Chapter 7-

Megan looked around in fascination at Wayne Towers. She had never been inside it, but now that she was seeing it for the first time it was huge! Her grandfather, Thomas Wayne, sure knew what he was doing when he built the company.

"Megan?" Bruce turned to look at her. It took her a second to realize she had stopped walking.

"Sorry. It's just so incredible!" Megan exclaimed.

Bruce smiled at her, clearly amused at her joy. "I know. I used to think the same thing when I was young. Your grandfather told me that Gotham was kind to our family. We were able to start the company to help people. It's done very well in my absence," Bruce said, wrapping his arm around Megan's shoulders.

"Don't you run the company, Daddy?" Megan asked as they got on an elevator going down.

"No. I have a board of directors run it for me. I just work in the Applied Sciences lab with Lucius Fox. He was a friend of your grandfather's," Bruce said as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

An elderly black man sat at a computer terminal, apparently hard at work. "Morning, Mr. Fox," Bruce greeted the old man. Lucius turned to face them. The man had a pleasant expression. It actually was the same expression Abby had when she and Megan talked.

"Good morning, Mr. Wayne. And who's this?" Lucius asked, looking at Megan standing next to Bruce.

"This is my daughter, Megan. Megan, this is Lucius Fox," Bruce introduced the two.

"We've met," Megan said politely.

"We have?" Lucius asked, confused.

"Yeah. It was last year. I was spending the night at your granddaughter's house. You asked me about my mom and dad," Megan said.

"I remember now. You wouldn't talk about your father and you said your mother was the assistant D.A.," Lucius said, not noticing how Megan and Bruce looked at each other.

"What? I thought you were dead. Most people don't talk about their fathers when they die. I was also having a really bad day," Megan said, jamming her hands in her jeans pockets and grinning sheepishly.

"Abby told me that too when you took your stuff upstairs," Lucius said, causing Megan's face to turn red.

"Sorry I'm that obvious," Megan muttered under her breath as she walked over to a table full of gadgets.

"Interested, Miss Wayne?" Lucius asked, noticing how she picked up a few objects.

"Maybe. What is all this stuff?" Megan asked.

"Inventions that Mr. Earle wouldn't let be produced. Your grandfather would have approved though," Lucius said.

"Why didn't Mr. Earle let them be produced, Mr. Fox?" Megan wanted to know as she picked up an object that was smaller than her hand.

"I don't know. Earle said it was a waste of millions of dollars," Lucius said wearily.

"Megan, Lucius and I have to get to work," Bruce said, causing Megan to blush again.

"Sorry, Dad. Sorry, Mr. Fox," Megan said, going over to her backpack and pulling out her weekend homework.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Wayne. You can ask me any questions. The way I figure it the company's just as much yours as your father's," Lucius said, as Megan slipped a pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses on.

Lucius and Bruce got to work. As much as Megan tried to get her mind on geography, she couldn't help but find her father's conversation interesting. Apparently Mr. Fox was interested too.

"What can I do for you today, Mr. Wayne?" Lucius asked, just loud enough for Megan to hear.

"I'm looking for something I can use that's like a grappling hook," Bruce said.

"I think I know just the thing for you," Lucius said thoughtfully. He whipped out a small hand-held device. The instrument looked foreign to Megan from where she was sitting.

"What is it?" Megan asked, forgetting that Bruce had told her to entertain herself.

"It's a new kind of grappling hook, Miss Wayne," Lucius said as Megan placed her geography book and notebook on the table in front of her and came over to join them.

"What does it do?" Bruce asked, wrapping his arm around Megan's shoulder and taking the device in his hand.

"Here. Press this button, Mr. Wayne," Lucius said, indicating a small button on the side.

"So what do you do after you press the button?" Megan asked while Bruce stood there looking at the device.

"You press the button and a line shoots out," Lucius said, pressing the button on an extra. A dark tether line went out faster than Megan could think.

Megan raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow!" Megan said softly.

"I know what you mean, Miss Wayne. Your grandfather would have been impressed too," Lucius said, amused by her wonderment.

The sound of a cell phone ringing broke the moment. "Excuse me. I think this is for me," Megan said, racing over to her backpack and fishing her cell phone out of the side pocket.

"Megan?" Bruce questioned.

"Sorry. I always take it with me and I forgot to turn it off," Megan said, pressing the send button.

"Hello?" Megan said, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Baby," Rachel's voice came over the phone.

Mom? Where are you?" Megan asked.

"At the courthouse. I am going to court in ten minutes," Rachel said, her tone changing from happy to serious.

"Is it another of Carmine Falcone's thugs?" Megan asked, looking at Bruce and Lucius nervously. She didn't know if this was the kind of conversation she should be having in front of total strangers. Even if one of them was her father.

"Yes. Jonathan crane is probably going to try to put another of his thugs into Arkham Asylum," Rachel said, sounding slightly bored.

"Mom, be careful. Jonathan crane is dangerous. He threatened me last week when I went to one of your court cases," Megan said, not remembering that her mother didn't know or realizing that Bruce and Lucius were looking at her concerned.

"Megan, what are you talking about?" Rachel asked, shocked.

"Oops," Megan said, covering her hand to her face. She was hoping she could hide that bit of information from her mother, but it wouldn't happen. "I didn't want you to know. I didn't want to worry you, Mom," Megan confessed in a small voice.

"What did he say, Megan?" Rachel asked.

"That I'd better watch my back if you didn't back off," Megan said.

Rachel sighed deeply. "Mom, don't worry about it. He doesn't know that I'm with Dad. I might as well be in Antarctica. He'd have to search a long time before he found me," Megan confided, knowing that these words weren't very comforting.

"I have to go. Tell me where you are," Rachel said, changing the subject.

"Wayne Towers. Applied Sciences level. Mom, I love you," Megan said, closing the conversation.

"I love you too, Sweetheart," Rachel said, hanging up.

Megan disconnected and closed the palm-sized cell phone. "Well, that's that I suppose," Megan said, putting the phone in her backpack pocket.

"Excuse me, Megan, what do you mean Crane tried to kill you?" Bruce wanted to know.

"He didn't try, Dad. He just threatened to do it if Mom didn't back off. He's in charge of Arkham Asylum. I guess you can say the lights are on, but no one's home," Megan said, sitting down and pulling her geography book into her arms.

She opened the book as a way of killing the conversation. Studying the exports and imports of South America was less harrowing than her mother's courtroom cases. At least studying would get her mind off of it.

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Bruce Wayne watched his daughter tone him out. It was one of the qualities he had that he didn't like. It was unnerving to see that quality assert itself in his daughter. Of course he had developed it after his parents died. He also did dangerous stunts at her age. At least she had picked a less dangerous way to ignore people. At least her grades would be good.