THREE

Narrow Escape

Jim's hands flexed on the steering wheel of his car. The black BMW took a sharp corner to avoid the long line of stalled out and abandoned cars ahead, a flock of pigeons flying overhead in the misty sky. He sighed reluctantly as he saw the sign above him: swaying in the rough air. It read:

WELCOME TO THE NARROWS

PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY.

"Y'all right there, Jim?" Harvey raised a suggestive eyebrow, seeing the police officer briefly glance in the wind mirror at him. "You look a little tense."

Jim nodded slightly, his eyes fixed to the grey road. "Yeah..."

"D'you want me to drive for a bit?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Sure?"

He hit his hands against the steering wheel, the car squealing on the tarmac. "Jim!"

Harvey jumped and the silence took hold again. The sound of the wheels echoed through the empty streets of Gotham, birds taking off in all directions at the sight of a moving object on the street below. The sky was dark, despite it being midday. Smoke from the bridges rose into the air lazily, gripping hold of the telephone wires and twisting around buildings. The white clouds were now choked with corruption, turning a sickly grey.

So this is what an abandond city was like. Harvey had seen it many times on the TV, but never in real life. Gotham was, as far as he could tell, deathly silent. This came across as rather peculiar to him as the city had only ever been bustling with movement and life, now it was hushed. Only the sound of the car broke the line between oblivion and reality. Harvey suddenly remembered what had been said, "Soon enough this city will turn into a war zone...". It was like the quiet before the storm...

He opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly broken off by Jim.

"Shh!" Gordon snapped, wagging an irritated finger sharply. "No, I don't want to hear it, Harvey."

Harvey sighed. "I... I'm sorry, Jim. I was just wondering what's wrong."

"Ahh..." Jim shook his head, his eyes drooping sadly. "It's just... Bruce. I'm worried about him, Harvey, he's just a kid and he's out in Gotham chasing a madman -- two actually... Whatsmore, Bruce is the son of a multi-millionaire, there's so much crime out there that could sweep him away as quickly as it swept away Thomas and Martha." he sighed. "Harvey, if that kid... you know... Gotham will sink even further into Hell."

The rest of the journey was silent until the car clunked to a halt beside an old building. As the two men stepped onto the street they noticed the acrid smell and the whirling smoke from the chimney of the house.

Harvey wafted his hand in front of his nose in attempt to rid the scent. "Ugh, what is that...?"

"Take a wild guess..." Jim pointed to the barrels at the doorstep.

Drawing his gun, Harvey approached the rusted find. He shifted the lid onto the floor with the tip of his gun to find a thin plastic sheet covering the top. "The Hell...?" he narrowed his eyes, prodding a hole into the plastic. Mist drifted out casually, winding around his figure.

"Harvey, get back!" Jim dragged back his partner away, pressing the fabric of his jacket to his face in the prosecss.

From a short distance, they watched the grey-brown mist disappear into the harsh clouds above. Jim shook his head and dusted down his jacket.

"Fear gas... looks like Bruce was telling the truth."

"Well," Harvey double checked that his gun was loaded. "If those barrels are just lying around it means Crane is out-and-about. He shouldn't be gone long... not with them in plain sight."

"We'd better hurry up and find Bruce." Jim coughed as the smoke from the chimneys difted to street level.

As the two officers milled about the exterior of Crane's building, Bruce was hiding away in the alleyway, his body pressed up against the rubbish piled up against the walls. He had seen Crane walk past, and knew he would have to hide away quickly.

It was when the world fell silent that he heard his name called from around the corner. He stood up.

"Jim...?" he called out. "Is that you?"

"Bruce!"

As the detective came into view Bruce surged forward, skidding to a halt.

"Bruce, are you alright?"

He nodded. "I'm fine..."

"And what of Crane?"

"I have no idea..." Bruce sighed, turning to point at the door at the end of the building. "He disappeared through that door, I guess he's making another batch for Jerome."

"Come on, we should get out of here before that guy returns..."

Bruce's eyes suddenly widened, his jaw dropping in the silence. "...Jim..."

He raised an eyebrow. "What...?"

There was a loud 'clunk' causing Jim to spin around, his face suddenly met by raggy cloth mask. Crane raised an arm and smiled beneath the cover of the mask.

"Beware of the fear... it may just consume you."

Fear gas escaped the confinement of his gloves, and somewhere in that small time frame Jim was thrown to the right, allowing Bruce to accept the full force of the hallucinogenic gas. He fell to the floor, clutching his head as it began to throb. His chest was suddenly heavy with the weight of his heart and organs, he fell onto his knees and roled backwards, letting his body fall helplessly to the cold floor.

Bruce could hear the shouting around him, somewhere in the blur another man came into view and fired what seemed to be a silver ring in the direction of Crane. There was a muffled cry from above him as a splatter of black liquid drenched his clothes. He cried out, but no noise could be heard. Bruce's insides felt as if they were collapsing in on themselves, and instantaneously an entire colony of tiny grey creatures errupted from inside him, their wings convulsing against the sky. Then his vision clouded over...

Three hours later his eyes flicked open. Bruce stared above him at the peeling ceiling. His vision swayed as he rose up and dangled his legs over the side of the seat. He was in the back of a car.

Two faces turned to see him, one Harvey and the other Jim. "Bruce, thank God..." Gordon sighed with relief. "Looks like Crane didn't get you with the special batch of fear gas after all..."

Bruce coughed, looking down at his raggy clothes. They were stained with blood. "Where am I...?"

"Don't worry, we're on our way back to the station. We've had to stop to refuel, but thankfully Crane was too wounded to follow us."

"But," Harvey added. "It won't be long before Jerome hears about this, and he'll be after us. No question about it, without Crane we're pretty sure whatever he's planning won't work..."

"Hm..." Bruce looked out of the window at the buildings passing by. It was so quiet out there. Who knew there could be a war at stake?

Author's Note:

Hi again, sorry about the lack of chapters lately. Fanfiction hasn't really been on my mind lately, but I promise I will right more soon.

I tried to make this chapter a little longer xd.