Just Breathe

Chapter 3

"In another unexpected public sighting - the second this year - Bruce Wayne was seen visiting the office of Mayor Bella Real. According to the Mayor's spokeswoman, the billionaire businessman was discussing allocation options for the new and improved Renewal Fund."

Beth had only been partially paying attention to the news as she ate her lunch. The small TV in her office helped serve as an early warning system, alerting to her to any deaths that might be crossing her desk in the near future - or, more accurately, crossing her autopsy table. But at the mention of 'Bruce Wayne', her head popped up from her salad and she focused on the screen.

"The Wayne heir has been famously reclusive for the past 10 years, but he seems to be re-emerging into Gotham society. The first sign was his attendance at the former Mayor's funeral last year. A couple of months ago he attended a board meeting at Wayne Enterprises, which served to boost the share value of the company..."

She tuned out the words and focussed on the accompanying photographs - one was from the funeral, which caught him half in profile as he entered the church; the other was of him emerging from the Mayor's office, the cut of his suit much more flattering.

The news bulletin ended and the pictures disappeared before she had a chance to finish studying them, so she woke up her computer and found the online versions. His dark hair was shorter and more styled in the recent pictures, and it was brushed off his face, allowing the photographer to capture his pale blue eyes.

The haircut and the suit made it seem as if he was making an effort to appear as the put-together, powerful Wayne heir that the public expected.

She flicked back to the older photos from the funeral. His appearance was scruffier, and his eyes were guarded. He looked uncomfortable and out of place...and she had a feeling that this was the real Bruce, and the newer version was nothing but an act.

Or maybe neither of them were real. Maybe the man under the cape and cowl - the imposing, confident crimefighter - was the real man.

She remember her fleeting wish during their first encounter to discover his secret identity. She figured once she unearthed the name under the mask, her curiosity would be satisfied...but she was even more fascinated now.

And she was becoming a bit obsessed.

She followed Batman's exploits like a rabid fan. Part of it was concern for his safety; it was like that apocryphal quote "save a life and you are responsible for it". She felt protective of him. And she worried about him. So she followed him - via news reports and social media posts - to make sure he was alive at the end of every night, and breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed.

A larger part of her attentiveness was the desire to understand him.

He was an orphan, like her. And while she didn't know how her parents had died, the whole world knew the story of the Waynes and their tragic ending. He'd been just a boy when he'd witnessed their brutal murders. She could imagine the craving for justice that experience would awaken; but there were so many avenues open to a literal billionaire to achieve that kind of aim. He could have become a lawyer; he could have devoted his fortune to tackling the root causes of Gotham's crimes; he could have run for office...but he chose to shut himself away from the world and emerge only in the dark to fight criminals on their own turf.

So her obsession stemmed from concern, fascination...and there was a small, superficial part of her that just found him attractive. His face lived up to the promise of that sculpted, impossibly sharp jawline that had first caught her eye in the mortuary.

She was drawn to him...

But he belonged to another...

She quickly shut down that line of thinking and threw away the remnants of her lunch.