Robin Bedeviled By Mystery Woman

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A Romantic FanFic of the Crime Fighting Duo

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Author's Note

As I was cleaning out a folder of old story ideas, I found this one. A guy I had worked with, a half-dozen jobs or so ago, was a real Batman fanatic. Long before the movies came out. He belonged to one of the early online fanzine groups. At lunch, we would talk about the stories he wrote.

This story we sort of collaborated possibilities together but never finished. Years later I found my copy of the outline and filled in a lot of the scenes. Then forgot about it again until recently. On a whim I decided to polish this up and submit it to Literotica. Cause, why not? A bit different from my usual writing, I enjoy the challenge.

The more intelligent readers will have already figured out my favorite comic book character was always Dr. Strange. Perhaps I should think up a story for Brains over Brawn?

I know most of these stories are placed in the Celebrities genre for whatever reason, I do not understand. However, I prefer this to be under Romance, I think that is a more accurate description. Cause in my opinion most of the comic book characters have all the personality of a battle robot, just not as interesting to talk to.

I do have a rough outline of a follow-up story based upon this one. But, no promises how soon I will complete and post. Sorry. Like most overrated virtues, Patience my children, Patience.

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Due to prior ownership of the Batman/Bruce Wayne, Robin/Dick Grayson, Andrew, Joker and Riddler characters and the basic storylines by the originating artists and D.C.Comics.

This story may not be sold!

If reprinted or distributed in any medium, all copies must include this warning.

Or

The Big Bad Media Conglomerate and their sharkcat lawyers will come to chew on your testicles!

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The original characters of Cecelia Atlanta Cabot-DeMillo, Bernard, du Chef de Maison Catering Service, Henrietta Cabot, the Badhavenhorst Resort/Spa, in Austria, Thomas H. DeMillo,CEO, Strident Financial Trust, Sylvia Golde, Fürst Furs Mercantile Cooperative Mrs. Prentice, Ms Kelly, Dr. Charlene Smitherson, and the Secreted Police Intelligence Network are original to this story and author - fanfare -

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Shock and Awe

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Alfred is supervising the various work crews, security, housekeeping, groundskeepers, party supply, caterers, etc; all preparing the Wayne Mansion for the Wayne Foundation Combined Charities Benefit Masque. When his pocket monitor buzzed that a taxicab had entered the main gate to the estate and was coming up the driveway to the mansion's formal entryway.

He was puzzled why Mr. Wayne or his ward Dick Grayson would arrive in a taxi, since only they would know the correct code to open the gates and enter the grounds along that route. So he assumed it must be one of them as he hurried to greet them at the front entrance.

When he opened the door though, he got quite a shock to find a seriously lovely young woman standing there with a set of matching luggage at her feet.

She was wearing a couture suit with short-cut jacket and knee-length skirt, both a pale pink tinted lavender silk blend material over a cream colored frilly blouse. With a matching beret jauntily perched atop shoulder length curly hair of light brown with a red/gold tint. The modest purse over her shoulder and the two inch heel pumps perfectly matched the rest of her outfit.

As Alfred tried to control his feeling of being off balance the young woman stepped forward into the doorway, looked him straight in his eyes with her sparkling sea-blue eyes, while extending a gloved hand and in a bright soprano voice said.

"Good Afternoon, you must be Alfred. I am Miss Cecelia DeMillo, I will be moving in and living with Dick in his rooms."

'Hmmphh!' Alfred thought as he shook her hand. 'We are now past shock and onto shock and awe!'

"My apologies Miss DeMillo, I have not been informed of your arrival or of any changes in Master Dick's residency."

She had stepped inside the hall and was looking about with mild curiosity. Turning back to the elderly gentleman's gentleman she put a hand up to her lips to hide a smile, then leaning her head to Alfred conspiratorially whispered.

"That does not surprise me. You know how careless young men are with their toys."

Alfred blushed at her innuendo, then cleared his throat as her faint perfume aroused long dormant feelings. Suddenly he found himself moving her luggage inside the door and closing it. He shook his head to clear his thinking and mentioned tentatively.

"Neither Mr. Wayne nor Master Dick are at home at this time to properly receive you."

"Yes, I know. They are, mmm, dealing with a minor business crisis. I understood that they will have the matter wrapped up soon and be returning home within a couple of hours. It was convenient for me to come straight here to the mansion."

She started to the staircase leading up towards the residential wing and as she slowly walked, looked back over her shoulder with a mischievous smile at his indecision, she said.

"Do not concern yourself with my luggage, I understand that those will be inspected by the estate security team before being brought to...our room. I do have some ideas we will need to implement before Dick returns and since all this extra staffing is available, let us take advantage to accomplish a few minor tasks."

Now Alfred was feeling annoyed that Master Dick had failed to notify him of this young lady's arrival. As she was determinedly ascending the stairs, he felt compelled to follow. When he noticed that he was staring at her shapely legs, the seams of her cocoa colored stockings and the alluring sway of her very nice rolling derrière, he flushed and hurried around to her side.

"Uhmm, Miss DeMillo, how long have you and Master Dick known one another?"

"Oh, Dick and I first met last year at the Spring Cotillion. He was such an accomplished dancer and a perfect gentleman. I simply could not get him out of my mind. From what I have heard, I believe that you deserve some of the credit for those qualities I find most attractive about him."

Alfred blushed again.

"That is most kind of you to say. However, I am of the opinion that Mr. Wayne's role in mentoring Master Dick has been a more significant influence."

"Also true. And of course his life before he became Mr. Wayne's ward. Dick is a complexity of diverse influences that present an interesting challenge for me to understand. I have come to the conclusion that this challenge is what has compelled me to present myself today.

Unfortunately, most of the young men I am acquainted with, are rather intellectually shallow. Egotistical narcissists trapped in a perpetual adolescence they will never climb out of.

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Room For One More?

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As they entered Dick's large bedroom she nodded her head and said, as she waved a hand towards the double-doors, camouflaged by drapery behind the settee.

"That leads to an unused room, I believe, Alfred?"

"Yes, Miss. Mostly storing extra furniture and decorations for now."

"My idea is to open up both rooms by having those drapes and doors removed. I will pick out a dresser or wardrobe and a vanity table plus some mirrors. Perhaps a desk or secretary. Let us take a look and then we can decide what needs to be moved to other storage. Then you can perhaps suggest items to be brought in."

Fortunately the settee was of light weight. The two of them were easily able to swivel it away from in front of the doors. Alfred's keys unlocked the double-doors and he found the switch to the ceiling chandelier lights. Revealing a room a little larger then Dick's, crowded with covered furniture. Alfred slipped behind to reach the outside wall. Pulling the drapes apart and opening the windows, to let in the early afternoon sun and fresh air.

Then Alfred went around pulling the cloth covers off. The young woman walked around the furniture, to open the shutter doors exposing a whole wall of closets.

"This will be perfect for my clothes. I will not need to take any of Dick's closet space."

Alfred was looking at the uncovered furniture and said.

"These must have been used by Mr. Wayne's mother."

Cecelia ran her hand over the fine finish of a large bureau and pulled open a couple of empty drawers.

"I like these pieces. Excellent craftsmanship. Feminine and attractive and functional. I'll keep the matching furniture, have the rest removed with the double-doors and the room cleaned. We'll wait to decide on accessorizing this room."

"Yes, Miss. May I make a suggestion?"

"Of course Alfred. I am always appreciative of good advice."

"If I remember correctly, there may be a few more pieces to this set. A davenport I think and a tall free-standing mirror, I am sure. I will look in the other closed rooms along the hall."

"You are a gem. I will leave you to it while I will be downstairs in the kitchen scrounging up lunch. All I had time for this morning was a breakfast shake."

"My goodness, how embarrassing. I should prepare you some refreshments."

"Nonsense, Alfred. I am quite capable of making myself a sandwich. You already have the responsibility of preparing the Mansion for the Benefit Masque. Then I come along and add arranging my accommodations to your burdens. I am the one who should be apologizing to you."

She affectionately squeezed his arm and then set off back down the stairs, across the great hall to the wing where the main kitchen was located. As she passed the front doors where she had entered, she noticed with a faint smile, that her luggage had been removed. She just hoped the security team included women. They would be more thorough searching through her personal items but would also be a lot more conscientious about putting everything back neatly when finished.

She heard several people working in the enormous kitchen as she pushed the door open. Everyone looked with curiosity at her entrance. She picked out the head chef and went over to him.

"Hello, I am Cecelia. I came down for a spot of lunch. Anything you would recommend?"

"I am Bernard, du Chef de Maison Catering Service. I am most enchanted to make your acquaintance, Cecelia. We'll whip you up un specialte du maison."

Miss DeMillo sat on a stool at the work counter, observing the bustle about her with real interest. She chatted briefly with Chef Bernard. Then, with hopeful aplomb, he asked.

"Are you one of Mr. Wayne's secretaries?"

She looked down at her fidgeting hands, then admitted to the older, suave Frenchman.

"No, actually I am with Dick. We, ahhmm, are now living together."

He looked startled and in an envious tone replied.

"I would never have believed that I would ever be so jealous of an American man's love life as I am right now!"

Cecelia practically combusted as she blushed so prettily. Then giggled as the catering staff applauded her for dragging such an admission out of their proud and temperamental Parisian food artiste. He glared at them all. Then laughed at himself.

Under the chef's competent direction, she was quickly served a small salad of mixed greens, sweet peppers and berry-tomatoes, dressed with a handmade vinaigrette. A halved sandwich of sliced, pressed duck in a sweet-tart citrus sauce on thin, lightly toasted bread. The plate accessorized with an assortment of pickled baby vegetables and gingered sliced fruit. For the grande finale a carafe of sangria, Chef Bernard himself whipped up before her.

As she patted her lips with a linen napkin after finishing her second goblet of that civilized combination of wine and fruit juices, she complemented the chef and his team.

"That was a delicious meal Bernard. The sangria you prepared is most refreshing for such a warm day."

She took a look at her watch and calculated how much time was remaining and decided.

"Alfred is very busy at this time. That dear man has many responsibilities and I have added to them. Mr Wayne and Dick should be returning home within the hour. Please prepare them a hearty lunch, they will be hungry. I doubt that they will have taken the time to stop somewhere."

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Two, Too Many, Mysterious Women

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For the crime fighting duo in the Batmobile, the ride back to the Mansion was silent. Both men were brooding over the confusing morning they had just experienced dealing with the latest outrage by the Joker's gang.

They had thought. that with the Joker safely caged in the sanitarium, without a strong leader his minions would have dispersed back into petty crime.

This fur warehouse heist at the Fürst Fur Mercantile Cooperative in midtown Gotham turned out to be a lot more sophisticated then Bruce or Dick would have believed the Joker's thugs capable of on their own initiative.

Fortuitously, the Duo had managed to thwart the crime and captured all the participants without any innocent bystanders coming to harm. Except for some cuts and bruises on a couple of security guards who had joined in to help subdue the perps.

What turns out to be most preposterous about this caper, is that all the valuable furs had already been removed and only the cheapest, most shoddy quality of furs were left for the gang to fail at making off with.

The crime fighting duo's investigation discovered that the CFO of the Fürst Fur Mercantile Cooperative, had that very morning, absconded with the missing furs. He was quickly tracked to the airport while trying to load his stolen goods onto a cargo-jet and apprehended with the missing merchandise.

While interrogating the gang members, it became clear that none of them were in charge of this caper. They all received orders two days ago, from an unidentified mystery woman who had the proper cypher identifying the orders as originating from the Joker, himself.

Which was impossible!

Since, for the last two weeks, the Joker had been continuously sedated comatose as part of an experimental treatment for his psychosis.

Batman and Robin personally visited the medical center he is secretly being held at. To verify his coma by reviewing all the security videotape recordings of that period.

The FBI interrogation of the CFO revealed that he had been blackmailed into stealing the furs. Also by an unknown mystery woman. Who had somehow discovered that he had for years been embezzling from his firm.

Three major crimes solved in a morning with all the perpetrators facing substantial prison time, rendering the people of Gotham City that much safer.

Yet, who were these mysterious women? And why did they or she arrange all of this?

It was most baffling.

Privately, both the Batman and Robin shared the same hypothetical fear. Maybe a female version of the Riddler?

That was a scary thought!

After they pulled into the parking slot inside the Bat-Cave, Alfred hurried to meet them in the command center.

He was helping them peel out of their fighting suits and setting them aside for cleaning after disarming the tactical gear they had carried.

The two men took quick showers and dressed casually while Alfred described what still needed to be accomplished for the charity ball.

Neither Bruce nor Dick paid much attention for the several hints he dropped about Miss DeMillo.

They both assumed she was a social secretary or some other foundation functionary here to assist with the preparations for the Masque.

They went up to the small, informal dining room and Bernard's people immediately served them baked chicken with a medley of oven-roasted root vegetables, followed by warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream and strong coffee.

As they enjoyed the end of a satisfying meal, Chef Bernard came in to see if there was anything else they wanted.

"Bernard, you and your people outdid yourselves as usual."

Dick, with a mouth full of savory apple pie, nodded agreement.

"Thank you Mr. Wayne. Dick, your lady friend had informed me that you would both be back soon and hungry. Glad we could be of service."

Dick paused spooning up the handmade ice cream. With a confused look compounded with a sudden brain freeze, asked in an uncertain tone.

"What? My lady friend?"

"Why yes, Cecelia is a lovely and charming mademoiselle. Vous êtes un jeune homme plus heureux!"

The 'fortunate young man' almost choked swallowing and had to take a a gulp of water to clear his throat.

Bruce looked at Dick and then remembered that Alfred had mentioned a Miss DeMillo. He hadn't realized that Dick had a brought any of his female acquaintances to the mansion. It would be a serious security breach that he had failed to inform Bruce.

Not understanding the sudden tension between Wayne and Grayson, Bernard diplomatically thought it best to withdraw.

"I better get back to work. So much still to prepare for this Friday's festivities."

Bruce rang for Alfred while glowering at Dick who was desperately trying to remember any woman he knew by that name. He was about to admit he had no idea of who she may be when Alfred entered the room and Bruce asked brusquely.

"Alfred, there is a young lady in the mansion by the name of Cecelia?"

In an enthusiastic tone the elderly butler replied.

"Why yes, Mr. Wayne. Miss DeMillo arrived two hours ago and I have placed her in the expanded suite Master Dick occupies."

Master Dick utters a strangled cry, this day has now officially, gone from total confusion all the way to surreal. He blurted out.

"I don't know any Cecelia! No, I'm sure of it."

Both older men look at him with skeptical glares. Alfred speaks first.

"You provided her the entrance codes to the driveway gate. Either you described the layout of the second floor or she has been here before.

She even knew about the anteroom you never used. Security checked everything including her identity and she was given a tentative clearance."

Bruce interjected.

"Dick, this is not the first time you have allowed your little head to overrule your thinking. Not checking with me and having her thoroughly vetted is a serious security breach.

You are a healthy young man and I do not expect abstinence, none of us are perfect. But, I certainly expect some measure of common sense on your part."

"Bruce, Alfred, I swear to you...That I have absolutely no idea who this woman is!"

Now in Batman mode, for the moment assuming that his junior partner was telling the truth as far as Dick knew it, the senior crime-fighter coldly asks.

"Think back over the last week or two. Are there any blank spots? Any time span that you cannot account for? Possibly a hypnotic drug has been used on you."

"Sorry Bruce but I was with you the only times I wasn't here at the mansion. I'd think you, either of you, would have noticed if I had been acting strangely. And, I haven't even dated anyone seriously for...God, how many months? Almost half a year!"

Alfred then spoke up.

"Miss DeMillo is awaiting your return in the Library. Should we not direct our inquiries to her?"

The two younger men flushed as they suddenly realized that they were wasting time arguing conjectures when the answers were awaiting them right down the hall.