[Fic] Titans of Industry, 3/8

[lady_sarai]

Title: Titans of Industry
Author: lady_sarai and zoe_chan
Fandom: DC Comics
Characters: Tim Drake, Cissie King-Jones, Conner Luthor and assorted others
Rating: Teen
Warning: Nothing explicit, but remember, this IS for au_bigbang!
Word Count: ~15,800

Summary: Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp and Queen Industries are all vying to win a high-stakes business deal and are sending in their best representatives--Tim Drake, Conner Luthor and Cissie King-Jones. While their fathers can hardly stand each other, they have managed to become friends outside the boardroom. The week before they are to face off for the deal, Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries are broken into by someone dressed as Arrowette. When Conner knows too many details about Cissie's business proposal, Tim and Cissie begin to wonder if he isn't following in his father's footsteps after all. But that still doesn't explain who Arrowette is or why someone would frame Cissie.

PART 3

A newspaper slapped down onto the table, putting Conner Luthor face to face with a huge front-page picture of himself with three very attractive women, and one very attractive man. He grinned a little to himself. Yeah. That had been a fun time.

Someone cleared their throat, and Conn looked up to see his father raising an eyebrow at him. "Care to explain?"

Well, the truth obviously wasn't going to fly. He gave his father one of his most charming grins. "I was being a good host?"

Lex smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "A good host makes sure his guests' wine glasses are full, and they get enough of the salmon. He doesn't have extended naked time with them in the jacuzzi."

Conn accepted the smack--it really didn't hurt at all--because he knew he deserved it. He should have known that not even the jacuzzi was sacred. "I was... networking! You always say it's important to develop good PR with potential clients."

"You were developing public relations while you were naked in the jacuzzi?" he asked skeptically. A faint smile played at the edges of his mouth. "With three of the calendar models for Playboy and one from Playgirl? I have my doubts."

"I excel at public relations," Conn replied with a huge grin. He could tell he wasn't actually in trouble--yet, anyway. "Besides, how many times have you told me there's no such thing as bad press?"

"Wiseass," his father replied. The smile was starting to look like more than just a possibility of one, so Conn knew he was out of the woods. "You can't afford to look like a dilettante right now."

Conner shrugged and pointed at Lex with his spoon. "You've also told me that what I do outside the boardroom is not as important as what I do inside."

And that brought out an actual smile. "That's my boy." He took a seat at the table. "When do you leave?"

"Sunday morning," he said, taking a huge spoonful of cereal. "I was thinking of waiting until Monday morning, but I thought you might have a stroke," he added with a smirk.

"I might," he said dryly. "Sunday is good. You'll be able to get some rest before your meeting on Monday afternoon."

Conner hid his grin behind his juice. "Mmhm." Rest. Right. He had plans to meet up with at least three people from the area while he was in DC.

Lex smacked him lightly on the arm. "And consider actually getting some, will you?"

"Sure thing, Dad." He laughed and turned one of his signature brilliant smiles on his father. "So what was that project you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I had a few suggestions for you to include when you revise your proposal." He pushed a folder toward Conner. "Nothing too major. Just a few tweaks."

He flipped the folder open and scanned the documents inside. His eyebrows raised at the changes inside. "Huh. We can manage all of this?"

"I wouldn't have suggested the changes if I didn't think we could pull them off."

Conner rolled his eyes. "Right. Of course. What brought these on? I thought we had finalized this sucker."

"Another analysis of Queen Industries' recent activities. I just want you to be prepared for whatever they might throw at you."

Conner gave an easy shrug. "All right. Cool. I'll go over it this morning." He continued finishing his breakfast. "So Dad. How are you going to manage on your own while I'm gone? I don't want to come home and find out you've died of boredom without me."

Lex gave him a wry smile. "I'm reasonably sure I can manage to occupy myself. I was thinking that the tech division could use a little of my personal attention."

Conner stopped with his spoon in mid-air. "That's my division."

"In your absence, the wheels of progress must grind on..." his father replied mildly.

"Yeah, yeah. Just try not to terrorize all of my staff into quitting, would you? After I win this bid, I expect to have minions to come back to."

"I won't terrorize," he promised. "Just threaten a little."

Conner grinned. "Just enough to make everyone grateful for my triumphant return."

"One does what one can."

~*~

Sunday afternoon found Conner strolling through the streets of DC. He had an hour or two before check-in at the hotel, not that he couldn't have charmed his way in if he had tried. But it was a nice day and he liked exploring the city. He didn't often get the chance. He was glancing in windows as he passed cafes, looking for somewhere to stop for lunch when he had to stop and do a double-take. Sitting in a booth in one of the smaller restaurants were one Tim Drake and Cissie King-Jones.

He blinked a little in surprise. Huh. That looked... awfully cozy, actually, for two people who were supposedly gearing up for a showdown in the morning. Maybe he should go say hello.

He turned into the restaurant and went straight for their table. "Hey," he said, grinning and sitting down in the booth next to Cissie, forcing her to move over to accommodate him. He knew she would. Cissie was usually more polite than Tim. "Nice afternoon, huh?"

Cissie did slide over, though not without shooting an intriguingly alarmed look at Tim. "Uh, very," she said, frowning slightly. "It's... nice to see you."

He smiled charmingly at her. "Nice to see you, too, as always. You both got here early?"

"Yes," Tim said shortly. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Conner made a show of checking his watch. "My flight came in early. Check-in isn't for... another hour." He gave Tim a bright grin. "It's such a nice day though. I didn't feel the need to make anyone rush just so I could go hide away in the hotel. What're you having?" he asked, reaching over to steal one of Tim's French fries. "Looks good."

Tim shot him a dark look. "You could consider getting your own lunch. Possibly from somewhere else?"

Conner gave him his best look of complete innocence. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

Cissie shifted next to him. "No," she said quickly, clearing her throat. "We ran into each other and stopped for something to eat." She hesitated briefly, then added, "We're almost done, but if you'd like to join us..."

"Love to!" Conner said, grinning at her. He motioned the waitress over. "Hey, do you mind bringing me a menu?"

"Of course not." She left and then returned a moment later with a laminated menu. "Take your time," she said with a smile, and left again.

Conner looked over his menu at them. "So, you two have already eaten. What's good?"

He looked up just in time to catch them exchange another significant look. Cissie took a deep breath before answering with a tight smile. "Um. I had the turkey club. It was very good."

"I had the roast beef with horseradish," Tim said grudgingly. "Also good. What are you doing here?"

"Like I said," Conner shrugged, setting his menu aside. "Plane came in early. I saw you two having lunch, and I thought 'what better time than now to catch up?' Since we're going to be on opposite sides of the table tomorrow, and probably a lot less inclined to chat."

Cissie shifted restlessly next to him and reached for her water. "Well, it isn't exactly the best place for chatting," she conceded. "But that doesn't mean we can't be civil outside the boardroom." She nodded at his menu and gave him a small smile. "What did you decide on?"

"Reuben," he said, tapping his knuckle against the item listed on the menu. "Extra fries. Maybe some soup, too. I'm starving. So how have you two been? It's been forever."

"When was the last time you ate?" Cissie teased, laughing softly. "It has been a while, hasn't it? London, right? It was miserable and rained the whole time." She shrugged, reaching over to steal one of Tim's fries with a smile. "I've been all right. Busy. Much like I imagine both of you have been," she said wryly.

"No kidding," Conner laughed. Huh. Cissie didn't get the death-glare he had for stealing one of Tim's fries, and she still had plenty on her own plate. Interesting. "Yeah, Dad keeps me pretty busy these days. I bet Bruce is the same way," he added, glancing at Tim.

He shrugged a little. "Busy enough. You know how he is, though."

Conner gave an easy shrug. "Not really. I know Dad's opinion of him, and I'm pretty sure he's not my biggest fan. I can't imagine why."

Cissie laughed. "Do you try to make yourself seem unlikeable?"

"It's not like it's my fault our dads don't get along." He glanced up when the waitress--Fiona, if her name tag was right--came back. "The Reuben, please, with extra fries, and the broccoli cheddar soup?"

"Sure," she said, and jotted down his order before taking his menu. "Anything to drink?"

"Water would be great."

She nodded and brought him a glass of water and a straw before disappearing again.

"And anyway," Conner added, dropping the straw into the glass of water. "I like to make up my own opinions of people."

"Wise move," Tim said with a wry smile. "I don't really like to inherit prejudices either."

"I guessed that." He smirked. "Otherwise you'd probably have stood up and walked out when I sat down, and I'd've had Cissie all to myself."

"Ha."

Huh. This lunch detour just kept being interesting. Tim looked a little like he was about to develop an eye tic--or was just really constipated. Next to him, Cissie coughed, choking on her food. Conner clapped her on the back. "Careful there. My company's not that bad, is it?"

"No," she said, after she had taken a sip of water and recovered. "It just went down the wrong way. I'm fine."

"Uh huh. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

She shook her head. "No. We told you, we were just having lunch. Why?"

"I don't know." He shrugged a little. "You two just seemed kind of cozy, and I keep getting the feeling that you'd rather not have me around."

Cissie frowned and sat back in the booth, crossing her arms. "It's just lunch, Conner. And we did ask you to stay. I think you're reading a bit much into things."

"I guess," he said doubtfully. "I was just checking. It doesn't really matter to me either way if there is something, but I'd hate to be interrupting a date."

"It's not a date," Cissie said quickly and emphatically.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Tim sighed. "It's not," he said flatly. "It's two old friends meeting up for lunch before we eviscerate each other in the boardroom. Come on. We all went to summer camp together."

"You say that like it makes a difference," Conner replied, looking at him skeptically. "I'm just saying--we're not fifteen anymore. And hey, I'm pretty sure I hit on both of you when we were that age."

"And I'm pretty sure we've been turning you down ever since," Cissie pointed out with a wry smile.

"You know what they say," Conner said with a grin. "If at first you don't succeed..."

"Try again at every possible opportunity for the next ten years?"

"I'm very persistent," he said, still grinning. "It's one of my charms."

"Is that what it is?" Tim asked, smiling a little and raising an eyebrow.

"Definitely."

"And here I thought you were just being dense and pig-headed," Cissie remarked casually. She took a sip of her water as their waitress returned, delivering Conner's food.

Conner thanked her and gave her a charming smile. "My father taught me to never take no for an answer. Is it my fault I know what I want?" he asked, digging into his food. He paused long enough to toss a fry at Tim with a smirk.

Tim caught it without even looking, and popped it into his mouth. "Really. And so you hit on both of us."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," he replied around a mouthful of sandwich. He swallowed and shrugged. "Maybe I want both of you."

Cissie rolled her eyes. "You are really not a fan of monogamy, are you?"

"It's not my fault I'm surrounded by interesting and attractive people," he grinned.

She laughed. "It is when you choose to spend your time hanging out with Playboy--and Playgirl--models."

"Who are not nearly as interesting or attractive as either of you."

"Flatterer." Cissie exchanged a look with Tim while Conner ate. "I'm not sure that hitting on two people at the same time is the best method."

He glanced at her, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking. "Depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Are you saying you wouldn't be up for it?"

She looked at him blankly, until what he said sank in. She blushed and smacked his arm, making a face. "Don't be a jerk, Conner."

"Don't be so uptight, Ciss," he said, laughing. "I'm mostly just teasing."

"Mostly?" Tim asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, you offering?"

Tim rolled his eyes. "You're incorrigible."

"It's another one of my charms." Conner took another bite of his sandwich. "So, what's up after lunch? Any exciting plans for the rest of the day?"

He watched as they exchanged a look. "Not much," Tim said finally. "Probably head back to the hotel."

"Together?"

"Probably. We're staying in the same hotel, after all." Cissie calmly sipped at her water. "I want to do some work before tomorrow. Don't you?"

He shrugged. "I'm feeling pretty confident. What hotel are you staying at?"

Cissie hesitated just slightly before answering. "The St. Regis. What are your plans for the day?"

"Hey, that's where I'm staying too!" He grinned. "Maybe I can hang out with you guys."

Cissie gave a tight-lipped smile. "Wow, that's--quite a coincidence." She looked at Tim and shrugged. "I was really just going to go back to my room and work."

"Likewise," Tim agreed. "We do all have proposals to present tomorrow."

"Like I said, I'm pretty confident."

"So am I, but I still want to fine tune things. It never hurts to be over-prepared," Cissie said.

Conner made a face. "Has anyone ever told you two that you're total workaholics?"

"I've heard that once or twice," Tim said dryly.

"Yeah, well, it's really, really true. You can't even take an afternoon off to hang out with an old friend?"

Cissie sighed and rubbed at her temple. "Well... Did you have something in mind you wanted to do?"

Conner shrugged, ignoring her extremely reluctant tone. "We're in DC. Aren't there like a million touristy things to do around here?"

Tim sighed. "Depends on what you're up for," he said, his voice a little resigned. "There are the museums, the national monuments, the government buildings, the theatres... We could even go to the Zoo, if that's what you'd like."

Conner grinned and checked his watch. "Awesome. It's still early; I bet we could fit everything in."

Cissie stared at him. "What, you want to do all of it?"

"Sure! Or--as much as we can. It's not like any of us have any other plans, right?"

Cissie glanced at Tim and shrugged minutely; if Conner hadn't been paying attention, he might not have noticed. "I guess not. Sure. Let's go sight-seeing."

"Great!" he said, ignoring Cissie's lack of enthusiasm, and Tim's glum look. He motioned to get their waitress's attention. "Can we get our check?"



Part 4