to the retainer, taking the glass. Alfred nodded gravely, before discreetly moving to the other side of the room again, busying himself with the various bottles on a table there. The faint clink of glass was all that could be heard.
Bruce Wayne came out from behind his desk and joined Lucius, taking a seat opposite him. Alfred materialized again and provided him a drink also, before once more making himself discreetly absent. "So, what's the problem?" Bruce asked, sniffing his drink appreciatively, before taking a small sip. Lucius did the same, then put the glass down on the small table next to his elbow. Retrieving his case, he opened it on his knees, pulling out an envelope which he handed to the other man.
Weighing it in one hand, Bruce took another sip while studying his CEO, then put his drink down and opened the envelope. Tipping it up he raised his eyebrows when a very familiar piece of high-tech steel alloy slid out into his waiting hand. He picked it up with the other one, holding it up, then looked enquiringly at his visitor.
"The Bat is… becoming a possible issue," Lucius said, picking up his drink again. "Certain people are taking notice. People that it would be best not to argue with." He sipped his bourbon, watching the face of his companion, which had gone oddly blank.
There was a silence for some time. Eventually, Bruce, who had been rubbing the metal bat shape between thumb and forefinger, said in a quiet voice, "I'm not sure I take your meaning."
"My meaning is that if this continues in the manner it is currently going in, there's likely to be some… push-back. Trust me, it wouldn't end well, if it goes there. I'm asking that it doesn't."
"Someone is causing trouble?" Bruce frowned slightly. Lucius looked at him over his glass, then finished the bourbon.
"Yes."
"Who?"
The CEO of Wayne Enterprises didn't reply, but kept his eyes fixed on the other man's. Bruce looked back, his frown deepening.
Eventually, Lucius sighed. "Four times in the last month there has been an interaction involving a number of minor criminals, or in several cases, people who were merely associated with minor criminals. Someone beat these men to a pulp. The last one of these incidents was last night. I was informed about it before I called you. After I called, I looked into the reports again."
Bruce kept looking at him.
"My information is that in the most recent case, two people were hurt badly enough that without immediate medical care they could well have died."
"Who told you that?"
"The people who saved their lives and fixed them up. Old friends of mine."
"I see." Bruce took another sip of his drink, then put the glass down and held up the bat-shaped shuriken. "And they gave you this?"
"They did. They recovered a number of them, actually. Along with a line-throwing pistol, several wire lines from it, and a few other toys. All of which I made for..." He made a small gesture. "Our friend."
"Interesting."
"Isn't it?"
They stared at each other for a while.
"I was told," Lucius commented, toying with the glass in his hand, "something to the effect of people in the position of our friend still required the support of the public, one way or another. And that abusing their power over others is a bad way to go about that goal." He lifted the glass and looked into it for a moment, then tipped it up to get the last drop of bourbon. "Considering the source, I think that's good advice, and should probably be taken seriously. It's spoken from long experience."
He carefully put the glass down with a faint click. "If these beatings continue, sooner or later there's going to be a problem I probably can't help with. I'd prefer that not to happen. He does good work on the whole and this city needs him. But he's getting… overenthusiastic… in his search for justice. Or the next best thing to justice that we're likely to get in Gotham."
Bruce looked over at Alfred, making a small gesture. The older man appeared with a refill for him and looked enquiringly at Lucius, who held up a hand with a shake of his head. "No, thanks, I'm driving."
"Of course, sir."
"Who are these people, Lucius?" Bruce finally asked, looking at him with a mix of curiosity, concern, and mild annoyance.
"People I met quite a few years ago," he replied after thinking for a moment. "Unusual people. But very, very skilled in their field. We subcontract some of the more esoteric design work to them. They've never let us down, and as I said, they have experience in… odd matters. Ones that are relevant here."
"Got a name?"
"Probably not one you'd have heard of, unless you've been poking around in some very strange places," the engineer said with a sudden smile.
"Indulge me."
"As you wish. They do business under the name of BBFO, which stands for 'Brockton Bay Family Operations.'"
Bruce looked oddly at him. "I've never heard of them. Or Brockton Bay. Where is it?"
"On the East Coast, between Boston and Portland, I believe." He watched the other man's face with well-hidden amusement.
"There's no city of that name on the East Coast," Bruce replied slowly.
"Not our East Coast, no," he said.
Once again, they looked at each other in silence, only this time Bruce seemed quite puzzled more than anything else.
"I don't even pretend to understand how it works," Lucius finally said. "The mechanism is incredibly complex, the math is far past anything I can make heads or tails of. But they basically come from another version of Earth."
Bruce stared at him. "Parallel worlds?" he asked after nearly thirty seconds, his voice a little strangled. Lucius nodded.
"Essentially. They seem to enjoy traveling around and meeting new people," he replied. After a moment's thought, he smiled a little. "And confusing them, generally. That seems to be a theme."
"You're telling me that you met some people from a parallel world years ago and have been subcontracting design work for Wayne Enterprises to them ever since?" Bruce asked very carefully.
Lucius nodded again, feeling quite amused.
"Correct."
"And these… people… are warning you that a certain person is acting in a manner they feel is unwise." Bruce's voice was flat and expressionless.
"Also correct."
"You expect me to believe that?"
Lucius spread his hands. "Have I ever let you down?"
They looked at each other. Bruce was the first to look away. "No. No, you haven't. But… this isn't exactly the most believable thing I've ever heard."
"We live in a city where a penguin-themed super-villain regularly commits crimes, a lunatic called the Joker has killed hundreds of innocents, and a former psychiatrist put a chemical that causes uncontrollable fear into the water supply," Lucius said calmly. "Visitors from another reality are almost pedestrian by comparison. And they're much easier to deal with. Not to mention a lot nicer."
"Even so, this is hard to take in." Bruce looked thoughtful now, but still unconvinced.
"I realize that. I'm passing on a message given in good faith, and one I think needs to be said. But I can't make you believe me. I urge you to pay attention, even so, before something goes too far. Or someone." He studied his companion's face, trying to work out what he was thinking. It was always difficult, the younger man had an amazing ability to mask his thoughts and cover them up with the playboy impression he showed the public.
"I can't help thinking that if things did go too far, the next message might be delivered personally. That could be… less than ideal, from the point of view of our friend."
"They're dangerous?"
Lucius snorted with laughter. "You have no idea how dangerous. Not hostile, definitely, but not the sort of people you want to annoy if you can avoid it. They tend to keep out of local issues for the most part but as far as I know sometimes take an interest. If that happens… Well, let's say that as good as our friend is, he's outmatched. By a lot."
The other man put his second, now empty, glass beside the first one and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. He inspected Lucius closely, then leaned back again. "You're serious."
"Completely."
"Who are they?"
"Would you believe me if I said a family of sapient reptile people?" the CEO asked with a slight smile.
Both men twitched at a sudden clatter from the other end of the room, turning to see Alfred picking up a bottle he'd knocked over. He looked back at them, his expression both embarrassed and somewhat alarmed. "Are you all right, Alfred?" Lucius asked.
The elderly retainer stared at him for a few seconds or so. "Sapient reptile people?" he asked quietly. "My apologies, I couldn't help overhearing."
"That's what I said," Lucius replied, curious about the reaction.
"Is one of them called Saurial, by any chance?" the older man asked after a moment.
More than surprised, Lucius nodded. Bruce was looking between them, his expression hard to read.
"Oh, dear," the other man said in a low voice. "Master Bruce, I suggest it would be sensible to take Mr Fox's advice seriously."
"You know something about this, Alfred?" the Wayne heir asked with an expression of confusion. Alfred sighed very faintly, then nodded.
"Just stories. An old friend of mine, the man who trained me, actually, he used to tell me about friends of his. Reptilian friends. They'd visit sometimes and talk. That was years ago, before the war, back in England, you see." The man looked like he was remembering something he missed. "He was a wonderful man, my friend. The very epitome of a gentleman's gentleman. And he spoke of someone called Saurial with great fondness." The gaze sharpened, coming back from wherever he'd been and focusing on them. "He told me that they were very good people, but not ones you wanted to get on the bad side of."
Glancing at his watch, he added, "I must see to dinner, Master Bruce." With that he exited the room, leaving two slightly puzzled men looking after him. Eventually Lucius turned back to his companion.
"I can't say I expected that, but perhaps I should have," he commented wryly. "They get around and seem to have a very hazy idea of the normal flow of time."
Bruce stood up, pacing back and forth for a while. "I'm having difficulty with this," he said after half a minute or so, while Lucius patiently watched. "And wondering if Alfred put you up to it. He's… not happy about some things."
"I'm aware of that, but he didn't ask me to do this. I was as surprised as you are about what he just said."
"You understand that the idea of lizard people or whatever they are from another world complaining about excessive violence is a little hard to take." Walking over to the window, he looked out into the rear gardens of the manor. "I mean, I know we live in a world where strange things can happen, but this is going… a little..." He trailed off, causing Lucius to watch him with slight confusion.
While the older man observed, his younger colleague visibly paled. His gaze was fixed on something outside, by the looks of it. Curious, Lucius finally got up and joined him at the window.
His eyes widened.
The absolutely vast creature standing on the rear lawn, its head as high as the top of the hundred year old oak it was standing next to, narrowed glowing yellow-orange eyes at them, leaning down slightly to come level with the window about eighty feet away. While they both watched the figure, back-lit by the sky glow of Gotham in the distance, it raised a hand large enough to pick up Lucius's car and crush it like a beer can, folded back all but two fingers, then made an unmistakable gesture with them.
It pointed to its own eyes, then directly at Bruce.
Then, very slowly, it smiled widely. The teeth exposed by the expression were at least six feet long and there were a lot of them. All of them glinting in the light from the windows of the house in a dim but very, very memorable manner.
There was a long frozen moment, before Bruce swallowed hard. When Lucius looked at him his eyes were closed. Looking back at the immense reptilian creature he was just in time to see it wink at him, the grin turning mischievous, before it abruptly vanished. Suppressing both a grin of his own, and the faint feeling of lightheadedness that had come over him, he reached out and put a hand on the shoulder of the other man, who had opened his eyes again and was looking out into the now-empty darkness with a bewildered expression.
"There are some things in the shadows that are much more dangerous than a bat, Bruce," he said softly. "Things it's best not to upset. Do you understand my point?"
"Yes," Bruce replied hoarsely. "I believe I do."
"Excellent." Lucius nodded. "In that case, I have dinner with an old friend in an hour. I'm glad we talked. Can I assume that our mutual friend will think hard about his current methods?"
"The message will be passed along," the younger man replied after several seconds, turning away from the window. He still looked shaken, which was an unusual expression for him.
A short while later, just as he was getting back into his car, Lucius stopped. After a little thought, he reached into the glove box for a flashlight, then closed the car again, walking towards the side of the house. With the aid of the light he made his way into the rear garden, glancing up at the windows of Bruce's study, which were now dark. Going to the middle of the garden, he cast the light around for a moment, before stopping it.
He walked closer, looking down, then shook his head in wonder. After ten seconds or so, he turned around and headed back, leaving the enormous footprint to its own devices.
If nothing else, it would be a good reminder in the morning, he thought with mild amusement. Feeling that he'd done what he could, he drove off to his next appointment.