I THOUGHT OF MY previous question, what the hell was Bats doing at Wayne Manor?

Well, if my current hypothesis is correct, I think I have my answer.

Oh my God, there's literally no. way. There's no way! This is it. I'm absolutely crazy. Abso-freakin'-lutely crazy! Am I even listening to myself? I'm actually considering the fact that one of the most famous billionaire playboy's of all time might be Batman?!

I mean, I've met the man. Or, at least what I'm assuming is his 'daytime persona.' He's a lady-killer; the one who always had the million-dollar smile in the room. Bats was... dark. Cut off from society. Serious. If you looked up the word 'brooding' in the dictionary, a picture of him would be there.

There's just no way this can be the same guy.

Yet... something in my gut just told me he was.

I would've never even seen it, but if I look closely (like, really, really closely) they did share a lot of similar characteristics.

Even just physically, he resembles what I saw of the Dark Knight back on the rooftop. 6'2, all muscle, dark hair and blue eyes. They both have those pink lips and strong jaw. But mentally, they were both unafraid of almost anything. They could be the center of attention the second they entered a room. They both would do whatever it takes to get a task done and succeed. And, they both hated me.

That last one definitely sealed the deal.

Either he noticed my visibly pale face, or I had just been silent for too long, but Bruce snapped me from my thoughts nonetheless. "Brielle? Are you alright?"

I looked up, mouth gaped open for a moment before giving him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. I let out an airy chuckle, nervousness swirling somewhere in there if you payed close attention. "Huh? Oh, yeah, um, I'm fine. Sorry, just lost in thought for a second."

He gave me another soft smile, and other than maybe-possibly-accidentally melting inside, (oh come on, he's the Bruce Wayne, don't act like you wouldn't either) doubt swarmed over me. I knew it made sense logically, but I'm not entirely sure I wanted to believe it. I mean, are you telling me I'm staring into the eyes of Batman right now?

This is too creepy.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, a cheery voice rang into the kitchen.

"Brielle!"

I quickly turned to find a bright ravenette bouncing into the kitchen.

"Dick! Hey!" I greeted, eager to switch to another topic.

Dicks smile slowly fell off his face as he looked back and forth between Bruce and I. "Um, did I miss something?"

I flashed the boy a big grin. "Nope, just small talk."

His smile soon followed. "Cool. So, what brings you to the manor?"

"I was in town, figured I'd stop by," I shrugged, leaning back on the table behind me.

Inside my head, I was freaking out. Every alarm was going off and I'm pretty sure the room was starting to get a little dizzy. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, but I used the table for support as I continued to listen to Dick.

"And you came looking for lil' ol'me? I feel so special," he grinned as he walked over to get an apple out of the bowl on the counter. "Want one?"

I shook my head. "I ate before I left."

Dick nodded and walked back to the kitchen table. He gestured for me to sit, and I slowly made my way over to the wooden chair.

"So, was it a short ride here?" he asked.

I chuckled. "With a family like mine, an hour together in an enclosed space can feel like an eternity."

"I know exactly how you feel," he laughed.

I was about to change the subject again and bring up our previous conversation, but thought better of it. There was no reason to raise anymore suspicions, especially if you-know-who was you-know-who. (No, not Voldemort.)

"Um, actually," I started, giving Dick a shy smile that I knew hooked guys every time, "I was kinda wondering if I could.. maybe have a tour? I mean, I don't want to seem like that, and I totally understand if it's too much of an invasion of space, but the manor's just so gorgeous aー"

"Yeah, of course!" Dick interrupted, "As long as it's okay with Bruー um, my dad."

We both turned to Bruce expectantly. "Actually, we did have an eventー"

"Dad, please?" Dick pleaded.

Bruce stared at him for another moment, and I almost snickered. The big, bad Bats was being persuaded byー wait, if Bruce was who I thought he was, didn't that make Dick..?

Oh fuck no.

Finally the older man sighed. "Alright, I guess we can cancel. But just this once."

I almost laughed. Almost. Why? Domestic Bats was scarily hilarious.

Dick stood up and offered me his hand. I rolled my eyes, brushing it away as I stood up. He frowned, but his happy features quickly bounced back. "Anything in particular you wanted to see first?"

I shook my head, a small smile on my lips. "Doesn't matter to me. It's probably all fabulous."

He chuckled as we walked out of the room. "It's just a house."

I stared at him incredulously. "Just a house? Dick, 'just a house' doesn't sit on over a hundred acres of land."

"That's what everyone says," he sang, "anyways, this is the first formal dining room.."

* * *

The tour was almost over, and I had still seen no sign of the Batcave. None! Oh, did I forget to mention? I didn't actually want a tour, I just wanted to confirm my suspicions. And we had been at this for almost an hour! An hour of Dick just explaining the relevance of old pieces of art and furniture, and then me pretending I was interested in whatever the hell he was saying.

I was about to turn down the next hallway, but he just kept walking past it. I paused. Throughout the entire tour, he hadn't failed to not thoroughly explain each and every place within the manor. "Hey, you skipped a hallway."

He turned back around, almost surprised that I had actually noticed. "Oh, there's not much to say about that one, just some paintings."

I glanced down the long hall, illuminated with dim lights. At the end sat a big grandfather clock, which I raised an eyebrow at. "What about the clock?"

When I looked at him, he shrugged. "Just a clock from my great grandfather. Anywaysー"

"It's gorgeous," I said with mock awe as I trailed down the hallway.

He hurriedly jogged after me, putting an hand on my arm. "Hey, c'mon. It's just an old clock, and I have something really exciting to show you down the next hall."

"Oh," I pouted, looking down at the floor, "alright I guess."

I was about to start walking down the other hall when he sighed. "Hey, hey, we can still look at it."

I bit back a smirk. "Really?"

"Sure," he said, "but I'm gonna warn you, it's honestly not that interesting."

I spun around on my heel and practically pranced down the hall, making sure to pay attention to every detail. There were paintings on either side, a carved wooden table to my right. I approached the clock at the end of the hall and inspected it.

"Anything else you know about this, other than it came from your grandfather?" I asked, not looking at him.

I could see him shrug out of my peripheral. "Like I said, not much to say. It was expensive though."

"Oh, I'm sure," I hummed, glancing down towards the carpet. I slightly scrunched my eyebrows. The carpet right under it was disturbed, pushed more over towards the left. I rose an eyebrow, which he seemed to notice.

"Something wrong?"

I slowly shook my head before turning back to him with a smile. "No, no. Nothing. Anyways, want to show me that exciting thing now?"

He grinned. "Yeah, of course. Right this way, madam."

I rolled my eyes, the smile still firm on my face, but not for the reason he thought. I brushed past him and walked down the hall, a plan already forming in my head.

* * *

"And that's what's going to happen."

There was silence as the woman stared at me with a blank face. I raised my eyebrows. "Well? What do you think?"

After another pause, Selina finally spoke. "I still think this is the dumbest thing you've ever done. Which is saying a lot, because I've witnessed you try to take on Bane with a can of silly string."

"Did you see his face, though?" I chuckled, "totally worth the broken arm."

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the microwave, which had almost finished heating up some leftover spaghetti from the other night. I sat on top of the counter next to her, leaning back on my hands with my legs crossed. The beeping of the microwave suddenly rung in my ears and Selina opened it, pulling out the pasta.

She sighed as she walked away to find a fork. "Whatever, Bri. I mean, I'll still help you, because I'm not idiotic enough to pass that opportunity up, but just know I'm not happy about it."

"Yeah, yeah," I yawned, inhaling the smell of spaghetti which filled the room, "anyways, I'm beat. I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

"Night," she mumbled as she began to eat.

I hopped off of the counter and began to travel towards my room. It was still mostly empty; since we moved apartments we haven't had much time to do any decorating. And seeing I was going to leave in a week anyways, I didn't see the need to do any.

With a sigh I threw myself on top of my bed. I stared up at the white ceiling, my eyes slowly beginning to shut, when suddenly the crackle of a radio filled the room. My eyes popped open and I sat up, looking to see the small black police radio Selina and I had stolen come to life.

"Attention all units. Bank robbery in progress on the corner of Fourth and Baker. Requesting immediate backup."

I paused. Sure, I'm tired. But I did only have a week of free crime left, so shouldn't I be using it to its fullest?

My eyes drifted towards the black duffle bag haphazardly thrown in the corner which contained my suit. With a groan I pushed myself off of the bed and walked towards it, zipping it open. I pulled out my domino mask and put it on, the rest of the suit following after.

When I had finished, I took a quick glance at myself in the mirror. I had a black leather catsuit like Selina, black heeled boots, and a domino mask similar to that of the Boy Wonder. My wavy brown locks tumbled around my shoulders and ended near the middle of my back. I smirkedー my lips painted their signature redー before reaching back into the bag and strapping my weapons on.

A gun holster on each leg, a set of throwing knives scattered around in various hiding places, and my black utility belt on my waist which contained a lot of fun goodies. (Not actual candy, if you didn't guess.) I did a quick check to make sure that I wasn't missing anything, and realized I didn't grab my grappling gun. I reached back into the bag and saw it sitting on the bottom, before grabbing it and attaching the small device to the side of my belt.

Now having everything, I started towards the window. I figured I might as well get used to doing things without Selina, so why not start now?

I popped open the window and swung both legs outside, inhaling the cold Gotham air.

"Day one," I muttered, "here we go."

* * *

Hey! Sorry for so many time skips in this chapter, that's just me being lazy haha. Also, I know I said I wouldn't, but I'm kinda maybe possibly publishing a new Hal Jordan x OC book??? Oopsie. So maybe check that out? I'll be posting it either tonight or tomorrow! Thanks for 1k+!

xo Alexa