It didn't take long to travel from the Wayne Enterprises building to Carly's downtown apartment. Despite the heavy city traffic they stepped through her door only two hours later. Leo the cat meowed loudly when he heard their familiar voices in the kitchen. The orange ball of fur would come to regret charging out of the only bedroom excitedly after he was forced into a hard plastic pet carrier. Carly quickly gathered the things she would need to spend the weekend before picking up Leo's pet carrier and following Bruce out the door. After loading up the car, Bruce took to the driver's seat and drove to the expansive manor nestled high on the hill just outside the city limits.

"Ah, Miss. Rogers, I thought I saw your car pulling up the drive." Alfred smiled when he saw his young master and his female accomplice.

"Hey Alfie!" Carly wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug. The butler, mindful of the bottle of shoe polish and rag in his hands, delicately encircled the young lady. "I've miss you. It's been too long."

"Indeed it has. If I'm not mistaken it's been more than a month since these halls have been filled with your laughter." Alfred looked over her shoulders at Bruce accusingly.

"Oh you know how these things go." Carly pulled away from their hug. "Bruce missed my birthday. He didn't even so much as leave me a voice message, Al. Can you believe that? Now, I know you raised him better than that. So then I gave him the cold shoulder. He started tormenting my secretary… now he claims he's going to make it up to me so here I am." She held up her hands and shrugged.

"You'll be joining us this evening for the gala then?" Alfred asked.

"I suppose since Bruce is letting me crash here the least I can do is attend his party, eat his free food, and drink his free booze." She tried to sound as if the whole thing was a burden on her, but all three of them knew there was no place she'd rather be. Bruce and Alfred were as much family to her as they were to each other.

"Sorry to trouble you, Princess." Bruce rolled his eyes before walking towards the center of the house.

"Catch you later!" She promised the butler before following Bruce up the main staircase.

Carly stepped into her designated guest room and smiled. Everything looked exactly as she'd left it the last time she'd stayed over. Well, maybe not exactly as she'd left it. Alfred had obviously done some cleaning as the shelves weren't dusty and the floors were spotless. Though it was technically one of the mansion's many guest rooms, this one had been hers for as long as she could remember. Old toys from her childhood had been put on display on the highest shelves, while the lower ones contained trinkets and bric-a-brac from her many adventures with Bruce. She let Leo out of his cage and had started unpacking her things when she spotted the black garment bag on the bed.

A quick glance at the clock told her it was almost 7:30. Guest for the gala would start arriving at eight. Knowing this, she decided that she should probably suit up for the party. As was always the case with a gift from Alfred and Bruce, exciting anticipation loomed in the air when she reached for the garment bag's zipper. A tug on said zipper revealed a gorgeous midnight blue gown. It had a full princess skirt, with shimmering crystals scattered around it like leaves falling from a tree. The entire bodice was covered in crystals as well, it much have weigh five pounds alone. It was the sort of dress little girls across the country dreamed to someday be lucky enough to wear.

After admiring the design for another minute, Carly removed the dress from its bag and stepped inside it. She'd forgotten how truly heavy those dresses could get, weighed down with miles of tulle and pounds of crystals. She'd also forgotten the cardinal rule of party dresses; always have someone to zip you up. As best as she could, she shrugged into the three quarter sleeved gown before opening the door and calling down the hall to her best friend.

"Bruce!" The billionaire had just gotten out of the shower when he'd heard her bellowing his name. Still dripping wet, he tightly wrapped a towel around his waist and rushed to the hallway.

"Bruce." Carly smiled at him from four doors down. She tried not to let her eyes linger on any part of his body longer than a few seconds. More than that might alert his attention to her biggest secret, and she valued his friendship more than anything. No matter how loudly her heart screamed that it was in love with him. "Zip me up?" She asked shyly.

"Of course." Bruce was relieved. When he'd heard her calling for him, he had worried she might be in actual danger. By now all of Gotham City and the surrounding area knew of the infamous friendship between Bruce Wayne and Carly Rogers. Several tabloids had even accused them of being a couple over the years. That alone was evidence enough to put her in danger, never mind the other secrets Bruce had been keeping from her.

"Would you mind coming to me? I'm afraid if I move too far I'll…" He gestured at the towel around his waist which she pretended to notice for the first time.

"Oh, right! Sorry." Holding her dress up by placing on one hand on each breast, Carly shuffled her way down the hall. She felt a chill on her exposed back as she tried to reach him as fast as possible. Bruce made sure his towel was secured before losing his grip on it. With one warm hand he swept her long curly blonde hair off to the side and out of his way. She felt her body straighten as the zipper trailed its way up her spine.

"Thanks so much." She turned and left an affectionate kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you downstairs, Mr. Wayne."

"It's safe to assume you'll be fashionably late as always, Miss. Rogers."

"You'll just have to wait and see." She winked at him before disappearing inside her room once more.