A/n: Ironically it was raining as I wrote this. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

Chapter Eleven

Warehouse Headquarters

She should have just stayed at her apartment.

Audrey realized this two seconds after she stepped into the warehouse. Charlie looked ready to tear into her and Reed was grim which could only mean bad things. What the hell could have happened in the time that she was gone? She tossed her jacket over towards her desk and raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?"

Charlie scowled, "Answer your phone lately?"

Her phone? Audrey's brow creased as she remembered that the screen on her phone had broken during her scuffle with Batman. She hadn't noticed that it had happened until she had stopped at her apartment. She had been too tired to really care about the device and had thrown it away. Now, she wondered what messages she had missed.

"It's broken. I'm using a back-up." Audrey answered and pulled her new phone from her pocket as if to prove her point, "Now, what did I miss?"

Reed glanced warily at his brother before turning back to his friend, "Jensen is coming in today. We're in some sort of trouble. And I finally managed to get into Stuart's file."

Audrey's eyes lit up at the news of the file, though she was less than thrilled about Jensen showing up, "What did you find?"

"Nothing good." Charlie muttered as he gestured for her to join them at Reed's computer.

She moved gingerly towards the other agent's work station. Curiosity had more than taken over Audrey. She wanted to know what was in the file... she wanted to know what Stuart had been so desperate to keep locked up, but a small part of her didn't want to find out Stuart's secret because she had the feeling it was about to make this entire case much more complicated. Her eyes drifted onto the monitor as Reed pulled up diagrams of what he had found. Her breath caught in her throat as she studied the screen.

"Oh my God."

Suburbs, Outside Gotham City

Calloused hands reached forward and grabbed the yellow handle of a screwdriver. A man's emerald eyes barely left the small device before him as he continued to work. A sound of steps sounded from the doorway to his right and he didn't bother to turn.

"What?" His voice was soft and smooth like that of a doctor's.

Tahri hesitated a moment before he spoke, his eyes drifting over the device in the man's hand, "I have our next tester."

"Oh?"

"Audrey Douglas." Tahri stated lowly. His eyes watched for a change in the other man's expression. He saw none but a raised eyebrow; the man's green eyes were focused slowly on the piece of metal he was assembling.

"You don't think that's a bit risky?" The man finally looked up to address the known torturer, "She is investigating us…and I don't think your little pet will handle killing her very well."

Tahri snorted, "I doubt that he even remembers her and if he does, all the better."

The man smiled faintly, "So this has nothing to do with the little mark she left on your chest?"

Tahri stiffened at the mention of his old wound. No one knew the story behind that little incident besides the woman who had given it to him.

The man's smile grew, "Did you forget who I used to work for? I know everything about you."

An uncomfortable silence followed as Tahri glared at the other man. He didn't like not having the upper hand, but ever since had taken this job his control had diminished severely. He would tolerate it though, as long as he as able to watch Douglas suffer.

"Very well, the compound should be ready in a few days." The man picked up his device once again, "We can test it on her. Have your pet ready to take her down. If all goes well, her death will be a slow one…. You'll enjoy that."

Tahri smiled grimily as his brown eyes drifted to the compound in question. A blue substance was slowly brewing in the back corner as various other substances dripped into the glass container through several different tubes.

Warehouse Headquarters

Audrey rubbed at her forehead. The diagrams in Stuart's file had been a design for a highly explosive device…only modified. At first glance, Audrey was sure that it was a bomb she was staring at, but upon closer inspection she saw that it wasn't that type of explosive. Instead of sending out a large energy wave that would produce flames and just all out destruction, Stuart's device was created to hold a compound.

Any sort of liquid substance really. The actual explosion would send the compound everywhere, coating anyone within three-hundred meters. The actual genius of the device was that it was small and easily concealable. More than that, it was quite. A muffled boom would sound if anything but it wouldn't be loud enough for anyone to take notice until was too late.

Audrey could just imagine the torture that the little device could wreak. All someone would have to do was put an acidic compound inside it and anyone within three-hundred meters would feel their flesh melting before they even realized they had been sprayed. And that wasn't even the worst thing she could think of.

She shook her head and turned to look across the room. Jensen had arrived an hour ago and was being briefed on what they had put together so far. An amused smile twitched at her lips as she watched Reed rattle on about how he decrypted the file while Charlie discreetly rolled his eyes. Jensen's full attention wasn't on Reed but on the diagrams that had been uncovered and he wasn't happy. It wouldn't surprise Audrey if Jensen already knew what had been in Stuart's file.

It only took another fifteen minutes before the older man had removed himself from the twin's presence and was making his way towards her. Audrey had the feeling that when Reed had said they were in trouble that it meant that she was in trouble.

A brief silence suddenly entered the warehouse as Jensen stopped in front of Audrey's desk. She raised an eyebrow and gestured him to take a seat.

Jensen shook his head, "No, you're coming with me. I believe we need to talk in a more private setting."

Audrey's stomach dropped out a little, but she silently grabbed her coat and followed her supervisor out of the warehouse and to his car.

A few minutes went by as Audrey waited until they were securely on the road before breaking her silence, "Why exactly are you here?"

"Originally, it was to make sure that Reed didn't open that file. It's beyond your security clearance. As you can see, I came a little too late…Oops." Jensen replied dryly his eyes focused on the road in front of them.

Audrey smiled faintly, Jensen may be a hard-ass at times but he even he hated bureaucracy, "Originally? Is there something else concerning you?"

Jensen stiffened ever so slightly at the question. She wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been paying such close attention to the other man.

He let out a sigh as he notice her scrutiny and came straight out with the question that had been bothering him, "Are you too close to this assignment?"

"What do you mean?"

Jensen frowned at her distant tone, "Tahri Answar. Are you sure he's involved? And do I need to take you off this case?"

"Yes, I'm sure he's involved. If there's anyone twisted enough to pull this off…he is. Besides, it's too much of a coincidence that he's keeps appearing with our leads." Audrey grumbled, "Did Reed tell you about my suspicions on Answar?

"No, Answar has been a person of interest for awhile. Your little search on him tipped me off." Jensen's grey eyes cut to his agent, "Do I need to take you off the case, Agent Douglas?"

"No." Audrey said firmly as her boss gave her a hard look, "Look, if I didn't think I could handle this I would take myself off this case. I'm fine."

"Hmm." Jensen hummed noncommittally.

He didn't fully believe her, that much was obvious. Audrey bit back a disgruntled frown and stared forward. The rest of their ride continued on in silence.

Gotham's Harbor District

By the time night had fallen it had begun to rain. Bruce had spent much of the day perusing Audrey's file. What had frustrated him was that a good portion of it had been locked up.

He knew that her parents had died in a car accident when she was a baby. He knew that she had been raised by an aunt until she was eighteen when her aunt died of cirrhosis of the liver. Bruce winced at the thought…her aunt had to be an alcoholic. Had Audrey been abused? Bruce shook the thought off. She had gone into the military not long after her aunt's death and had steadily risen through the ranks. There was nothing on her for the past three years, however.

That was where things got tricky. There was information missing from the file. Missions that had been named, but no additional information. Nothing stating whether someone had been hurt or if the mission had even been successful. Bruce knew that could only mean she had been part of a black force squadron…it was a strange thought. He had a hard time putting the less than rule-abiding woman in such a strict enviroment... it just didn't fit the take-control vibe he had gotten from Audrey.

He had only talked to her a handful of times, but it was enough for him to get some semblance of a read on her.

He had managed to get into some of her medical files. What he saw had made his stomach turn. There had been photos of her covered in bruises and lacerations. He didn't think there was a spot of flesh that hadn't looked raw, swollen and angry. In one of the photo's she had her eyes open and was staring at the camera, but he could tell that she wasn't seeing the device. She looked defeated and ready to die.

It almost hurt to look at the screen, but Bruce forced himself to take in the image. It was much like the previous ones, except this one focused on Audrey's face. Blood trickled out of her nose and mouth. Her left eye was swollen shut along with the rest of the left side of her face. A few scrapes had scabbed over on her forehead. Her hair almost looked blonde but the way it was matted and tangled almost gave her the impression of a wild animal. Her other eye was open and Bruce felt his heartbreak just a little at her desolate gaze.

Alfred had moved up behind his charge as he studied the photo and frowned, "Where did this come from? Has Miss. Peters been hurt?"

"Douglas." Bruce murmured, "Her name is Audrey Douglas. This was in the medical file I found on her."

"Good Lord." Alfred said quietly.

Sympathy poured into the older man's heart as a frown took over his face. He had to wonder about what monster this Miss. Douglas had run in to. A small part of him burned with anger for this being done to a woman. His chanced at glance at his charge's face and saw the same spark of anger there, too.

Bruce's hand clenched and he murmured, "She's looks so fragile. She seems like she's given up."

"She may look fragile, but I'm sure you know otherwise." Alfred smiled faintly as he pointedly gazed at Bruce's injured leg, expertly shifting his charge's focus. Neither one of them needed the dark thoughts that these pictures were bringing.

Bruce just sent him a disgruntled glare which only made his butler further amused.

It was the one imagine that Bruce couldn't shake from his head now. It was one of the reasons he was roaming the warehouse district of Gotham. He couldn't understand why, but he needed to see her. Needed to see the mistrustful, defiant eyes that had bored into his the night previous. It didn't take him long to find her.

Audrey was standing on the roof of a warehouse just a block away from him. Bruce paused as he watched her for a minute. A smile coated her face as she titled her head back into the rain. Her hand was raised up to feel the falling water. She was thoroughly drenched but didn't seem to care. A thoughtful stare briefly over took Bruce before he moved closer. So she liked rain.

Batman landed as quietly as he could behind Audrey. No sooner did his feet touch the ground than did he see her tense. Again it was his only warning before she spun and threw a dagger that she had tucked into her belt. His hand automatically reached up to snatch the blade. She paused as she saw that it had been caught.

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "You showed."

Batman said nothing but shifted his weight onto his good leg as his hand discreetly hid her dagger as he waited for her to continue. Audrey sensed that any talking that would be done would mostly be coming from her. She took a moment to size up the man before her as she began to speak.

"I have to say your exploits make for an interesting read. Either your extremely brave or extremely stupid, I haven't decided which yet." Audrey stated as her mind went over the research she had done on the Bat once she and Jensen had returned to the warehouse.

She had unwillingly been impressed though she would never admit it. She had also gleaned that Batman was either very rich or worked for someone very rich. Not many people could get access to the gadgets and tools he seemed to carry, but that wasn't what bothered her. She had gone over the every case-file the police had on the vigilante and quite a few things didn't add up. She needed to be able to understand this man if she was going to trust him at all.

"What do you get out of this, going after criminals on your own?" Audrey asked, "What's in it for you?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? Nobody puts themselves in this kind of danger without getting something in return. Nobody is that stupid or crazy." She pointedly ignored the fact that he was dressed as a bat. Even she could admit that his costume was intimidating.

Bruce didn't say anything but he titled his head to side, showing her that he meant what he had said.

"Fine, okay… answer me this one question and I will let you know almost anything you want, but if I say to back off then you back off." Audrey didn't even bother to wait for him to agree, knowing that he probably wouldn't say anything, "Why are you doing this? It'd be much safer for you if you just stayed home."

"Because no one else should have to." Batman replied after a brief moment, slightly relieved she didn't ask about his identity.

Audrey measured the man before her, took away his mask, his armor, and just really looked at him…at his eyes…at his mouth…at his stance. She saw strength, courage, a will, but she also saw lingering pain, regret, and some defeat, she saw a person. He was a man who had taken the weight of the world…his world…Gotham's world onto his shoulders and she wondered if he would ever truly see whatever it was he had set out to achieve.

She still wasn't sure if she could trust him, but his responses had led her to believe that there was a reason why things weren't adding up in the police case-files. There was a good reason why he was being branded a murderer and why he was letting it happen.

Audrey only hesitated a moment "Okay. Ask away."

"The Company?"

In all of his research Bruce had found nothing on the Company. His search on Tahri Answar had brought different results but not by much. Everything that had been found on Answar reported that he was an interrogation specialist. A job title that Bruce didn't even want to think about.

Audrey paused as she tried to figure out how much she wanted to tell him, "The Company is an outside agency that the U.S. government uses to gather intelligence and clean up messes."

"Another CIA." Batman stated.

Audrey grimaced but replied, "The Company has a bit more freedom than CIA."

Batman's jaw tightened at her words, but refrained from comment as he moved onto his next question, "What exactly does the Company have to do with the serial killings?"

"All the victims are connected to the Company in one way or another. Two of the victims were full-fledged Company agents, another was on their way to becoming one and the other was an informant for an agent. My superiors want to know whose targeting Company agents and to make sure that anything connected to the agency doesn't get out."

"Then you're here to get rid of the killer." Batman stiffened slightly, distrust flashing through him.

Audrey frowned, "More or less. I don't plan on killing anyone unless I have to, if that's what you're worried about. I'm just here to take in this killer before someone figures out the connection or he makes it blatantly obvious that there is a Company."

"Answar?"

"What about him?" Audrey asked rigidly.

"You think he's the killer."

Audrey shrugged, "Possibly…I think there's more going on than what's being presented."

Bruce nearly snorted; she didn't think… she knew. He could tell by the convinced flare in her eyes, "Who is he?"

"A bad man." Audrey found herself saying again. The first time she had said that had been to Reed.

"To you?"

Audrey paused, "To me? He's a nightmare."

Bruce knew that was all he would get out of her on that topic. The closed off expression that had come over her at the first mention of Answar's name told him that he was lucky to get the answers that he did.

Audrey felt that she had given him more than enough of her information. Her own questions needed to be answered "The men who were following me last night…How did you know that they weren't Maroni's men?"

"Their clothes and car were too expensive. The mob likes to keep a low profile when they're in the Narrows. Makes them harder to track." Batman rasped out.

He watched as her expression turned grim. He had a feeling that he had already confirmed her suspicions and that she had a fair idea of who had been following her. Bruce wanted to demand her to tell him what else she knew, but he knew that pushing the woman before him would be a bad idea. He also knew that if she wasn't careful that he would be reading about her murder in the paper soon. He clenched his jaw unsure of the action he should take.

"Who are you, Douglas?" Batman found himself asking lowly.

Audrey glanced up in surprise…So he had managed to figure out who she was and just with her first name. Once again she found herself simultaneously impressed and wary of the man before her.

She looked him straight in the eyes and answered, "No one."

Special thanks to: Skye007lex, wizziewoo123, mop-n-bucket, Ananinasnape, lopo479, JainaZekk621, Siriusly-a-princess, Spirit Speaker, and Limplicit for reviewing. Thanks so much you guys. I love hearing from you. I would also like to thank: Moonlight-blossom2, Lacers, Elientjeuh, amsr, trickstersink, Innked Lady Corpse, Sadistic-Llama, Ayleim, Yayyou, and Limplicit for adding this story to their favorites.