A/N: Small warning, if you're squeamish about domestic violence (which we all should be), the last part of the chapter refers to a lot of it. Sorry if it offends anyone. It wasn't meant to. Just another layer to the Maddie character.

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Ring. Ring. Ring.

Maddie jolted out of her deep slumber, kicking several medical books off the edge of her bed. She reached for her cell on the bedside table, finally getting a grip on it. Who would be calling her this early? She was up late studying and really hated to be woken up the morning after. Usually her roommate Jane was the culprit.

"No one I know would call me at this hour." Maddie answered, eyes still closed.

There was a short pause, a breath, and then, "I had a little accident. I could use your expertise."

Maddie pulled the covers back over head. She should have known. "No one except for you. What time is it?"

"Almost eight." Bruce responded.

He sounded like he was in pain. "And why, sweet brother of mine, have you decided to call at such an ungodly hour on a day that I don't have class?" She sat up in bed, suddenly remembering what he had said. "What kind of an accident?"

--

Maddie locked her car and began walking alongside the gate at the Wayne Enterprises Private Property. She was still half-asleep, but couldn't exactly say no when Bruce called her injured. This was becoming more and more common. Mostly because she was closer to the property than Alfred. After graduation, she moved into her own apartment. It was a small, cozy place at the edge of the Narrows near Gotham General.

Bruce and Alfred hated the idea, but she wanted her own place. She rolled her eyes. The not having a driver was another issue entirely... Bruce and his paranoia.

She reached the large door and opened it with the key that only she and Alfred had. No one else got in. Rulo numero uno. As she walked inside, Bruce was sitting in front of the monitors at the desk stitching himself up. "Alfred here?" She asked him, tossing her purse on the tumbler. Well, more like tumbler number two.

Bruce shook his head, grimacing as he tried to remove one of the stitches. "I just got back. Came straight here."

Maddie stared down at his mangled arm. It looked like some kind of a bite mark. The stitch job was terrible. There were doubles in some places, none in others. The needle had pierced skin in the wrong places. "Looks like you've done more to yourself than what's been done to you." She held out her hand impatiently. Was it sick that she would actually enjoy doing this on a complete stranger? She had done this so many times for her brother, that she was an expert by now. Who knows when the teachers would finally get around to teaching it in an actual class.

He handed the needle over and leaned his head back. She sat down in the seat next to him, gently pulling out some of the double stitches. He started to jerk his arm to the side. "Hold still, huh?" She glared at him. "You should have called Alfred."

Bruce shrugged. "He gets less sleep than I do. Figured I've give him a break for once."

Maddie knew that was crap. Other than the fact that he might of needed help, she had been seeing less of them since starting school. On top of classes and hours of homework, she was one of the only Freshmen able to juggle all of that and a volunteer job at Gotham General. It wasn't really work to her though. She was able to volunteer in the children's ward and most of them had various kinds of terminal cancer.

The kids were great and everything but it was all kind of exhausting. She didn't have any energy to do anything else, let alone pick up the phone and let Bruce know she was okay. He could always do that himself, which unfortunately, he did too often. He even knew her roommate by name. Equally frightening.

"Is this long silent treatment supposed to be a guilt trip?" Maddie asked him, trying to to get a better look at the wound.

Her question confused him more than anything. "No. I mean... whenever you come by the penthouse it's either to do laundry or because Alfred's guilted you into having a home cooked meal. Keyword being Alfred."

"Hey, I came over last week without any complaints!" She exclaimed, laughing. "And I'm sorry, but Salmon from Martine's doesn't count as a home cooked meal."

Bruce looked over at her shocked. How had she known? "Well, maybe I wouldn't be worried if you didn't insist on living in one of the largest growing areas for criminal activity in Gotham. Do you know how many muggings and attemptive rapes I've..."

Maddie sighed heavily. Not this again. "No, I don't know how many muggings or rapes you've stopped or how much the crime rate has gone up, but I'm sure you do. And like I've told you over a billions times... I'm fine. Besides, if I lived at the Penthouse I'd have to drive all the way into the city everyday and you know how I feel about long distances."

Bruce ran a frustrated hand through his hair. This fight wasn't worth having again. "The road is in danger from you. Not the other way around."

"Oh, that's very nice. I have a needle to your arm, by the way." Maddie warned.

Alfred's footsteps could be heard in the distance. "Be nice when Wayne Manor's rebuilt. You can swap not sleeping in a Penthouse to not sleeping in a mansion." He set a newspaper and an insulated bag on the desk. "My goodness. What have you done to yourself, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, lightly kissing Maddie's temple.

"She fixing it." Bruce said.

Maddie gave Alfred a side hug. She tried to hold back the laughter. He still thought Bruce was ten years old. "I'm fixing it. He should have called me sooner."

"You practically took my head off for calling! What would you have done if I'd of called an hour earlier?" Bruce asked.

"I can take over for you if you'd like, Miss Madolyn." Alfred said, reaching into the first aid kid.

Maddie handed him the needle and wiped her hands off. "Be my guest." Her eyes widened when she saw the food inside of the bag. "Oh, food. Joy. Bruce, can I have some of your... I don't even know what this is... something with eggs."

"Have all you want. I'm not even hungry."

Alfred shook his head in amazement. "Between the both of your there's been more food thrown away than consumed." He took a closer look at the wound. "Did you get mauled by a tiger?"

"It was a dog." Bruce mumbled, barely audible. It was embarrassing enough to say out loud. Maddie and Alfred both looked at him with confusion. "A big dog."

Maddie sat indian-style on the tumbler and dug into the eggs with a fork. "Shouldn't your suit have some sort of a... rubbery or steeley thing to keep the puppies at bay?"

"My armor carries too much weight. I need to be faster." Bruce explained. He leaned over to him. "Are the keys in the..."

"Oh no, Sir. I think we learned our lesson the last time."

Maddie made a face at their backs. "I heard that." Okay. So she took one small joyride. But it was only around the room. She got a three hour lecture and would do anything to prevent herself from having to sit through that again. As if they couldn't afford another one.

"Who Rachel spends her time with is her business." Bruce told Alfred, standing from his seat.

Maddie glanced up at Harvey Dent's smiling face on the computer screen. She liked Harvey. He gave all of this money to the cancer wing at the hospital and was involved in important charities. He and Rachel invited her to dinner a few weeks back and she was shocked at how cool he actually was. From what she'd seen on television, she expected some stiff in a suit who only talked politics, but that wasn't him at all. He cared about making Gotham a safer, better place.

And more importantly, he made Rachel happier than she'd ever seen her. Poor guy. He had no clue what he was getting himself into.

"You said you'd met him, didn't you?" Bruce asked her, looking through his clean shirts.

Maddie nodded. "Yeah, Rachel introduced us. He seems nice enough. Very sincere."

Bruce only turned his back and took his shirt off in response. Maddie cringed, looking away from his bruised back.

Yeah, he definitely needed a new suit.

--

Maddie stepped off of the elevator and turned the key in her apartment door. Ah, the best part of her day. Coming home after two hours of kickboxing class. Even if she was sweating like a dog, it was relaxing and therapeutic.

"What smells so great?" She shouted over the music, throwing her keys on the coffee table.

The music lowered and her roommate Jane poked her head out of the kitchen. "Baked chicken and zucchini. Want a plate?"

Maddie's eyebrows raised, surprised. "Sure." Jane was a great roommate, but she could never remember her cooking. The new boyfriend must be giving her some pointers. She had been convinced of his homosexuality ever since the night the three of them spent in a sports bar. But that was another conversation for another time.

Another great thing about Jane was that she was never home. She was in law school and had twice as much homework as Maddie, and usually did it at the school library. She also worked as an intern at Harvey Dent's office three days a week.

Maddie plopped down and the couch and moved to pick up the remote, but it was in Jane's hand in half a second. "No, wait! I want to hear this." She turned up the volume. Another one of Harvey's press conferences.

Jane sighed, pulling her hair back in a messy bun. "Now THAT is a perfect man. Look at him."

"Janey," Maddie reclined her head back. "He's old enough to be your father. He's your boss."

Jane gave her a confused side glance. "...And?"

"And it's weird and creepy and kind of gross." Maddie answered. She smelled a distinct odor in the room and after realizing it was her, jumped over the back of the couch and headed for the shower.

"Still doesn't change the fact that he's gorgeous!" Jane called after her. "And intelligent and sweet... and taken." Jane finished with disgust.

--

Keeping something from the people in your life was never easy. Lately, Maddie had perfected it.

The bruises were never on the face. That was the only advantage. There weren't any questions that way. Things always came to mind to excuse the beatings.

He was drunk that night, not in his right mind. She did something that he misinterpreted. She pushed his buttons on purpose just to get him mad. She shoved first and he lost control. He had a bad day and she just happened to be there. The list went on and on. And every time it happened, it seemed to grow.

Scott was a good guy when they first met. An amazing one even. She had just started school and moved into her apartment. A new chapter in her life was beginning. They were both with their usual group of friends at a bar, and he approached her, and asked her to dance. She accepted. They danced for hours and he asked her to come back to his place. Much to her surprise, she also accepted. He was so sincere. So confidant. There was no one like him in her mind. He had the most beautiful, piercing blue eyes that no human being should have. It's just not fair to the rest of us.

They stayed in bed for three days until she was finally was forced to leave. She had a class and had never been the one to skip. He understood and admired her for that. From that day on they were inseparable. They got to know each others friends and she even introduced him to Bruce and Alfred once. Alfred liked him. Bruce was skeptical, but that was nothing new. It's just how he was about everyone outside of the family who was in her life. Though, he was impressed that he was a second year law student, and had been accepted to both Harvard and Yale.

Then things started to change. The change was slow and usually came when she least expected. He started to drink more heavily when they would go out and he would make up scenarios about what she had done when he wasn't looking. Made up because, of course, none of it was true. She was looking at this guy or that guy. She didn't really go to the bathroom, but sneaked out because she was bored with him. Wanted someone else. Who did she want? What was his name? How long has it been going on? Did she really think he didn't see what just happened right in front of his face? He was only across the room. He wasn't blind or stupid or challenged.

"How dumb do you think I am?" he would ask. "You're the dumb one. You belong to me."

You belong to me. Those words disgusted Maddie when she would think twice about them. No one should belong to anyone but themselves. Despite that, it didn't make her leave him. Not even close.

The beatings came next, but never in public, or in front of people no less. Especially ones that they knew. Sure, there were shoves. He would grab her wrist, arm, or even her hair. Throw her against walls. Grip her face tightly. They all just thought he was drunk and she could take it. They'd deal with it in private. The only thing that happened in private were the beatings, which mostly consisted of kicks to the stomach and shoving her body into walls and furniture, followed by the verbal berating. That usually went on for an hour or so. And then he'd leave.

Between the time he'd leave and when he'd call and apologize the next day were the best times. The calm before the storm. The same thing would happen time and time again. Almost like a routine. But she wouldn't leave him. Instead, she would forgive him and believe it when he said that he loved her and was sorry and would never hurt her for anything in the world. He would even cry sometimes. No one had ever cried over her, not like that.

When she finally got the courage to leave him almost two months ago, she called when she knew he wouldn't be there, and left a message on his cell. She cried through the whole thing and an hour after she hung up. Days later, she ignored his calls, his day and nightly visits, his letters and flowers. She was forced to break down to Jane and tell her what was going on. She was furious as hell and made her promise never to take him back. He was dangerous. She nodded her head in agreement, but a part of her was still with him.

After all of that, the break-ins started. He would break into the apartment when he knew no one was there and leave roses or letters for her. During those times, she would lie and tell Bruce that her apartment was being fumagated, new windows were being installed, or even that Jane's boyfriend never seemed to leave anymore, and just stay at the Penthouse for a weekend. The answer was always yes. She didn't even have to ask. Just show up with her things and she was taken care of. No questions.

Once, he filled the entire apartment with small, purple stuffed teddy bears. As sick as it was, she thought it was the most romantic thing ever. She cried. When he showed up that night, she let him in with open arms, and the routine started again.

These were the thoughts Maddie would ponder while standing naked in the shower. The dark bruises on her body reminded her and she hated herself. Maybe they would stop if she just stopped showering? No. That would never work.

Someone other than Jane had found out, but they swore not to say anything, and she believed them. She hoped the wounds would never make it to her face. Then she would have to start explaining.

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