-CHAPTER 7-

"Welcome to my humble abode, Mr. Wayne." Thorne said with an almost booming tone to his voice, greeting the younger Billionaire with a handshake.

"Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Thorne." Bruce replied with a confident smile, trying hard not to notice that all the eyes in the room were now on him. But Miranda then found the host's attention drawn to her, with the older man giving her a warm smile as he held out a hand to her.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure, Miss..." he started to say, cutting himself off as she let him take her hand in his own and give it a kiss. This made Tate's skin crawl, though she did not show it as he made a fake smile back.

"Miranda Tate, Mr. Thorne..." she began to reply while coolly taking her hand back.

"...and thank you for the invitation. But believe me when I say..." the younger woman continued to say as her smile started to fade, while Bruce and the others around then watched.

"...you won't have the pleasure." she added with a cold smile, which stunned Thorne as everyone did not know where to look, but could not take their eyes off the pair as Miss. Tate carried on.

"You see, Mr. Thorne, I wasn't going to come to your party originally, because I am tired of you old, self-important Fat-Cats staring at my chest and making shrewd and childish comments behind my back. But I also am painfully aware of how much I can increase my influence in Gotham if I do turn up to these parties in a nice dress, because you will do anything I ask if I smile and look pretty. So I'm here with Bruce Wayne as my chaperone..."

This sentence brought a confused look to Bruce's face as he stood there and watched, before noticing that Lucius was having a hard time hiding the smirk that was growing on his face.

"...so that the Fat-Cat looks keep coming, but not nearly as much as usual. Do we understand each other, Mr. Thorne?" Miranda then asked, while the party's Host stood their with his mouth agape.

"Yes...,of course..., Miss. Tate." He then replied in a flustered and embarrassed manner, while Fox joined Wayne's side.

"I like your date, Bruce." he said with a smirk, earning a raised eyebrow from the younger man in return.

Miranda then turned back to the pair and gave the latter a coy smile, holding her hand out to him.

"Come on, Bruce. Let's go get a drink from the free-bar." she said, which made the Billionaire smile back as he took her and was led away from the others who all looked shocked, except for Lucius.

"Young people..." the Wayne CEO then said with a knowing smirk, earning the attention of the Mayor as he stood next to him.

"...am I right?" he added, gaining a scoff from Cobblepot in return.

Meanwhile, Bruce and Miranda approached the improvised but professional-looking bar at the back of the room.

"Two glasses of your best wine, please." The lady asked the barman as they stopped by at the bar, only for Bruce to jump in before the worker could acknowledge the order.

"Make mine a club soda, thanks." he said, gaining a surprised look from his date while the barman just stared at both with a confused look.

"Bruce?" Tate asked with a curious tone.

"I guess, I prefer to keep my wits about me." He replied with an honest smile, of which Miranda could only stare back before a daring expression appeared on her face.

"Make that two, please." She then said to the barman, who nodded back in return.

"Very good." He answered before turning around to make their drinks, leaving the pair alone for the moment.

"You've surprised me yet again, Bruce. You really aren't like the others, are you?" Miranda observed.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Miranda, thank you." The Billionaire replied as she looked back curiously.

"But you did drink when we had lunch earlier and I swore I saw you having a glass of wine at your event, where we first met."

"Yes, that is true for earlier. Because when you don't have the eyes of the world on you, then you can relax. But in this environment..." he started to answer before looking out at the others, making his date do the same.

"You have to keep up appearances, I can understand that." Miranda replied as the barman returned with their drinks, regaining their attention.

Your Club sodas."

"Thank you." Miranda said back appreciatory while taking the two drinks, before handing one to Bruce as the help turned to another person who approached the bar.

"So, Miranda..." the billionaire began to say with a confused-looking smile as the lady passed him his drink.

"..., I'm not just your Chaperone tonight?"

This gained a teasing smile from Tate as she took a sip from her glass.

"Well..." Miranda then began to answer, only to stop as she saw the look on Wayne's face, which made her burst into laughter.

This gained the attention of a few other guests standing nearby, which made Wayne smile back at them awkwardly as he looked around, while the former regained some self-control.

"...Oh, Bruce…" she then started to say, before stopping and taking a drink from her glass as her date mirrored her.

"...you are certainly not my chaperone. And I apologize if I offended you, but I was not expecting such an expression from 'Bruce Wayne' of all people." the lady continued, bringing a slight smile to the Billionaire's face.

"I guess I'm full of surprises?" He replied with a tinge of curiosity to his voice, which brought a coy smirk to Miranda's face as she looked at him.

"Yes..., you certainly are, Bruce." She said back as they stared into each other's eyes and smiled, before a curious expression grew on the man's face.

"Just out of curiosity, why did you tell the others that I was your chaperone?"

"Because I'm tired of coming to events like these...or the one where we first met and having the elitist fat-cats surround me like foxes with a Hen, taking turns to try he fast-track of wine and dine on me." She explained, earning a knowing expression from Bruce.

"I can relate, Miranda. Usually, I get mobbed by women at these events." He replied while gesturing to the others around the pair, making his date look over to see a few of the lady guests eyeing him up.

"On the hunt for a eligible Bachelor, are they?" She asked, noticing the icy glares that the other women were giving her.

"Yeah, but they are this time keeping their distance." he replied, gaining a knowing smile from Miss. Tate in return.

"That's because they know that you are already taken tonight, and so are staying away. It's exactly the same with what happened earlier with me and the fat-cats."

"I get it..." Bruce started to say, before looking between his date and the ladies nearby.

"...well, be careful. They have been known to fight over me, not that I want that." He said back with tinge of concern in his voice, making Miranda smile back confidently at him.

"Don't worry, Bruce..." she started to say back, before glancing back at the ladies.

...I can handle myself." She added with a smirk, earning jealous dagger-like stares from the others.

"Good. So..." Wayne began to say, regaining the lady's attention as they continued to stand at the bar.

"...your analogy about foxes..." he continued before noticing his date's smile widening, gaining a confused look from the billionaire as another voice spoke up from his left.

"What was that about Foxes, Mr. Wayne?"

This made the younger man's eyes widen as he looked in that direction to find Lucius standing beside him, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Lucius?" He replied with an almost stunned tone to his voice, which made Miranda chuckle in return.

"Mr. Wayne, what may I ask, were you and the lovely Miss. Tate discussing about my family?" The older gentleman asked in a friendly and curious tone, gaining a sigh from Wayne.

"Lucius, we're talking about the 'animal'." He replied, earning a look of revelation from the CEO in response.

"Oh, I see. Well, you should know that they are intelligent, cunning and are natural-born survivors." He then stated, gaining another sigh from the billionaire as Miranda just smiled back at the pair.

"Was there a reason that you came over here, Lucius?" Bruce then asked with a tinge of annoyance in his voice, cutting his older friend off mid-sentence. This brought a look of realization from Fox as he remembered said reason.

"Oh, of course, Bruce. The mayor would like to have a word with you, if you have a free moment?"

"Surely, Lucius, if it is anything to do with Wayne Enterprises, then you're the one to talk to." The younger man replied, making Fox shake his head in return.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Wayne, Mayor Cobblepot asked for you personally." he replied, which made the Billionaire look back at Miranda, gaining an understanding look from her.

"But, we were…" he started to say, only for her to cut him off.

"It's alright, Bruce. I just saw a Businessman that I would like to speak with." she explained while looking over his shoulder, making the Billionaire glance back to see an older silver-haired man standing by the wall on his own.

"I thought you said...?" Bruce began to reply with a confused tone, only for Miranda to smile back reassuringly at him.

"It's only one fat-cat this time and I'm certain that he's the CEO of Stagg Enterprises. All I need to gain his company's support is to use my charms on him. And while I do this, you can go and see what the Mayor wants. We can continue this afterwards." She explained before gesturing between herself and him, gaining a surrendering smile from the billionaire in response.

"Okay. Good luck with Stagg." He replied while backing away, bringing a smirk to Miranda's face.

"Thank you, now go. You don't want to keep the mayor waiting." She said back whilst shoeing him away, before walking over to Stagg while Bruce turned around and walked off with Fox.

"So, Lucius, did you get a chance to ask the mayor about our problem?" The younger man asked, making the other shake his head in response.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Wayne. Perhaps you might have a better chance." He replied, before leaving his friend's side as the latter joined Cobblepot.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne, I am glad that you could spare a moment to speak with me." The smaller and chubbier man said as he shook the Billionaire's hand, earning a smile from him.

"It's not a problem, Mayor Cobblepot." He replied, feigning his real feelings as he found himself thinking about Miranda. But the Mayor simply smiled back knowingly, which made Bruce cringe inside.

"Oh, I'm not so sure. Having to leave a beauty like that amongst all those probable rivals around us..." Cobblepot continued to say as he gestured at the pair's surroundings.

"..., she may end up leaving with one of them."

But this line made the younger Wayne simply smirked back confidently.

"Then I guess you haven't heard of my reputation of being 'Gotham's most eligible Bachelor'?" He replied with a curious tone, while taking a glance back out at the crowd. This made the Mayor look out there again, noticing how many of the female guests around them were staring back at the young billionaire.

"I have heard..." he began say as he kept his attention away from Bruce, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly as he felt a tinge of jealously come over him.

"...but never had the chance to witness it firsthand." The smaller man continued as he returned his gaze back to Wayne, maintaining his calm and friendly stature.

"Anyway, that isn't what I wanted to discuss with you." He added while Bruce ignored one of the ladies trying to get his attention with a wave.

"And what would that be, Mr. Mayor?"

"As you may well be aware, our glorious city is facing a crisis now." The small man then answered, earning a curious expression from Wayne in response.

"What might that be?" He replied, making the Mayor stare back with tinge of surprise to face.

"Well..., I am speaking of the mob bosses - the 'Penguin' and the 'Black Mask' of course." The two of them are keeping organized crime, flowing through the veins of Gotham, which is halting the city's chances of achieving the greatness that it deserves."

"What did you have in mind, Mr. Mayor?" Bruce then asked.

"I want to give our citizens hope for the future and show that the power in Gotham is in the right hands and not those of the Mob. And I'm not sure you realize just how important our meeting here truly is…" Cobblepot started to reply, which made the billionaire raise and eyebrow at that comment.

"…because you and I are now the only members of Gotham's 'founding families' still living in it's boundaries." The mayor added, gaining a nod from Wayne in return.

"'Founding Families'. That's a term I have not heard in a long time."

"Indeed, Mr. Wayne. Your Family and mine are the only ones left. The Dumas, Elliot and Kane families are all gone." The older man said back, while Bruce looked at the ground with a tinge of sadness as the mention of the last two names gave him pause.

'Kane...that was my Mother's family and my childhood friend 'Thomas' belonged to the Elliot family.' He thought before returning his attention to Cobblepot.

"So, what would you like from me, Mr. Mayor?"

"Just your support, both public and financial, for an initiative that I am starting with the GCPD." The older man replied with a confident smile, while Bruce looked back at him with a puzzled expression.

"Well, if you want my public endorsement of this, then I should know what your initiative is. And if you also want financial support from Wayne Enterprises, I will need to bring Lucius Fox into this too."

"Of course, and you are correct on both counts. Please follow me, so we can discuss this out of view of prying eyes." The Mayor said back with a gesture, before leading the younger Wayne into another room, away from the crowds.

"Here we are..." Cobblepot then exclaimed as he and Bruce we met by two other men, one that the latter recognized as Commissioner Foley, while the other was a tall, well-built Caucasian man with raven black slicked-back hair in an expensive suit. The latter stood there looking confident and somewhat aggressive, though the former appeared uncomfortable and unsure of himself.

"...with Commissioner Foley and Roman Sionis, the owner of Janus Industries." Cobblepot added, earning a nod from the former and the latter offering his hand to the billionaire.

"Mr. Wayne." Foley said with a serious tone, while Bruce shook Sionis's hand.

'Can't say that I've seen the Commissioner looking like that before. I wonder what's got him spooked?' he quickly thought before speaking to the new guy.

"Hi..." he began to say back, before looking back at the Mayor with a questioning look.

"Excuse me, but I thought you wanted this to be between 'Founding Families' members..." he said, before returning his attention to Roman.

"...no offence."

"None taken..., Mr. Wayne." The businessman replied with a friendly expression, though Bruce could detect a tinge of annoyance underlining the other guy's words.

"Mr. Wayne..., I apologize, but may I call you Bruce?" The mayor said, gaining a cheeky smirk from the Wayne Ent. Owner.

"Only if I get to call you Oswald in return?" He replied, gaining a mirrored look from the shorter man.

"Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you join my initiative."

"Fair enough. So, what is this idea of yours?" Bruce then asked.

"As I told you earlier, the city is suffering from a crisis that is slowly building up to something worse..." he began to explain, earning a chuckle from Sionis.

"Isn't a crisis in Gotham just another Monday for everyone here?"

"It is not a laughing matter, Mr. Sionis. Long has Gotham shared it's history with organized crime, starting from the days of the Sabatino Family, before being succeeded by other like Falcone and Maroni…" the Mayor continued while Bruce and the others listened.

"…and while things may have appeared to improve since the Vigilante 'Batman' appeared on the scene, that is simply not the case as every time one Mob boss is removed, another one takes their place."

This earned a curious expression from Wayne when he heard that last sentence, which did not go unnoticed by Cobblepot.

"You have something to add, Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm just wondering what your opinion is on the Batman, Mr. Mayor? It sounds almost like you support what he is doing out there." He replied, earning a nod from Sionis in return.

"Yeah, last thing we need is that freak getting any official support from someone in the city." The other replied with a venomous sting to his words, making the billionaire glance over to him.

'Sionis certainly has a strong distaste for Batman. I should take a closer look at this guy, because I knew nothing of him before this meeting.' he thought before the Mayor responded to Roman.

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's amazing that someone has gone to such great lengths to help his fellow man. But… I cannot condone anyone to take matters into their own hands, not when we have a fully capable police force." He said, which finally made Foley take a step forward.

"As Mr. Wayne here knows, I am no fan of the Batman. In fact, I firmly believed that he had murdered Harvey Dent, which turned out to be not true. And even though the vigilante has done some good out there on the streets, gaining popularity among the citizens. I too cannot condone his actions and have made it a goal to arrest him..." he began to explain with a now serious tone and expression, like saying all of that finally had snapped him out of his quiet behavior from earlier.

"...but, that being said, there is a bigger picture to consider and with the growing threats of the Penguin and Black Mask, I have decided to give the Batman a pass for now, so long as he stays out of 'our' way."

"And what will the GCPD and City Hall be doing about those two?" Bruce then asked, regaining their attention.

"Mr. Sionis has graciously donated five blimps from the Janus Industries New York to the city." The Mayor replied, gaining a smarmy smile from the businessman.

"I had recently acquired the blimps in takeover of Ferris Aircraft's New York facility. And since I was planning on returning to my roots here in Gotham, I thought this gesture would go a long way to making that a reality."

"Okay, but what does my company have to do with this?" Bruce added with a curious tone, which made Foley speak up.

"Mr. Wayne, as you are aware, most of the city is located on three islands - Uptown, Midtown and Downtown...or 'Old Gotham' as Gothamites call it. We plan to have a pair of blimps positioned over both the northern and southern islands, with the fifth stationed over Midtown as the Alpha unit for the others." The Police Commissioner explained.

"Each of these blimps have been fitted with the most state of the art surveillance equipment, meaning we will have eyes in the sky looking down on the whole city." Roman then added, before the Mayor continued.

"If this initiative is successful, we will need another fourteen blimps produced so that we can have an airborne unit over each of the nineteen boroughs of Gotham City, thus ensuring that our Police can watch over and protect our citizens in their entirety." He said, while Bruce listened with an intrigued expression.

"And you would like Wayne Enterprises to create the other ones?

"In conjunction with Janus Industries, yes. I do expect to have other Gotham companies in on this initiative, but there is nothing like having Families Cobblepot and Wayne leading the way to a brighter and safer Gotham."

"I must say, it is an interesting concept. But I will need to discuss this with my CEO first." The billionaire replied, earning a nod from the Mayor in return.

"Of course, Mr. Wayne. We are planning to launch the first stage of the initiative in a day or so, which should be enough time for you to make up your mind. In the meantime, let's return to the party." He said back, before the four of them left the room and re-joined the rest of the party.

"So, Mr. Wayne, what was that about?" Lucius asked as the Billionaire joined him, with the latter's attention divided as he looked around the immediate area.

"It was about blimps, Lucius."

"Blimps?" The Wayne Chairman replied with a confused tone to his voice, earning a nod from the younger man.

"Yeah...but we can discuss this later." He said back in a distracted way, gaining a knowing smirk from the older man in response.

"Miss. Tate is over there, Mr. Wayne." Fox stated whilst pointing in the direction of the young woman, who was still talking with the old man from earlier.

"Thanks, Lucius. Speak to you later." Bruce replied with an appreciative smile before heading in that direction, gaining a sigh from his friend.

"Of course, Mr. Wayne."

"Bruce!" Miranda then said in a surprised tone as she saw the billionaire coming towards her, before looking back at the businessman.

"Thank you. I will have my secretary contact your people. Until then." She then said before leaving the other's company and re-joining Bruce.

"Bruce, while you were with the Mayor, I convinced Mr. Stagg to give a rather sizable donation to my cause." She explained with a smile, gaining a mirrored look from him in return.

"Well done. Glad to see you're making good use of the evening." He replied, gaining a slightly disappointed look from the young woman.

"Well, I would have rather spent the time with you, Bruce, but I had to share you with Mayor Cobblepot."

"I take it you that don't like to share." The Billionaire said back with a playful smirk.

"And you would be correct..." Miranda began to answer with a similar expression, before her face took on a more inquisitive look.

"...so was the talk between you and him worth losing sometime with me?" she then asked, making him shake his head in return.

"Of course, it wasn't, Miranda." He replied with a warm smile, gaining a bigger one from his date.

"Good answer. So, I hear they have a makeshift dance-floor. What do you say?"

"Why not." The Billionaire replied, offering the lady his hand. She smiled and took it in her own, before the pair began walking further into the hall.

But before they moved any further, the sound of an explosion outside rattled the building and brought the party to a halt.

"What the...?" Miranda exclaimed with shocked tone, mirroring the reactions of everyone else around them, while Bruce kept calm and looked in the direction the disturbance had originated. The orange and yellow hue of fire could be seen from the patterned window nearest to where the explosion happened, only for the lights to go out and shroud everyone in the hall in near complete-darkness, except for the light of the fire outside and the moonlight coming in from the skylight in the ceiling overhead as the last remaining sources of light.

'That was the GCPD support vehicle.' The young Wayne quickly thought, before his attention was caught by the sound of Cobblepot's voice.

"What's going on out there?" The Mayor barked at his bodyguard, who was already on his radio, an action quickly followed by Foley with his mobile.

"I need the closest units to the Thorne estate to get here as fast as they can." He said, while Miranda looked back at Bruce and noticed the lack of panic in his expression.

"Bruce...?" She started to ask, gaining his attention as the party's host then called out to everyone.

"Everyone, please remain calm. I'm sure that every..." Thorne then said out loud to the guests, only to be cut off as the front door was blown off it's hinges by a fireball, knocking those closest to it on to the ground.

"What in Hell…?!" The Mayor growled as two armed men entered the hall.

Both men wore similarly armoured suits and helmets, carrying large tanks on their backs, but had different colour schemes. The one on the right had a red/yellow look to his armour and was armed with a flamethrower, while the other's was dark green/grey and carried a weapon that look similar but also different.

"Hell is here, Mr. Mayor..." the guy with the flame-flower began to say, only for the other guy to continue.

"...and if any of you walking piggy-banks wants to leave, then you will give your valuables to 'Firefly and Killer Moth'!"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it, I really appreciate it. :)

Next Chapter: With Firefly and Killer Moth holding Thorne's party hostage, it is up to Bruce to find a way to defeat these two villains and save the day. But how will he do that without Miranda and everyone else finding out that he is the Batman?