A/N: Hello everyone. This is the start that I promised from the one-shot If Only You Knew. I know that this first chapter is currently short, but I promise to try for longer chapters. If I don't update on a regular basis, please don't be angry. Like a lot of you, I'm in school and that takes up a lot of my time. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Begins/The Dark Knight or any other characters you recognize to belong to the Batman empire. As much as I would like to; I don't. Annette is my own creation along with a few other characters who you won't recognize from the movies.

Chapter One: Remedy

The alarm clocked sounded through the silent room. "DIE!" its owner exclaimed, slamming her fist down on the snooze button. The clock immediately quieted. Annette Hallowell (or Annie as she preferred) gazed at the bright red numbers that read 7:30. She had an interview at Wayne Enterprises at eight o'clock and she lived a half hour away from the Wayne tower when traffic was moving quickly. "Dammit!" Annie jumped out of bed and hurriedly threw on the outfit that she had chosen the previous night which consisted of a navy blue skirt, a white shirt, and a matching navy blue jacket. After brushing her teeth and hair, Annie grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She groaned as there was already a line to get a taxi. One of the yellow vehicles was coming to the side of the road and she saw an old woman going to it slowly with her walker. "This is going to come back to bite me in the ass," Annie commented to no one in particular. She almost went to steal the taxi from the old woman, but she couldn't bring herself to take away from the precious dear. So, she let it go. Fate, however, decided to reward this good deed by another taxi pulling up to her. "Wayne tower and step on it!" Annie ordered as she jumped in.

"You got it," the taxi cab driver replied. He pulled away from the curb and sped away to the famed center of Gotham.

When he reached the gigantic building that made Annie feel like an ant, she threw her the last of her cash in the front seat and walked into the building as quickly as her high heels would allow. The main lobby was clean with granite floors and walls with wide windows and glass doors. A bored looking receptionist sat at the desk that was in the middle of the room, fiddling with her nails. Annie went up to her, "Excuse me; I have an interview with Mr. Wayne."

The receptionist (whose name tag revealed her name to be Jennifer) looked at Annie as though sizing her up for competition. Chewing her bubble gum obnoxiously, Jennifer answered, "He's on the twenty-third floor and he doesn't like waiting so you better hurry."

Not sure if the woman was trying to help or being rude, Annie merely replied, "Thanks." She went to the elevator and pressed the button. A ding sounded and the elevator doors opened. Annie stepped inside the decently sized contraption and pressed the button that signified the twenty-third floor. The doors closed and she went up. Annie tried to ignore the queasy feeling that always happened when she became further and further from the ground, but her acrophobia (fear of heights) decided to rear its ugly head. She was saved from dwelling on such thoughts when another ding sounded and the doors opened. At eight o'clock on the dot she was ready for her interview with Mr. Bruce Wayne. Annie was barely on the floor for a moment when an attractive man came out in the hallway to greet her. He was sharply dressed in a neat suit and his dark hair sleeked back out of his brown eyes. There was an air of confidence around him and Annie mentally shook herself to keep from staring at him. "Mr. Wayne?" she asked in a strong voice.

Bruce Wayne looked at the young woman in front of him who could be the remedy to his problem of not having a secretary. She wasn't bad looking, but she was plain with long brown curls and green eyes. "Yes, and who are you?" he replied to her.

"I'm your new secretary, Annette Hallowell. You can call me Annie," said Annie.

Bruce raised his eye brows, "Isn't it my decision of whether you're my secretary or not?"

"Well, after the interview you will want me as your secretary. I was just hoping to save you some time since the point of a secretary is to make her boss's life as easy as possible," said Annie. She looked at him with wide eyes and he could only smirk. The girl had a spine which was something he needed when she was planning his meetings and whatnot.

"Miss Hallowell, will you please join me in my office?" Bruce asked her politely, gesturing to the glass doors. Annie nodded and walked forward with him. He opened the door for her and she entered the room. It wasn't much more different than other corporate offices she had seen. The walls were all glass so that Bruce had a fantastic view of the entire city of Gotham, though there were beige blinds for when he wanted privacy. Bruce's desk faced the doors on the opposite side of the room. On the adjacent wall of the door was a comfortable looking couch that had a small coffee table in front of it. Bruce sat down in the chair behind his desk and motioned for Annie to sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. After she handed him her resume, Annie did. He read over it while she twirled her thumbs in her lap. After what seemed like an eternity, Bruce looked up at her and said, "You certainly come with a great background."

"Thanks."

"You have top recommendations, a business degree, and you seem to be competent with a computer. All-in-all, you have a lot of what the other applicants did when they applied to this job. What sets you apart?"

Annie sighed inwardly. She hated this part of interviews. Who wanted to talk about themselves like their perfect? It felt so awkward and uncomfortable. "You should hire me because I have more balls than the rest of those applicants. I could be having the worst day of my life and you wouldn't know because I would tough through everything. I always keep a smile on my face. It's probably not the healthiest way to live, but I prefer to conquer instead of being conquered and that will really help you out. I'm loyal to a fault and if you're in trouble you can bet that I will be there. I'm your best option."

Again Bruce raised his eye brows at her and Annie was almost certain that they would get lost in his hair. "So, best option, I'm having a bit of doubt with your resume. I see that you also majored in architecture. I don't think you are planning to stay here for long and I need someone who will be around for a long time. If you plan on leaving after a year or two then I'd rather you not be here at all."

"That wouldn't be a problem. First, I can work two jobs. Second, there aren't really any job offerings in architecture so I probably will be here for awhile. Third, if you need a new building to be built then I can make the plans and you don't have to pay a ridiculous price of some…foreign man who…carries a little dog with him at all times," Annie replied. She didn't expect Bruce's reaction.

He busted out laughing, "'Some foreign man who carries a little dog with him at all times?' Where on earth did you come up with that?"

"I don't know! It was just the first thing that popped in my head—that is also another great characteristic of mine. I come up with random ideas that no one expects and yet they love them," Annie allowed herself a smile and a few chuckles of her own. Bruce's laughter finally died down and he was looking at her with a serious expression on his face. Annie met his gaze as her hands clenched into fists in her lap due to nervousness. He slowly stood up and walked to be in front of her, leaning on his desk. His hands were casually in his pockets and he finally gave her a smile.

"I think, Miss Hallowell, you will be a perfect fit here at Wayne Enterprises. You've got the job," he told her.

Annie just stared at him before asking, "Really?"

"Really really," said Bruce.

"Oh my God! Thank you!" she exclaimed. Annie jumped up and threw her arms around Bruce, who was startled by the touch, but ended up wrapping his arms around her too. They let go after a second and Annie began to rant, "I know that wasn't really professional, but this is so amazing! You have no idea how badly I needed this job! I will be the best secretary in the history of secretaries! I have job!"

"Annie!" Bruce said loudly.

Annie stared at him with wide eyes and stopped her fan girl spasms, "Yes?"

"Let's get you settled in and then you can feel free to do a happy dance," said Bruce. Annie nodded and he showed her to her desk and gave her all of the notes that the last secretary (Jessica) had left behind. By the end of the day Annie was confident about her new job and was excited to get back into work after being laid off for a month. She went home and thought about Wayne Enterprises and particularly her very attractive boss. Hopefully, this job would be the remedy to the financial problems her father left behind and to the bills her mother continued to pile as a patient in Arkham Asylum.