The second time Casey woke, she rolled over and her hand touched warm skin. She opened her eyes and found Bruce sleeping with his back to her. She rolled back over to grab her phone and checked the time: 8:56 A.M. And then her phone beeped, signaling it had a low battery.

Next to her, Bruce stirred. Casey set her phone back down and turned back to him. "Good morning," she said and smiled as he opened his eyes.

"Morning," he responded sleepily.

Casey gave him a quick kiss on the lips and Bruce wrapped his arms around her, pulling her on top of him. "I woke up in the middle of the night and you were gone," she said as she rested her head on his broad chest.

Bruce's hand traveled down her back and came to a rest in the dip of her lower back. "I went downstairs to grab some water and a snack," he said. "Didn't want to wake you."

"I see," she said and kissed him again.

Eventually they rolled out of bed and Casey noticed another bruise on Bruce's back as he stretched. She frowned. That wasn't there before. She reached out and touched it. But when Bruce looked down at her, she smiled and pretended she was just tracing his spine. Maybe I missed it. I was a little bit preoccupied last night. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered.

"Can I use your shower?" She asked as she hopped out of the bed.

"Well I was about to use it," Bruce teased. "But I think we can both fit."

-x-

Bruce wasn't kidding. His walk-in shower could fit four people comfortably. Even so, Casey and Bruce stood near one another, kissing and helping one another bathe. With a shower like this, I'd so be up for shower sex, Casey thought as she dressed in a borrowed pair of sweats and a t-shirt. By the way he picked her up before, he shouldn't have a problem with that. Hopefully.

They ambled downstairs to have breakfast where, to Casey's delight, Alfred was making pancakes. "Good morning," Alfred greeted. "I trust you two slept well?" There was an odd twinkle in his eye.

Casey tried hard not to blush as Bruce replied, "very."

Alfred chuckled but thankfully said nothing else on the subject. "The pancakes still need more time but help yourself to orange juice and sausage."

Bruce poured her her a glass and handed her a small plate of sausages. Casey barely tasted them as she devoured them. "Hungry?" Bruce teased.

Casey nodded. "Should have brought some of your midnight snack back with you."

"Too hungry," Bruce said. "Ate all of it."

Alfred slid a platter of pancakes towards them and Casey loaded one of them onto her plate, buttered it, and poured syrup over it. She took a bite and sighed in happiness. It was delicious. "These are good," Caseys said around a mouthful of pancake.

Alfred smiled. "Why thank you." He glanced at Bruce. "I hardly get to cook breakfast anymore. Master Bruce usually takes a protein shake before he goes to work."

Casey didn't respond as she shoveled more pancake into her mouth. Then an idea hit her. "While I'm waiting for my clothes—thank you again for that, Alfred—can I check out the library?"

"Of course," Bruce replied.

Casey brightened. "Thanks!" She chirped. She ate two more pancakes and a few sausages and downed her orange juice. "I'll be in the library," she said, not even waiting for Bruce to finish his own breakfast before scampering off.

The library looked the same as the first time Casey saw it. No one would ever guess Oswald Cobblepot tried to burn it down on New Year's. She took her time wandering the room, browsing the books. She found everything from contemporary authors (Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson) to classics (John Milton, Stephen Gallagher, William Golding) and even ancient texts like The Art of War, The Musings of Plato, and Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey.

She pulled The Iliad off the shelf and started flipping through it. She remembered having to read The Odyssey in school but never The Iliad. Nor did she ever take a classic literature class in college. "The face that launched a thousand ships," she murmured as she read a passage that described Helen of Troy. She went to the front of the book and nearly dropped it when she saw the publication date. Let's put the really old book that I shouldn't be handling without wearing gloves away.

Casey moved away from the decidedly old books and walked towards the center of the library where Martha Wayne's pearl necklace lay in its case. She knelt by a low shelf and pulled out a black, leather-bound book. Opening it up, an assortment of pictures peered back at her. A small boy with dark hair grinned back at her while he stood over a cake with six candles.

Was this... Was this a photo album?

She turned the page. The same boy skated on a frozen pond next to a man who looked like an older version of Bruce. This had to be Thomas Wayne and the little boy must be Bruce. She browsed the book seeing pictures of Bruce. Bruce wearing a stethoscope and holding it against his father's chest. Bruce and his mother (a beautiful blonde woman) reading together. Bruce stealing food from Alfred as he cooked.

She stopped at a small picture of all three Waynes standing outside the Monarch Theater. Bruce was smiling widely as he held his mother's hand while her father's hand rested on his shoulder. Was this before the accident? She wondered. Was this the last night the Waynes were a family before a man murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne in cold blood in Crime Alley? When she turned the page, it was blank. As was the rest of the album.

"Casey."

Casey screamed and the album went clattering to the floor. Bruce stood on the steps, his hands up in a surrender gesture. "Didn't mean to scare you," he said.

She placed a hand over her heart. "How can you move so quietly?" She asked.

"I called out to you," he replied. "But you didn't answer." He nodded at the fallen album. "Riveting read?"

Her face reddened. "Uh..." She scrambled to pick the album back up but saw Bruce frown. He walked towards her and tugged the album out of her hands.

"I completely forgot about this," he said quietly as he sat down next to her. He opened it to the page of him and his dad ice skating. He didn't speak for a long time and Casey reached down and took his hand in hers.

"You miss them." She said as he squeezed her hand.

"Every day," he replied.

There were many things she wanted to say or wanted to know about that night. But she could only say, "I'm sure they'd be proud of you."

"Yeah," he agreed, still not looking at her. His eyes were still trained on the photographs.

Casey chewed on the inside of her cheek. The mood between them darkened considerably and she hated herself for opening that album. "Hey, I got an idea!" She announced. Bruce looked to her as she took the album from him. "Let's have a lazy day," she continued. "Just stay in our pjs, hang out, and do nothing." She grinned at Bruce.

He stared at her for a short moment before shaking his head. "I'm sorry but I have some work to do today. Being a CEO means taking your work home with you sometimes."

Her heart sank. Here she thought she had a good idea to lift Bruce's spirits. "You can't put it off until tomorrow?" She asked despondently.

"Tomorrow's Monday," he reminded her.

"Oh." Well now she felt stupid. Her shoulders sagged. "Okay then."

"Hey now," he said and put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. But we can take a rain check, alright?"

A small voice in the back of her head spoke. He's said that a couple times. "Okay," she relented. "But promise you'll show me all the secrets in the manor. I'm positive this place has a couple secret rooms or something."

Bruce threw his head back and roared in laughter. "We only have a small panic room off the Regency Room unfortunately. No secret rooms. Sorry."

"Aw," she said, downhearted. "You couldn't fuel my imagination for a little bit?"

"Better to let you down now than watch you scurry about the manor, looking for secret rooms," he snickered. "Though that would be kind of fun now that I think about."

"Hey!" Casey protested. But she laughed too. "Okay, no secret rooms," she said. "But there are a lot of places I haven't explored yet."

"Most of it is closed to keep down on cleaning," he reminded her.

"Doesn't mean you can't look around," she retorted. "If you'd let me?"

"Maybe," he teased.

"Har har," she said sarcastically. But then Bruce kissed her and she felt better.

"Pardon the intrusion," Alfred said as he appeared in the doorway of the library. "But your clothes are finished Miss Wilson." He held a folded bundle in his arms.

Casey broke away from Bruce and hastily shoved the photo album back onto its shelf. She bounded over to Alfred and took her clothes back from him. They were still warm. "Thanks Alfred," she said as she hugged them to her chest.

"It was no trouble, Miss Wilson."

-x-

As Casey dressed back in his room, Bruce called a cab for her and pretended he didn't see Alfred's disapproving glare boring into his back. Like a gentleman, Bruce walked her to the car. "So," he said as she paused by the taxi door. "I'll call you?"

She smiled. "Not if I call you first."

He laughed. "I'll see you later. Promise," he added. He leaned down and kissed her. He would never tell her, but he loved how she turned red in the face every time he kissed her.

"Bye," she said and got into the taxi. She waved at him and he waved back. He lingered in the driveway until the taxi drove past the gate, disappearing down the hill.

He headed back inside where Alfred waited for them. "We have work to do," Bruce said as he walked past his butler. "I met that cat burglar last night. She stole data for an unknown employer and sent it to them by the time I cornered her."

He hit the hidden switch on the grandfather clock in the study and the back panel slid open to reveal the entrance to the Batcave. "Master Bruce," Alfred said as they descended. "It feels like you're avoiding the subject."

"There's nothing to avoid," Bruce replied.

"Are you sure?" Alfred asked in a tone Bruce remembered all too well from his childhood. It was the 'You Know Full Well You're in Trouble' tone.

"Yes," Bruce said and braced himself for the coming argument.

"Master Bruce. I warned you this would happen," Alfred lectured. "The moment she starts spending the night, the chances of her waking up in the middle of the night and finding you absent increases each time. She already woke once. And while she believed your story this time, that does not guarantee she will the subsequent times."

"I know, Alfred," Bruce said through gritted teeth. They came into the large cavern, repaired from Bane's attack at Christmas.

"And then there was this morning," Alfred continued as if he hadn't heard Bruce. "I have some work to do today," he intoned. "You couldn't put off the Batman's mission until this evening?"

Bruce finally came to a stop in front of the case containing the batsuit. When he rose out of bed, later than usual, to go down to the Batcave, he paused when he saw Casey asleep next to him. For the first time in his life, he felt an overwhelming urge to sink back into his bed, softly kiss Casey on her temple, and pull her into his embrace while he went back to sleep. It took him what felt like hours to snap back into his mission-oriented mind and leave her behind.

He couldn't admit it to Alfred but that scared him. What if he woke up one night and didn't want to leave her at all? He knew that this would become a problem but he didn't think it would happen so soon. Casey was the first woman to get this close to him since Talia. No, he thought. He wouldn't think about Talia.

Bruce turned away from his suit and booted up the large computer next to him. "What would you have me do?" He finally asked.

"I see several paths you can take," Alfred started. "You can keep her in the dark and risk losing her when she grows tired of your lies. Or you put her at arm's length and never allow her close again. Or," Alfred stressed, "you can tell her and bring her into the fold."

Bruce's hand curled into a fist. "You know I can't do that, Alfred," he sighed. "Batman saved her life four times during Christmas Eve. He performed CPR on her when the Joker nearly killed her. How can I tell her that I am Batman who saved her life and expect her to accept it?" Their entire relationship would change. Not only would she know he was a vigilante, but their entire relationship was based on a lie. She would assume he only sought her out after that night not that they randomly met at the GCPD.

"Do you think she'd rather know the truth or have her heart broken from your lies?" Alfred countered.

Bruce didn't respond. There were too many uncertainties in his relationship with Casey. And he was afraid he was letting her too close too fast. "Maybe," he started. "Maybe I need to put her at arm's length. For now."

Out of the corner of Bruce's eye, he saw Alfred stare at him in disappointment.

-x-

Two weeks. Bruce hadn't called Casey in two weeks. And now she was in a constant state of worry. Did he not want to see her again? Did he think she was being too clingy? Oh god, she should have known sex would be a game changer. What if he had wanted sex all along and after she confided in him about her past and—

The cybercrimes door slammed open and Casey jumped. She bashed her knee against her desk and hissed in pain. "This is just so unfair!" She heard Elías whine.

"What's unfair?" Casey groaned as she rubbed her aching knee.

Elías sank into his chair, huffing. He pushed on the floor and rolled towards Casey. "I had plans tonight but nooo, Gordon has a job for me!"

"Didn't you ask if you could do it another time?" Casey asked. Gordon was pretty flexible when it came to scheduling non-emergency jobs.

"I did but he said it had to be done tonight," Elías complained. He continued to whine under his breath in Spanish as he went back to his work station. But when he stopped, he started to stare at Casey with a weird look on his face.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" He asked abruptly.

Casey shook her head, still worried about Bruce. "No," she admitted sadly.

But Elías's eyes lit up. "Great!" He exclaimed. "You can do it!"

"Do what?" She asked warily.

"So, someone needs to go to Blackgate and help configure their new computer system. Apparently Gordon volunteered the Cybercrimes division to keep the prison and the GCPD connected. He doesn't want another incident like Christmas Eve happening again." He rolled his eyes but flashed Casey a smile. "So can you do it? It'll be a cinch."

Casey broke into a cold sweat. The last time she stepped foot into Blackgate, she nearly died. She could still feel the Joker's hands around her throat both awake and asleep. "Um," she said, chewing on her lip and touching the base of her neck. "Can't you do it?" She asked.

Elías pouted. "I would but if I miss another date then I'll never had a shot with Ben. Please," he begged. "Please Casey."

She sighed. She remembered a PTSD treatment she read about on the internet: Prolonged Exposure Treatment. It was a treatment that gave someone real world experience with the cause of their anxiety. Normally it happened in a controlled environment but she could use it as a field test to see how far her progress had come. (Dr. Crane did say she was making tremendous progress.)

"Fine," she said, hoping this won't backfire on her. "I'll do it."

Elías grinned. "Thanks Casey," he exclaimed. "You're the best."

-x-

That night, it began to rain. Casey dressed in boots, jeans, and a heather gray hoodie, mentally preparing herself for entering Blackgate again. She sat in her car, staring up at the high prison walls. The Joker's in there, she thought. Locked up, she reminded herself. He was locked up and there's was no way he was going anywhere near her. From what Elías told her, she'd be working in the Administration building.

Let's do it. She pulled her hood up over her head and got out of her car. A guard greeted her at the entrance. "Name?" He asked.

"Casey Wilson," she replied. "I'm from the Cybercrimes Division of the Gotham City Police Department." She pulled her work badge out of her pocket and showed it to him.

The guard's brow furrowed as he looked at his clipboard. "We were expecting an Elías Vega," he said slowly.

"Something came up and he couldn't make it," Casey lied. "So I came in his place. I'm the senior analyst, anyway."

"Alright," the guard relented. He printed Casey a visitor pass and she clipped it to her sweatshirt pocket. "You're going to follow this hallway and take a left. You'll come into the courtyard and the entrance to Administration is just beyond that. A guard will be there to escort you."

"Thank you," Casey said.

She didn't see anyone else as she walked down the long hallway and it unnerved her. An uneasy feeling settled in her gut. Perhaps it was just nerves from being here again. She hoped it was her nerves. But her stomach kept rolling as she walked.

When she made it outside, she pulled her hood back up. A man approached her. "Are you the person from Cybercrimes?" He asked.

He was a tall, African-American man with an eye patch over his right eye. It was Warden Martin Joseph, she realized. "Yes," she replied. "I'm Casey Wilson. I've been told you need someone to configure your new computer system?"

"Yes," Warden Joseph said. Together they headed for the Administration building. "We have a number of things that need to be done but first you'll need to work on the codes for the locks on the cells."

"Are you saying the cell locks aren't secure?" Casey asked, alarmed.

But Warden Joseph shook his head. "Of course not. We're updating them to a newer system. You'll see when we arrive at my office."

The entered the building and Casey found herself standing before a grand staircase. She hadn't come this way during the last time she was here and she found herself glad she was nowhere near the cell blocks. They climbed the stairs, all the way up to Warden Joseph's office.

"So is your computer going to be the central hub of the prison or will you have another security room?" Casey asked as she sat down at the Warden's desk.

"My computer will be the master computer," he replied. "I want it to have a master control program. Nothing changes in this prison without me noticing or my permission."

"Okay." She said and booted up the program. The new system was much better than the old one, Casey saw right away. This one had emergency lock down protocols that would not only shut down all the buildings but each and every wing if need be. And there were backup generators in the Industrial building to make sure the place never went off-grid.

She made sure each code would execute correctly. "Did someone take a look at the locks and check to make sure they work properly?" She asked.

"Yes. Everything works."

"Okay," she muttered. She set up the firewalls and security checkpoints. "So I'm going to set the codes to your security card," she explained. "And you can enter them in manually to what you want." When the system prompted her to enter in the new codes, she got up and let Warden Joseph to sit down.

While he entered in the new codes, she took the time to look around. The room was large and circular with the desk centered in the center. And when she looked up, she spied a railing. An interesting choice for the warden's office but perhaps Warden Joseph liked grandiose offices.

"Alright," Warden Joseph announced. "Done. What next—"

BOOM. The entire office shook and Casey let out a cry.

"What was that?" She shrieked, her heart pounding.

"I don't know," he said and stood up. He ran to the door. "What happened?" He shouted into the hallway.

Alarms started blaring and terror flooded Casey. "What does that mean," she squeaked, her heart sinking lower and lower.

Warden Joseph turned to look at her, his face grim. "That means there's a security breach."

As if on cue, a guard ran into the room. "Someone's bombed the prison in an escape attempt!" He shouted, panting. "Inmates are running loose!"

-x-

The wraps up chapter twenty-four. We start Blackgate next chapter. And Casey's stuck right in the middle of a prison riot. Not only is the Joker loose but also the Penguin and Black Mask are loose too. It's not looking too good for her, is it?

Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter twenty-five!