Chapter Text
The plan for the day was simple: get to the new branch, meet my new security people, meet with the supervisor and look through the building to analyze where I can make my magic. The problem is that Diana will be there and my mind will be preoccupied not wanting to be a gay disaster in front of her, I’m her boss now… Gotta be professional.
- Ana, get up! We gotta catch the bus! - I banged on her door while brushing my teeth.
- Bus? Don’t we have a limo? - I heard from the other side, along with a few curses to me and the sun rising so early.
- No limo, but maybe in a couple months we can get a car! But to get that you have to get the hell u- Oh. - she opened the door fully dressed. - How did you..
- I hate the bus, let’s go. - She pulled me toward the door and I barely had enough time to rinse my mouth before we were off.
A few minutes into the bus drive Ana checked her e-mail and made an ‘oh’ sound.
- Apparently the big boss is going to be appearing today to give the crew an “inspiring speech”. - Ana read out loud as she looked at me with a ‘serious?’ kind of look
- I didn’t know Mr. Vamp was coming. - I muttered to her
- No, not our boss. THE boss, Lex Luthor is going to be there today.
- Oh. OH. Well, he must really like electronics.
We got off at the stop that was next to the giant building we work at now. This building had 20 - 30 stories, clocking in at about 140 meters it gave me vertigo just looking at it. It looked like it was made of standard concrete but the foundation seemed reinforced with some type of hard rock, maybe the foundation was there before the building? That would be cool. We walked in through the big glass doors and approached the secretary’s desk.
- Names? - She asked us. We told her our names and she gave us two lanyards with our names and occupation, as we thanked her a young man with a clipboard came up to us and said:
- Good morning, you two are required to be at the meeting room with the other heads of departments. Follow me - He said sharply, turning around not leaving much room for a conversation.
We followed him to a standard looking meeting room, glass walls, a wooden door, a big table surrounded by what looked like 12 chairs that were occupied by other serious looking executives. Only 2 of the 12 remained, thankfully they were next to one another.
As me and Ana took the two last remaining seats (we were 10 minutes early. How were we the last ones to arrive?). The young man that led us there spoke up and said:
- Mr. Luthor will be here shortly, he will tell you all about this branch and what our mission is. Ending it with a small tour of the building’s more important rooms. - He finished before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
I felt a deafening silence spread across the room, no one tried to strike up a conversation or even look at each other, everyone just pulled up their phones and started to do other things, judging by all the serious faces they were definitely all reading smut fanfiction.
The thought made me chuckle softly, earning a raised eyebrow from my best friend and weird looks from a few of the other department heads
10 long minutes later the door finally opened and I saw for the first time in real life, Lex Luthor. The billionaire philanthropist that had a pretty open dislike of the Justice League and superheroes in general. He looked like a regular guy, not that different from other rich executives I’ve met. Bald head, tailored three-piece suit, spotless dress shoes and a blood-red tie.
Immediately after his entrance everyone looked up from their phones and gave him their full attention, the way he commanded the room with a single look gave chills, the bad kind, the kind you get when you make eye contact with a teacher and you know they think you’ll fail a test.
A little bit behind him came in another person, a woman, by the looks of it I’d say assistant. Her suit seemed to have come from the place as his and had similar wear, she was wearing heels but the kind that are low enough to run in. That made me think security but her loose long brown hair didn’t indicate a military background that personal security for the super rich usually had. I had to stop myself from looking at her because I was confusing my brain so much I was worried my nose would bleed.
As they both entered the room the assistant/security closed the door and Mr. Luthor started talking.
- Welcome, I’m sure you are all eager to get to your work stations and prepare for the opening tomorrow but I thought I’d say a few words before that. - Oh right, tomorrow there was a press conference where the building would officially be open for business, like when a big store opens. But we’re not a store, we work with clients and make software so the whole press conference didn’t make sense to me but what do I know about running a business. - He motioned to the woman next to him - This is my assistant, Mercy, she’ll be accompanying us today as well.
He went on to speak about how we were the best in our fields and together we’d bring this company to the next level, standard out-of-touch boss stuff. But as I looked around I could see my colleagues nodding and being enraptured by this average speech, even Ana seemed to be hanging off his every word.
20 minutes later he finished the weirdest siren song in the world he said
- Now let me give you all a tour of the facilities. - he motioned to the and his assistant held it open for us. We got up and started to file out, Lex Luthor made sure to shake hands with everyone before they left.
As we were all going I made eye contact with the man and saw he was looking at me like I was about to give him the best present in the world, I shook his hand a little confused.
- Ms. L/N, I’m glad you accepted the offer to come here. Your reputation precedes you. Harry has said many good things about you. - I always forget Mr. Vamp’s first name is Harry. And him being on a first name basis with Lex Luthor surprised me a little. - I hope you can bring to this company exactly what it needs.
- Thank you Sir, but what do you mean by my reputation? I just did the security back in New York. - I tested the waters a bit, did he know about the central park fight?
- Oh nonsense, you got all those people out of a building during an earthquake and saved many more with your specially planned contingency. - Okay he probably didn’t know about Central Park. So I was 80% sure only the Justice League and Ana knew about that little romp. But that 20% was saying that he was probably a really good liar. - You’re the mix of bravery and preparation I need in this company.
- Thank you Sir. - I said leaving the room quickly, I don’t know why I was so weirded out by that interaction. Maybe it was the weird look he kept giving me, not like he was objectifying me, but like I was going to pull a billion dollars from my pocket and hand it to him.
We started the tour, Luthor leading the bunch and his weird unreadable employee bringing up the rear. He showed us a big conference room that could hold upwards to 50 people, a floor specifically made for accounting with all the bells and whistles, a break room that looked like it was in another universe with its decoration making it look more like a bar. Drinks were all still only coffee and water.
After the break room we all got into the biggest elevator I’ve ever seen. We had been hopping between floors and that elevator was fast and could fit all of us comfortably with room to spare. I saw the assistant hit the basement button.
- And now our last stop, the laboratories in the basement. - That was new, there’s an R&D department here? That’s cool, but also unsafe. He continued. - These are our in-house research and development team. They will be able to study technology and get prototypes out to the other departments faster than our competitors, this is great for our workload and communication. - He finished with a smile as the elevator doors opened.
Stepping out of it I was awestruck at how professional this lab looked, the whole basement seemed to have been retro-fitted for all the pipes and energy cables in the ceiling, many smaller individual laboratories were sprinkled around the place. They were all empty, the building hadn’t opened yet, I saw one of the emotionless executives get a little twinkle in her eye. She must be the head of Research and Development and was almost salivating at all the high-tech machinery and top of line equipment.
While we were all looking around I caught out of the corner of my eye a half opened door in one the corridors and caught just a glimpse that one of the labs wasn’t so empty and seemed to be in active use. 3 or 4 scientists seemed to be experimenting on a box, red and black with big tubes and wires coming off of it. My curiosity got the best of me and I quietly peeled off of the group to go see what was so important that they couldn’t wait until tomorrow.
As I got closer I noticed that the scientists looked to have a system in which one of them either dripped a drop of a liquid onto the box, another logged the results and the others made adjustments to their formula before repeating the process.
I was just about to get close enough to hear them talking when a hand grabbed my arm and I was looking at Lex Luthor’s assistant with a stare that made me almost yelp in surprise.
- What are you doing? - She asked with a level voice that terrified me.
- I saw them working on something before I was able to put security on the place, I just wanted to make sure they were safe. - I spoke quickly, hoping she wouldn't look into my motivations any closer.
Her grip was still tight like iron around my arm. She squeezed a little more before letting go.
- Alright, but don’t go off on your own again for the rest of the tour. - She said sharply before escorting me back to the group.
They seemed to have just finished looking at a very interesting fan hooked up into the wall like the rest of the building. It was huge and could be mistaken for a turbine. But I stopped paying attention to the tour and just kept thinking about that box, it looked familiar but I couldn’t remember from where and it was driving me crazy.
When we ended the tour I noticed we didn’t go anywhere near that weird lab. I made a mental note to learn everything about it whenever I was alone again. Our group got shuffled into the elevator and back into that meeting room where we had started.
- I hope this little run-down of the facility you will all be working at has been enlightening. - Luthor said with a smile
- More than you think. - I mumbled to myself
- I’m glad you enjoyed it Y/N - He spoke firmly. Of course his assistant would tell him, now I was on the big boss’s radar.
Everyone ignored this trade of barbs. Wouldn’t expect anything less from my dear colleagues, except Ana, she looked at me with her ‘what did you do’ look and I just shrugged with the promise to tell later.
- Now, I should let you all get to your stations, I trust that everything will be ready for the press tomorrow. - He finally finished before leaving the room.
After he left, everyone started to get up and leave. I was getting ready to head to my office and prepare myself for the people that would be working under me, one of them being Diana so I needed all the time to prepare myself.
Before I could, Ana grabbed my hand and told me to follow her to her office.
I complied, after a couple of silent minutes in the elevator surrounded by people we eventually made it to her workspace.
It looked like the usual corner office with a big window, a big table, a chair for her to sit and a couple of chairs in front of the table. It was barren with no decorations, we took a couple seconds of looking around and being impressed with Ana’s new office.
- Wow. - I said
- Yeah. - My best friend responded. - Anyway, take a seat. - She said closing the door behind us and closing the blinds.
I took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the table and Ana took hers behind it.
- Now tell me why Lex Luthor called you out at the end there.
I told her what I had seen and my encounter with Mr. Luthor’s agent. Ana got a thinking look on her face.
- What do you think? - I asked her, she usually had a different perspective on problems and could come up with solutions that were simpler than what my brain came up with, so I liked to ask her opinion on things just to keep all the options on the table.
- I think that it’s weird, but there is probably a good reason for it. I’ll look into it. I’m gonna ask you, as your best friend, don’t go back there until I have all the information. - She looked at me with a serious stare.
- How were you planning on getting that info? - I tilted my head - Something tells me those guys aren’t doing things ‘above board’.
- Just… I don’t want you finding trouble before we open. - She sighed.
- Don’t worry, trouble usually finds me. - I smiled at her. - Didn’t you?
She giggled.
- Be safe, okay? - She glanced at her watch. - I think you should get back to your office first, right?
- You’re right! I should go. - I hurried out, the weird cube could wait.
I made my way to my new space, it looked pretty much the same as my last office. A few file cabinets, a bookshelf behind the small desk and a chair. I never spent much time there back in New York. Always checking security everyday and attending meetings, but it was nice to have a place to work with all the emails I was going to send so that I could make this building as safe as possible.
Opening a file cabinet I found the names of the people I was going to meet in… I looked at my watch, 10 minutes. I hurried down the elevator while reading their files. I was going to meet a Diana Prince, well… meet is a strong word, actually meet a Jefferson Pierce and a Dinah Lance. Their credentials looked good, they seemed perfect for the job. A little too good, to be honest, they seemed overqualified. Diana’s previous job had been in a government facility providing security, Jefferson had military background and Dinah had bounced around enough companies that I knew I wouldn’t have to teach her much.
Right as I was leaving the elevator I saw them walk in through the front door. They looked just like the pictures in their files. Diana looked as beautiful as always but now was wearing a purple jacket over a white shirt with jeans and had glasses on, she was talking to the other two while smiling. The man I recognized was Jefferson Pierce had short black hair and a beard, he was wearing a green button-down shirt with black slacks. The woman, Dinah Lance, had blonde hair and was wearing a pant-suit.
The fact that they were all talking made me feel a bit of relief, maybe they would become friends while they worked and could help me with all of the security details.
I approached them, trying to appear confident in front of Diana and show her I was a good boss. I almost tripped when she locked eyes with me. But I didn’t fall so I was still confident.
- Hello, my name is Y/N L/N. I hope you’ll find this place good for your abilities, you guys have an amazing background. I can't imagine this place will have as much excitement than in your previous jobs. - I shook each of their hands, lingering a little on Diana’s.
- You found it impressive? - Jefferson asked
- Honestly? - I whispered - I’d say you are a little overqualified - I smiled at them and made a little eye contact with Diana and she stifled a little giggle.
They looked at eachother and seemed to come to a silent agreement
- Well. I guess I just wanted a bit of scenery change. - Jefferson said.
- And I can’t stay still for too long. - Dinah followed.
- Then you’re all perfect for the job! - I motioned them to follow me as I lead them to our floor - Your tasks will be assigned everyday but this is a pretty straightforward company so your task will never be that crazy. Unless we have an emergency in which you’ll have binders detailing what to do in any scenario. They should be on your desks by next week. But other than that… Yes Mr. Pierce - I looked at Jefferson that had his hand up.
- Any scenario? - A simple question, still made me self conscious as I have been called paranoid on occasion.
- Yes, any scenario that might have enough danger to bring down the building or seriously injure whoever is inside it. I make them myself so when they arrive you may ask me directly any questions about my protocols.
- And they let you do that? - This time it was Diana that spoke, she hadn’t said a word since she arrived, other than hi but that doesn’t count. - Just fill the building with contingencies for scenarios that might not happen?
If that question came from anyone else I’d assume they were mocking me or my bosses. But Diana asked with such earnestness and a want to learn that I knew she was really interested in my answer.
- Yes they do, the plans were the main reason I was put in charge of security for this place. - I said looking at her with a smile that she mirrored. Then in a whispered voice I said to the three. - The budget they gave me though, I’m sure they thought twice. - That got a laugh from them.
When I was finished with MY tour of the place, showing them the fire escapes, where all the extinguishers were and introducing them to Ana, who after laying her eyes on Diana for a little while, didn’t seem to connect the dots... I guess putting on some glasses and wearing regular clothes is enough. I left them at their desk to work out all the paperwork that needed to be filed for tomorrow's press conference. I didn’t want anyone getting hurt on my watch.
It was a little while after that, when I was dutifully planning for this building and adapting some of my older plans to fit in with new ones, that I decided to go investigate the basement. It was perfect really, the cameras were being installed on the other floors so currently nobody was watching them, I didn’t have a reputation in this place yet so I could play the hard-ass security chief to get my way and the earlier I went the less time they had to relocate.
So I started to myself ready, grabbing a clipboard and a pen. Nobody ever questions the clipboard, when I heard a knock on my office’s door.
- Come in. - I said
The door opened and I saw Diana’s head peek in.
- Hey Y/N - She smiled at me before entering fully and closing the door behind her
- Hey Diana - I said, walking a little closer to her. - How are you enjoying your new job? Not like the government one you had huh? - I asked with a tease.
- I think I like the company in this one a little more. - She eyed me for a moment before her eyes landed on my clipboard. - Are you going to take notes?
I was still admiring her when I processed her question and I had a brilliant idea.
- Come with me!
- Okay. - She said and I paused.
- Just like that?
- I trust you. - I let out an audible ‘awn’ and she giggled
- Okay, but seriously. There’s some sketchy stuff in the basement and I was going to go investigate it alone, but since you’re here…
- I can help you - She smiled.
I opened the door and we made our way to the elevators, the whole ride to the basement level I kept thinking how big these elevators were and how close she chose to be next to me, it was so close.
The doors opened, I immediately went into “security bitch” mode and Diana quickly picked up on it, pointing at random spots on the wall and I started scribbling stuff down all the while making my way to the corridor with the door. Whenever we saw someone we scared them off with our serious looks.
Getting to the door that led to the lab didn’t take a lot of time, I was able to retrace my steps pretty well and whenever we saw someone we looked into a corner and looked busy enough to make them steer clear of the two serious security women.
- There it is - I nodded my head toward the door, Diana and I were a few meters away looking serious at a corner. She walked around me, to disguise her taking a good look at the door, I felt my face heat up a little at the action.
- There’s no one guarding it… - She whispered more to herself than for me.
- Well… I still haven’t assigned security to this floor. - I said back with a little smile.
- Right. Forgot. - She chuckled.
We took one last look down the corridor we just came through before going into the door.
As we stepped in the place was quiet, weirdly quiet. The box was nowhere to be seen as were the scientists that I saw earlier. Everything was cleaned and organized.
- What… - I said, rapidly looking around. - Where is everything? There were so many people and this weird box… - I started to ramble, would Diana think I was making all this up just to be alone with her? Is she going to think I’m not cut out for the Justice League? Will she-
- Found something. - Diana spoke, snapping me out of my spiral. She was crouched looking behind a desk. She got up and was holding a piece of paper, looking quite pleased. - It looks like these are results for some kind of test, radiation I’d guess - she furrowed her brows looking at the paper. - It seems like they failed if their mission was to get any kind of reaction from the subject.
She looked at me, handing the paper over. I don’t know much about these types of tests but the lack of any reaction from the subject was definitely strange. The notes on the side, from what I assumed was the lead scientist, seemed to be just as confused.
- Well, I’m glad this wasn’t a complete bust. - I said, giving her back the paper. - I’m sure the… Your other job would be able to make more sense of this.
- Yes, I’m certain.
We looked at each other for a long moment. She was about to say something before we heard a click from the corridor door grabbing our attention, I didn’t have time to plan anything before the door connecting this room to the hallway was opened and I saw myself face to face with her
- Ms. Graves - I said, trying to feel brave. She scared the hell out of me.
- Ms. L/N - She said. - You’re not supposed to be here. - She added coldly.
I narrowed my eyes. She was right. I wasn't supposed to be here, but you are, a little voice in my head said, what is she doing here without her boss? That made sense, I’m security. I straightened up, vaguely aware of Diana beside me getting ready to scare Mercy into submission, but that wouldn’t help with not getting us in trouble. She’s used to people bowing to her because of her boss, she doesn’t expect any other response, use it.
- I’m not? But I clearly remember our boss saying I had freedom to look around seeing where security could be reinforced. - yes, she’s going to crack, I started to walk around her, getting more confident with every word that I spoke. - I’m not sure why you are here though. I don’t see Lex around, why would leave his side? Oh dear, did you leave your post? - I feigned a surprised gasp. Keep going, right now you outrank her.
- Well… I… - She started to stutter, this was actually working. Of course it is.
- Tell you what. - Finish her, I stopped in front of Ms. Graves. - You go back to your only job in this building, and if you tell anyone. We’ll see who has more reason to walk around a building alone. In front of the directors, you will find out quickly why I’m the one they personally hired. - She’s done
She gave me a look that I can only describe as murderous, definitely a military background. I could see her racking her brain looking for a comeback, she can’t do anything, it’s not her place, when nothing came out she just turned around and left. The clicking of her heels became more and more faded. I let out a huge sigh of relief, my legs almost gave out before Diana leaned on me.
- That was amazing! - She said with a huge smile. - Are you okay?
- Yeah, just fine. - I nodded my head. - Just, thinking that fast and channeling the girls that used to bully me was harder than I thought. - I let out a breathy laugh.
- Either way, that was incredible to see, you left her speechless, flustered and sent her back with her tail between her legs. - She laughed, helping me to my feet.
- Well, thank you. But I don’t think I could’ve pulled it off by myself. - You could, I turned my body to her, we were now facing each other and by the gods I could not find that confidence I just used on Mercy.
- What do you mean?
- I mean, just knowing you were beside me and had my back gave me, like, a confidence boost? - I shifted my weight to my other foot.
- Are you saying…
- That you make me feel like a wonder woman. - I said without thinking. As soon as it left my mouth I blushed and looked away
She chuckled and said
- You should feel like it, for what it’s worth, I also think you’re a wonder woman.
- Let’s get out here. - I started to lead us out. - Would hate for us to get detained before our date this week.
She smiled and followed me out.
—------
We made our way back to the security floor where Dinah and Jefferson were still working, ignorant to mine and Diana’s little stealth mission. They must have been having a fun conversation before we arrived since they were both grinning.
- Good first day? - I asked. Curious to see what they found so funny.
- Yeah, it was better than my last job’s first day. - Dinah said and Jefferson nodded.
- And we just got news that our friend has a date with someone they really like. - He added.
- Oh that’s nice, I didn’t know you two knew each other… - I wondered out loud
They exchanged a quick glance
- Small world. - Jefferson explained.
—-----
Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, Feels pretty bad about lying.
Diana looked out into space from a window on the Watchtower. Her first day had gone without a hitch, she even got some intel that told the League they were on the right track! She just had to lie to you about her reasons.
The League never did these infiltration missions, they were too risky, took too much time and 99% of the time someone from the Batfamily could do the job in minutes. But this one was different, the building had only one entrance, the lab was underground and security would be much tighter than any other mission they’ve ever done.
Those were the reasons she told herself to make lying to you worth it. Sometimes, a bad path was only bad for one person and she couldn’t let herself compromise the mission.
Speaking of, she had to go to the meeting room with the rest of the leaguers to discuss their next move.
Walking in, she nodded a greeting to the other heroes in the room and took her seat. This wasn’t a big ‘end of the world’ mission, it was a slower infiltration mission so there were not that many people in the room. Just herself, Jefferson Pierce - Black Lighting, Dinah Lance - Black Canary, Oliver Queen - Green Arrow, Clark Kent - Superman, Barry Allen - The Flash, Victor Stone - Cyborg, Ray Palmer - The Atom and Batman.
While waiting on Batman so they could start, Diana thought back to the day she had been assigned for this mission last week.
- Lex Luthor is opening a new company in Metropolis - Batman said, gesturing to the screen in the room showing a big building in the process of construction.
- So? He does that all the time. - Green Arrow spoke, none of them really understood why Batman had only brought them to this meeting. Specifically he said this had to do with Intergang’s attack the other day
- The problem lies with the expanses, he went through a lot of shell companies to mask the fact that the building has an underground laboratory with equipment that you don’t need when making electronics. - He pulled up some bank statements that proved his point.
- And you think this has anything to do with Apokolips why? - Diana asked. - Their tech is more advanced than anything on Earth.
- Lex intends to weaponize it. Either for himself or to sell to the highest bidder, we have reason to believe he got his hands on a piece of tech from Intergang before we were able to intercept and is holding it in this building. - While he spoke, Batman played a video of a truck getting a dark box with red details loaded into it with extreme care. The video cut to show the same truck pulling into this new building in the dead of night and a crew of people taking the cube inside.
- Why not just go public with this info? - Clark spoke up, he knew the only way to bring Lex down was with the media.
- Because this footage was taken by Nightwing. - He said matter of factly.
- So we steal it? - Flash asked
- That doesn’t prove that Lex had it in his possession. We want them to have it so we can monitor it, while also gathering intel on this new place.
- So we go and pretend to be clients and get him to open his doors to us. - Jefferson said, he had done this type of mission before.
- I was thinking we open the doors ourselves. - Batman pressed a button and three resumes appeared on screen, the name and picture were blank but the rest seemed pretty good. - The company is still hiring a security crew for the building and there are three openings. Any volunteers?
Diana thought back to this moment before the door to the room finally opened and Batman walked in.
- We have a lot to talk about so, - He gestured to Diana - if you could give us a rundown of what you found.
She nodded and got up. She took the tablet in front of the screen in the wall and pulled up the footage from her contact lenses, courtesy of Oracle, and audio from her comm.
- The lab is big with winding corridors, if it weren’t for Y/N’s knowledge of the place I would’ve been really lost. - She paused before getting back on track. Tapping on the tablet to speed up the footage - We did discover a room that seems to have a lab to experiment on the cube. We know because- Why are you looking at me like that? - Flash looked like he was holding a laugh and the others weren’t doing much better.
- It’s just… - He gestured to the screen behind her, she had accidentally paused at the moment where she was looking towards the corridor with the door that led to the lab. In the corner of the screen she could see you blushing in response to her leaning over you. - Does she know?
- Not yet. She still thinks Jefferson, Dinah and I just met that day. - She sighed, you were going to hate her. - We’ll tell her at the right moment, won’t we, Batman?
- Of course, she’s still waiting on our callback since she accepted. - He replied with a nod.
- She also thought our references were way too good for the job - Dinah spoke up. - We’re lucky she’s so trusting. - She gave Diana a look that made her feel even worse.
She could only hope you were as understanding as you were smart.