Disclaimer: I do not own the Dark Knight trilogy. Just writing my OC for fun.

A/n: Hey all, thank you for the follows, the favorites, and the reviews! Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Batman is a Symbol

I finished putting on a dangled onyx earring that matched my long dress, flowing beautifully as I walked over to put my stiletto's on. The more I practiced walking in high-heeled shoes, the better I got at wearing them. They were a nice pair of strappy ones I got from Macy's, matching my outfit.

The fundraiser was tonight, and I was bustling nervous with nerves up and down my arms, while I got ready. The press really went crazy when I announced that we were together again, and wondered what I had been up to since we last broke up, and what the billionaire has been up to. I told them whatever billionaire's did was their business not mine, and left it to their imaginations. I tried to get them to focus on me, which wasn't that hard to do, especially since Bruce had been by my side a couple times when we went out to dinner.

They'd asked me one simple question. When the wedding date was going to be, and I told them I didn't have an answer for that yet. We were still thinking, and reminiscing our time together that we lost for the whole year.

I was good at acting. I was good at playing the girlfriend of Bruce Wayne. It was fun, even if it messed me up a bit. Did I like him in that way too? Apart of me did. Apart of me was scared that I was starting to have feelings for the delectable Bruce Wayne himself. I know it was a professional situation, and I tried to remain it at that, but I couldn't help the feelings that popped up every now and then.

I walked out of my room, and took my clutch purse with me, heading down into the lobby where I spotted Alfred and Bruce, both in the middle of a conversation.

"I think your fundraiser will be a great success, sir," Alfred said.

"And why do you think I wanna hold a party for Harvey Dent?"

"I assumed it was your usual reason for socializing beyond myself and the scum of Gotham's underbelly: to try to impress Miss Dawes," Alfred said.

"Very droll, but very wrong," Bruce said. "Actually, it's Dent."

"It is?" I asked, stepping onto the scene.

Alfred turned around and saw my dress down to the floor of my pointed shoes.

"You look marvelous, Melanie," he said.

I blushed. "Thank you, Alfred."

"You do look amazing," Bruce agreed, turning around, and taking me in.

My stomach tightened at that, and I pushed away those feelings to the best of my abilities.

"You do too," I said, as he fixed his cuff links.

I gasped a little when I saw a fake Batman had been brought down by the police on TV.

Bruce turned around to face the news.

"Police released video footage found concealed on the body," Mike Engel said. "Sensitive viewers beware. The image is disturbing."

The image continued with the Joker placing the camera on the fake Batman, shivering to death.

"Tell them your name!"

"Brian…" he stammered.

I watched with horror, and felt chills run down my arms and spine.

"Brian Douglas," he said.

"Are you the real Batman?" the Joker asked.

"N-no," he said.

"No?"

"NO!"

The joker ripped his mask off. "Then why do you dress like him?!"

The joker continued to taunt him and laugh menacingly at the camera on the TV.

I cringed, shoulders upward at the laugh. I hated clowns. Clowns were my worst nightmare.

"Because he's a symbol! That we don't have to be afraid of scum like you!"

"Oh, but you do Brian, you really do," he grabbed his head tight. "Oh, shush, shush, shush, shush. So, you think Batman made Gotham a better place? Hmm. Look at me. LOOK at me!"

I felt my face fall at the very idea of looking at that clown and his awful ways of treating this human being right now. That's when I felt his fingers slip through mine. When Bruce's fingers slipped through mine, I felt better.

"You see, this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham. You want order in Gotham? Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in. Oh, and every day he doesn't, people will die," the joker promised. "Starting tonight. I'm a man of my word," he laughed, and laughed, until his face came closer to the screen. I turned my head towards Bruce's chest, and he placed an arm around mine, hugging tight.

"Should we go on with the fundraiser tonight?" Alfred asked.

"Yes," Bruce said. "We won't give in. Mel? Are you all right?"

I drew in a deep breath, and gently pulled apart from his arms. I nodded. "I'm okay. I just…really hate clowns."

He chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I hate this one."

I gave him a small smile, actually feeling some relief from my own feelings at the current moment. It did.

~*TDK*~