Chapter 2: Date

"Sorry I'm late." Andi gave her date a sheepish smile as she slid into the other side of the booth. "I swear, I drove past this place five times before I saw it. I had no idea there even was authentic Cajun on this side of the city."

JP gave her a grin, that roguish one that made the tension in her neck fade and a smile appear on her face. Three dates in, and it was still hard to resist. "It's no problem. The waiter just had time to take drink and appetizer orders. You alright with hush puppies?"

"Sounds great."

"Barbara?"

It took Andi a second to respond. Barbara. Right. She'd been Kayla, then Janice, Reilly, Sophie, Therese, Elizabeth, Tiffany, Grace, Alexa, and now Barbara. Barbara Walker, the personal assistant with a taste for fashion, football, and classical guitar music. "Yes?"

"Are you alright? You seem a little…"

"Distracted?" Andi dropped the menu and looked JP in the eye. Nice eyes. Light blue and honest, with blunt features and longish blond hair. He looked like a Norse god, at least until you saw that easy-going half smile that he always had. "Long day at work. My boss forgot his suit jacket in the office and decided that I had to drive through rush hour traffic to get it back to him." It was a good excuse. It was even true. "What about you? What have you been doing all day?"

JP laughed. "Not this time. Now it's your turn."

"My turn?"

"Sure." He leaned back and jabbed an accusing finger at her, although his face was still playful. "We've dated for almost a month, and the most you've told me is that you love Cajun food and the guitar. Who are you, Barbara?"

Well, Andi couldn't get away with being the mystery woman forever. It was why she'd driven past the restaurant five times before pulling in; she'd seen it the whole time, but working up the courage to go in was a different story. Relationships were supposed to be based on honesty. On trust. Those were short on the ground for her. "Fair is fair. What do you want to—"

"Excuse me, can I take your order?"

Andi inwardly promised the waiter an extra tip for timing. "The jambalaya, please." She directed a bright smile at JP. "What about for you?"

"Crawfish." He looked rather frustrated as he handed the waiter the menus, waited for him to pour their glasses of wine and put the hush puppies on the table. He arched an eyebrow at her and spoke up before she could change the subject. "You were saying?"

"Um, there's not much to tell, really." Andi shrugged. For all their physical differences, Jean Paul had that same unsettling gaze as Bruce, one that made her think he was seeing right through her. Lucky she'd learned to lie straight through it.

"No family to speak of. I, uh, grew up in Gotham, but…" My best friends landed on the top of the FBI's most wanted list. Oh, and then they turned into psychopaths and decided to kill me.

Andi hitched her faltering smile back up. "Well, I guess I'm a bit of a free spirit. I like to travel a lot. And I never settle in one place or job." Or alias or disguise or backstory. I've been here for two months and it's longer than I've had in a year.

"This is my first time back in Gotham for quite a while. I can't say I missed it too much, but it's… I don't know, for some reason this city has a hold on me. I can't quite forget it like I do other places." That much, at least, was true.

JP pursed his lips, like he was thinking over what she'd said. Just when Andi was beginning to think he wasn't going to say more, that she'd managed to get off easy, he cleared his throat.

"Who was he?"

Andi almost choked on the celebratory sip of wine she'd taken. "What are you talking about?"

"The guy who—" JP stopped. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But it's obvious that you're on the rebound."

"Oh really?" Andi gave a polite, disbelieving smile.

"Sure." He released her hand and began to tick off points on his fingers. "You got all reflective when you talked about Gotham, you're a 'free spirit' who says she's rusty with dating, and…" he gave her a mischievous grin, "you're the first girl I ever met who turned me down. Twice."

"Well, someone thinks highly of himself," Andi muttered. His grin widened and, after a second's hesitation, hers did too.

She should deny everything, make some joke about rejecting him because she didn't want to date a nerdy computer analyst—even if he was the buffest nerd she'd ever met—and change the subject. But it had been such a long, long time since she could really talk to anyone, even in half truths.

"Alright then," she said. "There was… somebody."

"Who was he?"

Bruce Wayne. The Batman. The man who kept me from going down the same road as Harley and Ivy. The only other person who lives a complete lie. Andi found herself twisting her old GSU college ring, the way she always did when she got nervous. It had been returned ages ago, complete with a bat silhouette engraved on the band instead of her name. She hadn't been able to incorporate it into every alias, but doing it for 'Barbara Walker' and Gotham had felt right, somehow. "Businessman. Arrogant and spoiled, but good-hearted for all that. Nothing like you otherwise."

He nodded, encouraging, and Andi shrugged a bit. "I left Gotham because of him, you're right, but it's over and done now. I don't think he even knows I moved back here. He… he wasn't the guy I thought he was."

"What happened?"

"There was someone else." Gotham. "Someone that… he loved more than me. If I had stayed, it would have hurt everyone involved. He realized that and broke it off."

It had been the right choice. Andi could admit that, at least to herself. Batman couldn't let her come between him and his duty to protect Gotham, and they both knew it. Knew, too, that he'd never love her like she loved him, and that it wasn't fair to put her in that kind of relationship. But the memory of Bruce walking away while she begged him not to abandon her like everyone else had…

Andi forced a smile onto her lips. "So what about you? Any crazy exes I should know about?"

JP rolled his eyes and grinned. "Well, there was this one girl I met when the army had me stationed over in South Korea…"

They managed to keep the mood light through the rest of dinner. JP shared funny army stories, Andi chipped in with a couple invented ones from her childhood, and they sampled each other's food like some lovesick couple. It wasn't until JP stepped out to go to the bathroom that Andi felt the laughter fade.

She needed to end this. She knew she did. JP was a decent guy—a dream guy if she was being honest—and he really liked her. She couldn't lead him on, not when she'd have to disappear any day now. Not when everything he liked about her was a lie.

Maybe it had been a mistake to come back to Gotham. Gordon had been against it, and Andi knew it wasn't smart. But she'd wanted to return so badly, because in her mind, coming back to Gotham had become the same as doing something. Tracking down Harley and Ivy, identifying criminals, figuring out what the Batman was up to. Something besides her endless running. Instead, Gordon had given her an even deeper cover and told her he was pulling her out at the first sign of trouble.

"Hey. Barbara, are you in there?"

Andi's head jerked up, the smile back on her face. JP grinned back, not noticing anything, and slid into his seat. "Do you want to come by my place after this? We could watch football, have a couple beers, hang out for a little bit…"

Andi shook her head. "Sorry, I've got an early morning conference call I'm supposed to be taking notes for; I should probably head home."

"Alright. Let me walk you out."

"What about the bill? We can go Dutch; I don't want you to always be the one paying."

"I already took care of it up front. And, yes, I left a good tip."

She laughed. It wasn't often that someone beat her to the punch on something. "The feminists must be rolling in their graves right now. Next thing I know, you'll beat your chest and drag a club around like a caveman."

"I could sling you over my shoulder and carry you to your car."

"With these shoes, I might just let you." Every new persona had its perks; Andi rather liked guitar music, and the reddish tone in her brown hair was surprisingly flattering, but that penchant for stilettos… Andi wasn't sure if it would be Harley and Ivy who killed her or the shoes.

JP walked out with her, then reached out and held the car door once she'd unlocked it. He kept it open after Andi slid inside, and leaned over the top to talk to her. "I'll call you?"

Andi smiled up at him. I can't lie to him. He deserves better. "That'd be great."

But she already knew she wouldn't call back.

Author's Note: Thanks to all who read, favorited, followed, or reviewed! You guys rock!

A thousand thanks, again, to Lasgalendil and Shad0whuntress.