"Gotham"
A 'Smallville' fan fiction
All characters are owned by DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and their respective partners.
'Superman' was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
'Batman' was created by Bob Kane
Timeframe: The summer between "Vortex" and "Heat" in season two
Disclaimer: I own plenty, but not these characters (not even Kaminski, not yet anyway…)
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Instead of having Bruce Wayne come to Smallville, I wanted Clark Kent to come to Gotham. I wanted to re-imagine Batman's origin to a very short extent. You will see many, many of the same things about Batman's past you've always heard. But if you look at it, there is room to grow in the origin of Batman, and since Smallville is all about origins, why not introduce another of the World's Finest? I'm not going to pull a JJ Abrams and make Bruce homosexual, have Alfred be a robot, or the existence of Wayne Enterprises a mere myth. I loved these characters since I was very young, starting with Batman: The Animated Series and with this fiction I am just putting the characters in different places. What if Clark Kent witnessed the murder of Bruce's parents, and who exactly was behind it? I'm only bringing you a "what if?" story that hopefully will entertain and make you happy when it ends.
Four: Labyrinth
Lex stared at his phone's screen, head resting on his fist.
"Only a Wayne would be late and not bother to call."
"Alfred was here to let us in, I'm thankful for that," Clark sighed, "The forecast called for rain."
Lex jumped, dropping the phone as it rang out. Clark bent over and handed it to him, stretching back out on the clad leather sofa.
"Bruce?" Lex straightened the phone to his ear.
"Lex, can you never leave the past behind you?"
Lex groaned, "It's not my fault you think of the Wayne's as competitors…"
"Competitors, very funny, don't get too fond Lex. The minute that spawn of Thomas hears you have your own company…"
"Dad, I know what I am doing, now have some faith." He clapped the phone shut. His father may have been blind, but his knowledge was in no way affected. Maybe Lionel was right about Bruce, but it was only a week, and Bruce wasn't even informed of LexCorp, nor did he care.
"Your dad has great timing."
"Well, in that case, so does Bruce."
Lex jumped again as the phone rang, he decided to jump up and tend to the fire in the fireplace.
He flipped open the phone, "Bruce?"
"Yeah, going to have to cancel tonight Lex, you're better off going back home…"
Lex looked at Clark with a concerned glare, "What's going on?"
"In brief, the ex-CEO of Wayne Enterprises went psycho and is out to kill my father, he even used Bill to just get all three of us out in the open. Of course my dad is planning to ship us out of here in the next hour or so…" Bruce struggled to hold on to the phone he was shaking so badly as he walked through the halls of the hospital.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just leave, I'll call you in two days to let you know how the situation stands."
"Okay, well, it has been entertaining."
"Yeah, talk to you soon…" Bruce clapped the phone shut, looking up spotting his father and mother whispering at the other end of the hallway. He ran down to them, finally realizing that the past ten years of self defense may finally have their chance to shine.
"Alfred's stuck in traffic with the car," Thomas never stopped looking around, "We're going to have to walk to the parking garage to get a car..."
"Mine's back at work, not too long of a walk," Bruce reassured, confident they could make it unharmed.
"Good, we can do this; we'll just head down some dark alleys and try not to look obvious." Thomas put his arms behind Martha and Bruce, "Let's go."
"They are leaving, you better follow them…" Kaminski whispered into the com-link.
"I need not be told as a child, they will be out of the picture soon enough…" The assassin re-adjusted the ear piece, so that Kaminski wouldn't sound so loud.
"By the way, congratulations…"
"Thanks, I look forward to getting back to my wife as soon as possible, Kaminski."
"And you will, because you work fast, that's why I am paying you," Kaminski managed an insane little chuckle.
"Save the laughs for the comedy club, it hurts my ear…"
"Understandable," Kaminski was sure everything would go just as planned.
"I'm heading out; I have my two contacts standing by as well, so you can end those hacks of the hospital's security cameras now."
Kaminski didn't bother to turn off the screens, but just kept listening, "Make me proud."
"What are you, my father?"
"No," Kaminski chuckled, "That would make the plot more complex than it already is."
"Of course."
"We can stay at the penthouse for the next three days, it's a big city, we can find something to do," Lex picked up his jacket and keys, "Let's get out of this place." Clark just got up and followed him out to the drive, the clouds were overhead and rain was beginning to fall.
"Wonderful," Clark sighed, catching a drop in his hand as he lowered himself into the car.
"Gotham can get very strange at night; I'll try to avoid…anyone."
"How strange?"
"Stranger than Smallville, I can tell you that."
Clark strapped on his seatbelt, a minor discomfort for him with no actual need, although being thrown through a windshield wasn't fun for anyone, even him.
"You should wear a seatbelt…"
"I should," Lex started the engine, "But I'm the one who paid off every representative to not support the law." He pushed on the gas and sped the car out of the drive, surrendering both him and Clark to the chaos of Gotham's night life.
"Rain…wonderful," Martha whimpered, grasping onto Thomas's hand. No one responded, they just kept walking at a steady pace. Thomas pointed in the direction of a very thin alley, and no one doubted him. Thomas grew up on these streets and knew them better than most
"We'll be there in fifteen minutes," Thomas yelled, "It is too cold for summer…"
"I'd rather not be the victim of a gruesome assassination, tonight, thank you very much," Bruce had a sick sense of humor that always shined in intense moments.
"I believe you speak for us all, son."
Martha stumbled and tripped, falling face first into a puddle. They two men quickly helped her back up, but amidst the confusion Bruce didn't realize his keys dropping from his jacket pocket. He hated that jacket.
"You okay?" Bruce wiped some mud off her jacket.
"Yeah, my knee hurts, but I'll survive."
Thomas pointed another direction, another alley, it was as if Gotham was becoming the Labyrinth and all they needed were wings to fly out; the Minotaur constantly gaining a closer distance…
Kaminski's assassin was far too tired for this.
"Think of the money, the glorius money," he whispered to himself, interrupted by the awful puddle Martha had fallen in just minutes before. He groaned and shoved himself back up; something had poked him on his elbow. He got up dripping wet, in the now pouring rain, kicking around for a needle or knife that had poked him. Finally the tip of his boots met Bruce's keys, and they flew out and smacked the side of the brick building before him.
"Aw, they left me a gift," he kneeled down and picked them up, examining all ten keys on the ring. He shoved them in his pocket, trying as hard as he could to stay on the family's trail.
"Where are they now?" He asked into his mini-microphone.
"6th and Park, you want us to go in?"
"No, I can catch up." He turned to get up, but was hit by a metal garbage can and knocked out onto the ground.
"No, you won't…" Clark Kent, always there when you need him, sighed and ripped the assassin's microphone off his jacket, "Who is there?!"
"Shit. We better go out," He heard a voice say from the miniature device. But Clark couldn't hear Kaminski roaring into the assassin's ear, "Do you copy?! If you bailed…Do you copy!?"
Clark, like any good snoop, checked the assassin's jacket, stumbling upon the keys, instantly recognizing them from Bruce's desk, "Perfect." He shot up and with cautious speed and x-ray vision tried to track the Wayne clan down. He nearly caught up to them.
Nearly.