To say that everything ached was an understatement. He was used to the pain, but forcing himself out of bed day in and out made his abdomen clench in agony and made him grit his teeth. An arm curled around his stomach as he got to his feet on shaky legs. It had been several days since his meeting with Bruce and he hadn't quite spoken to Spooky since, despite the other's efforts to contact him. He didn't really feel like talking too much now. 'Lost with your heads in the clouds,' as his mother would put it, God bless her soul.

What caught him unawares though was the smell of burning meat, and the quiet feminine cursing he heard from upstairs. It seemed that Bruce gave his new bodyguard a key. Wonderful. He threw on a pair of slacks and a loose dress shirt, anything requiring a belt or buttons was a nightmare for him in the morning and despite his injured state he still patrolled the property bought and owned by Wayne Industries. It was a painful experience on his own, but perhaps Ms. Bordeaux could be of use for both his clothing situation and getting around to the properties faster. That was her purpose here he supposed, feeling it odd that he had a pseudo-butler for the time being.

The short span up the stairs made his utter soft curses beneath his breath. When he rounded the corner most of the aches were forgotten. Sasha had her back to him and she wore a simple nightgown that hugged her strong shoulders and gave a pleasant curvature to her rump. He reached up and rubbed his fingers along the bridge of his nose, at this rate he may become more of a horndog then Bruce. He settled with clearing his throat, making Sasha's back go rigid.

"I see Bruce decided to give ya a key, Ms. Bordeaux?"

She turned and he could see a bit of color on her cheeks. He didn't see himself as all too grand to look at, especially with enough bandages to choke a man out. She approached carefully though, setting the still sizzling pan aside. Her hands were quick and professional as she helped him with his shirt, but he noticed her hands were moving a bit slower. Judging by the bedhead she had she likely hadn't been up for too long either. He found that he liked the look, and the fact her natural look so to speak didn't detract from her strong beauty at all.

"He did." She explained with a bit of a grin at her lip. "He also told me you'd try and patrol the properties again. He's aware of what you were doing, naturally despite your lack of communication with him. I tried to get here sooner, but had to finalize a few things before my official start. Sorry for my unprofessional look."

Gregory's eyes scanned along a moment, and he could see an impish glint in her eye. He swore she was like this on purpose but he only shrugged. "Truth be told don' rightly care. It's only… what six, seven in the morning? Still got an hour before we need to head into the city," he then nodded over her shoulder, "and someone decided to make breakfast, much obliged."

"I imagine with your… injuries it would be hard to try and make something other then drinking some sort of protein shake," she tutted a moment and shook her head, "glad I got here when I did or you would be likely stuffing yourself on pizza soon."

Gregory couldn't help but keep the smirk from his lip. "Nothing wrong with a little guilty pleasure, no?"

She had a slight smile at her lips and shrugged, not answering him even as she started to prep a plate. Scrambled eggs, white toast, several healthy sized sausages and bacon. Certainly one of the healthiest meals he had lately. MREs could only last a man so much in his state. He dove into the food with his less aching arm, enjoying a home cooked meal.

"Enjoy it while you can. I'll be getting ready and we'll head out soon. I'll be thirty minutes."

He nodded, offering her a slight smile with his cheek partly puffed out with food. She laughed quietly, and Gregory didn't mind the sound as much. He swore again under his breath, figuring Spooky likely set this up somehow to get him laid. He finished the plate in silence, brows knotted as he got lost in his own head. He rinsed the plate, part of his back aching from the slightly bent angle.

"Ready to go Mr. Saunders?"

He looked over at her and another appreciative glance was shown. Her dark hair was in a tight, professional bun leaving her lovely features in view complete with that impish glint in her eyes. She wore what appeared to be a coat of some kind that was colored black, hugged her form snug, that was cut to her waist. She wore a pair of dress pants that were held tight to her with a leather belt. She even wore a collared shirt and tie.

"Just need my coat." He muttered.

Wayne Security owned by Mr. Wayne was being robbed, and Gregory found that near hilariously ironic.

It was their fifth of many stops through the day. None of the sensors went off when they were on approach which struck him as the first oddity. He usually heard a cursory beep when he was on his bike near the property. The guard he talked to reported nothing strange throughout the morning, but considering it was Gotham that also struck him as odd. When he questioned the guard why it was so quiet all hell broke loose. There was a garage used for company parking across the street and a large armored fan just burst from the shadows with the brights, nearly searing Gregory's eyes clean from his head but he had the state of mind to push the guard away. It tore through the gates and half a dozen men in ballistic vests, submachine guns, and half-black, half-white masks began to tear up the front entrance.
The guard scrambled to his knees and began to take potshots with his pistol as he radioed backup. Local communication worked fine and they reported there was another similar van at the south entrance, but they had more men in this one. Gregory cursed and when he asked the guard for a gun he was given a pump shotgun. His body would hate him after this, he knew. Sasha held her ground right now, taking cover with a small pistol in hand behind the armored luxury sedan she was given to drive Gregory around in. The guard got to his feet and was immediately shot from the chest up in a bloodied mess that sent him sprawling onto the console. Gregory could hear shots whizzing over his head and Sasha calling to him to see if he was alright. He didn't respond but instead rose up on the unfortunate goon that approached too close. The shotgun was raised.

No killing.

The warning was in the back of his mind in Bruce's voice and the muzzle dropped back down, the bucking of the shotgun took him by surprise making him hiss in pain but that was drowned by the scream of agony from the goon who was now holding a mangled mess of a leg together. Sasha had no such restraints as she quickly shot the man several times in the chest from behind cover. He wouldn't impose Bruce's rules on her, besides, a shotgun at the range he fired at was even lucky to do as much damage as it did. With a growl of pain he dumped the spent shell and grabbed the bloodied radio from the dead guard.

"I need a sitrep. The hell is going on?"

There came a smattering of responses that made him grimace.

"—rmed van outside too—"

"—ve civillains inside we ca—"

"—back up where's the damn po—"

"If anyone can hear this get inside the building and lock in down," he barked into the radio, "protect all civilians until the GCPD arrives."

He tossed the radio back to the corpse as he peeked over his small bit of cover again. A shot punched through the wooden backing of the building and punched him in the side, making him twist away from the agony as he fell onto his flank. He mused that this was how Bruce felt on a daily basis. He got to his knees, looking over at the wide, worried saucers of Sasha. He waved it off, even as he felt the strangle cool blood pass over his hip. He quickly gestured to Sasha to provide cover. She leaned around her cover and took wild shots at the goon that was keeping them pinned who was firing more careful shots but it wasn't careful enough to stop a charging Gregory. He tackled the man to the ground, tossing his rifle aside and his fists came down in a quick, bloody retort. One broke the man's nose and the other two to the side of the head turned him into a heap. He checked his pulse, and satisfied he would survive he got to his feet, ignoring the agony beneath his ribs. The shot was a through and through, but still didn't make it hurt any less.

"Gr—Mr. Saunders, you're hurt, bleeding. We need to stop."

There was worry in her face and reluctantly he nodded, letting his body lean against the abandoned van. It was a simple thing covered in shoddy iron plates, geared as a distraction that sure as hell worked. They were likely inside of the building now taking what they needed, but when Gregory looked up he saw a dark shadow pass over them both and with a little tired chuckle he slumped down with Ms. Bordeaux partly supporting his weight. He didn't notice she had a medkit in her hand until he glanced down.

"Just patch it and me up. Just saw Batman's fancy jet pass overhead. He's one man, might as well back him up, right?"

"Way back from him." Sasha quickly corrected. "With how you are we shouldn't be in the line of fire."

"He's a hero, sure he ain't the one we want but he's certainly the one we need."

A frown touched her lips and she nodded. "Fine, but no heroics."

Oh how little you know. Gregory thought even as he got to his feet.

He didn't recognize the masks. He assumed immediately it was Two-Face. Two cars per building, two buildings hit, but despite the half and half nature of their attire they were well trained. He was delayed getting to Gotham's branch of Wayne Security because Wayne Electronics was being robbed at the same time. He figured with the security he paid for that would give him time, but he caught the first group of thugs at Wayne Electronics already on the move. A well placed sticky mine and grapple brought the chase to a swift, near brutal, end. It wasn't the case when he got to Wayne Security, seeing the first van of thugs just getting into the building when he arrived. He also spotted Gregory and Sasha, both guns in hand and the former with a gunshot wound to his flank. Batman ignored it though as he passed through the hallways, listening faintly for gunshots. None came. A simple smash and grab? That wasn't Two-Face's style either there was always a second plan, a dual flair, but here it was simple, efficient, and brutal.
One of the employees crashed through the glass in front of him, thrown through clearly, but with a force he hadn't seen in awhile. He cautiously pressed to the wall and used the echolocation system to see exactly what he was up against. With the glowing, shifting blurs he could see four thugs with one a fair deal larger then the remaining three. One of them was at a console, seemingly looking for something. This particular branch of Wayne Security was unremarkable, dealing usually with civilian contracts and protection. What motive could they have here?

He turned the corner, throwing a handful of batarangs before he dove through the window to tackle the closest to the ground. The large man seemed unbothered by the cut on his chest while the other two scrambled to pick up their weapons. The thug on the ground was ended with a swift knee to his jaw. The crunch of bone sounded oddly sweet to him before he got to his feet, avoiding a wild swing. He slid beneath, and activating the shock knuckles in his gloves punched the first rearmed thug straight in his stomach before he gripped and threw him into the other. They both collapsed in a heap with the second man's head striking the wall and collapsing over with a groan.
The large man's blow hit this time. The force sent him, and whatever air was left in his lungs, out and through the still intact window of the lab and he felt his back crunch into the wall behind him. A fair dent in the stone, and the throbbing pain in his back, likely told him it was time for more bed rest but he got to his feet again bringing up his hands as they sparked.

"The boss said you would fight, Batman, but this? Ah, this is just plain sloppy."

He made note of the accent - thick, Spanish it seemed, mixed with a touch of sounded like Czech but he couldn't be sure right now. With his cowl's audio he could play it back later. It was an odd to his ears but the potential origins only made him launch forward, sending both knees into the man's chest. The tried to swat him away but he used the moment of the launch to curl his arms around his neck, gripping tight as he flipped over his shoulder. His felt his feet scrape the ceiling as he curled over, sending the man sprawling to the ground, flailing and swinging wildly from the sudden and tight choke. To Batman size didn't matter. Every encounter was an operation and he was the surgeon. He clenched his entire body again, and again cutting off more and more air. When the big man's form stilled he tossed him off his back, grunting as he looked around at the ruined mess inside. He dealt with four, but that didn't account for the others.

"Batman?"

He looked over, keeping the exposed portion of his face neutral. He reached up, tapping a portion of his cowl as the scrambler tickled his vocal chords. Sasha and Gregory were there, both of them looked awful but they were alive much to his relief. He flicked his lense covered gaze to Gregory who shifted a bit uncertainly.
"What are you and Mr. Saunders doing here?" His warbled voice did nothing to hide the growl from his tone.
"And how do you know him exactly?"

Defensive, already taking a liking to him I see. Good.

"It's my business to know potential power players in Gotham. Being the Chief of Security answering to one of the richest men in Gotham certainly puts him on my radar, Ms. Bordeaux."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and he held his ground.

"Look don' matter how you know me or her Batman." Gregory noted, and Batman approved of how his eyes scanned around to assess the damage. "Place is secure. She and I rallied up the rest of the security teams and pushed the rest of them back the best we can. They got into their van and fled."

Batman was impressed, but kept such a look from his face. "Did they take anything?"

"No," Sasha answered, "we pushed them out of RD, they were looking for something on a console when we interrupted them. The rest of the security teams are sweeping the building."

"Good, you two return to Wayne Industries. I'm certain your boss already knows Mr. Saunders, but it will be better if this comes from you rather then him. People respect a position of power."

Gregory opened his mouth to retort but he nodded. When the two walked away Batman ran a hand along his jaw, letting a sigh pass along the glove. Now he had to investigate why two of his facilities and why they were so easy to push back. He already saw a long night of coffee and lack of sleep, but with Gregory and Sasha both acting as his eyes and ears on the civilian side of the law, barring they don't get themselves shot, he could put his focus on the task at hand.

Wow! Finally an update from yours truly! Thank you guys so much for enjoying the tale such as it is from me. I know I haven't been updating all that much but I've simply been caught up with work and other portions of life, mainly dealing with a concussion (yay...), and trying to get a few events at my store afloat. As you all can see Gregory here has taken a life of his own within my hands so I want to ask you readers this; shall I give Gregory Saunders his own tale, Batsuit (somewhat?), and rogue's gallery? Within this as a supporting character? I'd like to know your opinions! Let me know via PM or even comments/reviews on the story! Thank you all so much and until next time, keep reading!

- The Fallen Sun