Insanity - Gotham Fanfic

[5] Viper

||Ansley's POV||

 The next morning I wake up to the smell of coffee brewing and something being cooked. Slowly I raise up off the couch, knocking the blanket that was draped over me in the floor in the process.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Bruce asks causing me to jump. I lay my hand over my heart in mock terror. "You scared me half to death." I smile. He smiles too. "But yeah, I slept great, this is a really comfy couch. What about you?" 

"Glad to hear it, and I slept fine thank you." 

Alfred walks in with two cups of tea. Bruce and I both tell him thank you and I bring the cup to my lips. 

I glance over at the clock on the wall and gasp. It's almost 10a.m. "Shoot, I'm sorry. Did I really sleep that late?" I ask. Alfred chuckles. "No actually, that clock is an hour fast." 

Relief floods through me. "But, your uncle is coming over soon to get you just so you know." I nod and Alfred walks out.

I take another sip of my tea. Usually, I don't like tea, but this is really good. 

"Hey, tell Alfred that this tea is amazing." 

"I will. But Alfred really does know how to make tea, doesn't he?" Bruce laughs.

We wait around for 30 more minutes until my uncle shows up. Now, we're all watching the news. The mayor is talking about how the Wayne's would be proud about the new Arkham plan. Bruce jumps up and shuts the TV off. 

"They make it sound like it's good for Gotham. It really isn't, is it?" 

My uncle shakes his head. "Maroni threatened the Mayor, so they made a compromise. The Mayor gave Maroni a huge piece of Arkham."

Bruce lets out a sigh.

"Almost everything they've worked for." He pauses, squeezing his eyes shut as if in pain for thinking about it, then faces my uncle. "It's all going to the hands of criminals."

"As long as you're alive Bruce, you can save Gotham." My uncle says. Bruce nods. "Thank you sir." 

My uncle stands up as do I. "Uh, Jim, can Ansley stay a little longer? I'm sure Alfred can give her a ride home later." Bruce asks. Jim looks at me, then to Bruce, then to Alfred. Alfred nods. "I'm sure I can work it in." 

Jim nods. "Alright, just call later." I nod and my uncle leaves. As soon as he's gone, Bruce stands up and rushes over to his desk. 

Alfred went to do laundry or something. 

Bruce scatters through files on the desk.

"Bruce?" I ask, standing up and making my way over to him. He doesn't look up. "Hm?" 

"What are you doing?" 

He grabs something and pins it to his board of 'suspects' and clues. 

"Trying to understand how Gotham works." He answered. 

I stop and stare at the photos and notes he has pinned on the board. With my arms folded over my chest, I examine each thing carefully.

"And you think that your parents are connected to all of this?" He stands next to me and nods. "I know it." Bruce pauses for a moment then turns to me. "I knew city hall and almost everything else was corrupt, but why didn't Wayne Enterprises stop it?" 

"I don't know Bruce." I remove my eyes from the board and meet his gaze. 

"Your uncle is a detective, you saw my parents killer-" he starts but I cut him off. "I didn't exactly see the killer, it was dark, but yeah." I clarify. He nods. "You kind of saw my parents killer, you know your way around Gotham, I could use your help in this." 

I stare at him for a moment then wave my arms motioning to the board. "You mean all of this? Like helping find your killer and everything?" 

He nods. 

"If you don't want to I understand. I just thought I could use your help." 

It takes me a moment to reply, but I do. I nod and tell him I will help him as long as it's nothing too dangerous and involves us being in jail or something. 

Bruce smiles in return. "I knew I could count on you."

We spend the rest of the day searching through the files and looking through books trying to find something that could help us. There was hardly anything.  

Alfred walks in with a stern look on his face. 

"Wayne Enterprises is hosting a charity luncheon tomorrow. Will you two go?" Alfred asks standing in front of us. 

Before I can answer, Bruce answers for me. "Of course. I have some questions I need to ask them anyway." 

Alfred nods and walks back to doing whatever it was he was doing. 

Bruce turns to me. "If you don't want to, you don't have to go. It's just an offer." 

"Uh, yeah. Luncheons usually involve dresses. Not really my thing. Maybe some other time or something." I tell him and he nods. "Some other time. I'll hold onto that." He shoots me a small grin revealing almost perfect teeth. 

Bruce grabs the remote off the table and turns it on the only channel that they ever seem to watch. The news. 

There's some drug going around, they're calling it Viper. It's supposed to make you go crazy and then it leads to death. 

On the TV, a few clips are shown of people attacking each other and damaging things that aren't usually easy to be damaged by one single person. Bruce stares at the TV in astonishment. "Your uncle must be having a very hectic day."

I agree.

Later that day, Bruce and Alfred take me home. Barbara and Cat greet me as soon as I walk through the door. They both bombard me with questions about Bruce and I's 'sleepover' and everything. 

"Chill. Jeez. You act like I went out and did something bad." I mutter and plop down on the couch next to Cat.  She's still grinning. I turn to face her. "We. Are. Just. Friends." I say very slowly so maybe she could understand. 

"Shh." She covers her lips with her index finger in a joking way. "Let me believe what I want."

"So, how's that Viper case going?" I ask to no one in particular. It doesn't seem like my uncle is home yet, so I'm hoping Barbara or Cat will have some information. 

"Uh, Jim is still working on it. He actually may have to stay out later, the police department is kind of crowded right now. Apparently the drug got out to people on the streets, it's insane." Barbara answers and I nod. "

My phone dings and I see it's Bruce. Cat shoots a glance at me but I ignore her. 

Bruce: I'm not allowed to leave the manor until this whole Viper thing blows over. Alfred's a little skeptical about the luncheon tomorrow too. Great.

Me: Don't worry too much. If the luncheon is that important to you, I'm sure Alfred will let you go. Hopefully the GCPD will have it under control by then though.

For the rest of the night, I text Bruce and listen to the news with Cat and Barbara. 

--

[A/N: Another update woo. It's not as good or long, or descriptive, but I'm trying to make them better. My mind isn't really functioning right now because of registration for high school and determining my classes and then tests ugh. It's all really stressful. 

But I start Spring Break next week so it's all good. Hopefully.]