Gotham City

Chapter 26: A Broken City

Third Person POV

Sarah continued to watch the news of the latest murders in Gotham, scenes of frightened rampages through the streets, and no one there to protect them. She wasn't even sure if they believed Batman could protect them. They only needed Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and Harley Quinn, which would have seemed to be easy for Bruce. He believed he would have everything back to normal and put the city back in a sane state again.

They sat across from each other silently, letting the time pass, and listening to the tick of a nearby clock.
Does he have any clue that I want him to go help the city and forget about me?

Does she know that I need to protect her because I have no choice and I love her?

Alfred would place trays down, pick them back up, say few words, then leave, that's was the little routine they had going for the pass 3 hours. They would get tiny uncommon visits from Selina every now and then too. Neither one of them got up, sighed, yawned, they hardly moved, they did nothing but blink and breathe. Every once in a while they would take glimpses of each other but quickly look away.

Sarah came back to life with a sudden sigh. "What are we waiting for Bruce?" "You tell me." He retorted seriously. She shrugged her shoulders and tried to smile, but nothing. Bruce stood from the table and asked, "Would you like anything?" She shook her head with an awkward smile and Bruce made his way down the hall on his way to the kitchen.

Sarah continued to watch the unturned news channel and it continued to speak about other things in Gotham, off of the murderous topics. Suddenly, there was breaking news and Sarah immediately called for Bruce. He ran urgently back into the previous TV room, and they watched closely and  listened carefully.

(Breaking News at 10 scrolls across TV screen. Camera zooms up onto the top of the Wayne Industries Building to Mr. Freeze holding a victim over the edge by her ankle. Reporter began to speak.)

"I'm thinking we'll be having to go out a little earlier than midnight." Sarah finally smirked. "Then what's the point in your code name?" Bruce said, keeping a straight face but his tone had a bit of playfulness in it. He called for Selina and her to get dressed. It was exactly 10:03 when they were out of the cave and gone.

Who's POV?

The blood rushed to my head but I dealt with it. I WAS TIED UP! I always wanted to feel how the other roles were played. I knew I would die today. Freeze-man counted down, telling me I only had two minutes. When it hit 10:05, I would fall to my death. If I slipped out of his dangerously tight grip, I would fall anyways. The headache from the blood rush might as well have killed me right then and there. I kept from looking under, or... above me... I don't know, depends on your angle, ya' know. His hands froze my ankle until it turned blue. "Hey, hey, knock the ice off!" I warned and he started to defrost the almost frozen ankle. Good thing he blocked all entrances of the building before the stunt. When he reached 5, officers continued to try to talk him out of it, and I began to count down with him.

My heart raced as his grip loosened and his grip left me falling to my death, which was to my pleasure. The adrenaline ran through me and a smile crossed my face. I watched the building in front of me move in reverse as I fell. I shut my eyes closed tight...

My body flew forward into a glass window when something tackled me, full throttle and full force. I roughly landed, cut a bit by the glass, but happy for the experience. Before my savior could get a full view of me and see who I really was, I whispered in his ear, "Let's put a smile on that face."

Batman POV

I immediately stood as I realized I saved Harley Quinn. She actually wore normal clothes and no crazy clown makeup like usual. "Now what?" I scowl. She laughs, "Okay, so you know how you put Puddin' in Arkham, again?... Well, yeah, all this is for him and our conquering of Gotham." "Never happening." I reply angrily and she again laughs. "We'll see about that, Bats." She reaches behind her back and take out a small device. "Better jump." She says in a deep  maniacal voice with a smirk. I looked out of the window to see Selina and Sarah in the other neighboring building. I looked back to Harley and she pressed the red square button. "Get out the way!" I yell as I jump out the window and use my grapnel to easily land. Sarah did the same thing, and so did Selina, just with her whip.

"Move! Evacuate the area! Move! NOW!" I ordered the police officers and they were hesitant at first but soon came to follow my demanding life-saving orders. There was a loud beeping noise and I grabbed Sarah and covered her with my cape and body. A large bomb went off and the large debris went into the other buildings, causing some to collapse. I didn't even know about the bomb, so I knew others didn't as well, which means, more people died in the accident.

It made sense now. When Penguin told me they were at Wayne Industries, this is what he meant. I forgot about it so I could go to the hospital to be there for Sarah. If I just went to Wayne Industries that night, I could've prevented so many things, like the bombing and the deaths that came with it.

I walked down from the debris, empty handed. There was no sign of Freeze, or Harley. Sarah and I got back in the Tumbler while Selina drove the Batpod behind us. "Where are we going?" She suddenly asked. "Batcave." I answered and flipped a switch. "People died in there, didn't they?" She asked again, on the break of crying. I was silent, deciding not to answer so she would already know without me having to say the word yes. "So, we're just running away from the fact that you've let Gotham die?" She said angrily. "No. We are not running away, and I haven't let Gotham die. We have to be more planned out. If not, everything can get more disastrous than it already is." I reply and she snapped, "Bruce! Everything will already get worst since you're letting people die because of me! The city is scared as hell because of me! The city is broke because of me, Bruce!" "After we get them in Arkham, the problems will be gone. So can we stop arguing and start looking the damn solution?!"

She became silent.