Batman's Secretary

Loyalty Talks

Alexis almost slept for the whole weekend after her first mission. 

So when Monday morning rolled around she was decidedly unamused. She just did not feel like filing papers this morning, or answering annoying phone calls either. A breakfast with Jason did improve her sour mood considerably, so when she stumbled over to her desk under the weight of all the new papers to file, she merely showing signs of Monday-itis. 

" Alexis, join me for a moment," Bruce Wayne called quickly as he strode in to his office.

With a sinking feeling in her heart she stood and trotted after him, making sure she put her high heels back on before entering.

" Make sure the door is locked," Bruce ordered tersely, seated behind his large desk.

She grimaced when she had turned and locked his door.

"He gestured to the seat in front of his desk and sh slowly sat down feeling like a kid in the principal's office.

Has he learnt my secret?! Surely not, unless Alfred said something......Yet I doubt a man as nice as that would break his promise....Maybe Eliza talked about me?! That would definitely be bad.

" You wanted to speak to me sir?" She timidly began as the silence stretched uncomfortably long.

He stared at her with his calculating gaze, his chin resting on his folded hands, not taking his gaze off hers for a moment. He definitely had something big on his mind.

" As of yet, I have not had the opportunity to speak to you about your thanksgiving discovery," He began calmly.

She almost gulped at his tone, but forced herself to sit straight and silent.

" You obviously know that if anyone should find out about my family's nighttime activities it would be disastrous for us all. Your current relational partner, my son, is a protector of Gotham, and as of such, it is important that I as his father, make sure he is protected as a civilian, not just as a hero. That is why I called you now, to see whether you are still willing to date my son, even after what you've discovered," Bruce explained, his tone still that cold and calm.

She didn't miss the fact that he was shifting every minute or so, was he uncomfortable? Whatever it was, it was distracting.

" Mr Wayne, I know I may be a relative stranger to life in Gotham, but I am learning. As far as I have experienced, most Gotham residents have secrets, ones that they clearly don't want shared. Sir, I love Jason more than any man I've ever met, and I highly respect you and what you do, even if no one recognizes you for it......I guess what I'm saying is that you and your family are really the first people in Gotham to show me any true kindness and to care about me at all, and I would never betray the trust you've put in me from the start, or the love I have for your son. Despite your secrets, I care about you and your sons, I could never live with myself if you came to any harm because of something I did," Alexis replied, almost panting when she finished, since she'd talked so much.

She'd been trying to gauge his reaction to her spell, and by his warming expression she knew that he liked what he heard. Relief came in an instant.

" You sound sincere, Alexis, and you're right about everyone in Gotham having secrets... That's why I liked you so much in the interviews, and why I hired you. You were bright and patient, traits that most Gothamites don't posses. I know you love Jason, and in all my years with him I've never seen him care more about someone than he does for you. That is why I was hoping you were planning on sticking around. After all, it would ease poor Alfred's conscience if he had someone around when things go crazy in Gotham," Bruce murmured, his gaze much kinder than it was when she entered the office.

She smiled at him more in relief than anything. He trusted her, dare she say he even wanted her as a friend. I mean, geez, he wanted her help to be there for his family. People like Bruce Wayne didn't take stuff like that lightly.

" Be assured, Mr Wayne, that I am planning on being there for you and your family for a long time," She assured.

Bruce opened chuckled softly and seemed to be about to reply when the lights went out.

With a loud fizzing noise all the electronics and lights died so only the floors and offices exposed to the morning sun had any semblance of visibility. Thankfully Bruce's office caught the morning sun magnificently, and they didn't suffer much, the only downside, now they had no computers or phones.

The only thing that did seem to work was the alarm system.

Alexis and Bruce quickly stood up and he crossed around the desk to her side, pulling out his mobile as he went.

" Signal's down, we have no communication outside," He muttered angrily.

She gazed up at him with wide eyes, knowing she had to play the nervous secretary.

" Maybe it's  malfunction in the system?" She reasoned, more to reassure herself than anyone.

" We don't get malfunctions in this system, it's the best in New York," He shot down, brow furrowed in concern.

The sound of a single scream was heard, making the both more on edge.

That was the only signal they got before everything went wrong.

BANG

Then silence. 

A silence more defining than the explosion itself had been.

Alexis and Bruce were not prepared for it, and their floor had not been the one hit, it had been the experimental labs nine floors below, only the direct victims had known, and even then they couldn't do a thing about it in their last three seconds of life except scream.

The whole office shook wildly, pieces of flooring falling to the floor below and smashing in to a worker's desk, probably killing the middle aged brunette working there at the time, if the blood stain was anything to go by.

 Bruce had grabbed her arm pulling her to the side as the floor around his desk dropped away too.

She may or may not have yelped, but then she hadn't noticed it, her ears were ringing terribly from the noise of the blast. The thing she most definitely noticed was that the ceiling was falling in, and even then she only just had time to make a split second decision.

Maintain her cover persona snd likely die, or show him my powers and live.

She chose to live.

In that seconds as the ceiling fell towards them, her contacts burnt away by the heat and her yellow eyes shon through, making Bruce stare at her in realization. She had a moment to grin at him knowingly before the air solidified around them and the falling ceiling was stopped inches from hitting them as she held her hands in front of her as if trying to keep balance. 

She grimaced at the strain, and flinched when the new air pressure cleared her ears and likely Bruce's from their forced deafness.

" You're Elementum," Bruce stated, knowing he was correct.

" Yes, and you're Batman, we both have our aliases," She ground out, her teeth clenched as she tried to hold it up.

A blast of heat suddenly hit her as the explosion's heat caught up to them and her concentration slackened for a brief moment.

" I can't hold it much longer, I'm still replenishing power from our mission," She hissed, sweat trickling down her cheek.

He gazed at the falling ceiling suspended just move their heads.

" Can you redirect it? Make it less life threatening, after all, we can't come out unscathed and have the media believe us," He asked, maintaining his calm.

She almost rolled her eyes at his conclusion but put all her remaining energy in to direct the falling debris away from their heads or necks so it likely wouldn't kill them.

She had a moment to register that oh, damn it, Bruce now knew her secret, before a wave of sudden pain made her pass out cold on the office floor, and the weight of the ceiling pinned her down flat.