No Man's Land

Chapter 5

The laughter of children playing near the memorial fountains fades into the back of Bruce's mind as he stares at his reflection in the pool.

His outward appearance looks like one of health, vitality, power... and yet his eyes tell the true story: fear. In Gotham, he made the decisions- even if the GCPD or any other organization did not like it... Here, he has to relinquish control in order to help his city; something Bruce is not used to doing.

He smiles as he hears footsteps approaching behind him. No one can take Batman by surprise.

"Ironic isn't it..." The senator sighs, "The laughter of children at a memorial of a war that took so many lives." He points across the pond to a wall of metal stars. "Each one of those stars represents a hundred American lives..."

Bruce doesn't need to do the math. "Four hundred thousand people."

"And here we build a memorial for the men and women who fought and died in that Great War... yet we have the potential to cause just as many deaths at home. Gotham had almost ten million people living there before the earthquake hit."

Bruce fixates on the stars. "How many were killed?"

"There is no way to tell for certain, now that the United States government and every other world power has refused to help Gotham... but there are estimates of around a hundred thousand deaths based on the magnitude and the structural damage that can be seen from satellites."

Bruce is silent. He had expected casualties, but 1% of the population at least? That was unfathomable. He nods his head slowly, "I see."

Senator Leahy glances up at the hawk soaring above his head, momentarily blocking the sunlight. "Blackgate and Arkham are also breached. Some of the world's worst criminals are loose, and no one is coming to help the people of Gotham... it's a sad day in America."

Bruce's gaze bounces around to the hundreds of people walking around from pillar to pillar. "I bet most of the public doesn't know what their government did."

Senator Leahy smiles, "Isn't that why you're here? To bring notoriety to the cause, like all celebrities do?"

The corner of Bruce's mouth twitches; the closest he has been to a full smile in the last few days, "I guess... but I have no idea where to start."

"I will fight this as much as I can in the Senate, but I need you to fight it in the press. They need a face to put to the other side of this tragic decision."

Those vultures? "I don't know, Senator..."

"Don't be so humble Mister Wayne. The reporters will only look into the story if you give them one, and believe me once the public is on your side, those in power would find it in their best interest to side with their constituents." He pats Bruce on the shoulder, "Good luck."

**********************************

Vicki uses her fingers to comb her bangs to the side. She stares at the camera on her smartphone. Who cares... it's not like she has someone to do her make up and make sure the lighting is right. She looks behind her at what was the Gotham Gazette building. Even though it is still structurally intact, the power is out and the windows are blown out. She looks around her, hoping some of her colleagues might have come here to meet, but the street is empty. She takes a deep breath and hits the LIVE button on her phone.

"Hello, world, this is Vicki Vale, live from Gotham City. You can see behind me what is left of the building I used to work in..." She takes another deep breath as the viewer number ticks higher and higher. "I walked fifteen blocks, over cracked streets and fallen buildings, to get here because I want- no I needed to tell someone about what is going on here. I did cross paths with a Gotham police officer, who informed me of the No Man's Land order... and I truly do not know what to say."