Chapter 5

"Ughhh," Corrine groaned as she lifted up her head. Her eyes were glazed over as they adjusted to the sudden light. Using her arms, she pushed herself up off from where she laid. Her eyes were in focus now. Corrine lifted her hand and touched her face.

"My… my mask…" She was fearful as she recalled what had happened the previous night. "Oh, no…" She was fully awake now.

Corrine looked down, her black suit was still on, which was probably the cause of no one but her knew how to get it off. She was lying on the top of a bunk bed, she realized, and looked around her new room.

"Oh, shit," She said as she peered at the bars holding her in her small bed quarters. She swung her legs over the side of the bunk and slid off. She went out to the bars and tried to see where she was. She looked to her left, and saw policemen at the long end of the hall eating and drinking coffee, talking about nothing important.

She backed off the bars and ran her hands threw her short, black hair, "I'm… I'm in, a prison cell." She started to panic; she had never been caught before. Ever. She started looking for ways to escape.

No… no, mustn't do that, she thought, I'd just find myself with a longer sentence.

"Hey! I think Sleeping Beauty's awake!" Called a man's voice, probably a cop that heard her muttering.

Corrine thought fast and jumped on the top part of her bunk bed, hoping to elude them. But it was a fruitless effort, for they still could see her.

"Looks like your little 'Midnight Rampage' didn't work out too well, huh, princess?" Said the cop as her held out her empty tube, which had once held the painting. His two buddies that were standing next to him laughed.

Corrine ignored them, hoping that they would be caught taunting an inmate and get in trouble for it.

"Ohhhh, is the little princess angry that we're right?" She whipped her head around, upon hearing her pet name that her father had given her. She started feeling the same rush that she only got when she was going to bash someone's brains in.

"Did I hit a nerve?" He continued taunting her, and the other cops laughed again. Corrine just closed her eyes and imagined someone came and rescued her form this nightmare. I've never been caught…. Why didn't I realize there would be alarms inside the picture?

"Hey! What are you three doin'? I thought I asked you an hour ago to fill up the arson reports that happened last week, huh? You don't have time to ridicule the inmates!" A large man with a toothpick in his mouth and a trench coat and a crooked hat on came over to the cops. Obviously he was higher up in the judicial system then they were, because they turned pale when they realized who was yelling at them and scurried to do their paper work.

She turned her head to look at him, and he gave her a very small smile. "Hey, Commissioner Gordon wants to see you." He took out a set of keys and unlocked the bars for her. She metal poles clanked together as he pushed them into each other.

She jumped of the bunk and walked out into the hallway. She proceeded to start walking, but he cleared his throat loudly. She turned around and he was dangling a pair of handcuffs out in front of her face.

"Hey, I'm not that kind of girl, officer," she smiled weakly.

He blushed slightly, "Well, now that's too bad." He said as her placed them gently around her wrists.

The interrogation room was cold, very cold. She figured it kept people from going anywhere if they were completely frozen.

She sat there alone for a few minutes, apparently the Commissioner was running late today.

Suddenly, the door swung open as a tall, white haired man with spectacles and a mustache came in.

"Sorry I'm late," he mumbled to no one in particular and he threw off his coat and put it on the back of a hook.

He pulled out the chair and took a seat. He looked around the room, "Where's your lawyer?" He asked, somewhat confused.

Corrine sat there for a moment, "I representing myself," she said boldly.

Gordon took of his glasses a used his shirt to clean them off, "Are your sure? You are looking at some pretty serious charges, young lady."

"I'm well aware of that, and yes, I'm sure."

"Miss, Beaumont, is it? Corrine?"

She looked at him blankly, "Yeah."

"After some investigation, we have concluded that this was not your first attempted robbery, was it?" He commented on the fact rather then it being asked as a question.

"No, it wasn't," she felt it would be pointless to lie, seeing as it would only lead to worse things.

"Miss. Beaumont, you are looking at almost twenty years in prison for this," he paused, "Miss Beaumont?"

Corrine sat there, completely frozen. Twenty years…twenty years! Oh my God…

"Miss. Beaumont? Are you alright?" Gordon asked standing up swiftly.

She came back from her daydream quickly, "Yes… yes I'm fine. Is there, is there any way to, to shorten the sentence?" She asked, looking up at the Commissioner.

"I'm afraid that would be the shortest possible sentence, and that's with good behavior, however."

She sat there completely stunned. "I-I…"

Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room sung open with full force. Her head and Gordon's looked in its direction.

From out of the shadows walked in the Batman, "I think there might be a way, Miss. Beaumont." He looked to Gordon.

"No, no Batman, not her," He suddenly spurted out.

"Commissioner," Batman said warningly.

"No! I will not have this young lady risk-"

"You said yourself, someone around her age and-"

"Let's not talk about it in here," Gordon started and the both went outside and closed the door.

Corrine strained to listen, but she could only hear broken off sentences:

"You said, a pretty young girl with a good sense of what Cobblepot is all about."

"I know, but, she's-"

"She's perfect, and she would do anything to get her sentence reduced. You don't like it because she reminds you of Barbara."

"That's not true and-"

"Then why not? Obviously she can handle anything dangerous. She is absolutely perfect, and both of us knows it."

There was a long pause, then, "Okay."

The door opened and Corrine leaned back in her chair, trying to look like she hadn't been listening. Gordon took a seat while Batman was still standing in the shadows.

"We have a proposition for you, Miss. Beaumont," Gordon started, but he was eyeing Batman.

"Are you aware of Oswald Cobblepot?" He asked her.

Corrine stared at him queerly, "Isn't that that bird man who tried to take over or something? The Penguin? Didn't he die, that's what the paper said."

Batman answered, "Yes, it is The Penguin, but he is still alive and at large. Word on the street is that he is supposed planning something very, very big. But, we have no idea what that is. And we need someone to help us decipher what that is."

She looked at them both, "I'll do it," she replied without hesitation, and nodded her head.

Gordon eyed Batman, "Are you sure, Miss. Beaumont. The Penguin is a very dangerous man. Not as easy as defeating weak security men."

She blushed slightly, "Look, Commish, I will do anything to get my freedom. I'd rather do it then rot in jail. How much time-"

"Well… that depends. If you do a very good job, you might be lucky enough to got all the time off. But, maybe just five or ten, depending." Gordon replied.

"Deal, but what exactly do I—"

"First, you have to change your look completely. Hair, eyes, the works." Gordon started looking in a manila folder, "You need to make up a false name that you can easily answer to, like a nickname or something. How long does it take for your hair to grow out?"

Corrine spaced out for a minute, my, my hair? I have to change my hair? Well, I can always change it back though… "How long? Only a few weeks…"

"Good, because we want it longer then it is. And your hair color too, how about a blonde, that looks completely different from what it is right now."

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll pick up some colored contacts, too." She bowed her head down and started playing with her fingers.

"Perfect, now, we still don't now where The Penguin is yet, but Batman has a plan to figure that out. Don't you?" He turned to him and raised his white eyebrows.

Batman gave her a small smile, "Hope you like to dance."

A/N Yeah, another chapter…. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeese review, it rocks to get reviews. Please.