A/N: Since I finished uploading all of "Freaky Love", I decided I might as well start uploading "Freaky Family" here as well. I'm going to finish posting all of the chapters I've completed, then I shall start uploading each chapter as I finish them. All OCs that are used are credited back to their creators in the copy of this chapter in my deviantArt gallery. R&R please!
Chapter 8: The All-Estrogen Reunion
She was already kicking herself mentally for getting caught, and Wraith berating her for it as well wasn't helping matters any. Still, Guen was able to reflect on the current situation and realized that things could have been worse. A whole lot worse. She had been immediately tied to a chair in the kitchen area, barely any room left to budge a wing should it start to itch, and left to stare down Jonathan Crane while Ink called the rest of their friends up. Yes, things definitely could have gone a whole lot worse. She watched the good Doctor of Fear carefully, the two of them sizing one another up like pitbulls about to fight over scraps.
"Professor Crane." She said simply.
"Miss Pendragon." He replied.
"So when are you going to do it?" She asked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"When are you going to man up and ask Ink out on a date?"
His thin face flushed bright red and he crossed his arms irritably, working his jaw slowly before answering. "Don't try to distract my attention from the current situation, Guenhivyre." He snapped. "You seem to be forgetting you have broken into my laboratory without permission."
"Really?" Guen groaned in exasperation, slumping in her chair. "Saying that I broke in would imply that, oh I don't know, I actually broke in. Last I checked, ghosting through a solid door and a few walls did not require me to physically pick a lock, smash windows, or break a door down."
"Quit dissembling, Miss Pendragon. The fact of the matter remains that however passively you did so, you still broke into my laboratory, which is a felony."
"So…what are you going to do?" She asked casually. "Call the cops on me? I'm sorry, I don't think that Wraith and I have quite the same standing reputation with Gotham PD as you. Forgive me if I'm inclined to believe that situation would end badly for everyone."
"Which is the most unfortunate reason why I cannot do anything about the matter except leave you in the hands of Ink and the rest of your little gaggle of girlfriends."
"I'd almost say that's not a punishment, but given the current circumstances—"
"You mean your abrupt disappearance that caused absolute bedlam within the circle of our particularly bizarre family that has formed? Yes, go on."
"—you might just be the most heartless man I know."
"Please, flattery gets you nowhere, Guenhivyre. I would have thought you would at least remember that."
"So when are you going to ask Ink out on a date?"
Jonathan gave a ragged sigh of annoyance and rubbed his temples wearily.
"I daresay you're starting to take on more of Wraith's characteristics than you may realize." He remarked.
"Or you know, she's just coaching me on what quips to use on you."
He almost let out an unintelligible noise of anger, when Ink walked into the room, face still thunderous, and addressed him.
"The girls are going to be here soon, Jonathan."
"I am aquiver with anticipation." He responded through clenched teeth.
"Good, then you go let them in. You probably don't want to be in here for this anyway. It could get ugly." She added, and Guen gave a huge gulp of apprehension. She'd seen an angry Ink before, and it wasn't necessarily an experience she wanted to repeat, especially not when she was the cause of the anger. She immediately tried to throw a pleading look in Jonathan's direction, but he merely gave her one of those superior smiles that told her this was a matter of bad karma and exited the room with a bit of a spring in his step.
"Smug bastard." Guen muttered under her breath, and immediately wished she hadn't as Ink turned and glared at her at full 'Ink death-glare' power.
"So…" Ink said, taking deep breaths and crossing her arms, "SO…"
Guen bit her lower lip, not wanting to say much of anything. Wraith, any ideas? She thought desperately, but her other personality had abruptly gone quiet. Still, it didn't appear that Ink was going to launch into whatever she wanted to say until Guen made a remark, so she tried to pick the least annoying thing she could think of.
"Hey, Ink. Uhh…how about those Metropolis tabloids, eh?"
"GUENNIE!" She roared, stomping over to the chair and grinding her knuckles against the sides of Guen's head in a rather rough noogie. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WE'VE ALL BEEN WORRIED SICK! YOU NEVER CALLED OR EVEN LEFT A MESSAGE SAYING WHERE YOU WENT!"
"Ooooowwww! Ink!"
"Oh, no you don't! I'm hardly finished! You could have died, for all we knew, or been kidnapped by Milo! That's right, we all saw the news, we know his bail was paid! He could have kidnapped you for all we knew, and you could be dead! But no, then you send us a note with just two words, and we were all worried sick! Do you have any idea what that was like for any of us? Do you?! Why didn't you tell us in the first place?! Not even Incubus knew where you were! And don't think we didn't try asking at Dragon's Blood, Inc. either! Lancey's butler, Gerard! He wouldn't even talk to us, because no one knows where Lancey's at either!"
Ink paused for a breath, starting to sniffle as she sucked in air, her shoulders heaving, and Guen refrained from speaking, realizing what was happening. Ink was trying not to cry, she was so angry. Guen averted her eyes to the floor, chewing her lower lip. Maybe she did deserve this lecture after all.
"Do you have any idea how scared I was? I've had to try telling myself for two months that you were okay, that you were going to call sometime! I don't need to get into Jonny's chemicals to imagine some bad things that could have happened to you! What if you were lying somewhere with a broken wing? I couldn't help you, because I wouldn't be able to find you, because you never told us anything! We're your friends! Friends are supposed to tell each other these things, especially if they're this important!"
Guen sighed, shut her eyes, and nodded. It was all true, and it was beyond unfair of her to have left her friends in the dark.
"F-friends tell friends these th-things…It's part of b-being f-f-friends…" Came the shuddering, telltale sniffle.
"Ink?" Guen asked, looking up, startled when she saw the beginning of dark tears forming around Ink's eyes. The blonde girl gave a big hiccup and lunged forward, pulling her—and the chair, by extension—into a crushing bear hug.
"I m-m-missed you…" Ink managed to get out before she started to sob silently, shoulders heaving. Guen had an initial moment of panic; she still was getting used to her other personality's more…exotic friends, and she wasn't entirely sure how to go about comforting Ink.
Take a backseat, Pendragon, Came a cool voice in the back of her mind, I've got this one.
She relaxed, her entire body went slack for a few seconds, then she righted again.
"I missed you too, Inky." Wraith said as gently as she could managed in her scratchy, rough voice. "And I'm sorry about this whole mess. I didn't want any of you to get worried or upset, honest."
"Then w-why didn't you t-tell us?" She asked, looking up with huge, pleading mismatched eyes. "Where did you go? What happened to you?"
"Sorry, honey," She offered her distraught friend an apologetic smile, "But if you've got all the girls on the way, then I'm not gonna spill it just yet. I don't exactly want to go over the details four or five times."
Ink stared at her for a long moment, and for a second Wraith figured she might object, but finally she just gave another hiccup and nodded in consent.
"Okay…I understand." She sniffled, before promptly renewing her bear hug and crying quietly. "S-s-sorryyyyy…I'm…guh-getting ink…all…all over…your…ou-outfit."
"Hey, you need a few seconds to cry it out, sweetie," Wraith said with a half-shrug, "It's no big deal. It'll wash. And hey, if it doesn't, it's all black; it'll blend."
"Q-quit being s-so casual! I'm still m-mad at you." Ink hiccupped.
"If you say so." She said with a knowing smile. "And knowing Banshee and Magpie, they're probably mad at me too. And you all have a right to be; probably not as much of a right as my mother and—" she hesitated, not wanting to say the name that was on her mind, "—and my brothers."
"What are you gonna tell th-them?" Her friend asked, her sobbing almost completely dying down as she wiped her mismatched eyes. "Your mom was on the news a day or two after you vanished. Sh-she was a wreck. She was begging you to come home."
"Oh man…she was?" She murmured, her smile sliding off her face like oil, "Oh, fudge bucket."
"What?" Ink asked.
"I screwed up way worse than I thought." She muttered, mind racing through the unpleasant realization again and again, a broken record. "I shouldn't have practically broadcasted my return to all of Gotham."
"Well, it was kind of silly to do," Came the too-generous offer. Wraith stared at her, eyes going wider and wider, stunned that her friend wasn't realizing what she had. If her mother had said Guen had disappeared, and then she had made her return on Gotham television, then that meant…
She started to speak, to break the unpleasant news that terrified her more than she cared to admit, when Twitch entered the kitchen.
"E-e-excuse me, Miss Ink, M-Miss Wraith," he said, a touch nervous, "But I th-think your f-friends have arrived."
"Oh, joy." Wraith groaned, shutting her eyes tight. Here came the tidal wave of lectures and questions.
"B-be sure to th-thank Miss D-Derricks. Th-that nice lady called me on M-Mr. Dent's cell phone," Twitch said gently, "And let us kn-know you were c-coming."
She opened her eyes faster than she thought possible.
"WHAT?" She demanded.
"She gave us the heads-up so we could have a proper reunion!" Ink said happily. The side of Wraith's face began to twitch violently, and she went tense under the ink-ropes, anger seeping through her entire body.
"Cassandra." She growled. "Oh, I am gonna strangle that—"
"Ink! Ink, we're here!" A voice called from the hallway. "What's up? What's going on?"
"—Pixie stick."
Within a matter of seconds, four more figures rushed into the kitchen, all with a varying degree of tense worry in their posture. The first was a pretty redhead, curls disheveled and clothes half-backwards from being thrown on at last second. The second was a strawberry-blonde dressed like a casino dealer, complete with the green visor, appropriate, given her line of work. Following her was a mocha-skinned, chocolate-haired young woman in black toting twin Uzis like an American Lara Croft. And bringing up the rear was a very pale girl with rose-pink hair, also dressed in black and carrying a lead pipe in her hands.
"Ink, what's wrong, what—"
The blonde girl stepped aside to let the other women have a clear look—and path—to the captured, winged rogue. There followed an incredibly tense, pointed silence as all eyes turned to Wraith, who fidgeted and squirmed, and finally made a half-hearted attempt at a smile.
"Uh…heh-hey girls. How's it going?" She asked.
Nobody was ever sure after that whether it was Erin or Akira who reached her first, but both of them charged in that second and tackled Wraith in a hug, Erin dissolving into loud, inarticulate sobs.
"WRAITH!" Akira practically screamed at another decibel level in her ear, "GIRL, WHERE YOU BEEN?!"
"Eardrums, eardrums," Wraith muttered, "I still need those."
"Y-y-you're baaaaaaaackkk!" Erin bellowed before burying her face into her friend's shoulder and bawling some more.
"You're back." Vanessa echoed flatly, lowering her pipe, blinking slowly.
"I knew you'd be back," May declared calmly with a knowing smile, "When you were ready."
"That ain't no excuse!" Akira snapped.
"You used a double-negative." Wraith pointed out in vain.
"A-Akira's r-r-riiiiiight!" Erin sobbed. "You should have tooollld uuusss!"
"I know," Wraith said gently, "I know. And it was wrong of me not to."
"Damn right, it was!" Akira snapped again. "You have any idea how fuggin' scary that was?! What the hell happened, woman?! You had us all worried sick!"
"She's got a point, honey." May added, giving a small nod.
"Girls, girls, calm down a little," Ink jumped in, trying to lightly pull Akira off Wraith and the chair. "I already gave her a lecture."
"You may have, but I haven't!" Akira said.
"I think we all need to settle the yotz down a sec," May said in her soothing voice, walking over and trying to disperse the odd dog-pile. "We need to just sit down and talk, preferably with some drinks."
Ink made a face at that, glancing at her friend sideways. "You know Jonathan doesn't keep alcohol here. I won't allow it." She reminded them.
"We can make an exception for tonight." Came the prompt reply, delivered so firmly that Ink just rolled her eyes. Within a few moments, the girls were seated around the table, Akira, Vanessa, and May each sharing a bottle of scotch the latter had brought from the Iceberg Lounge. Ink simply poured herself a glass of apple juice and made tea for Erin, who was still crying in her chair, albeit less dramatically now, and Wraith took no drink whatsoever. It was a general unspoken consensus that she wasn't going to be allowed a beverage just yet, given what all she had put the others through. Ink did, however, untie her, confident that she wouldn't be running off any time soon. Wraith didn't mention that she could have just as easily turned insubstantial and run if she felt the need; after all, she still didn't feel completely ready to come back.
But we need to. Guen's gentle voice reminded her. Friends deserve the truth. And I think we've been hiding long enough.
"Okay," Akira spoke up once they had all been seated with something to sip at, "Spill it. All of it."
"Akira—" Erin started to say.
"No, she's right," Wraith sighed heavily. "You guys deserve the truth. But where to start…"
She paused and the kitchen fell silent, save for a couple of pointed coughs and a last couple sobs on Erin's part. At last, she thought back to what would make the most sense to all of them, and let out a ragged sigh.
"Do you guys remember how I lost my scythe at Dorian and Milo's old lab?" She asked, and when the others gave slow, vague nods, she explained, "I thought it was gone forever. And Guen and I were scared, you guys. Really scared. Seeing Roland Daggett pay Milo's bail didn't help that any. Actually, that was the night this all happened. I had been watching the news, saw Milo come out of the courthouse, saw Daggett there…It was just me at the apartment. I don't know what Incubus was out doing and I don't remember what Mom left for. But she must have left the door unlocked or something, because I wasn't alone."
She pulled out the handlepiece of her scythe, taking care to point it away from everyone, depressed on the lever, and the scythe unfolded, opening with a loud ring of unsheathing metal. Erin jumped noticeably, but the other girls leaned in, curious, and Wraith slowly tilted the weapon, angling the blade so they could better see the twin colors of the metal.
"He offered me training and protection, you guys. Sort of a father-daughter partnership in the Rogues' Gallery. He had already talked to me once before the anniversary party at the Lounge, and he visited me again while I was there that night, in my mom's apartment. He hadn't just found my scythe, he'd had it repaired into this." She explained.
"Harvey Dent? Two-Face?" Akira said in disbelief. "Girl, I'd almost ask if you're crazy, but I already know the answer to that one."
"H-Harvey's not a totally bad guy." Erin piped up. "After all, he was the district attorney for a long time."
"Erin's right," Wraith confirmed. "Guen gets along okay with Harvey, and Papa Bear and I are just two peas in a pod, if you don't mind the comparison."
"Now that you bring it up," May said slowly, arching an eyebrow, "There are a surprising amount of traits that you and Dent have in common, honey."
"I can kinda see it." Ink said with a nod, blonde ponytail bouncing. "So what happened next?"
"I said yes to him, of course," Wraith replied, "Protection from Milo and Dorian, and actual training? How could I say no to that?"
"But you didn't tell anyone." Vanessa said from the opposite end of the table in a voice that was carefully neutral. Wraith glanced up at her, furrowing her brow. It was unusual for Magpie to be so quiet, especially when she was in the same room as Banshee. The two usually bounced their energy off each other. Maybe she was having a rough day? If that was the case, Wraith couldn't blame her, and this reunion was probably hurting as much as it was helping.
"No, I didn't," she answered. "He asked me not to tell anyone. He gave me the option of leaving a note for Mom, but I figured Incubus would just as easily take that to Batman and the two of them would find us. I guess it wasn't an order; I could have told you guys at some point, but I just couldn't bring myself to, for some reason or another. I knew you guys were going to be mad—"
"All the more reason to have told us in the first place!" Akira argued.
"If I'd told you right from the start," Wraith pointed out, "The majority of you would have stopped me from going in the first place. Am I right?" And when none of them answered, she gave a smug nod. "Uh-huh, called it."
"You still could have told us more in a message than just 'patience, soon,' also!" Vanessa snapped, drawing the attention of the other girls, who stared at him.
"Calm down, sweetheart," May tried to cool her down, "We're here to put that bit behind us."
There was an odd edge to her tone when she addressed Magpie, one that Wraith made a note of. She'd have to think more on that later; there definitely appeared to be something happening between the lines with her friends.
"It's okay, T.D," she spoke up, "I don't blame any of you for being angry, and honestly, I really should have put more in the note."
"I FORGIVE YOU!" Erin cried, throwing herself across her friend's shoulders, sobbing renewed. Wraith gave a weary chuckle and hugged her back.
"I'm sorry, girls. Really, I am, and so is Guen. We've both missed you, all of you. And we shouldn't have hid."
"I dunno," Akira's tone was wary, "You're rollin' with Two-Face now. I think that's reason enough to keep a lid on it. After all, the guy makes most of his big life choices with a coin."
"I could always have picked Scarface and Mr. Wesker." Wraith pointed out.
"Wesker's a nice person!" Ink protested.
"Scarface?" May said with a wince. "I think she's got a good point, ladies."
"C-come on, you guys!" Erin blubbered and sobbed, spreading one of her arms wide, "G-group h-huh-huuuuuuggg! Our family's back together again!"
"Awww, yay!" Ink said, going to Wraith's other side.
"Truer words, and all that," May smiled, joining them.
"Aww, what the hell." Akira shrugged, tackling them all and giving them a giant squeeze.
"Aww, you guys!" Wraith laughed, turning a smile to Vanessa, "Come on, Mags, I can still breathe over here."
But Vanessa didn't move. She stayed where she was for a moment, eyebrows slowly starting to narrow as she glared, her expression somewhere between hurt and anger, and her jaw slowly working. Finally she stood, but she made no move toward them.
"Need to go out for a bit. Get a breath of fresh air." She muttered as she turned on her heel and sped out the door. Wraith's eyebrows shot up as she watched her friend go, stunned into silence. Erin, Akira, and May all quickly exchanged worried, furtive looks, torn.
"Whoa…what's wrong with Magpie?" Wraith asked, oblivious.
The cover of night had long since set over the city of Gotham, but despite the darkness, the glow of street lamps and signs continued to light the way for the weary inhabitants. But within an apartment off Elm and Canterlon, there were no lights on, save for the faint glow of a television screen. It was paused on a news broadcast, though not one from that day. The viewer studied the screen, dark eyes raking back and forth over the image, taking in every detail of the young woman and her hulking companion.
The moron in the inaccurate Egyptian attire was nothing, save perhaps a minor speed bump. From what he could tell in the broadcast, the man was a complete imbecile, and loyal to her commands to a fault. Someone as easily manipulated as that, however powerful or strong, was hardly a threat. No, it was the girl herself he was interested in; it was she he had always been interested in.
Her wings had grown again. Still no evidence as to what triggered the reactions that caused the growth, and that was painfully infuriating to him! And as if that weren't bad enough by itself, her split-personality was still just as dominant as ever, and that probably meant Wraith was still up to the task of killing him, should he get too close. He clicked his tongue, thinking hard. This was going to be a challenge, as she had always been, and to make matters worse, he had the distinct impression her list of allies among the Rogues had grown.
"But I've still got one thing in my favor, Guenhivyre," he said quietly to the image on the screen, "You've played the first card. You came back publically. I'm beginning to wonder if you wanted me to know."
His cell phone began to ring, the screen lighting up, and he glared at it for a second before opening the device.
"What?!" He snapped.
"Come now, Achilles, that's hardly a proper greeting."
"Emile, it's almost one-thirty." He retorted coolly with a glance at his watch.
"How are you enjoying the game, Achilles?" Dorian simply spoke over him, his smooth voice sounding almost twice as powerful over the phone.
"I'm still unsure why you're calling this a—"
"Oh, but it is a game, my dear boy. A race against time, trapped in a deadly maze. The question is…who will come out alive, and of those, who wins in the end?"
"You've got no stake in this, old man." He spat. "You've got your damned cat monster and a werewolf with family money. You stand nothing to gain in this…this hunt."
"Game, Achilles. It's a game. And don't go making statements you're unable to verify. Or do you forget that I never reveal all of my true intentions to you?"
He growled, unable to form words in his anger.
"That's a good boy," Dorian said, using his most sweet, condescending tone, "Now, if you're going to play this game, I'd recommend you talk to one of the key players sooner or later."
"What are you talking about? This is between—"
"Oh, no no. I'm afraid there is one other individual who is eager to stake a claim in this race. And I've already spoken with him. I would recommend you do the same, but tomorrow. After all, it's an unreasonable hour."
"Imagine that." He quipped.
"I'll have his information sent to your phone in the morning, so you can call. Oh, and Achilles?"
"What?" He growled.
"I've suffered far too much disappointment from you, both as an ally and an adversary in the past," Dorian said coolly, "Do try not to make this too easy for me, would you?"
He might have had more to say, he might not have. But regardless of one way or the other, his voice was cut off abruptly as Professor Milo slammed the phone shut.
