Gotham's Finest [Tag Vanessa]

[Batman]

It was that time of year again. The lovely time where the Wayne Foundation would be holding the ever exciting Charity Bachelor Ball. Usually it was Helena’s job to look after the event, taking over for their mother who had originally created the event, but Helena was still in Europe on an extended vacation with her girlfriends. So alas, the duty fell upon Thomas to get everything organized this year, which was why he was at the Police Headquarters.

Ever since it had started, several of the Gotham’s Finest were selected to go up on the chopping block for the rich and bored women of Gotham to fight over and every year Thomas always tried to find some way out of being one of the pieces of meat. This year he luckily was able to remove himself from the bidding block as he had the excuse of organizing the event to get him out of it.

I think I may need to convince Helena to go on more trips this time of year. Being able to avoid being a member of Gotham’s local bachelor meat market is rather nice.[/I]

With his meeting with the Commissioner now over, Thomas walked out of the officer’s office, looking over his shoulder as he exited. “Thanks for the list Commissioner. Appreciate it. I’ll keep in touch.”[/b]

Making his way down the corridors, he smiled at some of the more attractive female officers he passed, and wondered about maybe throwing together a Bachelorette Ball next year. Grinning at the idea as he turned a corner, Thomas almost bumped into the one woman who seemed to take up more of his time lately than other woman he knew, and they weren’t even involved.

“Well good afternoon Miss Vale. Fancy bumping into you here,”[/b] he said with a charming smile.

[Vanessa Vale]

Vanessa has just been coming off the beat, having arrested three men with the help of her partner in a drug bust. She felt her neck starting to get tight, something that happened when she worked several days and nights without a break.

She was on her way to the commissioners office once again. It was likely the man was tired of seeing the young female officer since every other day she had a complaint. This time she'd had enough of the lack of support from her fellow officers. She'd requested backup and none ever came.

Taking off her hat, she pulled out the ponytail at the back of her head and let her hair fall. As she did this she walked with her head down, not noticing at all the man she was about to walk into.

'Well good afternoon Miss Vale. Fancy bumping into you here'

Looking up, Venessa blinked and then frowned, then checked herself and tried to smile. This really was the last situation she wanted to be in when she bumped into the handsome bachelor millionaire.

"Hello Mr. Wayne. It's nice to see you again." She said, holding her hat in both of her hands and flushing slightly.

[Batman]

It wasn’t hard to notice the frown that had briefly adorned the young woman’s face before she had thrown on a smile. Judging by how tired she looked, he could only imagine that she wasn’t having the best of days. Something that he could relate to as he was an expert in having bad days...and nights.

“Likewise. I almost didn’t recognize you without an evening gown on,”[/b] he said jokingly.

Judging from her flushing face he deduced that she was embarrassed to have run into him looking so dishevelled, which meant she was probably attracted to him. It was humorous to him that Vale may have an attraction to him, considering her dislike and annoyance of the Batman. He now knew how his father felt before marrying his mother.

“You look distracted. Having a long day?”[/b]

[Vanessa Vale]

Vanessa sighed. Was it that obvious?
"Well not really. Mostly everything was just normal. I did a drug raide this morning, gave two speeding tickets, busted a prostitude who turned out to be a man, and then ANOTHER drug raid this afternoon. All in all a typical day in gotham."

She tried not to sound too much like a sarcastic bitch as she said it and put a smile on her face. She guessed the man that stood before her had a difficult day as well, most likely he'd had trouble choosing which million dollar gel to put in his hair that morning.

"You look..." She hesitated, "Well kept."

She couldnt decide if she wanted to be offended by his early comment on her frazzled state or not. In the end she decided she was too tired to be offended.

[Batman]

It was in moments like this, as Vanessa described her day, that Thomas realized that the Gotham PD had it pretty easy. Well for the most part, Vale and a few others were good cops who worked hard to protect the city and it’s people, but a majority still didn’t do half the work in a year that he put in over the course of a week.

“Wow. Thanks certainly most impressive Miss Vale,”[/b] he said as he flashed her his best ‘rich boy’ smile. “At the rate you are going, you’ll have the streets cleaned up in no time. Hell, you might even make Commissioner by the time you’re twenty four.”[/b]

He chuckled at her comment of calling him “well kept.” While Thomas did wear expensive suits when he was out keeping up appearances, he still much preferred the cape and cowl. As a kid he never understood his father’s drive, his habits, but as an adult, and current Dark Knight, he understood them more than he liked.

“Thanks,”[/b] he replied, acting oblivious. “It’s one of the latest suits from Armani. Very comfortable. So tell me Miss Vale, any more drug busts on the agenda this week or do you think you’d be free to join me for dinner some evening?”[/b]

He had hoped that she would say “yes” to him asking her to dinner. It would give him a chance to pick her brain about where she stands against the Batman and also give him a chance to get to know her better as well.

[Vanessa Vale]

Vanessa smirked. "If you really think that Mr. Wayne then you're very naieve. A few drug busts are like picking up a few grains of sand on a beach. Especially in gotham. The judges are corrupt and they get bought out by the mob. It's next to impossible to really do any damage."

She sighed and rubbed at her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Looking up at him again, she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes when he told her what kind of suit it was, she wasn't really interested, but what he had to say next caught her off guard. Dinner? With her?

"I think I could squeeze you in." She said slowly, "In between raids and such." She put her hands behind her back, swaying a little as she did so. "Fridays a good night for me."

[Batman]

“Well I wouldn’t want to keep you from all the druggies, rapists, murders, thieves, and male prostitutes of Gotham,”[/b] he said with a chuckle. “After all, a night of dinner and dancing at the finest restaurant in Gotham hardly sounds like it would be fun busting drug dealers and having shoot outs with want to be bank robbers.”[/b]

He was glad that she had accepted his offer to join him for dinner. Not only did it allow him to work, but it also allowed him to keep up appearances as Thomas Wayne as well. With the Bachelor Auction coming up, and him in charge, he needed to keep into the public eye since his sister wasn’t around running the show.

“So how about I call you on Thursday, just to make sure you don’t need to reschedule and we go from there hmm?”[/b]

[Vanessa Vale]

Vanessa smiled brightly, almost giggling at that. He was really a charming guy like they said, and even though it was likely she was just getting taken for a ride it wouldn't hurt to have a night that involved a man that wasn't high, drunk, or wanted by the police.

"Alright. I'm listed so you can find my number."

[Batman]

“Even if you weren’t I’d still be able to track you down,”[/b] he said with a wink. “I am Thomas Wayne after all.”[/b]

He flashed her a bright smile before he reached into his jacket. Pulling one of business cards from the inside pocket of his jacket, he holds it out for Vale to take. He could see that his charming, rich boy routine was working well on her and that was exactly what he wanted.

“Feel free to call me anytime. My work and personal numbers are on there,”[/b]

[Vanessa Vale]

"Yes. Yes you are." Vanessa somewhat sighed under her breath. She then paused, realizing she said that out loud and shook her head sudden. "I mean, uh, a girl would have to be an idiot to not know who you are. Especially a woman in Gotham. Anyway..."

She took his card with both hands, looking at it for a moment before looking back up at him. "Thanks. I should get myself one of these." She slipped it into her pocket and put her hat back on.

"Well, I'd best be going. Talk to you later Thomas." She moved past him to walk into the commissioners office.

[Batman]

He watched her walk past him with a grin on his face. He had to admit, she looked just as good in her uniform as she did in an evening gown. Sure his life didn’t leave much for a love life, but Thomas tried to enjoy it whenever he could and he was certainly going to enjoy his date with Vale. It would allow him to mix business with pleasure for once.

“You know. You’re partner has one hell of an ass,”[/b] he said with a coy grin as he looked to her partner who had been standing there during the whole conversation. “Keep her out of trouble for me will ya? I’d at least like to have her in one piece for our date.”[/b]

He walked past her partner, still grinning, and headed to the front doors. The meter was running low and if he didn’t move his Camaro then he knew he’d be getting ticketed.

**End Of Thread**