Tommy had been asking himself two questions a lot the past few days:
1) "How is Black Mask gaining so much new territory?"
2) "What am I going to do when the real Batman comes back?"
The first one was the more urgent query. Tommy had done well in his battle against the new mob bosses that were fighting to take The Penguin's place. He (well, Huntress) had cut off Great White Shark's money supply, Two-Face would most likely go into hiding after Tommy had disrupted his drug shipment at the port this very night, but Black Mask... well, Black Mask was actually expanding his territory. Tommy wasn't sure where the gangster was getting his resources; for every den Tommy busted, two more seemed to take its place. And the men Black Mask was using weren't common thugs, they seemed to work with almost military precision. Tommy was stumped.
But the second question had been burning in the back of his mind for some time. He had abandoned the cowl after Batgirl's accident without realizing that he had little money, job prospects, or future. He knew that eventually, hopefully, the other Batman would return. There was little doubt in Tommy's mind that Batman wouldn't appreciate his rather unique method of fighting crime. Tommy needed to set up some sort of nest egg for himself.
He wouldn't steal, of course; his experience as Batman had given him that much of a moral compass. But how could he raise himself some money, just in case? Tommy thought.
'I do know a lot about Batman,' Tommy thought. He knew the location of his hideout, who at least one of his partners was, the real Batman's identity...
'No,' Tommy shook his head. He couldn't do that to Batman. Tommy owed him everything. He couldn't betray that trust.
Tommy continued to think. Finally it hit him: he couldn't divulge any secrets about Batman, but he did know quite a few secrets about some villains. He could potentially sell some secrets about their fighting styles, their lairs, and who they paid off.
Tommy fired up the computer in the Batcave. He needed to find a reporter. And as he thought about his nights watching Channel 4 News, he knew just which one to e-mail...
***
On the roof of the her station, Vicki Vale shivered. She was feeling kind of stupid. 8 hours ago, she had received a mysterious e-mail telling her to be on top of her building at Midnight if she wanted to hear about a scoop about this city's underbelly. Vicki got e-mails like this all the time; there were always crackpots trying to sell her a story or a batarang that they swear they didn't buy in a novelty store or something like that.
This e-mail was different, though. For one, it didn't have a return address. Vicki had sweet talked the IT guy on her floor into trying to run a trace on the e-mail but he found nothing. For another, it had a very distinctive signature. It read:
"Sincerely,
Batman"
Vicki knew it was probably a dumb joke by someone else in the office. She knew it couldn't be real. But if it was... she had to risk it. Vicki had recently made some allegations against Commissioner Gordon that had ended up not being exactly truthful. She had managed to hold onto her job but just barely; she knew she needed a big story soon if she wanted to get back into her boss's good graces.
But now, as she shivered in the cold, she thought she had been hit with another setback. She felt stupid, especially standing there dressed as she was. She was supposed to have a date with a mid-level member of the mayor's cabinet that she was "pumping" for information that night but she had cancelled. She hadn't been able to make it home to change, though, and the slinky cocktail dress she had on didn't provide much warmth. Vicki luckily had a trench coat in her office but her legs were freezing.
Brushing some of her bangs out of her face, Vicki swore. She looked at her watch and saw that it was 12:15.
"Another Goddamned dead end," Vicki said to herself. She turned and headed towards the door to the roof.
"Sorry I'm late," a voice called behind her. Vicki jumped and wheeled herself around.
"Batman..." Vicki breathed. She couldn't believe it: Batman was standing in front of her. Vicki had been chasing this ghost for almost 8 years now, ever since she was a kid running the crime beat. Her gossip column wouldn't seem to be very much in line with Batman but, when you thought about it, wasn't knowing who Batman was the ultimate piece of gossip? Vicki had been researching for years but hadn't come up with anything. She had even dated Bruce Wayne for a while back when she suspected he was Batman but she dumped him when he turned out to be just as vain and oblivious as her stories made him to be.
But now, here he was. She looked closely at him, trying to get some kind of sign to tip his identity. He was standing in the light but somehow his face was shrouded in shadow. 'Just my luck,' Vicki thought.
"I got your e-mail," Vicki said aloud. She couldn't tell if she was shivering from the cold or the excitement running through her body. Everyone wanted to meet Batman. Vicki and her girlfriends had all shared a common dream that they had; one where Batman had come in through their windows to save them from an intruder, before taking them in his big arms and-
"I need your help," Batman said, interrupting Vicki's train of thought. She felt a jolt as she processed his words. 'Batman needs my help...?' She thought.
"I might be able to help you," She said, trying to sound confident," Depending on what you can do for me. What's the deal?"
Batman stared at her silently for a moment. Then he spoke. "I'm running a little short on capital at the moment. I need money. You need a story. I thought we could help each other."
Vicki forgot to breathe for a moment. 'An exclusive with BATMAN,' She thought. She was counting her regional Emmys in her head already. Fuck the Emmy's; she was looking at a Goddamn Pulitzer. Just like that bitch Loi-
"Hold on a minute!" A voice called out behind Vicki. Turning, Vicki saw who it was and her heart sunk:
It was that bitch Lois Lane.
***
Lois strode confidently towards Batman and Vicki Vale. She counted her good fortune that they were still meeting. If there was an important story going on, Lois wanted to be in the middle of it.
It had been a strange 24 hours for Lois Lane. She had started the morning the same way she started most of her mornings; she checked her e-mail and voice mail, hoping for some word from Clark. He had been gone for months now, and the only explanation Lois had gotten was some mumbled excuse about having to "run down a lead." She worried about him.
She also worried about the absence of Superman. He had disappeared shortly after Clark did and the people of Metropolis were getting nervous. Crime was still down, at least; other superheroes like Superboy and Steel had taken a more prominent role in town. But it was still uncomfortable to look up into the sky and not see the red streak of Superman's cape. Lois wasn't sure who she missed more, Clark or Superman.
In the meantime, Lois had kept herself busy tracking down leads on the most powerful man in Metropolis; there was something that bothered her about Lex Luthor. He was a famous philanthropist but Lois knew that his thin veneer of charm hid something far more sinister. She had been looking into his holdings, tracking down leads, and had run into a common problem for someone in her line of work:
Someone had tried to kill her.
It had happened while she was crossing the street. A car had suddenly burst through a red light and tried to take out Lois. She dove out of the way, just missing the car as it swerved to hit her. The car had swerved too much, though, losing control and slamming into ta light pole. Lois had quickly run to the unconscious driver and checked his pockets before the ambulance or police had arrived. In the man's pocket she had found a fake driver's license, a roll of quarters and a train ticket to Gotham City.
On a hunch, Lois used a contact in the Metropolis Police Department to run the man's fingerprints through the system. The name had come up as a common henchman working under Black Mask.
'That's strange. Why would a Gotham mobster want to stop me from looking into Lex Luthor?' Lois thought. She decided she was going to find out. Where better to start than with Batman?
Compared to trying to follow Superman, following Batman was relatively easy for the reporter. She simply followed the ambulance calls. At the 3rd one she had seen his cape disappearing over the side of the building; she followed him from the street until she saw him disappear on top of the Channel 4 News building.
'But why was Batman meeting with this...' Lois didn't want to call Vicki Vale a reporter. She had no respect for Vicki Vale's talent. Vicki was a social climber and a gossip; she didn't have Lois's nose for scoops and her drive for honest reporting. And everyone had heard the rumors about how Vicki had found her way on camera.
Even now, while in the presence of the 2nd best superhero in the world (in Lois's opinion), Vicki was dressed like a slut. A thin white cocktail dress glimpsed out from underneath Vicki's thick coat, and she wore high heels. Her face was covered with far too much make-up; no doubt Vicki was heading to meet one of her "sources" after she met with Batman. Lois shook her head.
Compared to Vicki Vale, Lois was positively underdressed. Her tan pantsuit was professional yet comfortable, her shoes economical. Lois's blouse was opened to the 3rd button, showing just the barest hint of cleavage. She had long ago given up trying to prevent men from staring at her chest and figured hey, at the very least it might distract them enough that they'd slip up and say something incriminating.
"I'm Lois Lane, Batman," Lois said cursorily, eager to get the pleasantries out of the way. "I work for the Daily Planet. I have a few questions about Black Ma-"
"Um, excuse me," Vicki cut in, clearly annoyed. "Batman and I were in the middle of something. He was about to give me a scoop on..." Vicki's voice trailed off. She had clearly said too much.
"Scoop?" Lois said, her eyebrows raised. "What scoop? Batman, I promise you that there is nothing this woman can do for you that my paper couldn't do for you tenfold."
Lois was surprised that Batman seemed kind of confused. She had expected him to be more confident. "Uh, well... I don't know, it depends on what you can offer."
"Well I think that depends on what YOU'RE offering," Lois retorted.
