Hangfire

Chapter One

Hi. Hello. I'm pretty new to the Gotham fandom, I'm just saying, so I'm very sorry if I make a mistake plotwise or whatever. I have learned quite a bit about it, though, from my friend on here, Jotunheim Storm, and her amazing fanfiction Riddles Of Passion! I've watched one episode so far (so far...) but I am HOOKED. And Bruce is my favorite character ;)

EDIT: So, I changed the story – it won't fit the Gotham storyline, it'll just be with the characters and take place vaguely in the future. If you're confused by this, please don't hesitate to ask! The story will also have Silver, because I hate Silver and Silver needs to die.

I don't like social events.

It's not that I'm non-social (well, sometimes I am,), I just find them to be boring. For example, the charity ball coming up – the Wayne Enterprise's charity ball.

I'm actually kind of excited for this one, though. I mean, Bruce Wayne. Dang, that boy is cute. Except he already has a girlfriend, you know, word around the street. I keep up with the street kids. They're nice.

I'm not a street kid myself, but I'm not exactly the heiress to a company worth billions or a socialite's daughter. I'm just a middle class kid, not rich, but not poor. We get by.

But this time, it's different. My parents are out of town, so I'm staying with my aunt, Audrey Grahame. The businesswoman, the owner of Strexcorp, manufactuer of who knows what. Seriously. No one knows. But she's the kind of person who'd be invited to the Wayne Enterprise's Charity Ball. And she wanted me to be her plus-one. She's cool like that.

"You got that dress on?" she calls to me.

"Yeah!" I finish pulling the dress on. Audrey paid for it, luckily. My parents never would have been able to afford something like the lacy white beauty that was the dress. It flowed around to my knees, made out of white silk and lace with a black belt cinching the waist. Audrey picked it out.

Gah, heels. I had to wear them for a chorus concert once. I had blisters for about a week. But these are surprisingly comfortable, so shiny and black I can see my reflection. They're strappy. ("Don't be afraid to show some foot cleavage," she said.)

I come out of the guest room, where Audrey is waiting, in a pretty crocheted wine-colored dress and tan calf-length boots. I'd always admired her fashion sense.

She claps excitedly as I twirl around in a circle, the dress flowing around me in a blur of white. "Yay for you! You look amazing! He's definitely going to notice you now," she says, winking at me. I roll my eyes.

"He already has a girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes back at me. "That plastic Barbie Doll? Come on, you're way prettier than her."

I raise my eyebrows at this. Me, with my hair in that awkward growing out phase and birthmark visible on my face? No. I don't respond, though, because Audrey'll just deny it.

She holds the door open for me. "After you,"

Audrey is really more of a sister to me than an aunt. She's younger than my mom, at twenty five, while my mom is in her late thirties. I can talk to her about anything, really, from Bruce Wayne to my latest math grades. (The latter and former being something I'd never talk about with my parents.)

I grin at her and skip out the door, and we skip down the hall together, laughing our heads off. It's the little things like that that make a day good.

I strap myself into the passenger seat of Audrey's smart car. She named hers Sheldon. After some TV show I'm not allowed to watch, I think. She begins driving, humming a staccato, light tune.

I look out the window, passing by all of Gotham's sights. I never said they were good sights, just...places. Places full of death, murder, and pretty bad people. I'm not even sure why my parents wanted to live here.

It's not a very long drive to Wayne Enterprises. I hop out of the car, following Audrey into the building. She flashes her pass to the fairly nasty looking bouncer, and we go in.

And that's when my heart gets flattened by a steamroller.

Bruce and that girl, Silver St. Cloud, dancing, and frankly looking like they're having a good time. I bite my lip. Audrey puts a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, kid."

"I know, I mean, it's stupid, I don't even know him, I just..." I mumble, not even aware of what's coming out of my mouth.

She turns me around by my shoulders. "Hol, we are going to get you near him. This happened to me back when I was your age. Sam Taylor..." She murmured.

That got...kind of...awkward. But I get it. "Um, okay..."

"Firstly, get close to him. Dance with me. We'll be switching partners soon anyway." Audrey spun me into a waltz.

Now, I have no idea how to waltz. All I know is that it goes something like "one-two-three one-two-three." Or something like that. I just follow Audrey, who seems to know what she's doing.

She sneakily glides us over to Bruce and Silver. I glance over in their direction. Silver's saying something, which Bruce laughs at. Dang.

"And...switch!" Audrey whispers, twirling me around. With a wink from her, I land in the arms of Bruce. Bruce Wayne. Always trust Audrey, I guess.