Klutz

"Oh my god, he is so hot!"

"Sizzling."

"You can say that again. I would seriously sell all I own for just one – "

"Guys! Some people are actually trying to do work here! Could you go somewhere else?"

Katie glared at her three roommates, all currently clustered around a tabloid they had picked up at the college bookstore. They might not care about homework, but she did, and their constant noise was making it difficult for her to concentrate.

They stared at her like she had grown an extra head or something.

"Katie, you need to get your mind out of those physics books for a while and onto the things that really matter," Samantha informed her, and tossed the magazine across the room. It landed on Katie's bed with a rustle of bent paper.

"Page six. Turn to it."

Looking at her friends suspiciously, Katie picked it up and flipped to the specified page.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"You've got to admit, it's better than math."

Katie rolled her eyes. "How can you possibly be attracted to this guy? Don't you read the news? He's, like, the most idiotic, airheaded, shallowest, klutziest man it is possible to meet."

"So? He's damn fine!"

Katie was beginning to think she was rooming with the most idiotic, airheaded, and shallowest women it was possible to meet.

"Whatever, guys. You can have your little fantasies. But I'd rather have my mind in a physics book than in the gutter with you and Bruce Wayne."

She threw the magazine back and returned to her homework.

It was late at night, and Katie was walking briskly along the streets of Gotham, heading back to her dorm after a long day of classes. Usually, venturing forth alone into the city was practically asking for death, but the area surrounding the University was better than most. Katie still carried a small can of pepper spray in her purse, but she fervently hoped she would never have to use it.

Footsteps behind her. Katie's heart leapt to her throat, but she knew she was being stupid. Plenty of people traversed these streets. It was probably just some harmless bagman, searching for recyclable bottles.

The footsteps quickened in pace, and drew closer. Katie could not calm her racing heart now. Adrenalin coursed through her, and she sped up. The footsteps stayed right with her.

Suddenly two men burst from an alleyway in front of her. They smirked and started towards her. She shrieked and reached for her purse. Her fingers fumbled on the zipper, the only thing between her and her only defense.

The men were too fast. One yanked the purse from her hands and grabbed her wrists with a bruising force. She tried to knee him in the groin, but he backhanded her viciously and shoved her into the alley.

Six men surrounded her, leering and pawing at her. Terror coursed through her as she backed up against the wall. She had heard of the horrible things street thugs did to women, and she had no wish to experience them first hand.

"Help me!" she screamed. "Somebody! Please!"

"Nobody's gonna help you, missy…" one man hissed, his mouth so close to hers she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "No one's gonna hear you scream…"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

The deep growl seemed to fill the entire alleyway with sound. The drunk jerked away from Katie, looking around in terror. His companions pulled guns from their belts.

"Who's there?" someone yelled, voice trembling in obvious fear.

"Who do you think?"

And all hell broke loose. A huge, black shape dropped into the alley and took out several men before Katie could say "Batman". The sound of fist meeting flesh, and the anguished yells of her attackers was deafening. The young woman huddled against a dumpster, fear and confusion rooting her to the spot. She stared, wide – eyed, as the Bat – Man rendered her would – be murderers into quivering masses of unconscious flesh. The man who had hit her got lucky, and smacked the masked figure a good one in the face with a steel pipe, but even with blood pouring from his nose and lips, Katie's savior dispensed with the remaining thugs efficiently.

Batman looked over at her, and they locked eyes. Brown met black for a split second, and then Katie looked away, frightened.

"You alright?"

Somehow, she still had the presence of mind to answer.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. Think you can get home?"

She glared at him. "I may scream like a girl, but I can take care of myself."

The corner of Batman's mouth curved upward.

"Most of the time…" she added grudgingly. "What about you? You're bleeding."

"I'll be fine." He lifted a gloved hand to his mouth and grimaced. "That's gonna leave a mark, though."

Getting to her feet shakily and dusting her jeans off, Katie smiled and said, "Getting hit in the face with a pipe will do that."

He chuckled. The noise was harsh, but not devoid of humor.

"Well, um… thanks for… this…" she gestured awkwardly to the sprawled bodies of her attackers.

He nodded shortly. She blinked, and he was gone.

Well. That was… exciting, Katie thought. She retrieved her purse and set off towards her dorm at a very fast pace. Her roommates were going to have a field day when they heard about this.

It was Saturday; two days after her brush with death, and Katie had planned on sleeping in. She was awoken, however, at the most ungodly hour of ten o'clock, by fits of giggling coming from the next room. Groaning, she pulled the pillow over her head, but the high – pitched noises permeated the thick barrier. Muttering curses under her breath, Katie stumbled out into the common room to tell her roommates just where they could go. She found them crowded around yet another tabloid, and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"What are you looking at this time?"

Samantha held out the magazine to her and said, "Well, you were right about one thing. Bruce Wayne is a klutz."

Katie took one look at the picture, and her eyes widened. There he was, the handsome billionaire playboy in all his glory, with a huge bruise covering his entire face.

"The moron tripped on a chair and hit his face on a table, can you believe it?" Samantha said, and the three girls once again collapsed into fits of helpless giggles.

But Katie didn't hear them. She was staring at the picture in disbelief. The man's nose looked broken, and his lips were puffy. And the bruise spanned the entire bottom half of his face, a line of black and blue that looked exactly like the kind of mark a pipe would leave…

'That's gonna leave a mark, though…'

Katie smiled.

It most certainly did, Bruce. It most certainly did.

PLEASE REVIEW!