In the Middle of a Broken Constellation

Pairing: WonderBat (Wonder Woman x Batman)

Rating: 14A / T

Universe: N/A (Reader's Choice)

Diana felt ridiculous, which was quite a feat considering she had worn her favourite business attire for such an odd occasion. In a beige blazer dress that could catch the light and shimmer gold, she perceived herself as if she was imbued with the power of the old gods whenever she wore it, but that energy felt like it had been snatched away by the Fates as she walked through the front doors of Wayne Tower. The ruffles that ran vertically over the tops of her thighs caught the breeze that she sauntered through as she made her way towards the front desk, perhaps portraying the confidence that her walk was meant to illustrate.

Her chest lifted high, her lips pursed into a smile, the professional persona of Diana Prince presented herself to the secretary without a single notion of the anxiety she housed inside. "Good morning, my name is Diana Prince and I have an appointment with Lucius Fox for 8:30."

The young woman behind the desk looked up at her with a similar, polite expression. Matching with every other person who was walking through the lobby, she was polished more like a runway model than a typical corporate employee. The name tag peeking out from beneath the blunt cut of her straight blonde hair said 'Delilah' and when she noticed Diana's eyes scroll down to read it, it was almost reflexive for her to toss her golden locks out of the way. "Excellent. Let me just confirm your appointment, Miss Prince."

"Of course." Playing the part of a poised interviewee, it felt natural to fiddle with the cat eye frames she wore as she waited for Delilah to contact Mr. Fox.

However, that earned her a scolding through the earpiece she had hidden beneath her hair. "Don't move them too much, Diana. The connection is unsteady enough as it is." Warned a rather exasperated Cyborg. He was very sensitive about the eyewear she wore since he had only outfitted the lenses as a technological miracle the night before; the last twelve hours had been such a chaotic blur while Jason had worked alongside them in their efforts to sneak her into Bruce's daily life. Almost fitting of the Batman's protege, it was his sneaking suspicion and his breaking and entering into her Mercedes' glove compartment at the JLA headquarters that led to the transformation of simple reading glasses into an impromptu x-ray machine of their own so that they could corroborate Kal's diagnosis.

Though they were most likely not as efficient as the eyes of Superman, it was the best the three of them could do if they planned to expedite her transformation into a Wayne Enterprises staff member.

The only thing Diana had true confidence in was that she knew she interviewed well.

"Miss Prince?" Delilah called to her as she tapped off the call she supposedly had with Lucius through the headset she wore.

She brought her hands together and clutched her resume folder unnecessarily tight when she replied. "Yes?"

The secretary didn't seem to notice. "Mr. Fox is in a meeting on the thirty fourth floor at the moment, but you can head upstairs through the elevators down the hallway to your left and wait for him outside of Board Room C."

"Thank you." Was her final words to Delilah as she followed her directions. The moment she turned her body to face the lobby again, it felt much like a more condensed version of Grand Central Station. There were so many bodies walking in every single direction, all with a purpose in mind, all relatively at the same quickened pace. She knew that Wayne Tower was the epicenter of Wayne Enterprises because it was the base of Mr. Wayne himself, but maneuvering through the multitude of people reminded Diana of a battlefield of sorts.

Or perhaps that was a projection of her Amazonian mind set, given the way she thought of her interview with Lucius Fox to be a battle she couldn't afford to lose.

So much of their approach to dealing with Bruce's situation fell onto her shoulders. After Victor's suggestion that she play the part of a potential hire when they first spoke about it at Drake Manor, Jason refused to accept any sort of rebuttal she had made. It was true that Victor couldn't have entered the building without drawing attention to himself, and the reaction that Alfred had to the previous Robin insinuated that there would be no favour gained if they sent him in for the meeting.

During their entire time traveling to the JLA headquarters to formulate a plan of attack, Diana hadn't been able to think of a better person to take her place either.

Now here she was, the next day, riding an elevator to meet the man in charge behind the scenes of Bruce's company.

"You've got this, Diana." Assured Victor in a whisper, doing his best to lend her some kind of support. She appreciated the gesture, and it never failed to amaze her how such a small gesture could keep her grounded; even though he couldn't swap places with her, he wasn't going to leave her to handle this situation on her own. She had until she reached the third-fourth floor to rid herself of any doubts and play herself up to be the corporate version of Wonder Woman - the woman who could accomplish anything, while wearing a power suit instead of a girdle.

When the doors opened, she stepped out onto the floor as if she was prepared to thank Mr. Fox for hiring her on the spot.

Having tumbled through the industrial uprising on her own and having to apply for job after job, updating her credentials constantly and trying to keep up with every advancement that had come and gone over the years, she knew of the energy and fervor that employers looked for when hiring. If she was going to land a position during a meeting she set up last night, she'd need to embody the confidence it would take to impress her future boss.

The signs she saw along the wall indicated the alphabetical conference rooms were to her left, and she merely had to walk towards the room in the corner of the floor to find the one that Delilah had instructed her to visit. Board Room C was hidden behind a dark oak door, but there were some soft-looking seats in the hallway to act as an informal waiting room. She was ready to sit down and perhaps look over the version of her resume that she had brought to the interview, but it appeared as though there wouldn't be a moment to rest.

The door handle to the boardroom shifted with a rather noise clang before it swung open. Catching the end of a conversation, she heard the final thoughts of one of the people in the meeting, spoken in a strikingly familiar voice. "And I just think that we can do something more by turning some of our focus over to research. It makes no sense to solely work on treatments, considering how much money we can funnel into Wayne Medical!"

The door flew open, and slowly but surely, Bruce Wayne himself entered her line of sight. His hair was messier than she had ever seen it, and one too many of his shirt buttons were left open as he entered the hall. She had never seen such a disheveled version of him, but there was no doubt that she had stumbled upon the man she was looking for much earlier than she could have ever hoped for. Seeing him like this - so soon! - nearly stole the air from her lungs.

A rather grainy chuckle followed closely behind Bruce's claims, and it was none other than Lucius Fox himself who found those remarks about Wayne Medical hilarious. "Says the man who no longer has to run the numbers."

The two men let the discussion flow into the hall without much concern for who might also be dallying on the floor. Bruce especially, as he replied with a clipped tone. "Hey, with the money we have, what matters most is…"

Suddenly, he spotted Diana waiting there when he turned to leave, but it looked as if he had walked into an invisible wall when his foot fell to the floor.
"...your passion."

Lucius looked to see what had caught Bruce's eye, and she suddenly felt like a spectacle. The energy radiating off of her friend was raw, unfiltered as he stood next to a man who gave off a much more regal air. It felt like she had stunned him, awed him, his gaze fixated on her so strongly that it made her skin feel warm beneath her clothes. The chances of finding him in the building within minutes of her arrival was unfathomable, and yet here he was, feasting on the sight of her with a look in his eyes that reminded her of only one other interaction they had ever had.

At a certain party, when the Batman used Bruce Wayne to speak to her privately.

It felt like tearing velcro apart to look away from him, but she had to. Turning to Lucius, she took charge of the awkward beat that passed between them and offered out her hand. "Good morning, my name is Diana Prince."

"Ah, Miss Prince. Thank you for waiting. I was just finishing an unscheduled meeting with a rather insistant man." The look he gave Bruce was reprimanding, almost reminiscent of how a father might feel exasperated by their rambunctious son. It was only when he was mocked did the owner of the company realize that he was behaving rather inappropriately, performing a small double take as he looked between the only other people in the hallway.

Diana plastered a casual grin on her face and turned to offer her hand to him, too. "Is that the way to make sure I do well in my interview, Mr. Wayne? Insist that I am the woman for the job?" She quipped at him, all while letting him know that she recognized who he was, despite the ambiguous way that Lucius referred to him. She needed to demonstrate her intelligence as well as promise that she could commit to the role, all while behaving with the air of a seasoned socialite. It was her intention to wow them so that they would be moved to offer her any position, not just the one she applied for in the middle of the night.

But when Bruce took her hand, she felt the corners of her lips quiver. She had been so panicked over the wellbeing of this man for weeks, and now he was casually shaking her hand. Despite the trauma she needed to uncover, he looked looked to be the picture of health and it was striking to have him so close to her when that was all she wanted for an unfair amount of time. This was a different Bruce before her though, that she could tell.

Still, it was him.

Her whole point of being here was to make sure that he was protected, and for the first time while stumbling through this plan, she relished in a single moment.

"Well, I don't know if Lucius will appreciate anyone emulating me in order to get their foot in the door," he attempted comedy with her after gawking for much too long, and she had seen the gears inside his mind turn to form a joke with perfect timing. But they kept turning, nearly spinning out of control when he decided to tack on. "Perhaps I should sit in to make sure he's treating you fairly. He has been known to get rather cranky after dealing with me, you know."

"That's not necessary-" Lucius tried to pipe up, but was verbally stomped down.

"Is that not true? Do you not find me irritating at times?"

"You know I can't argue with that-"

"Great! I'll be the good cop then. Let's go!" And he held out his arm in the direction of the boardroom's open doorway, implying that she was welcome to enter first.

His motive was still hazy, yet it was absolutely transparent. She didn't sense any sort of sordid energy from him, however, he wasn't done observing her himself. It hadn't occurred to her until she nodded with gratitude at his gesture and wandered inside that perhaps he recognized her. She had only assumed that his reaction to Kal had meant that something happened to his memory - was she being watched like a hawk because Bruce realized that she was in his city, unannounced, unwelcomed, and he was secretly unhinged?

All she could do now was wander over to one of the black leather rotating chairs at the table and make her way through the interview that her civilian life hinged on. Diana Prince's life revolved around the outcome of this interaction, and she couldn't allow anything to come in the way of that either.

A hiss in her ear warned her of Victor's voice sounding off again. "I need you to keep him in your line of sight for the entire interview, if we want to take advantage of this opportunity. I know that might be strange, but we can evaluate him faster if we get this information today."

Of course Bruce had to sit at the head of the table, while Lucius sat across from her. Diana pretended to fix her seat, then crossed her legs rather dramatically so she could afford the angle Cyborg needed without appearing strange. The windows that acted as the exterior walls to the room rested behind her, she watched as the other two fixed themselves in their seats too before the interview began.

She couldn't help but notice that Bruce's appearance was much tidier now than it was in the hallway, as if he took advantage of her turned back to fix himself up.

But Lucius pretended that he wasn't with them at all, and immediately held out his hand for her resume. "Now, I must say Miss Prince, this is a rather odd interview. I've never had a call from someone's current employer in the middle night, giving me a reference for an employee of theirs that I didn't even know was interested in working for Wayne Enterprises."

Diana knew this was coming, so she wasn't at all thrown off balance by the indirect question. "As you can see in my resume, my previous career has allowed me to work all over the world. It allowed me to see places that most do not get a chance to see, and meet people who are most often forgotten. I've heard about the people who are infected in places like Metropolis and Central City and Gotham City, and I realized that I could not consciously stand by and carry on with my life anymore without helping those who need it."

"But why here?" To her surprise, Lucius hadn't been given the chance to ask a follow up question. Bruce had decided that it was pertinent information to ask her something that felt more like he had taken on the role of a 'bad cop', with how sharply he asked her.

She faced him to answer him, and to help Cyborg's scan. "Because I know that the type of work experience I have would better benefit an organization that tackles these issues on a larger scale. I can travel anywhere I need to be, I can speak many languages, I always conduct myself professionally-"

Apparently, Bruce wasn't buying her explanation. "No no, I'm asking you why you chose Wayne Enterprises to be your new employer? Why not the Red Cross? Or the Peace Corps? They travel, they probably could use a secretary at their head office."

His behaviour was irking both herself and Lucius, but she charged at him with her answer before their 'discussion' could be interrupted. "I have encountered the Wayne Foundation before, and done my research in regards to their outreach programs. I am not asking to be a secretary, I am intending to be on the ground where the Wayne Foundation is needed."

Her rebuttal lead to a stare down, which suited her just fine. It had taken a great deal of convincing to make Victor and Jason see that this was the most practical entrance she had into Bruce's company, and into his personal life. Being a secretary didn't promise interactions with him beyond appointment-scheduling and possible errand-running; if she worked inside the building for a foundation that traveled and moved his money around, it would most likely result in his presence being more relevant in meetings, in information he'd need for interviews and investors meetings.

She also read articles about his relationship with Lucius Fox, and realized that he was her ticket into his inner circle, so that she could receive more of his time with a genuine excuse to have it.

It nearly startled Diana when Lucius found her response funny, laughing from behind her resume. When Bruce glared at him though, she assumed by the nuances of their friendship that the laughter was actually directed at Mr. Wayne. However, he pushed passed their interaction to address her properly. "So you're going from an office job that allowed you to travel, to investing all of your time and energy in our international charity organization."

"Yes." Was her confident reply. She dare not make it seem as if Bruce's behaviour turned her off of the opportunity.

Lucius remained calm until the moment he laid her resume back down on the table, then he interrogated her without remorse. "This isn't the type of work that allows you to take a break when you're feeling exhausted you know. We need go getters, people who can handle their personal life and their career simultaneously. It can sound cruel, but you won't be babied if you're here, even if you're new. I'd throw you in once all of your documentation is cleared, and then you'll be expected to stand alongside every other person I have employed at this level. Do you understand that?"

The challenge he was presenting with not only made her respect Lucius, but it also inspired her for this career she was once questionably applying for. This is the man she had read online about, the one known to have the 'Midas Touch', where he can turn any failing business into gold due to his own personal strengths. Working for someone as determined as him reminded her of being trained on Themyscira as a girl, where she wanted to master the talent of those above her.

With honest enthusiasm, she answered him. "I wouldn't expect anything less. I understand that my application seems sudden, but I believe that when you're passionate about something, you need to chase after it or you waste all of your time worrying about what could have been. The people I hope to help don't have those opportunities, so I should take advantage of them when I do."

There was a pause, there was an exchanging of glances between the three of them, but her energy refused to be melted down into any sort of nervous energy.

That is, until she received an update through her earpiece. "We're only at 21% of the scan. Keep them talking-"

"Well this interview feels like it's over." Was Lucius' ending comment, as he began to raise to his feet. He handed off the resume to a slouching Bruce Wayne, who flipped off the cover page and began to perform a personal audit of her listed experience and credentials. Within the blink of an eye, she went from feeling confident in her presentation to wondering what on Earth had just happened.

"Oh, really? Well, thank you for your time." She heard herself saying, despite the confusion she felt. She offered her hand again to Lucius robotically while trying to keep Bruce in her line of sight for Victor.

Graciously, Mr. Fox smiled at her as though she interviewed well, but she couldn't really say since it was over and done with all too quickly. "I'll be sure to contact you once I've received your background check, all right? Thank you for coming in today."

"Diana! Are you leaving? I can't move any faster."

It felt like she was caught in a whirlwind, being told that it was time to go while needing to stay. She looked directly at Bruce and tried to offer him her hand, but all she could was that she had to make this moment last…!

Author's Note:

Woo! I made it before the end of the day (in my time zone, at least). I have been working on this all day, so I hope you enjoyed it. I knooow it's taking a while for WonderBat to happen, so I wanted to make sure you got a taste of something more solid this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and I WILL see you next Monday! ~ Maiden