The next day at work, Laura was anxious. Well, anxious is probably an understatement. She was constantly waiting for something to happen. Every time she heard the slightest semblance of excitement, she perked up and raced to the TV, only to discover it was nothing. Just an ordinary Wednesday. As much as she tried, she could hardly focus on work. She kept heading back to the news page and hitting refresh, hoping that something would come up.
One thing she knew, the Batman knew more than he let on. When she told him what she knew, Laura could practically hear the wheels clicking in place in his head. Perhaps that was the most frustrating part – not having all of the pieces.
Oh and of course there was the part where she was now on Falcone's hit list. She wasn't too worried about, Laura was pretty sure at least two superheroes were on the case at all times but it was never really that comforting to think that somebody wanted you dead. The combination in addition to that tiny fact of Lex's manhunt for her made focusing on her fluff pieces the Gazette called articles hard.
"Laura? LAURA?" She practically jumped in the air and took a defense stand.
"Geesh Brad, you scared the life out of me!" Laura responded, shaking her head in obvious annoyance.
"Seriously? What's up with you? I've never seen you so – out of it." Brad told her, his eyes revealing his genuine concern. Laura was taken aback. This leap into what felt like her old life made her forget that as much as she missed Metropolis, there were some really great things in Gotham and she even had a few friends.
"I dunno, I guess just a lot on my mind." Laura said, hoping Brad wouldn't dwell.
"Alright well, if you want, you can come with me to Food Stuffs. They're announcing the new CEO, Courtland Anderson or something pompous like that." The mention of Food Stuffs alerted Laura to what was going on. Of course, she knew this announcement was going to be made but since it wasn't exactly front page news she more or less forgot.
"You know, that sounds like a great idea. I should get out of this stuffy news room anyways." Laura said while grabbing her coat and following Brad out the door. When she got in the passenger seat of his Toyota, she immediately started tapping her fingers against the window. Yes, it felt good to be out of the office and actually doing something but she just wanted answers. She was sick of waiting.
About twenty minutes later, the two pulled up at the Food Stuffs warehouse and stood with the other members of the media while waiting for this Anderson guy to show himself. About fifteen minutes after they arrived, the few hundred people there consisting mostly of employees broke out into applause.
"Thank you all so much for coming. My name is Christian Anderson ('I knew it was something poupous!' exclaimed Brad followed by a bunch of 'shhhhs') and I want to welcome you to a new era!" He raised his hands as if to give credence to what he was saying and after about 20 seconds the applause died down. "Food Stuffs is unique. We're a company that started in Gotham, spread through Gotham, and thrived in Gotham. Hence, it only seems right that we should give back to the city that has given so much. I proudly announce that in two days, we will begin a campaign to donate food and other supplies to the homeless and others who need it!" The crowd once again broke into applause.
Laura didn't really listen to the rest of the speech but just stared. Two days. Two days. What was the significance of that? She began to feel Brad's head turn toward her so she began smiling and breaking into applause for show. She was forced into making small talk about the little nuances in the speech and therefore didn't notice Bruce Wayne blending in with the shadows. Unlike Laura, he had finally put it all together – he found Falcone's 'partner'.
Two days later, Laura woke with a start. She had a dream (or a nightmare, in a way) where she and the Batman were at a tea party and Lex Luther showed up – with hair. It was all very strange and very disturbing. She felt great to be awake.
And then she remembered it was Friday. She looked at her clock; it was only 5 AM. She figured in about three ours she'd call in sick to work, send in her completed story, and head to the Food Stuffs warehouse in the hope of finding out what was going on.
Until then, she took one last look at all of her notes and research, despite the fact that she practically knew it all by heart at this point. Going to Food Stuffs today was probably a long shot, but she had a hunch and she knew she would never get any work done anyways.
After picking up an Americano at the local coffee shop, she headed to Food Stuffs and found a secluded area to watch. Feeling anxious and a little worried about her lack of knowledge of the situation, she used her cell phone to post a status update on the Watchtower server. She wasn't usually so responsible, but then again she didn't feel like dying today.
By the time 11 AM rolled around, she half considered heading to work saying she felt better. She saw a few deliveries come by, watched as the various employees sat outside on their smoke breaks complaining about work, and what one would expect to go on in a factory that makes food. By 1 PM, she was starving. She realized this was all in all a terrible plan since she had no idea what time anything was down (let alone if it was going down), but at this point she was afraid to leave.
Finally, 3 PM rolled around. At first nothing was obvious except to her. She noticed a massive amount of new employees heading in for a shift but none of the employees inside left. Then she heard a massive commotion, a lot of people running outside, and an explosion. Without really thinking she ran towards the building to figure out what was going on.
When Bruce's alarm clock went off that same day at 11 AM, he was already awake. He knew more or less what to expect – this is the day Falone's big plan went into action. Instead of his full on Batsuit, he wore a capeless outfit that would allow for more movement. When 2:00 PM rolled around, he felt a mix of fear and excitement for what was to come.
Everything seemed normal at the factory, more or less business as usual. And then he spied Falcone in the passenger seat of a massive truck hidden from plain view. He realized about 15 mobsters (one he recognized as Anders' associate) dressed as workers at the factory get out of the truck.
He then noticed on the other side a small innocuous trailer housing what appeared to be the same drug he sold to the man the other night. A set of men wearing delivery outfits appeared to be finishing moving all of the boxes inside. It seemed as though Falcone's men themselves would be ensuring the drugs mixed in with the food.
He decided he needed to get into the factory, in order to see what was going on. Unfortunatly, with the sun still bright in the sky it was be harder for him to do this without being seen. Bruce managed to successfully get into the building and from there was able to discern where the boxes containing the drugs were being held and where the plant was that would create the drugged food.
Bruce had to make a split second decision. He knew it would be too dangerous just to witness this or to take a sample and try this the legal way. If any of the contaminated food made it to the public, the repercussions would be unimaginable. Preparing himself, Bruce quickly pulled the fire alarm and ran to the room where the drugs were. He lit the boxes on fire, watching him burn.
Bruce Wayne wasn't an overly optimistic person and therefore he wasn't all that surprised when a 10 man guard unit entered demanding him to freeze. After sending 4 bat boomerangs at every other guard he took advantage of their paused surprise and disarmed another three. The remaining three guards started shooting at him but Bruce was able to disarm them quite quickly.
Only then did Bruce realized he had bun shot – twice. Once in the shoulder and once in the stomach. He was already started to bleed quickly and he knew he didn't have much time until the factory blew. He looked around at the guards, those who had recovered appeared to have lost interest in the mysterious man and had run for their lives expecting the blast. Survival instincts kicked in and Bruce did all he could to follow.
Bruce made it outside right before the blast but knew it wasn't enough. He collapsed to the floor; he didn't even have enough energy to contact Alfred. Knowing he'd protected Gotham, he figured he had died a noble death and hoped that someone would have acknowledged him. Perhaps Laura would make the world realize Batman protected them and maybe people would get hope from it. As his conciousness faded he noticed an angel approach him.
"Oh no. Uh, Batman, please don't die." He heard the panicked angel say. Against the sunlight he could only make out blonde hair and a white pant suit. He laughed; she wasn't an actual angel. Before he passed out he heard her say "you're going to be okay" and then he felt himself engulfed in a ray of light. 'Huh, this is what death is like…it's not that bad' he thought to himself before completely passing out.
After finding Batman on the ground, Laura first attempted to manually stop the bleeding. After realizing he was dying and seeing inhis eyes that were drifting in and out of consciousness she realized there was only one thing to do. She quickly called Bart, "Bart – I need you to come get me and someone else. We're at Food Stuffs and hurry. Bring me home and drop him off at Bruce Wayne's house. No it's not him – look there's no time for questions hurry!" She said and hung up and placed her hands over the two injuries that threatened to threaten Batman.
She didn't hesitate. Sure, she'd healed people before, but this was a guy she barely knew. But she knew enough about him to know that this was the right thing. Batman was an important symbol for Gotham and if they lost him now, it would be so horrible. Any hope he brought would be lost and the was just too high a price. She held a man who was so selfless and so passionate that he would easily give his life for the city he cared about. If anyone could save the world, it was someone like that.
After she healed him, Laura felt her body enter into an immense amount of pain. She could only fight it off for a few seconds until her body gave in and she collapsed right beside him; the last thing she saw was a panicked Bart.
Alfred attended his usual chores in the mansion, trying to give off the air of boredom but in reality all he felt was uneasy. Sure, he knew it was only 3:20, and whatever was going to go "down" was probably still going down, but something in his gut wasn't sitting well.
He was contemplating driving out to the Food Stuffs warehouse when a chime informed him the front door had been opened. Breaking his daze, he headed straight to the front door, but paused when he reached the living room. On the couch, Bruce Wayne lay perfectly still looking exactly as he did when he left – only covered in blood.
Alfred hurried to the couch and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized Bruce was still alive. He carried, well dragged, Bruce to his bedroom and took off the limited body armor and face mask he was wearing. After removing his undershirt, Alfred took a step back as he noticed despite the red blood stains that soaked his shirt, he didn't appear to have a scratch on him.
"Alfred?" Bruce asked, apparently trying to rest his eyes.
"Relax Master Bruce, you've been through quite the ordeal." Alfred commanded him.
"Am I dead?" He asked, sitting up now. Bruce looked down at his torso and noticed the blood stains and the lack of bullet hole. Then he looked up and saw Alfred's confused and concerned face. "I'm not dead am I?" Alfred simply shook his head no. "Well then how am I alive?"
"I was going to ask you that same question." Alfred responded with raised eyes.
"I lit the drugs on fire and was shot twice. I managed to get out of the building before it blew and I remember lying there when some girl – she was blonde and wearing all white – came up to me. I thought she was an angel. I started feeling all warm and I figured I died and that's the last thing I remembered." Bruce recalled, obviously confused. "Wait, how did I get here?"
"I have no bloody idea, I was cleaning the kitchen one minute and the next your lying on the couch." Bruce simply frowned.
After a long, soapy shower, Bruce had a bite to eat and decided to try and figure out what had happened to him. However, after reviewing the tapes, he was only more confused. The tape made it look like the wind blew the door open and momentarily Bruce's body appeared on the couch. "That's impossible." Was all Bruce could say.
"What happened?" Clark and Oliver both asked at virtually the same time to Bart who was doing his own super speed version of pacing. The two had been trying to get Bart to stop running for the past twenty minutes. Finally Clark grabbed him and forced him to stop. Bart looked like a wreck.
"Look, I was in LA you know getting my tan on when I get a call from Chloe – I mean Laura. She said she needed me to pick up her and her friend and bring her here and her friend to Bruce Wayne's place. I tried to ask her who her friend was and she said it wasn't important. When I found her there was blood everywhere but the guy appeared to be alright." Bart told them and was about to take off again but was held back by Clark's arm.
Both Clark and Oliver looked at each other and realized what they thought happened was in fact what did happen. Laura, once again, died in order to heal someone. "So, who was the guy?" Oliver asked. His voiced hinted at anger towards whoever caused her to do this.
"I'm not sure, but I think it was that Batdude." Bart told the. Oliver continued pacing while Clark held Bart in place.
"I'm going to go over there and find out what happened." Oliver said while grabbing his coat and walking out the door.
"Wait." Clark said, letting go of Bart who immediately began super speeding around the room again. "Think about it, what will your going over there accomplish?"
"I can find out what the hell happened to one of my closest friends." Oliver said, more or less enrages.
"But here me out. He might not even know Laura did it. She's wearing her blonde wig – she was obviously trying to feel more like her old self for some odd reason. If he was dying, he might have thought anything. If you walk in their now demanding an explanation you might just make everything that much more complicated." Clark pointed out.
"Clark's right." All eyes turned to face the bed as Laura tried to use her elbows to pull herself up. "Besides, I was only dead for what, 3 hours? Really not a big deal." The room was screaming in silence. All three men stared at her with eyes so solemn and serious it truly frightened her. "Okay, you guys are scaring me." She told them. As if on cue, they all softened up and rushed her to make sure she was alright.
After about five minutes, the boys were ready for an explanation. Laura sighed and began, "Alright so you all know how I've been investigating Falcone?" both Oliver and Clark nodded in acknowledgement and Bart sort of shrugged. "Well, I as I told Clark the other night, I found out he was planning on drugging Food Stuffs food so people would be addicted to only Food Stuffs therefore giving him and Food Stuffs a huge advantage over their competitors. Well, a few night ago, I went out and found the Batman and told him this and when I did, I could tell it was the final piece to something he put together. But like most superheroes, he chose not to tell me what he knew.
"So, I went to a Food Stuffs conference for the new CEO and they mentioned Friday and something about the way he said it hit a nerve and I had a hunch something was going down. So I got there this morning and sat around and waited for something to happen. Right before the explosion, I noticed a massive shift change, only it wasn't because about 15 or so men went in, and none went on. And then, boom!" She used hand motions in case the word wasn't enough. "You know me, I started running towards it and no one was really paying attention since they were all running for their lives. I found Batman and knew I had to heal them. I decided to be smart and call Bart first and here we are." Laura told them. Her face grew a little bit more serious, "Do you know if everyone got out before the explosion?"
"Of course that would be the first thing you asked," Oliver said with a smile, "apparently, a fire alarm went off about 5 minutes before the explosion, as a result, the majority of the people in the factory got outside. There were a few injuries for those who barely got away but it looks good so far." Laura sighed in relief.
"So, Bruce Wayne is Batman?" Oliver suddenly asked to brighten the mood.
"Man, I was trying so hard not to tell you guys. I don't have confirmation but I'm like 99.9% sure." Laura responded, smiling.
"Well don't worry, we won't say a word." Oliver said. The others confirmed this and all started laughing. Despite the fact they each had places they really should have been, Clark, Oliver, and Bart stuck around Gotham for the next few hours. They claimed they didn't want to have traveled all this way for nothing but in reality, they just wanted to make sure their friend was okay. Finally, at around 7:40 PM, Clark's face lit up in alarm.
"What, does someone need saving?" Laura asked.
"Actually, if my ears aren't playing tricks, Lois is screaming help," Clark said seriously, "It's been wonderful catching up, but I've got to run." And with that, the three watched as Clark spun into his costume and flew out the door.
"So you think he realizes that he just heard Lois scream for help from Gotham and we're supposed to believe he's not in love with her?" Oliver asked. Laura just responded with a deep laugh. It was nice to feel like everything was alright.
"What is the media saying about the explosion?" Laura asked.
"Actually, it's quite interesting. They credit the explosion to Batman but it's not all in a negative light. Some of the men at the hospital in Food Stuffs uniforms are reported mobsters and many have no record of working for Food Stuffs. That in addition to the fire alarm going off before the actual fire are leading to people believing Batman was doing something for the overall good and that something amiss was going on." Oliver responded. Laura's face revealed how impressed she was. Apparently, people in Gotham were less cynical than she thought.
"Well, then, I've got a lot of work to do." Laura said and then got up to head to her computer. Bart and Oliver just looked at each other, realizing this was their cue to leave.
"Hopefully we'll see you soon. And please – call if you need anything." Oliver told her seriously and then two left. Laura looked around, feeling stupid as she made sure she wasn't being watched and pulled out a vile she had found on Batman when she healed him. Smiling she called up her chemical guy.
"I know it's late, but I need this analyzed! Like right now! Trust me, it's worth it." Laura said as she hung up the phone and began writing the story.
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Author's Note: I'm sorry I didn't keep up with the once a day - I've been pretty busy. Also, the whole make the food addictive storyline was inspired by Stargate SG-1.
