I do not own Batman. Sucks, don't it? I do own Eleanor Black and all the other characters and plot points that aren't part of the movie. Rated T for the same reasons the movie was rated PG-13. Enjoy.

Chances Are…
Chapter Six: The Importance of Instructions.

It was only dawn when I awoke, but I could tell there was movement in the penthouse; Alfred would be preparing breakfast as it wasn't very often I was actually around for a proper first meal anymore. Gotham was stirring as I dressed and headed downstairs, the normal roar of the city just beginning to build. As I crossed the main room of the penthouse, I was surprised to see Eleanor in the kitchen as well as Alfred. She was sitting on the counter, reading the morning paper and sipping coffee from her favourite large blue mug as Alfred bustled around her, preparing food. I was surprised to find she was already dressed in her clothes for work as she had never been ready before me. As if sensing my thoughts as I approached, she smiled a little smugly at me over the rim of her mug and folded the newspaper, setting it beside her as she hopped down to the floor and took a seat at the table. I returned the smile and sat down across from her. She seemed to be in a much better mood than the night before. It struck me that I'd hadn't seen her looking this happy in a while.

"Good morning," she said as if nothing had ever been wrong.

"Morning," I replied. Alfred brought me a mug of coffee as well and I could feel his smile as he headed back into the kitchen. This was the most normal morning we'd had in a very long time and I had no doubt that he was overjoyed to have Eleanor spending so much time around the penthouse and the bunker. "What's got you in such a good mood this morning?" I asked, picking a piece of toast off the plate in the middle of the table.

"I'm not allowed to be exited for you to see the new Batsuit? It is very cool."

I had forgotten she'd gone to see it the day before. Her excitement made me smile again. "All right then." I finished the piece of toast I'd been holding. "Are you ready to go?"

"I've been ready for about half an hour Bruce. And I'm driving this morning." She rose from the table and stretched her arms up towards the high ceiling. As I stood, she slung her purse over her shoulder and slipped her feet into her shoes, the added height bringing her almost to eye level with me. She walked over to the elevator doors and pressed the down button, stepping inside once the doors had opened. I followed her and stood beside her in the car. "When are you having the fundraiser for Dent anyway?" she asked as she fished her keys out of her purse. As was her way, she continued speaking, justifying her question with the reasons behind it. "I have to know when the suit has to be moved by, plus I have to find time to get back to my loft and pick out a dress if I'm going to go to this thing with you and, I assume, two or three other girls." She smirked; she really was feeling better if she was up to making jokes about my public image. "And that's going to take some time if I'm going to be standing beside models."

I smiled at her comment. "After I get Lau back to Gotham."

"Ah yes. Justice before fun." Eleanor just beamed at me when I raised an eyebrow at her.

Downstairs in the parking garage, Eleanor made a show of opening the passenger side door for me as Alfred would have done, even going so far as to add a little bow and put on an exaggerated British accent, before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car. In the early morning traffic, it took twenty minutes to drive the relatively short distance from the penthouse to Wayne Enterprises; Eleanor sang along with the radio under her breath the whole way and I don't think she realized she was doing it. By the time we were parked in my parking spot at Wayne Enterprises, the sun had risen enough to shine through the spaces between skyscrapers and Eleanor, standing in the parking lot, closed her eyes and turned her face into the sunshine, sighing happily as the sun reflected off the natural red in her hair and warmed her skin. After her moment, we headed into the building and up to the top floor to Lucius' office, where he was, as I expected, waiting for us in front of the private elevator.

"You've got to go to Hong Kong to explain to Mister Lau that Wayne Enterprises can no longer take part in this joint venture," I said as we piled into the small elevator.

"I think, for something like that, a phone call would suffice."

Eleanor, who had wedged herself into the front corner of the elevator, facing me, smiled at Lucius' comment, but didn't say anything, even though I could tell by the look on her face that she agreed. "Well that isn't the only reason I need you to go to Hong Kong. I need you to plant a jamming device inside the building so it's possible to enter it without tripping any alarms and alerting anyone to my presence until I choose." I gauged the look on Lucius' face. He didn't seem at all surprised by my request, if anything, he seemed a little under-whelmed. Well, the jamming signal wasn't my only request. "I'll also need something to make a high altitude jump into Hong Kong." The elevator finished its downward journey and the doors slid open, revealing the vast space that was Applied Sciences and storage for everything there was no use for except for part of Batman's arsenal. It was definitely not an empty room, but the height of the ceilings in combination with its sheer size made it feel that way and it always impressed me.

"You'll need oxygen and stabilizers for that," he said as he hauled open a drawer and pulled out a breathing mask with several tubes coming off of it. He also pulled out an oxygen tank and laid them on a table in front of us. With a glance and a small smile at Eleanor, who was standing beside him, examining the equipment with her usual interest and enthusiasm, he continued speaking. "Although, I must say, compared to your usual requests, this one is pretty straightforward."

I approached the table and stared down at the equipment. "And what about getting back into the plane?"

"I can recommend a good travel agent."

"Without the plane landing." I ignored Eleanor's startled expression and continued to look at Fox.

He was smiling. "Now that's more like it Mister Wayne."

As he walked off down one of the aisles between the equipment, I could see the wheels beginning to turn in his head. Beside me, the wheels in Eleanor's head were also turning. "You want to get back into a plane without it landing? Isn't that kind of impossible? Oh wait; I forgot who I was talking to." She rolled her eyes and followed Lucius. "How the hell is he going to get back into a plane that's still flying?"

"Well, there's nothing down here that could accomplish that, but the CIA developed a program in the sixties to pull their people out of hot spots without the plane landing. It's called Sky Hook. I'll look into it; see how difficult it would be to get a hold of the necessary equipment. Now—" He paused to open another drawer and by the look on Eleanor's face, I guessed this was where the suit was being kept. I looked down at the components of my new suit and smiled. "Here's your new suit. The plates are separated to give you more flexibility. You'll be lighter and faster, but there is a trade off to having the plates spread out. You'll be more vulnerable to knives and gunshots."

As Lucius explained, I reached down and picked up one of the plates that would go on my forearm. The blades popped out as I knew they would, but as I moved to put the piece back into the drawer, the double rows of scalloped blades shot out and embedded themselves in the filing cabinet behind me, narrowly missing Eleanor's head.

"Hey!" she snapped as she jumped out of the way. "Watch where you aim those things!"

"Perhaps you should read the instructions first?" Lucius offered, a small smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Maybe." I turned to Eleanor, who was now standing beside the embedded blades, studying them, running a finger along the edge. I almost laughed at that, at how quickly her attention could be captured. "Sorry Eleanor." I smiled when she turned to look at me and she smiled back, tucking some hair behind her ear. Apology accepted. "Now," I continued, turning back to the suit and Lucius. "How will this hold up against dogs?"

After Lucius assured me that the suit would hold up against cats and that it would be one-hundred percent ready when I left for my extended absence from the city and that he would have the other equipment I needed, the three of us headed upstairs where the board members were already seated, waiting for the meeting to begin. After that there was another meeting, then lunch with a potential new Wayne Enterprises buyer. Eleanor disappeared back to her desk before Lucius and I headed out for said lunch. I knew she had reports to finish and things to do for Lucius and she'd be busy for a while. She'd been making a tremendous effort to get her work for the company done on top of doing all she did for Batman. It was starting to wear on her, no matter how happy she'd looked that morning. I wasn't sure how much longer she'd last doing both jobs, but I knew she'd push it as long as she could. I didn't see her for the rest of the afternoon, but I did see Rachel at the restaurant where the senior board members, the buyers, Lucius and I had lunch. She was with Harvey Dent, which didn't do anything for my mood, and after exchanging pleasantries, the couple headed to their table at the back of the restaurant. I made sure to say goodbye before I departed and my thoughts remained on Rachel and how much I missed her for the rest of the day.

When I finally made it to the bunker after changing out of my suit at the penthouse, Alfred and Eleanor were already there, standing around the large table and looking at a diagram of something. Alfred was leaning on his hands and Eleanor had dragged the armchair over and had her feet on the table, her ankles crossed, and she was flipping through pages of information. The headset was draped around her neck, the long cord stretching across the distance between her and the desk. "What are we looking at?"

Eleanor looked up and smiled in greeting. See seemed more content in the bunker, and around me, than she had in a long time. "I phoned Alfred after we spoke to Lucius this morning and told him what you'd need and he found a plane equipped for the Sky Hook program." She pointed to the large plane on the paper in front of Alfred. "You wear that," she pointed to what looked like a parachute, "and pull the release when you're ready to be picked up and it sends a flashing beacon into the air and then the plane comes and scoops you up using this," she said, pointing to a large "V" on the front of the aircraft. "And then they pull you into the back. At least, that's how I understand it."

"You're quite right Miss Black. The plane is in Arizona. A very nice man said he could have it up and running in a week. And he takes cash." Even after growing up under the care of the British man, Alfred never ceased to amaze me with his vast knowledge of pretty much everything. "Now all that's needed is a flight crew."

I leaned on the table, and racked my brain for a flight crew who would be able to pull this off. The plane couldn't be picked up on radar; this needed to be as quiet as possible. But at the same time, the crew had to be more than capable. "South Korean smugglers," I said suddenly.

Eleanor turned and peered at the air above my head. "Gee, and I thought I was going to see a light bulb you came up with that idea so quickly."

Acknowledging her comment with only the quickest of looks, I turned back to Alfred. "They flew into Pyongyang, under radar the whole way. They'll be able to keep this quiet. Have you thought of an alibi?"

The question was directed at Alfred, who smiled smugly, but it was Eleanor who answered, flashing a devious grin of her own as she got to her feet, her cobalt eyes flashing. She reached under a stack of pages to her left and pulled out a folded newspaper. Once it was flattened out, she pointed to the front page of the Entertainment section, which showed Natasha in the middle of a line of ballerinas. The Moscow Ballet. There was a small photo at the bottom of the article showing Natasha and I on our date. Seemingly pleased with my confused expression, Eleanor's grin grew and she drummed her fingernails on the tabletop. "You're going to take the entire ballet to the Caribbean on your yacht for a week or a few days while the plane's getting fixed. It'll pick you up once it's ready and has the crew on board, you'll do your thing in Hong Kong and then fly right back to Gotham. Alfred and I will make sure the ballerinas get back to Gotham in one piece," she added with a grin more devious than before.

The confused expression only grew. "And you thought of this?" I asked. She nodded and I found myself smiling and unsure why I was so amused. "Have you decided to come then?"

She nodded again and ran her fingers backwards through her hair. "I'm going to stay on the boat with Alfred. I'll move the equipment into one of the bedrooms at the house and take the portable stuff onto the boat with me. I should be able to keep an eye on Gotham and you if we can get a strong enough signal. I should even be able to catch a few moments of relaxation in the Caribbean sun."

I continued to smile. "We'll make it work."

After Bruce had alighted into the city as Batman and Alfred had returned to the penthouse for the night, I was alone in the bunker. That wasn't a strange thing as I had done it many times before and I was comfortable enough in the bunker to be alone, but the relative silence on the police scanner was unnerving and making me very uncomfortable. Batman had stopped two muggings and a small-time drug buy in the past five hours. It was a slow night. A very, very slow night. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I had even moved Alfred's armchair over in front of the computers and sat with my feet propped up on the stool with the keyboard in my lap. I switched from the police scanner to the headset after another period of nothing, more for something to do than for any real purpose.

"Have you got anything?" I asked as I flicked imaginary lint off my jeans.

"No. It's still quiet. There's been nothing from the Joker or from anyone since I stopped that last mugging."

I sighed. "Are you going to stay out there or turn in early tonight?"

"I'm going to stay out for a bit longer. You can head home if you want."

For the first time, I didn't protest and I actually considered going back to the loft to try and get more sleep than I had in a while. Or maybe back to the penthouse, where I was finding myself more comfortable with every visit. Somehow I convinced myself that as soon as I left, something interesting would happen and Bruce would need my help. Or something. I wiggled my butt farther into the chair in a silent act of my decision. "No. I'll stay too. I'm quite comfortable here." Which wasn't a lie. The chair was comfortable and I didn't really want to leave no matter how tired I was. "So, we're leaving late tomorrow then?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yes."

"Hm. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow: packing."

"Call your parents and tell them you're going to Hong Kong with Lucius."

"Already done, Bats." I smiled to myself as I imagined Bruce rolling his eyes at the nickname, just like he always did. I had come to take some sort of enjoyment in how I could annoy him. "I called the airport and told them you'd be leaving tomorrow evening and they've already started to get the private jet ready with their assurances everything will be as Bruce Wayne likes it for a flight. And I also phoned down to the island house and informed them of your arrival, so everything will be ready when we land tomorrow evening, including all the guest houses and the boat. I'll be occupying the guest house farthest from the main building and the ballerinas, just for your information. Oh, and the newspaper has already got wind of this impromptu vacation and they're writing a story about you taking the entire ballet out of Gotham. I told them you weren't available to comment."

"Well I guess you're on top of things."

"I am a personal assistant for a living, Batman." I looked down at my watch. Enough time spent chatting. "OK, I'm switching back to the police scanner for a bit now."

Without waiting for a reply I knew wouldn't come anyway, I keyed in the command and once again heard the static of the quiet channels flood my ears. Reports of a breaking and entering crackled over the band, but I didn't bother switching out of police scanner mode, as I knew Bruce would have heard the reports as well and would already be on the move. I settled farther into the chair and kept listening for any breath of the Joker's whereabouts or what he was up to. Whoever this guy was, he was good. So far, he hadn't been heard from or seen unless he wanted to be, so I wasn't counting on anything happening. And I wasn't disappointed. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. So much nothing that I unhooked the headset and wandered around the bunker while I listened to that nothing and let the white noise lull me into a waking sleep.

As I wandered, so did my thoughts, and they eventually landed on doubts Bruce had expressed about my abilities to handle two jobs. I had tried to keep it contained, but Bruce had been right: I was wearing thin. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep juggling the responsibilities of working at Wayne Enterprises all day and staying up very late working for Batman. I was tired.

"Eleanor."

I started out of my trance and looked at Bruce, who was standing, er, crouching, directly in front of me. "Heh?"

"Are you all right?"

I blinked, trying to get the fuzziness out of my eyes. Had I fallen asleep? It sure felt like I'd just woken up. It was then that I realized I was no longer standing and was slumped against the wall by the entrance to the secret road and my shoulder was very sore. "I… think so." I looked around, trying to figure out how I'd ended up where I was. "I think I just fell asleep while I walking." Bruce looked at me and blinked. "What? Like you've never fallen asleep while you were doing something else, Batman."

"You mean besides in the middle of a meeting?"

"You were actually asleep? I thought you were faking to enhance the public image or whatever."

"No, I actually fell asleep."

"Well good job."

Bruce pushed himself back to his feet and then extended his hand to me. I grabbed it and he lifted me almost effortlessly to an upright position; I tried to keep from cheeks from blushing too heavily and massaged the stiffness from my shoulder for something to do. "I also fell asleep while I was talking to Lucius on the phone once," he said with a small smile. The gesture and the mental image brought a smile to my face. "You should head home and pack. We're leaving at six and I don't think the girls—" I sniggered at the way he referred to the ballerinas, but he didn't say anything "—will take kindly to waiting."

"Ha. Like you'd leave without me."

Bruce smirked. "Don't overestimate your importance to this mission."

I paused. Passed over the possible anger. "Mission? Since when are we calling your outings missions?" I ran my fingers through my hair and was relieved to feel it wasn't a tangled mass like it usually was when I woke up. "And what time is it anyway?"

"Seven."

"In the morning? You let me sleep that long?!" I groaned. "I had things to finish for Lucius!" Bruce just looked at me. "Oh don't give me that I-could-say-something-to-make-you-feel-like-an-idiot-but-I-won't look. I know it's my own damn fault." As I passed him on the way to the desk, I playfully punched his arm, noticing as I did that he flexed, as if he was preparing to counter the move or something along those lines. "I don't need you to remind me of that." I smiled over my shoulder and ran my fingers back through my hair again. "Ah, I suppose I might be able to get Lucius to forgive me again. It was just a report on the cost of the new Batsuit he wanted done. Not like it was anything important." I gathered my things and shoved them in my bag. "Besides, he's going to Hong Kong." I grinned at Bruce and slipped my finger through the ring of my keys. A thought struck me. "You know… I think you were right."

He raised an eyebrow and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "You do? About what?"

"The whole two jobs thing. Maybe I shouldn't be doing it." Bruce seemed genuinely surprised. It was my nature to dispute most everything, especially if it came out of his mouth. "I'm sure there are many more qualified people looking to get in at a big company and the business world that could help Lucius and half the stuff I do is just superficial stuff anyway. It has no real weight. Maybe I should just be your personal assistant. Like Bruce Wayne's. And Batman's. That would be a lot less stressful since they are fundamentally the same person."

"If you think that would be easier on you, then that's fine with me. You'll have to tell Lucius though."

"I know."

"And you'll have to do a lot of meaningless running around as Bruce Wayne's assistant," he said with the barest hint of a grin. "Picking up dry cleaning and getting me coffee and all that fun stuff."

"Ah yes. Sounds like 'fun'." Bruce and I smiled at each other for a moment. "I guess I'll see you at six then." He nodded and I took that as all the farewell I was going to get.

Back at my apartment, I dropped a large duffel bag on my bed and starting tossing clothes at it. Well, I tried to toss clothes into it, but failed miserably so everything just kind of ended up all over the bed. When I felt satisfied with the amount of clothing I'd tossed around, I walked over and actually started packing things properly. Jean shorts, t-shirts, bathing suit, all the necessary stuff. I even tossed in a couple dresses and my makeup just in case Bruce dragged us to some party at a casino or something. Somewhere in the midst of folding clothes, the phone rang. It took me a moment to realize I had to answer it without the help of the computer.

"Hello?"

"Oh good, you're home. I'm glad I caught you before you left for Hong Kong."

I smiled to myself. "I told you I wasn't leaving until later tonight Mom. I was going to come over and see you and Blaze before I left."

"I know that. I was just wondering if you'd heard the news?"

I was pretty sure I knew what she was referring to, but I didn't say anything except, "What news Mom?"

"Bruce is taking the entire Moscow ballet on vacation! Right in the middle of their Gotham engagement!"

I fought to contain my laughter and rolled my eyes at my Mom's enthusiasm. "I'd heard rumours. What does it matter?"

"I wanted to know if you knew why. You and Bruce have been quite close friends for a while now."

"Mom! Why else would he? He's Bruce Wayne. He can do whatever the hell he wants to and get away with that. And he likes to surround himself with beautiful women. That's what happens when you have all the money in the world. Speaking of which, Bruce wants to hire me as his personal assistant."

"What? Honey, why would you leave your job at Wayne Enterprises?"

I shrugged even though she couldn't see. "There are lots of people who are looking to break into the business world, and Wayne Enterprises is a great place to do that. Plus, I don't need the money and Bruce is a good friend who needs some extra help. Alfred can't do everything you know."

"I suppose. Well whatever you decide Ellie. I'll see you for an early dinner then?"

"Sure thing Mom. Love you." I hung up the phone after she said goodbye and went to finish packing.

The early dinner was a boisterous affair with Nathan preparing my favourite homemade pizza and my father cracking open several of the better bottles of wine. The three of us plus Blaze ate in the living room and watched some superhero action movie we'd all seen many times before, Blaze barking every time something exploded or someone fired a gun. Nathan joined us halfway through the movie and I was reminded of all the nights spent exactly this way when I'd been younger. As I said goodbye to everyone, making sure to ruffle Blaze's fur for an extra minute, I made a mental note to have dinner with my parents more often once the whole Joker fiasco was over with.

At five fifty-eight the taxi pulled up to the private hanger and I stepped onto the tarmac, duffel bag slung across my shoulders and my laptop under one arm. Bruce had had all the audio equipment packed onto the plane during the day, so I hadn't had to worry about any of that, but the flight to the Caribbean was rather long, and since I didn't expect any stimulating conversation, I had brought my laptop, a book and my music to keep myself occupied. I could hear incessant giggling coming from the open fuselage of the plane and I smiled at Bruce as he appeared at the door, a overly exasperated look put on his face while his back was turned to present company. I laughed to myself before ascending the stairs and stepping into the mass of giggling, perfectly white smiles and Russian conversation moving at light-speed. I earned myself a few weird looks as I made my way back to the empty seat across from Alfred, but once I'd passed them, I was left in peace. I put my laptop on the table and the duffel bag in the seat beside me.

"Why does this feel like it's going to be a very long week?" I asked Alfred.

The butler looked up from the book he was reading and appraised me over the rim of his glasses. "Somehow I think you'll get through it Miss Black. However I can not say the same for Master Bruce."

I looked over Alfred's seat to see Bruce in full playboy mode sitting amongst a group of the slim dancers, Natasha at his side. To her credit, she noticed my glance, smiled and inclined her chin by way of greeting. Out of all the ballerinas filling the cabin, she was the only one I thought I might get along with. I returned the gesture and then returned my attention to Alfred. "I think he'll be OK Alfred."

Author's Note… I have ten chapters left for this story, so I think I'm going to try and finish it up first. It's been almost a year since I published the story and I only have six chapters published. Yeesh, I'm slow. I guess that's what you get when you have three fan fictions to concentrate on. Oh well. I'll still work on Joke's On You and Ain't No Rest for the Wicked, but I'll try and finish this one up since it's shorter.

This chapter was mainly to show some friendly bonding and such. All that good stuff. That's why nothing terribly exciting happens.

Next Chapter: Hong Kong Via Audio Amidst the Ballerinas. Eleanor discovers she can't stand Russian ballerinas for company as she tries to keep an eye on Gotham and an ear on Batman's Asian-based escapades.