Hi everyone! This was supposed to be out last week, but due to time constraints and other priorities, I was finally able to get it posted today. Thank you to those of you who added it to their favourites and alerts.

Please review!

Saturday March 27th

Again.

For the second time that week, the city was getting buried in another snowstorm. Forecasters had predicted a cold, snowy winter and it wasn't a disappointment. Even with the promise of springtime right around the corner, March had so far been relentless in snowstorms. The weather did make the walk home from the grocery store even more treatureous, especially with bags in each hand. Emily was thankful for the weekend off and a warm night in. She was certain that she was coming down with one of the many sicknesses she had been exposed to and wasn't looking forward to heading back into work the following night. She felt achy, her throat was getting sore and her head was feeling heavy. Despite how she felt and the weather, she still went for groceries.

She tapped the snow off her shoes against the brick wall before walking up the three flights of steel steps that went up alongside her building just inside the alleyway. Emily made a mental note to herself to shovel her part of the steps as her boots sunk into the inches of snow that had accumulated on them during her short time away from home.

After a brief moment of fumbling with her keys in the darkness of the evening and balancing bags, Emily walked into her apartment and closed the door behind her with her foot, sighing as she was met with the warm air filling the space from her radiator by the window. She glanced over at it and saw her black and white cat, Freddie snoozing awkwardly over the coils. All she had to do was drop her keys onto the table by the door and the cat lifted his head. She put the bags down and bent over to take off her boots only to be greeted by the cat walking between her legs, begging for the attention he had missed while she was gone. With a smile, Emily ran her hand over his back and up his tail before picking up the grocery bags and put them on the kitchen counter.

"I know I'm late, Freddie, but I'll get your supper in a moment," she said with a groan, as the cat followed her, meowing loudly in protest.

He followed her into the bedroom and rolled around on her bed as she slowly changed into her t-shirt and sweat pants and let her hair down for the first time that day. She ran her hands through her hair, stopping to massage the sinus areas on her head. Her head was starting to feel the familiar twang of heaviness before a cold.

Freddie was right behind her when she made her way back to the kitchen. Emily reached for the remote and turned on the television, once again hearing the forecast of more snow.

Once Freddie had been fed and she had finished eating her chicken salad with leftovers from a previous meal, she sat down on the couch with a hot coffee, hoping it would clear the congestion that was starting up. She was looking forward to a quiet night, curled up on the couch while watching a movie. That hope was quickly dashed with a familiar knock pattern on the door. Emily smiled as she went to the door, knowing instantly who was there.

"Michael! What are you doing here?"

The man walked in, brushing the snow off his shoulders and stomping his feet on her mat.

"Rehearsals have been cancelled due to this horrible weather," he said, taking his coat off and hanging it up on her coat rack by the door. "So, I was coming through your area so I decided to stop by. And oh, I'm wanting my tea press back from you. I met this guy named Marcus within the company who is as interested in loose leaf tea as I am."

"Wow! Another tea-coinoseur such as yourself that is interested in you?" She feigned shock. "Is it really possible? Weren't you just seeing this Kyle fellow?"

Michael let out a sarcastic laugh. "Very funny. Kyle was experimenting and he irritated me. I'm wanting to make a good impression with Marcus so I'm hoping a night of tea might help."

"Of course," Emily said, smiling. "Oh, and stay a while and warm up. I always look forward to your company."

"Thanks. I think I might." Michael sat down on her couch as Freddie curled up on his lap while the man gave the cat his attention. He looked over at Emily as she opened her cupboards reaching blindly into the highest shelves for the familiar tea press. After watching her for a few seconds, Michael stood up and walked into her tiny kitchen and reached around her and managed to get the tea press.

"I should really keep you around for days when I'm cleaning my cupboards," Emily quipped as Michael dusted off the lid of the press with his sleeve. She let out a sneeze and quickly reached for the tissue before she blew her nose.

"Thankfully, I finally have a job so I won't be needing any help finding work," he stated, as he sat back down on the couch. "Speaking of which, are you coming to the opening night of Pirates of Penzance?"

Emily smiled. "I wouldn't miss it." She paused for a moment. "As long as I'm feeling better by then."

"You will be! It's not until the 10th."

He paused for a moment, considering his next statement.

"I'll have a set of 2 tickets waiting for you at the box office."

"Thanks, but I'll be only needing one," she said, sitting beside him. She pulled her knees up and took a sip of her coffee.

"So, I'm guessing things between you and Bill haven't changed."

Emily sighed, blowing the steam off of her mug. "It won't be changing either. If there's anything I have learned, it's to never mix relationships and work."

"How's that going?"

"It's awkward seeing him each day, knowing that I'm the one that blew him off," she replied. "We never talk about it and no one brings it up, but I know that everyone is wondering what's going on between us. But it's been over 6 months now."

Michael leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "I'll leave the pair of tickets at the door for you anyways. Make it a girls night."

Emily winced. "I think I'd rather just come on my own."

Michael shrugged. "You just need to get out and meet new people."

"I meet new people everyday."

"I'm talking about people not in need of medical attention," he corrected. "And preferably those who are clean and have shaved once this month."

Emily smirked. "Working a midnight shift with only weekends off for the past 4 years doesn't leave much time for socializing and I'm all right with that. I've been on my own for so long anyways, I wouldn't be able to handle the change of being in a relationship."

"You'd be surprised how quickly someone can change when the right person comes along," Michael said.

Emily chuckled. "I'd feel bad for the poor guy that would have to put up with me."

Michael rolled his eyes and grunted.

"Em, I'm going to end up strangling you if you keep talking like that. There's nothing wrong with you. You're smart, funny and beautiful and I'm going to tell you straight up because I'm your friend. You need to stop putting up walls with people."

"I don't do that!" she exclaims.

"Sure you do," he quickly retorted. "It's that attitude of yours. There was a time when I knew you when you were pleasant to be around."

Emily sighed.

"That changed a long time ago."

Michael paused, knowing exactly when it happened.

"You don't need to keep punishing yourself," he said softly. "It's been nearly 12 years, Emily. It's about time that you forgave yourself and move on."

She sighed. "I can't. I don't even know how I could."

The room fell into silence. After a short while, Michael stood up and left the apartment, giving her a kiss on the forehead before heading out. Batman watched from the rooftop of a building across the street. He kept his hand to his ear, listening carefully to the ambient sounds of her apartment as she locked the door after her friend, Michael left the apartment. Batman watched as she closed the curtains and left only a lamp on beside her as she turned her attention to the TV. Realizing that he wasn't going to hear anything else, Batman turned his attention to the rest of Gotham.

Gordon shuddered in the cold wind on top of the darkened MCU building. He waited, much like he did nearly every night. Sometime Batman would show up and other times, he wouldn't. Gordon hoped that this would be one night that Batman would decide to make an appearance. After a half hour, a figure appeared out of the shadows.

"I have some news," Gordon said. "I've gotten the toxicology report on that homicide victim. He had a unique neurotoxin in his bloodstream, not unlike the one that Crane infected Gotham with 7 years ago. There was something else on him."

Gordon reached into his pocket and pulled out a small clear bag with a piece of paper inside.

"This was on the body," he said, handing it to Batman. He turned it over, and saw it was a name written neatly on a piece of paper along with the name of a company.

"Bradley Mattern?"

Gordon nodded. "According to what we were able to find out, Bradley Mattern works for that pharmaceutical company in Miami called Genwerx. Surprisingly when we inquired about him to Genwerx, they had never heard of him nor had they ever employed a man by that name."

Batman thought while Gordon spoke, trying to think back where he had heard of Genwerx in one of the business dealings. Once Gordon finished speaking, Batman nodded.

"I'll see what I can find," he said, just before jumping off the rooftop and back into the darkness.

Emily leaned back against the couch and stretched before looking at the clock. 2:34am.

Damn midnight shift.

She was just starting to feel tired. She had learned a long time ago that it wasn't worth the effort to go to sleep at a decent time only to lie awake for hours on end. Her body had been use to sleeping during the day and working at night for so long that it became a norm for her.

Emily turned off the TV and stood up before calling for Freddie to come out from wherever he had been hiding. The black and white cat sauntered out from under the couch and coiled himself around Emily's leg, eagerly waiting for some petting. As Emily leaned over to touch him, she noticed that he was chewing on something. After a brief verbal spat ordering the cat to spit it out and forcing the cats mouth to open, she got it.

"What the hell?"

Emily turned the foreign object over in her hand, trying to figure it out when she realized what it was. A small wireless microphone.

"Where did you find this, Fred?"

The cat merely looked up at her before disappearing into the bedroom, readying himself for a long snooze. Emily looked around the room, eyeing the radiator by the window where he enjoyed to sit. She pulled back the curtain, looking at the window from top to bottom. She checked each window in her living room, having found nothing else. Emily walked into the bathroom and glared at the window. She nearly stomped up to it and looked around the trim until she found it. Another microphone.

"Son of a bitch."

Her curiosity and concern turned to anger. She filled up the sink with water and dropped both devices into it, hoping it would mess up any wiring in it.

She marched out of the bathroom and flipped on the bedroom light, startling Freddie who had taken up residence in her bed. Emily climbed up on the bed and pulled open the window above the headboard, sweeping the trim and window ledge with her hand. Another one. Emily was steaming.

"You've got to be kidding me."

All thoughts of heading to bed were over and she spent the next few hours pulling apart her apartment determined to find any other microphone bugs that may have been left. She played scenarios in her head on how long the bugs had been in her apartment and even how Batman managed to get them inside without her knowing. She was angry.

Monday Morning, March 29th

Lucius Fox hummed to himself as he waited in the elevator that would take him up to the highest reaches of Wayne Tower. The sun was shining and glistened on the snow and promised to be the beginning of a good week. He smiled and greeted employees as he made his way towards his office. He had made it a priority to know the names of the men and women who worked with him each and everyday. After all, he did spend more time at Wayne Tower than he did with his own family, as did most of the other employees. All except for Bruce Wayne. The man would make appearances for a few hours every week. To find him at Wayne Tower in the early morning twice in one week was highly unusual.

He greeted Jessica with a smile as he went into his office, immediately locking it behind him before he headed for his private elevator behind his desk. Within moments the door opened and his ears were hit with the sound of a loud roar of an engine. He turned and walked towards it, finding the Tumbler making quick turns in the large open space while Alfred stood behind a computer, large head phones over his ears.

Lucius walked up beside him and smiled before watching the Tumbler continue to go through the test trials. After another minute, the large tank-like vehicle came to an abrupt stop before the engine hummed down to silent.

Bruce Wayne's head suddenly popped out from inside the Tumbler.

"How was that, Alfred?"

"You're still burning up too much power on the turns," he called back. "The tires are off by a variance of 1.3 percent."

"That's it?"

"That's a big margin, sir," Alfred stated.

Bruce nodded and climbed out, walking over towards Mr. Fox.

"I was surprised to see you here this early," Fox said. "Twice in a month. Will this become a habit?"

Bruce smirked, wiping some residual grease from between his fingers with a cloth.

"You never know. That's not the only reason I came in this morning. Do you remember a company named Genwerx?"

Fox nodded. "That pharmaceutical company from Florida? Yeah, we cancelled our agreement with them a year or so ago."

"I think that it's time that we try to resolve our differences with them and make an appointment for a meeting to see if we arrange a deal."

"Is something going on with them?"

Bruce shrugged. "Maybe. They may be working with Crane out here."

Fox nodded. "I'll get Jessica to get that meeting arranged for you."

Bruce thanked him before turning back to the tumbler. He picked up a drill and began to take off a piece of metal from the side of the tumbler, once again filling the large room with noise. Fox smiled and turned to leave.

"I just need to speak with him for a moment."

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that without an appointment and he doesn't make them with the general public."

Emily was getting frustrated as was Jessica. It had been a long night of working for Emily and the only thing that she wanted to do was go home and sleep off the sickness that she was fighting. Her sinus' were heavy, her nose was stuffed and her throat was so sore but she managed to make her way across town to Wayne Tower. It was the only way she knew how to contact Bruce Wayne.

"Is he even here?"

"I cannot divulge that information," Jessica replied,.

"Can you at least give me a number that I can call?"

"I can't do that."

"Is there anything you can do or do you just sit there all day, typing monotonously at a computer looking pretty?"

"Excuse me," Jessica said, standing up while picking up the receiver of the phone. "Please leave or I'll call security."

"I will leave once you give me an answer or direct me to where I can find Bruce Wayne."

Jessica shook her head and proceeded to dial.

"Can I help out here?"

Both women turned to see Lucius Fox at the doorway to his office.

"I was just calling security to have this woman escorted off the property, sir," Jessica said, the phone to her ear.

Lucius looked at the woman that seemed to be causing tension in the usually mild-mannered secretary. The woman appeared tired, her brown hair pulled back in an unruly ponytail on the back of her head with black rimmed glasses and scrubs.

"What is your name?" he finally asked.

"Emily Tucker," she replied. "I was needing to speak with Bruce Wayne about an issue that I'm certain that he'll be familiar with."

A smile tugged at the side of Fox's mouth. It was the woman that knew Bruce's secret.

"Come in," he said, before turning to Jessica. "And you can cancel the call to security."

Emily followed Fox into his office, hearing the door click with a lock behind her. The man seemed to stare at her, a curious smile on his face as silence filled the room. Neither said a word for a few seconds. Emily glanced around the room, seeing the bookshelf filled with books and the large window overlooking the city.

"So, you're the woman who gave Bruce that nasty cut on his face and then sewed it up," Fox said. He could see the surprise on her face. "I have to admit that you did a pretty good job. The scar is barely noticeable."

Emily was shocked. "Uh, thank you."

"Now, I understand that you want to see him, am I right?"

Emily nodded.

"Come with me."

He stepped back, allowing the elevator behind his desk to open and for Emily to step in. She glanced cautiously at the older man before taking a step into the elevator. Fox followed in behind her and the door closed. Emily could sense the elevator dropping.

"Where are we going?"

"The old applied sciences division of Wayne Enterprises," he replied. "No one goes down here anymore."

The door finally opened and Fox stepped back, sensing the woman's curiosity. Emily stepped out from the small space and into the large warehouse-like room. She saw the computers and tables covered with equipment. She kept looking until she saw the tumbler sitting in an open space. A man stood with a blow torch over it, sparks flying around him. Fox walked towards Alfred and Emily followed, more than a few feet behind as she took in what she was seeing. When Alfred saw Emily, he was more than a little startled. Fox smiled and nodded, assuring him that it was all right.

"Master Bruce," Alfred called out. "It seem that you have some company."

The man with the blow torch quickly looked up, immediately turning off the flame and pushing back his mask from over his face.

"Emily?"

Bruce climbed down from on top of the tumbler and walked towards the computer area where she stood with Alfred and Fox. He put down the torch. He introduced her to Alfred, who promptly shook her hand.

"What are you doing here?"

Emily mentally shook her head, trying to erase the attractiveness of Bruce Wayne in jeans and t-shirt from her mind. She had never met him as simply Bruce Wayne before. Being angry with the man was going to be difficult, but remembering how her privacy was invaded by a complete stranger was enough.

"I wanted to thank you for that donation that you made to the clinic," she said.

He smiled. "Well, I did receive some services there and I assumed that the clinic could use the help."

"We do, thank you."

"You didn't have to come all the way down here to tell me that," he said.

She reached into her purse and pulled out the ziplock bag holding the three soaked microphones and held them out in front of her.

"I'm returning some of your toys that you graciously left in my apartment," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. He held out his dirty hand as she dropped the bag into it. "And maybe you can explain why they were there."

"I needed to know for certain that I could trust you," he said.

"By bugging my apartment?" she exclaimed. "I haven't gone running to the newspapers or television stations claiming that I know who Batman is, have I? Trust is a two-way street, Mister Wayne. For all I know Batman is exactly what the media has been calling him for years; a murderer."

"I'm not a murderer," he quickly interjected with more than a hint of bitterness. Emily scoffed and suddenly sneezed, just as he was about to speak again. He watched her reach into her purse and pull out a tissue before proceeding to blow her nose. Then, she continued.

"How am I supposed to trust your word? You crawled into my apartment and set up microphones in each room! Did you put cameras up too?"

"No, you found them all," he replied, softly as he watched her. "Are you feeling all right?"

"No, I feel like crap," she replied, harshly. "And I came across town after working all night to give those back to you and now I'm going to be heading home for a much needed sleep." She turned to Alfred and Lucius who had turned towards the computers sometime during Bruce and Emily's conversation, attempting to make themselves scarce.

"It was pleasure meeting you, Mr. Fox and Mr. Pennyworth," she said, sniffing before turning to Bruce. "Good night Mr. Wayne or rather goodbye."

She turned and began to walk away.

"Let me drive you home," Bruce said, as she began to walk away. He continued to follow.

"No thank you," she said. "I'm capable of getting myself home."

"Emily, I'm trying to be nice to you after you come down here accusing me of being a murderer. Let me drive you home."

She scoffed which elicited a series of coughs from deep in her chest.

"I can be as stubborn as you," Bruce stated.

Emily turned and glared. "I'm not stubborn."

She coughed again and Emily reached back into her purse for a tissue.

Bruce let out a laugh. "I've only been in your presence for a total of a half hour since I've met you and the one thing I know about you is that you are stubborn." He paused, reaching out to touch her forehead. Surprised, Emily backed up the moment he touched her forehead. "And I also know that you're not feeling well, you look pale, you're probably extremely tired and you have a fever."

"No, I don't."

Bruce nodded. "You do. I can't let you walk home like that, especially in this weather." He looked over his shoulder to where Lucius and Alfred were standing by the computers, turning things off and shutting machines off. "I'm done here for the day anyways."

"Done for the day? It's not even 9am."

"I was busy all night as well and I've been here since 5. So, how about that ride?"

Emily sighed. As much as she didn't want to take the offered ride, she felt miserable. "Okay."

With rush hour over, Alfred managed to get out of the financial district in record time. He looked into the mirror and glanced back at his passengers in the back. Emily had leaned her head back against the seat, her eyes looking heavy. Bruce read the newspaper in front of him. As they approached Emily's street, she sat up straight and looked out the window.

"Do you know the way to my place, Mr. Pennyworth?"

Alfred glanced back up at Emily and nodded. "I do, and feel free to call me Alfred."

Emily smiled and leaned back in her seat, hearing the sound of the leather protest under her.

"Would you mind stopping at the corner? I don't want the car to draw any attention by my apartment."

"Certainly, miss."

The car slowed and pulled over along the curb. She grabbed her purse and pulled her coat around herself.

"Feel better soon, Miss Tucker," Alfred said.

"I will," she replied, turning to Bruce beside her. "I appreciate the ride. Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

She began to open the door when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hold on a second," he said, pulling a card from his wallet. He reached forward towards the centre console and pulled out a pen, writing something on the back. "This is my business number at work and I wrote my personal number on the back, if you ever need to get ahold of me again."

Emily took the card, and nodded before pocketing it and stepping out of the car. As she made her way towards the stairs leading up to her apartment, she looked ahead seeing the car turn at the next stop sign. When she finally made her way into her apartment, she pulled out that small card from her pocket. Bruce Wayne's name was front and centre in bold capital letters followed by his number and general contact information. She flipped it over to see the scribbled numbers that he added followed by a short few words - I trust you.

Bill closed the door to his office, locking it quietly behind him before going into his desk. He was ready to return home after a long night of working, but there was something that he had to do prior to that. He picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"Yeah, can I speak with Shawn Dravis please?" He paused, waiting for the man to pick up the phone. Finally he heard a greeting.

"Hey Shawn, it's Bill," he said.

"Nice to hear from you," Shawn said. "How are things going?"

"Not bad," Bill replied. "I'm just wondering about that shipment that was supposed to be in yesterday. When is it scheduled to arrive?"

"It should be there within the week," Shawn replied.

"He's getting antsy, Shawn," Bill stated, his voice wavering a bit. "I don't know how patient this man can be especially when an important shipment is late."

"Look, man. I'm doing the best that I can with the circumstances. It's not easy getting packages out of the building without anyone knowing let alone risk my job because of it."

Bill sighed. "I know, I know. How's Mom doing?"

"Not too good," Shawn replied. "I visited her last night and she was asking about you."

"Take care of her for me," Bill said. "I'll be sending the payment sometime next week."

"Sounds good."

The men hung up the phone. Bill ran his hands anxiously through his hair. He had never dreamed that he would be getting into a mess such as this, but here he was. He was up to his eyeballs in debt from medical school, and now he had the medical bills coming in from his Mother's care. He felt stuck. He pulled open the top drawer of his desk, attempting to find the small vial. He found the familiar item but hesitated before closing the drawer. An old picture of himself and Emily smiled back at him, almost chastising him for what he was doing to himself. Bitterly, he tossed the vial back into the drawer and shoved it closed with a bang.