Alice cursed under her breath as the car in front of her came to a stop. The traffic in Gotham never ceased to frustrate the hell out of her. Her car was at a complete standstill, and it didn't look like it was moving any time soon. She sighed and gripped the wheel tighter. She was already fifteen minutes late for work.

"This is just freakin great…"

To make things even better, her cell phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID and saw that is was her boss, Linda. Allison rolled her eyes and prepared herself for the lecture she was about to get. "Hello?"

"Ali, where the hell are you? It's been half an hour!"

"I'm sorry, Linda. I got caught in traffic. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Fine. Just get here!" She hung up the phone and tossed it back in her purse. This day was not starting out very well…

When Alice got out of her car, it started to rain. She looked up at the sky and laughed cynically.

"Awesome…Anything else?" She threw her hands up in the air and started towards the entrance. She took the elevator up to her office and was greeted with Linda standing outside her door.

"All right, Linda I'm here. Now will you please calm down?" Alice stopped in front of her and studied Linda for a moment. She expected Linda to be angry. She sure sounded angry on the phone. But she wasn't.

"Ali, go inside. We need to talk." She opened the office door and lightly pushed her inside.

"Linda, what's going on?" Linda was always very professional. No matter how difficult the situation was, she always managed to keep it together. But now, she seemed to be having a hard time saying whatever it was she needed to say. After a minute, she sighed and sat down on the couch.

"Alice, I'm letting you go." Alice blinked in confusion.

"You're firing me?"

"No. Alice, the company is going in a different direction, and they don't need you anymore. I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice." Alice stood up and started pacing.

"No…I know. I'm just…shocked. I-I can't believe this…" Alice stopped and looked at Linda. She wasn't one to cry very often, but she was trying very hard to keep the tears from falling.

"I'm sorry, Ali. You have until the end of the say to clean out your desk." With that, Linda walked out of her office. Alice stared at the door, trying to understand what she did wrong. She walked over to her desk, wiping a stray tear that escaped her eye and started emptying her desk drawers.

This was the worst day ever. Alice pulled into her driveway and dragged herself out of her car. She opened the door to her apartment and hung up her jacket, not caring that it fell on the floor. She sighed tiredly and went to the bathroom, thinking that I nice, hot shower would do her some good. She turned on the water and started to undress. She opened the door to the linen closet and pulled out a towel. When she turned around, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was very pretty. She had long blonde hair that came down to the middle of her back and piercing green eyes. Her body was average, not to big, and not too skinny. She was happy with the way she looked. But right now, the way she felt was affecting the way she looked. She had worry lines, and her eyes were glazed over with unshed tears. She sighed and looked away as the steam fogged up the mirror. She stepped in the shower and gave a moan of satisfaction as the hot water relaxed her muscles.

Alice stepped out of the shower and shivered as the cold air touched her skin. She wrapped the towel around herself and walked into her bedroom. She stopped short as she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye. But when she looked around, there was nothing there. Alice shrugged and continued to get dressed. She towel-dried her hair and threw it in to the laundry hamper. When she turned around she gasped. Her bedroom window was open and her curtains were blowing in the wind. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and closed the window. Her breathing became heavier as she looked around for anyone outside. There was no one there, so she let out a breath and turned around. But when she did, her eyes went wide and she screamed. There was someone in her house. Before she could do anything, she felt something come into contact with her head. After that, everything went dark.