Through a Glass Darkly [Alice]

[Alice Challen]

"You're too good for me to disarm quickly. I have to take you seriously. But as far as I know you're not a criminal. So I don't want to hurt you." As she spoke she kept swinging. She was worried the man would use the conversation as an opening to distract and incapacitate her. But she had to give him the option. She really didn't want to hurt him

[Bruce Wayne]

"But you are a criminal, so I want to hurt you," Bruce said. "I want to make sure you can't pick that sword up and hurt others." He didn't want to hurt her more than was necessary, however, but hurting her to take her down was the best option.

[Alice Challen]

"Why don't you prioritize? Other criminals do much more damage to much better people than I do. Go fight them!"

[Bruce Wayne]

"Because you're right here, with blood on your hands," he told her.

[Alice Challen]

"What else was I supposed to do? The law wouldn't touch him. Was it alright to let him get away with everything?!" she demanded angrily. Usually she didn't feel too much guilt about killing businessmen in particular as they were the ones who orchestrated her parents' deaths but given her conversations with Jack and this man she was starting to feel the uncomfortable twinge of guilt. It had been for the greater good. She knew that. That didn't mean her actions didn't bother her. And what bothered her most of all was the enjoyment she got from them. If you had to dirty your hands why not enjoy yourself? But the question wasn't comforting. It was upsetting. Good people shouldn't feel that way.

[Bruce Wayne]

"There's a difference between delivering justice, and murder," he told her, "You could have tried to bring them to justice, bring to light their crimes. Instead you murder," he told her coldly.

[Alice Challen]

"I can't prove what they did! I'm not a hacker or anything! This! This is the only thing I can do to help!" she said fervently.

[Bruce Wayne]

"Then go to someone who can help you," he told her, "But you've gone too far for me to let you go and try to do that."

[Alice Challen]

"You worked for the League of Shadows at one point. Don't tell me you've never broken the law. Even if these people stood trial they'd be cleared of all charges. The law system is corrupt. The only way to deal with them is to make sure they can't hurt anyone ever again!" She wasn't wrong. Someone had to kill them. Otherwise nothing would change. It wasn't fair that she needed to be one of the killers but life wasn't fair and killing was still better than sitting back and doing nothing.

[Bruce Wayne]

"I was of the League, but I'm not a murderer," he told her, "And the law is being restored. There are those in Gotham still fighting to fix it."

[Alice Challen]

"It's a lost cause," she spat. "Anyone fighting for it too vigorously will be killed by the scum of the Earth!"

[Bruce Wayne]

"No, no it's not. That's why men like the Batman exist."

[Alice Challen]

Alice hesitated. She did really respect Batman. He was amazing, taking the law into his own hands, handing over criminals to the police. But the really tough criminals escaped. They always did and they killed so many people as a result.

"Batman gives people hope," she finally said. "They need someone like him. But I give people protection. I make sure that the criminals never hurt anyone ever again. I have my place too. It's just not as nice or fuzzy."

[Bruce Wayne]

"There are other ways of giving protection. Batman gives more than just hope," he told her. He had to make a move while they talked, that was his best bet.

[Alice Challen]

She had stopped swinging by now. She was saving her strength but her eyes were wary. She watched the man carefully. He would strike her at some point. She was sure of it. She needed to be ready to defend herself.

"What other ways of giving protection?" she asked curiously. Were her skills good for anything besides killing?