A/N: Hello everybody, I know I said don't expect an update in awhile, but I forgot that I have a long weekend from school which gives me plenty of time to update…YAY! Thank you to all of you for reading and reviewing. I try so hard to listen to your inputs so that this can be the best story possible. The reviews are lovely and so supportive and I squeal with happiness each time I get one, so please keep them coming! Other than that…I've got nothing. Story time!
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman…or Alfred…or Lucius Fox…or anything to do with the Batman phenomenon. Please excuse me while I go cry because of this fact.
Chapter Four: Oops
Bruce had no idea what to do when he got off of the elevator and walked toward his office in Wayne Tower. How could he not confront Annie about what he found out, but then she would know he was snooping and would quit and he didn't want that. Trying to keep his cool, Bruce walked to his office door where Annie was waiting for him with a smile on her face. "Good morning, Mr. Wayne," she told him brightly. Today was one of those days where Bruce had no choice, but to go into work. He hated Mondays with a burning passion that would put a teenager to shame.
"Morning, Annie," he replied while trying to stifle a yawn.
Annie smiled sympathetically at him, "Long weekend?"
"Something like that." Bruce opened the door for Annie and walked into his office. He went to his desk and sat down in his chair. He powered on his computer while Annie began telling him about his day.
"Okay, so you have a couple of meetings today. Your first meeting is at ten it's with that superintendent I was tell you about—Mrs. Murdoch who is in charge of Gotham's public schools. She's hoping to convince you to donate some money to the schools so they can get new books—"
"Just give her as much as she needs and cancel that meeting," Bruce interrupted.
"You don't want to do that," said Annie, a bit ruffled that she was cut off.
Bruce scoffed and raised his eyebrows at her, "Why do I not want to do that?"
"Because if you do then she will tell all her friends how you just threw money at her and all of them will come begging for money. You'd have meetings until your death. Besides, it's a bit rude considering she must have put a lot of time in to make a presentation that would convince you to donate to the school," Annie answered, trying to stifle her own yawn. Bruce looked at her closely and noticed the dark circles under her eyes that were poorly concealed by make-up.
"Long weekend?" Bruce asked her softly.
"You could say that."
"How's your mom?"
Annie tensed, but answered, "She's been better. The doctors don't want to let her go home yet."
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, taking her hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. Annie began to blush so Bruce let her hand go before he could cause her further embarrassment. After clearing his throat he asked, "So what else is going on today?"
By the time the day was done all Annie wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep. Bruce had left a couple of hours ago so Annie was alone (aside from the maintenance guys). After she finished copying a few files, Annie locked her desk and shut off her computer. She put on her coat and went down stairs where the cab she called was waiting for her. She got in and told the cab driver where to go. When the driver reached the street, Annie paid her and got out. The taxi was gone and Annie looked up to the door of her apartment building where two guys were standing in front of it while smoking. "Can I help you?" Annie asked in a suspicious voice.
One of the guys took a puff of his cigarette and blew the smoke in her face.
Annie coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to get rid of the smoke. "What do you want?"
"We're looking for somebody," the second guy said.
"We all are. Who are you looking for?"
The first guy spoke up, "We're looking for a guy named Robert Moseley. We're told that he lives here. Which apartment is he in?"
"Robert Moseley? He moved out a few months ago," said Annie. Robert Moseley was a quiet man who lived next to Annie. He kept to himself, but if you asked him for help then he'd give you a hand. He suddenly moved out three months ago and Annie hadn't heard from him since.
"Is that a fact?" The second guy threw his cigarette away and stepped so that he was inches away from Annie. She took an involuntary step back and the guys smirked.
Annie inwardly groaned, Nice going. Now they're going to think you're easy prey. "Look, he moved out and no one around here knows where he is. Why don't you just leave?"
"Well, Mikey and I think we should thank you for all of your help. Don't you agree Mikey?"
The first guy, Mikey, smirked so widely that Annie could see his teeth, "I do agree, Sammy."
"You can thank me by leaving and never coming back," said Annie.
"Awe, come on, don't be such a stiff," Sammy cooed, grabbing Annie's arm tightly.
"Is there a problem here?" a raspy voiced asked. Sammy and Mikey went still instantly and stared in fear at the moving shadow.
Moving shadow? Annie asked herself. Suddenly, Batman was there and before Annie knew it; Sammy and Mikey were gone. She looked after them and then looked at Batman. She had heard the rumors about the Dark Knight of Gotham. He had killed Harvey Dent and some cops, but those rumors never made sense to Annie. Why would someone who was doing such good suddenly turn into a mass murderer? If he was so bad, why did he just save her? He was as handsome as all the women of Gotham gossiped. You could tell his strength and muscles from the armor and when he was staring with those eyes…well most girls just swooned. Annie was certain that if he kept staring at her so intensely she would be one of those girls.
"Are you alright?" Batman asked her, eying her as she continued to stare at him.
Annie nodded and took a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for your help."
"You should be more careful."
Annie rolled her eyes, "What am I supposed to do? Build an underground tunnel that leads to my apartment? I don't have the money for that."
"I was thinking more like carrying some pepper spray with you or taking some self-defense classes," Batman told her in tone that made her feel stupid.
"Oh." Annie's face began turning a brilliant shade of red as Batman smirked at her. "Yeah…that probably would help me out a little bit. Okay, so this has gotten very awkward and before I seem even more stupid I'm going to go inside. Thanks for the help, Batman." Annie got out her key to open the building's door and was surprised when Batman was still there. She unlocked the door.
"Good night, Annie," said Batman. Annie, who had been facing the door, whipped her head to where Batman was, but he was gone. Annie opened the door, took her key, and went to her apartment.
Batman knows my name? No way. This has got to be a mistake, unless he's a creepy stalker or something, but I've never met him before. But I don't know his real identity so he could be someone I know. Lovely, I've got a supposed murderer for a stalker. No, that's not true. I probably just imagined it. Yeah, I imagined it. Great, now I'm going insane talking to myself in my head. I'll probably have a room next to mom's room in Arkham. "Ugh, bah-humbug this situation!" Annie exclaimed to herself. She reached her apartment and opened the door and was surprised to see someone in it, waiting for her. "Harleen?" Annie asked.
Bruce couldn't believe what he did. After he made his rounds and went back home, he took off the bat suit and was beating himself up about slipping Annie's name. "I'm an idiot!" Bruce exclaimed to himself.
"Pardon, Master Bruce, but why are you an idiot?" Alfred asked, coming into the bat cave with a newspaper and a glass of green liquid.
"I said good night to Annie," Bruce answered.
"What is idiotic about that?"
"I said it as Batman."
"Oh, that will cause you a problem."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Miss Hallowell's sister is in town and will be living with Miss Hallowell until she can find her own place," said Alfred with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes.
Bruce just gave him a look of annoyance, "Alfred, do you think Annie could figure out that I'm Batman?"
"Well, Master Bruce, she is a very smart girl. It is possible for her to figure her out," said Alfred. "I suppose that's why you're so interested in her."
"I'm not interested in her," Bruce said too quickly to be believed.
"Of course not, sir," said Alfred. "Well, I'll leave you to your sleep." With that, Alfred turned and walked away from Bruce who was thinking about what to do about Annie.
