This Gray Weather Will Fade

Part Six (a)

The all too familiar menacing laugh echoed violently through the abandoned warehouse. It’s sound filled the men’s hearts with fear, but also with anticipation of things to come. They all stopped, glancing towards the old-dented, wooden closed door waiting for the man to emerge.

The door suddenly was slammed wide open, ricocheting off the wall and swaying gently back and forth before it was stopped by a gloved hand. The flickering lights above outlined the features of the person whom all had grown to fear from the beginning, and would continue to fear as long as he was free.

The make-up plastered face showed itself smiling, but not from the design, but from his own excitement. He hummed his laughter as he skipped down the stairs, his purple jacket flowing meticulously behind him.

As he spun around the railing to face his men he said, “Gents, I have a plan.”

-

“No, I’m sorry sir he’s in a meeting right now.” Nora clicked her pen on the desk in front of her, rolling her eyes at the man who she repeatedly told that Mr. Fox was not available to take his call.

“Yes, I can tell him that.” She scribbled the note down and taped it to her folder before she heard the loud dial tone in her ear, signaling the man had hung up the phone. Nora sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes and wondering how she could have ever let herself go as far as faking a receptionist job.

She spun her chair around and stood up, crossing her arms across her body and staring intently out through the cityscape. It was nearly five, which meant the sun was beginning its descent to let the night have its fun. Nora’s hazel eyes sparkled brightly, and also a thought that immediately came to the front of her mind.

Nora took a quick, but subtle glance over her shoulder and at the dangling clock on the opposite wall that had been taunting her all afternoon. She spun on her heels and pushed her chair in, walking tall towards Mr. Fox’s office doors.

She gently gripped the handle and slipped inside, walking over to the bookcase and tapping in the code Lucius had graciously given for her to memorize only a few days ago. The sliding door opened, and she scanned the elevator from head to toe before it was ready and shut itself, and it made it’s way to it’s only destination.

Nora stood patiently and without nervousness, leaning slightly on her right leg and holding her elbow lazily as she watched the floors pass by with every light.

Finally, the door chimed, and Nora placed her hands slouchily in her pockets before stepping out into the darkened room. As soon as she took a few more steps, the movement detection system switched on and rows of lights began to flicker above her head, letting her get the full effect of what was going on around her.

There was no possibility in her mind that anyone could clearly fathom what was down there.

Rows and rows of file cabinets, computers each designed for one task purposely, and covered machinery that which Nora knew nothing about, but intended to investigate herself.

She placed her hands delicately on her hips, wondering where to start. A slight computer light flashing to her left caught her attention almost immediately, and she walked straight towards it and sat on the chair directly in front of it.

Nora reached up, and tapped the mouse that made the computer come to life, and dragged it across the screen to the first few files, her mind flickering through each one and contemplating the contents which are hidden inside.

Maps, instructions, and more codes where all that the files held, and Nora sat back lazily to search through her mind of what she intended to find out down here.

Nora spun around her chair, wondering if that oaf of a man had dared to call back again when she was startled by the figure of Bruce Wayne standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets casually.

She was never good at sneaking around, even when she was aloud to be there.

“Ms. Gray.” Bruce smiled at her, nodding his head slightly.

Nora stood up slowly, eyeing him carefully. “Mr. Wayne.”

He put up a friendly hand, “Bruce.”

Nora said nothing, but merely forced herself to return a genuine smile.

“So, any trouble with these computers?” Bruce gestured to the one Nora us currently using.

Nora glanced back behind her and shook her head, no longer phased by his sudden appearance. She might as well get used to it. “No, everything’s fine here.”

“Glad to hear it.” He wouldn’t take his eyes off her actions for a second, as if he was reading every move she made. “You’re new in the city, right?” Bruce asked, talking with his hand.

“Compared to you living here your whole life, my three months may be infantile.” Nora responded, her hazel eyes mirroring his.

Bruce took a step towards her as he laughed at her dry humor, “Well, I was going to ask if you are still unfamiliar with parts of the city, I could always take you out to dinner and show you around.”

Nora slightly tilted her head to the side, eyeing the man carefully. Then it clicked in her mind suddenly, as she turned slowly to shut off the computer behind her. As she did, Nora’s outside appearance was not giving her away in the slightest what her instinct was alarming her with: Bruce Wayne was toying with her.

Instead, she replied the same way she always did, in her clever and cunning tone to hide what she was actually thinking. “I think a map and a few pointers would be just as satisfactory Mr. Wayne.” Nora walked past him towards the elevator, clearly ignoring calling him by his first name, and pushed the button to her floor as he caught up with her inside.

“It wouldn’t hurt to go out for a night after handling two jobs.” Bruce kept a slight smile on his face.

Nora didn’t turn to meet his stare, she looked down as she smirked and shook her head. “You’ve read up on me too.”

“I was told to.” He said, his voice was sly, as if he was nudging a hint towards her. “For security reasons.”

Nora nodded in amusement, “Right.”

The elevator door opened and the sudden glare of the sunset brought a shock to Nora’s eyes, exiting the elevator and returning to her desk, still with Bruce following her slowly. As she rounded to the back of her desk, she noticed the mere glint of the red flashing light beside her phone.

Nora rolled her eyes, concluding that more than likely the same man who had called previously had called again. She debated it quickly in her mind if it was worth her time returning his call and having yet another conversation with such an incompetent human being.

She brought the white phone up to her ear, pressing the button as she lifted her eyes up, noticing that Bruce was still with her. He said nothing, but waited patiently with one of his hands in the pockets of his pressed suit like before, the other casually leaning against the cold metal of her desk watching her every move like a hawk.

Was this his mask? Was this the person he was pretending to be to chase the police away from his identity? This stubborn man who acted like he was a selfish snob, that he had everything figured out?

He played his part well. But so did Nora.

All of her thoughts ran together and she knit her face into a bemused expression. Nora slightly opened her mouth to tell him that her mind hasn’t changed from accepting his invitation, when a loud blast from inside the city behind her erupted, shaking the glass windows and causing her pencils to drop without difficulty onto the floor.

Nora turned, facing the giant windows and overlooking the city scape, all the while still holding the phone up to her ear and ignoring the fading ring as she understood what was happening. A large smoke cloud appeared over a building in the southern part of the city, not too far from where she and Bruce stood.

Nora glanced at Bruce out of the corner of her eye as he did the same towards her, as she put down the phone and heard the anxious call of her own personal phone in the pocket of her jacket.

In a swift movement, Nora had pulled her jacket around her and continued out the door, the receiver already held up to her ear, “I’m on my way Gordon.”

This sudden attack marked the beginning of the constant rainy days, the gray sky without purpose or hope of lifting. But the thought urged Nora to turn while she pushed open the heavy glass door with her shoulder, her hair now tousled from the adrenaline soaring through her veins. Glancing back at the figure that had suddenly become a distant vapor that no one could ever quite believe is real, she smiled.