A/N - Thanks for the reviews, alerts and so forth...I really appreciate them. I realize that the story is going slow, but I'm not someone to jump right into it. I like to build it up....believe me...I have a lot up my sleeve for this. I'm planning on killing someone off eventually...I feel so evil! Feel free to make predictions along the way but it wont change my mind on who it'll be.

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Bruce's instructions to David were clear. Leave the fairgrounds at once and he'd take care of the speech.

David watched as Bruce walked back to his Mom and whispered something in her ear. She looked at Bruce, confused yet still walked away from him towards David. She smiled at him as he turned to walk with her off the fairgrounds. They walked casually across the fair grounds towards where the VIP cars were parked. They both smiled politely to the valet as he passed David's keys to him and nodded in greeting to people as they passed by until they arrived at the Bentley. Alfred climbed out of the car, just as confused as Olivia.

"You need to tell me what's going on right now, David," she said softly, yet in a tone that would forever evict authority no matter how old David would get. "And I don't want to hear that pitiful example of an excuse your Dad gave me." He sighed, looking to Alfred.

He explained the note, the threats to Wayne Enterprises and what Bruce was about to do. Olivia paled knowing that her greatest fear was happening right then and there, and she had no idea.

"We need to get you out of here, Mrs. Wayne," Alfred suggested, after hearing David explain the situation.

"No," she replied sternly, looking at David in his eyes. "There is no way that I'm letting Bruce go through this alone. We made an agreement that his decision to do what he does is not just his. We're both in this and I'm not about to watch as he throws himself to the wolves."

David opened his mouth to protest, but he had come to know that there was no arguing with her regarding the situation. He watched as she pulled out her keys and ripped off one of them. She took David's hand and pressed the key into his hand.

"Go get your sister and go to the bunker," she said, seriously as she looked into David's eyes . "When you get there, use the key to access the computer. You need to transfer all of the trust funds and banking information to the location that Bruce has designated in the computer. All the instructions you need are there. Stay there as long as you can. They'll be looking for you."

David was overwhelmed. He couldn't believe how his life could change with one simple decision that his father was about to make, yet Bruce had already thought ahead. The plans that he created to keep his family safe.

"You need to go," Olivia said, wrapping her arms around her grown son. "Get Allison as quickly as you can."

David nodded, not trusting his voice to even speak. He looked up at Alfred, who shook his head.

"My loyalty is and will be forever to your father," he said. "I'm not leaving either." Alfred stuck out his hand towards David and was instead quickly hugged by the man who was nearly sixty years his junior before he pushed David forward towards his Lamborghini. "Go."

David looked back once more before jogging through the lot of cars until he arrived at the car. He half listened to his Dad's speech over the loud speakers as he climbed into the car, hoping that it wouldn't be the last time he'd hear his voice.

Bruce tried to lengthen an already boring speech hoping it would give Olivia and David enough time to leave the fairgrounds. He glanced down at his watch, noting how much time had gone by and figured it was probably best to finish up the speech.

"Wayne Enterprises thanks you for your generosity and support. Thank you," he said, as the crowd began to clap their hands. Bruce stepped back and took a deep breath after he finished. Never once did he mention Batman and he relaxed knowing that Olivia and David were no longer there. He turned to walk down the stairs and froze when he heard an explosion go off in the distance. Less than a second later, another explosion went off. People began to look around nervously and talked to one another, until someone exclaimed that two cars had exploded in the lot.

Bruce felt himself swallow the bile that suddenly came into his throat before he quickly made his way off the platform and turned to see two plumes of smoke rising into the night sky.

Panicked officials and dignitaries rushed towards the parking lot as the sound of fire trucks echoed in the distance. Rumours of more bombs on the fairgrounds quickly circulated as people rushed to leave.

"Bruce!"

He turned at the sound of a familiar voice calling his name. A wave of relief washed over him when he saw Olivia, and Alfred not far behind. The look on her face instantly brought that fear back.

"The Bentley exploded!"

"What was the other explosion?"

She shook as she held onto her cell phone in her hand. "I don't know. But I can't get a hold of David."

Bruce looked back toward the direction of the explosions as people quickly began to rush off the fairgrounds. He began to jog towards where a small crowd was forming. He passed more than a few people sitting on the ground while well-dressed hospital staff took care of the cuts that a lot of them sustained from the blast. It resembled a battle zone. Dozens of cars were covered in debris and dirt. It was chaotic as the uninjured scrambled to get out of the area. Bruce slowed down as he saw the charred Bentley as a few flames continued to lick at it. Glass and metal littered the ground for more than fifty feet around. He looked down at the ground as Olivia caught up with him. Bruce bent over and picked up a piece of half-burned paper.

"Oh my god," Olivia said, seeing the playing card in Bruce's hand. "It can't be. He's dead."

Bruce looked towards the source of the other explosion and his heart fell when he recognized the Lamborghini within the flames. He slowly made his way towards it when a valet suddenly stepped in front of him, his arms out.

"Sir, you must stay away from this area," the young man insisted. "It's dangerous and there may be other bombs in the area."

Bruce, almost stoically pushed the valet aside as he continued to protest.

"Sir! Sir! I must insist that you stay away from there until people more qualified to handle the situation arrive!"

Bruce suddenly stopped and turned. He glared at the valet but decided to not say anything. He looked to Olivia, seeing the tears in the corners of her eyes. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

As much as she wanted to see if David was all right, she wanted the last memory of her son to be a pleasant one. She quickly nodded as Bruce turned and walked towards the expensive car. Olivia stood with Alfred beside her, waiting as people around them rushed around, in a panicked state. Olivia looked around and saw Heather kneeling beside one of the injured as she was wrapping up an arm. The man had a large bruise on his forehead. She watched as Heather stood up and waved at the group of EMT's running from the ambulances.

She turned and looked towards where Bruce had gone and could see his sillouette as he stood by the Lamborghini.

----------

The heat from the flames intensified and as did his anger, as he got closer to the car. He had to see it for himself and until then, he wouldn't believe that his son was dead. Bruce held his hand over his mouth as the toxic fumes from the car nearly burned his throat. The doors had blown completely off, as was the glass windows. He strained to look at the drivers seat to find that it was empty. He quickly turned, hoping to find evidence of his son alive. Bruce glanced down at his feet and saw that same playing card blown up against his shoe.

-------------------

David opened his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness. He could hear the sirens and the shouts of people calling to each other but he felt like he was in a daze. He had no idea what happened. David coughed twice, feeling the dirt from the ground blow up in his face. Finally, he pushed himself up with his hands. As he pushed himself up onto his knees, dirt and debris slid off his back. He coughed once more.

"David?!"

He could hear his Dad's voice but couldn't see him. "Over here."

As though out of thin air, his Dad appeared beside him. David turned to sit down, finally seeing the mess that he had unknowingly survived.

"What happened?"

Bruce paused, staring at David as his son looked back at him with blood covering his forehead and eyebrow. Bruce reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and slapped it onto David's forehead.

"Your car exploded," Bruce explained, taking David's hand, encouraging him to hold the handkerchief onto his own forehead. "And I need to get you help before you go into shock."

"I'm fine," David stated plainly, as Bruce stood up and waved towards Olivia. As though the memories of the past few minutes suddenly came back to him, David stood up and looked towards where his car sat. Bruce turned to him, slightly surprised to see him standing.

"David, thank God you're all right," he heard his Mom say as she came up to him. "What happened? I thought you were in the car."

"I was," David said, looking back at the burned Lamborghini. "Just after I closed the door, I heard a voice coming from somewhere in the car. It seemed to be a recording. He said that because you weren't going to do what you were told, that he'd have to punish you. The doors locked and the voice began counting down from twenty. I hit the override switch for the door hinge to become unlocked and pushed it out. The last number I heard while running away was eighteen and the next thing I remember was laying in the dirt."

"Did you recognize who it was?" Alfred asked.

David shook his head. "No."

Bruce held up the Joker card. "It seems that someone knows us."

-------------------

"You know, you could have headed to emerge for this," Heather commented, as she placed another stitch into David's forehead.

"There are people out there that are needing more help than I am," he replied. "I wouldn't want to hold up the line."

Heather smiled.

David sat on the edge of the stretcher inside of the small ambulance while Heather sat directly in front of him. The back doors were open and Heather glanced out towards where David's car was in the process of being hoisted onto the back of a flatbed truck. She shook her head before turning back to the sutures beside her.

"It's amazing that you survived that with just a few stitches," she said, as she threaded the needle again.

"Yeah," David agreed, looking out the back door. He watched as his Dad stood beside Commissioner Gordon while the car was being pulled onto the truck. Alfred and his Mom had been driven home earlier. Heather reached forward and took David by the jaw and turned his head to look back at her.

"Hold still," Heather said. "I have just two more stitches to do."

David grinned. "Yes ma'am."

"And don't worry. I'll try to get them as close to your eyebrow as possible to hide the scar," she stated, leaning in to check the stitch.

David couldn't help but watch Heather's face. She had a scar herself, just above her upper lip. He had never noticed that her eyes had a few flecks green in them. Sure, he had caught himself looking at her like that before, but never at such close range. She was concentrating on closing the wound that she was oblivious to David's eyes on her.

"And I guess that I should also tell you that I've had a lot of practice with sutures this week. So, my chances of making a mess of your face is slim."

"I trust you," he said, softly.

David smiled, as Heather leaned back once again for the final suture. David shifted uncomfortably on the stretcher as Heather turned once again. She smiled before leaning in to put in the final stitch. With one hand she pulled the suture and held his head still with the other.

"Do you always sit this close to people when you're stitching them up?"

Heather stopped and looked into David's eyes before shrugging. He was watching her. "If I have to be."

She continued to finish up the suture, trying to concentrate on what she was doing. She could feel David's eyes on her and she knew that if she let her guard down, her face would redden. As it was, she was already getting quite warm in the small ambulance. She also had no idea what her proximity to David was doing to him. He could feel his heart beating out his chest and wished that he wasn't wearing both a collared shirt and his suit coat. Heather swallowed.

"Does it bother you?" she asked, softly.

"Ah, no," he replied quickly. "I was just wondering if it was what you usually do."

She nodded before quickly sitting back and began putting the instruments away.

"All done?"

Heather nodded, as David stood up, ducking his head slightly so he wouldn't hit it on the low ceiling of the ambulance. He had to get out of that ambulance.

"Thanks Heather," he said, as she stood up beside him.

"Just doing my job."

"We're still on for Mr. Fox's retirement party, right?"

"Oh yeah."

"Then it's a date then."

Slip! David couldn't believe what came out of his mouth and instantly regretted it. Years ago they had promised to each other to always be friends. Never had the word date been brought between them before. Both paused at that moment, unsure of what the other was thinking or how to continue. David smiled, sheepishly.

"That's not what I meant," David quickly added. "I was meaning it as a figure of speech than an actual date."

"Of course," Heather said with a smile. She watched as David jumped off the edge of the ambulance and onto the grass below. He turned to look up at her. "Unless, you don't mind being my date for that night."

Heather couldn't help but chuckle. "Seeing as I am going as your guest, it would kind of mean that I am your date. I'm all right with that."

David smiled. "You're right. So, you're okay with calling it a date."

"If that implies having a good time with my best friend, then, let's call it a date."

David nodded with a smile before sticking his hands into his pockets and turning on the spot to walk towards Bruce and the Commissioner were talking. Heather watched and let out a breath. It really was warm in that ambulance.

--------------

David walked past the flat bed truck and looked up at the two cars as he made his way towards Bruce and Commissioner Gordon.

"How's the head?" Gordon asked as David walked up to them. David shook the Commissioner's hand as he shrugged.

"Better than before."

"Gordon is going to have men go over the cars in the morning," Bruce said, softly. "So, you and I will need to go over them tonight."

"We?"

"I had forgotten that you went to Gotham University and had a minor in electrical engineering along with your business major," Gordon said. "There will be no one in the yard tonight between 1am and 5am. Lights are off and there are no cameras out there. If you're going to find anything on that car that could reveal any potential family secrets, you'll remove it then."

After a few more minutes with Gordon, Bruce and David turned to leave once they saw that Alfred had arrived to pick them up.

"And here I thought that you never wanted me to indulge in that part of our family's interests," David said, as he walked beside Bruce.

"I don't."

"Then what's with all these favours that I'm doing for you? I could understand the camera job on Reece's house, but this?"

"You have experience in electrical devices whereas mine is limited," Bruce said. "If there is anything on the car that does not belong to us, I believe you'll find it."

They walked up to the Rolls Royce and each stepped around to a different side. Bruce and David each opened their own door and climbed inside. Once they closed the doors, David sighed.

------------

It had to rain.

Not only was the burned smell nearly nauseating, but the wetness didn't help. At least it kept the dust and soot down, but instead made a gross paste that continued to get between David's fingers as he leaned under the car. He loosened the last few cables from beneath the car.

"Okay, you can pull it out now," he said, pushing himself out from beneath the car. He stood up, dressed once again from head to toe, completely in black and looked at Batman as he pulled the small metal box from the dash of the car. "And you think no one is going to ask questions about why a good portion of the dashboard is missing?"

Batman glanced up at him, said nothing before turning back to the car. David sighed.

"And that's the last improvement that we put in?" Batman asked.

David nodded. "From what I can see and remember."

"Did you find the remains of the bomb?"

"Yes. I took a look at it and I'm leaving it for Gordon's men. They'll need something to run an investigation on."

David nodded as Batman walked past him. David stepped back and watched as Batman walked around the car.

"Were you able to get the recorder out?"

Batman nodded, and suddenly turned as the sound of a metal door opened. The high pitch wail of the hinges echoed into the impound yard. David quickly grabbed as much as he could from around him before running towards to hide. He looked around, unable to see where Batman had disappeared to. Two flashlight beams suddenly went on and swept across the yard. David peered out from behind the old Chevrolet that he had chosen to hide behind.

"Get out of there," Batman's voice called into his ear by way of the communication device in his ear.

"Where are you?" David whispered.

"The roof."

David looked across the yard at the four storey building before looking back through the windows of the car to where the two police officers were. He'd have to run.

The police officers were confused. They were certain that they had seen movement in the impound yard. Either than the sound of the rain hitting the car roofs, and the occasional hisses of the resident cats, they heard nothing. One of them suddenly turned, his gun out in front of him. Before he even had a chance to react or see anything either than black in front of him, his gun was out of his hand and on the ground. The officer backed up, instantly confused and afraid. He didn't even see who was in front of him. He looked over his shoulder to where his partner was.

"Hey! Over here!"

David ran after disarming the police officer, praying that it would buy him enough time to get across the yard without being shot at. As he ran, he pulled out the magnetic grapple gun off his hip.

"Stop!!"

He could hear the footsteps of the officers as they splashed through puddles. Finally, he stopped running and quickly aimed the gun towards the sky before firing it. David heard the sound of it hitting metal before activating it. He held on tight as he was quickly pulled to the roof. The two officers stopped at the bottom of the building and looked up.

"That wasn't Batman, was it?"

"He sure did move like him."

Next day...

Allison ran down the stairs, as she pulled her uniform vest over her blouse. She carried her coat in one hand and her backpack in the other. She was moving so fast that she looked up just in time to see her Mom and Dad walking up the stairs towards her.

"Whoa!" Bruce said, reaching out to ensure that Allison wouldn't fall from their near collision. "What's the rush?"

"David is driving me to school today," she replied, making her way around them and towards the door.

"You had David come all the way out here just to bring you back into the city for school? Your Mom or I could have driven you or Alfred even."

Allison smiled weakly, turning at the door. "No offence, Dad, but I'd rather have David drive me."

Bruce stood confused while Olivia just smiled. She waved to Allison who smiled back before running out the door to David waiting in the Audi. She quickly opened the door and climbed in.

"Thanks for the ride," Allison said, pulling on her seat belt.

"No problem, Pip," David said, putting the car into gear and began the drive down the driveway towards the road. "But I'm a little confused why you were so insistent on me driving you when you called the penthouse this morning."

Allison sat back in the passenger seat and shrugged. "Can't a girl spend some time with her favourite big brother?"

David narrowed his eyes. "I'm your only brother. Spill it."

Allison let out a mock laugh. "There's nothing to spill. I was just tired of being driven by Mom, Dad or Alfred. I love them, but I'd rather be driven by someone cooler."

It was David's turn to laugh.

"I'm glad to know that even at 25 I'm considered cool by a 14 year old. You're flattering me, aren't you?"

Allison's smile faded and she sighed.

"All right," she said. "I thought that you'd understand more than the others."

"Understand what?"

"I have a boyfriend." She paused for a moment, watching the smile grow on David's face. "And I don't want Mom or Dad to know about him."

David's smiled broadly. "Then I'm going to have to meet this young man and remind him of the other men in your life."

"You aren't coming near him and I know that Dad would freak if he knew about this."

"Dad is overprotective of you, but I have to agree with most of his reasoning. You're only fourteen."

Allison rolled her eyes. "You're becoming more like Dad all the time, you know that right?"

The sound of a cell phone echoed from Allison's backpack that was sitting on the floor in front of her. She reached forward and dug through her bag. David glanced over at her and his eyes widened.

"Is that a tattoo!?"

Allison suddenly sat up, the cell phone quickly forgotten. She reached behind her back. She had forgotten to tuck in her blouse and it had ridden up on her lower back when she bent over to get the phone.

She shrugged coolly. "So what?"

"So what?! Allison, you do know that you're technically dead if Mom or Dad ever finds out about that!"

"Please don't tell them," she begged.

David let out an audible sigh as he shook his head while he drove down the Gotham streets. "If anyone is making me more like Dad, it's you and your rebellious ways."

"Rebellious? I guess you've forgotten those stories about you when you were my age. It's just a tattoo, David. Hell, you even have one!"

"For one thing, you're fourteen and you either lied about your age or forged Mom or Dad's signature. Secondly, I was eighteen years old and I did it for a girl and now I wish I hadn't. It's a horrible way to mark up your body."

Allison scoffed, turned and looked out the window, watching the cityscape pass by them as they drove. She shook her head.

"I don't understand what the big deal is. You have a tattoo. A lot of people have them."

"Really? Name one person, besides me that has one."

Allison paused for a moment as she thought and shrugged. "Well, Heather has two."

David quickly put his foot on the break as he saw the light in front of him turn red. He glanced over at Allison, before keeping his eyes on the traffic around him.

"She does?"

Allison nodded. "She has one on her lower back like mine. It's a small butterfly, I think. And the second one is right below her bra strap, right about..." He glanced over at Allison as she tried to remember the exact location of the tattoo. He shook his head.

"Uh, uh, I don't want to hear about where it is," he quickly interrupted. Allison chuckled before looking at the street ahead of them.

"She told me that she got the first one when she was sixteen and the second during her first year of university."

"Why don't I remember that?"

Allison smiled. "Probably because she didn't tell you cause she knew you'd freak out like this." She sighed, looking ahead before turning to David. "The light is green, you know."

David looked up, and put his foot on the gas. The rest of their trip was driven in silence. Allison looked out the window. David couldn't wrap his mind around discovering something new about Heather. He thought he knew everything there was to know about his best friend. It was true that the did grow apart slightly after high school when David went into engineering while Heather concentrated on the sciences. David would no longer spend his weekends with Heather at the manor or spending time biking on the trails around Wayne Manor. He would be busy spending his time with various women who were on his social agenda while Heather would have her nose in the books, desperate to succeed to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. David had to remind himself that Heather wasn't the only one with secrets.

"Pull over up here," Allison told him. "Brandon said he'd meet me up here and then we'd walk to school from here."

"Brandon?"

Allison rolled her eyes. "My boyfriend."

Her eyes lit up and she smiled when she saw a tall, gawky sixteen year old with dark hair walking towards the car. "There he is."

Allison pushed the door open and grabbed her bag. She quickly slammed the door before David would be able to say anything more. Instead, he smirked and rolled down the passenger side window.

"Hey Pip!!"

Allison didn't reply and continued to walk, hand in hand with her boyfriend. David let out an aggravated sigh before opening his car door. He stood up and looked over the roof of the car.

"Allison Wayne!"

She suddenly turned on her heel. "What?!"

"You're still grounded. How are you getting home tonight?"

"Alfred will be here at three," she replied plainly before turning to walk towards the school. He watched in utter disgust as the guy beside his baby sister wrapped his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her hip.

"Hey Brandon!" David suddenly called out.

The kid looked over his shoulder back towards David.

"My Dad isn't the only one that you have to be concerned about," he called out, a smile on his face. He pointed towards Brandon. "I'm watching you."

Allison rolled her eyes, pulling Brandon along the sidewalk faster. "Don't worry about him," David heard her say to Brandon. "He's just trying to annoy me."

David grinned before slipping back inside the Audi.

----------

It was a beautiful day. Too beautiful to be sitting inside of a board room while the mid-morning sunshine shone brightly through the multitudes of glass windows that lined one side of the board room. David turned his attention from the windows and looked to Lucius Fox as he conducted a meeting with the members of the board. He half-listened and looked down at his iphone while Mr. Fox read out the numbers from the fair fundraiser, despite the attack. As he spoke, David couldn't help but think how close he was to being blown up in his own car.

"Well, I just hope that your retirement party isn't as eventful as the fundraiser was," Bruce said from the end of the table. The comment caused more than a few to smile and chuckle.

"You and I both, Mr. Wayne," Mr. Fox stated.

David smiled as he looked over at his Dad.

Bruce turned to the window when a flash of light caught the corner of his eye. It wasn't until he noticed that it was moving that he stood up to get a better look. Lucius continued the meeting as Bruce walked towards the window.

David watched his Dad, realizing that he was watching something. When he suddenly turned and interrupted Mr. Fox, David knew that something was wrong.

"I'm sorry Mr. Fox, but I think it's time that we ended this meeting and reschedule it for a later time," Bruce said quickly, as he walked away from the window.

All of the board members were shocked. One stood up and turned to Bruce.

"Mr. Wayne, I altered my travel plans with my wife in order to make it here today," he said.

"Mr. Tangay, I must insist," Bruce said, turning back to look out the window as a loud rumbling sound gradually got louder in the board room. Just as Bruce pushed Mr. Tangay back, each and every one window suddenly blew out one after the other. Everyone at the table, jumped underneath it as glass flew around the room. A few screamed from the loud explosion and the sound of the wind blowing into the room

"What the hell was that!?" a board member exclaimed.

"An airplane," Bruce replied. David looked up over the table after the glass had stopped falling as the sound of a loud crash echoed up into the room. He walked over to the edge of the window and carefully looked down, seeing a plume of smoke slowly rising towards them.

"Downtown Gotham's financial district was the site of a single plane crash earlier this morning," the reporter stated. Bruce, David and Lucius stood in front of the television in Bruce's office, watching as the news came in about the plane crash. The board room was already in the process of being assessed by the insurance company.

"There were no fatalities on the ground and minimal damage to the surrounding buildings, Wayne Tower taking the majority of the damage," the reporter continued. "Fire officials have put out the fire and we've been told that the surrounding streets will continue to be closed for further investigation during the afternoon rush hour. What we have learned has been startling. The accident doesn't appear to be one, but this is still pending investigation. We've been told that the pilot was dressed as Batman with the letters, Who Am I? painted in white on his chest. The ID of the pilot has not been disclosed. Stay tuned for further information."

Bruce flipped the switch, turning off the television.

"Where have we seen this before?" Bruce asked.

He turned to David, noticing his confusion. "There was an incident many years ago, before I knew you when the Joker was taking men who dressed as Batman and killing them, but not before putting out a statement that he wanted Batman to step forward and reveal himself."

David shook his head. "Joker has been dead for over ten years. He can't be alive."

"It looks like we may have a copy cat," Lucius continued. "Perhaps one that knows just as much as he did."