Batman Begins

Evelyn Rosier, CEO and founder of Rosier Technology, had just entered the newly retuned Bruce Wayne's home. For living by his self, besides his loyal butler, he surely did not need as many rooms as he had. Evelyn thought a nice garden, library, or even bigger kitchen would fill those empty, unused rooms quite nicely.

"Miss, may I take your coat?" An older British voice called from Evelyn's right side. Twisting towards the sound, Evelyn found an older gentleman, dressed in a tuxedo with a white towel draped over his posed arm. Very regal, and Evelyn couldn't help but wonder if this man would be open to working for her.

"Please, thank you." Evelyn spoke, taking off her coat and handing it over to the butler. "May I ask your name, sir?"

"Alfred, miss." Evelyn nodded, sent a simple smile towards Alfred before moving towards the party. Bruce Wayne decided to throw a birthday party for himself since he did miraculously return from the dead, according to Richard Earle, anyways.

Personally, Evelyn hated Richard Earle and was glad the man got kicked out. He was greedy and selfish, not at all the type of man Gotham needs to be leading Wayne Enterprise.

Setting her neatly wrapped gift on a covered table, Evelyn walked around the room, mingling with high society. She had just finished talking to an elderly couple, once close friends with Thomas Wayne, when an odd looking man caught her attention. He was wearing an all black suit, his hair was slicked back and he had facial hair covering his upper lip and middle of his chin descending into a stubbly beard. It was an odd look, but the man made it work.

Feeling eyes on her, Evelyn turned back to the elderly couple only to find a broad muscular chest. Her eyes drifted up the chest of the young man before finally reaching his slightly scarred and handsome face.

"May I help—Hey!" The man gripped Evelyn's arm, pulling her towards the man who caught Evelyn's eye before. Evelyn tried pulling her arm away, looking for someone to help her out of this situation.

"Do not worry, my dear. I only need to ask a favor." Once close enough to the man, he spoke. His words were cool and silky, a voice that one might commonly hear reading a book recording.

"You can't ask Muscles over here to do it?" Evelyn snipped back, her elbow still being tightly held on too. The man sent a smile her way, Evelyn thought it was creepy looking.

"Afraid not. I only need you to tell Bruce Wayne I am looking for him." Evelyn raised a brow, was this man so insecure of himself he couldn't approach Bruce Wayne?

She slowly nodded though, feeling the grip on her elbow lessen, before it completely disappeared. The man dipped his head in thanks before gesturing towards an unaware Bruce. Evelyn sent a suspicious look towards him before walking towards the black haired billionaire.

Evelyn had personally never met Bruce before but she had heard about him. His tendencies to have a woman hanging off of his arm, sometimes even two, and carefree attitude. Yet Evelyn had a strong inkling Bruce was more intelligent than he let others know. Evelyn, being a fellow philanthropist and donator to a better Gotham, knew about Bruce funding the Boys and Girls center. He alone helped hundreds of kids find better homes instead of living on the streets or turning to a life of crime. Evelyn found it hard to believe he acted like a toddler, especially when his actions show otherwise.

"Excuse me?" Evelyn interrupted the conversation Bruce was having with someone. He turned around, facing Evelyn with a cocked brow. "There is someone here who would like to speak with you." Evelyn stepped aside, revealing the man who once her arm, now standing by her side.

Bruce looked over the man, he seemed unaffected by the scar covering half his face.

"Who are you?" Bruce questioned, his hand sloshing a flute of champagne around.

"Ra's Al Ghul." Bruce sent a hard look towards the man.

"Ra's Al Ghul is dead."

"But is Ra's Al Ghul immortal...? Are his methods supernatural...?" The odd man, Ra's Al Ghul, appeared next to Evelyn's side. Evelyn sent a look towards Ra's before taking a step away.

A small clicking noise sounded from Ra's throat and before Evelyn knew what was happening, the scarred man, once again, gripped Evelyn's arm. Evelyn sent a seething look towards Ra's, wanting to be let go.

"I never said I would let you go, just that I needed you to get Bruce's attention." Evelyn sent a glare towards Ra's before Bruce took hold of his attention again.

"Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity... Ra's?" Ra's smiles in acknowledgment to Bruce's guess.

"Surely you don't begrudge me dual identities?" Ra's Al Ghul walks Bruce through the dwindling party as he speaks. Evelyn and his goon following behind the pair.

"I've been admiring your work, even as it's interfered with my plans..." Ra's Al Ghul looks at Bruce with a tinge of sadness. "You were my greatest student... Until you betrayed me." Evelyn noticed the almost fond look on Ra's face as he thought back to Bruce being his student. Evelyn noticed Bruce looking around the room, following his lead she noticed several party goers staring straight at them, all dressed impeccably in matching suit and tie.

'More students of his, I would guess.' Evelyn thought. Her eyes narrowed, this would be a tough situation to get herself out of.

"Your quarrel is with me. Let these people and Evelyn go." Bruce sternly looked at Ra's before giving a quick glance towards Evelyn. A moment passed before Evelyn felt her brows pull together in question. She never told Bruce her name, nor had she ever talked to the man before.

"Everyone but Ms. Evelyn here. But they don't have long to live—your antics at the Asylum have forced my hand..."

"Crane was working for you." Bruce's face reminded her of when she managed to solve a riddle, a pathetically easy one, judging by Bruce's look of frustration towards himself.

"His toxin is derived from the organic compound in our blue poppies. Crane was able to weaponize the compound. A brilliant scientist, but no visionary. He just wanted money and power—" Ra's smiles as he thinks back to his discussion with Crane, "—I told him the plan was to hold the city to ransom... but, in fact—"

"You're going to unleash Crane's poison on the entire city..." Bruce's eyes widen in realization of his plan. Evelyn was slightly confused. Jonathon Crane worked at Arkham Asylum before being found out to have been using patients as subjects in his experiments. Rachel Dawes played a part in Cranes demise, if Evelyn remembered correctly.

"Then watch Gotham tear itself apart through fear..." Ra's nods as he thinks of Gotham destroying itself from the inside out. Evelyn was shocked as Ra's talked, clearly he lacked sanity along with humanity. Ra's told Bruce to have the party guests leave and Bruce, to his credit, looked unsure if he wanted potential witnesses to leave. That was until Ra's threatened to kill them. Bruce sent the man an enraged glare before walking away from both him and Evelyn.

"Hello everyone. I wanted to thank you all for coming and spending my money—" Bruce chuckled as if it was a joke before turning serious again, "—But seriously, thank you all for being greedy little leeches. When I look around this room I see people who are only here for money and power. So, if that is you, please see yourself out the door because I have little tolerance for you. Thank you." Everyone at the party stared at Bruce in hatred before walking out, Earle even going as far as saying Thomas, Bruce's father, would be disappointed in Bruce.

"You're going to destroy millions of lives." Bruce spoke when their little group plus the other people who knew Ra's were the only ones. Ra's Al Ghul smiled before shaking his head.

"No. Billions of lives. Gotham is just the beginning. The world will watch in terror as the greatest city falls. Anarchy and chaos will spread... mankind will ravage itself, the species will be culled and the balance of nature restored. The planet will be saved for all species." Bruce and Evelyn stared at Ra's appalled with his true intentions. This man had a serious distorted view of fixing the world.

"You're inhuman." Bruce simply spoke and Evelyn couldn't agree more with Bruce. While the manor now lacked civilians to get in harms way, Evelyn made no move to remove herself from her captor. Not when this could be her in, to finally find out if her theory of who Bruce Wayne truly is, is correct. It's the only reason she came to this stupid party anyways.

"Don't question my humanity, Bruce when I found you in that fetid hole you were lost. I saved you- I showed you a path and took away your fear- I made you what you are. And in return... you attacked me and burned my home..." Ra's looks to his men in the gallery and nods. The men start pouring gasoline onto the floor and walls while another sets fire to anything flammable.

"Since then, you've used my skills and techniques to interfere with my plans, plans in which you were supposed to play a part..." Ra's admits his disappointment in Bruce and his actions. Evelyn was still being tightly held by Ra's goon and her arm was starting to bruise. Flames rose up around them in swirls of red and orange. Evelyn felt her body temperature rise as sweat started to form on her brow.

"What part was that, Ra's? To put my company at your disposal? To obtain your microwave emitter and plant it somewhere in Gotham?" Bruce asked. Ra's smiled and nodded.

"You were supposed to be Gotham's destroyer... instead you became her only protector." Evelyn felt her face flush as the room reached higher temperatures. Evelyn found herself internally smiling though, weird considering she may potentially die, but the chances of her being right just sky rocketed and Evelyn loved proving her theories correct.

"You underestimate Gotham."

"You underestimate Gotham's corruption. We've infiltrated every aspect of the city's infrastructure..." The flames surrounding Evelyn and Bruce reach the ceiling, Evelyn seeing the air grow thick with smoke. It was almost suffocating to breathe.

"Gotham is helpless without you. That's why I'm here." Evelyn felt her face twist at Ra's comment, did Ra's not realize that Gotham had survived without Bruce Wayne the past seven years? She almost wanted to ask Ra's to give them a bit more credit.

"To kill me?" Evelyn's eyes widened at Bruce's flat statement. Was he trying to suggest Ra's kill him? Evelyn would have to have a talk with Bruce about offering psychopaths the chance to murder him.

If they even survive this.

"To bring you back to us, Bruce. The world will need great men like you—" Ra's looked sadden by Bruce's words, almost as if he was hurt Bruce would think Ra's only wanted to kill him.

"To take power."

"This is not about power... this is about saving the planet before man destroys it with his greed, with his pollution, with his weaponry..." Ra's extends his hand, one of his goons throwing him a sword before Ra's passed it to Bruce. He took hold of Bruce's hand and positioned the sword to point directly at his throat. Evelyn tensed slightly, Ra's clearly wasn't a good man and deserved to die, but taking another's life, that changes a person.

"You still doubt me? Apply a few pounds of pressure... buy your precious city a reprieve." Ra's looked into Wayne's eyes with absolute conviction. Bruce looked to Evelyn for some reason, Evelyn silently shook her head no. This would make him no better than the criminals he stops.

"Kill me. Then you'll understand how simple it is to do what's necessary." Bruce holds the sword at Ra's throat, debating. Evelyn can't help but hope the conversation speeds up a tad. The flames were starting to get a little too close for Evelyn's comfort level.

"I will not take life. I will not be a part of this." Bruce lowered the sword, staring at Ra's defiantly. Evelyn internally awed at Bruce's ability to stay true to his morals, even when offered up an easy solution. Not many would take the harder path when an easier one is close by.

"But you already are. You've given Gotham a potent symbol of fear..."

"I frighten criminals." Bruce spoke with conviction, making it sound like what he does is alright since it only affects some.

"You frighten everybody. A giant vengeful bat? What better apocalyptic symbol to haunt Gothams' dreams as panic takes hold?" Evelyn was right, Bruce Wayne is the vigilante of Gotham. The one that just so happened to appear after Bruce Wayne's return. The vigilante equipped with high tech weapons, gear, and suit with only one logical place to get obtain them: Wayne Enterprises — since Rosier technology wasn't an option.

"No." Bruce gave a stern yet simple answer to Ra's. Ra's gave Bruce one more disappointing shake of his head before nodding in acceptance.

"Then die with Gotham."