Lost Hero

Recovery

As the residents of the manor quickly learned over Percy's recovery period, Percy spent most nights wandering the house. At first, it was off-putting, but now it was somehow reassuring to know someone was up, keeping an eye on the place. Although it made them wonder when she actually slept. It wasn't unusual to see her up at three am, just walking the halls, as if looking for something out of place. She used to be completely silent, but after nearly scaring Bruce half to death as he made his way from his study to his room after a late night of Wayne Enterprises work, she made an effort to be heard, at least when she heard others around. Bruce didn't sleep the night she caught him off guard, preoccupied with wondering how she managed to be so silent.

"Roy, how does Percy seem at work?" Bruce asks one day, meeting to discuss Percy and how she was doing after returning from her accident. These meetings seem to be becoming quite frequent.

"Well, she's doing quite well actually. A janitor attempted to steal a laptop and she caught her before she got five steps, she might have even seen it before I did. To be honest, there isn't much going on here, it's hard to judge her skill if nothing ever happens," Roy says, seeming apologetic.

"What I mean is, is she slacking off? Sleeping on the job?" Bruce asks, wondering when exactly she is sleeping if it isn't at night. Roy is confused by his questions.

"She'll fall asleep on the breakroom couches when I'm in there when we're both on break and I've caught her literally sleeping standing up while waiting for assignments to be handed out. But it's never impacted her job performance. She seems just as alert, if not more so, than anyone else. Maybe even myself included. What's with the questions?" Roy asks, not understanding the point of the questions.

"Ever since she's started staying at my place, she's been wondering the halls at night. I've stayed up all night a few times and checked the security cameras, she walks all night, every night. The way she walks the house, its as if she's patroling it. I'm afraid it's my fault, I offered her a security job in exchange for a room and a small sallary in order to get her to stay close so we could keep an eye on her. I'm worried she's taken my offer a little too seriously," Bruce says, looking at the tablet where he had recorded a few selected clips of Percy wondering, particuarly when she was startled by something and jumped into a fighting stance.

"Seriously? Well, you should probally explain to her that she doesn't have to do that. I'll schedule her a day or two off. You don't have anything planned for her, right?" Roy asks and Bruce looks guilty.

"I have a charity event I'm attending tonight. I'm not expecting anything crazy tonight so I thought it would be a good time to take her out first, judge how well she would do and make it known I have my own personal bodyguard. Maybe that will make the attacks cut down," Bruce says, seeming annoyed.

"Well then you'll give her a bonus. It sounds as if she's been working every night. Although, I wonder when she's sleeping. She hasn't slept more the forty minutes a day when with me, at this point, she shouldn't be functioning," Roy says, peering at Bruce's tablet upside down.

"After tonight, she'll have the rest of the week off, I promise,"

*************************************

Percy was returning from her second day at work when Alfred ambushed her as she was grabbing something quick from dinner. She knew Bruce was going to be attending some sort of event so she figured Alfred wouldn't make dinner since Bruce was going to some kind of dinner and from what she noticed, he usually just made himself something if he knew she wasn't eating, as she had told him once when she stuffed herself full of one of his delicious lunches while recovering from her injuries.

"Ms. Jackson, Master Bruce has requested that you accompany him tonight in your capacity as his personal bodyguard. You will be attending a fundraising gala, I've already placed a few suitable options for clothes out for you,"

She nods and forces a smile. This is one thing she wasn't looking forward to. She could deal with attacks on the manor no problem, but she really wasn't looking forward to having to dress up, or try to manipulate the mist all night in order to cover her scars.

She trots up the stairs, walking through the halls until she reaches her room, dumping her bag beside the door. There were four sets of clothes set out on her bed, the first three already thrown out due to the fact that they were dresses. The fourth was actually something she might wear. It was a pair of black silk pants and a loose, black silk camisole shirt. There was also a jacket of sorts, it was somehow a cross between a suit jacket and cape. The main body of it was a stiff fabric while the sleeves were loose, semi see through chiffron sleeves that had slits cut on the outside from the wrists to the elbows so if she moved her arms, the lower half of the sleeves would move aside.

Grabbing it, she put it on, startled to see that even the pants fit almost perfectly. That was until she remembered that she was messured for her work suits. It made sense, now that she thought about it. Spinning in front of the mirror besides her dresser, she looks closely for any visable scars. She's pleased to see that the besides the sleeves, almost every one of her marks is covered. Walking into the bathroom, she curls her hair and puts on a thin layer of makeup. It was almost unoticable, which is what she was going for. She put extra on her arms, making sure to cover her legion tattoo as much as possible. It still wasn't covered and you could see the raised lines of the scars, but it was better then nothing. This way she wouldn't have to control the mist all night. 

She goes back to her bed, seeing that the only pairs of shoes Alfred put out were all high heels. Picking the shortest pair, a black, matte pair, she puts them on, wobbling for a moment. Stretching, she was pleased to see the clothes had a good ammount of give to them. Not the best for fighting in, but it was better then a dress. The shoes were another thing.

Alright, time to go face the music. Lets just hope Bruce didn't expect her to dance.

******************************

Bruce and Dick stood waiting in the foyer, checking their watches. It was getting close, if they didn't leave soon they would be late. Although they didn't speak, they were wondering what was taking Percy so long to get ready. Finally, they heard the rustling of fabric.

Both turning towards the top of the stairs, they froze. Down the steps came Percy. Bruce was astonished to see her in something so feminine, Dick was suprised by everything he saw. Both couldn't identify the usual tomboy Percy with the one that stood in front of them. Bruce had a sneeking suspicion that if Roy caught sight of her, he might question his sanity. With her curled hair and her makeup, she looks completely different.

"Stop staring," Percy wines, curling in on herself while blushing bright red.

"We should get going, we're going to be late otherwise," Bruce says, rescuing her.

She smiles her appriciation and wobbles her way down the rest of the steps. Bruce smiles, you could give the girl new clothes, hair, and makeup, but you couldn't change her nature. Percy was never going to be a high heel type girl.