The lift came to a halt on the last floor and the doors slid slowly open to reveal a large and luxurious office with glass windows taking up two of the four walls, letting in all the light.
'Who is it?' came a gruff voice from out of sight as the two got out of the elevator and the doors slid shut behind them. Skye heard the lift go back down and wondered whether Bruce Wayne would recognise her after all these years, and whether he had forgiven her if he did.
'It's me.' cried Dick making his way through the doors and into the office, beaming. 'Dick! And I brought an old friend!'
'Hey, Dick.' came the gruff voice again as Dick disappeared around the corner. 'How's it going? Sorry I'm at work so it's gotta be a shorty, but you can-' Skye stopped listening as she heard movement away to her left, behind the bookcase.
She moved forwards to investigate, tiptoeing forwards towards the dark book shelves, wishing she had her mask on: it made her feel safe for some reason. Suddenly a man in his late middle-ages came out from behind the books with a feather duster, spotting her he stopped dead.
'Oh my…' he said with an English accent in his tired voice. 'Is that you? I'm sorry, where are my manners? It's just that… you disappeared…'
'Alfred?' asked the young teenager, a disbelieving look on her pretty face, a small frown of confusion creasing her otherwise smooth forehead.
'Indeed.' answered the old man giving a small bow to her. 'Would you like to make your presence-'
'Hey Skye!' came Dick's voice from inside the office. 'Come on through! You don't have to be scared!' In the background she heard the gruff voice asking whether it was really her.
'It seems your presence is already known.' finished the man smiling kindly at her. She shrugged uncertainly.
'It's… weird to see you again…' she started, trying to be honest. 'You know… older and stuff…' she finished a little lamely, but he chuckled.
'I understand.' he said quietly. 'It's bizarre to see you again when all of us have changed, but you haven't aged a day.' he finished slightly nostalgically, before indicating the door.
'Come on, Sweety!' came Dick's voice again as he came out and took her arm gently pulling her away. 'Hi Alfred.' he mentioned giving the old man a friendly smile.
He pulled her into the office where he placed her in front of the desk where a middle-aged man was sitting, leaning on his elbows and gazing at them.
Skye felt like a show-dog walking in front of the judges, showing off her good points and masking her faults. She remembered her comment in the lift about being more like a cat and smiled.
'It's been so long.' said the man behind the desk in the gruff voice she had heard earlier. 'And yet you haven't changed a bit.'
'That's because it hasn't been "so long" for me.' she pointed out cheekily. Dick laughed, and Bruce Wayne smiled indulgently at her. Maybe because she was still young while he had gotten old thought Skye vaguely.
'So how do you find the future?' he asked, indicating a chair behind her. She noticed that Dick had already sat down in an arm chair which he had dragged over from the middle of the room, Skye took the seat apprehensively.
'Well,' she started slowly wondering whether he would be offended if she said it all confused her. 'I'm a little disappointed.' she said finally. Bruce looked at her inquiringly, leaning back in his chair leisurely. 'There aren't any flying cars.' she pointed out as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
The two older men fell about laughing and she even heard Alfred chuckling behind her as he went about his business.
'Hey Alfred, look who's come home.' exclaimed Bruce light-heartedly, reaching behind him and taking a drink from the spirits cupboard. He motioned to Dick asking whether he wanted one, but was declined, he did the same to Skye but she also declined.
'I saw, sir.' answered the butler coming a little closer. 'She told me it was a little "weird" to be here when we're all old.' they all laughed again, and she began to feel a bit more comfortable.
'When was the last time I saw you?' asked the dark knight, frowning in wonder as he gazed at the girl. He rubbed his face as he thought about it, but he obviously couldn't remember so she helped him out.
'When Catwoman and I stole the pink ruby coyote.' she said, her face as blank as she could make it, but inside she was shaking in terror: What if he got mad at her and wanted to stuff her in jail? But he smiled at her.
'That's right.' he exclaimed excitedly. 'Not really her style was it? We certainly didn't think so… you mentioned that, didn't you Dick?' he continued looking at his foster son who smiled and nodded.
'What happened to Auntie Cat?' asked the young girl, suddenly remembering her aunt who she'd left behind without even a goodbye note.
'She's still out there I'm afraid.' said Dick smiling at her. 'I'm sure we could probably track her down if you like.'
'She hates being tracked down.' said the girl quietly, gazing at the floor. 'She'd hate me.' There was an awkward silence in which they could hear Alfred cleaning the office and going about his usual business.
'Well,' started Bruce uncomfortably, breaking the silence. 'sorry to kick you out, but I've got a business meeting in ten minutes and I haven't finished working out the coordinates.'
'Oh, yeah sure.' said Dick, swiftly getting up and putting his arm chair back where it belonged. 'Sorry to have kept you so long, we'll see you tomorrow night.' he continued smiling from Bruce to Skye and back again.
'See you tomorrow, then.' said the Batman with a friendly smile. 'Hopefully it'll go well, we've been having a bit of an empty week so far, huh?'
'Yeah, hope it keeps this up!' answered Dick, taking Skye's hand as she got up and stood beside him. She felt his comforting warmth as he spoke to Bruce about whatever was happening tomorrow night.