(Naturally, Batman is a product of DC Comics, Warner Bros and created by Bob Cane. I can't lay claim to him... though, would I ever like to. Hehe!)
CHAPTER TWO - Under the Skin
"So. Tell me about the Bat-Team."
Bruce and Catherine maintained benign expressions while glancing between the Beef Wellington on their plates and Ben Obiken's piercing stare.
"He's the best damned thing that ever happened to Gotham City," Gordon said without looking up. His visual attention was focused on attempting to cut the Beef Wellington.
"Yes, I've heard that you have a good rapport with Batman and... what was she called? Oh yes, the Bat's Shadow?" Kir remarked.
"Shadow of the Bat," Catherine responded.
"Ah, yes, that's the name."
"We do - they've been tremendous in lowering the city's crime rate," Sarah Gordon interjected. She served as a lieutenant on the GCPD.
"Bruce?"
He looked up at Ben. "Yes?"
Catherine caught a glint of challenge in his eyes and prayed that he'd find the fop image soon enough before the Gordon's happened to recognize the expression.
"Your opinion on the Bat-Team, as the media calls them?" he asked non-chalantly.
"They are doing what needs to be done," he replied. There was no mistaking the hard edge to his voice now.
Catherine began to really wonder what was going on in Bruce's head. The two of them exercised extreme caution and skill when fielding any questions that related to the vigilantes. Only a small circle of people knew that they were the faces behind the masks, so questions about Batman and the Shadow of the Bat came as standard questions to all who held "celebrity status" in Gotham. Bruce's reaction concerned her though because he responded with the same emotional intensity that he had when SHE had discovered his secret.
That truth had come by accident three years previous when she had first moved to Gotham City. Catherine had moved to Gotham, taking a job with one of the TV stations as a writer. She'd only been settled into her apartment in the Old Gotham neighborhood for two nights when Batman had quite literally fallen out of the sky and landed in a heap on the roof of her building where Catherine had been star-gazing.
Batman had been bleeding from beneath his cowl; Catherine made the choice she thought was best, given the stress of the circumstances. She'd removed his cowl on the spot and applied first aid to him as best as she could. Catherine had learned his true identity while he was unconscious.
Their initially rocky relationship had grown from that moment of chance, when Catherine had been on the rooftop late into the evening. She remembered how furious he'd been that she'd removed the cowl, nevermind the fact that he'd needed the medical attention she had provided. Catherine recognized that same tone in his voice, responding to Ben Obiken.
"--what do you mean he's disrupting the balance of things?" Bruce demanded, his voice becoming louder.
"Bruce, hon... why don't we head to the... to the dance floor? Please?" Catherine interrupted before either of the Obiken's could respond.
He blinked and lurched back in his seat. Bruce looked away from Ben and back to his wife. "What? Oh, sure, Angel. That's a good idea." He looked only to the Gordon's. "If you'll excuse us."
They walked away, hand-in-hand. Once a safe distance from being overheard by their tablemates, Catherine hissed, "What the hell was just going on? Why were you getting into an argument about Batman?!"
Bruce pulled her close and took her hand. They found a rhythm in the slow song being played and danced in silence for several minutes before he answered her question.
"I don't know what came over me, Cath," he admitted. Bruce did not make eye contact with her. "They both started lecturing about the universe's flow, vengeance and interference. I -- I didn't want to hear it."
Catherine raised an eyebrow, studying the hard line of his jaw. "Even though you're well-versed in all of those topics yourself."
The skin around his eyes tightened. "They are areas that I'd studied in my training, yes."
"Then what did it get you so riled for? If anything else, we could've played it out as the..." she chuckled, "...clueless rich folk to hear what he had to say then pretended we didn't understand a word of it. Something about them..."
"You sense it too."
She nodded.
"We have research to do tonight on Ben and Kir Obiken," Bruce said.
"Can we get through the evening and stay in control?" Catherine asked.
Bruce knew he had to remain "Social Bruce" given the setting no matter how much his assertive tendencies as Batman strained for control. "We'll see," was his only reply.
CHAPTER TWO - Under the Skin
"So. Tell me about the Bat-Team."
Bruce and Catherine maintained benign expressions while glancing between the Beef Wellington on their plates and Ben Obiken's piercing stare.
"He's the best damned thing that ever happened to Gotham City," Gordon said without looking up. His visual attention was focused on attempting to cut the Beef Wellington.
"Yes, I've heard that you have a good rapport with Batman and... what was she called? Oh yes, the Bat's Shadow?" Kir remarked.
"Shadow of the Bat," Catherine responded.
"Ah, yes, that's the name."
"We do - they've been tremendous in lowering the city's crime rate," Sarah Gordon interjected. She served as a lieutenant on the GCPD.
"Bruce?"
He looked up at Ben. "Yes?"
Catherine caught a glint of challenge in his eyes and prayed that he'd find the fop image soon enough before the Gordon's happened to recognize the expression.
"Your opinion on the Bat-Team, as the media calls them?" he asked non-chalantly.
"They are doing what needs to be done," he replied. There was no mistaking the hard edge to his voice now.
Catherine began to really wonder what was going on in Bruce's head. The two of them exercised extreme caution and skill when fielding any questions that related to the vigilantes. Only a small circle of people knew that they were the faces behind the masks, so questions about Batman and the Shadow of the Bat came as standard questions to all who held "celebrity status" in Gotham. Bruce's reaction concerned her though because he responded with the same emotional intensity that he had when SHE had discovered his secret.
That truth had come by accident three years previous when she had first moved to Gotham City. Catherine had moved to Gotham, taking a job with one of the TV stations as a writer. She'd only been settled into her apartment in the Old Gotham neighborhood for two nights when Batman had quite literally fallen out of the sky and landed in a heap on the roof of her building where Catherine had been star-gazing.
Batman had been bleeding from beneath his cowl; Catherine made the choice she thought was best, given the stress of the circumstances. She'd removed his cowl on the spot and applied first aid to him as best as she could. Catherine had learned his true identity while he was unconscious.
Their initially rocky relationship had grown from that moment of chance, when Catherine had been on the rooftop late into the evening. She remembered how furious he'd been that she'd removed the cowl, nevermind the fact that he'd needed the medical attention she had provided. Catherine recognized that same tone in his voice, responding to Ben Obiken.
"--what do you mean he's disrupting the balance of things?" Bruce demanded, his voice becoming louder.
"Bruce, hon... why don't we head to the... to the dance floor? Please?" Catherine interrupted before either of the Obiken's could respond.
He blinked and lurched back in his seat. Bruce looked away from Ben and back to his wife. "What? Oh, sure, Angel. That's a good idea." He looked only to the Gordon's. "If you'll excuse us."
They walked away, hand-in-hand. Once a safe distance from being overheard by their tablemates, Catherine hissed, "What the hell was just going on? Why were you getting into an argument about Batman?!"
Bruce pulled her close and took her hand. They found a rhythm in the slow song being played and danced in silence for several minutes before he answered her question.
"I don't know what came over me, Cath," he admitted. Bruce did not make eye contact with her. "They both started lecturing about the universe's flow, vengeance and interference. I -- I didn't want to hear it."
Catherine raised an eyebrow, studying the hard line of his jaw. "Even though you're well-versed in all of those topics yourself."
The skin around his eyes tightened. "They are areas that I'd studied in my training, yes."
"Then what did it get you so riled for? If anything else, we could've played it out as the..." she chuckled, "...clueless rich folk to hear what he had to say then pretended we didn't understand a word of it. Something about them..."
"You sense it too."
She nodded.
"We have research to do tonight on Ben and Kir Obiken," Bruce said.
"Can we get through the evening and stay in control?" Catherine asked.
Bruce knew he had to remain "Social Bruce" given the setting no matter how much his assertive tendencies as Batman strained for control. "We'll see," was his only reply.