From the Ashes
Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the late update, again! I am really, really sorry! You have no idea how bad I feel for procrastinating like this! It drives me nuts to no end and I just hate not updating and I always beat myself up for it and…meh! I'm sorry. I really am. So, since I have been lacking the time to update long chapters every week, I'll try to update every week but with shorter chapters. I'm going to try it for about a month and get my feet wet, see how it flies, and if I don't like it, I may go on a temporary hiatus. I don't want to go on a temp. hiatus, but I was almost pushed to that edge until I decided to test out shorter chapters. Hey, maybe if I'm lucky I'll get in a longer chapter, but basically I'll plan for short chapters. If I can't get a long chapter, then I will post. I promise.
Watch, I'll go break my promise. Feel free to slap my hand if I do.
Anyway, lookie! A new chapter! This one, unfortunately, doesn't move too far into the plot but we get to see some bonding and it's basically a deep breath from all the plot throwing up this fic has been giving you guys. I hope it's a nice breath of fresh air. A little note, in case you think the writing is weird, I was experimenting with this chapter. At the beginning, I'm taking my usual forte in writing and then I decide to change it up a bit by not writing thought verbs. Eventually, I just kinda gave up. So, this chapter I am NOT proud of at all. So, despite the horrible writing, enjoy the chapter and thank you for reading. Don't forget to review and feel free to favorite and follow!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice, DC or any other reference I make in From the Ashes. I just own the plot and my OCs.
Chapter Ten
Gotham City
September 22th 23:21 EDT
"Let me go! Please!" A young woman cried, her attempts to scream muffled by a thick gather of cloth. Her body struggled against two other men that tried to drag her into the back of a van, dark brown eyes filled with terror. Though, that terror began to subside as her eyelids began to droop and her body began to weaken. The men laid her back into the van and the younger of the two began to tie up her limbs and put duct tape over her mouth.
The older lit a cigarette and leaned against the van. "Another decoration for the Cage. Boss's been makin' a lot calls for new dancers," Said the younger of the two.
"What do you expect?" The elder grunted. "We've been gettin' higher bidders. Hurry up, will ya'? I don't wanna get caught by some dumbass in tights because you're too fuckin' slow." He snapped, kicking his back leg up to hit his partner. He yelped and scurried into the car. "Rookies,"
"We're not all that bad," A voice echoed through the alley and the street lights nearby began to flicker, threatening to burst in a furry of flames. The silhouette of a curvy, young woman began to walk down the alleyway, and she stopped infront of the men, placing a hand on her hip tilting her head to the side. Coal-colored locks spilled over her shoulders and past her masked face.
The mask was a simply black domino mask with amber detailing that matched her glowing tattoos that decorated parts of her body. She wore thick, black combat boots complimented by socks of different heights, one ending at her thigh, the other at her knee, and black shorts under a skirt-like belt that held a box of matches, a few flash bombs, and two pairs of handcuffs. The skirt was thick and made of black leather with the leather and white fabric draping off to the right and touching the beginning of her knee. On the longest flap of her belt was a foxlike insignia etched into the leather. Her top matched the amber hew of her eyes and tattoos, and her black, fingerless gloves turned into sleeves of black armor pieces on her shoulders and elbows. A thick chain with a large padlock rested around her hips.
The girl glanced over at the woman in the car. "Bastards." She growled. One of the men, the elder, pulled out a pistol, pointing it straight at her skull. "Taking advantage of a woman like-" The sound of thunder in close proximity echoed through the night and the lights instantly busted into flames that traveled down to the girl's body just last second as she ducked and flipped back, kicking her leg up to strike the man in the jaw. The gun went flying and before the other could react, a blur of red, orange, and yellow flames appeared behind him and the girl had kicked onto the frame of the van and made a downward punch at him, causing his body to slam into the wall nearest to him. She landed, caught the gun, and unloaded it, tossing it into the shadows.
She turned to face the one man still conscious, the younger, who scurried against the wall. "What the hell are you?"
"That question's a little cliché, don't you think?" She asked, kneeling down to his level. "Seriously, you see all this news about guys from different planets, people who can run faster than the speed of light, et cetera, et cetera, and you still ask me what I am?" The girl made her eye roll obvious to the man. "I'm a pyro who likes mythology, 'kay? Name's Foxfire."
The young man continued to look Foxfire up and down like she was crazy. "Foxfire?"
"You know, the powers that the mythological creatures Kitsune use?" She hinted at, slightly getting off track of what she wanted. He didn't seem to get the reference. Foxfire sighed. "Whatever. You do trafficking for a so-called 'Cage,' correct?" He didn't hesitate to nod. "I need information. Boss? Where it's located? Anything."
"I-I don't know anythin' about the actual location. We just get the show girls and hand 'em off to the higher-ups." He answered quickly. Foxfire suddenly took on a more serious tone, her eyes narrow and her mind fully focused on the information.
"Where do you trade in the girls?" She questioned sharply, her fingers dancing with the flames that coated them.
"It depends on where they at, ya' know! It's at different places so the Bat don't catch up on no patterns. Look, I don't wanna go to jail! Please let me go. I'm just with the wrong crowd. I-" Foxfire swiftly brought a sharp blow to the side of his neck, causing him to slump over in unconsciousness. She sighed and stood up, hands on her hips. This was yet another dead end. Great. Foxfire had heard of the title Cage and knew it was something illegal, thanks to leads by Artemis. Though, that was as far as she got. She knew that the franchise was kidnapping young, attractive women and possibly using them for sex trafficking or dancing for whatever this Cage was.
Foxfire looked over at the unconscious woman. Maybe she could help. If she can't help with finding Cage, maybe she could help prevent the kidnappings. It was a start. Exhausted, she walked over to the van and dragged the woman out, replacing her with the two men, handcuffing them together and snatching the keys out of one of their pockets. She locked the van up and made sure to keep a window cracked. Afterwards, she slashed the tires and pulled out the battery to the engine, lighting it in flames produced by her matches and chucking it into the trash.
She stood close to the woman as she activated her Bluetooth and called the police. They picked up immediately. "GCPD. What's you emergency?"
"Hi, I'd like to report two suspicious looking men locked up in a van off Murphy Avenue. Both Caucasian males and unconscious, one appearing to be in his mid to late twenties, the other being possibly in his later forties. I found an unconscious woman nearby, her hands were bound and her mouth was covered in duct tape." The vigilante said as she checked the woman over. "She seemed to be unharmed."
"Off Murphy Avenue, correct? Near Miller Harbor?" The woman on the other end of the line asked.
"Yes."
"Thank you, Miss. Authorities will be over right away."
"Alright." Foxfire hung up and looked up at the sky before slapping the woman's face gently to wake her up. She woke up with a start and attempted to scream when the vigilante covered her mouth. "Easy. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm one of the good guys." The woman looked her up and down, her eyes terrified and horror filled. "I know I'm not in tights, but you gotta trust me. Do you trust me?"
The woman shook her head and she slowly removed her hand. Luckily, she didn't scream. Instead, she said, in a very shaky voice, "T-Thank you,"
"There's no need to thank me, really." The vigilante dismissed. "However, I do need to know how you came in contact with these men,"
She stared at the ground long and hard, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out the answers to the question. "I…It was, well, one of those men acted as my chauffeur when I came to town. I was accepted for a job and I was supposed to move here."
Foxfire arched a brow. "How did you come across the job opening?"
"It was an email. Probably some spam that didn't go directly to my box, I don't know…" She said frantically, her eye's making connections with all the signs. "I'm such an idiot…"
"Hey," The girl assured. "It's alright. You're not an idiot. You say you needed a job?" She nodded frantically, trying to force words of out her throat.
"Y-Yes. They were accepting high-school drop-outs." She informed finally. Foxfire nodded and kept all the information in her head. Her head shot up when she saw the flashing of red lights and the yowling of familiar sirens.
She turned to face the woman and stood up. "The authorities are here. You'll be fine. I promise." She said quickly and the rest of the street lights blew out as she dashed down the block and turned into a dark alleyway.
Sixteen days. One hour. Forty minutes. That's how long it's been since Aleksandra Volkov, otherwise known as Sasha, had last seen her mother. That's how long it's been since Foxfire was created. That's how long it's been since she started swapping houses between Artemis and Ivan. She had nowhere else to go. She didn't want to inconvenience Barbara, nor did she really want to bother Dick and his family. Artemis was modest about her staying at her small apartment. The archer agreed not to notify the rest of the Team of her late nights in Gotham. However, she knew full well that the Bats knew of her new found hobby. In fact, just the night before the Dark Knight had pressed onto her the whole responsibilities talk. She ditched about a fourth through the speech. There was no doubt that they would find her again.
And if Bats knew she was patrolling, that meant the Boy Wonder did as well.
The nights in Gotham began to get cooler over the days, and the leaves began to turn. Fall and Winter were approaching. That was just what Foxfire – Sasha, needed. She had no idea what would happen when the winter months would come. She'd have to leave it all to guess work. As she ran through the alleyways and climbed up fire escapes, her mind began to go over the information she had obtained in these past few nights.
The Cage. It was some illegal business of some sort that was currently in the process of kidnapping young women. She heard the same story from each woman. They were from out of state, sometimes out of country, and had received an email asking for work – no high school diploma required. Some would accept, others would reject. The one's that accepted were given a ticket to Gotham and someone from the "job" would pick them up, acting as a sort of escort, and they would eventually drug them somehow and take them to some facility to trade in.
Foxfire would let them kidnap the women, follow them to the trade, and then follow from there to see the base of things. Could she really risk it, though? She was rookie. An amateur. She lacked the experience to know what to do if she ended up with a dozen guns pointed at her head.
She sighed and approached the old Zeta-tube. It was an old, rusty phone booth in some alleyway. There she waited, eyes scanning the rooftops and cloudy skies. What was she watching for? The familiar silhouettes of Robin and Batman? If so, why? It wasn't like she wanted to talk to them. She would rather not – at least not the Bat. Sasha pulled off her mask and tapped her Bluetooth to check the time. Artemis said she would get back in the city around midnight to do patrolling with her. She hummed impatiently. Where was she?
She could call her. The thought tempted her as she held her hand close to her headset. She decided otherwise, though, sighing as she brought her hand down and crossed her arms. Maybe, she could call a friend to pass the time? Sasha scoffed. As if that wasn't totally inappropriate. Calling a friend while out on a late night patrol as some rookie vigilante. Yeah, that was the best pastime. She rolled her eyes at herself. Just be patient, Sash. Remember – a hunter always waits for its prey.
She thought on what her little voice had just said to her. Artemis is my fucking prey? Obviously, her analogies were wearing off. How lovely. Luckily, a darker presence snapped her out of her impatient thoughts.
"Artemis will not be patrolling with you, tonight." A ridged and rusty voice growled as the Bat himself stepped out of the shadows. Sasha turned to look at him, her brow arched and her sass physically portrayed.
"And why, pray tell, is that, Bats?" She asked sharply and playfully.
Batman took a while to reply. "I'm patrolling with you." He said simply. She looked at him in further question. "You need to be kept in check,"
"Do you not trust Artemis to look after me?" Sasha countered quickly. A silence split through the pair and the only thing between them now was the cold concrete ground and chill autumn-night air. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of wet stone and gasoline. "Look," She finally spoke with a less violent tone. "I've been off duty for half an hour, god knows what has happened in those minutes. I'm going back on patrol. Join me, don't join me. I don't care." With that, she turned and started for the rest of the city.
"Sasha." Batman's gravelly voice didn't stop her as she walked out of the alleyway. "I don't doubt that you can fight in this world, nor do I mistrust Artemis's skills of surveillance." She began to slow her pace at these words, blinking as she stared down at the lights reflected in the wetness on the concrete. "You can't do this alone. Why don't you join the Team and start training with them?"
Her chest rose and fell and she fingered at the fabric draped on her felt, fondling over how the silk texture felt against her slightly burned fingertips. A pause followed his offer and she swallowed down a knot in her throat. She turned around and pursed her slightly chapped lips together. "I…I want to solve this case first. Before I do anything involving the Team, I need to solve this case."
The dark shadow of a vigilante approached her, towering over her stocky, 5'4" frame. "Elaborate." He ordered strictly. Sasha bit into the side of her cheek, the rough, scarred skin slightly brushing her tongue as she did so.
She nodded quickly and turned again to face her elder. She tapped on her headset. It projected several images from a small microphone device close to her jaw. The images included the women she'd rescued the last few nights she'd been investigating as well as the men she'd taken down during their abduction process. Speaking very calmly, she pointed at each piece of information and began to speak of the scenarios in which she had found the women and different theories about what exactly the 'Cage' was. Batman listened intently on her small, slightly rusty voice. She remained calm during her explanation, her composure straight and strong.
"I don't have anywhere else to go with this other than an informant, Artemis, or you…" She said, finishing her lecture promptly. "To be completely truthful, you were my last resort." The girl admitted, shrinking back and smiling sheepishly. Batman, however, remained with a serious expression.
"The Cage…" He mused, his words had completely ignored her comment. "I haven't done too much investigating into it, but the problem of its existence seems to be growing. It could be an underground association for illegal cage fights. A lot of crime goes on around those things – human trafficking, drug dealing, illegal gambling, smuggling. The list goes on."
"Obviously." Sasha muttered, turning around and setting both hands on her hips. "So how do we bust it? Find the location, kick a few asses, report?"
"No. Find the location, report," The Dark Knight paused to stare her down directly. "To me and only to me, understand?"
Her head jerked to face him with an 'are you crazy?' look twisted across it. Her mouth was parted open and she scowled. "What the fu-? I'm not part of your little merry band of heroes and heroines. I can't gain experience if you do all the work for me."
"You should have thought of that before you made Gotham your base of operations. You may have powers, but if there are superhumans in the association, you might not stand a chance." He stated dryly. Sasha continued to glare at him, amber orbs narrow and flaring like glowering embers of a dying flame.
"I'm willing to negotiate, Batman. I need to do at least this. I started this case and I'm going to finish it. With or without your help." She finalized, her tone stern and factual.
Batman and Foxfire stood in silence, their eyes locked in a stare down to see which would give in first. The moment seemed endless and neither spoke. Foxfire evened her breathing and rolled her shoulders back, as though she were preparing for this to last longer than it would. Finally, Batman sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. She fought back a flinch, but her jaw clenched, her eyes wavering from determined to something unknown. "Give me three days. No patrolling until them; get rest."
"Hey! I-" She began to protest, her face twisted with anger.
"I'm letting you take the case, I want you off the streets while I get more information for you. Meet me here in three days." He interrupted sternly. Foxfire's mouth was open, still ready to protest but her voice was lost in the wind. "Go home – or whatever it is you stay, and get rest. You're still going to school?"
She nodded curtly.
"Good. Take the night off." He ordered and somehow melted into the darkness. Sasha blinked and shook her head, her brow furrowed as she stilled it and stared down in the darkness. The corner of her mouth tilted up and she shook her head, her cold laughter filling the dark silence.
"Take the night off, he says. No patrolling for three fucking days." Her tone began to grow from humorless joking to furious growling noises that one might not be able to explain correctly. She turned and began to walk out of the alley. "What the hell am I supposed to do for three fucking days?!" Sasha's voice seemed to echo throughout the entire city.
Gotham City
September 23rd 11:30 EDT
Sasha stared up at the ceiling fan as it made lazy circles through the thick, humid air in Artemis's apartment living room. In other words, her home for the past few weeks since her admittedly painful disbanding with her mother. Her chest swelled up and down in a slow and relaxed motion, and out of her parted lips came a soft sigh. Though, the sigh soon became distorted and it turned into a painful groan as she rolled over and glanced at the blond who walked into the room, her face cynically bright as she snickered at her.
"You're acting like it's the end of the world, Sash. It's just three days,"Artemis told her, chuckling hidden behind her amused tone. She sat down in one of the arm chairs and crossed her jeaned legs. "Isn't there something you wanna do? What did you do when you were with Rosalie?"
Amber eyes glanced up at the blond scornfully and she scoffed. "I went to school early in the morning, came back in the afternoon, did homework and was condemned to my room until dinner and then went to bed." She listed of dryly. "I didn't do anything. Wasn't allowed to."
"Hmm," Artemis hummed as she pursed her lips as they tugged into a small smile. "Then if that's the case, why don't I show you around town? It's a Sunday and you've been too busy with your hands stuck in a bunch of files I got you for the past few weeks." She exaggerated with a chuckle. "I'm supposed to meet up with Barbara later today to go waste time, you should come with us."
Sasha wallowed in the silence of boredom for a while, blinking as she stared at the tan fringe carpet. Giving in, she groaned and stood up lazily and messily. "Fine," She said in a bit of fake distaste, but grinned otherwise. "I'll go."
Artemis smiled coyly and stood up as well. "In that case, we're leaving at noon. Hurry up and get dressed – you look like a druggie," She commented, looking the girl up and down. Sasha looked down at her appearance, a messily put together training outfit she usually wore under her vigilante get-up – usually consisting of a clean wife-beater and form-fitting, black shorts. However, this time it was just an old wife beater that had been cut into several times already and sweatpants that, unfortunately, didn't shrink in the washer like she wanted. Artemis was right; Sasha did look like a druggie.
"Right…" The coal-haired girl grimaced and slipped soundlessly into Artemis's room where she kept her clothes. Just after the door had clicked closed, it reopened to allow Sasha's head to peek out, wide-eyed and curious. "Any idea where we're going?"
Artemis arched a brow, her smile now lopsided. "My dear Sasha, are you worried about fashion?"
Sasha's face showed no sign of guilt as she snickered and shook her head. "No! I'm just making sure we aren't doing anything active or anything like that." She said, though her small voice betrayed her guarded emotions. Artemis scoffed, her shoulder jerking slightly at the motion.
"We're just gonna hang around, nothing active or formal, I swear. Wear whatever you want." Artemis told her kindly with a wry smile. Sasha sighed and nodded an "OK" and closed to the door with a scoff clink.
Gotham City
September 23rd 12:14 EDT
"Artemis! Hey!" A voice called from about five yards down the block. Sasha and Artemis turned their heads to see not one, but two familiar faces. One was the expected redhead who's fiery hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a green t-shirt, blue jeans, and black flats. The other, however, was a certain blue-eyed, raven haired boy who had Sasha frozen at his appearance, froze because not even half any hour ago Artemis had told her it was just gonna be the girls today. The amber-eyes, masked by small pieces of semi-transparent, oxygen permeable lenses, glanced over at the archer. What game are you playing, Crock?
"Hey, Babs!" Artemis called back, waving her hand over as an invitation for the two. "Dick, I had no idea you were coming," She said as they approached, close enough for her to talk in a more normal tone. Sasha scoffed and rolled her eyes at her. I call bullshit.
"Strange, didn't Barbara tell you?" Dick said, looking about as dumbfounded as Sasha felt. Perhaps he wasn't in the scheme of things. The ward of Bruce Wayne glanced at his close, redheaded friend, a brow arched. "Babs?"
"Oops?" Barbara said cheekily, shrugging her shoulders. "Forgot. Sorry."
"No biggie, right? Just means we have a full table of four at lunch." Artemis dismissed. "Speaking of which, any idea where to go?"
"I was just thinking we'd walk down the strip and stop at any place that looks good."
"Sounds like a plan, let's go."
The blond and ginger began to walk down the sidewalk and the other two, Sasha and Dick, awkwardly followed. Sasha chewed on the inside of her cheek and glared holes into the back of Artemis's skull. Though, for doing such an act, she bit harder on her cheek – punishment for acting embarrassed. What did she have to fear? It was just Dick. The girl looked down at herself. At least she wasn't too badly dressed with dark skinny jeans and black hoodie and a navy blue shirt that had black faded letters no longer readable. She pursed her lips and let out an exhausted sigh, closing her eyes to shield the reflective sunlight on the looming clouds.
"Sash?" A voice drew her back to reality and she looked up and over at Dick. "You okay?" He looked confused as he spoke, as if Sasha were acting out of character. She was.
Though, in absence, she gave her best smirk and nodded. "Yeah," The word seemed difficult to say and it came out with a sigh. "I'm fine. Just tired. Had a late night, ya' know?"
"Totally. Bet everything's been stressful since the press conference, huh?" He inquired casually, though his tone hinted at a bit of sympathy. Sympathy that Sasha really didn't want, but probably needed.
She shrugged in response and shoved her small hands into her pockets where she fumbled with the small case of matches, fingers itching to tear one off the little pack and light it off. "Not really. Everything's been acting how it has been. I'm still surprised my mother hasn't cut me off from going to school."
Dick smiled reassuringly. "Maybe it tells you that she still cares – even if she did disown you." He said and silence fell upon the two as Sasha nodded, no words spoken. Though, before the silence could lock the two in an awkward position, Dick changed the subject quickly to bring up a new conversation. "So, how's dance been? I heard from some of the other students that you're pretty good."
"Yeah!" Sasha brightened up at the subject, the hour and a half long classes of class she constantly had to endure with one of her friends, Ivan, rushing back to her as she recalled her latest routines. "They've been going well and we might be preforming soon,"
"Cool." Dick quipped with a quick smile. "Am I invited?"
Sasha threw him a skeptical look and scoffed. "Hell no!" She spat jokingly, her scowl turned into a lopsided grin. He sputtered a chuckle and shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Because I said so…" She stated, though her 'O' began to drawl out as she attempted once again to grasp for some witty nickname – a task she'd been working as since she met the boy. "Dammit!"
"What?" He asked, grin still plastered on his face.
"I still can't figure out a name for you, and it pisses me off,"
"Temper."
"Oh? And you're so cool headed, huh, Dick?"
"That's foul play, Sash."
Sasha stuck out her tongue in silent defense and crossed her arms, walking ahead sassily to join the two other girls who spoke together calmly. "…Will probably be in Central City, then I'll get some things settled for college. I'm trying not to let my relationship with Wally control where I want to go for college." Artemis said, finishing off a statement that Sasha had only heard part of. She looked over at Barbara quizzically, her brows furrowed in a slight confusion.
"What do you have in mind?" Barbara asked tilting her head.
"Honestly?" Artemis countered, her voice strained and slightly annoyed. "I don't know, and Wally – he's looking into physics, of course."
Sasha turned to look at Barbara as she walked. "Hey, didn't you say you wanted to look into detective work?" She asked, genuinely curious about Barbara's goals. Barbara looked at her, mouth parted as she thought on the words to say.
"Yeah, but I don't think my dad particularly likes the idea," She answered, the tone of her comment about her dad a bit dry and sour like lime salt.
"The commissioner doesn't want his daughter following justice like he does?" Sasha inquired, her lips tilted coyly.
"I think he does, but more in the court rather than on the field."
The coal-haired girl scoffed. "Well," She placed her hands on her hips, holding her head high. "You have my support, Babs. I guess being raised by a hard core feminist counts for something, huh?"
Barbara smiled lightly. "Thanks, but – hey – I'm still a junior, I've got another year to sort these things out."
Sasha shrugged, but nodded in agreement. "True."
It didn't take long for the group of four teens to find a place that looked interesting. Dick spotted it from across the street, a small café that emitted a nice aroma of freshly baked bread, and they crossed the road quickly, despite the many angry, blaring horns as they did not cross at the white lined crosswalk just a few yards down the road. Upon Sasha's personal request, they sat inside, her only excuse was that the fall weather was already pricking at her chill-sensitive skin.
"Gonna suck for you when winter gets here," Dick chided lightly and Sasha shook her head in her so-called joy.
"I'm so not looking forward to it," She grumbled.
"How'd you survive in Russia?" Barbara asked as they sat down in a booth, she glanced at the waitress. "Water, please."
"Green tea?" She asked the waitress and received a curt nod, then she turned back at Barbara. "Honestly, I don't know." It wasn't a lie.
Artemis pulled her sweater off and leaned back into the booth, her body relaxed and she tried to smile before a realization turned that smile into a scowl. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow."
Sasha scoffed and crossed her arms, leaning back as well. "You think you're the only one?" She asked dryly and shook her head. "Aren't we supposed to have a test in English?" She turned to Dick and Barbara for answers.
Dick shrugged, though the grin on his face made it clear that any news of one wouldn't down his spirits, and Barbara was the one to provide a spoken answer. "Yeah, I think. It shouldn't be hard though – she gave us the answer key." She said and the raven-haired boy to her right suddenly looked up from his menu, blue eyes wide with alarm.
"She did? I don't think she gave us an answer key." He said, his tone conflicted and his brows furrowed.
"She did." Barbara finalized.
Setting down his menu, the boy got cocky and grinned at her. "Prove it."
Barbara began to shift in her seat as she picked up her purse and began to search through it. "Got it right here in my purse, Dick, if you want proof." She said and pulled out two sheets of papers and placed it in front of him. "Read it and weep."
He indeed read the papers, however he didn't exactly weep. More so, he sunk back in his seat and groaned. "Great. Now I have to find the answer key and attempt to cram." He grumbled, arms crossed over his chest. Sasha was giggling in her seat and she rolled her eyes at him.
"What's the matter, Dick? You didn't look too fazed about it just a second ago." She said smoothly, her lips turned upward into a smug grin. "What happened?" Her taunting was only encouraged by Artemis's muffled snickers to the side.
Dick sneered at her. "You didn't know either, Volkov," He stated bitterly in defense.
"Unlike you, I'm not such a worry wart about grades, besides, it's English; you're talking to the girl that got forth highest English entry test score in the entire school." She bragged, not meaning anything spiteful, but she couldn't help but tease. Though, the information was news for Artemis.
"Wow, really?" She asked, brow arched in surprise. "Who got first?"
Dick knew well of this information. After all, he had all access to information about the person who indeed got the highest score. "One Blaire Grey. One-hundred percent score – that girl is a genius."
Artemis's eyes went wide and she whistled. "I knew she was smart, but not that smart. Wait – isn't she in all the advanced core classes, not including being in my Psyche 3 class?" Dick nodded at her question and she just took a deep breath. "How is she possible?"
He shrugged. "Not my story to tell, but let's just say her guardian was a big stickler on education and knowing things." He stated simply before the waitress returned with their drinks, setting them down on the table to each person who ordered them. The blond woman was particularly careful with the hot tea. Afterwards, she pulled out a small note pad and stood rested, eyebrow arched sassily.
"You four ready to order?" She asked impatiently. Sasha quirked an eyebrow at her and threw a threatening glare. Are you for real?
"Yeah," The coal-haired girl answered dryly. "I'll have the spicy fried chicken with a side of seasoned veggies." The woman gave a curt nod and turned to the others. They all gave their own orders and the woman, with another curt gesture, ripped out the order from her notepad and twitched away. Sasha couldn't help but feel a little spiteful towards the waitress, what with the impatient air she burned off. No tip for you. "Hey, something just occurred to me." She stated and all eyes were on her. "Who's paying?"
Time had passed on like a breeze as they shared stories and thoughts over their lunch. Sasha made the common snide remark to Dick, one that he could counter and the two would banter off in a battle of wits with words. Artemis rolled her eyes at these moments and continued eating her club sandwich while Barbara got onto Dick for mistreating a lady. All in all, the time spent there in that booth was between four friends in Gotham, living completely normal lives on a normal day. The moment was, oddly enough, foreign for Sasha. Before, when she was with Rosalie, it was always go to school, come home, and stay home. Afterwards, it was go to school, come home, suit up, and kick asses. It felt like a breath of fresh air for her.
Sasha knew she couldn't do this forever. No. It would get boring for her. She had to be continuously moving, never stuck in one moment. Ever since she could no longer remember her past, she was fighting. Maybe, more than likely, she would do just that until her dying days. In a way, Sasha was okay with that.
"Hey, Sash?" Artemis's voice brought her back to reality and she turned to see the blond looking behind her, eyes narrowed toward the window. "It's either you or Dick that's getting all the attention."
"What?" Both teens said and whipped around to see what exactly the archer was staring at. Sasha let out a sound that was slightly animalistic as her teeth ground together in agitation. Several reporters were waiting patiently outside that damn door.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," She scowled and stood up, grabbing her jacket.
Dicked glanced over at Artemis, eyes wide. "She's not gonna pick a fight, is she?" When Artemis shrugged, he quickly followed after the fuming teenager. "Sasha!"
Both of them were already out the door when he finally caught up to her and the reporters burst in a fury of questions that Sasha tried to brush off with bitter comments such as, "No comment," "Leave me alone," and even "Piss off." She pulled on her jacket and shoved her hand sin her pockets, eyes scanning the area to find a way out of her predicament.
"Aleksandra! What are your feelings of being kicked out by your own mother right after returning home?" One of them asked. That was the question that really quirked her.
She whipped around, her mouth open, ready to make a smartass, spiteful comment that would ruin her mother forever. That's when Dick grabbed her hand, feeling sorry for the girl who was getting hounded by people that wanted the latest quote form the girl who'd just gotten kicked out of her multi-million dollar house. He dragged her away and she quickly caught up to pace with him.
"C'mon, I know where we can lose 'em." He cast over his shoulder and turned down a block, where he nearly ran into a vendor. "Whoa, sorry!" He said quickly and dashed around, still dragging the girl along with him.
"Dick! I'm fine. Let go!" Sasha called after him, her voice still angry and annoyed from the incident. She tried to wiggle out of his hold on her hand, not liking the contact too much. Dick, however, ignored her dismissal and continued running until he knew that the reporters probably disbanded. He stopped and turned to face Sasha. Her eyes were brown, but something burned behind that mud-like tint. Something fiery and golden. He smirked.
"You're not gonna run away if I let go, will you?" He asked smugly and she stared at him like he was crazy.
"Depends." She answered curtly and he let go. She didn't run. Instead, she placed her hand on her hip and brushed her hair back, inhaling and exhaling agitatedly. "We just ditched our friends."
Dick shrugged. "They'll be fine."
Sasha scoffed and shook her head. "Really? Ya' know, I'm not the nicest girl, but I don't just leave my friends in the dust like-"
"Do you wanna hang out sometime next weekend?"
"What?" Sasha blinked, her angered emotions now turned innocent and clueless. Of course, she did hear him, it was the shock that compelled her to ask. He knew that she heard him and just stared at her, a smug grin that looked way to familiar still on his face. "Umm," Sasha trailed, not sure what to say.
She was uncertain. Dick knew that and continued to stare at her in silence until he got a right answer. Sasha recomposed herself and crossed her arms, her lips tilted upward in a smirk. "If I say no?" She teased and he arched a brow. "Stubborn boy. Sure, if it means we can get back to our friends," She said lightly and began to walk back, but he stopped her a looked her straight in the eyes.
"I don't want you to go if you don't want to." He said, his tone serious. Though, Sasha just scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Trust me, Grayson, you would know if I didn't want to 'hang out' with you," She said smugly, shooting him a genuine smile before heading back.
Gotham City
September 23rd 19:44 EDT
The first thing that Sasha did when she and Artemis returned home was fall on the couch, grab one of the small pillows and curl up whilst she hugged it to her chest, the biggest grin on her face. She felt like squealing. Instead, she buried her face in the pillow and squirmed as tightly as she could without making too much of a fuss. Artemis plopped down on the armchair and looked at her with a smile. "What's got you into such a good mood?" She asked, genuinely oblivious to the little get-together that the girl and Dick scheduled.
Sasha just looked up at her, still smiling, and shook her head, refusing to answer. Paula Crock entered the room on her wheelchair from the kitchen and looked over at the girl. Her face suddenly became the reference for Artemis's frequent smug, knowing expressions. "Either I'm blind, or that girl just got asked out on a date." She said, her tone certain for what she had just claimed. Sasha shot up, eyes wide and playfully defiant.
"Was not!" She called as Artemis gasped in surprised.
"No way, did Dick as you out on a date?" She asked in disbelief. The girl threw her a sneer and shook her head.
"No! He just asked if he wanted to hang out next weekend," Sasha defended, her voice lowering as she shrank back into the couch.
Artemis and Paula exchanged glances, both similar in many ways. Like mother, like daughter, it seemed. "He asked you to hang out – next weekend – just the two of you." Artemis clarified and Sasha nodded to verify. The archer laughed. "That is so a date!"
Sasha hid her face in the pillow and shouted out so they could hear her, "It's not a date! We're just hanging out!" Though, expressed through her burning blush, she knew that it wasn't just hanging out.
Paula scoffed and began to wheel back into the kitchen. "Dinner's waiting for you, ladies. We're having vermicelli salad with spring rolls."
"With the tiny little peppers?" Came a muffled reply.
The ex-villan smiled softly. "Yes, now stop mopping about your date and eat."
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