Damsel | T. Drake ✔

[08]

As promised, Lex had arranged a separate department and labs for Irina at LexCorp and it was finally the day for her to launch it. The candidate interviews were going on in the hall, conducted by experienced employers at LexCorp, while Irina was simply observing the procedures through the camera footage and taking a look at the files of the candidates.

She was going to have the final word on the selection so she observed each candidate, both through their responses to the questions as well as the resumes that had been submitted to her.

Though one file in particular caught her interest and she switched the footage from the interview hall to the waiting area where the candidates were seated, green eyes searching until they landed on Timothy Drake.

She was surprised to see him there; for starters she hadn't expected him to show up for an interview at LexCorp and merely his presence was quite alarming. She couldn't imagine what he could be aiming at by joining a rival company.

It was his turn to go in for the interview, so she switched the camera footage back, focusing closely on all the responses given by Tim Drake. Though all his answers were impeccably neutral, reminding her of an article she had read about him at The Gotham Daily that had initially sparked her interest in him.

As she was observing how he dealt with the questions effortlessly, recalling all her previous encounters with him including the interactive session at Wayne Tech and the much recent coffee shop incident, she could easily see that he was indeed an intriguing person.

And while she knew well that no one would recommend her to hire a Wayne boy at LexCorp, still she put down his name among the selected candidates.

***

Tim had initially turned up for the interview at LexCorp because he was intrigued about the addition of a separate department in the company. He was curious to find out about it because as far as he knew, Lex Luthor wasn't a man who would normally approve of such an option.

It seemed as if that day was marked as the most surprising day of his life because by the time night had fallen and he was to go out on patrol, he had already been whacked on the head by a couple shocking finds.

Firstly, he got selected for the post he had interviewed for despite the fact that he was clearly certain that no one at LexCorp would hire him. Secondly, the department in fact belonged to Luthor's daughter and his surprise turned to shock when the daughter turned out to be the same girl who had come up for a tour at Wayne Tech, attended the interactive session and left without giving the interview.

And last but not the least, even though he had never met her excluding that day at Wayne Tech, still she felt oddly familiar to him. Maybe there was something about her smile that clicked off a bell in his head, making him think that he had probably met her elsewhere but couldn't recall it.

While any other person would dismiss it as mere coincidence, Tim couldn't help but feel as if there was much more to what met the eye. And as far as his nature was concerned, whenever he got intrigued by something, he tended to investigate the matter down to its roots.

When he came down to the cave suited up in his Red Robin attire, his brothers were already present and discussing the latest news with Barbara.

"Hey, Tim, remember when you told me about that Catwoman lookalike you had met a few nights ago?" Richard spoke up at seeing him enter.

"Yeah, so?"

"Turns out you're not the only one she helped in the streets," Barbara added, "we have no idea who she is, but it has been a week since she's sort of patrolling Gotham and lending a hand to citizens whenever they are in trouble."

The Batcomputer displayed several pictures of the same lithe woman in her black suit and Tim edged forward to take a closer look, "so you mean to say that she's in a way protecting the citizens?"

"Yup," Richard remarked, "we are not certain what her motives are though but so far she has only beaten up thugs, prevented muggings and stopped a kidnapping. I guess you'd already know about that."

Tim turned to face him, "no, I don't know about it."

Jason seemed a bit surprised at that, "wait, so you are telling us that a mysterious person saved you from getting beaten up, and you did nothing to find out who she is? That's so not you, Timothy."

He merely shrugged, "I was busy elsewhere."

Damian who was standing in a corner spoke up, "you are all being useless. What we have to discuss right now is whether she is here to cause trouble or not. It's all fine if she keeps on saving the citizens but that simply doesn't make sense for her sudden appearance in the city. Plus she has been extremely secretive about it and as far I know, stealth is only required when there is some sinister activity underlying the apparent picture."

Richard looked at him for a whole minute as if speechless and neither did the rest say anything. "That was very deep, Damian, but I'm sure none of us got what you were implying by that."

"Since you all have your heads up in the clouds, of course you didn't get it," Damian remarked sourly, his tongue clicking in irritation.

Tim had his attention back to the Batcomputer as he was carefully flicking through the pictures and footage Barbara had gotten hold of from the city surveillance cameras. He could see that she was a skilled fighter and had probably undergone a similar training as they had received from Bruce.

From all he could see, she was no less than a vigilante herself.

"What Damian means is that she might be projecting a safer outward picture but probably concealing an ulterior motive underneath," Barbara remarked, "but we can't be sure of that until we get some proofs."

"Gordon's right."

"So what do we do now?" Jason asked.

Richard had turned his focus to the footage as well, "nothing much. We just need someone to keep a strict watch on her. Make sure that she isn't posing any threat." He turned back expectantly at the rest of brothers to volunteer but when none of them put their hands up, he sighed, "guys, please... Any one?"

Jay backed off immediately, "don't look at me, I'm not doing it. Besides, it's no fun at all and seems a lot like babysitting. Why don't you leave it to Damian here?"

Damian's eyes sparked furiously, "do I look like a babysitter to you?"

Tim was shaking his head, a small smile dancing on his face, "at least be grateful he didn't call you a baby this once, Dami."

"Shut up, Drake."

Knowing that it was useless and would only result in more arguing from Jay and Damian, Tim spoke up, "I'll do it. But you guys will have to cover my patrol areas if I am unable to do so."

Richard's face broke into a beaming smile as he nodded, "sure, bro. Don't worry about it."

"Babysitting starts from tonight," Jay remarked, giving him a thumbs up as he left the cave.

Tim merely shook his head, replaying the footage on the computer again watching it with Barbara as the rest of them left for their respective assigned areas. He wouldn't exactly call it babysitting, instead he knew he was in for a rather interesting investigation to figure out the mystery behind Gotham's newest vigilante.

***