Chapter Fourteen

Warren had gone through and refilled most of the drinks in the Lantern before making his way back to the kitchen when someone yelled out for him.

"Yeah?" he called back to Andy, the only other guy working at the Paper Lantern that wasn't related to the owners.

"Dude, phone." he said simply.

Warren sighed, knowing there would be hell to pay later on but he had to at least see who'd be calling him. Its not like he had friends. Moving to the back, he grabbed the phone receiver from the wall and put it to his ear.

"Yeah?"

"Warren sweetie, that you?"

"Yeah mom. Something wrong?"

"I can barely hear you over those noises. What is that?"

"Dishwasher." he answered simply. They had put the phone there for a reason. To help discourage personal calls. It was hard to do when you had to scream at the top of your lungs so the other person on the line could hear you. "Look, I can't really talk right now…"

"Oh I know honey. I just wanted to tell you I got in touch with my old friend Julie. You remember her right?"

"No." he answered indifferently. He didn't remember any of his mom's friends because he could never stay around long enough to learn them.

"Veritas." she sighed.

"Okay. What about her?"

"Well she's a judge now. She might be able to help with your friend."

"Oh. Okay. Well can we talk about this later? I'm working." he said, feeling Mrs. Yin's eyes on him from the other side of the bar. Glancing, he confirmed his sensation and did his best to mime that he was hurrying.

"She's on her way to talk to you."

Warren groaned. That was all he needed. A phone call and a guest all in the same night? Yeah, he wouldn't have a job when he went home.

"Okay. Well I got to go. I'll talk to you later mom."

"Okay. I love you!" she chimed in that motherly voice.

"Yeah. Love ya too." he said quickly before slamming the phone down.

She did that on purpose. She loves forcing him to say he loved her in public, knowing if she said it first, he was expected to return it. At home, he had no problem with it but that was at home. Growling to himself, he said his apologies to his boss and tried to go back to work before his inevitable firing when his mom's friend stopped by.

Veritas he knew. That was her hero name, kind of literal but straight forward. She could tell when people were lying so she put her talent to good use. She was more of a secret hero working behind the scenes of the justice system instead of through the same League connection. She definitely cut down on the tax payer's cash going towards trials and stuff too. There was no two week or two month trials. They would cart the suspect into the courthouse and she would ask one simple question. Did you do it. And if they passed her test, free to go. If they didn't, jail. It was so easy. But, part of him wondered why the hell his mom would call her.

He went about his work and nearly an hour later someone that may have been this random hero came walking through the door. She looked like a judge, really. She wore a suit and even though it was well tailored to her, it was still a little over the top. Her graying brown hair was tied back in a bun and a pair of glasses hung on the tip of her nose. Yup, judge. Warren did his best to ignore her for now before she took a seat and seemed to wait patiently.

He wasn't a waiter, at all. He worked in the kitchen doing dishes and bussing tables. The closest he ever got to even speaking with customers was when he refilled their drinks because their own waiter couldn't for some reason. He didn't have the warmest personality so in the back was better. He shook his head and did the job he had to do at least until he had a break. It wasn't all that far off so he could deal with her later.

She sat at the table, waiting for her food and reading a file while she sipped on some tea when Warren had finally gotten his break. Hesitantly, he walked over to her and wondered if he should say anything at all when he was spotted. She smiled kindly and he had to admit it put him a little more at ease but he still didn't like the situation.

"You must be Joyce's boy. Goodness you've gotten big." she smiled. She reminded him of someone's sweet grandma but wasn't quite that age yet.

"Yeah…" he replied wearily.

"Well are you going to have a seat so we can talk or just stand there staring?"

He slid into the booth, glancing to his boss again to see her eying him and the clock before going back to the register.

"Your mother tells me you have a friend who's being mistreated by her foster parents."

"Yeah… yes." he corrected before seeing her eye him slightly. "Ma'am."

She only smiled at his awkwardness but given his family's history with the legal system, it was understandable.

"Tell me what's happening." she said simply, resting her arms on the table and waiting for him to explain.

And he did, going through what he had seen and the little bit the two had actually told him. She looked horrified. What was worse, she knew he was telling the truth. Every word. She was a hero, it was her power and sometimes she truly hated it. People always think it'd be cool to know when someone's lying, to know when they're giving you the run around but there are so many other things in life that you'd rather not know the truth about.

"Uh, I've got to get back to work." he finally said when his ten minute break was up. Standing, he glanced back down to the woman that seemed to be mulling things over. "You think you can do something about it?"

Her eyes moved back to the young man as she forced a smile.

"I will certainly try." she told him.

Warren nodded as best he could before making his way back to work. He knew that she believed him, which was comforting in some ways but, the main problem was whether not they could actually do something about it. He wasn't sure why he was as determined as he was that they get taken out of the house. He just was. If people were scared she'd end up like her dad, the Roberts were the quickest way for it to happen. They were horrible people and he wanted nothing more than to take a shot at Joseph, or two. As big of an ass as he could be, Warren never went around smacking people weaker than him. For one, he'd be at it all day, and two, only cowards hit women and kids.

He shook his head to himself as he thought about whether or not she'd actually get to stay with Tony. It was obvious she cared about the kid a lot and was protective of him, for obvious reasons, but the likelihood of them being put somewhere together that wasn't in the system was rare. Especially for Aryana. Tony was young and smart, a good kid it seemed and would probably find a family easy enough, at least by the time he hit ten, but Aryana wouldn't. She was almost sixteen, a teenager and a lot older than most people wanted and as soon as one person took a look at her family history, they'd not only back away but run screaming. There was no way someone in the city would take her and she's most likely turn eighteen in the system.

Not making himself feel any better about getting involved, Warren did his best to get back to work and forget everything about what had just happened. That task was harder than he thought when Veritas left, smiling kindly and waving to the young man before walking out the door.