"Well...I appreciate that you care, Lane."
"Good. Now shut up and follow me…" Lucy walked fast in front of me, probably trying to avoid seeing my sulking form.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see, Kane, but I can assure you that you'll love it."
Ever since we met in the military, it was obvious that Lucy Lane would become my closest friend. Even the names fit...Lane, Kane… To my surprise it didn't change after I got kicked out for being gay. Something that should be normally accepted at this time, but apparently some people still prefer to judge that part of me. No matter how hard we tried to reason with my superiors, I was forced to leave and I won't lie, it ruined my life; at least for now. My father, Colonel Jacob Kane, wasn't exactly disappointed, but his reaction didn't help me cope with my new reality. What was I expecting in a military family, huh? After hearing what happened back home, Lane decided to take me out. We met near the Gotham museum and walked for couple of minutes, before she stopped in front of a small black building. I had no idea what Lucy planned, but the fact that she winked at me and almost jogged inside was a little disturbing. However it didn't take long and I walked into a nice, cozy gym. My mouth was wide open when I realized that even though it wasn't a huge room, all the equipment was neatly placed; not to mention, really expensive.
"What the fuck?" I whispered, trying to not look like a kid at a carnival.
"Told you," Lucy chuckled. "I...uhh...I always come here when I need to...let go? Come on, I'll introduce you to the girls."
"Girls?" I raised an eyebrow, unfortunately not getting any explanation.
"Alex Danvers!" Lane yelled through the room as I scuttled behind her.
"Oh...h-hi…" Tall, and definitely hot, girl smiled when she heard her name, but she didn't bother looking at us, her eyes were glued to the two women currently training in the ring; well at least to one of them for sure.
"Is your sister getting her ass kicked by your crush?" Lucy teased her, laughing loudly when Alex blushed and turned away from the ring.
"Who's your friend?" Vain attempt to save yourself, girl.
"Kate," I jumped in, offering a hand to the stranger. "Nice to meet you…" Her grip was surprisingly firm.
"Yeah, same...so what do you wan-"
"God, I am so hungry…" Tiny blonde interrupted her, blue eyes sparkling when she noticed Lucy, "Lane! Nice...time to get to the bar?"
"Actually...I thought we would train for a bit, Kate's having a bad time." She offered an apologetic smile. I could only hope that she wasn't using me as an excuse to not spend time with her other friends.
"Kate? As in Kate Kane? The one you always talk about?"
"Shut up, Kara!" She scoffed, if looks could kill, the blonde would drop down to the ground in a matter of seconds.
"Aw, you talk about me often? That's so cute…" I couldn't help myself, nudging my friend gently. Mocking Lucy was one of my favorite activities.
"Often? We pray for five minutes of silence," The other woman stepped out of the ring. She wasn't as tall as her opponent, but it wasn't hard to notice that she was ripped. It also wasn't hard to notice that Alex's body language changed as soon as she got close. Well, now we know who is who… "Hey, I'm Maggie…" I nodded and waved awkwardly.
"So you are not joining us?" Kara grinned at me, clearly done talking with Lucy.
"I mean...alcohol could help more than punching things…" I looked at Lane and shrugged.
"Hah! I like her already!" Maggie giggled and threw her arm around my shoulders. I shifted uncomfortably under the weight and most importantly under Alex's jealous gaze. Great start, Kate!
It took us more than half an hour before we finally arrived at the bar. I didn't understand why we couldn't just go to a place that was closer, I wanted to ask, but Alex's kinda pissed face, assured me that being quiet would be a better choice. Lucy and Maggie were engaged in some kind of a weird and apparently entertaining conversation about bikes. I was pulled out of my thoughts by the cute blonde leaning into me in the back of Alex's car.
"U-uh...Kara?"
"Yes?" She saw my discomfort and moved a little, "Sorry, usually it's not that cramped back here."
"It's okay…" I gave her a small smile as her attention went back to her phone.
I was sitting in the middle with Kara on my left and Maggie on my right. Lucy was in front with Alex, who wouldn't let anyone else drive her car. Well...maybe Maggie could. It was a little surprising that they didn't jump on the bikes and ride to the sunset, but I was thankful for the company. Even though Lane might have been a little disappointed that I picked the bar over gym, spending some time with her friends seemed to cheer her up more than giving me a training lesson. Alex parked the car near the small bar at the edge of the city. Everyone got out pretty quickly, I swear Kara was inside the building in a blink of an eye. Her sister wasn't in such a rush, plus she also didn't talk for the whole way. I don't blame her though, I would probably act weird too if my crush was this friendly with a total stranger right away. Probably time to say something? Something smart this time…
"Hey, Alex?"
"What?" Her voice was bitter.
"Look I don't...I mean...I didn't mean to…" Doing great! "I am not interested in Maggie."
"Good for you, I don't really care."
"Uhh…" I was confused but before I could say something else, Alex turned around and stopped me.
"I-I just...I go to that gym with my sister because, because that's the only time where I get to hang out with Mags and...she left with you like if I didn't even exist...but we are not-uuh-dating or anything so she can do whatever she wants…"
"What about the bar? You can hang out with her there?"
"Right…" Soft scoff accompanied the word, "See those bikes there?"
"Ye…" I looked in the direction she pointed at and my eyes went wide, "Holy shit."
Alex walked closer to the bikes with me, not saying anything. My reaction must have been very amusing. I bought my own custom made bike few months ago, but this was something else. There was a massive red bike with yellow and blue stripes, it was clearly dominating the rest of them. Who the fuck rides this… My fingers gently touched the blue leather seat of the bike. It had three huge yellow lights at the front and the handlebars were at the weirdest position I had ever seen. I noticed small stars at some parts of the bike. Well that's proper custom made.
"This belongs to Diana." Alex broke the silence.
"Mhm...Diana?" My eyes were still scanning the masterpiece in front of me.
"She's the leader of the gang."
"Wait what? Gang?" That word caught my attention. Lucy never mentioned anything like that. I moved over to the next bike. It was mostly blue with a strange 'S' symbol in the front. This one could have passed as sports bike, except that the whole front was covered almost all the way down to the ground.
"Yeah, I am not the best person to explain...this is Kara's by the way." After a brief examination, I looked up. Alex was looking so proud of her sister, the frown disappeared from her face and was replaced by a immense grin. The next one was white, a bit more leaned back than I would prefer. The same symbol was on the side.
"Is this yours?" She laughed and shook her head.
"No that belongs to Lucy."
"No fucking way…" I stared back at her in disbelief, "What's that symbol?"
"Something about 'Stronger together'...I don't think I should go deep into explaining. Diana enjoys that part way too much."
"Are you part of the 'gang'?"
"Nah, I am the only one with the car…" Alex rolled her eyes and pointed to the next bike. Simple black triumph. Of course some parts were customized, I remembered seeing this bike in a magazine. It had a shorter seat and it was less badass. Can you even describe bike like that? I mean… "Maggie."
"Makes sense. Is that a bat?" I practically jumped to the small yellow and black machine. The seat was in yellow colour, and in a funny bat-shape. The wings of the bat went downwards to the ground.
"Hah...this is Barbara's and the last one is Sara's...you'll probably meet both of them inside." Last in the row of bike's was a huge white sports bike, honestly it looked the most normal from all of them, "Sara goes more for a performance than looks."
"So...what's this place? Why did we have to drive all the way here?"
"This is...like a neutral place? This is not the only gang in Gotham, but here they most likely won't start anything. Bruce, the owner, would probably kick their asses anyway."
"I am so mindfucked now…" I really tried to understand why was my friend a part of this and why didn't she tell me, Alex must have noticed that I had a hard time dealing with that and so she pushed me towards the door.
"Let's go get a drink, then you can tell me why you are having a hard time."
"How?"
"First of all, Lane said that in the gym. Second...she would never bring you around unless it would be absolutely necessary. She wouldn't risk your life like that."
Risk my life? What? After I stepped inside the bar, I felt like I was in a different world. Not only were people here for some reason wearing costumes, there was also a woman with two hyenas sitting in the corner. I gulped several times, my eyes quickly assessing the rest of the customers. Kara and Maggie were sitting with two other women in the opposite corner. I assume the redhead in black leather clothes with yellow bats was Barbara and the second woman, blonde in white coat had to be Sara. How did Lane manage to not be gay all this time, that's the real mystery…
"Hey, what took you so long?" Lucy grabbed my shoulder and lead me to the table around the corner. I thought she wanted to talk in private, discuss my discharge from the military, ask what will I do now. Naive. "Diana, this is Kate Kane."
"Wha-" I didn't finish. She looked up and raised her eyebrow, blatantly checking me out. Lucy sat down, but I was still standing. I couldn't move until the pair of brown eyes turned back to my friend.
"Why, Lane?"
"What do you mean why? We are here to get a drink…"
"That's not why you brought her here."
"I thought she might be a great addition?" Lucy offered another explanation.
"No." Diana didn't even look at me again. However I did look at her. Long brown hair resting perfectly on the top of the red jacket. It was a short jacket, apparently she wasn't ashamed of her body, her abs flexing when she leaned over the table for her helmet. I was internally thanking to the person who designed her clothes. Her tight blue pants were decorated with white stars, just like her bike. Yellow stripes were on the jacket, only it wasn't stripes. It was a logo. When she stood up, I noticed how tall she was. The best part of her outfit were the boots. It looked like they were made of small red metal pieces, but it was hard to say without touching them; which was something I wouldn't dare to do. Her eyes landed back at me again.
"H-hi.." My voice was ridiculously weak, not to mention that my throat was dry and my first thought was to run away and hide from her lingering gaze.
"Go home, kid." Diana leaned closer and whispered, her voice hitting an impossible deep tone. It lasted only a couple of seconds, but her near presence was making me quiver. I exhaled when she straightened up and walked past me, "We are leaving ladies."
"We just got here?" I heard Kara's complaining.
"Sorry, gotta run…" Lucy hugged me, "Keep Danvers company, huh?"
I shrugged and turned around. Alex was standing next to me, clearly disappointed that her dream woman had to leave this early. She pointed to the bar and I gave her a small nod. Of course I could use a drink… I was about to sit down when I felt something wet sniffing my hand. I flinched and my fingers ended in hyena's mouth. The animal was just holding me, the grip wasn't painful, but it was firm and to be honest pretty uncomfortable. Top of my bucket list. My hand in hyena's jaws. I prayed Alex would come back soon, but I saw her near the bar; wide eyes staring right back at me, not moving.
"Aw Lou...let her go. She's not gonna run right?" Small, muscular blonde with two ponytails appeared in front of me, biting her lower lip.
"N-no?"
"Good girl, glad to hear that." She kicked a chair towards me, "Now sit down. It's about time someone gave you a proper welcome, not like this Wonder Bread."
"Wonder what?" I took a deep breath and tilted my head. She didn't seem like a good person, but there was something intriguing about her.
"Miss Diana Prince and her bunch of justice bitches."
"I am still confused…" I shrugged. What a surprise, huh?
"Well let's see…I am Harley, Harley Quinn." She paused, probably waiting if I will recognize the name. After seeing that the clueless look on my face didn't change, she rolled her eyes and put her feet on the table, "I am the leader of Gotham Sirens...over there…" Harley pointed behind her on a bunch of not so 'hero looking' women, "We are running Gotham-"
"You just think you are running the city." Alex's voice interrupted our conversation.
"One second…" She smiled at me and I was left somewhat in awe as she turned away to face the girl who now wished she stayed quiet, "And you are? Oh, you are the Little Danvers who can't ride a bike…" Her gang broke into laughter, "I've heard about you…"
"I-I think you should leave my friend alone…" Alex was visibly shaking, but she didn't back up.
"And you know what I think?" The blonde stood up and took one step closer to her challenger, "That you should sit your ass down somewhere else and let me recruit whoever I want." A bit crazy giggle escaped past her lips as her attention turned back to me. Alex tried to reach for her shoulder, but before she could touch the woman, the hyenas pushed her back into the wall behind her.
"What the hell are you-" I jumped to my feet, everyone around seemed surprised with my fast reaction; except Harley.
"Down…" She growled at me and I realized how close the rest of her gang suddenly was, "Where was I...mm...yeah...we do run the city...only few confused individuals think it's the other way…"
"Let me guess." I leaned more onto the table, "They think Diana is running the city?"
"You are smart." Another giggle, she patted her leg and the animals were instantly at her side, leaving Alex alone, "Hopefully your friend will be smart too and she won't interrupt me again. Anyway...yes, they think Diana and her justice bitches are in charge."
"And let me guess again, that's not the real name of her...gang?" The word still seemed weird coming out of my mouth, but apparently that was the reality here. However if Diana would be called Justice, I'd be her bit-...probably better to focus now Kate…
"Mhmm...They call themselves Ladies of Justice." She said it with proper disgust, "Sometimes I'd swear that they are on drugs. Justice in Gotham…"
"So...what do you exactly do? Because right now it seems like you are all just drinking in the bar all day…"
"Careful girl…" Harley cocked her head to the side and put a nice black and gold revolver with white handle on the table, "We do not play here."
I looked around slowly, noticing the guns that weren't as much visible before. Or maybe you just didn't pay attention… Sly smirks on the faces around me were only spiking up my anxiety feeling. This was not good. Now I understand what Alex meant with 'risk your life' and I was getting pissed that Lane left me here. On the other side, I didn't need a babysitter, I could take care of myself. Maybe not against a bunch of most likely crazy women with guns, but I didn't really have a choice now.
"What's going on here." Tall, black haired guy with deep voice, walked calmed to our table. His eyes quickly assessing the situation and clearly deciding on the solution, "Quinn, are you breaking the rules?" The voice dropped even deeper and for some reason I stopped breathing at that moment.
"Was just saying hello to the newcomer…" Harley smiled at him, her fingers tightened around the gun, finger resting next to the trigger. I realized that the end of the gun is aimed at me. She really is fucking crazy…
"Well...it looks like you are done with the greetings, time to go."
"Oh Bruce, you are no fun." The blonde stood up and put the gun back behind her belt, she grinned at me before adding, "I don't think I catched your name?"
"K-Kate."
"See you around, Kate...maybe I can give you a ride sometimes, huh?" With that she left; and her gang followed. I was left alone, well not exactly alone, Bruce was still standing there and so was Alex.
"Are you okay?" He asked, friendly smile on his face.
"Yeah, yeah I think I am...uh...thanks."
"Don't thank me…" He looked briefly at Alex, "If they give you any more trouble, let me know." Like I would want to keep hanging out in this hell hole…
"I texted Kara...they are coming back…" Her voice was small, not sure if she did the right thing.
Bruce went back behind the bar to do his job and Little Danvers was just staring at me cautiously. I didn't say anything. My brain was trying to process all the information and it wasn't that easy. I didn't notice the door that swung open. I didn't notice the other gang coming in, I didn't notice the worried expression on Lucy's face or the amused one on Diana's. Everything was quiet, no one dared to talk before her; before the leader.
"What happened?"
"Harley was-" Alex started explaining. I looked up and stared angrily at Lucy, but just for a while. My gaze changed direction to Diana Prince. She was amused by this, but her eyes, her eyes were showing a different story. I didn't care about that at that moment. I stood up and walked past them.
"It's rude to leave when someone is talking to you…what happened?" Her voice was accompanying me to the door, I turned around and focused on keeping my voice in a very low register.
"It's none of your fucking business…"
"Whoa…" Diana threw her hands up as Lucy practically sprinted towards me.
"Kate, don't...don't take it out on her...please…"
"Fuck off Lane. You left me here with a bunch of psychos. She left me here with a bunch of psychos. So you know what? You can grab her hand and you can all ride the bikes together to the fucking sunset for all I care."
"How will you get home?" Maggie jumped in, apparently not seeing me walking for hours to get back into the centre of the city. Good question...how will you get home, Kane? You just pissed off everyone who could possibly give you a ride...or did you?
"I was offered a ride." Was the last thing I said before walking out of the door.