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Batgirl Begins (dbspock/WendyTheRed)

Was she...threatening him? Rick heard her comment and glanced back at Barbara. of course, he fully intended to report this little incident, just perhaps not all the details, and buried in his weekly summary that he doubted Mr. Wayne ever read. But with his personal assistant now saying she was going to tell her boss personally what had happened, well, Rick didn't want Mr. Wayne to find out that way. Pete also overheard her comment and came running after them. The robot was his project, and while he wasn't sure what had gone wrong yet, that made it his responsibility. "Miss...the robot was..." Pete began, but Rick cut him off with a shake of his head. "I'll handle it, Pete." Rick promised, quickly followed by. "Don't worry about it." Petie glanced uncertainly between Babs and Rick, before his gaze settled on Rick and he smiled, then went back to trying to secure the robot.

Rick raised his eyebrow at Barbara when she seemed to expect him to know who the armor was for based off of the measurements. "I don't have the statistics of everyone who works here memorized." He told herm then shrugged when she asked about the rooms contents. "We have a contract with the TSA to improve the reliability of detection gear. It's amazing what some of the stuff you can fit into a shoe. And some of the shirts have a Kevlar weave to them. Great at stopping knives, not so much for bullets. We're trying to find a fix for that. And SHi...some organizations, love to see how small you can make a transmitter, and where you can hide it." He told her. He shrugged when she mentioned the 'delivery', but he couldn't keep the excitement out of his eyes. "I'm afraid the EMP might wind up killing someone anyway. What if the pulse hits an ambulance? Or a train? Or a hospital? Unless we can figure out how to reduce the range, it's not ready for field deployment yet." He raised an eyebrow when she said described the vehicle that would be used. "You mean the thing still runs? And someone actually wants to use it? Excellent." He said with a nod.

Her request about the buttons was a bit easier to handle. "Mary Ann?!" Rick called out to the nearly empty room, and a lady, who looked almost like a stereotypical grandmother, appeared at their side almost as if by magic. "Miss Gordon here has had a bit of a...wardrobe malfunction, and I was wondering if you might help her out with that." Rick told her, and the lady turned to Babs with a broad smile.

"Of course. What can I do for you, my dear?" She asked.
 
She saw the worried look on Pete's face and the reaction Rick had and felt ashamed. She could guess exactly what they were thinking. She needed to make that right and so when they were alone in the stairwell she looked at Rick. "I have no plans of talking to Mister Wayne about these events. Please tell...Pete, was it? Not to worry." She sighed. "One of your staff was being a jerk, flipping me off and stuff." She described Tommy to him. "So I said that for his benefit to try to make him nervous. It was me being petty because he was making me angry with his attitude."

She looked a bit confused by that reply. "I didn't think you did. I just meant that Sara is, what? 5'5"? The suit is not for her." She was kind of enjoying that he seemed to be missing it was for her but she saw no reason he'd jump to that conclusion besides her height. She heard him barely stop himself from mentioning Shield and spoke absently as she looked around. "Don't worry, I know about Shield. I've met two of their agents and one of them actually wanted to recruit me due to a computer program I wrote." It didn't even occur to her that she was essentially bragging. She was so distracted looking at the room and taking in what he'd said she barely even realized what she'd said. She turned to face him and nodded. "Well, it was just a thought anyway. Thank you for your honest thoughts. The EMP is off the table. So to speak." She nodded. "Yes, it still runs."

Barbara blushed slightly. "Well, I had an encounter with a rampaging robot and it was offended by my clothing. We haven't found my skirt yet and it took some buttons off of my brand new blouse. I was hoping to get them reattached." After a brief hesitation she unzipped Rick's jacket and retrieved the buttons from the pouch on her lanyard, holding them out.
 
Rick glanced over at Babs uncertainly, but he thought she seemed sincere about not ratting them out, and a smile appeared on his face. "Pete will be glad to hear that. He's been working hard on this project, and while today clearly didn't go as well as he'd hoped, I think he's close to perfecting it. Be a shame to have Mr. Wayne shut it down when we're so close, and Pete will be relieved to hear he's not getting fired." The smile faded as she described the behavior of one of his staff, but she didn't even need to offer the description for Rick to know who he was talking about. "I'll talk to Mr. Fox about him. Problem is, Tommy is the son of one of the board members, who refuses to hear anything negative about his son. So trying to get him fired could be...tricky." Rick was better at working with machines than navigating the politics his position sometimes required.

"Well, that's too bad, because he do have her measurements on file, and could probably get her the suit in time...if she wanted it." Rick had broached the subject before, and been politely refused, and he didn't expect Sara to change her mind. "About who?" Rick asked innocently when she mentioned SHIELD, and he became intensely interested in the hallway as they walked. Clearly obscuration was not his skill set either. He did look back at her when she mentioned the computer program. "What kind of program?" he asked curiously. If she was good enough for SHIELD, perhaps he could poach her for his own department.

"Mary Ann *tsked* softly, but she didn't seem at all surprised to hear about a rampaging robot. She did smile a bit when Babs admitted she lost her skirt, and that Bab's wasn't trying to show off her long legs as a fashion choice. "Well, I think we can help out with that." Mary Ann said as she looked at Bab's damaged blouse. Rick looked as well, for a moment, before he remembered to look away. Mary Ann disappeared for a few seconds, only to return with a robe that would cover Babs from her shoulders to her ankles. "Here, why don't I trade you?" Mary Ann suggested. "And if you don't know how to sew, I'd be happy to teach you." She said with a smile, clearly believing it was better to teach someone something, than to do it for them.
 
She nodded and grabbed Rick's arm gently, hopefully stopping them both in the hall. "I really am sorry for scaring Pete. I am normally smarter about things like that. Would it help if I talked to Pete and reassured him personally? I don't want people down here to think I'm the dragon lady who will be coming down and making your lives hell." She frowned as he described Tommy's role and why he got away with things. "Tommy? Does he, does he make things hard for the rest of you? After all, he had the control unit for the robot. Did he maybe cause this entire incident? I don't want to..." She shrugged. "I don't want to be the woman who throws her weight around, I don't even know if I actually have any, but if you want, I can talk to Mister Wayne. And keep your name out of it."

When they reached the sewing room and he replied about the measurements and stuff she pondered. "How hard would it be to change the existing suit to work with those measurements I provided? I'd imagine the biggest challenge would be the substantial height difference. Would that be easier than making something from scratch?" She smiled when he asked about the program and took out her phone. She brought up the demo recording she had made and held it out to him.

"It was a proof of concept. I became aware that the Batmobile couldn't be tracked by traffic cameras and was curious if I could break through whatever stealth program it was using. I succeeded. And no, I won't turn over the program to anyone. My goal wasn't to help the police to catch Batman. I just wanted to prove my skills. My original idea was to get an internship in this company by showing my value but I was able to meet Mister Wayne personally and he gave me the job as his personal assistant instead." That was a fairly major simplification of events of course but she figured it got the gist across.

She smiled gratefully at Maryann when she came back with the robe. She nibbled her lip thoughtfully at the offer to show her how to sew. "Well, as long as I don't damage the blouse. I can't afford a replacement and I've had it for just a single day. In any case, I'm not going anywhere until my skirt is found." She shrugged her blouse off and quickly put on the robe, her cheeks only slightly coloring. She offered Rick his coat back once the robe was on. "Thank you. I love this coat by the way. Made me feel like I was about to go on an adventure or something." She smiled at him. "I know you probably have stuff to get back to but if you can spare the time I'd love to finish the discussion about the armor."
 
Rick stopped and turned to face Barbara as she grabbed his arm, thankful she'd zipped his coat up so he didn't feel he was being rude by not looking at her when she talked. The only issue was as he feared the jacket didn't cover much of her butt, but as long as they were standing still it wasn't much of a problem. He frowned thoughtfully at her offer to talk to Pete. "I'm not sure, honestly." he admitted. "Talking to the big boss's secretary might just make him more nervous." It would help if Babs got dressed again, Rick knew, but he figured that was already her plan so no reason to mention it. He shrugged when she asked if Tommy made it hard for the rest of them. "We work around him, for the most part. The only reason he got the control unit was Pete had already determined the robots firewalls had blocked out external input, so the control pad was useless. We can't blame Tommy for this." Rick admitted. He wouldn't have minded, it would give him the ammunition needed to get rid of Tommy, but Rick didn't think that was the case. he had to look away from Bab's as she mentioned her weight, as he couldn't help but grin. He'd seen her stomach, and knew she didn't have a lot of excess weight. He knew that wasn't what she meant with her comment, but he still had to stifle a chuckle. He shook his head at her offer though. "I'm responsible for everything that happens down here. There's no keeping my name out of it." Rick stated. He also didn't seem too concerned about losing his job if Bruce did learn about what had happened.

He shrugged when she asked about modifying the existing suit. "It's a wash, pretty much." he admitted. "Though I'd rather make a new one than mess with the existing. Just in case Sara changes her mind." He shook his head when asked if the height difference would be the biggest challenge...truthfully the biggest challenge would be the chest area. If they didn't get that right, the suit would be...quite uncomfortable. If it could even be put on. But Babs didn't ask for details, and he didn't want to mention that part. He took her phone and watched her demonstration, his eyebrows rising with amazement. "That's incredible." he said, then his eyes lit up as he came upon an idea. "Would you be willing to work with Pete and look over the firewall programming for the robot? I think he's been working on it for so long, he's begging to glaze over parts of it, and he might get more comfortable with you if you talked about work. He might even forget your the boss's secretary for a bit." He didn't press her for details about how she obtained her job. he could see how the programming could have caught Mr. Wayne's eye, and though he wouldn't admit it aloud, he had to wonder if Bruce would have hired her if she'd been unattractive, or a male.

Mary Ann happily shook her head when Bab's asked for assurance. "Don't you worry about that, hon. I've been doing this for years, and never found a fabric problem I can't solve. It'll be better than new when we get done, I promise." After Babs slipped the robe on, Mary Ann put an arm around her shoulder and led her towards one of the machines. "Now first thing we gotta do is match the thread color..." She mused as she pulled a drawer open and revealed a dozen rolls of white thread, each a slightly different shade. Mary Ann frowned for a moment, then picked one out. "This one." She declared, and indeed it looked identical to the thread on Bab's blouse. "Now you gotta load it into the machine..." Mary Ann said, as she told Babs exactly how to do that.

Rick KNEW he should look away as Bab's changed, he knew it was coming, but somehow he just couldn't. And when she finally did shrug out of his jacket and her shirt, she was only in front of him in her underwear for a few seconds, so it wasn't like he was really staring. But the image was still firmly imprinted on his mind. And yeah...Pete would probably have a heart attack if he saw Babs like this. He reached out and took the coat from her and slipped it back on. "Yeah...this jacket and I have been on a few adventures together. I have Mary Ann to thank for it looking as good as it does." he shook hsi head when she asked if he had other things to do. "A priority request from the boss takes priority." He told her, then grinned. "Besides, I'm sure everyone would appreciate the chance to try and figure out exactly what happened without me looking over their shoulder.
 
She nodded her understanding when he told her why talking to Pete wouldn't help. She'd have to get used to this, both the good and the bad, of being Bruce Wayne's assistant. She was used to being a nobody whose words didn't matter but it was clear that was no longer the case. She nodded when he declined her offer to speak to Bruce Wayne about Tommy. Still, she already didn't like him and thought she'd keep an eye out for ways to get him out of Rick's hair. "I don't understand why they'd send him to R&D. If he's the kid of a board member you'd think he'd have some kind of cushy middle management job or something."

She understood why he didn't want to risk upsetting Sara by using her suit. She smiled at his idea about helping Pete and nodded her swift agreement. "If he doesn't mind, I would be glad to. Computers are kinda my thing as I guess you can see. I thought I'd get on in the IT department to be honest. Well, assuming I got an internship and it worked out." She laughed. "I'm not complaining though." She looked serious for a moment. "And yeah, sometimes when you look at your own code enough you sort of start seeing what you expect to see and not what's actually there. Happens to all of us."

She listened to Maryann, her words already committed to memory. She followed the woman's instructions, a bit nervous still that she might damage the blouse but she decided to do her best and trust the woman. She seemed quite competent and knew what she was doing. While she loaded it she was unaware of Rick's struggles with her nudity, or near nudity. She glanced at Maryann when he said she was to thank for his jacket. "So, you make clothing for employees sometimes Maryann?" Her thoughts were already spinning as she saw another potential source for some of her ideas.

She smiled when he gave dual reasons for sticking around. She nodded slowly. "Is there anything I can do to help get the suit done on time? There is a chance this delivery will get dangerous and that suit could be very helpful to the driver of the vehicle." She knew Rick was smart and she was a little surprised he hadn't put two and two together yet but she decided to cut him some slack due to all the shenanigans with the robot and her near nudity probably distracting him.
 
Rick grunted in response to her idea about a proper place for Tommy. "Would YOU want to report to him?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, then sighed. "On paper, he's a good fit for R&D. But this place requires collaboration. Tommy thinks he knows better than everyone and he can do it all himself. It doesn't work that way."

Rick's attitude for brighter as the discussion turned to Pete. "If you show him that computer program you devised? He'll probably ask your opinion himself. Pete's smart enough to know when he's hit a brick wall, and he's probably willing to try anything at this point."

Mary Ann chuckled at her question. "Only when they need a Kevlar weave." She claimed, then winked at Rick. "But when someone brings me a plate of cookies, I've been known to patch up the bullet holes they were foolish enough to get in their favorite jacket."

"Well, if you could convince...whoever it is...to go to the imaging chamber and get a full body scan, I could get started with the fabricator." Rick claimed, and there was a glint in his eye that indicated he might or might not be teasing her about the future occupant of the armor. He grew serious when she mentioned the operation might be dangerous. "Well, between Sara and Bertha, I'm hoping they can handle a simple delivery. But if the driver wants a bit of an edge, I think we can help them out."
 
She shook her head. "No, I wouldn't want to report to him. But I don't like the idea of him gumming up the works down here in R&D either." She shook her head. "Still, we're getting off track a little, I'll work with Pete to make up for scaring him and because, honestly, I'd enjoy it." She nodded at his suggestion. "I can do that, show him the demo I mean. Assuming he doesn't flee when he sees me coming. He probably thinks I'm the dragon lady now. Serves me right for being petty and losing my temper because Tommy was provoking me."

She raised her eyebrows when she mentioned bullet holes in Rick's jacket and turned her gaze to the man with obvious curiosity. She then looked back at Mary Ann. "Kevlar? You do that for people?" Her mind raced at the possibilities as she asked the question.

She worked quickly under Mary Ann's instructions and soon she held up the repaired blouse. "I can't believe I just did this, thank you Mary Ann." She looked at Rick as she stood, holding the repaired blouse in her hands. "Alright. Show me where the imaging chamber is and you'll get your scan." She huffed when he called the driver Bertha and returned to repairing the blouse. "An edge is exactly what is needed. Though it won't just be Sara and the driver in the vehicle. An Agent of uh...an agency will be there. As will Captain Gordon of the GCPD."
 
Rick shrugged. "We manage to work around him. Sad a guy like that gets a paycheck for not doing anything, but politics can't be avoided sometimes." Rick brightened a bit when the conversation turned to Pete. "I figured you'd appreciate the challenge. Just don't tell Mr. Wayne I'm tasking his personal assistant." Rick said with a wink so she'd know he wasn't serious. "And just make sure you stand in the door of his office when you see him. He can't run away if your blocking the exit."

Mary Ann shrugged at her question. "Kevlar can be a wonderful tool, if a bit troublesome to sew." She admitted, then smiled with satisfaction as Bab's completed her work on the blouse. "Better than new." She declared, then nodded. "Your welcome, hon. Need anything else, you know where to find me."

"All right." Rick agreed as he led her out the door again. "If we get the scan, and you get your boss to authorize some overtime, and we can get the armor ready before the shipment." Interestingly, he didn't need to ask her exactly when the shipment was. He raised an eyebrow when she rattled off the occupants of the vehicle. "Well, I guess it's a good thing we used the design that included the back seat...otherwise it would be a bit crowded."
 
She smiled at the reply about Pete. "Thank you for the advice. I'll keep it in mind. I'll keep it in mind. I may not be able to help Pete today. I told Agent Coulson I'd get some information to him for the delivery, so I have some phone calls and such to make. Though I do still have plenty of time."

She smiled warmly at Mary Ann. "Depending on the shape of my skirt when it is found, I may be coming back to ask for help repairing it. Can I hold onto this robe until then? I have no desire to walk around in just my shirt and panties." She blushed at the very thought though she also quickly realized she'd moved around in much less. Luckily she'd hacked her computer to make that easier. Thinking about her computer and what she'd done to the computer systems made her pause. Tommy probably had a computer down here. What were the odds something on it might be enough to get him fired if she could turn it over to the higher ups anonymously. A slow grin crossed her lips at that thought.

She walked beside him, carrying the blouse as she hadn't yet had a chance to put it on. Besides, she'd probably need to strip down for the scan anyway. "I'm sure he'll authorize the overtime. I'll see to it. Just let me know who all you need it for. And, of course, you're getting the scan. Isn't that where we're going now? To get it done?" She noted his reaction and nodded. "Mmmhmm. The boss wanted to ride along as well because the agent is female. I reminded him he had prior commitments that day." She shook her head. "Can you imagine if he was in the vehicle if things get intense? Which, to be blunt, I have a feeling they will. You know what they say, plan for the worst, hope for the best."
 
Rick shrugged when she said she might not be able to help Pete immediately. "That's fine. He's been working on the project for over a year, so an extra day or two won't hurt anything. I'll let him know his job is secure so he can actually focus on it."

"Well, if you want me to be your personal tailor, I accept payment in cookies." Mary Ann said with a laugh, then nodded. "Sure, keep the robe as long as you need. Can't have you flashing your panties everywhere, even if some your age seem to think that's the style." Mary Ann was grateful she'd chosen not to comment on Bab's attire when she thought it was how she preferred to be dressed.

Rick shrugged again when she asked about the overtime. "It's an automated process, mostly. I just need to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't go off track. The material is expensive, and I don't want to waste it." He raised his eyebrow a bit as she still didn't reveal the identity of the driver. How long were they going to play this game? Well, Rick certainly wasn't going to end it...he was enjoying himself. "That's where we are going, sure. We just need to get this mysterious driver there so we can set up the scanner for her. Unless you know what kind of underwear she wants to where for this delivery?" He challenged her, then laughed. "Yeah, I can see that. Looks like Captain Gordon is not going to have a wingman for this little road trip." He grew more sober as she mentioned the possibility thigs might go wrong. "Well, I'd like to make sure nothing does with Bertha at least. Can you bring her by tomorrow so I can run a diagnostic on her? I wasn't expecting her to be deployed, so some of the maintenance may have fallen behind."
 
She nodded her agreement, still feeling guilty about Pete. Knowing her luck Tommy hadn't even cared due to his daddy and it'd all been for naught. She smiled as a thought occurred to her. "Pete won't hesitate to work with me? After what I said earlier?"

Barbara smiled. "Well, I'm sure I can find a recipe. Who knows, my new friend here in Gotham might already know how to cook."

She looked at Rick with amusement when she realized he hadn't put two and two together. She debated telling him outright as they walked. "Tell me Rick, why do you think the driver would want to hide her face and disguise her voice for this trip? I'll give you a hint. Only one person in the vehicle must not know her identity. As for underwear, you tell me. How skintight will this armor be?" She nodded at his request about 'Bertha'. "I can do that. I'll have to arrange to pick her up. She's in a secure location."
 
"Well, if you can convinced him you are there to help, and not gather info to use against him with the boss, Pete has never been one to refuse help." Rick assured her, or at least tried to.

"Well, if they don't, Rick here knows all my favorite flavors." Mary Ann promised with a laugh.

"Because they want an early start on their Halloween costume?" Rick theorized, deliberately ignoring the hint she'd given him. Either that, or he hadn't figured out who her father was yet. He raise an eyebrow when she asked him about her underwear. "I'm hardly an expert in woman's underwear." Rick told her with a shake of his head. "But it'll fit like a second skin, which is why we need such precise measurements." He raised an eyebrow when she mentioned a secure location. It had BEEN in a secure location last he knew, but that wasn't his problem to deal with.
 
She nodded her understanding at his reply. "Well, if he doesn't believe me or is nervous around me, it's my own fault for what I said earlier. I can hardly blame him." She shook her head with a sigh. "I'll do my best though."

She rolled her eyes as Rick was either very dense or just playing with her at this point. "Second skin huh? Sounds like maybe a thong at best..." She made a face, most women, her included, knew that guys loved the look of thongs but it was like having dental floss up your butt crack and not very comfortable at all. She decided it was time to stop playing games about the driver since Rick was either not paying attention or just teasing her at this point. "You know I'm the driver right? This armor is for me. So when we get to the scanning room, just tell me what you need to do." She blushed as she suspected she'd be stripping down once again to allow for the full body scan.
 
Rick was NOT going to comment on the prospect of seeing Babs in a thing, regardless of if he knew who her father was or not. He put a shocked look on his face when she told him she was the driver, but it was just as well acting was not his career choice as he would not have fooled anyone. "The driver? You? You don't say?" He said, then shrugged. It was an awkward topic, but there was no avoiding it. "Is that the type of bra you are planning to wear for the delivery?" He asked. "Or would you prefer something built into the armor?" This was only the second suit for a female he'd made, and it had been an awkward conversation with Sara as well. if this was going to become a thing, he had to figure out a better way to handle it.

They came to a door marked 'imaging chamber' and Rick opened the door. The room they entered was much smaller than where Mary Ann worked, but larger than Rick's office. A desk sat to one side of the room, next to a complicated looking control panel. A large screen TV was on the opposite wall, but most of the room was empty. There was a large X in the middle of the room, and what looked like surveillance cameras on each wall, pointed at said X. The older gentleman at the desk looked up with surprise at the unexpected visitors. "Hello." He said with a nod to Rick, who returned it, but the man's gaze turned to the strange female in the room.
 
She looked at him and smirked slightly at his reaction. Or rather, his pretend reaction. She slowly shook her head. "Yes. I do say. What can I say? I opened my mouth in a meeting and everyone except my dad realized I was going to be the one driving." She took a deep breath. "Well, you'd know better than me, I sort of think having a built in bra might be better? What do you think?" She blushed slightly since this wasn't exactly a conversation she was used to having either.

She walked into the imaging chamber and looked around, her eyes taking in the entire room. She turned and carefully laid her repaired blouse on a nearby desk then turned to see the man who had looked up at them. "Hello, I'm Barbara Gordon and I'm here to get imaged for a new project Mister Wayne has requested. So, what should I do first gentlemen?"
 
"Your dad?" Rick questioned. There was a connection he hadn't made yet, and his eyes widened as he recalled she'd mentioned a Captain Gordon. "Captain Gordon is your dad?" He questioned, then realized it had to be, and his face paled as he realized he'd tackled and groped a police officers daughter. People had gone to jail for less than that, especially in this town.

And now he was supposed to talk about underwear choices with her as well. He swallowed thickly, but felt obliged to try and answer...Sar...the other one...used the built in bra option." He admitted.

"Hello." The man repeated when she greeted him, then turned to rick with a frown. "There's no Gordon on staff here." He objected, but Rick shrugged.

"There is now." Rick told him. "She's the boss's personal assistant...and Captain Gordon's daughter."

The man paled a bit as well as he realized what esteemed company was in his work area. "Oh...I see." he said as he looked at Bab's again, curious which designation required the use of one of his suits. He missed her question of what she needed to do next, and Rick was hesitant to answer as well.
 
She saw Rick catch on to who her dad was. Apparently he'd heard of him if the poor man's expression was anything to go by. "Yes he is. Captain Jim Gordon is father. Luckily it seems he's one of the good ones." She nodded at his reply about Sara. "Then that's what I'll do. She has more experience than I do. And honestly a bra in armor would probably be uncomfortable."

She smiled at the man, not missing his nervous reaction to her name and confusion about who she was until Rick's introduction. "My first day was today. So I'm not surprised you didn't know about me. I didn't even have a computer login until Alfred made some phone calls. So, the images? What do I need to do to get this started?"
 
Isn't that what everyone says? Rick thought as Bab's claimed her father was a good cop. If he was the scum of the earth, his daughter would still praise him, probably afraid of the consequences. Sure, she didn't seem nervous to mention him, but Rick was hardly an expert in body language. he had zero response to her comment about a bra in armor being uncomfortable, but he suspected she was right. Sara certainly seemed to think so.

"Oh, well...welcome aboard." The man told her, and his eyes widened a bit at the casual way she mentioned Alfred, who in this context could only be Alfred Pennyworth, the boss's right hand man. And Alfred was doing her favors? His visitor was clearly more important than she pretended to be. "Ah...yes. The images. Well, you need to stand on the X, for one." He said as he pointed at the X in the middle of the floor, as if there would be any confusion about that.
 
She noticed the lack of response when she confirmed who her dad was and realized he probably didn't know him as she'd assumed. He had simply reacted to him being a cop in general. She made a mental note to stop assuming that her dad was well known. Sure, to her he was amazing and the best cop ever but unless he was in the papers or on the news most people probably had no idea who he was.

She saw the man's reaction when she mentioned Alfred and smiled slightly. "Alfred just wanted Mister Wayne's assistant to be able to do her job. That's all." Well, technically, she did have a direct line to him on her phone but she decided not to mention that. She also decided not to mention how Amanda seemed to take the orders as practically an order from the heavens and went out of her way to help her. She looked at the X and nodded. She moved to stand on it, looking at the men. "Do I hold my arms out to the side or just stand here? This is a first for me."
 
"Sure...okay." The man said, and it was unclear if he was agreeing with Babs because she was right, or just didn't want to contradict her for fear she'd report him to her boss.

The man nodded when Bab's went to stand on the X, then swallowed when she asked what came next. "Ummm..." He began, then glanced at Rick uncertainly. Rick nodded, knowing what was required and hoped Bab's would take it better from him than the other man. Besides, if she did report him to Mr. Wayne, Rick had more of a history with the Boss and could handle the blowback better.

"You'll need to remove the robe...and your bra, I'm afraid. Not only will the underwire affect the scan, but it won't give us an accurate reading of your chest area so we can provide proper support with the armor." Rick blurted all this out, and the other man turned red and suddenly focused on his equipment, despite the fact it was already to go. Rick, for his part, didn't see the point of dancing around the bush and just laid it all out. "And you'll need to move around a bit, so it knows where to make the flexibility in the joints. It's a protype, and it hasn't quite figured out how human bodies work yet."
 
She mentally kicked herself at his reply and realized she needed to be careful about this kind of thing. One of the side effects about not being from Gotham is it sometimes didn't occur to her how important Bruce Wayne and even Alfred were.

She saw the look they exchanged and the nervousness was obvious. She followed the other man's gaze to Rick and listened as he explained what was needed. She blushed but nodded, in truth she had thought this might be the case and she moved to the same desk where she had laid her blouse.

She took a moment to get the courage then slid the robe off, laying it carefully on the desk. She closed her eyes for a moment then reached behind herself and unhooked her bra sliding it off.

She returned to the X, her cheeks flushed dark red, and rolled her neck. Then she began to do the kata that she'd learned from Daniel Laruso, both to calm her racing heart and in hopes it'd be enough movement.
 
Rick let out a soft sigh of relief when Bab's didn't say a word and not only slipped off her robe, giving him the view he'd already had of her before, but her bra as well, giving him the full frontal nudity approach. Her dad's a cop. Rick reminded himself sternly, refusing to let himself enjoy the view. He tried not to even look at Bab's as he went to look over the other man's shoulder, but it was a small room and he had to at least glance at Bab's to avoid walking into her.

Oh boy.

There was no bright flash of light or anything...the only indication something was going on was that the little LED's in the corner cameras turned from red to green. That, and the screen on the far wall came on, and the image of Bab's, topless, appeared as she seemed to be doing her kata in the middle of a big black void. After a few moments, words began to scroll on the right hand side of the screen, and they began to populate with Bab's vital statistics, her measurements, and her heart rate and temperature.

"Rick?" The man said as he pointed to a reading on the screen. Rick shifted position slightly, looked at the screen, then Bab's, then nodded. "It's all right. She's just blushing. I think the calibration is fine." The man nodded as he moved to another section of the control panel and began to type.

Rick glanced over at Bab's again as she did her kata. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously, and the man glanced over at her as well.

"Whatever it is, it's great." He said. "We're getting a hell of a baseline here."
 
She was focused enough on her own embarrassment she didn't even notice how Rick avoided looking at her. The kata turned out to be a good idea as it helped her center herself and keep her breathing steady.

She was still aware of the men and saw them out of her peripheral vision but she was able to keep from getting even more embarassed at least. She heard them talk and somehow managed not to blush even further as they discussed her and she became aware of just how much they were focused on her.

She spared them a quick glance when they asked what she was doing and blushed darker when she realized they were looking at her. She briefly lost her rhythm but managed to slide back into it and looked away. "It's a martial arts kata that I learned last week. It helps to center and calm you. I thought it might help not only because it involves movement but also, well, being centered and calm seemed important under these circumstances.
 
"Rick?" Jack asked worriedly when Bab's temperature spiked. Rick frowned for a moment, then looked at Bab's and noticed her blush now matched her hair color.

"It's fine." He assured Jack, who glanced at Bab's with a question on his face, but it didn't appear she was about to have a heart attack, so he took Rick's word for it as he reached for another control, and the image of Babs on the big screen began to rotate.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her explanation. "This is her calm?" He asked as he studied the display, then looked over at Rick. "Miss Lance's scan didn't look like this." Rick glanced over at it and shrugged.

"I think we can write it off to the different experience levels. Lance is quite a bit older, and didn't seem nervous." Rick suggested, and Jack nodded.

"She's over the limit...we might need to broaden our parameter a bit more." Jack speculated, and Rick nodded.

"Make a note in the file. I'd wager our next...volunteer...will probably be closer to this than Lance's." Rick agreed, then looked over at Babs.

"I think we got the readings we need...but would you mind doing us a favor? If you could do some stretches, that would help set the parameters for our model." He requested.
 
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