Batman

Arkham Asylum

Chapter One

Bruce Wayne

"You owe me, Gordon."

"Yes, I know Taylor. I greatly appreciate it. My wife just couldn't make it."

"It's fine. Just tell me…who is this Brune Wayne guy again?"

"Bruce, Taylor. Bruce Wayne. How can you not know about him? What do you do all day?"

"I eat, sleep, and read and watch horror movies." Taylor told him in a flat voice.

"Well, don't you work?" Gordon asked his employee.

"Where do you think I sleep?"

Commissioner Roger Gordon gave a small laugh as he parked the car. Hurrying over to the passenger side, he held his hand out and helped his companion out of the car.

Taylor Carmicheal was in her late twenties with long locks of golden brown hair and a set of gray eyes. Normally dressed in her black and white detective uniform, Gordon was willing to admit that he was very pleased with what she had decided to wear to the party tonight.

It was an emerald green one strap flowing gown by Jovani. She wore a golden choker with an emerald jewel with a matching bracelet on her bare arm, earrings, and a ring on her right hand. Her hair was smoothed back on the left side before curling around to hang over her right shoulder.

"I do have to say that I am very impressed, Taylor." Gordon told her as they got onto the elevator of the Wayne Enterprises.

"With the dress?" the woman asked with a grin. "I don't normally wear things like this. Ever."

"You should." He smiled.

She gave him a look before looking at the floor number. 22 out of 56. "How many damn floors does this jerk own?"

Gordon gave her a look. "I expect that you're going to be polite when we reach the floor, aren't you?"

Taylor gave him a grin. "Of course! You can trust me, Captain."

Gordon smiled as the elevator finally came to a stop. "He has industries like this all over the world." Her mouth fell open and snapped shut quickly as the doors opened.

The party was huge. On the large floor there was an orchestra towards the back as men and woman packed the area either dancing or talking. Food was spread out on a large tables near the balcony and drinks were being served left and right.

A large frown came across Taylor's face. "I am not dancing with you, Gordon."

Gordon gave her a smile. "It's all right. I don't like dancing too much."

"That's a relief," Taylor grabbed Gordon's arm again and pulled him towards the drinks. "Now, let's get drunk!"

Gordon laughed at his detective. The night actually went on good. Gordon ran into some of his friends and Taylor had ventured outside onto the balcony about two hours after arriving for a breath of fresh air. This was normally not what she did for entertainment or her nights out. It was normally just her and her brother for dinner at McDonalds or something like that. She didn't really…have friends to go out with. She never needed them. Not until…

"What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Taylor turned to see a handsome man standing behind her. He looked about her age, if not a bit older, with short, smoothed back black hair and blue eyes. He was in a black suit and a small smile on his face.

Taylor turned back to the city beneath them. "I'm just…I needed some air," She told him. "It's a bit too crowded in there for my taste."

The man smiled and nodded as he leaned against the railing beside her. "I agree. Sometimes fresh air is what everyone needs. It clears your mind; let's you think." He glanced back in at the party. "Who did you come with?"

"Oh, I'm with Commissioner Gordon. His wife couldn't make it and so I was the next choice. He didn't want to come alone, you know." Taylor told him.

"So you work at the Police Station?"

"Yep. Detective Taylor Carmicheal."

"Ah, so you're Dylan's little sister." The man grinned.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "And just how do you know my brother?"

"From Arkham Asylum. He's one of the guards there, right?" the man asked.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't tell me how you know him." She crossed her arms as she turned to face him fully. "Are you a guard there too?"

The man looked at her in surprise for a moment before he gave a small laugh. "Forgive me. It's not very often that I have to introduce myself." He held his hand out to her. "Bruce Wayne."

Taylor stared at the man for a moment, his hand completely ignored. "You. Your Brune Wayne."

His hand fell back to his side as he stared at her in a small shock himself. "Bruce, and yes I am." He told her, still a bit surprised. It wasn't often that he came across someone who couldn't recognize him off of the news or something like that; especially a woman.

Taylor waited for him to say something else before giving a cough. "So…what's up?"

Bruce gave a laugh. "You are the strangest woman I've met tonight."

She didn't like that look at all. "Listen here, Playboy" Taylor poked Bruce in the chest. "I refuse to be seen as one of those little bimbos hanging on your arm, Mr. Wayne. I'm not going to fall for any of your tactics that catch your other…friends, so don't even think about it."

Bruce, still smiling, held up his hands in defense. "I meant nothing by it, I assure you."

"Good, as long as the point is across." Taylor flushed, crossing her arms again and turning back to look over Gotham City. From here she could see the police station and on top of that was the Batlight. She gave another frown, cursing on how many times Gordon and sent her up there to light the Signal for their 'savior'.

"Are you all right?" Bruce asked her, leaning on the railing again.

"What do you think of Batman?"

He raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think of him? What's your opinion of the Dark Crusader?" She asked him.

He thought for a moment. "Well, what do you think of him?"

Taylor was silent for a moment, just staring at the signal. "I hate him." Bruce looked surprised again. "No, I take that back. I don't hate him. I just…I became a cop so that I could be one of the ones that protected the city, not rely on some man in tights to do it for me. If I ever find out who he is, I'm gonna beat the hell out of him," She grinned. "I'm sure that it's one of the men at the station, though. And Robin is his son or something."

"The station?" Bruce asked her. "The Police station?"

"Yep. Who else would go around and have the strength to fight thugs of like Bane and Killer Croc? And to take on the Joker as many times as he has he must be close to going crazy by now, don't you think?"

Bruce gave a laugh at what seemed to be an inside joke. "Yeah, I agree with that."

Taylor pushed herself straight again and scratched the side of her head. "Eh, I just needed to complain about the big bad bat, I guess." She gave him a smile. "Just ignore all of that."

"You know, you're the first person I have met that has had a bad comment about Batman." Bruce told her.

"Yeah, I'm sure. He's all that's talked about in Gotham City. Either him or the creepy badguys he fights." She gave another smile. "But I suppose without him we might be in trouble."

Bruce was quiet for a moment. "Would you like to dance?"

Taylor tilted her head a bit. "From Batman to dancing, huh? I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Well, you see, I…I don't know how to dance." She told him, scratching the side of her nose. "Never needed to know so I never learned."

"You have got to be joking," Bruce gladly laughed at her. "Come. I'll teach you."

Taylor find herself voiceless as Bruce grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd and towards the dancers. How do you say no to a dance with Brune-er, Bruce, Wayne?

"No, really," She pulled her hand back. "I must insist. At least…not in front of a bunch of people I can embarrass myself in front of."

"Then I must insist on you joining me for dinner one night to where I can teach you."

Taylor gave him a look. "Really? Didn't I just tell you that-"

"Taylor! There you are! I was wondering where you go off to," Gordon's arrival saved her from embarrassing herself for shouting at Bruce Wayne as his own party. "Ah, I see you met Mr. Wayne."

"Yep," Taylor crossed her arms, moving away from the other man and standing beside Gordon. "Real charmer, Gordon."

Gordon gave a worried laugh, scratching the back of his head as Wayne shook his other hand. "How are you tonight, Bruce?"

Taylor's phone went off as the two men talked. It was Fading away by Demon Hunter and normally it was only one person that called her.

"I've been fading away, I've been waiting on the call to reach my veins, Ready or not, No attention to waste, Every sorrow of the soul will read my name, When I cease to exist."

Bruce and Gordon both looked at her. "Give me one second." She hurried off to the balcony again and reached down the front of her shirt and into her bra. She didn't have a bag to go with this dress so there was nowhere else to keep her stuff.

"Off work all ready?"

"Yep. Cash came in early and gave me the rest of the night off since I gotta get right back up and come back in at 9 tomorrow morning." Her brother's voice reached her. "Look, I'm not going to sit down here in the car, waiting all night for you."

"Hush Dylan. And it's not your car, it's mine so you will wait until I get down there." She told him. She always had to be the adult between the two of them. "Give me a few moments to tell Gordon I'll see him at work Wednesday."

"All right. I'm down here."

Taylor gave a sigh and gripped the phone in her hand as she made her way back to her Boss. "That was Dylan. He got off early since he goes in tomorrow morning and he's waiting for me down stairs."

Gordon gave her a smile. "Thanks again for coming with me, Taylor. I appreciate it."

"It really wasn't a big deal. It was…entertaining." She grinned back before turning to Bruce. "It was nice to meet you Mr. Brune." Taylor held her hand out this time, ignoring as Gordon coughed 'Bruce'. "My apologies on having to leave before it was over."

"It's not a problem," Bruce assured her, taking a drink from the champagne glass that he was now holding.

"I will see you on Wednesday, boss." Taylor smiled at Gordon again.

"Same to you; and Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

The ride to the first floor in the elevator felt shorter than the ride up and she was glad when she saw her brother waiting on her.

Dylan Carmicheal was the taller, yet younger, of the twins with short golden brown hair and gray eyes. He was dressed in the black uniform of the Arkham Asylum guards as a silver Knight Chess piece hung from his left ear. He was sitting there in the white and blue Mustang, jamming to a cd. He turned it down when she slipped into the car. He took a glance at the dress before giving a soft smile.

"You should wear more of mom's stuff. Better than what you normally wear."

Taylor rolled her eyes as he pulled away from the building. "Hello to you too. My day at work was fine. How about yours?"

"What do you expect when you work hoarding the Arkham Asylum? The freaks in there annoy the hell out of me." Dylan told her, tapping on the wheel.

Taylor giggled. "Well, you wanted a high paying job. You can't get no higher than that in Gotham City."

"Yeah, don't remind me." He scoffed. He was normally like this when he was tired. "You still picking me up at work tomorrow?" Dylan asked her as he took off towards their apartment.

"9, right?"

"We still going out?"

"It's our birthday, isn't it? I'm not goin out for dinner on my own for our birthday, got it?"

Dylan gave a laugh at his sister. "Of course not. Why would I think that you would do that?"

Tomorrow was going to be a great day.