"Can't you be optimistic?
You're no longer the ingenue."

DING DING DING

Rosalind woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm on her phone. She rolled over with a groan, pawing at the phone on the nightstand until it turned off. It was seven AM. She had forgotten to set it for a later time last night.

Rosalind had been trying a new writing routine lately. Usually, she was a night owl, writing into the darkest hours. But ever since she started to write her new book, she had begun waking up early to force herself to write. And now with a whole new idea due soon so it was all the more reason to spend her time working.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. But now Rosalind was cursing her past self as she trudged out of bed and into her bathroom. She might as well keep her streak going.

Soon, Rosalind was dressed (and by dressed, she was wearing fuzzy socks, sweatpants, and an old theatre t-shirt from high school) and heading out of the room with her laptop and notebook. She would often work and eat breakfast at the same time.

Walking through the halls of Wayne Manor was an experience she had never quite gotten used to. It always seemed to be cold in the halls. In fact, it always seemed to be cold everywhere.

The walls were lined with framed portraits and news articles about the Waynes. They went back decades and Rosalind watched the family grow then shrink again.

She was in a few of the pictures, mainly ones of her and Bruce when they were much younger. The articles were all about the Wayne's achievements. Well, all except one.

Right between an article about the renewal program being launched and a family portrait was an old article that had Rosalind's beaming face on it.

DEBUT GOTHAM WRITER TAKES BESTSELLER LIST BY STORM

Gotham's own Rosalind Pennyworth makes history with her debut thriller mystery: "Divinity" hitting #1 on the fiction bestseller list in less than a week. Critics are calling her "the Stephen King of her generation." 24 year old Pennyworth has been signed on with Gotham Press Publishing for a six figure deal and more books on the way-

Rosalind couldn't help but smile as she passed the framed article. The first time she saw it, she had assumed her father had hung it up. She had told him to put it somewhere else, that while it was nice, it didn't belong in this hall among the Wayne achievements. But Alfred had been just as surprised to see it there as she was.

She reached the kitchen, grabbing a muffin before going to join her father at the table.

"Morning, Dad." She kissed her father on the cheek before sitting next to him. She opened her laptop and took a bite of her muffin as she began to read over what she wrote last.

"You're up early, darling," Alfred said, glancing up from his own work. Rosalind noticed that it was the cipher that Bruce had gotten yesterday.

"I've been getting up early to work," She sighed.

"Neither of you get enough sleep," He shook his head. "I'm amazed you can function at all."

"I got a solid five hours," Rosalind shrugged and reached over him to the berries in a dish on the table. "I can function just fine, Dad. Now if it was four hours, that'd be a different story."

Alfred rolled his eyes. They spent the next hour in a comfortable silence, the only sound was the typing of Rosalind's computer. Every once in a while she would ask his opinion on a line or two. It had been a while since the two Pennyworths had enjoyed each other's company like this.

Bruce entered the room a bit later. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed. Copper trailed after him, sniffing around the room. Then the dog trotted over to the table and put his head in Alfred's lap, begging for food. He scratched behind the dog's ears.

"Hey, good morning sleeping beauty," Rosalind said sarcastically, not looking up from her laptop.

"...Morning Rosie-Posie," He replied, using the nickname he knew she hated. Rosalind flipped him off as she kept typing with her other hand.

"Some fresh berries there," Alfred said, ignoring the two's usual bickering and swatting his daughter's middle finger down. Bruce took the bowl from the table and looked down at Alfred's work.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just reminiscing about my days in the circus," Alfred replied. "This is actually quite elusive."

Bruce looked over Alfred's shoulder at the cipher. Rosalind stopped typing for a moment to look as well. The letters they knew were filled in, along with a few others.

"Where'd you get those os?" Bruce asked, pointing down at the paper.

"'He lies still' is only a partial key," Alfred explained. "It only gives us H, E, L, I, S, and T so I'm looking for any double symbols to start. Trying letters to see where it leads."

"That's interesting." Bruce said.

He pulled out a pair of sunglasses from seemingly nowhere and put them on. Rosalind couldn't help but scoff.

"...What?" He looked down at her.

"Please don't tell me you've become one of those assholes who wears sunglasses inside," She said. "Has it really been that long since my last visit? Usually I can keep you from doing things like this."

"Right, because you're the fashion expert," He nodded to what she was wearing.

"We're basically wearing the same thing," She gestured to his own large t-shirt and sweatpants. "But at least I actually own things that aren't all black. Why the sunglasses though?"

"It's bright in here," Bruce replied.

"I think this whole bat thing is making you think you're a vampire," Rosalind shook her head. "God forbid you ever go to the beach. I think you'd blind everyone with how pale you are right before you burn to a crisp."

She reached up to take a berry from the bowl but he held it up out of her reach. She swatted at his side in defeat. Bruce leaned over the back of her chair, resting his hands on the table either side in front of her, looking at her laptop screen.

"Which one is this?" He asked. "I thought you were working on something new."

"I was," She sighed. "Before yesterday I was more than halfway through a first draft of a new book. But like I said last night, they want a sequel to my last one instead. These are just ideas I'm kicking around. But I hate all of them."

Bruce hummed as a response. He leaned closer to get a better look, his chest against her back. Copper gave up trying to get food from Alfred and switched to the other Pennyworth who still had half a muffin left. She looked down at her dog.

"Not for you sir," She shook her head. "There's chocolate in this. Plus, you abandoned me last night."

"Did he?" Alfred chuckled.

"Went into his room instead," Rosalind pointed up at Bruce. "Like a traitor."

"I don't know why." Bruce said simply. "I barely tolerate him."

Bruce reached for Rosalind's muffin and broke off a piece of it, careful to not take any of the chocolate chips. He took the piece and fed it to Copper.

"Well good news since you 'barely tolerate' him," Rosalind said. "Because we're leaving soon."

"Already?" Alfred looked up. "You're more than welcome to spend the day, darling. We just have the accountant meeting in a bit. Besides, we could use an extra set of eyes with this cipher. You're good at things like this. Didn't one of your books have a code? Which one...?"

"My second one," Rosalind answered. "The villain in Silence Is Golden used codes to leave clues."

"They were clever," Her father nodded. "And your brilliant brain came up with those. So I want your help on this. Just for today. We could use the help. Right?"

He looked at Bruce expectantly. But he hadn't been listening. He was still reading the ideas on Rosalind's laptop. At this point he was so tired that he was practically slumped over her, his chin resting on the top of her head as he scrolled through her work.

Bruce and Rosalind had always just been comfortable around each other. It was a side effect of spending the last two decades around each other. For a long time, it was unusual for Bruce to really touch anyone. But Rosalind had always been a bit clingy, practically hanging off of him when they were younger. So over the years he had gotten used to her and they got close enough for him to start to be the first to lean on or initiate any kind of contact with her.

"Right?" Alfred repeated. Bruce perked up, lifting his chin off her head.

"Right." He said. "Sure, stay if you want, Rosie."

"I feel so loved." She rolled her eyes.

"I like the fourth one," Bruce ignored her and scrolled back up to the idea she had written on the laptop.

"Mr. Pennyworth,"

Dory was standing in the doorway. Rosalind smiled at her. She had always liked Dory, she had often looked after her and Bruce when Alfred needed a break from them. The woman had been strict yet fun when they were younger and Rosalind could confirm that she was still the best cook.

"Yes Dory?" Alfred turned in his chair to look at her.

"The accountants are here."

"Send them in please, Dory."

"That's my cue," Rosalind said. "I'll be working in the library if anyone needs me."

Not wanting to get in the way, Rosalind shut her laptop. She wriggled out from under Bruce and he stood up straight to let her out. She kissed her father on the cheek again then looked up at Bruce.

"I'm not kissing you," She said. "Not with those stupid sunglasses."

Bruce's lips twitched into a hint of a smile. He popped one of the berries into his mouth and offered her the bowl for one to take. She instead took the entire bowl from his hands and walked away with it. Rosalind whistled and Copper followed after her. She made her way to the library.

Well, it wasn't exactly a library. It was more of a large office. But it was so full of books that Rosalind had dubbed it the library when she was eleven. She sat at the desk while Copper hopped up onto the cozy chair in the corner that Rosalind had spent many hours reading in over the years.

She opened her laptop, reading over what she had written last and writing new ideas that came to her. Sliced had been one of the hardest books to write. How she would come up with an idea for the sequel, let alone write it, was currently a mystery to her.

Marley, the main character of Sliced, had caught the killer and sent them to prison. Everything had wrapped up so nicely. The question was: what now?

Bruce said he had liked her fourth idea. She looked at it again. Politics were occasionally alluded to in the first book. So, she had invented an entirely new villain, just a vague outline of a masked killer getting rid of political officials one by one. Of course he would choose that one. The mayor had just been killed after all. Rosalind scoffed quietly, very funny Bruce.

After a while, Rosalind had gotten up and began to pace in order to organize her thoughts. Copper lazily watched her walk back and forth from his spot on the chair. Her mind was going a mile a minute, analyzing possible plot lines and characters.

Could have the killer escape from jail to get revenge...

No, that's too cliche, it's been done a million times...

A copycat killer maybe? One who wants the spotlight the old one had, take up the mantle...

No, her third book was about a copycat killer she can't do it again...

Maybe more than one copycat? A whole army of them...

What if she couldn't do it? What if Sliced had been her best and she would never reach that level ever again? How the hell was she supposed to come up with something as good as the last thing she did that was already great? ...Maybe she was spiraling a bit.

Rosalind wasn't sure how long she had been in the library but there was a soft knock at the door. Her father stuck his head in.

"We're done with the accountants," he said. "If you'd like to join us down below."

Rosalind seemed to blink and she was sitting in a chair in the Batcave looking at the cipher. But her mind was elsewhere.

"What if it's not a partial key?" Bruce was asking.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.

"What if this was the whole key?" Bruce explained.

Rosalind looked closer. Something about it was so familiar...

"Do you remember the code in Silence Is Golden?" She asked.

Alfred nodded but Bruce looked at her blankly. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"My second book."

"...Yes."

"Anyway," She rolled her eyes at him. "The clue that the killer left at the first scene? But it wasn't a code, but a map of sorts."

"What are you saying?" Bruce asked.

"What if the letters we have are all there are?" She went on. "What if... there are no other letters? Maybe it's a map like in my book."

Bruce caught onto what she was implying and looked closer at the cipher. He began to nod.

"Ignore the symbols we don't have letters for." he said. "Use only the letters from 'he lies still' and leave the rest-"

"Blank," Alfred was already putting it into the computer. "Yeah, I understand. But that would leave most of the cipher unsolved. I don't see how that's gonna- oh."

It worked. Getting rid of the other letters left a single word mapped out on the screen. DRIVE. They all stared at it for a moment.

"That is..." Rosalind winced. "Not a map. But still. Creepily like my book. I don't like that. That's-"

"Weird." Bruce finished.

Bruce had to go. And looking at the time, so did Rosalind.

"I'll be fine Dad," She was saying.

"You know I worry," Alfred frowned. "And you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you'd like, you know that."

"I do know that," She nodded. "And I love you for that. But what I also know is that I have my own apartment that I'd very much like to get back to."

Reluctantly, her father let her go. As he entered the elevator, she could hear him mumble something about "birds leaving the nest." Rosalind shook her head and turned to gather her laptop. She could feel Bruce's eyes on her.

"...I'm sorry," He said suddenly, breaking the silence. "About Everett."

Rosalind thought back to the night before when he didn't even seem to remember that she and Everett had broken up.

"It's... fine." She replied. "I know you didn't like him."

"...But you did."

Rosalind paused. She did. She had loved Everett. But now... that was over. It was done. She had other things to focus on.

"I did," She agreed. "But according to him, I liked working even more. So... yeah. It's fine. Go do your thing."

"He's an idiot." Bruce said simply, beginning to walk away to prepare to head into the night. But he had said it so softly that she had barely heard him.

"Be careful," she called after him as she entered the elevator. "If you need help... You know I'm here for you."

He glanced back at her over his shoulder as the elevator doors closed.

Rosalind decided to relax for the night. Writing was stressing her out so much that she had begun to get a headache. She was getting so desperate she considered praying to Stephen King for inspiration. Instead, she put a movie on the TV and began to boil water on the stove to make pasta.

She wouldn't think about her book. She wouldn't think about her deadline. And she certainly wouldn't think about how a literal killer's recent moves were eerily similar to ones she had written before-

There was a knock at her window.

Rosalind jumped from her spot in the kitchen and whirled around, wooden spoon at the ready.

Yet, Copper was sitting in front of the window with his tail wagging.

On the fire escape stood the Batman. He knocked again.

Rosalind trudged over to the window and thrust it open angrily. He climbed into her apartment easily.

Bruce had always been taller than her, that she knew. That she was used to. But Batman was different. He seemed even larger and much more imposing as he towered over her. Rosalind took a step back, yet didn't falter her angry gaze.

"I saw you two damn hours ago," She said. "Any reason you show up at my window like this?"

"I need your help, Rosie."

Batman looked around the living room. His eyes grazed over the TV still playing, on Copper who was sitting patiently at his side waiting to be pet, to Rosalind who was standing with her arms crossed and still holding the wooden spoon.

"If I was breaking in," He said. "What was a wooden spoon gonna do?"

"Kill you." She snapped. "Bruce, what do you need?"

And so he told her. How DRIVE had been the car. The "thumb" drive. The pictures of the mayor and some girl. The Penguin. How he wanted to go to the Iceberg Lounge and needed an extra pair of eyes-

"Fuck. No."

"Rosie," He sighed. "You said you'd help."

"I can't go gallivanting with Batman in a club," She said. "I have a reputation to uphold. I'll get recognized."

"You aren't that famous." He replied. "Go get dressed."

"Wow."

JILLIAN SPEAKS!

I adore their friendship and how you can already tell they're both just simps (especially Bruce) without realizing it. Friends to lovers is my shit.

Also, keep the comments coming! You guys are funny as hell half the time the comments have me so weak. Let me know what you think of the story so far, what you think of Rosalind, what you want to see, blah, blah, blah. Just keep interacting bc I'm an attention whore I mean what-

Until next time, love y'all <3