A/N: This was orginally going to be the epilogue for Secrets Undercover but I decided I wanted to do something else. So this turned into a long one-shot. This is set about two and half years after Bruce and Audrey meet and they are now married. Read, review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own what is mine.
Hurt
St. Josehine's Hospital, an Hour Outside Gotham
Oh holy shit! Audrey blinked in shock as she felt the sting of antiseptic being poured onto her wounded arm. She hadn't been given any time to prepare for the rather abrupt application of medicine.
Audrey turned to glare at the rather masculine nurse that was treating her, "A little warning before you do that would be nice."
The nurse sent her an apologetic smile in response while just behind her a rather amused Reed tried to hold in his laughter. It didn't work though, Audrey still notice the muffled gleam of enjoyment and directed her stare over at him.
"Don't you dare find this enjoyable, Reed O'Halely. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Audrey's attention was drawn back to the nurse as she started to wrap the bandage around the upper part of Audrey's arm. God, she hated hospitals. Next her ribs would have to be checked. Joy…
Reed coughed indignantly as he finally processed Audrey's cool remark, "My fault? How is this, my fault? You're the one who pissed the man with the gun off."
"I wouldn't have had to piss him off, if you had taken him down when you were supposed to." Audrey growled. Her sapphire eye's flashed with annoyance.
Reed just huffed, "Well, there is a reason I work behind a computer, love. I don't do fieldwork. Charlie should have been in there, not me."
"Agreed." Audrey muttered before glancing up to survey the room, "Speaking of which, where is your brother?"
Reed shrugged, "I don't know. I'm not his keeper."
"I'm here." A soft voiced Charlie spoke up as he rounded the privacy curtain to Audrey's bed, "I just wanted to grab something to drink."
As if to prove his story he lifted up a coffee cup and took a sip. It was in that time that he took the chance to look over his wounded partner and friend and cringed. He noted the bruising that was starting to ripen on the side of Audrey's face and knew that with her other injuries, she would be stiff for a few days. Hopefully, her husband would be able to get her to take her pain killers.
"It won't be long before Bruce is here." Charlie said offhandedly as he turned to stare at his watch.
Audrey glanced over at him in confusion, "Why would Bruce be coming? I didn't call him."
Charlie raised an eyebrow before he turned to give his brother a sharp glance. The man in question winced and tried to sink further into his seat, "Reed, didn't tell you?"
"Didn't tell me what?"
Charlie tried to hold back a flinch at the threatening note that had entered Audrey's voice, "Bruce was called. He was told that you were injured and what hospital you were being taken to."
"I just have a graze and maybe a couple of cracked ribs. The EMT ruled out a concussion." Audrey snapped, "The only time you call my husband is when it's life or death."
Charlie raised his hands in a soothing gesture despite the fact he still had a cup of coffee in one hand, "We didn't know that at the time. At the scene you were covered in blood and you didn't respond to anyone for a good few minutes. Naturally, the worse was assumed."
Audrey rolled her eyes before she started to silently curse. Almost absentmindedly, she began to give herself a once over and nearly groaned. The clothes she was wearing didn't cover nearly enough and mixed in with the bruises that were starting to develop on her skin…she looked like an abused hooker. An expensive hooker, but still a hooker. She was beginning to wish she had been seriously injured, if only to avoid her husband. He hadn't even known that she had an assignment…Just shit.
Audrey quickly cast her eyes onto the twins and frowned, "Go and see if you can find me some scrubs or something."
"I rather like this look, though." Reed quipped before he was cuffed in the back of his head by his brother, "Oww."
"You deserve it." Charlie and Audrey intoned at the same time.
Reed rubbed at his head and muttered to Charlie, "Like you weren't thinking it."
"Thinking it and saying it are two completely different things." Charlie replied almost tauntingly, "You should know that by now."
Audrey scowled in annoyance as she watched the two banter back and forth. Her nurse had actually left a few minutes ago, "As much fun as this is, go and find me something to wear before Bruce gets here."
"Too late."
Audrey froze; she didn't have to turn to know that Bruce was looming at the edge of her privacy curtain or that he was currently scanning her over for any serious injury. She had to hold back a wince when her eyes finally did meet his. His hazel eyes were darker than usual and she knew that his anger was only building. She mentally sighed as she thought of the fight that loomed on the horizon.
No one said a word for a good minute before Bruce detached himself from the staring contest he was having with his wife and directed his stare over at the twins with a raised brow. The two brothers quickly moved to leave the room but not before Charlie turned to Audrey and signaled her to call him later. She would have rolled her eyes at him but even she couldn't ignore the tension that was building in the air.
When Audrey turned her attention back to Bruce, she was surprised to see he had her medical chart in his hand. She could have sworn that the nurse had taken it with her.
"You were shot!" Bruce growled, his eyes snapped up from the chart and hovered on Audrey's now fully bandaged arm. He clenched his jaw as the fear he had felt after he had received Charlie's phone call washed over him in full force again.
"I was grazed." Audrey murmured, "Just a nasty scratch."
Bruce scowled at that and turned his attention back to the rest of her medical report while he tried to calm his racing heart. He knew damn well how good his wife was at downplaying her injuries. His eyes continued to scan over the medical text before a side note caught his attention and he emitted a mental sigh of his own.
"Give it."
Audrey blinked in confusion as he suddenly held his hand out to her, "Give what?"
Bruce replied coolly, "The referral for your prescription."
Oh, that. This time Audrey did roll her eyes as she leaned over the hospital bed to grab a stray piece of paper that had been lying on the pillow. She bit back a groan as her ribs screamed at her for that particular movement. Bruce noticed the strain on her face and moved forward to ease her back into an upright position before he started to curse himself and her for not thinking about her damaged ribs.
"You could have pointed to it." Bruce said lowly a hint of remorse coloring his voice.
"I'm fine." Audrey bit out as she sent him a warning glare.
Bruce didn't even try to hide his rumble of frustration as he answered her glare with one of his own.
An hour later, Bruce was ushering her out to the car and back towards home. Audrey stifled a sigh and pulled Bruce's coat closer around herself as she leaned her head against cool glass of the car door window. The tension that was radiating off of Bruce had only gotten worse and she wasn't quite sure how to handle him. She had made him angry before, but not like this. Not to the point where he wasn't really saying anything. Without realizing it, her eyes drifted shut and she passed out for the remainder of the way back to the manor.
Bruce watched silently as Audrey faded into unconsciousness. He had been wondering how much longer she would stay awake. He would have been blind not to see how exhausted she had been at the hospital, but it hadn't stopped her from pushing herself. Nothing ever did. His eyes were suddenly caught by something glistening off her neck. And he soon realized it was a necklace that was holding her wedding ring. He hadn't even noticed that it was missing from her hand.
He wouldn't have, though. He had been too distracted by the bruises and then by her dress. It wasn't even really a dress, it was like underwear. A possessive roar had sounded inside him when he had actually taken the time to study her. He almost couldn't believe she had worn that out in public, much less in front of another man. Bruce forcefully pushed those thoughts to back of his mind and focused on the road. Distantly, he noticed that he had sped up to eighty and immediately let off the accelerator.
By the time Bruce pulled in front of the manor it was well after two and only the walkway's lights illuminated the way inside. He was saved from the decision of waking Audrey as she began to stir from the stillness of the car. In all actuality, she had woken up as soon as the car had hit the graveled drive and she had just been gathering the strength to move.
The journey inside and to their bedroom was much like their time spent in the hospital…silent. It was starting to drive Audrey insane; she was beginning to wish he would start lecturing her.
Not bothering to look over at Bruce, she carefully shrugged out of his woolen coat and placed it on the bed. She didn't notice the perpetual scowl that had taken over Bruce's features seemed to have deepened as he caught sight of the monstrosity she was wearing. Audrey nearly jumped in surprise as he came to stand behind her. She tipped her head back ever so slightly and her tired eyes met with his angry hazel ones. His nimble fingers reached up and pulled the zipper on the back of her dress down and he gently helped her step out of it, all the while minding her wounded ribs.
Bruce's jaw clenched again as he noticed that she had only worn a skimpy piece of underwear underneath. How he had missed the fact that she hadn't been wearing a bra was beyond him. Stiffly, he pulled himself away from her and pulled out one of her night shirts for her to wear. He felt her eyes following him the entire time.
"Would you please say something?"
Bruce hesitated before he turned to her, "What do you want me to say?"
"Anything!" Audrey blurted before she could stop herself, "Tell me, what you're thinking. Tell me, you're mad at me."
Inwardly, Bruce seethed. He didn't want to say something. He didn't want to say anything…she should already know why he was angry. He forced himself to still – to bite back at his anger. He grabbed her shirt and thrust it towards her like it was a shield. Audrey took it almost unwillingly and quickly slipped it over her shoulders.
It wasn't until he walked past her to start on his own bedtime ritual that she tried again, "Bruce…"
"Were you even going to call me?"
Audrey watched as Bruce slowly turned back to stare at her, "Once you were in the hospital and you were able to get to a phone, were you going to call me?"
She opened her mouth to reply, but only found herself closing it again. She couldn't answer him.
Bruce nodded; a bitter smile graced his lips, "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"I would have called you if it had been serious. If I was really hurt, Bruce, you would know."
Bruce's eyes narrowed suddenly, "This isn't serious?"
He waved at her face and her arm, "Audrey, if that bullet had hit you even an inch over, it would have hit your artery. You would have bled to death!"
"You think I don't know that?" Audrey question, "I know very well how badly I could have been hurt which is why I wouldn't have called you."
She saw the rage shoot across Bruce's face and knew that hadn't been the best thing to say. She also knew he hadn't understood her, "If you hadn't received the call that I was hurt, you wouldn't have thought the worse. Bruce, you would have called my phone when I wasn't home for dinner and left me a message before going on with your usual routine. I would have come home and when you got back from patrol, I would have explained how I got hurt…that aside from the obvious I would be fine in a few days. You would have been irritated and probably have lectured me, but that would be it."
"You really think that's what would have happened?" Bruce asked incredulous, "That the only thing that I would be bothered about was the fact that you got hurt?"
"No, I don't think that would be the only thing bothering you, but it would be the first thing that you would have dealt with." Audrey replied coolly, "The only other thing I could think of that would bother you is the fact that I didn't tell you, I had been given an assignment."
"Why didn't you tell me, Audrey?" Bruce questioned almost suspiciously, "Was there something about this assignment you didn't want me to know? Maybe for instance, the reason you were dressed as a call girl. You obviously knew that would piss me off, since you tried to get the twins to find you some scrubs."
"I needed to distract our target. I didn't want you knowing about that because you have jealousy issues." Even as the words came out of her mouth, Audrey knew that they sounded pathetic. She could feel this fight spiraling out of control and she wasn't sure she could stop it before it got worse.
Bruce couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. His own came out like venom, "Why would I have reason to be jealous, dear? How exactly did you distract your target? Did you kiss him? Did you sleep with him!"
Audrey felt her stomach fall as she realized just how her husband had taken her words, "Bruce, no! That isn't it how it happened?"
"Really! How can I be sure of that? Because right now that is the only thing that makes sense!" Bruce wasn't yelling but it felt like he was. His voice was becoming hoarse with each word that passed from his lips. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, panic had begun to set in amongst his anger, "Not once have you not told me about an assignment. Not once! The only reason that you wouldn't tell me about this…that you didn't was because you…"
"How can you think that? How can you think that I would betray you like that?" Audrey felt a tear slide down her cheek as she stared unseeingly at Bruce. She knew she had screwed up, but God, she never thought he would have believed she could have slept with another man. Jesus that hurt more than she was willingly to admit.
"How can I…? How can I not when you were dressed in this!" Bruce's eyes turned to ice as he stepped closer to her before bending down to pick up the dress she had been wearing. He couldn't stop himself now if he tried, "When you're lying to me about where you are? I thought you were in the city all day, Audrey! Not in the next county! – You were playing the whore weren't you! And I, of all people, know just how good of an actress you can be?"
Audrey closed her eyes, she felt like he had just slapped her. She bit back at the tears that wanted to escape and glared up at her husband.
"Go to hell, Bruce." She whispered harshly. She grabbed her robe and moved to head out of the room.
"Where are you going?" His voice was taut and unfeeling but he knew he had gone too far with that last comment and he suddenly feared her walking away.
Audrey hesitated at the door, "I really don't want to sleep in the same bed as you right now. And before you can accuse me of going to warm someone else's bed, I'm just going to stay down the hall for a while."
Bruce did nothing to stop her and winced as he heard the door softly click shut behind her. He looked down at his hands and realized he was still holding the bloody dress. He threw it away from himself with a howl. He'd burn it in the morning.
A few hours later, Bruce found himself sitting front of the fireplace in the living room. A glass of whiskey rested in his hand as he stared blindly into the twisting flames that he had lit only moments ago. Part of him wanted to celebrate, the damn dress was gone. Mostly, though, he wanted the pain to go away.
This was how Alfred found him about an hour later. If the aging man was surprised at all to see his charge in such a state of morose, he didn't show it. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at the glass of whiskey and wondered whether or not his charge had actually had taken a sip from it. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had seen Bruce have a drink.
"Do I want to know?" Alfred questioned lightly as his eyes caught sight of a strip of something black lying behind the flames. It looked vaguely like material.
Bruce shrugged, "Audrey and I aren't on good terms with each other right now."
That didn't surprise Alfred in the slightest. Those two were constantly fighting about something, but then he remembered the phone call that Bruce had received last night, "So she wasn't hurt too badly, then?"
A sardonic smile adorned Bruce's lips at the question, "Depends, are you speaking physically or emotionally? Physically speaking, she'll be fine in a week or two. Emotionally…she'll probably never speak to me again."
Alfred frowned and debated whether or not he wanted to know what had gone on between the two of them. Bruce, however, wasn't in the mood to discuss the fight, much less admit to his guardian that he had inadvertently told Audrey that she didn't trust him before he had basically called her a whore. It was probably one of the most hypocritical things he had ever done.
Bruce moved from his chair before Alfred had a chance to question him further and poured the glass of whiskey into the fire. He didn't need the alcohol to make him feel more depressed than he already was. He left then and only paused in the foyer to look up the stairs where he knew his wife was still resting.
It was a little after nine when Alfred made his upstairs to check on Audrey. His worry about the spouses fight grew when Bruce had sheepishly placed a bottle of pills in front of him and had asked him to make sure Audrey took one. Alfred had raised an eyebrow at his charge but refrained from comment. He was beginning to question if he should have made Bruce come up here, himself.
Alfred quickly shook the thought away. It wasn't his place to be meddling with the two's relationship…at least, not yet. A short knock and a quite murmur and Alfred had gained quick entranced into the room that Audrey was currently claiming as her own.
Upon his entrance, Alfred was surprised to see that Audrey wasn't resting in bed like she should have been. In fact, the bed was untouched. His eyes soon found her reclined in a chair in front of the window. He quietly made his way over to her side and frowned as he took in her pale form. She had her hair loosely tied back making the bruising on her cheek stand out harshly against her ashen skin. It was only made worse by the red rims of her eyes and the raw tracks that led away from them.
Audrey never cried from a fight. She would gripe and scowl for awhile but she never cried. Alfred gently reached out and tipped her face towards him for a better look at her wounds. The action caused Audrey to blink and she finally registered the older man's presence. He watched as she carefully stowed away the lost expression that had flushed her features when he had arrived and replaced it with an emotionless mask. He still knew that she was miserable, though.
"It looks like someone hit you nice and good." Alfred murmured as he pretended he hadn't notice the vulnerability she had displaced. He felt more than saw her lips twitch into a brief smile and he raised an eyebrow, "How exactly did you get this?"
Audrey tilted her head to the side as she thought of how her assignment went wrong, "Do you want the long version or the short?"
"The long, but not until you get something to eat and you take one of these…" Alfred decided as he held up her bottle of pills, "And then you can tell me, why the name Tasha Fairfield is on the bottle and not Audrey Wayne."
Audrey snorted slightly at that and nodded, "Okay…Is, um is Bruce downstairs?"
Alfred nodded his head slowly, "He hasn't left the cave in over an hour, now."
Good, Audrey thought, she wanted to go and grab some of her clothes from their bedroom, but she wasn't ready to confront her husband just yet, "I'll be down once I get cleaned up."
Alfred hesitated a moment, "You need help with anything you let me know.
Audrey nodded again and waited until he left before she carefully removed herself from her chair.
Twenty minutes later, Audrey made her way into the kitchen and leaned against the counter with a sigh. Alfred took one look at her bandaged arm and rolled his eyes. It was wrapped fairly well for someone who could only use one hand to do so, but the knot was she had made was slowly coming undone. Alfred pulled his glasses out from his pocket and moved over to fix the wrapped cloth. As soon as he had finished, he pushed a bowl of oatmeal towards her with one of her painkillers on a napkin next to it.
Silence reigned in the kitchen for another twenty minutes, but this time Audrey didn't mind it. She listened absently as Alfred moved around and placed several dishes in the washer and put away various items. She wondered briefly how much Bruce had told him about last night. He had to know something or else he wouldn't have had her pills or know she was sleeping in one of the guest rooms. She didn't pursue her thoughts further as she gingerly pushed her bowl away. Alfred set down a glass of water next to her and gestured towards her untouched pill before he took a seat across from her with a cup of tea.
"Well, what happened?" The older man questioned bluntly as he patiently waited for her story.
Audrey tossed back her pill and water and began to explain what had happened, "While I was in the city yesterday running a few errands, I get a call that I have new assignment and that I needed to get to the Town Ridge Building to be briefed on it."
A file was sent across the desk towards Audrey as she calmly sat and waited for the meeting to begin. Across from her, Charlie glared at his brother as he started beating a tempo on the glass table with his pen.
"Your target is Natalia Osborne."An intelligence provider started, "She's staying at the Hilton in Brentwood."
Audrey looked up as a picture was suddenly posted on a screen at the front of room. The girl on the screen was beautiful with soft blonde hair that fell in soft ringlets around her face. She had large brown eyes that would draw anyone in or make anyone drool, Audrey thought in amusement as she spotted the enamored look on Reed's face
Her eyes glanced at the file before her. Brentwood was an hour from here.
A faint smirk crossed Audrey's face at the memory, "This woman had the schematics for the new security system that Vitatech was creating for the NSA. Ms. Osborne is an accomplished thief and was planning on selling the schematics to the highest bidder."
Alfred took a sip from his tea before asking, "So why didn't the NSA send one of their own agents to get the schematics back? I am assuming that's what you were there for."
Neither person noticed that Bruce had paused in the kitchen's doorway. He took a few steps back and decided to listen in on Audrey's story.
"Yes and no." Audrey replied, "The NSA didn't know anything was wrong and the Company has too many secrets invested with that agency for its security to be compromised. The twins and I were to recover the schematics but also make a copy for the Company's personal use. My job specifically was to distract Osborne while Reed snuck into her hotel room and secured the files."
Audrey reclined on one of the Hilton's lobby chairs as she waited for her target to make an appearance. Reed had reserved the room next to hers and was currently becoming the world's most obnoxious neighbor. It wouldn't be long before Osborne would come down with a request for something to be done.
Charlie was behind the lobby's counter with a derisively bored look on his face. He looked over and Audrey's direction and smiled at her dress choice. It was a cute garment that hung on her nicely. A little short but that was okay. He nearly snorted as he watched her adjust the white halter vest that covered the top half of her black lace dress.
He caught Audrey's eye across the room and grinned, "It's been twenty minutes since he's been in there. You think Reed's losing his touch?"
"To be annoying? I don't think it's possible." Audrey murmured back through her comm. link. Her eyes turned back to the elevator and a hint of a smile graced her face, "I think you spoke to soon."
It was clear that Natalia Osborne was beyond irritated as she stomped over towards Charlie. Audrey had to wonder what exactly Reed had done to get her that pissed off before she decided she would rather not know.
"Excuse me!"Osborne growled at Charlie, "I would like a room change. There's a strange smell filtering into my room. I think you're a/c is broken. And the man that has the room next to me is blasting opera."
"I'm sorry miss. We'll have security sent up right away to deal with him, but I'm afraid that we're all booked up for the rest of weekend. A room change just isn't possible."
Audrey had to applaud the obviously fake look of regret that Charlie was sending their target as she made her way over to the counter, "I wouldn't bother, honey. I already tried to switch rooms and got the same spiel."
Osborne turned around to address the newcomer before pausing, "Are you having a problem with your room, as well?
Audrey had to keep herself from raising an eyebrow as she watched Osborne shyly check her out. She guessed it was sweet in a way, but it was so blatantly obvious that she wondered how the girl didn't get caught for her thefts more often.
"Yes. I believe I may be on the floor above yours. I can hear your noisy neighbor as well." Audrey stepped forward and let a glowing smile take over her mouth.
Osborne blushed at Audrey's close proximity, "How horrific. They really should throw him out."
"I agree…I'm Tasha, by the way." Audrey replied as she lifted her hand up for Natalia to shake.
Natalia smiled, "Natalia…would you like to get a drink? I hear the hotel bar is rather lovely."
"That sounds great."
Alfred blinked in surprise, "You actually went with her?"
"Yes." Audrey drawled, "I had to keep her from going back up to her room. We were lucky I was even her type. She could have like blondes too, for all I knew at the time."
Alfred snorted and tried to picture the woman before him evening flirting with another woman. He couldn't see it; he was too used to her and Bruce flirting with each other.
"Anyway." Audrey continued, "We were in the bar a good half hour before she invited me back up to her room. She was already buzzed and didn't notice when I slipped her a Mickey. She passed out before the elevator doors closed all the way."
As the elevator doors slid shut behind Audrey, Natalia slowly slid to the floor.
"I feel a little funny."
It was the last thing Osborne said before she completely blacked out. Audrey raised an eyebrow and sighed, she hoped that Osborne was as light as she looked.
"Charlie, Osborne is out. Come upstairs and help me move her body." Audrey said into her comm. link.
She didn't receive a reply and wondered if he had heard her and was ignoring her or if her comm. was on the fritz. Great….
The elevator came to a halt a few seconds later and Audrey was relieved to find the hall empty of other people. She hit the doors open button and moved to drag Osborne out and down the hall towards the room Reed had checked into. Luckily, Charlie appeared before her a few minutes later and was able to heft their target over his shoulder.
Charlie nodded down the hall, "Go and check on Reed for me. He should have been out of there by now and he hasn't been answering me. I think his comm. is broken."
Audrey nodded and quickly took Osborne's room key before she took off. It was midway down the hall when Audrey dropped her purse and her phone fell out that she realized she had forgotten to call Bruce and cursed herself. A glance at her wrist watch told her it was just past seven and that she been on the road and heading home in the next twenty to forty minutes. There was no point in calling him now.
She sped up her pace and was standing in front of Osborne's room before she knew it. The key gave her a fast entrance. One that she wished she hadn't taken.
Audrey pushed her glass of water around on the table as she talked. A glance over at Alfred let her know she still had his full attention.
She shook her head as she recalled what happened next, "Turns out that Osborne likes to travel around with a bodyguard when she has merchandise to sell. He had gone to check in on her not long after she had left and saw Reed sneaking inside. Obviously, he wasn't there as a romantic interest, so the bodyguard charged in after him. When I entered the room Reed was in a chokehold and his gun was by my feet. I didn't have a chance to grab it, though, because the bodyguard let go of Reed and backhanded me hard enough to put me in a daze."
Alfred shook his head in exasperation, "I don't know who has the worst luck, you or Master Bruce."
"Bruce." Audrey answered without thought, "Things only got more screwed up from there. Now, the bodyguard had reclaimed his gun and had both Reed and I at his mercy, since Reed hadn't recovered fast enough from the chokehold to take him down."
Audrey blinked rapidly as she tried to clear her blurry vision. When she finally did she wished she had quelled her dizziness first. The room seemed to spin slightly. Suddenly, she recalled why exactly she was feeling that way and turned to look around. Reed was on the other side of the room with his hands in the air. Every few seconds he would send a worried glance her way.
At first, Audrey didn't understand why he wasn't moving when she saw the big guy who had hit her with a gun pointed at her friend. She wouldn't have moved either. Her stirring from the floor had caused Natalia's bodyguard to glance in her direction. With the gun, he gestured for her to move over to where Reed stood. She did so silently and prayed that Charlie had heard the commotion from the other room.
It wasn't until the bodyguard cocked the hammer back on the gun back that Audrey really started to worry. He didn't have it aimed at her but at Reed.
"You know not many men would hit a woman." Audrey began offhandedly, "I mean most men who do are cowards."
"Audrey, what are you doing?" Reed whispered harshly.
The bodyguard began to waver the gun between the two of them. Audrey nearly smirked as she saw a scowl start to develop on his face.
"I mean…" Audrey shrugged, her hands still up in the air, "…didn't your mother teach you that you never hit a girl. I'm sure she would be ashamed if she saw what you did."
Reed began to panic as the bodyguard became more pissed off, "Audrey! Shut up!"
Audrey hadn't heard much past her name. Charlie had flung the door open by that point and had hit the bodyguard in the back of the head with it. It was their luck that his back was to it and he had been standing so close to the only entrance and exit to the room.
"Except that when the bodyguard had been hit by the door, his gun went off. It grazed my arm." Audrey gestured to her right arm, "And sent me spiraling to the ground where I hit the edge of the coffee table and cracked a couple of my ribs. I don't remember much after that but apparently the bullets in the gun were laced with some kind of poison. A small amount made its way into my system through the graze and suppressed my breathing long enough to make me pass out again."
There was a brief pause as Audrey relived the previous night's events. Alfred waited patiently as he thought over what had happened to her to. It was almost comical in a way.
"Next thing I know I'm waking up in an ambulance with a paramedic cutting off my vest so I could breath."
Alfred paused as he heard this and thought back to this morning, "The dress you were wearing? Was it black?"
"Yeah, why?" Audrey asked as took another sip from her water. Her mood had lightened with the retelling of what had happened. She realized how ridiculous everything had gotten in only a few short minutes.
"I don't believe you'll ever see it again." Alfred stated and with Audrey's question glance he clarified his meaning, "Master Bruce was burning something this morning. My guess is that it was your dress. I only saw a piece of dark material."
Audrey's mood darkened once again and she had to refrain from rolling her eyes, "Yeah well, without the vest the dress is a bit revealing. Bruce wasn't very happy about that last night."
Out in the hall, Bruce pushed himself away from the wall and trudged back upstairs. He wasn't sure what to make of what he had just heard.
Audrey gathered her dishes together and placed them in the sink before she sent Alfred a brief smile as she exited the room. Alfred sighed as he watched her go. He could imagine his charge's ire if he found Audrey in what could only be described as a state of undress when he had arrived at the hospital. Not to mention that he had been told that Audrey had been unresponsive to the medics on the phone. Fear, worry, and then anger were not a good mix on Bruce. He could only imagine what his charge had said to her.
Two weeks later.
It was too warm. Bruce silently huffed as he kicked the covers off himself and rolled over. His hand met with cool sheets and his eyes slowly slid open to stare at the empty space next to him. He let out a frustrated groan and rolled on to his back to stare at the ceiling.
He was sick of this. He was sick of the tension that appeared every time he and Audrey were in the same room together. He hated that they hadn't said more than three words to each other since their fight. His eyes drifted back to Audrey's side of the bed. He wanted his wife. He wanted her to hog the blankets and to treat his wounds. He wanted her to yell at him for being an idiot… Screw it.
In the next instant Bruce was out of bed and heading down the hall before he found himself pausing in front of Audrey's door. No…the guest door. To be honest, this was the third time he had found himself standing outside her room this last week and every time he couldn't make himself go in. Just as his hand touched the door knob he heard a muffled cursing from downstairs. Biting at his cheek, he quickly made the decision to see what was going on.
He arrived in the kitchen to find Audrey leaning against the counter with her eyes closed. He noted that the bruising that had been on the side of her face was quickly disappearing. She was down to a yellowish-green splotch just under her eye. Her breathing was shallow and her arm rested protectively around her middle. The cabinet just above her head was wide open. It didn't take a genius to figure out she had been trying to reach for something.
He asked anyway, "What happened?"
Audrey's eyes flew open at the sound of his voice and quickly sought him out. The line of her mouth tightened ever so slightly and she gently shook her head, "Nothing…it's nothing."
"Audrey." Her name came out more like a weary sigh than a reproach.
Audrey grimaced before looking away, "You should be asleep."
"So should you." Bruce quietly retorted. He hesitantly took a step towards her, willing her to look at him, "What happened?"
Audrey bit her lip as she stared at the fridge. She hated this. Talking to him shouldn't be this hard.
Suddenly, she waved her free hand at the cabinet and held back a frustrated scoff, "I was trying to reach my painkillers."
For the first time, Bruce actually looked inside the opened cupboard and saw the medicine bottle lying on the second shelf. Just barely out of her reach. He moved forward again and gently placed one hand to the side of her as he reached up to grab her pills. Effectively trapping Audrey between him and the counter. She stiffened slightly at his closeness before forcing herself to relax. She wanted to lean in, truthfully, to wrap her arms around him and just listen to his heart beat. She just wasn't sure he would welcome it.
A thought suddenly struck, Bruce, as his hand grasped the small container. His eyes linger for a moment of the oval shaped pills that lay within the orange plastic. Audrey hated taking medicine. He pulled the pills out of the cupboard and held them just out of Audrey's reach.
"Bruce." Audrey stated warningly.
Bruce cut her off, "Tell me what happened and I'll give you, your pills."
There was a brief silence as Audrey glared at him in annoyance. He was half sure that she was going to call him a pain in the ass.
"I jarred my ribs." Audrey muttered finally.
Bruce wasn't satisfied though, "How?"
Audrey paled before she flushed a light pink. She suddenly found that she had a hard time looking him in the eye. The throbbing pain in her side hadn't even come close to dulling yet and she knew she would have to tell him.
Bruce tilted his head curiously as he tried to catch her eye again, "Audrey…"
"Nightmare." She sighed and quickly glanced at him before looking away, "I fell out of bed."
Bruce frowned at this and quickly put the bottle of pills down on the counter. The beds in the manor weren't exactly low to the ground. Audrey went to reach for her medicine when she suddenly felt Bruce's hand on her hip. She stilled as she felt him tugging at her shirt and placed her hand over his.
Bruce gave her one of his stern stares, "Let me see."
Without waiting for her to respond he removed her hand and lifted up her shirt. Bruce let out a quiet hiss as he noticed that a mass of bruising was starting to reform over the already healing ones. He gently drew his fingers across the plain of black and blue skin, un-expectantly causing Audrey's breathing to hitch. His attention was so focused on what he was doing; he hadn't noticed that Audrey had begun to study carefully him,as he checked her over.
She bit at her lip again as he carefully drew away from her. She was surprised to find her hand falling away from his arm as he moved. She hadn't remembered even placing it there. She hid her surprised when Bruce appeared before her again, a moment later. This time he had an ice pack in his hand and was tenderly pressing it against her bruises. A flicker of a smile crossed her face. How many times had she done the same exact thing for him?
"I'm sorry."
Bruce's head shot up and his eyes softened as he caught the aggrieved look that passed across her face, but he remained silent.
"I never meant to hurt you…I should have called." Audrey drew a deep breath, ignoring the pain that the action caused, "But Bruce, I never cheated on you."
"I know." Bruce whispered.
"Then why say it?" Audrey asked raggedly, "I don't think I have ever given you reason not to trust me like that."
Bruce clenched his jaw as he searched for the words to make her understand, "You were hurt and I didn't know. I didn't know that you had left Gotham or that you even had work to do that day. Then Charlie called right before I was getting ready to leave for the night. He told me that you were in Brentwood and that your assignment had gone wrong. That you were being loaded onto an ambulance but the paramedics couldn't get you to breathe right. You weren't responding to treatment."
His grip on the phone tightened until he heard a faint crack. Charlie was spewing words at him at a mile a minute, but his mind just wasn't processing anything.
"Bruce, she's not responding to the paramedics." Charlie explained roughly, "They're loading her into the ambulance now and taking her to St. Josephine's."
St. Josephine's that was over a hundred miles away. He could feel his heart beating in his throat. Audrey hated hospitals.
Bruce shook himself, "I'm on my way."
He cut the call off before Charlie could say anymore and quickly ran around grabbing his things. He barely stopped to explain anything to Alfred.
Bruce licked his lips and smiled briefly as Audrey squeezed his hand, "You scared me, Audrey. We had only spoken to each other that morning and you had been teasing me about getting a haircut."
"You still need one." Audrey said softly as she bit back a wave of guilt. She knew the kind of fear that Bruce was talking about. She couldn't forget it and she hated that she had caused it in him.
Bruce rolled his eyes, "Then I got to the hospital and I saw you. You were irritated and tired and I was just relieved that you were ok… that you were breathing. And I saw your arm and the side of your face and then I was angry. I was angry at you for not telling me what you were doing or even where you were. Then when I saw that dress –" He all but spat the word, " – I felt like I was going insane. What, exactly, were you supposed to be doing? Were you wounded because you fending off some guy who wouldn't take the word no? Or was it something else? I didn't want to know."
Audrey's mind froze, she hadn't even thought off that. She hadn't thought that it might have looked like someone had tried to rape her. Her hand cupped Bruce's cheek and she stared into his eyes, "Is that why you were going through my medical chart?"
Bruce nodded, "That was part of it. I also know that you like to downplay your injuries. Afterwards, I just wanted to get you home. I wanted to forget everything about that night. You have no idea that even though you were bang up and a general mess that you still looked beautiful. I don't know how many guys I saw eyeing you while we were in the hospital."
"You were jealous."
"It wasn't exactly jealousy." Bruce said with a shake of his head, "I still wasn't sure what had happened. What if some guy had tried to rape you? And these guys were looking at you like a piece of meat? I wanted to hit someone."
Bruce silently scowled as they walked down the halls of the hospital. The doctor leading them was explaining to Audrey what exactly he would be looking for in his x-ray. He paid attention with half an ear. His eyes were trained on everyone, they passed.
He hadn't missed any of the looks that some of the guys had given her. It was something he grown used to whenever they went out to somewhere formal and Audrey dressed up. Now though, when she was wearing a dress that showed more skin than he was comfortable with and the bruises on her were darkening with each passing second…it just made him disgusted.
Not with Audrey, but with every man who had the gull to actually look at her like she was on some sort of menu. Who the hell gets turned on by someone who has been beaten? He'd give his wife credit though, she hid her pain well.
As soon as she stopped out of the x-ray room, Bruce was by her side. He quietly slipped his coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Audrey closed her eyes and leaned back into the counter, "And then we got home and I started to push you."
Bruce frowned and looked down, "I lost control. Everything you said to me made sense and then it didn't. It was like you didn't understand that you could have been killed and I wouldn't have known until it was too late. You didn't get how much it hurt to know that you wouldn't call me if you were in trouble. For a moment, I thought you didn't trust me and it hurt. So I pushed you away and I tried to hurt you back, but I didn't mean what I said. It was stupid and I shouldn't have said it. I know…I do know you would never cheat on me."
"I wasn't trying to hurt you." Audrey whispered, "I was actually trying to protect you. When I was in the hospital I didn't know you had been called until a few minutes before you arrived. I wasn't planning on calling you because I knew it would have worried you. You would have been on your way to the hospital before I could blink because you wouldn't have believed I was alright until you saw me with your own two eyes."
"I'm you husband, Audrey. I'm supposed to protect you. I had a right to know you were hurt." Bruce wasn't sure he was more irritated or exasperated with her.
Audrey smiled sadly, "I know. I was going to tell you. It's not like I could have hidden it."
"I'm sure you would have if you could." Bruce muttered, "You would have waited until you had gotten home."
"Right, because what could you have done at the hospital that you would have done differently at home?" Audrey asked rhetorically, "At least here, we would be somewhere familiar, a place that I was comfortable in. A place where you would have lectured me while you fussed and checked over the doctor's work. At least then, you would have felt like you were doing something. Instead of having to stand off to the side and watch someone else do it."
He gave her a point for that, he did check the doctor's work whenever she came home with an injury. It still didn't make him feel better, "The scrub thing? And I want a real reason this time."
"The last time I wore something that was even a little revealing, you were glued to my side the entire night." Audrey raised an eyebrow as she watched a dark smile flit across Bruce's face, "I did notice you glare at just about every guy that seemed a little too interested by your standards."
"So that was more for your benefit than for mine." Bruce clarified.
Audrey smirked, "Like I said you have jealousy issues and I didn't want to contend with that while I was being treated."
"Whatever." Bruce scoffed before becoming serious again, "You know I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to make you question my trust in you…And I didn't mean to call you a whore…inadvertently.
Audrey rolled her eyes, "Of all the things you said to me that night, I really didn't care about that. Sure it hurt, especially after you accused me of sleeping with someone else. But honestly, Bruce, think of all the things we've ever called each other when we've had a fight. Whore doesn't even rank in the top ten of nasty things said."
Bruce smirked at that, "So, we're going to be okay?"
"Yeah." Audrey smiled shyly, "Yeah we're going to be okay."
"Good."
At some point during their conversation Bruce had removed the ice pack from Audrey's side and had placed it on the counter. Slowly now, he reached behind her and grabbed her pills.
"Take this and let's go to bed." Bruce said as he pushed a pill into her hand and watched her go grab a bottle of water from the fridge, "I've actually missed you hogging the covers."
Audrey shot him an indignant look, "I do not hog the covers."
Bruce smiled faintly and ushered his wife up the stairs. She was right; they were going to be okay.
The next morning…afternoon, Audrey woke and smiled slightly to see Bruce next to her. He was already half awake and watching her through hooded eyes as she stretched before curling back up again. She reached out slowly and traced the outline of his face.
"Alfred thinks you burned that dress I was wearing." Audrey said sleepily.
Bruce raised a tired eyebrow at her random statement, "I did."
One of his hands reached out lazily and drew her closer when she started to frown at him. Bruce turned on his side and ran a hand through her hair as he started talking, "Baby, the next time you wear something that shows that much skin, even if it comes with a vest to cover you, it's going to be for my eyes only."
Audrey's frowned deepened, "Did Alfred tell you about the vest?"
Bruce's sudden silence made her heave a sigh of exasperation, "Eavesdropper."
"You still love me, though." Bruce teased quietly
Audrey merely hummed in reply and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. He deepened it only seconds later before pulling away to rest his head against hers for a moment. He shifted and rested his head next to hers on her pillow while keeping his arm loosely wrapped around her middle.
"Besides, you sat in the cave until I would come back." Bruce stated with a yawn.
Audrey stilled in surprise, "How did you know?"
A smirk twitched on Bruce's lips, "You didn't think I wouldn't notice that all the medical supplies I would need after a long night were mysteriously all together and in the same drawer? Or that Alfred suddenly seemed to know to come downstairs to help me get a piece of metal out of my shoulder?"
Audrey tugged at her ear in embarrassment as he shot her an amused look. He wasn't supposed to know about that. Instead of saying anything, she nestled into his side and smiled contently.
"Is your side still hurting?" Bruce questioned softly.
Audrey shook her head, "Only when I breathe too deeply."
The two of them laid like that for most of the afternoon. Curiously, Alfred didn't come in once to disturb them.