It was possible the other executives at Wayne Enterprises felt like they were on a class field trip. It could be argued that, in many ways, that they were. Employees working on the GENESIS project at WayneTech Section Ten security level, were nervous to find every head of Wayne Enterprises and Bruce Wayne himself in the midst of their work.
They walked through the halls lead by Lucius Fox, following at a safe distance, far enough to admire the experiments around them but close enough as not to be lost by Lucius. Bruce, eager to know about their findings now, followed side-by-side with Lucius to get his story.
"To be honest, I talked a big game when I proposed the GENESIS project to you" he said, "save mankind, change life as we know it, all of it. I didn't stop to think, 'where the hell do I start'?
"Uh" Bruce thought sarcastically, "You think?" He still felt horrible about strangling Jason Powers in the boardroom. Jason had declined to go with Bruce and the others to meet the Alpha Vector's inventor. He didn't blame him, honestly. Just himself.
Chuckling, Lucius continues, "That is, until I met someone."
"Who" Bruce wondered.
Lucius just smiled his usual, pleasant smile. "I would answer that", he said, "but we're already here."
Lucius stopped at a door at a large, twelve foot tall vault-like door, labeled 'Sec.11'. All the other experiments and projects were behind bulletproof and confined, sterilized glass walls, as the hall was already under high-level classification and few could actually get in. The fact that this project was classified within an already classified hallway said a lot about the project. In the center of the door was a red orb, apparently a optical reader.
Lucius presented his security key and ran through the reader on the side and leaned forward, presenting his eyeball to the optical scanner. Several rays of scanning light flashed back and forth across Lucius' cornea, verifying his identification.
"Welcome to GENESIS, Lucius Malcolm Fox" a mechanized voice called out before the orb revolved counter-clockwise and the door rose at a steady, but careful drag. They were faced with a pretty woman in a yellow HAZMAT suit, carrying a clipboard and unhooded. She stood in front of a colorless, steel wall, curving into a diagonal hall to the right of her. She didn't appear very happy to be there.
"Is this her" Bruce asked Lucius.
"No" Lucius explained, "this is Dr. Heather Allister. Dr. Allister, these people are all the collective heads of Wayne Enterprises; William Howerton, Angelique Davis, Andrew Watkins, Chris Saulderson, Daniel Trustings, Marissa Carlington, Aaron Powell, Geraldine Walters, and this is Bruce Wayne, the man who funds every little thing that you do."
Dr. Allister looked at all of them for a second, blinking. She looks at her clipboard.
"That's nice" she says, not really caring, "Are you ready? The experiment's about to begin. It's quite a show." She casually but fleetingly turned and walked down the hall, leading them.
"After you, Mr. Wayne" said Lucius Fox, waiting for Bruce to lead them. He did.
"The team is lead by Dr. Ramona Stowalters" explained Lucius as they walked down the curving hallway, where they were flanked by a glass wall to their right, "we discovered her as a recruit from Cal Poly. She discovered the cell's reaction to a certain frequency of sound. The cells will then generate and duplicate at an accelerated rate, essentially heal."
"No" Dr. Allister said with a chuckle from ahead of them. She turned around at them as she walked with a smirk. "Not heal" she said, "create. The Alpha Vector can actually create life."
Bruce heard all of this, though his and most of others' collective attention were on the continuous display to his right. Beyond the glass wall was a room built like a miniature rain forest. There were exotic plant-life and rare flowers, even a thirty-foot tall tree. There was also an ominous mist in the room as they was a rain-simulation machine on the ceiling of the room. What really caught their attention though, was the fact that there was several men and women in HAZMAT suits, walking around the giant garden, setting everything on fire with high-powered flamethrowers strapped to their backs.
Dr. Allister brought the group to a control room, where a redhead in an unhooded HAZMAT labeled with the Wayne Chemicals and Genesis logo. Her own suit was red, unlike the others, who wore yellow. She sighed as she entered the last of some data into a computer.
"Ramona" Lucius called.
Ramona Stowalters turned in her chair and her eyes lit up as she saw Lucius Fox. She jumped up and embraced him.
"Lucius" she cooed, "Its been a while since you've been down here. Are you getting too good for the basement?"
"Never" replied Lucius, as he pulled back and led her to Bruce Wayne."Ramona Stowalters, this is Bruce Wayne, majority shareholder, namesake of this company and funder of project GENESIS. Bruce Wayne, this is Ramona Stowalters, the head researcher of project GENESIS, top-level employee of Wayne Chemicals, and inventor of the Alpha Vector. Damn, I am just the CEO of introductions today."
Ramona giggled at that and extended a manicured hand to Bruce. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Mr. Wayne" she said.
"I assure you" he told her, "its mine if you are the mastermind behind the Alpha Vector and it can do what Mr. Fox and Powers claim it can do."
She was a pretty woman. She had auburn red hair that reminded Bruce of a beautiful 1930's movie starlet. She had sparkling green eyes only thinly hidden by spectacles and a light pink gloss that accentuated beautiful lips. She was beautiful in a natural way unlike a model but physically superior to Rachel Dawes, Bruce sadly noted. She was the type to despise makeup. Bruce saw that with just one look at her. She had a very kind smile. It was pleasant.
"Mastermind" she sighed, "me? I just stumbled upon the discovery on accident. It really a leap of faith, really. God's hand. I don't even believe I can take credit for it."
"God's hand, huh" Bruce pondered the statement.
"Mr. Wayne" she began, "have you awoke one morning and felt like a different person, like, you have finally discovered your purpose?"
The questioned stunned Bruce and he struggled for an answer.
"I'm sorry" Stowalters apologized, shaking her head, "I guess what I really mean to say is, do you believe in God, ?"
Bruce thought it over before saying, "For a long time I didn't. Then, this morning hundreds of people died in a terrorist attack."
She gasped. "I heard about that" she exclaimed, "I would have came to see it but I was hard at work on the project. All those people… it's terrible."
"People died, Dr. Stowalters" he continued, "in my city. My home. Now, Powers tested your Alpha Vector on me, and it healed me of not only every physical injury but also every mental injury I had ever incurred in my life. For that, Dr. Stowalters, I thank you. You helped release me." Tears actually welled in Bruce's eyes.
"" Dr. Stowalters began, "please.
"Mr. Wayne" said Lucius, putting a hand on his shoulder, "are you okay."
"I'm sorry about this" Bruce said, "I really am. I… I'm not really myself." He turned his head to wipe his eyes with the back of his right hand.
Ramona simply twisted her head to look up into his face. "This really is affecting you, isn't it" she inquired, "You're not as shallow as the media makes you out to be, are you?"
Slyly, Bruce asks, "Dr. Stowalters, what are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Mr. Wayne" she chirped with a smile, "I can see through you now. I hope you don't take offense but I take a lunch break at noon. I would like you to pick me up so we can talk."
Bruce was taken aback. Was she serious? Did she just ask him out to lunch? An employee of his own company? Didn't she know he was supposedly a busy man? How did she know he didn't probably have a hundred meetings today. He didn't, but how did she know that?
When she sensed his hesitation, she pursued further, "Aren't you curious? How could someone like me create possibly the greatest invention of the last four decades, if not all time? Don't you want to know how I did it?"
That did peak his interest, but he was hesitant. Did he really want to go to lunch with a women he wasn't using for a front? He didn't know.
Smiling at his hesitation, she turned away from him and went to the computer and spoke into the speaker.
"Okay, boys" she said, "I think we've damned all of mankind for the second time now. You can retract now."
The researcher all stopped torching the rainforest and began to file out of the detoxification port on the other side of the room.
"There is so many toxin and pores in a natural rainforest that is usually sealed inside its plants and trees as a natural defense, which is the purpose for the suits. Us burning the forest which we have taken to calling Eden, the reason behind my damnation of mankind pun by the way, releases those potentially fatal toxins and pores into the air, which is why we have the researchers sterilized and decarbonizes on the other side."
Marissa Carlington, director of Wayne Chemicals and Stowalters' direct employer, stated, "Doctor, I would like to speak with you personally about your behavior concerning Mr. Wayne. In the meantime, I believe it is crudely irrational and unsafe to not only plant a goddamn rainforest down here, but to destroy it with fire? That is completely amoral and just plain stupid, godammit! How fatal that could be to the other researchers!"
Ramona waved her arms. "No! No! It's not! I have taken every precaution to make sure that this experiment is completely safe, even to the plant-life!"
"Wait…" said Andrew Watkins, "did she say the… plant-life?"
"I don't know" shrugged Aaron Powell, head of Wayne Entertainment, "ask her."
"Did you say plant-life" said Andrew Watkins to her.
"You really need to just watch" assured Dr. Ramona Stowalters and turned away from them, monitoring the detoxification's statistics. "Mr. Wayne" she said, without looking, "lets see if this sparks your curiosity."
After seeing that all detoxification had reached one hundred percent, she leaned into the speaker again. "Okay, team" Stowalters said "please step from the detoxification chambers. I know it was very painful for all you. I hate you to inform you it was far less painful for you, but our dreams will come to fruition. Your services are greatly appreciated."
They filed out of their respective chambers. They placed their flamethrowers back on the racks.
"Yes" she chimed back on, "please return your flamethrowers."
The flaming forest seemed to rise in its urgency and crackled greatly, eating away from at the various and otherworldly flowers, turning them black and then melting and disintegrating them. The great tree was now set aflame. The ecologists would surely love this, Bruce thought.
Stowalters turned and nodded to Dr. Allister, who gave Stowalters a savage, spiteful look before leaving. Dr. Allister found a secondary control room which utilized a different function than Stowalters'.
Into the speakers, Stowalters said, "Administer the coolant extinguishers"
"Administering the coolant extinguishers" Allister echoed back across the speakers. Directly afterwards, a buzzing rung through the room and large turret-like guns descended from the ceiling and sprayed large streams of heavy mists down on the growing fires. Within a minute, the fires were suffocated and put out. They all watched as the large fog cleared.
"Administer the clearing suctioning" commanded Stowalters.
"Administering the clearing suctioning, " Allister echoed again.
As a response, large fans protruded from the walls and began blowing. Within seconds, the windows and the fog was completely cleared out.
When Stowalters was satisfied that every ember had gone out and they had clear view of the entire room, she gave the next command.
"Administer the Alpha Vector Prime" she called. This time she typed in several commands into the computer herself and used her own security card to verify the command. Within seconds, everybody could actually see visible sound vibrations distort the surroundings inside the room visibly and distort their vision. They saw transparent waves descend over the room, and after a few seconds dissipate.
"Did you see that" asked William Howerton.
"Shhhh" replied Marissa Carlington.
Almost immediately, every destroyed plant, flower, vine and the great tree gradually but rapidly grew back to full life within a full minute. After watching the rainforest, they witnessed another grow in its place, cell after cell rebuilt at an accelerated rate. They all described it as the most amazing thing they had ever witnessed. None of them would admit out loud, but they all secretly agreed they had witnessed God at work.
"I take it you have a date for lunch" Lucius commented to Bruce. Bruce was speechless.
Bruce hadn't taken Ramona Stowalters for the type to know a nice, low-key but terrific Italian restaurant in Gotham, but low and behold, she did. She had blown his mind two times in one day. He simply didn't even know what to think of her. He turned his mind to the Alpha Vector and its possibilities. Infinite potential for healthcare. Illnesses and diseases could be cured. Hell, it seemed mundane, but it might be possible to regrow organs. He could finally be behind something his father could be proud of, which is something Batman most definitely didn't achieve.
Alfred had driven Bruce to Corelli's Little Italy with his usual snide remarks.
"Sir, I regret that your father isn't here to give this discussion" he said while driving, "I greatly regret it. However, you see, sir, there is a thing called the birds and the bees. Now, as you know it is a bees instinct to pollinate a flower…"
"Shut up, Alfred" Bruce interrupted, "just shut up."
"Wow, that wasn't nice" Alfred perceived, "Master Bruce, have you ever been on a date?"
"I've been on a date" Bruce said. Then again to reassure himself, "I have been on dates."
Alfred just chuckled as he parked in front of the restaurant and put the car in park.
"Play nice" he commented.
"Thanks, Judas" Bruce replied before stepping out, "you're just like Lucius."
She was waiting for him at a private booth, she had reserved for them. She smiled a wide, revealing smile and waved to him when she saw him. He took a seat.
"I know that this might not be the usual place for you" she said rubbing her hands together. "You're probably into more high-profile restaurants, I'm just not the usual girl you're into. I didn't think" she drunk the entire glass of water that she had on the table in two gulps, then continued, "I didn't think that you'd want… I didn't think you'd want to be seen with me."
She was nervous. Where had all that confidence she had exhibited earlier gone?
"Well" Bruce said, "I know I do have a reputation. All that really doesn't matter to me, though. Especially during the day. Look, I really love this restaurant anyway. I've been coming here since I was a kid."
He liked that answer. It would comfort her, as well as protect his appearance. It was perfect.
"Well, that's great" she said, sighing, "are you ready to order?"
"Sure" Bruce replied and waved over the waitress.
She skulked over, notepad in hand and came to their table.
"Yes" she said, "What may I get… oh my god, you're Bruce Wayne."
"For a really nice tip" he answered, "I'm James Hunter. A really nice tip."
"Okay, Mr. Hunter. What would you be having."
"Well" he said, thinking, "I'll be having the chef's special Parmesan Lasagna with black pepper. Also a bread stick and garlic butter sautee."
The waitress looked expectantly at Dr. Stowalters, who looked at her menu, then sighed and smiled at them.
"I'll have what he's having" she decided.
"And to drink, sir" she asked Bruce.
"Just a water" he replied.
"Can I refill your water for you, ma'am" she asked Stowalters.
"Sure" Stowalters said with a nod.
The waitress took her glass, their menus and departed.
"It's a good thing that not many people outside of my social circles really know my face" Bruce stated, turning back to Ramona, laughing to himself, seeing as he had no social circles.
"James Hunter" she admired, "resilient and painfully handsome."
"Aah" he observed, "she returns. The confidence that knocked me off my guard in the first place."
"What can I say" she said, looking down for a moment, "Its one thing inviting you to lunch but its another thing to actually have you here. Well, I made you a promise that I intend to deliver."
"What do you mean" Bruce wondered.
"You know" she said, "the great story of my Alpha Vector. It didn't happen in one night, you know. It is a story to remember, I have to say."
"I was gifted with science" she explained, gulping the remainder of the water from her glass and setting it down again, "even at a young age. I was only twelve when I won the Massachusetts State Science Fair." Bruce noted to himself that their food had arrived a little over five minutes ago, yet she hadn't even glanced at it. She only absently drank her glass of water. In fact, she was already on her third glass.
Forking a mouthful of lasagna, he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, with what did you win the… Massachusetts Science Fair?"
Looking away and giggling, she suddenly became shy. "Oh, you wouldn't believe me" she told him. "And stop making fun of me" she added.
"Come on" he pleaded, "didn't you want me to know more about you? Wouldn't that include so-called embarrassments. I mean, am I wrong or am I right?"
She wasn't forthcoming and just looked at him.
He clasped his hands together in a comically, pleading fashion. She laughed at it, snorting and covering her mouth. Anybody who knew who he was would recognize that this wasn't a normal thing for him to do, to even pretend to beg for anything. Anybody who didn't know him very well would still believe that begging to a lowly Dr. Ramona Stowalters was beneath him. He didn't care. Something about her drew him to her like a gravitational pull or a black hole. He just couldn't help himself. He also found her very attractive. She wasn't as physically beautiful as most of the women he "dated", but neither was Rachel. No, instead they had a brilliance about them that radiated about both them that separated them from most women. They were both powerful and they really had limitless potential in all facets of life. Bruce could see this in Dr. Stowalters and he just met her.
Her demeanor turned serious and her smile faded as she pushed her glasses onto the bridge of her nose.
"Okay" she said, solemnly, "you want to play this game? I found a way to reverse cancer."
Bruce laughed at that. She couldn't be serious. Reverse cancer? There was no cure for cancer. It was an uncontrollable defect in cells that as far as he knew was irreversible. Destroyable. Yes. Reversible? No? Then, she was trying to have him believe that she had accomplished this at twelve. Then again, she had created a machine that can regenerate cells at a seemingly impossible rate. She was drumming her fingers on the table, irritably. He had succeeded in pissing her off. That's why he faked lunches, dinner and relationships. He was truly horrible at them.
"I'm sorry" Stowalters said, "did I say something funny?"
"No, Doctor" he said, leaning forward, "I'm just interested. If you found a way to reverse cancer, why keep it to yourself? Why isn't it being applied to medicine to every hospital in the world today?"
"I used to ask myself that very question everyday" she said, leaning back, "but as you can see, I found something better."
"How did it work" Bruce asked, "you curing cancer, I mean."
She smiled at that.
"It was rather primitive now that I think about it" she said. "Cancer may be argued and slaved over by biologists for years, but it really all comes down to one simple factor: cells multiply and build all organic things. Yet, as new cells are created, the old are supposed to die. Cancer is what happens when the cells refuse to die. They mutate and lose all their old functions: fight bacteria, carry glucose, hold RNA and then they just multiply. They keep multiplying until they create tumors. The mutations are caused by an gene called an oncogene, which allow a cell to stay alive long enough to mutate. Normally, these cells are called proto-oncogenes and their function is to actually regulate cell growth but in a stable manner. They are attached to proteins. There has never been a way to break down a gene. However, you can break down a protein."
She looked at him expectantly, asking him, "Are you following, Mr. Wayne?"
"Yeah" he said, slowly nodding, "I'm picking up on everything you're saying so far, but I just don't see where you're going with this."
"Come on" she exclaimed, startling Bruce and several others in the restaurant, causing them to look at her. "Really, Mr. Wayne! I was twelve at the time, dammit! Are you seriously not following me! I demonstrated a way to break down an oncogene-infested protein. Without the protein, the expression process to mutate into oncogenes is interrupted and they revert back into proto-oncogenes. All of this was done with pancrelipase and a simple, generic enzyme enhancer. It was precise and easily administered unlike radiation, which is such overkill."
"Now, you sound like a scientist" Bruce commented. "Why didn't the judges recruit you into their scientific community and turn you into their prodigy?"
"Shut up" she said, before drinking more water, "Well, first of all, the procedure is so dangerous. Protein is such a necessary building block to the human body. I mean, it is still a much more rewarding and less painless procedure than chemotherapy would be but it would cost so much more. How much of your body are you really ready to destroy until you can live a normal life?"
"So how did this bring us to the Alpha Vector" Bruce asked.
"I guess it all began with my father" she said simply.
Alexander Stowalters was a brilliant geneticist whose name was highly regarded in the scientific community, one of the reason why his daughter's simple and brilliant yet monstrous solution to cancer won the award at one of the most prestigious science fairs in the nation. The free thinkers may have secretly looked down on Ramona's cruel gift to mankind, but the idea intrigued her father. He seeked for ways to refine it and simply couldn't find a way.
One day, little Ramona Stowalters at the age of fourteen brought Dr. Alexander Stowalters his daily lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich, Doritos, and a Barq's Root Beer. It made no difference as the good doctor barely ever noticed this and more often than not, Ramona would return to the lab in their basement later to discover her carefully prepared lunch untouched.
"Dad" Ramona said to him in his lab-basement one day, "why are you still working on that same old outdated method?"
"Well" Dr. Stowalters wondered angrily of his young daughter, "what do you suggest?!"
"Why try to reverse when you can make a body unable to produce cancer or any illness, for that matter" young Ramona wondered. The proposal struck a cord and revealed his daughter's vast potential to him. For the next three years, the two worked to create a specialized enzyme called Divinity A to rebuild and regenerate cells simultaneously. They one day succeeded. Under Lucius Fox's GENESIS project, she found a way to emit the enzymes into the air through sound waves, directly into the body via the ear canal, nervous system and bloodstream.
"So, you and your father created the Alpha Vector" Bruce summarized, "and it all began from a science project where you found a chaotic cure for cancer." She simply nodded.
"What happened to your father" Bruce asked.
"He died a long time ago" she replied solemnly
"I'm sorry to hear that" Bruce said, placing his hand on hers, "I know what it feels like to lose a parent." Why did he do that? Why was he acting this way with her? He didn't know. All he knew was that he just wanted to comfort her and tell her he knew her pain. He wanted to make her feel as good as the Alpha Vector made him feel.
She pulled her hand away. She checked her watch.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Wayne" she said hastily getting up, almost knocking over her chair, "I really have to get back to the lab. There are still more tests to be done concerning the Alpha Vector. Can I count on your funding?"
"Without question, Doctor" Bruce said, winningly, "what you're doing can potentially save the world. I'll be damned if I didn't have anything to do with that, let alone directly prevent that."
She stopped. "Thank you very much" she said, honestly.
He stood up and they shook hands eagerly.
"I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you" she said.
"How about dinner tonight" he offered, "I'm throwing a charity banquet for the families in the Downing Incident tonight. I would love for you to come."
"I can't" she said, "I have very important work in the lab tonight."
"Maybe you can put it off for one night" he asked, "Come…"
"No" she said suddenly, looking at him with serious eyes. "I really have to go. Thank you again." With that, she walked briskly out of the restaurant.
Of course, I'll take the check, he thought. I mean I knew I would, but we could've at least talked about it, dammit.
It might not seem right to some, but to them it was a necessary evil. Montoya was the one to knock on the door. They only had to knock twice before Barbara Gordon answered. It was a quarter 'til nine. She had gotten home from work as a fourth grade teacher several hours earlier but she was still exhausted. She had been sleeping badly due to nightmares lately. They presented their badges to her.
"Ma'am" Agent Montoya said, "I'm Agent Montoya and this is Agent Flanagan. Is Commissioner Gordon home this evening?"
"No, I'm afraid he's not" Barbara said, pretending to be disappointed. "He's at a charity banquet tonight, but usually he'd be in his office. The police commissioner is a very important position."
"I'm sure it is" Montoya answered, crossing her arms, "may I see some identification, please?"
Barbara was dumbfounded by the sudden inquiry into her person. "Ye-Yes, let me just see if I can find it." When she began to creep from the door, they began to chuckle and snicker at her.
"I'm sorry" Flanagan apologized, waving a hand and dismissing the notion, "we don't need your ID. We know who you are. We're just terrible."
"What" a confused Barbara asked.
"We do have a few questions for you, though" Flanagan continued.
"Like, tell us about the Batman" Montoya said, "we know you had an encounter with him. He threatened your family right before he threw Harvey Dent to his death."
"It sounds like you already know what you need to know" Barbara said.
"What does he looks like" Flanagan asked. "Is he really a giant bat or something?"
"No, he's a man in a goddamn bat-suit" Barbara answered vehemently.
"So, he's just a psychopath" Flanagan noted, writing it in a notepad he took out. "Duly noted" he said, "this helps, Mrs. Gordon."
"Other than being a psychopath" Montoya continued, "what do you think his motives were? From what you can tell. Anything would help."
"How the fuck would I know" yelled Barbara.
"Mom" called Cody, her son in a concerned voice.
"Oh, Cody" Barbara squatted down and hugged him, "Go play in the other room with your sister."
"You must be Cody" Flanagan said in a falsely playful voice, "My god you sure do look like your father."
"Cody" Barbara said, pushing him away, "go now."
She stood and faced the two agents.
"Okay, you two need to leave now" she said.
"That's fine" Flanagan said, raising his arms, "Just be sure to give him this."
He handed her his contact card at the FBI office. "I haven't been able to get in touch with him, lately. Okay have a good day, Mrs. Gordon." With that, the agents turned and walked back down the stairs.
"Well, that was fun" said Montoya as they descended the stairs.
"Indeed, it was" answered Flanagan as he sighed. "I guess you know what we're going to have to do."
"Hell yeah I do" she replied as they got to the bottom and headed down the street to their car, "I mean we have to know the truth. We're just not getting it from these people."
"We're going to have to trap the Batman" he said with a wide smile. This brought laughter from her as they got in their car.
Barbara watched them from her living room window, getting their car, starting it and driving off. Just how desperate is the Bereau in catching Batman, she wondered. She answered her own question. Desperate enough to let those two off of their respective leashes.
Ballard Hall was where the charity banquet was taking place. The event was hosted and funded by Bruce Wayne and the Wayne Foundation. Even as the event was called on short notice, Mayor Garcia, several celebrities and various the victims' families were attending.
"Mr. Wayne" said a teary-eyed Marlene Winters after an embrace, "thank you so very much for this. This, of course doesn't take away any of my pain…"
"But it helps to know that people care" Bruce finished for her. She nodded to answer. She was the wife of Christian Winters, a producing executive at NBC Gotham, which was housed at Downing Tower. He pulled her deeper to his chest and let her find comfort there. She sobbed. He had done something similar to this several times earlier and knew he would several times more before the end of the night. He didn't mind, he only remembered what it was like to be held like this after his parents were taken away from him. At an opportune time, he looked past her shoulder at Alfred, who watched them and raised a glass of champagne at Bruce.
It was great, fundraising ball as over fifty million dollars had already been made in donations. Bruce tapped his wine glass with a fork to cap the night.
"I would like to thank everybody for coming out, tonight" he said, "I would like very much like to show the Winters family, the Porter family, the Ashford family, the Robinsons, all of the victims of this tragedy that never should have happened in the first place, how much I feel for their sorrow. This is why I am donating twenty million dollars to the Wayne Foundation, which I am ensuring is moving towards benefiting the victims of today's events."
This caused an outbreak of claps and applause from around the room. This was unprecedented and Bruce was expecting to donate ten million, which was largely much more than anyone would expect. Yet, Bruce Wayne had doubled that amount. Many of the victims couldn't even express their appreciation.
"The stockholders are going to love this" Lucius said later.
"I don't give a fuck" Bruce retorted, sipping a bottle of water, "it made me feel better."
"I never judged" Lucius said pleasantly. "I just don't think the shareholders and the Board are going to take this very well."
Bruce finished off his water and looked to the bartender, who threw him another one. "Lucius" he said, "you sound my lawyer right about now, and thank God I haven't even told him about this yet. It gives me a reprieve. You're CEO. You'll deal with the Board. As for the shareholders, I'm still the ruling body. They'll do whatever I say, they trust me."
Lucius cocked an eyebrow at that statement.
"Well" Bruce admitted, opening his new water bottle and taking a gulp, "at least they should."
"Sir" Alfred called from behind Bruce, startling him, "there's a fine, young woman who would like to meet you."
Before even looking, Bruce said, "Alfred, come on. Really, I can't." He simultaneously turned to look at him but was instead faced with an extravagantly beautiful raven-black haired woman in a silver dress. She stared ravenously at Bruce as if trying to decide whether she would be having her steak rare with onions or well-done with a beer.
"Hello" she said, finally with the extension of her left hand, "I'm Selina Kyle. I've been dying to meet you."