Chapter 6 - "Aria Saint-Claire"

A loud, creaking noise forced Aria Saint-Claire to awaken with a start. Rubbing her eyes, the twelve-year-old girl glanced around. Nothing in her room seemed out of place. Yawning deeply, Aria pushed the caramel-colored curls from her eyes and went to lay back down before she heard a noise again.

This time, it was clear where the noise came from. The bedroom right next to hers; her brother Zach's. Aria climbed from her bed and crept to her window, gazing out into the moonlit night. Then she was it; Zach, climbing from his bedroom window, dropped to the ground and began to book it down the street.

Aria narrowed her eyes, confused at what he was doing. At eighteen, Zach had been their mother Helena's pride and joy. He was brilliant, and that wasn't just Aria's bias speaking. He was an excelling pupil in the piano, the field he wanted to pursue once he entered college. But Helena wanted nothing of it. She hoped that her son would pursue a career much like she herself had possessed before settling down as a housewife, be it a lawyer, doctor, or businessman. Zach, however, knew what he wanted to do: play the piano.

Aria and Zach's father, Spencer, was encouraging of his son's artistic aspirations, which had forced a sort of wedge into the family. Helena's overbearing desire for Zach to fulfill her wishes had been plaguing Zach for ages, Aria knew. But neither spoke a word to their father, even when the disagreements escalated to full-blown screaming and shouting matches.

That night, Spencer was away—working the late shift as coroner, apparently some mugging that had occurred and taken the lives of two people. Aria knew that Zach had spoken of running away from Helena's tight grip, but she never actually expected him to go through with it.

Aria slowly lifted the window open, climbing out and carefully gripping into the windowsill. She hadn't actually climbed out a window before, but how hard could it be?

Apparently much harder than it seemed. Aria's hand slipped from the windowsill and she landed with a hard thud on her bum, eliciting a gasp. As she climbed up, Aria rubbed the sore part and glanced up, hoping her mother hadn't heard her . . . sneaking. Convinced that Helena was still asleep, Aria turned and took off down the street after her brother.

Zach was walking down the street, a hood pulled over his head. Glancing around, Zach turned and took a sidestep down an alley. Aria hurried, her socks damp from walking along the rain-soaked sidewalks. She mentally cursed herself for forgetting to at least put on some shoes.

She turned the corner and saw Zach moving along at a slow but steady pace. She crept along the alley, wondering what in the world he was doing. Why would he be walking out in the middle of the—

Crunch.

Aria rolled her eyes as she shook her foot free from the potato chip bag on the ground. "Stupid litterbugs," she mumbled as she lifted her eyes, meeting Zach's own as they opened up wide.

"Aria!" he called out. He strode towards her hurriedly, exasperated. "What are you doing here?"

"Coming after you," she replied, crossing her arms across her loose-fitting pajama blouse. "What are you doing?"

Zach eyed her angrily before he glanced to his feet. "Running away—it doesn't matter." He groaned. "No one was supposed to realize until tomorrow." He sighed, then added, "Please, just go home. It will all be fine. I'll keep in touch—I promise."

Aria shook her head, pursing her lips. "No. I'm not going to just let you run off and leave me." She stepped forward, throwing her arms around her brother. "You're my best friend, Zach, please don't leave me. Please."

She fought to keep the tears back, the ones she had been holding in for so long, through all the fights and the terrible yelling. Zach slowly reached up and hugged her back, hands firmly gripped against her. "I wish I could, Aria, but it has to be done." He slowly pulled her away, looking into her eyes. "You know that as much as I do. All the fights, I just can't take it anymore." He offered a slim smile, the kind he had grown accustomed to using to calm tensions. "Like I said, don't worry. I'll keep in touch, and I'll be back before you know it. It'll only be for a little while."

Even as he said it, they both knew it wasn't the complete truth. Yeah, he'd come back, but when? Months? Years?

"I can't deal with it for that long, Zach. Mom will do the same thing to me, and I won't have anyone to talk to about it." She pleaded with him. "Please, Zach—it'll only be for a little. Then you can go to college and still be around."

Zach ruffled her hair, messing it up. "Look, Aria, I'll still be around. We'll be able to talk."

"Where are you going?" she asked quizzically.

He sucked in a sharp breath. "I don't know, maybe one of my friend's houses. I'll probably move around, but still be in the area." He smiled again. "But look, like I said, I'll still be in touch, okay? So just go home, get some rest—you're going to need it."

Aria opened her mouth to speak again before a deep, husky voice cut in. "Hey, Fingers, look what we got here."

A smooth, clipped voice spoke after it. "Two fine, voluntary supporters of our cause. Would you two mind breaking it up and kindly donating to our great cause?"

Zach turned and saw two guys standing in the alley. One was a shorter, stockier guy—really, he was kind of fat. The other was tall and skinny as a rail. He was twirling a knife in his right hand. Well, what was left of it; two fingers were missing. Aria could guess which one of the two he was.

"Why, it's just a couple o' kids, Fingers," the fat one said, cracking his knuckles. "What should we do with 'em?"

"Take their money," the tall guy mumbled, "and kill 'em?"

"Partner, great minds do think alike."

Before either sibling could react, the fat guy charged and lifted Zach up, slamming him into the brick wall of the alley. A sickening pop sounded as Zach cried out, gripping his shoulder tightly. He ducked and sent out a punch, connecting with the mugger's jaw. It only bounced and the big guy punched down hard, sending Zach to the ground. The fat guy kicked and punched and spat, every attack connecting. Zach grunted, coughed, and screamed, and Aria stood and watched helpless.

Then the tall guy—Fingers—moved towards her. "Come on, missy," he whispered, holding his knife up. "Got anything on you?"

Aria thought about retorting, "Where? I have no pockets," but decided now wasn't a good time to dig into her bag of poorly-timed humor. She slowly backed up, wondering whether to try and help Zach or run for help. She decided on the latter.

Turning, Aria took off down the alley but she tripped on a recurring hazard: the chip bag. The air knocked out of her, Aria glanced back and saw Fingers approaching, knife held tightly. Please please please please, Aria prayed hurriedly, hoping for a miracle. Please, God, help us.

Suddenly, Aria felt something in her hand. She felt around and glanced down, seeing a bone-white knife in her hand.

When she actually saw the material of the knife, her mouth dropped. It was bone.

Too confused to question it and too threatened to wait, she looked to see Fingers reaching his left, uninjured hand to her. Without thinking, Aria whipped out and sliced across the attacker's hand.

Now, he was missing four fingers.

As Fingers shrieked and dropped his knife, clutching his bloodied hand, he collapsed on the cement and Aria jumped up. The fat man stopped beating Zach and turned to his friend, running over and checking on him. Aria grabbed Zach by the shirt and pulled him up. The two stumbled away and out into the street, hoping to escape the alley before the two criminals got back up.

Immediately as they entered the street, lights flashed upon them and a car slammed on its brakes. When Aria glanced at the vehicle, her eyes widened. It's the night of miracles.

The police cruiser flashed its blue lights and the door whipped open. A uniformed officer climbed from the car and rushed to the two kids, taking in every ounce of Zach's black-and-blue bruised face and Aria's torn pajamas. "What are you kids doing out here at this time of night? What's happened to you?"

Aria hurriedly pointed into the alley, and the officer glanced up, reaching for his holstered sidearm. As he snapped it open and drew his gun, the cop glanced around the corner and saw the two muggers. "Police, freeze!" he yelled, and the two jumped up. The fat one reached to his belt and withdrew a glistening pistol, but before he could fire a shot echoed in the streets and he slumped against the wall. The other man took off running and the officer trained his gun but held his triggerfinger.

Once the one man had hit the deck and the other had disappeared, the officer crept closer and kicked the gun away from the downed crook. Aria held Zach tight as he leaned against the cruiser. Once he let go, Aria began to feel a pain inside and she looked to her hand. The knife was gone.

Suddenly, an unstoppable pain coursed through her. Aria shrieked and screamed and she fell to the ground, writhing in agony. The police officer glanced over, his mouth agape, and he ran over, hands scrambling for his radio. "Unit Two-Nineteen, we have shots fired at Clark Street. Requesting an ambulance; we have two injured victims and shooter down. Repeat, we need an ambulance."

Aria jerked awake. She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving with each breath. Slowly, she looked around and saw she was back in bed in the apartment she shared with her father. As the breathing calmed, Aria ran a hand over her sweat-streaked face.

Just a dream.

Not that it hadn't happened, but it had done so seven years ago. Aria was now nineteen, and she lived alone in the nice apartment with her father, one of Gotham's top coroners who worked closely with the GCPD. Zach was no longer living with them, having been able to acquire the ability to go overseas to a musical conservatory and fulfill his wish at playing the piano.

Helena no longer lived with the family in any capacity. Once Spencer had learned of the incidents that had unfolded, the couple had decided it would be wise to get some time away from one another. Helena had moved away and retaken her maiden name of Choi. Aria herself believed that Helena had returned home to Singapore, but that was just a guess. No one knew for certain.

Aria slowly slung her feet out of the bed. As she slowly climbed up, she reached for the cane near her bed. As she gripped it, Aria helped herself to her feet and crept to the mirror attached to her dresser. Her hair was still caramel, running halfway down her back. It still curled inward at the edges, but Aria liked it. Gave her a more childish look—not childish in an immature way, but in a fun, innocent way.

Not that Aria was always innocent. She did love a crude joke now and then, and wouldn't resist making one herself when the time was right. That was a trait she inherited from her father—a sense of humor that only few could appreciate. With a dad who often dealt in death, you had to adopt a sense of humor that could be a bit dark in some ways.

Spencer had come from the United Kingdom, and Helena had hailed from Singapore, so Aria retained certain aspects of both races. She had the eyes and nose of Asian descent, but a great many other of her physical attributes were of an English inheritance. Overall, she was of a slim body type, and was actually much smaller than most nineteen-year-olds. She stood at four-foot-nine, a petite size for someone who was in early adulthood.

Her frailty was attributed to her . . . powers. Aria thought back to her dream, the bone knife appearing in her hand—it was all surreal, even now. Aria had learned that she was able to summon various body parts—both bone and organic—and use them to create weapons or just everyday items for her use, much like the knife she had summoned to fight off the muggers.

The drawback she had from using this ability was what she deemed as "recoil," a sharp pain in her own particular body part that was used as a weapon. For example, if she used leg bones to create a weapon, her legs would ache in sharp pangs of pain. The longer she used a particular weapon or object, the longer the pain would linger.

It was something she called Deal With the Devil—she got something out of it, but it came back to hurt her. Thus, she used it sparingly and when she needed to, knowing good and well a period of pain was waiting for her. That was why she often had to resort to different aids to help her get around, including her cane, a pair of crutches, and even a wheelchair on certain occasions.

Spencer and Zach knew of her power, but they kept it a secret. For all everyone else knew, it was simply nerve damage that had caused her growth to be stinted and her to require help in getting around.

As Aria fiddled with her hair, a knock sounded at her bedroom door. "Aria, sweetheart, are you up?"

"Yes, Dad," she called out. "Getting ready now."

"All right. Breakfast is ready whenever you are."

"Sounds good. I'll be right out."

After getting dressed, Aria made her way into the kitchen, where Spencer was standing, dressed to perfection in his work clothes and a jacket proclaiming "CORONER" in bold letters affixed to the back.

Spencer offered a smile. Despite his older age—well, older by Aria's standards; such words often made Spencer playfully shrivel up in offense. "I thought you might want something a little sweeter today." He placed a pan of cinnamon rolls on the counter, and Aria's eyes lit up. Sweets were her greatest weakness; well, besides her power's recoil.

"You thought right," Aria grinned, licking her lips as she grabbed one, then two, and then three total cinnamon rolls before making her way to the table, where plates were already sitting.

"Oh, don't worry, I didn't want any," Spencer joked playfully, moving to the table with his own breakfast, a bowl of cereal—and a cinnamon roll for himself.

As he scooped up a spoonful of cereal and forced it into his mouth, Aria arched an eyebrow. "Do your morgue and cop buddies know you eat Cap'n Crunch?" she asked, a smile on her lips.

"I don't think it really matters," he returned, "but no, they don't. Besides, Detective Bullock probably eats anything he can get his hands on."

"Doughnuts," Aria said between clearly purposeful coughs.

"Yes. And just about everything else." As Spencer ate another two bites, he piped back up. "Jim—Commissioner Gordon—mentioned something to me the other day about a government-funded initiative that he's helping put together."

"Government?" Aria scoffed. "I thought the government was the main reason crime was running rampant in Gotham."

Spencer shrugged. "Pretty much. I figured you felt that way, so you wouldn't be interested in joining up and told him so."

Aria stopped midchew and froze. "'Joining up'? You mean I was invited?!"

Her father gave a nonchalant nod. "Yeah. But I told him since you wouldn't be interested in helping fight crime that—"

"Hold on a second," she cut in, holding her hand out. "Why didn't you ask me first?"

Spencer turned to her then burst out laughing. "I can't hold it in any longer. Look, Aria, I'm just messing with you. I told Jim you'd be interested in it, and that I'd have you there for the initial meeting, so you can get a feel for it, decide if it's something you'd want to participate in. Sounds good?"

Aria felt an unbearable grin creep across her face. "So all of this was just a ploy to try and get me upset?" she asked.

Spencer shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

The two shared a laugh before Aria spoke up. "So, when is this first meeting?"

"Tonight," Spencer replied. "At the GCPD headquarters at seven." He glanced to her. "You would be interested, I assume?"

"Would I? Of course!"

Spencer nodded. "I figured that would be your answer, and I told Jim just as much." A few awkward moments of silence passed before he spoke up. "Aria, honey, about your powers—just be careful and, if you do use them, don't do so much you hurt yourself, okay?"

Aria stopped, confused. "Wait—this has to do with my powers? What kind of government movement is this?"

Spencer rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he glanced at her. Finally, he said, "I think it'd be best if you just waited until tonight. You'll find out everything then."

A/N: Hello everyone! Here's chapter 6, where you all get to meet Aria Saint-Claire, the latest member of our team. What'd you all think of her introduction and her backstory? I hope you all enjoyed it, and please review and let me know your thoughts thus far and anything else about the story. Thanks for reading!