"Unacceptable."
Nothing else said. Nothing else that needed saying.
"But I--"
"Unacceptable. You endangered the lives of everyone on that bus, ignored orders, and jeopardized the mission. If not for Robin's intervention, Two-Face would have escaped."
Head hung in shame, Sasha stood in the center of a harsh pool of light within the Batcave, mask in hand. On the edge of the circle of illumination, He stood, mouth set in grim line, his masked face stern, jaw unyeilding. His cloak was wrapped around him like the darkness itself, while Sasha stood alone, exposed to his judgement.
"I only did what I thought was best! I was trying to SAVE the people on that bus!"
No yeilding of the marble Bat. "Your judgement was flawed. As of now, you are suspended."
She gasped as though struck in the face. "How long?" She demanded furiously.
"Until I decide you're ready to be out there." His voice gave away no more emotion than his cowled face.
Anger welled up within her, a sudden, fiery anger, uncontrollable and fierce. "You can't do that!"
"I can. I have."
"I'm your damn BODYGUARD! You won't leave me behind!" Her face was twisted with her wrath, a mask of rage to make up for the other mask, the one in her hand.
"I have no need of a bodyguard, and never have. Your presence has been tolerated as a concession to Lucius. You have been allowed in the field because I need all the reliable support I can muster. You are no longer reliable."
She was trembling now. Her brain disconnected itself, and instinct kicked in. She hurled herself at him, wanting nothing but to hurt him, to make him feel pain, make him bleed. She struck nothing but darkness as he shifted aside, not even bothering to block her blows, simply evading.
'I'm not worth his time!' was the first thought to pass through her head. She began screaming, raving, lashing out at him with voice as well as body. He caught her fists in huge, gloved hands, caught her left leg as it flew at her head, and knotted her into a body lock from which she could not break free. But she still had her tongue.
"I know your secret, BRUCE! You can't keep me from telling, if I want to!" She was as astonished as he was to hear the words, but once out of her mouth, she realized she meant them.
"I will break you, Batman, if you don't let me stay out there! I'll unmask you for all the world to see!"
"I think not."
"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"
"I can."
"How?"
He put her down on the stone floor, and for a moment, he almost seemed to be smiling. "I can kill you, here and now, and no one will ever know."
She shook her head. "No, Bruce. You aren't a killer."
"True, but there are other ways. I can discredit you, male you look like a raving maniac. After all," his voice changed from Batman's deep tones of command, dropping to the airy falsetto of Bruce Wayne, "Who'd believe that simple-minded old Brucey could possibly be Batman? The very idea is pre-pos-ter-ous!" He giggled in Wayne-fashion. With the cowl on. Sasha shuddered.
"Second, I may not be willing to kill you, but I can make your life an endless torment forever. I've broken murderers and kingpins. I can break you." The cold certainty in his voice, Batman's, not Wayne's, made her believe him.
"Third, and finally. I learned many things during my travels. Hypnosis is one of them. In an hour, you can have forgotten all you knew about Batman." He paused, and pondered. "In fact..." He opened a pouch on his belt, and drew forth a small hypodermic syringe, opened another, and produced a shiny pendulum. "In fact, that sounds like a very good idea." He thrust the needle into her arm, and her mind turned to putty. He bagan to twirl the shiny thing at the end of it's cord. His voice, low and soft, was like a buzzing in her head.
Sasha awoke in her bed the next morning, with no knowledge of the Batman.
Nothing else said. Nothing else that needed saying.
"But I--"
"Unacceptable. You endangered the lives of everyone on that bus, ignored orders, and jeopardized the mission. If not for Robin's intervention, Two-Face would have escaped."
Head hung in shame, Sasha stood in the center of a harsh pool of light within the Batcave, mask in hand. On the edge of the circle of illumination, He stood, mouth set in grim line, his masked face stern, jaw unyeilding. His cloak was wrapped around him like the darkness itself, while Sasha stood alone, exposed to his judgement.
"I only did what I thought was best! I was trying to SAVE the people on that bus!"
No yeilding of the marble Bat. "Your judgement was flawed. As of now, you are suspended."
She gasped as though struck in the face. "How long?" She demanded furiously.
"Until I decide you're ready to be out there." His voice gave away no more emotion than his cowled face.
Anger welled up within her, a sudden, fiery anger, uncontrollable and fierce. "You can't do that!"
"I can. I have."
"I'm your damn BODYGUARD! You won't leave me behind!" Her face was twisted with her wrath, a mask of rage to make up for the other mask, the one in her hand.
"I have no need of a bodyguard, and never have. Your presence has been tolerated as a concession to Lucius. You have been allowed in the field because I need all the reliable support I can muster. You are no longer reliable."
She was trembling now. Her brain disconnected itself, and instinct kicked in. She hurled herself at him, wanting nothing but to hurt him, to make him feel pain, make him bleed. She struck nothing but darkness as he shifted aside, not even bothering to block her blows, simply evading.
'I'm not worth his time!' was the first thought to pass through her head. She began screaming, raving, lashing out at him with voice as well as body. He caught her fists in huge, gloved hands, caught her left leg as it flew at her head, and knotted her into a body lock from which she could not break free. But she still had her tongue.
"I know your secret, BRUCE! You can't keep me from telling, if I want to!" She was as astonished as he was to hear the words, but once out of her mouth, she realized she meant them.
"I will break you, Batman, if you don't let me stay out there! I'll unmask you for all the world to see!"
"I think not."
"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"
"I can."
"How?"
He put her down on the stone floor, and for a moment, he almost seemed to be smiling. "I can kill you, here and now, and no one will ever know."
She shook her head. "No, Bruce. You aren't a killer."
"True, but there are other ways. I can discredit you, male you look like a raving maniac. After all," his voice changed from Batman's deep tones of command, dropping to the airy falsetto of Bruce Wayne, "Who'd believe that simple-minded old Brucey could possibly be Batman? The very idea is pre-pos-ter-ous!" He giggled in Wayne-fashion. With the cowl on. Sasha shuddered.
"Second, I may not be willing to kill you, but I can make your life an endless torment forever. I've broken murderers and kingpins. I can break you." The cold certainty in his voice, Batman's, not Wayne's, made her believe him.
"Third, and finally. I learned many things during my travels. Hypnosis is one of them. In an hour, you can have forgotten all you knew about Batman." He paused, and pondered. "In fact..." He opened a pouch on his belt, and drew forth a small hypodermic syringe, opened another, and produced a shiny pendulum. "In fact, that sounds like a very good idea." He thrust the needle into her arm, and her mind turned to putty. He bagan to twirl the shiny thing at the end of it's cord. His voice, low and soft, was like a buzzing in her head.
Sasha awoke in her bed the next morning, with no knowledge of the Batman.