UPTOWN GIRL, bruce wayne

spruce wood

***

IVORY WATCHES the video before her in horror. After the officer had taken her down to her father's station, her morning only continued to worsen.

It was a short thirty second clip, and it mostly showed the ceiling and half of a masked face with glasses. Ivory recognized this man immediately, it was impossible not to. He was all over the news. She didn't know how he hadn't gotten caught yet, it was so hard to believe that an entire police force couldn't find one single man.

The video seemed dumb at first. The Riddler (which was what he addressed himself as) talked nonsense about saving the city from corruption. But then, it took a turn halfway through. The moment she heard her own name spoken from his mouth was the moment her stomach dropped.

"Bring me Hickman's daughter. I know our poor, sweet Ivory is worried about dear old daddy. Tell her I want to see her. Tell her if she wants to know why I did this, she'll have to ask me herself. If she doesn't, well..."

A gunshot sounds, and immediately a howl of pain took over the video. It ended right after, a set of numbers at the bottom of the screen, the text above it reading: call now.

Ivory's hands were shaking so bad that she had to tuck them into the pockets of her jeans. The office was completely silent now, those who hadn't seen it were processing, and those who had were now gauging her reaction.

"I have to do it, right?" Ivory finally asks, turning to the officer who had brought her in. "I can't- I can't risk anything happening to him. It's just a video call, isn't it? What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that it's leverage," another officer spoke up. "And you're the detective's daughter. Everyone knows you are under extreme protection right now. If we answer that call, he will know exactly how desperate we are."

"I think she should do it," Wiggins says from his seat, and she's sure every pair of eyes shift to him. "Detective Hickman is one of the best, if we lose him, we're done for. We need him, and if a dumb video call is how we get him back, then it doesn't seem so bad."

"She's not doing it," a voice states from the door. The room falls silent again, and Ivory is almost positive she would've fallen over if it hadn't been for her grip on the table next to her.

Bruce Wayne was there. Right before her very eyes. It feels like forever since the last time she's seen him. His hair is longer, and from the bags under his eyes, it looks like he hasn't been sleeping. Oblivious to her shock, Bruce takes a step closer to the front. "It's clearly a trap. The Riddler wants something, whether it's from her or anything from the station. She's not doing it."

"You don't speak for me," Ivory says, very sharply. The anger and hurt she feels from his distance is very much apparent in that moment, because he hadn't shown any sort of caring until then. And it was already too late.

"I'm well aware," he answers easily. Ivory is acutely aware everyone in the room is watching them now, surely sharing looks because nobody ever spoke to Bruce Wayne that way and got away with it. "But I'm not speaking for you. I'm saying you aren't doing it."

"Get out, Bruce," she's glowering up at him, and she can see the surprise in his expression when he realizes she's serious. "You don't get to walk in here and act like you own the place. Especially now."

"Rory," he says, quieter now, just so only she can hear. "I'm not trying to-"

"He's my dad, I don't care if this video call is a set up or not. I have to get him back."

Bruce looks ready to protest again, but Ivory brushes past him towards the computer. She's vaguely aware of the warning in his tone when he argues more, but she ignores it. And she presses the button.