A/N: I'm sorry this is so late! I've been lazy lately and haven't been that creative. The next chapter (for the actual story) will hopefully be up before this weekend. Fingers crossed.

This scene takes place after Carmine Falcone has been arrested and before Jonathan douses him with his fear toxin.

Without further ado, here's the sneak peek.

. . .

It was no secret that Jonathan was still angry with Brynn for what had happened the previous night.

When he had come to pick her up, he had uttered less than a dozen words, all of them short, curt answers. His lips were pressed together tightly, draining their color. His eyes wandered over every surface other than her.

They walked out of her building to Jonathan's car parked a block away. The night was cold and Brynn wished she had thrown on a sweater.

Jonathan wordlessly unlocked the car and ducked inside, not even bothering to open the passenger door for her. She yanked at the locked door and knocked on the glass window. The lock clicked and Brynn got in, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Would you mind being gentler?" Jonathan muttered. "Unlike you, some of us can't afford to replace broken toys."

She looked over and scowled. "My sincerest apologies to your car. At least it's willing to accept them."

Jonathan exhaled through his nose and put the vehicle in drive. He merged into the traffic and kept his eyes trained straight ahead.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing," Brynn scoffed.

"You embarrassed me in front of my colleagues, Brynn," Jonathan said in a strained voice as he tried to keep his temper under control. "I have a right to be angry at you."

Brynn snorted. "Since when do you care what people think of you?"

"I care what my employees think," he snapped. "I can't lose their respect. Not now."

"Right, I forgot." Brynn crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him from the corner of her eye. "You have to be the big, scary boss for them to respect you."

"Brynn," Jonathan growled. He looked over and his eyes flashed behind the lenses of his glasses. "I am not in the mood for this."

Brynn gripped the edge of her seat as Jonathan slammed on the breaks. Grimacing, she tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear. "Admit it."

"Admit what?"

"You're ashamed to be seen with me."

She expected him to tell her she was acting ridiculous. Instead, Jonathan remained silent, his eyes trained on the road, his fingers strangling the steering wheel. A few seconds later, he quietly replied, "That's not true. I'm going out with you tonight."

"To have dinner with my parents," she bitterly replied. "If you had the choice, you would have stayed in tonight and continued to ignore me."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Jonathan parked the car in front of the valet station, tossed the keys to the young valet, and headed for Brynn's side of the car. Before he could open it and help her out, she was stomping into the lobby.

A few stares were cast her way as Brynn made her entrance. Jonathan followed close behind, not wanting to be seen with the 'Reckless Kiley.' Why would he tarnish his perfect reputation as head psychiatrist of Arkham Asylum by associating with Brynn Kiley? She was trouble according to everyone in the freaking city.

She jabbed her finger into the up button and tapped her foot as she waited. It wasn't like Jonathan was all sweet and innocent. He had some things up his sleeve that many people wouldn't approve of.

The sleek doors slid open and they stepped inside. Jonathan pressed the button for the top floor and leaned against the wall as they listened to the soft music playing from above.

"Is it at all possible for you to stop behaving like a child?" Jonathan broke the silence.

Brynn glared down at him. In her heels, she was half an inch taller than him and wished he would feel intimidated. Then again, it's hard for men made of steel to feel anything at all. "I'll stop acting like one when you pull the stick out of your ass."

Ice dripped into his voice as he replied in a low voice, "I have no problem leaving you here to have dinner by yourself with your parents. I could be home right now finishing up some paperwork. Cut it out now, Brynn, or I will be out of here before you can blink."

Brynn's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, so now you can do magic tricks? I'd love to see you disappear from this elevator."

He huffed and focused on the changing red numbers above the buttons. Brynn closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. She was overwhelmingly frustrated and needed to kick something repeatedly. There was too much to deal with right now; fighting with Jonathan; having to plaster on a fake smile as her parents discussed things she didn't care about; everything that was going on with work. All she wanted to do was go home, down a bottle of NyQuil, and fall into a sleep induced coma.

The elevator doors slid open and the smell of garlic and red wine wafted into her nose. Jonathan led her past the bar and they found her parents seated in the back by one of the windows overlooking the city. George rose to shake Jonathan's hand and plant a quick kiss on his daughter's temple.

Madelynn's eyes swept over Brynn as she rose from her seat. "What are you wearing?"

Brynn looked down at the short-sleeve, black dress she had picked out for the night. It ended above her ankles and a plunging neckline had earned her a few eyebrows. A piece of fabric strapped across the base of neck made the neckline look like an upside down triangle.

"My friend sent it to me," Brynn replied. "The fashion designer."

"You look like Morticia Addams," Madelynn observed, not intending for it to be a compliment.

Brynn's lips pursed in anger. "Gee, thanks."

This was going to be a fun night.

A waiter came by to take their orders. George, Madelynn, and Jonathan discussed matters at the Asylum, paying no attention to Brynn. She could care less; this was the last place she wanted to be right now.

She slumped in her seat as the sound of their voices morphed together and she fell into a daze. Her eyes wandered over the city below them, admiring the twinkling lights against the black backdrop. The red taillights of cars roamed up and down the street and the lights of the bridge shone brightly. The sound of cars honking and sirens could be heard if she focused hard enough. A helicopter leisurely traveled across the sky.

Brynn's eyes journeyed back to the bridge. A few hundred yards away, a freighter lugged across the water and headed for the shipyard. Brynn tapped her fingers against her thigh. The shipyard was where Carmine Falcone had been captured by the mysterious figure they were now dubbing the 'Batman.' Batman, Brynn thought, testing the word out in her mind. She thought back to the night when she had run into the masked, enigmatic man. Something radiated off him when she had been in his presence for those brief seconds. Brynn was still trying to put her finger on what it had been.

The food arrived and brought Brynn out of her trance. She pushed her meatballs around her plate, not feeling too hungry all of a sudden. The conversation had turned to the man she had just been thinking about.

"I think he's an undercover officer," Madelynn was saying. "He will probably reveal himself after Falcone's locked away and the threat of the mob isn't as high."

George shook his head in disagreement. "No respectable man would dress up as some animal and jump from rooftop to rooftop. That would just be an embarrassment to the force. Who would take them seriously?"

"Well none of them want to go after the mob," Madelynn argued. "You know what happens to the officers who do; they end up dead in an alley with their throats slashed. Perhaps the best way to do it was to send someone undercover."

"They clearly had no other options if sending in an oversized bird was the best way," George said, rolling his eyes. "If you ask me, this 'Batman' character is nothing but trouble. He's probably part of a different mob who just wanted to see Falcone behind bars."

"How is this a bad thing?" Brynn interrupted. "Who cares if he dresses up as a bat? He put the most dangerous man in the city behind bars. Isn't that good enough for you?"

George rubbed his temples. "I can see why you think of it that way. But look at it this way, Brynn: if one wackjob is dressing up as a character and running around in the night, fighting crime, who's to say we won't have more? There will be people who want to be like him and someone's going to get hurt. There's also the possibility that we'll get some impersonators who don't want to fight crime but allow it to flourish."

Brynn huffed in irritation. If only her father had been there that night and felt what she felt. This man wasn't bad for the city; he was improving it.

"What are your thoughts on the matter, Jonathan?" George asked as he took another sip of his wine. "You're the psychiatrist. What's your diagnosis?"

Jonathan had been quiet during the discussion of the Batman. He leaned back in his seat and took a long sip of wine as he thought. "I believe he's insane," Jonathan finally stated. "A man like that is going to end up getting people hurt. We can't have someone like that running around the streets of the city."

A smirk formed on George's face and he looked at his daughter. "See? The man is nothing but trouble."

"Maybe I like trouble," Brynn muttered and flagged down the waiter. "Could I get another drink?"

Madelynn cleared her throat. "Don't you think you've had enough, darling? You have work in the morning."

Brynn narrowed her eyes at her mother. "Right, I forgot. Can't have me walking out of here like a drunken idiot."

She shooed the waiter away and glared at her mother. Madelynn held her gaze for a few seconds before averting her eyes. The tension in the air was thick and made it difficult to breathe. Thankfully, Jonathan cleared his throat and said, "I think we should get going. It's getting late."

Her parents agreed and Brynn was out of her chair before another word could be uttered. She waited at the elevator for Jonathan, checking the clock on the wall numerous times. He walked out a few minutes later, a scowl plastered to his face.

"Mature," he hissed as the elevator doors closed behind them.

Brynn snorted. "Please. You were dying to get out of there. You should be thanking me."

Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest and continued to ignore her for the rest of the ride.

When the valet retrieved their car, a question was forming in the back of Brynn's mind. She bit her tongue and waited until they were in the car and driving down the street before asking.

"Do you really think he's insane?" she asked as Jonathan stopped at a red light. "Or were you just saying that to please my dad?"

He didn't answer right away. The sound of their breathing filled the car and Brynn wondered if he had actually heard her.

"I stand by what I said," Jonathan answered. He looked over at her and she saw that his eyes were icier than usual. "And I can't wait for him to be brought to my asylum for treatment."

. . .

A/N: Yay for sneak peeks! Brynn has seen Batman! Wooh!

I don't have much to say for once other than thank you for the reviews/alerts! You're all amazing and motivate me to write this story. I'll go work on the next chapter now. If anyone has questions or wants to talk, feel free to PM me!