Gotham Knights – Chapter Two

Mr Wayne was very tall, and well-built, but whenever I look at a person, I usually take note of their face. Well-rounded, quite stern, but had a lot of colour to it, and as he was currently smiling, seemed very welcoming and approachable.

"Thanks Lucius, you can go now." he said. Lucius turned, and left the office. Bruce beckoned for me to sit down, which I did. Surprisingly, he sat in the chair next to me, instead of behind the desk.

"So, you're a journalist?" he began.

"Well, what I really want to do is report for the news, but I guess you have to start somewhere!" I smiled, and he returned it. It was a really nice, warm feeling. "What about you? Apart from this amazing company, what do you do?"

"I'm a big name here. When not organising charity events, or living up to the playboy philanthropist name," my smile wavered when he said that, but, in a way, I could tell he was joking. I thought. "I mostly spend time with either the Commissioner, or the District Attorney. Not really much else." He stretched his arm over and caressed my shoulder. His soft hands calmed my nerves from meeting the biggest man in Gotham.

"So not much else, eh? Does that you mean you have time for dates?" What I said was meant to be sarcastic, but he raised his eyebrow, while having a half smile.

"Well, I don't know. Would you like to see?"

"Me? Go out with you? What an honour!"

"I think the honour will be mine." He rose from his chair and went over to his computer. He typed on the keyboard and stared at the screen. "You staying with Helen?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"I'll pick you up, say, 7:30 tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Yes, if that's alright with you, of course?"

"No, no, of course it's fine. I'll just make sure that Helen didn't have any plans. Thank you." And with that, I left his office. He called out one final thing to me before I went down the lift though; "I'm sure you have something formal to wear in your suitcase."

"No way! No possible way!" Helen was driving at a very fast speed, while in a state of disbelief after I told her what happened. "So many people will be jealous of you, myself included." She was smiling and laughing as she was saying this, but I wondered if it was a cover over the fact that she liked Bruce. No, no it wasn't.

"To be honest, we talked about ourselves for a little bit, and then he asked me out. Not much else."

"Seriously? Wish I could do that with some of the guys from work! Well, I'm sure you packed some awesome formalwear for dates!" I said nothing. "You DID pack formalwear, didn't you?"

"Um, well, I-"

"Vicki! You DO NOT fly across the world without formalwear! How do you expect to look hot with gorgeous men?"

"To be fair, I was more concentrating on my work."

"There could've been someone from work. But we are talking about BRUCE WAYNE! THE main reason I'm in this awful city." She parked her car outside an apartment building, and got my suitcase out.

Let me say now, there may be other fancy apartments/flats in the world, some with bean bags and bubble machines, others with fuzzy sofas and lava lamps. However, Helen's apartment trumps all of them, and then some. Orange and yellow walls, funky lamps, and a seriously cool kitchen, with so much food in the fridge. To top it off, the bedrooms had the most comfortable beds. Helen went over to her Vinyl record player, and put in a record by one of my favourite bands: Genesis.

"'Land of Confusion' is definitely one of my favourite songs." she stated.

"I prefer 'Silver Rainbow' myself." She smiled, looking at the album cover.

"I feel like this song perfectly talks about Gotham. This city is so crazy with crime." She got up, grabbed my arm, and dragged me to her room. She opened her closet, and started picking out dresses. Through all of the fabrics and various stitching, one dress stood out. A long, blue dress, with soft, stretchy material, and a slit up the leg.

"This one." I said, holding it up for Helen to see. Her eyes opened, mouth widening into a smile.

"That is perfect."

After dinner, Bruce offered to drive me home, but I insisted on walking home, thanking him for his time. Before I left, he pulled me close and our lips touched. The feeling that it gave me was amazing. I really wished that I could stay with him, but I was to start work in the morning. The whole dinner was enjoyable too, where we just talked about ourselves, and our interests, while being presented with lavish food. The walk back to the apartment wasn't tough, even in heels, as I remember where things are after being to certain locations once or twice. However, that walk wasn't a normal walk back in the night. As I got about half way, the main street was blocked, so I had to go through an alley, which I really hate going through. Suddenly, men in black beanies, and jumpers descended in front and behind me.

"Hey, lady," one began. "Give up the purse." Now, I may be scared about going through alleys, but when the problem arises, I seem to be a calm bunny.

"Your jewellery will go nicely with it too." another said. I looked at both of them, took off my heels and threw them at two of the men. One got lodged in his forehead, which got me off-guard a little, but it didn't faze me. More were coming towards me, but they didn't know that I had been taking kick-boxing classes at uni, and that I was the top of my class. Kicks and flips put bruises on the men, face and all. Some grabbed onto me, but I kicked them off, and might have given a few concussion. They tried to run away after that, but a figure was blocking the other side of the alley: Batman!

"Oh no!" one shouted.

"It's the Bats!" another screamed. Batman must have been a master of kung fu, and Tai Kwan Do, because he gave those men a harder beating than I did.

When all the men couldn't fight anymore (or walk, temporarily), I turned to the Batman.

"Thank you for what you did." He looked at me, with a stern expression. All he said to me was "You're a good fighter, but stay out of trouble next time." He got a grapple gun out of his belt, and shot right into the air, disappearing into the night.

I got back to the apartment, where Helen was waiting for me expectantly. I told her everything that had happened, including the small chat with Batman.

"Seriously? You're so lucky for him to have talked to you!"

"Yeah, well, I think I'm luckier to be alive, if I'm honest."

"Hey, at least you have something to write about in the paper."

"I'd rather not. He seems like a guy to keep in the shadows. Putting him in the paper seems exploitive."

"Aren't many reporters?"

"Good point." The buzzer from the door sounded, and Helen got up to answer.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hey, it's Bruce. Can you let me up?"

"Sure", and she pressed a button on the system. She also threw her cardigan at me, and ordered me to put it on. Helen then opened the door for Bruce, who rushed to me, I guess to make sure I was ok.

"I came over as soon as I heard about it. Are you alright?" He seemed genuinely worried about me, which was really sweet.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I took kickboxing lessons at university. And of course, the Batman came to help, which was kind of him to." Bruce and Helen looked at each other for a quick moment, and then looked back at me again.

"I feel such a fool to have left you there. How about I make it up to you? Come to Wayne Manor for dinner. Alfred is the best when it comes to cooking." I agreed, allowing for Alfred to pick me up at 5, when I finish work. Although the escapades of the night were over, I couldn't help feeling like this wouldn't be the last time I would team up with Batman. And, fortunately for me, it wasn't.