Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“You think you can run forever, little demigod?” 

CLANK, clop, CLANK, clop.

“I definitely can't hide,” She mumbled to herself as she continued to run. Stupid caves and their stupid acoustics. She couldn’t very well stop and hide since every sound she made sounded like a loaded stadium. So…running…that was her only option. 

Note to self: Don’t enter a cave if you’re trying to escape a monster.

Getting lost in this elaborate cave system while being hunted by an Empousa was not on her yearly bingo card; then again, most of the stuff that happened to her rarely was. But the glint of light she saw up ahead urged her on. If she could get out of these caverns, she’d have more options than just running, hiding, or fighting. It was only as the light hit her face that she realized her hopes were dashed.

The light wasn’t proof of an exit to the cave; it was the result of huge light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. In fact, there was a bunch of stuff in this cavern: most notably was a giant penny and a…t-rex? Which, cool, but what was it doing in a cave? More voices stole her attention away from the odd museum and toward a computer set up…a really big computer setup.

“What are you doing here?!” The guy standing near one of the huge monitors asked. He sounded….mad? Worried? Concerned?

“Shit.” That was her eloquent response as she skidded to a stop. 

CLANK, clop, CLANK, clop.

“What’s that?!” The guy standing next to him asked. He sounded scared. Good instincts, that guy.

“Double shit!” She looked back at where she’d come from and was greeted with a glint of celestial bronze. “You two need to get outta here!” She threw down her pack and unsheathed her sword. She usually did everything possible to avoid confrontation with monsters, but with mortals involved, she didn’t have a choice. 

“Why do you have a sword!??” 

Good instincts and can see through the Mist. Great.

“What are you talking about??? She's holding a baseball bat.” 

Not happy I’m here and can’t see through the Mist. Less great.

“What’s this little hero?” Her voice was sickly sweet. “A last stand in the hopes to protect these feeble mortals? I was only planning on killing you. But it seems a shame to let them go to waste.” She walked out into the open, her bronze leg catching the light as it clanked against the stone; her cloven hoof resonated less, but its echo was just as sharp. 

“I’d like to remind you that you’ve tried to kill me 15 times since Georgia,” she said sarcastically. “And yet I’m still standing. Not dead in the slightest.” 

The Empousa sneered. She readied her sword, shifting her weight to dodge if she chose to strike. 

“Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are? Have you considered night classes?”

“I think I’ll take my time ripping you apart piece by piece.” The empousa- she mentioned her name was Emily, right? Lia couldn’t remember. Her grin was venomous. 

Voices behind her reminded Lia of why she had stopped: the mortals, though she hadn’t been focusing on what they were saying.

“I’m telling you Dick! She got a metal leg!”

“Duke I know I’m not a meta, but I think I’d be able to see a metal leg if she had one.” 

“And her hair is made of fire!!”

“…I think we need to take you to the optometrist.” Their tones were quiet, but they caught Emily’s attention. 

“Freeze, boys. I don’t want you interfering. This is just between us girls for now. But don’t worry! She won’t take long. I’d hate to keep you waiting.” 

Lia could feel the chill Emily’s charmspeak cast, and when she glanced back, the two were frozen in place. She didn’t linger too long on them, though she almost took a double take at their…costumes? Maybe they were taking cosplay photos. 

“Now you. I’m afraid you’ve escaped me too many times little girl.”

“Don’t you have better things to do with your time?” She asked, exhausted. She’d been on the run from her for more than a week; surely this was not worth the satisfaction of killing her. “Couldn’t you…I don’t know, go after a corrupt politician?? It’s not better but at least they would deserve it!”

“Oh but you do deserve it! You killed my sister, and I shall have my revenge.” 

She had a point, but her sister was reforming in Tartarus. If one of her many monologues were something to go off of, she was just taking her sweet time. This made Emily very angry. 

“Your sister will be completely reformed by the end of the year.” She said meekly; that didn’t justify it. Not to the empousa, or to herself for that matter. “It’s not like her situation is permanent.” 

“And yet I still wish for retribution.” Emily stalked closer and Lia thought about sidestepping. She was the main target; if she could lure her away from the mortals that would be ideal, but then she wouldn’t be close enough if that was truly just a fake out and they were who she was choosing to go after. She decided against it. She dropped her defensive stance, crossing her arms and tapping her chin. 

“Have you considered other means?” 

The empousa stopped.

“What?”

“Well…I mean, it’s just that we’ve got pretty solid proof that you can’t kill me. You’re sure trying but like…no dice I guess.” 

One of the guys behind her muffled a laugh. 

“So have you considered…I don’t know…suing me? I know a pretty good lawyer that has a personal grudge against me.” This was true. Malcolm Pace, along with the rest of Cabin 6 were still mad at Cabin 11 for their most recent April Fools prank. Granted, filling their cabin with fake spiders when they all had horrible arachnophobia was not the nicest thing. But her younger siblings had been so proud of themselves that all she had been able to do was talk them down from real spiders. “I’m sure he’d overlook the fact that you’d want to kill him in order to represent you. Like…65% sure? No, like 85%. He was really mad about our last April Fools prank.” 

Emily seemed to be seriously considering it. 

“And what would I gain from…suing you?” 

Must not be a concept she was familiar with. Lia couldn’t blame her. Monsters didn’t seem like the type to have complex legal systems. 

“Probably money or jail time. I think most states did away with the death penalty.” 

Emily made a face, clearly this was not adequate in her eyes. 

“Absolutely not! Your suffering is the only thing that will bring her the peace she needs to reform!” 

Lia sighed. “Well I can’t let you kill me so it looks like we’re back where we started.”

“Let?! Let me kill you??” Her face looked like it was glowing red, almost like the flames of her hair. Looked like she had crossed a line. “I have killed thousands of heroes and mortals, you are no different! Except your vexing unwillingness to fight back.” 

“Violence doesn’t have to be the answer to everything.” She answered with a shrug. “Besides, don’t you get tired of losing?” 

Emily was not happy with this and lunged. Lia dodged and brought up her sword to slash across her back. The empousa’s screams were heart wrenching. 

“Please,” maybe begging would work. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

“I do not share this sentiment.”

“Really?” She said bitterly. “I couldn’t tell.” She had been awake for a really long time. All she wanted was a nap, maybe even a cup of tea. But no. She had to deal with Little Miss Vengeance.

“This is great and all,” the shorter guy spoke up, though the nervousness in his voice was clear, “But maybe we could try talking out our differences?”

“I’m game if she is!” Lia answered, though she didn’t drop her sword. The guy in the weird yellow costume was trying, not that it would do any good. Lia has been trying to do that since she had gotten jumped in the graveyard. No. Dice.

“How interesting. A mortal that is ever so slightly resistant.” Emily started to move closer to inspect him. That wasn’t good, not good at all, very not good. She slashed at her metal leg, her sword cutting through roughly.

“Now, now. What happened to getting to them afterwards. I’m getting jealous.” She almost cringed at the sarcasm in her own voice. Luckily she had other things to worry about as the empousa turned around and racked her claws down Lia’s shoulder.

Not a pleasant feeling.

“Still jealous, little hero?” She sneered as Lia rolled away, trying not to drop her sword.

“Less so.” She said, gritting her teeth. “Also can we stop with the ‘little hero’ shit? First of all, I’m an inch taller than you. Second of all, I am not a hero. They’ve got their own little clubs and I can assure you I am not a member. Thirdly, You’ve been trying to kill me for like…I don’t know, a week? Two? Don’t you think that warrants a first name basis, Emily?”

“My name,” she seethed. Seething was, in Lia’s opinion, very very bad. “Is Emelia. I refused to be referred to by this lesser name.”

“Oh, my bad.” Emelia, not Emily. “It's lovely to meet you, Emelia. My name is Lia.”

“A horrible name for a horrible girl.”

“Well that's kinda rude.” 

She glanced over at the guy who could apparently still talk. 

“I think it's a nice name.”

“Your opinion means nothing.” Emelia sneered. 

“Thanks.” She offered him a sheepish smile. “Umm…sorry, by the way.”

“Oh no,” He seemed rather calm actually, at his current frozen state. “You’re fine. Believe it or not, this isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened to me all week. Not even close.”

“Oh…really?”

“Would you please stop talking like I’m not here!” Emelia lunged again and Lia blocked with her sword, but Emelia’s other hand reached out and slashed into her side. She brought up a foot and kicked her away, stumbling back a little herself.

“You sure make a lot of demands.” She huffed. She wasn’t talking her way out of this one. Time to take the offensive. Her arm and side were starting to sing in pain as the adrenaline faded, but if she could just get one good hit in, this would be over. “How about I make one? Tell me how you’ve been reforming so quickly. The Doors Of Death were released. So why do you keep finding your way back here so quickly?” She knew the doors of death had been opened, but the Seven heroes had fixed that problem. Monsters were supposed to be taking their precious time reforming again. If this was a clerical error, she was gonna have some words with Hades. Or Thanatos? Whoever’s jurisdiction this was under was getting a strongly worded letter.

“Die!” 

Not the response she was looking for. Emelia started coming at her in full force, slashing and kicking, backing Lia up to…a stream? But that could work. If she managed to kill her, hopefully her dust would get ripped away from each other by the current, at the very least her reformation would take longer. Since she apparently had a fast pass back to the mortal world. That was, if the empousa didn’t make good on her threats and actually ripped her to shreds. 

She could feel her exhaustion trying to catch up with her. If she lost her speed that would be the end of it. Luckily, Emelia was still recovering from her hurt leg, which had been slowly trickling ichor. It was now or never, and Lia slashed at it again, severing it from her body, bringing her to her knees. 

She stepsided and spun around till she was standing behind the empousa. “I’m sorry.” She whispered before bringing her sword up and plunging it down into her skull with a sickening crunch. She heard shouting behind her as Emelia slowly crumbed to dust that blew into the stream below, hopefully washing her far away. She sank to her knees, her sword clattering on the stone floor. “I hope you find peace.” Her words were barely audible. 

Sometimes she wondered why this happened. Why the monster sought them out. Why were they so desperate to kill them? Sure, the gods couldn’t be killed, so this was supposedly the next best thing. But surely there was another solution, something that didn’t involve all this senseless murder and violence. 

“Excuse me Mis-“ the light touch on her shoulder pulled her out of her head. Her hand immediately went to the inside of her coat where her knife was hidden. Drawing it quickly, she was once again on her feet, knife pushing against the flesh of a throat. 

***

She’d just meant the knife to be threatening. If it was another monster, they probably wouldn’t have said anything, just attacked. A small part of her brain reminded her that there were two mortals in this cave, the whole reason she had stopped to fight, but she’d been in flight or fight mode so long it was either this or jump into the stream.

She took a deep breath as she took in the stranger, who was standing perfectly still, waiting for her to make the next move, seemingly uncaring in the slightest that she had a knife to his throat. A knife that had pushed farther than just against skin if the slow trickle of blood was any indication. Red blood. Not a monster. Though if he was, this would be the first time she’s ever met a monster who wore coat tails and a vest. 

“Sorry about that,” She apologized, moving the knife away from his neck slowly. He gave her a soft smile and nodded. 

“It's quite alright.” 

British, too? 

“Though I hate to state the obvious, you are looking quite…beat, as the children say.”

“Agent A,” the worry in the voice was so clear, “Maybe we should back away from the stranger with the knives?” 

She shot a glance at the guy; he was dressed in a blue and black costume with a mask over his eyes, standing next to his friend. Though he was dressed in a yellow suit, with a white bat(?) on his chest and horns on his helmet. They looked kinda familiar, like one of her brother's action figures. She immediately took a step away.

“Sorry, I’ll get my bag and go.” She sheathed her knife into her jacket, and then slowly bent down to collect her sword. Careful not to turn her back to them, sliding it back in the sheath on her belt.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow it.” Agent A lamented, like it was the only logical solution. 

“Yeah, I mean you just killed someone. We have questions. We’ll need to call Bat-'' The guy with what she finally realized was a bluebird on his chest interrupted, slowly taking the batons off his back. 

Ok, so maybe not cosplay. 

She was in Gotham. She remembered Cecil or Chris saying Gotham had a hoard of Vigilantes that worked with Batman. Had she really found their hideout?

“I’ll need to treat your injuries first. Have you eaten recently?” 

Everyone stared as he walked towards her and slowly started to guide her somewhere. 

“I’m afraid I can only offer a sandwich at the moment, the new groceries won’t be here till later today. Do you eat turkey?” 

“Um…yes?” She hesitated. He didn’t seem threatening. He kinda reminded her of Chiron, though he’d never offered to make her a sandwich before.

“Alf-“ The guy in blue tried again.

“Nightwing, I will temporarily lift your ban on the kitchen. Please go make my guest a sandwich.” 

Nightwing seemed utterly lost at this command. 

“And Signal, if you would grab the young lady’s bag.” 

Signal seemed less lost.

“Sure thing Agent A!” He started to run off.

“Signal?? She’s a stranger in the Cave?” Nightwing said indignantly. 

“Agent A said she's a guest,” He shrugged, picking up the pack before apparently deciding against it. “Yikes. This is heavy.” He was just barely not dragging it on the floor. If she wasn’t so confused, she would tell him not to touch her stuff. “If he says it’s alright then who am I to argue? I don’t want to be on his bad side.”

“Much appreciated, I assure you,” Agent A led her to a cot. She immediately recognized the set up. A field infirmary. “Nightwing? Did your ears get damaged in that last fight with Black Mask?”

“Uhh..N-no,” He answered with uncertainty.

“So you are standing around because...?” He prompted.

“…I'm not explaining this to B,” He called out as he ran off. Perhaps to make her a sandwich, or call the cops, or both. She hoped it was the first one, but number three would do, too. 

Signal carefully deposited her bag at her feet with a loud thunk. “What do you have in there?” He sounded out of breath. 

“…Armor,” She answered slowly as she studied the cave, and it was exactly what she expected. There were bats hanging from the ceiling with massive industrial lights. 

“Armor?” He parroted back. 

“Battle armor,” She specified. She could see all kinds of gadgets and vehicles with Batman's insignia on them.

“Why do you umm…have it?” He asked nervously.

“Family tradition.” There were some costumes on display as well along the wall. She recognized Robin, though they were probably old ones from the previous Robins, and that was about it of the ones that were displayed and apparently not currently in use. They aren’t costumes! They’re super suits!!

“To have battle armor?”

“My family’s crazy,” She brought her gaze back to the vigilante beside her.

“Oh, cool. Uhhh, mine too.”

“…so you're Signal? Like Gotham’s daytime vigilante Signal? Only meta in Gotham Signal?” She asked as she squinted at him. No wonder she thought he looked like an action figure. Theo literally had his action figure.

“Uhhh…yeah.” 

“…Could I have your autograph?” She prompted slowly.

“You want…my autograph?” He echoed back to her. He was one of the city’s heroes, so she had figured he'd get asked that more. Agent A was still collecting stuff from the storage bins, so she looked back at him.

“My…baby brother is a huge fan,” She explained. Theo had talked her ear off about Signal for an hour once, though she couldn’t really remember anything except that he was from Gotham and a meta.

“Oh, sure!” He brightened up, and she opened one of the smaller pockets and pulled out a notebook and pen. “How old is he?” 

“He’ll be five in like four or three weeks.” She handed over the book. “I actually got him a Signal sweatshirt. The hood has the ears on it.” 

“Dang, that sounds really cute. Do you have a picture?” He was carefully writing out the start of a message, but he paused when she opened her locket. The small rectangular box of shiny gold sat in the exact middle of her camp necklace, surrounded on either side by eight beads. A strip of photos came tumbling out. Her locket had a small enchantment on it from the Hecate cabin. All of her siblings would show up, the moment she found out about them, and it also let her know that her siblings were alive; she had found out a few years ago when one died, and the picture disappeared.

At the very bottom was Theo; he was the youngest after all. He had a huge grin on his face and was wearing a dark red shirt. His braids looked like they’d have to be redone soon. She pushed the rest of the strip back in so only Theo could be seen, and angled it so Signal could look.

“His names’ Theo.”

“He’s cute.” Signal smiled before going back to writing. Which worked out because Agent A was walking back over. Seeing all the bandages and medical supplies reminded her of her injuries, all the blood she was probably losing. She closed up the locket and gave it a squeeze.

“Alright Miss…forgive me, I forgot to ask you your name.”

“Call me Lia.”

“Alright Miss Lia, Where doe-“

“Just Lia is fine.” She was ignored.

“-s it hurt the most?” 

“Please?” She was ignored. 

“Probably that shoulder or side. May I?” He gestured to her jacket, and she started to shrug it off before she stopped. 

“Why are you doing this?” She asked skeptically.

“Because you are injured,” He replied simply.

“But you don’t even know me. Nightwing clearly thought my being here was a bad idea, so why are you helping me?” 

He looked at her for a second, confused. 

“Ah! Forgive me, it slipped my mind.” He unbuttoned his right cuff and rolled up his sleeve. It was a tattoo. Not just any tattoo, A legionnaire’s tattoo. With crossed spears. “I now realize I have failed to introduce myself. My name is-“ 

“YOU HAVE A TATTOO?!?” She whipped her head to the side to see Nightwing, who was holding a plate with a sandwich, looking like the world had stopped. Agent A only sighed. 

“How did none of us know you had a tattoo?” He dropped the plate on the cot next to her.

“I didn’t believe it was relevant.” He stated simply. Nightwing looked betrayed at this.

“But is it relevant to her?” She could hear the hurt in his voice. They’d probably known each other a long time.

“A little bit,” She shrugged, and Nightwing and Signal’s gaze shot back to her. She went to scratch the back of her head and explain, but instead, she pulled at the gash on her side and winced. 

Injured. Right.

“If you would take off your jacket Miss Lia,” Agent A promted.

She sighed; getting him to drop the ‘Miss’ was probably a losing battle. She shrugged off her jacket slowly; it was awkward trying not to aggravate her injuries while getting out of it, but eventually it glided off. Shooting a look over her shoulder, she saw Nightwing laying it down next to her sandwich. He was scrutinizing her. But Agent A cleared his throat, and she turned back to him. 

“Let's get you fixed up, shall we?” 

She didn't say anything as he started on her shoulder. Her shirt had been torn to shreds for the most part. As he was stitching up with wider gashes, the sandwich appeared in her peripheral vision. She hesitated before accepting it. 

“Thank you.” She nodded her head to Nightwing before taking a bite. Turkey, lettuce, and a white cheese…american? It was good. And it definitely beat the stale pretzels she'd been snacking on a few…days ago? Whenever she had eaten last. Before she knew it she had inhaled it. She almost asked for another one but, before she could, Nightwing spoke up.

“So how’d you find this place?” 

“I got lost.” Her words felt like cotton in her mouth. 

“Where were you trying to go?”

“Away.” She furrowed her brows. “Home.” She added because that's really where she was heading, home. Back to Camp, back to her siblings.

“And where is home?” 

“Not here.” She looked down at where Agent A was applying a bandage on her side. Nightwing went to say something else but she didn’t hear him as she yawned. Gods, she was tired. She couldn't really remember the last night she had actually slept. 

“Well, your wounds will need to be redressed later so, for now, why don’t you sleep. You should regain your energy.”

“I don’t think-“ she yawned again. “That's a good idea.”

“You want to let a civilian stay in the cave?” 

“I’m afraid I must insist.” He completely ignored Nightwing. “Let me go get you a warm blanket.” He didn’t leave room for argument before walking off, leaving her with Nightwing and Signal.

“Here you go Lia.” She turned and Signal was holding out a notebook to her. 

That's right! She’d asked for an autograph for Theo.

“Thank you! I know he’ll love it!” Curiously, she opened the book, and there was a full paragraph and a picture! But as tired as she was, the letters were flying around like crazy. She tried squinting, but it didn’t help. The picture looked like a cartoonish Signal giving a thumbs up.

“Is my handwriting that bad?” Signal asked worriedly.

“Nah, I’m just like…really dyslexic.” She sighed, putting the book back into her bag. 

“Oh, uh…sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, kid. Really, I’m just too tired to try and make the letters stay still right now.” 

He nodded. She rubbed her eyes. 

“You gave her an autograph?” Nightwing sounded confused…and a little bit of something else.

“It’s for her little brother! Apparently he’s a huge fan!” Signal beamed. Nightwing’s face softened. 

“How old is he?” He asked, turning to her.

“Four, but his birthday is co-“ She yawned again, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. “Coming up soon.”

“N! He’s really cute too!” Signal added. 

“Oh?” He looked from Signal, then back to her. She sighed and opened the locket again. She didn’t fold the other pictures back in, but held the lot of them out. 

“That’s him. His name is Theo.” 

Nightwing studied it for a second, before his eyes wandered to the other photos. 

“Are all of these your siblings?”

“N, there's no way-“

“Yeah.” She cut Signal off. It wasn’t common to have as many siblings as she did.

“…there are like a dozen photos.” Signal said in a mix of shock, horror, and awe.

“Our father gets around,” She shrugged. 

“Are they oldest to youngest?” Nightwing asked as he started to study them.

“Yeah.” 

“So she’s the oldest?” He asked, pointing to the picture of Selina, which was mostly hidden by the door of the locket. He probably couldn’t see it very well and wanted her to show it to him…which was absolutely a no-go. That was 110% a revelation she was going to avoid at all costs.

“Yeah,” she started to fold up the photos and close the locket. Nightwing went to say something, but agent A returned with a quilt and a pillow.

“I trust these should be sufficient, though it can be terribly drafty in the Cave. Do let me know if you require another.”

“Thank you Agent A. I should be alright with just this. I’ve been running around these caves for about two days, so this is a luxury,” She grinned as she took the bedding.

“Ah! Please, call me Alfred, Miss Lia.” 

She smiled; it suited him.

“Alright, but only if you call me just Lia.” She countered. His eyebrows furrowed just a bit. She had to take her chance, the miss just made it too formal.

“Miss Lia, I-“ 

“Agent A.” She pushed again. His face didn’t move an inch.

“This is a pointless argument.” Indignation really held more weight with a british accent. “I’ll have you know.”

“Then you won’t mind conceding.” Her eyes were growing heavy, but her stubbornness demanded she get this before she blacked out from exhaustion.

“…for now I will concede. You seem determined to argue the point, so I shall table this for when you are more rested and less injured.” 

She could feel her body start to slump but she cocked an eyebrow, another fight she was sure to win. 

“Do rest now Mi-…Lia.” 

“Thank you, Alfred.” She gave him a loose smile. He was probably the most non-confrontational child of Ares…no, Mars she had ever met. Mars was a little different than Ares, she supposed. Maybe he just knew how to pick his battles. She put the pillow down, and caught a glance of Nightwing and Signal with their mouths hanging open. She decided it wasn’t important and pulled the blanket over herself. She was asleep before her head made contact with fabric.

In a rare stroke of luck, she didn’t dream at all.

***

“Well I don't see her.” A gruff voice argued.

“I’m telling you Jay! She was sleeping right here!” 

She recognized the voice but she didn’t know from where.

“And I’d still be sleeping if you two would pipe down.” She grumbled. 

“What the hell?!” 

She crawled out from underneath the cot she had gotten off of in the middle of the night and crawled under. 

“Why were you under there?”

She looked up and one of the guys was the blue one from last night….what had his name been? And the other was wearing a gray jumpsuit with a red bat on his chest, a brown leather jacket, and a red helmet. She had definitely seen his action figure lying around Cabin 11. She squinted at him like it would help her remember.

“Too exposed.” She reached for the pillow Alfred had brought her, that she had dragged under the cot with her. She stood up and put it back on the cot and folded the blanket too. Just like on her bunk back at camp. A camp she needed to get back to. 

“Exposed to what?” 

It was really bugging her. That she couldn’t remember it. Cecil had been so excited when she had asked about it; he’d given her a college style lecture on everything he knew about the Gotham…vigilante? Crime lord? It had been unclear to her at the time.

“Bats.” Hopefully they found the pun funny and not suspicious. She walked over and picked up her pack and slung it onto her shoulder before wincing and dropping it again. “Shit.”

“We’re here to redress your wounds.” The guy in blue explained. She still couldn’t remember his name.

“And you need two people for that?” She asked, sitting back down on the cot. She could feel the twinge of pain in her side. The ambrosia she had eaten when she had woken up to crawl underneath her cot had definitely helped, but it could only do so much, like knit the skin back together and knock her out from the energy usage. But the pain and soreness was still there. 

“We’re a cautious group.” The blue guy stated. 

“He means we’re paranoid.” The red guy corrected. His name finally popping up in her head.

“Red Hood! That’s your name, right?” She asked. He tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah, why? Your brother a fan of me too?” 

She could hear the joke in his voice.

“Not the same brother, but yeah. He thinks you’re…what did he say?” She tried to think of it. “Gods, uhhh, something about being like Robin Hood, but actually sticking around to make sure the poor got to keep what he gave them.”

“Oh yeah?” He crossed his arms, sounding smug. The blue guy went around gathering supplies.

“He also said your costume was cool.” 

“Damn right it’s cool. You gonna ask for my autograph too?” He sounded almost excited. 

“You willing to give me one?” She raised an eyebrow. He didn’t seem like the type. 

“Anything for a fan.” He shrugged.

“Yeah? Well, I’ll take you up on it. Cecil will freak.” She said with a small smile. She dug the same notebook out of her pack and handed it to him, though when she looked back up his helmet was being set down. Though a mask similar to the blue guy rested on his eyes. But what really caught her eye was the white streak in his hair. It seemed familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen it. Maybe it reminded her of Percy and Annabeth, who had similar streaks from holding up the sky. Not just that, but how young he looked. Her hand froze around the book as he reached for it. 

“Something wrong, Blondie?” 

“You just look younger than I thought you’d be.” She said. Being young at camp was one thing, but she always thought it was shitty when mortals got pulled into hero life at a young age.

-

“You’re never too young to help those around you!”

-

“I hate when people say that.” He grumbled. He looked about the same age as Connor. 

“Doesn’t everyone?” She asked as Nightwing came back over. “And you? What’s your super cool hero name?” He stopped. Red Hood froze, too.

“You don’t know him?” Red Hood said. “This is the best day ever, and you are my favorite person!”

“What?” She asked looking back at him. There was a grin on his face. 

“I mean, you asked Signal and I for our autographs, and you don’t even know the golden boy’s name! Ha! Normally it's the other way around.” He seemed giddy, kinda like Alice after pulling a particularly complex prank.

“I mean… I don’t really stay up to date on all the capes in the world.” She shrugged. 

“Yeah, yeah, alright Little Wing, write your silly little monologue.” He bantered, pushing Red Hood’s shoulder slightly, before turning to her. “I’m Nightwing. May I?” He gestured to her bandaged side. She nodded and pulled her shirt up to expose the bandage. Nightwing set to work pulling off the bandage, but as soon as it was off he paused. 

“Dickwing, I thought you said she was scratched to hell? That looks like a cat scratch.” 

She shot a glance down, she hadn’t checked last night, but there were four lines where Emelia had scratched her. They had probably been deep and bloody, judging from the blood on her shirt and the bandage, but, for the most part, they did look like cat scratches. But she could see scar tissue where the ambrosia could only heal so much. 

“It was worse.” He faltered, catching her eye before pulling the neckline of her shirt over and removing the second bandage. “This one’s the same…but they were…worse.” He stared back into her eyes, as if he could find the truth by staring into her soul.

“Clearly not as bad as you thought. They look like they just need a bandaid.” She suggested. His eyes narrowed. “Look, if you’re not gonna put the bandages on, I have places I need to be.”

“You can’t leave.” He insisted as she tried to get up.

“Excuse me?” It was her turn to glare. 

“We need answers. A lot of stuff happened last night. Stuff that you could probably explain.”

“I don’t remember anything happening last night.” She lied. Straight through her teeth.

“Really? So no goat woman with flaming hair chased you into the cave?” His voice was low and even. Dangerously even. “That was all just a figment of our imagination?”

“Some people have pretty overactive imaginations.” She knew she wasn’t being convincing. Just digging her grave deeper and deeper.

“If she was just a figment of my imagination, how’d you get these scratches?” His voice was dark. His hands were slowly gravitating towards the batons on his back. 

“She’s not dead.” She swallowed thickly. She could feel her eyes prickle. The guilt started to build up. 

“Then where is she?” A dark voice sounded and their heads snapped to see. And see she did. Batman. In the flesh. The cowl. The cape. The way he both filled up a room and had no presence at all. She could feel herself tense, ready to bolt. With how Batman was scrutinizing her, he could probably sense it, too.

“Probably searching for me so she can try to kill me again.” She pushed off the cot and grabbed her bag. She ignored the pain this time. It was getting heavy again; she’d have to go through all the things she’d acquired over the last two months. “So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going now.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“And what right do you have to keep me here?” She asked calmly, standing in front of him like she didn’t know what he was capable of. Like he wasn’t someone she should be wary of. 

“You broke into a highly secure hideout an-.”

“I got lost in a cave system.” She scoffed. “Trust me, I didn’t wanna find your little hero cave.”

“You killed someone.”

“I told you,” she was getting frustrated. “She’s not dead.”

“Then where is she?“

She sighed. If she had just kept her mouth shut, maybe tried to play off that she had hit her head or was too tired to remember, she could’ve gotten out of this. “I don’t have time for this right now.” She started walking again, only to be frozen in her tracks. 

“If you aren’t guilty then why are you dodging the questions?” 

“Because I have people waiting for me. People that count on me.” She tried to keep the emotion out of her voice and the tears out of her eyes as she turned her head to look up at the Batman. “People I need to protect. And I can’t do that if I’m in a stupid cave.” She pushed past him. She tried to make a break for it. She was faster than the average mortal, but Batman grabbed her in a death grip. She was not having this today. She grabbed his hand and yanked, then moved behind, bringing his arm with him. He flipped and hit the floor before rolling to stand up again. She went to run, but Nightwing was standing in her path. “Please.” She begged quietly.

“Let’s just calm down. We just want to know what happened. If you’ll just-“ 

She ran up to him, faking right, then faking left before twirling around and breaking past him. She felt him grab her arm and pull her back. She used that momentum to punch him. She turned her head and aimed for his cheek. The least likely to do permanent damage, and also one of the few places not covered in armor. He loosened his grip and she yanked her arm and bolted. She didn’t make it far before she felt something pinch her neck. Her hand went up to investigate and she pulled out a dart. Her body started to feel weak. 

Did they tranq me??

“I have people I need to protect too.” 

That’s what filled her ears as she blacked out. Again.

***

She woke up with a start, immediately going for the knife in her jacket. Only she didn’t have her jacket, or her knife. She glanced around. She was on a bed, not a cot. Definitely a mattress and frame instead of stretched canvas. The walls were part of the cave, though they were smooth instead of jagged. The most notable thing was the bars. She immediately ran to them, pushing on them. “No, No.” She yanked on them as hard as she could, before actually assessing the situation. There was a door to the right, cut into the bars, and a lock. And there was a lock! She could 100% get out of here. She reached her hands through the bars on either side to try and get a feel for the lock. Keycodes were hardest since it was more electronic than mechanism. Her fingers had just found a key hole and keypad when she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“You’re awake.” A voice called and her head shot up, searching for the source. And she found it. Batman, tucked partially into the shadows. 

“You have no right to keep me here. Let me out.” Her throat hurt, probably from the chokehold. 

“Not until I get some answers.” There was not a single drop of emotion on his face. At least, not on the half of it she could see.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the World’s Greatest Detective?” She quipped sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. She pulled her hands back. She’d have to wait to assess the lock. 

“It never hurts to have a second account.” A young voice echoed in the darkness. Another vigilante stepped out. His suit was red with a yellow “X” across his chest; he sported a black cape, gloves, and pants. A mask guarded his eyes and the sides of his face but left his dark hair on display.

“How many of you are there?” She asked, sarcastically, and mostly to herself.

“I’m Red Robin.” His answer did not answer her question

The cadence of his voice seemed familiar. 

“What's your name?” Red Robin’s smile was small but genuine.

She pushed off where she was holding onto the bars and went back to the bed. If they were gonna interrogate her, then she was gonna be comfy. As she sat down, Batman spoke up again.

“Your name?” 

She raised another eyebrow at him.

“Again, aren’t you called the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’?” She asked pointedly. “I’m sure you can figure that out, if you haven’t already.” She put a blanket on her legs and leaned her back against the cave wall.

“…Aurelia Vanguard.” Red Robin supplied after a few seconds of tense silence. 

“See?” She gave Batman a pointed look, before going back to studying the cell. 

“We have your background and your history, but we still have a few questions for you.” At least Red Robin decided to treat her like a person. She hummed in acknowledgement but didn’t do anything else.

“How did you find the Cave?” He asked. 

She glanced at him but stayed silent. 

“Umm ok, what are you doing in Gotham?”

More silence. 

“How do you know the individual known as Emelia?” 

This one was Batman. She stared past both of them and looked at the wall behind them.

“Please, if you answer the questions the sooner we can resolve any misunderstandings.” Red Robin tried. Batman shot him a look but said nothing. 

But she couldn’t. They perceived her as a threat, and probably wouldn’t let her go ‘til she told them everything she knew… was entirely too much for a bunch of mortals. Not to mention she really shouldn’t tell them. On the off chance that they actually believed her. Best to just wait for an opportunity to break out and run for it.

“You really aren’t gonna say anything?” Red Robin asked.

“Where's my stuff?” Her pack wasn’t in here, which means they were probably rifling through it. Probably in the hopes of figuring out her nonexistent evil schemes.

“Escape won’t work.” 

She was starting to get really curious about how Batman’s voice got that growly. 

“I was gonna change my clothes.”  She stated pointedly to Red Robin. “These are ripped to shreds and covered in blood.”

Red Robin seemed to consider this and ran off. She could see Batman glance after him, but he quickly put his focus back on her. He was probably glaring. She wanted to glare right back, but, with the adrenaline rush she got after waking up fading, her eyes were starting to droop again. 

“Are you affiliated with the League of Assassins?” 

She just stared. 

“We haven’t found any records on Emelia. Why?” 

She yawned and felt her chest shake. She didn’t hear his next question.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” Her words slurred with exhaustion.

“This takes as long as you make it take,” Batman growled. Again. She laid down.

“Imma take a nap then,” She yawned as she fell asleep. Again. 

***

“Miss Aurelia, are you awake? I’ve brought you dinner.” 

She rolled over and looked at Alfred, who was indeed holding a tray of food. 

“Not hungry.” She rolled back over.

“Tt. How ungrateful.” 

She recognized that voice too. She rolled back over and sat up. It was a young boy, also dressed up. 

Robin, her brain supplied. 

“Pennyworth, I fail to see why you were so insistent about her.”

“Robin,” he chastised. And that was it, Robin was quiet. No other words necessary. They must all really respect him. Exactly like Chiron. “Miss Aurelia, you haven’t eaten in some time, I’m afraid I must insist.” And that’s when the smell hit her nose, and her stomach yelled. “It seems your stomach agrees with me.”

She sighed and got out of the bed. There was a small opening at the bottom of the barred door that Alfred slid the tray under. She sat down directly in front of the tray. It was a large mug of tomato soup and what was probably a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. 

“It looks amazing, thank you for the food.” She picked up the mug carefully, it was still steaming. The first sip was delicious, if it wasn’t so hot she probably would’ve chugged it.

“I apologize for the lack of utensils. I’m afraid Batman deemed them a security risk,” Alfred explained with a bit of a sour expression.

“Nah, I get it. Besides, the mug works just fine.” She looked over at Robin as she drank the soup slowly. She recognized him, she was sure of it, but from where…the roof!

***

“Oh…sorry. I didn’t know anyone was up here. My bad. I’ll just uh…be going.” She had started to climb back down before what she had seen really registered. Two kids with their arms behind their backs, and two guys with guns. She sighed and climbed back up. “Sorry, this probably isn’t any of my business. But, um…why are they tied up?” 

“You’re right, it is none of your business.” Goon #1 said dismissively. They looked the exact same, except he was a little taller where Goon #2 was wider. They both had handguns. 

“Get lost, Blondie.” 

She looked over at the kids. One was an older teenager, with longish dark hair and pale skin…bags under his eyes. The other kid was younger, maybe ten, with olive skin and dark brown hair, but shorter and spiked up. The younger one was subtly trying to get out of whatever they had used to tie them up with, and she was pretty sure the older one already was.

“Yeah…but I’m pretty nosy. So…” she gestured to them. “Why do you have two tied up kids on the top of a skyscraper?” Goon #1 started walking towards her. 

“I said, get lost Blondie.” He aimed his gun at her while his friend’s was still aimed at the boys.

“Does she have a death wish?” The younger boy asked.

“Yeah, well, I actually already am lost. And this is like…really sketchy.”

“Super sketchy.” The teen agreed, nodding.

“So why are they tied up?”

“Get lost before I shoot you!” He was getting loud, which meant she needed to stay very calm. 

“I’m good but thank you.” The rational part of her brain was screaming. She already had the Empousa hunting her down, she didn’t need mortal goons trying to kill her too. Though by the slight shake in his hand, she didn’t think he was going to. It was a big gamble. 

“...What?” 

Everyone seemed to stop.

“Like I said, I’m already lost. I’m not from Gotham. And I can’t leave because I’m pretty sure you’re holding these children hostage. Which, I’m pretty sure, is illegal.” She walked farther into the roof, away from her escape, her sanity. “So you can either let me stay, or shoot me I suppose.” She sat down and stretched out her legs in front of her. “But my feet are killing me and I’m not getting up.”

“Are you insane, bitch?” Goon #2 said, staring at her. 

“Yeah, probably. So,” she turned to the kids. “Why are you up here?” 

“Oh uhh…” The older teen looked at their captors then back to her. “They’re holding us for ransom, but I won’t call our dad, so no one really knows we’re missing…except maybe my assistant. I think I had a meeting about ten minutes ago? They probably think I’m hiding in a closet somewhere drinking coffee.” 

“Huh…” She considered this. “So you’re playing chicken with the people holding a gun to your face?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” He nodded. “I’m Tim, by the way. And this is Damian, my little brother.” He nodded his head to the younger kid.

“Nice to meetcha.” She gave them a small salute. “If it makes you feel any better I don’t think he’s going to. Shoot you, I mean.” 

“Excu-“

“Yeah, I think they were going for the scare factor more than actual use.” He agreed.

“You seem awfully calm for a kid being held for ransom.” She added.

“Just a regular Tuesday, I’m afraid.”

“It’s Thursday, Drake.” Damian snarked.

“Shit, really?? I had five meetings today!”

“And?” Damian didn’t seem impressed.

“Because, Demon brat, I only went to two. Because I thought it was Tuesday.” He sounded much more panicked than when he was just being held hostage. And they thought she was the crazy one. Everyone had their own priorities, she guessed.

“Alright, that’s it!” Goon #1 spoke up again. “Give us Wayne’s number or he starts shooting.”

“Yeah.” She turned back to them. “Sure ya will.” 

“I mean it!”

“Then shoot me.” She prompted calmly.

“H-he will!”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She scoffed.

“Listen, I just need the money! and then-“

“Now we’re getting somewhere! So, what’s the money for?”

“It’s-“ he started then paused, looking over to Goon #2. “It’s our little sister. She’s really sick. And-“

“Baxter! They don’t need to know that! They just need to call their super rich daddy, and then-“

“What happened to her?.” Tim spoke up. 

“Shut up, Drake.”

“We live in Crime Alley, and there’s this new virus going around. But we can’t afford the doctor or the medicine. But the Waynes have plenty of money! We just need enough to make sure she can recover.” 

She could see how broken this made Baxter in his eyes, Goon #2, too. 

“Please, she’s my baby sister. She’s twelve years old and all she wants to do is be a doctor and help people. We just need the money, then we’ll let you go!” 

She could completely understand this. If it was between doing something she thought was wrong and losing one of her siblings, well…it was an easy choice.

“I’m sorry,” Tim said. “About your sister. But I can’t just let you hold us for ransom either.” 

She could see their eyes harden again. 

“But! I have an idea. Wayne Enterprises has a massive budget for charity and community outreach programs. In fact we’ve been looking to start a new one. Maybe it could be working towards better healthcare for the Narrows.” 

She pulled her knees up to her chest. Even Baxter and his brother were considering it. 

“Why do you care?” Baxter asked, lowering his gun.

“Our brother was from Crime Alley. He used to talk all the time about doing anything we could to help them. It’s what he would’ve wanted us to do.” He said softly, and Baxter’s gun was loose at his side. Would’ve. Past tense.

“This won’t just help you sister.” She said softly. “It’ll help people, just like she wanted. But this,” She gestured to the weapons and the kids, who she was positive were now completely free. “Is this really what she would want? You, hurting them to help her?”

“No…she wouldn’t.”

“We don’t get to choose our situations, but we can choose how we deal with them.” She said as she slowly got up. “So what’s it gonna be? Are you gonna shoot us?” She held out her hand. “Or are you gonna help people?” 

Baxter looked at her and slowly put the butt of the gun in her hand. She released the clip and put the safety on before tucking it into her waistband. His brother, though, had different thoughts on the matter.

“And how do we know you aren’t just saying that to get us to let you go? Huh!” He was swinging his gun around, pointing it at all of them. “You’re just gonna call the cops and Nessie’s gonna die while we rot in jail! No deal.”

“Alan, please-“ Baxter tried. 

“No! We’re doing this to help her! Family first! Remember?” He was trying to sound menacing, but he just sounded scared. “Bax, you promised!” 

“Listen,” she started softly. “I understand wanting to do anything to help your little siblings. She looks up to you, and you’d do anything to keep her looking at you like that.” She took a careful step towards him. He cocked his gun. “But this? If you do this, that look in her eyes?” She swallowed thickly. “That look goes away forever. And there’s nothing you’ll be able to do to fix it.”

-

“Lia, it’s for us! For our siblings! For everyone! Why should they get to order us around? Why should we have to take responsibility for their actions?”

-

“How do you know that?” He wavered, she took another step. “How could you possibly know that?” 

“Because you haven’t shot me yet? Because you know the moment you do you won’t be able to look her in the eyes again.” Because I was her and Luke was you. “But you can still turn back. It’s not too late for her, and it is not too late for you.”

“I-“ He looked between her, Tim and Damian, and Baxter. Then back to Tim. “You’ll really help her?”

“It’s like you said, the Waynes have more than enough money. And we have funds specifically allocated for this.” His smile was reassuring. “And if you let us go,” he added. “Maybe I tell my assistant this was a pitch meeting instead of an active hostage situation. No jail time.” 

Alan slowly took his hand off the trigger and handed the gun to her. 

“O-okay.” She took it and nodded, releasing the clip and putting the safety on before also adding it to her waistband.

“Now,” She turned to them. “Let’s get you boys back downstairs shall we?” She walked past Baxter to them, lifting the pocket knife that was clipped to his belt. She could see the panic in Tim’s eyes, but before he could let out an excuse she was crouched behind him pretending to cut the zip ties. “Those looked pretty tight.” She faked concern. “Was your circulation cut off at all?”

“..No,” he responded slowly, bringing his hands to the front and rubbing at his perfectly fine wrists “No, it wasn’t.” She scooted closer to Damian and did the same thing.

“How about you, Kid?” 

“I am not a child.” He grumbled. She shot a look at Tim, who shook his head. “And I am quite well, thank you.”

“Sure thing ki-,” she stopped herself. “Damian.” 

“Tt.”

She looked over at Baxter and Alan, they seemed pretty unsure about what happened next. 

“You gonna be okay to handle them?” She asked Tim, keeping her voice down. She may understand their reason, but she didn’t like people who used children as pawns.

“Yeah, we were already planning a program like this anyways so it just shifts the timeline a bit. No biggie.” He shrugged. Then he looked over at her. “Why’d you do that?”

“Do what?” She asked, cocking her head to the side. 

“Get involved. Most people really would’ve just hightailed it outta there. You came back. Why?” She looked at him for a moment, and smiled.

“You’re just a couple of kids. Kids shouldn’t have to deal with stuff like this.” She said honestly. 

“Did you know I’m actually the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and this is technically my building?” He said in a joking tone.

“This is Father’s building.” Damian corrected.

“Whatever, Dami.”

“…So you’re saying that they could’ve just asked you for the money this whole time?” She asked.

“They totally could’ve, yeah.” He grinned. “But for real, thanks. Our dad and older brother get super paranoid and hover-y when stuff like this happens. You saved us from a fate worse than death.”

“Ha! Well I can’t say I don’t get it.” She laughed. “I’m the same way. It’s probably because they weren’t here, and if anything were to happen they’d think of all the ways they could have prevented it if they had been here.”

“Yeah…yeah that’s probably it.” He studied her. But she had already been here too long. The Empousa was probably catching up.

“Well, get home safe, and good luck with your new community improvement thing.”

“Uh yeah, sure. Thanks.” She heard Damian mention something to Tim but she didn’t hear it as she crossed the roof as she had planned on in the first place and got on the ladder.

“I hope your sister gets better!” She called as she started climbing. She heard them yell back something that was probably ‘thank you’ as she made her way back down and hopefully to a nearby skyscraper. 

***

“Why are you staring at me?” Robin demanded. Yeah, definitely the same kid, which meant that Tim was probably Red Robin. They had the same haircut, at the very least. She sipped on her soup before turning to Alfred.

“It's delicious, thank you.” She said before taking a bite of the sandwich. It was probably the best grilled cheese she had ever tasted.

“I’m glad you enjoy it, Miss Aurelia.” His face didn’t really give anything away. Maybe his eyes were a bit sad? 

“I thought we were over the ‘Miss’ thing?” She groaned. “Just Lia is fine.” 

“I’m afraid it would be wrong of me to refer to a guest as anything less.” He gave her the smallest smile, but his tone didn’t change. And she had to keep reminding herself that he probably worked for Batman, the guy who had locked her up.

“I don’t think I really count as a guest anymore.” She said, a knuckle tapping on one of the bars. 

“I’m afraid Batman doesn’t like being surprised, and even more,” He took a pause. “He doesn’t like when people could be a threat to his family.”

She took a larger sip of her soup, it was cooling off quite a bit now. “This still seems a little extreme.” 

“I quite agree with you, Miss.” 

She sighed and drained the rest of her soup. It warmed her up from the inside out, kinda like drinking molten lava. Now that she thought about it, drinking hot tomato soup was pretty close to that. The color, depending on how hot it-

“How did you infiltrate the Batcave?” 

“Why is he here?” She asked Alfred. 

“To protect him, of course.” He replied before Alfred could. 

“He deemed you too much of a threat to allow me to see you alone.” She chuckled. With her sandwich finished, she slid the tray back under the door. Alfred picked it up and tucked it under his arm.

“She threw Batman.” Robin reasoned. “And she got a solid hit on Nightwing. She is clearly a warrior, if her belongings are anything to go off of. Though, why Nightwing seems to insist the sword is-“

“Did you happen to grab me a change of clothes? Ya know, when you were going through my things?” 

Robin went to respond but someone, Nightwing, spoke up first. 

“Robin, I thought B told you to stay away from her.” 

She snapped her head to the voice, Nightwing, and winced. He had a huge bruise on his cheek. Demigods were a tad stronger than mortals. Partially because they were half god and partially because they spent most of their time training. Glancing at his face reminded her of that. 

“Nightwing, I was simply protecting Pennyworth from an unkno-“

“Quite so,” Alfred agreed. “Though I believe I shall get back to the kitchen and begin preparations for dinner, If you would escort me.” Alfred said, walking off. Robin glanced at Alfred, and then scowled back to her one more time before following him. Which left her with Nightwing. The ugly green and purple skin filled her with regret. 

“Admiring your handiwork?” He asked.

“Regretting a hasty decision.” She corrected, looking down at the floor, then taking a quick glance back at his face. “Is it as bad as it looks?”

He laughed softly. “I’ve had worse. You’re stronger than you look though.” He gracefully sat down across from her. “Are you feeling better? How are your injuries?” 

She hadn’t checked. She pulled her shirt to the side and assessed it. There was barely a scab. She poked at it. A little tender, and the scar was pretty visible. Another one for the collection. She let her shirt fall back into place. She wished she could change, this one was ripped to shreds. 

“I’ve had worse.” She parroted back to him. She looked back to find him studying her. 

“You heal pretty fast.” His gaze narrowed.

“I guess.” She went back to staring at the floor. “Are you here to interrogate me too?” 

“I actually have an offering.” He said as he pushed a bundle through the bars. “Red Robin said you wanted a change of clothes.”

She stared at him for a second before cautiously taking it. Her favorite pair of pajama pants and her camp t-shirt greeted her. She stood up and walked over to the bed, dropping them on the blankets before reaching for her back and starting to pull her ruined shirt over her head. She was so ready to be out of this crunchy shirt. 

“That’s umm…a lot of scars.” 

She stilled her arms and called over her shoulder.

“Ya know, it’s pretty rude to stare.” She could see from the corner of her eye how fast he spun around. She almost laughed.

“Sorry.” He muttered quietly. She finished pulling off the ruined shirt and yanked her camp shirt over her head, then shucked off her sneakers and quickly exchanged her stiff jeans for the soft sweatpants. 

“Alright.” She turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, watching as he turned back around from where he was facing the wall. “So what's the real reason you’re here? Cause I really doubt it was just to bring me a change of clothes.”

“You got me. I’ve got a couple of questions for you.” 

Her face scrunched but she had expected this. She turned around and crawled across the bed ‘til she could sit with her back against the wall. And she looked at him again. “Soo….?”

“Go on.”

“…Really?” He looked startled, like he'd been expecting her to stare at him till he left. “You’ll answer my questions?”

“I didn’t say I’d answer them.” She corrected, she started picking the dirt out from under her nails. “But you might as well ask. Who’s to say I don’t have a change of heart. So go on pretty boy, before I decide sleeping is a better use of my time.”

“Pretty?” His mouth quirked up. She glared at him slightly.

“That’s what you wanna focus on out of what I just said?”

“Uhhh, right, soo…” He seemed to be blanking.

“The questions?” She prompted. 

“Right. So what exactly are you doing in Gotham?” When she didn’t answer for a few seconds he added. “Ya know, it’s just…not really a place people tend to visit unless they have to. And even then they try their best to avoid it.” She thought about it; it was a fair question. She’d told Selina at least once every time she came to visit how much this city sucked. 

“Heading home.” She’d already told them that, no point hiding what they already knew. 

“Long Island.” He added. “Right? According to records you work at a strawberry farm and summer camp. That the same camp as the logo on your shirt?” 

Now it was starting to sound more like an interrogation. She looked down at the bright orange cotton and black ink. Why they had chosen orange for kids that were pretty much always trying to stay out of the spotlight she would never understand. It seemed counterproductive to her. 

“Yeah.” She said looking back up.

“Fun, what does “Half Blood” mean?” His voice had gone from easy going and light to driven. She was half tempted to joke but she didn’t think that would be appreciated, or taken well. 

“The camp’s been around for a while. No one really knows the meaning behind the name anymore.” Lies were always harder to find when hidden in truths.

“Ever heard of the League of Assassins?” 

Batman had mentioned that. 

“Is that some kinda emo boy band?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled. 

“No, I’m afraid not.” 

She hadn’t meant to call him a pretty boy earlier but it definitely fit. His smile was kind of dazzling.

“What a shame.” She deadpanned. 

“Where’d you get the sword? And the knife? Signal says they look antique.” She just stared at him. She didn’t think he’d accept ‘from a tool shed at the camp I work at. And from a greek god.’ 

“Alright, what about the armor?” 

She rolled her eyes.

“Ok, do you remember the path you took that led you to the Bat Cave?”

“Is that really what you guys call this place?” She was drumming her hands on her knees; when he didn’t respond, she sighed. “No, I was half asleep. I only remember running through them.” She paused for a second. “Ya know, if you didn’t want people getting in here you should really wall it up.”

“We are rectifying the problem,” He assured her. 

“Well I’m glad I could help with your security problem. Any chance you’d let me out now?” Her skin was crawling. She hadn’t sat still this long in a while and it was clear her body didn’t know what to do with it. She wished she had the space to run.

He just stared at her for a minute. “For what it’s worth. I was against keeping you in a cell.” 

“Not worth much apparently.” She whispered to herself, looking down.

“Why were you willing to talk to me?” 

Her head shot up. 

“You gave Batman and Red Robin the silent treatment, so why me?” 

She thought about just laying down with her back to him. Ignoring him. But what was one more answer.

“He’s already made up his mind about me. You seemed more willing to listen.” She shrugged.

“And I am.” He agreed. “If you tell me what happened we can get this whole mess cleared up. Lickity-split.” She sighed, bringing her knees up to her chest, if only it was that easy.

“You know, you seem pretty whelmed about this whole situation. Like none of it phases you.” She almost laughed at his use of a root word.

“I could say the same about you and Signal. Emelia froze you in place and you didn’t really seem to bat an eye.” She chuckled at the pun.

“Funny thing about that.” Nightwing narrowed his eyes. “I went back over the security footage that should have caught what happened and it's all been mysteriously corrupted. You and Emelia aren’t recognizable.”

“That is funny.” She said carefully. The Mist did that with electronics. Though most of the time it was just with monsters, not demigods. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“I can barely operate a smartphone.”

Before Nightwing could continue, there was a sound like a gun discharging and yelling. His head whipped to the sound and he went to run towards it before looking back at her.

“Go on.” She said waving him off. “Not like I’m gonna go anywhere.” He gave her a sad smile before rushing off. 

She pushed herself off the bed and went to the bars again. The shouting in the distance told her that the vigilantes in the cave were occupied, so she started to feel out the lock. She wouldn’t unlock it yet, but it never hurt to be prepared.