Must Love Hyenas

24: Bruce Wayne

Harley watched Bruce's face, and she could see the wheels turning in his mind as he furiously thought of ways to contradict her supposition. The very fact he was trying to find ways to refute any evidence she might present to back up her conclusion, rather than simply denying it outright, proved to Harley her idea had been correct.  Eventually, the light in his eyes dimmed, and Bruce looked at her, his shoulders slumped.

"It doesn't matter anymore," he told her in a soft voice.

"Why not?" Harley questioned.

"If you know, Joker will know," Bruce explained. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Soon all Gotham will know. Bane succeeded in breaking the Bat. It's over."

"Not necessarily," Harley countered. "Mr. J. doesn't know anything about you other than you being rich. I don't have to tell him what he doesn't need to know."

"Why would you keep my secret?" Bruce queried.

"There are things criminals know on the streets even the best detectives can't find out," Harley answered. "We can give you information on criminals who are troubling us, allowing you to go after them."

"I'm not going to do your dirty work," Bruce denied, a cold fire in his voice.

"I'm not asking you to," Harley denied. "Do you want to save innocent lives? Joker's people will be in control of crime in Gotham, and we're going to shut it down as we shift operations to controlling legitimate businesses. The more our activities become legal, the fewer and fewer criminal enterprises we'll need to generate money. What we need is someone to make sure the illegal jobs we've shut down don't start up again. Batman could be useful in that area. You wouldn't have to work for us, simply against them, just as you did before."

"What if your people return to crime?" Bruce asked.

"If any of my people are stupid enough to get caught, I don't need those idiots on the payroll," Harley declared. "You can have any you can catch."

"What about Joker?" Batman pressed. "Will he be alright with this?"

"Sure," Harley agreed. "Since he only knows you as Bruce Wayne, he wants your money and tech to help find a rival, a guy using a fear inducing chemical. He goes by the name Scarecrow. Help us catch him, and Joker won't even consider you having another identity."

Bruce looked at the floor, the muscles in his jaw tightening as he considered his next course of action. When he focused on her again, the intensity in his gaze had returned.

"Come with me," he instructed. Turning his wheelchair around, he cruised out of the entryway and down a short corridor to the library. The shelves went floor to ceiling with every inch of space on each filled with books of every thickness and subject. Bruce reached out with his good hand and grabbed the upper spine of one book. Tilting the volume back on its corner triggered a hidden switch, and a nearby bookshelf slid away from the wall.

"How fun," Harley giggled.

Behind the bookcase was a sloping pathway of gray stone leading down at a gentle angle. It looked like natural rock, but it was too smooth and perfectly functional to be untouched by human hands.

"How long did it take you to make this?" Harley questioned.

"Not as long as you might think," Bruce told her. "The cave was already here, I just smoothed the rough edges. It was easier to create a ramp than cutting out individual steps for a staircase."

"I can well imagine," Harley agreed. "It also helps while you're temporarily stuck in that chair."

"Do you think anyone will be scared of the Batman after watching Bane smash him?" Bruce questioned.

"I think the incident will only increase Batman's fame," Harley suggested. "Smashed in a way that would've killed a lesser man, but Batman rises again to bring the hand of justice down upon the criminals of Gotham. Sounds spooky to me. As long as Batman is seen as more than a man, something unstoppable, he'll be a terror to them."

Bruce started to nod in agreement, but his neck brace prevented it. He placed a hand on the brace and winced slightly. Gritting his teeth, he put his wheelchair in motion and cruised down the stone ramp to the lower level of the cave. Harley followed.

"Do you mind my asking, why did you become Batman?" she inquired.

"My parents were killed by a thief," Bruce answered slowly, the words clearly generating a painful memory. "I saw it happen."

"Oh," Harley replied.

"I decided to try and make sure it wouldn't happen again," Bruce finished. "I haven't had much success."

"It's hard to change the world alone," Harley pointed out.

In the dimly lit cavern, Bruce stopped in front of a large computer. Typing a few commands, he brought up information on Scarecrow and Johnathan Crane on the wide screen over the keyboard.

"You knew about Crane?" Harley marveled. "I thought he was involved somehow."

"I felt certain I'd have to deal with him eventually," Bruce admitted. "So, I've been keeping an eye on him and his activities, planning for the confrontation. He was recently fired from Arkham for experimenting on patients. Since then, I've lost track of him. Before my fight with Bane, I had locations Crane had been involved with. I planned to check them out to find a lead on Scarecrow, but since I won't be able to, you'll have to look them over yourself."

Bruce transferred the information to a flash drive before ejecting it from the computer and handing it to Harley.

"Is Joker going to wonder where you got this?" Bruce questioned.

"No," Harley denied. "We wanted to use your tech to find Scarecrow, so he'll think you did.  He'll never know how fancy your tech really is."

"Thank you," Bruce said.

"Don't thank me yet," Harley warned. "You still need to sign this."

She pulled the ownership transfer papers from her bag and handed them over for his signature.

"There's a lot of dangerously advanced equipment in my company," Bruce said, staring at the papers but making no move to take them. "If I hand over control to you and the Joker, what guarantee do I have it won't fall into the wrong hands?"

"You're not in any position to stop us right now," Harley reminded. "Joker is already taking a grand tour of the building. You signing this does nothing but guarantee ours are the only hands getting on them as Wayne Enterprises will become our turf, and we'll protect it from all other criminals."

"And if I don't sign, Joker will wonder why you didn't gas me and force the signature anyway," Bruce concluded. He sighed and scribbled his signature at the bottom of the page. "I know I don't have a choice, but I'm trusting you to keep that tech safe."

"I promise," Harley replied with a grin. "I'll take good care of the toys."

"I hope you can because Batman won't be able to do anything for some time," Bruce said. He sighed, leaning back in his wheelchair and looking like an invisible weight was pressing down on him.

"You know," Harley said as she knelt beside his wheelchair to be at eye level with him, "you're not such a bad guy. You're actually kind of nice. Who knows? In another world, you and I might've had something."

Harley shrugged before standing up and putting the ownership papers in her bag.

"Later B-man," she told him with a smile and a friendly wave. "I gotta get back to my Puddin'."

Harley waved on her way up the ramp back to the mansion. It was time to find her old friend, Johnathan Crane.