Here's chapter 12
R&R
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans
Christmas Part Three:
Airen took a sip of her drink as she watched several couples dance and enjoy the ball. Technically, Airen had no idea if the event could be classified as a ball, but she had never been to one, so she was going to call it a ball.
So far, the evening had been…. interesting. It hadn't been horrible, but it hadn't been great either. So far, the highlight of the evening had been her conversation with Alfred, though that had raised more questions than answers.
To be quite honest, she wasn't thrilled about her deal with Johnathan. She knew it wasn't a good idea, but he'd been so convincing, and she was tired of avoiding him in the name of sanity. She knew that there was no real way that this could end well, but she had until fashion week to figure out another way out. Which, considering her circumstance, wasn't much time.
Airen frowned as she watched Johnathan interact with his family from across the room. She watched them laugh and genuinely enjoy each other's company. How she wished things at home were that simple.
"Ehem." Someone next to Airen cleared their throat. She jumped, not realizing that anyone had come up next to her.
She turned to face a beautiful woman with shoulder-length dark hair and sky-blue eyes. The woman was taller than Airen, probably about 5'7 with a slender yet muscular build. She had sharp angular facial features and a kind smile. She wore a black form-fitting gown that had one shoulder strap across her left shoulder and sparkled like stars in the night sky.
"Hello, you must be the Airen that I've heard so much about. I'm Diana. Welcome to our home." Diana smiled at Airen and extended her hand in greeting. Airen, stunned, accepted the gesture and shook her hand.
"I-It's nice to meet you," Airen replied weakly. Diana's smile grew wider.
"It's nice to meet you as well. I hope you're having a nice time?" Diana asked pleasantly as any hostess should.
Airen, relaxing a little, returned the smile.
"Yes, I am having a wonderful time."
"That's good."
Diana nodded pleased. She looked past Airen to whom Airen had been watching.
"You know, we value family very much around here. We also value loyalty and friends." Diana looked thoughtfully at the Logan family. "It's interesting. Even though we value these things, not everyone we meet shares the same values. Do you know what I mean?"
Airen followed Diana's line of sight and watched as Garfield told a joke. The boys and Willow laughed while Violet frowned disapprovingly. Rachel merely shook her head but Airen imagined that she was secretly smiling.
After a moment Airen nodded absentmindedly to Diana's question.
"Yes, yes I do." She spoke quietly.
Diana nodded. "I thought you might."
They stood there quietly watching for a moment.
"So, what do you do?" Airen asked breaking the silence.
Diana turned and looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"What do you do, when you meet someone who doesn't share the same values as you?" Airen clarified.
"Ah. Well, at first, we try to make it work. Of course, we don't bring them into our inner circle, that would merely complicate matters. But we do treat them with kindness and respect, that is until we can't anymore." Diana advised.
Airen frowned.
"But what if they are a part of your family? Like, not really your family, but technically they're your family?"
Diana looked at Airen confused.
"My dear if they are a part of your family then they are your family. No matter what they have done, how they have behaved or what their values are, they are your family and should be treated as such."
Airen's frown only grew deeper, so Diana looked around the room for a moment.
"Aha, tell me Airen, do you see that young man standing next to the table with champagne in his hand?" Diana asked.
Airen looked to where she was looking and found the young man in question.
"The one with the white streak in his hair?" Airen asked.
"That's the one," Diana said proudly.
Airen studied him for a moment. He was tall and muscular and seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. He had short, dark hair that had a white streak in it from his temple to the top of his head. His eyes were dark brown, and he had slender facial features. He was wearing a black tux and looked like this was the last place in the world he wanted to be.
"What about him?" Airen asked a little wary.
"He is our adopted son, Jason Todd. He is a perfect example of a family whose values do not align with your own." Diana said solemnly.
"How so?"
"Let's just say that he and my husband, Bruce, do not see eye to eye. On several things. And yet, here he is." Diana turned and smiled at Airen. "Even though Jason and Bruce disagree on many things, and Jason's values are not the same as our own, Jason is still family. He still comes for Christmas; we still celebrate his birthday. We still love him and treat him as such. Yes, there are many fights when he is here, but we would rather fight with him and have him be around than to not have him around at all." Diana summed up.
Airen looked back at Jason, then at the Logans with consideration. Again, she thought about how much different things were here than they were at home.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to find my husband. But think about what I've said. It could be helpful in the future." Diana excused herself.
Airen simply nodded her agreement, lost in thought. It wasn't until several minutes later that she remembered that she was at a party.
"Excusez-moi mademoiselle, mais êtes-vous blessé?" A young man standing in front of Airen asked.
He was kind of cute, with nut-brown hair and brown eyes. He looked like he was in shape but wasn't the most muscular guy in the room. He stood at about 5'11, 6' and had prominent facial features.
Airen looked at him strangely, not understanding why he was asking if she was injured.
"Non, je ne suis pas blessé. Pourquoi demandez-vous?" She replied. The man looked pleasantly surprised.
"Ah, tu parles français aussi ?"
"Oui."
"And you speak it well." The man said in English.
"Thank you, but you still have not answered my question," Airen stated, cautious. The last conversation she'd had like this had not ended well.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I only asked 'cause usually the girls I hit on don't speak French, so I usually go for a cheesy pick-up line in French and then tell them that it's something profound." The guy admitted.
Airen snorted, half in amusement, half in disbelief.
"Let me guess, you were going to say the one about falling from Heaven?"
"Yeah." The guy rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed.
"Don't tell me that actually works," Airen said amused.
"Every time." He flashed her an award-winning smile.
Airen rolled her eyes.
"I'm River by the way. River Danby." River extended his hand for a handshake.
"Airen." Airen flashed him an amused smile. She placed her hand into his but instead of shaking it he bent over it and placed a chaste kiss on her knuckles. At first, she frowned, but the smile he flashed her told her that he was being more playful than serious. As if to reassure her, he bent even further into a dramatic bow.
"Please forgive me fair maiden, for insulting your great intelligence with such a foul and cliché pick-up line!" River announced dramatically.
Airen snorted again, this time to keep from laughing outright.
"Fear not dear sir, you are forgiven." She smiled as she played along. River straightened; his smile wildly large.
"You play a good "fair maiden" probably because you really are one." River suggested. Airen smiled.
"I wouldn't bet on it," Airen said slyly as she sipped her drink.
"Well, I would, and it is my money after all."
"True."
"So where did you learn to speak French so well?" River asked.
Airen had trouble swallowing her next drink.
"School." She managed once the liquid had made its way down her throat. "I studied languages as my major in undergrad."
River looked impressed.
"So how many other languages can you speak that fluently?"
"Ah, that list is pretty long," Airen said wanting to change the subject.
"Well, I've got time."
Airen was about to change the subject herself, but someone else interrupted her.
"River!"
Hearing his name, River turned in the direction the call had come from.
"Logan!" River exclaimed in surprise. Sure enough, Johnathan came up grinning like a kid with his favorite candy bar.
"What are you doing here?" Johnathan asked as he and River exchanged a "bro" hug.
"I just got back. I'm actually the newest hire over at the DA's office." River replied excitedly.
"That's awesome man! Congrats!" Johnathan said as he patted River on the shoulder. When he stopped patting River, Johnathan's hand continued to rest on River's shoulder. "Now care to tell me what you're doing hitting on my date?"
Johnathan seemed like he was amused by the idea, but Airen could hear the slight warning tone in his voice and see a hint of disapproval in his eyes. River hung his head, though he seemed to be amused by being caught.
"Damn, should've known. All the good ones at these things are always taken." River flashed Johnathan a genuine smile. "Sorry man."
This seemed to ease Johnathan's…. whatever it was because he relaxed and chuckled.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, I'll save you future trouble, everyone else here is taken too."
"Then what the hell am I doing here?" River mumbled defeatedly.
Johnathan shrugged. "No idea."
Airen followed the whole conversation, her eyes bouncing back and forth between the two guys.
"You two know each other?" She asked cautiously. As if just then remembering that she was there the two guys focused on her.
"Oh yeah. Airen this is River." Johnathan introduced.
Airen crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.
"We've met." She stated curtly.
"Um, yeah." Johnathan gulped and looked nervous. "We used to play football together in High School."
"Yeah. Go, Knights." River finished lamely.
Airen frowned and glared at both of them. Just then the music came to a stop and a man with a glass of champagne stood up on the dais on the far side of the room with a microphone. Airen recognized him as the current DA of Gotham City, Derick White.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Wayne Family's annual Christmas Eve Charity Fundraiser."
"Saved by the White." River whispered in relief. Johnathan nodded in agreement. Airen rolled her eyes and focused on what the man was saying.
"As always, thank you to Bruce and Diana for the use of their beautiful home and the whole Wayne family for hosting this event." Derick nodded to Bruce and Diana who stood somewhere in the crowd as everyone began to politely applaud. When the applause died down, Derick continued.
"Also, a very big thank you to our servers and other staff for all of their hard work this evening." More applause. "As well as to all of our generous donors who have so generously made this evening and this fundraiser possible." Even more applause. "As many of you know, this year's organization that will be receiving your generous giving is Christmas for CPS. It's an organization that uses the funding they receive to purchase gifts, food, clothes, and other things needed in order to ensure that children at Child Protective Services receive a Christmas. I know, it's not a very original name, but we were more focused on our objective than our name." Wild applause with some cheering.
"For those of you who don't know Christmas for CPS is a fully nonprofit organization that is run by myself and Ms. Delana Aldridge from our local CPS office, funded by you, and staffed by volunteers." More applause. "All that to say, thank you to everyone who made this evening possible and thank you to everyone who will be making Christmas for a lonely and scared child possible. Thank you and please, enjoy the rest of your evening!" With that and one last round of cheering and applause, Derick stepped off of the platform and the music resumed.
"Well, that was nice," Johnathan commented. "Short and sweet."
"Yep, that's White for ya. He'll talk your ear off in person or in the courtroom but speeches? Nope." River agreed.
The music changed from a moderately paced song to a slower waltz. Johnathan tilted his head and listened for a moment before he grinned and extended his hand to Airen.
"Care to dance?"
Airen looked at his hand then back up at him disapprovingly. The last time she'd danced with him he'd convinced her to go out with him. There was no telling what he would try to pull this time.
"Sure." She agreed reluctantly.
Triumphant, Johnathan accepted her hand and turned to River.
"If you'll excuse us."
"But of course."
Johnathan pulled Airen back onto the dance floor and close to him. He smiled down at her and noticed her frown.
"What?"
"Nothing." She looked off to where they had left River. "He seems….nice." She said after a moment.
Johnathan nodded in agreement. "He really is. He's all jokes and laughs socially, but when it comes to work…. he's as serious as they get."
"I heard him say something about working for the DA?"
"Yeah, he just passed the bar exam a few months ago. Went traveling afterward to celebrate and to secure his father's international investments. Just got back too. He's an amazing lawyer, you should see him in action. Actually, you should really get him to help you with law school stuff."
"Really?" Airen asked surprised. Not just that River would do it but that Johnathan would suggest it.
Johnathan nodded.
"Absolutely. He used to help Vie all the time when they were in law school together. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you."
"Huh. I'll have to ask him then." Airen said thoughtfully.
They danced together quietly for a while, just enjoying the music and the company.
Eventually, Airen began to get tired and leaned her head on his shoulder. Johnathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The overwhelming smell of cheap perfume and cologne had made his nose burn long ago. But dancing with Airen soothed him because her scent overtook all of the others in the room. It calmed him and made him feel relaxed and comfortable. He was tempted to just bury his nose in her hair and stay like that for the rest of the night, but not only would it look strange, but she would kill him.
Airen shifted in his arms and lifted her head. She looked absolutely exhausted. Her eyes were drooping, and he could tell that she was stifling a yawn. A second later the yawn won. Johnathan smiled at how adorable she looked as she yawned right into his shirt. She opened her eyes and began to say something when suddenly she became more alert, and her attention was drawn up toward the ceiling.
"What the hell?"
Airen slowly opened her eyes and realized that she had dozed off in Johnathan's arms. She hadn't meant to; she just hadn't realized how tired she had been. Then they had started slow dancing and his scent of the forest, sage, and some sort of spiced cologne had been so welcoming she had just rested her head on his shoulder…and now she was here.
She lifted her head up and fought a yawn, which won of course. She blinked slightly to try and wake up a little better. She was about to ask Johnathan if it would be rude if he could take her back to the house so she could go to bed but movement above them caught her eye. Curious, Airen looked up toward the skylight. There, dark figures were moving around the edge of the skylight.
"What the hell?" Airen said a little louder than she meant to. Johnathan looked at her confused and followed her line of sight.
"What?" He asked.
There was no time for an answer because all hell broke loose.
Crashing sounded as glass around the room broke. Airen and Johnathan watched in horror as the skylight above them was shattered and the dark figures lowered ropes into the room. Shrikes and screams filled the room as the music came to a sudden halt. People began to stampede through the room toward the open doors leading to the foyer as the sound of gunshots filled the room. All of this happened in a matter of seconds creating very confusing chaos.
"Look out!" Airen heard Johnathan shout. Before she could figure out what she was supposed to be looking out for Johnathan grabbed the back of her neck shoved her towards the ground and guided her away from the dance floor. Half a second later shards of glass rained down right where they had been standing.
Keeping her head bent down, Johnathan guided them and weaved in and out of panicking guests. They came to a stop next to a table close to the doors leading into the foyer, away from the dance floor. Johnathan's hand left Airen's neck and she straightened immediately to see what was going on.
They were crouched next to the table, hidden from a majority of the dance floor. There several burly and unpleasant-looking men were standing with various guns in their hands, aiming at the guests who were still fleeing the room.
Screams still filled the air, but by that time most of the guests had made their way through the doors. Compared to just a few minutes ago the ballroom seemed eerily calm and quiet. A lanky and dangerous-looking man paced the dance floor in front of the burly men with guns. The lanky man seemed to be examining the room and what was left of the crowd looking for something. Several more burly men with guns spread out through the room slowly blocking the exits.
"Stay here," Johnathan whispered.
"What?" Airen whispered back looking at him surprised. Johnathan was studying the men with a dangerous look on his own face. He continued to study them as he responded to her.
"I have to do something. It's my job. I want you to stay here and run the first chance you get."
"But-" Airen was about to protest, to insist that she could help when she was cut off by a harsh glare from Johnathan.
"I want you out of here and safe. No arguments, just go." He growled. Airen swallowed whatever excuse she was preparing in order to help. She'd never seen him so serious or stern about something before.
Silently she nodded in agreement. With a satisfied nod, Johnathan shifted ready to move. Airen suddenly reached out her hand and grabbed his tux's coat sleeve. He looked at her confused.
"Don't do anything stupid." She whispered. He gave her a small smile of reassurance and then left, creeping around the table.
Airen shuffled closer to the table trying to stay hidden as she watched him creep from table to table, closer to the men on the dance floor. Once she couldn't see him anymore, she focused on her own mission. She could hear the men talking to each other but couldn't hear what they were saying exactly. She could also tell that there were still people in the ballroom by the sounds of the moaning and whispers coming from other areas of the room.
Airen was getting ready to move toward the door when another sound caught her attention. A small whimpering noise from a few tables away made Airen stop where she was. Slowly, she crept toward the noise staying hidden from the men with guns.
Airen came around a table and found a little girl standing in front of the next table. The girl was small, probably about 6 or 7 years old. She wore a dark purple party dress with a sash, white tights, and black patent leather party shoes. She had red hair that hung loosely around her shoulders in loose curls. She had a purple bow in her hair that matched her dress. Her face was blotchy and red and her blue eyes were watery from crying. Tears streamed freely down her face.
Curious why the girl was just standing there, Airen crept closer. As she did, Airen noticed that the skirt from the girl's dress was caught on the chair behind her. As Airen watched, the little girl grabbed her skirt and tugged hard. Nothing happened. The skirt didn't budge. The girl looked bewildered and desperate as she eyed one of the knives on the table behind her.
Airen checked to make sure no one was watching. Satisfied that the way was clear, she hurried over to the little girl. Seeing her, the girl panicked and grabbed desperately for a knife. Before Airen could tell her to stop, the knife along with a plate crashed to the ground. The noise was deafening in the quiet whispers of the room. Airen grabbed the plate and knife and shoved them quietly under the table. She then looked at the little girl and put a finger to her lips. The girl, now pale quietly nodded.
Airen slowly looked around to make sure no one was coming. So far it looked like the party crashers were ignoring the noise. Airen turned back to the girl and gave her a reassuring smile.
"What's your name?" Airen quietly whispered.
"Liza." Liza hiccupped quietly.
"It's nice to meet you, Liza." Airen nodded. "My name's Airen."
Liza sniffled.
"Is it okay if I help you?" Airen whispered calmly. On the inside, Airen was panicking. Her heart was racing and all she could hear was her pulse. She was terrified that at any moment one of the thugs was going to round the corner and find them. But she knew better than to act or sound panicked with a child. She had to stay calm.
It felt like an eternity, but Liza nodded and Airen quickly went to work on the skirt. It was stuck in the chair pretty good, but Airen eventually managed to get it unstuck.
"There," Airen muttered to herself triumphantly. Proud of herself, Airen sat back on her ankles and smiled up at Liza. But Liza wasn't looking at her. Liza was looking behind her and had paled at least three more shades. Confused Airen looked behind her and instantly her triumph faded as her heart dropped and her stomach churned.
"Well, well well. What do we have here?" The slender dangerous-looking man from the dance floor was walking towards them with an evil smile on his face. His dark hair was greasy, and his brown eyes looked cold.
Airen rushed to stand up and put her arms behind her to keep Liza hidden behind her. The man stopped a few feet away looking like he was a cat that swallowed a canary.
Airen looked wildly toward the open foyer doors in hopes of making a break for it. No one was guarding it. All she had to do was distract this guy's attention away from them. Easier said than done.
"Tsk tsk tsk. I wouldn't if I were you. Running and escaping are not advisable options." The man said amused.
"Then what is an advisable option?" Airen asked absent-mindedly. She was trying to find a way to distract his attention from the door but wanted to keep him occupied too.
"Surrendering." The man replied simply.
"Sorry, I'm not really in a "surrendering" mood tonight."
The man chuckled dryly. "Aren't you…amusing."
"Amusing. Just the compliment every girl wants to hear." Airen shot back sarcastically with an eye roll.
The man sneered. "I'm not here to compliment you."
"Then what are you here for?" Airen bit back.
Before he could answer the distraction that Airen needed jumped in between them.
Johnathan ran in between Airen and the man and came to a stop facing the man. He stood there glaring at the man and completely blocking Airen's view of him.
"Noler." Johnathan growled.
"Detective Logan." Noler snarled.
"What do you want?" Johnathan asked.
"That's none of your business now, isn't it?"
"I won't know until you tell me."
"Then you just won't know." Noler snarled. Noler moved toward them with a menacing look on his face. Johnathan stepped forward to block him.
"Out of my way Logan." Noler hissed.
"Over my dead body," Johnathan growled.
"That can be arranged," Noler smirked.
They both lunged at each other at the same time. Johnathan swung at Noler's face, but Noler was quick. Noler dodged and kicked toward Johnathan's torso but Johnathan blocked the kick.
For a moment Airen was frozen to the spot watching the guys fight in horror and shock. After a few seconds, she shook herself out of it and spun around.
"Liza run!"
She could hear and feel the panic in her own voice and eyes, but she didn't care. Her priority was getting Liza to safety. Not waiting for Liza to obey, Airen grabbed her little hand in her own and started running for the door. For a second it looked like they were going to make it. But Airen should have known better with her luck.
Just as they were about to reach the steps that led up to the doors, two burly-looking men moved to block the doors. Airen came to a screeching halt just a foot or two away from the men. Not knowing what else to do, Airen let go of Liza's hand and got into a fighting stance with her fists in front of her face.
"Liza, stay behind me." She commanded in a firm tone. She didn't know where the calm was coming from. All she wanted to do was run and hide. But she couldn't, she had to protect Liza.
The men looked at each other then back at Airen. They both shared the same sneering smile and cracked their knuckles. Airen took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
'You can do this. It's what you were trained for. You've fought bigger men.'
Reminding herself of this seemed to do the trick. Looking at the two men she felt more confident in her abilities.
The first burly man moved faster than she would have given him credit for. He ran toward her and made a wild grab for her neck. Airen dodged easily and slammed her left fist in his temple. A low moan told her that she'd been at least somewhat effective.
She didn't have much time to celebrate, however, due to the second man coming straight at her. She didn't have room to fully dodge, so she crouched at the last second and as he bent over to grab her, drove both fists into his gut. She heard the sir leave him and straightened as he staggered back a few steps looking pale and winded.
By this time the first guy recovered and was ready for round two. He swung his fist at her, But Airen blocked and threw a right hook right into his jaw. He winced and backed up a step, but it didn't seem to bother him much more than that.
Airen backed up feeling nervous. She couldn't go full-blown warrior on them, or she'd give herself away, but it was looking like she wasn't going to have much of a choice.
"Liza run!" Airen shouted as the first guy attacked again, this time he was angry.
Airen didn't have time to make sure that Liza listened to her. The first guy was pretty mad. He was swinging wildly at her with no breaks in between punches. It was all she could do to block him. Airen finally managed to land a solid blow to his throat when a shriek made her blood run cold.
Airen whipped her head around to where the shriek had come from. The second guy was holding Liza, one arm wrapped around her neck and the other one holding a gun to her head.
"Liza!" Airen shouted. She started to run toward them but she was grabbed from behind by a choking and coughing first guy. Airen was struggling and putting up a fight when she heard another shout from a few yards away.
"Liza!" A man with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes was running toward them, his suit in shambles and his hair sticking out all over the place.
The burly man holding Liza turned to see where the new shout had come from.
"Daddy!" Liza shouted when she saw the man. Airen expected Liza's father to faltered or stop or turn around and away or hide or something but instead, he ran full speed ahead, a strange fire in his eyes.
In horror, Airen watched as the man holding Liza lifted the gun toward Liza's father and shoot. The gunshot was deafening, and Airen watched in shock as Liza's father fell back to the floor, a red spot already forming on his chest where the bullet made contact.
Time seemed to slow. Everyone and everything seemed to slow as Airen watched Liza's father just lie there, blood beginning to pool around him.
"Daddy!" Liza's scream pierced the air and startled Airen into action.
With renewed energy, Airen stomped as hard as she could on her captor's foot. His yelp of pain gave her a satisfying feeling. He shifted his grip, giving her the room to elbow him in the ribs. She threw her elbow into his ribs as hard as she could several times. She heard a satisfying crunch and cry of pain as he released her. She quickly turned and kneed him in the groin then grabbed his head and threw it down into her knee as she brought it up. Another crunch and a howl of pain and he was laying on the floor, a stream of blood flowing from his nose.
Not wanting to waste time by savoring her victory, she whirled around and ran straight for the man holding Liza.
Before he could fully turn in her direction, Airen grabbed the arm that was holding Liza and yanked it toward herself. It loosened his grip enough that he let go of Liza, who immediately ran toward her dad. Airen remained focused on the man in front of her. She kept her grip on his arm and twisted it behind his back. Before he could react she put all of her weight on the bent joint and heard it crack along with a scream of pain from him. She released his arm, grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the gun, and slammed it into her knee forcing him to let go of the gun.
Airen moved around to face him and threw her right fist into his nose with as much power as she could muster. He stumbled back several steps and howled in pain and rage. He looked at her, blood flowing from his now broken nose and all she saw was hatred. He ran straight toward her, but she stepped to the side at the last second and kicked him in the stomach. He bent over trying to catch his breath and she grabbed his hair and yanked him back only to slam his chin into her knee. She let go as his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell to the floor, unconscious.
Just as the second man fell back to the floor another gunshot rang in her ears.
"Enough!" Noler shouted.
Airen turned to face Noler, who stood in between her and Johnathan. Noler held a gun in his hand pointed at the ceiling. With a black eye, bloody lip, and disheveled clothes Noler looked very upset. Johnathan lay behind him, slowly moving to get up. Out of the corner of her eye, Airen could see Rachel was now kneeling next to Liza's father and Liza was sitting next to his head.
'Good.' Airen thought. 'Rachel will be able to heal him.'
Noler leveled the gun at Airen, bringing her attention back to him. He looked angry, murderous even.
"That's, enough." Noler panted. Airen noticed that he was favoring one side. Johnathan must have done more damage than the damage to his face that she could see.
Noler's dark cold eyes squinted at her.
"You're coming with us."
Airen blinked in surprise. Out of all the things she expected him to say, that was the last.
"Um…." That was all she could think of to say in response.
"Why?" She finally asked, her brain kicking into gear. Movement behind him caught her attention. Johnathan was standing behind Noler now, looking slightly dazed, but okay.
Johnathan looked as confused as she felt but she could tell that he was getting ready to attack Noler. Airen flashed him a silent look hoping he understood it as "don't attack" and that Noler didn't notice it at all. Thankfully both men got the message she was hoping for.
Johnathan stood there looking even more confused while Noler ignored her completely and snarled.
"It doesn't matter why. I just have orders to bring you to the boss and I always follow orders."
Airen, trying to keep Noler distracted from Johnathan asked, "So you never ask questions?"
"No."
"Not even a little bit?"
"No! Why would I?" Noler shouted exasperated.
"Well, if your boss gives you an order that you don't like or on that doesn't make sense strategically, say, I don't know, kidnapping me? If I were you that would make me ask some questions." Airen responded calmly.
While she was saying this, she was looking at Johnathan. He was standing there looking at her like an idiot.
'Stop standing there and go change! Keeping your secret from me doesn't matter right now! Just go!' She shouted in her mind. She hoped he understood that message from just her eyes. She doubted it, but she couldn't do much else without drawing Noler's attention toward Johnathan.
Noler looked at her angrily, as though her talking was getting in his nerves. She didn't care. She needed to give Johnathan more time.
"I mean, do you even know who you're kidnapping? Do you know who I am?" Airen asked. She hated sounding like a spoiled brat, but there was no other way to phrase the question.
"Noooo," Noler admitted slowly.
Airen put her hands on her hips. "See? If you don't even know who you're kidnapping, then how would you know why you're kidnapping me? I mean, I'm not a criminal, I'm not related to someone from a rival gang, yeah, I'm a model, but I don't make enough worth kidnapping me over, besides, all of my paychecks go toward law school anyway. I don't have a family to pay an outrageous ransom, let alone a rich family. So really, there's no logical reason as to why you're kidnapping me. If this were a hostage situation then maybe but still-"
"ENOUGH!"
Noler's face was a deep red slowly turning a deep purple. The hand holding the gun was shaking and his eyes looked bloodshot.
"Shut. Up. Now." Noler growled angrily.
Airen caught sight of movement behind Noler. A small smile crept to her lips, but she forced herself to remain expressionless. She slowly put her hands up in surrender.
"Okay, whatever you say."
Noler looked slightly relieved. That is, he did before a black elephant blew a loud trumpet blast from its trunk right in his ear.
Noler jumped at least three feet in the air and whirled around to face the elephant.
"What the fu-"
While Noler had been distracted Airen grabbed a knife off of the nearest table.
"Yo homeboy!" She shouted as she ran toward him. Noler turned around just in time for Airen to slash the knife across his face making a large diagonal cut from his left temple all the way to the right side of his chin. Noler screamed, dropped his gun, and fell to the floor, blood now pouring from his face and blinding him.
"Look out," Airen said quietly looking down at him.
Next to her, the black elephant transformed into Black Hawke. Apparently, Johnathan had either interpreted what she wanted him to do, or he had just come to the idea to change on his own. Either way, it was going to be hard to act like she didn't know his secret anymore.
"So, um…. we should probably…..you know, talk." Black Hawke said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Before she could respond a commotion on the other side of the room reminded her that Noler and the two-door goons weren't the only thugs in the room.
"Later," Airen said quickly. "Right now, other people need our help." She took off toward the other fighting before he could stop her and tell her to leave.
In reality, it was only a few minutes, but to Airen it felt like time slowed. Thug after thug went down in her wake as she used the knife, fist, and anything else she could to fight her way through the room. For a few glorious moments, it felt like she was home, training or better, actually fighting without holding back.
At one point she went up against a particularly ruthless-looking man. He roared in her direction and ran straight for her. Airen smirked and ran straight for him. She dodged his first swing but missed his second fist. The blow dazed her a bit and she backed up a couple of steps. She could feel bruise already forming and tasted iron, meaning that he had probably cut her lip.
Irritated, Airen grabbed a chair and swung full force at his chest. The chair broke apart almost as soon as it made contact, but it also knocked him over. He laid there, groaning, for a second before he started to move, trying to get up.
"Oh no, you don't," Airen said angrily. She grabbed a plate and broke it over his head. Eyes rolling back he collapsed unconscious back on the floor. Airen moved on.
Kicking, punching, and slashing, Airen couldn't remember a time she felt more alive, more powerful. The whirl, the speed, the adrenaline created a rush she had never felt before. She actually felt herself smiling. She was sure she looked crazy, but she didn't care. She was enjoying it too much.
Airen fought yet another guy with a gun. She didn't even pause to give him a chance to surrender. She disarmed him and pistol-whipped him so hard he landed on the floor with a thud. Something next to her moved and without missing a beat she cocked the gun, swung it up, and pointed it in one of the thugs' face.
The guy threw up his hands in surrender and his bottom lip quivered. Airen felt a surge of pride at this. He was scared of her. Sure, she must look pretty frightening. She was bruised and bleeding in a few places, her dress was torn, she could only imagine what her hair was like and she was positive that the look in her eyes was borderline evil.
"Yo-you're not s-supposed to use g-guns." The poor guy stammered. "Batman n-never uses g-guns." He went almost cross-eyed trying to see the gun.
"Do I look like Batman to you?" Airen growled. The guy gulped and shook his head. The gun clicked as a bullet loaded into the chamber. He jumped.
"I didn't think so." Airen sneered.
Something dropped next to them silently and the guy practically fainted.
"Enough." A deep voice rumbled.
The Dark Knight himself stepped forward between the thug and the gun. The guy sighed in relief.
"Thank-" before he could finish Batman slammed his fist into the guy's nose causing the guy to fall back unconscious. All without breaking eye contact with Airen.
Batman stood there glaring at her. She had heard about the infamous Bat glare. It was supposed to make villains turn themselves in, Bat Brats cry, and Superman himself tremble. Airen however didn't find it very intimidating. In fact, she glared right back.
"We. Don't. Use. Guns." He growled.
"Again, do I look like a member of your little Bat Brood? Besides, it wasn't like I was actually going to shoot him." Airen said as she lowered the gun slowly.
"Could have fooled us," Robin said from somewhere off to the side.
In her peripheral vision, Airen could tell a small audience had gathered to watch. Robin and Huntress stood off to the side, Robin with his arms crossed and look of disgust on his face, Huntress looking fearful. Diana was floating nearby watching the interaction wither serious intensity as though she expected Batman to kill Airen or something. Dick was standing in his tux arms crossed and frowning disapprovingly. Airen could tell that Black Hawke was standing just behind her, waiting for the right moment to whisk her out of Batman's murderous glare.
Meanwhile, Airen kept eye contact with Batman the whole time, never blinking, never flinching just to show him that he didn't scare her. Finally, Batman shifted. Without looking away from Airen he barked orders to everyone else.
"Diana, Dick, go outside and deal with the press. Huntress locate your siblings. Robin, you're with me. And Black Hawke?"
Black Hawke gulped and stepped forward nervously. "Yes sir?"
"Get her out of my sight."
With that final order given, Batman left with a swish of his cape, Robin hurrying to follow and everyone else dispersing to follow his orders.
Black Hawke slipped the gun carefully from Airen's grasp and set it gently on the nearest table then hurried her out of the room.
