Damian Wayne hated the Gotham Press.

Instead of focusing on things that should be brought to light, most of the articles were written about frivolous people and their personal lives. Unfortunately, he too belonged to a popular family and the press was always up in their business, trying to scoop out a juicy article each opportunity they got.

The Waynes were not the only wealthy family in Gotham, there were many to rival that status of old money, but they surely were eccentric enough for the public's curiosity. The reason behind that eccentric outlook was the fact that they had to keep their vigilante lives secret.

But whatever the reason, it often resulted in them getting into trouble with the journos, being put under fire for the least necessary of things.

As such, Damian had stopped reading newspapers a long time ago. He knew much better than the press what was going on in Gotham and so he never felt the need to check out the news.

But when one day Gotham City Gazette force stopped its morning publication and brought it down from all the places it had been distributed to, he felt it was very odd and wanted to see what it was all about.

The news agency had never done that before and their unexpected act caused an uproar among the people. There had to be something posted in that paper that should not have gotten out.

Tim had noticed that too and he got to work, procuring a copy of the gazette before each and every one of them was taken down, to find out the reason behind the sudden action. And once he found out, he took that copy straight to Bruce.

Damian only heard that it was due to an article published by an investigative journalist which was a bit too expository for the news agency's standards.

He hadn't paid much thought to it, although Tim seemed quite worried for the safety of whoever the reporter was. He didn't ask because he didn't care.

Until he took a look at the article himself.

Ember Sullivan from the Gotham City Gazette had taken a huge risk by chasing a story that had ties to various crime families in Gotham including the Blackwoods and the Ranaldinis.

But then there was no further article from that journalist and time passed with nothing whatsoever being published under the name Sullivan.

Two months later, he had to give an interview to Gotham Daily when he noticed the name card on the person assigned for his interview.

Ember Sullivan. The same investigative journalist who had seemingly disappeared after her article got taken down.

Recently, Bruce Wayne made Damian enter the family legacy of Wayne Enterprises too as the future face of the company. He hadn't been in favor of that decision as, in his opinion, Drake was managing far well on his own but in the end, he got convinced to go along with it.

However, being the future face of W.E. meant being a constant target of the press too. There were several requests from tabloids and magazines wanting to get an interview with Damian Wayne, the future CEO of Gotham's largest group of companies. so Gotham Daily's request had been finalized by Lucius Fox, their manager, and Damian had to sit through an interview.

He had been dreading each second of that terrible meeting with the press but soon as he realized who the interviewer was, he felt a bit cautious.

Why would Gotham Daily send an investigative journalist to take his interview? Were they finally onto something that was true about his family and proved their ties to the vigilantes?

When did she even start working at Gotham Daily?

Was she fired after that article got taken down?

Such questions and more flickered in his head as he gauged the person in front of him; a young woman with red hair and olive eyes. She had a very distinct face that he knew he could recognize easily if he saw her again, although he tended to not pay much attention to the reporters he had to deal with.

"Good afternoon, Mister Wayne," she spoke in a formal tone but from her eyes, it was clear to see that she didn't want to be there either, "I am Ember from Gotham Daily. It's a pleasure to be talking to you."

"You used to be an investigative journalist," he asked, seeing her stiffen at the question, "why are you here taking my interview?"

"Because I was assigned for this by the agency I work in now. And I'm sorry but I ask the questions here so..."

"I read your article," he remarked abruptly, emerald eyes focusing on her, "it was unexpected."

She shifted in her seat, thinking about how to respond. It was surprising that Damian Wayne knew her and had even read the article she was fired for. But right then, she wasn't there to waste time by telling him about her previous job although he seemed more interested in that.

"I was told no one got to read that article," she replied, looking over her notes though it did make her slightly curious to know what Damian thought of the article. But she was not supposed to talk about it and she did not want to risk losing another job so she added, "however, I can not discuss anything with you other than the topic I was sent here for."

He stopped asking questions from then on and let her take the lead. She had formatted a very simple interview, no family or relationship drama, just a few questions on what he thought about his father's expanding companies, if there were any changes he wanted to implement to the Wayne Enterprises legacy, and other such questions focusing only on him and his little known interests.

He could guess from the interview that she researched her subjects well. Never had he been asked about things that interested him in any interview he had begrudgingly given to Gotham Daily.

Still, he kept his answers guarded, knowing that she had experience in linking statements to form conclusions. But he noticed she never probed him further for any answer even if he replied in a yes or no. It was almost as if she wanted to get done with the interview as soon as she could.

"Thank you so much for your time, Mister Wayne," she closed her notebook at the end of the interview, switching off the voice recorder, "it was a pleasure to talk to you."

However, with the tape recorder off and her not taking notes anymore, Damian spoke, "can I say something off the record?"

"Sure," she looked slightly surprised at that but gave him a polite smile.

"You're a good interviewer," he remarked briefly, "even though you hate the job."

"Excuse me?" She looked a bit taken aback, not expecting him to have caught onto her inclination to get done with the interview as soon as possible.

He did not elaborate as he left the room, leaving her with even more questions about him. From all she had heard about him, she had thought he would be just another rich brat given power at a young age.

But that short time with him was enough to make her curious that he might not at all be how he was portrayed. He was cold and emotionless, sure, but there was a lot hidden behind that guarded facade.

***