Chapter Text
The Wayne Enterprise building had started losing its grandeur. Where there used to be a highly technologically advanced facility there was now just a big reflective block of glass.
At least that’s what the Gothamites that kept up with the news would tell you.
The respect that people used to have for the company had been diminished to almost nothing and the Wayne family name was frowned upon instead of celebrated.
When Y/N first started working for Wayne Industries they would stand in front of the building each morning and take a second to just stare at the tower, almost hurting their neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the oddly bat-shaped top.
So much space and so many floors, it was no surprise that guests frequently got lost and had to ask for directions.
Y/N used to be proud to work for a company that was striving to improve the lives of many in the city through scientific research.
That was four years ago.
The pride and humility was gone and replaced by a sense of annoying obligation as they stared straight ahead at the doors of the building that they just happened to work in.
The protestors outside the facility didn’t give them any time to linger anyway.
It had started with one person a few weeks ago but now it was already four of them.
Always the same four faces that were here at dawn or maybe even earlier. All that Y/N knew was that these four were always the first to greet them in the morning and that they came prepared.
With signs in hand and the freedom of speech on their side, they loudly announced their disagreement with the work Waynetech was doing in collaboration with Kane Chemicals.
Y/N understood what they were mad about and they agreed, the question about the ethics of it all leaving a bitter taste in their mouth.
“Protective” technology is what the laboratory specialized in. However, the research that the company was doing could easily be used for malicious acts by the wrong people.
But Y/N was merely a secretary so their opinion on the matter wasn’t all that important.
Sure, quitting would be an option, but what good would that do?
They would just need to find a new job that most likely wouldn’t pay as much and they’d be replaced by someone else within a day anyway.
The job didn’t just pay well but thanks to the invariable framework set by the Wayne’s every employee was entitled to twenty paid holidays and four weeks of sick leave from the start.
What a shame that they’re not around to lead the company anymore.
With a sigh they walked past the protesters, waving back at one of the women.
The sliding doors opened automatically with a mechanical whirr and the ground changed from concrete pavement to polished white tiles.
Their footsteps echoed through the entrance area that was lined with tall plants which did very little to get rid of the clinical feel that the hall had.
A barrier of machinery prohibited anyone from walking through security unnoticed.
Metal- and ID-scanners had become a mandatory routine. This wasn’t necessary before but with unauthorized citizens showing up outside you could never be too careful.
(Even though Y/N doubted that the protesters would ever try to actually come in.)
Belt, wristwatch, jacket, bag and seemingly everything besides your underwear had to be inspected before entering the actual building.
Weirdly enough, Y/N always had this underlying fear that they unknowingly had something illegal on their body. The one time there actually had been an issue was when their ID-card expired and they were not made aware of the fact that the badges needed to be renewed every 365 days.
Communication was not the company's strong suit by any means. On the contrary, it was a pretty big issue.
In fact it was the issue in Y/N’s eyes besides faulty equipment.
Then again, from what they’ve heard it was only their printer that jammed multiple times a day and no one else’s.
As they stood there to wait for their bag to be checked, they had to think about how time consuming this must be for everyone that came in after them.
Only one person was spared the tiresome checks: Mr. Kane, the CEO. A few coworkers said he set off the metal detectors every morning due to some medical reason, but Y/N couldn’t be sure if that was just another rumour or not.
There had been a lot of rumors surrounding Mr. Kane over the years.
The one that stuck with them the most was the theory that he had his nephew, Bruce Wayne, killed to take over the company.
It made them ponder what kind of person he was to have employees talk about him in that way.
They’ve never met Mr. Kane directly.
Though someone that couldn’t even be bothered to show up to meetings might not be worth their time anyway.
Only the automated emails and impersonal notices spread throughout the office were an indication that he existed at all and wasn’t just an omnipresent being watching over the company.
The sometimes-friendly-sometimes-uptight security guard finally waved them through, letting Y/N know that there was no bomb or drugs that had magically materialised in their bag. Thank God.
As quickly as they could they started grabbing their belongings, awkwardly holding some of them as they scampered off.
They headed straight for the elevator and pushed a button for one of the top floors.
The ground floor was largely used as a research facility; the tower was strictly meant for business, offices and all the boring stuff.
After a moment the elevator started moving and they took the time to rearrange their things inside their bag.
Since the walls of the building were pretty much only one big window there was nothing obstructing the view of Gotham City. The city spread further and further as Y/N rose higher and higher.
It was still early in the morning and they were able to see the shadow that was cast onto the other buildings by the Wayne tower.
Further back, a few parks could be seen in the form of green patches that stood out between the otherwise quite gray landscape.
Once they were halfway up, they could peer over the rooftops to see the river, sparkling as the light bounced off of its surface.
From all the way up, Gotham looked pretty peaceful.
The moment of serenity ended when the elevator came to a stop and the door opened with a provocative ping.
Y/N took one more look at the city, illuminated by the morning sun, before making their way to their desk, prepared for an uneventful day.
Very few people passed them in the hallway that connected the right and left side of the tower. All of them were most likely the night shift that worked overtime.
Some of them nodded their heads in acknowledgement and others didn’t even bother to look at them since they were struggling to even stay awake.
In no time, Y/N reached the departement they were responsible for.
A company as big as Wayne Enterprise couldn’t rely on one secretary alone to manage everything, so each floor had one or two secretaries, usually assigned to one half of the tower.
Y/N had met a few of the others, but they knew none of them well enough to consider them friends.
Unlocking the door to their small office happened on autopilot and they entered their room.
It was brightly lit due to the big window on the opposite side of the door. A few objects of their own choice decorated their desk and the file cabinet, but otherwise it looked quite bleak.
A document shredder and a printer stood in the corner to their right and just waited to fail on them when they least needed it while making as much noise as possible.
Y/N had just enough time to sit down at their desk and flip the switch for their computer before a cheery voice greeted them.
“Y/N, sweetheart! How’re you doing on this fine morning?”
They cursed the policy that prohibited them from closing the door to their office when they’re inside and prepared for the oncoming headache before answering, “Same as always, Nic.”
Ah, Nicolas. The man you would always hear before you would see him and the only coworker that seemed to know their name; not that that was necessarily a good thing.
They would give up five of their paid holidays to have him forget they ever existed or at least to have him spend less time in their office and more time actually working.
He rested his forearms on the narrow raised ledge at the front of their desk that was meant for paperwork.
Not paying any attention to his presence, Y/N started organizing their desk and checking the planner to make sure they didn’t forget any important meetings for the day.
As much as they tried to ignore the man it became increasingly difficult when he started leaning into their personal space, face hovering above their desktop.
After they unlocked the desktop, they gave into his persistent attempts at making eye contact.
When they looked up at him with well disguised annoyance they asked, “What is it, Nicolas?”
He backed up a bit but not enough to give them space. Not phased by their unease, he started babbling.
“You’ve heard that we’re getting a consultant, right?” Of course they had.
Like many things in the office, it had started as a rumor, that the CEO was planning on hiring an advisor. It was confirmed by some higher ups soon after and the expectations for that person were high.
They were expected to get the company to where they used to be: successful at the top.
Sure, the company was still doing well, but ever since Bruce Wayne disappeared it seemed to take a stumble every few months, getting into some sort of controversy.
The new advisor was supposed to buff out some of the flaws and get them back on track.
That was the plan, but there was something in Nicolas’ voice that made something in Y/N churn uncomfortably.
It sounded like he was setting up an ill intended punchline.
Instead of directly engaging in the conversation and giving him more material to work with they simply hummed out an affirmation.
So Nicolas continued. “Heard some of the lab technicians complain about him.”
He stopped to overdramatically suck in air through his teeth.
“Apparently he’s not very… pleasant.
As in, he’s a total dickhead. Thought a corporate consultant would improve our work environment, but it seems this is where it all comes crashing down.”
The smidge of worry on Y/N’s face made him press on and try to get a more noticeable reaction out of them.
“Hey, just be on your best behaviour! If you flirt a little I'd say I’m sixty percent sure you won’t be let go.”
Nicolas was trying to be an asshole, as always, but Y/N couldn’t help the way their stomach dropped.
They felt their blood run cold as losing a well paying job became a very real possibility.
Being let go was not something they could do anything about.
If the consultant decided that the company could do with one less secretary then…
Nicolas ogled them and doubled down on his calculations, adding with a wink, “Well, maybe fifty-five percent, we’ll see.”
After shooting him a dirty look, Y/N was ready to fire back when a third party cut their conversation short.
“I would advise you to worry about your own percentages, Mr. Williams.”
The voice echoed from the hallway and had a nice resonance that was ultimately ruined by a condescending sneer.
Despite the open hostility radiating from that one sentence alone Nicolas was unsurprisingly calm.
He turned to size up who Y/N assumed was the new advisor while still leaning on the counter with one arm.
Once he was done, he gave Y/N a look that told them exactly what Nic thought of the new guy.
“Well Y/N it is time for us to depart, my sweet. If you need me, I’m at my desk worrying about my percentages,” he jokingly said, raising his eyebrows in an exaggerated expression, before he simply walked out the door, passing by the other man who made no attempt to stop or even glance at him.
Without Nicolas blocking their view they finally got a good look at the presumably unpleasant addition to their team. Not wasting any time, the stranger entered the room with a self-assured stride and stopped with a three feet distance to their desk left.
Y/N felt compelled to comment on their coworkers behavior, not to apologize on his behalf but just to say something.
“I’m sorry, sir. Mr. Williams can be a bit…”
They weren’t sure how to end their sentence in a way that would be considered professional, but the newcomer took it off their hands by suggesting a word they had never heard in casual conversation.
“Inurbane?” he offered. What a strange word to use.
Y/N would have settled for ‘difficult’.
Then again, the man did look a bit off.
The short-sleeve button-down was the first thing that they had noticed.
The chest pocket was holding a few pens and pencils, not uncommon for someone working an office job.
What was really throwing them off was the color, a green that clashed with his hair which was a nice shade of copper and slightly styled back to keep the long strands out of his face.
His sideburns extended down to his jaw and there was a bit of stubble on his chin, but he didn’t look unkept.
A slight arch in his eyebrow and the way his upper eyelid covered up most of his iris gave him a resting uninterested or even foxy-
“It’s an Oxford shirt.”
The words interrupted Y/N’s train of thought and they managed to change the instinctive ‘Huh?’ to an “I’m sorry?” just before opening their mouth. He smiled like he knew something that they did not, like they stepped into a trap that he had carefully laid out.
It made them feel as if they were missing something, it made them feel stupid.
“You were staring. It’s an Oxford shirt, named after the fabric,” he said like it should’ve been obvious to them.
Surely they weren’t staring but they indulged nonetheless, even if just to avoid another patronizing explanation. “Ah, good to know.” It was the only response they could think of.
Luckily there would be no time for an awkward silence to build since he switched over into business talk.
“Edward Nygma. I’m the new advisor, you’ve probably heard,” he introduced himself but gave them no time to do the same.
“Mx. L/N, I presume?” Did he already have every employee’s name memorized or did he just read the name plate outside?
Y/N confirmed his assumption and added, “We’ve been waiting for you actually. Hopefully you can help us out a bit.”
The company’s savior furrowed his eyebrows as if he took offense to them even suggesting that he wouldn’t be able to.
“Well that’s what I’m here for, no?” The sneer became noticeable again or maybe that’s just what he sounded like all the time.
To not say anything wrong, Y/N waited for him to speak again. It didn’t take long.
“Companies, just like everything else in life, are just one big web that keeps branching out until you lose sight of what’s important. However, in the end it’s just a simple algorithm.
Are you interested in algorithms, Mx. L/N?”
Feeling like a professor just called them to the front and handed them a piece of chalk, they stammered out a few inconclusive noises.
Not a day in their life had they sat down and thought about algorithms but luckily Edward Nygma was here to bring it to their attention. Without acknowledging their poor attempt at an answer, he expanded on the comparison.
“One just needs to find the right string to pull and it all unravels. It’s simple, there’s always an easy solution. That’s how it should be, don’t you think?”
Easy solutions did sound nice, but Y/N knew that life didn’t really work like that.
Either the man before them was lying to himself or had no idea what kind of things life could throw your way.
Or maybe he just always got away unscathed.
They made a mental note to look up his name later and absently said, “Yeah, sure. Easy is good.”
The puzzling talk about algorithms almost made them forget what they actually wanted to ask.
“I don’t want to be rude, but did you need something from me?”
They hoped and prayed that his answer would be a simple ‘no’ but of course it wasn’t.
“Philip recommended I occupy a room on this floor and to turn to you for any further questions.” Is what he actually said.
Philip… Kane. Philip Kane? They highly doubted that the CEO was even aware they existed which made the possibility of him recommending them, specifically, zero.
When the initial bewilderment died down they realized what exactly Mr. Nygma was implying.
“So we will be working together?” Y/N tried their hardest to not sound like they were complaining, but it was difficult with him standing there like he owned the company.
Hoping they had just misunderstood what he was trying to say, they watched as he tilted his head away from them just a little.
The way he twisted his neck made the rising sun brighten up his hazel green irises and for a moment Y/N swore he was about to roll his eyes but… “In a way,” he said. And there it was.
They had just been condemned to become a personal secretary for some guy that would most likely send them to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee or to get him the morning paper.
He kindly decided to fill them in on his plan for the coming days or who knows how long he’ll want to stick around.
”I would just like a bit of intel on the inner workings and staff, but besides that I do not intend to hinder your work.
The labs have already been accounted for so I figured we’d start today with my new office.
If you don’t mind.”
They nodded, knowing that even if they did mind they would have no say in the matter.
Although his words did little to minimize their worries they locked their desktop, they hadn’t even had the time to check their emails, and got up.
As they walked around their desk they caught his eyes flitting over their form quickly, calculating, and his spine straightened a little more.
Once they stood before him the smell of his cologne was just a tad too much. With as much enthusiasm as they could muster up they offered their hand to officially welcome him.
“I’m looking forward to working with you, Mr. Nygma.” They were surprised that the words didn’t leave their mouth through gritted teeth and they repeated his words back to him.
“In a way.” A bit too late did they notice that it could be interpreted as rude.
But Edward just firmly gripped their hand and gave them a lopsided smile as he agreed, “In a way.”
The smile made the skin next to his eyes crinkle and Y/N briefly wondered what he had done to upset the lab technicians.
The unoccupied room that they showed him was not too far from their own office but a bit more spacious.
At least if someone were to get rid of the cardboard boxes that had piled up in a corner and the mess of cables that was crammed under the table.
A few cabinets were mounted onto the left wall and on the right side was a big window. Y/N had to wonder when it had been opened last since the air was a bit stuffy.
All in all, it was a bit embarrassing to present the new company consultant with a room as shabby as this one. Edward Nygma stood in the middle of it all, scanning over every inch, from top to bottom.
If Y/N had to guess, they’d say he was mapping out how he was going to make use of the space.
There was a glint in his eyes and a subtle twitch at the corner of his mouth that put them a bit on edge.
Seconds stretched into at least a minute and Y/N was not sure if they were allowed to go.
“If you’d like I could call for someone to clear out the room.” At first they thought that the words didn’t completely reach him. But after he finished his inspection of the space he let out a thoughtful hum. ”No no, I’d much rather do it myself. You can go.”
Before they could make sure that he really didn’t need any help they were waved away abruptly.
With a huff, they exited the room, leaving the door open so he wouldn’t suffocate and returned to their own office.
Sitting back down at their desk had never felt this good before. They finally allowed themself to take a deep breath as relief washed over them. Working with someone like Nicolas was no problem.
He just popped in every now and then to annoy them, but the new guy was on another level.
A Know-it-all with a need to let everyone know that he was smart. Y/N was already dreading the tasks he would put on them.
Still, he didn’t seem like a horrible guy. At least to them.