[Fic] Titans of Industry, 5/8
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 5
When Tim called Conner the next day to belatedly take him up on his dinner invitation, he sounded so genuinely relieved and pleased that Tim really had a hard time suspecting him of complicity in the plot to sabotage Cissie's bid. They'd find out more certainly at dinner, but... Tim was inclined to trust him for the same reasons he hadn't really considered Bruce's suggestion that Cissie was involved in the Wayne Enterprises break in. They were rivals, sure, but they were friends, too, and they had always valued a sense of fair play.
He and Cissie decided to meet at the restaurant. It would seem less like they were trying to gang up on Conner, and, well. They weren't actually dating. They were just... friends. Good friends. Who occasionally enjoyed getting naked together.
Still, despite their decision not to arrive together, it wasn't much of a surprise when they arrived at the restaurant at the same time. They both had a tendency to be exactly on time. The real surprise came when Conner--who was chronically late for most social engagements--arrived only moments after they did.
"You're... unusually punctual," Tim said with a wry smile.
He shrugged slightly, grinning back. "I did get reservations." He gave his name to the hostess, who led them to a table.
Tim held Cissie's chair out for her, then took his own seat while Conner looked on--clearly amused. "What?" he asked irritably. "It's polite."
"It's polite if you're dating," Conner corrected, still grinning as he took his own seat.
"It's polite if you're a gentleman," Cissie replied. She didn't sound nearly as angry and hostile as she had the day before, but she was still pretty obviously wary, watching Conner sit down with a guarded expression.
Tim nudged her knee with his under the table, trying to prod her into relaxing.
Cissie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, pressing her mouth shut in a thin line briefly. She took a deep breath and relaxed into her seat, busying herself with arranging her napkin in her lap.
Conner watched them, his smile turning vaguely smug. "Non-verbal communication is something people who are dating do too, you know."
Tim raised an eyebrow. "So do long-time friends," he pointed out. "And why does it matter to you, anyway?"
Conner shrugged, holding his hands up. "It doesn't. Except if you're both taken, I need time to mend my broken heart. And we're friends."
"Uh huh. About that." Tim raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday?"
Conner looked at him blankly for a second. "What about yesterday?"
Cissie leaned forward, folding her arms on the edge of the table. "How did you know so much about my proposal?"
He blinked in obvious confusion. "I didn't?"
Cissie sighed and reached for her purse. She pulled out a piece of paper and passed it to him. "That's everything we had planned, and everything you came up with. Pretty interesting coincidence, isn't it? For you to be able to counter all of it?"
He scanned the page, and actually seemed to pale slightly. "I--I never saw this, Ciss," he said, looking back up at her again. "My original proposal would have addressed... maybe half of what you have here. Dad gave me the corrections."
Cissie watched him closely while he looked it over, and when he finished talking, she exhaled and relaxed back in her chair. She nodded and managed a tiny smile. "Thank you. I... really hoped you didn't know." She shrugged. "Well, once I stopped wanting to kill you with my bare hands," she said wryly.
"...Yeah, I'm kinda glad you didn't do that," he said, giving her a small--genuine--smile. "I kind of like this plane of existence."
"I would have stopped her. Probably." Tim smiled a little. "I didn't want to believe it either."
Conner's smile widened just slightly before his expression turned serious. "Thanks. I wouldn't do that, though. That's not--I don't play like that."
Cissie nodded. "I know. I mean, I hoped. You've never seemed the type." She gave a small sigh and glanced at Tim. "But there's more. Last week, there were break-ins at both of our companies," she said, gesturing between herself and Tim. "They didn't get anything from WE, but they did hack into my system."
Conner gave a low whistle. "Wow. Everyone but me. No wonder you were suspicious. I'd be suspicious. But--" he glanced at Tim. "WE managed to block the attack? Man, I wish I had your firewalls."
He smiled a little. "My security is really very good." For a while, it had been a game between Barbara and him to try to figure out who could build the best firewall. Hers was better, of course, but his hadn't been anything to sneeze at. They used hers at the Cave and the Clocktower, and his at Wayne Enterprises, with a few of Barbara's modifications. It was all but unbreakable.
Cissie smiled a little. "And then you seemed to know everything in my files." She took a deep breath and looked down at the table instead of at either of them. "Anyway, it might not have been a security issue at all. It's... possible the person responsible might have guessed my passwords."
Tim reached under the table to squeeze her hand while Conner frowned. "What do you mean? How would they have guessed?"
She held Tim's hand tightly and looked up at Conner. "Because I think it was Mia. My sister."
"Your sister?" he asked, his voice incredulous. "But--why?"
She shook her head miserably, shrugging. "That's what I don't know. But I'm... pretty sure it was her."
"Why?"
Cissie glanced at Tim briefly. "It's... kind of a long story. Whoever did it was dressed like--well. Me. They had to have access to some of my old things, and had to know enough to try to frame me for it, and--that's a pretty short list."
Conner folded his arms across his chest, scowling deeply. "That's just--not right. Have you spoken with her yet? Demanded to know what's up? Because--that's what I'd be doing."
She gave him a sad smile and loosened her grip on Tim's hand. "Not yet. I'm planning on doing that when I get home."
"Do you want backup?" he offered. "Dad's not expecting me back for a few more days, and--I'd kind of like to know how I got involved in this."
Tim bit back a thoughtful noise. He had his own ideas on that matter, but there was no use in pointing fingers with only circumstantial evidence.
Cissie bit her lip, hesitating briefly. "I don't necessarily want to gang up on her, but I also... don't want her to brush me off. Which--honestly--is something she might do."
"I'm happy to back you up," he offered. "I bet Tim would come, too. I mean, his company was hit, and--you two are friends, right?"
"You're our friend, too," Tim said, giving him a wry smile.
"Uh, yeah. But not like you two are friends. Not the disappearing for hours into a hotel room kind of friend."
Cissie sighed. "Conner, this again? Really?"
"You two were both completely MIA for the same time period. Neither of you responded to phone calls or e-mails during that time. And while I'm completely jealous of the undoubtedly hot sex you two were having, that's not really relevant at the moment. I'm just saying--you two are friends. Both of your companies were hit. It makes sense for Tim to be there, like it makes sense for me to be there. I was implicated. Plus--intimidation isn't necessarily a bad thing here."
She reached up to rub at her temple. "I suppose it's not. In any case, it won't be as easy for her to ignore you two as it is for her to ignore me."
"We are pretty impressive," Tim said, grinning a little. "And we're also not her sister."
"No, you're not," she said, laughing. "All right. You'll both come with me to California tomorrow. Not like it's out of your way or anything."
"We do have access to private jets," Conner pointed out.
"That doesn't make it much less inconvenient for you. But--thank you."
"You're welcome." Tim smiled at her. "Besides--it's been ages since we've been out your way."
"I guess it has." She smiled back, moving her leg to touch his under the table. "If everything with Mia doesn't go too horribly, maybe I can take you both for some sight-seeing there before you have to head back."
"That'd be cool," Conner said with a grin. "Maybe we can go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or something. I like fish, and I think they have a cool jellyfish exhibit."
Tim opened his mouth to agree, and was interrupted by the arrival of their waitress. He gave her a sheepish look. "I'm sorry--we were talking. We haven't even looked at the menu yet. Can you give us a few more minutes?"
She nodded and went away again after filling their water glasses. Tim reached for his menu. "We probably should figure out what we want to eat."
"Since that's presumably why we came here, it can't hurt," Cissie agreed, smirking at him and reaching for her own menu. She scanned it and reached over, pointing to something on Tim's menu. "They have mushroom ravioli."
Tim grinned and closed his menu. "Excellent. I know what I'm getting, then."
Conner raised an eyebrow. "You two go out together a lot? I don't know what either of your favorites are. For the record."
Cissie returned her attention to her menu, taking her time before responding. "He mentioned wanting it yesterday when he was convincing me not to castrate you until we had proof," she said finally, keeping her tone light. "What are you having?"
Tim blinked. He hadn't done anything of the kind, actually, but--all right. He understood not wanting to be pestered by Conner right now.
Conner scanned the menu. "I think--the steak, probably. I'm starving."
Cissie nodded absently, setting her menu down in front of her. She looked at both of them before she spoke. "Thank you. In advance, for coming with me."
"Any time," Tim said, smiling and taking her hand under the table.
Conner nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I mean--" he reached to grab the hand that was resting by her plate. "What are friends for?"
Part 6
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 5
When Tim called Conner the next day to belatedly take him up on his dinner invitation, he sounded so genuinely relieved and pleased that Tim really had a hard time suspecting him of complicity in the plot to sabotage Cissie's bid. They'd find out more certainly at dinner, but... Tim was inclined to trust him for the same reasons he hadn't really considered Bruce's suggestion that Cissie was involved in the Wayne Enterprises break in. They were rivals, sure, but they were friends, too, and they had always valued a sense of fair play.
He and Cissie decided to meet at the restaurant. It would seem less like they were trying to gang up on Conner, and, well. They weren't actually dating. They were just... friends. Good friends. Who occasionally enjoyed getting naked together.
Still, despite their decision not to arrive together, it wasn't much of a surprise when they arrived at the restaurant at the same time. They both had a tendency to be exactly on time. The real surprise came when Conner--who was chronically late for most social engagements--arrived only moments after they did.
"You're... unusually punctual," Tim said with a wry smile.
He shrugged slightly, grinning back. "I did get reservations." He gave his name to the hostess, who led them to a table.
Tim held Cissie's chair out for her, then took his own seat while Conner looked on--clearly amused. "What?" he asked irritably. "It's polite."
"It's polite if you're dating," Conner corrected, still grinning as he took his own seat.
"It's polite if you're a gentleman," Cissie replied. She didn't sound nearly as angry and hostile as she had the day before, but she was still pretty obviously wary, watching Conner sit down with a guarded expression.
Tim nudged her knee with his under the table, trying to prod her into relaxing.
Cissie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, pressing her mouth shut in a thin line briefly. She took a deep breath and relaxed into her seat, busying herself with arranging her napkin in her lap.
Conner watched them, his smile turning vaguely smug. "Non-verbal communication is something people who are dating do too, you know."
Tim raised an eyebrow. "So do long-time friends," he pointed out. "And why does it matter to you, anyway?"
Conner shrugged, holding his hands up. "It doesn't. Except if you're both taken, I need time to mend my broken heart. And we're friends."
"Uh huh. About that." Tim raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday?"
Conner looked at him blankly for a second. "What about yesterday?"
Cissie leaned forward, folding her arms on the edge of the table. "How did you know so much about my proposal?"
He blinked in obvious confusion. "I didn't?"
Cissie sighed and reached for her purse. She pulled out a piece of paper and passed it to him. "That's everything we had planned, and everything you came up with. Pretty interesting coincidence, isn't it? For you to be able to counter all of it?"
He scanned the page, and actually seemed to pale slightly. "I--I never saw this, Ciss," he said, looking back up at her again. "My original proposal would have addressed... maybe half of what you have here. Dad gave me the corrections."
Cissie watched him closely while he looked it over, and when he finished talking, she exhaled and relaxed back in her chair. She nodded and managed a tiny smile. "Thank you. I... really hoped you didn't know." She shrugged. "Well, once I stopped wanting to kill you with my bare hands," she said wryly.
"...Yeah, I'm kinda glad you didn't do that," he said, giving her a small--genuine--smile. "I kind of like this plane of existence."
"I would have stopped her. Probably." Tim smiled a little. "I didn't want to believe it either."
Conner's smile widened just slightly before his expression turned serious. "Thanks. I wouldn't do that, though. That's not--I don't play like that."
Cissie nodded. "I know. I mean, I hoped. You've never seemed the type." She gave a small sigh and glanced at Tim. "But there's more. Last week, there were break-ins at both of our companies," she said, gesturing between herself and Tim. "They didn't get anything from WE, but they did hack into my system."
Conner gave a low whistle. "Wow. Everyone but me. No wonder you were suspicious. I'd be suspicious. But--" he glanced at Tim. "WE managed to block the attack? Man, I wish I had your firewalls."
He smiled a little. "My security is really very good." For a while, it had been a game between Barbara and him to try to figure out who could build the best firewall. Hers was better, of course, but his hadn't been anything to sneeze at. They used hers at the Cave and the Clocktower, and his at Wayne Enterprises, with a few of Barbara's modifications. It was all but unbreakable.
Cissie smiled a little. "And then you seemed to know everything in my files." She took a deep breath and looked down at the table instead of at either of them. "Anyway, it might not have been a security issue at all. It's... possible the person responsible might have guessed my passwords."
Tim reached under the table to squeeze her hand while Conner frowned. "What do you mean? How would they have guessed?"
She held Tim's hand tightly and looked up at Conner. "Because I think it was Mia. My sister."
"Your sister?" he asked, his voice incredulous. "But--why?"
She shook her head miserably, shrugging. "That's what I don't know. But I'm... pretty sure it was her."
"Why?"
Cissie glanced at Tim briefly. "It's... kind of a long story. Whoever did it was dressed like--well. Me. They had to have access to some of my old things, and had to know enough to try to frame me for it, and--that's a pretty short list."
Conner folded his arms across his chest, scowling deeply. "That's just--not right. Have you spoken with her yet? Demanded to know what's up? Because--that's what I'd be doing."
She gave him a sad smile and loosened her grip on Tim's hand. "Not yet. I'm planning on doing that when I get home."
"Do you want backup?" he offered. "Dad's not expecting me back for a few more days, and--I'd kind of like to know how I got involved in this."
Tim bit back a thoughtful noise. He had his own ideas on that matter, but there was no use in pointing fingers with only circumstantial evidence.
Cissie bit her lip, hesitating briefly. "I don't necessarily want to gang up on her, but I also... don't want her to brush me off. Which--honestly--is something she might do."
"I'm happy to back you up," he offered. "I bet Tim would come, too. I mean, his company was hit, and--you two are friends, right?"
"You're our friend, too," Tim said, giving him a wry smile.
"Uh, yeah. But not like you two are friends. Not the disappearing for hours into a hotel room kind of friend."
Cissie sighed. "Conner, this again? Really?"
"You two were both completely MIA for the same time period. Neither of you responded to phone calls or e-mails during that time. And while I'm completely jealous of the undoubtedly hot sex you two were having, that's not really relevant at the moment. I'm just saying--you two are friends. Both of your companies were hit. It makes sense for Tim to be there, like it makes sense for me to be there. I was implicated. Plus--intimidation isn't necessarily a bad thing here."
She reached up to rub at her temple. "I suppose it's not. In any case, it won't be as easy for her to ignore you two as it is for her to ignore me."
"We are pretty impressive," Tim said, grinning a little. "And we're also not her sister."
"No, you're not," she said, laughing. "All right. You'll both come with me to California tomorrow. Not like it's out of your way or anything."
"We do have access to private jets," Conner pointed out.
"That doesn't make it much less inconvenient for you. But--thank you."
"You're welcome." Tim smiled at her. "Besides--it's been ages since we've been out your way."
"I guess it has." She smiled back, moving her leg to touch his under the table. "If everything with Mia doesn't go too horribly, maybe I can take you both for some sight-seeing there before you have to head back."
"That'd be cool," Conner said with a grin. "Maybe we can go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or something. I like fish, and I think they have a cool jellyfish exhibit."
Tim opened his mouth to agree, and was interrupted by the arrival of their waitress. He gave her a sheepish look. "I'm sorry--we were talking. We haven't even looked at the menu yet. Can you give us a few more minutes?"
She nodded and went away again after filling their water glasses. Tim reached for his menu. "We probably should figure out what we want to eat."
"Since that's presumably why we came here, it can't hurt," Cissie agreed, smirking at him and reaching for her own menu. She scanned it and reached over, pointing to something on Tim's menu. "They have mushroom ravioli."
Tim grinned and closed his menu. "Excellent. I know what I'm getting, then."
Conner raised an eyebrow. "You two go out together a lot? I don't know what either of your favorites are. For the record."
Cissie returned her attention to her menu, taking her time before responding. "He mentioned wanting it yesterday when he was convincing me not to castrate you until we had proof," she said finally, keeping her tone light. "What are you having?"
Tim blinked. He hadn't done anything of the kind, actually, but--all right. He understood not wanting to be pestered by Conner right now.
Conner scanned the menu. "I think--the steak, probably. I'm starving."
Cissie nodded absently, setting her menu down in front of her. She looked at both of them before she spoke. "Thank you. In advance, for coming with me."
"Any time," Tim said, smiling and taking her hand under the table.
Conner nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I mean--" he reached to grab the hand that was resting by her plate. "What are friends for?"
Part 6