Disclaimer: I only own the names you don't recognize.

Once Allison reached the Conwell's large townhouse from Arkham she felt drained. Every once in awhile she thought about Jack Napier, but was fairly certain he would never be back again.

Entering the townhouse, Allison carried bag of random groceries she picked up as to not raise suspicion. Old habits die hard, after all.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!"

The pitter-patter of little feet could be heard running from the kitchen in the back to the front door where Allison still stood. She grinned as the mop of dirty blonde curls came towards her as fast as short legs could carry her.

Addison grace latched onto her mother's leg holding it as though she thought she was never coming back. Allison had to hold back from laughing, the little girl was clearly tired of her grandmother's attention and she certainly couldn't blame her.

Janet quickly followed behind her, "Addison Grace!" her voice was stern, but Janet could never sound mean. She was holding a rather extravagant and puffy dress, "you should at least try it on dear, I think you would look so adorable." Addison wrinkled her nose at the dress and pushed her head into her mom's thigh. Janet sighed in defeat, "Allison she is just like you, it's ridiculous."

"What does she need the dress for anyway?" Allison hoped Janet wasn't going to say-

"A dinner party of course."

Crap.

"Don't you think she's a little young to be going to dinner parties?" Addison peaked her head out to look at the dress one more time before sticking her thumb into her mouth.

Allison placed her hand on top of the young girl's head, trying to comfort her.

"She most certainly is not. This isn't some serious party, Allison. Dornan called me today informing me that Bruce Wayne has just arrived back in town and he invited Bruce to come over for an intimate welcome back party. I want you and Addie to be there."

"Bruce is back?" No one had heard from him in over seven years. The young billionaire had to be close to thirty now, most people thought he might be dead. Allison was suddenly concerned about her job.

"Yes he is and I thought it would be wonderful for you to meet him and maybe-"

"No, whatever you're thinking get it out of your head."

It was definitely time to go, Allison reached down and picked up Addison, who was still sucking her thumb, into her arms, the three-year-old continued to look at her grandmother and the rather hideous dress.

Janet sighed in defeat, "It would at least be appreciated if the two of you showed, it is probably in your best interest to at least meet and talk to him, perhaps find out planes with his company you wouldn't want to be out of a job so soon."

She was right, it would be beneficial to talk to the billionaire about the future of the company, she just wished it didn't have to be over a fancy dinner, "Fine, Addison and I will be there for dinner, but the second I feel like you are trying to set me up, we leave. Deal?"

"Of course darling," Janet couldn't hide her mischievous grin and Allison was already regretting her decision. "The dinner will be held next Friday, six o'clock for drinks and dinner will be served at seven o'clock, I expect you here by five to make sure the two of you are properly dressed."

Allison bit down hard on her bottom lip, "Fine," was all she said, she stuck her free hand out and Janet, with the grin still plastered on her face, handed Allison the dress, which received a grimace from her daughter.

"Say goodbye to grandma."

Addison looked at Janet and mumbled a, "bye grandma," before burying her head in the crook of Allison's neck.

"I'll drop her off the same time tomorrow. Tell Dornan I said hello"

"Of course dear, see you both then."

***

The week quickly came and went, although Allison wasn't fond of Mr. Fredericks her job proved to be somewhat enjoyable. She was often given a list at the beginning of each day instructing her on her tasks for the day. At the beginning of the week, she followed Fredericks a lot, but after about the third day she was left alone and only in his company when she needed to be. Wayne Enterprises was stirring about the arrival of the billionaire, many worried, some curious. Mr. Earle the CEO, who Allison disliked more than Fredericks, was particularly dreading his arrival. Luckily for them Mr. Wayne hadn't showed up at the office yet but it was only a matter of time.

Regardless of her job she almost hoped Wayne would throw Earle and Fredericks out of a job. The money hungry bastards deserved it, but from what she understood, Wayne would not be much better then either of them and whom that should surprise was beyond her. He had more wealth then anyone should and he was only thirty. She imagined all the women throwing themselves at him just for one dinner date. The idea made her sick and she was fairly certain she wasn't going to like him.

Sitting at her modest desk outside of Fredericks's large office she glance down at the clock. It was nearly three and Fredericks had already told her she would be allowed to leave and three-thirty today for her dinner party with Mr. Wayne.

"Ah, Allison, I'm happy you're out here," Fredericks grinned at the blonde as her approached her, carrying a file, "will you please run this down to Mr. Fox in our Applied Science Division, it's in the basement."

"Of course sir," she said taking the file out of his hand and standing up.

"Take your things with you, you may leave from there."

"Thank you sir."

The middle-aged man smiled, "have a good weekend Allison, I want to hear all about your dinner with Mr. Wayne on Monday."

She gave short curt nod forcing a smile as she walked past him.

"Hey Allison, what are you doing on Saturday" a familiar and annoying voice said behind her as she pressed the down button on the elevator.

"I'm not going out with you Mr. Brower," she said once again to the man who was extremely persistent in trying to win a date with the young assistant.

"I'll just try again on Monday you know," he said smirking at the blonde whose back was facing him.

She rolled her eyes and sighed only turning her head towards him, "I know you will Victor, but the answer will still be no."

He winked at her as the elevator dinged signaling its' arrival.

She shook her head and stepped into the elevator, which was surprisingly empty and hit the basement button.

The basement was pretty impressive. It was extremely large and had equipment everywhere. The blonde, who was never shy about being in different surroundings, almost forgot the task at hand and explored the large space.

She came across an interesting piece of armor hanging up in a protective display cabinet. It looked extremely heavy duty and she ran her fingers along the glass protecting it.

A soft "wow," escaped her lips as she observed it. It looked virtually indestructible.

"Can I help you miss?"

She jumped at the voice and spun around to see a black man with a sincere smile on his face looking at her.

"Oh, hello, sorry I was just admiring…well anyway are you Mr. Fox?"

"That would be me Ms…."

"Cambelle, but please call me Allison, I'm Mr. Fredericks's new assistant. He sent me down there to drop this off," she stuck out her hand and he took the file from her. He briefly looked over the file in front of here and then closed it.

"Thank you, Allison, so you were interested in the survival suit," he signaled to the piece of equipment behind her.

"Oh, yeah," she turned around to look at it again, "it's amazing, did you ever sell it, I'm guessing to the military?"

"Well they were very interested in it for advance infantry, but I suppose they didn't think a soldier's life was worth $300,000."

Allison scoffed, "of course they didn't," she directed her attention back to the basement as a whole, "it looks like you have a lot of remarkable things down here, Mr. Fox."

"Yes, yes, there are, I just hope one day they can be brought to good use."

She nodded her head, "Listen, Mr. Fox, I have to go, I have a prior engagement, but would mind if I stopped down her some times, you know, during my breaks, I would love to see more if you're willing to show me."

Mr. Fox smiled and nodded his head, "That would be lovely, Ms. Cambelle."

"Allison," she corrected.

"Yes, Allison, have a nice weekend."

"Right same to you, I'll see you around, Mr. Fox."

He once again nodded politely at her as she headed towards the elevator. She was already looking forward to getting more of an official tour; she had always had an interest in gadgets like that and couldn't wait to see everything Wayne Enterprises had created.

***

It was nearly four when Allison reached her apartment. She had told Janet that she could keep Addison to get her ready for dinner, which pleased the aristocrat greatly, but the three-year-old was less then pleased as she threw a tantrum that morning. Like most young children she was quickly over it once Dornan had distracted her with his shiny watch and probably ended up giving her money once Allison had left.

Janet gave Allison a dress to wear which was, of course, expensive, but it was actually quite beautiful. It was floor length, emerald green that dipped down just between her breasts, it was backless save for the two thin straps that crisscrossed giving the front of the dress a halter look. It wasn't too revealing and it fit Allison's now hourglass figure nicely without looking too provocative.

After taking a quick shower, Allison gave her long blonde hair soft curls, which would look stunning with the dress. She gave her eyes a smoky look to really make them pop, she started to wonder why she was really making herself look this good for Bruce Wayne. There was a time Allison settled for t-shirts and worn faded jeans and now she was trying to impress, the billionaire. To her, she thought it was more of being something he couldn't have.

The talk around the office was that he was a playboy and womanizer; he enjoyed the company of beautiful women but didn't give any of them more then a night. That was saying a lot considering he had only been in town for a couple of weeks.

Well he wasn't going to have me, she told herself putting on a light pink lip-gloss that complemented her creamy skin. She slipped on the dress over her black lacy underwear and the backless strapless bra over her breasts. They had grown to a solid C cup so there was no way she could wear the dress without some sort of support.

She slid the dress on and finished the outfit with gold strappy high heels. Janet refused to let her take a bus to their house so they arranged to have a car pick her up at quarter to five. Looking at the clock she was just in time. She left her bedroom, grabbed her clutch purse and the keys to her apartment before meeting the car downstairs.

The ride was short but Allison was thankful for it anyway, because like many nights in Gotham it was storming. She was the first one to arrive at the house, as she knew she would be. It was only five and drinks wouldn't be served until six. Janet told her there would be a total of 12 people for dinner, she had told Allison all their names over the phone but as usual she didn't pay attention.

The driver walked her to the door with an umbrella, where it opened quickly revealing Janet, all done up and beaming.

"Allison!" she gasped grabbing her wrist pulling her into the house, "you look absolutely breathtaking, I think Mr. Wayne is going to have a hard paying attention to anyone else but you."

"Um…thank you? I told you not to set me up with him," her tone was very defensive. She was tempted to look back to see if the driver had left already hoping she could make a quick escape.

"It's not a set up Allison, but I do want you to take some time to talk to him. What would be the harm in that? It's ok to have someone take care of you," her voice trailed to a whisper at the last part.

Oh, so now they were going to get personal.

"I don't need a man to take care of me, Janet," she hissed back.

"No, you don't, but everyone needs somebody and Addie deserves a father. You're never going to meet anyone if you don't allow yourself to take a risk."

"I took too many risks, that's how I ended up how I am today, if Mr. Right comes knocking I'll know, but I won't doll myself up and throw myself to some billionaire just so Addison and I can ride on yachts and carry around Gucci purses."

Janet sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine, but you will be polite he is our honored guest and it means a lot to Dornan and I. You don't like to be prejudged so don't be a hypocrite," she released Allison's wrist rather roughly and went back into the kitchen probably to make sure the chefs were almost ready.

"Allison, you look gorgeous," a deep, but tired voice said from behind her.

She turned and smiled, "Hello Dornan," she said walking to his outstretched arms. He embraced her tightly and kissed the top of her head. Dornan wasn't exactly a good father, but he was a good man. He tried very hard to be what he thought a father should be, but it never worked too well. Especially when Allison grew into a teen he had no idea how to relate to her at all so often just let her do whatever she wanted. He wasn't around often, but when he was he treated Allison wonderfully and she cared for him, but never thought much of him in the father sense.

He released her from his grasp; "Wayne is going to droll over you."

She playfully rolled her eyes, "Well he can droll all he wants, but that's about all he's going to be able to do."

"How about a drink?" he asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Please," she drew out knowing she was going to need more then one.

"Is champagne alright?"

"I'd prefer a beer," he shot her a frustrated look, "but champagne is fine," she finished with mock enthusiasm.

Dornan walked away to fetch her a drink.

"Mommy!" a voice above her called. Allison looked up to see her daughter peering down at her through the railing looking like a little princess in the dress Janet bought for her. She ran to the stairs and gripped tightly against the railing as she slowly made her way down the stairs.

"Go slow," Allison instructed and the three-year-old slowed down frustrated.

"Can't I just sit on my bottom and, and, and slide down?"

"Not in that dress you can't," Dornan said suddenly next to Allison, he handed her a glass filled with champagne.

The toddler trotted over to the pair tugging at her dress and then pulling at the spiral curls in her hair. She looked like a young Shirley Temple. It was absolutely adorable, but it wasn't Addison. Allison feared she would be just as rough as Jack when she got older and well she certainly had to admit part of that would be her fault as well.

"Are her dolls in the living room?"

Dornan grunted, "What's left the them, she kept pulling their heads off, putting them back on and then laughing at how they no longer had a neck." He shrugged it off as just a child being a child, but it disturbed Allison. As much as she tried to stop it, violence ran in her daughter's blood. Nathan was the first to be caught after a murder but she doubted it was his first and that he was the first to commit one. It was a nature vs. nurture argument and the blonde was determined to have the nurture side win.

"Addison Grace!" she scolded grabbing the little girl's hand, "why are you pulling your dolly's head off?"

"It's funny mommy."

Oh good Lord.

"Don't do it again."

The girl huffed but didn't argue…thankfully.

"Go back and play with your toys Addie," Dornan told her feeling the tension in the room. Once the girl bounced to the other room Dornan took a sip of his champagne, "she's just a child Ally"

"Yes, but she had to learn that that is not an acceptable way to behave, please, don't tell me how to parent Dornan."

The rest of the liquid in her glass disappeared in one gulp, "I'll be in the study, I'm assuming that's where everyone will meet."

He nodded but she didn't look or wait to see it, she simply made her way to the study, grateful to see a bottle of chilled champagne waiting for her. She poured herself another class and sat on the brown leather couch.

Three more glass of champagne later, Allison was relaxed. No she wasn't drunk, but it wouldn't be the greatest time to take a math test or something scientific. She sat and listened to Janet brag of Dornan's accomplishments as he continued to purse his dream of being Gotham's D.A. Only a fourth of the information did Allison retain and it was a relief when the doorbell rang.

Janet promptly got out of her seat, still trying to look like a lady. Her dark brown hair was placed in a proper tight bun. Wearing plenty of jewelry it was clear she wanted to impress all of her guests, particularly Bruce.

Allison felt as though she had become one with the couch and wasn't about to stand to greet any guests unless it was absolutely necessary, meaning Janet or Dornan shot her a glare.

Luckily Bruce wasn't the first guest, it was some other attorney who Dornan knew and Allison brushed him and his wife off. The affects of the alcohol were stronger as it continued to flow through her blood. She was a hundred percent certain she couldn't drive now and the objects in the room weren't as crisp. Drinking at a young age gave her plenty of practice trying to mask her "symptoms".

One-by-one more people filed in and as Allison expected they have her only small amounts of attention, telling her how beautiful she was and asking if she liked her job. After that they went on the boring and useless conversations.

When he walked in the mood of the entire room shifted. Everyone tried to seem more proper, a few seemed to feel awkward, not knowing what to say or do, and others tried to pretend like they've known him forever. Everyone had fled the study to meet him in the foyer and then simply drifted over to a greeting room, which was just to the left of the foyer.

It didn't take long before Janet popped her head back into the study and gave Allison the "glare". She threw her head back into the couch, annoyed, but pushed herself off the couch, thanking god it wasn't as hard as she thought it might be. Walking in heels with a buzz was no easy task, but Allison made it would to the hallway and walked towards the rest of the dinner party.

She made her way over to Dornan who was currently facing her, very engaged in his conversation with a head of brown, slicked back hair. That was, of course, all Allison could see as she approached the pair. As much as she wanted to go pretend to be interested in someone else's conversation, she knew that she needed to get this over with.

When Dornan finally acknowledged her, the man he was talking to turned around and flashed a smile at her. It was then she tried to read him through his dark brown eyes and although his demeanor said "please come talk to me, I'm a big ass kisser" his eyes were revealing something deeper, darker, and there was a hint of "fuck off".

It was then Allison knew it wasn't going to be as easy to hate Bruce Wayne as she had previously thought.

Ok, well I had really planned on doing the entire dinner in this chapter, but I wanted to stay consistent in all my chapters which have been in the 3,000 word range. For those of you still with me, the story really picks off from here on out.

For anyone else who is writer with quite a bit of English experience you know that character development is extremely important. I hope no one was too bored up to this point as I hope you'll agree this chapter had a lot character introductions and development in it. On that note I would really love for you all to either review or PM me with what you think of Allison's character. I don't want her to be Mary-Sue or too cliché it's kind of hard finding a balance of tough chick but a believable tough chick that is suffering from a lot of emotional issues. She of course will continue to develop and change throughout the whole story, but I'm curious of your thoughts now. I also love to hear where readers think the story is going to go. I do have a broad outline of what I'm going to do but if anyone inspires me with one of their ideas I would of course ask your permission to use it and then credit you. I haven't gotten too much response for this story so far but really thank you to everyone who did take the time to just let me know they like it so far. I hope this gives you more and for you Batman Begins fans I hope the story seems to have some sort of skeleton now.

As always I edited this myself so I apologize for any grammar errors missed. I am looking for a Beta Reader but I would love if they came to me because it's important to me to have an editor interested in my story. So if any of you Betas read this or if any of you aren't a registered Beta but think you are more then qualified to edit and would like to do so for me, please let me know.

If you like this story enough that you want me to continue please just take the two seconds to let me know. I'm not asking for 1000 reviews, I just love to hear from people even if it is constructive criticism, it doesn't even have to be a review you can PM me too. Either way please let me know somehow that you like this story enough for me to continue because it is not set in stone that I will finish this.

Thanks for reading.