𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 -

Bruce took my phone off me and told me he would get rid of it for me and give me a new phone in the morning and I thanked him with tears in my eyes, I didn't cry but the fact I was so close to death to be used in a scheme was terrifying.

I wake up to the sun beaming through the window and heating my skin, I sat up and walked over to the wardrobe to see a collection of my clothes that was merged with both mine and Bruce's mothers clothing with new clothing also hidden in there.

I sighed and walked over to my bag and opened it to see my suit was still there and felt a wave of relief wash over me, I grabbed my bag and walked to the garage and realised how empty the house was with how big it was and only 3 people being here.

I had casual clothing on already so I put my bag in the corner of the room then walked into the study to see Alfred sat there reading the mail, I wave morning to him and he smiles and waves morning back to me as I walk away to the kitchen.

I grab some cereal and pored myself some with a faint smile on my face, I was hardly a morning person and would often sleep in because of all the nights I went out as Ghost to solve crime like Batman did but Riddler is proving how useless our actions were in the long-term.

"Morning Y/N," Bruce said.

I snapped out of my thoughts to realise I was just staring at a dry bowl of cereal and looked up at Bruce and smiled, I had a bad habit of zoning out whilst in my thoughts and I was working on trying to stop it.

I waved morning to him and poured some milk in my cereal then took it into the dining room to eat, only when I start to eat the cereal do I realise how little I have eaten over the past few days so I quickly finished my cereal due to how hungry I was.

I cleaned and dried my bowl then helped Alfred with jobs around the house for the rest of the day until there it was getting dark and I knew I had to go outside, I didn't want to just run out and have Alfred and Bruce panic all night so I took Alfred to the garage and showed him my suit and told him to not tell anyone and he agreed.

I thanked Alfred then put my suit on and drove out into Gotham on my bike after he said I could, I look up to the sky whilst the rain was heavy to see the bat signal so I quickly drive to the meet-up spot to see Gordon stood there.

"Batman wants to meet us at one of Mitchell's properties," Gordon says.

I nod my head and jump off the building and Gordon ran to the edge to make sure I didn't get hurt, I grab onto the edge of a part of the building then swung myself so I landed on the bike causing Gordon to sigh and walk down to his car and we drove there.

We arrived at the garage and I parked my bike next to Bat's as Gordon pulled into one of the empty parking spots, I walked over to Bat's to see a cipher in his hand and Gordon walked up to us not long later.

"What are we doing here?" Gordon asked, clearly confused.

Batman gave me the cipher and read it, I passed it back to Batman and walked off looking at each pair of tires on the cars for bloody sheers stabbed into them.

I found the car and realised I couldn't shout for them to come over or else they might think I was hurt or that it was a threat so I stepped out into the middle and spotted Batman, I stood next to him which caught his attention so I gestured him to follow me and lead him to the car and pointed at the bloody sheers.

Batman shouted Gordon over as I opened the door and sat in the car looking around, I was looking for a USB port and soon spotted the USB but it had Mitchell's thumb tied to it with a piece of string and when you looked at the USB it required the thumb print to unlock it.

Gordon looked at it disgusted whilst Bat and I acted like it was a normal day, I passed it to Bat and we drove to Gordon's office or something as we gathered around a small laptop and plugged the USB in. 

When the password prompt pops up I roll my eyes and press the thumb on the thumbprint mark on it, pictures of Mitchell and an unknown woman flash up on the screen and I recognize Penguin in the photo.

It was outside of Iceberg lounge but the angle of the photos would of came from the apartment's opposite of it meaning that Riddler either lived in one of those apartments or he had a source, I go to speak up but soon 'message sent' was displayed on the laptop causing Gordon to panic.

He opened his emails for it to send the photos to every news source within Gotham but that wasn't my main concern but rather was Penguin was in that photo, Falcone's right hand man in a way which is what worried me the most.

"Pete's going to kill me," Gordon sighs.

I look at the angle of the photo that was taken and try to visualise what the street looked like but due to the fact I would rarely visit it for a club being nearby, I couldn't remember anything and wouldn't be able to say the floor that the photo was taken from and looking through an entire building of apartments would give Riddler more time.

"I'll talk to the penguin," Batman spoke.

The iceberg lounge, alone? That was a death wish.

"You'd get yourself killed in seconds," I responded, my robotic voice threw them off.

They both looked at me confused and surprised when I spoke and Batman reluctantly agreed to take me to the Iceberg lounge with him but I didn't mention anything to do with the apartments as I thought he would of noticed, we arrived at the club and I could tell that a lot of trouble would happen here as I hear the music from outside but it was muffled.

We walk up to the door and Batman knocks loudly and one of the employees opened the door then looked at us in disgust, this reaction told me everything I needed to know about this club.

"We're here to speak with Penguin," Batman spoke.

The worker grows a smug grin and scoffs at us, we both knew that Penguin owned this place and I knew he wouldn't leave unless it was something important as he was under Falcone's watch.

"There ain't a penguin," He scoffs and closes the door.

I could tell Batman had now lost his patience but it didn't surprise me he lost it easily due to all the pressure of the case and the fact that majority of the police force hated him, the door opens again and before the men get to spit another word out Batman punches them in the nose and I panic and punch them other dude in the nose and stomp on a random metal pole I found on the floor.

I catch it whilst it's air borne as one of them stand up I swing the pole in their face causing them to fall back to the floor, one of the guards grab my arm so I kick them in the stomach then swing the pole to hit them in the head again.

The flashing lights and loud music wasn't make it easy to fight but when I looked to see Batman he was having to deal with multiple people so I jumped over the railing and drop kicked one of them down the stairs, Batman signalled for me to look for Penguin so I grabbed the railing and threw myself up to the level that Penguin's hideout would be.

I land on the level only to have one person cause me trouble so I swung my arm at them for them to dodge and they landed a hit on me, I kicked their side then grabbed them and shoved them against the railing which lead them to falling but it was only going to break a bone or two.

Bat soon caught up and stood in front of me and looked around then started marching down a hallway so I followed him, he opened the door and it slammed against the hinges as Batman had opened it that harshly.

I stand there in silence as Batman just walked into the room and Penguin's smile soon grew on his face as Batman charged into his office whilst I walked in calmly, I look around his office to see the flashing lights glide through the glass but I saw people in the police force in the area that was crawling with criminals.

Batman slammed the photos onto the desk.

"Who is she?" He demanded.

The penguin took a glance at the photos and I see recognition glitter in his eyes for a moment before it soon disappeared, he was studying the photos but he clearly weren't looking at the woman but everything else in the photos. 

"I don't know," Penguin lied.

His obvious lie has sent a sudden boost of adrenaline in my body and I gave him an annoyed and disgusted look, I could tell Penguin was smiling underneath his fake persona he was giving us.

"Lies," I spoke up.

Penguin seemed surprised I talked whilst Bat didn't take a glance towards me but was mostly studying Penguin's behaviour, possibly trying to analyse the situation to see what information he could get out of as he did work for Falcone and a little slip could get him dead.

"I thought you didn't talk," Penguin grinned.

He thought getting me to talk was an achievement and was a trophy he had won which annoyed me but I couldn't go punching Penguin, we didn't know the type of connection he had with this woman and I was assuming it was one of the women who worked here due to his ability to lie so easily.

Gotham requires good liars to be this high though, I looked out of the window once more and saw the woman for a moment but she soon disappeared into the crowd as it was so busy.

I continue scanning the crowds for her and realise that she was leaving but I soon snapped back to reality and decided to act now rather than dwell on it and walked out of the office causing Penguin to grin as Bat turned his head in confusion, Bat followed me as I jumped off the railing and raced to the same exit the girl had gone.

I grabbed the girls hand and it caught her off guard, she quickly turned to face me and Bat soon caught up and stood behind me.

"Ghost?" She asked, confused.

I admit that I did know her all along but it was only because I beat up someone trying to rob her once and she thanked me, she seemed happy to see me but also confused when she saw the Bat behind me.

"I hate to do this but, can I call in that favour?" I ask.

She smiled as if she was happy to hear I was finally cashing in on the favour she gave me.

"Sure, what is it?" She grinned.

𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧: 26.03.22

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