White Knight-Batman SI (Bruce x Rachel)(OC x Selina Kyle)

Part 8

Chapter 8

Rachel Dawes

Rachel Dawes was on a war path as she walked up the steps of the Wayne manor. It had been months since Bruce's return, and things had been going well between them, and both of them had met a number of times.

Yet, for some reason, she could not bring herself to commit to anything, for whenever she was with him it felt as if a massive wall hung between both of them, and despite everything, she couldn't bridge that gap.

"Miss Dawes," Alfred, the ever-dutiful butler, frowned as he saw her striding into the manor so early in the morning, but what could she do? It was the only time she had.

"Where is he?" she asked Alfred, and before he could answer, he walked down the stairs.

"Rachel?" he uttered her name slowly, still dressed in loose pajamas and a nigh robe, as he walked down the stairs with a frown.

"What happened?" he questioned, and she raised the paper she had picked up on the way and pointed at the headline.

"Want to explain this?" she questioned pointedly as she showed him the headline covering the whole front page.

EARLE PIERCE'S NEW ALLY! RIFT BETWEEN BROTHERS! BRUCE WAYNE PLANNING TO REINSTALL EARLE PIERCE AS CEO!

"Ohh," he said as he took the paper from her hand, appearing nonchalant about the whole issue.

"Do you have any idea what this looks like and how this would affect Thomas? He is your brother. How could you do something like this to him!" she shook her head as Bruce simply raised a brow.

"Ra..." but she cut him off.

"Earle Pierce ran your empire in a way absolutely opposite to the vision of your parents! The man was a greedy piece of shit who shuttered every welfare project of Wayne Enterprises. Thomas made all that effort to remove him, and now you want to reinstall him. How could you even do this?" she uttered all that in a single sentence.

"What's going on here?" suddenly, she was interrupted by the familiar voice of Thomas from behind and turned to find the younger Wayne brother walking in.

"Thomas!" she spoke up as he walked towards her and Bruce, who still hadn't explained anything.

Thomas walked up to her and, took the paper from her hand and read the headline with a raised brow.

"So, my dear brother wants to oust me from the company," he said with a smirk as he came face to face with Bruce and there was tension in the air until suddenly, Thomas broke out into a chuckle, followed by Bruce, and she was taken aback by the spectacle.

"What is the meaning of this? Why are both of you laughing like idiots?" and she couldn't help at seeing the two of them chuckling.

"Ohh, it's nothing. I am just surprised that you took the Post seriously," Thomas replied, and she turned towards Bruce, knowing she had a better chance of getting a proper explanation from the elder brother.

Bruce stifled his laugh as he moved towards her, his arms gripping her shoulders.

"The whole thing with Earle was a setup. The man wouldn't let me sleep, so I met him. And that was it. He planted the whole article, though this also helps us learn of his plans a bit earlier," he explained.

"Though I wouldn't mind even if it was real," Thomas cut in and then suddenly smirked at Bruce, who narrowed his gaze.

"The competition has become quite dull these days,