They had questioned everyone in sight, and no one had seen anything. Yet, he had been there to kill Bruce. Obviously someone wasn't happy with Bruce's plans to improve the city. Part of the mystery though was the fact that the man had been an assassin wanted for several high profile killings. The man was infamous, and Bruce was wondering at the skills someone would have to have in order to take the man down. Norman Greco, the assassin, was a large man. He stood at 6'4", 250lbs, and was built like a Mack truck, but someone dropped him, and so far Greco wasn't talking.
Bruce's attention was pulled back to the present as Lucius entered the room. The older man had a smile on his face. In his hands he carried several documents and a silver tube which looked similar to a thermos, but Bruce knew it contained samples of Lotus-Killer. It had been Lucius's discovery after all.
"You're in a good mood." Bruce said with a raise of his eyebrow.
"I see you're still brooding." Lucius teased the man in front of him. "And why wouldn't I be in a good mood. We're meeting with a gorgeous woman, and starting a fascinating project. But I guess you're more worried about whoever's out there delivering bad guys. Especially since it's not Batman." he told Bruce with a knowing look.
"It's just odd." Bruce mused. "Not that Batman wouldn't appreciate the help if it's legitimate, but it's just odd." Bruce's intercom came to life with his secretary announcing the arrival of Ms. Hughes and guests. Bruce and Lucius left the office to meet the small group, and led them into the conference room.
Callie followed the two men into the conference room, where Wayne Enterprises attorney was already seated, and took a seat to Bruce's left. Today she'd chosen to wear an ivory suit; the skirt hitting two inches above her knees. Pearls gleamed on her neck. They were the same set that her father had given her mother on their wedding day. Callie's hair was pulled into a chignon at the back of her neck. Lawrence sat next to Lucius on the other side of the table, and Alex Hughes, her attorney and cousin, sat to Callie's left. She folded her hands in front of her and waited for the answer she knew she'd get.
Lucius Fox began. "We're glad you could join us today Calliope." he started with a smile. "Mr. Wayne, the board of directors, and I would like to take this opportunity to say that we think your proposals are both intelligent and intriguing." Callie inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement of the compliment. "We at Wayne Enterprises want to take you up on the offer, and we're ready to sign on the dotted line."
She graced the men with a stunning smile. "That's excellent. We're pleased that we'll be doing business with you."
"There are a few slight modifications that we've made to the contract. So perhaps you'd like to look that over first?" Bruce's raspy voice added. He could tell that the fact they made some revisions didn't surprise her. The attorney at the end of the table handed several documents to Alex who read over them briefly. He leaned and whispered something in Callie's ear, and she nodded. She took the documents from him and read through them herself.
"I don't find any problem with these alterations." she looked up with a slight frown when Lawrence James cleared his throat. She handed over the documents to the man, and threw Bruce a look that said 'whatever'. He hid a small grin seeing the unhappy look on the other man's face.
"It says here that you want the authority to check up on the project at any time within reason. Why?" Lawrence asked bluntly, and almost rudely.
Callie sat up a little straighter as anger flared. "Well, Lawrence," she began before Bruce could. "I would assume that Mr. Wayne and his staff would like to keep apprised of the research. I'm sure they'd also like to make sure that there aren't any experiments that might stray from the path that we've set up for this drug."
"I don't like the power this gives to their company." he shot back.
"You forget your place Mr. James. Mr. Wayne and Mr. Fox are doing us the favor of letting us research their drug. We will certainly agree to giving them peace of mind." her tone had become icy, and the other man backed down quickly. He passed the paperwork back over to Callie who signed quickly. Alex Hughes signed next, and the papers were passed back to Bruce. He looked at Callie with admiration, and signed.
Once all the signatures were in place, they made to leave the office. Bruce made sure to walk next to Calliope. "I'm looking forward to our companies working together."
"As am I." she told him smiling. "Anytime you would like to come and look around, please feel free. You don't even have to call first."
They had stopped and were facing each other. Callie extended her hand and again felt the flare of electricity between them. "Why don't we go out to dinner tonight?" he asked, his extraordinary eyes hooded. "To celebrate this joint venture."
Callie's eyes darkened, and she nodded. "What a smashing idea. What time?"
"I'll pick you up at your hotel at eight?" he still had her hand, and his thumb was softly brushing the back of hers.
"Eight it is." she took her hand back from his larger one. She turned and joined the others leaving Wayne Enterprises.