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His hands were gripping on the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white. He was furious. But not with her.

Sure she lied to him and broke into his office and stole confidential documents. But that's not what made him angry. He was furious with himself for not expecting her to do that. It was in her nature. What did that mean for their relationship though? The more she found out, the less likely it was for them to be together. He knew what Alfred would say - but telling her was not an option. Why was he not able to just forget about her? It would make her life a lot easier and safer. Maybe he should just end it. Them being together was like a dance on thin ice - one wrong step and they could both sink. She wasn't aware of any of that of course, which brought him back to being furious at himself for putting her in this position.

She can't find out that he is the Batman and worse yet, what if someone else found out? His worst enemies would go after her first. The thought made him shudder.

But for some reason he just couldn't end it. It was like he was magnetically drawn to her. It was incredibly selfish and he hated himself for it. Since he couldn't end it, his next step was making her realize he was no good for her. He tried to seem distant and cold and it had worked. He remembered the night Wayne Manor was burned down and how he had to be a complete jerk to everyone at the party so they would leave and be safe and far away from the League of Shadows. Maybe he needed to be more like his eccentric billionaire-self to her so she would move on to someone else, someone who would be able to provide her with a normal life. He so wished it could be him, but he wasn't ready to hang up the cape just yet. There was still too much work that needed to be done.

At least Gotham offered him a good vent for his anger.

"Can you give me a soundbite?" I asked Gordon in front of the police station, where three mob gang leaders and drug lords were tied up.

It wasn't even dawn yet and Gordon looked tired but he nodded. I waved Bill over.

"We have three mob leaders in custody at this point from the main gangs in Gotham. They are all going to be charged with multiple drug and murder charges and will be held without bail at the county jail."

"Who arrested them."

"We are not positive on how they got here but it's a fair assumption that it was the Batman."

"Are you actively searching for the Batman?"

"Look, he is an outlaw vigilante but at this point he is helping the Gotham PD in cleaning the streets. We have bigger problems right now than the Batman." With that, Gordon left.

It was quite a scene, almost theatrical. The gang leaders displayed for the world to see. I was surprised that he had captured all three in one night, especially Maroni who was displayed on one of the lights like a bat.

It seemed the Batman was unusually active last night. I went back to the station to what I knew would be another long day with the breaking news, as Bill and I were driving, I texted Bruce.

Three gang leaders in prison this morning. The Bat was active last night. Sorry again about last night. Hope you're not mad at me anymore.

I was hoping I would hear from him soon but when the sun was setting on Gotham, I was sure I wasn't going to hear from him today.

The rest of my day I spent at Peter's office who was furious with me for breaking into Wayne Enterprise.

"Have you lost your mind Cat?" he yelled as he threw a tabloid paper at me. I didn't have time to check the papers this morning so I had no idea what he was mad about - granted I never checked the gossip tabloids. What I saw on the cover of "Gotham Talks" made me cringe.

My face and a picture of Bruce next to each other. TV Journalist obsessed with Bruce Wayne?

"Go ahead - read the article." Peter said in a raised voice.

I really didn't want to. "I think I'm fine. I never read that crap anyway."

"Let me then." He said as he snatched the paper from me. "In a bizarre incident, TV Journalist Catherine Hunter was arrested and booked into county jail Saturday night. According to police, she was arrested for trespassing but was later released after Wayne Enterprise dropped all charges. An eye witness recounted the incident. 'She said that Mr Wayne cheated on her and was very upset with him. I felt bad for her.' Wayne Enterprise would not comment on the incident." With that he slammed the paper down on the desk again. "So let me ask again, have you lost your mind Cat?"

"Ok this is a misunderstanding. I played that role of being upset so I could break in his office."

"Excuse me?"

Ok that might not be a whole lot better than what the article said.

"Well, I was investigating the double Greenwood murder..."

"Let me stop you right there - you're not a print journalist. People recognize you! When you do shit like this..." He pointed vehemently at the paper again. "People know. So is anything going on between you and Wayne?"

"What?"

"Well, I need to know what kind of damage control we have to do for your image at this point."

"My image?"

"Again, you're a TV personality. People judge you. I personally don't care what you do with Wayne but people do. And you're a woman. If you were a man, you might get away with having a high-profile affair. Women are judged less graciously on such matters. So, is something going on between you two?"

"No! That's absolutely none of anyone's business."

"Which is it? No or you don't want to say that there is."

"This is ridiculous! I went in there because one of the Greenwood's worked for Wayne and I went and got his personal file."

"So now you're telling me that you stole confidential documents from the wealthiest corporation in Gotham?"

"Yes, and it was stupid but I did it because I want to find out who killed them and how and why..."

"Well I guess that answers my question at least."

"What?"

"I was wondering why Wayne didn't press trespassing charges but the fact that you stole documents and he isn't suing you... That answers my question. So how involved are you two? Love? Dating? Just sex?"

"Are you listening to yourself? My dating life is none of your business. I could walk into Human Resources and report you."

"Cat you don't understand the gravity of the situation. If you're dating Wayne - I can sell that to the public although it would be tough. If you're becoming his newest addition to the collection, we're looking at a credibility problem."

"Credibility? Why would any of that affect my credibility."

"It's fucked up and I hate it as much as you do but that's the world we live in. That's why you have two agents telling you how your hair is supposed to look and which shade lipstick you have to wear. The public wants you to look and be a certain way. You're the news lady. People have certain expectations with that. I never said the expectations were fair or balanced or even modern. They're backwards. So, what's happening between you two?"

"Go fuck yourself." I said while ready to storm out of his office and quite certain he would fire me after this.

"Wait!" He demanded. "Cat you're one of my best reporters here. I'm not ready to give up on you yet. That's why I am so concerned over this. Here is my proposal. We deny all allegations and say it was a misunderstanding. Unless you're planning on seeing the guy... Then we have to come up with a different excuse. So which is it?

"Fine. We deny everything."

"Ok then. That's all I needed to hear. I'll have a statement written in 10 minutes."

I nodded.

"Hang in there kiddo." He said as I left his office.

I was so over this day and the fact that Bruce hadn't responded to my text all day made me even more frustrated.

I texted him a bunch of furious looking question marks ?

But again no response.

Frustrated I looked at the picture of the Greenwood document I took. Was this whole drama worth it? So far I hadn't even found anything on that stupid document.

"Master Wayne?" Alfred woke him up with a tray of food. "It is past noon. I suggest you make yourself visible at Wayne Enterprise to avoid suspicion."

The bright sunlight hurt his eyes, his head hurt. As he was slowly moving to sit up he realized that wasn't the only thing hurting. Every muscle in his body was burning, the three wounds he had to stitch up last night were aching. Alfred looked at him in concern, handing him painkillers he had already prepared.

"What went wrong?"

"Ugh...not much," he responded as he got out of bed. "There were a lot of them and they had dogs. That's all."

"Not with the criminals. What went wrong with her?"

His eyes shot up to the old butler.

"It seems whenever you tell yourself you can't be happy, you go out fighting like your life depends on it."

"Not today Alfred. Spare me the speech."

"Alright then, a question instead: What went wrong?"

"What went wrong? Let's see, she broke into Wayne Enterprise and stole confidential documents. That's what went wrong."

"Very unfortunate sir. But that's not the answer to my question since I doubt that you're upset about her doing any of that."

"Enough Alfred." He was getting agitated with the constant match-making attempts from the butler. He took the green smoothie from the tray and chucked it. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Also Master Wayne," the butler stopped him in his track. "Several media outlets have called Wayne Enterprise for a comment on why Miss Hunter was not charged with trespassing."

"What?"

Alfred just gestured towards the paper.

"Alright just tell them no comment."

"I have sir but may I suggest you put out a short statement on this?"

"Why?"

"Because this could be quite devastating for her career sir."

He hadn't thought about it that way.

"Ok just say something along the lines of it being a misunderstanding and that there is no romantic relationship between me and her and that I was supposed to meet her there for an interview but forgot about it and my security team didn't know bla bla."

Alfred nodded.

It was 9:30 when I finally left the station. I was exhausted in every way imaginable. Physically from working what turned out to be a 16 hour day and emotionally from dealing with the repercussion of my break-in adventure. Annoyed I looked at my phone that still showed no sign of a message from Bruce. I was over this.

"Actually, can you drop me in Uptown?" I asked the cab driver who nodded.

I arrived at his penthouse, making sure no paparazzi was near-by. As per usual, I used the back-entrance. I knocked on the door.

"Ah good evening Ms Hunter," Alfred greeted me. "Master Wayne is not in I'm afraid. May I leave him a message."

"That's quite alright Alfred. Where is he?"

He winked at me and then spoke a little louder than before.

"You want to search the apartment for him? Miss I simply cannot allow that."

"He's in the bedroom." He whispered.

I smiled at Alfred confused. For some reason Alfred wanted me to be here and it seemed Bruce did not.

I walked in the massive studio but Bruce was nowhere to be seen.

"Who was that Alfred?" He said drying his hair with a towel while in nothing but sweat pants. Then he looked at me.

"Hi."

I could not move my eyes away from his broken body. It was covered in fresh bruises and three big stitches.

"What happened?" I asked in shock.

He stared at me in silence for a second.

"An accident."

"A car accident?"

"No a skydiving accident. I landed in a tree. It's fine."

"It looks horrible."

"I'm fine." He said while just looking at me. He seemed as distant and cold as he did last night.

I cleared my throat.

"So..." I finally managed to say. "Sorry again about last night and it seems like it made it in the papers. Sorry for that as well."

"It's taken care off."

"What else do you want me to say?"

"Nothing."

"So what then? You're just going to stay mad at me?"

He sighed. "No, I'm not mad."

"Would you kindly tell your face that? You stare at me as if you want to kill me."

He smiled weakly. "Well maybe I was a little frustrated. I'm mostly concerned."

"By the looks of it you should be more concerned about yourself than me."

Another faint smile on his lips.

"How did this happen again?" I asked looking at all the cuts and bruises.

"Parachute didn't open properly."

"So basically you could have easily died."

"It wasn't that close of a call."

"And then you landed in a tree?"

"Crashed into a tree... Yes."

"It looks like that tree attacked you."

"It looks worse than it is. Trust me."

He was still standing several feet away from me and this seemed far from going-back-to-nromal.

"So you're not mad at me?"

He shook his head, followed by an awkward silence.

"Alright, well that's good to know. I let you rest now. Hope you feel better."

I quickly turned around and headed out the door. He said he wasn't mad, but it sure felt like he was.

Bruce sighed after she left and Alfred walked towards him with a sly smile on his face.

"And of course none of that was your making?"

"You heard me, I said you weren't in sir."

"Sure. She just marched in on her own."

"Couldn't stop her sir."

Bruce just rolled his eyes at the old butler. Alfred knew he couldn't ignore her if she was standing right in front of him. He had planned of being his eccentric-billionaire self but had failed miserably when she was looking straight at him. Why was he not able to put on his Bruce Wayne mask when she was around? He still needed to seem distant and cold, hoping she would do what he could not and end it between them.

The week went by quickly and attention around my Wayne rumors had subsided as the days went on. It was unfortunately still trending on twitter but there were far more interesting gossip items out there than Catherine Hunter. For now, I had dodged the bullet.

Peter had turned around quickly as well after he realized how much additional publicity my break-in brought the station.

Especially young viewers had tuned in, just to see who Bruce Wayne's newest girlfriend might be.

Everything was slowly going back to normal. That was aside from Bruce. I hadn't heard from him all week. I had given up on texting him, feeling a mixture of anger and frustration.

"We need footage of the new Wayne Manor," Peter said while I was about to leave.

"Say what?"

"Wayne Manor. Apparently the structure is done."

"Well then sent Bill or another photog."

"I would but they don't let media near it."

"Then what makes you think I could?"

He just smiled at me.

"I haven't heard from him in a while so I doubt I can get you anything."

"I knew I could count on you Cat. I need it by tomorrow morning."

Was he even listening to me?

"Peter..."

"You owe me!"

"Whatever I brought you a younger demographic."

"For a week, yes. But this whole Wayne thing is going to stay with you a little longer than a week I'm afraid. I wouldn't ask if I didn't have to."

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "I'll see what I can get."

As I was driving it started to pour. Perfect. I was so ready for this week to be over. Get there - get the footage - get out of there. It was a quick stop. Plus Bruce wouldn't be here since this was far from ready.

I finally pulled up to the impressive mansion. I had only seen pictures of it and this looked exactly like the old one. I remembered the reason for the total loss of the original Drunk Billionaire Burns Down House - but since he told me he doesn't actually drink I was wondering what the real reason for the fire was.

I was about to get out of the car when I realized I didn't bring an umbrella. Are you kidding me? Well, I had no choice. I grabbed a copy of the Gotham Gazette that was on my passenger seat, holding it over my head, and got out. Looking around it seemed pretty deserted. No workers. I started taking video on the small camera that I brought. It looked like a very old building, just the brand-new windows that were still taped up gave it away.

"Spying on me?"

Don't let it be him. Let it be his voice twin. I was standing frozen in the pouring rain, hoping if I ignored the voice behind me, it would go away.

"I have to say I thought WCX 8 had a little bit higher-tech equipment." He said as he was walking to face me. I finally acknowledged him with a look. His handsome features smiling at me in the rain under an expensive-looking umbrella he held over both of us.

"Not spying. Just witnessing the progress." I said while putting the camera back in my coat and throwing the soaking-wet Gazette on the ground.

He continued to smile at me.

"Well, I'll be out of your way." I said.

"You came all the way out here for a few shots of the outside?"

"I definitely didn't expect to run into you. Don't you have a servant boy who could check on the progress for you?"

"Come I'll show you the inside."

"No thank you."

His lips turned into a tight line and he nodded.

"Good night Bruce." As I walked back to the car he grabbed me by my arm, pulling me towards him. His strong arms around me, his lips covered mine. I pushed him away.

"Why? Why are you so confusing and frustrating?" I yelled at him.

He just stared at me, his breath uneven, his eyes piercing thorough mine. There was no answer to that question, I could tell.

As I was standing inches away from him under the shield of the giant royal blue umbrella I was also confused and frustrated with myself. Despite everything that had happened this week, all I wanted was to kiss him. I had never experienced such an irrational attraction before. Even when he was being a jerk, I felt drawn to him. As if the jerk was just a mask to hide who he really was underneath. But that might also be something I'm telling myself to feel better about falling for a jerk.

While I was internally debating, he was just standing there, studying my facial expression closely, waiting for a cue as to what was going to happen next.

Fuck it!

I pulled his face towards mine, covering his upper lip with mine. For a second he seemed surprised and let it just happen, then he wrapped his arm around me, intensifying the kiss. It seemed like we had been waiting for this moment for months, even though it had just been a week.

Physical tension between us built up quickly. He dropped the umbrella and pushed me against the car. I locked my arms around his neck drawing him closer to me. Rain was pouring down his marble-like features, the white shirt he was wearing all but soaked, clinging to his body. His hands were wondering over my body as I was pinned against the car. He kissed me harder, deeper with an urgency that I didn't even know existed before.

Adrenaline was pumping through me as our tongues met again and again. I felt like I couldn't get enough of him. Suddenly he stopped the kiss. I opened my eyes in anticipation. His hazel eyes looking into mine, rain still running over his face, his hot breath hit my lips. His eyes had that familiar, open and vulnerable look again. He grabbed my hand and lead me towards Wayne Manor without saying a word.

He opened the heavy door, pulling me in. Before I could even fully acknowledge the massive entrance hallway he yanked me against him, bending my head to kiss me. I was melting into his embrace as my mouth opened to his and our tongues met. I felt the heat of his body against mine. Suddenly all my worries were far away and I didn't want to be anywhere else than his arms. He pressed me against the wall with his body and I instinctively wrapped my legs around his midsection. His breathing was getting heavier as he opened his belt with one arm, supporting me with the other. A deep husky groan as he pushed himself inside of me. I held on to his shoulders as he thrust himself inside of me, his muscles tense. I was fully melting into his tight grip, he kept me pinned against the wall, continuing his movements. He looked straight into my eyes as we were breathing heavy in unison. I locked my legs even tighter around him, allowing him to push even deeper. My moans increased with each of his movements. I was ready to give in as he kissed me, biting my lower lip softly before parting my lips with his tongue again. When our tongues met again, I felt myself collapse around him. He increased his movements until he emptied himself inside of me.

Breathlessly, he was holding me for a few seconds in this position, kissing me softly, before he slowly let me down. He smiled at me as he was zipping up his pants again.

"So...want a tour of the place now?" He asked.

"Are we just pretending this week didn't happen?"

"I'm sorry. I know my actions were...irrational. You should stay away from me, you deserve much better."

"And you intent to proof that to me by treating me like crap so I am going to end this so you don't have to?"

He looked at me surprised, speechless for a second.

"I'm not an idiot." I continued. "What I can't figure out is why. All seems great and then...then you act like...I don't even know what to call it."

He nodded in thoughts. "It's hard to explain. I was trying to stay away from you because I believe there is someone better out there for you."

"That's the lame excuse from someone who is too afraid to actually deal with his emotions."

"Ok Mrs Freud, before you analyze everything about me, I can tell you straight up that I'm not easy to deal with. Just ask Alfred."

I laughed.

"Come on," he said as he was holding out his hand. "I'll show you around."

It had been going well. He was able to stick to his plan of distancing from her so she would run for the hills. All went according to plan - that was until he saw her standing in the rain in front of Wayne Manor.

He needed to check on the progress on the Batcave and of course he wasn't able to send anyone else to check for him without giving his secret away.

When he saw her standing in the rain, nothing more than a soggy copy of the Gazette over her head, he was not able to just walk away. She had been mad at him and rightly so - that was part of the plan. When she was ready to leave he couldn't control himself anymore. All his discipline went once again out of the window. Instead of pushing her away, he was pulling her towards him, kissing her soft lips.

Then she pushed him away - what he wanted her to do. But when she did it, he was hoping she wouldn't, looking in her dark eyes, wanting so desperately to kiss her.

"Why? Why are you so confusing and frustrating?"

He wished he could answer that. Because I'm Batman and I can't risk anyone hurting you because of me, but at the same time I'm in love with you and can't stay away from you. It was the truth but he couldn't tell her the truth. He was torn hoping for her sake she would jump into the car and leave him for good but he was also praying she would stay with him. Suddenly she walked up to him, brushing her lips against his. It was all he wanted and he wasn't able to resist her any longer.

He walked with me through the castle that was Wayne Manor and I felt I was back in a different time. The rooms were not done yet, some had no drywall up, some were not yet painted.

"This is my room." He said as he lead me into the last room of the tour.

It overlooked the garden and in the distant you could see the skyscrapers of Gotham.

"Not too shabby." I said while walking around. Of course 'not too shabby' didn't cover it. This whole place was out of this world. It seemed it was made for royalty. Gotham's Prince - I smiled to myself. He was the closest thing Gotham had to royalty after all.

As the adrenaline from earlier was wearing off I started to get cold, after all I was still in soaking wet clothes, even though looking at him warmed me up immediately, his shirt still pressed against his skin, showing every inch of his muscles.

"Let me warm you up," he said as he wrapped his arms around me, standing behind me. I felt my body heat return immediately as his lips met my neck. Why was it always this roller coaster with him? I leaned my head against his chest.

"So you have no furniture yet at all?"

"Not yet. It's all ordered."

"I'm guessing it's not coming from IKEA."

He laughed. "No, not IKEA. Most of it is antique, some of it is coming from carpenters in Asia."

"I really shouldn't be surprised anymore."

He just grinned at me.

"Let's get you out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold." He said, taking my hand and walking to another room.

"I don't have much here yet." The living room - or one of the many living rooms - had a bunch of boxes stacked against the wall.

He opened some of the boxes then handing me a big Yale hoodie.

I took it and started to take off my clothes while he was getting changed into dry clothes himself.

As I was all but naked I could feel his eyes on me. I looked at him, he swallowed hard, then continuing to get dressed.

"Sorry, didn't mean to stare." He said smiling.

I pulled the soft material of the hoodie over my head.

"Does the fireplace work?" I asked, wrapped in his comfy sweater.

"It sure does." He said while grabbing logs.

He put blankets and pillows on the ground and we were sitting in front of the fire. It was strangely familiar between us again. As if we'd been doing this for years. He pulled me into his arms and we were talking for hours like this until we fell asleep.

He woke up to the sound of his phone. He quickly grabbed it, hoping she wouldn't wake up but she immediately opened her eyes. It was 2a.m. and he knew what a text at this hour meant.

The light is on, sir

It was Alfred informing him that the Gotham PD had turned on the Bat signal. He sighed. Now he needed to tell her another lie.

"Who is it?" She asked slowly sitting up in his sweater. She looked beautiful even when she was sleepy.

"Believe it or not it's work."

"Work? What time is it?"

"2 in the morning. It's however the middle of the day in Japan. I have to get to the office to talk about an important business plan with a solar company there."

I looked at him, not believing a word he said. His eyes were studying my expression, his lips tight.

"Ok I totally understand." I'd understand if that was what you were really doing.

I got up.

"You can stay here if you want. Alfred could bring you anything you need."

"It's fine."

"I could drive you if you want."

"Don't worry."

"I had a lot of fun tonight." He said, looking at me closely.

"So did I." I waited a second, not sure if I should even mention it. "Are we good? Or are you going to avoid me again the second I step out of here. If so, I'd really like to know in advance so I don't feel like a complete idiot."

His smile vanished, he nodded in thoughts.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for you to feel like that. I'm the idiot here - not you. But I'm not going to avoid you."

"Ok good."

"Though I still think it would be best for you to stay away from me."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah... I get it."

He arrived on top of the Gotham PD building dressed as the Batman. It was incredible how he was able to be more like himself in the mask than without it. The mask of Bruce Wayne was at times the much bigger burden for him. That was unless he was with her. With her he was able to be himself without any mask.

"We have a problem." Gordon said in a nervous voice. "You know him?"

He handed him a picture from a security camera. It was a man with a clown's mask as a face.

"No I don't know him. Who is he?"

"We don't know. People call him the Joker. He robbed a bank a few weeks ago."

"So what's the problem?"

"He robbed an explosives warehouse just an hour ago. So I looked into his file. The bank he robbed - it wasn't any bank."

"Gotham National"

"Exactly. Which means he stole from the mob. Here is what concerns me. He is still alive, meaning the mob didn't kill him. Why? Either because he is doing an inside job or because the mob is afraid of him."

"I'll look into it."