Meaning of a name (Open)

[Elena Wayne]

The night was quiet; Elena could break a few minutes away from her patrol to do something else besides stalking the night for bad guys. Toward the center of town was the bright word that said Wayne, the place that was owned by her father. For some reason it called to Elena over coming her fear temporarily Elena jumped from building to building till she went to the Wayne Tower. When she landed on the roof Elena walked toward the luminescent letters. She stared up at them reading Wayne…she contemplated the meaning of those words. It was her father’s last name, it was her last name now and for some reason that made her feel undeserving of the title was it because she didn’t go to snazzy parties? Was it because she was a part of the working class? Or maybe because she was her father’s dirty little secret?

It wasn’t like she could control the last part; she didn’t know she was Bruce Wayne’s daughter either. Hell sometimes she wishes that she could go back to when she didn’t know when it was just a theory and nothing more. It made her feel as if she had to live up to him as Batwoman and her everyday to think of what it meant to go through the problems he went through. Maybe he could’ve trained her to fight like how he had done for his Robins. Or did he not tell her he was her father cause he didn’t want her? All these thoughts running through her head only got worse and they made her angrier at Bruce Wayne.

“It wouldn’t have killed you to give me some answers” Elena muttered angrily removing her mask to pinch the bridge of her nose. She looked like her mother, she heard that all her life and she supposed that was her compliment since her mother was beautiful. But the eyes she knew were all her father’s they didn’t have the same look her mother’s blue eyes had to them. Slipping back her mask on Elena went to leave when she heard a noise she turned around quickly her fingers gripping a batarang.
“Who’s there?” Batwoman demanded.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had only been a couple weeks since he and his friends had followed after Lex into the future. It was unsettling, to say the least, to see what the future had become without them around in the past to keep things in order. Witnessing it all had only served as extra motivation to take Lex down and to get him back to where he belonged, where they all belonged. In the meantime, it was decided that each of the Justice League would return to their respective cities in hopes of gathering Intel on the new timeline and on where Lex could be hiding.

The Dark Knight had only been back in Gotham for a couple days, but he made sure to keep his presence unknown. Using some disguises, the vigilante worked the streets to gain information about what had become of his home. And needless to say, he was not pleased with all that he had learned. It was because of what he learned that he had decided to patrol the city. He was out to find those who had taken up his crusade against the crime in Gotham and set them straight. The first place he decided to go was Wayne Tower, word headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. Not only was it located in the heart of Gotham, but it was the city’s tallest structure. From there he would have the perfect view of his city and its activities.

It was there that he had noticed the black and red clad woman, dressed very much like how Batwoman did in his time, making her way toward the tower. Her every move was amateurish and screamed of an obvious fear of heights. Whoever the woman was, certainly chose the wrong night time activity. When she had finally arrived to the tower, he remained quietly in the shadows, watching her closely. Since it was obvious she was unaware of his presence, he knew it would be a waste to not take advantage of it. The removal of the woman’s cowl certainly left him with a couple questions. From his angle on the roof, the red-haired woman looked strikingly like Vicki Vale, though he knew it wasn’t her from the sound of her voice. Before leaving to chase down Lex, Vale had told him that she was pregnant with his child. Though he didn’t believe it, he started to wonder if the young woman before him was that child. If it wasn’t for the fact that she looked so much like Vicki he would think she was Kathy’s young daughter, but there was no mistaking the resemblance.

Once she had placed her cowl back on her face, he decided it was time to make his presence known. Time to have some of his questions answered. Stepping out from the shadows, he made sure to step heavy against the stone roof so that she could hear him. Sure enough, she turned quickly and was swift to place a batarang in her hand. Though she had an obvious fear of heights, he was at least somewhat pleased to see that she had some kind of reflexes. Even if they were rather sloppy.

I’d put that away if I were you, unless you plan to get hurt, he stated in his cold, brass voice as his cape draped over his body. I have some questions that I expect to have answered.

[Elena Wayne]

“And what makes you think I’m willing to answer these questions of yours?” Elena replied her voice becoming colder though nowhere near as cold as the tone used in the Batman that was addressing her. Elena didn’t recognize this Batman, he wasn’t the one she had encountered a few nights prior, he was taller and bigger and older plus the voice was much deeper. Elena didn’t know him so why should she trust him? To prove this she held onto her batarang not fully pulling it out but was in a position that she could then change into a fighting stance immediately afterward. Elena only took orders from her higher ups or people she knew were in charge, she wasn’t sure if this Batman was either or if he was even Batman at all.

“Who are you? You’re definitely not the Batman some wannabe from Arkham perhaps?” Elena pondered allowed half asking half insulting the Batman before her though she figured that wouldn’t be a good idea especially with the seriousness in his tone and surrounding aura. Though she still wondered she wanted her own questions asked before she was ordered by a complete stranger to do what they wanted.

Batwoman entered an almost staring contest with the man in front her, she mostly just noticing the differences between he and the Batman she knew, then she noticed the difference between the he and Elena herself. He obviously knew what he was doing, the Batman in front of her had a sense of confidence around him that reeked of experience, and he knew how to deal with Elena easily with probably little to no effort needed from him. Elena on the other hand was still very new the superhero game; she had just recently begun working by herself without a mentor and still had a lot to learn about the crime world. That made Elena’s confidence shrink just a little but she wasn’t one to turn and run from a fight but still Elena was going to be more cautious about what she said to him, then of course observe him more to find out more about him maybe some sort of visible weakness.

‘Fat chance of that happening’ Elena thought to herself irritably she would probably need to see this guy in action before she could point out some sort of weakness from him, while he was just standing there talking to him Elena could only assume he didn’t have a weakness. Though he appeared human to her and the fact he had a utility belt meant that he didn’t have powers or else he wouldn’t need gadgets around to help him out.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So not only was the red-haired young woman obviously acrophobic, but she seemed to be blind as well. It was rather obvious who he was. The large bat symbol on his chest and pointy eared cowl sort of gave it away, at least that is what he thought. Apparently, he was wrong. And on top of it all, she thought that she could semi-stare him down while trying to look like she wasn’t intimidated by still holding on to her batarang.

Look Vale, you can knock off the whole tough girl act. It doesn’t suit you and you’re no good at it. Now put the damn weapon away before I decide to hang you upside down over the ledge of this building, he ordered in a darker tone as he took half a step toward her.

Though he wasn’t a hundred percent certain that the woman standing before him was Vicki’s, and possibly his own, daughter, the Caped Crusader decided to take the chance of throwing his theory out there. Something told him that he’d be able to tell right away if he caught her off guard with the revelation and he’d be able to tell whether or not it was true by her body language. Everybody had a tell, including him, but he had years of experience in being able to keep cool and hide them. She, obviously, didn’t have that same experience. He just hoped however that his theory was correct, otherwise he’d be back at square one, which meant that he’d probably have to hang her upside down off the side of the building.

[Elena Wayne]

Elena felt her eyes subconsciously glare holes into the Batman’s face she didn’t like the fact that he knew her old last name or whatever else he could know about her. She slowly put the batarang away but only so she could find out more about what he knew…well that and the idea of being held upside down from a building this high isn’t exactly her idea of fun.

Elena’s aura was almost demanding like she was waiting for him to explain himself but things were just getting too weird. She was used to the Batman she encountered a few nights prior not the one standing before her, though she knew this one was anything but fake. Batwoman couldn’t explain how she knew she just did but that was even more unsettling, the only person who had warn the cowl beside the current Batman were Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and then her father Bruce Wayne. The one before her she had a feeling was her father though Bruce Wayne disappeared a little over twenty years ago so how could this be the original Batman?

‘Crazy talk’ Batwoman thought to herself disregarding this idea, unless she had proof that this was actually Bruce Wayne (who didn’t look a day older than when he disappeared), Elena wouldn’t believe him to be Bruce Wayne; though it was hard to think of a more rational explanation or any explanation at all for that matter.

“You have my attention” Elena said curtly deciding to her this so called ‘Batman’ out, though she wasn’t too open to his ideas without evidence.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He glared back at the red-headed woman with a stone gaze of his own. He imagined that she was trying to size him up and figure out how he could have possibly known her true identity. As futile as it was for her, he couldn’t fault her for it. After all, it’s what he would do if the situation was reversed. But now that his theory on her identity was confirmed, it meant that he could move onto business. It’s why he wanted to talk to her after all. The detective had a slew of questions to ask her, some personal and some business, but he wasn’t there for personal reasons. He was there about business.

Stepping past her, he made his way to the ledge of the building to look out over the city, his city. Sure it had aged twenty years without him around, but Gotham was still his city. His domain. And though he hoped to be spending only a short time in this future, he would do what he had to in order to keep her safe while he was there. But he knew that his first priority was finding Luthor.

I’m looking for Lex Luthor. I need to know if you’ve seen him or have happened to hear anything about his whereabouts in the last three weeks, he said as he turned back to Elena.

[Elena Wayne]

“Luthor? He disappeared twenty years ago no one is heard of him since but…”Elena said thinking back to her research she had done at the Birds of Prey headquarters. She was just looking through possible leads to anything and everything happening in Gotham, it was their own personal Bat Cave super computer if you wanted to call it that. She remember the sudden rise in technology parts, it was bigger than usual and the highness in quality for them. The technology being demanded was Wayne Enterprise and Star labs high type of stuff. Word on the streets were that the buyers weren’t by people like the Penguin or Black Mask, actually no one seemed to know who the buyer was.

“There’s a possible lead, someone is buying a large quantity of tech from various people, it wouldn’t usually be something that odd but the stuff being bought aren’t exactly recent their out dated type of tech probably fifteen to twenty years old, but I doubt that means it’s Lex Luthor” Elena offered wondering if this is what he wanted to know, she didn’t think it was that significant but who was buying outdated stuff like that now a days there were much more efficient pieces of equipment out in the market now a day.

Batwoman stood there not saying anything allowing Batman process the information, she wasn’t entirely sure if this is what he wanted to hear or if it was just another piece of insignificant information to him that had nothing to do with Lex Luthor.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His eyes narrowed as he thought about the revelation of a mystery buyer going around and purchasing older tech. While there was a chance that it could very well be Lex, there was also a chance that it wasn’t. Lex was smart, hell the man was a certified genius, and it wouldn’t take much for him to figure out how to use the new technology that was available today, but using older tech would be more affordable and it would also be more familiar to him too. Either way, it was a lead and he’d take it.

Have there been any large purchases in Gotham? Do you know where this mystery buyer has been having these shipments of outdated tech delivered to? He inquired as he kept his gaze solid on her.

Though his face was stoic and emotionless, inside his brain the Dark Knight was working through multiple scenarios and theories involving the information he received. After processing everything, he figured that he had roughly a fifteen percent chance of the mystery buyer actually being Lex. But the fifteen percent was better than nothing. And given how things were, he couldn’t turn down a lead of any kind. Lex needed to be found so that he and his allies could return to their time.

[Elena Wayne]

“All large purchases are in Gotham…as for where they’ve been delivered to the places are always different but all shipments have been from Gotham” Batwoman responded as if she was giving a report back to Commissioner Gordon just like the good old days when he was still Commissioner. Ugh that made her sick, James Gordon had been like a father to her and the thought of giving someone that same respect was just so foreign to her. Batwoman let Batman process the information given to him before she continued on her explanation of the purchases.

“The purchases have been shipped out of Gotham harbor the person doing the shipping have all been different depending on what type of stuff the buyer is asking for though they all have to ship through the same place, Gotham PD doesn’t have enough time or men to search all the boats leaving the harbor unless they have a warrant” Batwoman added explaining this to Batman. She didn’t like this fact but it was one she had to deal with regularly as Batwoman and as an officer of the law, her city sold drugs, extorted money, had pimps and some of the darkest criminals in the world living here. With this happening obviously the police wouldn’t be able to catch everything that’s why she needed to do it as Batwoman.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fact that all the designated deliveries were different made Batman believe that it was indeed Lex. Having the shipments sent to different locations not only would protect him if one of his orders was hit, but having them all sent to different locations served as a method of misdirection. It was a move he could see Lex making, mostly because it is what he would do had the roles been reversed.

As Elena started going on about the Gotham Police Department not having the manpower to do searches for all the crates, he found himself unsurprised by the revelation. Even in his time the Gotham Pee Dee were unable to handle sixty percent of the crime in the city and given the shape of this future he didn’t much expect it to change. Hopefully when he returned to his time he might be able to help change some of that.

And buying outdated tech in mass quantities is not enough to get a warrant, he said aloud. When did all these large shipments start getting bought up? Say two to three weeks ago?

If the young vigilante confirmed his suspicion, the original Dark Knight knew exactly where his next destination was going to be. If he was right, which he believed he was, he would go to the city’s docks in search of further information. Hopefully nobody was going to be stupid enough to get in his way.

[Elena Wayne]

“Not unless you can prove that all the different buyers are one and the same it’s not enough for a warrant” Elena said slightly defensive, whether she liked it or not she was still a cop and that would always come first even before her new ‘vigilante’ life and she really didn’t like people who talked bad about cops especially if she worked with the good ones. Sighing Elena brought her temper back under control losing the bite in her tone.

“The shipments began last Friday so about a week ago” Elena answered wondering where Batman was going with this, she wasn’t exactly positive on his Luthor theory sure none of the Luthors’ were the nicest people in the world, they had a history of being the bad guys but they’ve been pretty quiet as of late for their reign of tyranny at least. They all still publicly hate anyone even mildly related to Superman but still Lex Luthor? Why not his successor how could the missing Lex Luthor is responsible for all of this?

‘Well you are talking to Batman who is definitely not the one we know’ Elena thought to herself. Then it finally really suck in, this guy could actually be Bruce Wayne, her father Bruce Wayne. That made Elena even more uncomfortable with the situation, she wasn’t slow but still the thought of this being her ‘Father’ really made her uneasy.

“What makes you think its Lex Luthor behind this whole ordeal?” Elena asked hoping to piece together this Batman’s identity.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He noticed the defensive tone that she had taken and he didn’t much care for it. Especially considering that he knew more about the law and fighting crime than she did and probably ever will. Luckily for her, she reigned in her temper before it got her into any hot water.

On another note however, he was pleased to learn of the timeframe involving the large shipments. It seemed that his theory, or rather hope, that he was dealing with Luthor might actually be correct. All he had to do now was prove that it was Luthor who was behind all of the shipments, but in order to do that he would have to get to the city’s docks.

When she had inquired about why he might have believed that Luthor was behind the whole situation, he had to think quickly about how to respond. Regardless of the fact that she could possibly be his daughter, he didn’t know her from a hole in the ground and didn’t know if he could trust her. Until he knew that, he’d have to keep her arms reach and on a need-to-know relationship.

I have my reasons, he answered after a brief moment before turning his gaze over the city’s skyline toward the docks.

[Elena Wayne]

Elena opened her mouth to demand to know what was going on no matter how useless she knew it would be when a familiar beep stopped her. A gadget on her utility belt beeped alerting Elena of crime that was happening near her, it was something made by Oracle that she inherited. Pulling the cell phone shaped object Elena flipped open the screen which was radar of Gotham the crime that was happening was in the docks.

“Speak of the devil” Elena muttered a bit annoyed before snapping the map shut and placing it back in her belt, then she pressed the bat symbol on her belt to bring her batcycle to Wayne Enterprise building. She turned away from Batman and stood on the edge of the building preparing to make her leave when she realized Batman would probably want in especially since he could follow through on his Lex Luthor theory.

“There’s trouble at the docks if you want in Mr. Wayne” Elena replied making her theory known as well. If he was just going to toss her mother’s name around she wasn’t afraid to do the same though she had a feeling that she should be. Elena didn’t falter this time when took the plunge from the building she aimed herself to land onto the roof of a smaller nearby building and she kept doing this until she reached the floor where her Batcycle was waiting. She mounted it then from the corner of her eye turned to see if Batman was coming along or not.

[bruce]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice try Vale, but I’m not Wayne, he said coldly as his face remained stoic and emotionless. As you can see, I’m not some decrepit man in his sixties, he added as he made his way to the ledge of the building.

Jumping off the roof, the Dark Knight threw open his cape and glided through the sky. From the height that was at he knew he’d be able to make it nearly halfway to the docks before he would need to land. From there he knew it wouldn’t take long for him to reach the docks. And depending on how busy and crowded the streets were, he knew it was very possible that he’d get there before her. By the time she had even reached her batcycle on the ground below, he was already two blocks ahead of her.

As he soared through the night sky toward the docks, his mind became focused on Elena. He had to admit that he was a little impressed at her calling him out as being Bruce Wayne. He figured that if she was any good that it would only be a matter of time before she put two and two together, but just because she was right didn’t mean he was going to let her know it. Again it all came back to trust or rather his lack thereof when it came to the fiery red-head.

After a dozen more blocks of flight, the Dark Knight was forced to land, and proceed on foot. Running and jumping along the ledges of the city’s old buildings, he saw the young woman on her batcycle on the street below. Luckily traffic was dense enough that he was able to keep a solid pace along side her so that the two arrived at the docks together.

[Elena Wayne]

Elena spotted Batman flying above the streets well gliding actually she had a feeling he might be doing that to show off the difference between the two or just to rub in her fear of heights.
“Show off” Elena said to herself rolling her eyes riding her Batcycle through the streets of Gotham she was able to keep up with him easily despite his head start. Thanks to the traffic not being too horrible and Elena being able to weave in and out of cars on her bike they arrived at the docks together Elena parked the motorcycle and then dismounted it.

She still theorized that the Batman before her was Bruce Wayne. It was just the lack of evidence that stood in her way, still so far from what she noticed all the signs pointed to Bruce Wayne, the physical description fit maybe she could ask her mother for a photo of Bruce Wayne. Though she would have to worry about that later right now they had bigger problems to deal with. From here she could hear the grunts of men lifting something heavy then other barker orders to hurry up obviously nervous to be in the Dark Knight’s city.

Elena went forward to get a better look though stayed in the shadows she wanted to see what they were doing before she attacked. Observing her opponent was something that Oracle pounded into her head a million times during her training. Then she looked toward Batman when she was done and made a ‘after you’ gesture.