“RESSURECTION”
By
Andra Marie Mueller
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This
story takes place in the a/u established in my “
“When the
storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.”
– Proverbs
10:25
PROLOGUE:
They called him the
Butcher. Like most predators, he attacked at night. His prey was always chosen
for him, pre-selected by the Master for reasons he was not told of, nor
concerned with. Ignoring the clap of thunder signaling the impending storm, he
kept himself hidden in the darkness as he stalked his victim.
Whitney Johnson stifled a
frustrated sigh as she made her way through the city park. A senior at
“I thought it was the
fires of hell, not the rainstorms,” she muttered aloud.
Clutching the small tote
bag with her personal effects closer to her, Whitney increased her walking
speed as she made her way toward her apartment.
She was nearly three quarters of the way through the park when an
indiscernible figure stepped out from behind a small grove of trees. A sudden flash of lightening illuminated him
just long enough for Whitney to catch a glimpse of the large knife he held in
his hand, but he was upon her before she could scream for help.
************************************************************
It was raining. Bruce
stood alone in the middle of the cemetery, oblivious to the downpour as he
stared at the tombstone.
JORDAN ALEXANDRA WAYNE
1974-2012
Beloved Wife and Mother
The pain in his heart was
nearly tangible and a clap of thunder sounded overhead just as he released an
anguished cry.
“Nooooo!”
“Bruce!” a familiar voice said sharply. “Bruce, wake up!”
The voice penetrated his subconscious and Bruce awoke with a sudden
start, bolting upright in bed. His body was drenched in sweat, and he could
feel the abnormally fast pounding of his heart. Glancing over, he discovered
his wife in bed beside him, her dark blue eyes wide with concern as she watched
him. His brain still fogged by the last vestiges of his dream, Bruce’s handsome
face rippled with confusion.
“
“Yes.”
They had been married for five years, their love having overcome
the revelation that Bruce was Batman and her fears about his other life, as
well as the attempts on
Just then the image of the tombstone flashed through Bruce’s mind
again and he reached over to place his palm against her cheek, seeking
assurance that she was real.
“You were having a doozy of a nightmare, Handsome,” she said. “Are
you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Do you want to talk about your dream?”
“It wasn’t a dream. It felt more like a vision…or a premonition.”
“Of what?”
“Your death.”
Surprise flickered across her features. “Tell me what you saw.”
Bruce sighed. “It was very brief. It was raining, and I was
standing over your grave in the cemetery. I read your tombstone and it was if
someone had ripped out my heart. I remember shouting in denial, and then you
woke me up.”
“Did the tombstone reflect the date of my death?”
“No; only that it was this year.”
“It may not have been a vision,” she suggested. “Even Batman is
entitled to an ordinary nightmare once in a while.”
Intuition told Bruce that what he had seen was at the very least a
foreshadowing of some future danger to
“I suppose so,” he demurred.
“I apologize for waking you, Princess.”
She gave him a brilliant smile. “I fully expect you to make it up
to me.”
Bruce returned the smile. “It will be my pleasure,” he declared,
and lowered his head to kiss her.
The following afternoon,
the half dozen Directors of Wayne Conservation International were gathering in
the main conference room for their monthly meeting. Conspicuously absent was
Jordan, who was to meet them at the office following a lunch date with her
brother. Clark was in Gotham for a story he was working on in tandem with a
reporter from The
In his office with Lucius Fox, Bruce again glanced at his watch
before shifting his attention to the rain-splattered window. It was raining
in my vision when I was standing over
“Is there a problem, Mister Wayne?” Fox asked quietly from the
chair opposite Bruce’s desk.
Bruce afforded him a brief glance. “Just wondering what’s taking
“Maybe her lunch date with her brother ran longer than she expected,”
Fox suggested.
“I called the restaurant
and they told me she left over half an hour ago. She’s also not answering her
cell phone.”
As if to confirm his
fears, another wave of foreboding washed over him, leaving Bruce shivering in
its wake. Seeing him blanch, Fox’s expression changed to concern.
“Are you all right, Mr.
Wayne?”
Bruce quickly got to his
feet as he responded. “I can’t shake the feeling that something’s happened to
Without waiting for a
response, Bruce practically bolted toward the door just as his cell phone rang,
and he pulled it out of his coat. “Bruce Wayne.”
“Bruce, it’s me,”
Dread immediately settled
like ice in Bruce’s stomach. “What’s happened to
“There’s been an
accident,”
“How is she?”
“Her injuries aren’t life
threatening, but she was pretty banged up. You should get over here as soon as
possible.”
“I’m on my way.”
Bruce arrived at the hospital and found
“How’s
“In surgery,”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know for sure. I
was on my way to see Andy Gordon over at the Herald when I heard the crash. I
didn’t realize it was
“Are either of you gentlemen Bruce Wayne?” a feminine voice
prompted from behind him.
Both men turned to see an attractive dark haired woman about their
age standing a few feet away, dressed in surgical scrubs.
“I’m Bruce Wayne,” he revealed.
“Mr. Wayne, I’m Doctor Sarah Caldwell, the trauma
surgeon in charge of your wife’s care.”
“How’s
“Your wife’s surgery went very well and we’ve transferred her to a
private room while she recovers,”
Bruce closed his eyes in silent relief before asking, “How badly
was she hurt?”
“She tore a pair of ligaments in her left knee, but no bones were
broken. She’ll be on crutches for about six weeks and will need a couple of
months of physical therapy. She also struck her head rather forcefully against
the steering wheel, which resulted in a nasty gash that required a dozen
stitches and left her with a concussion. We’ve given her some medication to
ease the pain and if there are no complications we’ll release her in a couple
of days.”
“I want to see her,” Bruce declared firmly.
“Of course. I can take you to her now.”
“I’m going to call Lois, my mom and Alfred to let them know she’s
all right,”
“Thank you.”
Bruce followed
“Hi, Handsome,” she greeted wearily, her voice raspy from the anesthesia.
“Hi yourself,” Bruce returned softly. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” she responded. “And everything hurts.”
Bruce gently rested his palm against her cheek. “I imagine it does.”
“I’m sorry I worried you,”
“I fully expect you to make it up to me,” Bruce responded,
repeating her remark after his nightmare of the night before.
“I love you too, Princess,” he whispered.
“She woke up for a couple of minutes,” Bruce answered. “Between the accident and the medication I
was surprised she woke up at all.”
“Knowing
Bruce managed a smile at
the thought before changing the subject. “I don’t suppose you saw anyone or
anything of interest when you rescued her?”
“l
will definitely get a copy of that,” Bruce concurred, “but I’m also going to do
some investigating of my own. If
somebody is targeting
“I’ll second that. Do you mind some company?”
“Not at all. I’m going to stay with
He cast a final anxious glance at his sister before leaving the
room.
************************************************************
By the time
My beloved baby sister
has more lives than a cat, he mused silently.
Lowering his glasses, he scanned the car, but the quick once over with
his X-ray vision did not immediately reveal any obvious cause for the accident.
From beside him, Batman was watching him scan the vehicle. “Does anything look suspicious?” he prompted.
“Not from this distance,”
Just then one of the uniformed officers noticed
Batman quickly stepped deeper into the shadows as
“Well your sister is one lucky lady, Mr. Kent,” the officer told
him. “If Superman hadn’t shown up when
he did and turned the car over, it might have eventually crushed her.”
In the darkness, Batman tried not to flinch at the causal
assessment. That’s a visual I didn’t need, he thought to himself.
“Do you have any idea yet what caused the accident?”
“We’re working on it,” the officer responded. “There weren’t any witnesses so we’re hoping
that your sister will be able to tell us what happened.”
“Do you mind if I look around?”
“Suit yourself, but stay out of the way.”
“I will. Thank you.”
The cop returned to his duties and
“Can you see anything unusual on the pavement?” he asked in a raspy
whisper.
“Nothing but oil and grease,”
Taking his own cursory look at the ground, it took a moment for
Batman’s instincts to tell him that something was missing.
“There are no skid marks,” he observed. “If
“If she hydroplaned there may not have been enough traction for her
to leave skid marks,”
“If she had hydroplaned she would have simply crashed into the
building,” Batman returned. “If there
was enough force to flip the car over on impact, there was damn well enough
traction to have left skid marks.”
Clark was prevented from responding by the approach of footsteps
behind him, and Batman faded back into the shadows as one of the officers
addressed
“Mr.
The officer gestured his head toward the wreckage. “Forensics has found something I think you’ll
be interested in.”
Clark gave him a curious glance and pushed his glasses up his nose
as he followed the policeman back to the remains of
“Mr.
“It appears that someone had recently cut the brake lines on the
car, so all of the brake fluid leaked out.
When your sister tried to put on her brakes for whatever reason earlier,
there was nothing there to make them work.”
That can’t be a
coincidence,
“Do you have any idea why somebody would want to hurt your sister?”
Stone asked.
Stone nodded. “
“No. She underwent major
surgery and is heavily medicated, plus she has a concussion. I don’t expect her to be lucid enough to tell
us anything until tomorrow.”
“Do me a favor and let
“I’ll pass that along,”
Casting a final glance around the accident site,
“Well apparently
“What did the police find?”
“Somebody severed the brake lines on
Batman cursed under his breath.
“Damnit!” he muttered. “How the hell would somebody get access to
“I don’t know, but we are certainly going to find out,”
Batman nodded in
acknowledgement and retreated back into the darkness to resume his surveillance
as
************************************************************
The sound of footsteps echoed loudly in the silent hallway as he
made his way to the room at the opposite end. Reaching the door, he stifled a
nervous sigh and knocked once to announce his presence before stepping inside.
The only light inside came from a pair of windows on opposite sides of the
wall, and it barely revealed the presence of an elderly man seated in a
wheelchair in the center of the room.
“You wanted to see me?”
“I
wanted to discuss your methods of handling the situation I spoke of when we
last met.”
The older man’s voice was a raspy whisper and even in the otherwise
silent room, the younger man had to strain to hear him.
“It was my understanding that the ‘methods’ were to be at my
discretion provided that the end result was the same.”
“At no time did I say that the end result was to be her death. The fact that
she is still alive is the only reason you are.”
“I thought that’s what you wanted. An eye for an eye. Jordan Wayne’s life for yours.”
“Eventually yes. But not before Bruce
Wayne knows who is responsible and why.”
“I am still confused as to why you don’t simply kill the man
himself.”
“I would prefer that he spend the rest of his life knowing that I
took from him that what he values most,” came the
response.
“What do you want me to do?”
“I think it will be in our best interests to control how he obtains
the information regarding the true nature of his wife’s ‘accident’. Make
arrangements for the first piece of the puzzle to make its way to
”I’ll see to it myself.”
Two days later, Jordan and Bruce were in her hospital room awaiting
the arrival of Detective Stone. The day
after her accident,
By the second day, she was in better spirits and the pain was now
manageable, so Doctor Caldwell had signed off on her discharge papers after
eliciting a promise from Bruce that he would arrange for a physical therapist
to being working with Jordan ASAP at Wayne Manor. Shortly thereafter the press
had shown up to ask
“The press was here after Dr. Caldwell gave me the all clear to go
home,” she told him, resting on the edge of her bed with her injured leg
propped on a chair. “However, they were
more interested in why Superman showed up so quickly at the accident site than
in what caused the accident or what condition I was in.”
“Jealous of your brother’s good publicity?” Bruce teased.
“Well since neither your brother nor myself are in a position to
set them straight about your relationship with both men, perhaps the wisest
course of action would be to avoid needing us to rescue you.”
“I wouldn’t need rescuing if homeless people wouldn’t jump in front
of my car in the middle of a rainstorm,”
“More or less, although it would have been
equally helpful if my brakes hadn’t chosen that precise moment to go out on
me.”
This just keeps getting
better, Bruce mused in silent frustration, his handsome face creasing
into a frown.
"You have that look,
Bruce."
"What look?"
"The `Something's
bothering me but I won’t risk upsetting
She knows me too well. "I
wasn't aware I was that transparent."
Bruce smiled back. “Why don’t we shelve this conversation until
we get home?” he suggested.
“Hey, Little Sister,” he
greeted.
“Hey yourself,”
“I’m just glad I was
there to help,”
“How nice of you to say
so, Big Brother,”
“Now that I’ve seen for
myself that you’re all right, I am going to leave you in your husband’s capable
hands and head back to Metropolis. Mom is
anxious to talk with you, so please make sure you call her when you get home.”
“Consider it done. Give
my love to Lois and Jason.”
“I will.”
“I’ll walk you out,”
Bruce said and glanced at
The men exited the room
and once they were in the hallway Bruce turned to
“Quite a coincidence,”
“My thoughts
exactly. I’m going to do some checking and see if I can figure out
which of my enemies is targeting
“Well have fun in the
meantime trying to keep
“All too well,” Bruce
allowed. “Fortunately her injured leg
should prove helpful in that regard, as her mobility will be limited for the
six weeks she’s on crutches.”
“This is
“Probably not. Maybe I should invite your mother and Ben for
a visit.”
“I was hoping that was
just a heat of the moment remark,” Bruce said.
“Sorry.”
Reluctant resignation was
evident in Bruce’s expression. “So am I. I’ll talk with you in a couple of
days.”
The men exchanged farewells and Clark headed out of the hospital as
Bruce returned to
After finishing their meeting with Detective Stone, Bruce brought
“I assure you that your mother is equally overjoyed to be back
amongst you all, but please do not bump into her injured leg,” he requested. “I fear she may react in a flash of pain and
temper and someone may get whacked with a crutch.”
Bruce stifled a laugh as
“It’s myself I’m worried about, Miss
Bruce did laugh at that and
Bruce wordlessly lifted his hands in a mute gesture of surrender as
Alfred addressed him.
“Before your lovely wife does you bodily harm, Master Wayne, Lucius
asked that you call him at the office once you returned home,” he told
him. “The children and I will help Miss
“Thank you, Alfred,” Bruce replied and turned to
“Don’t be too long or I’ll feed your pancakes to the dogs,”
Bruce responded to the threat only with the widening of his smile
and he gave her a quick kiss before heading for the study. Although Hero and Trouble made their way
outside with the others, Harmony instead shadowed Bruce as he entered the
study. As a puppy, Harmony had been a
gift from Bruce to
“Just goes to show you that when you’re dealing with a female of
any species, she knows a good man when she sees him,”
It had certainly proven true for Harmony and she faithfully
followed Bruce everywhere when he was at home.
“Come on in, Harmony,” Bruce said as he watched her trail into the
room behind him and he gave her a quick pat.
As Harmony lay down on the floor beside his desk, Bruce settled in
and picked up the phone to call Lucius. He had called his friend and CEO from
the hospital after returning from the accident site and informed him what he
had found out about
“Lucius Fox.”
“Good morning, Lucius,” Bruce greeted. “Alfred gave me the message
that you wanted to speak with me.”
“Good morning, Mister Wayne,” Fox replied cheerfully. “How is Dr.
Wayne?”
“
“I’m glad to hear it,” Fox replied.
“Have you seen this morning’s paper?”
“Actually I didn’t have time to read it yet,” Bruce answered. “What
am I missing?”
Fox sighed. “One of our
staff members was killed the night before last,” he revealed. “One of the assistant secretaries, a young
girl named Whitney Johnson, was apparently the latest victim of the killer the
papers are calling ‘The Butcher’.”
Bruce frowned. “Was she killed at the office?”
“No. She lives in an apartment building next to the park and he
attacked her when she was only about a hundred yards from home.”
“What time did this happen?” Bruce queried.
“According to the friends she had dinner with, Whitney left the
restaurant just before 9:00,” Fox answered.
“She used the bus for transportation so the police have determined that
she picked up the 9:15 bus that stops in front of the park, which would have
gotten her there about 9:45. Her body
was discovered early this morning by a couple walking their dog in the park, so
she could have been attacked anytime between 9:45 last night and 7:00 this
morning.”
Now it was Bruce’s turn to sigh and he ran a hand through his hair
in frustration. “That’s the third victim
he’s killed in the last week,” he muttered angrily. “If I didn’t know better I’d think he was
taunting me.”
”I don’t know if he’s necessarily taunting you,” Fox said, “but he
certainly does seem to want to get your attention. And it’s rather interesting that the latest
victim not only has a direct connection to your company, but was killed less
than 24 hours before someone presumably attempted to kill your wife.”
“You think it’s personal,” Bruce surmised.
“I think it would be in your best interests to find out who is
behind your wife’s ‘accident’ before she’s targeted again, or they go after
someone else you care about,” Fox conceded.
“Did you get anything from Gotham P.D.?”
“A copy of the investigation report on Dr. Wayne’s accident was
just faxed to me,” Fox said. “It
confirmed what the detective told Mr.
“So when she tried to brake and avoid hitting the man who ran in
front of her car yesterday afternoon, there was no brake fluid left to initiate
a stop,” Bruce surmised. “The momentum
must have caused her car to flip when she went over the embankment at the
construction site.”
“I’ve requested copies of the camera logs for the last 72 hours
both from corporate security and the firm that works at the zoo,” Fox told
him. “Once I have them in hand, I’ll
have them delivered to your house so you can review them.”
”Good Any word on the
packages scheduled for delivery at the harbor tonight?”
The question referred to an incoming drug shipment that Lucius and
Bruce had been tracking for close to a week.
“According to my source down on the docks, the merchandise will be
arriving in a coffee shipment from
“Is it being transported on a standard cargo ship or a private
vessel?” Bruce asked.
“A private freighter called Bella
“Just another group of stalwart seamen making an honest living,”
Bruce responded sarcastically. “Thank
you as always for your help, Lucius.”
“I’m glad to be of service, Mr. Wayne,” Fox demurred. “Be careful collecting your packages down at
the harbor.”
“I will be,” Bruce assured him.
Mindful of the thick fog reducing visibility to almost nothing, the
captain of the Bella
From his perch atop the nearest warehouse, Batman was careful to
keep out of sight of the mercenaries but within earshot of the dock. Hearing
the captain’s order to his men, he faded into the fog and made his way off the
building. Using the other buildings for cover, he positioned himself about 100
feet from the dock where the ship was parked and settling into the darkness,
waited for his opportunity to strike.
Unaware they were not alone, the men were talking amongst
themselves as they began setting crates on the dock.
“This place is a hovel,” the first man complained, speaking English
in a voice heavy with a Latin accent. He
was a tall man, but very thin and his face bore the traces of many years at
sea.
“What did you expect?” the other man countered, obviously American, his short,
burly frame a stark contrast to his comrade’s.
“It’s not like we can deliver this stuff to the port in someplace like
“Well it’s not like some of the merchandise isn’t going to wind up
there anyway,” the first man retorted.
“Gotham isn’t the only city in
“It’s bad manners to be insulting when you’re visiting someone
else’s home,” a raspy voice offered out of nowhere.
The men immediately whirled toward the sound as they withdrew guns
from underneath their coats.
“Who’s there?” the Latin man
demanded.
There was no verbal response, but a pair of batarangs came flying out of the fog to knock the guns from the men’s
hands. A moment later a metal rope
wrapped around the upper bodies of both men, pinning their arms to their
sides.
“Capitan Morales!” the Latin man shouted. “We’ve got trouble!”
At the alarm call, the other four men came off the boat and walked
over to join their captive friends.
“What’s going on?” Morales demanded.
“I’m keeping your cargo out of my city,” a voice declared from the
darkness.
Morales turned toward the
voice just as Batman materialized out of nowhere and struck him the face,
knocking him to the ground. The other
men needed no further invitation and immediately swarmed Batman. Dodging a blow
from the first one, he retaliated with a spinning kick to his jaw, sending him
crashing to the ground. As the two remaining men launched themselves at him,
Batman engaged the closest one and put him out of commission with a blow to the
head.
“Didn’t your mother ever
teach you its bad manners to pick fights with strangers?” Batman asked dryly.
The final man rushed the
detective, who sidestepped and sent him sprawling with a blow to the back of
the head. Furious, the man scrambled to his feet and charged Batman again, only
to have him turn and deliver a spinning kick to his jaw. The force of the blow
sent him sprawling across the docks and he collapsed next to the Bella
“Next time take the
train,” Batman suggested to the men.
After securing the
mercenaries who were still conscious, Batman gathered the others and tied them
all together next to the cargo boxes resting on the dock. Once they were all secured, he retreated back
into the fog shrouded darkness and returned to the Batmobile, which was parked
behind the warehouses he had been perched on earlier. Sliding inside, he pressed a button on the
dashboard computer and it rang through to the direct line of
“Gordon,” he answered
curtly on the third ring.
“Good evening,
Commissioner,” Batman greeted.
“Batman,” Gordon
responded. “What can I do for you?”
“There’s a shipment at Pier
27 at the harbor I think you and your men might be interested in,” came the
reply. “A little something extra came in
with the Columbian coffee.”
Gordon sighed. “Why am I not
surprised?” he asked rhetorically.
“Thanks for the information. By
the way, do you know anything about this freak show carving up women like
Christmas turkeys?”
Batman smiled slightly at
the Commissioner’s analogy. “The Butcher? No, not yet.
Has anyone in your department worked up a psychological profile of him?”
“Our profiler has been trying, but unfortunately we don’t have much
to go on. The killer targets women between 20 and 40 and always attacks after
dark when they’re alone and in a semi-secluded area.”
“Other than their gender do the victims have anything else in common?”
Batman queried.
“Nothing obvious,” Gordon answered. “Some were single, some married
and they were of varying professions.”
“I’ll put stopping this slime bag at the top of my ‘To Do’ list,”
Batman replied, adding silently, Right
after uncovering whose trying to kill Jordan.
“Any help you can give us would be appreciated,” Gordon
responded. “I’ll send some uniforms to
pick up the shipment at the harbor.”
Batman ended the call and waited in his car until a pair of squad
cars and another unmarked police vehicle arrived to take the smugglers into
custody. Once they were safely in police
hands, he started the Batmobile and headed for home.
Arriving at
“Good morning, Mr. Wayne,” she greeted, and handed him the envelope she was
holding. “This was just delivered for you.”
“Thank you, Jessica,” he responded, and tucked the file under his arm as he
finished pouring his water. Returning to his desk, Bruce took a sip of water
before setting his cup on the desk and shifting his attention to the envelope
Jessica had given him. It was a plain white envelope that bore no return
address, and his name was written across the front in unfamiliar handwriting.
“Something tells me this isn’t a love letter from a secret
admirer,” Bruce deadpanned.
Grabbing a letter opener from the drawer, he gently broke the seal
and dumped the contents onto his desk. Inside was a single sheet of letter
paper folded in thirds, along with a pair of aged newspaper clippings that had
yellowed with time. He unfolded the letter first and the message was a single
typewritten line:
“Distraction
is dangerous and compassion can be fatal.”
Frowning, he set the letter aside and picked up the newspaper clippings. They
were from the Gotham Herald and bore dates from over twelve years ago.
They were the stories of Batman’s successful prevention of the League of
Shadows plot to contaminate
“It would seem somebody knows more than they should about my past,”
Bruce muttered out loud.
Reaching over to pick up his phone, Bruce dialed the extension for
Lucius’ office.
“Lucius, it’s me.”
“What can I do for you, Mr. Wayne?” Fox asked.
“Would you please join me in my office? I just received a delivery
I think you should see.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Bruce took another sip of water as he waited for Fox and by the
time he had finished his beverage, there was brief knock and his friend and CEO
walked into his office, closing the door behind him.
“Good morning, Mr. Wayne,” he greeted.
“Good morning, Lucius,” Bruce returned and handed him the note and
newspaper clippings. “These were just
delivered to me.”
Fox took the items from Bruce and quickly read the note, then
glanced at the headline of each article before returning his attention to
Bruce.
“Looks like somebody is trying to resurrect a bit of your personal
history,” he remarked.
“If I were a betting man, I would wager that the ‘somebody’ in
question is also the person responsible for the attempt on
Lucius took a moment to digest Bruce’s statement before calmly
asking, “Respectfully, sir, isn’t that a big presumption?”
“Not necessarily, Lucius. If
we assume for the moment that whoever sent me these articles knows about my
extracurricular activities, and that the person in question is out for revenge,
my family would be the most logical target.”
“Excluding yourself,” Fox suggested.
“Including myself,” Bruce countered. “If somebody wants to make me suffer, what
better way than to kill one of the people I love the most? Killing me would
obviously not cause me any anguish, but taking
Fox sighed. “If as you say,
this person knows your secret, wouldn’t they also know the danger involved in
targeting Dr. Wayne or anyone else you care about?” he prompted.
“It would have to be somebody who feels that they have nothing to
lose,” Bruce answered.
“Any ideas?”
The innocent question earned Fox a genuine chuckle from Bruce. “Would you like the list alphabetically or in
order of importance, Lucius?” he asked wryly.
Fox smiled. “I understand
the sentiment, Mr. Wayne, but obviously not all of your adversaries know about
your alter ego,” he pointed out. “The
list of those who do is presumably a short one.”
“It is, which begs the question, who are we dealing with?”
“When you have the answer to that question, Mr. Wayne, you’ll have
the answer to the question of who is trying to kill your wife,” Lucius replied.
“I’m going to have to take a trip down memory lane to try and
determine who I would have crossed paths with in both areas of my life that
could have made the connection,” Bruce remarked. “Once I figure out who we’re dealing with,
I’ll decide on the best way to handle it from there.”
Lucius nodded. “Of course, sir. By
the way, the Johnson family was very appreciative that the company picked up
the tab for Whitney’s funeral. They intend to express their appreciation by
donating part of the money they would have spent on the service to the Wayne
Charitable Foundation.”
Bruce sighed. “I only hope I
can get justice for their daughter, Lucius,” he responded and his expression
turned lethal. “If this Butcher is
connected to whoever is targeting
SOMEWHERE IN
As always, he was seated in a wheelchair in the center of the
darkened room when the other man arrived.
“Is it done?” he asked.
“Yes,” the younger man confirmed. “The first piece of the puzzle was delivered
this morning.”
“How did he react?”
“According to my source, he summoned his CEO to his
office very shortly after its arrival.”
He smiled. “That is excellent news. If the other pieces fall into place as
quickly as the first one has, we should have the issue of Bruce Wayne and the
elimination of his beautiful wife resolved by Christmas.”
“When do you want to reveal the next piece of the puzzle?”
“Let’s wait a day or two and see what the good detective and his minion can
uncover on their own. It will make it so much easier if they do the work for
us. In the meantime, I think its time to put some of your other skills to use
and get you into Wayne Manor.”
“I am assuming you all ready have something in mind.”
“I understand that Dr. Wayne is in need of an accredited physical
therapist.”
“Consider it done.”
On the fifth day following her accident,
“Well it looks like the wolves have been busy,”
The ring of the doorbell interrupted her musings and she cast a
quick glance at her son to ensure he was not awakened by the resulting
cacophony of barking from Harmony, who had been resting in the foyer guarding
the front door.
“So much for teaching her not to bark every time the bell rings,”
Grabbing the crutches propped beside her chair, she awkwardly got
to her feet and issued a curt “Stay, Hero” to the dog laying beside her before
hobbling out of the room and to the front door to greet her visitor.
“Harmony, down!” she admonished and the dog immediately fell silent
as
“Nicholas…”
“I’m pleased to see you are up and about after your recent brush
with death, Dr. Wayne,” Ashton declared with mock formality.
Father and daughter exchanged a hug before Ashton glanced at
Harmony. “I trust that beast at your side has been properly fed today?”
“I am assuming you didn’t come all the way here from
“No, I am here because your mother was gracious enough to call me
and tell me about your accident,” Ashton answered. “Frankly I was rather annoyed that the news
didn’t come from you or your husband.”
“I’m sorry about that, but I asked Bruce not to contact you,”
“I’d hardly call someone trying to kill you nothing,
“I’ll second that,” Alfred added from behind them, shadowed by
Trouble, Kaya and Evan.
It took a moment for the twins to recognize Ashton, but when they
did, they quickly came over to wrap themselves around his legs. Trouble eyed him warily from beside Alfred,
but when
“Hi, Grandpa,” Evan greeted.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Kaya echoed.
“Hello, little ones,” Ashton returned affectionately and glanced at
Alfred. “Hello, Alfred. It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise, Nicholas,” Alfred responded. “I assume you’re here because of Miss
Ashton was saved from having to respond by the ring of the doorbell
again and
“Good afternoon, Mr. Pennyworth. I’m here for my session with Dr.
Wayne.”
“Of course, Miss Tan,” Alfred said. “Please come in.”
Xia stepped inside and as soon as the dogs spotted her, they rose
to their feet and began growling under their breath.
“Trouble, Harmony, down!”
“Why don’t you and Miss Tan head for the gym and get started on
your therapy session, Miss
“Thanks, Alfred. Alexander
and Hero are both asleep in my office.”
“I’ll check in on them shortly,” Alfred assured her.
“Nicholas, I hope you’ll join us for dinner.”
“Actually, I was hoping to impose upon your hospitality and stay in
one of your guest rooms while I am here,” Ashton replied. “Apparently there is some sort of convention
happening in the city and the hotels are all full.”
“I’ll set him up in one of the guest rooms in the East Wing, Miss
Jordan,” Alfred interjected.
“I was under the impression that despite their size,
“They usually are,” Alfred responded. “However, for some reason they don’t like her
physical therapist.”
“Well I have no doubt that Bruce had the young lady’s credentials
checked and rechecked, but frankly I often find animals are more astute judges
of character than Humans.”
“Has Miss
“Maybe just a bit,” Ashton allowed.
In his office, Bruce was preparing to leave for the day when a
knock sounded at his door and at his invitation to enter, Fox walked into the
room.
“Do you have a minute, Mr. Wayne?” he prompted.
“Actually I was getting ready to head for home to pick up
“If you can spare the time, I’ve got something you’ll want to see,”
Fox returned.
“What do you have for me?”
Fox handed him a small box.
“These are the disks from the security cameras at the zoo and here at
“Have you seen any of them?” Bruce asked.
“Not yet. I just received them about ten minutes ago and brought
them directly to you.”
“Let’s take these to the conference room and start reviewing them.
Hopefully there will be something on here that will give us an idea of who
sabotaged
The men made their way to the conference room and after closing the
door behind them, Bruce settled himself at the table as Fox set up the monitor
and laptop so they could view the disks.
“Do you want to start with the disks from the zoo or from here?”
Fox asked.
“Let’s start with our own disks,” Bruce answered. “Our parking structure isn’t quite as public
as the zoo’s and is most likely where
Fox nodded in acknowledgement and sorted through the disks, then
pulled one out and slid it into the recorder.
“This is the disc from the day before the accident,” he said.
Retrieving the remote control from atop the machine, Fox sat in a
chair next to Bruce as the playback began. To save time, Fox fast forwarded
through the video until the men saw
“Play it from here and let’s see if anyone approaches her while
she’s still in the parking area,” Bruce instructed.
Fox pressed the button on the remote to switch the video to normal
speed and the men watched the video in patient silence as
“Obviously no one approached her or the car while she was within
view,” Bruce said. “Hit the fast forward
button again and we’ll see if anyone shows up later in the recording.”
“Right,” Fox agreed.
They had gone about halfway through the recording when something
suddenly caught Bruce’s eye.
“Lucius, stop the video,” he
instructed. “Rewind it a bit and then
hit play.”
Fox did as requested as he asked, “Did you see something?”
“I think so.”
Once the video was playing at regular speed, Bruce leaned forward
in his chair to get a closer view just as a slender man wearing what appeared
to be a mechanic’s coveralls and a tool belt approached
“Well, well, what have we here,” Fox remarked. “Anybody you know?”
“I didn’t see his face well enough to know one way or another,”
Bruce responded. “Let’s see if he gives
us a look at him when he’s done with his sabotage.”
It only took a couple of minutes for the man to tinker with
Jordan’s car and once he was done he rose to his feet and removed the gloves as
he again glanced around to make certain he was still alone. As he began to walk away the man raised his
head slightly, giving Bruce enough of a facial view to
determine his features were Asian, but he was not anyone Bruce
recognized.
“This fellow is rather sure of himself, isn’t he?” Fox remarked as
he stopped the recording.
“I hope he knows he signed his own death warrant when he tampered
with
“Planning on using it for wallpaper on your dartboard?” Fox
inquired dryly.
“Actually I’m going to show it to
Fox nodded. “Give me a few
minutes to work some computer magic and I’ll have the picture for you,” he
said.
“Thanks, Lucius.”
GOTHAM REGENCY HOTEL
A couple of hours later, Jordan and Bruce were in the main ballroom
of their hotel, acting as hosts for the Wayne Conservation International
fundraiser being held there. Leaving his
father-in-law at home to watch the children, Bruce had enlisted Alfred to drive
him and Jordan to the fundraiser. Along
the way, he had filled him in on what he and Fox had discovered on the security
disk.
“It seems quite obvious, Master Wayne, that this fellow on the
security video and whoever he may be working with want you to uncover who they
are,” Alfred had said.
“That seems to be the general consensus, Alfred,” Bruce allowed.
“So does that make them overconfident or just stupid?”
“Both,” was Bruce’s answer.
After spending an appropriate amount of time mingling after their
arrival, Jordan and Bruce had retreated to a far corner of the room, neither of
them in a mood for general niceties.
“How are you holding up?” he asked quietly.
Bruce smiled back. “If you
want to make a discreet exit, we can go find Alfred and have him bring the car
around,” he said.
“That is the best offer I’ve had all night,”
Bruce helped her to her feet.
“Can you make it across the room solo?” he asked.
“If anyone gives me any trouble, I’ll whack them with a crutch,”
Bruce’s smile widened and he pressed a kiss to her cheek before she
adjusted her crutches and headed into the crowd. Sipping at a glass of
champagne, Bruce kept an eye on her until she vanished into the restroom. No
sooner had she left his line of vision than Bruce felt a hand on his shoulder
and his body went taut with tension as he turned expectantly.
“Bruce…good to see you again,” the mayor greeted cheerfully,
clutching a glass of champagne in one hand as he extended the other to Bruce.
“Mayor Minden,” Bruce returned, his posture easing as they shook
hands.
The mayor was about ten years Bruce’s senior, with a receding
hairline that did nothing to compliment his rotund features, a result of a
lifetime of various overindulgences.
“Quite the shindig you and your wife have put on here tonight,”
So do I, Bruce echoed
silently. Aloud he said, “I’m pleased that you were able to fit the fundraiser
into your schedule.”
“I heard about Dr. Wayne’s car accident. How is she feeling?”
“
“Is she here this evening?”
Bruce permitted himself a faint smile at
“
“I’ll mention it to her,” Bruce evaded.
Unaware she was the topic of discussion elsewhere,
“Excuse me, Dr. Wayne,” he replied, speaking accented English. “I hope I did not aggravate your injured
leg.”
The man nodded and withdrew a small blue flower from his lapel,
which he handed to
“Thank you,”
The man’s smile widened.
“Please tell Mr. Wayne that Henri Ducard sends his regards,” he answered
and inclining his head in a silent gesture of farewell, he vanished into the
crowd.
“Why do I feel a sudden need to take a shower?”
Shifting her attention to the odd flower he had given her,
“Not exactly as fragrant as a rose,” she muttered.
Bruce found her then and smiled at her odd expression. “What’s with the frown, Princess?” he
prompted. “Did they run out of hand
towels in the Ladies room?”
“I just had a very odd encounter,”
Bruce’s amusement faded upon hearing the name of his erstwhile
nemesis and he took the flower from
“An old ghost,” Bruce replied, his eyes flashing black fire as he
returned his gaze to
Both curious and concerned about her husband’s sudden change of
demeanor,
The following afternoon,
He came into my home and
nearly destroyed everyone I care about once before, he mused angrily. It
won’t happen a second time.
“You’re going to give yourself permanent creases in your forehead
if you keep frowning like that, Handsome,”
The light jibe dispersed his grim thoughts and Bruce gave his wife
an affectionate smile. “I wouldn’t worry
about it too much, Princess,” he returned.
“Everyone knows that you’re the one with the looks in this family.”
“You looked like quite the unhappy camper just now. Penny for your thoughts?”
“I doubt they’re worth that much.”
“I’ll raise the price to a quarter if you’ll tell me why the
mention of Henri Ducard’s name last night rattled your cage so thoroughly,”
Bruce released a heavy sigh.
“Henri Ducard is an alias used by the man I knew as Ra’s al Ghul,” he
clarified.
“You told me he was dead,” she replied.
“Up until last night I thought he was,” Bruce responded. “It was virtually impossible for him to have
survived the train crash, but I don’t know of anyone else in the League of
Shadows that would go through so much trouble to get to me through you.”
“Newsflash, Bruce; most of your enemies usually try to get to you
through me, even the ones who don’t know your secret. It’s the same reason Luthor and the rest of
Superman’s enemies target Lois.
Obviously these people don’t know that your alter egos are our
respective husbands, but they do know that for whatever reason the two of you
favor us.”
”I imagine you and Lois must compare interesting notes,” Bruce
quipped. “Ever wish you had married one
of your fellow scholastic types and settled into a nice, suburban life without
all of the drama that comes with sharing my life?”
Bruce smiled. “I’ll make a
note of it,” he demurred.
“Assuming for the moment that you are dealing with the same man,
why did he wait so long to seek his revenge?”
Bruce glanced meaningfully at Alexander. “I have more to lose now
than I did twelve years ago,” he answered.
“He can’t touch me from a business standpoint, but that’s not his style
anyway. If Ra’s is still alive and after
revenge, the most effective method would be to destroy me emotionally.”
“If he wants me dead, he’s got an arsenal of assassins at his
disposal. Why go through the trouble of having one of them tamper with my car?”
“He has to make it look like an accident to avoid
involving the police, but still find a way to let me know he’s
responsible.”
“Hence the little encounter with the man at the hotel last night,”
“Sooner or later he’s going to take another shot at you, Jordan,”
Bruce cautioned.
“Or the children,”
“Actually I am fairly certain that he is keeping his attention
focused on you,” Bruce returned. “Ra’s
is all about ‘an eye for an eye’ and having known the pain of losing his own wife
many years ago, he intends to inflict that same agony onto me.”
“I wonder if the loss of his wife is what set him on his path of
corruption,”
“That kind of emotional trauma could certainly have overshadowed
his morality and caused him to become the man he was when he found me,” Bruce
allowed. “But the reasons why he is who
he is no longer matter. He made his
choice the moment he had one of his men try to kill you.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Alfred, who
approached them with
“You have a visitor, Miss Jordan,” Alfred announced and gestured at
the baby. “If Master Alexander is done
with his lunch, I’ll take him inside to finish his nap in the nursery.”
“Thank you, Alfred,”
“He looks the same as you did at this age when you were asleep
Master Bruce,” Alfred remarked. “Although I daresay young Alexander isn’t quite
as contrary as you were about taking your naps.”
“Thank you for sharing that, Alfred,” Bruce remarked dryly.
Alfred smiled to himself as he retreated back into the house.
“Hello, Big Brother,”
“I hope you don’t mind me showing up unannounced,”
“Having family members show up out of the blue seems to be a running
theme here these days,” Bruce replied dryly.
“Nicholas showed up on our doorstep yesterday after he got your mom’s
call about
“All things considered I’m doing fine,”
“Any new developments regarding the identity of
the person trying to kill you?”
“Ra’s al Ghul,” he revealed.
“That’s what I thought too, but the man he had tamper with
“I don’t know if approaching her in public and in your presence was
very brave or very foolish,”
“He bumped into me when I was leaving the restroom,”
“Henri Ducard was the alias Ra’s al Ghul was using when he bailed
me out of the jail in
“If this is the same man, the timing makes sense,”
“Unfortunately his knowledge of my dual identity makes him that
much more dangerous,” Bruce replied. “He
obviously has no qualms about attacking the people I care about on my turf and
even in my home. I won’t risk Jordan and the children by allowing him to make
the same mistake twice.”
“I’m all ready working on it,” Bruce replied.
As if on cue, Alfred rejoined them then and addressed Bruce. “Pardon
me, Master Bruce, but Lucius is on the telephone for you.”
“I’ll be right there, Alfred,” Bruce said and rose to his
feet. At his side, Harmony got to her
feet as well, sensing he was leaving and as always intending to follow him. The
dog’s devotion was not lost on Clark, who smiled as he spoke to his
brother-in-law.
“And here I thought it was only Human females who followed you
everywhere panting at your heels, Bruce,” he quipped.
“You’d have more experience with that than I would, Superman,” Bruce retorted pointedly and
bent over to press a kiss to the top of
“So how are you really holding up?” he prompted.
“I’m fine, Clark, honest,”
“Frankly I’m surprised Bruce let you out of the house at all,”
“Where did that come from?”
“Be honest, Clark; you know as well as I do that Bruce spent most
of his life avoiding emotional commitments.
The choices he made about how to conduct himself so no one would ever
make the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman included not marrying or
having children. He felt that maintaining only casual relationships would be
better for everyone involved.”
“That’s not the issue, Clark,”
“Bruce knows what he’s doing,
“Bruce thought so too twelve years ago.”
Inside the house, Bruce had made his way to his study to take his
phone call from Lucius and sat behind his desk as he picked up the receiver.
“What have you got for me, Lucius?” he prompted without preamble.
“It appears that the reports of Henri Ducard’s death may have been
premature after all,” Fox answered.
“What did you find?”
“I worked some internet magic and came across a series of medical
records from late 2000 that originated from a small clinic just outside of
“What do they say he was treated for?” Bruce asked.
“The most significant injuries mentioned were several shattered
vertebrae resulting in total paralysis from the waist down, various broken
bones and internal injuries and third degree burns over eighty-five percent of
his body.”
“I can only imagine how deep his hatred of me must run if he
overcame all of that simply to seek revenge,” Bruce remarked grimly.
“If I may say so, Mr. Wayne, this makes it even more obvious that
he won’t stop his efforts to kill Dr. Wayne until he succeeds,” Fox
replied. “It might be prudent to risk
her temper by insisting she avoid public appearances until you’ve eliminated
Ra’s.”
“I think that both of us will be working from home for the
foreseeable future, Lucius,” Bruce concurred. “I’m not going to risk a repeat
performance of what happened twelve years ago by leaving her alone to be a
target.”
“I’ve emailed you the information from the clinic,” Fox told
him. “If there’s anything else you need,
you know where to find me.”
“Thank you for your help, Lucius. I’ll be in touch.”
Bruce replaced the receiver in its cradle and released a heavy sigh
just as
“Trouble at the office?” he prompted.
Bruce glanced up at his friend.
“Lucius has found proof that Ra’s al Ghul is alive,” he revealed. “And given what he had to endure to stay that
way, the target on
“Well if it’s any consolation, I know that she’s in the safest
hands she can be in,”
“I appreciate you saying so. Speaking of my wife, I am assuming you
didn’t leave her alone to come find me?”
”Nicholas just came back from the city and he’s visiting with her,”
“Your sister is one step ahead of you,” Bruce said and rose to his
feet. “
“As long as we’re back on the subject of my baby sister, I need to
let you in on the little chat we had a few minutes ago.”
“Dare I ask?”
“She’s ‘wondering out loud’ if perhaps you might have been better
off avoiding a relationship with her.”
“She can’t seriously believe that,” Bruce protested.
“Well it’s becoming obvious that your unfinished business with Ra’s
al Ghul has upset her more than she’s willing to admit,”
Bruce released another sigh.
“I should have known she was taking all of this a little too well,” he
said. “The less riled she gets, the more
frightened she is. I’ll go talk to her.”
“That would be a very good idea.”
“Are you staying for dinner?”
“I need to get back to Metropolis,”
“Thanks,
“Will do.”
“Care to share the joke?” Bruce prompted.
“I was just telling
“How did he know who you are to
“One of my associates revealed that I’m her father when he
introduced us,” Nicholas answered.
“Apparently everyone but the Mayor knows that they know he has a not so
secret crush on your lovely wife.”
“
Bruce nodded. “He said to
call him if we need anything,” he replied.
Nicholas rose to his feet.
“Well I should get my business settled and start packing,” he said. “I will leave the two of you to enjoy one
another’s company and I’ll see you at dinner.”
The Duke retreated into the house and Bruce assumed his position in
the chair opposite
“I have to agree with that,” Bruce responded. “Before he left,
“So much for sibling confidentiality,”
“I hope you don’t honestly believe that I would have been better
off not becoming involved with you.”
“The majority of the time I don’t, but when something like this
latest assault on me happens, a little voice in my head starts chastising me
that maybe I should have left you well enough alone five years ago.”
Bruce half stood only long enough to seat himself next to her and
reached over to take her hands in his.
“I knew exactly what I was doing when I decided to pursue a relationship
with you, Jordan,” he replied. “I’m
certainly not going to deny that it upsets me when you’re targeted by someone
who wants to get to me…”
“Actually to be perfectly accurate it pisses you off,”
“But that is far outweighed by the joy having you and our children in my life has brought me. I love you and there is
nothing that will ever make me regret that.”
“Even if there comes a day when one of your
enemies succeeds in killing me?”
“Even if.”
Bruce’s solemn tone made it obvious he meant what he said and he
paused a moment to allow
“We discussed this after we reconciled five years ago,
That’s where all of this extra anxiety is coming from, he mused
silently. She’s not worried about herself; she’s worried about me.
“I appreciate your concern, Princess, but that’s not the way Ra’s
thinks,” Bruce told her. “If he kills
me, I don’t suffer and I’m not here to see the people I care about suffer.
That’s why he wants to kill you, because he knows what it would do to me.”
“Let me know when you get to the part where any of this is supposed
to make me feel better,”
“Frankly I don’t think either of us is going feel much better until
I take care of Ra’s al Ghul once and for all,” Bruce replied honestly. “But I need you to know that I have no
regrets or doubts about being with you. We’ve
fought too long and too hard to build our family to let Ra’s or anybody else tear it apart.”
“Well you’ve never let me down
before, Handsome, so here’s hoping you don’t start now,”
“You can talk to me about anything,
“I do. It’s just with all of this other stuff going on I didn’t
want to add anything more to your plate.”
“I’m touched by your concern, but I assure you I can deal with
whatever you want to tell me, any time you want to tell it to me.”
Bruce smiled back. “See that you do.”
SOMEWHERE IN
He hated being summoned like this,
as if he were a dog that was required to heel upon command and come when
called. Yet he knew all too well the choice to disobey would a fatal one, as Ra’s
al Ghul was not a man to be crossed in any manner, and he held his tongue as he
entered the near dark room.
“You have a task for me?”
“Yes, Dao,” came the raspy response. “It seems that Wayne and his minion are
more resourceful than I gave them credit for and have managed to uncover my
stay at the clinic in Paris twelve years ago.”
“I thought you wanted them to uncover the truth.”
“I do, but I wasn’t prepared for them to do so as quickly as they have.”
“What do you require of me?” Dao prompted.
“I think its time to remind the Dark Knight what fate befalls the curious,”
Ra’s said. “Have the message delivered
by way of his lovely wife.”
“Do you want her killed?”
“Not quite yet. I merely want to
give Batman a final reminder of the consequences of his actions twelve years
ago before we make our final move against Dr. Wayne.”
On the one-week anniversary of
“Excuse me, Alfred, but is either
Mr. Wayne or Dr. Wayne at home?” he inquired.
“Master Wayne took Miss
Barnes cast an anxious glance at
the children. “May we talk in the other
room?” he requested pointedly.
“Certainly.”
After instructing the twins to
stay put and ensuring Alexander was safely strapped into his high chair, Alfred
escorted Barnes out of the dining room.
Once they were safely out of earshot, Alfred addressed his colleague.
“What seems to be the problem, Mr.
Barnes?” he prompted.
“I think Mr. Wayne is going to
want to beef up the security patrols of the property,” Barnes said. “One of the new grooms, Henry, was cleaning
the stalls at the far end of the stables and found Dr. Wayne’s dog Hero lying
dead in the tack room. And it was brutally obvious that the dog didn’t die of
natural causes.”
Alfred frowned. “Are you saying that someone deliberately
killed him?”
“Yes, sir. Hero’s head was
severed and left on a shelf in the room. This was propped against the body on
the floor.”
Barnes handed him the sheet of
paper that he was clutching, which was obviously spattered with blood. Alfred unfolded it to find a grim, one
sentence message typed on the paper.
Curiosity doesn’t kill only cats.
“Bloody hell…” Alfred muttered and
returned his attention to Barnes. “Who else knows about his besides yourself
and the groom who found the remains?”
“No one,” Barnes said. “Henry was so shook up at what he found, I sent him home and then came straight up to the
house after I locked the room.”
“Make certain that no one else
goes into that room until Mr. Wayne has contacted the police,” Alfred
instructed. “In the meantime, please
ensure all of the horses that are out in the pasture are returned to their
stalls and locked inside.”
“Yes, sir. What about the other
dogs?”
“Trouble and Harmony are roaming
about the house, so I’ll make certain that they are kept inside,” Alfred
responded and released a sigh. “I don’t know how I’m going to break this to
Miss
“Break what to me, Alfred?”
Barnes and Alfred turned to see
Jordan and Bruce standing a few feet away, obviously having just returned from
their trip into the city.
“I’m going to go round up the
horses,” Barnes said to no one in particular, and acknowledged the
“What’s going on, Alfred?” Bruce
asked.
“There’s been an incident at the
stables, Master Bruce,” Alfred told him and shot a sympathetic glance at his
granddaughter before continuing. “One of
the grooms discovered Hero lying in the tack room a
short while ago.”
“Is he hurt?”
“I’m afraid he’s dead, Miss
Alfred handed Bruce the note and
the younger man’s face creased into an angry scowl as he read it.
“That sick son of a bitch….” he
muttered.
“I want to see Hero,”
“I would advise against that, Miss
“I want to see my dog,”
Alfred met Bruce’s inquiring gaze
and gave a discreet shake of his head, a silent signal to Bruce that he should
not allow her to witness what had been done to her beloved pet.
“
“Don’t patronize me, Bruce!”
Bruce stiffened at the
implication. “Ra’s and his men aren’t
going to touch you again,
“Maybe not, but you’d better make
damn sure you stop this bastard before he decides to take out one of our
children in lieu of one of our dogs,”
Without waiting for a response,
“What did they do to Hero?” he
asked curtly.
“According to Mr. Barnes, the poor
dog’s head was severed and left on a shelf in the tack room, with his body and
the note laying beneath it on the floor.”
Bruce grimaced at the gruesome
mental image. “Well I suppose we should
be grateful that it wasn’t Jordan or one of the twins who discovered him,” he
said. “Is he still in the tack room?”
“Yes, sir. I instructed Mr.
Barnes to keep the stable hands out of the room until the police had examined
it.”
“For appearances sake, I’ll put a
call into Jim Gordon and ask him to send some uniforms over to examine the
crime scene,” Bruce replied. ”In the meantime, until I have taken care of Ra’s
and his accomplices, neither Jordan not the children are to set foot outside of
this house without one of us or Clark as an escort.”
“Any ideas as to how one of Mr. al
Ghul’s’ men got onto the property and murdered Hero without being noticed?”
“My instinct tells me that
“Not to mention that the dogs
don’t seem to trust her either,” Alfred added, earning him a faint smile from
Bruce.
“
“I’ll take that as a compliment,
Master Bruce.”
“
“Of course, sir,” Alfred agreed.
“I will call Miss Tan and ask her to arrive a bit early.”
“Thank you,” Bruce said. “I’m going to call the Commissioner and then
I need to check on
“For whatever it’s worth, Master
Bruce, I’m certain Miss Jordan isn’t truly angry with you. You’re just the most
convenient target.”
“I have no problem being subjected
to my wife’s infamous temper, Alfred. I’d rather have
Something dangerous flickered
across his features and his tone went ice cold as Bruce added, “The bastard is
going to wish he’d stayed dead.”
Without waiting for a response,
Bruce turned on his heel and left the room.
************************************************************
Ra’s was so still when Dao and Xia entered the room that for
a brief moment, they thought he might be asleep.
“Maybe we should have called before just showing up,” Xia
whispered.
“He only uses the phone to maintain contact with his
people,” Dao responded. “He won’t answer
if you call him.”
From the darkened corner of the room, Ra’s revealed his
awareness of their presence with an irritated sigh.
“I suggest you stop speaking in hushed whispers as if I were
unable to hear you and explain to me why you’re here,” he said coolly.
“We have a new problem, Master,” Dao told him. “I believe that
“Is this a paranoid assumption or do you have proof?”
“
There was a slight squeak of the wheelchair as Ra’s rolled
out of the shadows and stopped a few feet in front of them, his expression
unreadable.
“Were you seen by someone on his staff when you and Chan
accessed the property to kill the dog?” he asked.
“Of course not,” Xia assured him. “The dog was killed in the woods and we made
certain to avoid encountering any of the stable hands when we placed the body
in the tack room.”
“And yet here you stand, convinced that you have been
discovered,” Ra’s replied. “I have no
time for insecurity and incompetence.”
Reaching into a small pouch hanging on the side of the
wheelchair, Ra’s withdrew a small dagger and with a flick of his wrist, sent it
flying into Xia’s throat. His aim was deadly
accurate and the blade sank deep into her jugular. Blood immediately began streaming from the
wound and Xia’s face registered her shock as she fell to the floor. Ignoring
her as she bled to death at his feet, Ra’s shifted his attention to Dao.
“Return to
************************************************************
It had taken most of the afternoon for the officers from
Gotham P.D. to examine the crime scene and get the details they needed for the
official report on Hero’s death. A search
of the woods surrounding the estate had uncovered a small clearing near the
main highway where Bruce’s electrical fence had been sabotaged. Additional
evidence in the form of the massive amount of Hero’s blood found adjacent to
the damaged fence made it obvious that the perpetrators had killed him there
before taking his body to the stables.
Despite
After ensuring that Jordan, the children and the remaining
dogs were safely ensconced in the house, Bruce had overseen the police as they
rummaged about his property, keeping up the pretense that he was unaware of who
was responsible for Hero’s murder. Once
they were gone, he made his way through the house in search of his wife,
needing to know how she was holding up before he headed out for his evening
patrol. As he strolled through the
living room, Alfred was coming down the stairs and met him in the middle of the
room.
“Have the police finished their business at the stables,
sir?” Alfred asked.
“Yes; they’re showing themselves off the property.”
“What did they find?”
“A small portion of the fence on the eastern edge of the
woods was cut through and Hero was killed there before being taken to the
stables,” Bruce answered. “That fence is
supposed to be wired with close to a hundred thousand volts of electricity
24/7, so I’d like to know how the hell Ra’s goons managed to sabotage it
without getting fried like breakfast sausage.”
Alfred sighed. “I’m afraid I may be partly to blame for
that, Master Bruce,” he confessed. “One
of the landscapers came to me just before Mr. Barnes discovered Hero and told
me that one of the workers had accidentally severed the power line to the back
fence when they were clearing some brush. I was going to call the electrician
to come rewire it this afternoon, but after poor Hero’s body was discovered it
slipped my mind.”
“I appreciate your honesty, Alfred, but there is only one
person I am holding responsible for the harm that has been inflicted on and
around my family in the past week and it’s time I made him pay for it,” Bruce
declared tightly. “Is
“Yes, sir. She was putting
Master Alexander to bed and then mentioned she intended to take a bath.”
“I’m going to check on her and then I am going to track down
Ra’s al Ghul to dispose of him permanently.
In the meantime, I want you to call the electrician and have the fence
repaired immediately. Tell him that I will pay triple his normal rate, but it
has to be done tonight.”
“Of course, sir.”
Alfred headed toward the kitchen to make the call as Bruce
started up the stairs No sooner had he
reached the top than he heard a thud from the master bedroom just as Harmony
went tearing down the hall toward the nursery growling as she ran and Trouble
erupted into a cacophony of barking from the twins’ room downstairs.
“Bruuucccee!!!!”
“Alfred, check on the twins!”
Alfred quickly headed for the children’s bedroom as Bruce
bolted into the Master Suite. He
discovered a breathless
“Are you all right?” Bruce prompted.
“I’m fine. Please go check on Alexander.”
Bruce swiftly left his bedroom and made his way to his son’s
room, where he discovered Harmony attacking Dao, while Alexander slept soundly
in his crib. Unaware of the other man’s
arrival, Dao was trying vainly to fight off the large dog and managed to plant
a kick to her ribs, temporarily freeing himself from her grip. Bruce took
advantage of the moment to charge Dao and after a brief struggle, managed to
bring the other man to his knees as he wrapped his arm around his neck.
“How many of there are you?” he demanded.
“Too many to be stopped even by you,” Dao sneered. “You may succeed in stopping those of us here
tonight, but there will be more of us to come and come we will until Ra’s al
Ghul succeeds in taking away from you what matters most.”
“Where is he?”
When Dao remained stubbornly silent, Bruce tightened his
grip on Dao’s throat, slowly but effectively cutting off his air supply. “Where
is he?” he repeated.
“The Master is waiting for you at the place where you
destroyed his life a dozen years ago,” Dao rasped.
“Then you and your friends can go scurrying back there and
tell him that you delivered his message.”
Bruce got to his feet and shoved Dao toward the window, and
the other man shot him a hateful look before climbing out of the room. After
carefully retrieving his sleeping son to ensure Dao could not return for him, Bruce
returned to his bedroom with Harmony on his heels.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
Bruce ushered her into the hallway as Alfred joined them,
his heavy breathing indicating he had run up the stairs.
“Is everyone up here all right?” he inquired.
“We’re all fine, Alfred,” Bruce told him. “How are the
twins?”
“Master Evan and Miss Kaya are fine, sir,” Alfred
answered. “Trouble must have scared off
whoever was in their room, because by the time I got there the room was empty
and Trouble was standing at the window barking. I told the children that the
Trouble was merely barking at some nocturnal creature and put them back to bed.
I secured the room before I came up here and left Trouble with them to stand
guard.”
“Whoever tried to enter the house through the twins’ room is
undoubtedly now on his way back to Ra’s with the one you fought to tell him
that once again they failed to kill me,”
“Then he’ll be expecting me,” Bruce declared. Gently handing Alexander to Alfred, he
reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone. He punched in a number and a moment later the
familiar voice of his brother-in-law came on the line.
“Clark
“
“I’ll explain when you get here, but I need you at the house
now.”
Bruce ended the call and glanced at Alfred. “After you and Clark dispose of this trash,
make that call to the electrician and get him here first thing in the morning,”
he instructed. “I don’t want him here
tonight in case any more of Ra’s assassins show up but I want this house and
the entire estate hardwired with more security than the White House by this
time tomorrow.”
“Of course, Mister Wayne.”
The sudden swoosh of air from the open window signaled
Superman’s arrival and he cast a concerned glance at the unconscious man on the
floor as he flew through the bedroom to join the others in the hall.
“I take it Ra’s al Ghul had his men take another shot at
“There were at least three of them,” Bruce told him. “One of them came in through the master
bedroom and the other two came in through the children’s room downstairs and
the nursery.”
“Where are the other two?” Superman asked.
“Trouble scared off the one who tried to get in through the
twins’ room and I sent the one who came in through the nursery back to Ra’s,”
Bruce told him.
“What about the one in your bedroom?”
“I took him out with one of my crutches,”
Superman gave
“Well I hit him in his family jewels first,”
Superman shook his head as a sudden though occurred to
him. “Aren’t you missing one of your
four legged children, specifically the black pony in dog’s clothing you named
in honor of your husband and me?”
A flash of fresh grief flickered across
“Oh,
Superman pulled her into his arms for a comforting hug and
she said against his chest, “So am I.”
“I don’t know if Ra’s is going to send any more men here
tonight to try and finish what the first round started, so I need you to stay
here with Alfred and watch over Jordan and the children,” Bruce directed at
Superman. “I’m going downstairs to
change and then I’m going to put and end to my unfinished business with Ra’s al
Ghul once and for all.”
Superman’s expression made it clear that he did not approve
of Bruce’s plan, despite what Ra’s had done to
“Are you sure you don’t need back-up?”
“This is between Ra’s and me. But I need to know that my
family is safe while I deal with him. That’s why I called you.”
“I understand.”
Bruce shifted his attention to
Please tell me you’re with me on this,
“I know,” came the simple reply.
Relief
flooded through Bruce and he wordlessly pulled her into his arms to embrace her
in a fierce hug. They held onto one another in silence for a moment before
“Come home to me.”
“Always.”
Bruce leaned over to give her a brief, bruising kiss before
turning on his heel and heading for the
************************************************************
Blackness. The stillness of the night was broken by a
slight fizzle as some unknown insect met its fate upon colliding with a heated
street lamp. In the midst of an empty neighborhood with litter
strewn streets and abandoned buildings, the Batmobile slowly rolled to halt in
front of a gated, windowless medical building, the former location of Arkham
Asylum. Inside his car, Batman made an entry in the dash computer before shifting
his gaze to the deserted building. He stared at it for a moment in silence
as ghosts both old and new filtered through his mind.
The stunned expressions of Thomas and Martha Wayne as they
lay dying outside the opera house…
The pallor of Rachel’s face as he poured the antidote to
Crane’s hallucinogenic drug down her throat…
The screams of
The sight of
The gruesome scene of a decapitated Hero lying in the tack
room…
Shaking off his morbid thoughts, Batman double-checked the
equipment on his utility belt before exiting the car to make his way
inside. The interior was as unwelcoming as the exterior, the stench of old
garbage and other odors better left unidentified causing his stomach to
churn.
"This place needs some serious air freshener," he muttered to
himself.
Near the entrance a pair of glass doors beckoned him, and he made his way
across the litter and shards of glass and timber to carefully open one of the
doors. Stepping inside what was once the main lobby, Batman flicked
on the small flashlight he carried and took a cursory survey of his
surroundings. Cobwebs and layers of filth covered the floor and walls. Far
to his right, he spotted an open door leading to the stairwell, and strode
across the room to make his way upstairs. The door allowing access to the
second floor was locked, so Batman made his way up another flight and found the
third floor access door slightly ajar. Shining his light in either
direction, he discovered nothing more than puddles of water and additional
trash lining the corridor.
Ra’s is here, he thought to himself. I can sense it.
Stepping into the main hall, he discovered a small figure
barely covered in dirty, ragged clothing sleeping against the wall. From the
size of the still frame, he could tell it was merely a homeless street kid, no
more than 15 years old. Bending over, he
shook the boy awake and the teenager’s eyes widened in fear upon seeing the
Dark Knight hovering over him.
“Don’t hurt me, Batman, please!” the youngster pleaded as he
scrambled to his feet. “I wasn’t doin’
anything wrong, I swear! I was only tryin’ to find a place to sleep away from
the junkies that are always beatin’ me.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Batman admonished in a harsh
whisper.
Without giving the teenager a
chance to respond, Batman gave him a hard shove toward the stairwell and the
kid bolted for freedom.
“I see you are still suffocating yourself
with frailties such as compassion for others,” an all too familiar voice
remarked from behind him.
Batman spun around as Ra’s al Ghul
wheeled himself out of the darkness, Dao and Ming on either
side of him and a quartet of other ninjas behind them. His hands and face were covered in thick scar
tissue from his burns and what remained of his once brown hair was now gray.
“An admonishment about compassion
from a man whose underlings have twice failed him and yet still remain alive,”
Batman retorted.
“That they are alive proves my
point,” Ra’s countered. “They put your
wife in the hospital and slaughtered one of her dogs practically in your own
home. Yet instead of eliminating them yourself, you sent them scurrying back to
me in the hopes I would do it for you. Even after all that you have seen and
done in the years since we last met, you still are inherently incapable of
doing what is necessary to defeat evil.”
“If I were to ‘eliminate’ every
person who has caused harm to me over the years I would personify the evil you
claim to be fighting against.”
“Every war has its casualties,
Batman. One way or another, Jordan Wayne will be one of them.”
“Not in this lifetime.”
Ra’s flashed him a smile devoid of
warmth. “Perhaps you are operating under
the false impression that she is safe because Dao and Ming are here with us,”
he replied. “Surely you know that they are simply the opening act.”
“What I know is that no one you
send to finish what they started will be successful,” Batman said. “I would not leave her unprotected merely to
play word games with you.”
“Your faith in your glorified
butler is most amusing, but even an old man with skills such as his is no match
for those who follow me.”
“As always you underestimate me,
Ra’s. I am not naïve or careless enough
to have come here without knowing beyond any doubt that
“That remains to be
seen,” Ra’s demurred. “However should my
efforts to take her away from you fail, I have many other options. The three charming children that will inherit
the
“As long as people have free will,
there will always be those who choose a darker path,” Batman responded. “You can’t decimate every society that
doesn’t conform to the standards of the world according to Ra’s al Ghul.”
“But I can extract justice from
those who have betrayed me,” Ra’s countered and gestured at his men. “Take him!”
The
men needed no further invitation and immediately swarmed Batman. Dodging a blow
from the first one, the Dark Knight retaliated with a spinning kick to his jaw,
sending him crashing into the wall. As
the remaining men launched themselves at him, Batman engaged the closest one
and put him out of commission with a blow to the head. He bent at the knees as
Ming attacked and used his body weight to flip the man through the air, then stood up just in time for Dao to land a blow to his
jaw, knocking him backward.
“Didn’t
your mother ever teach you to turn the other cheek?” Batman asked dryly.
Without
waiting for a response, Batman head butted Dao and sent him sprawling with a
second blow, this one to the back of the head. Furious, Dao scrambled to his
feet and charged Batman again, only to have his nemesis turn and knock him to
the floor with a kick to his jaw. Realizing at last they were not going to be
able to finish their task, the men regrouped and vanished back into the
shadows.
“The
level of incompetence that you continue to display disgusts me,” Ra’s said to
his men and suddenly snapped out, “Seppuku!”
There
was rustling in the darkness and a moment later the dead bodies of Dao and Ming
fell to the floor on either side of Ra’s, the blades protruding from their
abdomens indicating they had killed themselves by disembowelment.
“Third strike,” Batman remarked
drolly.
Ra’s curtly directed additional
instructions to his remaining men in Japanese and three of them wordlessly exited the room as the fourth
stepped further into the shadows. Ignoring the bodies on the floor beside him,
Ra’s returned his attention to Batman.
“Whatever happens between us, I
will have the satisfaction of knowing that you will spend the rest of your life
with the pain I carry, the memory of the murder of your own great love. Do you
really think that it will not turn you as it did me?”
“I’m not you.”
Ra’s ignored him. “It is
unfortunate that once again I am forced to tie up my own loose ends,” he said
and reached behind his wheelchair to withdraw a large sword from the sheath
attached to the chair. The blade was at least two feet in length with another
foot for the handle and the blade was about three inches across. “Do you remember what I told you the night I
burned your home to the ground?”
“I was too busy escaping the fire
to memorize your ramblings,” Batman answered.
“If someone stands in the way of
true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart,” Ra’s
replied. “Of course, a frontal attack is
sometimes just as effective.”
Before Batman could react, Ra’s
suddenly rose to his feet and poised the sword in front of him as he
charged. After allowing himself a split
second of surprise that Ra’s was mobile, Batman quickly lifted one of his arms
to stop the blade from penetrating his suit and used Ra’s own momentum to send
him stumbling backward.
“Old age and your previous
paralysis have slowed you down, Old Man,” he taunted.
“You may have the upper hand at
the moment, Bruce, but you still don’t have what it takes to rid yourself of me
once and for all,” Ra’s spat at him.
The older man immediately charged
again and Batman sidestepped him as he withdrew a small object from his belt
that shot out a metal rope to wrap itself around Ra’s legs. Instantly Ra’s
attempted to shift the sword toward his foe, but the scarring on his hands
limited their functionality and the weapon fell from his grip as he crashed to
the ground.
”Game’s over, Ra’s,” Batman
remarked as he walked over to pick up the sword. “You lose.”
“I think not, old friend,” Ra’s
countered and glanced toward the shadows where his underling stood in
silence. “Now, Tako!”
Instantly a smaller version of the
sword he had forfeited to Batman came flying out of the darkness toward Ra’s
and he snatched it out of the air. “This
time my death will be on my terms, Bruce, not yours,” he said confidently. “I’ll save you a seat in hell.”
Flashing his foe a
final, icy smile, Ra’s muttered “Seppuku!” before suddenly driving the dagger
into his stomach and brutally slashing open his abdomen. Blood began to pour
from the wound and Ra’s smile was replaced by a grimace of pain as he swiftly
bled to death. After it was certain he was dead, Tako emerged from the shadows
and cautiously approached Batman.
“You must finish it,” he said.
“Finish what?”
“The seppuku,” Tako clarified and
gestured at the sword Batman was holding.
“You were his Kaishaku; you must complete the ritual.”
It dawned on Batman then why the
foreign word Ra’s had said to his men and himself before the mass suicide was
familiar: it was the formal Japanese term for ritual suicide. Tako’s reference
to Kaishaku – another formal term for the victim’s confidante – seemed to
indicate he expected Batman to complete the ritual by beheading his former teacher.
“It is a matter of honor,” Tako
continued, noticing Batman’s hesitation.
“Whatever he has done to those you care about, you would not be where
you are today if the Master has not taken you into his life and taught you how
to fight injustice. You owe it to the man he was and the man he helped you
become to do this last act for him.”
“Whatever I owed Ra’s al Ghul has
long been paid for in innocent blood,” Batman replied. “Tell whoever is chosen to take his place
within the League of Shadows that their threat to the people I care about dies
with Ra’s al Ghul. If any assassins show up on my doorstep again, they’ll long
for the ‘compassion’ I showed them this time around.”
Tako said nothing but merely
vanished back into the darkness. Batman
waited a moment to ensure he was gone before shifting his attention to Ra’s
still form. He stared at him in silence for a moment before speaking.
“For the man you were, I hope you
find the peace in death that so eluded you in life.”
Leaving Ra’s body where it lay,
Batman dropped the sword beside it and headed back to his car, where he punched
a button on the dash to contact the house.
Alfred answered on the second ring, with nothing in his voice to
indicate there was trouble.
“
“Alfred, its
me. Is everything all right there?”
Inside Wayne Manor, Alfred glanced
over his shoulder to peer into the living room, where Superman was easily
subduing the three ninjas Ra’s had sent to the house as Trouble and Harmony
watched in interested silence.
“Everything is under control here,
sir,” he said calmly. “How are things on
your end?”
“The threat to
“Very good, sir. Drive safely.”
Alfred abruptly ended the call and
inside the Batmobile, Batman frowned at the speakerphone.
“He must be getting into the
brandy again,” he muttered aloud and placed his call to Gordon.
In the days following Batman’s
final encounter with Ra’s al Ghul, subsequent investigations by Gotham P.D. had
determined that Dao had been responsible for the murders attributed to “The
Butcher”. Additionally, forensic
evidence had proven that Xia and Chan were the culprits behind the brutal
slaughter of Hero. Although the death of
Ra’s al Ghul had officially been ruled a suicide, Bruce had confided to Jordan
the full details of what had occurred that night, needing her to know that in spite
of everything he had not killed his nemesis.
Eight weeks to the day of
her car accident,
Alfred was walking
through the main foyer when they returned from dinner and flashed them a warm
smile.
“I trust that the two of
you enjoyed your dinner,” he said.
“We had a lovely evening,
Alfred, thank you,”
“No, but you did bemoan
not having one to whack Mayor Minden with when he happened upon our table and
expressed his ‘utter delight’ that you had made a full recovery,” Bruce
reminded her drolly.
“The package you have
been expecting arrived earlier this evening, Master Bruce,” Alfred told
him. “I put the contents in the master
bedroom.”
“Thank you, Alfred,”
Bruce responded. “Are the guest rooms
ready for
“Yes, sir,” Alfred
confirmed, then added with a smile, “although I believe that the children still
intend to sleep in the living room and await the arrival of Santa Claus.”
“Well it would be nice to
have a stranger in the house who brings gifts and
goodwill instead of mayhem and murder,”
“I will second that,”
Alfred replied. “And on that note, I will take my leave. Good night, Master Bruce, Miss Jordan.”
“Good night, Alfred,”
Bruce returned. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
Alfred headed toward his
room and Jordan and Bruce went down the hall to check on the twins before
making their way upstairs.
“I’ll check on
Alexander,” Bruce said. “Why don’t you
head into the bedroom and check on the package Alfred left there?”
Bruce merely smiled and
pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll see
you in minute,” he evaded and went to look in on his sleeping son as
“Oh my goodness…”
The Great Dane puppy
appeared to be about seven to eight weeks old and was a shiny steel blue in
color. It raised its head at
“Hello precious,” she
greeted softly.
“She’s Hero’s niece,”
Bruce revealed from behind her.
“According to the breeder, one of his sisters gave birth to a trio of
puppies on the day that Hero was killed.”
Bruce came over to kneel
beside her. “Don’t think of her as
Hero’s replacement, Princess,” he countered.
“Given that Hero was an engagement gift from me to you, just consider
this little girl to be a gift for the anniversary of our engagement. Or an
early Christmas present, for that matter.”
“I’ll understand if you can’t
accept her, but if so you’re going to explain it to the children,” Bruce
told her.
“At least I didn’t have
to ask Alfred for assistance the first time I punished Evan and Kaya,” Bruce
retorted lightly.
“Score one for the Dark
Knight,”
“May I take that to mean
we’re keeping the puppy?”
“Do you want to name her,
or do you want to defer that honor to the children?”
“As much as I adore our
children, Handsome, the last time we gave them naming
duty one of the foals got stuck with the name Popsicle,”
“Well then, in order to
spare this fine canine specimen a life with a name derived from a snack food,
what are you going to call her?”
“In honor of the season,
I’m going to call her Grace.”
Bruce reached over the
give the newly named puppy a gentle pat.
“Welcome to the asylum, Grace,” he remarked. “I’m sure you’ll do your
uncle proud.”
Just then the grandfather
clock in the hallway chimed the turning of the clock to midnight and
“Merry Christmas Eve,
Mister Wayne.”
“Merry Christmas Eve,
Mrs. Wayne.”
Husband and wife
exchanged a kiss.
END