Audrey was feeling slightly bad for Jayden after having dashed her hopes- though not for the first time-and then having made the woman get back to productive work. When five o'clock rolled around and most of the people were leaving, Jayden and Audrey were working their asses off on finishing an email that was supposed to be by Mr. Wayne to the staff about recent thefts occurring along the lines of purses and wallets in the building. Mr. Wayne had no time, unfortunately, to write the email himself, and so the secretaries joined up, putting together their images of Bruce Wayne to recreate his authority and tone.

Someone tapping on the marble counter around Jayden's desk began the slow return to reality for Audrey as she watched Jayden type.

"One moment." she said to the person, then commented to Jayden, "No, right there, you need to say 'Any employee who is caught in possession of another employee's belongings without express permission from the employee will be terminated immediately.'"

"That's kind of harsh, isn't it, Odd?"

"We're pretending to be an exec. We're allowed to be harsh. Besides, I think that's what Mr. Wayne would do."

"I agree, that's what I would do." both women jumped visibly at Mr. Wayne's voice, and looked at him. Audrey turned a shade of pink while Jayden kept her composure. Although, blush couldn't be seen through her dark brown skin regardless.

"Are we sending out fake emails for me, ladies?" he questioned. Audrey sat up straight in her chair.

"Yes, under Mr. Fox's authority."

"About a rash of thefts in the building?"

"Yes sir." Mr. Wayne cringed as she said the word sir, and she realized she'd never seen him portray that kind of emotion before.

"How long is that going to take?"

"At least another hour." Jayden replied. Mr. Wayne seemed dumbfounded by the amount of time it took to forge an email, and Audrey just turned back to the computer.

"Ms. Habicht, may I speak with you in private?" Audrey glanced back at Mr. Wayne, confused, then stood up and followed him into his office with a glance back at Jayden, who was playfully glaring at her.

Mr. Wayne shut the door behind himself, then looked at Audrey.

"I have a job for you."

"I have a job." she pointed out, rather unnecessarily. Mr. Wayne's face twitched slightly as he hid some facial expression from Audrey, and she wondered what would happen if they were actually friends. She dismissed the thought within a second, knowing that he didn't have many "real friends". Mr. Wayne smiled slightly, looking down at his desk before continuing.

"It's not a second job, I assure you. More of a task. Wayne Enterprises employs hundreds of people, and everyday, some of them call off sick. I would like you to monitor these messages for anyone with an injury. Report back to me when you've found one."

"How long do I have?"

"Within the week."

"Okay." she turned and left, tapping her chin as she thought of ways to monitor the sick leaves.

"Ms. Habicht, Ms. White, let me know when you two have finished. I'll escort you both home, seeing as both of you are without transport." Mr. Wayne called after her. Audrey looked back over her shoulder, confused, then turned to look at Jayden, who frowned playfully.

"I have loose lips." she apologised. Audrey sighed and returned to her seat, Mr. Wayne coming to hover just behind them as they struggled to find the right words to mimic his authoritative tone. He counselled them gently, pushing Jayden toward the path more than Audrey, who took a backseat and let her friend do the work. They finished quickly, with the man himself just behind them, and then Mr. Wayne led the two women to his car on the top level of the underground parking garage. Jayden slid herself easily into the backseat, leaving absolutely no room for Audrey. With narrowed eyes, Audrey looked away from the backseat and sat beside her boss in the passenger seat, making idle conversation as Jayden interjected instructions to her home, and then Audrey explaining how to get to the slum where she lived.


The next day, unfortunately, was significantly worse. The central terminal for the train network throughout the city had yet to locate her missing purse, leaving Audrey without I.D. for the Wayne Tower.

"Oh come on! I just did this yesterday, without my I.D." she complained, feeling her frustration mount. The man behind the desk shook his head, bald head reflecting the lights above almost blindingly.

"Sorry ma'am. Either you find your I.D., or you can't come back." Audrey groaned, and then her attempts to persuade were further blocked by the phone ringing at the station. The man picked up the phone, and nestled in between his ear and his shoulder, while watching Audrey intently.

"Security." he answered, then shock crossed his features and the phone slipped slightly.

"Mr. Wayne." he greeted, still shocked as he caught the phone before it fell, "She has not entered the building yet, but there is a woman here claiming to be her." a short silence.

"She has no I.D., I can't let her pass." another silence, and then the man hung up. Audrey continued trying to argue with him, but he remained silent, until the executive elevator dinged, and out stepped Mr. Wayne. Friendly relief spread across his features as his eyes met Audrey's, expressing an emotion she wasn't used to seeing on his face.

"Let's go."

"I can't come in to work, Mr. Wayne."

"Bruce. And why not?" Audrey eyed him as he told her to call him so informally. Still she replied.

"No I.D., no entrance." Mr. Wayne almost frowned. His lips twitched a little bit at the corners in a minuscule way that Audrey would have missed if she wasn't watching him so carefully.

Audrey pinched her arm to snap her out of her staring.

"Where's your I.D.?"

"In my purse." she openly frowned, trying not to remember her meeting with the shift manager at the terminal this morning.

"And where is that? At home?"

"It has been… temporarily misplaced." Mr. Wayne gave an easy, well practiced smile that he must've worn often.

"Let's go." he repeated. Audrey shook her head, honey brown curls bouncing all over and nearly blinding her. In an act of uncharacteristic physicalness, he gripped her forearm and pulled her through the turntable, then into the executive elevator. Audrey took a moment to register what had happened, then glared softly at her boss, feeling the slight abuse of power.

"I'd thought you were ill."

"I don't get sick. I just have some personal issues to work out."

"Where is your purse temporarily misplaced at?"

"It was on the train. You should delete my I.D. in case anyone tries to use it." she informed him, trying not to sound miffed about his abuse of power.

"Are you angry with me?" he questioned. Audrey looked away from the glass walls of the elevator and at him.

"I am simply recalling the difference in our stations, Mr. Wayne."

Mr. Wayne said nothing more, and Audrey turned her gaze to the ground until they reached their floor and Audrey quickly walked away from him and to her desk. Jayden wiggled her eyebrows at Audrey as she tried to calmly walk to her seat and sit down. Her feet were throbbing, her head ached, she was irritated and menstruating. All in all, it was a bad day for Audrey.

"Sharing elevators?" Jayden teased and Mr. Wayne passed on the way to his office.

"Helping the lost one." Audrey looked at him, irritation forgotten for a moment, amusement marking her face. Mr. Wayne disappeared into his office and Jayden swiveled her chair to look at her coworker.

"You two certainly almost seem friendly."

"I'm not sure what to call that." Audrey admitted, looking briefly to Jayden before turning to face her computer and check the sick leaves.

For the next seven work days, Audrey found vanilla beans on her desk in the morning before she got there, and immediately suspected that Jayden was trying to give Mr. Wayne hints to cracking Audrey like a pistachio – easy and quick. Her motive, however, remained unclear.


Jayden and Audrey walked along the sidewalk a few nights later-Sunday-singing loudly and a little tipsily. Jayden stumbled and Audrey's arm around her waist pulled her back to her, keeping her on the sidewalk and not in the active night traffic. As they approached the intersection they typically crossed before heading into the Old Haunt, Audrey immediately recognising flashing blue, red, and white lights. Jayden took a moment more, almost walking into a barricade before realising there was an obstruction. In her drunkenness, Jayden's head turned with a slight uncontrollability, looking to and fro for an alternate route.

"Let's go this way!" she decided, tugging Audrey along behind her. Audrey hesitated briefly, something in her mind calling up a memory unavailable to her at the moment. Their destination brought the memory to the tip of her tongue, but then it was gone again, slipping away like a cat who didn't want to be loved. Her mind quickly switched gears, no longer concerned with her memory loss nor the bad feeling that began to torment her gut. They wound through alley after alley, Audrey forgetting that they had a destination at all until they emerged back onto a trafficked street, the Old Haunt's sign flickering brightly, though much further than it had been before the barricade. With a heavy, dramatic sigh, Audrey began to lead the way to the Haunt, keeping Jayden in check beside her. Jayden's ever shortening attention was drawn quickly to an attractive man looking around helplessly. She loosed herself from Audrey's protective and guiding grip and sauntered over the man.

"Well, are you lost?" she questioned, speech slurred. The man looked up at her, smiling shyly and embarrassedly.

"A bit. Can you direct me to the Hungry Shed?" he questioned. Warning bells all over Audrey's mind went off, screaming that this scenario was familiar, and not in a good way. She dismissed the alarms, attributing them to TV tropes seen to often, disbelieving that anyone would actually pull the same trick twice. Her mind, it seemed, had undusted her memory of her attack, though, and was gearing up for fight or flight despite her attempts to calm it.

With a lingering look toward the Old Haunt, Jayden began walking arm and arm with the man, Audrey trailing behind, her mind sobering up quickly. It took only minutes for the man to guide the too drunk Jayden toward a very dark alley. He disappeared, pulling her in after, and she screamed with delight, enjoying the uncontrolled swing on his arm. Audrey, incredibly sober and scared for her life and her friend's, followed quickly. There was a noise of something shifting slightly, as if someone had bumped into it, and then Audrey's arms were pulled behind her painfully, Jayden pushed up against the wall, unwilling to scream due to a knife against her throat. Her gaze flickered to Audrey, eyes bright and alive and full of tear inducing fear, while the only one capable of defending herself found her own fear too immobilizing, again.

I knew this was coming, Audrey realised, I recognised the plan and still didn't react differently. She hated herself for allowing Jayden to get her into a bar, and hated herself for being too far out of defence class to fight back.

The lead man placed his briefcase on the ground, pressing himself against Jayden as he lowered the knife, cutting her shirt shallowly at the neckline. Audrey yanked against her captor's hands, and recalling that this was one of the easiest ways to subdue someone, and recalling that she'd been taught how to get out a thousand times. With a deep breath, she stopped all airflow in her body as she forced her torso in an arc toward her knees, pulling the man restraining her onto her back and then throwing him off the side. Her muscles began to protest immediately, but the pain faded quickly as all eyes moved to her.

"Well, we have a fighter." someone teased.

"Isn't that the one Jonathan went after last week?" someone else commented.

"No Batman to save you this time." another taunted before stepping toward Audrey. She ducked reflexively out of the way of his wide right hook, then lifted her foot and pushed straight forward, crushing the man's sex organs with all of the muscles in her leg. He cried out and dropped to his knees, giving her the chance to kick out again, feeling his nose crunch under her shoe. Without notice, something heavy slammed into the back of Audrey's head, sending her to the ground in a heap, stars in her vision and head spinning.

"Dumb bitch." someone spat, grabbing the belt loop on her jeans and tugging down hard. The pants shifted only an inch but Jayden's ear piercing scream stopped all movement as she let go the vocal cords that used to soar above everyone in high school choir. When the shrill noise stopped, someone hit Jayden hard and she cried out, tears choking her voice. Audrey turned her eyes toward her friend, watching the man slice her shirt easily with his knife. Audrey opened her mouth, then found a boot against her skull.

"They'll both do nice for the business. Pretty faces, adequate bodies." the lead man observed.

A fluttering sounded that forced hope into Audrey's heart, and then the sounds of a massacre. Within ninety seconds, Audrey was being pulled to her feet by a cold, armoured hand. Batman lifted her easily to her feet, then leaned her back against the wall. He looked over her quickly, sparing a glance to Jayden, then looked back to Audrey.

"The police are on their way." he informed her before disappearing. Audrey thought briefly about nodding and conveying her gratitude, but decided against it, feeling the mounting migraine in her mind already. Batman disappeared, and the police arrived within two minutes. They took Audrey and Jayden's statements, collecting the unconscious men and forcing them into the police cars. As one of the officers asked Jayden if she would like a ride home, Audrey's attention was drawn to a detective in the back, talking about a forced prostitution ring. She exhaled, the remainder of her fear leaving her upon realising Batman wasn't following her, he was investigating the people who happened to attack her. She turned her attention back to the officer and accepted the ride.


Audrey had been fighting with a migraine all morning, and emptied her precious supplies of Advil doing so. At ten, she decided work wasn't happening at all. Reaching out to the bedside table, she smacked her cell off it, then called Jayden.

"Babe, I am not coming in today."

"That's too bad. What's wrong? Need me to come make you dinner?" Audrey laughed, then winced.

"Splitting migraine after yesterday."

"Aw, babe, I'm sorry." in the background, she could faintly hear Mr. Fox saying, "Ms. White, the phone is not to be used for personal calls."

"It's not personal, Mr. Fox, I assure you. Audrey is calling in sick."

"Audrey is sick?" Mr. Wayne's voice questioned in the background.

"Migraine." Audrey laughed, "Even she gets headaches sometimes, Mr. Wayne, believe it or not."

"Jayden, put it on speaker." there was a click, and then the sound of the office became so much louder.

"We had an incident yesterday while coming home from the movies and I got slammed around. I'll be fine tomorrow, I promise, but I can't concentrate on anything right now. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Get well, Ms. Habicht." Fox commented.

"Bye Odd. I'll come be miserable with you after work." Audrey laughed, then winced.

"Can't wait." she hung up, then let out a groan and dropped the phone on the other side of her bed, curled up into a ball, and willed herself to sleep. Before she drifted off, she dimly became aware that she had her injury for Mr. Wayne.

A knock on the door woke Audrey up some time later, and she opened her eyes, then glanced at the clock.

"Six p.m?" she questioned groggily, then got up and slid to the door. She opened it, only to find Mr. Wayne on the outside.

"Mr. Wayne?" she questioned.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. And to tell you that I didn't want you to hurt yourself-"

"I didn't hurt myself, I promise. And I'll be fine." he offered her an easy smile, then shuffled his feet a moment.

"I brought you something for the pain." she smiled as he held out a bottle of Tylenol, and she laughed quietly.

"That's sweet." she took the bottle, then kissed his cheek and hugged him. She could feel his surprise at her actions, but frankly only cared about the pain medicine.

"That's not all." she pulled back, and he held up his car keys.

"We're going to the Wayne Tower. I want to make sure that you're not seriously injured, since I doubt you've been to a hospital."

"Or you want to use me to test your machine." Audrey teased.

"That's just an unfortunate opportunity. It's cheaper than going to the hospital." Audrey barked out a laugh and held up a finger, requesting a moment. She headed back inside, grabbing a pair of shoes and her keys, turning off the lights and locking the door behind her.

"Where are you going dressed like that, Habicht?" a neighbor questioned as they descended the stairs to the first floor.

"The hospital." Audrey covered, offering a pathetic pout. The woman laughed, and Mr. Wayne led Audrey outside and into the rain for a moment before opening the passenger door for her and letting her slide in. He shut the door, then rounded the front of the car to slide into his seat.

Some ten minutes later, they were at the Wayne Tower, and Audrey giggled as he parked, then led her upstairs to the medical department by a hand on her wrist.

"Mr. Wayne!" he nodded greeting to the head as they entered.

"Our test subject." he gestured to Audrey. After a second, the head of the division led her into a back room, followed by Mr. Wayne, where he urged Audrey to step into a full body scanner. After a second of fiddling with a screen, the scanner started up. Two minutes later, Mr. Wayne pulled her out gently.

"It appears you have a mild concussion. A fall?" she turned red.

"Yeah."

"Well, now your lab rat has been tested, and I should say that the machine is ready for mass production." she gaped at the term, seeing a glimpse of Mr. Wayne she often didn't.

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne." the medical personnel thanked. Mr. Wayne led Audrey out, and she looked at his profile, a silly grin on her lips.

"Lab rat?" she questioned, teasing.

"My apologies if that offended you." he apologised professionally.

"Quite the opposite. It's nice to know that there is more than the polite and professional veneer." she continued, looking forward.

"Would you prefer I be more candid with you?" he questioned, glancing at her.

"Of course."

"You look like hell." she laughed, then winced as her head began to pound, protesting the noise level and force of her laughter.

"You're telling me? I didn't even get to shower before you came to get me. I probably look like something the cat puked up." she muttered, silly grin still on her lips.

"More like something it killed and presented as a trophy." she snorted at his comparison, more quietly this time, and shoved at him gently.

"Sorry, women don't wake up beautiful." she shot back.

"You think I do? Maybe I spend two hours getting ready in the morning."

"I bet you would. I mean, every strand has to be in place."

"If I spent two hours getting ready," Mr. Wayne pondered, "You'd have to spend at least three. You usually look like a professional team has dressed a model to pretend to be a secretary." her grin dropped to a sweet smile at the unintentional compliment.

"If only that were true." she murmured, effectively killing the route of conversation as planned. They walked in silence until the parking garage, where Mr. Wayne spoke up again;

"So tell me about this incident." heat flooded her cheeks as she recalled her pathetic attempt at fighting the night prior. Mr. Wayne spared her a glance.

"Audrey-"

"You don't need to worry about me." he looked at her, and she laughed quietly.

"It was a mugging gone wrong," she lied in an attempt to appease him, "Nothing more. I'm stupid and tried to fight back."

"Your version of handling a situation is not what I want to see again." she frowned at him.

"What if I like being injured?" she joked in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

"A bad habit. And if you die on the job while pursuing your habit, that's more paperwork for me." he followed, choosing the lighter path as well.

"On the lighter side of things," she hopped topics again after a quiet laugh, "the train people found my purse."

"It took them long enough." he responded, braking into a stoplight.

"Well, you know, 'We have an awful lot of trains'" she mimicked, eliciting a chuckle from Mr. Wayne.

"How do you manage to leave your purse on the train anyway? Aren't purses like an extension of your body?" he questioned.

"I-" Audrey paused, unwilling to dive back into potentially dark and uncomfortable territory, "was fleeing from an overly friendly guy on the train. Changed cars in a rush, got off in a rush. My purse isn't innervated." Mr. Wayne glanced at her before returning his gaze to the road.

"Were you okay?"

"Oh of course. Not even a run in with a rapist can phase me." as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Audrey cursed herself a thousand times over.

"A run in with a rapist…?" Mr. Wayne questioned slowly, drawing out the words.

"It was a joke." she tried.

"You're a horrible liar." he rejected. She sighed, leaning her head back against the headrest.

"Nothing happened. I'm still alive."

"You've been attacked twice in less than two weeks?" Audrey felt an embarrassed heat in her cheeks, knowing how ridiculous it sounded, and how naive and ignorant she must've been to get trapped by the same ruse twice.

"Yes."

"It's a wonder you've only escaped with a concussion." he commented, forcefully changing the subject.

"My mom always said I had a hard head." he chuckled, and they lapsed into silence until he pulled up just outside her apartment building.

"You and Ms. White perpetually stay after everyone else. What time do you usually leave?"

"Nine at night." he looked at her, and she looked at him. After a moment of waiting for her to crack from holding the joke, he shook his head with a sigh and bid her goodnight. She returned the sentiment and slid out of the car, heading up the stairs to her apartment and taking more pain medication to get her through the night.


Audrey woke up the next morning to a dull headache, and the thought of going to work only briefly entered her stream of consciousness before she dismissed it. She didn't want to have to face Mr. Wayne's worrying gaze after informing him of her attacks. Muttering about her sleeping schedule, she got up and exited the bedroom, then turned on the TV as she headed to the kitchen to get medicine and water. As she watched the TV, the faces of a dozen men appeared on the screen. Curiousity piqued, she downed her pills, then slipped back into the main room to sit on the couch and listen.

"A group of twelve men thought to be involved in a local prostitution ring were found by the police late last night, bloodied and eager to turn themselves in. Some of the men were only lightly injured, but some were taken to the hospital due to the severity of their injuries. No one knows for sure who attacked the men or convinced them to turn themselves in, but we all have our suspicions." the view turned into a police officer by the name of Gordon.

"He may be a criminal now as well, but something tells me Batman is still fighting for us." Audrey snorted.

"Twelve guys in one night, though? Something has him pissed off." she muttered, turning back into the kitchen, then suddenly noticing the light on her answering machine blinking. She hit play, then leaned against the counter while it rolled through three telemarketing messages, and then one more.

"You'll be taking today off as well." Mr. Wayne's voice informed her through the speaker. She laughed at the fact that she had anyway, then saved the message to play for Jayden sometime. Turning away, she made herself a parfait, then sat down and watched a mindless cop drama for seven hours before her phone rang and someone knocked on the door, at the same time. Groaning, she got up and grabbed the phone, then answered the door.

"Hello?" she questioned to both. Jayden smiled at Audrey, who grinned back.

"Your head?" she attempted to withhold a laugh, letting Jayden slide past her into the apartment.

"It's fine, Mr. Wayne. As it was last night."

"Is it wrong for me to be concerned?" he defended playfully.

"No, but it's unnecessary. I'm a big girl, Mr. Wayne. I even live on my own." she threw a bag of popcorn at Jayden, who caught it, then stretched out her other hand for the bag of pretzels. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"I'll let you enjoy your night with Ms. White, then, big girl." Audrey turned on her heel and shot a look at her friend, who smiled sheepishly.

"He's cute," Jayden whispered, "And I think he's starting to think you're attractive. And he really gets me talking." Audrey covered up the mouthpiece of the phone.

"Think I'm attractive? Jayden, he's my boss. Even so, I'm not up to his standard, first of all, and I'm pretty sure he's just doing his duties." Audrey uncovered the mouthpiece.

"Goodbye, Mr. Wayne. Thank you for the call."

"Bruce. Goodnight." he corrected.

"Mr. Wayne." Audrey insisted, then hung up. She turned, and found Jayden listening to the message from Mr. Wayne.

"This is from Bruce?"

"Gross. You're on a first name basis with him?"

"We're friends." Jayden replied simply. Audrey cocked an eyebrow, and Jayden laughed.

"Jeez. Mrs. Suspicious."

"Yes that's from Mr. Wayne." Audrey admitted.

"How cute. Why are you keeping it?"

"Blackmail." Audrey covered easily with a lie.

"Shut up and put the DVDs in." the two girls settled on Audrey's couch and turned off the lights before commencing first Sleeping Beauty, then Mulan. As Audrey curled up in bed later that night, feeling the pounding presence of her bruised brain, she pondered, not for the first time, why she'd stopped taking self defence classes. With a heavy sigh, she rolled onto her side and retrieved her phone, googling her old teacher.