Under the Foundation

by cringethinking

The death of Max’s sister destroyed her childhood and her family. Twenty years later she still digs for the truth as a journalist in Gotham. When she meets someone on a fringe website called Nigma, the layers of her foundation and that of Gotham’s inexplicable corruption begins to crack. Based on the universe of Matt Reeve’s Batman and Riddler Year One comic.

17. Fear in Many Forms

Chapter 17: Fear in Many Forms

How? How do you do it? How do you take the leap? To take matters into your own hands. When everyone else around you looks the other way. Do you ever get scared? Of what you might find or what you might do? And who you are during the day? To be who you are at night? To risk your life? For what you believe in. To believe in yourself, to be yourself. To seek justice in this God forsaken city. To be like him. The Bat Man. A fire, a fire is burning inside of me.

Edward's phone buzzed on his desk.

"I'm outside."

Max's texts usually provided such comfort and joy. Now he was wrangled in fear. His shift was at its end, all of the faces at KTMJ remained so oblivious to his efforts. He was in his own head with the plans in motion, granting only Max access to the manifest. For the first time in a long time, he was up with the rest of the office grabbing their coats and bags. He left with the other faces excited to go home after a workday. But his work wasn't over.

Max's red sedan was parked in the lot, he made a fast jaunt to the passenger door. He got inside and Max asked, "So, you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, let's get to the rescue now. He could be leaving any minute."

Max pulled the car from the lot and drove speedy to the New Beginnings Rescue. She stopped on the side of the road a door down from it. Just like yesterday, Mr. Joon was taking the garbage out for sanitation. Edward sighed to himself in relief. Max was quiet and obedient, not daring to speak unless she missed an order. Edward was her chaperone in the ordeal, and not sure if it was out of curiosity, stubbornness or worry, she tagged along being completely out of her depth. Sitting in a car watching someone who is unaware of it felt off— invasive and immoral. But it was what Edward wanted. She wouldn't let him delve deeper into the world alone.

They waited in silence until he left the building. When he did, Max and Edward proceeded on foot. They held hands to blend in, seeming like any other couple taking a walk down the street. Mr. Joon took a slightly different route than yesterday, staying to the open streets and even going towards the train station.

Edward hushed, "Shit. He's going on the train. It'll be hard to plant the mic."

They walked down the steps to the subway, and Max felt the twinge of worry coming into such a sketchy station. Graffiti was paint over the walls. Garbage loosely pulled into corners of the station and garbage bins overflowing. Homeless sleeping or doing drops along the walls, small groups of people surrounding each other for dirty dealings of so much worse. The underground world that Max knew well to avoid. The two waited for the train, looking completely out of their element.

Unkempt men in tattoos, piercings and dark hoodies kept looking Max's way. Not even being discreet as they'd look her up and down. Some even catcalled and pecked their lips her way, she pushed it down and ignored it. Mr. Joon was a few feet away, not paying them mind but carrying another package under his arm. He was drilled into his phone and texting quick.

Max pulled out her own phone and texted Edward. He got her text and looked down at her a bit concerned. She glanced to him and to the phone, telling him with her eyes to read it.

"On the train I'll distract him long enough for you to plant the mic. Sit next to him on the train, I'll sit somewhere else."

"What are you going to do?"

"Trust me."

The train crawled up to the platform, Edward and Max waited for Mr. Joon to board first. Edward made sure to sit next to Joon. Max sat on the bench across. Joon closed his phone and like many on the train he was staring vacantly to the floor. The train was brimming in passengers all going home during rush hour. Edward kept the device in his right palm. Max needed to distract him, but despite her text message, she hadn't an inkling of how. They were facing each other, but Joon's attention was lost in his mind. Blaring the surroundings from everyone and the world in white noise.

Max decided to wing it. She tossed her phone in a way that could be perceived as an accident. It slapped before Joon's feet, snapping him from his blur. Max waited a bit to see if he would grab it for her, and by luck he did. He bent over and handed it to her, "Here you are."

"Thanks! Clumsy today. Wow, love your tats!"

"Oh, thank you."

As Joon bent over to grab the phone, Edward slipped the listening device into his left pocket. Max engaged Joon with some small talk for a while, giving Edward a wide window to place the device. Max's phone buzzed with a new text, "All good."

Max exhaled low, glancing up to Edward with a half-second smile. "We still following him after this?"

"Yes. We need to see where he is if we catch anything on the mic."

Max simply sent a nervous emoji as her response. She started to bounce her knee as they were waiting for him to get off. Eventually he did near the slums. Max got off first, but Edward waited a few seconds to leave the train after Max and Joon. Max was walking slow through the station, giving Edward the time to catch up. Joon was still in their sights. They pursued behind casually, complete silence with even their breath stifled. Max followed Edward's movements, even when he'd travel down the sketchy alleyways to Joon's destination. Joon once again stopped at the lady's house. Max and Edward hid behind the same dumpster he hid behind before. Joon surveyed the area, looking for prying eyes. When he judged it safe, he knocked. The woman opened her door and took the package, laying her head on his chest and speaking their language.

Max knew it was Chinese, but that's all she could pick up. Given the subtle notes of affection, they were close to each other. Family or some other relation. Her first guess was father and daughter. She kept this to herself. Edward and Max kept their hands together so tight and so long they were gathering moisture between their palms. Joon finally left the woman's house and started back down the pathway again. Max and Edward persisted, going through alleyways to keep hidden but close. They would pass colonies of rats around trash bins, a terrible stench every nest they'd pass. Edward was repulsed of them, pulling Max with him to the other side of the alley when he'd see a pair of beady black eyes.

They came around to a bend before a housing project. It was Joon's residence, the same residence he was at yesterday. When he went inside, he was blocked from view. Edward hissed, "Shit. Okay." He opened his backpack and pulled out a sweater for himself and a sweater for her. "Pull your hood up. We're going up there." He pointed up the ladder on the adjacent building.

"You want to climb up there and peep through windows?" Max asked in disbelief.

Edward sighed, "I gotta see what he's doing."

"This is creepy. I don't know… I think we're taking it too far."

He thought for a moment, looking down to her with sad eyes returned. "This is why I didn't want you strung along in all of this. I told you this was going to be dangerous."

"Yeah, tailing someone is one thing. Looking through their windows on the peaks of buildings is another. This is like… what that Bat guy does. You wanna be a crazy vigilante?"

"Yeah, maybe I do."

Max cooed, "Edward."

"You don't have to come up. But I have to. There is something… burning inside of me. I can't leave without at least making sure."

"Burning inside of you? Like an obsession, cause' that's what it's sounding like. You're saying, I just stay down here in the rat-infested alley?"

Edward shrugged as he swung the backpack over his shoulders, "It's your choice, Max."

Max wasn't used to a strict, no-sugar-straight-up Edward. At first, she felt as if he was taking it too far, only to realize how serious about all of this he really was. In any other circumstance, if there was disagreement he'd roll over and be complacent. This time he wasn't relenting. He had his hand on the ladder and started to climb, "I'll be down soon. Call me if you need me."

She watched him get higher up the ladder. The ominous quiet of the alley curdled her. She hissed, "Fuck sakes." She grabbed a hold of the ladder and started to climb, "I'm coming! I'm coming."

The climbed up the four-story building all the way up to the roof. On the way up, Max reminded herself in a constant battle not to look down. Especially as the shield of the alley disappeared and opened to a clear view of the slum. Edward got up first and stayed to the ladder to help her up. He whispered over the winds, "Stay down, okay?"

She nodded, hunching down and following him to the border. A 4-foot wall surrounded the borders of the roof, and the crouched down before it. Max's breath was heavy and short, her body riddled in shakes from the adrenaline. However, Edward was cool and steady. Knowing the next move faster than she could predict. Her mind was jumbling in consequences. The penalties if they were caught by authorities. If Joon caught them looking through his window. The disappointment in Edward if he didn't get anything, resulting in more antics. He pulled out his binoculars and looked over the ridge. He scoured window by window, and Max sat down under the wall, watching the ladder for flashlights of pursuers. He said softly, "Got him."

She flicked her eyes up to him spying through his binoculars, "You see him?"

"You wanna see?" He asked seldom excited.

She took the binoculars and stood by her knees to catch a peak. Joon was going into his living room. He was gathering things like clothes and folders— stuffing them into a suitcase. She muttered, "He's packing."

Edward took the binoculars back, "Why?

He turned his air pods on and gave one to Max, he had the other. With the listening device he picked up a lot of muffled shuffling from his movements.

"Maybe he's on the GCPD radar." Max whispered to him.

"Or someone else's." Edward replied in an eerie tone. Then a light switched on in the living room behind him. It caught Joon's attention startlingly.

"Good evening, Mr. Joon. Going somewhere?"

Edward moved his sights over to Mr. Stone sitting on a chair and Higgins standing beside him with a cigar on his lip.

Edward stuttered, "It… it's Mr. Stone."

Max gasped, "What?!"

"He's in the living room with Higgins. I see them now."

"Oh, my fucking God."

Joon replied uneasily, "Uh. No, sir. Not going anywhere."

Mr. Stone raised, "Do you know why I'm here, Mr. Joon?"

"Uh. No, sir. No one told me you were coming."

Max peaked over the ledge to try and see what was happening from her point of view, but the building was too far away. She could hear the voices in her air pod.

"There was an employee at my company who brought to my attention your work in the books."

Edward lightly gasped, folding pressure over the binoculars. Max clasped onto his thigh in worry, listening on like a horror movie.

Mr. Stone continued, "We weren't expecting that. Thankfully that's been taken care of. And I'm keeping my eye on him just in case."

Edward muttered lowly, "They're talking about me."

Mr. Joon said, "I change the numbers every week, sir. Just like you show me."

"Maybe so. But it's a good thing my employee caught it," added Mr. Stone, "Because do you know what I saw when I looked beyond the official books? When I looked at our product and cash flow? I saw that someone was skimming a little money off the top. I hoped this to be a misunderstanding. However, when my men watched you more diligently. We saw it happen again. Then again. Then today."

"Not me, sir! I manage store, sir. Just like you show me. I do good job, sir."

Mr. Stone then shown a picture of Mr. Joon and the woman at the door, "This is your daughter, am I correct?"

"Yes… I…"

"And what's in the envelope?"

"I give her money I earn so she can leave Gotham one day, sir."

"And you were planning to go with her?"

"No… I mean yes. I take her there then come back."

Mr. Stone's voice grew dark as he leaned in, "Mr. Joon. Someone taking money from our store, means someone taking money from me. And someone taking money from me, means someone taking money from Mr. Falcone."

Max pulled Edward's sweater and whispered, "Falcone?"

"You are aware of what happens to people who take money from Mr. Falcone?"

Mr. Joon fell to his knees and started to beg, "No, sir! It was not me, I swear! Sir, that is my money. I work hard for that money! I earn that money I give to her!"

"I'm disappointed, Mr. Joon. Goodbye."

"Mr. Stone! Wait, I swear! It was not me!"

Mr. Stone sat from the chair and left the room as Higgins and another thug hauled Joon from the floor, carrying his screams as well as his fighting body from the unit.

"You're coming with us to the back of the store, pal," snarled Higgins.

"Nooo!"

Edward shot up and pulled Max's hand, "They're going! They're going!"

Max shrilled, "Why are they taking him?!"

"Come on!"

Edward hurried down the steps first, with Max panting and whimpering in pursuit. All they could hear on the air pods was the distressed, painful screams of Joon. Max curdled at every sound, as if she was listening to a snuff film. Edward reached the ground first and held his hands up, "Just jump! Jump!"

Max leapt from the bars, and Edward caught her, planting her down and snatching her hand to sprint through the alleys.

Max yelled fearfully, "Edward!"

"We gotta find somewhere with wifi!" He shot back, pulling her faster and faster. His legs were longer, making it a struggle for Max to pull her body along. However, the fear of what would unfold for Mr. Joon was enough to keep her sprint. They splashed into puddles and scurried rats getting back to an open street. Edward spotted a familiar diner; the same diner Max and Edward would frequent on their lunch breaks. The same diner he followed Mr. Stone. It was just a street over from New Beginnings. They ran inside, and like always it was dead, a waitress in the kitchen not answering the chime of the door. They sped to the last stall in the diner, pushed into the corner. Edward slapped his backpack on the table and opened his laptop. He fussed at it having to wake up from sleep mode to get back to the cameras. They could still hear the whimpering and cries of Joon. Then the sliding door of a van.

"Mistake! Please! I brought my daughter here to have a better life! But life is worse in Gotham! I am trying to get my family out. Out of this city of hell! But that is my money I earn!"

Max hushed to him, "We should call the police."

Edward held his hand up, "Just wait."

His laptop finally displayed the cameras. He switched to the back rooms of the store. They were stringing Joon up with chain by his ankles. Max slapped her hands to her mouth. Max went to pull out her phone, Edward pushed it down.

"We need to keep ourselves hidden, Max!"

"Who's going to help him then?!" She pled, tears swelling in her eyes.

Joon's cries grew sharper as they pulled him up by the chain. The dread struck Max's attention, not able to flick her eyes away or even blink to what she was experiencing. Edward was quiet and still, clutching the sides of his laptop.

Higgins said, "I had to make bail, so I took a little cash off the top. I'll make sure your daughter is taken care of. Ya know how Mr. Falcone gets rid of his bodies, don't you?"

"No!" Joon's scream cracked the audio of the air pods. Max pulled her's out, nearly covering her face with her hands. Then she clenched them shut when a large alligator crawled from the shadows— a long chain around it's neck. Edward was shivering by her side, his right thigh vibrating against her own. Screams ripped and choked on the air pod, a crack of teeth and snap of bone. The screams suddenly ceased as another crack and slither was heard in the dark. Joon's body came back into camera view swinging from the chain. Max opened her eyes for a split second to horror at his head gone from his shoulder's, blood pooling over the cement floor.

Max bolted from her seat then, heaving into her palm in terror before running to the bathroom. Edward called to her shakily, "Max!"

The female washroom door slammed shut. Leaving Edward with the crime on his computer screen. Too fearful to call police for their safety. To horrified to speak or move. However, he managed to press the record button. A last shred of common sense in his hopelessness. His spiral into the pit. Knowing painfully, he dragged Max down in its depths with him.

---

Edward drove them home when they got to the car. Max was in no condition behind the wheel. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks the entire ride, and every word Edward muttered fell on deaf ears. The walls were back up, stronger than they'd been in years. Her pit was sheltered and cold. A toil on her mind with no way to process than to disappear. Something he saw in himself as a child. When words couldn't be pulled from his throat. The dread he was too kindred to, now seeing it in her. The least deserving in his mind. The guilt was like a sledgehammer, walloping him every time he glanced to her.

When they got inside the apartment, Max didn't say anything. She went straight to her bed and folded into her blanket, softly weeping into it away from the door. Edward gave her sometime as he tried to wrangle his own thoughts on what he just witnessed. He opened his laptop in the living room and saw the video recorded. He had the evidence he needed. He needed help. Max's help was only her own poison. A battleground he walked her into.

"You've seen the worst of things, Edward. The darkest things replaying in your fucked up mind over and over. You shouldn't have let her come along. You damaged her. You hurt her. You were supposed to protect her, and you brought her into the pit with you. You repulsive idiot. You fool. She'll never forgive you."

He wallowed on the couch for a while longer, watching the clock on her wall go passed midnight. He sat up to see if she was sleeping as her crying had quieted down. However, coming into the room she was still sniffling, breathing heavy in her blanket. She was turned from him, and he wasn't sure what she'd do if he went to lay beside her. Edward asked softly, "Max?"

He sat on the bed, leaning over and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Baby…"

She wasn't responding. She wasn't moving. Then she whispered, "You were right. I shouldn't have gone along. I shouldn't have gotten involved. I'll be seeing… that man's body every time I close my eyes. In every nightmare. I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have let you go, either."

Edward laid down with her, petting down her arm, "It wouldn't have stopped me. You couldn't have stopped me, Max. I saw what happened and froze. Just for a time. You froze and shut down. Sheltered yourself from me, from everything. Fight or flight. I know it sounds crazy but… I might be more equipped for this than you are."

Max turned around to him, finally showing her wet cheeks, red nose and puffy eyes, "Why you? Why do you have to do this?"

Edward sighed, not able to look her in the eyes, "Because I started it."

"You know why I'll remember Joon? Because I'll always be seeing you. It could've been you. It still could be you. If they find out what we're doing. Mr. Stone said he was keeping an eye on you."

"He said it was taken care of. He's watching me but he doesn't know anything."

"So?" Max raised, "What if he finds out?"

"He won't."

"How can you be sure?"

"Max. Stop."

She sat up in bed and cried, "No! Don't you see how fucking dangerous this is? They killed him for literally nothing. For money! These people are… fucked up! Don't you see that? Please… Edward. I can't. If I lost you…"

"You won't lose me."

"You don't know if I won't! Please… please just tell me you'll leave this alone. Find a different job. Anything! You can't be involved in this anymore."

She clasped onto his hands, her voice mewling— begging. Edward looked down to her hands, certain he'd be swayed to say something he didn't mean for her benefit if he saw her face. He wouldn't lie, "I can't, Max. That man died tonight. No one knows about it. No one knows his truth of how he died. So many names are in my head, Higgins, Mr. Stone, Falcone… it's too many to ignore."

"But if you keep digging you could die, too!"

Edward clasped her hands back, "Then I won't. I'll work as a ghost. I won't be seen. I'll keep you updated but not involved from now on. I know now that this was too much for you. I won't put you in danger again."

Max groaned angrily, "But you're putting yourself in danger!"

"That's okay."

"It's not fucking okay, Edward! It's not okay!" Her voice struck abruptly— desperately. More tears fell down her cheeks, "What happened tonight was not okay. I can't fucking breathe if I know you're doing this. After seeing that! I can't!"

"You don't understand!" Edward's voice clapped back, "If I stop this, I can't breathe! I can't just quit my job. I can't keep working there and ignore what happened. Especially now. Max… please. I can't stop. I feel like… this is something I'm meant to do. Like I've been waiting all my life for something to make me feel alive again. To give me a purpose. This is it."

Max didn't respond at first, just continued to cry with an aghast glare, "What about me? A life with me? That's not purpose enough for you?"

Edward hung his head, "No. That's… completely different."

"But risking your life is more important than it."

"I never said that!"

"Yes you did! You just did! You'd rather die than surrender this. That's what you're saying."

Edward rubbed his eyes under his lenses and groaned in frustration, "No! Because I'm not going to die."

"You just saw a guy get his head eaten off by a fucking alligator. You're gonna sit here and tell me that you're not at risk? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Please stop yelling."

Max wept, "You're not listening to me!"

"You're not listening to me. I don't know what I can say or do to prove it to you. But I'll be okay. We'll be fine. I'll report it to the police anonymously, and they'll deal with it. Then it'll be over."

Max exhaled long and low, hanging her head as her body shook. Edward went to pull her in for a hug, but she pushed him back.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Max, please."

"You report it to the police, do you promise me you'll let it go?"

Edward wanted to agree, tell her all the things she wanted to hear. The more he got thinking of it, the less he believed even himself. Seeing the murder on CCTV had only ignited a larger flame. Something he was beginning to see Max would never understand.

"I can't promise you."

Max's face broke, her eyes glossing. As if she knew it already, but was now grieving before even saying it. Edward glowered in guilt, but couldn't predict the words even when she said it.

"I need you to go."

Edward's mouth fell, "What?"

"I was already scared of the trial. I thought going with you would make it go away. Distract that fear for a little while. Then I realized, I didn't know fear till now. This is too much. I'm not equipped for this."

He took her hands and tried to speak, but his breath nearly stole it away, "You don't need to be. You'll never hear about it again. I promise."

"I already know about it, Edward."

"Max. I can't do this without you. I've been wanting to say this for a while but I was scared. With you I'm not scared anymore. I just feel many things with you, things I couldn't explain. I spent my life wondering what it was like to be happy. Truly happy. With you, God… I'm the happiest I've ever been. I know why. I should have said it sooner…"

Max sighed despairingly, "Edward, please stop."

"I love you!" He uttered, fondly moving his hand to her cheek, "I love you so much. I should have said I can't breathe without you. That this mess I've gotten myself in doesn't take precedence over you. Nothing does."

"You already shown me it does."

"But it doesn't."

"I can't trust you'll let this go. I can't be around for it. Not right now. Edward, you have no idea how fucking petrified I am. You here are making it worse. Not just because you don't want to drop it. It's because you don't seem scared at all. And it makes me feel alone."

Edward implored, "You're not alone, baby."

"Please go."

"Don't leave me," he muttered again, his voice shaking into a weep, "Max."

Max got up, speedily walking to her bathroom and closing the door behind her. Edward tried the door, but it was locked. He begged, cried, bargained at the door. She wouldn't answer. Only quiet sobbing from the door crack. Edward eventually grabbed a few of his things, packed them in his bags and left her home. Max hoped the incapacitating fear would dwindle when he did leave. The pit in her stomach would seal over even just a little and she could finally breathe. She left the bathroom and looked throughout her apartment. The pit only grew larger as she noticed all his small blemishes in her home gone. His books from the coffee table, his sweater off the kitchen chair, his clothes from her bedroom floor. It was all gone. She crawled into her bed, and she sunk into the mattress as if it was eating her alive. The screams of Joon were playing in her head as if the air pod was still in her ear. The sight of the headless body swinging off the chain like a carcass in a butcher's freezer. For reasons unknown, they would flicker the white van in Webbler Springs. The agony of her parents in those days leading up to the discovery of her body in the camper van. Then the sadness in Edward's eyes. The begging in his voice at the bathroom door. His tears seen behind his lenses. To protect herself she pushed him away. With him gone, she was left with the fear and something so much worse.