The fire crackled, illuminating the room with a soft glow. Bruce was sat down in one of the couches, propping his feet up on the table, while Adrienn was also sprawled out comfortably, her feet resting in Bruce's lap. The pair was in a major discussion about Bruce's travels and Adrienn's actions in the bank.
It has been two days since Bruce was back. He didn't do much in his spare time, apart from checking on Rachel and spending time with Adrienn, who Alfred and himself successfully convinced to take a room in the mansion. Adrienn wasn't a fan of living of off others and she made sure to show that. Every morning when Bruce woke up he saw Alfred and Adrienn bustling around in the large kitchen, preparing breakfast for everyone.
"So… it is called the League of Shadows?" Adrienn asked, not being able to help the sarcasm shine through in her voice. Bruce simply nodded for an answer. "Don't you think that is well, tacky?" Adrienn pondered, giving her best friend a questioning look. Bruce didn't even want to answer her at this point. He just let his head drop back on the sofa. "… So basically with their training you could've won like any Olympic event, right?"
Bruce looked at her and couldn't help a large smile spread across his lips, "You can seriously turn the saddest situation into something light and funny." Adrienn looked at him and smiled proudly at her new found talent that Bruce pointed out.
A yawn escaped her small lips, causing her to glance over at the clock on the wall. It was nearing a very late time of ten, especially if she had woken up at six to check up on the bank accounts. Adrienn stood up, running a hand through her curly locks and looked down at Bruce with a small smile.
"I think I am just going to hit the sack, then sleep… I go back to work tomorrow." Her heart dropped to the pits of her stomach as she thought about what she would need to go through with tomorrow. She just hoped that Joel didn't ruin anything too drastically. Bruce looked away from Adrienn and went quiet. Adrienn knew what was bothering him, "Bruce I have been at this for a long time now. Nothing has happened yet for a year…"
"Nothing has happened yet." Bruce said darkly.
"Please don't worry about me Bruce, I can honestly take care of myself. More than you can think…" with that, her voice dropped and she hoped she didn't give on too much. Adrienn's lips curved into a tight lipped smile, as she leaned forward to wrap her arms around Bruce's large frame. He hugged her back and stood up as well, deciding it was time for him to also go to bed.
"Good night Brucie." She said turning on her heel and walking over to the long set of stairs. Bruce watched her, with his hands shoved in his pockets as his best friend climbed the long set of stairs.
"Night Adri." He called after her, picking up the two mugs from the coffee table and making his way towards the kitchen, where he was sure to find Alfred. A grimace appeared on his lips as he entered the kitchen.
His mind was whizzing with questions at this point. It didn't add up. Adrienn had just said that she was working at the bank for a year. That would mean that there was a year of where she did nothing since she graduated early. He placed the mugs down and looked up at Alfred, who was studying him intently.
"Alfred, do you know exactly what happened to Adri two years ago?" He asked, not caring much to explain his thoughts to the butler. Alfred wasn't an obnoxious man; he knew the things that went on in this town, especially if it concerned Adrienn.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask me that Master Bruce." Alfred muttered, turning to the sink and continuing with his work. Bruce stepped closer to hear him better. The tap water was definitely going to drain out their voices,
"Adrienn has a tendency to disappear. Personally I haven't heard from her for a year, but I got news from Rachel so I didn't have to worry myself much this time. It was two years ago however, that disappeared. She spoke to no one and no one heard from her, no one. It was right after Michelle's death Master Wayne."
"And what happened?" Bruce was irritated and he wanted answers.
"None of us know Master Bruce." Alfred shrugged, turning the tap off and finally looking at Bruce. "When questioned, let us say that she isn't too happy. But… if I may say sir, I would be worried."
Bruce nodded, crossing his arms over his big chest. Obviously he wasn't going to ask her what happened, that wouldn't be good. The best bet at this point would be to do some background searches… The thought of spying on his best friend really sickened him, but if it worried Alfred this much he believed it wouldn't hurt either of them to find out what exactly happened two years ago.
"Why only her, Alfred?" Bruce voiced the question that has been in his mind since he only saw Adrienn the plane.
"I figured she would appreciate it more… and you never know it may ignite some flames of…"
"ALFRED!" Bruce exclaimed looking at his butler with shock in his eyes, "She is like my sister."
"Whatever you say Master Wayne." Alfred smiled cheekily at Bruce before making his way out of the kitchen, "Good night sir!" He called too cheerily for Bruce's liking.
Bruce chuckled to himself, shaking his head at the thoughts of what Alfred just spokeof. He stretched his arms out before him and decided to also call it a night.
Adrienn slammed the phone down and brought her fingers up to her temple, gently massaging them in circular motions. She has been detached from life once again, as she returned to work a little over a week ago. Adrienn wasn't completely sure but since she was back the amount of corrupt people that contacted her has doubled in number. That just meant that the stacks of paper work were also increasing at a pace too rapid for her liking.
It wasn't the best for her situation either since she had promised Bruce to take him to her favorite restaurants, but with things going this way she wouldn't even have time for a Bruger King Drive through. Grabbing a pen, she jotted down the code of the bank accounts that she would have to keep a closer eye on. As she was dumped her pen back into the drawer, her phone vibrated, indicating that she received a message.
Have you met him? BRUCE IS BACK! Call me when you are free!
-Rachel.
Adrienn rolled her eyes at the message and quickly tapped back a short reply that no she hasn't seen him yet, but read the tabloids. Dropping the phone back into her purse she stood up and began to clean up her office. Adrienn didn't want to tell Rachel that she in fact knew that Bruce wasn't dead all along and that he was back. Revealing that to Rachel would only cause problems, which were completely unnecessary in Adrienn's opinion.
It took the young woman a couple of minutes to get her office into a state that she was comfortable leaving behind. Grabbing her purse and switching the light off, she was out of the bank in record time. Her car was parked close to the entrance and she was glad that she didn't have to walk home. Adrienn started the ignition and sped home.
She parked the car and her bed was only an elevator ding away now. She smiled hearing that sound and stepped out to see someone she wasn't too happy for at the moment.
"RACHEL!" She called her voice a little shocked to see her friend standing right in front of her apartment door. What was even more shocking is that she had two men there as well.
"There she is!" Rachel called, quickly stepping forward right in front of Adrienn. "This is the banker I was telling you about!"
"What?" was all that came out of Adrienn's lips. One thing she hated more than anything in life was to bring her work back home. That was something that she couldn't handle anymore.
"He wishes to see Falcone's bank accounts." Rachel said lowering her voice. "They are both trusted."
"… Why didn't you come to the bank." Adrienn whined, shoving past them and unlocking her door. She entered and let the three guests walk into her humble abode.
It wasn't anything to fancy but Adrienn did work extremely hard to get to this point. The apartment had a rather spacious living room on the first floor. The kitchen over looked the dining room, which was then connected to the massive balcony that had a few lounge-chairs around. On the same floor there was also a guest room and that was next bathroom and finally on the top floor was Adrienn's bedroom and another bathroom.
"Take a seat there." Adrienn pointed to the couch and went to go wash her hands in the kitchen. "Rachel!" She whined.
"What? You didn't reply to my text so I thought I will get you here." She shrugged angelically. Adrienn narrowed her eyes at the woman and huffed, deciding it is better to just let it be. "Plus this is a very important case, we are working really hard to get Falcone behind bars."
"Oh honey that is gonna need something out of the law." Adrienn grumbled, heading back to the living room. "All right, let's get this done."
She gave them an insight on the accounts, explaining everything to them in detail. Adrienn didn't forget to show them his expenditure and income patterns. They wouldn't be able to use this evidence in the court house, since that would put Adrienn out of a job. Even in a corrupt city like Gotham, customer privacy should still be respected. Of course before she started her lecture, she made sure that they were clear that she will hunt them down if they put her on the line. It didn't bother her too much that they laughed at her threat, none of them knew what she was capable of. It took her a little over two hours to point out every little thing that they could use against him, legally. She also made notes on where to look and gave them leads on various people that may be involved with his dirty work.
The two men got up and thanked her for the assistance before leaving the apartment. Adrienn couldn't help but smile smugly as they left. After all, no one really knows how much information you can get out of a bank account. It surprised her even at times. No wonder there is a customer privacy law intact in most countries. Adrienn let out a small breath as she turned on her heel and went to join Rachel who was comfortable sitting on the couch, flipping through some magazines.
"He hasn't seen you yet either." She stated more then asked. Adrienn gave her a questioning look. At times she didn't understand the defensive tone that Rachel got whenever Bruce was brought into topic. Adrienn raised her eyebrows at her friend, indicating for her to continue with the explanation.
Rachel sat forward a bit and a small smile appeared on her lips, "Come on Adrienn, we both know that Bruce has had the biggest crush on me ever since we hit puberty. It is obvious."
Adrienn was feeling quite dumbfound at this point. She wasn't stupid; Adrienn knew that Bruce had special, deeper feeling towards Rachel. It made her feel a little skeptical, but she would never stand in the way of her best friend's happiness. The fact that Rachel talks about things in that way does bother her though.
Ever since Adrienn turned five, there was an unannounced competitiveness between the two girls. This competitiveness was carried through to their adulthood. Adrienn didn't look at Rachel as a threat, but at times she honestly just kept her around in her friends circle for Bruce's sake. It made Adrienn feel sick to the stomach that she would change things for a person, but she cared about him and knew that they wouldn't have been able to hang out and have fun.
The two women spoke for a little while longer, before Rachel left. Adrienn yawned, tidying up around her apartment quickly. She had a small case of OCD. Everything should be neat and orderly, that is why her apartment was very modern. It allowed her to keep things clean, plus it was very functional.
Packing up the apartment took her less than five minutes so she was in her pajamas in no time. As she was about to turn the light off her phone vibrated from her bedside table. Quickly pulling it off the charger, she squinted her eyes to get used to the sudden bright light.
Try to make time to come to the Manor tomorrow. It is important.
-Bruce.
"Well that should be interesting…" She muttered to herself as she texted back a quick response and turned the light off deciding to call it a night.
-Thank you again for all the reviews!
CatsGoMoo thank you for the constructive criticism! : ) I try my best to proof read everything but yeah, a bunch of things slip my eyes.
If there is any major spelling mistakes or grammatical errors you can help me out by telling me (either review or message I really don't mind hehe, help is always appreciated)
Foxy Roxi thank you for the ideas! :) greatly appreciated! :)
Any one has any ideas feel free to get it to me :) once again any method is cool by moi
devi no kaze hehe I smiled on your review I completely understand your POV but I can't get over it still (WHY!") xD I think I am a bit too crazy when it comes to batman xD I blame my brother… xD Lol but yeah I get it :/ still makes me sad though.
Why do a lot of people hate on Maggie Gyllenhaal? I don't get it :S I actually preferred her performance :S donnu just meh opinion :S gonna stop rambling now :) sorry bout that