Crane could curse himself for his temper; he had scared her. He wanted to make sure she stayed true to him, not scare her away.

Back in his car, he breathed in deeply; she was still so easy to bend and manipulate. But still…he had seen a glimpse of her fear for him; she was conflicted. Part of her wanted him, but another part of her was well-aware of the danger that came with seeing him.

That part of her had always been there; her rationality. He had tried to crush it out, but it was growing. She was starting to see the truth and if he stopped seeing her…he'd lose her.

Sighing and massaging his temples, he knew he had no other choice: he had to take her again.

…

The ride to Bruce Wayne's penthouse had been nothing but silent and dreadful. Diana pushed a few of her thick curls behind her ear, sighing as she looked up to the large building as the car came to a halt.

Her dad got out first, leaving her to follow. She felt uncomfortable in her high heels; it only drew more attention to her pale legs.

Her dad extended his arm, which she took very hesitantly. As they got onto the elevator, she blew out some air.

'We're not going to stay for a long time, right?' she asked.

Her father offered her a soothing smile; it slightly eased her nerves. 'I'll be right beside you, sweetheart. No need to worry', he assured her.

Diana rocked back and forth on her three-inch, golden sandal heels, blowing out some air. She hoped so; she really didn't like dressing up.

…

The penthouse was filled with people. Diana guessed most of them to either be employees or rich friends of the billionaire playboy.

She gazed with unease as an older, dark-skinned man came towards them.

Her father shook his hand with a smile. 'Lucius, good to see you', he spoke.

The other man looked at her, and returned the smile. He extended a hand for her to shake, which she did carefully.

'Lucius Fox. I've been working with your father for quite some time. I'm glad you could make it.'

Diana felt herself calm down slightly at the man's calming, gentle voice. He seemed a very nice man; her father had spoken of him before. It was thanks to Fox, her dad was now on the board.

Her moment of ease was short-lived when the billionaire playboy himself decided to drop into their conversation.

'Ah Mr. Wayne -'

'Please, Gabriel, you know to call me by my first name', laughed the young Wayne.

His brown eyes soon fell upon her, and Diana felt nervous knots in her stomach. He shook her hand, kissing the back of it with a smile.

'Well Miss O'Connell, I must say it's a pleasure to meet you. And might I add that you look incredibly beautiful tonight.'

Diana felt flustered and flabbergasted by the young Wayne's words. Was he actually flirting with her?

'I must say, Bruce, you quickly found a new residence after the manor burned down', laughed Fox.

'I had to pull some strings, but I guess you can say I never did much sleeping at the old place', Wayne answered with a grin.

Diana averted her eyes. She felt really uncomfortable. She just wanted to go home…

'But we're here to enjoy ourselves', the young billionaire pulled her out of her thoughts; 'can I offer you something to drink? I can't possibly drink all that booze by myself', he grinned.

Both men returned his laugh. Sighing deeply, she pushed past them, heading for the large glass doors leading to the balcony. Outside, she began to rub her temples, slowly, trying to dull her oncoming headache.

She tiredly gazed onto the moving cars beneath her. She bit on her bottom lip. She had never felt more out of place. She didn't fit in into her father's world…

Leaning onto the railing, she fought back her tears. When was this night going to end?

…

Bruce watched her from a distance, as she stood there on the balcony. She was dressed like a young woman, but all he saw was an insecure, confused child. He felt for her; he could see she was uncomfortable.

With a deep breath, he went onto the balcony. Her timid green eyes, lined with dark brown and black eye shadow, looked at him with distrust.

He settled his hands onto the steel railing, beside her. 'Some view, huh?' he carefully tried to start a conversation.

She didn't respond; her eyes went back to the city beneath them.

'I have to apologize', he started; 'I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable', he spoke.

She frowned at him, but remained quiet.

'Surely you can imagine how people expect the Prince of Gotham to act?' he chuckled.

She swallowed, her eyes slowly softening. He gazed at her; she fidgeted with her hands and constantly bit her bottom lip. He could conclude she was nervous around him. Not that he blamed her; she had all the right to be nervous around someone she barely knew.

'You went through a lot, didn't you?' he asked.

She gave a soft nod and whispered; 'The worst part is…I can't talk to anyone about it…'

He frowned at her. What was she talking about? Surely her father and stepmother tried to understand her?

'What do you mean?' he asked.

Her mouth became agape. 'I-I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…it's none of your concern -'

'I'll be the judge of that', he interrupted her; 'tell me.'

She exhaled deeply. 'No-one really tries to understand. I know he's the Scarecrow and what he's done…but…' she hesitated and he could see her choke up.

It got to him; her affection for Crane clearly ran really deep. It didn't surprise him; she had been with him for seven months. He had manipulated her in every sense of the word. Now that she was starting to see the man he really was…it had to break her heart.

'T-they don't know him like I do. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy…' she went on.

He laid a hand atop of hers, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand slowly. Her saddened eyes found his hazel ones. A very faint smile crept up her light pink lips.

'You're not at all like the tabloids describe you, Mr. Wayne', she told him.

He had to return her smile. 'If they saw me like I really was, they'd think me weak', he admitted.

He pulled away from her.

She sighed. 'I'm just glad my story didn't go public', she muttered.

His gaze grew softer as he observed her.

'He-he…he came to me, when I went shopping with my stepmother.'

At that, his eyes widened. He had personally apprehended Crane and had sprayed him with his toxin, and yet his sanity had remained enough to still recognize her? Was the former doctor truly so infatuated with her that he would resort to stalking?

'I-I know I should've called the police but I can't…'

He put a hand to her shoulder. While he fully understood her inner battle, at this moment, she was mentally too weak and too vulnerable to possibly fight Crane's manipulation. Once he was close to her again…she'd be easily entranced by him again.

'I understand. But you know the danger, don't you?' he asked.

'Of course I do! I know he should be locked up in prison, so he can't follow me anymore', she was on the brink of tears now; 'and I know he'll try to get me back…but I'm not strong enough to fight back.'

Bruce pitied the young girl. She couldn't protect herself and it was very clear to him that part of her didn't want to. Part of her wanted to be back with Crane but she knew as well as he did…that wasn't possible.

Jonathan Crane was nothing but a sadistic monster; but he couldn't tell her that. If he wanted to help her, he would have to earn her trust, and by insulting the man she still loved deeply, it would only push her towards Crane more.

'I want you to know that if you ever need help…you shouldn't hesitate to ask me. I may appear uncaring and flirtatious to the outside world, but that's far from who I am', he assured her.

'I figured that', she nodded.

'Is there anyone else besides your father and stepmother you can go to?'

Diana had to think on that for a while. Liam soon flashed through her mind. She could trust him. 'Liam Smith. He saved me', she answered.

'Ah, Gordon's boy, huh? I heard about him. He's a good cop', Bruce answered from beside her.

Diana smiled shyly. She didn't like to admit it, but she felt some form of trust with Liam, and it seemed that the Prince of Gotham wasn't at all what he seemed like. She was still wary of him, but she wanted to believe he genuinely wanted to help her.

'I can help you, if you'd like. I can teach you how to become stronger, mentally. But it'll take time', he spoke.

She swallowed. She wanted to, she really did. But there was that part of her that still felt she had to be loyal to Jonathan. But she knew it wasn't right. She had to try to become stronger, and try to pick up her life again.

'I want to', she answered him.

'Good', he patted her shoulder; 'you should take it easy though. Give yourself enough time to recover', he smiled.

…

Liam was by himself, at his apartment that Saturday, plucking at his guitar, when his phone rang. Picking it up, he held it between his ear and shoulder.

'Hello?'

'Mr. Smith?'

He had to frown at hearing that sweet, female voice. 'Diana?' he asked.

'I'm sorry for calling…but I really wanted to ask you if you wanted to have coffee again sometime soon?'

He smiled fondly. His smile soon disappeared as the tall redhead came walking into his living-room, scrubbing her hair dry with a towel. She had been his girlfriend for quite some time now.

'Who's that, babe?' she asked him.

He put up a hand to silence her. 'Sure I would. Do you need a pickup?'

At that, his girlfriend, Emily, narrowed her grey eyes.

'If it's not too much trouble -'

'Of course not. I'll meet you this afternoon, okay?'

'Liam?' Emily inquired.

'Sure. I guess I'll see you then.'

'Bye.'

He hung up, gazing at the now agitated redhead in front of him. She put her hands on her hips.

'Who was that?' she asked.

'A girl from a police case I worked on. She's been through a lot -'

'Oh wait, the Scarecrow's girl, right?'

Liam put his phone down and continued with his guitar. Emily, however, was far from done with him and tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for him to start talking.

'She had a rough time lately. I saved her, so it's no more than normal she'd trust me', he shrugged.

'Of course', she crossed her arms; 'I'll bet you liked it when she clung to you for her life.'

Liam stopped, to glare at her.

'You have feelings for her, Liam. Don't deny it', Emily accused.

He sighed. 'Just because I'm helping her doesn't mean -'

'Am I supposed to believe that? I saw the pictures, Liam! That girl is skinny and curvy as fuck! She's any man's ideal body type!'

Liam didn't answer; he didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Diana really was a beautiful girl. Any guy to have her would be really lucky.

'You've been focused on her for seven months straight. How can I compete with that?!' she snarled venomously.

He put down his guitar. 'Don't snarl at me, Em. I did my job. You serve cocktails in a skimpy dress at night, you don't hear me getting jealous over nothing', he argued with her.

She shot him a vile look and went to grab her clutch. 'Just try to keep it in your pants when you go to see her, that's all I ask.'

He snapped then; he took a hold of her arm, yanking her to him. 'Shut up! That girl went through so much in her life…the last thing I want is to do such things to her. She had one hell of a shitty life before I found her, so don't talk about shit you know nothing about.'

His tone was venomous, but he didn't care; he didn't take lightly to Emily picking on another girl just because of her own insecurities. It was the one thing he despised about her; her paranoia.

She ripped her arm from his grip. 'Fuck you, Liam. Fuck you and that police case of yours.'

With that, she was out the door, leaving him to throw his head back in pure annoyance. What was with her lately?

…

So Diana meets Bruce Wayne?! What'll happen now that she has the Prince of Gotham at her side?

Lots of love,

~TheOneWithTooManyInterests