Rising into the sky of Gotham city, stood Wayne Enterprises. The powerhouse of a company rose to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the most competitive companies and productions out there. And behind it all; was the Billionaire, playboy in Bruce Wayne himself. Or that was at least the face he showed to the world; to hide the fact that he was also the famous masked vigilante, Batman.

But either way, no matter what version of himself he could be... He was being defeated by the mountain of paperwork that was building it's own skyline across his workspace.

Sitting at his desk, Bruce was being towered over by the massive amount of business files and papers that needed his attention. Sure, he had recaptured Joker and put him back into Arkham Asylum, but in the time it took to defeat the demented clown... Things needing his attention 'back home' had been backing up. And now coming back to his civilian life, he needed to get back to getting things moving again. And that needed his own John Hancock.

"Ugh, do these all really need my attention Alfred? Can't Lucius handle some of these?"

Gesturing from behind the pile, Bruce tried to weasel out of some of the work. He knew that he had to do some of it, but did he have to do all of it? Wanting to rely on his more playboy, frivolous attitude to get out of some of the tasks before him. Needing to keep up appearances and all. Not just wanting to get out of work, surely.

"This is the pile that was left over from what Mr. Fox has done, Master Bruce." Straightening a bit of the askew paperwork, Alfred knew that it was just the tiredness from wrangling Joker, talking. And that he would be more productive tomorrow once he got a good night of sleep. But that didn't help the situation at current, with Bruce being exhausted and faced with an such intimidating task before him. And what the butler was going to have to tell him, wasn't going to make the situation any better.

"I regret to inform you, is that you have your one'o clock today. And Miss Dinkley is waiting on report on her compound that she has graciously been letting us use for some of our production."

Slumping into his seat, any motivation he had to actually get working on the paperwork just left him. Just the mention of Velma Dinkley made him feel frazzled and unmotivated. Not because of her, well... maybe partly because of her. But more at what he had to do to not get his secret found out around her.

Velma Dinkley, one of the well known mystery and crime solving gang member of Mystery Incorporated. And their resident braniac. And not only has she brought to the table, several of her patients that have been crucial to Wayne Tech's advancements...

But she also has helped his other half, Batman... Catch several of his most dangerous criminals. She also was well known as a Nasa space consultant, and in the scientific community as an important contributor.

So, since she was crazy smart, on top of actually have met and worked with his alter ego... He had to be particularly annoying and over exaggerate his playboy persona around her. To make sure she didn't discover who he really was. But the act of fooling such an amazing woman, was really draining. And it also made him feel really bad, since it wasn't Velma's fault. Unless he was to blame her for being TOO smart.

Reading his mind, and body posture. Alfred adjusted one of the piles that looked particularly unstable and halved it, before nonchalantly offering a solution.

"Why not stop pretending?"

"Well, it would probably set off her mind right away, if I just dropped the act out of the blue. And she is too clever for her own good. I don't think it would take long for her to figure it out." He sighed, placing a hand upon his face to hold up his head.

"Do you dislike Miss Dinkley?" Alfred asked, though a small corner of his mouth pulled off to the side. A good butler was there for all aspects of his masters life.

"Not at all. She is really smart and clever. Constantly amazing me with what she comes up with in the lab. And she has gone toe to toe with Joker, Penguin and others and helped me catch them. Also she is stronger then she seems, being able to lift her group and run with them on multiple occasions and long distances too. And certainly easy on the eyes, wrapped up in that sweater skirt combo..."

Sighing, he really didn't like lying to Velma.

"She really would be my ideal, but..."

"But?" Eyed Alfred, letting Bruce do all the heavy lifting.

"But...?"

Thinking about it, Bruce wasn't able to think of why he should be lying to her. Sure, he was doing it so that she didn't find out about being Batman. But, was her knowing really a bad thing?

Usually he didn't want to mix 'business' with pleasure. Using his playboy facade to distance himself from his night job. But it was also to keep the ladies he had went out with, safe. Most of the women that fawned all over his billionaire self, would be ripe for a kidnapping or worse if they became more then a fling. (Though he always made to sure bring them home safe, like the gentleman he truly was.)

But the idea of Velma being kidnapped made him grin at the thought. Pitying anyone who tried to go after the detective. Maybe her companion Daphne, but Velma was less damsel in distress then her taller cohort. And had heard stories of the few that had tried going after the bi-spectacle woman, and ended up on the loosing end of that ordeal.

Thinking about it deeper, Velma really was someone he might be able to fall for? Would it be ok, to actually allow himself to actually consider the idea?

She was brilliant, rivaling his own mind and sometimes even surpassing him. She always kept him on his toes and surprising him when she really got going. He certainly wouldn't be worried about any dull conversations. And he bet she would be up for debating at times as well... He could use an equal like that.

And she wasn't one for mincing words either. It didn't matter that he was head of the largest company in Gotham and pretty big world wide. She told him straight out what she thought and if something should be changed or altered because it wasn't working. Being hard headed and stubborn when she needed to be. Digging in and sticking to her guns on her ideas and reasoning. And usually, she was right.

Also she was tough and strong, taking on criminals on a regular basis. So, he wouldn't have to worry about her around his other half. Though if he really got serious, he bet he could teach her a few things to help ensure her safety if he was really worried. Though outrageously if she wanted to join him... He wasn't sure he would know how to deal with it. She had plenty of tales that echoed his own in their extremes, the ones he knew of at least. She did have a large criminal list, maybe even long enough to rival his own in number.

Finally, she would be perfect on his arm. Not to use her as eye candy, unless she wanted to be. (Curious on how she would look in a nice dress by his side.) She wouldn't be someone that the media or the ladies that fawn over him could touch. Not from any rich family, or old money for sure. It didn't change the fact that she was world wide famous. There was not many that hadn't heard of Mystery Inc's exploits across the globe, even if they hadn't heard of her specifically by name. With enough clout behind her, to stand toe to toe with most of those ladies with Silver Spoons in their mouths, thinking that he belonged to them. She also had the backing of the large corporation in the Blake Family, who were not someone he would ever want to make enemies with. Their daughter, Daphne being best friends to Velma. Or at least they seemed close.

So, he didn't think she would be someone that would be brought negative light to him, or him to her. At least in the high society circles he had to interact in, being a Wayne. (The only problem for her, probably would be fighting against his playboy self and being the 'one' to tie him down.) He wasn't sure if she would be interested in having to stake her claim on him...

But that would be 'if' she would even be interested in him. It was just idle thoughts about if it was even worth it on his end to stop the charade.

Could Velma Dinkley... Be the woman he had secretly been hoping for all this time?

He never let himself really think about any lady seriously, but that was because he never thought he could find someone that would be able to handle both sides of him and be able to accept him as a whole. Some had come close, but there was the downside of them being villains in the end.

But... Velma was different.

Reading Bruce Wayne like a book, Alfred wandered over to a file cabinet and pulled out one more bit of paperwork. Walking over, he placed the small file down in front of him and went back to work making tea. Letting Bruce make his own decision on the Dinkley case. Having placed everything he could find about the woman, in the folder that now sat there. Organized and well documented in the paperwork that now sat before him.

"You..."

"Yes, Master Bruce?"

"Never mind. I probably would have looked into her anyway. Thank you. Though I figure you have read it. Is there anything I need to know?" Shaking his head, Bruce had to smile. Alfred was the best butler, and knew him better then he knew himself. Just wondering how long this file had been sitting in that drawer waiting for him to 'think' about it.

"Other then a few small gaps in lack of information, she was relatively easy to find out about."

"Gaps?"

"Well, there was an event in Louisiana that is lacking information and detail about specifics. The locals seem to be clammed up about any further investigations. And there was another town that seemed to be hiding something, but I was unable to find out more. Though I can now recommend a rather interesting band to Master Tim, that he might like." Alfred summarized, not finding much to really concerned about. It didn't seem to be a big enough secret that would cause worry. After all, some secrets were bigger then others.

Something Bruce Wayne knew all too well.

But overall, she didn't have anything glaring that tipped Alfred off. At least nothing that was in a negative way to not be worth strongly considering. And Bruce trusted Alfred's ability to judge a person's character, as well as his own. An important detective skill, as well as one for business. And while Velma might have some mysteries of her own, it didn't feel like anything that was worth pursuing at the moment that needed answers.

Flipping through the file once more, Bruce approved of the photo in her file. Playing with the edge of the photo as it was clipped to the paperwork in the manila folder in his hands.

'She looked really good in a lab coat.' He mused to himself, trying to wrestle with his own emotions and thoughts, but he didn't have much time to decide... unless he wanted to draw this out and have to continue to lie to her. And frankly, he was really tired today.

"Velma Dace Dinkley... Hm."