(no subject)
Title: Betty and the Bat (Ficlet #1)
Fandom: Batman Begins/Ugly Betty
Characters/Pairing: Alfred Pennyworth and Betty Suarez
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,980
Summary: At the end of season one of Ugly Betty, Betty finds herself in need of a new boss.
Notes: This summer I had to ride the train to work every morning, so I had a lot of time to think of/write odd crossovers. This is one of the ones which popped into my head that actually made sense. I wrote part of it in August, along with a few other chapters) and only just finished this bit up this evening. I might brush up the others and post if there's any interest, but I decided to post this one just to see what people think. Here's hoping it's not too odd.
"…and she should be someone trustworthy, you know. Someone who, after a time, would be considered so."
"Of course, sir. Trustworthy."
Ah, but trustworthy was such a hard adjective to match to any one person, or so Mr. Alfred Pennyworth was discovering. And then to be so trustworthy, but also possess the skills one would need as secretary for the head of a billion dollar firm? It was asking something near impossible. Such a person likely existed in the known world, but it was looking as if they had not been recommended for this job. A shame, really, and he was wondering if perhaps Master Wayne should have been more liberal with his advertising. Not that, of course, he wanted any bum on the street walking into the interview, but perhaps 'by recommendation only' had been a bit stringent.
Even with the stringent rules for application, Alfred had seen a good fifteen people so far that day. But with only twenty five people on the list he'd seen over half of the applicants and that was slightly worrying. The interviews had not lasted long, the longest going for thirty minutes at which point he'd thought that progress was being made. It came crashing down around him when after she made mention of some less than professional behavior. While Alfred was glad she admitted to such things before they'd gone and hired her, he also wished the interview time hadn't been wasted.
He'd taken a break after that particular failure to have lunch and the interviews resumed thereafter with person number seventeen (for person number sixteen's son had decided to become sick at school, forcing her to leave).
He called down to the front desk, asking that the next applicant, a Miss. Betty Suarez, be sent up. If he noted the slight note of shock in the receptionist's voice when she said that the young lady was on her way, he did not make mention of it. Instead he stood behind the desk and waited for the door of the office to open.
It did, eventually, and Alfred straightened (not that he ever truly slouched) as he prepared to greet the latest young woman to cross the threshold. She did not, though, immediately cross through the door, nor did it open completely.
Alfred was admittedly surprised when the door opened only a smidge and a bushy haired girl poked her head in. Her eyes scanned the room once, resting on Alfred. She seemed to blush when she found his gaze resting back on her.
"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed quickly. "I-I was looking for a Mr. Wayne, b-but I must have the wrong room. Sorry. Do you know where the main office is? I think I must have gotten the floor wrong, this was the only office here."
"Miss. Suarez?" Alfred asked, holding back a slight chuckle. "If you're here to interview for Mr. Wayne, then you're in the right place. Please, have a seat."
The girl blinked, her mouth forming a small o before she straightened and hurried into the office.
Betty Suarez was immediately unlike any of the others interviewed that day, and this before the interview had even started. Her lumpy sweater vest stood out immediately, more so because it clashed horribly with collared blouse she was wearing underneath. She wore a black skirt, opaque pantyhose, and black heels which had obviously been made for comfort and not style. When she smiled Alfred caught glimpse of pink and purple braces. She was not, perhaps, as… polished, as the other applicants that day, though her resume and recommendations were just as impressive.
"I'm Alfred Pennyworth, Mr. Wayne's butler." He reached across the desk as she approached to shake her hand. She was obviously nervous, but her handshake was still firm. A good sign. "He appologises for not being here to interview you himself and hopes that you don't mind me doing the honors."
"Oh, no, that's fine. That's how it happened at Meade too," Betty answered quickly as she lowered herself into the leather chair placed in front of the desk. Alfred could tell she was trying not to glance around the entirety of the room. Others hadn't bothered to hide their sweeps of the room. It was a opulent office and Alfred couldn't blame people for being shocked, especially when they were told that this was only the secretary's office. Bruce Wayne's lay through the double doors behind and to the side of the desk.
She placed her purse in her lap and folded her hands over it while Alfred picked up her resume which was now at the top of the time. She'd mentioned Meade and indeed, there it was at the top of her job listing. It was, actually, her only job listing. Secretary and personal assistant to Daniel Meade, heir to the Meade Publications empire (well, half an heir at this point, he supposed, with his brother returning from the dead) and former chief editor of Mode Magazine, their most profitable book.
Copies of her recommendations lay underneath the resume and Alfred looked through those again as well, though he'd already read them quite thoroughly beforehand. "You were greatly loved at Meade, Miss. Suarez. Is there a reason you're searching for a new position?"
It might have been his imagination but a fleeting look of shock seemed to pass over Betty's face before she answered the question. "It's… a little complicated. Did you hear about the accident?" she asked hesitantly, only going on when Alfred had nodded that yes, he had. He was rather sure that everyone in the world had heard the news coming from New York of late. That the breaks had gone out in the car driven by Alexis Meade as she rushed her brother Daniel to the hospital and as result they'd slammed into a railing on the curvy Sawmill Parkway.
There'd been little left of the car and neither Alexis nor Daniel had come out of the accident in good shape. Both were recovering, but they were in no condition to run a magazine and as such their father, Bradford Meade, had handed the reigns over to his new fiancé, Wilhelmina Slater.
Alfred knew all of this, not because it had been covered nonstop by every news station in existence, but because Bruce had known both Daniel and Alex in his earlier years and there'd been a passing sadness in his eyes when he'd heard the news of the accident.
"Wilhelmina, er, Ms. Slater, let me go when she was made editor-in-chief. Even though Daniel's going to come back," Betty said. Her last sentence was as despondent as it was hopeful. The Meade siblings still had a ways to go, recovery-wise. "I'm not sure Ms. Slater liked me very much, so… but, I was going to stay on with Daniel while he was getting better, but he said he didn't want to hold me back from new job opportunities. And, well, to be honest, I didn't actually apply for this job and I think he might have recommended me without saying anything. I wasn't expecting to be called in for an interview."
That explained a good deal of the nerves, Alfred thought. They had only just called to set up the interviews for all applicants three days ago. He tapped the resume underneath his fingertips. "I don't know, it looks as if Ms. Slater has written you a glowing recommendation. As has Bradford Meade. I believe there's one from Sofia Reyes here as well. Daniel phoned his in, which is fine given the circumstances of his condition."
"I- Really?" The girl had looked surprised enough with the mention of 'Ms. Slater' and 'glowing recommendation' in the same sentence. The other names seemed to leave her speechless for a moment before it all sunk in and suddenly she was smiling, not as nervously, and sitting up a bit straighter in the chair. "Oh, wow."
"Ms. Slater claims to have let you loose only because she knew that this job was opening up and thought you would be perfect for it, though Mr. Meade makes it clear that he instructed Ms. Slater to let you go only if she absolutely had to, and only with the best of references," Alfred said as if the news was just everyday information. From the look on Betty's face he could tell that it was certainly unexpected. "He apparently greatly appreciates everything you did for his son; says that you were quite loyal to Daniel during your tenure at Mode."
"Daniel was a good frien- a good boss," Betty said, covering her slip with a bright, professional smile. "And with all that was going on at Mode I couldn't afford for him not to be able to trust me and didn't want him not to trust me. We had a pretty honest relationship, I thought. He trusted me to organize his schedule every day, to get everything done, and to keep things quiet that needed to be kept quiet."
In other words, she was loyal and she could keep a secret. Trustworthy, perhaps? It wasn't a trait that all of the other interviews had lacked, per se, but some of them Alfred had simply disliked. Despite the fact that Miss. Suarez was obviously trying to put her most professional foot forward for the sake of this interview, Alfred suspected that there was a very friendly and open girl underneath. There had to be by the sounds of the recommendations in his hands. He approved, so far, more than he had of the others.
"That was your job, then?" he asked. The opportunity to elaborate on her former duties was clear.
"Essentially," she nodded. "I went over his schedule with him daily, made sure that he got to those appointments, answered his phone, and showed his guests into his office. M-making sure he gets through the day… there wasn't much more than that."
Wasn't there, though? Alfred thought so. There was much written in those letters which seemed to indicate the exact opposite. A word Miss. Reyes and the younger Mr. Meade had used to often in their descriptions of the girl; loyal.
Alfred smiled. "I believe Mr. Wayne will want to meet with you."
"He-he will?" Betty asked. The dear in headlights look was becoming very at home on her face.
"At your earliest convenience, of course. Does tomorrow afternoon work?"
It seemed at this point all that the young woman could do was nod, but that was fine enough for Alfred. She wasn't traditionally tough, this one, obviously easily startled and taken by surprise, but Alfred found that he liked her. There weren't many people in Gotham City like Betty Suarez. Not many who could actually be described as decent and trustworthy people. Many came into Gotham looking just like her, shocked and wideeyed at everything around them, even if they were from a city like New York. People adapted differently. Eventually they all lost their looks of wonder as they looked upon Gotham's old stylized opulent society and criminal world, but where some grew thick skins and simply stopped caring about those around them, there were others who became used to the world, but they didn't stop trying to help.
This girl was one of those. Alfred stood from behind the desk, reaching out to shake Betty's hand once more. Her shake was firm, as it had been the first time, though he could tell that she was still nervous. Her eyes said everything and she was plainly shocked that she'd been hired.
'The first in a series of many…' Alfred thought to himself as he showed Betty Suarez to the door. There was something he liked about this one. Trustworthy and loyal. He would go with his instinct on this one and hope that Bruce was about to be in very good hands.
Fandom: Batman Begins/Ugly Betty
Characters/Pairing: Alfred Pennyworth and Betty Suarez
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,980
Summary: At the end of season one of Ugly Betty, Betty finds herself in need of a new boss.
Notes: This summer I had to ride the train to work every morning, so I had a lot of time to think of/write odd crossovers. This is one of the ones which popped into my head that actually made sense. I wrote part of it in August, along with a few other chapters) and only just finished this bit up this evening. I might brush up the others and post if there's any interest, but I decided to post this one just to see what people think. Here's hoping it's not too odd.
"…and she should be someone trustworthy, you know. Someone who, after a time, would be considered so."
"Of course, sir. Trustworthy."
Ah, but trustworthy was such a hard adjective to match to any one person, or so Mr. Alfred Pennyworth was discovering. And then to be so trustworthy, but also possess the skills one would need as secretary for the head of a billion dollar firm? It was asking something near impossible. Such a person likely existed in the known world, but it was looking as if they had not been recommended for this job. A shame, really, and he was wondering if perhaps Master Wayne should have been more liberal with his advertising. Not that, of course, he wanted any bum on the street walking into the interview, but perhaps 'by recommendation only' had been a bit stringent.
Even with the stringent rules for application, Alfred had seen a good fifteen people so far that day. But with only twenty five people on the list he'd seen over half of the applicants and that was slightly worrying. The interviews had not lasted long, the longest going for thirty minutes at which point he'd thought that progress was being made. It came crashing down around him when after she made mention of some less than professional behavior. While Alfred was glad she admitted to such things before they'd gone and hired her, he also wished the interview time hadn't been wasted.
He'd taken a break after that particular failure to have lunch and the interviews resumed thereafter with person number seventeen (for person number sixteen's son had decided to become sick at school, forcing her to leave).
He called down to the front desk, asking that the next applicant, a Miss. Betty Suarez, be sent up. If he noted the slight note of shock in the receptionist's voice when she said that the young lady was on her way, he did not make mention of it. Instead he stood behind the desk and waited for the door of the office to open.
It did, eventually, and Alfred straightened (not that he ever truly slouched) as he prepared to greet the latest young woman to cross the threshold. She did not, though, immediately cross through the door, nor did it open completely.
Alfred was admittedly surprised when the door opened only a smidge and a bushy haired girl poked her head in. Her eyes scanned the room once, resting on Alfred. She seemed to blush when she found his gaze resting back on her.
"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed quickly. "I-I was looking for a Mr. Wayne, b-but I must have the wrong room. Sorry. Do you know where the main office is? I think I must have gotten the floor wrong, this was the only office here."
"Miss. Suarez?" Alfred asked, holding back a slight chuckle. "If you're here to interview for Mr. Wayne, then you're in the right place. Please, have a seat."
The girl blinked, her mouth forming a small o before she straightened and hurried into the office.
Betty Suarez was immediately unlike any of the others interviewed that day, and this before the interview had even started. Her lumpy sweater vest stood out immediately, more so because it clashed horribly with collared blouse she was wearing underneath. She wore a black skirt, opaque pantyhose, and black heels which had obviously been made for comfort and not style. When she smiled Alfred caught glimpse of pink and purple braces. She was not, perhaps, as… polished, as the other applicants that day, though her resume and recommendations were just as impressive.
"I'm Alfred Pennyworth, Mr. Wayne's butler." He reached across the desk as she approached to shake her hand. She was obviously nervous, but her handshake was still firm. A good sign. "He appologises for not being here to interview you himself and hopes that you don't mind me doing the honors."
"Oh, no, that's fine. That's how it happened at Meade too," Betty answered quickly as she lowered herself into the leather chair placed in front of the desk. Alfred could tell she was trying not to glance around the entirety of the room. Others hadn't bothered to hide their sweeps of the room. It was a opulent office and Alfred couldn't blame people for being shocked, especially when they were told that this was only the secretary's office. Bruce Wayne's lay through the double doors behind and to the side of the desk.
She placed her purse in her lap and folded her hands over it while Alfred picked up her resume which was now at the top of the time. She'd mentioned Meade and indeed, there it was at the top of her job listing. It was, actually, her only job listing. Secretary and personal assistant to Daniel Meade, heir to the Meade Publications empire (well, half an heir at this point, he supposed, with his brother returning from the dead) and former chief editor of Mode Magazine, their most profitable book.
Copies of her recommendations lay underneath the resume and Alfred looked through those again as well, though he'd already read them quite thoroughly beforehand. "You were greatly loved at Meade, Miss. Suarez. Is there a reason you're searching for a new position?"
It might have been his imagination but a fleeting look of shock seemed to pass over Betty's face before she answered the question. "It's… a little complicated. Did you hear about the accident?" she asked hesitantly, only going on when Alfred had nodded that yes, he had. He was rather sure that everyone in the world had heard the news coming from New York of late. That the breaks had gone out in the car driven by Alexis Meade as she rushed her brother Daniel to the hospital and as result they'd slammed into a railing on the curvy Sawmill Parkway.
There'd been little left of the car and neither Alexis nor Daniel had come out of the accident in good shape. Both were recovering, but they were in no condition to run a magazine and as such their father, Bradford Meade, had handed the reigns over to his new fiancé, Wilhelmina Slater.
Alfred knew all of this, not because it had been covered nonstop by every news station in existence, but because Bruce had known both Daniel and Alex in his earlier years and there'd been a passing sadness in his eyes when he'd heard the news of the accident.
"Wilhelmina, er, Ms. Slater, let me go when she was made editor-in-chief. Even though Daniel's going to come back," Betty said. Her last sentence was as despondent as it was hopeful. The Meade siblings still had a ways to go, recovery-wise. "I'm not sure Ms. Slater liked me very much, so… but, I was going to stay on with Daniel while he was getting better, but he said he didn't want to hold me back from new job opportunities. And, well, to be honest, I didn't actually apply for this job and I think he might have recommended me without saying anything. I wasn't expecting to be called in for an interview."
That explained a good deal of the nerves, Alfred thought. They had only just called to set up the interviews for all applicants three days ago. He tapped the resume underneath his fingertips. "I don't know, it looks as if Ms. Slater has written you a glowing recommendation. As has Bradford Meade. I believe there's one from Sofia Reyes here as well. Daniel phoned his in, which is fine given the circumstances of his condition."
"I- Really?" The girl had looked surprised enough with the mention of 'Ms. Slater' and 'glowing recommendation' in the same sentence. The other names seemed to leave her speechless for a moment before it all sunk in and suddenly she was smiling, not as nervously, and sitting up a bit straighter in the chair. "Oh, wow."
"Ms. Slater claims to have let you loose only because she knew that this job was opening up and thought you would be perfect for it, though Mr. Meade makes it clear that he instructed Ms. Slater to let you go only if she absolutely had to, and only with the best of references," Alfred said as if the news was just everyday information. From the look on Betty's face he could tell that it was certainly unexpected. "He apparently greatly appreciates everything you did for his son; says that you were quite loyal to Daniel during your tenure at Mode."
"Daniel was a good frien- a good boss," Betty said, covering her slip with a bright, professional smile. "And with all that was going on at Mode I couldn't afford for him not to be able to trust me and didn't want him not to trust me. We had a pretty honest relationship, I thought. He trusted me to organize his schedule every day, to get everything done, and to keep things quiet that needed to be kept quiet."
In other words, she was loyal and she could keep a secret. Trustworthy, perhaps? It wasn't a trait that all of the other interviews had lacked, per se, but some of them Alfred had simply disliked. Despite the fact that Miss. Suarez was obviously trying to put her most professional foot forward for the sake of this interview, Alfred suspected that there was a very friendly and open girl underneath. There had to be by the sounds of the recommendations in his hands. He approved, so far, more than he had of the others.
"That was your job, then?" he asked. The opportunity to elaborate on her former duties was clear.
"Essentially," she nodded. "I went over his schedule with him daily, made sure that he got to those appointments, answered his phone, and showed his guests into his office. M-making sure he gets through the day… there wasn't much more than that."
Wasn't there, though? Alfred thought so. There was much written in those letters which seemed to indicate the exact opposite. A word Miss. Reyes and the younger Mr. Meade had used to often in their descriptions of the girl; loyal.
Alfred smiled. "I believe Mr. Wayne will want to meet with you."
"He-he will?" Betty asked. The dear in headlights look was becoming very at home on her face.
"At your earliest convenience, of course. Does tomorrow afternoon work?"
It seemed at this point all that the young woman could do was nod, but that was fine enough for Alfred. She wasn't traditionally tough, this one, obviously easily startled and taken by surprise, but Alfred found that he liked her. There weren't many people in Gotham City like Betty Suarez. Not many who could actually be described as decent and trustworthy people. Many came into Gotham looking just like her, shocked and wideeyed at everything around them, even if they were from a city like New York. People adapted differently. Eventually they all lost their looks of wonder as they looked upon Gotham's old stylized opulent society and criminal world, but where some grew thick skins and simply stopped caring about those around them, there were others who became used to the world, but they didn't stop trying to help.
This girl was one of those. Alfred stood from behind the desk, reaching out to shake Betty's hand once more. Her shake was firm, as it had been the first time, though he could tell that she was still nervous. Her eyes said everything and she was plainly shocked that she'd been hired.
'The first in a series of many…' Alfred thought to himself as he showed Betty Suarez to the door. There was something he liked about this one. Trustworthy and loyal. He would go with his instinct on this one and hope that Bruce was about to be in very good hands.