Disclaimers: I only own Dr. Diana Campbell and possibly this plot. I do not write this for profit but only for fun.
A/N: I apologize for not updating so quickly. It actually was quite a hard chapter to type up, but luckily I was able to finish it. I have so many stories to work on. Why do I torture myself and my readers with it? I don't know. But I promise that I will work as hard as I can to update all of them. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Reviews much needed and appreciated!
Summary: Gordon and Batman rely on each other, but when a threat is against Gordon's family Gordon must rely on Bruce Wayne. What will happen? Will Gordon notice the mysterious disappearances? Post Dark Knight
Loyal Friends – Needing Refuge
"How long till the Manor is finished?" Bruce asked Alfred after getting dressed in one of his Armani suits especially made for him.
"Good morning to you too sir." Alfred said as he gave Bruce his special energy and health drink.
He knew Bruce well enough to see the weariness although it was cleverly hidden by Bruce's strong will.
That exhaustion seemed to be increased ever since he came home last night.
Something other than Rachel's death is hanging over you head…
He suspected something happened last night that must have brought the amount of tension to a higher level in the young man's mind.
Bruce handed him the empty glass. His eyes looked so forlorn despite the assuring smile he gave.
"Morning, Alfred," he said. "So when does construction end?"
There was a tiny hint of a hitch in his voice, and Alfred's heart broke. It was the same hitch that he heard when he first heard Bruce speak after the funeral of his parents, and it was the same hitch he heard when Bruce told him that Rachel died.
Maybe he should inquire?
But Bruce had turned from him and took a pair of keys out of the lockbox, and walked to the elevator.
Sighing inwardly because he knew speaking up now would be quite futile, Alfred put the glass down on a table and walked over to Bruce's side.
"In about a year," he replied.
"A year?" Bruce asked incredulously; turning to face him. "How long has construction been going on already?"
"Two months, sir. Two months after three months to clear the rubble." Alfred replied calmly; sensing his young charge's slight annoyance.
Bruce's stance seemed to become heavier. He nodded and turned to walk inside the elevator. He pressed a button and said before the doors slid closed, "Set up the guest rooms."
Alfred frowned. Why set up the guest rooms? Why would he want anyone to stay here?
Something was up, and he intended to find out. He didn't know of anyone that Bruce would invite to stay, because if one stayed in the young man's penthouse that one person may chance upon his master's secret.
Troubling…
Yes, it was indeed troubling and very confusing.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
He smiled as the teenage boy cried silently alone in the blacked out cellar.
He looked at the electronic device in his hand.
"Oh, stay….so faraway….so close to me…"
He wanted to hold this boy for ransom.
How much would parents pay for their child?
"But first…."
He pressed the red button.
"Oh, heavens come down on m!"
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The school day had already begun. It was morning and children were playing in the lower and upper playground in Gotham Elementary.
But two particular children weren't playing. These two were sitting on the bench in fear and foreboding that was strange for their young age, but it wasn't new to them. These children felt something like this before.
When Harvey Dent too them, Jimmy and Barb Gordon felt the same feelings as they did now.
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Dr. Diana Campbell walked into section number six with a Big Mac combo in her hands.
She found that the Joker was no where, but she did not panic. Instead, she focused on the silence. She scanned the room; searching for any possible places that the Joker might have gone through.
Then she smiled.
She took a sip of her Coca-Colas and said, "Tactics like that won't get you anything."
She closed the door and turned to the Joker who was right behind her.
He was grinning with a tilt of his head.
"So do I get juicy ju-ice too-day?" he asked.
Diana smiled wider and walked to the couch that she sat in yesterday. She proceeded to place the bag of food and the cup of a soft drink on the side table, and then sat down in the couch.
"Any for me?" the Joker asked; kneeling in front of her as he place his hand on the side table in a threatening and slyly carnivorous way.
She looked down into his cocoa brown eyes and grabbed the bag protectively in a mocking way.
"Are you going to beg?" she questioned; her tone mocking. "Because if you are you surely don't look like the type."
The Joker's eyes flashed. He swiftly stood up and put both of his hands down on the leather couch with her body –her head between them.
"I don't beg…" he growled in his otherworldly voice.
Amused and unafraid, Campbell smiled a sweet smile. She leaned forward close to the Joker. She made it so that they were so close that they both could feel each other's breath, and could see the hidden lines or distinct marks on one another's face.
"Even an agent of chaotic control can beg," she said. "I can beg. Anyone can beg. But to get someone to beg – and to mean it… Now that's something."
The Joker grinned in return.
"I know I can muh-make you beeeeeeeg…" he cooed. He then wagged his finger in front of her face and placed it on her forehead. "Can you make me beg, doc-ter?"
Diana responded with a grin and whispered, "I'm a woman. I can make any man beg."
The Joker laughed while his eyes became wilder than before.
Campbell could just feel his breath becoming warmer as it touched her face. She closed her eyes to savor the unexpected pleasure and pain that came to her from his arm breath.
But then the laughing stopped.
She opened her eyes to see the Joker's eyes staring rather curiously.
"Your eye-zz…re-mind… me of something…" he muttered. "I know those eye-zz."
Really, now do you?
Campbell smiled inwardly at the new reveal. She was going to get something out of this game.
"I've seen your eyes too…" she murmured purposely.
She then glanced away and returned the bag of food on the table.
She put her hand on the Joker's chest and pushed him back. Then, she got up and walked to the door.
She looked back at the Joker who was now sitting on the couch. She took out a small vial from her pocket, and threw it at him.
He caught it deftly, glanced at it with interest, and looked back at her.
"Two doses. Take it anyway you like. You could put it in the caffeinated drink, on the burger, in the fries, or just by itself. Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow, Mistah J. I hope you enjoy that new television set I got you."
With that she left, and she didn't look back as she thought impatiently about what the after effects of the toxin would be on the Joker.
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Bruce did intend to convince Jim and his family to live in the penthouse – somehow. He didn't have a particular plan, but he was determined. He would as quickly as possible get the Gordon family into his home.
It wasn't going to be easy. The Gordon family and him as Bruce Wayne the billionaire weren't particularly close. There were just the occasional nods, and greetings in fund-raisers, the day he crashed his Lamborghini, and when he was a mere boy in the station room after his parents were murdered.
Maybe I could use my connection with him as Batman to get him and his family to move in.
It was for their safety. The Invisible Hand had targeted the Gordon family last night – particularly the children.
It had been a heart wrenching sight to witness the little one clinging in fear to their tearful mother, and it pained him greatly to see Jim so anguished.
He remembered all too well the horror the Gordon family faced with Harvey Dent who was pushed and broken into something entirely different than he used to be by the Joker.
He made a promise; a promise to protect the Gordon family at all cost.
And I don't intend to break it.
Bruce pressed a button on the steering wheel. He waited as his listened to the dialing tone.
"Good morning, Mr. Wayne," greeted the highly eloquent voice of his good friend and business partner Lucius Fox. "I presume that you are not coming to the meeting."
Bruce smiled to himself and mentally to Fox. "Correct. Wouldn't want to be caught sleeping again."
Fox laughed. "But that's what I'm here for."
"Yes among other things."
"Of course. What can I do for you?"
Bruce made a sharp turn left and increased the speed of his vehicle to seventy miles per hour.
He then slammed on the brakes when the red light appeared. Luckily, despite slamming on the brakes – the stop was quite clean since there were no screeching sounds made.
"Tell me about my penthouse. You fixed it up as I requested right?" he then asked; ignoring the honk from the car behind him after cutting that car off.
"Yes… Bullet proof windows…Knife proof and break proof… Still susceptible to bombs…" Fox replied. He paused, and then continued. "Expecting more danger liken say the Invisible Hand?"
Bruce drove forward; nodding to himself as he cut another person off.
"Good. I don't want anything like the Joker or Ra's Al Ghul happening again."
"Don't worry, Mr. Wayne, precautions have been made – many precautions." Fox assured. "Where are you going if you don't mind me asking…?"
Bruce smiled, but then it quickly faded. "To Rachel." His mind flashed to her face. "I would like to tell you beforehand that I'm working on getting the Gordon family to move in with me."
Fox didn't answer at first, but Bruce could still hear the steady sound of his breathing.
"I had hoped so. I checked the videos from their home, but the Invisible Hand was quite shadowed. And the shocking thing was- well, the Invisible Hand must have visited the Gordon home before." Fox finally said.
Bruce parked and looked at the cemetery, but neither Rachel nor his parents were in his mind. It was the outrage that the Invisible Hand had been casing the Gordon family that shouted in his head.
"My apologies for not telling you sooner, but it was a mere shadow that I saw. I had to analyze it for a few more days – extensively."
"I would not blame you for your decision. I trust your judgment." Bruce replied. "Could you get a face?"
"Unfortunately, no. The computer is still processing."
Bruce nodded. "Update me."
"Very well."
The line went dead.
Bruce turned off this car. He ran his hands over his head in exhaustion. He didn't want to work today. He didn't want to pretend to be the playboy billionaire. He need to think.
He wanted to visit his parents and Rachel. He needed their presence even if it were their decaying bodies and ash.
Maybe I should just stay here for the night…
Bruce knew he couldn't. He needed to get the Gordon family in his penthouse. He would have to visit Jim as Batman, and convince the older man.
He sighed.
Nothing ever seemed to stay peaceful. Danger had always had to come and ruin things.
When will it all end?
He didn't know. He would just have to keep on fighting.
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Adriana Byrd found a letter and a tape in the mailbox. She brought it to her husband after she read the letter.
She was scared and horrified. Her husband was angry and mortified.
They now knew who had taken their son.
Lovely boy... What's his name? Ah, I want his clothes because he's rather small…And naked…
The played the tape despite not wanting to.
What they heard was not English speech, but mere gurgles.
It dawned on them. Something must have decapitated their son's ability to speak.
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Commissioner Gordon couldn't concentrate.
He tried to. He tried to talk to politicians, captains, and the press, but he couldn't.
So, he resigned himself to being alone in his office with a bottle of whiskey on his desk.
He had the blinds and shades closed. He had to block out the sun. He locked the door and covered the windows. He specifically told everyone that he wanted to be undisturbed.
His family had been threatened last night. They had been threatened by Gotham's resident and latest serial killer.
The Invisible Hand was finally talking. And the words that he said were more than dangerous – they were terrifying.
Not again.
Wasn't the pain that the late Harvey Dent gave to them at the warehouse enough?
But didn't stop. The Invisible Hand was threatening not only the lives of his family, but their souls as well.
Seeing his children look at him with terrified eyes made his heart break into many small pieces. This did not need to happen.
But it did.
It took him four hours to finally go inside his house and to face his family. The range of emotions ran from sorrow to anger to despair.
Yet there was one comfort.
Batman.
He didn't know how Batman was alerted, but he was glad the Dark Knight was there.
And through the four hours, Batman never left. Yes, the vigilante and hero stayed.
Because of this, he found himself telling Batman all his fears. He cried in front of the Bat. He screamed in front of him.
But Batman remained, and he said something that struck his very core.
"You never gave up on me. Don't start now, because I can never give up on you."
He had never heard Batman speak like that. Somehow, Batman's usual otherworldly, cerebral, and animal-like tone of voice softened and became even more effective than his usual hoarse growl.
If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that the Batman showed his not his vulnerability, but his feelings.
He trusts me.
And he knew that he trusted Batman.
He had to count on not only his own abilities and Batman's.
So the waiting begins.
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The spark started the fire.
The fire touched the walls; climbed them and captured the roof.
The fire spread across the home; burning and burning as smoke rose and filled the home.
And the fire alarm did not go off.
Why?
It was because the Invisible Hand made it so.
The fire was on a rampage; a quite but fearsome rampage.
The Gordon's home was slowly burning down.
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"I miss you, Rachel, I miss you so much." Bruce said as he looked down at the grave of the woman he loved and had hoped to have a future with.
"You are often in my dreams. You haunt me wherever I go. You have a part of my heart, and a part of my soul."
After a few minutes of silence, he walked over to his parents' graves. He stuffed his hands in his pocket, and read the headstones.
Here lies Martha Wayne
A loyal wife
A loving mother
A woman beyond her time
Here lies Thomas Wayne
A constant husband
An adoring father
A man ahead of his time
Bruce closed his eyes and instantly saw the smiling images of his parents.
"I miss you. I love you…" he whispered.
He then bent down and touched their carved names, and cried.
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Lt. Allen and Detective Montoya had just finished interview the Byrd family.
They revealed to them that their son had been kidnapped and that his tongue had been cut off.
The Byrd family revealed in turn a tape and a letter by the Invisible Hand.
This latest development sent waves of chills through the two as they drove back to MCU.
There was another one; another victim that the Invisible Hand chose. And there was a major difference.
This one was alive.
"When will it all end?" Montoya asked to no one in particular.
Allen shook his head. "The madness? I don't know. In this town, anything can happen."
"That's what I'm worried about."
And it was true. The madness in Gotham City was growing as each month passed. First Dr. Crane's fear toxin came then the emergence of Batman, the rise of the Joker, and now a serial killer whom was dubbed as the Invisible Hand.
What more criminals and men in masks would come?
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Dr. Diana Campbell nodded at one of her friends who handed her a thick file on Bruce Wayne.
She placed the file on her desk along side her files on the Joker, the Batman, Commissioner Gordon, the Invisible Hand, and one that was marked as personal.
These six were very critical and important files on six very intriguing kinds of people.
She was helping one profile another, met one briefly, and one that she is conducting an experimental game with.
The fifth person was personal. That subject would be dealt with someday.
And the Batman was the final person of interest. She intended to meet him, but that would be far away in time.
She picked up the files, and put them carefully in the bottom drawer of her desk. She then inserted a key and locked it.
She turned on the T.V. and what was on captured her attention very quickly.
"Commissioner Gordon's home burned down tonight. The fire is reported to have been started in the morning and that it escalated to heights of destruction in the afternoon," said the newscaster.
"And it is also reported that the Invisible Hand is the culprit, but until confir-"
Campbell turned off the television.
"Hmm…." she muttered.
And then a slow smile placed itself on her face.
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It was midnight, but Alfred refused to go sleep. He had been told by his charge Bruce that something was to happen.
He now knew why Bruce wanted him to set things up for visitors. These were not mere visitors. These were people he knew Bruce cared about.
They were the Gordon family.
The expected sound of the elevator finally reaching the penthouse level came after the clock came to twelve ten.
Alfred quickly walked to the elevator and was able to make it to see the solemn, uncertain, and fearful faces of the Gordon family.
As they stepped out of the elevator, Alfred smiled with assurance and some comfort even though he knew it would do little.
"Welcome to Wayne's penthouse."
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TBC
End-note: