A/N: Sorry, it's been so long since I have updated. Writing has been placed on the back burner for my list of things to do. I'm hoping that the next few weeks won't be too hectic, so I can post a few more chapters. Thank you guys for still reading this story though. Please read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

Chapter Nine

Gotham's Central Police Station

If a person started to scream in a police station, would they be arrested? Audrey wondered this as she found herself walking through Gotham's central police station. She wouldn't have minded being there if it had been to talk with Detective Lansing about the serial killing case. Something that, she believed, wouldn't happen until someone else turned up dead.

Instead, she had come to confirm the identity of the morons that had tried to rape that teenage girl the week before. She blinked, had it been a week already?

Audrey quickly did the math in her head. She had arrived a week after Danny had been killed. She had been in the city for ten days…the attack happened the second night she was here. That was eight days…it had been over a week actually. She shook her head and then realized that there were only eleven days left until the killer struck again. Eleven days to find this man and she had no new leads. Fantastic.

The clamor of the station grew even louder for a moment breaking Audrey's thoughts. She turned toward the source of the noise only to find herself staring into the face of a rather rotund biker in handcuffs. She raised an eyebrow as he grinned at her and opened his mouth to speak. He didn't have a chance to say a word, however, as he was shoved further into the station by an officer. Audrey kept her face passive as she watched the leering man go, but felt a shiver of contempt pass through her. In an unconsciously protective move, she shifted her sunglasses from the top of her head to cover her eyes before she headed towards the front desk for the second time that morning.

"Excuse me." Audrey said clearly as she stood before the officer at the desk.

The officer glanced up quickly before going back to grab some files, "What can I do for you?"

Audrey pursed her lips in distaste at his distantly aloof tone, "Is Detective Lansing in?"

"Lansing?" The officer paused in consideration, "I think so."

"Could you check?" Audrey asked slowly as if she were speaking to a child.

The glare the officer sent her did nothing to faze Audrey. She sent him a mockingly happy smile and gazed pointedly at the phone until the man before her picked it up. She was too caught up in her battle of wills with the officer to notice that she had gained the attention of someone else in the station.

"Don't tell me that you were caught trespassing, Lynette." A faint smirk crossed Bruce's face as he watched Audrey still.

"Agent Peters will do, Mr. Wayne. Besides, do you see me wearing handcuffs?" She quipped as she pointedly rose up her hands and turned to give him one of her false smiles.

Audrey resisted the urge to groan. There was only one word to describe Bruce Wayne at that moment and that word was arrogant. It was practically oozing from him and all it serve to do was irritate her.

"You never know." Bruce shrugged, "But Bruce will do, Linnie"

Audrey raised an eyebrow at the nickname but decided it was better to change the subject, "So why are you here? I thought rich people were allergic to police."

"Funny, I thought that was the FBI." Bruce gestured to a few white slips in his hand, "I have to pay off some tickets."

"Really?" Audrey asked mirthfully as she stepped closer, "Aren't you supposed to do that at the courthouse?"

"Normally yes, but there's been a backlog over at the courthouse. So, all payments of fines have been temporarily redirected over to any of Gotham's Finest Police Stations." Bruce said in a bored monotone.

He titled his head in amusement as he watched Audrey try to catch a glimpse of what was written on the tickets. She seemed to sense his enjoyment and had to the grace to look shamed even though she wasn't. Bruce just rolled his eyes and handed over his tickets.

"Maybe you can take care of them for me." Bruce said dryly, "It'll be nice if those weren't on my record."

Audrey snorted as she looked over the various tickets, "Would that be you calling in the favor that I owe you?"

"Not a chance."

Neither had noticed that the officer at the desk was listening with vague interest to their repartee.

"Sorry, can't help you."Audrey felt her eyebrows raise as a line caught her attention, "You were doing 88 in a 35 mile zone? Where were you off to, Speed Racer?"

"I was late for a very important date."

An unwilling smile crept onto Audrey's lips at his sarcastic tone, "From Speed Racer to white rabbit."

"I guess you can say that." Bruce replied distantly as he came to lean against the counter next to her, "Why are you here?"

Audrey shrugged and handed back the tickets as she distantly noticed that he was limping slightly, "Various reasons. I'm currently trying to track down, Detective Lansing."

Bruce watched in vague interest as she turned to give the officer another pointed look. Lansing?... Gordon had assigned a Detective Lansing to the Artist case.

"Detective Lansing is currently at a crime scene across town." The officer reported dutifully, if not with disinterest, "If you would like to wait for him to return, you're more than welcome to."

Audrey frowned in irritation. She couldn't stay and wait. Reed had told her that he was close to breaking through the final encryption on Stuart's file and she wanted to be there if he found something.

Bruce observed the way her hand fisted briefly in quiet agitation. His mind recalled the photo he had taken of her a few nights prior…her hands had been fisted then, as well. The emptiness of Audrey's eyes flashed before him and his fingers suddenly twitched with the need to pull her sunglasses off. He studiously kept quiet though he vigilantly kept an eye on her body language. What was she up to?

The more time he spent checking her out, the more he was convinced that she wasn't who she said she was. His control was shot as Audrey suddenly turned back to him. His hand dashed up and slipped the glasses from her person before she had time to register what exactly he was doing. Tired blue eyes blinked up at him in mild surprise.

Bruce paused in his actions as he noted the concealer that coated her bottom eyelids, no doubt covering up the dark circles that lay beneath. She looked exhausted. The question of why floated through his mind once again.

Audrey held her hand out and gestured for the glasses that now rested on top of Bruce's head, "Cute, really, but they look better on me. So if you please…"

Bruce forced a smirk and took a few steps away from her, "It doesn't please me."

"You have a very strange, twisted sense of humor." Audrey muttered, "This is stealing, you know?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Says the woman who stole information from my computer. I want to know what was in that file you found, by the way."

"You and me, both." Audrey said under her breath as she noticed that at some point they had drifted away from the front desk to a rather secluded area of the station.

Bruce heard her anyway.

"You've had that file for over a week." He fixed her with a hard stare, "How can you not know what is on it?"

Audrey felt suspicion build up inside of her, "Why are you so interested? Do you know what's on that file?"

A flash of calm irritation went through Bruce, "No. I do know that it was on one of my computers and I didn't know about it and that the cops who first went through her office couldn't find it. So that makes me very curious as to how you did and what exactly was going on at Wayne Enterprises that I didn't know about."

After their last meeting, Audrey knew that Bruce more observant than most people and that he was smarter than he would like others to think. As she studied him now she knew that his curiosity had little to do with his company and more to do with what was going on.

"It's an ongoing investigation, Mr. Wayne. I wouldn't be able to tell you anything until it's closed." Audrey stonewalled.

It was such a by-the-book response that Bruce forced himself not to scoff. It didn't take a genius to know that the woman before him wasn't exactly by-the-book. He knew that if he pushed the issue now he wouldn't get anything from her. Bruce's eyes lit up as a thought struck him and he gave Audrey another once over.

Audrey noticed the considering look and felt alarms going off in the back of her head, "What?"

"What are you doing this Saturday?" Bruce questioned as he finally came to his decision.

Audrey blinked completely thrown, "I don't know…Why?"

Bruce let a smirk slide across his face, "Be my date to a fundraiser that Mayor Garcia is throwing."

"No."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at her quick response, "Why not? You're not doing anything."

"I may be doing something. I just don't know what yet." Audrey shifted uncomfortably under Bruce's piercing gaze, "Anyway, I don't date."

It was Bruce's turn to be thrown. She didn't date? He didn't think he had ever actually heard someone say that before. His gaze turned curious as he studied her, "Consider this request as me calling in my favor."

"Why?" Audrey asked, "You can't possibly have trouble finding a date."

"Is that your roundabout way of letting me know that you think I'm attractive?" Bruce asked teasingly as he avoided answering her question.

He had a better chance at gaining some information from her at the fundraiser than he did here and he didn't want her to know that he was waiting for her to trip up and make a mistake. Maybe then, he could figure out what her real intentions with the Artist case were, and why she seemed to know more than the police...more than him.

Audrey resisted the urge to tug at her ear in silent embarrassment, "I think you already know that you're attractive, Mr. Wayne. You still haven't answered my question."

"And you still haven't called me, Bruce." He replied back dryly, "Let's just say you have me curious."

"About?" Audrey drawled. She felt like she was talking circles with him.

"Come with me on Saturday and you'll find out."

Audrey bit her lip before rolling her eyes, "Fine…I'll go. This makes us even though."

Bruce smirked at her firm tone, "Of course. Now, where are you staying? I'll pick you up."

Audrey paused in thought. As an FBI agent consulting on a case from DC she would be staying in a hotel, not in an apartment that wasn't even under her alias, "How about we meet?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You don't want me to know where you're staying?"

Audrey smiled, "No."

"Why?"

"Personal reasons."

"And you wonder why you have me curious?" Bruce shook his head, getting a straight answer from her was like pulling teeth. He wondered if this was how people felt when they were talking to him, "Alright, where do you want to meet?"

The two spent the next few minutes ironing out details before Audrey decided that it was time to go. She stepped forward and quickly reclaimed her glasses from the young billionaire before slipping them back on.

"Don't steal my things." Audrey said before casting Bruce a quick smile.

Bruce sent her a blasé look in return, "Don't hide yourself. I'll see you, Saturday."

Audrey responded with a slight nod and watched him walk away. A nervous feeling began to pit in her stomach as he disappeared within the confines of the police station. She realized vaguely that her heart was beating a little faster and cursed as she realized that Bruce Wayne had gotten under her skin. She walked out of the station and out to the stree,t her mind awhirl with what had just happened.

A jittery warmth had spread through her at the thought of the coming weekend but at the same time she couldn't help but feel dread. Audrey didn't want to get close to Wayne. She was attracted to the man, she couldn't deny that. Who wouldn't be? The man exuded confidence and charisma… it was hard not to be drawn in by him.

It was dangerous though, and stupid to get close to someone while she was working a job. Too many people could get hurt. She could get hurt. She hadn't been lying when she had told Wayne that she didn't date and for someone who was considered a playboy, Audrey had the feeling he wasn't the type for a quick roll in the hay.

Somewhere in the Narrows

Night fell quickly in Gotham that day. Bruce barely even noticed as he lurked in the city's darkness. His usual hazel eyes seemed almost black as he scanned over the various buildings in his purview. He had been searching for Louis Ricci, but the drug dealer seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

Bruce silently snorted to himself…even he knew that no one could just disappear. No matter how much someone may want to.

With one last glance towards the dilapidated apartment building that housed the missing mobster, Batman turned and drifted away. If he had any luck at all, Ricci would be in a place that every other criminal in the city frequented.

It only took him an hour to figure out that he would have no luck at all that night.

He had exhausted his search of the city, of the Narrows in particular, and was debating about turning in early for the night. Not even a petty crime had been committed as he had patrolled and if Bruce was being honest, he was getting bored. His boredom didn't last long, however, as a flash of blue caught his attention.

His eyes quickly sought out the source of the color and he froze in curiosity and surprise. Agent Peters? A frown coated his lips and Bruce found himself settling further into the darkness.

She wasn't alone. The flash of blue he had seen was an under-dressed hooker with red hair. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the pair stroll down the street. Every few seconds, Audrey would twitch ever so slightly and gaze around nervously. If he hadn't known better, Bruce would have mistaken her for a junkie. He had to wonder at the act she was putting on and raised an eyebrow as she pulled a cigarette to her mouth.

A moment later Bruce had his listening device on and was eavesdropping on the conversation between the two women. Frowning, he quickly found he had missed the bulk of the transaction between the two.

The redhead began to shift uncertainly, "He goes to some of da girls sometimes…he hassles them into doin' some weird stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

The girl started to shake her head. Her panic was painfully obvious, "I don't know…I don't know!"

Audrey put her hands up in a placating gesture, "Ok. It's ok, relax."

Red crossed her arms protectively and looked away. Audrey sighed at the action and held up a wad of money.

"That is for your help." She held up more cash, "This is for your silence."

Red snatched up the money and tucked it into her top as she nodded and took off. Bruce watched as Audrey stood in place for a few minutes before her hand dredge up her cell phone. She remained clueless to the pair of eyes watching and listening to her from above.

She quickly dialed the number to the warehouse as Bruce changed the frequency on his receiver. The ringing from her phone filtered clearly to his ears.

"You've called head honcho."

Audrey rolled her eyes, "Hey Honcho, I have someone for you to check out."

She heard a pile of paper crash in the background as she waited for Reed to reply, "What've you got?"

"I need you to look into Tahri Answar."

"Who is he?"

"Someone that I think is part of the killings. Check to see if he has any ties to the Company."

Reed replied back, "Will do, Audrey. I take it that your meeting with the ladies of the night was beneficial then?"

Audrey sighed, "In a way. Listen, Danny's informant…Trix or Mary Elkin."

"The hooker with a heart of gold."

"That heart is not as golden as you think. Danny wasn't the only person that she saw on a regular basis."

Bruce's attention momentarily drifted away from the brunette below him to a car that pulled down the street and slowed to a stop about a few blocks away from where Audrey stood. He wasn't the only one to take notice. Audrey let out a muffled curse as she saw the car from her periphery. She had seen the car before when she had first met up with the redheaded hooker. She held back a groan as the vehicle just sat in the street idling.

Reed paused, "Who else? This Answar, guy?"

"No, he was a recent client of Elkin's. Ricci came to her corner just about every week like clockwork." Audrey said lowly as she began to walk away from the main street. Her senses on high alert as she waited for the tell-tale sounds of someone following her.

Her stalker from above eased further back into the shadows as he kept an eye on both Audrey and her tail.

"That explains how Danny found out so much about Maroni's drug running."

"Yeah, Reed listen, I'll call you back." Audrey whispered as she ducked into an empty storage warehouse. She ended the call before Reed had a chance to reply and surveyed the inside of the building.

The inside didn't leave much in the way of hiding spots. She needed to find a way out of there without getting trap. Distantly, she could hear the sounds of light footsteps and knew her followers were getting closer. Her heart began to pound as the first waves of adrenaline began to rush through her veins.

Audrey rushed through the room towards an open window. She swung her body through the rickety pane and barely noticed that she had landed in another alley. All she saw was the fire escape that was about five feet to the left of where she stood on the adjacent building. The ladder wasn't lowered.

A muffled shout caught her attention and Audrey was off before she had a chance to think. Later, when she would look back on that exact moment, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone just how exactly she had made it to the fire escape's first platform. She just knew that she had.

From there, it only took her a few seconds to make it to the roof and just in time. Her position from the top allowed her see a head poking through the window she had vacated moments previously. She couldn't make out the man's face, but she could tell he wasn't happy. The man pushed himself through the window much like she had, but instead of heading towards the fire escape he continued on, down the alley.

Audrey paused long enough to watch him go. Her attention was diverted ,however, as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Someone was behind her. Her body tensed. It was Batman's only warning before he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun and into fiery blue eyes. Automatically, he moved to disarm her. His hand pushing back her arm to get a grip on her wrist and fling the gun away. Surprise showed only briefly on Audrey's face as she realized what he was doing… she went to counter his move but it was useless. He was stronger than she had estimated and she found herself pinned against the door to the roof.

Batman's jaw clenched and irritation flared in his eyes, "That was stupid."

"We'll have to have a difference of opinion on that." Audrey raised her eyebrow in this position she was able to get a better idea of the strength of his suit and where its weakness was, "What do you want?"

"Answers. Starting with who you are and who you work for." Bruce rasped as he eased up on his grip slightly. His hold was still firm but it wasn't as brutalizing as it was before.

"Back pocket." Audrey growled. She couldn't believe that she had let herself get caught in this situation.

"I don't care about Agent Peters of the FBI. I want to know about Audrey and the Company."

Shock flashed through Audrey's eyes…How did he know?

A/N: Special thanks to: Monday the 14th, sandrews, DrPepper19, Musicnutt, AnaNinaSnape, B-Diddy, and Raefhn for reviewing. I love hearing from you guys. I would also like to thank: VampireGleek, ladyestel88, Lisa Maria M., Musicnutt, Anonymous2004, DeirdraConnacht, and Raefhn for adding this story to their favorites list. It's greatly appreciated.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to review. : )