A Billionaire's Bodyguard

Chapter 8: I make an old man cry

----------------Bruce's POV: ------------------

I was surprised when one of the applicants turned up early, but I was even more so surprised by the warm welcoming she was receiving from the boys. I understood that Dick was always friendly but with his previous feelings on this whole arrangement I expected some resentment, and yet here we were, with the girl making lighthearted conversation with Duke and Dick, though I suppose it would have been too much to ask for Damien to like her right off the bat I supposed.

The weirdest part though? I found myself being absorbed in the conversation. Maybe it was the way she talked or the way her dark hair seemed to perfectly suit her features, but something intrigued me about her, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I couldn't linger on these thoughts though as there was a potential that she would be eliminated from the interview, in which case none of these things would matter.

"I actually have a friend who did something similar!" Percy said with a smile, using her cup of coffee to gesture as she began to tell the story of how a friend shoved a bunch of Cheeto puffs in his mouth, which out of context would have been an absolutely disgusting story but when the boys were comparing their own records, I couldn't help but notice how well she clicked with them.

I oddly didn't want her to lose.

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Around an hour or so later everyone had gathered into the gym, though we were short a few guys.

They all had been positioned in a single file line, all faced towards me, though I was on the other side of the boxing rink.

The line up was mainly composed of men but a few women remained, though once again, almost like a weird gravitation, Percy seemed to be the focus of the attention. So much so that other applicants were also "sneaking" glances at her from their position.

Upon removing her puffy Jacket, layers upon layers of scars had been revealed, all varying in their severity, some of the lighter ones looked to be smaller burn marks, looking like they came from a cigarette, to bottle cuts. A common thing in Gotham. Others were much more concerning, ranging from massive cuts that hadn't healed properly to what appeared to be a deep dog bite. While it was shocking it seemed to work for her, giving her an air of strength.

All the scars were on display as she put her hair up in a ponytail, her long raven locks falling into a messy yet organized look, flying out in different directions and yet still somehow managing to look nice.

"Bruce?" I turned to Dick, managing to hide my momentary surprise.

"Yes?" I asked.

"It's been 20 minutes, the others won't be arriving in time so I think you should begin." He said, glancing over to the group of people. Once again I found my attention turning to Percy, her small smile seemed almost calming in a way.

I ripped my gaze from her though and turned to the man in the middle, and while he wasn't nearly as alluring, he was enough to allow me to focus.

I clapped twice, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Everyone, I'd like to thank you for showing up today, you can consider yourselves the best of the interviewed yesterday" At this I could see a few of them chuckling to themselves or smirking as they looked around at the others. A bad feeling grew in my gut at the looks of them. I continued on though. "As you were all alerted yesterday todays interview will be more activity based. TThis activity will be dueling in a bracket and the one who lasts to the end will be my bodyguard.

A few gained unsettled looks but I could see Percy's posture turn to that of confidence, her smile getting a bit bigger. I couldn't help but smile along.