Job Shadow

[Wonder Woman]

"But how come I can't just go to work with you?" the whining voice of Cassandra Sandsmark, who in her better moments was known as Wonder Girl, and who at her finest was leader of the Teen Titans, remarked as she followed her mother down the stairs of their brownstone town house in Gateway City. "Or spend the day at the embassy with Diana! That sounds so much better than a dumb office."

Helena Sandsmark, Cassie's long suffering mother, rolled her eyes as she led the way out of the house. "Because, your idea of coming to work with me is sitting in my office on Facebook all day, and Diana can't guarantee your safety. Your identity is supposed to b -secret- remember? And how secret would it be if you did your job shadow day with Wonder Woman? Never mind what would happen if something happened and your powers became public!" Helena, always worried about her daughter, couldn't help it. It was what moms did! "Diana agreed to help you get a placement with her friend Ms Lane. She's a very well decorated reporter at the Daily Planet. You should be proud." Helena beeped open their car, an older model grey sedan whose best years were likely behind it.

Cassie dropped into the passengers side, her backpack between her feet, with all of the petulance of a normal, all American teenager. "She's Superman's girlfriend," Cassie said derisively.

"Yes, that's how Diana got it," Helena said, not giving in to her daughter's snark. "But did you were Super -boy's- girlfriend."

"But I have powers," she rolled her eyes, arms crossed over her chest. "It's totally different. I'm not some damsel like her!"

Helena didn't remark that Cassie just returned from Themyscira, where she had spent the last year on "exchange," cover for the mental breakdown caused by Conner Kent's death. Cassie was still sore on that, and it wouldn't do any good.

"We human females may surprise you," Helena said, pulling up in front of the bus station. "Call me when you get to Metropolis. And no flying. Take the bus."

"Yea, yea," Cassie said, leaning in for a half hearted hug. She loved her mom, but she was also a teenager, so mom was definitely not cool. When the sedan was out of site Cassie debated flying to Metropolis, but instead did as she had been asked to, and took the 3 hour bus trip to Metropolis.

It was only 9 am when she arrived, so she took city transit to the head offices of the Daily Planet, marvelling at the size and scale of it all.


[Tag Lois Lane]

[Wonder Woman]

Just a kid indeed. Just one of many, in fact, with her mixed heritage. She looked as All American as could be, blonde hair, blue eyes, black dress pants, and a red button up blouse with a blazer borrowed from her mother that almost matched the shade of black on her pants. Her hair was loose, sitting on her shoulders as she looked up at the frontage of the Daily Planet, backpack slung over her right shoulder.

She walked in and one of the receptionists stopped her. "Hi, Um, I'm here to see Ms. Lane?" she said, her voice going up at the end as if it was a question, even though it was supposed to be a statement. She coughed, remembering how Artemis would berate her for that and restated herself, this time without the questioning tone.

"Is she expecting you?" the woman asked, seeming sceptical.

"She should be," Cassie replied, rocking forward on the balls of her feet a little. "I'm her job shadow."

"Oh, okay then," the woman sounded unsure but willing to go with it. "She's in the bullpen, her office is on the 8th floor. And good luck," she said, though Cassie got the feeling she didn't actually wish the younger woman good luck.

The elevator would carry Cassie up to the Eighth floor where she would meet another secretary that would point out Lois to the teenager more directly and send her on her way.

"Knock knock? Ms Lane?" she asked, knocking on the frame of the open door. If Cassie was honest, she was probably more intimidated to be spending the day with Ms. Lane than she had when she met Hera for the first time, and that's saying something, as the Queen of Olyumpus had never been welcoming of her husband's bastards. She took a breath to calm the butterflies in he stomach as she waited.

+++

Across town another blonde with an entirely different demeanour was also preparing for Ms Lane's presence.

"Miss Lane is scheduled from 10 until noon, Ma'am, after wards you have lunch with the investors from Hong Kong and the Head of LexCorp Asia."

"I am aware," the woman's bored voice rose from behind the screen of her computer. It was all she could do to keep the sneer out of her tone. Mercy Graves was many things, but unaware of her daily schedule was not one of them.

[Wonder Woman]

"Uh, okay," Cassie said, rolling back on her heels a little, trying to remember what the Queen had taught her about being confident and professional. "Lois then," she beamed and extended her right hand for a hand shake. If Lois accepted she would be given a quick, but firm shake before they moved on. If not, then Cassie would awkwardly draw her hand back and pretend nothing happened.

There was something in the reporter's eyes; Cassie wasn't as good at reading people as Diana or Hippolyta, or even Donna, and what really was mild annoyance mixed with planning to get to her important interview was passive disinterest and thinly veiled hostility. "I'm really excited to be here today,l she lied, feeling a twinge as it didn't even sound convincing in her head, hopefully Lois wouldn't hear the same unsure tone Cassie recognised, after all she did seem preoccupied. Probably some big story, the Amazon in Training thought. "I used to cover the student council for my high school paper," she blurted out. This was not a lie, but there was the ever important "used to." Cassie was a solid leader, a great student, but a poor reporter. She lasted a month.

***

Mercy watched her reflection in the floor to ceiling glass of her office, a satisfied expression resting on her features. She stood in a some what relaxed pose, arms behind her back, weight resting on her right leg. It was morning in Metropolis and she was still on top. She had survived coupe de t'ats, attempted hostile take overs and even legitimate assassination attempts. As she mused on the last note she rubbed her right thigh, feeling the ugly scar through her skirt and stockings.

She had survived all that, starred down businessmen born with silver spoons and gold diaper pins, gone toe to toe with Arabic princes rich with oil and rife with rebellion, and even put Superman, quite accidentally, on his knees. And yet? Miss Lois Lane of the Daily Planet was a unique challenge for her.

Most of her adversaries doubted her based on her youth, her gender and/or her appearance. Lane would be smart enough to avoid that trap at every turn. She had no doubt the Daily Planet's Pulizter winning reporter would dig for hard questions, but Mercy hadn't gotten where she was by not being prepared. No, she had a keen eye for potential weaknesses, and a unique skill at turning them into strengths.

She was already planning how she would control the interview, what answers to give to lead to the questions she wanted to answer. What truths to reveal, which lies to uphold and all of they messy grey areas in between.

[Wonder Woman]

"Uh, about a month," she spoke with a shy tone, her shoulders rising a little as the Amazon in Training looked as if she was trying to "shrink" in physical space. "I... I ended up being unable to be impartial and started taking active part in the debates and one thing led to another and then I was on council and the whole conflict of interest thing..." she rambled on, her words coming out in a rush of sounds.

She watched as Lois gave herself the once over and furrowed her brow. She had seen similar behaviour and knew that the chances of a reporter like Lane taking Cassie on assignment were slim. Still, she was hopeful. Being stuck here instead of being with Diana in Gateway was bad enough, but being stuck in this building because she was ditched would be even worse.

"So where are we going?" she asked, her tone eager and interested, partially fed by the natural desire to get outside. Was it presumptuous? Oh yes, but still, something told Cassie that the intrepid lead reporter for the Daily Planet was going to be that put off by her attitude.

***

Mercy had set the receiving portion of her office up for herself and Miss Lane, or rather her people had set it up. It was set up to be formal, but not adversarial, with two chairs and a low table between them. The area had good acoustics, so Lane's recording device would be able to pick up their conversation. On the table was a glass pitcher set on a reflective metal tray, persperation clinging to the smooth, round surface as the ice water in the jug cooled the air. Also on the tray were two glasses, set top down on white napkins. The pitcher was filled mostly with ice, the idea being that by the time the interview began enough would have melted to provide adequate water. Everything in twos. The design of the interview was clearly made for two people.

"And the coffee Ma'am?" her aid asked.

"Miss Lane takes her coffee black, have one brought when she arrives," she spoke as the blonde settled into her chair, checking her emails on her BlackBerry before slipping the device into her pocket. The interview was a half hour away still, but Graves liked to be prepared.

[Wonder Woman]

"In all fairness, neither do I," Cassie said with a shrug as Lois admitted that she didn't spend a lot of time with the under 18 crowd. "And I've heard worse," she said with a shrug of her shoulders and her head tilting to the side a little as she thought about the times she had risked life and limb, been threatened by villains from other dimensions. "Damn" was hardly impactful.

Lois demonstrated tenacity, which Diana had often pointed out. She watched as the woman rummaged around in her purse for something, demanding that Cassie explain what she knew about Metropolis and LexCorp, leading Cassie to think maybe the major corporation had something to do with today's trip. "Metropolis is the largest city in America, it has the lowest per capita crime rate which is often attributed to high employment and education amongst citizens and Superman. If I'm allowed to add my opinion, I'd say property values too. My mom had to turn down a job at the Met Museum because it just cost too much to live here," she shook her head, physically stopping herself from going on a ranting tangent. "It's considered the "good child" when compare to Gotham, whose the closest in population but has a crime rate almost six times as high.

"LexCorp is the largest private employer in the city, owns half of the industrial buildings. It's founder ran for President and disappeared under suspicious circumstances leaving the company to his assistant." Cassie gave off a few more facts, indicating she was at least forced to watch the nightly news at dinner by someone, but stopped short of giving away details about what she may know from less... mundane... sources.

The car was... well, a car? Cassie wasn't very "into" cars. Why drive? She could fly? Besides, she had spent the last year on Themyscira, no cars there. The girl didn't even have a driver's license. She opened her door and sank into the seat, dropping her back pack between her feet.

"Diana? Uh, she works with my mom sometimes," Cassie said. It wasn't technically a lie; Helena Sandsmark had interviewed and used Diana, and other Amazon's, in several paper and books she had written, but the association was actually backwards. Cassie didn't know Diana through Helena, Helena knew the Amazon through her daughter.

"Oh... ok," Cassie said, fastening her seatbelt, blue eyes narrowing just slightly as she cast her glance over to the driver, wondering just how dangerous a driver she was. Diana had already warned her to avoid anything Ms Lane had cooked, but what other surprise dangers did the woman hold?