one month passes...
The Christmas Gift
©2002 Bridget Haines
Characters: Sasha Bordeaux and Bruce Wayne
Timeframe: Directly after Batman #598
Location: Wayne Manor
Rating: PG (Innuendo)
Synopsis: Sasha gives Bruce a second gift, and he gives her one as well...in a manner of speaking.
It was a nice feeling to see him relax a little bit tonight. He'd been so tense, so intense lately, throwing himself so deeply into the whole Moxton mess and every other crime on the street. She guessed that it must be harder on him this time of the year than any other, with the holidays making thoughts to turn family, and those he could no longer spend it with. Even something as simple as the Christmas tree she'd put up against his wishes must be an achy reminder of what put him in the cowl in the first place. There seemed to be no time for him to just power down and stop being the Bat for a few moments, and it had her worried.
For the hundredth time tonight she was glad she given him the gift, because the expression on his face was priceless, and she couldn't remember ever seeing a smile that genuine on his face this past year. She began to dwell on the second gift she had for him, the one that was still in the pocket of her slacks. More of a joke gift than anything really, but the thought of it made a small smile paint her lips. His reaction to it should be amusing at the very least, and without a doubt it was something he should be able to appreciate.
As "A Christmas Carol" began winding towards its end, her head turned to regard the man at the other end of the couch, still dapper in his long-sleeved dress shirt and khakis despite a long night of chasing down the fiendish Santa Klaus. She felt almost underdressed around him, despite the cashmere sweater and dress slacks. Bruce Wayne just had years of high society to refine him, while she had business suits and 9mms. She took in the artistic portrait that was his profile, studying it with a discerning gaze. There was such strength in his features, not altogether unlike a statue of a Greek god and every ounce as tragic.
Lately she'd found herself focusing on that visage in his absence , thinking about her Principal more than was healthy. But she told herself that it didn't matter, she was too much a consummate professional to allow such feelings to interfere in her work. Besides, it wasn't like he would ever return any such feelings for her. He was more Bat than Man now.
The movie wound to a close, with Tiny Tim declaring his famous "God Bless Us Every One!" As the credits began to roll, Bruce broke from his focus on the screen, having barely paid the film any attention, using it simply as a cover for working through the next night's plans and investigations in his head. His eyes shifted to Sasha, to see if she was still awake, or crying over the movie, and instead caught her staring at him. He blinked once, his expression the same stoicly blank one he used to unnerve her on a daily basis.
Quickly she rose to retrieve the DVD and escape that look, but he beat her to it, slipping the disc back into the plastic rental box, and leaving her wondering, again, how a man that big could move so fast. It had been a pleasant night, more pleasant than most, and Sasha was of a mind to end it here, without any further chance to incite a Bruce Wayne rage. They'd been happening lately, she'd say something she thought was harmless, and he'd blow up at her, or break something. But feeling the envelope shift in her pocket gave her pause, and she stopped in the archway between the den and the hallway, turning to regard her employer again.
It was Christmas afterall, and she shouldn't just walk out without a few words of good cheer. She had spent enough time decorating the den for the movie fest after all, and the spirit of the holiday was still in the room. "Bruce, I know you're probably tired, since its been a really long night, but can I have just a moment?"
Bruce glanced to Sasha, and nodded, apparently still in a generous mood, but as always he was wary whenever she began sounding…serious. It usually meant something was wrong, or she was "worried" about his well-being. Nonsense of course. He padded over to the archway where she stood to set the rentals on a small table where they wouldn't go forgotten. "Of course Sasha...is there a problem?" Although his tone didn't betray it, some part of him was expecting that Sasha was about to give another one of her '"I worry about you" lectures .
The bodyguard paused a long moment, trying to formulate a way to express herself. These types of things were not something she was used to, adding a bit of the personal into her professional life. But she was too stubborn to let Bruce get away without a small show of thanks for the events of the past year. She cleared her throat. "I just...uh...wanted to say thank you, for giving me a chance to do my job, for not just firing me outright. I um..." She frowned, as always, finding it impossibly difficult to admit things to him. Maybe it had to do with the fact that lately, whenever she tried to be his friend, she ended up managing to offend him, and sweeping up whatever item he smashed immediately after.
Bruce blinked once, twice. It wasn't often someone thanked him for being an ogre, making their life hell, and doing everything in his power to make them quit their job. But then again Sasha had managed to surprise him regularly since day one, her persistence defying his every attempt to chase her off, and her observations making him re-evaluate his actions on more than one occasion. As irritating as she might be at times, he couldn't deny she was partially filling a void in his life since Alfred left. Of course, that was something he would take to his grave. "Yes?" he murmured, encouraging her to continue her train of thought.
Sasha swallowed and gathered up the courage to continue…she was in this up to her reddening ears now, and it wouldn't do to back down from her course. "Well its been...good to work with you as well. I've...learned a lot and I didn't expect that when I took this job. I uh..." She stumbled around the words, not knowing how to phrase the mushy Christmas pleasantries. It just never dawned on her to throw out a "Thanks for everything" and leave it at that. Trying to nail down a more eloquent thing to say, she cast her eyes upward, spotting something above them in the archway. A brow quirked and an almost amused look glittered in her pale eyes. "Well...what do you know?" Hanging in the archway was that dreaded plant of the holiday season, right above them. Mistletoe.
Bruce tilted his head slightly, "Pardon?" Was his bodyguard losing her marbles as well as her train of thought? He followed her gaze upward, spotting the loathsome plant dangling above her head. A quiet, "Ah..." escaped him and in true Bruce Wayne fashion, he moved to step back into the room and out of the archway, retreating from the awkwardness of the moment.
Sasha's cheeks flushed slightly, though she remained where she was, still under the mistletoe. Embarrassment took a back seat to indignation in the moment. She pressed her lips together as Mr. Happy Holidays shoved off further into the room, cementing her belief that his heart was some cold, dead shriveled thing in his chest, or he was just a scared little boy beneath all the snarling faces he made at her, afraid to get too close. Maybe that was why he had put her in the mask, to distance her from him, or him from her. She felt a small spark of anger in her then, it wasn't as if she was asking him to kiss her. She just wanted to say thank you, and here he was making her feel repulsive.
Sliding the envelope from her pocket, she tapped it against the palm of her hand. A challenging little smirk made its way to her lips, unable to resist pointing out his obvious retreat from anything the least bit intimate. "Huh," she exclaimed, "Go figure...you can face down insane menaces on the streets, you can leap off roofs, you can tell off Superman, but you're afraid of a Christmas tradition?" The words came out sounding very much like a taunt, and indeed they were. He DID forget to give her a Christmas present after all, nothing like giving him a little jab in return for the oversight.
Those were certainly dangerous words to say on a night when Bruce had generally been in high spirits. Most people tended to think that Bruce had absolutely no sense of humor. Which was, of course, not true. With Sasha's little attempt at goading him, he glanced at the mistletoe briefly, and then the faintest grin spread across his face.
With a predatory step he paced across the floor back to the archway, relishing the sudden look of panic in her eyes. In all honesty, the smile that flitted across his features might have be scarier than all the cold glares 'Batman' had given to her, combined. "You think so?" he challenged the gutsy blonde woman in a tone vaguely threatening.
"Uh-oh...maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Sasha thought to herself, butterflies dancing a crazed jig in the pit of her stomach. She knew seeing her squirm would only serve to delight her employer more however, so she gathered her wits and forced a sarcastic smirk to her lips. Her hands planted jauntily on her hips, trying to disguise how unnerved she was feeling. Surprisingly she managed to keep the waver out of her voice as she glared up at him defiantly. "Yes, I do think so. I think this kind of thing intimidates you more than taking down a psychopath."
At the tone of challenge ringing in her voice, Bruce leaned forward, the rather feral grin still affixed to his face, "Hmmm, you might be right...but then again..." Without finishing his sentence, he promptly planted one on her, and no, there was nothing timid about it. Strong arms slipped around the bodyguard's athletic form, to crush her to him in a tight embrace, locking her into a kiss that robbed Sasha of all coherent thought.
Bruce couldn't resist, despite all his senses telling him it could be more trouble than the prank was worth. But Sasha was one of the few people on earth capable of getting under his skin, and it was time to give her a little something to put her back in her place. What was meant to be just a brief, rough kiss however, seemed to draw out of its own volition, overriding his original intent. Her lips were soft, delicate, in complete contrast to the words that normally stormed out of them. He found himself lingering against the curve of her mouth.
"He's kissing me, my God he's kissing me. I can feel it in my TOES." The thoughts collided helter skelter in Sasha's mind, making her dizzy, light headed, and for a moment briefly angry as she recalled the same words being spoken by Vesper Fairchild when he kissed HER. The recollection made a small sound of protest bubble up from her, but the shock of his actions dwindled it to a muffled cry of surprise against his lips. She'd been expecting him to lash out and break something, as seemed to be his habit of late, or tell her off, not to prove her wrong…and not to do so with quite so much…enthusiasm. She had just wanted to give the egomaniacal idiot a kiss on the cheek, a hug, something to say, "Hey, happy holidays, you're not as abominable as I originally thought you were." But this, this was overwhelming.
In the first moment, the tension in her form indicated she might be very much inclined to slug him for his trespass, or maybe just run for the hills fleeing from her feelings. In the second moment however, her eyes drifted shut and the stress in her form slackened to mold against him. That was indicator enough for Bruce to determine that Sasha had been well and truly kissed, and he drew back to release her from his embrace. A more benign, but clearly amused smile settled on his face as he finished the sentence he'd begun what seemed like an hour ago, "…you might not."
Flabbergasted and not knowing what day it was, which way was up, or for that matter what her name was, the befuddled and bedazzled PSA managed a supremely eloquent sputter of, "um...er...here," and slapped the envelope against his broad chest. Stumbling, she backpedaled out of the room, nearly walked into a door, and fled up the stairs with a stammered "Merry Christmas" echoing in her wake.
A surprised expression flitted across Bruce's face as the envelope fluttered down into his hands, though it wasn't surprise at Sasha's reaction. That had been the intent after all, and a mission quite nicely accomplished. That should keep her off his back for at least a week, rendering her too embarrassed to meet his eye. "Merry Christmas! " He replied all-too-cheerily after her, just to get a last jab in. He ignored the little voice in his head trying to remind him that he rather enjoyed that kiss himself, then beat it into submission altogether when it became insistent. Watching her hasty retreat up the stairs as he leaned against the doorway, he simply shook his head, stifled a chuckle, and turned his attention once more to the additional gift in his grasp. Cobalt eyes scanned the envelope, nondescript save for the "Mr. Wayne" inscribed on it in Sasha's crisp hand. With a shrug he tore it open to study the contents.
Inside was a computer printed "coupon" of sorts. It read: "This coupon entitles the bearer to 1 (One) Sasha Bordeaux-free day, with the explicit promise of no tailing, no shadowing, no nagging, no hunting down, no insistence on outrageous security measures, and no other general Personal Security Assistant-inflicted irritations. This coupon may be cashed in at will to force Sasha Bordeaux to take a day off once this coming year, and leave you the heck alone."
Bruce's lips curved into a full, warm smile as he regarded the gift, and finally a chuckle bubbled up from him, heartfelt, and rich. That coupon just might have been the most useful, thoughtful gift anyone ever gave him, as well as being a second testament to Sasha's notable observational skills this evening. With the smile remaining on his face, he tucked the present into his shirt pocket, swiped a hand at the dangling mistletoe to make it swing back and forth in the air, and found his own way upstairs to catch a few hours of, for a change, restful sleep. Altogether, a Merry Christmas.
― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 15:18 (twenty years ago)
nine months pass...