Gotham City

Chapter 4

Bruce POV

"How did you break out of Blackgate, unseen?" I say, narrowing my eyes. "Oh, I was never in Blackgate. I was actually out of Gotham," She answers crossing her arms and putting the whip up to her lips, "I got a call from an old friend." She smiles. "Harley Quinn." I say, angrily. "Ding, ding." She says tapping her nose, and then getting into fight position.

She runs at me and swings her whip towards me. I grab it and pull it to make her fly towards me. I swung her around with the whip and she slammed to the ground. She stood again, grabbing the whip. I stepped on it, making her unable to pick it up. She does nothing but smile. She swings her fist forwards and I block. She kicks my chest, which makes me grunt and slide back a little.

She tries to kick me again but I grab her leg between my arm and side and I slam her behind me. She grunts and then cartwheel backwards, making her stand again. She grabbed her whip again. She swung it towards me again, except this time it manages to meet my neck. I was flung forward and she jumps and kicks me in the face. I fall backward. As I open my eyes again, she holds the whip which is connected to the building somehow. "Until next time." She flirts, swinging onto the roof of the building. I stand, struggling at first. I disappear into the night, going to search again.

I return to the car and call Alfred. "Hello?" He answers. "I'm on my way back, to the cave." I say, angrily. "Okay, I'll be at the Cave when you return." He answers. I hang up. ~How could I let her get away?!~ I think hitting the steering wheel with the palm of my hand. ~That's Harley, Catwoman, and probably the Joker out running around Gotham now. Planning something for me. I just know it.~

I return to the Cave, unsuccessful and upset. "Did you find anything?" Alfred asks as I get out the car. I walk pass him angrily without looking at him. I head towards the computer as he waits for an answer. As I sit on the chair, I answer, "Someone." I type something on the large computer screen. "Someone? Harley Quinn, the Joker?" Alfred starts. "Catwoman." I interrupt his guesses. He looks at me with an expression, a mixture of shock and confusion. "No one has seen Catwoman for years. Longer than how many years Harley has been imprisoned in Blackgate." Alfred informs.

"I know." I say roguishly, "All I know is her, Harley, and Joker have something planned. I don't know what it is or when it will take place, but I know she's apart of it." "And may I ask, how do you know this?" Alfred asks with his hands behind his back, properly, and one eyebrow raised. "She said Harley talked to her." I answer.

"What time is it Alfred?" I ask, breaking the silence. "Um, going on 1 o'clock, sir." He answers, looking down at his watch. I rub my face and stand from the chair. "Would you like dinner, before you head to your room, Master Bruce?" Alfred suggests. "No, Alfred. I'm tired. I'll eat in the morning." I say, a little annoyed. "It is the morning." He smirks. "You know what I mean."

As Alfred starts heading out of the Cave and back to the manor, I change into my shirt and another pair of sweats. I head back to my room. I lay in bed, starting to close my eyes.

In the middle of the night, there was loud banging at the front door. I looked at the clock and it was 3 o'clock. I got up with alert and adrenaline pumping through my veins. I walk into the hallway cautiously. I see Alfred come out of his room as well. I looked up the hall to his room and he looked back at me. I put my finger over my lips motioning for him to be as silent as possible.

We manage to make it to the entrance of the hall, where the door was. Alfred was right behind me. I told him to stay around the corner. I quietly approach the banging door. I secretly look through the peephole. My face turned into total shock. I hurried and opened the door, then I felt Alfred's hand on my shoulder, sort of gently pushing me a little to the side so he could see. It was Sarah. Her face blue from the coldness. Her clothes seemed to be messed up and ripped, as if she was trying to fight. She fell as we opened the door. Alfred and I helped her up into the house. I put one arm around my shoulder and Alfred did the same with the other.

We sat down in front of the fire place. I wrapped a blanket around her as Alfred made some hot chocolate. "What were you doing out there? You know how cold it gets in Gotham, especially after midnight." She looks at me when I say the word midnight, "Midnight. That's when I woke up." "Woke up from where?" I asks, curiously and suspiciously. "I don't know, ugh," She put her hand up to her head. Alfred came back with the hot chocolate. He passed out the cups and asked, "Are you alright, Ms. White?"

"Yea, I'm fine, I just have a terrible headache, and I might have twisted my ankle." She answers, looking down at her left ankle. "What happened?" I ask. She looks and sighs. "It was about 10 going on 11. I was on my way home so, I hailed a taxi. Instead of them taking me to my house, they took me somewhere. I remember doing something, but then all I could think about was my childhood memories. They are stories I rather not get into. Anyways, and next thing I remember is waking up in a street at exactly midnight with 4 people kicking, punching and cutting me. I tried to fight, but someone scratched my clothes up. The middle one seemed to walk away, as the other 3 kept fighting me. There were too many, I had no other choice than run. I lost them and I couldn't go anywhere else except here. I knew they were probably going to go back to my place and I have no other friends besides you, Bruce." She said looking deep within her hot chocolate.

"Do you know who those people were?" I ask, already knowing who the three people were. "I don't know." She says sadly, reaching up for her head again. "Do you know what they looked like?" I rephrase. "The main one seemed to have purple on, there was one in all black, there was one in black and red, and the fourth one, I couldn't really see, but I did see her eyes. They were pure white. That's all I could remember." She answers, taking another gulp of hot chocolate. I then sit next to her wondering who that fourth person could be.

"Um, would you like to get out of those ripped clothes Ms. White? We have some clothes you can use." Alfred suggests through the silence. "If that's not a problem." She smiles. Alfred nods and gets up from his seat. As he went to fetch the clothes, we had a small conversation.

"So why don't you like to talk about your memories?" I ask as she gets up to look at the pictures and on the shelf above the fireplace, holding on to her blanket. "Childhood memories," She corrects, "And I don't like to talk about them because they were bad memories. Memories I just can't forget, no matter how hard I try." I nod respectfully. She looks back and points to a picture, "What's happening in this picture?" I smile and walk over to her.

"That's when I first opened Wayne Enterprises." I answer with a small smile. She raises an eyebrow. "A rich playboy like you, living in Gotham," She freely falls onto the couch with her arms wide open, "Why here? Out of all the places you could go in the world. Why a torn up city like Gotham, or even Arkham." "Because this is where I grew up. I also have bad childhood memories and they've taken place here, but I'm not going to walk away from it just because." I answer honestly and seriously. She gives a small smile, understanding what I meant.

That's when Alfred returned with a neat stack of men clothes. She smiled as she grabs the stack. "Um, bathroom, or room?" She asks looking at us. "The guest room is down that hall, up the stairs, first door to the left." Alfred directs. She nods and heads for the room. Alfred sits on the couch. "Who do you think she could have been talking about?" Alfred asks as we hear the door shut close. "I have absolutely no idea. All I know is it is a girl, and her eyes turn white." I say.

I continue, "I'll do my research tomorrow, but it is," I look at the large grandfather clock, "it is almost 5 o'clock. I'm going back to sleep." I stood and yawned loudly. "As you wish, Master Bruce." Alfred says standing as well, "I think I'm going to head back to the old noggin as well, sir. Goodnight, yet more like good morning." He smiles. I smile as he closes the door. I start to walk down the hallway as the guest room door opens. "Oh, sorry Bruce. I was just asking where I can sleep?" She said wearing one of my business shirts and some boxers. "Matter of fact, this is the guest room, so this is where you will be sleeping." Her face started to turn back to their normal color.

"Oh, okay. Thanks for the clothes." She says with another bright smile. "No problem," I say, starting to walk pass her. I stop again as she also says, "And thank you, for letting me stay here. After all, you are my only friend in Gotham, so thank you again." She thanks again. I smile and nod and say, "I'll be next door if you need me, and Alfred is up the hall as well." "Okay, goodnight Mr. Wayne." She smiles as she closes the door.