Miss Sterling & The Billionaire

Pairing: Bruce Wayne (Batman)/OC

Rating: K+

Warnings: Cursing.

A/N: Hello again! This is the first of ten chapters. Chapters might be shorter than usual. I hope it won't disappoint! It's going to dig more into Iona and Bruce's relationship. Originally I'd planned to fit in their thing in WGACA but then decided against it. Seriously, I love Iona too much to do that kind of injustice to her so I sat down and started writing a story only to realize that there really isn't soooo much to go on with. Seriously. If this was a story, it would be less than twenty chapters which I hate because I like having more than twenty chapters. ANYWAY, hope you like this short story thing I've got going. ENJOY!

Chapter One- Unemployed

The week following Misha and Jack's hasty departure was a strange one. For one thing, the city had become suddenly less crowded.

In her eyes anyway.

But it was true to a certain extent. Since the last of the mob had been caught by the police, the city did seem a lot smaller. It may have had a lot to do with the fact that many businesses had closed due to their involvement with the mob.

Analysts were screaming recession in Gotham- not that any of that mattered to Iona anyway; her job- as a computer science major with crazy hacking skills- was basically recession free.

Or so, she thought as she entered Wayne Enterprises anyway.

Surprisingly enough, the security guards stopped her.

Iona frowned. "Err, Rom? I work here," she said to the security guard who blocked her.

"Sorry," he replied showing no facial expression (quite the contrary from when she shared her lunch with him every day, she thought), "You don't work here anymore."

Iona's frown only got deeper. "What?"

"Yeah, you heard me kid," he said, "You don't work here anymore. They've probably already mailed your termination letter."

But that did not do it for Iona. "But why am I fired?" she asked him. Rom shrugged. "Dunno." Then leaning forward, he said, "Listen, it'd do you good to leave kid. Mr. Wayne is murderous this morning. Don't want a law suit on your hands- not with the way the economy's going."

That made her mouth drop open. "Bruce fired me?" she asked.

"It's Mr. Wayne to you," Rom corrected her.

"What? That doesn't make sense," she exclaimed, "Why would h-"

Fortunately for her, Bruce Wayne decided to walk through the front door at that moment.

"Morning Mr. Wayne," Rom greeted him. Bruce barely looked at him as he walked on. Iona found that gesture to be extremely rude even though Bruce was technically on call with someone on his Bluetooth (A/N: it's still roughly 2009/ late 2010 in the fiction universe so yes, Bluetooth devices are still a thing- an inconvient thing, but a thing nonetheless that rich people use for their businessy shit) but still- whatever happened to good manners?

"Bruce," she called after him. He ignored her and carried on walking until he reached the end of the side walk and proceeded to wait for his car.

Iona walked after him. "Bruce," she repeated, standing right next to him. "Why'd you fire me?"

Bruce- to his credit- said nothing and continued to have a conversation with whoever it was on the other line. Iona looked at the Bluetooth device before realizing that it wasn't connected to his mobile phone.

The little shit…

"Your phone is disconnected," she stated as a matter of factly, "I know you're not talking to anyone."

That seemed to do it since Bruce flinched for a moment before sighing and finally turning to her.

"Iona," he began in a voice that was characteristically not- Bruce in nature, "I think it's time that we all start a new chapter in our lives. Yours included."

"So you fired me?" she argued.

"I haven't fired you," he went on, looking everywhere but her and that really annoyed her because Bruce Wayne suddenly went from the coolest boss in the world to a total and complete ass hole. "I've released you from duty. There's a difference."

Iona had taken up Economics, Business Law and Finance at university for three semesters in a row. In fact, it was because of Misha- whom she had met in these classes- that she had a minor in Finance and therefore, knew exactly what such terminologies meant and it irritated the living shit out of her that Bruce was throwing fancy terms around hoping that she wouldn't understand them.

"You're firing me with pay?" she demanded. "Dude, I like working here. I don't g-"

"I'm afraid that's not your call," he interrupted her. His car rolled over. As usual, Alfred was in the driver's seat.

"Morning Miss Sterling," he greeted her.

"Hey Alf," she responded monotonously.

For some reason that made Bruce elaborate on his sentence. "It's not that you're not a good fit at Wayne Enterprises," he informed her, "it's just- I feel that you should explore some other options to cash in on your talent."

Iona took one look at him and then Alfred before turning back to him again.

"It's because of Misha, isn't it?" she asked.

Alfred started to laugh at that but immediately stopped.

"No, it's not," Bruce said, after a moment's hesitation.

"It is," she concluded, "you're firing me because I'm Misha's friend. You can't stand me because I remind you of her."

"No, don't take it that way."

"But I am, because that's what you're doing. You know, you're probably the most pretentious ass hole I've ever met," she informed him.

He looked sideways sheepishly and something- without necessary evidence- told her that he heard that one often.

"No, really," she continued, "you're firing me because you're in love with my best friend and that's disgusting since she's married and has never thought of you as anything but a friend. And for some reason you think it's justifiable for firing me because you can't get over her."

When he didn't say anything, she concluded, "Well, have a good life."

And with that, she walked off.

She was still within earshot when she heard Alf say, "Well, that went well, didn't it Master Wayne?"

Iona grinned. At least someone in Gotham was still on her side.