Life 26: Smile for a While
(22nd, December, 1997)
"This is Jack from Wayne Technologies calling for Mr. Queen," I said in a gentle way as I twirled the cord of my desk phone, listening as the other company's receptionist made up excuses for not connecting me. Through some miracle of fate, I had been signed on as a sales representative in the Tech branch, my job being that I had to be an annoying, but polite, asshole and call up companies that Wayne Enterprises was interested in partnering with, and trying to set up a deal with them before my fellow salesman's could.
I had never been a salesman before, so I never knew how competitive the business was, so most days I was calling fifty to sixty companies a day, trying to convince them to sign onto the Wayne Enterprises' sales contracts. Most times I was calling up resources to try and get more parts for the Technology Department, which now was demanding an insane amount of parts and components.
I won't try and understand why the branch was needing almost fifty thousand dollars a month for pure components, but at least it was benefiting me.
The company was ramping up recently with new tech and licenses, as Mr. Fox was drowning us in new devices on the daily, and that meant jobs and money to be made.
A self-propelling grappling system? Incredible, at least to a guy that hadn't seen that kind of technology anywhere near the 1990's, let alone working technology!
The test footage was amazing to watch, and now the Department was drafting up all sorts of designs, and we were signing up partners all over the world to get funding and contacts for a new expansion in Star City… except for the biggest partner that we needed to do that.
Oliver Queen, the CEO of Queen Industries, was hindering the company's plans for some reason, and as Star City's primary developer of technology, they were the only contact we had in Star City… If only Queen would pick up his damn phone…
But no, I was stuck here, in my cubicle, calling for a man that wanted nothing to do with us, as Mr. Fox said that whoever sold the deal with Queen would be promoted to Senior Salesman.
"I want that office damn it, and fuck Queen for keeping it out of my hands."
"I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Queen isn't accepting calls at this point, would you like to make an appointment?" Queen's receptionist asked me in this patronizing way, making me even more mad, since I had made three appointments already, and this was just getting more and more ridiculous. but I needed this job.
So, I said the same thing I had the last three times.
"Yes, that would be lovely."
"Hey Jack, still calling after Queen?" The closest thing I had to a friend in this office asked me. I think the guy's name was Philip, or something.
I couldn't really remember, though I should.
I sighed into my coffee, my shoulders slumping in a way entirely new to me as my exhaustion finally sunk in.
"Yeah…"
"I'm telling you it's pointless. Everyone in the office has been calling them up, and it's not going to happen. Fox says it's something to do with Wayne and Queen personally, something about a dame? I don't care to know, but I know us bugging the guy isn't going to do a thing, you know?" Phil, or whatever his name was, said to me in a way that oddly didn't anger me in the slightest, and instead calmed my nerves.
Okay, so perhaps I'm not shit at my job, but that meant it was something on the corporate level…
No matter the cause, I swear I will get that guy to sign on with us, or I'll make him do it myself.
Or, you know, write a strongly worded letter.
I still need this job.
While at one point in my existence, I was awful at the precise art of Potion Making, I blame Snape for that, I got a lot better.
When rumors started in the office that Mr. Fox was creating a delegation of representatives to travel to Star City and attempt to fix the relations between Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries, and one of them, assuming all goes well, would be selected as Wayne's official Liaison with Queen Industries.
As soon as the news dropped, I started brewing Felix Felicis, which conveniently didn't require magic to brew, allowing me to brew it in the solitude of my crappy apartment.
It did require extremely difficult to find magical ingredients, which I frankly didn't have, but this wasn't the first time I had to substitute ingredients, and I knew I could make it work.
Thankfully, it was pretty easy to pretend to be a normal person.
My landlord didn't even comment on the bubbling sounds from my apartment, but I did catch him muttering something about druggies? Whatever the reason, the privacy was appreciated.
When the rumors weren't proven true, I was a bit worried that they weren't… and that I had wasted months brewing a potion I didn't need… but then, it happened.
Mr. Fox himself announced that there was to be an inspection of the Tech Branch, and that he would personally be meeting with the top representatives.
I drank that foul Concoction the night before, and I just waited in my seat, hoping that my makeshift luck would prove true, and that I would get the call.
And get it I did.
"Jack, could you please come to my office? We have much to discuss."
Liquid luck, it never does fail.
I hate Star City.
It was officially worse than Gotham. At least in Gotham I could get robbed and shot in an alleyway, at least some privacy there, but no… Star City had to top Gotham in everything, didn't it?
Now, I'm bleeding out in a nightclub, the doors locked tighter than Fort Knox and me, staining my suit horribly with plenty of sticky blood.
It all started with my fellow salesmen and I driving into Star City for our first night, enjoying the sights as Phil said, and enjoying all the city had before we had to get to work.
We somehow ended up at this nightclub in the Glades, drunk off our asses, having the time of our lives… Until the latter part of the night. This big guy got handsy with some blonde that looked way too tough to be messed with, and he got kicked out, and then I passed out.
I woke up in the backroom of the club, that same blonde caring for me, then running off.
So there I was, hangover of a lifetime, stumbling through this nightclub and trying to find my caretaker and find some answer about what happened last night, when I saw that bastard from last night with a gun pointed at the lady.
Don't ask me why, but I then found myself charging the guy, maybe in an attempt to save her, and got a bullet to the gut.
The guy panicked, and I kid you not, jumped out the window with the mad woman running after him.
So, that's how I ended up bleeding out in a nightclub, in a city I knew as well as Jack's childhood.
I would have liked to last a year in this life, which is my goal in each one, but at least I-
"You're awake, welcome back to the land of the living," A kind voice addressed me as I woke up on something soft.
My biggest question was the fact that I woke up, as my last memory was bleeding out on a steel floor, which raised all sorts of questions.
"Now Mr. Napier, you gave us quite a fright if I may say." A woman, seemingly a doctor, said as she walked up to my bedside, a clipboard in hand. I felt more than saw the heavy bandages that must have been wrapped around my side, as I felt a pain worse than Hellfire where I had been shot.
"I'm not dead?" I asked her, honestly preferring that to being shot by a two-bit thug and forced into a hospital. This was pathetic.
You're telling me
I jumped, and my gut screamed at me in agonizing pain, my very soul in pain.
My concern was more for the fact that I'm hearing voices… how wonderful.
"Calm down Mr. Napier, you are final. Your vitals are pretty good though, I would imagine you could be out of here by the end of the week." The doctor said to my surprise, as I didn't think that was natural. I mean, I was human this time around, and that just didn't seem real to me.
Jack Napier was human… right?
"Though I bet you can't wait to get out, right? All your friends have been coming by to see you, they'll be happy to hear you're awake." She said happily with a smile, as I could only wonder what she was even talking about.
I don't have friends, at least, I didn't think I did, but regardless I agreed to have visitors…
Whoever they are.
I admit, it wasn't surprising to see the blonde woman I'd saved walk in, it only made sense.
She seemed almost embarrassed as she walked in, like it was awkward that I saved her life.
What was this woman's deal?
"Sorry about that." She said after a few boring moments where I tried to figure out what she wanted just by looking at her. I will admit, I'm no Sherlock Holmes.
"For taking me to the hospital, or the gunshot?" I asked with a pained grin for affect. I had a feeling she was sorry for something, but I couldn't imagine what.
"For you having to save me," She said with a hint of a blush on her face, her eyes escaping from mine. "Normally I can handle thugs like him, but you kind of surprised me."
I scoffed, that man was waiting for an excuse to pull the trigger, better I get shot than her.
"Well, isn't a surprise better than you being on this bed rather than me?" I argued, a small smile flashing on her face before she looked at me for the first time, burning away the awkwardness of me literally risking my life to save hers.
"I guess. Mind telling me my savior's name?" She said with sarcasm as thick as molasses. I just rolled my eyes, as I saw how this was going to go. This woman is probably going to be the death of me, but I'm asking for it most days.
"Jack Napier, but I go by Harry."
Her eyes flickered then, as a smile spread on her face, and she even laughed as I just got confused all over again.
"You're the guy who's been calling Ollie?"
And that's how I met Dinah Lance, and found myself staying at her night club.
I haven't found out why, but Phil and the rest of the delegation are just gone. I went back to our hotel, and the staff hadn't seen any of them in days… And Phil had the hotel key…
So, I was stuck in Star City, on my own, and with no place to stay.
Fortunately, Ms. Lance wanted to pay me back for saving her (Though she insisted she didn't need help), and was letting me stay in her club until I was done in the city.
That's when I told her why I was here, to get Oliver Queen to get over whatever grudge he had against my boss and sign onto the trade deal.
She wished me luck.
Apparently Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen had been friends once, their fathers being business partners, and the two becoming friends with the daughter of another company head. Dinah didn't know much, but something happened to the daughter and it ruined any friendship that the two had ever since.
She told me that Oliver was stubborn, even more than Bruce Wayne (or so she claimed), and that I was welcome to try and convince him.
I just asked her to get me in the office, I could do the rest.
I had no idea what 'the rest' was, but I figured I could just wing it from there.
I have been winging it for the past year, I am not ashamed to admit that.
But if I can convince Harrison Wells to sign on, I'm sure I can convince Oliver Queen.
"Any news about the Star City problem Lucius?" Bruce Wayne, the famous heir to the Wayne family, asked in a exhausted tone as he sank into his chair, his recent headaches only adding to his issues.
Wayne Enterprises had been doing amazingly lately, with Bruce's ideas and Lucius' ingenious sense of business, the two had turned around the company, saving it from the brink of bankruptcy… until the latest scandal.
Wayne Tech had sent salesmen to Star City in an attempt to finally get the deal with Queen Industries, and all but one of them had been sent back to Gotham in body bags… except for one.
One of the salesmen was unaccounted for, a young man named Jack Napier, a recent hire, was missing.
The airport security had confirmed that he got to Star City, but where he went after that was a total mystery.
"God… all my troubles seem to lead back to Oliver… If only Lena…" Bruce thought to himself, only to rip himself from his thoughts, they were no good to him now, no good to anyone.
The Gotham Gazette was running rumors about the whole debacle, and now there was calls for Wayne Enterprises to stop 'lying' and tell them all what 'really' happened.
Bruce didn't know what to do, since he hadn't signed off on this whole thing, and it had been Lucius' decision, but he couldn't tell the public that, as then people would think he was lazy and there would be calls for Lucius to be fired.
The man was a dear friend of his, and there was no way he'd let that happen… but still he worried.
What happened in Star City, and what was he going to do? Those were the questions running through his head lately.
"Well Bruce, we know he isn't dead, since Glades Memorial doesn't have any recent corpses with green hair, so-"
"His body was dumped, or he's alive." Bruce finished off the thought, knowing well enough what criminals were like, more than well enough.
"Well, if you'd like me to, I can hold the fort down for a few days. I imagine, that if anyone could find Mr. Napier in the mess that Star City's become, it's you Bruce." Lucius said with a smile, knowing that a little time out of Gotham would do him some good.
Every since he came back, he had barely slept, just submitting design after design for projects that definitely weren't safe to sell… What kind of person could they sell a rocket powered car armed to the wheels with weapons to? Besides the military that is...
As long Bruce was happy, and as long as the company was fine, he'd let Bruce invent.
And he wouldn't ask him what he was doing in the cave under his home…
Lucius knew his business, and that wasn't it.
I was spending Christmas in a nightclub, surrounded by boozed up men and women that were entirely too young to be hanging around men like that.
Or like me, but that's just semantics.
Dinah apparently ran this place, which was pretty cool I guess.
Verdant was the name, and why did everything in this city have to be green?
I swear I see it everywhere, and it feels like I'm in a grime covered Ireland, with less football and more gunshots.
I wanted to go back to my grimy cesspool of crime, the one I was familiar with at least, but I refuse to go back to Gotham empty handed.
I was determined to get Queen to sign on, and I don't quit until I succeed, though that mentality usually ends with my death, it's usually worth doing.
So I was stuck being Dinah's bartender since hers ran off, mixing drinks for drunks and girls that had really, really good fake IDs.
Not my problem, so I didn't pry… what was my problem though, was the creep by the door watching that little redhead dancing on her own.
I had seen that look before, in many eyes before his, and I wasn't letting this slide.
That man was a predator, or I wasn't an immortal weirdo trapped in a green haired freak.
But I couldn't beat the guy just because he's got fuck-me eyes.
I've made that mistake before, didn't end well.
"Poor, poor Creevey…"
So, I made another little girl a drink, wrote a note to call the local school to speak with their counselors, and kept my eyes on the creep…
Where the hell is he, and where did Little Red run off to?
Letting my Saving People Thing get the better of me once again, I grabbed the baton Dinah kept under the counter and ran out the side door.
How fast can a drunk guy be?
Not very fast evidently, as I saw the girl running like a lightning bolt down the alley, the creep stumbling after her, all the while shouting obscenities like they were the gospel.
"Hey creep!" I called out, trying to let the girl get away, and found the angry boar of a man turning his rage to me.
With a scream that sounded vaguely like a 'What', he charged at me with the force of a drunken train with a beer gut.
Suffice to say, it was pathetic.
Rather than dodge him, I just held the baton at level with my chest, and the idiot ran right into it, causing him to collapse as all the air in his chest was instantly knocked out of him.
His sudden drop actually drew a laugh from me, as I nodded to the redhead who had come to see what stopped her would have been rapist, and made to walk back inside.
Before I could return to the agony of watching young girls drink and dance and creepy men hang out and try to reclaim their youth by taking others, I heard a thump and a footstep, and turned around to face whatever had crept up on me.
To my genuine surprise, a tall man dressed in a green hooded bodysuit, with a fucking bow, might I add, was standing behind me.
I assume he jumped from the rooftops, and I haven't a clue how he got here, but Star City just kept confusing me.
I've gotten over it, and some shifty archer appeared out of nowhere isn't the weird thing I've seen in my life, even counting just this one.
However, I had to ask, I just had to… It was one of those golden opportunities.
"Who are you supposed to be, Robin Hood?"
He almost looked triggered then, the hairs on his goatee shaking for a bit before a grin spread on his face, his eyes still angry. I imagine that this guy, whoever he was, likely got that a lot.
That's why I had to, I'm sure he'll understand.
He didn't appreciate it though.
"And they say my jokes are bad..."
Once again, this isn't a particular part of the DC Universe. I'm taking bits and pieces from here or there, so expect some comics elements, some bits of the movies, some parts from the CW, and maybe even a little bit of the Animated cartoons. I'm just going with what feels right. Hope you all enjoyed.
