Hello! Mega long chapter here, didn't want the side tracking from, you know, the whole Gotham dying thing to take up more than a chapter or two so... enjoy!

Thank you for all your comments and notes, I love reading them. I do read them all, and all suggestions I've tried to add to the plot along the long line.

I had to go, and I had to dress up. Which is why I found myself with the TV off and the wardrobe open. To make my hair wavier than usual, I did the simplest thing I could be bothered doing. Lay on my back reading, hair falling to the floor upside down until it dried. I then decided the best color to reflect my mood was blue.

sleeves, skirt to the floor, a buff grey metal ornament draping over in a line over my neck from under my clavicles, meeting in the middle between them and sweeping back up in a V to either end of my neck. Bit fantasy, but it looks intimidating so it's fine. The waist sucks in, but then like hell was I going to let it drape over my figure. It drapes out to the floor slightly away from my feet neatly. I brushed my hair, let it sit over my back, with some falling over my shoulders, but not falling past them on the front. I chose a silver ring and glittered black heels. They weren't my favourite glittered black heels, but I was almost Bruce's height anyway so I couldn't be bothered to wear the ones with the larger heels.

I put shorts on underneath, because I always do, and then headed out to my car. The Aston Martin DB9. My Mercedes was still in the garage at Wayne Manor. I'd have to get Bruce to help me drive it back. I turned the car on and grinned like a madman at the hum of the engine. I got out my phone.

Bruce Wayne

Where am I supposed to be going?

You know that really fancy hall by the west bay?

Yes, I know it.

Thank you for coming.

I knew he'd be laughing.

When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was the crowd of people made of a lot of media with nothing better to do, and stitched with people standing outside yet to go in, passing their weird idea of time by watching other attendants arrive. It was a hotel, so I pulled my car up on the carpet and stepped out. Immediately someone held out their hand. I gave them my key.

'One scratch,' I said in a warning tone.

He smiled. 'New car?'

I replied with a simple wicked grin.

He nodded and bowed. I walked around the bonnet, eyes scanning the crowds of people watching me. My peripheral vision caught sight of four arms extended toward me, one polite and gallant, two slightly desperate and for no doubt dishonest reasons (the kind of people who care about hips and bumps). And the last one like it knew I was going to accept it, though it was still polite and easily held with the best form. I held my arm out towards it. Bruce stepped beside me.

'Hello, Evelyn.' He was enjoying himself far too much for my foreboding mood to compliment.

'Evening.' I was aware I already sounded like my will to live was fading.

'Don't sound too excited.'

'Yeah, yeah.'

The glamour that surrounded us increased as people inside began to notice that the "Prince of Gotham" himself had arrived, and wasn't accompanied by a revealingly dressed party girl, rather someone who looked to have a different lifestyle. As we entered, rather than the normal relaxed manner in which playboys throw arms over or around girls, purely for my sake he stood up straight with an elbow bent and resting on my opposite shoulder blade, not in a pushing stance, but an incredibly polite alternative to a hand around a waist, one you'd use when with an acquaintance or colleague.

I laughed a little when he pulled a face at the flash of a camera right in his eyes. He responded with his own smile and a glance at me, putting his hand further over past my shoulder, almost holding my arm. Camera flashes increased the closer we got to the doors. Begrudgingly, I held myself upright and we walked over the threshold.

'Thank you again,' he said. 'Let's hope we have a better time today than yesterday.'

'Mr Wayne!'

A call from nearby made him turn, being careful not to spin around and change his stance, but to take me with him, murmuring 'Or maybe not,' as we turned. I tried not to laugh.

A man accompanied by someone I guessed to be his wife, and another man were approaching. The man that had called out was clearly happily married, beaming with his wife, who looked the same age as he; mid-forties. The other man looked younger and also ever so slightly drunk and was eyeing me and was smirking at the fact that Bruce's hand wasn't on my waist. He seemed to therefore determine we weren't close.

'Good evening, Mrs Ashdon, Mr Ashdon. Mr Jondish. This is Dr Pendragon,' Bruce said, looking at me. 'She's our leading scientist at Wayne Enterprises,' he said, smiling his best smile, the one he uses for these occasions. Since we now both had personas to keep up, I also pulled my own smile for these occasions. Gentle, kind, polite, happy to be here. So happy.

'Really?' asked Mrs Ashdon, extending a hand toward me. Her husband followed suit. I took a moment to decide I liked them. Both wore different smart shades of grey, she in a lighter dress almost silver with one shoulder and he in a deep suit.

Mr Jondish extended his hand as well, stepping forward. I shook his hand. He held mine too long. I kept smiling, letting hostility grow in my eye the longer he held my hand. No one but he and Bruce saw it for what it was and out of the corner of my irritated eye I noticed Bruce's smile widening.

"Git," I thought, trying my hardest not to glare at Bruce as well, who could tell, and so his smile kept widening even after my hand was dropped.

I ignored the small urge to jam my elbow into his side. 'And what should I know you for?' I asked Mr and Mrs Ashdon.

'Oh, we run a national food company.'

'Not "Lydon's," is it?' I asked with a polite frown.

'Yes,' Mrs Ashdon says, eyes widening in surprise. 'It was my maiden name. How did you know?'

'Lydon's is well known for its charity work,' I explained conversationally, ignoring Bruce watching me in surprise and Jondish staring. 'You both seemed like you'd fit it.'

They smiled happily and modestly, a blush appearing on Mrs Ashdon's face.

'Thank you,' said her husband, 'I must say, I'm impressed. Not much gets past you, does it?'

'I try my best,' I murmured as we turned away, nodding our heads.

Jondish followed us. 'Bruce, I was wondering if you got my secretary's call?'

Now it was my turn to grin in peripheral vision.

'Perhaps,' he said, stiffening slightly and drawing in a breath, 'I'll have to check.'

'Please do. I think it would be very beneficial to the both of us. After all, as proper men in the industry, we both know how beneficial it is to take a little secret funding-,'

I saw Bruce's eyes glazing over as he stared patiently at the man. I tried not to open fire.

The poor businessman in front of us didn't realise who he was really talking to about underhand dealings and skipping payrolls. I could feel Bruce fighting as much as I to remain impassive and to not sneer in disgust.

'I'm not sure that's the right direction for Wayne Enterprises,' Bruce said plainly, maintaining an impressive amount of pleasantness.

'Ah, I see… Well I'll have to talk to Earle and see what he thinks just in case. After all, you're not too involved in the company, are you? Preferring to stay out of it?'

'Something like that.'

I could feel the hand Bruce had on my shoulder tightening, out of a combination of his own irritation at the man and his attempt to restrain mine.

Jondish left and I instantly made a beeline for the food at the other end of the room, already beginning to feel the call of introversion. By the time Bruce had registered I was gone, I had a plate and was halfway down the buffet line.

He laughed and left me to it, already swamped by another clump of people that wanted to talk to him.

I was nearly at the end of the food tables when that pest Jondish appeared next to me.

'What did you say your name was, Miss…?' he asked politely, reaching for a bread roll or three.

'Mr Wayne said it's "Dr Pendragon,"' I said testily, careful to watch my tone given the environment.

'Ah, Miss Pendragon. You know Bruce, I can tell that much. Are you at Wayne Enterprises? Secretary, maybe?'

In that moment I knew he was fishing for information or a connection to Earle, but what I drew most from him was that the obvious fact that I had a PhD went sailing over his expensive head and he had simply, intuitively assumed I was a secretary.

'Heavens, no, they work far too hard,' I said pointedly, switching my plate to my other hand to reach for another baking dish, 'I work as a half-engineer, half all-round scientist.'

Through the corner of my eye I saw him not listen past the word "engineer" and his shoulders drop a little, minutely, to discover I have no connection to Earle. I didn't bother to tell him that I actually knew Earle quite well. Bruce doesn't like the man, and it's his company as far as I was concerned, which is enough for me to reject any topic of conversation.

'Very impressive,' he said absently. He then went silent for a while, obviously trying to figure out another form of offense while I paid him no mind and finished heaping food onto my plate and grabbed a fork, heading for the tables.

I managed, surprisingly, to get through half before Jondish came back.

'Miss Pendragon,' he said, sitting beside me, chair turned alongside the table so he could stretch his feet out and face me fully, clearly about to launch into another… rant? Attack? Attempt? Whatever it is that he did with his time.

I sighed as quietly as I can and said the word "Doctor" to correct him in my head. Some battles you don't pick if you value your time and energy.

'I've been wondering for quite some time, how is it working at Wayne Enterprises?'

I could feel my face becoming more deadpan by the minute. 'Well the cafeteria is incredible,' I started, working alarmingly hard to maintain a polite and conversational tone, and not bothering to look at him, 'and my hours are very flexible so it's near perfect for me. A window would be nice, though.' I shovelled more of the best food into my mouth, preparing for his reply.

'You wouldn't be interested in working for Adalman's? There's quite a few openings in my personal staff, which pay very well.'

'I'm a scientist,' I frowned, squinting at him a little haughtily.

'Well you'd be good at spreadsheets, won't you?'

Hmm, not too bad a-

'Printing them and so on.'

Ah, there we go.

'See, what are you now? Wayne's PA? Some geek in those horrible techno labs?'

What year was this man born in?!

'You'd get your own car, overti-…'

I perked up as I remembered the new Aston Martin sitting in the parking lot.

'…, and of course a … sizeable maternity leave.'

My face fell completely deadpan. I was wrong. An Aston Martin wasn't worth this. Where's Bruce; I'm going to bludgeon him over the head.

'I think I'm happier working with rockets,' I said flatly, finally looking at him.

He had that haircut with the split fringe and the neatly kept back and wavy sides, the most blatantly expensive cufflinks the world has ever seen on his slightly too-light grey blazer and no tie over his crisp white shirt, two buttons undone from the top. No one ever taught him "expensive" wasn't the only ingredient to reach "classy" or "stylish" or indeed "well-mannered," then.

I acknowledged that he would be considered good looking by people who didn't know him, but all I could see on his features by that point was his personality.

'Can I ask why you're so suddenly offering me a job?' I asked, now curious. Suspicious might be the better word. 'Is it because I work at Wayne Enterprises, because I'm an associate of Bruce Wayne's or you have some other motive?'

'Well you're certainly perceptive.'

A harmless sentence, if it wasn't for the condescending tone.

'I guess you could say it's a combination. Don't suppose any of them take your fancy?' He leant to the side, looking far too relaxed and confident, tilting his head back slightly with an awkward, rather than the intended form of charming, smile.

'I'd take a whole box of Alprazolam if they did,' I said, lightening up at my own remark and finally taking an opportunity to state just what I thought of him.

He leant even further back, grin deepening with an added smirk and adjusted his position to be even more relaxed, one arm resting on the table, the other on top of his right thigh. 'Oh, is that right?'

Okay I wasn't expecting that. He has no idea what I said. God… dammit.

'Well if that's how you feel…'

I squinted, wondering how on Earth this act got him anywhere with people. Oh… he hasn't realised it's only for his money.

'..we could start in say…' he checked a very expensive watch, 'half an hour? Top floor, best suite?'

I was two seconds away from breaking the table over his head.

'I beg your pardon?'

He was a little taken aback by my response but then seemed to reassure himself. 'Oh don't worry, I'll only pay for the room.'

I could feel myself seething, anger creeping up my spine as I sat a little straighter, feeling my hair start to tickle and my eyes home in on the man in front of me. I reminded myself that I was in a very expensive restaurant, representing Wayne Enterprises and the personal guest of Bruce Wayne and so I couldn't go as far as to murder this man. I also preferred it if half the rich people in the city remained unaware of my martial skills. Not great for my cover otherwise.

I took in a deep breath. 'It occurs to me,' I said as carefully as I could, 'that you should go insult someone else.'

Immediately Jondish frowned, demeanour shifting away from his ill-deserved confidence.

My tone of voice and expression left no opportunity to retort and he awkwardly stood and walked away, completely unsure as to what to do. I didn't miss the hardening of his eyes as he left. Someone wasn't used to being told "no I won't do whatever you say, you spoilt brat."

I shrugged and returned to my food, using my foot to hook the leg of the chair and get it back under the table. Bruce Wayne, you'd better watch your damn back.

An hour and a half later I was twelve conversations in. Four spent with lovely academics, one with the CEO of some country based in Europe, two with waitstaff the rest with horribly-mannered, sauntering and repulsive rich sons.

The first few minutes of the event had been pleasant enough, but I'd had Bruce with me. There was always something comforting about seeing another person be tortured with the same things you were. The food and the four conversations with people who spoke my particular language had been nice, too. But Bruce had disappeared ages prior into the hundreds of people and I'd been battling the onslaught of people the entire time.

And now…

I was in the next conversation, another typical rich young man who thinks he owns the world that I'm efficiently getting rid of, when the music finally started, and people started drifting away from the larger open area as partners start to dance.

'Would you like to dance, baby?'

It brought me some comfort to know that by then Bruce would probably have been looking for me, not wanting to leave me alone too long in this new, more expensive form of hellhole.

I let my breath slide through my teeth and stared blankly ahead. Blonde hair, black tux, tattoo hidden on his neck, though the unbuttoned collar reveals it anyway.

'I'll pass. I'm not much of a dancer.'

'Really? Oh, come onnnn, it's not hard. How about I teach you?' He winked.

I blinked.

I could think of nothing worse. I smiled politely. 'I'm fine, really. I'm curious about the wine selection anyway. Or maybe find my fellow scientists for a discussion on aerodynamic thrust.'

'Thrust, ey?'

Oh good god. I didn't give a response and opted for plainly staring him down.

Suddenly unsettled by this he struggled to summon another word.

'If you'll excuse me,' I said and turned away, and had made it two steps when Jondish appeared.

For the love of-! This. Was absolute torture. I thought of the car. I thought of the Aston Martin DB9, which is why I was there.

In the short amount of time since I'd last spoken to the man he'd gotten himself considerably hammered.

'Hey, Pen!'

I took the opportunity to pretend to assume he wasn't talking to me and kept walking.

'Pen… pen… Pendragon!'

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … ugh.

'Oh, me?' I turned to him and blink as I saw him properly.

There's drunk wobbling and then there's impressions of the sea in a thunderstorm.

He didn't seem to be able to make up his mind as to which he preferred, which made for quite the show.

'Heyyy!'He cleared his throat. 'Listen, about that job.' He swallowed and then waved a hand through the air as he approached. 'Don't even worry about it.'

It took me a second to realise what he was talking about.

He waved his arm round again. 'I totally get it, working 'round good men can be a little intimidating,'

Good grief.

'- especially if you're a bit ine…. ex… experi~e~nced, but it's fine~! Look, here's the…'

I didn't bother listening to him further and studied him with a tired eye. He was looking and aiming for someone two paces to the right of the table I was on the other side of. I waited for someone to walk past and stepped behind them, fading into the crowd and picking a different route to the table stacked with drinks.

On arrival I found the bitters and looked for the one that looks the least touched and lifted it from the others, taking an appreciative sip.

I'd noticed my stress levels had begun to rise exponentially the longer I was wandering around the huge hall, surrounded by the super-rich of Gotham, some of which I was soon to be working to take down as part of Falcone's network, and others who simply had to be introduced to someone that they didn't know. How many conversations had I had so far beginning;

"I'm Dr Pendragon, Evelyn. I work for Wayne Enterprises."

"Ah, so you're one of Mr Hardick's guests?"

"I'm actually here on behalf of Lucius Fox with Mr Wayne."

"Bruce Wayne?!"

"That's the one."

After I began looking around for something to do I decided to go watch the people dancing. I made my way around to the edge of the floor and spotted a few of the rich men in expensive suits I'd spoken to earlier dancing with women that were looking smugly at each other or eyeing the accessories of their dance partner. I tried not to dwell on it

I also saw Mr and Mrs Ashdon waltzing around the floor and smiled, nodding a greeting when they spotted me and waved. I felt a few eyes glance to me as they did, the exchange not unnoticed.

Then movement on the opposite side hitched my peripheral vision and I switched my attention to see Bruce waving slightly to get my attention.

I had never been more relieved to see someone in my entire life. I breathed a sigh that chased away the fouler parts of my mood. Bruce saw it and smiled at me, happier. He excused himself from the group he was standing in and made his way around the edge of the floor toward me.

I met him at the corner. We grinned at each other in relief and stood side by side watching the dancing for a moment, taking a moment to relax in the presence of reinforcements.

'Any food recommendations?' he asked, leaning toward me slightly to speak quietly over the music.

I smiled. Even my heels have stopped hurting as much now that I had a distraction. 'Oh, yeah.'

We ended up with a plate each and another one for bread rolls and other sides in front of us at a table nearest the dance floor where all the passers by could notice the Crown Prince of Gotham stuffing his face and drinking the most expensive wine the place had to offer. (Bruce Wayne cannot be seen hiding like a brooding introvert in a corner, or else Alfred would have words.)

'I got cornered by three different models, two CEOs, three people who I distinctly remember my father saying were not exactly the salt of the Earth, five journalists and two people I went to school with.' Bruce took quite a large sip of wine.

'Sounds delightful,' I said, piling food onto my fork, 'I got six academics, waitstaff, CEOs and, the pièce de résistance, no less than seven rich, repulsive men.'

'Oooooh…' Bruce winced, face turning in disgust as he absent-mindedly glanced around the room, 'I'm so sorry.' He took another sip of wine.

I reached for my own and took a very big gulp, despite the fact it wasn't up to Alfred's standard.

'Okay,' he started, swallowing the last amount of his dinner, 'let's agree to stick together for the rest of this, and then we can go do something less soul-draining.'

'Sounds fabulous,' I replied, trying not to sound defeated. I eyed the wine and skulled the rest, earning a raised eyebrow from Bruce. I put the glass back on the table with an exhale. 'Don't ask.'

His torso twitched as he chuckled and he didn't say a word. Instead, he waited for me to finish eating and then drained his own glass and stood up.

Mustering my energy I did he same, stretching my legs a little as the song changed on the dance floor. Together with resignation we headed back to the thicker crowd.

'When will they play a decent song?' I asked, sidestepping a waiter.

'They probably won't,' Bruce replied, 'that's not something they do here.'

'Terrific. At least the Ashdons seem to be enjoying themselves.'

'They did look like it, didn't they?'

'Mm. I'm glad I met them, actually, their company is one of the few I approve of in Gotham.'

'Well it's good to know you approve of them,' Bruce said thoughtfully, 'if they ever come into correspondence with Wayne Enterprises we'll know we can trust them and who is that coming towards us?'

'You mean there's someone here you don't know?' I asked, looking at whoever Bruce had spotted.

A very tall woman, somehow taller than me but just under Bruce's height was sauntering up to us. We both made an effort not to squint as we tried to place her familiar face.

Then it clicked in my head when I started going through magazine covers and newspapers stashed carelessly in my memory. 'Ohhhh… Allanah Tierain. The part model, part business woman.'

'Oh…,' Bruce responded, tilting his head back in a slow nod. 'That's it.'

Before he can get another word in she reached us and extends a hand. 'Pleasure to meet you, Mr Wayne.'

'Ms Tierain,' he grins, putting on his slightly arrogant and honeyed voice, 'likewise.' He shook her hand slowly with the infuriating act and I resisted the urge to whack him over the head Alfred-style. 'I've heard a lot about you.'

Just as I was peacefully zoning out of the conversation I got dragged back in by a hand on my shoulder blade, insisting I move forward and be introduced right now.

'This is uh… Dr, uh, Pendragon,' Bruce said, letting go of me to run a hand through his hair and gesture in an I-know-the-names-of-my-employees-but-it-takes-me-a-second-cause-I'm-rich manner with the other. 'A scientist at Wayne Enterprises.'

'Pleased to meet you,' said the woman and held her hand out to shake.

I took her rather small hand somewhat gingerly and tried not to accidentally crush it, but she shook my hand firmly, relieving some of my worries. 'You too.'

Satisfied I'd done my bit I deemed it fit to leave the conversation again and let my mind drift until Bruce managed to surreptitiously stand on my toes, once again insisting I return that very second.

I stopped my eyes from glazing over and peered politely at her.

'It's been such a long time since I've seen you around,' she was saying, transferring her glass to her right hand, 'but it's certainly a welcome surprise. I'm sure everyone has been dying to know where you've been.'

I never took her as one for such nosy gossiping so started to question other potential motives for this topic of conversation.

'We~ll,' Bruce tossed his head around, 'a bit of a joyride around the world, I guess you could call it.'

The irony was not wasted on me.

'That certainly sounds like an adventure,' she smiles, her voice slowly becoming more like a purr, 'why did you come back? Decided there was adventure to be had here?'

Again, the irony was not wasted on me.

'I'm sure there is,' Bruce replied, fully aware of the hole he was being forced to dig himself into.

'Well, I'm sure we can find something that truly captures your attention.' She drank from her glass without breaking eye contact with Bruce, yet still somehow looked like we were all having a nice little chat.

Now, I'd seen flirting in my life, at some point, I'm sure I have, but this is on a strange new level of what I decided to call "rich flirting." One person, some hotshot, walks up to another hot shot and says-

'I may have experienced a couple.'

Not one of Bruce's finest lines. But by this point I'd be surprised if he wasn't scraping the bottom of the barrel.

'Oooh, do tell.' She pulled a face I could only vaguely describe as "classily mischievous" and tapped her glass with a finger.

'Well, I bought a new car again this morning, an Aston Martin.' The shoulder next to me dipped slightly at the words "Aston Martin."

It's then that I realised I was supposed to be throwing him a rope to get out of this hole. As cruel revenge for bribing me into the event I was tempted to let him suffer but he had invoked the Aston.

Just as I opened my mouth to pull him out the song changed on the dance floor to a romantic, medium speed song. Her face lit up and she glanced toward the dance floor.

'I love this song!' For a brief moment all the flirting and show vanished to genuine enjoyment before she turned back to us. 'I don't suppose you'd fancy a dance, Mr Wayne?' She tilted her body slightly in a warm, pleading way.

Too late.

'Why not,' Bruce winked. The evil grin I gave him did little to help his mood.

'I'm not stealing a dance away from you, am I?' she asked, turning to me.

'Oh, no,' I assured her, even stepping back and holding my hands out. 'I'm a nobody 'round here; I don't want to be seen dancing with Bruce Wayne, could you imagine?'

If he could have, he'd have killed me. 'It seems scientists have two left feet,' he said and turned to pass me his glass so he could go to the dance floor.

'Just imagine she's Rachel,' I murmured to tease him and his deadpan expression moved to a more seated and secure version of ticked off. 'Actually don't; you'll make a different kind of fool of yourself.'

All that got me is an exhausted sigh as Bruce pressed his glass into my hand. 'Stay here, don't move,' he said plainly, not liking the idea of getting stuck without my ever so helpful moral support for another two hours. I nodded and shooed him away slightly with a small grin before helping myself to the remainder of his drink, stepping back a little out of the way.

Three songs later I was to be found watching a cute, tiny insect crawling its way up a woman's dress with the attention of one who's waiting for a jack-in-the-box to spring when Bruce returned, body language telling me he was getting a little on edge.

He looks around and spotted me, relaxing and then immediately noticing the absence of his drink.

'How long did it last?' he asked.

'About three seconds after you left,' I replied, not moving my eyes from the beetle.

He sighed and procured another one effortlessly from a waiter. 'I think this party is taking a toll on you.'

'You think?' I replied, before nodding to the woman nearby. 'Look at that cute bug.'

He stared at me for a moment, completely baffled, before he lowered his head and tried his hardest not to break down into a fit of laughter.

'I did tell you I didn't want to come.' I still didn't take my eyes from the bug. It was the only sign of a more natural world in the entire place, an "imperfection" in those people's eyes, but I loved it. It was adorable, and as far as I could tell, a species I haven't seen before. I was wondering how it got there, what food it eats and what stage of its life cycle it's in. I was also suddenly wondering how long it had left to live, as it approached the neckline of the dress, nearly crawling onto her bare shoulder.

I hurried forward and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. 'Hello, sorry, I just noticed there's a small little bug on your dress.' I used the cutest language I could think of in case her normal reaction to bugs was to scream. 'It's so sweet and harmless but it might get hurt in here.'

'Oh.' She blinked at me in utter surprise before hesitantly tilting toward me when I motioned toward the bug. Carefully I scooped it off and cupped it into my hands. 'Thank you,' she replied, glancing behind me to try and figure out who I might have been talking to and/or who on Earth I am. It's then that she sees Bruce, who was watching with a strange expression, that I took to mean that he'd like to have had a small smile on his face but couldn't be seen, as a billionaire playboy, to have a soft spot for bugs of all things.

I occupied myself by searching for a momentary sanction for the bug, sliding it carefully into my purse. It'd have to stay there until I left. In that time my surroundings had changed, and I looked up to see Bruce walking away with another group of people, his eyes moving a little quicker when he noticed that I wasn't moving with them.

I reassured him as I pulled equally surprised eyes and walked after the group. We were halfway to a vacant table when a loud shout rang through the room and Bruce and I involuntarily tensed our backs for a moment on instinct.

'Hey!'

The few people that heard the yell and were close enough to be bothered to pay attention to whatever disturbance was happening turned to see, of all people, Jondish pointing at me.

'Pengriff!'

I let my eyes narrow as he approached. How on Earth, what on Earth, why on Earth… is this man.

'Oh, that child making a fool of himself,' said one of the people with us, 'let's leave him to it.'

I agreed heartily with this and kept walking when everyone else did. And Jondish followed. All the way to the table and then pulled me away from the chair as I was about to sit down.

All the people at the table, Bruce included, just blinked in a stupor. I didn't blame them; I too was blinking in surprise.

'Listen, babe,'

My shoulders dropped and I drew in a long, deep breath, preparing for the alchohol-fueled mouth to start talking.

'…man, I've been looking for you.'

I tried not to laugh at the thought of him walking around the party like a zombie this entire time trying to find me.

He looked at the table, eyes unsteady. 'Sorry 'bout all this,' he mumbled, hazily patting a hand through the air, 'I'll take this elsewhere. C'mon, you.' He made to put an arm around me and steer me away.

'What?' I said flatly.

He peered at me, leaning in closer and closer as he tried to get his eyes to work.

I thought of the Aston Martin DB9 when I considered how I ended up here.

He shook his head. ''s okay.' He reached for my neck and waist and I shot an arm out, hand pushing firmly against his collar, staring flatly at him.

There was a split second where nobody moved until he lunged for me. In the interests of keeping my newfound vigilante identity a secret, I decided not to use my skills in the middle of a hotel filled with Gotham's richest with the media swarming outside. So, I yelped and stepped to the side, ducking a little and blinking at him with wide eyes.

Half the people at the table rose to their feet.

Another moment of silence, drawing a small crowd, but nothing as bad as it could have been.

My first reaction was to later jokingly demand another car from Bruce but then discard the idea. Even if I would be joking, it wasn't his fault this moron was behaving like this.

The Wayne in question sauntered over around the table, looking like he was about to watch a very entertaining sports match. He ended up a few steps away.

'Hey, hey, Penny, don't worry about it. Sure, -laying hard to ret is a sexshi move, but I got you!' It'd been more of an impactful statement if he was looking at me, rather than behind me. 'And don't worry abo…' he swallowed and swayed a little, 'about that Broosh… Wayyyne. I' 'oesn't matter if you couldn't get him, I'll still talk to ya!' He finished with a proud smile and a stunned silence from everyone who was watching.

It seemed that went over the line. Bruce laughed and, maintaining his easy-going attitude but with a firmness opened his mouth. 'Look like someone's drunk themselves under the table.'

The table looked at him, agreeing.

'Look, man, this isn't one of your girls.' Again, he didn't manage to find Bruce's face. 'I'll take her from here.'

'For god's sake,' I muttered and snatched Jondish's wrist, holding it up tightly.

'Whoa,' said Bruce, stumbling back in fake surprise and whistling slightly, but not moving too far back.

At this point Bruce did absolutely nothing; he knew I didn't need help and that he had to keep up the playboy act, but he was there for moral support, in much the same code that I went here. The fact I had to be bribed didn't come into it.

It was still nice to know he'd happily deck the man if I had so much as hinted that it might be a good idea.

'You know what's great about this toxic media-run world in which we live in that makes women need to appear perfect?' I asked, tone indicating that the punch line wouldn't be funny to him, but it would be a threat. 'The nails.'

I could hear Bruce laughing, part of his act, yes, but also out of genuine amusement as the man's eyes rolled through confusion to realisation.

I twisted my fingers a little and dug my fake nails into the skin of his wrist, harder and harder until he was bending his knees to try and get his arm out.

I bent down with him and began to mutter. 'If it wasn't for the scenery of this lovely hotel around us, I'd beat you to a pulp,' I stated, 'so be thankful for that.' I shoved him away and he crumpled to the floor.

Bruce sat back down, and the rest of the table followed his lead. I sat beside him and laughed a little.

'Sorry for causing such a disturbance!' I chuckled lightly.

The table paused a moment before erupting in laughter. 'The amount of times I've wanted to see someone do that to the bastard!'

From then on, the only acknowledgement that anything had happened at all was one tiny detail in Bruce, who was facing toward me a little more than necessary.

I was fine, he was fine, we were all enjoying ourselves and it all ended fine. We both knew this, but as a very, very subtle communication of support Bruce was conveying, whether deliberately or not, that should I suddenly decide it was a bit much after all, he'd help in any way he could. I, meanwhile, was sneakily checking on the beetle.

'Dr Pendragon?'

'Hm?' I shut my purse and looked up to see the table all looking at me. Bruce was trying not to show his amusement.

'I said "were you a part of the magnesium soil research last year?"'

I laughed a little, not having to pretend too much about being embarrassed. 'Oh, I see. Yes, but only as a final proof-reader. It was quite fascinating.'

'I'm not sure I can see how soil would be fascinating,' Bruce said, waving his hand around a little, a remark hopeless enough to remove him from the scientific conversation with the impression he had absolutely no idea about biology at all.

I smiled politely. 'It can be. It grows our food and the grapes that went into our wine here tonight. The strains of bacteria that avoid and gravitate toward the magnesium were certainly not what we'd expected.'

As I realised Bruce had managed to attract some proper scientists near him, I leant forward more and more, engaging in the conversation, not believing our luck. I could almost hear Bruce's brain whirring as he listened to the conversation, and surmised he was quite happy stealthily listening in.

From there the night passed a lot quicker and I finally let the tension in my brain lift a little as I managed to get so involved in the chat with the table that I could ignore my surroundings.

I heard the announcement for the final dance and sighed in relief a little as everyone began their farewells around the room and others hurried to the dance floor.

An upbeat, cheerful modern waltz filled the air and the noise eased.

When I was the only one still sitting at the table I checked on my purse once more and then stood, stretching my legs as unnoticed as I could. Bruce pushed my chair in with a winning playboy smile that I smirked at, knowing he was hating this.

'If we leave now we'll get our cars out first,' I said.

'I'm trying not to cause you scandals,' he replied, raising his eyebrows.

'I'll cause one myself if I don't get out of here.'

A smile drifted over his face. 'Fair enough.'

We turned to leave and, almost by magic, Alannah Tierain appeared near us. 'Surely, Bruce, you're not going to leave me without the final dance?'

'Well…,' he replied, instantly back in billionaire playboy mode, winning smile dashingly coating his face.

I seized the moment to make sure at least one of us got out of there alive. 'I'll be heading off, then.'

The look I got sent from that reads "don't you dare" but I tapped my purse, reminding him of the very important bug.

'Enjoy the rest of your evening.' I smiled at Alannah Tierain and then patted Bruce's shoulder. 'Thanks for the invite.'

She bid me farewell and Bruce stared at me, wishing he could unleash a flurry of remarks and outraged comments about deserting but forced himself to smile and absentmindedly wave me off.

'No, no,' he said, shaking his head slowly and holding up a hand, 'thank you for coming, Dr Pendragon. I'll see you sometime at Wayne Enterprises.'

I nodded and stepped outside, cameras recognising me as the woman who came as the scientist of Wayne Enterprises.

Luckily I wasn't out in the cold in a flimsy dress for too long as my Aston Martin rolled around the corner. The valet got out and I sighed contentedly as I slid in, putting my purse on the passenger seat carefully and then put my foot down, driving away.

I'd stopped at a park to let the bug out and had spent a good ten minutes watching the beetle crawl around on the grass when my phone rang. I hauled myself back into my car and tapped the screen of my phone. Alfred.

I frowned sceptically and answered, putting the phone to my ear. 'Hello Alfred.'

'Good evening, Dr Pendragon. Master Wayne's on his way home now and-,'

'Alfred's insisting I get some rest.'

'- we were wondering how close your house is to the event.'

I smiled. 'It's not too far, I'll be home soon.'

'Glad to hear it, ma'am.'

'It doesn't seem like Crane will make his move tonight so we've got nothing to go out in the suits on.'

'Rest is better for you, anyway,' I told Bruce.

Alfred piped up again. 'While I've got you on the phone, Doctor, it's Master Wayne's birthday the day after tomorrow, would attend the party at the Manor? We can certainly bribe you.'

I laughed. 'I'd be happy to come.'

'That certainly makes my shopping trips easier,' Alfred said, making me laugh again. 'I'll see you soon, Dr.'

'Goodnight, Alfred, Bruce.'

The call ended and I began the drive home, making it into bed by a quarter past one. Considering I was up all the night before with the antidote and the night before that I was charging over rooftops, this was quite an early bedtime.