The next couple of weeks went simple for Skylar. She attended some classes, studied, read some book and hang out with Bruce a few times. They watched all of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit movies.
It wasn't as awkward as Skylar thought it would be. They were both playing off like nothing happened and just being their usual selves. Of course, there were times when Skylar had caught onto what Lois would call 'sexual tensions'.
Other than that the times they spent together were fun. They would joke around, watch movies, talk about them and their lives, eat food and genuinely have a good time. They also talked about Christmas too, since it was in a few days, and Skylar learned that he wasn't celebrating it, ever since he became an orphan anyway.
With that in mind, Skylar felt bed. She had already ordered a gift for him online, a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince, but it was supposed to be one of the first editions of the book, from when it originally came out in the 16th century.
He had mentioned that he liked to read his works and the only thing Skylar could think of to buy him was this. It did cost her a small fortune but in the end, it was worth it.
It was also snowing throughout the country and it seemed like she wouldn't be able to go home because of the weather. Her parents had also told her that it was okay and that they would be more than happy to have a Christmas just by themselves. She hadn't decided what she was going to do that day, maybe she could spend it with Bruce, if he had no other plans. She'd see.
That day, even though the snowy day outside urged Skylar to stay in and cuddle in bed all day along with a movie she knew she had to go out. The day before she was informed her gift for Bruce had arrived and she had to go pick it up. She also had a couple of other things to do as well.
On her way there Bruce called her, to confirm about their movie night, again. This time they were going to watch Star Wars. Thankfully Bruce had seen the first three movies, much to Skylar's surprise because cmon, the man hadn't got a clue on everything else, so they were going to watch the next one.
Skylar approved, saying while she was out she was going to get some popcorn and ginger ale to go along with it. He really got her hooked up on those things. Which led Bruce to ask where she was, she answered which then lead Bruce to ask if she wanted to come over to Wayne Tower for a coffee.
She asked whether he was sure, it'd be public in a way but Bruce said that it was okay, it was his office anyway and she'd been there before. He asked her to tell him once she was there so he could greet her. She was grateful for it, given the last time she was there.
After quickly getting his gift she made her way over to Wayne Tower. The air was cold and the tip of her nose had already gotten a little red from it. Luckily, she didn't forget to wear her gloves so her hands for fine, at the moment.
She took a deep breath as she entered the building. To Skylar's luck, the same security guard from the last time was there, again. "Oh, great, you again," he mumbled, giving her a look. Skylar opened her mouth so say something but she got cut off.
" I thought I was being clear with you, you can't be here," Claire said, holding a cup of coffee. She had her coat on which meant that she was coming from outside. She was also holding two other cups of coffee in the takeout bag.
Skylar eyed the coffees she had in her hand while the guard looked between them. " I'm sorry Miss Jackson, I told her that but she seems persistent," the guard said. Claire smiled at the guard then turned back to Skylar. " I really don't want neither Mr.Wayne or authorities to hear this so I'm going to ask you once more time, don't come here again or,"
Someone else cut her off. " Actually Claire, I asked Miss Jones to come," Bruce said, walking away from the elevator and toward them. Claire and the security guard immediately changed their postures, straightening them. "Mr.Wayne," they both said.
Skylar couldn't help but feel the need to stick out her tongue to both of them, but since she was ana adult and that was a serious workplace she used all of her willpower to refrain from that. " I'm sorry Mr.Wayne, I thought," Claire started saying but Bruce shushed her again.
" It's okay Claire, as long as a misunderstanding like this doesn't ever happen to Miss Jones again, are we clear?" he asked, looking at her and the guard. Both of them nodded. "Good, I can take the coffee now," Bruce said once again, reaching out for the cups.
Claire gave them out in shock. He handed one of them to Skylar. " With milk," he said with a faint smile. She was watching the whole thing excitedly. " Yeah, thanks," she mumbled and they started walking to the elevator. That's where Claire was coming from.
" That was a pretty cool thing you did there," Skylar said once they got inside. Bruce shrugged. " No one should ever treat you like that, I was just correcting it," he said as he took a sip. She couldn't help but her lips twirl along to his response.
They walked to his office in silence. Skylar didn't exactly know why he wanted to have coffee, they were meeting up tonight anyway, not that she was complaining about it. " So, what's up?" she asked, sitting at the couch.
" What do you mean?" Bruce asked. Skylar shrugged. "You asked to meet up, was there a reason?" she replied. He furrowed his brows. "Should there be? Can't I ask a friend to come over for a coffee?"
Skylar smiled. " You can, anyway, it doesn't matter because I'll just use this as an opportunity," she said. " An opportunity, for what?" he asked surprised. She didn't answer as she smirked, opening her bag.
" Okay, so I know you told me you didn't celebrate Christmas and all, but it is a Jones family tradition to give presents to your close ones, so here you go," Skylar said as she handed him the package.
Bruce seems surprised. He smiled abruptly while getting the gift. " I, I wasn't expecting this," he mumbled, opening the gift. "Wow," he said as he eyed the book. " I honestly don't know what to say, thank you," he added.
He then leaned forward, hugging her tightly. Skylar immediately hugged him back, leaning her head to his chest, breathing in his smell along with his perfume. They stayed like that for a while before they eventually had to break it apart.
" I feel bad now, I didn't get you anything," he said, looking at her eyes. Skylar shrugged. " That's alright, like I said it's a family tradition and don't worry, you have already given me a gift," she said. He was looking at her so intensely that Skylar felt very hot.
She coughed, breaking the moment. " Anyway, I really hope you like it, it was really hard to find," she said. " Oh, yeah, how did you find it exactly? I doubt any bookstore would have it on demand," he said.
" I'm not going to lie, it was hard. I've been trying for like two weeks, I went to a couple of book shops, talking to the owners on where I could find it. The names they gave me led to me to this one guy, a collector, who bought it a while back. After a week of non-stop asking, negotiating price and my copy of great gatsby, he agreed,"
Bruce watched her talk, mesmerized. " You traded your book and paid money, to get me this? It must've cost you a fortune," he said. Skylar shrugged. " It was worth it?" she asked and Bruce rolled his eyes at her.
Skylar gasped at the interaction. " What? You just rolled your eyes at me? You? This is a first, I must record this," she said excitedly. Bruce only chuckled at her response. " You're unbelievable," he finally said.
" I know," she whispered and both of them chuckled. " Whew," she said afterward, leaning on the couch, " I'm glad you like it because you are literally the hardest person to find a good gift to on this earth, I swear,"
They spent a while talking and drinking their coffee. When Skylar realized the time she shot up from her seat. " Oh, shit! I'm running late," she said, getting her back. Bruce watched her with his brows furrowed.
" To where?" he asked. Skylar sighed. " I have a job interview. My money's been running out and I'm still two months away from starting the spring semester, so, I need money, and for the said money I need a job," she explained.
" If you are worried about money," Bruce started but Skylar cut him off. " No, you've already given me plenty, I'm not taking any more of your money, it'll be good for me anyway, I'll have something to do besides sitting all day,"
He sighed. " It really wouldn't be a problem," he said. She gave him a glare. " Bruce, no, I don't want to live off your money, thank you, but pass," she said. " Fine," he breathed out. " Where's this interview anyway, am I allowed to ask that at least?"
" Yes, you are. I found this diner, downtown. The work hours doesn't seem that bad plus they pay good," she said. Bruce shot up from his seat. " Downtown? No, no way," he said. Skylar furrowed her brows, giving him a look. " Excuse me?" she asked, crossing her arms.
Bruce took a step toward her. " It's a dangerous part of the city," he said. She rolled her eyes. " Bruce, we're in Gotham, everywhere's dangerous if you haven't noticed," she replied. "Yeah, but that part is particularly not the safest," he sighed.
" I don't care, I'm from Central City and I've spent my college years in Metropolis, it doesn't scare me," she replied, walking to the door. "Skylar," Bruce spat, grabbing her arm and turning her. " I don't think it's a good idea, if it's a job you want I'll find it for you, I can even get you one in here so it'd be an internship, good for your school as well,"
Skylar furrowed her brows, watching him talk. She put her right hand on his chest. " It's just an interview, and I want to do this myself, please. You've opened every door for me since the second I got there and I've been feeling useless lately, let me just do this on my own, it's not even a guarantee that they'll hire me," she said.
Bruce took a deep breath, looking at her. His face seemed emotionless, but Skylar could tell that he was a bit mad about it. " Fine, be careful though," he said. She nodded. " Always am," she replied. Then she turned around when she was at the door. " What time I should be expecting you tonight?"
" Around 7, but I'll let you know if it changes," he said, checking his watch. " Great," she said, getting out of the office. Claire was sitting at her desk, doing some work when she got out.
The two shared a look. Skylar understood that Claire was just doing her job, she could've been a random girl too, so she wasn't exactly mad at her. " Thanks for the coffee," Skylar said with a smile. " Have a good day,". Claire seemed surprised at her friendliness. She smiled in return. " Thank you, have a good day too Miss Jones," she said.
Time went by fast after Skylar left Bruce's office. The ride to downtown took her about forty-five minutes. She waited about twenty before the manager finally came to talk to her. It was about to be 6 PM when she was walking to the bus.
She needed to catch the next bus, which was in five minutes, but walking from the road would be a waste of time so she decided to take the short cut. It required her to walk through this narrow looking dark alley to get there.
She was half-way in, walking past the homeless people quickly when two guys jumped in front of her. They both had knives and it wasn't hard to get that they were thieves. " Give us all of your money, now!" one of them shouted at her, holding the knife toward her.
Skylar's heartbeat sped up, her fingertips getting cold and adrenalin kicking in. "Great," she whispered to herself, only by her chance some teens decided to rob her in an afternoon, especially after Bruce warned her and she was her usual stubborn self.
" Okay, okay," she said quickly, opening her bag to get her wallet. She didn't have that much money on her anyway, only a few bucks for the bus and grocery shopping she was going to do later.
As she was about to hand in the money someone jumped behind the teens. Skylar eyed him surprisingly as the teens turned around in fear. " Oh, fuck!" one of them said. It was Batman. He was there, standing a meter away from Skylar.
One of the guys took a step toward him, trying to stab him but Batman avoided it, punching his stomach, causing him to fall. He turned to the other guy, who was attempting the same thing. Batman grabbed his hand, making the knife fell and punched him.
Within a minute, both men were laying on the floor, unconscious. Skylar watched the whole thing with her jaw dropped. Sure, she had seen the Flash and Superman before, but from afar, this was her first time seeing someone from the Leauge, this close, helping her.
Batman then walked toward Skylar, kneeling over and getting her wallet. She had dropped it out of shock. He handed it to her, then turned around, walking. " Wait, aren't you even going to wait for me to say thank you?" Skylar called out after him.
He stopped and turned around. He wasn't saying anything. " Thank you," Skylar said. Batman nodded. " This is a dangerous part of the city, be careful," he only said, then took out something, firing it toward the sky and getting out of eyesight.
Skylar watched him disappear as she took a deep breath. This was turning to be a day full of surprises. She quickly started walking toward the bus station, playing the scene over on her head.
There was something that got caught up on her mind, the way Batman responded. How he said 'dangerous part of the city'. It seemed familiar.
Skylar was placing her groceries when Bruce came. She said she'd be done shortly so he was watching her, leaning on the counter. " So, tell me, how was the rest of your day? The interview," Bruce asked.
" Eh, I don't know, the guy didn't seem that impressed, to be honest," Skylar replied. " He told me to expect his call, we'll see," she said as she put out the things she bought from the bag and onto their respective places.
" I also almost got robbed," she said. " I'm sorry, what? You were ROBBED?" Bruce asked, standing up straight and looking at her. " The keyword being almost," Skylar said as she shook the milk then put it inside the fridge.
Bruce sighed. " I told you that it's a dangerous part of the city," he said. Skylar froze with his words and turned to face him. " What did you say?" she asked. " It's a dangerous part of the city," Bruce replied, unsure of why Skylar asked him that.
Skylar furrowed her brows. They were identical words and there was a thing with how he said it. " Huh," she said as she kept on doing her work as millions of things started to run inside her mind. All the 'mid-night' emergencies, the mysterious talking, the bruises, everything.
She gasped as the realization hit her.
Skylar took a deep breath as she turned to Bruce, shrugging. " Anyway, it wasn't a big deal since you were there to save the day, right?" she asked. If she could, she would have taken a picture of Bruce's face at that exact moment.
" What?" Bruce asked. " You were there, you beat up those guys, and saved me, you've already forgotten?" Skylar played. " I don't follow," he said. She upped her right eyebrow along with a smirk. " Yeah, sure," she said walking toward him.
Just as she was passing him she turned around, throwing a punch to him. By reflex, Bruce grabbed her arm, turning her body and disabling her from hitting. Her back was now on his chest and he was holding her arm.
Skylar turned to him with a smirk. " The same move you did today, or should we try it with a knife too?" she said. Bruce let her go with a sigh. " Skylar, this was just self-defense," he said, a faint hint of defeat lingering in his tone.
" Bruce," she said, taking a step toward him and looking him right in the eye. " You can't lie to me," she followed up. They spent almost a good minute just looking at each other, having an intense battle of looks.
" Like I said, it was self-defense, I'm not Batman," Bruce finally said. Skylar smirked. " I never did tell you it was Batman who saved me, how did you know?" she asked, knowing that she just won the argument.
Bruce was surprised by her words and he opened and closed his mouth for a few times to say something, but he never did. She was enjoying watching him be like that. "Well?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest.
" Shit," Bruce muttered eventually, knowing his secret was out.
" Yes," he said," I'm Batman,"