The Batman: Downfall Ch. 05

"Samantha your glass is looking a little empty," Bruce offered one flute to Selina a beaming smile on his face as he did so, only faltering for a second when he recognised the man talking to her. "Mister Constance I am surprised to see you here."

Carlos wanted to laugh out loud at Bruce's attempt to gain the attention of the woman, so quick to fend off a better match for such a beauty than himself, though it was something that Carlos was used to. It was a shame that the woman would not now be taking him up on his offer, though perhaps the reward to Carlos would be that she would become one of the test subjects for batch #35 shortly. "I was in town dealing with insurance and architects." Now it was Carlos' turn to smile at the raised eyebrows of Bruce Wayne, "Of course you would not know the city has given the go ahead for a secondary plant a little further afield and less of an eyesore to be certain but encouraging news never the less."

Bruce could not believe what he was hearing, another chemical plant here in Gotham, had the mayor lost his mind or been offered something that would make him more pliant in signing away the City's future. "You know I will have to fight that don't you?"

Carlos nodded and took a small sip of his own Champagne, a poor vintage that tasted sour to his refined tastes, "That would be a pity, I looked at your proposal and was impressed, we would have made good business partners." Bruce's face reddened and his Jaw clenched with anger, "But it seems our agendas are different after all. Good evening Bruce, Miss Kinkalow." He turned and walked slowly and confidently away a small smile growing bigger with each step.

"If he thinks he can pollute this City again he has another thing coming," Bruce said.

Selina placed her free hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating fast beneath her touch and the fabric of his suit, "Easy tiger there is a time and a place for righteous indignation but this is not it." Bruce eyed Carlos as he stopped to shake hands with the mayor. "You are not even going to comment on my dress?"

Bruce turned his head begrudgingly and Selina half smiled as she felt his heart skip. Her black sequined dress was strapless her hair flowed in loose curls that sat on her slender and toned bare shoulders. "You look stunning," Bruce said truthfully before taking a long sip of champagne to lubricate his suddenly dry mouth.

"You are not too shabby either," she replied back and regretfully removed her hand from his chest. "I am glad you made it this evening, it being a work night and all."

Bruce laughed gently, "I am allowed a night off from time to time plus I have a little help back home." Bruce motioned to his right ear and Selina knew that sitting just inside his earlobe was a small receiver no doubt linked to a transmitter that Alfred would have hold of.

"Hello Bruce," A gruff voice said from behind and Bruce let his hand fall down as he turned.

"Commissioner Gordon I did not expect to see you here." Bruce took hold of the hand that was offered; he glanced to Gordon's left noticing the redhead next to him in a loud red dress. "It's good to see you again too Miss Gordon.

Gordon spoke as Barbara opened her mouth to talk, quickly overriding her to stop her repeating the scene at the restaurant. "I would not miss this for the world, that teenage rehabilitation centre is worth its weight in gold for all the good it does this city."

"It's good to be seen again too," Barbara stepped forward and she heard her father take a sharp inhale of breath, "And I want to apologise for the restaurant that was stupid of me." The words came out easily thanks to time spent in front of a mirror repeating them until they sounded believable, it was a lie that would keep her father happy and maybe drop Bruce Wayne's guard enough for her to pry into his business a little more.

"No need to apologise I already forgot about that," Bruce replied and found he could not stop staring at Barbara Gordon, there was certainly something about her and not just how attractive she was it was almost as if they had spent more time around one another, a familiarity he could not for the moment place. Bruce came too at the polite cough besides him, "This is Samantha Kinkalow who I believe you have already met."

Barbara blushed, her palms went clammy and goose bumps ran up her arm, "I don't think so..."

Gordon gave a hearty laugh, "I think he means me Barb'." He held out his hand and was surprised when Samantha leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, now it was his turn to blush.

"I never got chance to thank you and your men at the museum Commissioner." Selina said.

"I hear Batman played a part in your rescue didn't he?" Bruce offered trying not to let his feather's be too ruffled by the exclusion.

Barbara thought it was typical of someone like Bruce Wayne to go for the strong male and ignore the fact that other help had arrived long before Batman had gotten there. "And don't forget that Batgirl was there too, didn't she arrive before Batman dad?"

Gordon sighed at the mention of his two biggest headaches and instinctively rubbed his forehead, "From eyewitnesses she was there first, but let us not forget she should not have been there at all let alone Batman."

Selina laughed gently, "Either way it was Gotham Police Department that ended the raid so abruptly and saved my life as well as the diamond." She could see Bruce deflating next to her and it amused her, the redhead was all fire and clearly on the pro feminist roster what with the whole Batgirl spiel, if only she knew she stood toe to toe with someone who at one point dressed like a cat and Selina wondered what the little redheads take on that would be.

Carlos had made it to the rear of the great hall he had done so in a slow manner not wanting to seem over eager in his escape from the centre of the room. He walked up the grand gold gilded stairway and stood on the landing, the cool night air blowing against his back in a stark contrast to the warmth that emanated from the over two hundred people below. He had reason to believe that Klaus' calculations were wrong, the people were packed in tight almost shoulder to shoulder the infection rate he now guessed would be double. He was congratulating himself on his rather keen intelligence when the big band that had taken up half the stage came to life with startling ferocity.

Carlos' jaw tightened and he ground his teeth as suddenly the guests parted the floor, the fountain, first lost amongst the crowd now took centre stage as the remaining guests began to dance slowly around it. Klaus had taken this into account and Carlos made a mental note to hurt the good professor for outthinking him.

Bruce had almost dropped his champagne flute and Selina had given out a slight cry as the music started suddenly. "This is where an old man departs," Gordon said raising his voice to be heard over the music, as he turned Barbara grabbed his arm and shook her head before leading him into a dance.

"Well if he can do it so can we," Selina said as she guided with practiced ease Bruce into a slow close dance.

The Batcave, 9:31pm

Deep beneath Wayne Manor Alfred Pennyworth sipped a late evening cup of Earl Grey tea he would probably be up most of the night anyway so the subtle hit of caffeine would be welcome. The computer had only one task and that was to decipher the images that Bruce had managed to get using the inbuilt camera of his Bat mask. Alfred closed his eyes listening to the soft whirring of the giant computer interspersed with the high pitched call of the Bats that lived deeper in the cave system.

Alfred still lived in hope that one day all this would be behind him, that one day he would flip the switch that would shut down the entire system, open up the subterranean dam and let the cave flood with the waters of the underground lake and finally put an end to this misery. And to Alfred that is how he was living, in misery, watching the remaining Wayne going out night after night fighting criminals and far worse in an attempt to live up to Thomas Wayne's image of the saviour of Gotham City and night after night Alfred sat alone in Wayne manor praying to gods he no longer believed in that Bruce would not die.

Alfred forced his eyes open and shifted in his seat letting the blood flow again into one dead leg, those dark thoughts always made him wish for a drink of something warm and astringent, something that would numb his head as well as his taste buds. Nothing was to hand and if he had his way never would be, so instead he pushed his chair in closer to the terminal and started to work the best he could.

To the untrained eye the image of the whiteboard was simply that with nothing to be seen apart from some hastily written numbers and letters. The scraps of paper Bruce had picked up had come to nothing new only what was already known to them, the whiteboard was their last hope time was running out they both knew it. Alfred took control of the image from the computer, feeling more useful and also letting his brain focus on something other than what the future would perhaps one day hold.

Alfred zoomed in on random parts of the board and leaned in trying to see what had been hastily wiped clean but no matter how much he squinted it was simply a washed out blur. Without looking down Alfred's fingers deftly tapped away at the keyboard, a blue filter dropped over the screen and Alfred quickly hit a red filter, his eye brows rising with surprise as part of an image appeared where before only a smeared mess could be seen.

"A canister," It was to be expected, how else were they going to transport the toxin. Now Alfred zoned out of the world around him as he went to work with more filters, a spectrograph and spectrometer.

Slowly the board began to reveal its secrets.

Gotham Town Hall, 9:40pm

"For a suave multi-millionaire you sure don't know how to dance," Selina giggled again as Bruce stumbled once more. Others around them smiled politely then exchanged small jokes just out of Bruce's range of hearing.

'Sir,' The voice came through his ear as if Alfred was stood right next to him, Bruce's body went rigid and Selina looked at him questioningly, her nod was almost unnoticeable to all but Bruce. He leaned into Selina as if he were kissing her neck. "What is it Alfred?"

'Batch thirty five, it's somewhere in Gotham they shipped it only a few days ago in a fountain.' Bruce tried not to react and taking the lead moved Selina around so that he could look at the fountain that currently dominated the centre of the hall. "What sort of fountain?" Bruce asked though he already knew the answer, 'Early fifteen hundred's certainly of gothic design,' Bruce stood up straight looking around for Poison Ivy or even Harley Quinn but neither could be seen, yet there was Carlos Caesar Constance on the landing watching all below him.

"Bruce what is it?" Selina could tell that he was agitated and suddenly alert, his muscles bunched beneath his suit.

"We need to leave," He took her hand and as nonchalant as possible started to leave the dance floor, "Something bad is about to happen," Bruce looked up again Constance had not moved his eyes clearly fixed on the fountain.

"Bruce, wait what about everyone else?"

Barbara shook her head she had watched Bruce Wayne nuzzle the neck of Samantha Kinkalow she had wanted to be disgusted but was more ashamed that she felt jealous of the woman. Barbara had played nice to keep her dad from having a stroke, she had dug a little deeper into Wayne Enterprise but found nothing linking him to any of the crime families, there was something not quite right with Bruce Wayne if only she could figure it out...the thought stopped as both Bruce and Samantha left the dance floor in a hurry a look of worry on Samantha's face. Barbara took a step back from her dad who looked at her with surprise, "sorry I need to go check something," she said quickly as she spun on her heels and fought through the overdressed bad dancers trying to keep track of Bruce Wayne.

Barbara gained ground by elbowing the last few couples out of her way, oblivious to their tutting waving a limp apology as she passed. Barbara caught sight of Samantha heading towards the exit her look of worry slipping into a look of wide eyed panic that made Barbara's stomach clench up. She looked quickly around for Bruce catching a brief glimpse of him as he pushed open a small side door in a corridor ducking into it without wasting a second to look around. Barbara sped forward to catch up.

"No Alfred send the boat, there is a sewer access point just beneath the building the roof may be under surveillance by Ivy." Bruce responded to Alfred's hurried question if the Batwing should be deployed to deliver the Bat suit. The clear contact lens in Bruce's right eye guided him with a tiny electrical map of the building that hovered before him he worked his bowtie loose as he went.

"Bruce!" The female voice shouted from behind, making him spin around half expecting to see Selina come running down the corridor.

"Miss Gordon can I help you?" He asked as calmly as possible, an unknown deadline was approaching and Batman's help was needed, but he could hardly ignore Barbara Gordon, she was too tenacious and would not be easily deflected by a little old Wayne charm.

She had called his name for no other reason than to slow him down she had no idea as to what she would say to him it was worse still now that he stood there calmly waiting for her. "You left in a hurry and I don't think the exit is down that way," she sounded like some stupid brat from the adventure books she had read as a girl.

"Keeping tabs on me Miss Gordon?" He replied and took note of the way she blushed. He had said it in jest but had clearly hit a mark, a little worrying. "If you must know I am trying to have a little privacy and there is a back door this way that the paparazzi do not know about."

'Sir, I am getting more information off the board' Alfred spoke loud and clear into his ear, 'there is a timer...set for...oh my! Sir it is set for ten o'clock tonight you have less than twenty minutes'

Barbara took a step back when she saw Bruce tense up, his whole body swelling in size that alarmed her, something was not right here Bruce was agitated and Samantha terrified of something but what? She wanted to ask but instead she put on her most cheerful smile, "I would say I understand but being the police commissioners daughter I do not get a lot of attention off the paparazzi, I won't tell anyone you were here." She gave a conspiratorial wink as she took another step back, terrified that Bruce Wayne was about to make a grab for her and what? Kidnap her it sounded stupid but the man before her had changed and it scared her a little.

Bruce nodded, "Thank you Miss Gordon, have a pleasant evening," he turned and started to walk before his feelings got the better of him and made him turn around, "Why don't you buy your father a drink on me, I have an open tab at the bar, he could do with one right about now." And then turned and walked a little quicker, not waiting for Barbara's reply.

That struck Barbara as odd, the offer of a drink and the way he had said 'right about now' the tone was forceful and demanding. The clenching in her stomach only got worse, something bad was about to happen and somehow Bruce Wayne had something to do with it. Barbara ran down the corridor her mind screaming at her to get her father out of there, she stopped and pulled the door half open and caught her breath...what about everyone else!

Carlos tapped the railing in time with the music trying to look to the whole world that he was relaxed and enjoying himself and not about to bear witness to the release of a chemical agent that could be used in conflicts around the world in the near future if the batch had been properly manipulated by Klaus. He had watched Bruce leave the dance floor with the harlot, it was disappointing that Bruce would not be part of the experiment after all but there were many more cattle below him that were eager. He watched as the music ended and the guests applauded politely, the applause turning a little louder as Mayor Sebastian Garcia took to the stage waving like the impotent puppet that he was as he strode with fake confidence to the microphone stand. Above him a large ornate clock worked silently away, it was ten minutes to ten.

9:55pm

Gordon turned at the gentle tap on his shoulder, "Miss Kinkalow, have you gone and lost Bruce Wayne?" He said with a big smile beneath his moustache. He had noted as the Mayor had started to talk that Bruce had not taken his seat on the stage along with the two other elected officials and the current manager of the home.

Selina laughed a shrill, jagged sound that she cut short when others turned to look at her in annoyance or concern, "Something like that, he asked me to come get you actually," She could see the brow of the commissioner knitting together, the way his nostrils flared as he tried to detect just how much she had been drinking. She took hold of his upper arm as she smiled at him, realising a little too late that her grip was perhaps a little too firm.

"...Bruce Wayne," Sebastian Garcia announced and led the applause. He looked over to his left noticing the empty seat on the stage, "Bruce Wayne to the main stage please, Bruce Wayne to the main stage," He said into the microphone and smiled as a handful of guests laughed and started to call out Bruce's name. The clock above him began to chime and he watched as an odd mist flowed from the top of the fountain.

Selina looked up gasping as the mist quickly gathered above them, its release had been silent and startlingly rapid it gained a little height before spreading out the air conditioning blowing it wide before it began to fall onto the guests, "please come with me," She begged the commissioner who managed to pry his eyes free of the odd mist long enough to see the terror in the woman's eyes and nodded for her to lead the way.

Carlos wanted to smile and cheer with joy as the agent was released into the air the moment the clock struck ten o'clock, he had his doubts about Poison Ivy and her crazed little lover called Harley Quinn but they just kept on surprising him. The applause and calls for Bruce Wayne were quickly falling away as more and more people noticed the mist, a couple of people cried out and rightly so, though they did not really know why, as the mist, heavy with Batch #35 started to settle. Carlos guessed the distance to be little more than ten feet from the dispersal point, a quick count of heads told him that at least twenty people would be sufficiently doused in the agent to garner the effects.

People were crying out as the icy could chemical lighted on their skin, some were bent over coughing violently as they inhaled the toxin. Panic soon set in, the outer edges of the party were already starting to flee a couple here and there then a group of four then a larger group and soon everyone was screaming and rushing to get to an exit, all except a group near the fountain who stood still, even when knocked this way and that from people fleeing they remained motionless. Carlos watched one man get knocked to the floor he lay there for a moment then stood back up, his face a void of expression, his eyes glazed and empty.

10:05pm

Batman could hear the horrified cries as he ran down the corridor, he pushed the door open only to have it slammed shut by the stampede of people on the other side. Batman crouched and put his weight against the door pushing it open, feeling bodies bouncing off the wood as it opened further still, he sprung clear rolling across the ground before standing up. He raced against the tide of black suits and fancy dresses trying his best to make head way without injuring any one innocent. It did not take long before he was pushing harder still, people toppled backwards as he screamed for them to move out of his way. A black gloved hand dropped from the ceiling and he grabbed it and found himself being lifted from the ground onto the balcony above. "You," he said as he clambered over the railing.