"Lex, Chief Gordon wants to see you."
Selena delivered the message like it was a subpoena.
Lex handed the last piece of candy to a freckled kid who looked like he hadn't smiled in weeks. The boy clutched it like it was gold.
"Enjoy," Lex said.
The children dispersed in a wave of chatter and sugar-fueled joy. For a moment—just a moment—the manor didn't feel like a refugee fortress in a collapsing city.
It felt almost normal.
Barbara lingered nearby, arms folded. "You're good with them."
Lex shrugged. "They're easy. No politics. No hidden agendas."
She gave him a look that said she wasn't entirely convinced.
"Dad's upstairs," she said.
Lex nodded and headed toward the grand staircase.
Wayne Manor had changed overnight. Hallways once lined with priceless art now held cots and medical stations. Volunteers moved briskly, organizing supplies. Armed watch posts had been set up near every major entrance.
This wasn't a mansion anymore.
It was a stronghold.
He knocked once on the study door before entering.
Chief James Gordon stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back. The early light cut across his tired face, etching the lines deeper than usual.
Selena leaned against the far wall, arms crossed.
Gordon turned.
"Lex Williams," he said evenly. "Have a seat."
Lex didn't miss the way Selena's eyes tracked him the entire time.
He sat.
Gordon didn't.
"Selena filled me in," Gordon began. "Arkham. Poison Ivy. The unidentified individual you encountered."
"Henry Ducard," Lex said.
Gordon's jaw tightened slightly. "Allegedly."
"You think it wasn't him?" Lex asked.
"I think," Gordon replied carefully, "that Gotham has a long history of ghosts wearing familiar faces."
Fair.
Lex leaned back slightly. "He fought like a master."
Selena added, "And he knew exactly what he was doing."
Gordon studied Lex. "You held your own."
"I've had practice."
"With what?" Selena cut in.
Lex smiled faintly. "Stage combat."
Selena rolled her eyes.
Gordon didn't.
"Let's address the bigger issue," Gordon said. "If Ducard is alive, and if he's moving freely through Arkham during this outbreak, that suggests organization."
"Shadow operatives," Selena said. "I saw signs of them earlier."
Lex nodded. "Blood on the vines. Likely ninjas Ivy turned into fertilizer."
Gordon exhaled slowly. "Which means someone attempted an extraction."
"And failed," Lex said.
"For now," Selena corrected.
Silence settled.
Gordon finally moved behind the desk—Bruce Wayne's desk—and rested his hands on it.
"Wayne entrusted this place to me before communications went dark," he said. "Food is limited. Ammunition more so. Every decision we make matters."
His eyes locked onto Lex.
"You've proven yourself capable."
Selena's posture stiffened slightly at that.
Gordon continued, "You've also proven unpredictable."
Lex didn't deny it.
"That unpredictability saved lives at Arkham," Gordon said. "But inside these walls, I need clarity."
"You want to know what I am," Lex said.
"I want to know what you intend to be," Gordon corrected.
That was sharper.
Lex considered his answer carefully.
"I intend to survive," he said calmly. "And I intend to make sure the people under this roof do the same."
Selena watched him closely.
Gordon held his gaze for several seconds.
Then nodded once.
"That's good enough for now."
Selena pushed off the wall. "You're trusting him?"
"I'm trusting results," Gordon replied.
He turned back to Lex. "We're forming patrol units. Scouting runs. Supply retrieval. Defensive rotations."
"You want me in the field," Lex said.
"Yes."
Selena scoffed softly. "He just got back."
"And he came back alive," Gordon said.
That ended that.
Gordon slid a folded map across the desk.
"Reports of movement near the financial district. Possible survivor cluster. Possible hostile group."
"Or infected concentration," Selena added.
"Exactly," Gordon said.
Lex glanced at the map.
The financial district meant high-rises. Tight corridors. Limited escape routes.
Fun.
"When do we move?" he asked.
Gordon's eyes flicked toward the window. Dawn was just breaking fully.
"Two hours," he said. "Rest. Prepare."
Lex stood.
As he reached the door, Gordon spoke again.
"One more thing."
Lex paused.
"Selena tells me you insisted Ivy be decapitated."
Lex didn't look back. "Precaution."
Gordon's voice remained steady. "If that kind of precaution becomes necessary here… you bring it to me first."
There it was.
The line.
Lex nodded once. "Understood."
He stepped out into the hallway.
Selena followed.
They walked in silence for several steps before she spoke.
"You enjoy this, don't you?"
"Candy distribution?"
"The control."
Lex glanced at her. "You mistake composure for control."
"You mistake secrets for strength," she countered.
He stopped walking.
"So what do you want, Selena?"
She stepped closer.
"I want to know what happens when your interests stop aligning with ours."
Lex's expression didn't change.
"They won't."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
For a moment, tension hung between them—sharp, electric.
Then a volunteer hurried past carrying medical supplies, breaking the spell.
Selena stepped back first.
"Two hours," she said. "Don't disappear."
"Wasn't planning to."
She walked off.
Lex continued down the hall toward a quieter wing of the manor.
Once alone, he flexed his fingers again.
A thin ivy strand creeping along the window frame twitched in response.
Better.
More responsive now.
He focused harder.
The vine slid two inches to the left.
He released control immediately.
Power like this needed discipline.
He pulled up the system interface in his mind.
Experience total had jumped significantly after Arkham.
Not enough to level again—but close.
Very close.
If Ducard was truly active in Gotham, then stronger enemies were coming.
And if the virus continued mutating—
Lex exhaled slowly.
He needed more.
More experience. More abilities. More leverage.
Downstairs, children laughed again—sugar highs colliding with apocalypse reality.
Upstairs, Gordon was organizing a city's last line of defense.
Somewhere out there, Henry Ducard was building something of his own.
Gotham wasn't collapsing randomly.
It was being reshaped.
Lex looked out across the manor grounds, where armed volunteers were reinforcing barricades.
He didn't know yet whether he would become this city's protector.
Or its most efficient survivor.
But one thing was certain.
He wasn't going to be weak.
And he wasn't going to lose.
....
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