"The simple act of caring is heroic."

Batman was perched on his usual spot; on top of an office building across from the GCPD precinct. It was nearing 11:00pm, and seeing as Alex began at 3:00pm, she should be off any minute now. He wasn't stalking her. He was simply doing his job, which was protecting the people of Gotham. Watching out for people. He had just gotten out of the Wayne Manor around 30 minutes ago, and decided to begin his nightly patrol here, with her. He felt more alert than usual.

A nagging feeling tugged at his brain. Bat didn't do this for Gordon. And they have known each other longer. He didn't keep watch for him when he finished his shifts. Very, insanely deep down he knew why he was doing this, but he pushed those thoughts and feelings aside. He considered Alex his partner, since now Jim Gordon had moved up into his Commissioner status, not just Detective Jim Gordon anymore. He needed her to catch the Joker. She needed him, he supposed.

Suddenly, Alex catches his eye. She's walking through the front doors of the building, hair blowing around in the cool September breeze, covering her face and line of vision. She pauses and looks down at the watch on her wrist. She begins walking in the opposite direction of the parking lot; which now throws Bat off slightly. His eyes trail to the parking lot, seeing her car not there. Perhaps it was getting work done? She hadn't mentioned this last time they spoke. Why would she? That's not relevant to him.  She begins to make her way towards the subway station. He walks all the top of the building, eyes trained on her.

As she rounds the corner, Bat's anxiety flares once he sees a group of rowdy looking men with cans of spray paint, laughing together, painting on the brick wall. As soon as she's in their line of vision, they pause, all attention on her. Shit. Some are wearing clown face paint, some thin, shitty little plastic clown masks. Followers.

Alex glances up, her eyes previously trained onto the wet sidewalk, now on these men. She sees that they see her. She brushes away the immediate bad thoughts she gets and just continues on her way to the subway station. Such an inconvenience that her car battery was dead today when she went to start it. Alex keeps her head down, stepping off the sidewalk so she doesn't have to be near them.

"Hey pretty." One calls out. She shakes her head and decides to ignore him. "It's rude to ignore people, darling." He comments immediately. Alex picks up her pace. Suddenly, the biggest one of the group steps onto the road in front of her.

"What? Can't speak or something?" The man in front of her asks. She goes to the sidestep but he's just as fast.

"I'm not interested." She simply answers, monotone.

"Don't believe that." Another replies. She glanced up at the big guy in front of her. "We compliment you, and you're rude."

"I didn't ask for a compliment." Alex sighs. She contemplates just grabbing her gun from her holster. But that should maybe be a last resort. Pulling guns on strangers isn't a good look. They haven't done anything very wrong yet, they are just creeps.

Batman refrains from swooping down there and kicking all 3 men in the teeth. But he waits, seeing as they haven't gone to touch her just yet. From what he can see, they're talking. He's hoping she's using that smart mouth of hers to tell them off. But again, he can't tell. Alex looks incredibly annoyed.

"With a body like that? Please." The clown pauses. "You're practically asking for it." Alex makes a bold step forward but the man pushes her backwards, into the arms of the other two, who take her by each arm. Their grip starts becoming deathly tight like pythons. Unexpected to them, Alex jerks her right arm free from one's grasp, and slaps her now open fist in the other's face, causing him to also let go.

"I'm a fucking detective with the GCPD, try that shit again and I'll have you all arrested." She seethes, reaching for the gun on her hip. Just as she pulls it free from the holster, the big guy behind grabs her upper arms, pulling her backwards. Her gun messily tumbles from her grip from the sudden movement. The two others, who previously grabbed her, both lurched forward to grab her pistol. They aren't quick enough.

All too quickly, Batman uses his grapple, imbedding it into one of the guys, yanking him backwards onto the wet pavement. This grabs the attention of the second one, distracted from reaching the pistol.  Alex, struggling in the tall man' grip, looks up and sees her partner. She's relieved, but also annoyed. How did he get here so quickly? Her suspicions are correct though, he's been following her.

Batman swoops down and while one clown is on the ground, he grabs the dumbfounded one, delivering a swift couple of punches to the face, knocking him to the ground, groaning in pain. He then goes for the other he grappled, mincing the same actions onto him. Alex suddenly breaks free from the 3rd guy, who's in complete shock seeing Batman this close, pummeling his friends. Alex hurriedly grabs her gun from the ground and I clicks the safety, pulling it on the third. She holds it point blank in his face, barely an inch away from making contact with his skin. He's now fear stricken. "Back the fuck up." She screams.

"Flores, don't." Bat mumbles from behind her. He walks up behind, towering over her. He reaches an arm around her torso, then his free hand forward and places it on top of the pistol, lowering it down. He eyes the man, wordlessly telling him to get lost. The guy makes a run for it in the opposite direction.

"Let go." She whines, trying to get out of his hold. She thrashes around wildly, with the gun in her hand, safety still off. She was heightened, adrenaline coursing through her from the interaction.

"Not until you relax." He finally rips the pistol from her hand, and clicks the safety off, letting it fall onto the pavement. He wraps his other arm around her, applying some pressure. Her movements slowly slightly. He unlatches himself from her and she beelines away from his proximity.

Alex's chest is heaving, her eyes blown open wide.  Her eyes scan the area, now all three men are gone and it's just the two of them on the empty street. Rain beating down on them, under the dimly lit street light. She counts some of these things around her to relax. She seethes in anger, staring at him. Her eyes flicker down to the pistol, naturally she goes to grab it but he places his heavy boot over top.

"What the fuck man?" She cries, angry tears welling in her eyes.

"What?" Bat then asks, confused.

"I could have put a bullet in that guy's face." She yells belligerently.

"Then you're stooping to that level. Killing someone for putting hands on you. That's not you, that's not right." He explains calmly.

"Why am I the bad guy right now? They were gonna probably each have their way with me, then probably try to kill me when they were finished with me." She yells, approaching him. Batman doesn't budge. She's trying to intimidate him but obviously it wasn't going to work. "Did you not see how they grabbed me? I'm not the bad guy."

She was clearly reliving something at the moment. Obviously Alex has been at the hands of abuse many times. It makes sense she's defensive. All he wants is for her to calm down. Hot tears are dripping down her cheeks, mixing with rain drops.

"I'm not saying you're the bad guy. But you would be if you killed one of them." Bat explains, staring down at her. Her eyes glare up into his. Slowly, her breathing goes back to baseline. She uses her blazer sleeve and wipes the tears from her red, splotchy cheeks.

"Why are you even here?" Now she's going for it. But it doesn't hurt him, it just deflects off him. "You fucking following me around now? For what, huh? I don't need a bodyguard."

"You were outnumbered. It was good I was here to help." Bat simply replies.

"I don't need your help." She was stubborn. She knows his help was what saved her ass, that is the last thing she wants to admit though. Again, the trauma, the painful memories, manifesting into this hateful episode she was currently experiencing.

"It's not bad to ask for help sometimes, you're not invincible." He sighs. "You were outnumbered." Maybe repeating himself would help her understand his intentions. Alex glances up through her soaked lashes, staring directly into his navy eyes. Unsure of what was compelling him, he gently reaches up and places gentle hands on her shoulders. Comfort immediately envelopes her. Their physical contact was minimal, but it felt natural.

Alex tilts her jaw upwards, suddenly becoming aware of their close proximity. Bat's eyes are searching through hers for any sort of signal, indication, trying to read her. Her sudden mood change threw him off. Her face was soft. Deflated anger now turned to melancholy with a tinge of curiosity. Her eyes trail down to his mouth that's pressed into a firm line. His eyes mimic hers.

Without a thought, Alex rises onto her tiptoes, her lips aching to touch his. Bat meets her halfway.

The initial contact is wet from the rain, and warm from their bodies temperament. She hesitantly reaches her empty hands forward, latching around his torso. Bat instinctively uses his hands which were initially holding her shoulders, to pull her close, her body now pressed against his. Their lips mold together, tenderly moving together in sync. Losing himself in the moment, he reaches a gloved hand up and hesitantly, ever so gently, places it on her neck. She melts into his touch.

Suddenly, a loud crack of light bursts through the sky, causing the two to jump away from each other. Their lips were red and swollen, breaths shallow. Around them, the rain seemed to pour harder, thunder now heard rumbling in the distance.

"I'll walk you home."