Doomed to Fail

The Burden of Death

Lefu was quiet most of the day. She vaguely was aware of Clark talking with Louis excitedly about some such from the corner of her eye. He barely talked with her today. She ended up working late as he took off early for some such business. That meant Louis and her were the only ones left. Louis grabbed her purse and approached Lefu.

"I hear your name is Lefu? My name is Louis Lane. It's nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand for a handshake. Lefu smiled and shook her hand.

"Same. I didn't see you when I first got here," Lefu commented. Louis laughed.

"Yes, about that. My transfer is going through and I've been out of town. I should be leaving soon but not sure when. I'll leave you to your work. Have a good night," Louis said with a wave good bye. Lefu sat back and leaned into her chair. She was editing some articles making corrections, taking her time when Batman burst through the doors. She stood up in surprise.

"What the hell?" Lefu said angrily. Batman ran towards her, grabbing her shoulders.

"Let me guess, you're the only one here?" he asked. Lefu nodded and glared.

"Yes, why?" she asked irritably. A explosion from where Batman entered happened and a giant robot was in the room. Batman grabbed Lefu and ran with her towards the stairs. He hooked a grapple up above and held Lefu firmly against him as he jumped down towards the bottom of the building, pushing off the walls with his feetl to guide them. The doors where they left from exploded inward and the robot pursued them.

"Joy, killer robots. My day is awesome," she said sarcastically under her breath. She saw Batman smirk from the corner of her eye. They ran into the printing room and hid behind a pillar.

"Stay here. It's after me only," Batman said gruffly. They ducked when a laser tore through the room. Batman ran away from her towards the printing presses. The robot stabbed at him with its claws and Batman caught them in his hands, wrestling against it. The robot pushed Batman back, overpowering him and his cape got caught in the press and unmasked him.

Batman used the robot's strength against it and shoved its claws into the machine, sucking it up into the rotors. Lefu's eyes widened as she saw that Batman was actually Bruce. The robot stopped moving as he stood up and pulled his cape out of the press machine. Superman showed up while Batman put his cowl back on.

"You're late," Batman stated simply. Superman shrugged.

"I was tied up dealing with an emergency on the sea. It was bogus until the Joker provided the emergency. I see you were busy also," Superman commented. Lefu stepped out from behind the destroyed pillar, watching the exchange. They turned their attention on her, waiting for her to say something.

"Why are you wearing your underwear on the outside?" Lefu asked Batman. Superman laughed and she glared at him too. "Did you think you were excluded?" Batman smirked when Superman shut up. Batman patted her head.

"Want to talk at your home?" He asked. Lefu hugged herself tiredly.

"Yes, please," she said. Superman looked between them and gave Batman a discreet nod before flying away. Lefu rubbed her temples as Batman led her out to the car and met her in her apartment as she took the long way up. She went into the bathroom and pulled a first aide kit from under the sink and walked towards Bruce who was sitting on her floor where she slept. He had his cowl off and the top of his costume, watching her warily.

"So, where you ever going to say anything to me?" She asked simply. He smiled.

"Eventually. I'm glad to see that you're not freaking out," he said with a chuckle. Lefu rubbed his wounds extra hard as she sterilized them, making him wince.