Alter-Ego (Batman fanfic)

Chapter eighteen: hair nets and mercenaries

Chapter eighteen: hair nets and mercenaries

Bruce's POV:

I was at my building nearing my office where Fox said he was meeting me. I came straight to the Wayne Enterprises Building within seconds of receiving his text, which read 'I know who's trying to kill you'.

I burst through my glass office doors rudely ignoring the people saying hi and smiling at me. Lucious was standing firm with his hands behind his back looking out of the windows and onto Gotham City.

"Is it Harvey?" was the first thing I said.

Fox didn't turn away from the window "no, he's dead."

"Then who? Joker?"

"They call him the Penguin, that's all I know, he's some sort of drug dealer slash old school mob guy who bends corporate rules to his own likeness. Nobody knows what the guy looks like because he has a bunch lower people working for him, men like Roman Sionis."

"Sionis? The Black Mask?"

Fox nodded "he's got his name working the streets, but he still answers to Penguin."

"So I'm guessing the Joker and the Penguin don't get along too well then."

"You'd be right again Bruce, they have beef, but I guess Penguin has to take it out on someone, I just want to know why it's Batman."

I shrugged "you've got me, I've never even heard of the guy, I'm the one working the streets."

"He's in hiding, has over people do his business, for instance Slade."

I was a little relieved that Harvey wasn't the one trying to kill me, but still this unknown threat bothered me, Batman will have to take a trip around town to find out about this guy, maybe Gordon will have something.

"Is that it?"

"No, I've got some potentially worse news."

"What could be worse than what you've just told me."

"Happy juice, the sample that the commissioner got, they've been destroyed, the lab blew up, so there is no cure and no leads into what is in this stuff."

"Is there any chance I can get my hands on it, maybe have you work with it in confidence."

"He's bound to have it somewhere, I suggest you go to where our Commissioner found the stuff in the first place, there can be something missed by the police, because you know how well they do their jobs."

I sat down in one of my lounge chairs to process what he was telling me. Someone I've never heard of has put a hit on me and the Joker's new horrifying weapon is still without a cure. It was scary enough to not know when he was going to attack, but that we had no resistance to it, I mean he could kill hundreds with this bomb, but a bio-chemical warfare could kill thousands, what if he tried to pull a Crane and poison the sewer system. Even worse, the water system.

"Why are you wearing a hairnet?" Fox said in disbelief as he turned to see me.

I pulled the mesh off my head and looked at it in my hands, that's why so many people were smiling and laughing when I walked in.

"It was a long night, and it was Christmas."

"Let me take a wild guess, you were out with your new girl, and she made you get a job as her personal chef after you took her for a ride in the tank."

"I was about to hand sandwiches out to homeless people when I got your message."

"Vigilante by night, and by day a sweet loving billionaire boyfriend, you just have the best of both worlds don't you."