Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Batgirl Begins (dbspock/WendyTheRed)

She nodded. "I doubt he would either unless there was a greater good at stake or they cheated or something. I just don't think a draw would mean he automatically lost, unless, of course, he was foolish enough to agree to those terms." She smiled at his confusion. "I just had a thought that it'd sure be interesting if I took you to the Miyagi-Do dojo and you ended up in the tournament. But...it's probably not the right thing to do."

She looked at Amanda and smiled warmly at the offer. "I'd actually greatly appreciate that if it's not too much trouble." She saw the eyebrow raise but didn't know what it was about, suspecting it may be simply about how lost she seemed to be. Her attention was immediately occupied with this newest phone call.

"Major Hawks. Hello. If you could hold one moment I'll get you in touch with the correct person." She placed him on hold and scanned the phone, her heart pounding until she saw what she hoped for. A button that read Lucius Fox, she remembered reading about WayneTech and Wayne Enterprises and had a suspicion he'd either be able to take the call or get her in touch with someone who could. She pressed the button for his phone and if he answered she'd say "Hello Mister Fox. My name is Barbara Gordon, I'm Mister Wayne's new personal assistant. I have a call from a man in General Hammond's office wishing to speak about a project. I was thinking you might be the perfect person to field the call or perhaps could point me to the right person if not."
 
“I doubt the rules of a tournament allow for a draw. I’m sure they have some sort of system to resolve it. “ he said, then snickered a bit at her suggestion. “I don’t think there’s a rule against it. “ he pointed out. And Sam was cute.

“No trouble at all. “ Amanda claimed as she waited for a break in Babs workload to finish setting up her account.

Lucius did indeed answer the phone. “Bruce has a new assistant?” He asked with surprise, then sighed. “I don’t suppose you’ve gotten the welcome packet yet?” He was pretty sure she hadn’t, as she wasn’t on the list of new hires. “I’ll get one sent up to you. “ he promised. “And I’ll deal with the general. “

Of course by this time, the phone was ringing again. As soon as Babs answered it, she’d hear a harried voice claiming to be a parole officer, wanting to check the employment status of a list of names.
 
She was a little surprised at his reply and looked at him thoughtfully. "So, if I took you to Miyagi-Do and introduced you as a new student you'd be up for, well, undercover work essentially to help save the Dojo from closure?"

She smiled at Amanda though it was really all she had time for. "Yes sir. I was hired yesterday by him personally and told to come in today. I really appreciate the welcome packet, I'm in my office. I'll transfer the General to you. Thank you." She quickly made the transfer, proud of herself for figuring it out and hoping she didn't make a mistake. She was fairly confident things went smoothly though and if it didn't, well, she'd deal with it.

She blinked as the phone rang again and muttered. "Don't these people know it's Sunday?" She shot an embarrassed look at Amanda and answered politely, listening to the parole officer. "Yes Sir, if you can read the names to me, I'll check them and get a reply back to you. If you'd like I can send it to your email later or call you back." Once she reached an agreement with him she'd gingerly set the phone down and watch it suspiciously for another call. "I almost wish I'd just gotten the IT internship I was applying for..." She smiled at Amanda and John. "Sorry, just venting."
 
John returned her thoughtful look, and when he saw how important this was to her, nodded. “If you put in a good word for me with Sam…and Sara. “ he requested, unable to pass up the opportunity for a favor from her.

“Email would be great. “ the voice growled before he hung up.

Amanda grinned sympathetically at Babs. “I wish you had as well. We’re a bit short staffed down there. “ she admitted, and when the phone remained silent she gestured at the computer screen. “If I could just get your middle name for the user I’d, I can finish with your account. “ she offered…right before the phone rang again.
 
She raised her eyebrows at John's reply and felt an odd feeling she chose not to examine too closely. "I'm not sure my word carries any weight with Sara, but I'll do it. As for Sam, sure. Are you interested in her?" She asked curiously, recognizing the brief flash of jealousy as being mostly her simply being a bit competitive.

She smiled at Amanda and shrugged. "Well, this is the job Mister Wayne offered me and I'd have been a fool not to accept. Who knows, maybe he'll allow me to help out though I'm getting the feeling I'm going to be very busy." She smiled when Amanda asked for her middle name. "Joan. I believe I already have an email address, Alfred said I should have an email with some instructions for a task I have to complete today."

She glanced at the phone as it rang again and lifted the receiver, praying it wasn't the Major calling back to say she'd hung up on him. "Wayne Enterprises, Barbara Gordon speaking, can I help you?"
 
If she told Sara he did a terrible job as a teacher, he had little doubt Sara would take Babs seriously, so he was grateful when she claimed she wouldn’t do that. When asked about Sam, he shrugged in response. “She’s cute. “ he pointed out.

Amanda grinned at Babs response. “It sure looks that way. “ she said as she tapped Babs info into the system, and shook her head. “You don’t have a personal email account set up, so he was probably talking about the administration one for the desk. I’ll get you access to that. “ she promised as she tapped at the keyboard some more.

“Yes, this is Julie with Woolworth fashion. “ the voice on the other end of the phone said. “We have a rush order here for a dress for a Miss Johnson, but it didn’t include specific measurements or style instructions. I was hoping you could fill in the gaps. “
 
She nodded in reply to him saying Sam was cute, not sure what to say to that really. "Sure, I'll talk you up to Sam." She said.

She nodded her thanks to Amanda with a grin of her own. "I appreciate it." she replied to the other woman before turning her attention to the call. "Hello Julie, one moment and I will get that information for you. Hold please." She debated for a moment then looked at her computer to see if Amanda had pulled up that administrative email or not. She leaned past her and opened the email client up, finding the email from Alfred. She was somehow not at all surprised to see the information in that email and she took the call off hold, rattling off the information to the woman on the line. After an exchange of thank yous she hung the phone back up and playfully glared at it.

She shot a look at John and smirked. "I'm starting to feel like this is another test." She just didn't clarify, knowing he'd know what she meant and figuring Amanda would just assume she meant a test of her job skills.
 
Amanda sighed softly when she saw there were over a thousand emails in the administration inbox. Mary had been gone for over a month, and Amanda was glad she wasn’t the one having to clean up the mess. Barbara seemed to have it in hand though.

John listened with interest as Babs talked about the dress. “Did you need someone to pick up Agent Johnson’s dress?” He offered, his use of the word agent rather than Miss indicated he knew the individual in question.

“They probably didn’t cover this in high school. “ Amanda joked. “But why don’t you forward the calls to the switchboard for a bit while I walk you through the orientation? Have you eaten yet?”
 
She raised her eyebrows when she saw how many emails there were as well. This was most definitely going to be time consuming. She'd need to find out if it was permissible to handle some of this from home since it'd probably take hours even as fast as she read. She looked at John and smiled at the offer. "You'd do that? I would appreciate it so much John. My guardian angel!"

She looked at Amanda and thought back to a conversation with Chloe. "I may have to take an early graduate after all. We'll see how well I keep up with it all." She shook her head and looked at Amanda then scanned the phone. "That's a good idea. Can you show me how to do that? And no, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday though..." She glanced at John with a smile. "I do have some M&Ms in my purse."
 
“I’d be happy to. “ John informed her. He’d heard what kind of dress Babs had ordered and the possibility of seeing Daisy in that, well, it was worth the time investment. He also couldn’t help but smirk at the guardian angel comment, well aware of what she was referring to, before he headed out the door, his smile broadened even more at the M and Ms comment.

“Sure. “ Amanda leaned over and showed Babs the call forward, do not disturb, and switchboard buttons. “That should give you a chance to get acclimated at least. Let’s head by the cafeteria. One can’t live on N and ms alone. “
 
She watched John leave, noting how happy he looked and shook her head, muttering under her breath. "Men are all the same..." She smirked slightly but then frowned as a thought crossed her mind. If she truly followed this path she was on, it was doubtful she'd get to experience a lot of the typical teenage romance stuff. She felt a pang of regret but quickly pushed it down.

She pressed the button and after insuring the calls were being forwarded she let out a breath. "I am still surprised so many calls were coming in on a Sunday." She quickly skimmed the emails to see if any had come in this morning that demanded her attention. If none had, she'd smile at Amanda. "That would be wonderful. I think Mister Fox will also be sending some kind of welcome packet to me which I suppose I need to go over but hopefully that can wait for awhile."
 
“Problem with your…friend?” Amanda asked, noting the look of annoyance on Babs face as the boy left the room. She shrugged in response to Babs amazement. “Welcome to Wayne Enterprises, the company that never sleeps. “ she claimed as Babs scanned the emails and concluded nothing critical was there.

“And yes, there’s some insurance and direct deposit forms and the like you’ll need to file, but it can wait until after you’ve eaten. “ Amanda promised as she led Babs back out the door to a different elevator than she had used to get up here. “So how’d you manage to get personally hired by Mr. Wayne?” She asked curiously, recalling what Barbara had told Mr. fox.
 
She looked at Amanda and shrugged. "No. He's just a typical man. Looking at me one moment, then letting me know he's got his eyes on someone else. I think maybe it's just something about me since it has happened several times over the last few days." She shrugged and did her best not to let it show how it made her feel a bit insecure.

"Well, my dad got me into Bruce Wayne's gala last night. I had plans to arrange a meeting with him so I could show him something to convince him I would make a good addition to the IT Team. When we met he ended up offering me the job as his personal assistant instead and I'd have been a fool not to take the opportunity." She gave Amanda a bit of a guilty look. "I know it sounds like I probably took advantage of a situation but I wanted a chance to get my foot in the door. I had no idea it'd go like this."
 
“Really?” Amanda looked confused when Babs said the strange boy wasn’t her friend. “I thought you let him in. “ Barbara wouldn’t be the first to try and show off her work place. “Do we need to notify security?” She smiled softly at Babs comment. “It’s not just you. “ she said softly.

Her eyes widened a bit when Babs mentioned the gala. “So your dad is lieutenant Gordon…or is it Captain now? And did you build a computer or something? I used to do that, before they made it cheaper just to buy a computer. “ she then chuckled softly. “I’ve never met him, but from the stories I’ve heard, you can never predict how a meeting with him might go. “
 
She looked at Amanda and blinked in confusion. "No, he is. Sort of. We're...hmmm....it's complicated. He works with another of Bruce Wayne's people, his head of security actually. I think we're colleagues and may become friends? I don't know. I can't really tell what he wants from me beyond our work together, if anything." She smiled a little at Amanda's reply, feeling a little better when she heard it.

She nodded to Amanda. "Captain Gordon yes. He was able to get me into the gala and the rest was up to me. I was able to meet with Miss Lance and showed her a sample of my talents. I think she organized my meeting with Bruce Wayne. And from there I was able to talk to him and he made the offer." She somehow managed not to blush as she remembered part of her interview had been the nude swim. She suddenly thought about that swim and the requirement for nude training with John and found herself wondering if they served a similar purpose.

She was actually pretty sure that Bruce Wayne had intended to meet her anyway, if her theories about his true identity were correct at least, though there was no way she'd say that to Amanda. She shook her head at Amanda's question. "No, I wrote a program and recorded the results of it to show them so they could see what I was capable of." She debated showing Amanda the recording but didn't think it would be smart so she simply smiled at the other woman as they rode the elevator.
 
“he’s with security?” Amanda blinked with surprise. He seemed a bit young for that. But at first glance you wouldn’t think Sara Lance was with security either, which was the point. She shrugged at the rest of her statement. “Well, you just started working together, so he’s probably still trying to figure out if you want to be friends. “

“I didn’t know Miss Lance was into computers, but I guess it doesn’t really surprise me. “ Amanda said next. “And you certainly have networking down.” She nodded again at Babs explanation. “Must have been one heck of a program to get you a job as his assistant. “ Amanda chuckled. “Or maybe your meeting with him just proved you can handle it. “

The elevator stopped and Amanda stepped off, the smell of food indicating they were in the right place. “Do you have your badge yet?” Amanda asked as she badged into the turnstile leading to the food line. If Babs said no, she’d just badge in for her. “This one’s on me. “ she said with a smile.
 
Barbara wasn't sure how to answer that question as she wasn't sure if John had an official role beyond whatever his role with Sara was so she simply made a noncommittal sound when Amanda asked if he was with security. She smiled slightly at the other woman's reply. "Maybe so. I can't really read him, he's a bit of an enigma to me." That was an understatement as he seemed hopelessly naive about some things but very knowledgeable about other things. And she had a sneaking suspicion his knowledge of the opposite sex was probably even less than her own.

She smiled at Amanda's next comment, shrugging slightly. "I think perhaps she really just wanted to get a feel for me as a person and a potential job candidate in general. My demonstration was designed so even non-computer people could appreciate it so that probably helped." She shrugged a little at the compliment to her networking skills. "I think I'm just lucky my dad does some security work for Bruce Wayne at times." She thought about the woman's comment and nodded. "Perhaps, our entire interaction certainly felt like a stealth interview."

She looked at Amanda and shook her head. "I don't. I was just told to show up and so I did. But I wasn't told where to go, who to report to, nothing. I think he wanted to see how I'd adapt to being tossed into the deep end." She smiled at the other woman. "Thank you. I'll pay you back when I get a chance." Her stomach rumbled and she blushed as she looked at Amanda. "Sorry, I've had quite a lot of exercise and no breakfast or anything." She followed her to the line and looked over the selection, curious what was on offer.
 
Amanda had no idea about the physical logistics of Bruce Wayne’s security so she would have had no idea if anything Babs said was true or not anyway, so she didn’t try to pursue it past Babs noncommittal answer, confident there was not an intruder in the building. She giggled softly at what Babs did say. “That part doesn’t get easier with age. “ she warned, then nodded. “I think a large part of Miss Lances job is reading people to see if they are a threat. You seem to have passed inspection. And so did your dad. Luck had nothing to do with that. “ she shrugged at the next comment. Having never interacted with Mr. Wayne, she couldn’t say.

Amanda giggled a bit at Babs description of her first day. “Yeah…I’m surprised you got in the door honestly. You are supposed to have a badge, at least an escort badge, before that happens. We’ll get that taken care of..,” she laughed as Babs stomach rumbled. “After you eat. And don’t worry about the cost, it’s negligible. One of the benefits of working here. “

There was a wide selection of food available. A kiosk dedicated to fast food, a salad bar, a section for cold cuts and sandwiches, pizza, a breakfast nook, and a soup section, all of which looked appealing.
 
She smiled a little at Amanda and tried to force herself out of what felt like being on the verge of hormonal teenage brooding. She was honestly a bit embarrassed that she was even devoting this much attention to these thoughts. "I would agree with that and I think Miss Lance knew very quickly I was no threat to Bruce Wayne." She, of course, had zero intentions of giving more information than that. "Though she did also look at what I had to show Mister Wayne so could have passed it on to him."

She looked at Amanda and smiled. "John badged me in. He escorted me to work this morning. But I do wonder, if I hadn't been with him, how was I supposed to get in to my job? Though admittedly, the original plan was for Alfred to give me a ride to work..." She said it thoughtfully, wondering just how much pull Alfred had and not even thinking about how casually she'd just said something that Amanda would probably find almost unbelievable.

She smiled warmly at Amanda. "I'm lucky they sent you to help out with my computer. I hope I'm not to much bother for you. I think I'll have to send your boss a glowing review of your helpfulness. Not that it'll mean much from the new person but you deserve it." It didn't even occur to Barbara that her boss might see it as coming from Bruce Wayne's personal assistant and thus give it weight.

She grabbed a soup and salad, making sure the salad had chicken strips in it so she could get some protein. She sat down at the table with Amanda and began to eat, doing her best not to look like a ravenous beast even if it was how she felt. She winced slightly when she sat, starting to feel some of the aches and pains from the training with John. "You're sure I'm not taking you away from anything important?"
 
“You got a personal escort?” Amanda raised her eyebrows. “I guess being the bosses assistant has its perks, though I’m surprised he didn’t take you by the badge office first. “ she shrugged, not caring to delve deeper into office politics. “And security would have helped you out when you showed them your employment letter. That’s how I got in my first day. “ she wasn’t surprised at the reference to Alfred, well aware he’d called her boss, who had quickly told her to drop everything and help the new arrival.

Amanda blushed at Babs compliment. “I appreciate that. “ she said. “And you’re no bother at all. An interesting diversion, in fact. “ given the connections Babs so casually dropped, Amanda knew a kudos from her would carry a lot of weight. She didn’t mention the fact though.

For her part, Amanda grabbed a chicken sandwich and a salad, along with a lemonade, before she settled down across from Babs. “More important than helping the big bosses assistant get some food so she doesn’t pass out?” Amanda giggled as she watched Babs devour her food. “Unless the buildings on fire, no such thing. And feel free to get seconds, or a snack for later. “ Amanda frowned with concern as she saw Babs wince. “You all right?”
 
She smiled at Amanda's reply about the personal escort and wondered how she'd react if she knew the full truth of that escort. She shrugged at the other woman mentioning the employment letter. "I don't have an employment letter. Bruce Wayne just told me I'd come here today and get started."

She smiled at the other woman as she seemed to be happy at the idea of Barbara's kudos. It still hadn't occurred to her how her role would be seen by others, a bit of her inexperience in the corporate world making her not take office politics into account.

She smiled at the other woman and something in her words made a light bulb finally go off in her head. "I hadn't even thought about that." She looked around the cafeteria. "People will look at me different if word gets around which I'm sure is inevitable." She turned her gaze back to Amanda. "Oh, I had a work out with John and the soreness is starting to set in now."
 
Amanda laughed at her response. "Well, I guess Bruce Wayne doesn't have to worry about the guards not letting him in. Not after the first time, at least." Amanda smirked as Babs seemed to get some idea how important her job was. "Well, if you do pass out, there's a nurse on staff. And several doctors too, come to think of it. Some of them probably have medical degrees. " She replied, deliberately missing the point.

"Oh, I think word is already getting around." Amanda said as she discreetly nodded at a nearby table where a whispered conversation with a few glances at Babs was taking place. Amanda raised ehr eyebrows when Babs mentioned the workout. "You need security training for your job?" She asked with surprise, then shrugged. "Well, I guess it makes sense, as you'll be around the big man a lot."
 
She laughed. "You're probably right that Mister Wayne can just walk in." She shook her head suddenly. "No one even questioned me being his assistant though. I mean, in your case there was the call from Alfred but Lucius Fox took it in strife when I introduced myself...."

She followed Amamda's gaze to the other table and then looked back at her with slightly wide eyes. "How? It's not like a I've introduced myself or anything....unless your boss told people about Alfred's call..."

She blinked in confusion at first when Amamda mentioned security training then the pieces clicked into place. "Well, you know, self defense just in case I guess."
 
Amanda laughed as well. "I think Mr. Fox is used to being thrown curve balls by Mr. Wayne." She declared, then shrugged. "It's not every day Steve gets a call from Alfred. I'm sure he told a few people, then, well, it's a small office, despite how it looks from outside. " She nodded at the mention of security training. "Can't be too careful, I guess, especially in this town. I hope you never need to use it." She said, unaware that hope had already been dashed.
 
She nodded in reply to Amanda, smirking slightly as she thought about how Bruce Wayne probably caused anxiety for Lucius Fox from time to time. The smirk morphed into a smile as Amanda talked about Alfred's call. "That was such a kind thing for Alfred to do for me." She thought back to how Bruce Wayne had told her Alfred spoke highly of her and realized it must have been true.

She glanced around again, biting her lip. "They're probably all trying to figure out how I got the job and stuff." She sighed, then turned her gaze to Amanda. "You'll get no argument from me. On my first day in town I ran into the Ghost Dragons and learned that lesson the hard way." She shook her head at the memory, realizing that those events seemed like they'd happened months ago but it had only been a few days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom