Never Fear

54

Straightening out her red sleeveless shirt, Willow frowned. It had seemed like so long since she had to dress smartly. Standing in one of the exhibition rooms, she looked down at her black trousers, and her shoes. Proper shoes, not her boots. It all felt weird. So weird, and surreal. It was like this wasn't even happening. Looking up and watching some people carry in plinths and stands, she looked down at her clipboard. There was a list of items on it, not just one piece of paper had a list on, but three. Lifting up the paper she read over the list and nodded slowly.

Craig Read, the museums main curator, was less than pleased about Willow suddenly popping up and taking over his job. He did question about her shady past, but shockingly to both Willow and Craig, Bruce had defended her. This was confusing to both of them, mainly Willow. She didn't personally see why Bruce would feel the need to defend her. Willow and Craig continued to clash each time he appeared in one of the exhibition rooms. Willow had offered to share the load, he could do one room, she'd do the other then the last room they could split. Was this good enough for the annoying man, no.

"Where ya want this?" A voice chimed interrupting Willow's thoughts.

"Oh! Just put it where you're standing, it'll be brilliant there thank you." Willow smiled, the man nodded and lowered the plinth he was carrying. No one else thankfully questioned her about her shady past. But when Willow thought over this, no one would really know. She wasn't a well known criminal. Even when it came to the Christmas fiasco, Jonathan's name was mainly mentioned. Willow hadn't let her mind loiter on him. The mere thought of Jonathan was enough to make her withdraw and go sit somewhere in silence for hours. She missed him. Willow missed him hugely. Sue and Kevin stayed in Gotham for the first few days after Willow's release from hospital. They were both equally pleased about the quick recovery which she had. They were even a little shocked to discover she already had a job lined up as soon as she was free from the hospital.

Living on her own was something Willow had to get used to again. Walking through the door to her apartment she whistled. Loneliness got to her, so she got a pet. A black and white husky puppy bounded its way towards her. His blue and brown eyes stared up at her. "Hannibal!" She exclaimed happily and picked the puppy up with difficulty, he was, after all, rather heavy. Willow had often argued with Kevin that she hadn't named him after Hannibal Lecter, but instead she had named him after Hannibal, the military commander who was considered perhaps one of the best military commanders of history. Kevin wasn't bought on this, and still insisted he was named after a psychopathic doctor. Putting the puppy back down, Willow looked down at the small pile of post. "You haven't eaten any of this today, hm?" She asked while shutting the door and picking the pile up. Walking to the kitchen, with Hannibal trotting after her, she flicked through the envelopes.

Bills, junk mail, an envelope which looked handmade. Willow frowned and threw the envelopes on the table but kept the handmade envelope separate. Hearing a quiet yawn, Willow looked at Hannibal. "You tired? You are tired? You've had all day to sleep! You're lazier than me, Hannibal." Willow lectured then ruffled his fur. "Hungry?" She smiled, the puppy in turn barked quietly and looked up at her. "At least one of us are." Sorting out food for the excitable puppy, she placed his bowl on the floor and then returned to the table.

Turning the envelope over in her hands she frowned. There was no return address, which was odd. Most letters had return addresses. The writing on the front, her name and address, was scrawled in child like writing. Scrunching her nose up, Willow regarded the letter hesitantly. Hannibal barked, "Yes. I'll open it. Give me a minute." Hannibal whined, "No, I don't think it's anything serious." Hannibal snorted and laid down on the floor. Carefully opening the envelope, she pulled out the paper carefully and laid it flat on the table. Her eyes flicked over the paper and the writing and widened.