"Where are we?" The tiny girl asked, staring out across the city stretched before them.
The boy beside her tightened his grip on her hand. "Home."
But to the girl, it wasn't home and she didn't know why.
Chapter 7 Decisions
A week had passed since the rescue and the League had left me alone. If Nightwing had spoken about the truth I knew they would've dug around, stuck their noses in things that didn't concern them. Their silence made me relieved – if only Sasha's continued avoidance of me would do the same.
Sitting in the dressing room of Olympia, one of Benny's clubs, pinning my hair, I wondered if Sasha would attend the opening night of the show. In the past she never missed it, not even when she came down with a bad flu one time. Then, she'd remained in the back, wrapped up and passed out on one of the couches. She didn't make it through the first hour but her attendance had meant a lot. Now, without her, I was edgy – and without any answers over what happened at the lab, I was lost and confused.
Frankly, I was terrified.
I'd only lost an hour but I knew there had been gaps in my memory when I was a child, times I couldn't recall. Memories that were all cloaked in the same fog that had appeared after the lab, obscuring any chance of learning what happened. I snapped my fingers, energy crackling over my fingertips. It didn't take an idiot to realise I was changing – it had been getting worse the past year, abilities developing and growing. Heck, I was racing to my brother's level and there was every chance I'd simply keep going.
Until what? When did the changes stop?
The door behind me cracked open. Molly, one of the dancers, stuck her head in, bright blue hair dangling over her pixie-like face. "You ready?"
"Yeah."
She chuckled and stepped in and brushed my hands away from my hair. Wordlessly, she finished it off, then gave a final spray of hairspray. She spun me around on my chair and examined my make up.
"Honestly, you are pathetic," she tutted, grabbing makeup wipes from the bench.
I touched her hand, stopping her. "What?"
"Did you do this yourself?" She asked, stepping back with an arch brow.
"Maybe."
"Yeah, I can tell – where is Sasha?"
My jaw clenched. "She's not coming."
Understanding flickered in her eyes. When she moved to do my make-up I didn't stop her, didn't even speak whilst she applied the make up with a steady hand. Once finished she stepped back with a self-satisfied smile.
"Better. Much better. Now, we better head out before Tash throws a tantrum," said Molly with a small, conspiratorial smile. At the door she turned back. "Oh, and I think someone left some mail for you. Do you want me to grab it?"
"No, I'll grab it. Just watch Tash. She has a habit of touching other people's mail."
Once Molly was gone I slipped on my heels and went to the door, my phone singing out. I turned around. The phone hummed across the bench. Curious, I raised my hand and snapped my fingers, trying to summon the phone to my hand. The phone continued to ring but didn't come closer.
With a curse I grabbed the phone and saw that Sasha was calling I slammed it back down, ending the call. She couldn't just ignore me for over a week, unwilling to even talk to me, only to call. No, if she wanted to talk it would have to be in person. Nothing less. I got that she was upset at me helping the League but any association had ended there. It was over and she had still ignored me. So why now?
It didn't matter. I'd talk to her later.
"I can't believe M'gann let you come," confessed Dick as he, Conner and Kaldur walked into Olympia.
"Neither can I," said Kaldur. "Though I suspect it has something to do with Artemis inviting her to a movie night."
With a chuckle Dick led the way inside. The club was thumping with music, the ground practically shaking with each step. Thick crowds of people ebbed and flowed in irregular patterns across the floor. Dozens of people flocked to the bar, pushing and shouting, all desperate for their drinks. Flocks of girls gathered at the dance floor, wearing barely anything at all.
They made their way to the booths, to the one cordoned off for them. A young waitress dressed in a corset and tights, with heels at the end of her long, slender legs, greeted them with a smile.
"Welcome to Olympia. My name is Ellie and I'll be your server tonight. Just tap the button in the middle of your table and I'll be over in a flash. Now, a quick note for tonight – the show begins shortly. Tips can be fed into the box on your table and will be given to the performers. The show will go for two hours with a short break and finish with a final hour. At the end we recommend enjoy the drink specials and we will be closing at approximately three am. Any questions?"
They shook their heads and made the orders for the first round of drinks. Once they sat down the music faded, the laser lights dimmed until they went black completely. A burst of white light flashed across the stage, fading swiftly into dark – this continued in rapid bursts before settling into a steady beam, the stage illuminated. The drinks arrived, delivered by Ellie, who swiftly retreated. Dick didn't miss the way she reacted whenever a booth's button was tapped, the way her ears pricked and her body snapped to it – not like she heard it, rather that she felt it, as if by intuition or an awareness. He wondered if she was a Meta human of some sort. Truthfully, he wouldn't be surprised. There were plenty of Meta humans living out ordinary lives, completely hidden amongst society – only a small percentage were in the League, acted as heroes independently or were, of course, 'villains'.
"You have to admit it is nice to be out without the world's fate hanging in the balance," said Dick, nursing his beer.
"I will confess I do enjoy the time to be away from the pressures of our normal life," admitted Kaldur. "And you, Conner?"
Conner held up his hands. "I'm happy to be away from study." His friend glanced at him curiously. "So, did you get the girl's number?"
At the thought of Meghan Willoughby his mind clouded. He hadn't seen her at the park in the past week and he had taken that same route at the same time every day. But she was nowhere to be seen. She was a ghost that had slipped through his fingers. He swore every time he saw her it was like she was in constant motion, like she was a flash of light in the dark – there one moment, gone the next, only an echo and feint whisper ever proved she was there at all.
Kaldur took Dick's silence and smiled. "It would seem you have met someone who is resistant to your charm."
He opened his mouth to reply but his eyes caught the singer stepping onto the stage. The air was ripped from his chest, his heart thumping in his chest, slamming against his ribs.
Meghan.
Beside him Conner nudged Kaldur. "I guess we know what she looks like now."
Like a sixth sense I knew he was there, watching me from the crowd. I couldn't see him – the lights around me too bright, the crowd cloaked too deeply in thick shadow – but I knew he was there. As I took my bow, a thin band of sweat gathered on my brow, I tried to see him with the cameras. A quick scan located him on one of the VIP booths. I straightened up and retreated backstage. Molly, having already performed, was waiting for me, a jacket drawn about her slight shoulders and two beers in her hand. She held one out.
Taking it I thanked her. "So, got any interesting VIP's tonight?"
Molly arched a brow. "Curious. You've never been interested in the Blues before."
Blues, being her choice word for anyone of wealth. Well, of legal wealth. She had a much different word for Benny. Then again, for guys like Benny, she had a particular like for. The worse the better.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up. Guys like that tend to have sophisticated taste," chimed in the musical voice of Tash, ready to go on stage, wearing a dress of sheer gold.
With her back turned Tash didn't see Molly stick her tongue out, glaring at her until she swept onto stage. Molly turned to me with a shudder.
"I can't stand her."
"That makes both of us." Truthfully, however, she was just one more person on a long a very long list.
At the end of the show, when much of the crowd had bled away, I slipped out of the performer's lounge and went to the main bar. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking for Dick, to cleave his face from the crowd and shadow. Though only a couple dozen or so still milled about, a few small clusters on the dance floor, I didn't see him anywhere. It was a relief, since I could take it as a reminder that I was best off alone. Besides, what did I have to offer besides heart ache? What comfort could I give when my own tongue spun lies so easily, when at any notice I'd be off, racing off to another dead end. It was just as well.
I sat at the bar. Without having to speak the order Louis pushed over a tall glass with layers of sapphire blue and emerald green alcohol. The edge of the glass was rimmed with powdery purple sugar, glittering in the pulsing club light. In one go I downed it and set the glass down with a firm thunk.
"You sing, too," chimed in Dick, appearing beside me, leaning against the bar with a smile.
Without thinking a smile tugged at my lips. "What can I say?" I turned on the stool and took in the sight of him in a fine grey shirt and jeans with an appreciative smile. "Since when do you come here?"
"I used to come here a lot a few years ago, so I became a member. Then I moved."
I tilted my head. "And now you're back."
"And now I'm back, though I don't remember you the last time I was here," he replied curiously.
"I only joined up about a year ago – I can't really remember when. Anyway, did you come alone?"
"No, I came here with two of my friends. Would you like to meet them?" He seemed nervous – and it was adorable.
I ignored Louis's warning look – he knew all about me and almost my whole story, so I knew what he was thinking. What business did someone like me have with someone like Richard Grayson? But I followed anyway – after the lab, after seeing that girl, I decided I wanted to live a little. Experience a little fantasy and pretend to live in a different world.
At the booth I met the two friends in question – one, stoic and large and the kind of imposing that would send the rational people away. The other was slight in build in comparison, with lovely dark skin and intense eyes. Both seemed serious and wary of me. I didn't miss the way the imposing one glanced between Dick and I, measuring. Uneasy, I shifted a little from foot to foot, though not sure why. It wasn't like I was his girlfriend – I wasn't even sleeping with him.
"This is Meghan Willoughby – Meghan, the moody one is Conner and the serious one is Kaldur. Don't mind them, though. They're actually not that bad."
I flashed him an arch look. "You say that like you're the saint here." With a snort I held my hand out to his friends. "I hope you enjoyed the show. Drinks on the house until we close. Tell Louis that Puddin' said so."
Puddin'? Dick's blood cooled in a flash. As she walked away he frowned, wondering if his mind was just jumping ahead. After all, it could be just a coincidence that she had the same nickname as Joker. He couldn't exactly ask her. Even if he could he didn't know the right words.
"Am I correct in hearing her call herself 'Puddin'?" Kaldur asked, sounding just as confused as Dick felt.
Conner and Kaldur left as the final few people left, the former said he had a day with M'gann tomorrow, and Kaldur explained that he was expected at Atlantis. They thanked him for the night and Conner asked to be told the reason behind Meghan's strange nickname, if Dick ever found out the reason why. Staying by the bar he waited for her, if only because he didn't really want to go and he wanted to see her again. Talk to her. Around her he had questions, a need to know her – to figure her out. She was a puzzle and his own nature compelled him to unravel her secrets.
"I was wondering if you were going to stick around," said Meghan, appearing beside him, still wearing her corset and tiny shorts – much to his torture. "When I saw your friends go I got worried."
He glanced at her, studying the way her eyes studied him. "Worried?"
With a laugh she shoved him playfully, surprising him. He hadn't really seen the light side of her, the kind that laughed and flirted with a smile. It'd be the death of him.
"Okay, so I was hoping to talk to you again – after all, we didn't get that dinner," she said, yet his expression must've been weird because she frowned and leaned back. "What?"
"You just seem different. Happy, different but…" He struggled to find the right words.
She blinked. For a moment she looked startled, like a deer in headlights. The darkness in her eyes bled away, a strange determination flickering to life, surging. Strong.
"I made up my mind about you, about how bad I was for you – about how I couldn't be the kind of girl you'd bring home to meet the family. I had this whole speech planned when I'd see you but, sitting here, I can't convince myself to say the words," she said quietly, looking away, her eyes dimming a fraction. When he didn't – couldn't – reply, she glanced at him. "I can't convince myself to walk away and I should, I really should."
For a moment he was silent. The honesty in her words made him consider everything for a moment. He stood on the edge of a cliff. Beside him stood Meghan, achingly beautiful and exposed. She didn't reach for him but she was there. It was up to him to decide, to push but was he right for him to? Was it right for him to still want her, despite everything, despite what she said? There was no decision to be together, yet none to go on separate ways.
In the end he put his hand on hers. It wasn't a cry of love; rather, an acknowledgement that there was something there between them. Maybe it wasn't good – maybe it was twisted and all kinds of dangerous. But they were both trapped in each other's orbit, bound together on an unknown course.
Sasha never trusted her dreams. Whilst Max was convinced Sasha could see all, like some sort of oracle, the truth was that she simply saw things when she dreamed. Glimpses of people. A side effect of her actual power. Every time she touched someone she could mimic their powers, physical attributes and even some characteristics. It made changing herself to look like them easier, especially when she could copy the way they acted. The memories bled into her dreams. In truth, much of what she knew came from her contacts. One of which was late.
She glanced up at the café's door, watching the people on the street walk by, flickering several brief looks to her watch. Time crawled on at an agonisingly slow pace, like the universe was in a deep sleep – in and out, in and out. She finally tore her gaze from the door and fished out her phone from her bag, waiting to check for any messages. Nothing.
The door chimed. Her gaze flew up. It was a mother and a baby. Not who she was after. She leaned back in her chair with an irritated sigh. For everyone else the world ticked on, whilst her own little world felt like it was imploding.
She closed her eyes.
"You look well, Sash," broke in a familiar feminine voice.
Sasha's eyes burst open, just as Dr Margo Veizner, once Sasha's closest friend, sat down. For a moment neither of them said another word; that is, until Sasha slid a file across the table. Veizner took it and opened it up, scanning the page as efficiently and swiftly, with that same meticulousness Sasha remembered. When she was done Veizner slid the file back over, saying nothing until Sasha slipped it into her bag and looked up.
"When our old friend called me to explain the situation I didn't believe him at first – then I realised it's you and I wasn't really that surprised in the end. You always did like to break the rules."
"I didn't," said Sasha defensively.
"Right. Well, regardless, how is she? Is she exceptional?"
Sasha nodded, struggling to hold back that old pleasure and excitement she got about her work – about the science she was involved in. "Far more than we could've ever thought – well, than I thought but you always knew, didn't you? Chris said you always thought she was the stronger one of the two."
"I suspected," conceded Veizner. "Truthfully, though? Everything we ever knew about them was always speculation. We learnt so much about them, about their physiology but, in the end, how much did we really know about them?"
