PART II

Monday, August 4, 2008; 6:01am – Penthouse Buildings Inc, 30 Central Park S; New York City, New York

"Today's top news in the New England area is still all about Gotham City. The City is still undergoing terrorist attacks by a man who calls himself the Joker. Several hundred million dollars in damage has already been caused, as well as the deaths of many officials in the area, such as the Honorable Judge Surrillo, the Police Commissioner Gillian Loeb, and the assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes. The current DA is also in critical condition in Gotham General Hospital as a result of a bomb explosion…"

The figure who had previously been pouring himself a cup of fresh, hot espresso in his meticulously clean kitchen froze when he heard the familiar name from the television in the other room. The espresso overfilled his coffee cup and ran onto the countertop, steam rising from the hot liquid. Finally, as the coffee dripped from the counter and the television continued on to what the incompetent GCPD were doing to stop the Joker, he set the espresso pitcher down in the puddle of fluids and took in one, singular breath. Then suddenly the full coffee cup was in his hand momentarily before hurtling towards the opposite wall where it shattered upon impact, leaving a decent looking Rorschach smear that was slowly running down the paint. He took little pleasure in the burning sensation that the spilt coffee left on his hand, and he clenched and unclenched it to relax the overly tense muscles.

But instead of focusing on the running stain on his wall, he glanced to the picture frame that he could see from the kitchen. Slowly he approached it, his anger rising. Framed was a picture of him and the love of his life, both younger, both smiling. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, hugging her close. Her long brown hair was flowing in the cool, fall wind. Carefully he picked it up, his right thumb gently running over her picture, her beautiful face.

Her job was a dangerous one. He had told her that more than once. He had wanted her to stay with him in New York after college rather than returning to Gotham. She would've been safe here with him. He would've protected her.

Now she was dead.

He had thought that he could've protected her when he finally returned, but he was wrong. He was more concerned about blowing that ridiculous fortune that fell into his lap. He couldn't even care to look out for the one person he thought he cared about. The Waynes couldn't be trusted, he had learned that long ago. And now she had paid the price of his mistake.

He gently set down the frame before moving to find his cell phone. He had a lot of phone calls to make, a lot of things to do. For starters, he was going to return the favor.

As his thumb brushed through his contacts, a knock sounded at the door. Pausing, his thumb hovering over the important task, he cocked his head, curious as to who was on the other side. "Who is it?" he beckoned.

Another knock was his answer.

Setting the phone down next to the framed picture, he wandered towards the door. Glancing through the peephole revealed a small woman, with her black hair pulled tightly back into a stern bun emphasizing her East Asian heritage.

Harmless.

He swung open the door and there to greet him was not just one, but four. Three were dressed in matching tailored suits surrounding the smaller woman and wearing stern expressions. The unique one of the group cocked her head as her dark eyes analyzed the subject before her.

"Dr. Elliot, do you mind if we come in? I believe I have some information that might be of use to you."

A/N: Just a quick update: Here's what's been going on:

So far, during their college years, Bruce's jet needs repairing on a return trip to Gotham, so he and Alfred make a pit stop in Hilo, Hawaii where Ana lives. They randomly run into each other around town, slowly recognizing each other's faces and names until Ana boldly invites Bruce to take a day trip with her to see the sights. They have a fun time, but moody Bruce wants to leave before he gets too attached. Alfred intervenes and surprises them both with a day trip to Honolulu, where they both are forced to interact—Ana trying to improve Bruce's mood, and Bruce still trying to keep her at a distance. However by the end of the night, where they both attend a local Wayne Foundation event, they finally get along and have a memorable night. Before the sun rises, however, Bruce awakes to a nightmare and decides to leave again, but not out of fear of getting close, but because he has to (because he's moody and has ridiculous senses of duty, etc-oh, and because he has to go off and become Batman). On his return plane ride, he receives a call from the Gotham DA's office about Joe Chill's hearing. While he attends the hearing in Gotham, Ana tries to shrug off Bruce's visit entirely, even when she gets a Valentine's Day present sent to her by Alfred for Bruce.

And a shout-out to NMBC-Sally for helping me out such a long time ago about where this story was going to go. Thanks for the help, hon.