Disclaimer...I own nothing in the Batman universe...All that is mine are the OC's and the plot.
This is my first fanfic and have been debating about putting it online. Please R&R. No flames please.
*******Princeton University - mid-March, 8.5 years ago**********
A young woman bounced happily down the dormitory hallway, a large envelope in one hand and a letter in the other. She excused herself as she ran past other students making their way from the dormitories to their classes in different buildings around the University. She stopped at her door and fiddled with the keys, attempting to open the door in record time. As the door unlocked, she quickly pushed the door open and rushed in.
"Olivia!!" the woman exclaimed, holding the letter. "I got it! I got the job at the hospital!"
The woman looked at Olivia, laying in the small single bed, her blond head the only thing showing. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw the large lump laying between the wall and her friend.
"What's going on here, 'Liv?"
"Uh, nothing, Jill," Olivia said, uncomfortably. "Just sleeping in today."
Jill looked over her shoulder at the clock. "Yeah. It's quarter after eight. Your class starts in forty-five minutes."
"I know," Olivia said, pulling the blankets up higher.
Jill smiled knowingly. "Aren't you going to get dressed?"
"I will," Olivia said. "I'm just catching a up on my rest."
"I'd say," Jill muttered as she walked over to the closet to pull out her sweater. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the lump move. "And tell Bruce to grab an extra jacket today when he goes to class. They're calling for sleet."
Jill looked over at Olivia who smiled meekly, her face red in embrassament.
"I'm going to grab a muffin downstairs and call up Robert to tell him my news," she said, heading towards the door. "I'll be back in five. Then we're going to have a long chat on our way to class."
"Yeah, I'd love to see that letter you recieved," Olivia called out. "And hear more about your wedding plans."
"That wont be the only thing we'll be chattin' about," Jill said, with a wink as she closed the door.
Olivia sighed as the lump beside her began to move once more. The blankets lowered slightly as Bruce Wayne's head appeared next to Olivia.
"That went well," Bruce said, with a smile as he sat up from under the blanket next to her.
"Look what you've gotten me into," she said with a smirk. "Now she'll be hounding me with questions for the next hour."
Bruce leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Better you than me."
Olivia rolled her eyes as she sat up, and reached onto the ground and grabbed some clothing. She tossed it over her shoulder to Bruce when she realized it wasn't hers. Olivia awkwardly began to get dressed, keeping her back to Bruce. She stood up to pull on her pants when she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist followed by feathery kiss on her neck. She smiled and closed her eyes, allowing herself a few more moments of his touch before turning around.
"Back to class," he said, as he rolled his eyes. "And then another hour of listening to the trust fund babies discuss and whine over the stock markets and how much they made."
"Hey! Don't diss the trust fund kids," Olivia said. "If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here. It was their scholarship fund afterall that helped me get here."
"And I would've never met you," Bruce finished with a smile.
"You're heading to Gotham this weekend?"
Bruce nodded, solemnly.
"Why are you doing this to yourself? You don't need to go to the hearing," Olivia said.
"I need to," Bruce replied, pulling his shirt over his head. She sighed. Olivia knew too well about the history of Bruce Wayne. He had never told her about the night his parents were killed in front of him, but everyone knew about it. The trial was important to him.
"All right, but let me know how it goes, okay?" Olivia said, standing up now that she was dressed.
"I will," Bruce said, solemnly as he stood in front of her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and then her lips. "Goodbye Olivia."
Bruce picked up his sweater and walked out the door.
-------------------------
"So, the big question is, how was he?" Jill said to Olivia, as they walked down the sidewalk on their way to class.
"WHAT?" Olivia exclaimed. "I'm not answering that. I want to hear about what you and your mom have planned for this big bridal shower of yours."
Jill smiled, nodded and ignored the wedding banter. "You were caught. I can understand your defensiveness."
Olivia rolled her eyes.
"I knew you had gone out with Bruce a few times, but I never thought that it was that serious," Jill continued.
"Neither did I," Olivia agreed as she walked. "We were studying in the common area. We had supper together. He walked me back afterwards and asked me out again. I kissed him and asked if he wanted to come in for tea and I guess things got a little too far."
"No kidding," Jill said. "Must have been good tea."
Olivia smiled. "It was yours."
Jill nudged Olivia, smiling. "I'd never thought I'd see the day that I'd walk in on you, of all people. You're the most conservative, mild-mannered woman I know. You're almost boring, 'Liv."
"Oh, thanks," Olivia said, sarcastically.
"No, seriously," Jill said. "I was shocked when I walked in the room. Was that your first time?"
"Why are you asking me these things?"
"Don't answer a question with a question."
"I'm not answering that question," Olivia said, beginning to walk faster towards the building so that the conversation could end sooner. She pulled her headphones up from around her neck and stuck them on her ears.
"Olivia Thornley, I know you're ignoring me," Jill said, speaking louder. Olivia smiled as she walked into the building.
------2 months later-----
"Come out, 'Liv," Jill called out, pounding on the door. "Finals start in an hour and Robert and I are picking out wedding invites later today. So I need to get ready!"
Inside the bathroom, Olivia pushed herself up off the floor where she sat. She held onto the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Her blond hair fell along the frame of her pale face. She picked up her glasses off the counter and put them on before picking up the pregnancy test. She sighed at the result and set it back on the counter before opening the door. She looked up at Jill as she walked out and staggered to her bed.
"My god," Jill said. "You look like crap."
"I feel like crap," Olivia said, as she slumped onto the bed.
"Well, you better feel better within the next hour," Jill said. "It's the last exam of your college life."
Jill walked into the bathroom and a moment later walked back out, with the pregnancy test in hand.
"What the hell is this?" she exclaimed.
"A toothbrush," Olivia mumbled, sarcastically as she rolled over.
"It's positive."
"I know."
"You know?"
"I know."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"God, 'Liv," Jill began, sighing as she put the test down on the desk. She was speechless. "I can't believe it."
"Neither can I."
Jill walked over to Olivia's bed and sat down by her head and swung her feet up before putting her hand on her back.
"But it does make sense," Olivia added. Jill put a friendly hand on Olivia's head. "I've been feeling horrible lately and I'm a good month late. I was thinking that it was stress with finals and piano exams. And I am going to keep it, if that's what you were going to ask next."
"Nah, I wouldn't have to even ask you that. I knew you'd keep it," Jill said. "I don't doubt that at all knowing you. But I do want to know something."
"What?"
"Is it Bruce's?" she asked softly.
Olivia nodded. "You can't tell anyone." She looked over her shoulder at her friend.
"'Liv.."
"Please Jill," Olivia begged. "No one can know that the baby is Bruce Wayne's. Not even Robert."
"Bruce has been missing for over two months...."
"And I don't want to be dragged into all of that mess," Olivia said hastily, interrupting Jill. "I'd rather keep it quiet about Bruce and I. At least until he shows up again. I'm sure he's just on vacation somewhere and is avoiding the tabloids after what happened with Chill."
"Well, I'm sure you could get quite a hefty trust fund started for the little one," Jill joked. Olivia wasn't in any mood and didn't find it funny. "Sorry. What are you going to do?"
Olivia rolled over onto her back and sighed.
"Well, first I'm going to try to pass my final exam," she said, forcing a smile. "And then, I think I'm going to home to San Diego. I'm dreading facing my parents."
Olivia covered her face with her hands.
Jill smiled.
"Well, I know it doesn't mean much right now, but I know you'll be a great mom," she said.
"Thanks Jill," Olivia said.
"You can thank me by naming the baby after me and stand with me at my wedding as my maid of honour," Jill told her, happily.
Olivia let out a chuckle.
"I'll be as big as a truck by August," she said. "I'd need two plane tickets to fit my wide rear end."
"Are you kidding me? You'll have a cute bump by then," Jill countered.
Jill held out her hand to Olivia who promptly took it and stood up.
"One day at a time, right?"
Olivia nodded and took a deep breath, hoping it would curb the nausea. "One test at a time."
"I have a little bit of last minute advice," Jill said as they headed for the door. "When in doubt, pick 'C'."
------------------------
The present day, November...8.5 years later...Gotham city
Olivia smiled as the sun came up over the horizon. She reached up and pulled the car visor down before searching blindly with her hands for her sunglasses. The blue GMC Suburban was littered with fast food wrappers and empty coffee cups; casualties of a cross-country trip. She pushed it all aside and found her sunglasses right where she left them the day before. She rolled down the window, and took a quick peek at the U-Haul trailer pulling behind them and pushed her blond bangs away from her eyes.
"Hey, David," she said, looking in the rear-view mirror for her driving companion. The 7 year old was asleep, resting his head against his pillow. Boxes were stacked around him but she could see his sandy-blond hair wave with the cool wind from the window.
Noticing that her wake up call didn't do a thing for the young sleeper, Olivia reached over to the radio dial and turned it on. It was low volume at first, but she slowly turned it up to a decent tone to wake the boy.
"Hey! David!!" she called again, over the music. This time, the boys hazel eyes opened. She smiled in the rear-view mirror seeing him awaken. "We're here!"
On that announcement, David sat up straight and pulled the pillow out from between himself and the window. Large buildings began to loom around him as they drove slowly down the freeway.
"Is this Gotham?" he asked.
"Sure is," she said, as their car came to a stop in the midst of the rush-hour traffic. "Hopefully we'll see more of it than this freeway soon." Olivia turned around in her seat for the first time since their last stop 4 hours prior. "Did you sleep well?"
The boy shook his head.
"Don't worry," she said, turning back around to face the traffic. "We'll be there soon and you can get a good rest in tonight before starting school tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" the young boy squeaked. He immidieately sank in his seat. "Please Mom, not yet! Can't we wait a few more days!"
"I'm afraid you've already missed too much school with this move. Besides, an old friend of mine, her son is at your new school and they're going to be helping us move in," she said. "Then at least you'll know someone when you start tomorrow."
The news didn't seem to help. Olivia noticed.
"I don't want to be the new kid," David announced, sadly. "Why couldn't we just stay with grandpa and grandma?"
"We already talked about this," Olivia began. "You know that me teaching piano lessons would never get us out of grandma and grandpa's house. I found a great job out here and it's a chance for us to start out on our own."
"But why couldn't you have found a job in San Diego?"
Olivia sighed. "This is a great opportunity for me, David. This is the first restaurant that even considered my application. I'm going to be working in one of the finest restaurants in the city."
She looked at the boy in her rearview mirror.
"I know you're going to miss your friends, but we'll visit every Christmas and have a party for your birthday with grandma and grandpa and I'm sure they'll visit as well."
"But do I really have to start school tomorrow?"
Olivia nodded.
"I hate being the new kid. The kids will call me names."
"No one will call you names," she quickly countered.
"Yes they will!" David argued. "They did before."
His mom sighed as the car began to move with the traffic once again.
"Sweetheart," his mom, Olivia began. "When they see what a nice, smart, young man you are, they'll like you."
"I don't want to be smart," David mumbled. "I just want the kids to like me."
His mom smiled sympathetically as they continued the drive through Gotham. She knew how hard it was for him to make friends. He was never outgoing and tended to avoid confrontation. David was an average 7 year old and did well scholastically, but he didn't enjoy social situations. He leaned over and rested his head on his arm as he looked out the window. Buildings and cars zoomed past them as they drove through the belly of the city. David kept his eyes open wide, in order to not miss a thing.
"Do you think we'll see Batman? He's in Gotham right?" David asked with all the excitement of a 7 year old boy.
"Probably not during the day," his mom replied. "And I really don't want to see him at night either."
"Why not? I think it would be cool to see him," David said.
10 minutes later, they found themselves a small diner and sat down at a booth to have breakfast. The waitress came over to them and took their order before heading back to the counter. David became engrossed in a magazine that was left on the table as the television behind the counter caught Olivia's attention. It was difficult to hear what the newscaster was saying and without her glasses, Olivia couldn't read the ticker running along the bottom of the television. But the images of Batman was enough to tell her what the broadcast was about. She watched absentmindedly, as she realized how much of a toll the trip had taken on her. Olivia was tired.
"Look at this, mom," David suddenly said excitedly as he pointed to a picture in the magazine. It broke her out of her state of tiredness for a moment as she looked at the picture. It was Batman. "It says that nothing can kill him."
"Hun, he's just a man," she said. "There's nothing special about him. I'm sure he can be hurt just like you or I."
"But they say that he can fly," David said as he scrunched his eyebrows in thought.
Olivia shrugged, leaving the 7 year old to his imagination. Her attention was brought back to the television as a familiar face filled the screen. Olivia knew that face, although she hadn't seen him in over 8 years. She watched the man on the screen speak with the reporter. It almost shocked her to see how much of his mannerisms were similar to David. The way he smiled and his eyes. If it wasn't for David's sandy blond hair, the shape of his face and his nose, one would think he could have been Bruce Wayne's younger self's carbon copy.
"Miss?" the waitress said, bringing Olivia's mind back to earth.
"I'm sorry?"
"Pay up front when you're done," the waitress said, motioning to the hot plates in front of Olivia and David.
"Yes, thank you," Olivia said. She caught a glance at the television once more before beginning to eat.
-----------------
"I know it's not much to look at," Olivia said as Jill followed her into the one bedroom apartment. "But it's what we can handle right now. Well, at least until I get a steady wage coming in."
Jill looked around the apartment as Olivia opened the living room window, hoping to get the musty smell out of the air. She sat on the window sill and looked down from the 3rd floor, where her son David along with Jill's husband Robert and son Michael were beginning to unload the U-haul. Olivia turned to Jill who was holding her 3 year old daughter, Natalie in her arms.
"You do know that you two could have stayed with us," Jill said.
Olivia shook her head.
"I could never impose," Olivia said. "Your place is cramped enough as it is with the two kids. You don't need us on top of that."
"I would feel better knowing that you're not living on the edge of the Narrows though," Jill said, glancing out the window where Robert was handing the boys boxes to carry up into the building.
"This is only temporary," Olivia assured her.
"One bedroom for the two of you, 'Liv," Jill said, walking through the small apartment. Olivia shrugged. "And, the kitchen is about the size of my bathroom."
"As I said, it's temporary."
Robert, Michael and David walked into the apartment, each carrying a box in their arms. They set them down along the wall. Both young boys sat on the boxes before Robert waved them over to the door.
"Come on boys," he said. "Just think of the pizza that we'll get when we're done."
David and Michael smiled before they reluctantly stood up.
"I'll get some drinks ready for when you guys come back up," Olivia called as they walked back out. Olivia picked up a box that they left and walked it to the bedroom. When she walked back out, Jill was looking out the window while Natalie walked around the empty room.
"I can't believe how much David has grown," she said. "He looked so much like you when he was born, but he's looking more like his father now."
Olivia sighed and smiled slightly.
"I know."
Jill took a moment to think before asking her next question. It was a question that had a possibility to cause Olivia to become uncomfortable.
"Did you ever tell him about his father?"
Olivia shook her head. "Not everything about him. I only told him that he had died. But when he came back from the dead, I wasn't sure how to approach the topic with David."
"That was nearly 2 years ago, 'Liv," Jill said.
"I remember where I was when I heard that he had returned," Olivia said. "I had just gotten home from picking David up from school. The TV was on and there he was on the screen. My mom was concerned because I turned pale and looked like I was going to be sick."
"I was shocked too," Jill said. "Who disappears off the face of the Earth only to return 7 years later without any question?"
"Bruce Wayne," Olivia replied.
"What about him?" Robert said as he and the two boys walked in the room.
"Oh nothing, hun," Jill replied, with a smile. "Just sharing some gossip with Olivia about what I read this morning at the grocery store."
Robert smiled knowingly. "Oh."
Nearly 5 hours later, the moving in was done, the pizza had been eaten and Robert and Jill and their kids had left, leaving Olivia and David in an apartment full of boxes and furniture. Olivia smiled when she saw David laying on his bed with a book in hand and his eyes closed. She reached over and took the book and set it on the box next to the bed. The gesture had woken David up from his sleep.
"Bedtime," she said, softly. "Get some sleep."
David nodded obediently as he rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes. Olivia grabbed the blankets around his feet and pulled them up to his neck. She paused for a moment before leaning down and kissed him on the forehead before ruffling his hair gently. Olivia took another glance at David before she closed the door to their bedroom and went back to emptying the boxes.
Just a few blocks over, a siren went off within Arkham Asylum. Officers scrambled to the location and found the cell of one patient empty. Curses of frustration and anger rung out in the hallway as they got on their radios to announce the disappearance to their superiors and then to the police. A block from the asylum, a woman walked down a darkened alleyway and stopped beside the shadow of a dumpster. She handed an armful of clothing to a man hidden in the shadows.
"I hope that these will do," she said.
The man held out the clothing in front of him.
"They'll work just fine." He proceeded to pull the pants on.
"What are we going to do come mornin'?" the woman asked, as the man pulled the jacket over the orange jumpsuit.
"Don't worry, Beautiful," the man said, with a smile. "I always have a plan."
A roar of an engine cut through the night. He looked up to the starless sky and smiled.
"I'll see you soon too," the man said softly, as he grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her down the alleyway.