One Month Later

Bruce Wayne was in his father's study staring into the flames dancing in the fireplace when there was a rap on the door. His butler/guardian/mentor Alfred Pennyworth entered without waiting for an answer and said with a very proper British accent, "Master Bruce, Detective Gordon is here to see you, and he has brought along a... friend he would like you to meet."

Standing up behind the desk fourteen year old Bruce asked curiously, "Who is it Alfred?"

"You'll have to ask the detective that yourself Sir. I'm quite sure I've never met the young lady in my life," Alfred said with a slight smirk at the way Bruce's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Ah, Master Bruce," he began as the boy headed for the stairs, "might I suggest, perhaps, a change of attire and maybe a quick run through with a comb first. The young lady seems to be rather well bred for the company she keeps."

Glancing down at his clothes he Bruce noticed the buttons on his dress shirt were crooked and his black slacks were well beyond wrinkled. He had been very distracted lately. Nodding at Alfred he said, "Thank you Alfred."

"Of course Master Bruce," Alfred said as the boy passed by him back down the hall. "Shall I offer refreshments while they wait."

"Yes, please," Bruce said before disappearing into his room.

Alfred chuckled and headed back downstairs to get acquainted with the curious creature Detective Jim Gordon had brought to the estate. He was certainly feeling more fondly towards her than the last girl already, not that that said much really. 'There's just something in the chit's eyes that reminds me of Young Master Bruce,' he thought to himself as he looked in the drawing room and saw her sitting demurely on a brown leather chaise lounge next to Detective Gordon. She had her head on the rugged man's shoulder, and as he watched silently James Gordon, one of the most stoic men he had ever met wiped the young woman's tears, hugged her tightly, then whispered something and kissed her forehead with a gentle smile.

He straightened his neck tie unnecessarily and cleared his throat before entering the room. "Detective, Miss," he said with a slight bow,"Master Bruce will be down shortly. May I offer you some tea, though I suppose you would prefer a soda of some sort?"

He offered the girl his kindest smile, but she only ducked her head and said quietly in a sweet voice, "Tea would be lovely, thank you."

Jim wrapped his arm around her shoulders as Alfred left to get the tea, and he couldn't help but be curious about who she was. She obviously wasn't a relative, by all appearances they couldn't be more opposite if they were to try. "So why is the good detective acting quite fatherly towards the young lady," he asked himself aloud as he passed the stairs in the direction of the kitchen.