Disclaimer: I do NOT own Batman
Thanks to highlander348, ZabuzasGirl, amsr, kindleflame5, and 252020 for your reviews.
The dinner started at seven, so by five o'clock, I was in the shower and drying off by 5:30. From there, I blow dried my hair so it fell in waves past my shoulders. I finished my make-up and headed back into my room to scan my closet for a dress to wear.
"No… no… no… maybe… no… Aha!" I cried, pulling out the dress that had caught my eye. I held it up against my body and turned from side to side, feeling the fabric gliding around my legs.
It was a strapless champagne dress with a sheer black tulle overlay. Black lace embroidering lined the bodice and hem with black beading. I crawled deeper into my closet and found a pair of strappy black stilettos to pair with it. Pulling on the dress and shoes, I stood in front of the mirror in my room.
"Hmmm…" I muttered to myself, realizing something was missing. I glanced at my jewelry box, pulled out a black flower clip, and drew a section of hair from the left side of my head to clip it back.
"There we go," I said. I grabbed a clutch from my closet and tossed my phone, license, and some money inside before heading downstairs. Alfred was in the kitchen, reading the morning's paper again, and glanced up at me as I entered.
"Are you going out, Miss Delaney?" he asked. I pulled the lemonade out of the fridge and nodded, pouring myself a generous helping.
"Chris is taking me to dinner," I explained, sipping my drink.
"You seem a bit dressed up. Might I inquire where you're going?"
"Oh… I'm not sure. He didn't tell me," I lied. It wasn't entirely untrue. Christian hadn't told me where we were going… I knew already. Heck, I had set the thing up weeks ago. There was a knock on the large wooden doors and I rushed to get it myself, closing the door behind me so Alfred wouldn't follow.
"Hi," he breathed, gazing at me with wide eyes. I smiled and kissed his cheek, making him blush.
"Hi Chris, ready to go?" I asked. He nodded and offered me his arm which I gladly took as he led me out to the car.
We arrived at the hotel where the restaurant was and Christian gracefully unfolded himself from the car, jogging around to my side and helping me out before the valet could. I flushed at the attention and Christian handed his keys over to the bored twenty-something standing at the podium. We walked arm-in-arm through the doors and Christian led us to where the top execs of Wayne Enterprises were sitting in a sort of waiting area. I glanced over at Earle as he caught sight of me and noticed the indignant look on his face. I knew the vein in his forehead must have been throbbing with the thought that I was not only best friends and living with the man whose name was above the door, but I was "dating" one of the potential assets as well.
My cheesy smile wasn't so forced after that.
Christian introduced me to Lucile Russell and Timothy Deenihan, who were at the top of the food chain at the company, and Charles Edwards, who Earle was trying to woo over from another company. Christian was invited on the pretense of partnering his company with Wayne Enterprises and being on the board of directors. We were being regaled with an 'I'm-a-heartless-tycoon' story by Earle when a commotion by the front of the restaurant drew our attention. My stomach dropped as Bruce himself strolled towards us, a blonde and brunette on either arm. The blonde was in a tight fitting, green floral dress and holding a hot pink clutch while the brunette was wearing a pink floral dress that plunged down the front. Bruce had a goofy grin on his face and my fists clenched. He was in some mode of disguise, I could tell right off, and I knew it would be a long night.
"Sorry I'm late everybody," he drawled, nodding at everyone. When his eyes met mine, I kept my face emotionless for fear of attracting attention to myself. His eyes held a look of curiosity and I guessed he was wondering how I got invited. They then strayed to Christian's arm around my shoulder and his question was answered.
For reasons unknown, Chris' arm suddenly felt too hot and restricting to me. All I wanted was to escape outside and breathe in fresh air. I was about to when the maître d announced that our table was ready and we all were seated, me sitting straight across form Bruce and the Barbie twins.
After we'd ordered, talk turned to business and I tried paying attention to what was being said about the move to going public and how much stocks were going to sell for. Yet every time I tried, Bimbo One or Bimbo Two would giggle a little too loudly or whisper in Bruce's ear a little longer than what was politely acceptable.
"Ouch!" Blondie cried after my heel made soccer worthy contact with her spindly leg.
"Oops, sorry. I get muscle spasms easily," I explained, smiling sweetly at her. She simply glared at me and I noticed Bruce trying to keep a straight face. When he caught my eye, I gave him a stern look and turned back to the conversation.
Dinner finally arrived and the subject rounded to Batman. This I actually could keep up with.
"He's done something the police have never done," Lucile informed.
"You can't take the law into your own hands," Timothy countered sternly as the Siamese dumbbells finally got up from the table. Bruce watched them walk away.
"Well at least he's getting something done," Lucile sneered condescendingly. Timothy scoffed.
"Bruce, help me out here," he appealed. Bruce spun around and I kept my gaze riveted on my seared chicken breast rather than the man in question.
"Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues," Bruce chuckled and despite myself, I grinned.
"But he's put Falcone behind bars," Lucile added.
"And now the cops want to bring him in. What does that tell you?" Timothy responded.
"They're jealous," she retorted easily. Timothy shook his head.
"What do you think, Delaney?" Christian asked, looking at me. I glanced up from my entrée to see the entire table—including Bruce—waiting for my answer. I cleared my throat to respond when the maître d leaned over to Bruce.
"Sir, the pool is for decoration and your friends do not have swimwear," he warned. Bruce swiveled around to see the wannabe twins luxuriously soaking in the coffin sized decoration pond. I was completely speechless.
"Well, they're European," Bruce said simply.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave. It is not a question of money," the maître d added as Bruce pulled out a checkbook and wrote his looping signature on the dotted line.
"Well, you see I'm buying this hotel and setting some new rules about the pool area," he said arrogantly, stuffing the check in the maitre d's pocket. He picked up his drink and nodded to us before heading over to where the blowfish were. I gaped after him as the conversation picked up as if it hadn't even stopped.
"I think the Batman deserves a medal," Lucile concluded.
"And a straight jacket to pin it on," Earle replied. Suddenly, the brunette bimbo shrieked as Bruce rolled with a giant splash into the pool with them. I abruptly stood, fed up with how he'd been acting.
"If you'll excuse me, I just need to use the ladies room," I growled through gritted teeth. I didn't wait for an answer as I strode to the front of the restaurant and stomped into the restroom. Once I'd locked myself in a stall, I let out a shuddering breath.
I understood that Bruce needed to keep up a certain image to will away suspicion, but this was a whole new level of asshole-ness. Bringing a pair of models with the combined IQ points of an asparagus was one thing, but treating the people around him like they were below him was something that really burned me. Alfred raised him better than that. His parents raised him better than that.
I let myself calm down a bit before getting up and walking out of the bathroom. I began to turn the corner to head back to the table when a voice made me stop in my tracks.
"…I'd heard you were back."
Rachel? What's she doing here? I thought, carefully peering out from my corner. Sure enough, Rachel Dawes stood across from Bruce in a high-necked sleeveless black dress, a shawl wrapped around her arms. Bruce was soaked from his pool escapade and I was secretly pleased to see him so uncomfortable with the fact that he was slowly creating a puddle under his shoes in front of his childhood crush.
"What are you doing?" Rachel asked, referencing his less than dry attire.
"Uhh… just swimming…here. Wow, it's good to see you," he said. I could see his posture change and he was suddenly the Bruce I—and Rachel—remembered.
"You were gone a long time," Rachel stated.
"I know. How are things?" Bruce asked.
"The same," she stated simply, "Job's getting worse."
"Can't change the world on your own," he grinned.
"What choice do I have when you're too busy swimming?" she retorted gently. I mentally tallied that up to a win for Rachel as Bruce shifted, trying to play it off.
"Rachel, all of… all this… It's… It's not me. It's… Inside, I am… I am more," he stuttered, his elation at seeing Rachel fading when he realized she disapproved.
"Come on, Bruce! Come on!" one of the models yelled from the car.
"Bruce, we have some more hotels for you to buy!" the other crowed. This was turning out to be a better lecture than I'd originally planned for.
"Bruce," Rachel shook her head, "deep down you may still be that great kid you used to be. But it's not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you." With that, Rachel walked away into the restaurant and left Bruce officially chastened and still dripping at the front of the hotel. I watched, rooted to the spot, as Bruce simply turned and strode to the Lamborghini, taking the keys and climbing into the driver's seat. As he drove away, I stepped from the shadows and watched the silver blur disappear into the dark night.
Part of me was glad Rachel had reamed him out for acting like a prick. She saved me the time and energy. Yet another part felt bad for him, being reprimanded by the one person whose opinion mattered so much to him. She didn't know about Bruce's secret, about the good he was trying to do for the city.
"Laney?"
I turned to see Christian walking towards me with a concerned look on his face. I suddenly realized that I'd been gone for a while now and it probably looked like I'd ditched him.
"Hi, I'm sorry I took so long," I said, guiltily.
"I was just coming to check on you, see if you were okay?" he said. I looked into his eyes and saw the concern pooling there. And I realized what Bruce was doing and why he was doing it.
Bruce put on a mask to protect those he cared about from danger. He was protecting them from bearing the weight of the consequences he possibly faced. Tonight was simply a rouse. No one would suspect air-headed Bruce Wayne, who paraded around with models and Lamborghinis and other extravagancies, to be the vigilante named Batman.
And I knew I had to wear a similar mask. To keep people like Christian, and my parents, and even Jessica, safe from harm. If Bruce was ever found out, I would be next. I couldn't bear to have my family and friends in the crosshairs with me. I couldn't get more involved.
"Actually, I'm not. Do you mind if we call it a night?" I asked, mentally building up a wall. Christian nodded and escorted me out to the car.
The drive was silent as I mentally prepared myself to sever the ties with him. I hated doing this to such an amazing guy, but I'd chosen my path.
He pulled into the palisades and through the circle drive of the manor before shutting the car off and turning to get out.
"Chris, wait," I stopped him. He paused and looked over at me before shutting the door again.
"What's wrong?" he asked. I sighed, willing away the sudden urge to cry.
"Chris… we can't… I can't go out with you anymore," I said bluntly, wincing at how brash it sounded.
I expected him to be angry. I expected him to be sad. I even kind of expected him to feel the same and make this a little easier.
What I didn't expect was for him to simply look at me and say, "Is it Bruce Wayne?"
I honestly lost all feeling to my brain when he said it. For a wild moment, I thought he'd somehow made the connection. Then I realized what it was he was implying.
"No…no, it's not Bruce. Why would you think that?" I asked.
"Just the way you look at him…the way he looked at you tonight… it was the same way I looked at you in college and when I first saw you in that restaurant the other day. He cares about you Delaney, and I know you care about him too. You were always trying to hide it, but I knew you were still torn up about him disappearing back in school. And when he came back, I figured you wouldn't want to go out with me…until you said yes to me and I thought you were fine. I guess I was wrong," he finished sadly.
"Chris…no. No, that's not at all why. I mean, yes I was still hurt back in college…but I was thrilled to see you again. There isn't anything romantic going on between Bruce and I. I really, really like you," I explained before sighing.
"And that's why I have to let you go. Right now, there are some things in my life that I have to do and please believe me when I say that I wish I didn't have to do this. You're an amazing guy, Chris, and any girl would be so lucky to have you. I don't deserve you." With that, I took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before opening my door and unfolding myself from his front seat. As I walked up to the front porch, I heard him drive away and the tears I had been holding back rolled down my cheeks.
I opened the door and saw Alfred waiting for me. Without a word, he pulled me into his embrace and squeezed me.
"I'll draw a hot bath for you," he murmured, beginning to pull away.
"No, Alfred, it's okay. I have to get downstairs anyway," I assured, wiping my eyes and smiling weakly at him. He nodded and I felt his concerned gaze burn through my back.
I changed into a pair of black leggings and a red, long-sleeved T-shirt with my black Nikes before throwing my hair up in a messy bun and heading to the library. Bruce had installed a lock that was directly related to three notes on the piano which would open the door to the cave. I pressed the notes and headed to the elevator, calling it up to me. Bruce had to be already in the cave then, if the elevator was down there.
I brushed past him and began pulling up all the feeds on the computer once I'd arrived. He was already half in the suit by the time I'd gotten down there and he eyed me carefully.
"Laney, what's wrong?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Nothing," I snapped, not in the mood to talk about what had transpired outside.
"Lane," he prodded.
"We broke up," I snarled.
"Why?"
"I really liked him," I said. Bruce, ever the tactful one, waited until I was done slamming things around and could elaborate without biting his head off.
"You're right, Bruce. So much of this is too dangerous for someone else to get involved in. So, I ended it to keep him safe," I sighed, my shoulders slumping. He was silent for a moment.
"Sorry," he said. I shrugged.
"You can't win them all," I said nonchalantly, picking up the cowl and holding it out to him as he finished pulling on the rest of the suit. He took it from my hands and I felt the essence of what he was doing fill me and overwhelm me with emotion once again. I wondered if I would ever get used to watching him go out and help fix the city that had taken so much from him.
Just before he placed it on his head, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. My heart skipped and he looked down into my eyes with an unfathomable look in his own.
"Sometimes, you can," he murmured, before placing the cowl on and sweeping towards the Tumbler. For the second time that night, I watched him drive away and wonder why the place where his lips had touched my skin tingled in a weird, pleasing way.
A/N: Hey everybody! Had some free time after I finished homework and made myself get over this writer's block hump to get out what I think to be the longest chapter I've ever written. Like, ever. Seriously.
Anyway, yes Del finally broke up with Chris (though it is not the last you'll see of him) and I'm ok with how she did. And, I added a little Bruce/Laney at the end that should set up next chapter very nicely. *grins evilly* Thanks for the support and I'll see you next time! Feel free to drop me a review anytime. Love! ~Brooke