Company dinners. To be completely honest, young Bruce Wayne hated them, despite the moral code his parents had been instilling in him since birth. It was bad enough that he barely got enough sleep at night due to his bat-related nightmares, but now he had to deal with a company dinner, most likely the first of many this year. These dinners were better known as, an extremely long boring period of adult discussions and flash photography. There was nothing for Bruce to do, but sit and listen to his parents and their acquaintances idly chat about subjects he couldn't care less about. The state of the stock market was no concern for a ten-year old boy.

He couldn't help but sigh as his mother adjusted the tie around his neck. The closer the event got, the less excited he became. No doubt understanding her son's feelings, Martha Wayne gave him a sympathetic smile, reminding him that even though he didn't particularly enjoy these dinners, they were preparation for someday when he would run Wayne Industries.

Bruce frowned.

"I can dress myself, mom."

"I know you can, but I need to help you. It's my responsibility as your mother." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His parents were always talking about duty and responsibility. Quite frankly, he was sick and tired of hearing about them.

"Oh, don't look so down" his mother said as straightened out his collar for the hundredth time, "I think this dinner will be different."

And with a smile she left him to his thoughts.

It was about an hour later when Bruce stepped out of the car and into the cool crisp night air. The driver had taken them right in front of The Wayne Industries building where the dinner was going to be held. In a mere amount of seconds, he and his parents were bombarded with a series of bright lights. Uggh! The cameras again, he thought as his father directed them toward the entrance. The night was already off to a "great" start. Once inside the building the lights were gone, but Bruce still felt blinded. Clutching his father's hand, he was guided around the crowds of people, not all entirely familiar to him.

Finally, Thomas Wayne paused is a small group chatting near the center of the room. One of the men stuck out to Bruce, not only because of his strange baldness, but also because he was in a wheelchair. Bruce didn't have a lot of experience with people in wheelchairs, he'd seen them at the hospital where his Dad worked, but never this close. He alternated between stealing glances and the man and then at the floor, not wanting to appear rude.

"Thomas! How have you been?"

"Well enough, Charles. Business is booming, we're helping more people than ever at the hospital, and finally working on cleaning up regional transit. Things are as good as they get get here. how've you been? Made any progress with the institute yet?"

"Ah, well I'm afraid that had to be put on hold, perhaps permanently."

"That's a true shame. But, I understand that you didn't come back completely empty handed from your trip England?"

"My goodness, it's difficult to believe that was over a year ago."

A new voice entered the conversation. a woman, probably. Like her companion, she sounded foreign, but they weren't from the same country. Charles could tell the Charles was British although, he couldn't place the woman's accent.

"Lilandra, and that must be…. Anabella? It's great to see you all again!'

"Yes, it's her first big event state-side, so she's a bit nervous."

Bruce finally looked up from the floor. Lilandra definitely wasn't British, or any other race Bruce had heard of before. She had oddly shiny black hair piled on top of her head and tan skin. Her eyes were a translucent black and her cheekbones stuck out from her face at an almost inhuman angle. Anabella on the other hand, was surprisingly not an adult. She turned out to be a small girl, holding Lilandra's and so tight, she might have been cutting of the circulation.

"Bella, introduce yourself to Mr. Wayne and his son please," Charles said gently.

The girl released the intensity of her grip and stepped forward. His father stuck out his hand politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ur...Bella."

"Likewise, Mr. Wayne."

"This is my son Bruce. He's only a couple of years older than you are and will definitely prove to be invaluable company."

"Bruce, you already know Dr. Xavier and Ms. Neramani."

Charles, now Dr. Xavier and Lilandra, now Ms. Neramani both smiled at him. He didn't remember them, but it wasn't that big of a deal. He met tons of people every week. How was he supposed remember them all? Bruce smiled back and shook Bella's still outstretched hand. He wasn't so sure how he felt about his parents trying to find him a "playmate," yet he was happy to no longer be the youngest person at the function. The group soon resumed their boring adult conversations and Bruce went back to his staring routine.

His father pulled him aside for a second.

"Bruce, this is Bella's first time in Gotham, and really anywhere other than England. She's probably nervous and very scared. She really looks like she could use a friend right now."

He stared at his father, then at Bella, and finally nodded.

"Now, that's what I like to see!"

His father gave him a small high-five. Upon returning to the group, Bruce walked over to Bella. She instantly took a step back.

"Hey, do you wanna see the ice sculptures?"

Bella looked nervously at Lilandra, who nodded at her with a smile. Bella finally let go of her hand.

"What's an ice sculpture?" Bruce looked at her.

"Um...It's exactly what it sounds like, I guess. It's a sculpture made of ice."

"How could anyone make a sculpture of ice? Wouldn't it melt?"

Bruce smiled.

Finally, something he could talk about.

"Well, that's what you would initially think, but they use a sort or machine …

As the night progressed, more pictures were taken; more people got drunk, and the more his parents left him alone to talk with some business partner or another. As far as Bruce was concerned, this was one of the best dinners he had been to ever. Bella was not only willing to talk to him, she was willing to listen.

He went on describing the four large ice sculptures scattered around the perimeter of the room, while she watched and listen, mesmerized.

Bruce quietly wondered if they didn't have ice sculptures in England.

"I still can't believe Gotham is so big," she finally said.

"Well, England must be pretty big too right? It's a country."

Bella was quiet for a moment.

"Yes, I suppose it is, but I meant it compared to Smallville."

"Smallville?"

"Yes! Daddy and I live there. It's in Kansas."

"Oh. Do they not have ice sculptures in Kansas?"

"None that I've ever seen."

Just as Bruce was about to say something in reply, a loud clinging sound occurred to the right of them. A waiter had bumped into one of the guests and dropped a tray of wine and Bella had turned around just in time to see the last of the glasses shatter.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of the spilled alcohol and broken dropped to the floor on her knees, putting her hands over her ears, nearly in the fetal position.

"Are you ok-"

The woman from earlier, Ms. Neramani was suddenly at Bella's side. She smiled at Bruce.

"Come, Bella-darling. It's time for us to make our exit."

"Yes, it's getting late and we have a big day tomorrow. "

Dr. Xavier also appeared out of nowhere. Ms. Neramari picked up Bella, who still looked rather traumatized from the glass breaking and began to head toward the front doors.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Bruce. Tell your parents we're expecting a visit from them in Metropolis."

"Um, right."

Bruce starred as Dr. Xavier wheeled away. He looked around and all the people in the room seemed to be...frozen. The only people who looked like they were moving were himself, and the Xavier party. It was weird, too weird. The guests, the waiters, the guards, no one even looked like they were breathing. Even the water from the fountain at the center of the room appeared to have frozen.

Bruce ran up to his mother and touched her on the arm. The room instantly came back to life.

"There you are, sweetheart! I was looking for you all over. Where on earth have you been hiding?"

"I was just with Bella, mom. And then-"

"Dr. Xavier's daughter?"

"Yeah."

"Bruce, don't be silly the Xaviers and Lilandra Neramani left hours ago."

"No. I was just with Bella."

"Your father and I saw them out to their car. We were discussing plans to come visit them -"

"In Metropolis," Bruce finished.

"How did you know that?"

His mother gave him an odd look.

"I-I don't know."

Bruce couldn't remember what he was going to say. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but wouldn't come out. It was like he was being controlled by some external force. He stood there dumbfounded with a loss for words and memory.

Martha Wayne sighed.

"It's been a long night for you, Bruce. It's nearly 11:40. I think we'd better head home. After all, you wouldn't want to miss school tomorrow, would you?"

Bruce groaned, pushing all thoughts about the "Xavier incident" out of his mind. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about school on Monday.

Ta-da! The completely revamped first chapter is up and ready to be read and reviewed. I included a bit more character interaction and members of the Xavier family in this chapter. As I state before (or rather later): THIS WILL NOT BE A X-MEN CROSSOVER. Charles Xavier will not be a professor, he and Lilandra aren't married, and the institute...well you'll see.

For those of you interested in Lilandra's background, here's the wiki page to save me some explaining:

Lilandra_Neramani_(Earth-616)

She doesn't look exactly like that in my story of course, she's more humanized and definitely not an alien (from outer space).