Finally! An update! Sorry that I haven't been so Johnny-on-the-spot with my updating recently. School's swamping me, and I've been procrastinating terribly!
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, but I claim the rights to Evelyn, Michelle, and Isaac. Mine, I say.
Right-o! On with the chapter!
Michelle was in sheer awe after my full explanation of everything that had happened from my being arrested, to now. I left out the whole being suspended over a thirty-foot death dive and rescued by the dark knight that I seemed to have a love-hate relationship with. Then I told her about my parents.
"What!" she exclaimed, bouncing slightly on my bed.
"I know," I replied. "I don't even really wan-"
"Take me with you!" she interjected excitedly. I let my mouth fall open in shock, staring at her.
"What?" I was bewildered. Michelle continued on excitedly.
"Oh please, please, please, Eve! I've never been to Ireland before and this would give me a chance to take my vacation! Can I please come? Can I?" She looked at me with expectancy. I frowned slightly, eyebrows creased in slight frustration. Suddenly I grinned.
"Of course you can come, Michelle," I said. "Of course."
"Thanks for driving us, Alfred," I said as Michelle and I sat in the back of the Royce. Alfred nodded from the front, turning onto the drive that led to the airport.
"Of course, Miss Larrabee," was his response. He pulled up to the curb at the departure sign, putting the car into park. Michelle was still giddy with excitement, chattering on about everything she would do in Ireland. I half-listened as I hauled my suitcase from the trunk. "Master Wayne asked me to apologize for him not being here," Alfred said as he handed me an envelope. "Though he wanted me to give you this." I opened the envelope, revealing several hundred dollars.
"Tell him thanks for me," I said, hugging the old butler. "And that I'll miss you guys." Alfred smiled.
"Certainly, Miss Larrabee. I'm sure Master Wayne will miss your company, though he'll never admit it," he said. I waved as Michelle and I headed into the airport, then turned and walked toward the departure desk. I picked up our tickets, then headed for Gate A. Once there, I turned to Michelle.
"Here," I said, handing her a ticket. "Tell my parents hi for me, okay?" She began to nod as she put the ticket in her pocket, then her head snapped up at me in shock.
"What?" she asked. "You can tell them yourself, can't you?" I shook my head.
"I'm not going," I said. I handed her my ticket as well. "You are."
"Why aren't you, Eve!?" she almost shouted. "I thought your parents called! They want you to come!"
"I can't, Michelle," I implored. "I have to stay here. I still have things I need to do."
"Like what?" She stared at me, eyebrows creased together.
"I made a promise to myself," I said slowly. "One that I intend to keep." An announcement came over the intercom suddenly, declaring that the flight to Ireland would be leaving soon. I grabbed Michelle's shoulder gently. "Just trust me," I said. "You'll have a great time in Ireland, and I'll see you in a few weeks, okay?" She frowned. I stared at her.
"Okay," she said quietly. "Just be careful, Eve." I grinned.
"Careful is my middle name!" I said. Michelle smiled, then picked up her suitcase and headed for the gate. I waved until she disappeared around the corner, then I grabbed my own suitcase and headed out of the airport.
"She should be on the flight by now, sir," Alfred informed Bruce as they walked down the hall toward the study.
"Good," was the billionaire's response. He tapped the keys on the piano, then they both stepped onto the elevator and descended to the Batcave. He walked over to his computer, bringing the Joker's face up on the screen. "I have to find him, Alfred," he said slowly. The butler nodded.
"Shall I prepare your supper now, sir?" he asked as he followed Bruce into a different part of the cave.
"That won't be necessary," Bruce replied, pressing a button on a small console, opening the cabinet that held his Batsuit. Alfred let loose a small sigh.
"Very well, sir," he said, then turned and headed back toward the elevator.
I checked into a hotel with the money Bruce had given me. As I headed for my suite, I began to formulate a plan in my head as to how I was going to find Joker and exact my revenge. Unlike last time, I would be completely prepared. I slid the keycard into the slot and entered my room, heaving my suitcase onto the bed and unzipping it. Laying on top of everything else was my Theatric Phantom uniform. I picked it up, staring at it for several moments before I set it on the pillows and began to undress.
I came across my first problem very quickly. The window to my suite didn't have anything I could climb down on. I looked over the sill at the street below, then, sighing in frustration, pulled my head back inside the suite. I walked to my suitcase that was still on my bed and pulled out a button up blouse. "This is ridiculous," I said as I pulled the shirt and a pair of slacks on over my costume. I shoved my mask in my pocket then headed out of my suite, making sure I had my keycard safely tucked into my boot, right next to my chalk.
I ducked into an alleyway several blocks down and clambered up the fire escape to the roof. There I shed my blouse and slacks, stuffing them in one corner of the rooftop. I placed my mask back on my face and stretched my arms above my head. "Alright," I said to myself as I headed for the edge of the roof. "If I were Joker, where would I hide?" I looked down at the mostly deserted street, contemplating. "Well, I guess I just start searching!" I said finally. I headed for the other end of the roof, sprinting the last half and jumping across to the next building. I landed, rolling a couple times, then stood.
I only jumped this time, instead of shrieking, as he loomed above me in the moonlight. "I'm getting used to running into you like this," I told the caped crusader casually.
"Why are you still here?" he asked after several seconds of silence. I blinked.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Why are you still in Gotham?" he asked, stepping toward me. I frowned.
"Last time I checked I lived here," I replied, staring up at his masked face. Something clicked in my mind just then. Why was I being asked by the Dark Knight why I was still in the city I lived in? He knows perfectly good and well that I live in Gotham, so why?
Unless he knew I was supposed to be on a plane to Ireland. But the only people who knew that- besides Michelle and my parents- were Alfred and…
"Bruce?" I asked quietly, eyes widening beneath my domino mask. His own eyes closed, and we just stood there for a few moments, neither of us moving. He acted first.
"Come with me," he said, then turned and headed for the roof's edge. I stared after him for several seconds, no following until he'd leapt off of the roof. I sprinted to the edge and looked over, seeing the Batmobile on the deserted street below. Batman was standing next to it, and I flung my leg over the side and proceeded down the fire escape. I jumped the last few rungs of the ladder, landing on the ground with a quiet thud. I walked slowly to the vehicle. "Get in," said the Kevlar-clad hero. The top of the Batmobile slid back, and I climbed over the side, into the passenger's seat. He climbed in beside me, closed the top, and brought the monstrous machine to life. We drove toward Wayne Manor in silence, the only sound that of the Batmobile.
"You didn't trust me enough," I said matter-of-factly after several unnerving minutes of silence. I heard him sigh beside me.
"It wasn't that," he said.
"Then what was it?" I looked over at him, awaiting his answer. He didn't say a single word until we'd reached the service road that led to the Batcave.
"Hold on," he said as he flipped open one side of the joystick on the center console. I blinked, about to ask why, when he pressed the small red button and the jets on the back of the vehicle ignited, sending us soaring through the waterfall and into the Batcave. My breath caught in my throat as he did, and I let loose a huge sigh when we came to a stop. He opened the top of the Batmobile and got out. I followed suit, then trailed after him as he walked away from me.
"You never answered," I said. He stopped, his back still toward me. He pulled his cowl off and ran a gloved hand through his hair.
"I couldn't tell you," he said quietly, still not facing me. "I couldn't tell you because I didn't want to put you in that kind of danger."
"Bruce…," I said, placing my hand on his arm. He turned then, and I looked up into his unmasked face. I took a step forward, closing the distance between us to only inches. I bit my lower lip, then raised myself to my tiptoes, my lips centimeters away from his. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and he moved his to the back of my head and our lips met in an ardent kiss. He pulled away slowly after several seconds.
"I can't," he said quietly. I took a small step back.
"Why not?" I asked. "Is there some-"
"There's no one else," he said, cutting me off. "There shouldn't even be you." He sighed, frustrated, and looked down at his feet, rubbing his eyes with one hand.
"What do you mean 'shouldn't even be me?'" I asked stubbornly.
"You'd be in too much danger," Bruce replied, looking up. "Evelyn. Please."
"So what?" I asked. "I can take care of myself!"
"You call getting yourself kidnapped by Joker 'taking care of yourself?'" he asked. I stared at him hotly, still frowning. Bruce placed his hands on my shoulders. "Evelyn, you have to listen to me. I don't want you in that kind of danger again, and if any one of the criminals in this town found out that we were together, they could use either one of us as leverage against the other." He closed his eyes for a moment, sighing, then opened them once more. "You have to understand that we just can't."
"Oh. Oh, I understand," I replied bitterly. "I'll just go to Ireland, I guess, since you don't seem to want me here."
"Evelyn, don't," he said. "You're putting me in an impossible position. You're being unfair."
"Me? I'm being unfair?" I asked, scoffing slightly. "You're the one who kept everything a secret! You didn't tell me anything! Then you just send me off to Ireland without a word! You didn't even come to the airport!"
"I couldn't tell you, Evelyn," Bruce insisted. "You would have been in too much danger that way." I was about to retort when someone behind Bruce cleared their throat.
"If I may interrupt, Master Wayne," Alfred said. Bruce turned, and I stepped to the side to look at the old butler. "I figured it would be wise to tell you that the computer has picked up on the Joker's location. Clearly you couldn't hear it over your bickering."
"What?" I asked as Bruce headed back toward the computer room. I followed him, and Alfred followed me.
"It's nice to have you back, Miss Larrabee," he said, smiling. I half returned his smile as we stopped to stand behind Bruce.
"I'm going after him," he said, turning and pulling his cowl back over his head.
"And I'm coming," I said. Bruce, who had just taken a step toward the Batmobile, turned back to me.
"No," he said.
"I'm not a kid, Bruce," I said firmly, walking past him and toward the Batmobile. I turned back to him when I reached it. "I'm coming." Not saying a word, he slid the top open and climbed in, me following.
"Be careful, sir," I heard Alfred say before the top closed. We roared out of the Batcave and onto the service road, neither of us saying anything.
"You leave Joker to me," Bruce said in a low voice. I nearly replied with 'no way', but bit my lip and remained quiet. There was no way I was letting Bruce get to him first, though. I would get my revenge on Gotham's clown for killing Isaac, no matter what the caped crusader says.
Thanks for reading~