-𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭-

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟑

The first to arrive at the apartment wasn't a paramedic but the commissioner of Gotham's police force. His tired eyes worriedly stepped onto the floor from the elevator. He held his handgun low to the floor as he walked up to the women that laid idly on the ground. Gordan kneeled next to the women. Her smell was the first thing he noticed, not for how bad it was, but for how familiar it was.

The elevator dinged again, all to reveal the masked vigilante. He stepped onto the floor firmly, his eyes locked onto the knocked-out women in front of him. The Batman stood behind Gordan, waiting for him to come back up from his crouched position.

"We have another one. She's got a smell on her just like the on 5th," Gordan spoke up. He slowly stood to face the Batman with a stern look, "This our girl, right?"

Batman nodded his head, turning his attention to the apartment number on the door. Gordan was the first to move, making his way over to the door. Loosening his hold on his gun, Gordan knocked firmly on the door.

"Gotham Police!" Gordan announced loudly. Batman slowly replaced Gordan's spot in front of the door, protectively waiting for an answer.

Very quickly, the door opened to reveal a badly bandage woman. A patch to her head slightly revealed a large red bruise. She sniffled and wiped back tears that had trailed past her eyes. Clearly struggling to stand on one foot. When making eye contact with the man in front of her, it caused her breath halt. Shock and confusion filled her face. The last she saw of the Batman was out on the dark dirty streets of Gotham. Now he was standing at her door, looking down at her coldly.

"It's you," Her voice trailed, still trying to calculate the situation. Batman had not seen (Name) since what happened last week. It may not have been that long ago, but the memory of her was burnt into his dreams since the day he first saw her on the cold concrete ground. Now she stood in front of him in shock.

"Ms. (Last Name)?" Gordan quickly inquired, "I'm Jim Gordan, and this is my partner. We wanted to ask some questions and get some information on what happened out here."

More officers started to crowd the hallway after Gordan's sentence. The woman opened the door to let the men in. As Batman walked into the apartment, he could already put together the events. A floor lamp laid toppled over, while a broken mug's pieces were scattered next to a coffee table. The house didn't look too bad other than that, though the smell of the women outside lingered faintly.

Splayed on the coffee table was a tiny first aid kit with very few things inside. Bandages, rash cream, a tiny bottle of acetone, not much would help with intense injuries. Batman turned to face the women. She worriedly stood off to the side with a shaken form. Gordan was quick to speak up.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?"

"She came in using my spare key, but I think she was drunk or high. She knocked over some of my stuff," She pointed to the lamp and mug, "I don't know why, but she was wet and smelled horrible. Carrie had told me she had gone to the club with some of her friends she had just met before I kicked her out."

"Do you know if she actually took anything?" Gordan took a note pad and pen out.

"She mentioned that the city comptroller gave her something, she didn't go into detail, but what she was saying it was hard to believe. I made her leave at first, but by the time I changed my mind and reopened the door, she was a completely different person."

"How did she attack you," Vengeance spoke up, coming closer over to Ms. (Last Name).

She stared at him when she responded, "She took me by the hair and slammed my head into the door frame. The only thing I could do was to fight back."

Batman stared back at her, his cool blue eyes analyzing every feature on her face. He took in every word and restated them in his mind. His lips pierced into a tight line. The way she said it was like it was an obvious answer, it rolled off her tongue coldly without any emotion.

Gordan nodded along as she described the events more in death. When the retelling was over, she spoke up again.

"Will I be prosecuted?"

"From the statement you're saying, this was self-defense, so no, you won't. But we would like to know if you want to press charges?" Gordan patted the girl on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure right now, sir."

"No problem, take some time, just call in when I have an answer soon. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for the time, Miss (Last name)," Gordan comforts the woman the best he could.

With a relieved sigh, (Name) thanked Gordan and Batman for coming. As the two began to leave, Batman opted to stay back.

"You're not leaving?" (Name) pressed slightly.

"I have a few more questions to ask." Batman answered back at the women with a dead stare.

"Oh? Why didn't you ask before?"

"It helps when it's one on one."

With an uncomfortable shift in her movement (Name) wrapped her arms around herself and waited for the onslaught of questions, "When was the last time you communicated with Michelle Banker?"

Taking aback by the question, (Name) responded with suspension, "Well, I haven't been to work in the past week, so I would say a week or two ago."

"You seem to have the closest contact with her. Have you noticed anything unsettling with her?"

She huffed a chuckle, "Who told you I was her closest contact? I can hardly have her respond to my emails, let alone be able to call her regularly."

"You are her assistant. You don't manage any of her important files?"

"I wouldn't say being able to open very semi-public transcript of tax returns on her computer is important files and, somehow in your mind that makes me her assistant," She pushed forward towards the bat, opening her posture by relaxing her shoulders, "but I have had to open Windows chat for her more than once."

"Very funny."

"I know, right? Although in all seriousness, I have no clue what she is doing, and I'm not involved with anything," She loosely stated, setting the record straight.

"You mentioned earlier that your friend possibly took something. Do you know what that was?"

"I told you before, she said someone gave her something. I do know that she had to be hit by some pretty stinky shit. Do you have an idea what she took?"

"It's none of your concern," Batman said.

"Of course, it's not, doesn't hurt to ask," She paused to break eye contact and look off somewhere else, "I could ask around if you need an extra pair of eyes."

"No, it's already bad enough that you're somewhat involved. You don't need to paint a red target on you for no reason." Bats raised his voice a bit.

"Confident, it's inspiring," She soon locked eyes again to see he had never looked away, "I remember watching you help survivors during the aftermath of the flood last year. You work with others, but you seem to think you work best alone?"

"Safe to say."

"Thank you."

"For?"

"For saving me from passing out on the street alone last week," the atmosphere changed between the two at that moment, "my nose probably wouldn't have been healing this well without my wallet."

"You're welcome."

The Batman seemed to think that was the best place to the end of the conversation. He was quick to walk towards the door. The woman watched sightly as the Batman opened her door and looked back for one more glance. When the door closed behind him, (name) let out a sigh of relief. She just spoke to the Batman for a good 60 minutes. What the hell just happened?