𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐍

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏

SONG: Stay by Narrow Head

Days went by, and things in Gotham seemed to be getting back to normal.

"I've been thinking... and I want to sell the company. I'm starting a new chapter and it just seems right." Clara said, taking a sip of water as her and Bruce sat in the kitchen in the early morning.

"I'll buy it." Bruce said suddenly, looking down. "What?" Clara almost laughed. "I'll buy it from you. So it'll be yours still but you don't have to worry about it." he repeated. "Are you serious?" she asked, surprised. "How often do I joke?" he looked up, smiling softly. "O-okay." she beamed.

"We'll take care of it tomorrow, and I can have Alfred meet you at the bank. Hell, you can go shopping for new clothes if you want too." he said. Clara sometimes forgot he was a billionaire. "Sounds good." she smiled again.

The next evening, Clara pulled up to Gotham City Bank, walking up the steps into the building.

"Ah, there's Miss Creed." the bank manager said, extending a hand. Clara shook it and said, "Hello." "Nice to meet you, Ms. Creed." Alfred said to her, also extending a hand. "I'm glad to see you're doing better." Clara smiled kindly as the bank manager motioned for the two to follow him.

They followed the manager into his office and began negotiating. "The company is currently worth 76.8 million. It dropped a quarter million aft-" the man said, and Clara cut him off, irritated, "Yes, I am aware, but our legal teams have both agreed to that amount already as directed by Mr. Wayne and myself."

The man seemed embarrassed and handed them both papers to sign, and Clara signed over Creed Marketing to Bruce Wayne.

"And will it still be called Creed Marketing?" the manager asked more timidly now. "Mr. Wayne and I agreed to leave it since my family worked so hard to build the company for generations." Clara answered, eyeing Alfred. "Okay," the man stood up, "expect everything to be transferred within a week. Thank you Mr. Pennyworth, and uh, Ms. Creed." he extended a hand to them, and they shook.

Clara followed Alfred out the door back into the main lobby. "I'm sorry about your brother, miss, truly." Alfred turned around to talk. "Thank you, me too." Clara smiled sadly. "Can I be expecting to see you at Wayne manor anytime soon?" he spoke in a whisper now. "Oh, uh, Bruce and I haven't really talked about it that much." Clara replied, embarrassed. "Well I certainly hope you'll come one day. He's very fond of you." Alfred replied with a kind smile. "What's he said to you?" Clara laughed. "Nothing much really, but with Bruce it's all in his eyes." the old man winked, making Clara laugh again.

Clara told Alfred goodbye and left the bank, walking down the large stairs to get to her car. The sun was starting to sink, and brought Clara a feeling of uneasiness.

She got in her car and began driving to get home. She stopped at red lights and turned corners with nothing seeming out of place, until at one red light she noticed the person behind her had been following her. But this was a big town, surely someone else had to take the same route she did.

Pushing it to the back of her mind as it got dark, she noticed the two cars on either side of her had also been driving right next to her- not speeding up or turning a different way. Clara knew now not to go home.

She turned down a different road as her heart began to beat faster, and the three cars still moved with her. Clara stepped on the gas and headed towards the highway to try and get away, but they still followed. Even on the busy highway the cars followed next to her, and the one on her right sped up to stay in front of her. She couldn't accelerate anymore because they were so close to her.

Suddenly the car in front slammed on brakes, making Clara do the same before slamming into their back bumper. The car pulled to the shoulder and Clara knew she had to as well, even though she felt unsafe. The other two cars continued down the highway, making Clara sigh with relief.

A man exited the car in front of her, with his hazard lights flashing, and Clara studied him. Cars passed them, their headlights spilling onto the scene.

Then the man suddenly raised up a gun, shooting through her front windshield before Clara even knew what happened. Screaming in shock, she ducked and crawled on broken glass to the back of her car as he continued shooting. Crouching on the floor of her backseat, she couldn't see anything, but the gunshots stopped. Before she knew it, her back door had been flung open and the man grabbed her up out of the car.

"Finally got you."

It was the man who followed her to the bridge the first time. He held his gun to her head, dragging her back to his car. "The boss wants to see you." he spoke in a gravelly voice. Trying not to cry, Clara couldn't speak. She saw blue lights in the distance behind them, and tried to free herself from the large man's grasp.

He struggled to throw her in the back, before flinging the driver's side door open and putting the car in drive.

The police cars were nearing them, and Clara desperately tried to get the door open before the car was driving too quickly, but the door was locked. "What the fuck are you doing?!" the man driving yelled out, swerving wildly.

Through the sirens Clara could faintly hear an engine coming up on the car. It sounded more like the engine was screaming. She looked out the opposite window and saw a dark black car racing up beside them. It had to be Batman.

As Batman drove closer to them, Clara quickly removed a headrest from the seat beside her, slamming the metal into the window, shattering it. "Fuck!" the man driving yelled, raising his pistol to shoot at the black car beside them, but his bullets didn't even leave a scratch. He continued to swerve as they raced down the road.

Suddenly Batman rolled down his window, his eyes staring at the road as he gritted his teeth. "What are you doing?!" Clara yelled through the loud engines, but thankfully the man who kidnapped her wasn't able to shoot back at Batman and drive at the same time. "You've got to jump!" the Batman yelled at Clara, looking at her. She readied herself to jump out the window when the car swerved, leaving too much of a gap. Batman followed, his car now a few inches away. "Hurry!" Batman shouted in frustration.

The road in front of them was blocked, causing a detour to an exit off of the highway due to road work. Clara had no choice but to place her palms against the broken glass on the edge of the window, climbing through. Trying to hold the car steady, Batman extended his left arm, grabbing onto her as the man swerved again. Bruce swerved to the right and Clara fell into his car, sliding into the passenger seat. "Hold on!" he yelled as he slammed on brakes just before they rammed into the concrete barriers before them. The man had swerved off of the road, trying to avoid hitting the barriers, and his car flipped several times before stopping in the ditch.

...