Family Line // B. Wayne

four

"Hi, it's your big sister. I'm walking into work now." To punctuate her statement, Lily swiped her badge to get past the Wayne Enterprises lobby gates and headed for the elevators. "I know you aren't going to hear this for a bit because you're heading to your first lecture. I'm just calling because I know you're probably feeling in over your head right now and nervous. You're smart, Nadia, and you deserve to be there.

"I know you just rolled your eyes, so let me remind you of a time where you saved my life. Remember that? You remembered everything from your first aid class and you saved me until you could get me to the clinic. You're going to be an excellent doctor because you are brilliant, kind, and empathetic. I'm so, so proud of you and I want to hear everything about your first day when you get a chance. I love you."

Lily ended the call and set her bag down beside her desk just in time for a familiar voice to disrupt her peace.

"Boyfriend?" Bruce Wayne asked. She nearly jumped out of her skin, a hand raising to clasp against her racing heart. "Sorry about that."

"Mr. Wayne, I didn't realize you were here!" she said as pleasantly as she could. "In fact, I didn't think you would be coming in at all with the news detailing all the fun you had last night."

A low chuckle met her ears but she refused to look at him. "Yeah, well, you know models. Always have to be the life of the party."

"Hmmm, that's not what I heard. Rumor has it you were seen at the center of the VIP area with...Carmela, Chrysanthemum, and Christina, was it?."

Mr. Wayne flashed her a cocky grin and leaned against her desk. "You never answered my question."

"Oh, I didn't realize it was company policy to disclose relationship status. But if you must know, it was my sister. It's her first day of medical school."

Lily began to straighten out Lucius' desk, stacking up the papers that were cluttered all over the surface. She made a mental note to copy the schematics he had strewn around so they didn't get lost.

"Medical school, wow. That's great." It was the first genuine compliment she had heard from him and she allowed herself a quick peek in his direction. "Have you and your sister always been interested in science?"

Lily shrugged. "I guess. I just remember taking my first chemistry class and suddenly it all started to click, y'know? For once, I was good at something and I liked doing it. Math and science just came easily. It was the same for Nadia."

She jotted down a note about a shipment of the prototype vaporizer being sent to Gotham and stuck it on Lucius' desk.

"And why did you take this job? I mean, smart girl like you, you could get any job you wanted in the field."

"Mr. Fox has been the only one to believe in me other than my sister," she admitted. "He never doubted me and even encouraged me to get my masters. If it weren't for him, I don't know where I'd be."

As if on cue, the door opened and Mr. Fox entered. He smiled at Mr. Wayne and shook his hand. "Nice to see you again, Bruce. What can I help you with today?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just getting the lay of the land and seeing what's been done to my father's company since being gone. I was interested in a certain prototype, actually..."

The two men headed further into the labs and Lily focused her attention on the papers on her desk. She realized with a jolt that she had never started the coffee that morning and moved to fill the pot.

But the shitty old coffee machine was gone. In its place stood a state of the art machine that she had only seen in commercials. Lily was almost scared to touch it in fear that she would break it. She didn't even know how to work one of these.

After a bit of googling, she figured out how to make a carafe of coffee and successfully poured her and Lucius two cups before she reconsidered and made a third for Mr. Wayne. He offered her a grateful smile when he and Lucius returned.

"I'll see you both tomorrow," Mr. Wayne said before departing, mug in hand. Lily chose to ignore the way his blue eyes had met hers and she felt a rush of familiarity in them. She had seen him plenty of times. Nothing was different. He was a smarmy playboy trust fund baby and she was just trying to stay employed.

"Lily, can you return this to sector five? Mr. Wayne wanted to look at it but we no longer need it." He held out a small apparatus that Lily recognized as the working prototype of a medication delivery system. It was like an epi pen but it could be loaded up with any type of liquid medicine and administered in seconds.

"Of course, sir." She carried her work deep into the basement, passing the numerous pieces of junk and gold that littered the tables. This was the land of misfit toys and Lily was starting to feel like she would never leave.

She paused at one table and frowned. She could have sworn the military grade body armor was supposed to be stored there. The only people down here were her and Lucius. Maybe he took it to show an investor...

Lily continued on towards sector five.