[Fic] Titans of Industry, 1/8
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 1
A sharp knock on his office door was all the warning Tim had before Tam Fox entered, crossing the room to drop a stack of folders on the desk in front of him. "You do remember that there is a perfectly good lock on the door and a couch right over there if you feel the need to nap through your afternoon?" she asked dryly.
He sat up, scrubbing at his face, and gave her a wry smile. "It wasn't planned," he admitted. "Sorry. Please tell me I didn't sleep through any meetings."
She scoffed and put a hand on her hip. "When have I ever let you sleep through your meetings? You’ve only missed some phone calls and I had to chase that new girl from R-and-D away twice. I think someone has a crush."
He groaned. "You know, I really have done my best to make myself unapproachable and unlikeable. Can't they develop more convenient crushes--on Dick and Jason, maybe?"
She grinned at him. "Dick and Jason didn’t hire them."
"Yes, but people like them," he grumbled. He started sifting through the folders Tam had dropped on his desk. "What am I looking at?"
"Poor, unlovable Tim. Nobody likes you, except everyone who knows you," she teased. Tam moved to sit on the edge of his desk. "They’re drafts of the contract proposals for the government bid. The third one’s my favorite, but it’s a little ambitious. And there’s the report you asked Lydia for last week."
He made a face at her. "I wasn't actually fishing for compliments. And an ambitious proposal might not be a bad idea. We know LexCorp isn't going to balk at a little risk." And he hated the idea of losing to Lex Luthor.
"When you do decide to fish for compliments, remind me to show you your Facebook fanclub. It’s terrifying," she said cheerfully. Sobering, she shrugged one shoulder. "No. They won’t. And Queen Industries has been taking a lot of risks lately and pulling them off. I think you might even want to push it further, so I stuck last quarter’s productivity review on the bottom of the pile."
"You're terrifying," he muttered, glancing over the report. "I'll look it over, of course, but you recommend the third one?"
"Coming from the Super Ninja himself, I’ll take that as a compliment," Tam replied with a grin. "But yes, I do."
He nodded a little. He would go over the proposal to make sure everything was sound, but Tam generally had a good sense for things like this. Her recommendation was probably best. He glanced quickly at Lydia's report. The body armor design was going into production sooner than expected. Good. It was two generations behind what Batman and Robin were wearing these days, but it was light years ahead of what the cops were in. It would help.
He glanced up at Tam again. "Anything else I need to know?"
She made a face. "Well. You have a meeting with Bruce in ten minutes?"
"I probably shouldn’t skip out on that for a nap, huh?" he teased.
"Probably not," Tam agreed. "Unless you want him to come looking for you. In which case, I think I have some important business in the other end of the building."
He snorted lightly. "Nice to see you always have my back."
"Uh huh," she said dryly, arching an eyebrow. "And who went running for the hills when my father came looking for answers about the Germany fiasco last month?"
"Your father is terrifying. And he usually blames me when things go wrong."
Tam laughed. "I can’t imagine why you think that."
"I think it has to do with his moderate and reasonable reaction after that time you came looking for me," he said, his tone wry. "And I still don't see how that was my fault. He was the one that sent you to find me."
"It’s true. But I am pretty sure he’s gotten over that in the last six years," she pointed out. "Especially given how much he loves you when things go right."
"He only loves me for my mind."
Tam laughed and shook her head at him. "That must be it. It is rather brilliant on occasion."
"Only because I have such brilliant assistance," he said, giving her a little smile. He glanced toward the clock on his desk. "And with two minutes to spare, I should probably start ambling toward Bruce's office."
"Flatterer," she said, hopping off the edge of the desk with a smile. "Not a bad idea, though. And I have some phone calls I should return."
"Anyone fun?" He asked, standing to follow her toward the door.
Tam rolled her eyes. "Vicky Vale called again. I don’t suppose you suddenly feel like revealing everything to her about your secret love affair with... Crap, I forget who the Girl of the Week is."
"Someone fun, probably. Who doesn't mind getting stood up all the time, and puts up with my crazy schedule and workaholic tendencies... My, God, Tam. I must be dating you." He smirked at her.
"I thought we just killed those rumors," she said, laughing. "I mean, if you want to go through all of that again, that’s fine. I think it was harder on you than it was on me."
"It was hardest on my face, actually. I'm reasonably sure that your fiancé left an imprint of his fist in my cheekbone."
She winced and gave him an apologetic smile. "I am sorry about that, and I did yell at him. But I do appreciate that you left him in one piece."
"Ninja code." He offered his knuckles for a fistbump. "Thou shalt not kill thy honorary ninja's fiancé."
Tam grinned and bumped her hand against his. "You are such a dork. And a dork who is going to be late for his meeting. You’d better get going."
"I'm going, I'm going." He waved at her over his shoulder as he turned toward Bruce's office. He'd be right on time, despite pausing to talk to Tam.
Bruce was at his desk, typing rapidly when Tim arrived. He waited until Tim had entered the room and shut the door before speaking. "Tim. Lock the door, would you?"
Tim raised an eyebrow. It was going to be one of those meetings. He turned back toward Bruce once he'd done as he'd asked. "What's up?"
Bruce gestured for him to come behind the desk and pulled up a file on his computer. "There was an incident at our San Diego building last night. Someone broke in, took down three of the night guards and attempted to hack into the server. I thought you would be interested in seeing the security footage."
Tim raised an eyebrow as he watched the video play back. A blond archer in a dark costume let herself into the San Diego offices, taking out the security guards with almost frightening efficiency. Then she tried to hack their system using the local VP's computer. Tim snorted quietly. He'd designed their network security himself, with Barbara's help. She'd have to work a lot harder to break into his system.
Bruce entered a few swift commands and the footage froze, then zoomed in for a closer view of the girl’s face. It was obscured by shadows and the angle of the camera, but even if it had been a clear shot, her face was half covered by a red mask. "She didn’t get in--obviously--so there’s no way to tell what she was after. But I’m less interested in that than in who she is."
"You have a theory, of course," Tim said, glancing over at him.
Bruce sat back in his chair with a nod. "Do you remember Arrowette?"
Tim frowned a little. "Of course. I also remember that she retired ten years ago."
"And the previous Arrowette had been retired for fourteen years before that," Bruce pointed out. He pointed at the screen in front of them. "This girl used the same type of archery equipment, and the mask is the same style." He glanced at Tim. "You do remember who the last Arrowette was."
Tim drummed his fingers lightly against the desktop, still frowning. "I remember, but... I don't know. Why would she come back now? After a ten year retirement? It seems a little... unlikely."
"Perhaps. But Queen Industries is one of the other companies bidding for that government contract you’ve been working on. I’m not ready to dismiss the possibility, are you?"
"She tends to eschew this kind of thing," Tim said, giving Bruce a skeptical look.
Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "How sure are you about that?"
"She likes to earn her victories the hard way. It's more rewarding."
Bruce eyed him for another moment before returning his attention to the computer. "When you go to D.C., she’ll be there to make the bid for Queen Industries. I want you to look into her as a suspect."
Tim shook his head a little. "I'll look into it, but I'm telling you--Cissie King-Jones didn't do this. It's not her style."
"Her style?"
"This won't be the first time I've faced her across the table, Bruce. She's above-board. She always has been."
"There are some who would say the same about you," Bruce pointed out.
"I am. Mostly."
"Mostly," Bruce agreed dryly. "Cissie is the most logical suspect at the moment. If this really isn’t her, you should be able to determine that quickly, but I need you to look into it."
Tim held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. I never said I wouldn't. But I still think we're on the wrong track."
"We’ll see." Bruce closed the files and turned to look at him again. "Now. Let’s discuss the pharmaceutical merger..."
Part 2
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 1
A sharp knock on his office door was all the warning Tim had before Tam Fox entered, crossing the room to drop a stack of folders on the desk in front of him. "You do remember that there is a perfectly good lock on the door and a couch right over there if you feel the need to nap through your afternoon?" she asked dryly.
He sat up, scrubbing at his face, and gave her a wry smile. "It wasn't planned," he admitted. "Sorry. Please tell me I didn't sleep through any meetings."
She scoffed and put a hand on her hip. "When have I ever let you sleep through your meetings? You’ve only missed some phone calls and I had to chase that new girl from R-and-D away twice. I think someone has a crush."
He groaned. "You know, I really have done my best to make myself unapproachable and unlikeable. Can't they develop more convenient crushes--on Dick and Jason, maybe?"
She grinned at him. "Dick and Jason didn’t hire them."
"Yes, but people like them," he grumbled. He started sifting through the folders Tam had dropped on his desk. "What am I looking at?"
"Poor, unlovable Tim. Nobody likes you, except everyone who knows you," she teased. Tam moved to sit on the edge of his desk. "They’re drafts of the contract proposals for the government bid. The third one’s my favorite, but it’s a little ambitious. And there’s the report you asked Lydia for last week."
He made a face at her. "I wasn't actually fishing for compliments. And an ambitious proposal might not be a bad idea. We know LexCorp isn't going to balk at a little risk." And he hated the idea of losing to Lex Luthor.
"When you do decide to fish for compliments, remind me to show you your Facebook fanclub. It’s terrifying," she said cheerfully. Sobering, she shrugged one shoulder. "No. They won’t. And Queen Industries has been taking a lot of risks lately and pulling them off. I think you might even want to push it further, so I stuck last quarter’s productivity review on the bottom of the pile."
"You're terrifying," he muttered, glancing over the report. "I'll look it over, of course, but you recommend the third one?"
"Coming from the Super Ninja himself, I’ll take that as a compliment," Tam replied with a grin. "But yes, I do."
He nodded a little. He would go over the proposal to make sure everything was sound, but Tam generally had a good sense for things like this. Her recommendation was probably best. He glanced quickly at Lydia's report. The body armor design was going into production sooner than expected. Good. It was two generations behind what Batman and Robin were wearing these days, but it was light years ahead of what the cops were in. It would help.
He glanced up at Tam again. "Anything else I need to know?"
She made a face. "Well. You have a meeting with Bruce in ten minutes?"
"I probably shouldn’t skip out on that for a nap, huh?" he teased.
"Probably not," Tam agreed. "Unless you want him to come looking for you. In which case, I think I have some important business in the other end of the building."
He snorted lightly. "Nice to see you always have my back."
"Uh huh," she said dryly, arching an eyebrow. "And who went running for the hills when my father came looking for answers about the Germany fiasco last month?"
"Your father is terrifying. And he usually blames me when things go wrong."
Tam laughed. "I can’t imagine why you think that."
"I think it has to do with his moderate and reasonable reaction after that time you came looking for me," he said, his tone wry. "And I still don't see how that was my fault. He was the one that sent you to find me."
"It’s true. But I am pretty sure he’s gotten over that in the last six years," she pointed out. "Especially given how much he loves you when things go right."
"He only loves me for my mind."
Tam laughed and shook her head at him. "That must be it. It is rather brilliant on occasion."
"Only because I have such brilliant assistance," he said, giving her a little smile. He glanced toward the clock on his desk. "And with two minutes to spare, I should probably start ambling toward Bruce's office."
"Flatterer," she said, hopping off the edge of the desk with a smile. "Not a bad idea, though. And I have some phone calls I should return."
"Anyone fun?" He asked, standing to follow her toward the door.
Tam rolled her eyes. "Vicky Vale called again. I don’t suppose you suddenly feel like revealing everything to her about your secret love affair with... Crap, I forget who the Girl of the Week is."
"Someone fun, probably. Who doesn't mind getting stood up all the time, and puts up with my crazy schedule and workaholic tendencies... My, God, Tam. I must be dating you." He smirked at her.
"I thought we just killed those rumors," she said, laughing. "I mean, if you want to go through all of that again, that’s fine. I think it was harder on you than it was on me."
"It was hardest on my face, actually. I'm reasonably sure that your fiancé left an imprint of his fist in my cheekbone."
She winced and gave him an apologetic smile. "I am sorry about that, and I did yell at him. But I do appreciate that you left him in one piece."
"Ninja code." He offered his knuckles for a fistbump. "Thou shalt not kill thy honorary ninja's fiancé."
Tam grinned and bumped her hand against his. "You are such a dork. And a dork who is going to be late for his meeting. You’d better get going."
"I'm going, I'm going." He waved at her over his shoulder as he turned toward Bruce's office. He'd be right on time, despite pausing to talk to Tam.
Bruce was at his desk, typing rapidly when Tim arrived. He waited until Tim had entered the room and shut the door before speaking. "Tim. Lock the door, would you?"
Tim raised an eyebrow. It was going to be one of those meetings. He turned back toward Bruce once he'd done as he'd asked. "What's up?"
Bruce gestured for him to come behind the desk and pulled up a file on his computer. "There was an incident at our San Diego building last night. Someone broke in, took down three of the night guards and attempted to hack into the server. I thought you would be interested in seeing the security footage."
Tim raised an eyebrow as he watched the video play back. A blond archer in a dark costume let herself into the San Diego offices, taking out the security guards with almost frightening efficiency. Then she tried to hack their system using the local VP's computer. Tim snorted quietly. He'd designed their network security himself, with Barbara's help. She'd have to work a lot harder to break into his system.
Bruce entered a few swift commands and the footage froze, then zoomed in for a closer view of the girl’s face. It was obscured by shadows and the angle of the camera, but even if it had been a clear shot, her face was half covered by a red mask. "She didn’t get in--obviously--so there’s no way to tell what she was after. But I’m less interested in that than in who she is."
"You have a theory, of course," Tim said, glancing over at him.
Bruce sat back in his chair with a nod. "Do you remember Arrowette?"
Tim frowned a little. "Of course. I also remember that she retired ten years ago."
"And the previous Arrowette had been retired for fourteen years before that," Bruce pointed out. He pointed at the screen in front of them. "This girl used the same type of archery equipment, and the mask is the same style." He glanced at Tim. "You do remember who the last Arrowette was."
Tim drummed his fingers lightly against the desktop, still frowning. "I remember, but... I don't know. Why would she come back now? After a ten year retirement? It seems a little... unlikely."
"Perhaps. But Queen Industries is one of the other companies bidding for that government contract you’ve been working on. I’m not ready to dismiss the possibility, are you?"
"She tends to eschew this kind of thing," Tim said, giving Bruce a skeptical look.
Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "How sure are you about that?"
"She likes to earn her victories the hard way. It's more rewarding."
Bruce eyed him for another moment before returning his attention to the computer. "When you go to D.C., she’ll be there to make the bid for Queen Industries. I want you to look into her as a suspect."
Tim shook his head a little. "I'll look into it, but I'm telling you--Cissie King-Jones didn't do this. It's not her style."
"Her style?"
"This won't be the first time I've faced her across the table, Bruce. She's above-board. She always has been."
"There are some who would say the same about you," Bruce pointed out.
"I am. Mostly."
"Mostly," Bruce agreed dryly. "Cissie is the most logical suspect at the moment. If this really isn’t her, you should be able to determine that quickly, but I need you to look into it."
Tim held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. I never said I wouldn't. But I still think we're on the wrong track."
"We’ll see." Bruce closed the files and turned to look at him again. "Now. Let’s discuss the pharmaceutical merger..."
Part 2