Chapter 8: Being Watched
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Raven did what she was told. She visited her other superiors. Although she wanted to stay with Beast Boy a little more since he would have been much easier to gain his trust than the others. She did find out that he is relatively close with Starfire. So she decided to appeal to Starfire secondly.

Of course she was going to appeal to all of them, but the ones that fall behind are easier pickings. If two of them already liked her and enjoyed her company, it would give the other two more incentive to like her.

Cyborg's office had multiple robotic looking parts and tools lying about. Fitting, since he was the technician and the labs were mostly on his floor. The ceiling was made of dark grey stainless steel, white drywall for the walls along with some accents of his inventions, and a concrete floor. The room glowed a flourescent cyan because of all of the lights in the room. She had sensed a secret room in there as well, but she instantly knew this one was behind his safe. Cyborg's office was also void of cameras.

He had asked Raven to solve a dispute between some lab scientists and technicians. They were arguing about something meaningless and stupid that Raven hardly cared to remember. It was most likely some set of mesurements. Raven stepped in, politely introduced herself, and then completely showed them up with her accuracy, speed, and people skills.

He didn't seem to be one way or another with her in terms of how much he liked her, but it was evident that he was interested in her smarts.

That was indeed a start.

After Cyborg she visited Starfire at 10 AM. Her office was carpeted and had a normal, almost bedroom-like wall and ceiling. Something that would be in a normal suburban house from the early twenty-first century. The walls were pink and it almost pained her eyes to look at them. That room too was void of cameras.

Starfire asked Raven to help her with some designs she had come up with for some new machinery for factories. Raven gave her opinions on the designs and Starfire was putty in her hands. They ended up changing almost the entire design.

As soon as Raven walked in she was put off at first about how quickly and easily her husband let her join, but she seemed to forget about that after Raven began to be nice and friendly with the perky woman. She knew it. Too easy.

"I am overjoyed that there is now another woman among our ranks!" Starfire said gaily. Raven pulled a completely faux, yet completely convincing simile. "Thank you Rachel for your advice. Robin told me to inform you that you are to go up after your lunch break at noon."

"Thank you, Mrs. Grayson. Am I allowed to leave the building for my lunch?" She asked as she filled out some paperwork.

"Oh yes certainly! As long as you are back by one o'clock. My husband isn't very forgiving to latecomers."

"Duly noted." She checked the clock. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Well," she thought for a second. "Ah! Yes! I would appreciate it if you could go to room O-412 and deliver them the designs we worked on. Then you are free for lunch." Starfire smiled at her.

"Of course, Ma'am." Being this polite to the people she despised most in her life was difficult. She figured the less she said the less chance she had of slipping up.

"Goodbye, Rachel!" She waved. Raven waved back and smiled, but as soon as she turned around, the fake smile was replaced with a scowl which she followed up with an eye roll.

This'll all be over once you get the information, Raven.

She had told herself that a million times that morning alone.

She walked to room O-412 but stopped at the door. She could hear some muffled voices from the room. Thin walls. She walked over to the side of the room and sat on a bench and looked busy. Truly though, she was listening though the walls. With little effort from her mastered the ability she was able to hear their conversation clearly.

"Why have they upped the security to the basement? What could be useful in there that's worth protecting?" A female queried. Her voice was soft and calm. She sounded a little worked up.

"I know. We don't even keep anything down there." A male responded to her. His voice was low and very masculine.

"If we don't then why have they added so many cameras and security lasers? There's obviously something down there that Robin doesn't want us to know about." This voice made it difficult to make out the sex of the person. It was either a high man's voice, or a low female's voice. She couldn't tell.

"I heard from Tobias that the company safe is down there. All the secrets or our tech and all the money." Another man said. This man's voice sounded very feminine, but it was still pretty obvious it was a man. "They don't tell anyone about it so we don't get any funny ideas. Only the four of them can access it though."

"You think that new assistant will have access?" The first man asked.

"Hell no! None of them are that stupid to let a newbie get access to such pertinent info. Even if it is there." The feminine man replied strongly.

"You don't think it's there?" The woman replied.

"No. Tobias has always been a nutcase anyways. It's hard to believe what he spits out. Besides. Don't you think that they would inform people about that?" The feminine man answered again.

"Perhaps..." Raven stopped listening. She remembered what Beast Boy had nonchalantly told her this morning. 'There's also other stuff that only the four of us can access.' Maybe that's what he was speaking of? But it is only just a rumor amongst her co-workers. She'd need more concrete evidence to investigate this herself. She hoped that Robin would provide.

She got up and headed back to the door.

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"You heard that? In the design department?" Matthew asked over the phone. "Jesus things get around quick."

"I need to know if you know anything about it. I want to go down there tonight, but if I don't have evidence I don't want to risk getting caught for nothing." She states firmly.

"I've heard that rumor too. I've asked around about it before and someone told me that they keep the secret to how their Maglev technology lasts for so long."

"The very problem Wilson has been facing for the past three years..."

"Exactly."

"But I still don't know if it's even there. Keep asking around, Matthew. See if you can get anything. I'll see if I can get anything from Robin when I meet him." There was silence for a moment. But then Matthew busted out laughing. "What is so funny?"

"Raven, I'm going to be real with you. Robin won't spill any important information like that no matter how much he likes you. He didn't even tell his wife about the fact that he and Cyborg had that company secret in the first place."

"I'm not new to espionage, Matthew. I know how men work."

"You don't know how I work." He claimed.

"That's because you're not a man." Silence. "At least I have the will to do this. You don't even have the balls to go up there and take the damn man's fountain pen." She retorted, leaving the phone silent again. "See? As soon as you idiots have your masculinity threatened, you either curl up like a spider that got stepped on or let your emotions take hold of the steering wheel. Don't question me, Matthew. I run this. Not you." Raven hung up the phone at that. She didn't feel bad about it either.

She had to go back to work now.

She didn't take her car. She went to a cafe down the street. The rather empty one instead of the popular lunch spot a bit closer to the offices and the train station. She wanted to have a bit of privacy.

Plus she didn't feel like driving all the way home.

"I guess I should head back." She said to herself. She grabbed her purse and some papers she was working on that Cyborg had gave her earlier in the day, calculating measurements and checking other's calculations. Basically what she already was doing.

She walked confidently and professionaly. People recognized her while she walked. She heard their whispers and their gasps. She hated having this much attention. She knew it would die out soon though.

Then she passed an alleyway and was held up by a steely gaze that bore into the back of her head. It almost drew her closer to the alleyway. Her body was having a tough time maneuvering itself, but she managed to escape the grasp of this person's eyes.

Raven looked at the ground ahead of her as she walked. For the first time in a long time she had felt vulnerable, as if...she could be broken.

Nothing breaks me. Raven thought. Nothing has, and nothing will. Especially not some random onlooker.

It still bothered her that those eyes made her feel the way she did. Nothing had ever made her feel that way in her adult life. Not even when she had a boyfriend. The last time she remembered feeling like that was when she was 16. A decade ago...

Raven accidentally bworked herself up. She needed to calm herself down. She took a few deep breaths and muttered a few words under her breath.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos..." After doing that a few more times she felt better. Ready to face Robin.

....................

The Executive Department was rather small compared to all the others. But there were many executives up there alright. Enough to bring any social anxiety through the roof, too the moon, and back.

She stood in front of the door with the words 'D. Grayson' engraved in serif heavy font on a platinum plaque. He was the only one with this platinum plaque. The rest of them had silver ones and every other notable door in the building had bronze or brass.

Narcissist.

She knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A slightly intimidating voice came through the door.

"Rachel Chase, sir." It took a moment, but the door's electromagnetic locks pulled back and the door opened.

"Afternoon, Rachel." He said calmly. She noticed right off the bat that he was not wearing his sunglasses this time. At least he's sensible enough not to wear those things inside. His eyes were a pretty blue. He seemed to be in a good mood.

"Afternoon, Mr. Grayson."

"You can have a seat right here." He pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

"Thank you, sir. How was your morning?" She asked.

"It was good. Thank you for asking." He did something on his computer and then turned his attention back to her. "So Rachel, I have a few questions for you before I ask you to do anything." She nodded agreeably. "Why did you accept my offer? You didn't seem to like us all that much during the opening ceremony."

"Well, I took the offer because where I was working before did not treat me well. I didn't enjoy what I was doing there either. I figured I could get a fresh start here." She lied. But it was a darn good one.

"Really? What was your job?"

"Chief Executive engineer, sir." That was the truth.

"And you accepted an assistant job?"

"I didn't mind the demotion. I am trying to start fresh after all." She stated kindly.

"Flexibility, a good trait to have in this world, Rachel. Especially in this field of work. You have to be ok with changes."

"You're very right, sir."

Robin scans her up and down. Examining her clothes, he hair, even her slight smile she had on her face. Her posture was impeccable and she had he legs crossed like so, hands neat folded in her lap. She knew how to act and had definitely done this before. He drew even more conclusions from just her alone.

"Do you feel wanted here?" He questioned out of the blue. "Like you're needed in our facility?"

"Very much so. Just from the few assignments your wife and friends have given me I've seen what my co-workers struggle with. They need someone to be a mediator and a guide. I feel like I fit into that role rather well." She explained.

"I've heard about how you've done so far and you've met my expectations. We have many problems that we need to fix that we just can't on our own."

"I understand. Sometimes you...need someone else to help get the job done..." she stared past him out the window. Even from where she was sitting she could see the city. It seemed more grand from higher up.

"Last question, then I'll give you an assignment." She nodded in compliance. "Do you trust us?" He said simply.

"Excuse me?" Not exactly the question she was expecting.

"Do you trust us?" He repeated. "To make good decisions? To keep you and the rest of our workers safe?" He counted off on his fingers. He then stopped and leaned in. His voice dropped: "To make the right choice?" He was serious now. His eyes said it too. He wanted a solid, truthful answer from her.

She thought on this. She thought on what was the truth versus what she should say versus what a person like her would say.

"Wholeheartedly. You've been doing this for a many number of years and know what you're doing. I trust that, with all your experience, you can do all that plus some." She smiled.

He leans back in his chair, satisfied: "Thank you. That's all I wanted to know." He sits up: "Now, do you need anything from me before I give you this assignment?"

"Just one thing. I've heard people talk about the basement and how you've added extra security, but they say nothing worth protecting is down there." He sighed as if he's been asked this a million times.

"Well, I can't tell you everything, but we do keep something important down there. It needs to be protected from Nightengale at all costs. That's all you really need to know for now. I'm sure you'll know about it eventually. But it's not really important for you worry about." He explained. "Now for your assignment."