Author's Note: This one is rather short...and maybe even pointless to a degree, but it's just a bit of fun for me.
Disclaimer: Don't own DC, Smallville, the like, etc.
oOo
Chloe stood outside waiting for a cab. Tossing her scarf around her neck to ward off the cold, Chloe turned back for a moment and gazed at the enormous mansion for a moment, the spotlights casting a luminous glow onto the gothic manor.
There it was again.
That nudge.
For whatever else she thought of Mr. Bruce Wayne, Chloe couldn't deny that the mansion itself seemed to have an allure that even she couldn't ignore. It seemed to bring out all those old mysteries and Gothic novels . Closing her eyes, she tried to push away the curiosity that was beginning to gnaw at her. There was too much going on in the world for her to waste her interest on yet another self-serving billionaire.
"Hey!" Ginny shouted.
Chloe open her eyes and turned to see a bundled Ginny ensconced within the cab that she hadn't even heard pull in front of her.
"You comin' or not?" her voice more than exasperated.
With a renewed sense of excitement, Chloe started towards the cab, only to feel her feet falter for a moment. A seed of frustration compelled her to make the extra effort to push her feet where curiosity was trying to plant them and eventually managed to make her way into the cab.
"Where to?" the cabbie asked.
"Twenty-first and Broad," Ginny replied as she fastened her belt.
"What about you, lady?" he directed towards Chloe, looking at her in the rearview.
Chloe's first indication was to say to take her straight home, but forcing her gaze out towards the dark shadows of the city, she was suddenly struck by a wisp of inspiration.
"It's still early. If you got the time, just give me a tour through town," she replied as she buckled her seatbelt.
Ginny's head whipped around so fast, Chloe was sure the poor girl would need a chiropractor.
"Are you crazy?" Ginny whispered forcefully.
"I got the time, if you got the dime," the cabbie replied.
"Unbelievable!" Ginny remarked. "First, you tank your interview with Gotham's crowned prince and now you want to be-bop around town. At night! …in a cab!"
Only Chloe noticed the cab driver's sneer of derision in Ginny's direction. "So, come with me," Chloe encouraged, her thrill of the mystery desperately wanting a partner in crime, so to speak. "With your camera and—"
"Your snooping?" Ginny supplied.
Chloe sighed, allowing her lids to flutter in tired exasperation. "Yeah," she conceded quickly, but renewed her vigor. "But think about it! Can you imagine what we might find out there?"
Ginny's expression immediately ruled out any notion that she was entertaining the idea. "Now I know you're certifiable," she finally said as the cab slowly pulled away from the Wayne estate.
oOo
Sitting in solitude, Bruce perched his chin on his fist and stared intently at the barrage of screens before him. Nothing but stills of the blonde he'd found snooping in his library graced each screen at different angles in different rooms of the mansion.
"Pardon me, sir," echoed Alfred's voice from behind.
Bruce turned to see Alfred hold aloft his serving tray in emphasis. "I thought, perhaps, coffee was in order since you don't seem to be retiring for the night any time soon. And some more sleuthing software has come for you, compliments of Mr. Lucius I presume," he remarked low as he set the tray down.
"Thank you, Alfred." Without another word, Bruce turned back to the screens, staring with contemplation, his gaze unwavering.
"Sir, might it be premature to say that I don't believe she's your type," Alfred remarked dryly as he placed a hot mug by Bruce's elbow.
Bruce absently picked up the filled mug and sipped the revitalizing liquid. "I don't believe that's quite fair, Alfred," he replied nonchalantly.
"No?" Alfred questioned with a wry raise of his brows. Leaning over Bruce's shoulder, Alfred punched a button.
"Bite my ass, Rochester," was the scene that resounded throughout the cave followed by the inevitable sound of the door slamming as the blonde exited the screen.
Bruce merely turned a dark glare up towards his grinning butler.
"I think that speaks for itself," he said, still smiling. Oh, how enjoyed goading the boy now and then.
Bruce simply turned back towards the screens, quickly switching to another view. "Don't you have something you could be doing, Alfred?"
Only a light chuckle and an "Of course, sir," and Alfred had left Bruce alone with the numerous images of the blonde. Nine out of ten images showed her with nothing but looks of cynicism on her lovely face.
He pulled up the clip from the Banquet hall. This one he'd watched over and over, watching her carefully, and looking for any misstep, anything that would tell him who she really was and what she was really doing in Gotham.
Lucius was smiling. "No, I say that's just about it. I was thinking more along the lines about our host, but I say you've done your homework."
"I know enough to get by," Chloe muttered, looking away.
Bruce unconsciously frowned at her disinterested tone.
Despite her nonchalance and petty cynicism, Bruce had a felt that there was more to this "working Jane" than met the eye. If that were true, he wouldn't have found her lurking in his library that happened to be dangerously close to his personal quarters and his newest edition to the Wayne estate in which he now occupied.
It wasn't the surprise of finding any sort of paparazzi trying to delve into his personal life. They were attempting it all the time. However, the fact that this particular reporter insisted on putting up an impartial front was found snooping through a very restricted area of his house gave cause for suspicion.
Should a reporter find anything to link his growing mysterious night activities in Gotham…
Turning back to the screens, Bruce continued to examine the moment in the dining hall with Lucius. At first glance, her appearance seemed benign, but Bruce took a closer look. Her eyes were lifted, ever-so-slightly with a sense of trepidation; her arms seemed to be clinched too tight about her middle, a white-knuckle hold on her champagne glass.
"Who are you?" he muttered to screen, his brain racing for any leads. "And what are you doing in Gotham?"
A hint of shuffling could be heard behind him.
"Alfred?"
"Yes, sir," he replied.
"When do you suppose—"
"She left the party early sir," Alfred answered before Bruce could finish the question. "As a matter of fact, she remarked on how she was more interested in the rest of the world than you're little, mundane party."
He turned with a suspicious look. "She said that or you said that?" Bruce questioned with a raise of his left brow.
"Paraphrasing, sir," Alfred replied in his most professional tone.
Turning suddenly, Bruce called out. "Don't wait up for me."
Alfred turned to see that he was already gone. "I never do."
oOo
"All right lady, we've been everywhere in Gotham that I know to go," the cabbie informed as he drove down the main drag for the sixth time. "I don't know what you think you're looking for."
Chloe frowned. "I'm not sure I know either." For this city to be so notorious for it's crime and shady activity, its night life wasn't completely unlike Smallville on a Friday night.
She hadn't seen a thing. Not a mugging, no purse-snatching. Hell, one scruffy looking man with a worn coat actually placed his gum into a nearby trash can instead spitting it onto the curb. Then it occurred to her.
There was one more place that was the most notorious area of the city in which the cabbie hadn't taken and for good reason.
"Gotta start somewhere," she muttered to herself and found her voice edged with uncertainty. She looked up to see the cab looking at her for an answer while they were stopped a red light. "Take me to Fourteenth Street," she finally said.
A disturbing silence gave Chloe cause to avert her eyes straight to the rearview mirror. She found the cabbie was looking at her with warning in his eyes.
"Lady, do you have any idea—
Chloe nodded nonsensically. "I'm well aware," she replied in like kind.
The cabbie centered his eyes on the road in front of him. "All right," he sighed. "It's your ass."
Author's Note: Sorry if it reads as if it was rushed, but I really wanted something out there for in the meantime. Hopefully I can get this story going somewhere.