Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It has been three months since Batman returned from his long mission with the Justice League. Gotham seems to have been at peace while he was away. The Gotham Rogues' Gallery either was secured in Arkham or still in hiding. While the city seems like it is safe from the worst of the worst, several hidden criminal organizations have been increasing activity in the city. Batman stood on top of one of the gargoyles, tapped into GPD dispatch for any crimes worthy of his attention. The wait was longer than usual, eventually, a signal finally caught his attention. “All units in the east downtown area, Shots fired within 45th-50th east street. All available units needed. Approach with caution.” That was his cue; Batman launched and glides down into the cockpit of the Batwing as it flew below to catch him. With all due haste, the Batman rocketed over to the shooting.

5th floor of an apartment complex, a living room with a flip table, cash and cigarettes butts scattered all over the floor. Two men in the corner, each having taken gunshot wounds to the abdomen. One man was being held by the throat by someone wearing a red mask, brown leather jacket, and a Kevlar vest with a red bat logo at the center who was armed with a pistol in his free hand.  He had the pistol pointed at the second man, who was lying on the floor in the fetal position. “Tell me where your boss is hiding!” The Red Hood began questioning the man he held. “Fuck you! You work for the Bat! Ya ain’t gonna to kill me!” Jason Todd was always short on patience. Turning into the Red Hood did little to improve that shortcoming. With a resigned sigh, Jason threw the man to the ground and fired a round through his kneecap. The man screamed, clutching his bleeding leg. Jason pointed the gun at his head. “Let me make something clear, I am not Batman, which means I have no problem blowing your brains out. Now, are you are going to tell me where your boss is, or are things going to have to get messy?” Just as the terror began to take effect the signature grappling hook shot through the window ensnaring Jason's wrist.“Oh, shi-”

The rope retracted at high speeds, pulling Jason out of the window and slamming him into the neighboring building. The sudden forceful exit from the window and an even more sudden collision with the brick wall caused Jason to drop his gun. He was also sure his shoulder was dislocated upon impact with the brick wall. It was only a second before the rope would pull again and drag him into the shadowy room. Just as Jason got up on his feet Batman would ram him full force into a brick wall next to the door. Kevlar is good at stopping most bullets from killing him. But up against a pissed off Batman there's little defense against that.

There are less than a handful of people could disarm and subdue the Red Hood. It wasn't a mystery who had interrupted his interrogation. His former mentor held his arm at a twisted angle and kicked the legs out from under him. Jason had been trained to get out such holds but a dislocated shoulder slightly complicated things. “You know Bruce, I've had gotten more dislocations and broken bones than phone calls from you...Maybe this is why Alfred suggested we try family therapy.”

“Why were you trying to kill those men Jason?”

“They cheated me in poker and I was going to use that money for dry cleaning. So hard to find a reliable place to get blood out of your clothes nowadays.” 

Batman put pressure on Hood's dislocated shoulder. Barely a grunt or groan came out of Jason. Jason refuses to show weakness in front of his enemies and right now that includes the Batman. Jason paid keen attention to where Batman was looking. An escape plan would need to be quick and precise.

“Why were you attacking those men!?” Batman was getting angrier.

“Wait, you mean you really don’t know who those guys were?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh Bruce, either these guys are really good or your security system really dropped the ball this time.”

“Stop stalling! Who are these men Jason?”

“They’re traffickers who've been grabbing people right off the streets. They've been here for months, and you failed to notice them!”

Batman was silent. He knew Jason spoke the truth, and something horrible must have happened if his fail-safes neglected to find these criminals.

“I’ll take this ring down Jason. Get out of this city before I have to force you out.”

“You had your chance to keep this city safe, Bruce. Once again you failed, now it's my turn to clean up this mess. Do me a favor and stay out of the way” 

Batman put pressure on Jason's dislocated shoulder again, while at the same time Jason quietly slipped a flash bomb from his side pouch.

“And how do you plan on doing that Jason?”

“I'm not one for spoiling the plot, dad.”

 A flash of light came from below and Batman was blinded. His grip on Jason slacked just enough for an escape to be made. Jason strikes Batman in the jaw knocking him off balance. A few seconds later Batman was able to see but Jason was gone. Batman took to the window, the police arrived and the EMTs took the would-be traffickers to the hospital. They're still breathing for the time being, but the Red Hood isn't known for letting criminals he targets get away. It may be worth keeping an eye on them, either Jason or even fellow traffickers may pay these men a visit. Batman watched the forensic team gather up evidence. They were as much at a loss as Batman was. He needed to figure out who these Traffickers were and how they bypassed his Security measures. Technology has failed, it was time for the world greatest detective to go back to basics and solve this mystery before Jason bathed the streets in blood. Batman had been a hero for years, but before that, he was known as a detective. Time to put those skills to use.

Chapter Text

A few hours have passed since Batman’s encounter with Red Hood. Batman sat in his chair at the Batcave while Alfred brings down a sandwich and a glass of water. Alfred puts it down on a table next to Batman and stands behind him. Seven screens are in front of Batman, five having pictures and profiles of Bane, Black Mask, Scarface, Penguin, and Two-Face. Of the five, Black Mask and Scarface have red “X’s” over their face. Screen six is scanning locations in Gotham and marking any matches found. Screen seven showed an empty room with a tomb covered with heavy locks. No clear indication who is in the tomb, other than one single playing card of a Joker on top of the tomb. Alfred remains behind Batman and spoke with a calm tactfulness that butler with his age has long since mastered.

“I made you a meal master Bruce. As I am sure you haven’t eaten all day.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Then I will not leave until you have eaten it. And I know you are going to stay up until the sun shows, I guess I'll have to stay up later than that to make sure you are all ready for your late afternoon appointments. A man my age shouldn’t be staying up so late, but as your butler, I must insist risking my health for your needs Master Bruce.”

Batman grumbled and grab the sandwich and starts eating it. A flash of satisfaction appeared on Alfred’s face, it stayed just long enough for Batman to notice. Batman went on to fill Alfred in on the new developments of the case.

“What have you been able to put together so far sir?” said Alfred

“It can’t be any of the major crime bosses in Gotham. Two are confirmed dead, Harvey has been going through such intense therapy that he can’t even make choices without it being suggested to him. Penguin and Bane are still in jail and all of them have been lacking any source money since the three-day war in Gotham.”

A dark time that was. Joker started a war between all the villains in Gotham. Taking all that could be found in their safes and bank accounts, while providing them all with weapons and gear. He sent a message to them all that they must kill and send a picture to confirm the death of every villain and Batman family member in Gotham. The last one to live and confirm all the kills would not only get all the money Joker stole but also all of the supposedly vast Joker fortunes he has amassed over the years. The assessment was almost expected to be in the billions. The Joker’s plan was to stop after three days, but the money was never found.

“Then if it can’t be any of these men or any villain in Gotham, why are you looking at these five?” Alfred ask.

“The apartment complex used to be own by Bane. His men and their family lived for free as one of the benefits of being part of his gang. That had me thinking, who became the owners of the properties? The GPD  seized the Properties and sold to the highest bidders. Said properties were bought by three major companies. Lexcorp, Phoenix Inc., and Phantom Tech.”

“Well, I know Lexcorp and the potential misdeeds they could use that property for. But who are Phoenix Inc. and Phantom Tech?”

“Phoenix Inc. is a new construction company that takes city contracts to repair cities after major disasters. Phantom Tech is a cybersecurity protection company based all around Europe. They have been on the rise as of late, being one of the most prolific security companies in Europe and Canada. Recently they have been contracted to work in the US. Wayne Enterprises is supposed to be having a meeting with them soon for a possible contract. I should join that meeting, it will be happening at the end of the week. That will give me a few days to look at other leads.”

As if on cue, Batman gets a call from Robin. Batman answers the call.

“What did you find out Robin?”

“Well, the good news is the men arrested are not dead yet. The bad news is they are not saying anything. Cops have been trying but the lawyers are already here. I did notice they are not the usual public defenders. These look like high-end professionals that Penguin would use. They already negotiated a pretty solid protection deal due to the risk of a Red Hood assault. On top of that, Cops actually can’t find any solid evidence that these men are traffickers.”    

Not something Batman wanted to hear. The police won’t be able to hold these men for long, and it’s unlikely they will be able to offer any noteworthy protection if Jason chooses to finish the job. If these men die by Jason's hands, then these lawyers will keep the GCPD so busy with lawsuits they will no longer be a useful ally to Batman. “Stand by Robin.” Batman hit a mute button and started rubbing his temples.

“Something wrong master Bruce?” Alfred ask.

“Am I hunting a ghost, Alfred? I've gotten word that a criminal group has formed in Gotham from murderous gangs of outlaws. Am I too personally attached? Am I looking into this because it's Jason who told me? Should I just put all my focus into finding him instead of a Trafficking ring that may not exist?”

“Master Todd has many issues, sir. I will not defend his methods of punishing crimes. But if there is one thing I believe you two have in common is your intuition towards the mind and motives of criminals. If you believe someone is a criminal, I wouldn’t doubt you for a moment, Master Bruce. If Master Todd believes these men are part of a human trafficking ring, then I will not doubt him either.”

Batman stared at the screen for a moment. His face went from signs of regret to normal focused Batman face. He pushes the unmute button.

“Robin, were you able to find anything from the GCPD  database regarding any increase of missing persons or kidnapping reports?”

“I did some asking around. Strangest thing, according to the records, Missing persons and kidnapping cases have gone down in the last few months. The few that have been filed have been solved by us rather quickly. It’s always been drunk students getting lost and a family member or friend freaking out.”

“Get me information on the lawyers, I want to look into who they normally defend. Keep an eye on those men, police may need backup if Jason shows up. Batman out.”

Batman hangs up and finishes the sandwich half he was eating. He presses another button and hears a phone start ringing. A woman answers.

“Wayne Enterprise, Bruce Wayne’s office How can I help you?”

“Hi Stacy, this is Bruce.”

“Oh, hi there Mr. Wayne. How was your vacation in Switzerland?”

“It was wonderful. Skiing is wonderful this time of year. Hey, I heard we are having a meeting with Phantom Tech this week. Can you let everyone know I want to take part in the interview?”

“Oh, but of course Mr. Wayne, I will let them know you will be at the interview on Friday at 10 am.”

“Thank you, Stacy, I will see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow Mr. Wayne.”

After the call ended, Batman sets up for another call and starts eating the other half of his sandwich.

“What makes Phantom Tech such an interesting suspect to this case?”

“Before I went on that last mission with the Justice League, Tim, Barbra, and I designed an algorithm and installed it into the emergency services center based in Gotham. It was supposed to isolate more high-risk crimes from 911 calls and send the info to us. This would allow one us to arrive at crimes faster in order to stop them. If the system has failed, then it would need someone or a group of people to access and tamper with the Algorithm. Phantom Tech hires some of the best programers in the western market. If any group that is currently  based  in Gotham could break into the Algorithm, it highly likely Phantom Tech.”

Right as Batman finishes talking, his call came through. A woman's voice is on the other side. Her tone expresses frustration and worry.

“This is Oracle.”

“Oracle, what were you able to find out  about the Algorithm?”

“I did a full diagnostic of the system and found there were some keywords that were set to be seen as not priority highlights, such as kidnap or missing. I looked into the emergency services center database and I can’t find any phone reports connecting to kidnapping or missing persons for the last three months. But that can’t be possible because I help the police and members of the bat family track down missing drunk students in that period of time. We had a few slow nights so we didn’t use the Algorithm for this. We just listened to police radios for some easy crimes.”

“Was the Database or Algorithm down at any point while I was gone?”

“No, the only point the Algorithm was down was today for Maintenance. There was no attempt to force their way in or use of a trojan. I hate to say it Batman, but I think someone found the backdoor we set up for the Algorithm. If that the case, they pretty much have admin access to the whole program and I wouldn’t know about it. Should I shut down the program?”

“No, I don’t want to tip them off. I’m going to check the servers and see if they accessed the program that way. Batman out.”

Batman ends the call and finishes the sandwich. He then took a sip of water and took a look at Alfred.

“These people are smart enough to access the Algorithm and emergency services database to erase reports. They've been able to access the police database and erase their files as well. Either they remotely hack into the database, or someone from the inside has given them clearance.”

“Despite commissioner Gordon best efforts to remove corruption from the police force, I can imagine there are still many bad apples who would have access to the database. But there seems to be more to it. The thugs that were taken down have access to costly lawyers to protect them.”

“Alfred, if you were the head of a human trafficking ring that wanted to kidnap people off the streets but keep the risk of having missing person reports sent to the police as low as possible, what type of people would you target?”

“Well Master Bruce, if it was up to me I would target people who wouldn’t be noticed if they were suddenly gone.”

Batman gets up and starts taking off his costume and heads over to a locker area of the Batcave.

“Alfred, get my disguise kit ready, I’m going for a walk.”

Chapter Text

Bob sat at the bar at Porky’s, seeking to take a break from the tedious debriefs of the henchmen. Once a month all the henchmen gather to share drinks and stories with the bosses they work under. Bob is the VIP of henchmen, all thanks to 5 years of working with the Joker. As well as the fact that he is the only one present who hasn’t yet encountered Batman. Bob is a legend to the others for being the longest surviving person to work with the Joker. On top of never having his nose broken by the Bats, both of which seem impossible. In truth, there was no real trick to it. It mostly was luck with a bit of psychology that has gotten Bob this far. Bob survived the wrath of Joker simply because he likes Bob’s name. Avoiding Batman wasn’t complex either. Joker’s plans are not like the other crime lords. The Joker will set up a crazy plan, then he will pull the trigger to make Batman aware of it, then Batman stops the Joker's plan. The pattern never changed during those five years. Bob seems to be the only one who noticed this. Most of the gang didn't want to volunteer for prep duty as it is the riskiest part job. Drop a barrel or plug in the wrong outlet, then you’re either dead or hoping you were dead if the mistake interfered with Joker's plans. Bob was never worried about the risk, he used to work as a daredevil to help pay his way through college and graduate school. He double-majored in Homeland Security and Architecture to be a Security planner. Security planning was how Bob met Joker. Bob was hired by the City of Gotham to create a new security system for all of Arkham when the asylum needed to be rebuilt after an explosive prison break carried out by the Joker. Bob’s blueprints were built into the reconstruction efforts, but Bob only got half of what he was owed and lost the case when he went to court. Bob chose to sell a copy of the blueprint plans on the black market, hoping to make up some of the financial damage from the court case. The buyer happens to be the Joker, who was impressed by the plans. Apparently, it took him 10 minutes to find all the escape routes when Joker boasts it normally takes him 2 minutes at the longest. A man sits next to Bob and orders a drink for himself and Bob. Bob looked at the man displeased.

“Kind of you to get me a drink, pal. But I left the others to have some alone time.”

“I won’t take much time of your time Bob.” the man politely said. He didn’t dress like any of the other henchmen. His outfit was too clean and reflected more of a higher class profession, like a lawyer or a doctor, neither would come to a dive like Porky’s.

“I have a client who is interested in hiring you for a major operation we are planning for Gotham city. Someone with your skillset would be perfect for the operation.” Bob took a big gulp of the beer and glared at the man.

“You got the wrong guy pal. I am just a low life thug like everyone else in this bar. I’m not a good fit for higher class fellows such as yourself. What could I possibly offer that no one else in this bar could?” The man smiled and took a more dignified swig of his drink.

“Working for Joker for five years is no small feat. On top of never meeting Batman, you've never been seen at any of the scenes of Joker’s activities. Your record is practically spotless compared to these men.” This was true.

Other than some minor legal infractions from college, Bob had no major crimes under his belt. He was clean in comparison to the others. The man kept going,

“Besides, if you ever get caught by Batman, your rare condition would make it impossible for him to get information.”

Bob look at the man with a shock expression on his face. Bob has a rare condition called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain or CIP for short. He has never been able to experience physical pain and has nearly died from it on many occasions. But his time as a Daredevil gave him the strength to overcome his fear of death and not allow his condition to hold him back. Bob’s shock wore off and was finally able to speak.

“How the hell did you-” “We have sources, Bob.” The man cut him off. “And we have plenty of resources to be sure your medical bills are always covered.”

Despite being paid well, crime doesn’t have an insurance package. When something goes wrong, Bob has to make sure his pay goes to medical bills. He'd gone days without food because he didn’t have the money to cover eating and medical treatment. Bob finishes off his beer and looks at the man.

“Bills being covered is rather tempting. But I’m loyal to Joker. Sorry to say, you don’t simply quit team Joker and expect to live to tell the tale.” The man nods and stood up.

“I understand fully, but if you ever change your mind, here’s my card. We can keep you safe, even from a man like the Joker.” He left his card on the bar and left to sit at a table. Bob looks at the card. A Plain white card with a symbol of an Owl and his number below it. Bob was pocketing the card when his phone started to ring. He looks to see a text message from an unknown number. The text said: ‘The king is dead. Slain by the Queen.’ All senior members of the Joker gang learn a code if ever caught by the cops during the prep stage. What was texted to Bob, was the worst-case scenario finally realized. He didn’t have long before the other crime lords got word of this. He replied: ‘Prepare for the hunt. Gather the others at the Crypt. Long live the King.’ Bob got up and left Porky’s. The man in the nice suit watched as Bob and the other Joker members leave. He smiled. He knew what had happened, and what will happen next.

Chapter Text

Bruce walks down the dark alley to see six men huddled around a barrel fire while two
women attempt to cling to the fire’s warmth, using newspapers as blankets. Bruce fit in well
enough in his current disguise. He wore tan pants with many worn-out holes, faded
T-shirt, a jacket too small for him, ruined fingerless gloves, sneakers with holes in them
and no laces, a stained baseball cap, long wild beard, with everything covered
in grime. One of the men looked over with his eyes widened upon seeing Bruce.

“James? James Cook is that you?”

The man was silent, then went and hugged Bruce. While hugging, the man laughs.

“Jesus Christ, James, I can’t believe it's you.”

Bruce recognized William Brodison immediately. William was a sickly underweight black man in his 50s with a notable lazy eye. Bruce went undercover several times as a homeless man named James Cook. William was the first person he befriended after he saved Bruce from a mugging. Since then, William has been James’s best friend. Bruce knew William for years and has great respect for the man. He works hard to find the safest place for the newly homeless and make deals with local restaurants to get as much food as possible for everyone. Bruce smiled seeing his old friend.

“William, how have you been?”

Bruce's voice sounded like he just swallowed a window's worth of broken glass. But this was all a part of his cover. William smiled, showing a few missing teeth.

“Oh, I’ve been better. This Gotham winter feels worse than last year. But I guess I say that every year, so I should just stop complaining. But what
happened to you, James? Last I heard you went to Metropolis with that lady friend of yours.”

Bruce frowned and stared at the fire. Bruce forgot the last time he saw William
he was dating Selena. Bruce convinced her to break into a drug ring led by Two-Face. They’ve been broken up for a while now. No big argument, no, not showing up on their wedding day. Both just realized that their lifestyles didn’t allow for a stable relationship.

“She and I didn’t work out. It took me a while to recover from that.”

That part wasn’t a lie, losing Selena was painful. William patted Bruce on the back as he got closer to the fire for warmth.

“What are you doing here William?”

Bruce asks after a few minutes of silence.

“I thought you got housing and work at the Wayne program.”

William chuckled after hearing the program. His expression got angry after that.

“Oh yeah, I was part of the program. It was great too. Had housing, an easy full-time job, benefits to boot. Then around three months ago, all funding for the program was cut and we had 24 hours to leave the apartment or the police would arrest us. We protested, but it fell on deaf ears. I couldn’t tell you how many people lost their homes.”

368 before I left for the mission, and many more waiting to get approved, Bruce thought to himself. Bruce kept a close eye on that program, even pulled some strings so William could be one of the first people to be signed on to the program. Bruce ignores the anger he was experiencing at that moment as it was suddenly coming together.

“I'm sorry to hear that William, I can’t imagine how it could have gotten worse after that. But I’m a little confused here, there doesn't seem to be as many people on the streets since I was last here. Shouldn’t this area be more packed?”

Other men at the fire look at Bruce and walk away from the alley. William's face became a lot sadder after the question was asked.

“Guess you haven’t heard; people have been vanishing off the streets. Now thinking about it, it started a day or two after the program shut down. What rotten luck we’ve been getting.”

Luck wasn’t a factor in Bruce’s mind. Someone shut down the program to give the traffickers plenty of targets. To pick up without anyone in authority noticing.

“Is there anywhere in this city that can be safe for us?”

William just stared at the fire for a moment. Bruce could tell from his expression he wasn’t going to like the answer that he was going to get.

“I used to think so. But people have been vanishing even from the shelters. Harley owns a building she has been using for a shelter for us. To my knowledge, no one kidnaps there.”

Bruce was happy to hear Harley was keeping her promise to help anyone she could. After that final day with Joker, Bruce made sure a percentage of his own funds would go to Harley’s operation to give housing for those in need. Bruce thought it would be a good second chance for her, he’s glad he wasn’t proven wrong. William keeps speaking.

“Crocs Nest used to be safe for all young folk who got booted from their home or ran from bad foster parents. Cyrus did a good job keeping them safe when the kidnapping
was at its peak.”

Bruce knew about the Nest. A lot of youths generally 12 to17 but some were younger. The majority were part of the LGBTQ community and were thrown out by their parents. Bruce tried to save those kids whenever he could when he first heard about it. Up until he realized Croc was doing a better job looking after those kids than the system Bruce was trying to get them back into. Bruce kept a close eye on the Nest and even sent a care package every few weeks and had Oracle set up an education program for them. Bruce wanted to make a better program for the youths that live in the Nest But despite being a CEO and billionaire, he was only one man. One man who had to fight and pull favors to use the company to help Gotham. For every single program to help the homeless, he had to make deals with five board members. Many didn’t care about those in need, only that the profits were being made. Trying to fix this city required a lot of political workarounds. That's even harder to manage when balancing being a CEO and Batman full time. But where CEO Bruce Wayne fails, Batman will succeed. That statement was being tested more and more lately, and Bruce was starting to doubt himself. William started to choke up. Tears came out rapidly snapping Bruce out his reflection. Despite being emotionally overwhelmed, he was able to keep on speaking.

“Then that all went to shit! Croc went missing and... Oh god James, they took them all. What the hell happened to this city? When it's okay to kidnap children!?!”

Bruce had to force himself to not think about the number of youths that were in the Nest at any given time. The short answer was too many. Bruce needed to find these monsters and put an end to this. But not tonight, tonight Bruce followed William to an abandoned building to sleep. Bruce could have thought of many excuses to leave William and head home. But tonight, James Cook didn’t feel like he had earned the right to sleep in the Bruce Wayne’s billionaire house.

Chapter Text

Years ago

Bob arrived at an abandoned amusement park, face painted and his colorful clothing ruined. He entered the funhouse to see 20 or so clowns like him. He saw expressions of anger, sadness, and worry.  Barely a fraction of the full team. Most of them must be at Blackgate. This is going to make the next part tricky.  Bob thought to himself. Bob moves past the men, who were asking questions about what to do next and how they will get paid. Bob ignored them all. The way to get answers to any of these questions was to open the box. The boss had a purple and green striped box that in all his years working for the Joker, Bob had never seen open. With a note on it saying ‘the last laugh’. Joker made it clear if anyone even set a finger on it, they would be fed to Harley’s Hyenas. Even Harley wasn’t allowed to look inside. She tried once; no amount of makeup could hide the bruises. But with the Joker is dead, there was no one to stop Bob from opening it now. Even in death, Joker still found a way to surprise Bob. Inside the box was a detailed plan causing war with all the criminal factions in Gotham. The plan involved having all the criminal factions’ money stolen and the last one standing wins the whole pot. Joker had an updated list of all his people on the payroll. Who lived where, and what job they were assigned. The only person not on the list was Harley. Was Joker planning to kill her, or did he know Harley was going to be the end of him? These are questions that Bob will never get an answer to. Bob explained the plan to his men and that he would know the location of all the money. He will be the one to be storing it, on top of the bonus amount of money that Joker had. Once all the crime bosses kill themselves in the war, only the Joker gang would remain, and there would be more than enough money for everyone to retire happily. That would sell to the men right away to support the plan. Unknown to them all, Bob wasn’t going to let any of them touch that cash. He was the only one with no known criminal connection with the Joker. He can take all that cash and support himself for life. But he couldn’t do that alone, he would need help to have all that cash moved. Once all the men left, Bob pulled out the card he got at the bar and called the number.

“Hey, it’s Bob. I’m going to need your help. I promise you; it will be worth your time.”

The man was going to meet him at the location of Bob's choosing. If this all works out, Bob is going to go from a nobody henchman to one of the last mob bosses in Gotham.

Even Batman couldn’t beat him.

Chapter Text

In the board of directors meeting room at Wayne Enterprise headquarters, nine individuals, five women, four men, and one non-binary, all waiting for CEO Bruce Wayne for his 9 am meeting. The time is 9:45 am and no one had their second cup of coffee yet. Bruce Wayne strolled in holding his own cup of coffee.

“Sorry for running late. I had a horrible night's sleep last night. Felt like I was sleeping on a stone floor.”

He sat in his chair with a smile while enjoying his coffee. No one else seems amused by Bruce's excuses. The board began their meeting and the reports felt similar to before Bruce went on his long mission with the Justice League. Stocks were high, Wayne Enterprise's new Hologram tech was bought by Phoenix Inc. and new plans were being made to help expand the company further. It would seem the "gods" thought everything was perfect from their view of Olympus. How out of touch and unaware they are, that the city is rotting from the inside right below them. But Bruce knew better. The people are suffering because of the choices made by this very board, and he needs to put a stop to that. After the meeting, Bruce brought aside two of the board members to his office, one at a time to hear about why the homeless program was shut down. The first was Lucius Fox, Bruce's business partner and head of all technology at Wayne Enterprise. Lucius was happy to see his friend again.

“Bruce, you seem like you haven’t slept well. Haven’t adjusted to the night shift yet?”

Lucius is one of the few people trusted enough to know Bruce is Batman. On top of designing the technology for Wayne Enterprise, Lucius also helps design all of Batman gear. He had some help installing the Algorithm, another topic Bruce wanted to talk to him about.

“It’s not the hours that get to me, Lucius. But a cancer has been growing in the city, someone got into the Algorithm.”

Lucius listened to what Bruce had found so far with no change of expression on his face. His next words were calm and logical.

“It's possible there is a back door to the program. That means they somehow got into the server room that runs the Algorithm. Not an easy task to do, not many people have access to our servers. Fewer still have access to those particular servers. However, eliminating those truly trusted, I have five staff members who would have the skills to attempt to access those servers without getting caught. I can start making some inquiries.” 

That won’t be needed, Lucius.” Bruce said with a much calmer tone after speaking with his close friend for a while. “I have Oracle to watch the Algorithm. Once someone accesses the system, she’ll know right away and track it back to its host. What I need from you is an explanation of why my nonprofit program got shut down.” Lucius looked down for a moment before responding. “ That I can shed some light on. The day the board was set to cast their votes on shutting down the program, my car was hit by a driver flying past a red light. I wasn’t hurt, but the incident held me up long enough that I couldn’t make the vote. I found shutting down the program, a far too extreme action for one possible business partner pulling out.”

Before Bruce left for his mission, he and Lucius were negotiating a deal with the US government to install Wayne tech security grids in older government prisons. The deal was going well and all that was needed was for the contract to be signed. Just after Bruce left, the government pulled out of the deal at the last minute with the only reason being a better deal was made by someone else. While hurtful to the company, it was nothing Wayne Enterprise hasn’t seen before. To shut down a whole Non-profit program to cover the loss would be more damaging to the loss of tax cuts. Bruce was already noticing a red flag among the board but had to narrow the search more.

“Lucius, could you head to your office and keep an ear on the other meeting I have?”

‘Keeping an ear’ was Bruce's way of saying have someone else listen to his meetings. He normally only uses this for interviews with people he wasn’t sure about. Lucius nodded and shook Bruce's hand and headed to his office. Alex Helm walks into the office. Alex was Wayne Enterprise's head of marketing and public relations. Helms was one of the youngest staff members on the board. At age 35, Alex has made many improvements on the marketing front. They were targeting a younger generation of customers by selling the less major hardware made by Wayne Enterprises sister companies, such as phones and gaming consoles. The fact that Alex is openly Agendered really helps W.E. Image as well. Bruce met them when volunteering to fix the city after the war. Alex's great leadership and natural ability to inspire others were exactly what Bruce needed to keep the company in a good light. Alex does have a strong sense of Justice and has often challenged older members of the board for considering any ideas that would be rather unethical. Bruce has considered having them joining the bat family but is still unsure if he can trust them that much yet. One thing Bruce is sure of, Alex wouldn’t have allowed a program to get shut down without a fight. Alex comes in and sits down in the chair. With the expression of someone not pleased.

“Hello Alex, I wanted to talk to you about the budget cut of the shelter program. You were there for the vote correct?”

“I wasn’t able to vote. I was on my way to work for the vote, and the train shut down for an hour. Some kind of power failure in the area. I was in the tunnel so I couldn’t exit and take a taxi over.” Two members of the board were unable to stop a vote that ended up helping a human trafficking ring. It seems too convenient to be a coincidence. “But that's not important. What is important is I have stumbled upon a case of Corporate sabotage Mr. Wayne. Your CFO is trying to sabotage your company, meanwhile collecting paychecks from Lexcorp!” Alex spoke with passionate anger.

“That is a heavy accusation you are making Alex. Do you have any proof of this?”

without skipping a beat, Alex opens their laptop and opens a folder with all their proof. Bruce was impressed by the findings. The information does have a lot of hints that may connect to a possible Sabotage. But none of it was enough to take legal actions against CFO Steve Bose. Steve seems to have backed out of business deals when Lexcorp was a competitive threat. Alex also got photos of Steve's meeting with a man with a Lexcorp ID card on his shirt on his off time. Bruce sighs and spoke with Alex with a stern tone.

“Alex, you can’t go around taking pictures of people without their consent. None of this is usable evidence. More so, that the man Steve is talking to is his brother Jack. Steve told me he was a computer programmer at Phantom tech who got hired for a job to improve Lexcorp firewalls. A few members of the Board were going to meet with a Rep from Phantom tech to bargain for a similar de-”

Bruce stops speaking. Something had just occurred to him that he didn’t consider before. The algorithm central server is based in this building. Steve has access to most of the building, but not the server room. But he does have access to the maintenance room, which has a keycard copier. If he could have gotten one of Lucas' trusted employee's keycards for a short time to make a copy, he would give it to his brother when he visited and allowed him access to the server room. Allowing him to access the back door.’ Bruce thought to himself. Alex was going to respond to Bruce's sudden silence when their phone vibrated. They quickly checked it and put it away, they then stood up.

“I am sorry Mr.Wayne, but I have an important call to make. If there is nothing else you need, I will be on my way.”

Bruce nods barely paying attention as Alex leaves. Bruce locks the room and closes curtains for no one to see. He then sends a message to Lucius fox.

‘Check with all employees who work in the server rooms or even clean them and see if Steve Bose requested to see their keycard at any point. Recover any deleted files on the Key copier, if any of the Keys to the server room have been copied at any point.’

Once the message was sent, he opened up the computer and looked for the location for Steve Bose. Steve checked out, reporting he wasn’t feeling well. Bruce batcomms started to buzz. It was Oracle, who called to report more bad news.

“What is it Oracle?”

“The algorithm is lighting up all over Gotham. False 911 calls are being sent everywhere across Gotham for the police to answer. Police have to move the two suspects as they got threats that the police station was going to be attacked.”

Police will be scattered and can’t provide escort for the suspects. Orphan, Clayface, Batwomen, Azrael, Huntress, and Spoiler are all on missions outside of Gotham. Nightwing is working in Bludhaven and has his own issues now. Batman won’t call the JL because he believes this is a Bat-family problem and should only be dealt with by those in Gotham. That just left him, Oracle, and Robin to deal with this situation.

“Oracle, track the signal who is affecting the Algorithm. Inform Robin, he will have no backup. I have a lead I need to follow up, Batman out.”

Bruce cuts the comms and hits a button. He lowers down into a secret basement and gets geared up to travel to the new lead. Meanwhile, Alex answers the call. Caller ID shows the name as ‘Red’. “

The slavers are being moved, I will be attacking the transport to question the men. Wait at the base in case something goes wrong.”

The man spoke over the phone before hanging up. Alex leaves the building to wait

at the base, hoping Red will get answers to serve justice on all who are corrupting Gotham.