Just Breathe

Chapter 13

"...Lieutenant Gordon gave us some info about this Jimmy Summers. Apparently he's working for a major new organisation in town. Jimmy doesn't know who's in charge, but he gave up the location of a warehouse they were using to manufacture the gas. Bruce went to scope it out, but it was abandoned by the time he got there. So we've been digging into the financials, trying to work out who owns it..."

Bruce was only half listening to Alfred as he brought Beth up to speed on the case. His thoughts were still on what had happened on the rooftop.

Or what had almost happened.

He had almost kissed Beth.

He could blame it on his sleep deprivation. He could blame it on seeing more of her skin than he ever had before. He could blame it on the romantic setting - alone on a rooftop, with the lights of the cityscape twinkling below them...

But the truth was...he just wanted to kiss her. The circumstances were irrelevant. He was with the woman he was insanely attracted to, the woman he cared about...and he wanted to kiss her.

For that one moment, all the reasons why touching her was a bad idea were buried and forgotten under the shear weight of his desire to press his lips against hers.

And she hadn't pulled away.

That was the part he was fixated on.

He'd made his intentions clear...and she hadn't pulled away.

"-layers of shell corporations, one of which I managed to trace to Royston Connell. He-"

The name pulled Bruce from his introspection. "Wait, did you say Royston Connell?" he asked.

Alfred paused in the action of shuffling through the documents in front of him. "You know him?"

"I know the name. Mayor Reál mentioned it at our last meeting. He's relatively new to Gotham but he's making a big splash in elite circles. Throwing around a lot of cash at benefits, buying up real estate, donating to political campaigns, that kind of thing."

"So this warehouse purchase could be legit - just part of him expanding his portfolio. But somehow it fell into the wrong hands."

Bruce tugged at his lip as he considered the possibilities. "Or he's buying legitimacy. Maybe he's looking to move in on Falcone's old territory, but he needs to establish himself in the city first. Give himself some protection."

"That's a big leap," Beth added. Bruce glanced over to her. Her cheeks were still rosy from the cool evening air and he watched as the colour deepened into a blush under his gaze.

She glanced away and he turned his attention back to Alfred. "We need more intel. You keep digging and I'll go check out Connell's place."

"Be careful, Bruce. If the Batman is caught investigating one of Gotham's inner circle - and he's innocent - it could cause problems."

Bruce nodded and pushed his chair back from the table. He was eager to get suited up and hit the streets. His eyes met Beth's again, and he paused, unsure what to say. "I'll see you tomorrow," he eventually said. "And we'll...talk."

She bit her lip, then nodded. "Be careful," she said, echoing Alfred's request.

———

"No."

"Yes."

"No," Bruce repeated. "I won't let you do it."

"You wont let me?" Beth replied, her eyebrow raised.

Their promised talk was not going to plan. Or, rather, it wasn't happening at all. Instead they were arguing about the next steps in the scheme to uncover Royston Connell's secrets.