Thanks a load, EastfitHadia and SoberFrost. :D

Chapter Ten

Vows to Save His City - Part Two

So far, the first night was going off without a hitch, and before it was her and Jason, her new mother-in-law commanded beauty, attention, respect, and silk-covered intimidation. Liquid blue with a deep V-neck, the back opened, gathering in the middle of the body just below the waistline. Hair crafted into a high bun looped through to form a semblance of the lotus flower, which was also present in that majestic collar around her neck, set with diamonds and rubies within the flower looking like the carvings in Buddhist scripture, and in the ears were double ruby and diamond halos; finishing were two exquisite bangles of gold rimmed only with rubies.

"It's a great privilege to be here in your beloved city," she said to the crowd, to all those watching and unable to witness in person. "It'll be an even greater honor to work with the mayor, your honorable Gotham Police Department, and the forgotten people who need the greatest aid than the one percent who had everything and just wish for more." She was one to talk, but she had the qualifications to back her pledges. She made the waves with those words, along with the revelation that she was the mother of Bruce Wayne's son, who was now in the custody of the Kent family - ex-friends of the fallen billionaire under investigation - but didn't wish his old life on her own child, so she was happy with where he was at.

"To begin the cleansing of this city, we shall start with the Iceberg Lounge behind us -" She gestured behind her to the great club in all its glory. "- and onward to Park Row."

She and Jason got the thunderous applause more than anyone rich ever got these days.

Maybe if we do see Bruce, then we'll show him who's top dog now, Stephanie thought with a tremendous smirk to herself that she gave Jason while their pictures were still being taken. That context could be whatever the hell it was.

The night progressed as neatly as it could, but no one said that mob members and those under their thumbs - mainly the broken Maroni family, given the Falcones were killed off in Batman's early years by the Holiday Killer - would be spared if they thought to get their claws into the al Ghuls.

Hence a secret room was created to entrap the unsuspecting "guests of honor" and then send them off into the depths of the sea, which was part of the Penguin's devices and could be reconfigured for the next souls...

Stephanie never thought she'd say this, but as frightening as the mob role was - that was actually a secret part kept behind closed doors - it was also exciting and necessary. She enjoyed being corrupted.

Damian had to be taken away from the club itself because he was a minor, but so were she and Tim. Steph made sure to avoid the hard liquor and wine, settling on just water with lemon flavor and a garnish. She also did her best to entertain the guests while her husband and mother-in-law surveyed the patrons and employees.

She did get asked questions about her occupation, to which she was planning to reestablish the only clinic in Park Row - "That's its real name, NOT Crime Alley," she'd snapped at one snide reporter who dared to try and smear things - while she was still in school. And whether or not she had the guts to start cleaning that neighborhood before the rest of the city? Here was her answer which earned some whistles from those who overheard in the vicinity:

"Because Gotham is my home. I want to be safe again, so does Jason, and so does everyone else. Why do those in the privileged and unaffected areas get it better than the rest of us? Why did we have to be endangered by the likes of the Joker, Black Mask, Scarecrow, Two-Face, and the rest? And of course, the Penguin who no one misses." She winked. There. No going back because the new wife of Gotham's new celeb made her views and plans known after being silent while he and Talia did the first calls to the press.

"So, how are we doing so far, wife?" Jason asked her when it was just them at the bar. He shouted for a shot of whiskey because it was tiring being the host, but neither was worried.

"Peachy like you say, husband," Stephanie answered coyly, cheekily grinning. He laughed and leaned in, comfortable with giving her a peck on the cheek just as she did the same. It was so nice.

However, it was just like the peace to not last.

~o~

"The devil is the meaning of this?!" Talia demanded, patented gold pumps clicking furiously as she stalked, Steph and Jason behind her, along with several League in formal getup - four men and five women undercover to keep a watch on things here. She snarled through her teeth at the sight of the party crasher who was tied down to the chair in the office of the club owner, just in front of the desk like a prisoner for interrogation in a movie. Did he let himself be captured, thinking he was in control, or was he overpowered?

"You crash the wrong party for the last time, old man!" Jason shouted, stomping to be in front of the man who caused the most pain to him right after the Joker. "You son of a bitch!" In response, Bruce growled through the gag in his mouth, nostrils flaring like a bull's. "Nope, don't want to know what you have to say." Jason shook his head, holding one hand up. "What, we crossed the line coming back into 'your' city? A city you failed to clean up, which goes to show how much of a pansy you really are? You're just throwing tantrums because you're being forced to grow the hell up. Alfred disowning you ain't enough? Your blood son choosing his real family over you?" Bruce then lunged forward despite being bound, a muffled bellow escaping, and something primal and lusty erupted within Stephanie to do what she did next.

She kneed him right in the face. His head snapped backward, his body jerking in that direction, and Adam's apple almost flat with the pressure. Damn, that felt good.

Jason whistled. "Bruce, this is my wife for you."

The rage blazing in Bruce's eyes was palpable to the level of the king of hell himself. Helpless yet ferociously determined. Yet it was relished by the couple whom he kicked out as though he were a king, or a general expelling rebelling soldiers. His once-dead son who wasn't the one he remembered, or just fantasized about in his delusional brain, had married another loose cannon he'd feared she'd become. Reminding him too much of his failure. Both of them like this was another reason he had to despise them. You could see it in his eyes and with no trace of warmth.

They were taking his kingdom from him, and he was almost without anything. He chose to come here not as Batman but as himself, like a broken-down idiot and a criminal. Look where he was now.

"What did you think was gonna happen?" Steph sneered, hands on her hips. "You thought you'd break in and take us down yourself? Thought you could slip past the guards in disguise, assuming that we'd be fooled? Newsflash: it's an old trick that stopped working on a lot of the best a long time ago...including us. And another thing, too." She leaned in and stayed a hair's breadth away from him, spitting a little in his face to which he didn't flinch. She lowered her voice enough so that only he would hear.

"You got no way to get proof against us and then doctor it up to save your ass."

"On a night like this when everything was good and dandy until you forced your way in like you always do." Jason got his chance to raise a foot and drive the heel right into Bruce's unprotected groin.

Bruce doubled over with a grimace and moan of pain, slumping forward like one of his beaten villains. Talia scoffed at him.

"Pathetic. Honestly, Bruce, you could not pretend to save your face tonight, did you?" Talia asked haughtily, smoothly sitting on the edge of the desk. She then motioned towards the camera in the upper east corner of her direction, in the ceiling corner. This was gonna get out tomorrow, with Bruce Wayne showing up uninvited like the snake he was as if he had rights. He just learned he had NONE, just as he never gave anyone any.

Right after a police arrest and statement, considering that she and the guards were involved and not the couple she motioned for proudly.

"Jason is more of a man than you ever were and will be. I regret allowing you to go on as you have because my father was right in every way about you. You and he shared that trait: both becoming the monsters you fought against. And Stephanie has proven herself in more ways than one when I gave her the only chance she ever needed, instead of countless abuses of trust. These two have everything it takes, and as their mother, I will be there for them. Consider this one last chance, and if we ever find a hint of your movements again, the League and all of Gotham shall act accordingly. It will be a great testament." She then turned to Jason and Stephanie. "The two of you can get away for the rest of the night. Just exercise caution."

Been saying cherry atop the icing, but this time it could be called a chocolate-covered strawberry: he'd had a batarang in his possession along with basic gloves and a lock pick.

~o~

"I finally get to whisk my bride away."

Away from that nightmarish intruder their mother was dealing with at this moment. The big question was how they would do this and where they'd go - until she saw the pickup truck parked in the alley, guarded only with the best camouflage technology a normal person could only dream of, and it shimmered into visibility from the remote Jason kept in his jacket pocket. A real piece of work from the al Ghul tech departments that not even Batman could get his hands on.

"After you, my lady," Jason drawled in her ear, her nerves singing.

Her man driving them was something out of a dream, coming to life without her betting on it. And what was the bonus? He was taking them somewhere private and untouched by civilization so they could go FAST. Stephanie squealed as soon as they were away from Gotham's streets packed with crime and normal life, crossing the bridge and going to the forest - far away from the Palisades, of course. Away from the Bat radar.

She loved everything that came her way, since as a little girl, they were few and far between, and you never knew what life would toss at you. Good and bad.

Jason, the daredevil he was, made her feel alive by roaring them through the wild after getting away from the city streets. And with no one to stop them. Not even the one who was getting his ass chewed by Commissioner Gordon and his officers as they spoke.

Oh, it's too much...!

Now they were on a freeway of forestry and a lone road, where anything and anyone would hide. But Jason could focus on that while Stephanie shamelessly took in his profile and swallowed, finding her throat parched.

They were gonna be all alone out here, and boy, oh boy, that would open up the peachy can of worms, and she knew it. It was only a matter of time before she made the first move, or how he would respond...

He'd been played against his brothers in the past by the man who dared to call himself a father when he never truly earned the title. He manipulated them and made them believe Dick was dead aside from a few minutes - counting as DEAD, for God's sake! - so he could make himself look like the better father figure. Dick was more of a dad to Damian than Bruce ever was and ever would be. Dick got more abuse than even Jason and Tim, but there actually could be no such competition. Bruce took in traumatized boys, manipulated them into thinking they all chose this life after losing everything, but that was what he did with everyone. He took and took, giving nothing in return.

Wayne was a monster and everyone could now see it. Even those outside Gotham were opening their eyes to his bullshit.

Since the real him was out in the open, what would he do next once everything was fully gone? Once he went into hiding and then reemerged when he saw the time was right? Steph wouldn't put it past him to do that. All his enemies did, so why not?

He deserves death if a fate worse than that isn't gonna cut it for him any longer.

Stephanie - doctor or nurse in making? I forgot, sadly even though I should reread my own work. XD

Got a buncha great ideas to add for the future to further make Jason and Stephanie and the al Ghul name far better than the Wayne now, so here goes the questions/statements: Bruce's "woe's me; my life is hard ever since my parents died" examined by psychologists and of course the poverty-stricken, and those who snap back that EVERYONE'S had a hard life and Brucie isn't the most important. Explanations and comments from affected people in terms of the Wayne Foundation failing the promises of change in the areas that need it most, Crime Alley and everywhere else. Also, how do the Batkids get kept out of the system from the FBI and IRS, and others? And what kind of father he was, without exposing secret identities. Nothing else comes to mind at the moment, but I'm open. :D

I also realized I've not included Roy and shamed myself. But I promise there will be an explanation soon to make up for everything.

Kinda tired of writing out people's backlash toward everything Bruce does; who else is? It's obvious his actions these days don't garner support.

Next chapter: smut at last. (blushes and rose petals) Ideas on how to make it happen out here rather than in the car they're in?

REVIEW! :D