Sell you a Bridge

by MalcolmTent6730

Have you ever gotten an email telling you you've won a free cruise? Or one for a work out that will get you ripped in ten days? Wouldn't it be crazy if those offers were legit? Well for Morgan O'Malley they can be. Spam becomes real life when his meta powers finally manifest. Hopefully the perks of the super life aren't false advertising.

53. Chapter 53

June 4th 2016 The Nightside 5:00 PM EDT

Before we figured out our next move, I wanted to know more about The Griffin. Naturally, I asked our resident source for all things Nightside. Taylor didn't disappoint. "The Griffin is Nightside royalty. His family is a bit like our version of the Kennedys back in the US. Only evil." He paused. "Or maybe they're exactly like the Kennedys. Regardless, he's rich, and powerful, and he has influence with a capital I. There are more than a few rumors about how he got his power, and the devil worship angle was only the most popular, though I guess that's been confirmed at this point."

I frowned. "Do you know where we could find him? We need access to information he has, I should be able to get it if I can get close enough. Between my ghost powers and my psychometry, I can find out what we need to know without needing to question him or even let him know we're there. I'll need to find his location to get it done though. Does he have any special places he likes to hang out?" I was honestly exhausted at the mere idea of more running around, but we were on a deadline here. Kit needed our help, and I had to find her before something bad happened.

Taylor shrugged. "Who knows. The Griffin doesn't move in the same circles as someone like me. Julian might have a better idea, but even he isn't in the same tier as The Griffin. He has a mansion in the Nightside, Griffin Hall, and rarely leaves it. The Griffin is the kind of person who is on par with the Authorities themselves. Hell, he might actually BE part of the Authorities, it's not like anyone knows enough about them to tell. I can't think of a way to get you close enough to come into contact with him."

To my surprise, Jim was the one who responded here. My mentor had been unusually quiet on this trip, aware he didn't have much to offer in the Nightside. i didn't necessarily agree with that, but with everything going on with him reuniting with Julian I didn't want to lean on him too much. He had enough going on. Still, his voice was almost gleeful when he spoke. "Oh, I can. You said he lives in a manor in the Nightside, yes? It just so happens you have the greatest thief in the world, and his two brilliant apprentices sitting in this very room with you."

John, who was sitting cuddled up with Cathy, grinned suddenly. "Wait, is this gonna be a heist? Because I've never been in on a heist before! I've always wanted to steal from some rich tosser." Cathy smacked his chest lightly, and he jolted, looking squirelly. "I mean...for justice. Or whatever. Good rightous moral reasons and all that rot. Since we're the good guys, yeah?" His eyes darted back and forth in an over the top manner that made it clear he was playing up his nervousness for dramatic effect.

Sure enough, Cathy giggled. "Right, that's enough out of you. He does have a point though." She turned to us with a worried look. "Being a great thief is all well and good, but this is the Nightside, not the regular world. I'm not sure your expertise really applies to the kinds of protections that are littering the houses here. I'm sure you're very good, but that sounds like a pretty risky plan. Especially if this Griffin guy is as powerful and wealthy as John said, that kind of money buys quite a bit of security."

She had a point, but Jim shook his head. "I understand your concern miss, but I assure you I am more than qualified. I've stolen from more than petty land barons and rich dullards. I've robbed kings and wizards, stolen the gold from a dragons hoard, and even broken into the Tower of London without being caught. I am qualified to perform a theft of this magnitude, and more than that, with my apprentices in tow, I am perhaps one of the few beings in the world that can make such a claim. I'm familiar with the severity of this course of action, and of the Nightside itself. But I am confident."

Taylor let out a loud, frustrated groan, burying his face in his hands. "How am I having this conversation right now? You want to rob The Griffin? Any other fun weekend plans? Maybe one of us can punch out the sun, or curse out an active volcano. Griffin Hall is one of the most heavily fortified buildings in the Nightside. We have a better chance of breaking into the Vatican, and probably less to worry about if we got caught there." He paused, looking up. "IF, and I mean if, I agreed to this. What guarantees do you have that you would be able to get past their defenses. Or even find them."

Before Jim could answer, I cut in. "I can handle that." The others looked at me, Artemis, Zee, and Dreamer all looking worried. Jim looked uncertain, an expression of doubt creeping onto his currently visible face. They knew what I meant, and knew that I'd been actively trying not to use that ability. "I have a power that lets me see auras. It works particularly well on active defenses. Between that and some other gifts I should be able to outline the protective wards so Zee and Jim can crack them more easily."

Aura sight was a dangerous thing to use in the Nightside. I was absolutely sure I would be in danger if I saw certain things here, but if my ability was needed I would use it. Zee shot me a worried glance, mouthing a silent inquiry as to whether I was ok. I shot her a reassuring smile and nodded. Jim, however, noticed anyway, and didn't like it. "Aura sight may be a step too far. Mr. Taylor, is there anyone in the Nightside who might be able to sell us something to help us scout out a powerful security system?"

I turned to look at Jim with a complicated expression. "I can handle it boss. It's just a security system, some wards. I've seen worse I'm sure. There's no need to go through the trouble of finding some powerful scouting artifact or whatever. Just leave it all to me." This was what I did. In terms of thieving, Jim had more experience than I did by far, even with my skills and tricks, but my abilities like aura sight allowed me to complement that experience rather than being overtaken by it.

My mentor just shook his head. "You think I don't know my own apprentice? Even if you're been gone a few years I still trained you. I spent more than enough time with you to understand how you act. You haven't been using your aura sight this whole time, and that's the power you lean on most. There's something stopping you from opening your sight, and you're trying to ignore it so we can find Kitrina. I'm not going to let you risk yourself when I can tell you're worried what might happen."

I sighed. "You aren't...wrong. I get a bad feeling about using my aura sight here right now. I think I might see something that could seriously damage me, but I can't let being afraid stop me from helping Kit. Not to mention I have no actual reason for it. It's just a weird guess, it would be ridiculous to let this fear that isn't even based on anything keep me from doing what I need to do. Other than my aura sight, the only other option we have on hand would be Taylor's gift, and that's definitely out of the question based on what happened last time. I'm not letting him take that risk for us."

Jim shook his head. "Following your instincts isn't stupid. A thief's instincts are their greatest strength. A vision and understanding you can't put into words, based on the experiences you have and the things you've been through. If something feels dangerous, you don't do it. End of story. This hell hole is home to some of the most obscure magical artifacts the world over. We can find something to bridge the gap."

He paused, his voice becoming quieter as he continued. "She was under my protection. Your father asked me to look after her, and I failed. You're all children, and you aren't responsible for what happened. You weren't expected to be able to find a solution to how she was feeling, to find a way to make her fit in. I was. I was her teacher, and I didn't do my job. I won't fail another of my students if I have a chance to avoid it. I spent the last five years feeling exactly what that's like. You found your own way back without me, but I can HELP Kitrina."

I swallowed around a lump in my throat. "Boss...that's not on you. She was MY cousin, and I even knew about what she was going through. I passed the buck to Artemis and Zee because I didn't know how to help her." Part of me wanted to blame my dad, but really, all he'd done was take her in and be himself. He wasn't a particularly warm and affectionate person, not even to me, and Kit just hadn't really been able to tell how he felt about her.

He definitely had his share of blame in all this, but really, the buck stopped exactly where it should have. Alberto. My uncle was a terrible father, and his insanity and recklessness had hurt our family in a way I don't think any outsider could have. That was part of why I felt so bad about what had happened with Kit. Because in the end, even Alberto had picked me over her, and that just wasn't right. Not that I wanted to be his weird serial killer heir, but it had to have hurt all the same.

Taylor cut in. "Alright, the pity party and blame sharing isn't necessary. I do know where we can buy something to map wards. Or rather, I know someone we can buy it from. The Collector had pretty much anything you can possibly imagine on hand, if anyone can get us something like that it's him. But getting a meeting with him will take a few days." I opened my mouth to argue and he cut me off. "No. You're pushing too hard. We've been scurrying around non stop for days. You're going to burn out. I'll set up the meeting, but you need to take a damn break, or you won't be fit to help anyone."

That was the opposite of what I wanted, I needed to find Kit, I needed to make sure she was ok. Before I could speak though, Artemis put a hand on my shoulder, cutting me off. "Morgan. He's right. I get the urgency, the fear. More than anyone I get that, after Jade vanished when I was a kid I spent months in the state you're in. But this place is dangerous. We're going to be dealing with some awful stuff, and if you burn out we're going to be doing it without you. It's not like you'll be doing nothing. The meeting will take time to set up and there's nothing to be done about that. Just let him arrange it."

I hesitated for a second. Could I agree to this? Was it really alright to just...screw around while I had so much to do? Zee reached down and squeezed my hand, Drea took the other, and I felt the bonds between us flare with concern and agreement. I sighed. "Alright." I looked at Taylor. "Set it up. I can wait a few days. If we're having this much trouble finding Neron they can't be doing that much better. I'll wait." I slumped back into my chair bonelessly,suddenly exhausted. Then I smiled at them sheepishly. "Well, if I'm supposed to relax I should probably try to have some fun. What do you people do around here for a good time?"

June 5th 2016 The Nightside 10:00 AM EDT

Waking up the next morning in bed with my girls was...odd. Not because I was in bed with them, that was pretty consistent. I was stupidly in love with both of them and they were absolutely knockouts, aside from the consistent sex with both of them, I also never missed a chance to hold them as I slept. No, what was odd was the feeling of waking up with the two of them nuzzled against me and knowing I didn't have to actually go anywhere. I'd been going non stop for a while now, and the feeling of relaxation was almost a novelty at this point.

The first thing I saw when I woke up was a shockingly beautiful face gazing placidly into mine, violet eyes fixed and pink lips turned up in a soft smile. I just froze. Zee and I had been together for what felt like an eternity at this point. Only a bit less than a year in terms of linear time, but we'd been sprinting from crisis to crisis together, and our hearts were literally one. We'd done things that would make most professional escorts blush and shared so much emotionally I doubted there was anyone in the world I would consider as close to me as she and Drea. All that aside though, her beauty still took my breath away sometimes.

Seeing her there, head resting on a bare shoulder, pitch black hair cascading artfully over the top half of her body and body only covered by a thin sheet, it hit me harder than ever. Every line of her, every flash of color from her eyes, every curl of her hair, was absolutely flawless. She looked like someone had decided to paint perfection and leave the portrait in my bed. I just drank her in, unable to look away, until I hear a low giggle behind me and turned to find a certain busty goddess with her head propped up on a hand watching us both.

She quirked her lips at me. "It's not wonder she's so smug when you sit there staring and focusing on how perfect she is." She raked her eyes over both of us hotly. "Admittedly, I can't blame you, the both of you are absolutely breathtaking, but since we can feel your emotions she's getting a front row seat to bask in the adoration, which is terrible for her already inflated ego." She shot me a teasing wink reaching out to pinch Zatanna's side, drawing an offended squeak from our girlfriend.

I laughed at Zee's aghast look. "Seems like you have that more than handled. You're always here to bring us down to earth if either of us let our heads get too big. I leaned down to kiss Dreamer softly. I thumped back down to the bed between them, smiling at Zee. "So, you had a point about us needing downtime, but I admit I didn't have any existing plans on what to do. I suppose we could chill here at Juliens for the next few days. Or did you have something you wanted to do specifically with our time off?" I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted to do, but I wasn't going to assume. I was down for whatever she wanted to do.

Despite the horror show of Kit being missing and all the horrible things that lived here, I couldn't bring myself to hate this trip. Sure it was stressful and dangerous, but at the same time this was the absolute most upbeat I had seen Zee in quite a while. The chance to learn more about her mother, to get to know someone who had known and loved her when she was our age, had brought about a huge change. Zee was getting the chance to explore a part of her past she thought she had lost forever and it meant so damn much to her.

Even more than all the help with Kit, Taylor's stories, him giving this back to her after all this time when her dad never would, meant so much to me. I would owe that man for the rest of my life, because I was pretty sure he was giving Zee something she had never gotten, and it was something she deserved more than anyone. He was giving her peace. She felt how much I loved seeing her like this too. I could feel through our bond that she loved how happy I was for her, that she was touched by how much I cared.

I personally thought that was crazy, she was everything to me, they both were, and I absolutely worried about how she was feeling. I'd been barely containing myself from tracking down Doctor Fake and ripping him a new keg hole, but I knew she was worried about her dad being hurt, so I forced myself not to try it. She would let me if I asked, she trusted me, but it would hurt her to ignore that fight looming, and that was the opposite of what I wanted to do.

Switching to a topic I knew would make her happy, I glanced at her phone resting next to mine on the end table. "So, did you call our girl today? I know how much you hover, not that she doesn't adore it. She's a big softy like her mom." I smiled and leaned over for a kiss. "It's one of the things I love most about you. I trust she's getting into unbearable trouble without us there?"

Zee snickered. "You mother has conscripted the girls in our absence. Apparently since we're gone she was worried they would get into trouble. Rana, Tina, and Cassie have been put to work, making repairs, cooking, and babysitting. Apparently they even roped the puppy into it. Patches has officially been designated as Hana's best friend full time. She rides him everywhere. Rana couldn't stop gushing about how cute it is, apparently he's a complete mother hen, constantly pushing against her to make sure she never falls or gets hurt."

I snickered at that. Patches had gotten huge in the last month, but he was still a sweet boy. Cornerhounds were intelligent and loyal to their masters, and mine at least was fiercely protective. We'd left his brothers behind in the OZ with DG and Azkedelia and their parents, but the first of our Cornerpups had come back with me, even if he'd spent most of the whole reach debacle prowling the island and enjoying himself in our castle.

Given how boxy those big stone buildings are, Patches was basically in Cornerhound heaven. Constantly jumping out from behind corners at people and just generally running amok, with some time pandering to Zee (who spoiled him rotten) between pranks. He usually left me alone with his antics, though he seemed to take special pleasure in trying to scare Jim, even if he never really managed it with any effectiveness. I let my smile slip. "So...how is Rana feeling? She still mad we didn't bring her with us?"

My girlfriend winced. "Yeah, you know how she is. Every inch her father's daughter. She got that Falcone grudge holding gene." She gave me a teasing grin, but it wilted soon enough. "But in all seriousness, she's more hurt than angry. You can feel it too, you're just ignoring it. She feels like leaving her behind means that we don't trust her. Not to mention her natural instincts as a void paladin that drive her to be protective of us in particular. She wants to be here keeping all of us safe, putting herself between us and any danger that may come out way. Having to sit at home when she can feel us in danger... it's not easy for her."

I winced. "That's the whole reason behind me wanting to do this without her. Instincts aside, she's not a meat shield. She's our daughter. The ritual may still be pushing her to feel like she should protect us, but in my eyes it's the other way around. I'm strong enough to take care of myself, and you're not exactly weaklings either. We can watch out for each other without using our daughter as cannon fodder." I felt the hot ember of rage in my stomach at the thought of someone using Morana like that. I was still ashamed about the original reasoning for the ritual we'd created her with. I knew she didn't hold it against me, but it still affected her.

Zee reached out to squeeze my hand. "Hey, I know baby. I don't see her like that either, and neither does Drea. You know that. We want her to be safe just like you do. It's just...hard. Feeling her hurt, knowing we caused it. I'm not sure how you're keeping yourself from sensing it, but I don't have that knack. I can feel every bit of uncertainty and helplessness that goes through her heart, and it breaks mine. Don't worry though. I know we're keeping her safe. I won't cave and convince you to bring her here just because I feel bad about all this."

I could feel her worry and discomfort thinking about how much our daughter was hurting. Now that I reached for it, I did feel her pain, at least partly, but I also might have been blocking it out a bit. I wanted to keep her safe, and feeling all this stress and guilt after Kit went missing just compounded that. Imagining that happening to Rana terrified me. Sure, she was damn powerful, but this whole trip had been one compilation of 'there's always someone stronger'. I forced that pain and worry back down in a way I hadn't realized had become a habit. I needed to talk to Morana sometime soon, it seemed like I had some things to work out, and maybe so did she.

For the moment though, daughters were less of a worry than mothers. Specifically Zee's mother. "So, if we don't have any concrete plans, maybe we could have Taylor bring you around to some of her old haunts. See what her life here was like. It would be nice to relax a bit and take in some scenery that we can actually spend some time in that isn't trying to secretly kill us or turn us evil, which is apparently going to be a concern here." She giggled slightly at that, a small smile teasing her face, but her eyes were distant.

I whistled a bit, waving a hand in front of her face and snapping, and she jumped, pouting at me. I loved her pout, it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. Made me want to nip at her bottom lip. But we had other things to do. "Well, if you can't decide then we can just go as him." I hopped to my feet. "Come on then, lets go." I reached down, picked her up and swung her over my shoulder easily, drawing a mortified squeak from my girlfriend. She flailed her legs in the air, squealing at me to put her down.

So I did, dropping her from my shoulder height down onto the bed with a muffled thump and she rolled over to glare at me, frazzled and hair askew. "I cannot believe you just did that!" I hadn't been planning to carry her out of the room wearing nothing but a sheet and she knew it, I'd just been trying to get her smiling again once the conversation turned serious. Dreamer was watching us both with laughter on her face, and Zee rolled her eyes as she noticed we were both amused. "Fine, go ahead and gang up on me." Her lips were quirked up in a smile despite the sulky words. "To your earlier question though, yes. Let's go see where my mom grew up." The look of excitement in her eyes was worth every bad thing we'd been through here. I would do anything to keep seeing that look. Visiting an old house was nothing much.

June 5th 2016 The Nightside 10:00 AM EDT

Taylor, as it turned out, WAS willing to take Zee to see where her mom had used to live. She had apparently moved into a house near to Taylor's when they were teenagers, and he brought us by his old place first, looking nostalgic and a little afraid to be back in such a long forgotten place. He told himself that it didn't bother him, that he was happy to do this for Sindella's daughter, but I think I'd have sensed that lie even without my powers, whether he spoke it aloud or not. Some things were necessary for one reason or another, but being willing to do something and being happy weren't the same.

Which was how we found ourselves standing in front of a small, unobtrusive house on a normal looking street in some random Nightside suburb. I hadn't believed Taylor when he mentioned we were heading for a suburb, it had seemed ridiculous, that a place this crazy and messed up would have normal parts, but the street we were on was decidedly mundane in appearance on the outside, if a bit run down. Zee assured me every house was heavily warded, since she could detect that even as my own ability to see magic was compromised by my lack of aura sight access.

The house we were standing in front of was not what I'd have expected from Taylor. It was old, shabby but well cared for, as if someone had done just enough maintenance over the years to undo the wear and tear, but not enough to fix it up. It was a faded yellow, made with strips of siding you saw on older houses from the nineties, and the roof was patchy dark shingles. The yard was ragged, with only a few weeds and patches of grass growing around most of it, with the exception of a big patch of tall grass under a leaky water spigot.

Taylor was staring through the window into the empty and dust covered house, but I was under the impression he was seeing much more than the bare wood floors we could spot through the glass. Zee stood next to him, and I could tell she was impatient. She could tell this was important, and she wasn't cruel enough to interrupt. When Taylor started speaking, his voice was soft. "I was twelve years old when Sindella moved in next door. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It took me three weeks to get up the nerve to speak to her. Not that it mattered, she didn't speak a word of english."

Zee burst out in a surprised giggle, covering her mouth quickly in embarrassment, but Taylor just grinned. "She never told you about that did she? Sindella's family lived in a secluded homo magi city in Turkey before they moved here. They fled the city as political refugees I think, though she never did tell me the exact reason they went on the run. I didn't ask. It never mattered. That said, when she arrived here she spoke exclusively Turkish. She chattered at me for a good fifteen minutes before I was able to shake off my stupor and manage to communicate that."

The beaming smile on Zee's face was so beautiful it took my breath away. The rest of us just remained silent, letting them have their moment. Zee looked around. "You said she lived next door? Which house was hers?" She sounded fascinated by the very idea that her mother might have lived so close by, like finding the house would reveal some kind of secret truth that she hadn't known before, like it would let her get closer to her mother even now.

Taylor smiled and gestured to a shabby looking sky blue house made of the same siding, a one story house with a faded pink flamingo in the front yard. He gestured at her to follow him, which she did, and he led her over to the fence separating the two houses, a wooden structure made of unpainted slats that looked like they were more likely to cause splinters than actually keep anything out. He stepped up to the fence, placed a shoulder about a foot from the top (he had to bend his knees a bit) and his hands on the wood, and pushed.

There was a pop and the fence post came loose with no damage, and I recognized the long refined motions of ritual. Taylor had done this more than a few times. He stepped over to the other side of fence, Zee following, and then led her down the side path of the house to a large stone bird fountain. He put his arms under it and lifted with his knees, and the thing ground slightly against the cement platform under it as it moved. When it was out of the way, he gestured down to the platform, and we stepped up to take a look.

There were names on the platform. Some were familiar. John Taylor. Sindella Aydin (though the last name was new to me) but some of them were strange. Billy Bedlam, Quinn, Vincent, Melinda Dusk. Names of people I'd never met, and judging by the sadness in Taylors eyes, I probably never would. Zee knelt down, tracing her mothers name with her fingers. "Aydin. I never knew. Mom never talked about her family. She said they were part of her past, and daddy and I were her future. She didn't like to look back. I wish she'd done it a little more."

Taylor looked sadly down at the stone. "Every person on that slab except for me is dead now."His voice was empty, completely free of the sorrow in his eyes. He paused. "Well, except Billy. He was just never born. I have no clue why his name is still there, it really shouldn't be, but that's the Nightside for you. It never really lets any of us go, no matter how hard we try to get away." He watched Zee trace the slab, a small smile breaking through the blankness. "You had questions for me?" There was kindness in his tone as he reminded her.

Zee's eyes jerked up from the cement. "Oh. Right, sorry. Tell me more about my mom? And these other people, who were they? Some of them have last names like you and mom, but others don't. Why is that?" She seemed reticent to ask, clearly having noticed his sadness as well as I had and not wanting to depress him, but he'd told her to ask so she wasn't going to hold back on one of her only chances to get more information.

Taylor chuckled. "Just depended on the kind of person they were. My first name is pretty plain, I needed to add my last name for it to be a decent record. Sindella was proud of her origin, and Billy was a cocky little shit. Melinda was a power, even back then, and people knew her name, while Quinn was still coming into his gift, and Vincent hadn't really started to make a name for himself yet. So many of them became important. Bad Luck Billy, who was never really the Jonah, Quinn, the Sunslinger, and Melinda Dusk, the Hanged Mans Beautiful Daughter." His voice tightened. "Vincent became the Mechanic, because we never realized what he really was until it was too late."

No one nearby was stupid enough to push for more information when he had a tone like that. Taylor waited until Zee finished looking and then lifted the fountain and slid it back over top of the names. Then he turned to Zee. "Thank you. Zatanna. I...it's been a long time since I could look back on this time in my life. It was too painful, and it still is, but thinking about the times that we all had together is nice, even if the things that came later weren't. I'm sorry that you weren't able to get more from this."

Zee shook her head rapidly. "No. Thank you for sharing this with me. This was a part of my mother I never got to see, and it means so much to me. Daddy never liked talking about mom after she died, he was so broken by what happened to her he couldn't bear to, and I never wanted to see him suffer. I guess I never realized how much I forced myself to avoid the topic for his sake. I guess it just seemed like it was useless to dwell over. I couldn't get her back anyway, so why hurt him over nothing. I followed his lead instead of pushing, and it felt fine since I'd never see her again."

Which made me wonder something. I slipped my phone out and scrolled through it for a while before I found an email I'd never bothered to look at before. It was insanely expensive and I tended to avoid those subconsciously because even with my maximum output I wouldn't be able to buy them anytime soon, but if DID exist. "What if you could?" She turned to me, confused, and I held up my phone. I grinned excitedly. "I don't know how I never thought of it. Its expensive as hell but I can do it. If I can gather enough power I do have a way to revive the dead."

I felt like a fucking idiot for never considering it before. Granted, there weren't many resurrection emails, and they were all absolutely insane in terms of pricing, but I still hadn't even thought of offering to bring back Zee's mom. Some part of me just innately accepted that death was the end of the line. I could do amazing and absurd things, but the connection between Zee's mom being dead and the emails just never clicked in my head.

Zee was staring at me with wide eyes, looking shocked. I grimaced. "I'm sorry baby. I should have considered this before, but the only methods I saw for that were so expensive I kind of just took for granted I'd never be able to afford them, between that and just kind of taking death for granted I just never put it together. I-" I was cut off as she threw herself on me, mashing her lips to mine in a desperate kiss. My eyes flew open wide and I had to take a second to let my brain reboot to figure out what had happened.

She didn't blame me. Despite having been together nearly a year and never being smart enough to realize I could solve the worst problem she'd ever had in her life she didn't care. I could feel through our bond that she was...exultant. It might be a little while before this could happen, but I'd given her hope, and she loved me even more for it. I couldn't even process the wash of adoration and devotion pouring into me through the bond, all I could do was open myself up and accept it, letting her feel the love I felt for her in return.

I heard someone clear their throat, and we pulled apart, turning to see Taylor looking at us strangely. "So...not to pry, but it kind of sounds like you're talking about bringing Sindella back from the dead. I won't ask you how, and it sounds like it's not something you can do repeatedly, but if that is what you're talking about, I want to help. So how about you tell me exactly what I can do?"

It wouldn't be a same day kind of thing I knew. This amount of points (even the cheapest of the three resurrection options I'd dug out were in the tens of millions) would take a while even with rituals and my void form. Sadly void form cost to use and I needed something with enough output to balance that out before using it was worthwhile. "That depends. Does this Collector guy have any weapons I could absorb energy from?" Taylor got a sly look in his eye, and I grinned internally. I was guessing we wouldn't be waiting for that meeting anymore. Seemed like we'd be pulling TWO heists over the next few days. Or at least that's what I was planning. If Taylor didn't agree we could talk him into it.

June 5th 2016 The Nightside 3:00 PM EDT

I gaped at Taylor as I asked for clarification on our target again. "What the fuck do you mean, the moon?" I gaped in horrified confusion at the big detective, because I was absolutely positive he hadn't just said what I thought he said. He just raised an eyebrow at me. "How the hell do we rob the moon? I mean, I've stolen from some crazy places in my time, but none of them have been in space." I paused. "Well...ok, technically all of them have been in space, because that's where planets are, but not like...outside of Earth's atmosphere." I hadn't stolen anything on New Genesis or in the OZ I didn't think, so that at least should be accurate.

Artemis snickered at that, and I flipped her off, which she responded to by sticking out her tongue at me before turning to Jim. "You ever robbed anyone on the moon boss? You would have an advantage since ghosts don't need to breathe." Her tone was teasing, and I saw Jim roll his eyes into the back of his currently visible head. "Seriously though Morgan, what the hell are we supposed to do when we get there aside from steal the ward scanner? I know you need power to bring back Zee's mom, but how are you supposed to get it?"

I just shrugged. "I need stuff that goes boom. Or zap. Pretty much any violent sound will work. I can absorb the energy from attacks, it's not always easy to get prepared, but once I am I can absorb anything I've come across. The amount of power I'll need is substantial though. The last power source I absorbed from was a channeled strike of energy containing the concentrated magic of an entire pantheon of gods and I managed about a tenth of what I'll need for this resurrection." I turned to Taylor. "You sure he has something that can out put enough energy to top me up that much?"

Apparently I'd said something stupid, because he just stared at me like an idiot. "Obviously. The Collector possesses some of the most powerful artifacts and technological items in all of history. And not just the history that's happened so far. There are rumors he originally came from the future. They're nonsense of course, he was friends with my old man when they were lads, but he definitely had access to future tech and powerful magics. If anyone had an item that could output that kind of energy it's him."

I just shrugged. "You're the expert. If you think that we can find what we need there I'm in. But that still leaves the issue of actually getting there. The moon isn't exactly within the radius of the local cab company. Not even THIS local cab company. Do you have some sort of secret moon rocket we can use or something? Because if not I have no clue how we can make it up there." Well, not the others. I could take the corridors there easily enough, but they would go crazy and possibly die, so that was out, and a portal that far would be pushing it even with my recent growth in power.

He just rolled his eyes at me. "You don't pay much attention do you? Where did we go last time needed to take a trip? The Doormouse has ways of getting us to the moon if we can pay for it. Granted, you're footing the bill this time, because I used up my favor. Luckily the moon shouldn't really be warded. As long as you can keep up a shield with some air in it we can just take a regular moon door and walk to The Collectors base. Not that I know exactly where it is, but I should be safe to use my gift to find it since the moon is so far away. No chance my enemies will be looking for me in outer space."

That was a decent point, plus if they did I could just throw the bastards off into space. The harrowing might be tough, but I hadn't seen any evidence they could fly or move around in space. All I had to do was kick them off into the void and watch them float away if they showed up. "Yeah, a shield that holds air won't be a problem for me. When did you want to do this?" I turned to Jim. "And do you need any supplies boss? I know this isn't Griffin Hall, but I bet this Collector guy has decent wards himself." I was sure he would have mentioned if we needed a supply run, but I also didn't relish the idea of going in unprepared to get gear to prepare with in the first place.

As expected he just shook his head. "No. At least I don't think so. The Moon should be far enough beyond the reach of anything dangerous for you to use aura sight right? As long as we can collaborate on what the wards are and how to take them down it should be more than possible to bypass them. Especially with you, Zatanna and I working together." I blinked. I hadn't considered that, but he was right. The Nightside was far away from the moon, my normal aura sight should be working fine up there.

With that settled we all decided to set out for the Doormouse's shop to get an early start on all this. We caught a carriage to Blaiston Street to check in with the Doormouse, and as we did, I decided to check in on Zee. I pulled her close, using my shields to isolate the sound as I asked her. "So, how are you feeling about all this. It must be a pretty overwhelming thing to hear. I realize this is a huge part of your life, and even though hearing it's going to be undone is a good thing it still has to be jarring to your worldview."

She rested her head on my shoulder. "It is a big change. Death is...well, death. It's that thing people compare to taxes when talking about inevitability. I never thought I'd have a chance to see my mom again, and hearing I can makes me happy obviously, just...overwhelmed. It doesn't feel real. Even having seen all the crazy things you can do I can't imagine how it would even work, and letting myself believe it is hard. It feels like I'm just setting myself up for disappointment. Like I'm getting my hopes up." She jerked, her eyes widening as she put up her hands defensively. "Not that I don't trust you or believe in you, it's just a lot."

I put my arm around her, pulling her close. "Hey, I can more than understand being afraid to let yourself hope for something like that. I won't try to talk you out of feelings, gods know that doesn't work. All I can say is that even if your heart is worried, make sure your brain knows that I'll always do whatever I can to make you happy. I'm GOING to do this for you. The only if about it is whether I can gather the energy fast enough to do it soon or whether I have to wait it out. One way or another this is happening. Even at my current rate of accrual I could manage it in a few years without boosts."

I'd be unable to spend any points at all during that time, and honestly I wanted to avoid that, so I was determined to get this done fast. My void form could handle a ton of energy, and while Black Adam's blast had straight up knocked my ass out, I was pretty sure as long as I didn't take all of that at once I could handle more than just that admittedly massive chunk of power. Void form drained me as I used it, but I was pretty sure I could offset that partly with my actual power, since it worked best modifying the powers I got from it. I hadn't done much with trying to alter my Hole bloodline, considering it was easily my most difficult and draining power. It was also one of my most effective though, and it was definitely on my list even before I had this idea.

Zee listened to me, feeling my sincerity through our bond and the radiant smile that painted her face at my words still made my heart flutter, even after a year together. She leaned up and kissed me deeply, trying her best to show me with actions how much all of this meant to her, and I could feel it without any need for words. The carriage came to a stop after a while sadly, and we had to pull apart as we arrived at the Doormouse's shop. I hopped out, offering her my hand to help her down.

Drea, who had been giving us some alone time to talk things through, stepped up on my other side once we were down, and smiled brilliantly at both of us, giving us each a kiss. "So, the two of you feeling up to this? We need to be operating at our best if we're going to be robbing your moon. From what I've gathered in my time here, your people don't have much to do with your moon, so it's going to be uncharted territory most likely." Her voice was teasing, clearly not worried about it so much as poking fun.

We made out way in to talk to the Doormouse, who as it turned out, DID accept US dollars. We were able to purchase a door up to the moon, one that led to the sea of tranquility (apparently the calculations came from data he cribbed from the first moon landing broadcast) for a substantial price. It cost two point five million for that damn door, and I was informed the only reason it was so cheap was because the Doormouse had made it years ago for his own amusement and no one had ever actually bothered to use it.

He brought us to where it waited and connected a few cables, telling us he needed to do some more calibrations to adjust for the change in position of the moon since the door's creation. Finally he got it booted up and I raised a shield around us, keeping in the oxygen we needed. I assured everyone I could keep us safe even if we would have normally run out, because my power could make small easily missable changes best, and the simplest way to use that here was just to use it to recycle the exhalations as perfectly breathable air.

As we stepped out onto the sea of tranquility, we paused to take in the sight, and I had to admit, it was breathtaking. The empty white landscape, the brilliant sky of stars, and up above us, hanging huge over our heads, the planet Earth gleaming in all its blue and green majesty. I was floored, and despite the necessity of rushing, I put my arms around Zee and Drea and stood there just taking it in. The others did the same, enjoying one of the most beautiful and unique sights in the history of mankind.

Eventually we all looked out fill, and I turned to Jim. "Alright boss. We have Taylor to get us in close se we can find this place, but we need to make sure they don't see us coming. As the master thief here that means you're on stealth magic, though Zee and I can help if you want. That work for you?" My mentor nodded and his cane began to weave through the air, trailing light and magic as he started his spell construction. I watched through my aura sight, relieved to have that ability back on the table, as he continued to cast, and I pulled the girls closer. Stealing from a powerful enemy. Back to basics I suppose.

June 5th 2016 The Nightside 4:00 PM EDT

My jaw was hanging open as I pointed to the huge metal complex in front of us. "Ok, how the fuck has no one noticed THAT on the fucking MOON? I figured he would live in an underground cavern or some shit. How is it possible that an entire fucking moon base made of what appears to be some kind of ultra shiny space age composite metal is just sprawling across the moon and no one's seen it?" Aside from the literal metric fuckton of wards and security that is, but in my defense, I didn't specifically see any stealth protections.

Taylor shrugged. "The Collector probably hacked all the satellites or something. He likes tech. He has some magic items too, but advanced technology is his preference." I nodded, reaching out to put my hand on Zee and Jim's arms as I opened my aura sight. I flexed my power a bit, just a little white lie that my aura sight had always been able to extend to other people. Once it extended far enough I saw Zee's nose wrinkle in annoyance as she studied the defenses. That didn't seem like a good thing, but I figured I'd wait and see.

She and Jim studied the wards for a bit and then she sighed. "This is a problem. The magic we can crack easy enough, but I have absolutely no idea what to do about the tech stuff. Any chance you have something for that?" She raised an eyebrow at me and I frowned. I might have been able to stop the tech security from tripping but I was pretty sure it would take me every ounce of concentration to hold a lie that complex. I wouldn't even be able to breathe let alone walk into a heavily defended base.

Luckily I wasn't here alone. I turned to my most recent teacher. "Tommy, do you think you can keep the tech portions of the wards from registering anything happening as long as Zee and Jim can crack the magical wards? I don't have the strength for something that scale, but we can't have whatever the hell those are going off while we try to get in, otherwise we might get the Collectors attention."

The existential detective bit his lip for a second then shook his head. "Nope. Not prevent them from registering. I can stop them from triggering any cascading effects if you can face them directly though. You can smash them all to scrap and the rest of the security setup won't pick up a thing." He sounded excited by the possibility, and I was interested to see him flex his powers again too. but he wasn't the only one who would be flexing.

I grinned. "Perfect, Zee, boss, I'll be needing an extra large can opener, so quit sucking your thumbs and lets light this candle." That got a snort of laughter from my girlfriend, who had watched Jimmy Neutron with me before our little five year time out and loved it. Jim and Zee both began chanting, slowly making sure their magic was in position to open the wards for me. With aura sight I was able to watch the magic take effect, climbing across the wards and slowly stripping layers of them away.

It was absolutely spellbinding (no pun intended) watching them work. Sections of the wards were altered, sections were cut away, and sections were folded over to reinforce. It was like watching magical surgery, but in more than the normal three dimensions. My ability to use void magic gave me the insight to capture what was happening in multiple strata of reality, as the shields themselves were constructed not just in space, but in time. The Collector had put some work into this, and only Jim's experience and Zee's tireless pursuit of void magic via my grimoire let them adapt to the wards.

Once it was all out of the way, I armored up, and nodded to Tommy who slapped me on the shoulder. "I can hold this for a few minutes, but it would be best if we were inside by the time that fades. Being inside the base will be enough for me to convince the wards we belong there easily enough, but I need that entry as a conceptual jumping off point to stage that kind of alteration." He paused. "Now that I think about it, I suspect the Collector will try a LOT harder to kill me." He looked disturbed for a minute then shrugged. "Oh well."

I snorted to myself, and made a note to arrange to placate the Collector later to help get him off Tommy's back. With the way open though, I didn't exactly have time to waste, so I stepped out of the bubble, my armor keeping me pressurized and my breathing not an issue given I was half ghost. I double checked the shield, and once Zee erected a secondary barrier I let mine fall, though I left the slight alteration keeping the air fresh. With that done I turned and walked out into the sea of tranquility.

With Jim holding the wards alongside Zee, I was the only space capable warrior we had available, so I was handling this alone, but I wasn't too worried. I had handled worse than some laser blasters or whatever. I made my way out onto the sea of tranquility, flying slowly rather than walking, hoping to get an idea of what I was facing before actually triggering any traps. As I drew near the base, the shimmering side of the refractive metal base began to warp, the side of the base rippling like a pond with a stone dropped into it.

Through the ripples, a towering form stepped, a massive robot with visible energy pathways running under its shimmering metal exterior. Another ripple started, and another robot emerged. They stepped one after another from the side of the base until there were a full dozen of the damn things waiting for me, and I couldn't help but sigh in exasperation at how annoying this would be. I could see from aura sight that these things were strong.

Stronger than the scarabs, which wasn't supposed to be possible really. According to what I was told the scarabs were universe level enemies. I focused closer on the aura and my lips twitched. Ah, from the future. That made sense. I wasn't sure how far in the future exactly, but they sure as hell weren't from anytime soon. These had come back quite a ways, and they were scary strong.

I shrugged internally. It didn't really matter. My job was to take care of them, I'd do it either way. I stepped through darkness, appearing behind the closest robot in a surge of liquid shadows as I slipped from the corridor, calling Tartarus and bringing up its spinning teeth as I rammed it into the back of the machine to see what effect it would have when it made contact. There was a series of bright flashes as the shield of the robot flared up under the repeated impacts, but before I could penetrate it I felt an incoming attack and vanished back into a corridor of darkness.

I reappeared a few yards away, annoyed. Shield. I hadn't even noticed those. I could see the aura from the robots, but that aura was difficult to sift through. The damn things had so many features and energy signatures it was like trying to find Waldo during a rave. I cocked my head, trying to think of a way to do this more easily. I looked down at Tartarus. My chain blade was damn effective most of the time, but the way the shield seemed to be configured I wasn't expecting too much from it. I needed another tactic.

I let the teeth fade, disappearing in wisps of smoke. I focused instead on the tip of the weapon, releasing long streamers of dark, flexible abyssal alloy. Then, focusing hard, I started them spinning. They whirled around the rip of the keyblade creating a tight cone of force. I looked at the new drill lance configuration, and decided to vary the strips of dark metal into more jagged an uneven configurations. I stopped it, fixed the design and started it, and grinned as I felt the air around it start to whip and churn.

I could feel slices of air coming off the drilling blade, not enough to damage my armor, but enough to prove this was a nasty attack mode. Once the was done, I opened up my wings behind me, flexing my power to pour demonic energy into the armor to amplify me further before I blitzed forward to attack. I used a modified version of Myrina's attack style to focus as much force into the lunge as possible, amplified by my armor and my wings, and I felt the world literally blur into tunnel vision as I slammed into one, two, and then a third robot, spearing them like a kabob. I'd emerged from the corridor off to a side of the grouping where I could line a few up.

My new attack method (which I was calling void lance) was actually based on my doom fist. Focusing all of my power into one extremely small area to pierce their shields. It seemed even future tech wasn't enough to stop it. In the spirit of that I started using an adapted version of doom fist to stab out with the lance, with that experience and skill I was able to penetrate the shields on the robots without an over the top full body charge. Despite not needing to use points anymore for this it DID still strain me, and the doom fist was much less of a strain than flying around like that.

With the new shorter range method of hitting, I could only punch through a single shield, and even that took time and positioning, luckily, I was a master swordsman, and adapting to the new weapon didn't take me long. Within a minute or so the robots had me surrounded, but despite that couldn't manage to land a hit. I was actually having a blast, but Tommy had warned me not to drag this out, so I used every ounce of skill I had to put them down one at a time.

One of the remaining eight came up behind me going for a grab. I phased through the move, taking advantage of the overextension to get up underneath the machine and drive my lance straight up through the center of its chest. Before I finished the blow I phased again, just in time to avoid a pair of tackles from two of the others. With the weakened chest section and apparently broken shield, the powerful robots hit the thing full speed, one high and one low, and ripped it clear in half.

I'd already moved on to the next one. I slowly took them out one at a time, making liberal use of my invisibility, teleportation and even my clones (which weren't nearly strong enough to do them any harm but made great single use tripping hazards and distractions). I tore them apart one by one, managing to get finished just before the five minute mark, and had the others carry Tommy over so we could get him inside.

When we reached the wall, Jim tapped out a sequence with his cane and the ripples started again, receding to reveal a hole that air was escaping from. We slipped in and let it close, with Zee finally able to let the shield down. I felt Tommy strain a bit, and then relax with a ragged breath. His eyes roamed over the hallways. "Alright. I tricked the security system into thinking we belong here. We have until an actual person notices those robots missing and goes looking so lets hurry up." He turned to me. "You're the one with aura sight. Which direction is all the valuable stuff?"

Tons of fun with this chapter and the next, and I've brought back a character people have been asking about for ages but we've never seen in the story, take that how you will. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters on that site /malcolmtent.