I walked with my head down and my ear buds in as I made my way home from my "date." The music they blasted was loud, barraging my eardrums in an attempt to drown out some of my inevitably anxious thoughts. Was he going to contact me again before I was supposed to do the job? How would he even contact me? How did he want me to relay the phone call? My thoughts swirled amongst a sea of limitless question.

I wracked my brain for answers the entire way up the elevator to my apartment. I knew the engineers in Control Room 1 dealt with any call-ins, if there ever were any. Phone-ins during a live GCN newscast weren't necessarily rare, but were very strictly planned, and usually rehearsed for segments on topics like politics, candidates for upcoming elections and their platform issues. Feelings of anxiety churned in my stomach as I tried to formulate how I was going to do all this, and all as inconspicuously as possible. Why couldn't I have asked any of this when he was right in front of me?

That night and the next were filled with restless sleep. On Saturday, as I laid awake in bed amongst my fortress of blankets and pillows, I ruminated on the thought of how this seemed somehow related to just this past summer and the lead up to my internship. The stress of repeated interviews and work I had to do to compete for the position resulted in many a sleepless night and little to no appetite. I laughed to myself about how menial that all seemed now.

On Sunday I was forced to leave my apartment to buy groceries, a verdict I came to when opening my fridge to scrounge myself breakfast and bottles of condiments and a spoiled milk carton greeted me tragically. I settled for an unsatisfactory granola bar to tide me over and got ready in a hurry, hoping to avoid the inevitable Sunday churchgoer rush.

I strolled to the small market in the building directly beside my apartment. It was very cozy, and very familiar. The shopkeeper, an older man, usually always greeted me happily when I brought my stuff up to the till.

I grabbed a handbasket at the entrance and made my way lazily down the aisles, tossing a few fruits and vegetables from a slim selection into my basket as I passed. I was in the process of picking out a new cereal to try when I felt a buzzing in my jacket pocket. Curious, I reached in and plucked out my vibrating phone, clicking the home button instinctively. A single text message brightly illuminated the lock screen. It was from an unknown number and it only read one word: "tomorrow." I stared at it, puzzled.

"Tomorrow?" I wondered aloud.

I read over the number more than once, and despite it being a Gotham city area code, it was definitely unfamiliar to me. I even copied it into the browser search to see if anything would come up, but there was nothing. That familiar feeling of discomfit settled in my stomach and I knew it could only somehow be from him. I assumed it meant the call would be coming tomorrow and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from my phone screen. How did he get my number? I frowned deeply when I recognized the likelihood that someone in the police force gave it to him.

Should I reply? I shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and glanced around the aisle as I mulled it over. No.

I finally re-locked the phone and tucked it into my pocket. Sighing in resignation, and now not the least bit hungry, I grabbed a few more things before I made my way up to the checkout.

As I dropped the items onto the conveyor belt, the friendly-faced man beamed at me from behind the counter, "Hi Honey, I haven't seen you in a while! How are you?"

Something in my face must've given me away because his face fell before I could even get a word out.

"Hey, you alright?"

I smiled as genuinely as I possibly could and forced out a small laugh, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Just been a little sick lately."

"Oh, okay," He said as he packed up my bags, his face still plainly showing a look of concern.

My hands shook slightly as I swiped my debit card and when I noticed his eyes lingering on them, I feigned being cold. I tried to avoid too much eye contact, as if the look in my eyes would somehow tell him everything I couldn't. When he handed me my receipt, I took it without hesitation, unconsciously rushing.

"Well, feel better soon, sweetheart. You should try the chicken soup from Dave's across the street if you can. It'll cure just about anything."

His comment slowed me a little. This time my smile was genuine and his kindness temporally made me disregard my predicament.

"Thank you, maybe I will."

He nodded and waved me goodbye before I turned and made my way out the door and back to the asylum of my apartment.

Dragging myself out of bed the next morning was torturous. All I wanted to do was call into work sick, curl up in my bed and never leave it again, but I knew that wasn't really an option.

I checked my phone feverishly as I got ready, expecting some kind of follow up text, but one never came. As I chewed my soggy breakfast cereal, I tried to strategize how I would relay the call, but truthfully I had no fucking idea what I was going to do. As I put my empty bowl in the sink I prayed that the day would be slow and I would have time to myself to figure it all out, without Kathy's inquisitive eye.

Just before 9:00 a.m I pushed my way through the heavy glass doors of GCN and was met with an overwhelming barrage of sound and movement. I was shocked to find the building absolutely teeming with people, rushing to and from the soundstage and god knows where.

Oh god…what now?

I stood still, nearly hypnotized by the disarray as my eyes scanned the room for a familiar face. A women suddenly flashed by in front of me, passing by me in a rush without a glance, as if I didn't exist. It was Kathy. She hadn't even noticed me standing there, right in front of her.

"Kathy!" I cried after her and she screeched to a halt and pivoted on her heels to face me, an exasperated look on her face.

"Oh, Andrea." Her face changed from annoyance to neutrality. "Listen it's kinda crazy here if you haven't noticed, so I won't be with you-"

"Yeah, what's going on?" I asked, interrupting her.

"A guy named Coleman Reese is on the show claiming he knows the Batman's real identity. He wants to reveal it on air with Mike." She said, rolling her eyes.

I didn't even know what to say as I processed this new development. I could only stare at her, shaking my head in disbelief.

"This is probably bullshit but it's making for good t.v. " She said, gesturing to the ongoing pandemonium.

"Anyway, I left some paperwork in the back office for you to do if you feel so inclined. Otherwise, you're free to observe the chaos." She laughed.

"Oh-Okay." I stuttered.

"Great, talk later okay?" Kathy said, placing her hand on my arm and squeezing softly before again turning on her heels and hustling away in the direction of the control rooms.

I stood for a moment alone, watching her disappear amongst the shifting schools of people and I wondered if what I was about to do would somehow fuck Kathy over. An undeniable feeling of guilt nestled in the pit of my stomach and I tried not to let myself become overwhelmed with absolute disparity. Focusing instead on the task at hand, I headed off in the same direction.

I pushed my way along the narrow halls and into Control Room 1, which was unreasonably busy, loud, and discernibly claustrophobic. I pushed myself against the carpeted wall beside the door, trying to go as unnoticed as possible, and scanned the room which was in such absolute disarray that I was positive if I had bled out on the floor in the middle of it all, people would've just stepped over my body.

My eyes settled on the large digital monitors lighting up the room with its broadcast of Mike Engel and a small, smug-faced ginger-haired man in tense conversation.

Coleman Reese, I presumed.

I swallowed hard and looked to the left side of the room where I knew the phone-in switchboard to be. Only one guy sat in front of it, operating whatever switches were in the surrounding area. I sighed in annoyance as I tried to strategize how I could insinuate myself into the situation without appearing too out of place. I could feel my legs start to shake in my nervousness and the feeling transported me back to the day I met him in this exact room. Despite only being a few weeks, I felt like I had aged years since. I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Get in and get out.

Slowly, I approached the man seated at the board and tried to calm myself. As I came to a halt beside him, I cleared my throat. He turned toward me, his eyes furrowed a little in confusion and he half-removed his headset.

"Yeah?"

"Hey…" I drew out the word as my eyes wandered toward his nametag, "Rick!" I smiled as sweetly as I could and he merely stared back at me, a blank expression plastered on his face.

"Kathy told me to come get you, it's an emergency. Apparently she needs some help in the, uh, sound stage."

Wow. I could feel myself cringing. That's the best you could do, Andrea?

"Kathy needs help from me in the sound stage?" He sounded skeptical and despite my hesitation to keep this up, I dedicated myself to the lie.

"Yeah, she asked specifically for you. I'm really not sure what's up, but I can take over for you. It's not a big deal." I said, bouncing from foot to foot nervously.

Rick looked at me puzzled for a moment longer before sighing and tossing his headset onto the board.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit."

"Ok, great!" I strained a smile as he passed me by and watched as he exited the room before I rushed into the recently unoccupied desk chair, still warm from Rick, and my face shifted into my newly signature frown. I clamored for the headset and pulled it onto my head as I turned my attention to the actual digital board. There was no chance the phone lines would be on, I would have to manually switch them on myself, which I had only done once. My eyes scanned the keys, knobs and screens and I tinkered with a few things until I finally heard that familiar dial tone resonate through the headset and into my ears. A feeling of pride triggered the corners of my mouth to turn up in a satisfied grin, which bothered me when I quickly reminded myself of why I was doing what I was doing.

Focusing, I pushing the thought out of my mind, put the board on hold, and glanced at the clock on the monitor in front of me. I gave myself a 15-minute window before Rick got to Kathy and realized I was lying. Turning back to the switchboard, I could feel my heartbeat hammering wildly in my chest as I stared at the unlit signals before me, waiting for the blinking beacon that signaled my potential freedom, or impending doom.

As time continued to pass without a call, I fell back on my familiar patterns and tapped my foot impatiently on the carpeted floor as I tried to take deep breaths. I glanced at the people bustling around me, so occupied with the current events that no one gave me a second look, or a first for that matter, and I felt somewhat at ease thanks to my anonymity.

I was ripped from my momentary calm by an obnoxious beeping in the headset, the sound that notified an incoming call. I was suddenly overcome with a sick feeling in my stomach and I had to resist the urge to retch with everything I had. I lifted my shaking hand toward the answer button on the first available line and cleared my dry throat.

I just listened for a moment unable to find my voice, but when I heard nothing on the other end, I finally spoke. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this GCN? I gotta good story about the Batman I'm willing to sell."

"Uh…" I hesitated, caught completely off guard by this random caller. "Sir, we are not taking call-ins for the segment right now. If you want to contact GCN with information, you've called the wrong hotline. Thanks."

"Okay bu-" I hung up on him, cutting him off.

I sat for a moment in silence, just staring at the screen trying to process the moment. My eyes instinctively traveled toward the clock where I noticed nearly 12 minutes had passed. I groaned in annoyance and noticed, out of my peripherals, the guy to my right glance in my direction. Casually I lifted my hand to my face and dipped my head away from him, trying to maintain my non-existent rapport.

Time was running out and I was drowning in the anxious thoughts of what would happen if I couldn't do what he asked. Not more than a moment passed before the sound barraged my ears again and I realized another call was coming in. With less urgency but definitely still panic, I turned again to the monitor and gaped at the blinking notification. This time, sick of the suspense, I tapped the next line quickly, without overthinking.

"Hi, this is GCN." I greeted, my voice wavering only the slightest bit.

"Hell-o, Andy."

(A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry it took so long to post. A very special thanks to kykyxstandler, vanessaserrato, tsohg a ma i, LaurenA007, Anna10473, Guest, KC, rose, BSparrow, and Tired-Mommy74 for your kind reviews and words of encouragement. It means so much to me and makes me want to continue to work hard on this story. Thank you also to those of you who have favourited and followed this story!)