Kingdom Comes Now and No Later
6: 47 AM
[16 Hours Until Operation: Knightfall]
"Yo, check this out!"
"Really? A hobo? What kinda goods can he have on him?"
Two men with their lower faces covered and dressed in winter-clothes talk to each other as a frail-old looking man, dressed in dirty clothes and a long grey beard stumbles in front of them "That watch, check it!" one of the men fires back as he grabs the homeless man's wrist and pulls it up which dragged the man along with it. The two men grin as they see a gold watch on the other man's wrist "Yo, you ghat a watch like dis and still homeless? Are you also brainless too?"
"Hey man, gives us the watch nice and easily or we are gonna cut it off of you, and I rather not since who knows what kinda nasties you got on you" the man on the right pulls out a small knife out of his jacket and holds it up at the homeless man.
"No, p-lease, this isn't something that I can just...just give up"
"Okay then, time to cut it off you, time to slice you up!" the man steps forward and plays with the knife in hand, making minute slashes through the air "Open up wide old-man, here comes the airplane!" the advances made the homeless man backway against a brick wall as he looks on in terror as the shadow of the man approaching quickly darkens him.
"Oh...this is going to be messy, I like messy..." the other man said, folding his arms and smirking.
"P-p-please...don't hurt me. I'll give you the w-watch, just don't hurt me, please" the homeless man holds up his arms as he cowers.
"Too late, sunshine! You had a chance for a clean getaway, but you bums always find a reason to annoy me, I'm going to take my time slicing you up-" the approaching masked man was thrown off balance. Blood drips from his mouth as he falls to his knees "Agghhkkk" he squirms.
"Bro, you okay?" the other man leans over and sees a knife sticking out of the man's upper back "Yikes, who the hell did that?" he looks around him and sees no one nearby "Just what is going on? This whole thing is-" he too was knocked to the ground and another knife was thrown into the right side of his chest "What-the?" he says in pain as a third knife was then thrown from up high and into his shoulder; pinning him to the ground which he was lying on.
The homeless man looks up to high above at the surrounding rooftops and stops as he sees a shadowed figure standing atop of the building opposite the man with two white orbs that look down to him. The silhouetted figure holds a pair of daggers in his gloved hands, returning them to the harness around his torso. His white-orb eyes narrow as he turns around steps away from the view of the man from down below. Talon looks out to the outstretches of Gotham, passing his view past Wayne Tower.
"Where are you..." he grows.
7: 03 AM
Wayne Manner
Bruce slowly opens his eyes, his vision was blurry but slowly adjusts becoming much more clear and sharper. He feels the comfort of his head resting on the large red pillow behind him still feeling slightly tired, he goes to sit up but stops when he feels something pinning his chest down. He brings his arm up and found himself feeling the skin of another person, very soft. Without moving his head, he glances down to see a dark-haired woman resting her head over his chest.
"Selina?" he thinks to himself, realizing that he was shirtless with the red velvet sheet of his bed covering his bottom half and it wrapping over Selina's body up until her shoulders. Her black hair was messy, slightly knotted and sweaty. Her eyes were closed and she definitely seemed to be missing more than a few articles of clothing. Bruce's eyes double taken as he then remembers the events of the night. He wraps his arms around the woman's back and upper chest, leaning his head down and kissing her on her forehead "Hey...it's morning"
"Ah...already...?" Selina sheepishly mummers as she slowly pushes her head off of the man's chest and smiles, rolling off of Bruce and onto her back, taking most of the velvet bed cover with her. Bruce quickly made a play to cover his lower half and grabs his boxer off the floor with his other hand. He jumps up onto his feet and puts on his boxers, pulling them up and giving Selina a good view of his behind, though not on purpose or even knowing that she would be looking.
Selina gave a weak laugh as she stretches out her arms upward and along with her legs down the sheets. Bruce turns away from Selina as he sees her go and get up, sheading the cover of the sheets "You really do take the whole cat thing quite literally, don't you?
"When I can, but there are certain places that I can't lick on my own, but I have you to help with that" Selina jokes running her tongue up her hand. She kneels down grabs the pile of her clothes and throws them onto the best. Bruce folds his arms, still having his back turned to the woman as he hears Selina's voice "So...um, how are you feeling?" she says a little nervous "Because I feel kinda good..."
"Y-yeah um...I'm good"
"Good?" she questions.
"Good" Bruce confirms, nervous in his own tone of voice.
"That's good" she nods now dressed back in her shirt and jeans and picking up her jacket from the bed "...eh...Bruce? You aren't having regrets about last night, are you? You seem slightly, slightly...more stoic than usual..."
"Regrets? No. No, of course, no...of course I don't, why would I...why would I have any...?"
"Hey, it's safe to look back now, not like I had an issue with you doing so anyway," she says as she zips up her jacket seeing Bruce turn around and face her, still with his arms folded "Be honest with me, Bruce. Was it...was it any good?"
"What? Excuse me...what? You mean the...the..."
"Sex, yes. Jesus, Bruce. You're an adult and you can't even bring yourself to say the word?" she bats her eyes.
"No, it's not that, honest. I just wasn't expecting for us...to...you know...feels...weird" Bruce rubs his shoulders.
"Weird? It felt weird?" Selina lifts an eyebrow.
"No. No that's not what I meant, I mean that us...you know?..."
"Go on" Selina steps closer, folding her own arms "Go on...and say it"
Bruce gulps "I mean...I just remembered just how beautiful you are...you are amazing. Makes me wonder what I did to deserve you..." he sees Selina's frown slowly curve into a smile.
"Oh, you...sly..." she wraps her arms around the man's neck "You just saved it, good for you" she hums as she leans in and kisses Bruce on the lips. Bruce holds his hands on Selina's hips. Their lips soon part and Selina smiles, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes "You are right about one thing, after what we did...we need to adjust to it, there could be some quite heavy consequences. I mean what about if Barbara finds out? This whole thing may have opened up a whole new world of probl-"
"Selina"
"Yes?"
"Kiss me" Bruce leans down and captures the woman's lips with his own. Selina slides her hands into Bruce's own, folding them over.
"Hey, Bruce. I hate to be a bother and since Harvey doesn't want to bother you - I should tell you that we are nearly out of food, just thought that we should give you a heads up" Harleen opens the door to the room and walks in on the two. The blonde's eyes widen at the near-naked sight of Bruce "Oh...hi there" she slightly blushes as she sees Bruce turn his upper torso to face her. Seeing his muscles and abs made her almost dribble.
"Ah-um, Harleen..." Bruce stammers "Uh...I'll um...I'll figure something out"
"Yeah...you-uh-you-uh...you do that" Harleen kept her eyes on Bruce's torso "What...what... were we talking about again?"
"Get out!" Selina yells.
"Yeah-uh, sure" Harleen backs out of the room and closes the door.
"That's one way to kill the mood" Selina rolls her eyes, venting in a slight state of anger "Damn" she cusses.
"Hey, it's alright. Harleen didn't mean barge in like that...even though she did just...barge in like that - yeah...I mean...she didn't even knock...huh, I guess that you do have a valid reason to be annoyed" Bruce puts on his dark jeans and zips them up after picking up his black shirt that pulling it down over his head "Yeah, Harleen can be a little annoying, but she has a good heart"
"I'll just have to take your word for it" Selina huffs before turning her head back to him "Bruce, I need to go. I just remembered that I have something to do, I'll see you later"
"Uh...do you want a ride? I can-"
Selina steps forward and pecks the man on the cheek "I'll be fine, Bruce. Go and talk to Harvey, he deserves your time too, you know that?"
"Yeah, you're right"
7: 13 AM
"You know, Jim. We could have handled this on our own. I would think that the commissioner would have more important things to be doing" Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon walk side-by-side as they head down a dark and stingy street that had a handful of homeless men and woman. They reach their destination as they stand in front of a shop with the glass window shattered and with three masked men pinned to the walls and floors by a number of metal knives with some kind of markings.
"This situation has peaked my interested, not every day you get someone using throwing knives to stop crime. Run me through the report" Jim asks, dressed in a white shirt, with a blue blazer and a brown overcoat. He stands with his hands in his pockets as Harvey takes the lead.
"Alright, Partner" Bullock nods "The owner just that they were just opening up for the day when he was swarmed by these three numbskulls who held him and his staff at gunpoint. Fearing for their lives as they reasonably should have been they let the masked men into the shop where they proceeded to raid it along with the till grabbing everything that they had"
"And this?" Gordon points to the three masked men who were struggling to break free from the knives that hold them, pinning them down.
"Oh that, yeah..." Bullock steps neck to Gordon "See, none of the people that we questioned saw who did this, all they said that they saw was these knife being hurled through the window which pinned the three stooges"
"Wait, you're saying that whoever did this...did it from outside?" Gordon walks into the shop and over the broken shards of glass covering the floor with Harvey following behind "But...the accuracy, whoever did this didn't hit any vital organs and knew where to hit them...this precision...it's unreal"
"Except for a bat-themed vigilante that we both know" Harvey chimed in pointing to one of the knives "Last time I checked Batman doesn't kill, right? And I don't see any of these guys dead, plus with the skill that would be needed to pull this off...you can't outright count him out as a suspect"
"It wasn't him..." the commissioner kneels down and looks closely at one of the knifes, noticing the markings of an owl on the handle "It wasn't Batman, it wasn't him" he stands back up and looks to Harvey "I want the knifes bagged and taken to evidence for lock-up"
"Will do, Partner - but-uh first we need to manage to get them out of those three and they look like they are jammed in them real tight"
Gordon pats Harvey on the shoulder from behind "Then have these kind men escorted to Gotham general"
"Good idea, but it might take a while before the doctors can see them, they are still overwhelmed from last night" Harvey explains as he takes a swing of his flask "I'll call a unit in, but this isn't the only case to involve this mysterious new vigilante, I got other reports about more botched crimes with the perpetrators being pinned down by the same knifes as these guys," Harvey reveals as he returns his flask back into the pocket of his coat "Whoever is doing this...they got skill, like a tone of skill"
"Believe me, I know what we are dealing with" Jim heads out of the store, hands in pockets and his head held low "I know who we are dealing with" he adds under his breath, stepping out into the street "I know..." he looks up to the buildings above him and to the rooftops as soft trickles of rain begin to splashdown.
Meanwhile...
Wayne Manner
Bruce, dressed a black turtle neck jumper and grey jeans, walks into the living room to find it empty. He looks around while walking through the room, his eyes land on the windows at the side of the room. He heads towards them, spotting a small piece of glass on the floor next to them. He lifts an eyebrow, kneeling down to pick up the small shard in his palm "That's...strange" he gave a puzzled look, glancing up to the two large windows that lead out of the manner that seemed to perfectly intact and nothing suspicious.
"Morning, Bruce"
Bruce quickly stands up and turns to be faced with Harvey Dent, dressed in a pink shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a loose collar. The man also appeared to be holding a bottle of wine in his right hand "Harvey? It's good to see you" Bruce steps forward as both he and Harvey bring their arms down over the other's shoulder and hug "I'm sorry that I couldn't get to see you sooner. I really wanted to visit you in the G.C.P.D, but one thing led to another and well..." he says as they both part.
"Nonsense, Bruce. There is no need to explain yourself...I've heard...I've heard about Alfred..." Dent replies with an understanding tone "When I lost my old man, I was put through a whirlwind of emotions too. Trust me, I am the last person on the planet that you need to explain yourself too, just tell me how you are holding up?"
"Oh-um, good. I'm doing good" Bruce says, knowing that he couldn't tell his friend about the truth or that he should even risk involving him and putting him in unneeded danger. Bruce nods and looks to the bottle of wine in the man's hand "That wouldn't happen to be from the cellar would it?"
"Oh, this?" Harvey holds the bottle of wine to be level with his chest "Yeah, I hope that you don't mind. I needed something to take the pressure off, just the past few days have rough for me too. If you want, I can take it back - I don't mind if you-"
"No, it's not that. By all means, you can have it, it's just thought that it would have been Harleen who would have raided the cellar" Bruce gives a playful smile.
"She did" Harvey quickly replies in a serious tone.
"She what?" Bruce loses his smile and trades it for estranged looks of confusion.
"She did raid your cellar? That's what I said" Harvey repeats himself.
"Yeah, I got that - I just... - of course she did..." Bruce turns his upper torso away from Harvey "How much did she take?"
"You really don't want to know" Harvey admits.
"I got a feeling that you'd be right 'bout that" Bruce sighs.
"Just remember, if you ever find a reason to go down into the cellar - it may help to keep your cool to think of it as...a late spring cleaning..." Dent suggests, giving a loose smile. Bruce turns his upper body back to face Harvey, his eyes widened.
"Spring Cleaning?"
"Yeah, that's right"
"Harvey...we are just days from winter" Bruce addles.
"That's...that's why I said it was late...or early since we are closer to next year then the start of this one" Harvey shrugs.
"Harvey...each one of those bottles cost me hundreds apiece, thousands in a few cases too - so could you...just try to ask Harleen to ease up a bit for my wallet's sake," Bruce asks the man who wraps his arms over his shoulder.
"I can only try, that's all that I promise"
"By the way...where is Harleen? She barged into my room earlier to tell me that the pantry is nearly empty" Bruce asks as he and Harvey walk out of the room "She didn't happen to say anything to you, did she?" he adds.
"She came out blushing where you and Selena spent your night together, so I can only imagine what she saw, actually scratch that, I don't want to," Dent says to Bruce who turned his head. They both walk into the large kitchen "You need to be careful here. If Selina gets jealous of Harleen, who knows what she will do" Harvey chuckles as his hands glance over a newspaper on the desk next to him.
Bruce searches through the units to see few and far between items of food. Some cereal, some slices of bread and a few snacks "Harvey, I know that you are joking, you know that you are joking - but I honestly think that might be a potential problem for the future"
"I sure hope not, as much as I like Harleen - Selina is a street kid, and we both know that you shouldn't get in a scrap with a street kid" Harvey nonchalantly says as he pours himself a cup of coffee "So...are you two in a relationship or it sorta benefits thing? Feel free not to answer, as I just realize how rude that question was..." he takes a sip of the cup. Spitting it out after it burns his mouth. He places the cup down and holds his hand over his mouth "Ah mah thongue I think I bhurned mah thongue"
"No you didn't" Bruce replies shoving off the loose packets taking up space on the shelves.
"Okay, you're right. I didn't" Harvey takes another sip from the cup.
"And about Selina and I? Yeah, I have no clue either, no clue at all - but I think she knows what we are together" Bruce sighs "Honestly I think that we are just recovering from the last time we-uh...parted ways" he adds.
"Oh, you mean the time that you left the city without telling her and leaving her broken-hearted for ten years? Yeah, I can't imagine what could have strained your relationship with her...not a clue, no sir. Not even Sherlock Holmes could figure that one out" he takes another swig from the cup while he keeps his eyes trained on Bruce.
"Believe me when I say that I have had everyone in my life bust me up about that"
"I mean that it could be worse" Harvey places his cup down "You could have hooked up with another girl while you left Selina heartbroken here, but thankfully I know that you wouldn't do such a thing, that's what I like about you Bruce, loyal to the end" Harvey looks down and looks at the newspaper.
"Oh..." Bruce winces at Harvey's words.
"you say something, Bruce?" Dent asks.
"Uh-no, just talking to myself"
"Got it. I do that some times..." Harvey's eyes focus on the paper "Hey, check it out. Looks like you made the front page" he picks up the newspaper and shows it to Bruce. The billionaire glances back at the paper and was quick to flabbergast "Look at you, Mr Hero," Bruce grabs it from Harvey and examines it closely.
"*Bruce Wayne saves the day*? How the hell comes out with these headlines?" he scoffs "Damn, I'm guessing that the rest of Gotham also knows about this, this could be dangerous for Harleen if someone from the media finds her here and you too..."
"Damn, Bruce you must be humble to your core or somethin', I was kinda expecting you to go all showboat there for a second, also thanks for the concern" Harvey tips his cup towards the man, in mimicking a toast "Sometimes you are just too pure for this world..."
"Not as much as you'd think" a woman chirps.
Both men look as Harleen walks in the room from outside, dressed in a sleeveless red and black Dimond-pattern dress and black leggings. Her hair was down loose to her lower back with dual bangs hanging over her ears "Morning Harvey, morning Bruce. I don't know about you, but I am starving - what's for breakfast?" she sits in the empty seat next to Harvey.
"Not much it looks like. The cabinets seem to be lacking" Harvey takes another sip from his coffee "Say, Bruce. What are we going to do about-"
"We'll come back to that..." Bruce dismisses Harvey "Harleen?"
"Yeah? What's-up?"
"That dress you have on...?"
"You like? Yeah...I love it too"
"No, not what I was trying to say, Harleen" Bruce steps forward and holds his hands over on the counter "That dress...you didn't have that before, so tell me how you managed to get it?"
"Well...you...see..." she nervously trails off, scratching her neck "I kinda found a catalogue...and saw that they did custom orders...so I mighta thought that I could order somethin' for myself and voila" she points to the dress "And also, if someone calls askin' for a Mrs Wayne, just ignore it...or just hand the phone to me - either works, but on a serious note you probably should just hand it over to me" she taps her nails against the surface of the table.
"Harleen..." Bruce leans over "How much did that thing cost?"
"Don't worry about that, they charged it to the occupier of the place" she shrugs.
"Which...would be...me..." Bruce sighs, dropping his head "Just tell me how much...I don't care anymore"
"Oh, umm..."
"Harleen..."
"Well...I may have miscalculated the amount needed to pay-"
"Harleen. Just. Tell. Me."
"$7300"
"7300? How...that's impossible unless there are like diamonds on...oh no, tell me that you didn't..." Bruce slams his head down on the desk.
"Sorry...I just couldn't resist..." Harleen shrugs, slightly tilting in her seat to showcase the trail of small demands down the sides of the dress "Would now be a bad time to say that I am still hungry..."
Bruce slams his head back onto the desk "We're ordering out today, happy?"
"Yes!" Harleen applauds.
"I think that was a rhetorical question, Harleen" Harvey glances away, sipping his coffee.
Wayne Tower
8: 18 AM
Selina stood with her arms folded standing in front of the room-sized windows that face outward into the city of Gotham. She sees her own reflection in the glass which mimicked and mirrored every movement that she made, no matter how small or insignificant "I hate to admit like it hurts my soul that I have to give you any credit, but you were right. You knew that Bruce wouldn't go through will killing Jerome, you knew that he would somehow hold himself back, restrain himself from finishing the job..."
"So is the part why I say that I told you so or have I already missed the timing? You must forgive me, I am not too familiar with you Americans and your culture" Talia sits in the seat behind her desk as she looks over to Selina "So, did you just come here to tell me something that I already knew? Or do you somehow know something that I don't by some odd chance?" she crosses her legs "Or are you just here to ruin my day because at the moment I can see how it can go any of those ways...or all three somehow"
"I'm here to ask a favour from you," Selina says, gritting her teeth.
"Oh? Favour, I see..." Talia rolls her eyes "This could be entertaining at least, please go on. Just what is this favour that you want to ask?"
"I want the truth, Talia. The truth because I know that I will never get it from Bruce, no matter how much he trusts me" Selina narrows her eyes "He didn't even trust Alfred enough to tell him and plus, you owe me"
"I'm in debt to you, kitty? Please explain how I, the leader of the world's deadliest group is in debt to one, lonely, sad and worthless woman in the most crime-ridden city in the world? Because I can't figure that one out for the life of me?" Talia challenges Selina in an amused smile.
"Because I didn't tell Bruce about how you knew about Alfred the whole time" Selina turns her head "You know that if Bruce ever found that out...he would never forgive you, no matter how many times you've slept with him..."
"Which would be a lot if I must say" Talia leans back "So...you withheld that information from Bruce to hold as leverage over me? Gotta say, I'm impressed by you...even though it's only a little" she holds her hand up, parting both her thumb and index finger in a small gap to emphasize her words "All those years on the streets did you well, I mean not family-wise of course, but it sharpened your cutthroat approach, and if there's one thing that I can respect, it's cutthroats"
"Says the woman whose father was a crazy bastard who wanted to destroy the city and whose sister came back to kill my friends and Bruce - twice, you are not someone to be talking about broken families" Selina bites back.
"Hey...I disregard many of my father's practices and my sister can just to hell for all I'm concerned, but I still care for them for what they are worth. So I just love my dad, Nyssa once again can just go to hell- always acting like she was father's favourite, please..." she blows a strand of hair from her eyes "Always acting like a spoiled brat, even though she was the older sister - she is an embarrassment to my father's legacy"
"Did...did you just...? Did you just have an emotional break?" Selina asks, puzzled.
"Forgive me, miss Kyle. The thought of Nyssa always gets my blood boiling" Talia sits up straight and regains her composure "Anyway, you said that you wanted the truth? What truth are you refereeing to? I hope it's not the meaning of life because not even the League has found that out quite yet..."
"About Bruce, you said that was different from before he left, right?"
"Yes, I do recall myself saying that it was only last night after all" Talia holds her hands out and checks her nails.
"I want to know about what happened after he left...I want to know who he has become, because I'm not too sure anymore" Selina turns her head back to face the window "One moment...he's dark and mysterious, angry even - but suddenly he becomes calm and collected, even caring and kind - and sometimes there's just...nothing, like he's just a vessel for something much more...darker"
"And you want to know why I Presume?" Talia inquires.
"Yeah, I do" Selina replies.
"Let's say this..." Talia stands up to her feet "Let me ask you this. When do you think Bruce began his journey to become Gotham's dark knight?"
"What? When he decided to leave Gotham when he came to you as I led to believe"
"Nope" Talia sits down on her desk and crosses her legs "That was just his training, the dark knight was already formed, already...already grown inside of Bruce"
"The night...that night in the alley with his parents...that was...that was..." Selina glances down.
"That was when the dark knight was born, the darkness of anger flooded Bruce's heart and soul that laid dormant for when Bruce would need it, when little Bruce would accept it and help it flourish into what it is today, what we know as Batman" Talia waves her finger with each word that she spoke "Sure it didn't have a name or a symbol to it, but the darkness resonated within Bruce's very soul waiting for its moment, it's time for when Gotham would need it the most"
"Bruce was always meant to become him...no matter what I did..." Selina whispers.
"Exactly, so there's no use trying to feel bad about it. Because sooner or later...Bruce would have unleashed the dark force within him and lucky for you lot...it was a force for justice and order - in most case, childhood trauma can cause people to go crazy and become criminals..." Talia comments "That night...Jim Gordon came to the rescue, the shining white knight who promises to find the guy who killed his parents, Bruce sees this and becomes amazed, no... infatuated with him..."
"Gordon?"
"Yes, Gordon. Think about it, the shining beacon of hope that comes into Bruce's now dark and cold world, it shows him that the city has people who fight for justice, for the people. It convinces him to one day become a symbol of order and justice, a knight for this dark city - someone that can make it that no other child would have to suffer the same tragedy that he did..." Talia tilts her head "He wanted to become strong enough to protect the people closest to him, to protect the ones that he loves..."
"I knew that much, or at least I thought that I did...this makes no sense, why wouldn't Bruce tell me that?"
"Because there is no Bruce anymore, hasn't been for ages, not since he let the darkness out" Talia jumps onto her feet and holds her right hand onto her hip "Bruce Wayne is long dead, there is only the dark knight who is trying to live the life of someone who hasn't existed for a long, long time. He may fool himself and the others around you, but I think that you and I aren't so easily fooled, considering how close you were to Bruce once" she reveals.
"I...I don't know...who or what he is, I just know that I care for him, and I want answers"
"Did you ever care for Bruce or were you lured by the darkness inside him, the deepest parts of him, the parts of him he didn't even know that he had at the time. You saw it in him, just like I did when I first met him..."
"Enough with that, I care for him, for Bruce...for the boy who I saw lose his parents, the boy has been with me through most of my life, now the man that is out there saving lives while you just sit back and would happily let the city burn if you could, so you better stop playing mind games with me, got that? Unlike you, I actually care for Bruce and don't want to see him get hurt" Selena turns around to confront the other dark-haired woman.
"Oh, dear..." Talia's amour propre was shown on full display as her lips form into a grin "I don't care about Bruce? If you want to me to tell you what you want to know then I suggest that you stop trying to piss me off, okay?" she warns "I am trying to be civil here, think of it as a courtesy to you - I hope that endeavour would have been mutual"
"Sorry, I just got carried away - I didn't mean to...".
"I think that you did" Talia keeps her small smirk "But nevertheless, you already know all about Bruce's ventures here in Gotham - you came to me to learn about what happened after he left, do I presume correct?"
"You aren't goin' to make me asks nicely, are you?"
"I was thinking about it, but I wouldn't make one do that which I wouldn't do myself - Very well...I shall tell you, but I shall warn you...it's not exactly a happy story" Talia rests her chin on her left knuckle "Are you sure that you want to know it?"
"Tell me" Selina firmly replies.
Gotham General
8: 35 AM
"Doctor? Doctor? Doctor Langstrum!" Gordon shouts as he sprints through the ward as he catches up to the frail-looking man who looks back to him "Dr Langstrum, we need to talk, I tried leaving messages at your home, but there was no reply - it's about the important thing that we discussed, I need your help with something that could possibly be related to it" Gordon says, slightly out of breath.
"Ah-uh, Commissioner? I didn't expect to see you...ah yes...about that...please" he holds out his arm towards one of the rooms "Please come, we need privacy to discuss such a delicate matter" Jim follows Kirk into the room "You must understand that when I came to you with such a matter, I was expecting you and your team to take it from there" he closes the door to the room and turns down the blinds to the room "Discussing this in such a public place like this...well it could put both of us a great deal of danger..."
"Apologies, Doctor. If you are worried about your safety here...then we can discuss this further as your house later tonight"
Kirk's eyes widen "Ah, no...that won't be necessary, Commissioner" he turns to look at Gordon "Night is the only time my wife and I can both be at home together, our work lives have often interfered with our personal ones. I would hate to give up what little time that I and my wife have together as it is, I hope that you will understand"
"Don't worry, I do. With my line of work, I make the most out of every moment I can get with my wife"
"If I'm not mistaken, isn't your wife also a doctor?" Kirk puts on a pair of glasses.
"Yes, Lee Thompkins, she works in this place"
"Ah yes, now I remember, Doctor Tompkins was one of our brightest newcomers when she first came to us, unfortunately at my age, I am not longer given the role of surgeon, rather I am simply the head of the floor that oversees everyone else, and I could not be happier with her work, absolutely splendid" Langstrum praises.
"Thank you. That means a lot coming from someone like you who has had several decades on the job" he rests his hands in the pockets of his overcoat "That would mean the world to her if you can say that to her yourself"
"I would love to, but she is kept quite busy in here most days with her work, she is not someone to slouch around and always keeps herself busy as she goes from saving one life to the next" the older man comments "She is a marvellous study and I feel that she is perfect to look into what you might ask of me, you and her live together thus there is no need for long-distance communication that could compromise both of you which is the case with us..."
"Are you sure, I would have thought that you have liked to bring this whole thing to light" Jim asks.
"Unfortunately, Commissioner. I can't withstand the light as much as I use to, please forgive my seemingly act of cowardice - I just rather keep myself out of the light where I can lay low and make a difference from the shadows..." Kirk says apologetically.
"Trust me, you aren't the first friend of mine to work like that. Let me know if you find anything else" Gordon smiles as he walks out of the room.
"Good luck, Commissioner" Langstrum wishes.
9: 11 AM
"Damn it!" a man cries as a knife was thrown into his hand; splatting blood outward and making him drop the gun that he held "Just who the hell is the fre-" he was cut off as the Talon uppercuts him with a left hook. Talon backflips and perches on the ground as he pulls out a new pair of knives from his harness. His glowing white eyes light up the path ahead of him in the dimly lit room, the only light up high was constantly flashing, leaving the room often in pitch-black darkness with his own eyes giving off the only source of light for a split second.
He sees two more men run into the room, wielding their own handguns "You think that you can just come on our turf and just raising hell? You're gonna die freak!" one of the men yell as he fires away. Talon's eyes narrow as he rolls across the ground which allowed him to move out of the way of the incoming bullets. He backflips back up onto his feet and hurls one of his knives into the shooter's kneecap; causing the man to wince in pain and fell to his knee, grabbing at the knife that was jammed in it.
"Don't bother" Talon advises as he hurls the second knife in the other man's shoulder which pinned him to the wall behind him "I angled the knife. Ripping it out is not a possibility, the only way to get out is to lose your whole leg" he walks over to the man who was pinned against the wall. He brings his armoured hand up and wraps it around his throat "You work for Black Mask, is that right?" Talon asks in a cold and unnerving manner that was made even more nerve-racking by the small echo given to it by his helmet.
"Yeah-uh...I do-uh few jobs for- for h-him, yeah" the man nervously replies as he stares into the cold, motionless white orbs that are the eyes on the Talon's helmet "L-ike deliveries and uh-stuff"
"Do you happen to know where he is?" Talon asks, cold as ever.
"Uh, no - it's a secretive thing! Honest! He calls us, we aren't allowed to talk to him directly - we do business through one of his own men!"
"Don't care, I'm not here for him..." Talon holds his hand on the handle of the knife that was stuck in the man's shoulder and begins to twists it, making the man wince in more pain "There's someone working with Black Mask, someone you and your men should know about. A woman who goes by *The Demons Head*" Talon slowly pushes the knife down, deeper through the man's shoulder until the handle itself had been slightly pushed through "...You should really start talking"
"I will be more than happy to discuss this with you," a voice says from behind.
Talon snaps his head around, almost like an owl. He sees a man dressed in a black in black muscle shirt tucked down under a pair of green cargo pants and heavy black boots. Bane stood, with black fingerless strapped gloves on his hands, and a mask that covered his mouth. His hair was gelled to the side, with some stray strands sticking out upward and to the side. Bane stood high, easily over six food and much taller than the Talon. Bane lifts his hands and cracks both of his fists "Your prescience in this city is not ideal for our plan, I was sent here to take care of you" Bane's muffled voice informs Talon.
"You? Deal with me?" Talon's body followed after his head to fully face the man "I should have known that she would send you, instead of facing me herself" he takes a couple of steps towards the much more taller man who cracks his neck.
"Yes. Yes, you should have" Bane nods.
Talon slowly reaches behind his back and grabs a new pair of knives out "She's using you, she's making you a weapon"
"Foolishness my friend, unlike you, I was already a weapon beforehand - she just gave me a new war to fight" Bane stoically replies.
"And one more battle that you shall lose"
"Ah, your spirit is strong - I like that, that will make this far more intriguing" the brute praises as he throws fist towards Talon, which he ducked under. Standing back up and hitting Bane in the stomach but to no effect or any noticeable difference "I hope that is not all that you can do, otherwise..." he rams his head down and slams it into Talon's helmet, breaking the left eye "This will be..." he then grabs the other man's shoulders and rams his knee up into the man's stomach "...Disappointing" he throws Talon onto the floor.
"Wh-what...wh-what...are you.." Talon gasps as he stands back up onto his feet "I feel like...like I was just hit by a truck"
"No, you were just hit by Bane" Bane steps forward with his arms by his sides.
"Noted" Talon backflips away and hurls both of the knives towards Bane, who caught both of them with each of his hands. Bane lowers his head to look at the two daggers and crushes the handles, throwing them to the ground.
"I was promised a great challenge with you, yet you are far inferior to both me and my master, and even the Batman" Bane's eyes narrow "If this is not worth my time, then your life has no meaning to me. You are slow, weak - a disappointment" he begins to stomp towards Talon who reaches behind his back, only to find that he had no more spare knives left to use. Bane rams his fist across Talon's face, then repeats the action with his left, lifting both of his arms up, he slams his elbows down on Talon's upper back.
Talon was left kneeling down as he held his sides, Bane looks down to him "You are pathetic, an empty void of the force that you once were" he lifts his foot up above the man's head "She made you into a new warrior, a true soldier - yet you choose to return to who you were before - You disappointed her" Bane sighs.
"Considering what kind of person she is, I'll take that as a compliment..."
"You do that" Bane stomps his foot down, Talon quickly falls to the ground and rolls out of the way as Bane's foot lands; denting the ground which it falls on. Talon jumps back on to his feet as a blade ejects out of his boot. He kicks up towards Bane's stomach, which the tall man sees coming. He uses both of his hands to catch the boot with the blade mere centimetres away from cutting into him.
"And I'll do this..." Bane says as tightens his grip around Talon's boot and slams him over his head onto the ground; denting both it and the man's helmet "And this..." Bane kneels down to grab Talon and lift him above his head. He throws him upward, hitting him into the ceiling at the one light to the room; shattering it and leaving the room in complete darkness. Bane cracks his knuckles as he turns his head to look all around the room "I know that wasn't enough to keep you down, come out and strike me! Don't let being a coward fuel your final moments!"
Bane sides-steps as Talon throws a punch from behind. Eduardo grabs Talon by the shoulder and bends his arm behind his back "I am thankful for this opportunity, as you see, knowing how well I do against you will give me a rough estimate of what I can do against the Batman, after all, I am perfectly aware of your origin" he says, in a surprisingly respectful manner with no ill intent or dishonesty "I am indebted to you, my friend " Bane was true to his words.
"I'm...I'm not finished yet..." Talon groans.
"Of course not, you still have your part to play - this was only a bit of fun for me" Bane turns his head while he grabs Talon and lifts him above his head once again "This is farewell for now..." he throws Talon across the room and through one of the rusted windows, out into the outside world of Gotham. Talon was thrown out of the three-story building and into the back alley. Bane steps towards the broken window, looking down to Talon who was lying deep below on the cold pavement.
Wayne Manner
10: 24 AM
"Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable..." Bruce drops his phone on the table "...unbelievable..."
"That bad...?" Harvey asks.
"I just checked my account and found out that...someone has been making purchases for the last week, and they all have to with...clothes and for some reason...a stuffed animal" Bruce vents "I don't know she did it, but Harleen has spent literal millions on clothes ever since she got here - and that's in less than a week" he adds, dazed with confusion.
"Millions? Wow, usually girls pretend to like you before wasting all your money, but I don't think she did it with malicious intent. Maybe she just lost track...like she said" Harvey shrugs, seeing the clear frustration on the other man's face "You think that you can coax Harley into returning them and get your money back? Because I can't see Harleen feasibly paying you back all that money"
"First thing that I thought of, but they told me that since she was already wearing them - I couldn't return them" Bruce exhales.
"Yikes, Bruce. So your just down a few millions just like that? I'm sure she must feel really bad about it, maybe try talking to her or something. She owes you an apology at least"
"A simple *I'm sorry* won't cut it, Harv" Bruce turns to him.
"Yeah, that makes sense - just - just...try to take it easy on her, Bruce. She's a good person, sure she can get easily side-tracked, but deep down I'm sure that she doesn't mean you any harm" Dent reassures the other man "Remember she has the constant fear of being killed by those masked men. I can't blame her if she wanted to live-it-up a little" Dent sees Bruce open up the fridge and take out a glass container of milk, swigging at it "Is the milk even okay? It looks it a bit...solid from here"
Bruce spits into the sink and drops the carton "Yep. Definitely gone off..." he spits again into the sink "I'll call in for delivery later..." he spits again. wiping his lips with his hand "Where's Harleen now?"
"Out" Harvey casually replies, deep in concentration with the newspaper.
"Out?" Bruce snaps back.
"Out" Harvey confirms.
"No, Harvey, out?" Bruce asks annoyed "Gordon was clear when he said that she wasn't to leave the house"
"Nope, he said that she wasn't permitted to leave the premises and Wayne Manner has a tone of outdoor space in its premises" Harvey flips the page over "She's outback by the pond"
"Pond?" Bruce's eyes widen "Crap, I forgot to feed the fishes, damn it"
"Harleen's been taking care of it, has been since she got here"
"Oh..." Bruce blinks "I see..." he turns to the sink and spits once more "I'm going to check up on her"
"Good" Harvey looks up from the newspaper to see that Bruce had vanished "Bruce?" he looks around "Heh, he must have been in a hurry..." his eyes look back down to the paper as he turns the page. His eyes widen in shock "...Damn...that's saddening...poor family"
"Harleen?" Bruce calls out, walking across the field of grass of the garden, eventually his eyes locate the blonde. Harleen was kneeling in front of the large pond that took up quite a chunk of the ground. Bruce's feet then begin to walk on the stone slabs that lead towards the woman and the pond. His eyes maneuverer towards the group of small fish that swim around in the well-kept and fancy pond "Harleen, Harvey told me that you were the one looking after the little guys"
"Ya heard right, I didn't figure you one to worry about your garden" Harleen replies as, looking down at the fish "It's kinda charmin' if I do say so"
"It was all Alfred's idea, I don't know anything about...well...this...?" he glances around the garden "The last days have been hectic for me, so I apricated you for keeping an eye on things, it does mean a lot"
Harleen holds out a hand to Bruce which he takes. He pulls her up onto her feet "Don't mention it, B. I'm just glad that I could be a help around here for a change, plus...I can tell that I was becomin' a nuisance to you, an' that's the last thing that I would want"
"I'll take your word for it" Bruce smiles playfully "Harleen, just please...stop buying things for now. You have everything you need here, plus you made sure that...you will never run out of clothes. So could just possibly...dial it back a little"
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just lost track, you know? I was going to ask you, but you are never home, like really...never"
"Yeah, that's the price I must pay for being the CEO of one of most powerful enterprises in the world, the work is tiring. I hardly get a moment to myself" Bruce stands with his left hand in his pocket "I try to make the most of every free moment that I can get"
"Goin' from what I walked in on this morning...I find that too easy to believe" Harleen gives a quick smile.
"Ah...I..." Bruce glances away from Harleen "You-you-uh...you weren't supposed to see that. I'm sorry that you had to walk in on that, I know that it must have been very...strange..."
"I'm not sorry that I did" Harleen rolls her eyes in a playful manner "Gotta say...for a simple CEO...you-uh...you are quite well built - from...from..." the blonde stumbles over her words "I mean that...you are lookin' good, B." Harleen playfully jabs the man in the shoulder "...You...uh...good on you"
"...Okay, thank you...?" Bruce looks down to his shoulder where Harleen's hand still was "...Harleen?"
Harleen quickly pulls her hand away and laughs nervously "I just made it awkward, didn't I?"
"Uh...yeah...I think that you did, I think that you did"
"I should probably go...I should go back inside, maybe see how Harvey's doing" she points back to the house, walking off from Bruce and back towards the manner. Bruce puts his hands on his hips, turning his head to see Harleen heading back.
"I coulda handled that one better" Bruce turns his head back "Coulda handled that one much, much better, and probably way less awkward," Bruce said under his breath. His eyes tense up, sharply turning around, Bruce catches a silver knife that was thrown at him. Grabbing the handle, and stopping its momentum. He opens his palm and looks at the handle, seeing the carvings of an owl "What?" he slowly looks up to see a figure standing a metre in front of him.
A boy with long brown hair, dressed in a long-sleeve grey shirt and black jeans. Bust most importantly of all, the boy's face mirrored that of Bruce's from many years ago. The doppelganger looks at Bruce's hand and sees that he had caught the knife "Good to know that you still got it, though...your reaction time was sloppy. You should have moved out of the way, but by the time you noticed it - it was already too late to do so, you got lucky" he says between breaths.
"Thomas?" Bruce looks back to the boy "What are you doing here? I thought that you were in Bludhaven"
"We don't have a lot of time, Bruce. It's happening tonight - Knightfall, it's going down at midnight, as if we don't somehow pull off a miracle...we are all dead" Thomas says, breathing heavily as he holds his sides. Bruce's eyes widen seeing the red stain underneath the other man's shirt, the blood-soaked hand that covered it.
"My god, Thomas - who did that to you?" Bruce asks worriedly.
"Bane. He's...in Gotham...and is ready to kill you...I tried looking for him and his leader...and well...this..." Thomas' eyes glance down to his blood-covered hand "I...I only got away because...he wanted me too..., he has it out for you, Bruce... - both him and his master"
"Master? No..." Bruce's eyes tremble "...Please don't say what I think that you are going to say..."
"Yeah.." Thomas gags "Nyssa - she's been in Gotham this whole time..."
"No, no..." Bruce steps back "Talia made sure that the League of Shadows dealt with her"
"You...mean...the League of Shadows that want to destroy Gotham...? Why...why...would they follow the leadership of someone who allies herself with you - Talia al Ghul never controlled the Shadows, Nyssa has"