A/N: New chapter yay. This chapter doesn't move the plot along so much as it focuses more on Bruce and Audrey. Please read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Wayne Enterprises

"You know most people usually play hooky on Friday, Mr. Wayne. Not show up to work after they've been gone the whole week."

Bruce felt a smirk tug at his lips at Lucius's dry tone. He calmly leaned against the doorjamb to the older man's office and shrugged, "Yeah well, life sort of caught up to me this week."

Fox smiled faintly, "I can imagine. How is your houseguest doing?"

"Better. Actually that's why I'm here?"

Lucius studied the younger man carefully when he noticed the serious note slipping through the billionaire's façade. He nodded his head for Bruce to continue and gestured toward the seat before his desk. He had the feeling that this wasn't going to be a short conversation. Bruce hesitated a moment before shaking his head.

"Let's move this somewhere a little more private." Bruce murmured lowly, well aware that Fox's secretary was paying them close attention.

Fox nodded and removed his flash drive from his computer before standing to follow the younger man. Too many people had seen the two in this office for them to use the secret elevator inside. As it was, Bruce ended up knowing another route down to the subbasement that left Lucius wondering just how many secret passages Wayne Enterprises had hidden and if he really wanted to know the answer to that question. As soon as the men were sure of their privacy, Bruce began his inquiry.

"It turns out that Crane has something to do with the serial killings." He began stiffly, "The toxin that Audrey was exposed to…did it have any similarities to Scarecrow's fear toxin?"

Lucius paused in thought, he understood why Bruce was asking, and if the fear toxin had been involved then that should help speed up production for a counter agent…if needed. He pulled his flash drive from his pocket and logged into the nearest computer. Bruce quickly followed his actions as he came to stand behind the CEO. Onto the screen quickly appeared a chemical web of oxygens, hydrogens, nitrogens and carbons.

Bruce blinked at the vast web, he remembered some of his high school chemistry, but he didn't remember ever looking over a molecule strand that large. Thankfully Fox had, and he looked at the one before him now as if it were a giant puzzle. The older man silently brought up the compositions for Crane's fear toxin and moved to overlay it with the latest compound that seemed to be terrorizing Gotham. The computer took a few minutes to search for similar compositions but found only a slight match with the basic components between the two. Lucius knew that this really meant nothing, most toxins were made on the same foundations, it was how they expanded that matter.

"No, the fear toxin isn't a part of this poison." Fox said slowly as he clicked through the images on the screen, "Actually, I would say this new compound was made by someone else entirely."

Bruce frowned at that, his mind whirling with the implications of that thought. It could mean that Crane had told Audrey the truth, which he did have a brother that was behind all of this, but why didn't any notification of a brother show up in any of a Crane's records?

He leaned forward to get a better look at the screen, "What exactly makes you say that?"

Lucius pointed calmly at the screen, "Well for one the toxin that infected Miss Douglas was much more complex than Crane's. More time and thought were put into it, telling me that its creator was looking for a specific reaction from this mix. It also tells me that this person is much more familiar with various medicines, as well as, chemicals and how which would affect what. Crane would have had some of this knowledge as a doctor of psychiatry, but to know what base chemicals would do once mixed with more complex formulas would require a degree in chemical engineering. Also, people who do this type of work tend to sign it."

"He signed it?" Bruce question slightly incredulous, his eyes going over the web much more intensely now.

"Not with his name, no." Lucius said slowly, "But…if you look here, what do you see?"

Bruce squinted as he stared at the mass of chemicals that Lucius was pointing towards. It took him a minute to focus before he was able to make out what the older man was seeing, "Is that a paint brush?"

"Yes, it is."

"Is there any way that this can be traced? To get an ID on the creator?" The billionaire asked rapidly.

Fox shrugged, "I don't know of any databases that keep track of chemical signatures. There might be a slim chance that any work this man has done has been published, but it's a long shot at best. It's why I didn't say anything about the signature before."

Bruce nodded understandably, "Can you cross reference just to be sure?"

"Already started." Fox murmured in reassurance. Just because he felt like they wouldn't find any information there, didn't mean he was right.

Bruce sighed softly, knowing there wasn't much else he could do, but wait at this point. He'd start on a regular patrol again and keep feelers out for Crane. The criminal usually wasn't hard to find but Bruce was well aware that he hadn't come across any mention of Scarecrow sense his escape six months ago.

"Have you been able to identify all the components to the toxin?" He uttered the words slowly, his mind still listing things that needed to be done.

"For the most part." Fox answered as he began to shut the computer down and moved to stand, "As strange as this may sound, but I was right about it being a good thing that Miss. Douglas was shot."

Bruce's brow raised in question and disbelief, "Does this have to do with the potassium chloride that was in the compound? You did say too much of that would stress her heart."

"That is part of it, but the more I studied this compound the more I realize what it can do." Lucius explained, "Like I said, whoever made this toxin had a specific reaction in mind. Remember, I told you a few days ago that I identified haloperidol and lithium as part of the toxin?"

Bruce nodded as Fox continued.

"Well, haloperidol is an antipsychotic and lithium has been known to treat bipolar disorder. Mixing the two together is quite lethal under ordinary circumstances. It'll send a person into a mania, they'll have mood swings, confusion, sometimes even a mild case of dementia and that's just the mental side effects. A person will have tremors, nausea, headaches, depression, fatigue, even seizures. Now, depending on the dosage and how long a person was exposed to a combination of these drugs could mean that these side effects can either be temporary or permanent." Fox paused for a moment to let this sink in before he mentioned what he knew next,

"Except, as you know those weren't the only chemicals that were in this toxin. Those first two would have had the main impact. What this serial killer wanted was for people to either hallucinate or become lost in their own minds while these side effects took place. The potassium chloride was actually altered to be slow acting in the blood stream, I'm still trying to figure out how he managed that, but the intended victims would either succumb to a coma or die from heart failure. By the amount of each compound in this toxin, my guess is that death is the more likely option after they suffer quite painfully for a few hours."

Bruce's mind went back to Audrey and how she had been the past few days. She had put on a good front, but there was a lingering tiredness in her eyes, her hands still shook, and she had moments were she couldn't concentrate. He was halfway sure that she had headaches too, and she was always careful about the way she moved. He knew that could just mean that she was being careful of the tenderness to her bullet wound, but what if that was due to the toxin? Was she nauseous and dizzy? He clenched his jaw as thought of all that she could be holding back. He had to acknowledge that she had been through the worst of it already. She had hallucinated…she had been trapped inside her mind for almost three days.

"How long would it be before the toxin to took effect?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Not long. Once it's in the body's system, it'll immediately start attacking the immune system."

It wasn't an answer that Bruce cared for, "And a cure?"

"More of a counter agent, actually, but it would need to be administered as soon as possible." Lucius answered carefully, "I'm going off the amount that was found in the Miss. Douglas's blood samples that you gave me. It's why I said she was lucky to be shot. The blood loss got rid of a good percentage of the toxin she was dosed with and probably saved her life. It takes twenty-four hours give or take for the body to metabolize all of these agents, but even still, the side effects could last for days to months depending on if the person exposed stayed alive that long."

"Is that why only lorazepam and propofol show up on the victims toxicology?"

Fox shrugged, "It's possible. It depends on what the forensic specialists are looking for when they run the toxicology. I believe your Miss. Douglas would be better able to answer that question Mr. Wayne."

"Yeah, I need to talk to her anyway." Bruce responded with a sigh.

He wondered if he could actually pull an honest answer from Audrey about how she was doing.

Wanye Penthouse

Bruce never had a chance to ask as he returned back to the penthouse. Audrey was awake by that time. She had returned to the living room with a few case folders in hand as she sat silently on the couch, lost in her own world. That was how Bruce found her when he wandered in; she hadn't noticed his presence giving him the opportunity to look her over. If it was even possible she looked more tired than when he had left. A quick glance at his watch told him that he had been gone for four hours. Had she gotten any sleep?

He frowned as he noticed there was a slight sheen to her face, as if she had just scrubbed at the skin recently. Her hand moved up to tangle in her hair as she pulled yet another piece a paper onto her lap to read over. Bruce bit back a sigh and quietly left his position in the doorway to go in search of his butler. Alfred had been more willing to give him answers on their houseguest's condition today than Audrey herself had been. He found the older man pulling dishes from the dishwasher as made his way into the kitchen.

"You're back sooner than I expected." Alfred murmured lowly as caught sight of his charge from the corner of his eye, "Did everything go well with Mr. Fox?"

Bruce slumped against the kitchen counter before nodding, "Yeah, everything went fine."

Alfred took in the billionaire's brooding appearance with a raised brow, "Then what's bothering you?"

Bruce shook his head, "Nothing."

He smirked faintly when Alfred sent him a disbelieving look to his reply. To be honest, he wasn't sure what was bothering him more, the case or Audrey.

Instead of giving his guardian a better answer to his question, Bruce oriented the topic towards his own interest. He sighed softly and nodded his head back to living room, "How long did she sleep?"

"Not long." Alfred said with a concerned frown, "Maybe an hour and a half."

Bruce leaned forward and lowered his voice, "What happened while I was gone? She looks more exhausted than she did earlier."

Alfred's frown only deepened as he tried to figure out how best to answer the younger man. Bruce saw his guardian's hesitation and felt his own concern heightened slightly as he tried to wait patiently for an answer.

"Nightmares." Alfred replied just as lowly before throwing the towel that he had in hand into the sink, "I walked by earlier and heard whimpering. I thought she had been in pain and looked in on her, but she was asleep. She calmed after a moment and didn't seem to stir after that."

"But?" Bruce pushed.

"She was in the bathroom for awhile after she woke up. Retching…" Alfred supplied solemnly, "That wasn't what concerned me, though. I checked on her as she came out. It looked like she had washed her hands raw."

Bruce shot a glance down the hall as if Audrey would be standing there. Lucius had said the nausea could be a side effect. But was her retching from the toxin or her dream? Bruce understood nightmares, better than most people. He knew just how hard it could be to shake them off. He'd make sure to keep an eye on her…make sure she was okay.

"Did it look like she had washed her face too?" Bruce questioned quietly.

Alfred nodded, her skin had been damp, but hadn't had the pinkish tint her hands had. It made the older man wonder what kind of monsters haunted the young woman. Like his charge, Alfred was slowly coming to find a fondness for the spy and couldn't help the concern he felt for her recovery. Not that she would admit she wasn't doing well…bloody stubborn. So it was with a hint of amusement and approval that he watched Bruce saunter back down the hall.

xx

"I think you're the only person in the world that can get sleep and still look exhausted."

"It's a gift." Audrey quipped drolly, not bothering to look up from the paperwork in her lap.

In truth, she had stopped reading an hour ago. She couldn't focus, her mind was too sleep deprived and her thoughts too jumbled to make much sense out of anything. So, it was with little argument that she let Bruce pull the file away from her and place it on the coffee table, though she did frown a bit at the action.

"Take a break." Bruce said in reply to the frown.

Now that he was closer to her, he could see what Alfred had been talking about. Her hands did indeed look a little raw, they were also still trembling slightly.

Audrey noticed where his attention laid and ignored the unspoken question that lingered in his eyes, "Did you find out anything new?"

Bruce nodded and began to relay everything that Lucius had told him. He eyed her carefully when he started to explain what exactly the toxin did to a person. He knew that she had experienced it firsthand but he wanted to know if any of this sounded unfamiliar to her. The only notable reaction that he saw was her lack of one. She kept her expression carefully blank as she mulled over his words, to his frustration. He was beginning to learn though, how her mind worked.

A faint smirk tainted her lips as she looked up at the ceiling, "Hmm, never thought I'd be glad to be shot."

Bruce chose to ignore that comment, not caring to remember that he was partly the reason she had been shot in the first place, "Is what Lucius discovered accurate?"

Audrey glanced at him before nodding, "Yeah, I do remember feeling rather…unhinged."

"And now?"

She seemed to hesitate before answering, but a mischievous twinkle in her eye had Bruce wishing he hadn't asked, "If you're asking me if I'm going to break down and sob all over you again then the answer is no. I think once was enough."

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her, "How much do you remember of that?"

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Bits and pieces. Why?...Please tell me that only happened once."

Bruce had to fight a smile at the suddenly horrified look that entered her expression, "It only happened once…I promise."

He couldn't keep the amusement out of his tone, however, causing Audrey to look at him suspiciously. She had meant her previous comment as a joke to hide her own embarrassment over the matter and keep things light. She was slightly mortified that she had cried over him at all, let alone if it had happened twice. She shook her head before realizing that Bruce was watching her rather intensely. She raised an eyebrow in question, but only received something of a smile in return.

"What?" she asked slowly.

Bruce had decided after he had seen her ealier that Audrey needed a distraction from everything. He had purposefully ignored the openings she had unconsciously made to pry into her past. He didn't want to dig and pull up something that she'd rather not think about. Instead, he was going to latch onto what she had done before he had left…if anything their mock battles seemed to put her at ease.

"Are we going to talk about it?" Bruce questioned ambiguously.

Audrey looked at him warily as she noticed the looked that had seeped into his eyes. It was that damn mocking glimmer that was present whenever he was feeling amused…usually at her. Almost against her will, she took the bait.

"Talk about what?"

Bruce smiled, "You kissed me."

Audrey blinked, "Wh?…Oh."

"Oh." Bruce parroted back his smile widening slightly as Audrey rolled her eyes.

"On your cheek, Don Quixote. Stop tilting at windmills."

He shrugged, "It's still a kiss."

An amused smile spilled on to Audrey's mouth as she tried to ignore the smugness that lighted Bruce's posture, "It's not like it's the first time we've ever kissed."

"No, but after the way you stomped away from me after the fundraiser I didn't think you'd be interested…." Bruce let his words dwindle knowing that she could fill in the blanks.

She did fill in the blanks, but found herself stuck on his earlier words, "I did not stomp away. I don't stomp."

A smirk twitched on Bruce's lips at the indignation in her voice. Of all the things for her to latch onto, "You did stomp."

"No." Audrey said definitively.

"Yes."

"No."

"Would you prefer clomped?" Bruce asked sagely as he stared at with a raised brow.

Audrey merely smiled in return, "I would prefer stalked actually."

There was a pause for a moment before both broke out laughing softly. The entire conversation was ridiculous, they knew, but it had also been needed. Bruce could see clearly that the brief moment of levity had unwound some chord inside Audrey. She wasn't as tense as she had been at the start of their conversation and neither was he. If he was being honest, it had actually felt good to laugh.

xx

The next week continued in much the same vein. Alfred found that Audrey was usually up around the same time he was and slowly came to fit his morning routine around her. He had his suspicions that she was actually up before him though. She seemed balanced on a thin line most mornings, which had him keeping a careful eye out. He gained some relief when he noted that she was starting to eat a little more each day.

Alfred also noticed that his charged had started to change his own routine as well. After Bruce had talked with Lucius he kept good to his silent promise and went back to patrolling the city regularly. His focus was on Crane most nights, a part of him finding it odd that the Scarecrow hadn't been up to his usual tricks as of late. He'd only make it back to the penthouse a little after four before he forced himself out of bed at nine to go into Wayne Enterprises. That last bit had surprised Alfred until he realized that the only reason Bruce was putting his appearances in earlier was so he could leave earlier.

On most late afternoons a steady murmur of conversation came from the living room. Bruce and Audrey usually sat on opposite ends of the couch with files and paperwork resting between them as they went over evidence and possible leads. It was on one of these occasions that Alfred walked from the room stuck between exasperation and lingering amusement. A silence had settled over the living room, the only noise coming from the rustling of paper. The older man had appeared with new cups of coffee for the younger two and had paused at the scene before him.

He watched silently as Bruce's gaze slid from his paperwork and towards the brunette next to him. Audrey seemed to sense his charge's stare and met his gaze before the two looked back at their papers simultaneously, a very faint smile appeared on both their faces. Alfred had raised an eyebrow, last time he had seen something like this Bruce had been in high school and had been studying with Miss. Rachel. He shook his head and walked away. It wasn't the last time he would see such a display. He began to notice lingering touches and almost shy smiles that were exchanged between the two. He had to wonder just how long the flirting would last…If it went on much longer he was going to start teasing Bruce about it. Maybe then, the younger man would make a move.

A/N: Special thanks to: DancingMagpie, shadow-dog18, AdaYuki, KRDiva1, and klandgraf2007 for reviewing. I love hearing from you guys. Thank you to: GeminiBlood, ashchild666, ShadowCat98, neurele, LazyPlotBunnies, and for adding this story to your favorites list. Thank You.

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