Christmas used to be my favorite time of year. When I was really young I always loved coming home after school, backpack full of Christmas crafts that I had made during recess. Mom used to hang them up all over the house, saying that they made our house feel like home. My sister never really got into the Christmas spirit like I did. I always helped my mom decorate the house and made sure that cookies were made, a tree was decorated, and everything was ready for when Santa came. My sister helped a little, but she was never as enthusiastic as I was. My dad used to call me his little Christmas elf, because I helped so much with everything.

After they died, I couldn't find it in me to celebrate it anymore. The warmth that the holiday used to fill me with was replaced with a chill that I couldn't make go away. I usually spent Christmas with a different foster family, and was never the same as being with my actual family. Seeing all the warm lights that decorated people's houses reminded me that my parent's house now had a different family in it, and it probably looked completely different. The smell of cookies baking gave me flashbacks of my mom and I in the kitchen, and it always made me sad. The entire holiday season just reminded me of how alone I was. That's how, on this Christmas Eve, I found myself wandering around the empty streets of Gotham.

At first I was sitting in my apartment reading, but I couldn't focus on the words. My mind was wandering to a past that I didn't want to remember. I decided to bundle myself up and go for a walk. Sure, it was freezing, but because of my powers the cold didn't bother me as much as it did other people. I put my dark blue pea coat over my tan sweater, threw on a pair of low heeled boots, and headed outside.

I wasn't really paying that much attention to where I was going, and soon I found myself in one of the sketchier parts of downtown. Even some of the run down houses had a few Christmas lights up. I ignored them and kept walking. I stopped at a corner and looked across the street and noticed a small bar that was open.

It may not have been the most responsible decision, but I decided that I might as well try and drown some of my sorrows in alcohol. I walked into the bar and let the heat wash over me, a nice contrast to the freezing cold that was outside. I shrugged my jacket off and hung it up on a hook by the door. Scanning the bar I realized that it was mostly empty, the only exception being a few people sitting at a table in the corner, and a broad shouldered, dark haired man sitting at the bar.

I made my way over to the bar and sat on a stool a few seats down from the dark haired man, not really caring enough to spare him a glance. The bartender walked over and asked what I wanted. "Bourbon on the rocks, please," I replied, running my hand through my wavy hair.

"Bad day?" he asked.

"Something like that," I said.

He put the glass of ice in front of me and poured the bourbon in. "Thanks," I said, raising the glass up in a small toast. I took a sip of the brown liquid and shivered a bit as it burned going down.

"I didn't take you for a bourbon kind of girl."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. I turned, about to tell this guy that he didn't know a thing about me, when I finally noticed the familiar black hair and really strong jaw line. "Bruce?" I asked, my jaw falling open in shock.

Bruce Wayne chuckled and sent me a smirk. "Hello Evie," He said, holding up his own glass of brown liquid.

"W-what are you doing here?" I stuttered still in complete shock that of all places in Gotham on Christmas Eve, Bruce Wayne would be sitting next to me in some crappy bar.

He stood up from his barstool and walked over next to mine. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Um, no. Of course not," I said, pulling the stool out for him.

"Thanks," He said sending a small smirk my way. He sat down and downed the rest of his glass. "I think the question here is, what are you doing here on Christmas Eve?"

I could see that he was avoiding the question and I sent him a smirk of my own. "I believe that I asked you first."

He chuckled, and shook his head. "Yes. Yes you did." The bartender came over and refilled his glass. Bruce swirled the brown liquid around in his glass and stared down at the counter. "The holidays aren't necessarily my favorite time of year," he said quietly. The atmosphere between us suddenly seemed a lot sadder. I felt a little guilty asking him about it. Everyone knew that Bruce's parents were killed when he was younger. He was probably here for the same reason I was.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I said, taking another sip of my drink. He glanced up at me, his brows were furrowed and I knew he was silently asking what I meant. I took a deep breath and blew the air through my nose. "My parents and sister died when I was twelve. We were in a car accident. Christmas isn't easy for me either."

Bruce was silent for a minute. "I'm sorry," he finally said. I couldn't help but snort into my glass.

"I should probably apologize too. I shouldn't have pushed the subject for you either." I looked up at him to see a small smile on his face.

"It's fine. It isn't like you don't know my history anyway. Everyone does. I figured you would since you grew up in Gotham." He must have seen my face fall because his eyes widened and he quickly said, "Don't worry, it's okay. I've had a long time to get used to it."

I relaxed a bit, relieved that I wasn't offending him any. I thought about how he knew that I was from Gotham. I took another sip of my drink and figured that I had mentioned it the last time that we had met.

I decided to change the subject away from our dead families. "Okay, I can understand wanting a drink, but that doesn't explain why you are in a crappy place like this. You could afford anywhere in Gotham, and I'm sure there are other places open that are much better than this."

Bruce merely shrugged. "I know the owner. He keeps the photographers away and in return I get him some of the good stuff," He said, holding up his glass.

"Hm, that's pretty smart."

Bruce smirked again, "Yeah, I have my moments." We sat in silence for a few moments before the clock in the corner of the room chimed 11. I hadn't realized just how late it was.

"Well, I should probably go," I said, setting my money on the counter and standing up. "Who knows when I'll need to be up tomorrow."

Bruce stood up and put a fifty dollar bill on the counter. "Here, let me walk you home."

"You don't have to. It's only a twenty minute walk. Besides, I'm a superhero. I don't think there is anything here that I can't handle," I joked. Bruce shrugged his jacket on and gave me a look that said he wasn't going to let me go alone. "Alright, whatever."

After putting on my coat, we walked out of the bar and headed in the direction of my apartment. "I meant to ask you something," I said.

"Go ahead."

"Do you remember when we first met? At the bookstore?" I asked, looking up at him.

He chuckled, "Yes, you ran into me and then fell."

I felt my cheeks go red and I cleared my throat. "Yeah, anyway. You started calling me Evie that day, but I never told you that I went by that. I only told you my name was Evelyn."

He faltered in his steps for a second and sent me a wide eyed glance. He cleared his throat and looked up the street. "Oh, well, I guess I just heard it from somewhere. That's all."

I quirked an eyebrow, not quite believing the billionaire walking next to me. "Mhmm, sure…"

Bruce looked over at me, "I swear!" I studied his super handsome face for a few seconds before deciding to drop the conversation. If he didn't want to tell me than I certainly wasn't going to be able to make him.

I thought of both instances where Bruce and I had been together. He seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and he has quite a good bit of knowledge about me. I remembered the night that Batman had put me to bed in the Watchtower. At the time I had thought that the two men had been similar, though I believed it was due to the concussion I had that I made that connection. Now, after spending enough time with both of them I could see even more similarities.

No way, Bats isn't Bruce Wayne, I thought. I mean, Bruce is a loaded billionaire, and Bats is a superhero…who probably needs a lot of money for his equipment…and their smirks are similar…and Bruce does know a lot about me…

"You know, I have a friend that reminds me of you," I said, shoving my hands in my pockets, figuring that I would see if I could get a reaction out of Bruce. "He likes to answer questions with other questions, he is always soo mysterious, and you two have quite a similar smirk."

Bruce completely stopped walking this time and he turned to look at me. "Really? Does this friend have a name?"

"I'm sure he does, but I don't actually know it. I only know his, well, I guess you could call it a nickname," I said, looking up at his really dark eyes. Something seemed to flash in them, but it quickly disappeared.

"Well, if he's like me then he must be a really great guy," Bruce said, giving me another of his famous smirks.

I hesitated before smiling and nodding. "Yeah, he really is." We walked in silence for a few more minutes and I tried sorting my thoughts. Okay, look Evelyn. Just because both men have similar characteristics does not mean that they are the same person. And if they are the same person then they will tell you when they want to, so stop being a bother.

I shook myself out of my thoughts when I noticed we were at my building. "Oh, we're here," I said as I stopped walking. Bruce seemed to have come out of his thoughts as well, because he looked a bit startled.

"Oh, so we are. Well, I guess this is goodnight," He said, stopping in front of the steps of my building.

"I guess it is," I replied as I turned around on the first step. Now I was at the same height as Bruce. "Thanks for walking me home," I quietly said while tucking some of my hair behind my ear. I could feel a heat creeping up on my cheeks and I bashfully looked down at my boots.

Before I could react I felt something soft on my cheek, and I realized that Bruce had leaned over and gave me a quick peck on it. "Merry Christmas, Evie." He said, stepping off my stairs and onto the sidewalk.

My blush felt like it was on fire as I tried to fight the giant grin that was making my way onto my face. "Merry Christmas, Bruce." I said. He started walking away when I called out to him. "Are you okay walking by yourself?"

He let out an actual laugh this time and turned around. "Don't worry, I think I'll be fine." I let out a quiet laugh and gave him a small wave, which he returned. I turned around and went into my building, up the stairs, and unlocked my front door. I made my way through the dark room and changed into my pajamas. Then I climbed into bed, and laid awake for a few hours, thinking about what I thought I had found out; Bruce Wayne could be Batman.

Hey guys! I gave you all a small present and wrote this really quick filler chapter. Just do me a favor and pretend that the last chapter happened about this time, just so the timeline can stay somewhat straight. Hopefully I'll add the next chapter in a few days! I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Thanks for sticking with me.

~S