EXT. TRAIN STATION - EARLY MORNING
Foulkes and some men wait inside a black sedan as passengers disembark a parked train. He scans the faces. As the last of the passengers exits the train, the doors slide closed and it goes on its way.
Foulkes looks at his watch, then drives off.
EXT. TOCKMAN'S ONE-STOP CLOCK SHOP - MORNING
Foulkes parks outside. He and his men head inside the shop.
INT. WORKSHOP - TOCKMAN'S ONE-STOP CLOCK SHOP
Ticking. Countless clocks ticking, from watches to grandfather clocks to wall-mounted cuckoos. William King works with fine metal tools at a workbench as Foulkes enters.
FOULKES
Pryce didn't show.
King makes an extremely fine-tune adjustment on the inner workings of the device he's working on, then reaches for a newspaper. He pushes it across his workbench towards Foulkes.
KING
No, I imagine he didn't. Seems Mr. Pryce missed his train. It did not, however, miss him.
Foulkes picks up the paper.
GOTHAM TIMES: The top headline reads: "WAYNE KIDNAPPING A HOAX - RUMOR SPREAD BY DISGRUNTLED FORMER EMPLOYEE" with a recent picture of Bruce standing in front of a cadre of reporters. Under that, though, circled in red marker, is a smaller headline that reads: "DEAD MAN STABBED CHEF BEFORE JUMPING OFF BRIDGE".
KING
A second or two either way and he would have made that jump. A few seconds cost him the rest of his life. Doesn't really feel like a fair trade, does it?
Foulkes furrows his brow.
King completes his work and looks up.
KING
Looks like we're gonna need another engineer.
King grins.
EXT. WAYNE MANOR - DAY
The palatial estate of Wayne Manor stands like a fortress guarding the city limits of Gotham City behind it. News vans from every major news outlet in the city are parked out front the main gate.
INT. KITCHEN - WAYNE MANOR
Dick Grayson enters the kitchen just as Alfred removes a whole chicken from a boiling pot of water with a pair of tongs. There's a plate of eggs and a ham steak waiting for him at the table. There's also a tall glass of milk and another of some unidentified vegetable protein concoction.
ALFRED
Good afternoon, Master Dick.
Alfred drops the whole chicken on a cutting board and shreds the meat from the carcass. He takes the boiled chicken bits and places them into some glassware.
GRAYSON
Alfred.
Grayson sits down at the table and starts eating.
ALFRED
I trust you won't think it reflects poorly on me that your eggs are cold and your milk is warm. Rest assured the thin layer of dust atop each wasn't there three hours ago, either.
GRAYSON
Yeah, I'm guessing neither is or ever was as cold as the conversation would have been. He say anything about last night?
ALFRED
I got pieces.
GRAYSON
I was dreading it all night. I barely slept. I really screwed up.
ALFRED
Yes, that piece I got.
GRAYSON
He didn't speak to me the entire ride back to the cave. It was like I was a little kid again, waiting for Mommy to yell at me for cheating on a math test.
ALFRED
Having been raised in a traveling circus, one wonders how often you faced that particular scenario.
GRAYSON
I just needed him to say something; yell at me, fire me, beat the crap out of me, something.
Grayson scarfs down the rest of his meal, then drinks his milk and vegetable protein. He wipes his mouth and heads for the door.
GRAYSON
I'm getting this over with. I'm confronting him head on.
Grayson exits.
ALFRED
Yes, sir. I've no doubt that will go swimmingly for you.
Alfred throws the stripped chicken carcass into an open trash bag.
INT. BATCAVE
Grayson descends the long stone stairs, a man on a mission. Bruce is seated in front of the massive Bat-computer analyzing an audio clip. Three side monitors also play separate newscasts he can watch with his peripheral vision.
GRAYSON
Like you never made a mistake when you were younger. Not one time. Okay, I know it was a big one, but...
As Grayson gets closer, Bruce puts up a hand.
BRUCE
Shh...
Audio plays of the shock fight from the previous night. We hear the crowd cheering, a thud, the bell.
AUDIO (V.O.)
Pay's eight-two-five at one-two-one in round two. That's eight-two-five, at one-two-one, in two.
Bruce types the numbers into a separate window: "8, 2, 5, 1, 2, 1, 2".
BRUCE
I extracted the audio from last night, from just before you reported Pryce getting up to leave.
GRAYSON
Oh, you're talking to me again? Good. Because that silent treatment is some kind of crap.
BRUCE
I think the referee conveyed a coded message via this set of numbers. I'm running it through the computer to see if it holds any known significance.
GRAYSON
Look, I'm sorry about last night. I made a mistake.
BRUCE
You made eight.
GRAYSON
How do you figure?!
Bruce stands up to look him in the eyes.
BRUCE
One, you got impatient during a stakeout. Two, you disobeyed a direct order to remain where you were. Three, you left your equipment where anyone could find it.
GRAYSON
In an abandoned office nobody uses.
BRUCE
Four, you allowed the criminal to dictate your route when there was an easier, less physical, and more efficient path you could have taken.
GRAYSON
Oh.
BRUCE
Five, you broke off radio contact. Six, you continued the chase into a public area, endangering civilians. Did you think I wouldn't notice someone got stabbed?
GRAYSON
I made sure he was okay.
BRUCE
Seven, he saw your face, which meant I couldn't pursue and risk letting him know who was after him. On the off chance he could identify you, both of our secret identities would have been compromised. And eight, you let the man die.
GRAYSON
I didn't let him die. I tried to pull him up.
BRUCE
You 'tried' is just another way of saying you 'failed'. This is what we do. There is no difference between choosing not to and not being able.
GRAYSON
He was a bad guy, anyway.
BRUCE
(firm growl)
We don't make that distinction when it comes to matters of life and death. That's not who we are. That's not what Batman and Robin are about.
Grayson turns away, ashamed.
GRAYSON
I know.
Bruce turns, sits back down at the computer. He gets back to work.
Dick watches him a moment, goes to say something, but stops himself. He's embarrassed.
GRAYSON
I do know that. And I know you're disappointed in me. I know you're angry. But no matter what else you may think of me, it's important that you know that I know that's not what we're about. I wasn't trying to kill him. I didn't let him die. I tried to pull him up. He resisted. He slipped. There was nothing else I could do.
BRUCE
Not at that point, no. Because you didn't stay patient, you made a decision that spiraled into a chain of events leading to one man being stabbed and another being run over by a train. That's the difference between doing the job and doing it right. Not to mention the fact that, because he died, we didn't get to interrogate him to figure out what else he might've known. That's nine.
GRAYSON
I'm sorry I let you down.
On the monitor, a message pops up regarding the crosscheck on the significance of the numbers: "NOT FOUND"
BRUCE
Get over it.
Bruce stands up and heads for the stairs.
BRUCE
You're on monitor duty until further notice, until such a time as I feel you can be trusted again. Pryce was a particularly skilled engineer. Whoever tried to hire him can't replace him with someone off the street. You have until tonight to work up a list of names for me. Right now, Bruce Wayne has a meeting with the Wayne Enterprises Board of Directors.
Bruce turns to leave.
GRAYSON
You know, just because you're Batman, doesn't mean it's cool to refer to yourself in the third person.
BRUCE
Yes, it does.
Bruce exits. Grayson sits at the computer and gets to work.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - WAYNE ENTERPRISES HQ - DAY
Nineteen big wigs and one empty chair sit at a long conference table. Despite the incredible view of Gotham City from the window, they are all preoccupied, their collective attention directed towards the man in the room whose name is on the wall; Bruce Wayne.
BRUCE
The evidence is irrefutable. Someone's been leaking information to LexCorp. That's how they undercut our bid for the government big data contract.
GRAHAM CULLEN, a senior board member with a keen intellect and the power of persuasion, looks over the packet of pages in front of him with disdain.
GRAHAM
This is absurd. How do we know this "Bat"-lunatic didn't fabricate this evidence? For god's sake, he threw you out of a window.
BRUCE
Lucius?
Bruce defers to LUCIUS FOX, an older man but not yet of retirement age and seated at Bruce's right.
LUCIUS
I ran the back trace this morning. Our security was definitely breached on at least four separate occasions. Nothing traceable, but they got in and they got everything; accounting, logistics, specs on the entire operation at Rosevale. We're in the process of updating our protocols, but the damage is done. It's no secret we were counting on that contract to keep the Applied Sciences division up and running.
BRUCE
Corallo Purvis was relieved of his duties first thing this morning, but I'm confident he wasn't working alone. The Batman and his ambiguous partner may have thrown me out of a window, but whomever's been selling company secrets has stabbed all of us in the back. There are going to have to be massive layoffs, the company stock is going to nosedive, and even more importantly... and I can't stress this enough, people... Lex Luthor is somewhere sitting in his penthouse apartment in Metropolis knowing that he got one over on us and that makes me just about ready to blow up the god damn moon.
GRAHAM
I'll push forward on the Sionis Pharm takeover. If we can iron out the details before the end of the quarter, that should help mitigate our losses, give us something positive to report at the next investors meeting.
BRUCE
Good.
LUCIUS
As for the rest of you, we're in full audit mode. I'll expect complete reports by the end of the month.
BRUCE
Let's get this ship in order, people. That's my name on the building. That's my father's name. I'm not getting embarrassed on my home turf.
The meeting wraps up and the board members leave. Only Bruce and Lucius are left. Bruce stands and looks out the window over at the city... his city.
LUCIUS
Graham's right. The Sionis takeover should help.
BRUCE
I don't care about that. They're scared. No one wants to be the next to go out the window. And that's the point.
Bruce turns around.
BRUCE
No one gets laid off before Christmas. And put in a call to Oliver Queen. Tell him Corallo Purvis comes with my highest recommendation.
LUCIUS
Understood.
BRUCE
I'm going to make myself scarce the next few days.
LUCIUS
Skiing, again?
BRUCE
I should be pretty good by now. Tell them I'm Bat-shy.
LUCIUS
Right.
BRUCE
I've got a lot on my plate. You've got kids, haven't you, Lucius?
LUCIUS
(nods)
A son and a daughter.
Bruce nods. After a wait...
LUCIUS
Was there another question you wanted to ask? Advice, maybe?
BRUCE
No. Keep me in the loop on the audit. I need to go practice for an uncomfortable conversation with an angry man.
Bruce exits.
EXT. GOTHAM CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT - NIGHT
The ever busy Gotham City Police Department; the beleaguered brick bastion where overworked men and women in blue do their best to maintain order in a city especially wrought with insanity.
INT. COMMISSIONER GORDON'S OFFICE - NIGHT
COMMISSIONER JIM GORDON enters his office and immediately slams the door behind him. The rush of air from the door slamming shut knocks a few stray papers off his cluttered desk.
GORDON
Ah, dammit!
He bends down to pickup the fallen papers. A shadow moves across the floor, one with tall ears atop its head. He sees it and looks up.
Just outside the window, on the fire escape, the Batman.
GORDON
So, that was your guy down at the tracks.
Gordon stacks the paper and replaces them back on the desk. He moves over to the window and sticks his head out.
EXT. FIRE ESCAPE - COMMISSIONER GORDON'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Gordon points accusingly at Batman.
GORDON
You and I have always walked very thin ice. I justified it by telling myself we were making progress. I have fought two mayors and the district attorney's office for you. I thought we had an understanding.
BATMAN
He ran.
GORDON
They all run! They always run! Don't make me come after you two.
Batman nods, then falls backwards over the fire escape. He throws out his arms and his cape turns into a glider which he uses to fly away.
Jim watches with a scowl, then retreats back inside.
- To Be Continued... -