Saving Grace: a Batman fanfiction

Chapter 1

**Keep in mind during the duration of this fanfiction that DC owns Batman, the batboys, Gotham and anything else you recognise.
HEY GUYS! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE! If you're checking this story out for the first time, please stick around past the first chapter! I promise the plot picks up a LOT later in the fic. The first chapter is a little slower but it's just necessary to introduce the premise :)
-love, Jace

It was entirely irksome to Bruce that when Batman did well-- more patrolling, more sending criminals to Arkham, more stopping muggings and rapes, more foiling the deranged's evil plans to take over Gotham and kill people-- Bruce Wayne did badly. He missed meetings and cancelled public appearances, he came off as 'moody and irresponsible' (and that was a direct quote, from the Gotham Herald), and looked 'unsightly.' (Another direct quote, if you must know.) And then, when he tried to patch up the damage by overcompensating as 'Brucie' (Good God, he hated Brucie) he was labelled a shallow playboy.

But most infuriating was that Wayne Enterprises took as much of a hit as Bruce Wayne did.

"You're the face of the company, Bruce," said Lucius Fox over the phone, sounding equal parts apologetic and exasperated. "Most people only invest in us and buy our tech because of you."

"Let me guess," Bruce had replied in a sour voice, "business isn't doing too great."

"Worse than ever, in fact," Lucius affirmed.

So that was the way it was. Batman was doing better than ever and Bruce Wayne was doing worse than ever. Something needed to change.

"Call Katie," Lucius suggested, and Bruce had the strong sense through the phone that he was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Katie?" Bruce repeated blankly. Lucius sighed.

"Katie; Katherine Parkingham, the PR manager you hired. If anyone can fix this, she can. She's ruthless."

"Okay," said Bruce, with no intentions of actually calling.

"Bruce, seriously. If W.E. crashes any more, we're not going to be able to get back, we're just not," Lucius said stressfully.

"Okay, I'll set up a meeting," said Bruce, somewhat resigned. (And tired. So. Damn. Tired.)

That's when he called Katherine Parkingham, and that was when he completely and absolutely screwed himself over.

"You look bad, Bruce," said the woman that was striding confidently into his office. "You do realise that Gothamites are having a Shit-On-Bruce-Wayne festival, don't you? Or maybe that's why. Is it?"

"Excuse me?" Bruce couldn't really believe his ears and glowered sharply at the woman. She made an imposing figure at six feet tall with cropped platinum blonde hair and pale blue eyes.

"Katherine Parkingham," she said in a clipped English accent. "Call me Kate."

"Alright, Katherine," said Bruce with narrowed eyes. "Just tell me what I have to do to fix this mess."

"That's my job," she said with a little smirk.

And as much as he didn't like her, he did like her all the same. Respect, some would call it.

"Right," he shot back. "So, what do you have for me?"

After refusing (three times) a public apology to the public for his strange behaviour, as well as an official statement to be aired on the news channels, Katie laid down her clipboard, eyes sparkling. "Why do you look happy?" Questioned Bruce suspiciously. "I just shot down all of your proposals."

"Because I knew you wouldn't like them, so I came up with a plan Z, a plan Z to not only repair your image and by default Wayne Enterprises', but a plan Z to make you look better than you ever have before. Business will be booming."

Bruce decided to bite her bait and leaned forward.

"What's the genius plan, then?"

"Fostering a kid."

"Fostering a kid," Bruce repeated unbelievingly. "Do you know anything about my family? I've adopted three boys."

"Yeah. Dick Grayson-- orphaned circus kid who watched his parents die. The public loved it. Jason Todd-- street kid. It alienated some people who looked down on him, but endeared you to most others. Tim Drake-- you took pity on a kid whose real parents didn't really ever care for him. And finally, Damian, a child out of marriage that you didn't even know you had. People disapproved."

"Don't talk about my kids like that," Bruce snarled, leaping to his feet. "None of them were PR stunts."

"Of course not," she said passionately, also jumping to her feet to face Bruce head on. "They're your some sons and you love them, I know, we all know! All I want to do-- just listen Bruce, all I want to do, ideally, is recreate Dick Grayson with a foster kid. You have no idea how much that kid endeared you to the public. And you weren't even trying at all! Imaging what you could do-- what we could do-- if we did try?"

"No," said Bruce flatly. "I can't take on another kid, okay? I'm too busy. I already have my hands full with four-- three, I mean-- sons. And my job is very demanding." Both of them, he thought miserably.

"It would just be temporary, Bruce. A foster child."

"I said no. It's too much. I don't want another kid. You have no idea how much work Damian is."

"Ok, an older child, then," pressed Kate. "Look Bruce, you'd still be helping a kid in need. You got that huge mansion. Just give them a room for a month or two. Let me take care of the rest."

"I'll think about it," said Bruce with a little sigh. Kate smiled at him. She was probably thinking of the headlines now, Bruce thought bitterly. Bruce bleeding-heart Wayne with a soft spot for children. "But I don't want another kid," he added crossly.

"Temporary," Kate repeated with a huge smile.