[Fic] Titans of Industry, 6/8
Title: Titans of Industry
Author: lady_sarai and zoe_chan
Fandom: DC Comics
Characters: Tim Drake, Cissie King-Jones, Conner Luthor and assorted others
Rating: Teen
Warning: Nothing explicit, but remember, this IS for au_bigbang!
Word Count: ~15,800
Summary: Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp and Queen Industries are all vying to win a high-stakes business deal and are sending in their best representatives--Tim Drake, Conner Luthor and Cissie King-Jones. While their fathers can hardly stand each other, they have managed to become friends outside the boardroom. The week before they are to face off for the deal, Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries are broken into by someone dressed as Arrowette. When Conner knows too many details about Cissie's business proposal, Tim and Cissie begin to wonder if he isn't following in his father's footsteps after all. But that still doesn't explain who Arrowette is or why someone would frame Cissie.
PART 6
Cissie glanced at her watch for the third time in the last ten minutes, hoping that Mia hadn't decided to stay after school for some reason today. They had a limited window to catch her alone at home the way she wanted; her father didn't know she was back yet and hopefully wouldn't decide to come home early from the office, but if Mia wasn't coming home after school, confronting her without involving anyone else was going to be a lot trickier. She fidgeted, checking the wall clock to make sure her watch was running on time. It was, of course.
"Maybe an ambush isn't such a good idea after all," she said abruptly.
"It's a good idea," Tim said. "Trust me. An ambush is a lot more likely to surprise a confession. Especially if all three of us are here."
Conner nodded in agreement. "We're a little intimidating, after all. That's a good thing," he added quickly, catching the look on her face.
Cissie pushed herself up off the couch, pacing restlessly. "I guess. I just--is it wrong if I'm still hoping we're wrong?"
"No. She's your sister. Of course you don't want it to have been her." Tim gave her a wry smile. "Remind me to tell you sometime about some of the insane things Damian has pulled. Mia will seem normal and balanced in comparison, trust me."
Conner gave a dry laugh. "And here I thought I was missing out by being an only child."
Cissie smiled gratefully at both of them. "I've been an only child. I'm not sure--" She broke off, hearing the door to the garage open. "She's home."
"Time to get our game faces on," Tim said dryly.
Conner shook his head a little. "Dude, sometimes, I don't think I even know you. Game faces?"
Cissie laughed a little and took a breath, bracing herself. "Mia?" she called out. "Is that you? Can you come in here for a minute?"
"What do you want--" She came into the room, folding her arms across her chest, and stopped dead in the doorway once she saw the three of them sitting there. "What is this?"
Cissie got up, picking up a file folder from the table. "You know that big meeting we had Monday? Conner's company knew a lot more about our plans than they should have. And it was kind of a big coincidence that QI and WE had break-ins last week." She offered the folder to Mia as she approached her, feeling lousy for confronting her this way. "Those are pictures from the security cameras. It... Mia, if this is all just looks worse than it is, please tell me."
Mia took the folder and flipped through it. Her scowl deepened as she did, and finally she looked back up at Cissie again, glaring. "So--what? You think this was me? Why--"
"We know it was you," Tim said, cutting across her indignation. "So you can lose the attitude. Some of the pages you're holding are printouts of the files you took from Cissie. They were part of an e-mail from you to Lex Luthor."
"That was supposed to be encrypted!"
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she cursed.
"Mia," Cissie interrupted sharply, reaching out to grab one of the photos. "Why would you do that? And why like this?" she asked, pointing at "Arrowette".
Mia made an irritated noise under her breath. "It's not like I could do it as me."
Cissie stared at her and shoved a hand through her hair. "So you decided to do it as me? Why do it at all? I know I'm not your favorite person, but--Mia, I'm your sister. And this isn't something that effects just me, you know. It's Ollie and everyone at the company, and Tim's company, and Conner. So, just... Explain this to me, please, because I don't get it."
"It doesn't matter."
Cissie made a frustrated noise in her throat and tossed the photo back into the folder. "Mia, you just committed corporate espionage and helped to deliberately sabotage a multi-million dollar business deal. And framed me for it. I know we don't always get along, but I didn't think--anyway, it's Dad's company. Of course it matters!"
Mia threw the folder aside and folded her arms across her chest, glaring back. "Fine, right. I'm a horrible person. Should I start packing now?"
Cissie blinked at her, surprised. "What are you talking about?"
"You're going to tell Ollie, right?"
"I hadn't decided," she admitted, frowning. "What do you mean, start packing? No one's kicking you out."
She scoffed quietly. "Right. You really think he's going to want to keep me around after you tell him?"
"Mia, you're family. You're not going anywhere. We love you. That's why I don't get this. It's not like you."
"Yeah, well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think," she muttered, scowling at the floor between them.
Cissie watched her for a minute, and scrubbed at her face. "Maybe not," she admitted sadly. "I--Mia, I don't know what to do here. You've got to talk to me. Let me help you, or--something."
"You can't help me, okay?" She shook her head sharply. "Just leave me alone."
"We can't do that," Conner spoke up. "You're kind of in over your head here. It'd be a lot better for you if you dropped the attitude and started explaining yourself."
"What do you care?" she demanded, whirling on him. "It's none of your business. Sounds like you made out in this whole mess."
"Mia!"
Conner ignored Cissie, crossing his arms and meeting Mia's glare evenly. "It's my business because it was set up to look like I was involved. It caused problems with my friends. I don't take that lightly. And I don't do things the way my father does."
Mia scowled back at him.
Tim sat back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand while he watched. "You know, it would be a lot easier on you if you told her about the blackmail."
She paled slightly, and turned to look at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said coldly.
"I didn't just look at the attachments. I read the e-mails, too."
Conner stared. "Do I even know you?"
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," he said airily.
Cissie waved a hand, shushing them. "Mia, is that true? Was Luthor blackmailing you? Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Mia scoffed. "What were you going to do? Stop it? Please."
"Dad or I could have done something. You can't just... If he thinks he can get away with it, he'll only do it again."
"What do you care anyway?!"
"I care because you're my sister." Cissie shoved a hand through her hair, frustrated. "Why don't you get that?"
"Sister? You barely know me! It's not like you're ever home!"
Cissie opened her mouth to protest, and stopped, her heart sinking. Mia had a point. She hadn't been living at home for years, and maybe only coming home for weekly dinners wasn't enough. "I--that doesn't mean we're not family. Roy's family, and he lives in New York."
"Roy lives across the country. You live across town." She dropped her arms, holding them stiffly at her sides. "Anyway, that's not the point."
"And I come home for dinner every week--" Cissie broke off, shaking her head. "What is the point, then?"
"You're perfect!" she snapped. "Everyone says so. Ollie. Roy. Everyone. Whereas I? Am the family screw up. So why do you even care? Just let Ollie kick me out. I can take care of myself."
"What?" Cissie stared at her, dumbfounded. "Mia, that's completely--I'm not perfect, and you are not a screw up. No one's going to kick you out. You don't have to take care of yourself!"
"God. Have you ever listened when Ollie talks about you?" she demanded. "Because I'm pretty sure you walk on water at this point."
"He talks about all of us like that," she argued. "Including you. Mia, he talks about you all the time."
"No one talks about anything like Ollie talks about you."
Cissie reached out and grabbed her by the elbow. "Mia, the first thing we do every morning is say hello and talk about you and how you're doing. How do you think I know that you've got a history project on Napoleon due Monday? Or that you got an A on your last math test?"
She blinked in confusion. "Wait--you do?"
"Of course we do! He wouldn't shut up about that math test and how hard you studied for it. God, I think the whole company knew when you decided to learn archery."
Mia's jaw dropped. "He fought me over and over about that!"
"Of course he did," Cissie said, shrugging a shoulder. "He worries. He doesn't want you to get hurt. Like me, or Roy."
"I'm not going to get hurt. I just--I want to be useful."
"Believe it or not, I get that. And Dad might come around sooner or later."
"I wish," she grumbled. She shoved her hands into her hair, growling a little under her breath. "God, I'm such a fuckup."
Cissie put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "No, you're not. I wish you'd talked to us and told us what was going on, but that doesn't make you a fuckup."
She rubbed at her face. "I'm sorry."
Cissie pulled her into a hug, sighing. "I'm sorry too. I know we're not that close and that's my fault, but--we all should have made sure you knew you're not going anywhere."
Mia stiffened for a moment, then hugged her back tentatively. "It's... not completely your fault. I haven't been easy to get along with."
Cissie gave a dry laugh and pulled back to smile at her sadly. "Maybe we can both work on that? Just--no more keeping something this serious to yourself. And... I'd appreciate not being framed again."
"I know, and I'm sorry--" She groaned. "What am I going to do?"
"Do about what?"
"This." She waved her hands vaguely. "This mess. It's not like I'm ashamed or anything. I just--the whole world doesn't need to know my business."
"I can actually help you with that one," Conner said quietly. "I'll talk to my dad. This won't be an issue. Trust me."
Cissie looked over, giving him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Conner." She turned back to Mia. "Look. I think if Dad knew, he would mostly just be furious with Lex, which probably wouldn't help any of us. So if you want, I won't say anything to him."
She eyed Cissie warily. "...Really?"
She nodded. "Really. I don't think telling Dad eventually would hurt, but that's your call. You can tell him when you're ready."
"Which will be a week from never, but--thanks."
"You're welcome." Cissie gave her a small smile. "Mia, you're family. I mean that. You're not going anywhere, okay?"
"Yeah." Mia sighed. "I'm sorry about... everything. I can do better. I promise I'm not always this crappy a sister."
Tim snorted lightly. "Trust me, however bad you are, you have nothing on some of my brothers."
Cissie pulled Mia into another hug, letting out a relieved sigh. "That's for sure. We'll figure this sister thing out sooner or later."
"And in the meantime," Conner spoke up, smiling sharply, "I'll make sure my father won't interfere with that again."
Part 7
Author: lady_sarai and zoe_chan
Fandom: DC Comics
Characters: Tim Drake, Cissie King-Jones, Conner Luthor and assorted others
Rating: Teen
Warning: Nothing explicit, but remember, this IS for au_bigbang!
Word Count: ~15,800
Summary: Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp and Queen Industries are all vying to win a high-stakes business deal and are sending in their best representatives--Tim Drake, Conner Luthor and Cissie King-Jones. While their fathers can hardly stand each other, they have managed to become friends outside the boardroom. The week before they are to face off for the deal, Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries are broken into by someone dressed as Arrowette. When Conner knows too many details about Cissie's business proposal, Tim and Cissie begin to wonder if he isn't following in his father's footsteps after all. But that still doesn't explain who Arrowette is or why someone would frame Cissie.
PART 6
Cissie glanced at her watch for the third time in the last ten minutes, hoping that Mia hadn't decided to stay after school for some reason today. They had a limited window to catch her alone at home the way she wanted; her father didn't know she was back yet and hopefully wouldn't decide to come home early from the office, but if Mia wasn't coming home after school, confronting her without involving anyone else was going to be a lot trickier. She fidgeted, checking the wall clock to make sure her watch was running on time. It was, of course.
"Maybe an ambush isn't such a good idea after all," she said abruptly.
"It's a good idea," Tim said. "Trust me. An ambush is a lot more likely to surprise a confession. Especially if all three of us are here."
Conner nodded in agreement. "We're a little intimidating, after all. That's a good thing," he added quickly, catching the look on her face.
Cissie pushed herself up off the couch, pacing restlessly. "I guess. I just--is it wrong if I'm still hoping we're wrong?"
"No. She's your sister. Of course you don't want it to have been her." Tim gave her a wry smile. "Remind me to tell you sometime about some of the insane things Damian has pulled. Mia will seem normal and balanced in comparison, trust me."
Conner gave a dry laugh. "And here I thought I was missing out by being an only child."
Cissie smiled gratefully at both of them. "I've been an only child. I'm not sure--" She broke off, hearing the door to the garage open. "She's home."
"Time to get our game faces on," Tim said dryly.
Conner shook his head a little. "Dude, sometimes, I don't think I even know you. Game faces?"
Cissie laughed a little and took a breath, bracing herself. "Mia?" she called out. "Is that you? Can you come in here for a minute?"
"What do you want--" She came into the room, folding her arms across her chest, and stopped dead in the doorway once she saw the three of them sitting there. "What is this?"
Cissie got up, picking up a file folder from the table. "You know that big meeting we had Monday? Conner's company knew a lot more about our plans than they should have. And it was kind of a big coincidence that QI and WE had break-ins last week." She offered the folder to Mia as she approached her, feeling lousy for confronting her this way. "Those are pictures from the security cameras. It... Mia, if this is all just looks worse than it is, please tell me."
Mia took the folder and flipped through it. Her scowl deepened as she did, and finally she looked back up at Cissie again, glaring. "So--what? You think this was me? Why--"
"We know it was you," Tim said, cutting across her indignation. "So you can lose the attitude. Some of the pages you're holding are printouts of the files you took from Cissie. They were part of an e-mail from you to Lex Luthor."
"That was supposed to be encrypted!"
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she cursed.
"Mia," Cissie interrupted sharply, reaching out to grab one of the photos. "Why would you do that? And why like this?" she asked, pointing at "Arrowette".
Mia made an irritated noise under her breath. "It's not like I could do it as me."
Cissie stared at her and shoved a hand through her hair. "So you decided to do it as me? Why do it at all? I know I'm not your favorite person, but--Mia, I'm your sister. And this isn't something that effects just me, you know. It's Ollie and everyone at the company, and Tim's company, and Conner. So, just... Explain this to me, please, because I don't get it."
"It doesn't matter."
Cissie made a frustrated noise in her throat and tossed the photo back into the folder. "Mia, you just committed corporate espionage and helped to deliberately sabotage a multi-million dollar business deal. And framed me for it. I know we don't always get along, but I didn't think--anyway, it's Dad's company. Of course it matters!"
Mia threw the folder aside and folded her arms across her chest, glaring back. "Fine, right. I'm a horrible person. Should I start packing now?"
Cissie blinked at her, surprised. "What are you talking about?"
"You're going to tell Ollie, right?"
"I hadn't decided," she admitted, frowning. "What do you mean, start packing? No one's kicking you out."
She scoffed quietly. "Right. You really think he's going to want to keep me around after you tell him?"
"Mia, you're family. You're not going anywhere. We love you. That's why I don't get this. It's not like you."
"Yeah, well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think," she muttered, scowling at the floor between them.
Cissie watched her for a minute, and scrubbed at her face. "Maybe not," she admitted sadly. "I--Mia, I don't know what to do here. You've got to talk to me. Let me help you, or--something."
"You can't help me, okay?" She shook her head sharply. "Just leave me alone."
"We can't do that," Conner spoke up. "You're kind of in over your head here. It'd be a lot better for you if you dropped the attitude and started explaining yourself."
"What do you care?" she demanded, whirling on him. "It's none of your business. Sounds like you made out in this whole mess."
"Mia!"
Conner ignored Cissie, crossing his arms and meeting Mia's glare evenly. "It's my business because it was set up to look like I was involved. It caused problems with my friends. I don't take that lightly. And I don't do things the way my father does."
Mia scowled back at him.
Tim sat back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand while he watched. "You know, it would be a lot easier on you if you told her about the blackmail."
She paled slightly, and turned to look at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said coldly.
"I didn't just look at the attachments. I read the e-mails, too."
Conner stared. "Do I even know you?"
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," he said airily.
Cissie waved a hand, shushing them. "Mia, is that true? Was Luthor blackmailing you? Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Mia scoffed. "What were you going to do? Stop it? Please."
"Dad or I could have done something. You can't just... If he thinks he can get away with it, he'll only do it again."
"What do you care anyway?!"
"I care because you're my sister." Cissie shoved a hand through her hair, frustrated. "Why don't you get that?"
"Sister? You barely know me! It's not like you're ever home!"
Cissie opened her mouth to protest, and stopped, her heart sinking. Mia had a point. She hadn't been living at home for years, and maybe only coming home for weekly dinners wasn't enough. "I--that doesn't mean we're not family. Roy's family, and he lives in New York."
"Roy lives across the country. You live across town." She dropped her arms, holding them stiffly at her sides. "Anyway, that's not the point."
"And I come home for dinner every week--" Cissie broke off, shaking her head. "What is the point, then?"
"You're perfect!" she snapped. "Everyone says so. Ollie. Roy. Everyone. Whereas I? Am the family screw up. So why do you even care? Just let Ollie kick me out. I can take care of myself."
"What?" Cissie stared at her, dumbfounded. "Mia, that's completely--I'm not perfect, and you are not a screw up. No one's going to kick you out. You don't have to take care of yourself!"
"God. Have you ever listened when Ollie talks about you?" she demanded. "Because I'm pretty sure you walk on water at this point."
"He talks about all of us like that," she argued. "Including you. Mia, he talks about you all the time."
"No one talks about anything like Ollie talks about you."
Cissie reached out and grabbed her by the elbow. "Mia, the first thing we do every morning is say hello and talk about you and how you're doing. How do you think I know that you've got a history project on Napoleon due Monday? Or that you got an A on your last math test?"
She blinked in confusion. "Wait--you do?"
"Of course we do! He wouldn't shut up about that math test and how hard you studied for it. God, I think the whole company knew when you decided to learn archery."
Mia's jaw dropped. "He fought me over and over about that!"
"Of course he did," Cissie said, shrugging a shoulder. "He worries. He doesn't want you to get hurt. Like me, or Roy."
"I'm not going to get hurt. I just--I want to be useful."
"Believe it or not, I get that. And Dad might come around sooner or later."
"I wish," she grumbled. She shoved her hands into her hair, growling a little under her breath. "God, I'm such a fuckup."
Cissie put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "No, you're not. I wish you'd talked to us and told us what was going on, but that doesn't make you a fuckup."
She rubbed at her face. "I'm sorry."
Cissie pulled her into a hug, sighing. "I'm sorry too. I know we're not that close and that's my fault, but--we all should have made sure you knew you're not going anywhere."
Mia stiffened for a moment, then hugged her back tentatively. "It's... not completely your fault. I haven't been easy to get along with."
Cissie gave a dry laugh and pulled back to smile at her sadly. "Maybe we can both work on that? Just--no more keeping something this serious to yourself. And... I'd appreciate not being framed again."
"I know, and I'm sorry--" She groaned. "What am I going to do?"
"Do about what?"
"This." She waved her hands vaguely. "This mess. It's not like I'm ashamed or anything. I just--the whole world doesn't need to know my business."
"I can actually help you with that one," Conner said quietly. "I'll talk to my dad. This won't be an issue. Trust me."
Cissie looked over, giving him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Conner." She turned back to Mia. "Look. I think if Dad knew, he would mostly just be furious with Lex, which probably wouldn't help any of us. So if you want, I won't say anything to him."
She eyed Cissie warily. "...Really?"
She nodded. "Really. I don't think telling Dad eventually would hurt, but that's your call. You can tell him when you're ready."
"Which will be a week from never, but--thanks."
"You're welcome." Cissie gave her a small smile. "Mia, you're family. I mean that. You're not going anywhere, okay?"
"Yeah." Mia sighed. "I'm sorry about... everything. I can do better. I promise I'm not always this crappy a sister."
Tim snorted lightly. "Trust me, however bad you are, you have nothing on some of my brothers."
Cissie pulled Mia into another hug, letting out a relieved sigh. "That's for sure. We'll figure this sister thing out sooner or later."
"And in the meantime," Conner spoke up, smiling sharply, "I'll make sure my father won't interfere with that again."
Part 7