Warning: Language (and an F-bomb. Tsk, that Jason) . . .
"I have a favor to ask you," Elle said into the phone. "Yes, we found the church. Dick took me by there yesterday. It's perfect! If you can meet me there tomorrow, I'd appreciate it." She glanced over as the man of her dreams walked through the door. "I've got to go. I'll talk to you, later."
"You don't have to hang up on my account," Dick plopped himself down in the chair across the desk from her as she returned the phone to its base.
Elle slumped back in her chair. "The guest lists are driving me a little crazy. I have no idea how I'm going to get these invitations to the members of the Justice League without Bruce finding out. I mean, where do you send letters to Superman and Wonder Woman?"
Dick smiled. "Superman has a Fortress of Solitude and Wonder Woman is from Themyscira, also known as Paradise Island."
She stared at him for a bit before deadpanning, "So, how much postage are we talking about here?"
He laughed and she threw a wadded-up sheet of paper at him. "No worries, love. I can deliver the invitations for you."
"That's good to know," she smirked. "I wasn't sure the United Postal Service delivered to satellites. Can you manage it without Batman finding out?"
Dick walked around the desk and kissed her temple. "Sweetheart, you are looking at the only Robin who managed to sneak out of the manor without Bruce or Alfred discovering it."
She looked up at him, interested. "You snuck out of the manor."
"The manor? Hell, darling, I could sneak out of the Batcave without getting caught," Dick grinned.
"You can?"
He looked a little sheepish. "Well, probably not anymore. Bruce's upgraded the security measures of both since then."
"That happened because of you, didn't it?" she asked knowingly.
He shrugged and chuckled. "Eventually, Bruce caught on. Maybe I grew a little too arrogant of my skills but for whatever reason Bruce overhauled the entire thing before the end of my junior year in high school. He's been monitoring and updating his security on a regular basis ever since."
"Did he confront you?"
"You could call it that. Nothing like sneaking back in to find Batman waiting for you in your bedroom," he snorted. "Yeah, I was almost grounded until graduation for that. I've never admitted how many times I had managed it before he figured it out. I value my life, thank you very much."
"Grounding? That's it?" Elle grinned. "Somehow I thought Batman's punishments would be . . . I don't know, more intimidating, less mundane."
"I'm almost afraid to ask what you were imagining him doing," Dick said as he settled on the edge of the desk in front of her.
She shrugged now. "I don't know exactly," she laughed. "I had some hazy images of chains, bats, and medieval torture devices."
He barked with surprised laughter. "Do I need to worry about our future children? Bruce hadn't a clue about parenting when he took me in. He read a few self-help books and looked to the other parents as examples."
"So, you're the one I have to thank for the drastic, crazy-paranoid security system during my tenure as Robin?"
The couple turned to see Jason standing in the doorway.
"You don't knock?" Dick grouched at him.
"You left the door open," Jay countered.
"I did not," Dick snapped.
Jason walked in and flopped down in the chair Dick had been sitting in earlier. "Whatever, open . . . locked. Same difference in this house," he smirked, propping his boots atop the desk casually. "Thought I might get lucky and interrupt something."
Dick frowned at him. "Get your damned boots off the desk!"
"Fuck off." Jason put his hands behind his head and smiled.
"Please?" Elle asked softly.
The boots thumped to the floor but Dick still glared at him.
"Why did you do it for her and not for me?" he complained. "At least, we're related."
"Not by choice, Goldie," Jason reminded him. "And she's prettier than you," he laughed, "although not by much. How much product do you use in your hair to get it to lay like that, anyway? I'd probably have to dabble in crime again to be able to afford your hair products alone."
Dick threw Elle's paperwad at him and hit him in cheek. He rolled his eyes. The dumbass would have caught it if he hadn't been making eyes at Dick's fiancée.
Jason rubbed a hand over the offended spot but grinned at his future sister-in-law. "Good thing you're loaded, chica, cause otherwise, you'd have to take a second job to afford this bozo. Goldie here is what you might call high-maintenance."
Dick picked up the stapler but Elle took it out of his hands. She shook her head in amusement. "Did you two always get along this well?"
"Nah," Jay told her. "We used to dislike each other."
"What are you doing here, Jay?" Dick asked warily. "And why didn't you come through the window like last time?"
"What? And have to contend with the demon-child?" he asked. "I remember the last time had the entire household in here."
"So, you came looking for me specifically?"
"No. I came looking for her," Jason corrected.
"Me?" Elle looked surprised.
Dick frowned. "Why were you looking for Elle?" he asked suspiciously.
"I have some people I'm looking into that prefer to do business in odd places," Jason admitted. "I need a cover."
"What's a cover?" Elle leaned forward, fascinated.
"No," Dick said.
Jason ignored his brother and leaned forward to speak directly with Elle. "Someone that will make my being there seem legit. I need you to be my date for the evening."
"No," Dick said louder.
Elle ignored her fiancée and asked, "How will my going with you make this legit? Where are you going, anyway?"
"No," Dick snapped.
"It's a karaoke bar," Jason explained. "I mean it kind of makes sense. With all those people singing on top of the normal bar noise, the less likely it is for these guys to be overheard."
"Jason," Dick said warningly.
"And you want me to get up and sing karaoke," Elle concluded. "So that it looks like you were there to support your girlfriend's passion for singing."
"Elle, no," Dick glared at her. "You can't seriously . . ."
"Exactly! I knew you were smart." Jason smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Why are you with Dickweed again when you could be with me?"
Dick swung his head around to glare at Jason. "You piece of . . ."
"Sounds like fun," Elle declared. "I'll do it!"
Dick swung his head back toward her. "What? No, you won't!"
"Great! I'll call you when I find out when the meeting is set," Jason grinned.
Dick slammed his fist down on the desk, making things rattle and the cup holding pens and pencils tipped over. Silence followed with only the sounds of writing utensils rolling off the desk and hitting the carpet to disturb it. Jason stood up when Dick shoved the second chair out of his way.
"Are you crazy?" he snarled. "People are out to kill her and you want to take her into the middle of a drug deal?"
"Dick, stop," Elle stood up and made her way around the desk.
"It's not a drug deal," Jason said, defensively. "These guys are into human trafficking. They're dirty and I want to get them off the streets."
"Human trafficking? And you want to have Elle get up and sing in front of them?" Dick grabbed Jason's jacket. "You want their attention to be on her?"
"What? So, she can sing! That's what makes her the perfect cover," Jay argued.
"She's a Siren! Her voice is captivating to humans," Dick stated slowly as if talking to an imbecile. He was beginning to believe he was. "What if they decide they want her?"
Jason scoffed. "I'd protect her, numb-nuts! What kind of person do you think I am?"
"The kind that would get so caught up in your mission that you might forget about the woman you brought in to distract the bad guys from you," Dick growled.
Jason shoved him off. "You son-of-a-bitch!"
"Guys, stop it," Elle rushed to get between them.
"Use someone else," Dick told him. "Use Kori! You want a distraction? Kori could distract a blind man and she can at least protect herself from creeps like these."
Jason gaped at him. "Don't be an idiot! You know as well as I do that Kori can't sing worth shit! I need someone who can grab their attention well enough that I can plant a bug on them."
"Neither can most of the people that do karaoke," Dick countered. "Sing the song yourself, then."
At this Jason laughed. "Have you seen the kind of men who sing at these places? They'd never believe a guy like me would be caught dead in a place like that if it weren't for his girlfriend dragging his ass there."
Elle frowned. "That's not exactly true, Jason. I know a lot of guys who sing karaoke."
Jason smiled at her. "Doesn't matter, Elle. There would still be the problem of who would be planting the listening device while I was busy yodeling up on stage."
"Find someone else," Dick demanded.
"No," Elle interrupted. "Dick, this is my decision. I want to help him."
"Elle, be reasonable," Dick snapped at her.
"Think of all those women and children," she reminded him. "How can I not help? It won't be dangerous. I'll only be singing one song."
"Elle, you don't understand. You're not one of us," Dick told her. "You could get hurt."
She jerked back as if he had slapped her and stared at him. "I'm going do this," she said finally. Turning, she looked at Jason. "You have my cell number?"
He nodded. Clearing his throat, Jason sighed. "Maybe Goldie is right," he said to her, softly. "Maybe I should find someone else."
"Thank God, someone finally is being sensible," Dick declared.
Elle frowned at Jason. "A moment ago, you thought I was perfect for this. What changed your mind?"
"He has a point, Elle," Jay admitted. "If something were to go wrong . . . I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for you getting hurt."
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm doing this," she hissed and poked him in the chest. "You understand me?"
Jason blinked at her and nodded.
Elle shoved Jason out of her way and stormed out of the room.
Jason looked at Dick and shrugged. "I'm sorry. When I heard this would be going down in a karaoke bar, Elle just seemed like the perfect diversion."
"Well, it's too late to back out now," Dick groused.
"Look, I'll watch out for her," he promised.
"You won't have to," Dick snapped, "because I'm going with you."
Jason made a face. "Ah, that's not a good idea. Third wheel and all that. Might as well just show up by myself in that case."
"Deal with it!" Dick shoved his way past him and walked out, presumably to go after his fiancée.
Jason glanced around the room but there was no more reason to hang out now. If he was lucky, he might be able to slip out of the house without any of the other residents ever realizing he had been there.
Elle didn't take a walk. She went back into their bedroom and made straight for her bedside table. Pulling out the drawer she found what she was looking for . . . The shell. The communication device that Arthur Curry had given to her so that she could talk to him when she had questions.
She had one now.
Sliding the shell into her pocket, she grabbed her jacket and peeked out. Jason was closing the door to their office and then started walking down the hall by himself. Dick was either still in the room or he stormed off himself. She was angry and he knew she needed a minute or two to calm down before he tried to talk with her again. If he was heading out to walk off his own steam, she might as well stay here. It would give her a few more minutes to herself to do this.
Their bond allowed them to feel what the other person was feeling. He had to know her determination. She knew of his fear for her. Her self-esteem issues still continued to confuse him because he thought she was perfect. The thought made her smile slightly but it fell away.
Elle wasn't perfect. If she were perfect, he wouldn't have thought twice about letting her help Jason with his information gathering. A karaoke bar? She would be in her element. Jason had been correct in thinking she would be the best and most logical choice to take with him. But Dick thought she would be liability, that she would get hurt, that her self-defense skills were so lacking that she couldn't be trusted to remove herself from a dangerous situation.
She wasn't one of them . . .
There! Dick had come right out and said it.
Elle knew that he was correct. She would never be one of them. Even if she had the strength and power, she hadn't the temperament to be a crimefighter like the rest of the family . . . like Babs or Kori. She wouldn't handle the stress well. Violent confrontations were not her thing. Hadn't she just told Tim that the other day?
She might become a part of the Wayne family but she'd never be a part of the Bat family. She wasn't one of them. Honestly, she didn't want to be either . . . So, why did it hurt so badly when Dick had merely stated what she had always known herself?
Because he admired strong women.
And Elle wasn't strong.
Not yet.
But she would be.
She turned the shell over in her hand and activated it. Then, she waited.
It didn't take long. Arthur's voice came through. It sounded funny through the shell, like he was talking underwater. Elle didn't know how to do that yet, at least not in a way that allowed her to be understood. But she was smart; she could learn.
"I want to come to Atlantis," she spoke into the shell. "I want to learn about Sirens. If it is possible, I want to meet one of my own kind. There are still a few of them left, aren't there?"
"Have you spoken to Dick about this yet?" came Arthur's response.
She felt a flash of temper that she quickly tamped down.
"I understand that we can be apart for a few weeks without there being a problem," she told him. "That's all I want. Just a couple of weeks and then I'll come back home. I need this, Arthur. I need to understand what I am and what I'm capable of becoming."
For a long minute, she thought Arthur would refuse her outright. But then he answered her.
"Alright. I'll arrange something. When would be a good time for you?"
The wedding was right around the corner. She was too busy at the moment but a few weeks after that . . .
"After the wedding," she said. "Which, by the way, you are invited to. I'm not sure where to send your invitation."
"I'd be honored," Arthur said. "May I bring my wife with me? Mera is anxious to meet you."
"Of course, she's invited as well," Elle assured him.
"Dick would know how to get the invitation to me," he told her. "How soon after the wedding are you talking about? Surely, the two of you will want a honeymoon."
"A couple of weeks after the wedding would be fine," Elle said. "Mid to late April, I think."
"There will be some things we'll have to consider. I know you can breathe fine beneath the water but I don't know how much pressure you can take. Atlantis, you must realize, is on the bottom of the ocean. Being more human and so far removed from your Atlantian heritage, I wonder if you might have trouble with that," Arthur told her. "Let me see what can be done to accommodate your special needs."
Special needs? Arthur made it sounded like she was physically handicapped. But compared to a full-blooded Atlantian, Elle supposed she was.
"You've been there before, haven't you?"
Arthur chuckled. "Indeed, I have, more than once, in fact."
"Are you underwater right now?" Elle knew he was but wanted to hear this from him.
"I am, actually. I like to spend as much time in the water as out of it."
Elle smiled. She knew that feeling even if she didn't get much opportunity to indulge it. "I'll send your information along with Dick, then. I'll contact you later to see about the details of the trip to Atlantis."
"That would be fine. Congratulations on the upcoming nuptials. I look forward to seeing you in person at that time." Arthur said.
"Arthur? Thank you. You cannot know how much this means to me," Elle told him.
"I might have an idea about that," he said, "and you are most welcome."
Elle slipped the shell back into the drawer feeling nervous and relieved all at the same time. It was disconcerting but she was determined to learn everything she could about herself. Maybe one day, Dick would admire her, too, as he did the women who fought alongside him.
REACTIONS?
Hey! I never said it would be good decisions . . . But who knows? Maybe it will all work out. Right? Right?