DISCLAIMER: I do not own Batman or its characters. Only Athena and whoever else added to this narrative

Eleven:

To Honor The Living

In folktales across many different cultures, there were some creatures that always remained the same. Only changing when authors tried to sweeten the dark pot and write them off as brooding beings who sparkled in the daylight, instead of burning to an agonizing pile of dust. The darkness that shrouds them in mystery was their charm and before this, for the ones that weren't born, but made, the transformation was one of the most memorable things a child could read.

First, their gums and fingernails would begin to ache, as if being born again, the teeth still needing to push their way through. Then, a hunger unable to be satiated would overtake those poor souls and no matter what was consumed, would eventually be vomited back up. On the third day, they would find all of their normal functions were heightened to the point where the thought of a person they disliked just a little, would flood them with such a great enough rage, they might have been able to destroy a small mountain. Finally, they would find that it is all too much trouble to go outside and become recluse, when in actuality their instincts prevented them from doing so, as they would burn if the light of day touched that paling skin.

Once these steps were complete, the newborn's sire master would come(possibly, if they were nice, they would have guided them the entire time), and give them the ultimatum of what was called: rebirth.

Drink or die, from a living human being.

Athena didn't want to admit that she had silently been going down the checklist. Now, all that was left was her master showing up on the balcony in the dead of night, explaining how all of this was a big mistake and how they hadn't meant to change her. How there was no way to reverse the effects of vampirism and that she actually did have to drink or die.

They never did come. Instead, as the days passed, she found herself with tooth aches spreading throughout her entire mouth and up to her cheeks, visits to the dentist proved there was nothing wrong with her at all.

Alfred insisted they take trips to obtain epsom salts to soak her ligaments during hot baths, and reluctantly to the department for newborns and toddlers. There she picked out ruby teething rings and then had to awkwardly explain, how there were baby showers coming up and she wanted to kill two birds with one stone- and no, Alfred was not the father, she would pointedly shoot down those looks of questioning judgment.

Paparazzi was unusually good about leaving her out of the media, because quite frankly to them, she pales in comparison to her father. All she really had was his last name and did nothing of interest, except go to school and not even the infamous Vicki Vale could twist that into an eye catching story. Really, she never even accompanied him while he was holding up face. The socialite that was inside of Athena Wayne(as they knew her), was never seen and that was how she would have liked to keep it.

When the daily news came out later that week, either on Wednesday or Friday, she couldn't remember because she tried to forget the whole thing the moment Damian obnoxiously brought it to her attention. Like mother, like daughter, he said, with a snickering voice crack that tried her patience more than it usually did, in fact her patience was nonexistent and she just wanted to stab him on sight.

The dry, grey paper thrown in her face was from the Gotham Gazette. A headline in big bold letters, like how she imagined the person who snapped the photo sounded when they brought it back to the station, loud and desperate, like a starving author on his last straw of pasta and nearing bankruptcy.

It read: DAUGHTER OF GOTHAM, KNOCKED UP BEFORE TWENTY?

Athena didn't bother reading the report, she simply glared at her brother without blinking once, then ripped the newspaper in half, muttering something about not being able to get any peace between schoolwork, those damn owls outside her window, her sleeping troubles and Damian being himself.

It felt good hearing the papers being slowly torn in half by the doing of her own hands and for a second, she wanted to march out to the Gotham Gazette, perhaps even run there, bleeding with cold fury, and rip all those slandering stories to shreds.

Instead, she locked herself in her room, even away from Sage. After shouting at an owl to get off her balcony, in many different profanities, she then began gnawing on a cold ringlet. The pains in her gums were usually brought on from her own vexings.

Training with dad did relieve… something. To her, that was what 'drink or die' meant. Sometimes the two of them were simply just a pair of fighters and he taught her nothing. One night the nightmares had tormented her so well, her skin was still tingling the moment she woke with a start. Her scream was now caught in the scarf she tied tightly around her mouth, so that the household wouldn't be disturbed by such a sound. Athena had only wished she thought of this for the few months mom allowed her to stay with her.

After awakening, sweat was etched across her brow, drenching the sheets, she hurried to switch on the lamp, since there was no one to do it for her, as Sage only had paws.

That night, she told Sage she would be in the Batcave, there was no way she could go back to sleep now. That night, she saw him sitting at the broken batcomputer fully suited, cowl pulled back, as he sifted through what looked like manila folders. A large white mug sat next to him, splattered with coffee spots.

At that moment, Athena saw a similarity between both of them, no matter how in vain it might have been, he too didn't know sleep. How did he function with the weight of the world on his shoulders? It was a mystery, he himself might not have been able to solve.

Even with the work in front of him and not having a working mainframe, he asked her what she was doing down there in so early in the morning and Athena told him that she couldn't sleep and asked with these sunken eyes, for something to keep her mind off of what happened moments before.

And so they would fight and in those moments, Athena forgave her father, on the contrary, she wasn't sure if this was the sleep deprivation controlling her emotions more so than anything else.

Still, even if she could forget about her nightmares for an hour, the passing school days flew by in a dreary blur leading up to the ceremony. Almost like the entire campus had been enveloped in a dark fog, dense enough to choke the life out of the students and they too, slowly went through their own transformation into mindless zombies that didn't even bother to feed off the flesh of the living. They just, existed, with their spirits on the lowest level possible. It wasn't just the students, but the staff as well.

Out of the five murdered, Quinn McFarland, Annika Prathi Khan, Paulie Hernandez, Thom James, and Jenni Lee Huang— Athena only knew one personally, that didn't stop her from finding out things about the others, starting with their middle names, if they had one.

Everyone must have suffered one way or another with five different people being lost, there was plenty of room for devastation. Over the course of the days after her conversation with Evie, Athena was still left bewildered. Evie was always enigmatic in the quirky sort of way, but what she said— 'everyone close to me dies' it almost sounded like something out of a novel and from almost every novel she's read, that person was the one to die soon after so that they could never reveal their truth. Evie still walked the halls of Eruditus as normal, wearing her quickly put together outfits and clinging to the walls, away from the hordes of preppies. There was still time to speak to her and the best time would be tonight, the day of the ceremony.

Athena found herself actually searching through her wardrobe for once, instead of just grabbing the nearest clean piece of fabric and pairing it with some jeans. The thought of just walking through those grand brown doors in just a plain white tee and old jeans was unappealing to her. Telling people she was never one to be a fashionista was always partly a lie.

Coming of age, clothes did interest her. Whenever mom would come visit, it never failed for the two of them to travel the city, trampling through the malls and buying the latest trends. That old habit might as well had been confined in the deep depths of her closed for only the moth balls to gather around it, with every scratch of the metal hangers, the moths dispersed.

To be fair, she hadn't gone to a social gathering in a long while. This was the first one in a few years and it was something that it had to be for the passings of classmates. All of her drawers had been pulled out of their sockets and several things lay flat across the bed. This ceremony wasn't just some social gathering, some party for the college kids to get wasted at and forget both their names, Athena was at a point in her life where dressing to impress didn't feel important, especially when no one really cared about what you wore, but, honoring the dead, one last time before they never saw their classmates and friends again… that was something she wanted to take active part in.

If Quinn would be seeing her for the last time, in all her glory, Athena wanted to look like herself, the best version of herself. Back when school first started and they were all little freshman guppies and her closest friend was still her roomate, and things were simple.

Going through the hanging articles of clothing for what might have been the fiftieth time, Athena stopped, her hand hovering over a snowy grey, cashmere, which fit around the neckline in a turtleneck, but fell into a flowy asymmetrical drape.

"Yes!"

After she finished pulling crimson boots up to her denim knees, she clicked the heel twice, looking up at Sage, who sat on the lounge at the foot of the bed.

In response, Sage opened her mouth, with a wide yawn and stretches. "Am I supposed to compliment you now?"

Athena put a hand on her hip, frowning before yanking a leather handbag off the hanging line of multicolored leather bags. "Well, it would be nice. I haven't done this in awhile." With that she spin to face the mirror inside the closet.

"Perhaps I would be in a better mood, if you stopped leaving your bedroom door open for that dog to come in here."

"Ace? Oh, he's a sweetheart."

"No, the other one… Titus? I quite like Ace."

Athena turns around briefly, "sorry, Sage. I'll try to close the door."

"You know, for such a grim event, you appear rather chipper."

She shook her head, rubbing the fabric of the sweater between her fingers. "It's not that," accidentally, a scoff came next, "you wouldn't understand."

"You are right. I apologize if I misspoke. That girl, she was very dear to you," Sage brushes against the heel of her boot.

Athena stood, still feeling the sweater between her fingers, the fabric cotton soft and in the condition of something only worn never. "This was a gift from her."

Sage sat in her line of sight, being that her mouth didn't permit smiles. She tilts her head to the side, squinting those cerulean eyes of hers. "And you wear it well, my dear."

A common stigma was that the wealthy were always late to events, especially if their surname happened to be Wayne.

Well, they were correct, but Athena intended to get there on time. It was the only parting gift she could give at this point.

While in the black car, it's name failed to be remembered, Athena slunk her body down, sliding into the depths of the leather, so only the top of her head pokes up into the window. It wasn't often she was driven out into the night, nor was it often she was coming back at any hour before ten, but the moment the sleek vehicle pulls out of the driveway a wave of dread washes over her, sneaking up like silhouettes of trees in the nighttime.

Driven by Alfred, who's steady hand remained on the wheel, instead of the older man who drove her taxi weeks ago, his presence still filled the car as if he were still driving. It would have been very hard to get anyone to drive you this way after sunset, Miss, believe me, he had said and she remembered not questioning it because at the time, it didn't seem important. For all she knew it was just a superstition and nothing more. Being that the time was half past five, the sun was very much setting, meaning whatever the whole of the city feared, would show itself soon.

Athena remembered the eyes peering back at her through the trees, even in the daylight, but that— that was obviously just some animal, curious about passerby that rarely came this route, because how many people actually traveled to the manor other than its inhabitants?

With the humming of the engine, Athena almost mistook the sound for a low growl. Trying to distract herself she looked forward, Alfred's head moved slightly upward.

"Lady Athena?" His voice brought her back to the car, from the thin wooded area.

"All good." Athena shrugs herself off, by shrugging him off.

Yeah, she was all good and who needed to duck into the seat, allowing the thick scent of leather to distract her from an imaginary, superstitious beast, that most definitely did not exist.

With that in mind, Athena sat straight, daring the world by looking out of the window, it was a quick glance, but it was enough to will her eyes to widen, stretch further open than should be possible.

Moving forward with a lurch, along with the frantic beats of her heart, fingernails digging into the fresh leather of the seats. "Alfred! You've gotta drive faster, now!"

The force propels Athena backwards into the seat, as the tires screech forward.

"What on earth has you so startled!?" Alfred's eyes widen as he spoke with the urgency the situation called for, yet he remains calm.

What crawled out of its hovel within the trees, out of the corner of her eye, looks to be a four legged beast of a thing, the small amount of sunlight obstructs her ability to see whether a grayed pelt or skin stretched across its large, broken bones, with the way its legs were twisted about.

As the car speeds down the road, it did something that made Athena nearly get out of the car, and why she wanted to do that, she didn't quite know. No normal person would have wanted to do anything of the sort.

The creature stood, on its two hind legs, its posture odd from the very sight, skinny and reaching to the tops of the trees.

"You—You can't—?"

It throws its head backwards, shrouded in darkness, letting out a sound that was comparable to nothing she had ever heard. A twisted howl, both a screech and guttural, that rings wild instead of fixed in one singular note, almost like it was composed of multiple beasts instead of the one that stood before her, she covers her ears, squinting her eyes closed and once she forces them open, the thing began a full sprint toward the moving vehicle.

Athena screams as it leaps into what looks like almost ten feet in the air, landing only inches away from the car, lodging its long, slender, sharp fingers into the metal trunk.

"Lady—what?" Alfred yells over all the commotion, flooring the pedal, making a sharp turn onto the bridge.

The movement throws Athena to the other side of the backseat, her forehead coming in contact with the glass, it cracks and warm liquid begins to pool near her head. She clenches her jaw, attempting to grab hold of something, as the ground buckled beneath her.

A sound of screeching metal and popping screws fades away along with the trees, after regaining composure, Athena was able to glance behind, a great distance between the car and the creature.

It stood, heaving on its hind legs, the rise and fall of its chest aggressive in nature, its putrid breath showing in the cold. It pries the black hood from its fingers, the metal crumpled and bent from seemingly being pulled from its place above the trunk.

From the opening of the now exposed trunk, cold air seeps inside of the car, tussling her hair and drying her throat.

It just stood there, as the car continued across the bridge. Still. A predator stalking its prey. It's prey who happened to be in the back seat of a destroyed vehicle.

Athena closes her eyes for a second, as they emerge into the west end, letting the autumn wind chill her entire body. Alfred's heart was thumping in his chest almost as fast as her own.

He broke the silence, slowing to a halt at a traffic light. "My Lady, what in the world is happening?" The question seemed preposterous and Athena took her time before opening her eyes again.

"That monster!" Athena exclaims, a pitch in her voice that was uncommon for her, although not recently, she had to admit. "It almost tipped the whole car in half—Alfred," her eyes widen, "we almost died!"

He took a glance behind him, before looking back to the road. The light turned green.

"What's that look on your face?"

Shaking his head, a frown tugged at Alfred's thin lips, being under the impression that he wanted to say car stopped in front of the campus, the engine still running. "Forgive me, but do you believe you're well enough to attend?" When Athena didn't answer, Alfred's fingers rap the steering wheel. "My Lady, I'm sorry to break it to you but I did not see a monster. You screamed and I listened, you frightened my tailcoat straighter than I could ever get it."

Athena blinks and shook her head, turning to gesture toward the forcefully opened trunk, failing to realize that the sudden chill had disappeared long into the conversation.

The trunk was in perfectly good shape, with not a scratch in sight. At this point, she fought the urge to slap herself awake, clearly what she was seeing didn't make any sense! She tried for a sentence, opening her mouth only to close it. "Nevermind," she said, finally. "Thank you for driving, the event—"
"Comes to a close at eleven o'clock. Incredibly late for my tastes, but I digress."

A smile was in order, although it was mostly forced, as Athena couldn't find time to smile while trying to figure out how the trunk of the car had magically reattached itself. As the car pulled off down the road, she studies it long and hard, waiting for it to go back to the way she had seen it before. That never happened.
Taking in a mouthful of autumn and letting it go within the same beat, Athena pries her eyes away from the street.

Distantly, chatter and poppy music emerged from within the school grounds, people littered the sidewalks, some dressed smartly, as they would be, made their entrances, already linked with friends and plus ones as if this was some sort of fancy garden party.

What Evie had said took some sort of realistic form here, but Athena remembered how the bleak fog of murder had blanketed the entire campus and surely they hadn't been acting this whole week? That was the odd thing about people of a certain class, they didn't know how to mourn, and if they did, it was behind closed doors.

At the far end of the campus, where the almost artificial looking grass was mowed short and stone benches encircles a space where a construct should have been. Trees were sparse, but majorly planted and grown up to provide a space for studying outside without the sun beating one's face. The nook, softly lit by a small mountain of burning sticks, that seemed to own the space between the benches. People did always say that the exterior committee should have built some kind of fountain or statute for them to gaze at.

A thick golden blanket was placed in front of the bonfire, about five large steps away so that there was no possibility of anything catching on fire. A microphone plugged into a small sound system rested in front and encircling the golden fleece, were five murals handcrafted from white flowers, maybe water lilies, in the shape of a heart and in the center were the flattering photos of each of them.

Jenni Huang. Paulie Hernandez. Annika Khan. Thom James.

When Athena's eyes rested on Quinn's photograph, she swallow, taking slow blinks, never looking away.

Quinn had the most clear complexion of sweet caramel, her features were shaped like a pixie yet were dangerous all at once. While her eyes, a hazel green, droplets from nature itself, could strike a wild dog with ease. She could have looked at a stranger and told them the world was ending, and they would've believe it.

When she looked at Athena that day and told her that whatever she was going through, she would get through it… that might have been the first time she ever doubted her.

Athena adverts her gaze, sniffing and looking off idly. Her backpocket begins to buzz, grateful for the distraction, she hurries to answer it.

"Hey, Kitten. How's it going?" Mom's voice fills her ears.

Athena let out a sigh of relief that it brought her a sense of calm she often missed. "Mom, hey. It's—well, I actually just got here." This prompts her to take a further look at her surroundings, looking to find just about anything to talk about. A good amount of people showed and from the sounds of it were still coming. Similar to a wedding, two white clothed tables lined from start to finish with quick bites, such as finger sandwiches, pigs in a blanket, shish kabobs, burgers with little white flags sticking out of them to differentiate between vegan and non-vegan. Athena had to roll her eyes at that.

The second table had a clear bowl containing punch, a crystalline ladle sticking out on the side, a tower of clear cups, which she was unable to tell if they were plastic or actual glass, it wouldn't have surprised her if they were. This prompts her to roll her eyes again.

On the same table, were little devils food cakes, vanilla frosted cupcakes and the softed looking chocolate chip cookies, that she didn't even want to imagine melting in her mouth, because then they would have had to bring out another plate before the quarter mark. There were many more options of course, but Athena had to look elsewhere, as her stomach had started to gnaw at her.

"It's a bonfire thing. There's food here, and a microphone and everything. It looks great."

"Well I would hope so, it's a ceremony, isn't it? You almost sound surprised."

"Who knew they would really care that much? I mean, you know the committee is run by Cruella."

Mom chuckles on the other end of the line, "I still have no idea why you wouldn't just go to a normal school and not some uppity prepfest."

Maybe she got the profanity from Mom, sometimes Athena couldn't wrap her head around how a thief could develop even a sliver of a feeling for a billionaire, just the two things in the same sentence sounded wrong. Mom probably disliked preppies more than her.

And—speak of the devil and she will appear.

"Oh jeez," Athena whispered into the phone. Before Mom could even ask, a distinct, feminine voice from sometime in the twenties, where the women wore gold sleek dresses that shimmered in the lights, while the longer the pearl necklace the more glamorous they were and straight, long hair was something of a distant past, almost made Athena snap her phone in two.

Literally.

"Athena," Isabelle calls, opening her arms, not in welcoming, but to show off the fullness of the fur trimmed cape which draped her shoulders in a blanket of oak wool. "So glad you could make it."

Mom hums for a minute, "Just let me know when you want Catwoman to pay her a little visit. The suits a bit dusty."

Athena grins, looking down at the phone as if it were a physical representation of her mother. "I'll call once the ceremony is over."

"Don't do anything I would do," she muses, before letting her know to be safe, like she would when Athena used to attend parties, so long ago. Two words that were common brought Athena back, nostalgia nearly had her in its clutches.

Once her eyes fully set on Isabelle's bony face, her hair like the pelt of a fox was tied into a neat bun atop her head, bringing attention to her defined high cheekbones and coal black eyes, nostalgia could not even contain her.

"So am I."

It was a surprise to see her without any of her lackies, even more of one to see her without male company. Being the daughter of Winston Carlisle and all, it was odd to not see piranha's trying to take little bites out of the Mayor's kid.

Isabelle purses her lips, taking a step closer and laying a dainty hand on Athena's shoulder. A touch so light, her bones might have been replaced by feathers.

"Oh, it must be so hard for you. One of those poor, poor students being your roommate and all," she clicks her tongue, "I don't know what I would have done."

Blood rushes to Athena's ears, fizzing and popping, boiling like the water in a kettle, she refuses to let it whistle. "Yeah," she says it curtly, purposely absent, pausing as her eyes flitter past Isabelle.

In the distance, a blonde girl is tapping away on her phone. The girl looked awfully familiar, to the point where her identity floated around her brain, at the very tip of her tongue, "well we all have our ways of dealing with things."

Isabelle shifts her head to the side. "You know…" She starts in a way people start when they want to say what they think is important, they are the only ones who are important. "I had you in mind when I orchestrated the event. We all know you were having a tough time, with the—you know, mental stuff. Finding out our dear Quinn died the way she did might have been too much for you."

This caught her attention. Athena darts her eyes to Isabelle, who had her eyes fixed widely, a frown of distraught on her lips, but it was clearly the look of a crocodile, as the corners of her mouth twitches, fighting back a smirk.

"Mental stuff?" she repeats the words, harshly, already realizing she didn't want to hear the answer to that.

"That is why you left the dormitories, isn't it?" Her eyes flicks to every last part of her face, searching for some sort of trigger from the words she spoke, but she wouldn't find any. None at all.

A light, contemptuous chuckle came from Athena, to which Isabelle smiled at, no warmth radiated from the posture of her lips. "Been reading too many tabloids, huh, Issie? Don't you have anything better to do?" She knew Isabelle hated when people gave her nicknames, Athena started to lean in, with the slightest movement from Isabelle, Athena places a hand this time on her shoulder, making sure to dig her nails into the fur coat, before pushing her backwards.

Cruella cried out, in a stumble, in all the irony, "how dare you!"

Athena turns, "how dare you?" Her nostrils flare as she swallows all the petty names. Don't do anything I would do, she repeated over and over. "You hate me, insert other high school drama here. Who gives a flying about any other day, but why did you have to pick today?"

Not bothering to say more, Isabelle scoffs the situation off and Athena has started walking before she even thought of saying anything else.

The girl from earlier put the phone down, looking in her direction and before Athena could take another step, the rather short girl was running toward her, covering much more ground than she should have been able to, must've been some kind of star athlete in high school since she looked like she could have been a freshman. At first, Athena dismissed that she was running straight toward her—it had to have been someone behind her, so she turned to look and no one of interest was standing there. Everyone around them mingled in their own crowds.

Then, she turned around with surprise at the body crashing into hers, slender, yet defined arms wrapped around her waist. Athena lifted her arms up, staring down at the girl and then she let out a breath and a laugh, wrapping her own arms around her.

Stephanie. This was Steph! It must have been from all the stress that her mind went blank there for a second.

"Thena! I thought I'd see you here, but I wasn't sure, honestly, it's a good thing too. I know absolutely no one and.. it's kinda awkward when you're the odd one out at the funeral," Animated, her powdery blue eyes starting to gain more than enough life after staring at her phone screen for who knows how long. "And I haven't seen you! Tim told me you're back at the manor."

Athena nods, a smile of her own forming on her lips. "It's better now than never, trust me, once this month turns into years, you probably won't ever see me on campus."

They both laugh, knowing the full truth to that statement and with the two of them reunited, the night seemed to progress in the most positive way possible as opposed to the trip downhill it was taking from the moment Athena stepped foot out of the door. The pull of the food had grown to be too much, compelling them to travel to the tables not once but twice, Stephanie had said how she would have to work this off later. All of the three benches were filled from start to end with bodies and the grass looked nothing but appealing, compared to rich smelling perfume and cologne clogging up her nostrils. Now, Athena had her autumn coat on the ground underneath her, a thick burger in hand while Stephanie ate from the bowl of chicken spheres. They spoke about how her freshman year of university had been to small talk about majors, pausing every now and again to listen to people speak into the microphone about how much of a tragedy this all was. Hollow speeches, but nonetheless making an effort.

Athena took a sip from the cup, which was in fact made from glass, choking on the 'punch.'

Those assholes.

Swallowing the liquid, letting it scorch the back of her throat and spread warmth throughout her stomach, she leans backward.

"Steph," waiting to get her direct attention before continuing, "do you know anything about the murders?"

Athena would be a liar if she said she didn't think about them and Malice, and what Evie said to her on Monday. From what she could gather, it was sudden, like most murders were, but it was also pointless. An enigma. If anyone knew anything at this party, it was Stephanie Brown or as the police department referred to her—The Spoiler.

Stephanie, who was holding herself upward with her hands, like a reverse spider, raises an eyebrow. She cocks her head, "you? Asking about a case? I'm shocked. You hate when we talk about cases."

One thing they hadn't touched bases on was her little problems with shadow creatures and nightmares. Stephanie was one of her closest friends, but the more people she told, the bigger the situation would seem.

Rolling her eyes, "oh no, don't tell me you're going to lecture me too? It's not like that, this is just something that I'm interested in—" Athena stopped mid-sentence to glance behind her, "for… reasons." That action made her words come off as more suspicious than she had already made them sound, even though it was a coincidence. There was a moment, perhaps, just a second where the idea popped into her head that someone was watching her. Eyes glued to her back, staring deep into Quinn's sweater and burning it to pitiful ashes.

Athena shifts, uncomfortable.

Steph just grinned, "Tim tells me that Bruce is training you now, is straight edge Athena finally following her destiny and undertaking the brooding cape?" She elbowed her in the side, "eh? Eh?"

Athena snorted in return, "yeah, no. Dad's just showing me some things, I'll leave the crime fighting to the experts."

"Well, I can't say much. Twelve people were brutally murdered and there aren't any leads, not even a suspect. The GCPD brought in some rival business owners for questioning, that's gone nowhere."

By this time, Athena had tuned out, half listening but not quite paying attention, almost shooting upwards and yelling into the darkness of the campus.

"Athena?"

Hearing her name, made her turn toward Stephanie. "Do you feel that?"

Stephanie only blinked in response, with no answer to give.

"Doesn't it feel like something is watching us?" Athena felt stupid the moment she said it. This was clearly only her nerves still on edge from the craziness from earlier.

"Er…" she stammered, "Should I? You alright?" When Athena only answered with a frown, Stephanie cracked a smirk. "I guess the Bat really is teaching you a few things." Her head rolled to the side, with her laughter to herself, a slight red flushing the cheeks of her fae-like features, once she brought the cup to her lips.

Tapping her finger along the rim of her own cup, not being able to bear looking at Stephanie anymore, she didn't laugh, instead keeping her stare over her shoulder. She thought she had smiled a bit, but Athena couldn't help anymore than that.

A girl who had to balance solving gruesome murders with the Batman, donning a cape and mask, gliding through the skies, their capes rippling in the wind like something out of a fictional novel, where people were inherently good and had the willpower to take a stand against those who were inherently bad, and school work, and boyfriends, and being a young adult in a big city all collided. Stephanie's life was far from normal, but in that moment, as well as many others in the past, she was filled to the brim with the gift of life. Stephanie smiled and laughed, she even allowed herself to drink. While she radiated an intoxicating will to be and enjoy, Athena found herself jealous. All of her laughs were half hearted, her smiles mostly forced. The punch in her cup, perhaps the only key to loosen up her bones, was nearly full.

Athena pushes away the thought of all of it being an act, because for a second, her cheeks might have lost their green tint and she refused to find satisfaction in the idea that Stephanie's happiness was fake.

Her misery would not enjoy any company, no.

"Oh god," Athena didn't know, but Steph might have just rolled her eyes, it sounded in her voice, a grin played on her lips. "You really are his daughter, aren't you?"

Even though Athena did allow herself to chuckle, a train broke off its tracks and crashed right into her, the punch spilled over her clothes— Quinn's sweater, locking with the fabric forever, as realization dawns on her. Unease had swarmed her this entire time, the world before her filled with static and her mind blanked for a swift moment, dizzying and bringing her back in the same instant.

A second ago, it was like Athena hadn't known who Stephanie Brown was at all, much like how she drew blanks when she was trying to escape Cruella, but Athena did know Steph, her friend since the day dad introduced the two of them, bonding quickly since her and Barbara were the only other girls, filled in a family dominated by men.

Athena shook her head. This, this wasn't happening.

Pulling out her phone to check the time, it was only nine and the ceremony wouldn't be ending anytime soon, but after what had just happened...she clearly needed to just go home and get some rest, or at least try to get some.

"Hey, Steph, I'm going to say a few words then probably head home."

Stephanie nods, her curls bouncing with the movement of her head, rubbing a hand quickly on her back. "I'll drown anyone who talks during in punch."

Athena scoffed a laugh, taking a stand and striding to the makeshift podium, it had been empty for about the last forty minutes after Ms. DeVille gave her bullshit speech about love and being a family on this campus, since "we only had one another." She had tuned most of this out and happened to hear that little snippet, wanted to rip off her ears afterwards.

The music lowers to simple background noise, at the motion of steps she took to stand in the center of the golden fleece, crafted from the artificial golden tears of her classmates. Silence fell over the crowds, all in their seperate groups, forming small circles, followed by the stillness minus the minor shuffling to reposition themselves, holding their glasses of wine-punch in hands bejeweled with emeralds and diamonds. The ones who sat craned their necks around to face her, all eyes pinned in one direction.

Throughout both gymnastics competitions and ballet shows, gymnastics was always so disconnected from the audience, focus on the next tumble or it could have been an injury. There was no time to get wrapped up in the fears of being the object people watched, but with ballet, the beginning of the performance had the dancers facing the audience, in order for them to marvel.

Standing with the spotlight on her now, was much like dancing back then. Athena swallows down the bit of courage, here and then. Just begin and everything else will follow behind.

Adjusting the microphone down to her level, it screeches at bit, she clears her throat. "Hello, everyone. You all know who I am and if there's anyone who doesn't—well, my name is Athena."

Met back with the silence from the crowds, Athena glances over at Stephanie, who just smiles and sticks up an encouraging thumb.

"Well, uh, we're all meeting here for a gathering after an unfortunate accident, it was something that no one expected and quite frankly, it shouldn't have happened," taking a slow nod, Athena gestures with a hand, " now… we're here, and you know, I'm going to be honest and say, I didn't expect this to be what it is and I'm sure they didn't either. I, uh-," she stops with a chuckle before continuing, "I liked to believe as a kid that whenever someone died, we never truly know where they end up, so it's safe to say that once their souls leave their bodies, those bodies transform into stars. We came together as a community and I'm sure they're all smiling down at us, as the stars they have become." Athena allows herself to chuckle once more, "maybe it's just because I'm named after the Lady of Wisdom, I dunno."

Some folks laugh, some smile, some chuckle along with her and Athena eases up.

The smile shortly fell from her lips, beginning to venture into unknown territory, yet she did it anyway, it was something that needed to be said.

"I didn't know Paulie, Thom, Annika, or Jenni, so I won't pretend like I did, but they were my classmates and I wish I had," her grip on the microphone tightens, "I can't say anything personal about them, but—" the next few words caught in her throat along with the lump weighing down to her gut, it is choking her.

"But—Quinn—" Athena could not force herself to look out at them, at the friends who had attended the funerals and wakes, at the friends who could speak, tears and all, because they wanted to, because they needed to. For them. "Quinn— she—" Athena clears her throat, once more as a person in one of the crowds starts to clap, until it grew contagious and the whole clearing echoed, but a wave overtook Athena, her eyes started to sting, but she would not allow her glassy eyes to release their guilt. "I'm-excuse me, I'm sorry."

The apology was said in a whisper, as she had already escaped from the spotlight in the center of the fleece.

An arm wraps around her body, once she took a shaky seat back on the grass, pulling her softly and she collapsed right into Stephanie, staring off into the crowds that snuck looks at her, but didn't bother to approach.

"When you're ready, you know what to do." Stephanie mutters under her breath, knowing she was close enough to make it out.

Athena nods, biting the side of her cheek in frustration.

"Oh, boy," Steph then said, which made Athena focus her vision, what she saw made her sit up straight.

Two guys who she knew seemed to be approaching them. One was tall, a dirty blond, while the other was shorter and a brunet, who stuffed his hands into pockets, whether it was out of shyness or reluctance, Athena couldn't tell. When their eyes meet, he averts them.

The blond was a guy she now remembered as Upperclassmen Mark in her freshman year. From his hair curling at his shoulders and the beachy attire he wore during the warm months, he was attractive-in a douche sort of way- he looks and sounds like he owns five surfboards.

"Sup, Athena? Sorry for your loss." He spoke over the chatter and music, barely wasted a glance on her, already grinning stupidly at Stephanie. "Who's the pretty lady though?"

His friend sighs loudly, reaching for something, probably the phone in his pocket. Mark nearly elbows him down.
Stephanie arches an eyebrow, sharing a glance with her, having a silent conversation of 'should I break it to him or should I?' By the end of it, she was smiling something sympathetic, although her eyes twinkle with mischief, she scratches her nose, "sorry, brah, this pretty lady is taken."

Even the bright red cup of happy juice seemed to darken in embarrassment and disappointment. Mark compresses his line thin lips and nods, turning to his friend. "Come on dude, lets dip." He seems to believe he was whispering, "unless you want the prude, you know she hasn't been with anyone since Elijah."

Or perhaps, he was just being purposely rude.

The boy widens his eyes, "not cool, man!" Shaking his head, he looked to Athena, her skin tightening around her bones. "Sorry about him."

If she had been holding anything, the life would have been squeezed out of it.

Stephanie scoffs, annoyed. "Put a muzzle on it next time, please and thanks."

Once his friend started to usher Mark away from both of them, Stephanie clears her throat. "Well, I see this school's reputation doesn't intend to change."

Athena rolls her eyes, "tell me about it." Starting to stand, she dusts off her coat and puts her arms through one of its sockets. "Think I'm gonna head home now."

"I'd ask you to stay for another thirty, since Tim's picking me up, but I know you need to leave."

"Yeah—" Athena was about to explain how she's had enough of the whole thing and how its worn her out, instead, she is interrupted by the sound of someone fixing the microphone. Turning to face the person who was about to speak, Athena is grateful Stephanie stalled her a bit longer.

No one other than Evie stood there, a trench coat buttoned all the way up to her neck and draping down to her ankles, her hair is messier than usual, as if it hadn't been brushed today, she looks unkempt. The visible eye was blackened, most would have mistaken this for eyeliner, but Evie… Evie never wore that kind of stuff. Athena could have been wrong, but she knew the girl wasn't the flashy type, her bare face was a silent message.

"Let me get one thing clear, "Evie spoke louder than she needed standing in front of a microphone, her voice booms throughout the clearing, some students flinch. "I wasn't going to show for this sorry excuse for a vigil, because none of you care about any of them." Pointing out at no one in particular, there was an edge with how she spoke, buried emotions saw the light of day. "I'll keep this short and sweet. I didn't come to get drunk, I didn't come to show face and I sure didn't come to support the committee. I came for them. I came to tell you people this. If you," Evie points at the crowds of students once more, with much more aggression behind it, "if any of you people actually cared, you would have done something about the murders! That's what I set out to do and once I'm done, then that will be the only pardon they deserve, not anything from any of you."

Someone far off to the side, had their phone out and was recording the whole thing. Evie took the microphone out of the holder, fire burning in the center of her dark irises, dropping it on the golden blanket in conclusion.

Murmurs spread in the circles of crowds, Athena might have been able to discern what they said if she hadn't charged after Evie, bristling in the flames of rage, quickly telling Steph she had to go, pushing people out of the way, not losing sight of Evie.

They were nearing the gates before long, the flattening of grass underneath their footfalls. Athena calls after her, only for Evie to pretend she couldn't hear, it wasn't until Athena grabs her by the shoulder, that she whips around with such quickness, it seemed like she was about to hit her.

With furious wrinkles between her brows, complementing the uncommon look in her eyes. Evie yells, "What, what do you want?!"

Clenching down on her jaw, Athena's eyes were wide in the way she couldn't help, trying her hardest to search the girl's face, her soul, with this sudden vision that was now apart of her, to no avail. Quinn used to say Athena had it too, those eyes that did things to people. "Is it wrong that I'm worried about you?"

"Everyone gets worried when someone dies, that's usually how it goes," she ends with a scoff, not only anger resides inside of her, but hate as well.

"Evie, what the fuck does that mean?!"

She pushes Athena's hand off of her shoulder, like it had been a piece of trash that needed to flicked be away. "Why bother?"

Athena looks at her hand and then back at Evie, she made contact again, grabbing her shoulders, the mirror image of Mom doing the gesture in a similar way, months ago flashes inside her mind. "We're both hurting. I want to help."

Evie put her hands on Athena's, digging into some parts of the skin with her fingernails, picking them off her shoulders, Athena didn't grip tight, she didn't want to force. "We're both a lot of things," Evie's voice lowers, she looks off in the distance before making fierce eye contact with her again, "you and me are alike, yeah, fine, but that also means we're both better off alone, as well. You should know that."

Starting to turn away from her, Athena tried one more time. "What did you mean by you're going to do something about it?" She felt like, she knew the answer to that already, but she wanted to hear the girl admit it.

Evie kept walking in the direction of the dormitories with her back to Athena, she spoke firmly. "Don't follow me anymore."

Even knowing that Evie could not see her, Athena nods in understanding, standing there for what seems like longer than she should have, before exiting the gates.

Leaving the sounds of the ceremony behind after texting Alfred, she stuffs her phone in the back of her pocket, crossing her arms and walking down to the end of the sidewalk, thinking of everything that just happened and then some.

In the midst of her thoughts, Athena happens to look up at the street sign. The green metal blows in the wind, it read Suffolk Place. Already walking farther than she had planned, she kicks herself for getting lost in her thoughts and not paying attention.

Then, Athena nearly stopped. The hairs prickling up, one by one on her back and forearms. She did not stop walking, she did not even take a peep behind her. The wind seemed to be on her side, quieting and allowing her to hear the near silent footsteps that paces just behind.

One, two, one, two, one, two went the rhythm of the person following her, reminding Athena of someone taking calculated steps or being hindered by a limp.

Getting a glance out of her peripheral, making certain that her own walking pattern hadn't changed, it was dark, all she saw was a shadow on the sidewalk. Even with this stranger following her, Athena was more glad at first than anything. Someone had in fact been watching her, she knew she wasn't just being neurotic.

Dad chasties her immediately after. You're being followed, think quickly.

Alfred would surely arrive soon, but any second longer with the situation in her opponent's hands could prove detrimental to her. They didn't know she knew she was being followed yet, Athena could use this to her advantage. A surprise would be best, something to disarm them, even if it was a man with a gun, a split second of the situation being on her terms was all Athena needed.

Not bothering to look at the shadow once more, she fisted her hands and lifted her right leg all in the same motion, spinning around to face her stranger and knock their lights out, only for her foot to make contact with nothing but air. Athena brought her leg down, a snarl on her lips, she huffs, looking around her. There was someone here, she heard them!

Searching for the stranger, a shiny object caught her attention instead. It looks to be a throwing star, stuck in the pavement. The moonlit sky reflecting across the steel was what brought it to her attention. Bending down, Athena reaches for the object, stops while her fingernails are nearly touching it.

Athena pulls back with a jolt.

A distorted sound emits around her, a voice that couldn't be identified as male or female, but it was nowhere near robotic. It was cold, dead.

"Savor the time you have left. Hold it dear, Athena Kyle-Wayne."

Her blood runs cold at the mention of Mom's last name. No one knew that about her, no one should have known.

The throwing star repeats the words several times after, each time those words hang in the air, becoming further distorted and incomprehensible. There was a silence and then a soft, ticking ensued, before the shuriken self destructs.

A/N: Some of you might have noticed that Athena is referred to as Athena Wayne to the general public, in this chapter, as opposed to Athena Kyle-Wayne. Since Catwoman is still considered a criminal, I realized it wouldn't be logical for Athena to actually use her last name on print, it's just something Athena likes to say because she does value her mother's name.

R&R at your leisure!