Working Among Vengeance

Chapter 23: Cracking the Code

Y/N POV

It's late at night, almost 2 am; I can't sleep. I'm too worried about Bruce. I knock on his door, knowing he's probably asleep. I stand there for a minute or two. Once I turn to walk away, the door quietly begins to open.

There he is, standing in the doorway. I can't see his face as it's too dark, but his aura feels saddened and diminished. I enter his room, and he abruptly shuts the door behind me. I wait for him to say something, but silence fills the room as he lies down. I go into the bathroom and take out the nightlight to plug it into an outlet in his room.

I turn around once the room is illuminated, and Bruce lies there, staring at the ceiling. I admire his beauty for only a moment, but I notice his eyes are tear-stained and red. What could have possibly made him so sad?

Laying down next to him, I stick out my hand and touch his hair, gently caressing his head. A scent of sandalwood fills my nostrils as my hands comb through his clean hair. I kiss him on the back of his neck as we wind up falling asleep.

Waking up, I stretch my arms as I let out a big groan. I look beside me, expecting Bruce to be gone, but there he is, still asleep.

As I move from the bed to use the restroom, the doorbell rings throughout the house. Not wanting to walk out in my pajamas, I let Alfred answer the door.

I eavesdrop as Alfred and the men at the door talk. They ask for a signature from Mr. Wayne, and Alfred tells them to go on their way and he'll fax them the papers later. Thank goodness Alfred isn't going to interrupt me and Bruce's beautiful morning.

I walk back to Bruce's bedroom and go to lie down next to him. He sits up, looking terrified when he sees me walk in. He unclenches his jaw as he notices it's just me.

"Why so scared? Worried I was one of your enemies?" I chuckle lightly, weirded out by his reaction to me walking into his room.

Bruce looks at me and gives a half-assed smile. "Heh, good morning."

"Is something still wrong? Can I do anything to help?" I ask, concerned with his emotions seeming rather dreary.

"Nothing. Just thought about my parents the other day and I..."

He stops talking and looks away from me. Maybe it's best if I don't ask about what triggered him so badly last night. To leave a grown man in such a mental state of depravity. Anyone would feel sorry for him.

I kneel, looking him in the eye. I grab his hands and say to him, "Even though your parents are gone, their love and guidance still shape who you are today. Their legacy will live on with you."

He looks at me as I finally see some light begin to glisten in his beautiful brown eyes. Bruce gives me a smile that looks real for once. He mouths the words thank you as he stands up. Turning around abruptly, he speaks, "I need to speak to Alfred; I owe him an apology."

With his short sentence, he walks away, leaving me alone in his room. Feeling relieved that he finally acts like he's feeling better, I plop back down on his bed and grab one of the books off the shelf.

Bruce/Batman POV

"Hey Alfred, I think I have an idea; follow me."

Alfred nods and begins to walk with me as I lead him to the Bat Cave. Looking at the monitor simultaneously, I decide to share my thoughts on how to decode the symbols that were given to me along with the card.

"When we look at it and fill in the letters we have H, E, L, I, S, and T. What if this isn't a partial key but a whole code?" I say, trying my best to sound like I had a full night of sleep.

"What do you mean?" Alfred stares at me blankly, looking awfully lost.

"If you start to ignore the letters we don't have and..." I am abruptly cut off by Alfred.

"Yes, I understand, but that will still leave most of the cipher unsolved. I don't see how..." He trails off, staring at the monitor.

As we both look up at the screen, we realize it shows us the key to the cipher. With most of it looking quite blank, the letters for 'He lies still' line up perfectly like some form of connect the dots. It shows the word DRIVE.

We turn to face each other, lost in thought about what this vague word could mean.

"I'll call Gordon, see what I can find out," I say, confident in my abilities. Although I haven't apologized for my harsh words to Alfred, I think there might be more important stuff at stake than an apology.

Alfred silently nods as he hands me one of our many throwaway phones. I take it with my hands sweaty and breathing fast. With one big deep breath, I begin to type in Gordon's number. The phone begins to ring.

With my voice masked and deeper, I begin to speak. "Did Mitchell have a car?"

A pause begins. With a low hushed voice, Gordon responds, "A car? Yeah, I'm sure... why?"

"The cipher is cracked. Meet me at Mitchell's mansion around 8 pm." I hang up immediately. I get a tight grip on the phone and break it in half, tossing it in the garbage. Alfred and I begin to walk out of the Bat Cave with a mix of accomplishment and nervousness.

"Be safe," Alfred says as he leads me to the front door.

Y/N POV

Once I finish reading a good six or so chapters, I go to the kitchen for a snack. I sigh, realizing that I now live in an ingredient household. I close the fridge doors and begin to wander.

Making my way to the front door and looking at the night sky, I wish people would stop polluting it, making the sky look so dreary.

Hearing footsteps, I turn and see Alfred. Before I can realize what, I'm doing, I have already walked up to him.

"Where is Bruce?" I say with a bit of worry and anxiety.

"Master Wayne has some matters to attend to, so he will be out of the house for a bit," Alfred speaks with clear confidence.

"I'm going out too then." I decide then and there, I am going to hang out with Sel. If Bruce gets to go out, then so do I.

Alfred hands me a necklace. "Press this button two times if you're in a dangerous situation and I'll come help you, three times if you need the police."

"Thank you," I say as I walk out of the manor, necklace on, and ready to go do something mildly exciting.

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Gee wilikers. Quite a chapter! DW Selena will come back next chapter. I'm locking in now!!!

Word Count: 1,147