Tempest: Chapter Eighty: Cassandra
AN: Somehow Tempest has ended up as one of the longest fics in the YJ section of Ao3, which is crazy!
There is also a drabble series now for Tempest, probably up on Ao3 exclusively, called Who Dares To Grasp the Thorn which is just 90 short tumblr prompts I've done for Tempest.
Also: The Speed Force does exist in my fic, it might not in YJ itself, but here it's a legit thing, since someone had a question about that. You will see more about it as the fic continues.
Ariel was cold and tired and in pain and she'd almost like to say that she'd want to go home, but given her home situation, that thought was permanently stalled.
She clutched her broken arm to her chest, trying not to move it too much. She could hear a raised voice, demanding…demanding something, it was hard to hear, and Ariel's pain was kind of numbing her.
Then there were furious footsteps and Ariel looked up.
Pythia was thirteen, but somehow Ariel hadn't quite been expecting her to be the girl that most people called StarWarsGirl. Amy Isley-Allen had blazing green eyes and the green highlights in her hair that made her look like Christmas.
"Ariel," she said with a voice like someone who was restraining themselves from losing their temper, "how about we get you to the hospital?"
Ariel burst into tears.
"You can't just take her away, she's being processed for—"
"For what?" the girl with Amy sounded positively appalled. She was pretty with dark hair tied back and blue eyes that were startled, her fingers interlocked with Amy's. "She's ten!"
"You put a ten year old with a broken arm in a cell based on the words of her abusive foster parents," Amy said icily, "ignoring the fact that Ariel was fostered in Gotham and we're in Freehold, so I'm guessing the family called you to get rid of their problem because I'm pretty sure Commissioner Gordon with the GCPD wouldn't have allowed the booking of a ten year old, battered child."
Ariel could swear that Amy's fingers had almost sparked.
"I've called an ambulance," Amy added, "and I'm about two seconds away from calling Commissioner Gordon to see what he thinks about this situation."
Ariel wondered if she could actually do that, but in a few short minutes she was situated in the back of an ambulance, a makeshift splint on her arm and Amy promising she and 'Zee' were going to be following right behind.
"That your sister?" one of the EMT guessed as they shot off.
"Um, sorta." Ariel didn't quite know how to explain their relationship.
"Seemed pretty pissed…wouldn't want to cross someone like her."
Ariel thought that was wise.
Amy was there, as she said, when Ariel arrived and she stayed by her side the whole time, with the exception of when they took her to get an x-ray of her arm and then had to put a temporary cast around her arm -the plaster cast would be placed in a week once the swelling had gone down- and when she came back, Amy was gone, and there was a woman with her green eyes and red hair, sparing her a smile.
"Ariel, right?" the woman asked. "I'm Dr. Pamela Isley."
"Another doctor?" Ariel was pretty numb and tired at this point.
"Not that kind of doctor," Pamela smiled, "I'm Amy's mom…she told me you're part of her network."
Ariel stared at her. That wasn't really something that she thought a daughter would tell her mother.
"Amy likes her secrets," Pamela said, taking note of the look, "she doesn't like to tell us things unless she has to…it's annoyed her father on more than one occasion. She's big on not telling anyone about who her fellow Oracles are…unless they need help."
Ariel looked away, playing with the end of her temporary cast, close to where her fingers came out.
"Given the situation you're in," Pamela chose her words carefully, "I could ask to gain temporary guardianship over you." Ariel could feel nothing but panic at the thought of another guardian. "It's not permanent and you don't have to stay any longer than you want to…but being on your own isn't safe."
Ariel looked out the door that was still open -she'd never liked enclosed spaces and keeping it open was the only thing keeping her from freaking out- to see Amy in her line of sight. She was standing with her girlfriend, leaning against the wall, her phone to her ear, seeming to alternate between talking on the phone and talking to her girlfriend. She saw Ariel looking and gave her a little smile and a wave.
Ariel's vision swam and she ducked her head, trying to hide her tears and not really succeeding. She scrubbed at her eyes with her good hand.
"Thank you," she managed to force out through her tears.
Pamela smiled sweetly. "My girlfriend said yes immediately, but she's known for making snap decisions…though looking at Amy's puppy eyes didn't do me any favors."
Ariel frowned in confusion. Amy looked more likely to punch out someone than use puppy eyes to get what she wanted.
"Get some rest, Ariel, we're just going to talk to a judge." Pamela squeezed the hand that was uninjured.
And for the first time in a long time, Ariel felt hope.
Zatanna really didn't know why she bothered; her school was literally the worst. Thankfully it was her last year at it; next year she would be going to the same one as M'gann and Conner simply because it was easier to commute to (they'd be switching schools too since the Cave 2.0 was in Georgia, not Rhode Island, but she thought Conner was pretty fine with that) and Zatanna would like being with them in the same school than deal with the girls in her Catholic high school. Apart from them, and the uniform, Zatanna hadn't really had any problems, but it did still hurt to be taken to the school by M'gann by Bioship (camouflaged as a car) than by her own father.
"Ooh, who's that?" one of the girls asked at the sound of a revving of an engine to see a motorcycle tear into the parking lot. Zatanna hadn't seen Amy pull out her motorcycle in a while; she tended to stick to Roy's, probably because she'd driven it so much (illegally, which she was aware of, quite happy with committing that crime, among other crimes she committed). Her motorcycle was pretty and a gift from Pamela, dark blue with a pattern of a Chrysanthemum with branching lightning, two of Amy's favorite things.
Amy came to a stop, pulling off her helmet and grinning at Zatanna as she approached, her bag over her shoulder. "Hey, babe, ready to blow this joint?"
"Of course," Zatanna grinned, taking the spare helmet Amy offered her, kissing her girlfriend's cheek before she put her helmet back on. "Later, bitches!"
Amy's laugh was absolutely golden, as were the looks on the girls' faces as Zatanna slid the helmet on and wound her arms around Amy, who tore off without a consideration to rules of the road.
It was weird, having someone else in the house, that was Amara's first thought. Not necessarily bad, just weird.
"So…you might be getting a new sister?" Zatanna was flopped onto Amara's bed like she owned the place, a book in her hands while Amara typed away on TempleofDelphi. It wasn't really a date, but if Amara left her trapdoor open or if they decided to sleep in the living room, Zatanna could spend the night.
(The very serious conversation that had led to that decision had scarred Amara for life, she was sure of it. But, honestly, exactly how much trouble could a thirteen and fourteen-year-old get into? She'd slept in the same room as Jade, with the door closed…of course telling Barry that had made his face redden as he sighed in exasperation, much to the amusement of her mothers.)
"Might, strong might," Amara admitted.
Zatanna cast her eyes over the book. "Are you okay with that?"
Amara blinked, looking up from laptop. "Of course, I'm okay with it." She seemed a bit miffed at the suggestion. "Ariel's great, shy," Amara amended, "but I was a right terror when I was a nine, or even eight, so I think she's doing pretty well."
"Ooh, eight-year-old Amy? What was she like?"
"She was figuring out Flash's secret identity and then running off after the asshole that tried to electrocute her," Amara grumbled under her breath.
Zatanna paused at that and stared at her, eyes wide. "You went after your dad on your own?"
It stung like it always did when people called Mardon her father. As far as Amara was concerned, she only had one father, Barry Allen. He was the only father she recognized. Dick knew that, Wally knew that, Roy knew that, and certainly Artemis knew and understood that, but she must not've told Zatanna.
She thought about mentioning it, but her words died in her throat. Better not open that can of worms.
"It wasn't the smartest thing," Amara admitted, "but I was angry and I had nowhere else to go."
Zatanna's eyes softened. "What happened?"
"Dad tracked me down, I wasn't as good as covering my tracks as I am now," Amara conceded, "he talked me down, went and stopped Mardon himself, and then took me home." Amara paused in typing, smiling faintly, "It was the first time I didn't have to worry about where I was, who I was with…" If I was going to be hurt, if Mardon was going to hurt me.
Amara shook off the thought. "Well, I'm much better now, a work in progress, but better."
Work in progress meant there was room for improvement, and Amara definitely needed that. It felt like every time she took one step forward, it led to her taking two steps back. Recovery wasn't linear, Amara knew that, but surely it shouldn't feel like this.
She leaned her head back to look at the ceiling, memorize the imperfections of the slanted ceiling. "I'm tired," she sighed.
"Take a nap," Zatanna offered helpfully.
"No, not like that," Amara sagged slightly, "I miss Roy."
"Oh." Roy was an awkward topic for almost everyone involved. Artemis was still pissed at him for almost killing Amara and trying to make her seem like the mole when it had been him all along, Green Arrow was the one the most upset about him, while Kaldur, Robin, and Wally were mostly at a loss.
Zatanna was out of her depth and she didn't know quite what to say to the girl who had nearly been killed by the one she called partner.
In the end, Amara changed the subject after it got too awkward. "What movie d'you wanna watch tonight? Wally's been getting after me about this movie called Galaxy Quest, apparently it's a parody of Star Trek, but actually really good—"
Zatanna couldn't help but laugh.
"Trust and love are two things you can never depend on."
The words were echoing in her head and Amara wanted nothing more than to erase Mardon's words, but they lingered and Amara was struggling to breathe.
There was a weight against her throat, a body over her, holding her down.
Amara clawed at the hands around her throat, her eyes flaring open to meet burning blue. Her heart stopped in her chest. Not even that day had Roy looked like her hated and despised her, too frightened, too unable to stop himself, too much a prisoner in his own body…but this Roy…this Roy wanted to kill her.
Amara mouthed his name, unable to force sound from her lips, taking one hand to push against his face, bringing one knee to collide painfully with his crotch.
Then her eyes flashed open, just as she managed to tumble off her bed painfully. Her breath rattled into her lungs, hissing through her teeth and Amara raised a hand to touch gingerly at her throat, where Roy's hands had been only moments ago.
She'd been having nightmares about it more than not and it was an honest struggle to even function on a normal level. But she also wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to Dinah, not that she was above it, but because she thought she should be able to handle it. It was stupid, Dick or Wally would tell her that, but it was all Amara had at the moment.
She lifted her head and pain spiked down her spine to her legs and Amara lay back, counting the seconds until the pain abated. She counted to sixty-seven. They were getting longer and more painful, but Amara could handle it.
Other people had it worse, right? Amara had her parents, her friends, her cousin…people had lost more than she had, she didn't really have a right to complain.
Amara pressed a hand to her face, her whole body tensing with the effort of holding in the tears.
God, Amara needed a drink, but Pamela had literally locked up her flask after she'd offered it to Wally in the diner after his parents' funeral. Well, it wasn't like Amara wasn't capable of picking locks…
She sat up at long last, looking over onto her bed, where Zatanna was still fast asleep, unaware of Amara's troubles. It was probably for the best, anyways.
Amara moved silently to pull a small case from her desk before making her way to the open trapdoor, taking the steps carefully down before moving with ease down the darkened hallway, keeping a hand on the wall before taking the stairs down, passing the living room to reach the kitchen.
She took the picks out and began to pick the lock on the alcohol cupboard.
"What're you doing?"
Amara didn't jump at the sudden voice; after being snuck up on by Jade too many times, she liked to think that she'd gotten pretty good at hearing people approach.
"Mom and Harley locked up the alcohol because last time I brought a flask to the diner after my aunt and uncle's funeral," Amara muttered, sticking her tongue out between her teeth, grinning when the lock clicked open. "Gotcha!"
She opened the cabinet door and pulled out her flask and taking two large gulps before replacing it in the cupboard.
"Is it any good?" Ariel asked when Amara turned around, hopping up onto one of the kitchen stools.
"Mostly?" Amara shook her head. "Not really. Harley says wine coolers don't taste too bad, but this is just to drown myself with."
Ariel's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"You like chocolate ice cream?"
She nodded and Amara opened the freezer to pull out the ice cream tub, offering her a spoon while grabbing one herself.
"How's the arm?" Amara spooned some ice cream into her mouth.
Ariel looked down at the binding around her arm in its sling. "It's okay," she said, "I think Harley said she'd take me to get the new cast tomorrow."
The plaster one, Amara knew she meant, but it probably also involved some new x-rays and checking for swelling.
"Got a color picked out?" Amara asked.
"I like blue." Ariel sucked on her spoon.
"That's a pretty color," Amara agreed, thinking of Zatanna and Dick's eyes. And Diana's. They were all a pretty shade of blue.
(She worked hard not to think about the blue fire that always seemed to be blazing in Roy's eyes)
"Pamela and Harley are nice," Ariel said, digging her spoon in again.
"They are." Amara wasn't sure where Ariel was going with that.
"Are they always nice?" The wary look seemed out of place on her young face, but Amara surmised it was from experience, having foster parents that seemed nice but actually weren't.
"No," she said and Ariel looked up. "Sometimes they think I'm too foolish and cavalier with my life, or when I go out after they told me not to, or I get into trouble, so they take away my laptop for a few days, or say I can't see my girlfriend or my friends for a day, or no raspberries for a week, which is honestly the worst."
"That's it?" Ariel could see Amara's scarring across her chest where it was just visible over the edge of her shirt.
"Pamela and Harley aren't abusive," Amara explained carefully, tapping a finger against her chest, "I got these from my biological father."
Ariel leaned in close, disregarding personal space completely. "Why do they look like lightning?"
"It's a burn from electricity, like when people get struck by lightning." Amara, feeling more patient than she should've after the nightmare she had, reaching out to take Ariel's hand slowly and pulling it forward so she could lightly touch the scar. She felt the slightly roughened texture of the damaged skin before pulling her hand back. "Normally," Amara continued, "it's gone about a day after being struck, but mine are permanent."
Ariel thought they looked cool but she didn't want to tell Amara that.
"I do have a friend that routinely tries to kill me, though," Amara admitted and Ariel stared at her in blatant incomprehension. "Jade's got a unique way of expressing her love, I like to call it spontaneous violent love." She snorted to herself at the description she gave.
"Uh-huh."
They both spooned some more ice cream into their mouths.
"Ariel? Do you want Pamela and Harley to foster you?" Better to be blunt.
Ariel was thrown off by the question. She'd been thrown off all week, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing…Ariel just hadn't experienced a nice pair of foster parents, let alone two women dating and living together.
"I…I don't know," Ariel admitted finally. "Sorry."
"Probably haven't had any great foster parents?" Amara gave her an understanding smile. "I think it was tough for my Mom and Dad when they first fostered me and then jumped right into adopting me."
"I thought you had two moms?" Now Ariel was really confused.
"I've…I've got a lot of parents," Amara sighed. "I was adopted by Barry and Iris before Pamela and Harley came into my life."
That sounded complicated.
"But it was hard to get used to living with them at first," Amara admitted. "I kept expecting the other shoe to drop, but sometimes being nice is just being nice, there's nothing behind it. But don't let me help you pick…if you want to stay, stay, if you want to leave, leave. It's your choice."
Ariel had never had the option before to choose.
"…you ever seen the Little Mermaid?" Amara asked, completely off topic, appraising Ariel.
"No," Ariel said honestly. She'd had a lot of people ask her about it, though, something about a girl with her name.
"You want to?" It was quite early, but Amara didn't have the inclination to go back to sleep, not yet at least, and, from the look of it, neither did Ariel.
"All right," Ariel said.
And the next morning Harley found them slumbering on the couch next to one another and took a picture for posterity.
"You're leaving?" Ariel was startled and slightly scared. She liked Harley and Pamela, but she also hadn't been on her own with them and that was a bit daunting. "Why?"
Amara didn't need to collect her clothes to ferry them between her two houses, since Pamela and Harley had bought her a whole new wardrobe when she'd first come to Gotham City. All she really needed to take with her was a bag for her laptop.
"I go between my parents every two weeks," Amara told Ariel, ushering her down the ladder to her room before following and folding up the ladder as the trapdoor flipped up. "Mom and Dad miss me, too, and Wally, you haven't met Wally yet, but he's great."
"Wally?" Ariel had heard Amara on the phone with someone with that name but she knew very little about Amara's family and friends, apart from knowing that Pamela was Amara's biological mother and Harley was her girlfriend.
"My cousin," Amara offered helpfully with a bit of a pained smile, "he lives with Mom and Dad now."
There was probably a story there but Ariel thought it best not to ask.
"So, you're going to be gone for two whole weeks?" Ariel practically whined, which made her almost sound her age. Amara smiled.
"Yup," she said cheerfully, "I'm missing the classic midwestern food and Zee's riding over with me, so we're all going out to lunch."
"Oh," Ariel seemed so put out by that.
"Harley went out and got you a new phone, right?" Amara asked. Technically it wasn't a new phone, it was her first phone. None of the foster parents she'd had before let her have one. "And you've got my number, right?" Ariel nodded. "Call me if you ever need me, okay? Every night if you have to…but I'll be back in two weeks, I promise."
She ducked down to press a light kiss to the top of Ariel's head. "And if you decide to stay," she added, "I'll come back to help you get your room set up."
"Okay," Ariel said in a less surly tone and waving one last time as Amara answered her phone walking out the door.
"Hey, Sabine, how's practice going?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," her friend's response was light and airy and Amara got the feeling she'd just gotten on break. There were noises melting into static in the background. "The girls say hi, by the way."
Amara laughed.
"We want to know if you wanna grab dinner?" Sabine probed.
"Sorry, can't," Amara smiled regretfully, getting in the taxi and giving them the address. "I'm heading back to Central City today to stay with my dad. I won't be back for another two weeks."
"Aw, bummer," Sabine complained. "Rain check to when you're back?"
"Oh, definitely," Amara agreed, her second phone buzzing.
Dorian Gray: You've never seen Stardust?
Countess de Winter: I've seen Princess Bride, doesn't that count?
Dorian Gray: no (-_-*)
Amara's smile curved in amusement. "I'll call you when I'm back in town, yeah?"
"Yeah, yeah, have fun!"
Amara laughed as she ended the call.
Countess de Winter: you telling me you've got a problem with Princess Bride?
Dorian Gray: -_- I want it known that I think you're the worst
Amara sniggered.
"Anyone ever tell you that your Batcave is very creepy, Bats?" Amara asked as she descended the stairs, her laptop bag swinging. "Emphasis on 'creepy'." It would've been less creepy if Dick was around, but he had school and Amara didn't have what was considered a normal schedule.
Bruce arched an eyebrow. Seeing him without his cowl was always such a trip and Amara didn't think she'd ever get used to it. At least his eyes weren't the same shade of blue as Dick's, Amara could only handle so much of how much father and son were alike. "I thought you had some information for me, Amy."
"I do," Amara was quick to agree, lurching towards the console with her flash drive, looking for a place to plug it in, tapping on a few keys. "Okay, so I'm still cataloguing the people that are dead and missing from Central City after what happened on New Year's."
Bruce was aware of that.
"But I think I've found a pattern." She pointed and Bruce looked hard at the names. Beecher, Windward, Jones… There were last names on both lists.
"The killed are related to the missing," Bruce realized.
Amara nodded sharply. "I have a theory, but it's kinda crazy."
What else did they have? "Let's hear it."
"Okay, there's plenty of metahumans against the JL, so if you wanted to find out what caused them to get their abilities, all you'd have to do is ask, and then a paper comes out, partially written by a thirteen year old as a science project, citing that certain people have a meta-gene that can be found in the DNA that says a person has the potential to become a metahuman…so what if you tried to manufacture the creation of metahumans?" Amara splayed her hands as she talked.
"For what purpose?" Bruce asked.
"I dunno, man, I'm just theorizing. Anyways, kill the parents of metahumans, and take the kids is basically what I think's been happening."
"Yes, but genes run in the family," Bruce pointed out, "why not take the parents too?"
Amara's eyes slid out of focus and she spun in her chair. "Does Dad ever talk to you about Wally?"
It was an abrupt change in topic. "Your father's very private and I respect that."
The expression she gave him was fairly dubious. "Does he ever talk to you about Wally's speed versus his own?"
"Hm…he did mention wanting to work on phasing with him again, something about the last time he tried—"
"Wally got a bloody nose," Amara snapped her fingers, "but now he can phase his hand through a brick wall…and Wally's speed is closer to Dad's when he first started…so what if the kids are taken because they better adapt to their powers, growing as they grow?"
It was a solid theory, Bruce had to admit, but he really didn't like the implications of it.
For the first time, he dearly hoped that Amara was wrong.
AN: Bruce and Amy are slowly getting back to being okay with each other and one day they may be totally amicable with one another.
Ariel is one of the characters I've looked forward the most to, so I'm really excited that she's finally a bit more fully in the fic :)
As always: PLEASE REVIEW!
