Chapter 127: Bad Grandma

Chrysanthemum Balliol Preparatory for the Gifted was the premier school on the west coast. That hadn't changed even after that dreadful ordeal with Danny Brickwell which saw almost one thousand students held hostage. Thanks to the heroic actions of the Black Canary, the students had been saved, but the reputation of Balliol nonetheless had taken a hit. To their credit, they had recovered admirably; increasing security at the academy, implementing things such as more extensive background checks on its employees and further safeguards: heavier surveillance, metal detectors, and ID scanners for certain rooms, with only certain students being given access. It wasn't foolproof, but at least it made a repeat of what happened a few years ago much less likely to happen.

One such safeguard was requiring students to insert their ID cards into a special scanner that would document their entry time into the campus and their exit time out. It made it easier to keep track of the students, in case someone decided to go small scale and kidnap one of the students that way. There was one stationed at every door, programmed as such that the door couldn't open without an ID scan. And the records were tracked to make sure every student had a time-in and a time-out, with demerits issued if one was missing. Considering Balliol's stringent standards, the students made sure to comply with the new measures regardless of the hassles they made.

Ruby supposes she should be grateful that Lacrosse practice ran a little late. That means she got to avoid the rush at the end of the day when students were all jockeying to leave for home or the mall or whatever as soon as possible. She didn't have to fight her way out when the time came for her to leave.

Absentmindedly, she glanced over at the bleachers, where the familiar form of her best friend was sitting with a laptop in his, well, lap. Kal noticed her stare and gave a jaunty wave, before returning his eyes to the screen. Her best friend had elected to join the Journalism club when high school started and had landed a position on the school newspaper. It had been good for him — Ruby had never seen him so excited about anything. He had always been content to listen her babbling about whatever, which is what made him such a great friend, but he never had much to talk about with her except his family and whatever new thing he was learning about today.

But now, her friend had a passion, and it was causing her to see a new side of him she had never seen before. He was glowing and growing up from that shy boy she had met three years ago. She was happy for him.

Lacrosse practice continued on for the hour, before the coach dismissed them for the day. Ruby signaled Kal to tell him she was done before picking up her bag and heading to the locker rooms for a shower. After finishing up and changing back into some spare clothes, she met up with Kal, who was waiting for her outside the locker rooms. "So, who's picking us up today?"

"Your mom," Kal answered, lifting his phone and giving it a little shake. "Just texted me back. She'll be here in about ten or twenty minutes."

"As usual," Ruby noted. They made their way back into the main building before heading towards the front entrance. The front of the school was always where they were picked up, ever since both had become attending Balliol, and there was no reason to change it even with their growing extracurricular activities. It was a short walk anyway.

However, there was a surprise waiting for them on one of the benches near the front gate. An old woman, one they had never seen before, was sitting there. She looked rather forlorn. Ruby exchanged a perplexed look with Kal. "You got any idea who that it?"

Her best friend shook his head. "Maybe a visiting relative for one of the other students?" Kal suggested.

Ruby thought it over before shrugging. A good a guess as any.

The two of them went up to the bench and sat in their usual spots, like always. "So what article are you working on right now?" Ruby asked curiously.

Kal lit up. "We're doing a write-up on the recent security measures the school put up after the hostage incident over a year ago. We're doing statistics about the rate of disciplinary incidents and the overall student satisfaction."

"Wait a minute — is that why I had to do that survey in homeroom this morning?"

The burgeoning journalist nodded. Before Ruby could prompt him for more, there was a sad sigh from the old woman. The students turned toward her with inquiring looks. "Yes, ma'am?" Kal questioned for both of them.

The old woman turned to them and smiled bittersweetly. "I'm sorry if I startled you two. You," she gestured towards Ruby, "remind me of my daughter. I haven't really spoken to her in a long time."

"Oh," Ruby said, blinking. "Well… I'm sorry for that."

A wave. "It's not your fault, dear. It's mine. I made a mistake years and years ago and I paid for it. I'm still paying for it, to be honest."

Kal gave her an encouraging smile. "Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll get the chance to make up for it one day."

Their companion smiles at him. "Thank you, son."

"Kal, Ruby!"

The teenagers turned towards the direction of the newest voice. There was Sam, Ruby's mother, standing next to a car parked against the curb. Using a touch of his super-sight, Kal could spot Kara watching them, sitting in the front passenger seat. Sam approached them, and they grabbed her bags to meet her halfway.

As she got closer, however, she slowed down, her eyes no longer on them. No, they were instead on the old woman, who was beginning to look very panicked. "Mom?" Ruby probed, suddenly very confused.

"You can't be serious," Sam under her breath, no longer paying attention to her daughter. At least, not completely. "Ruby, Kal, to the car."

"Mom—"

"Now."

The children obeyed, scurrying quickly to the car and seating themselves in the back. Kara blinked when she saw their spooked expressions, frowning heavily. "What's wrong?"

Kal shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Aunt Sam got really angry when she saw that old woman that was talking with us earlier."

Kara blinked. "Old woman?" She turned back around to take another look at Sam, and blanched. "Oh, Rao…" she muttered.

"Kara?" Ruby ventured. "You know who that woman is too?"

"It's better that you hear it from your mother, Ruby," Kara quickly answered. "Wait here, you two. I'll be right back."

She opened the door and darted out onto the sidewalk before either of the children could protest, closing the door behind them. Inhaling a deep breath, Kara jogged over to the scene, where Sam was currently cursing Patricia out. Oh, this needed to end soon before it somehow ended up on the Internet and went viral. That's the last thing Sam needed right now.

"…I can't believe you! Approaching Ruby like that—"

"She's my granddaughter, Sam!"

"Like that ever mattered before!"

"Now listen here—"

"No, you listen here—!"

"Guys!"

The conversation cuts out abruptly at Kara's interruption. Both women glance at her, faces red and angry and hiding deep pain. Kara stares at them both before sighing, gently grasping at her best friend's shoulder. "Go back to the car, Sam," Kara whispers into her ear. "And sit in the passenger seat. I'll drive today."

Sam looked ready to protest, but one look at Kara's firm expression stalled any protests. She nodded once before marching back to the car, not even bothering to give Patricia a back glance. Kara watched her go for a moment before giving Patricia a flat look. "Visiting Ruby at her school? Seriously?"

"You told me to keep reaching out to her!" Patricia defended herself.

"This isn't 'reaching out to her', Patricia. This is harassment. Or at least something close to it. It's one thing to keep making phone calls and emails to your estranged daughter just asking to talk. It's another to stalk your granddaughter to her school, figure out enough of her schedule to wait outside just when she's about to leave, and then deliberately start a conversation with her in hopes of ingratiating yourself into her good graces so you can convince her to let you speak to her mom."

Patricia had no response to that. Oh, but she tried. Kara could see her trying to string together the words. But Kara knew she was right — there was absolutely no excuse for her behavior. "I just want to talk," Patricia finally said. "How long is she going to make me wait?"

Kara was completely unsympathetic. "I don't know. Days, weeks, months?" she shrugged, expression somehow even flatter. "You left her waiting for over fifteen years. However long she makes you wait will only be a fraction of that."

And with that final word, she left.

Normally, the foursome of Kara Danvers, Sam Arias, Clark Kent and Ruby Arias hit up a restaurant after Ruby's lacrosse practice. However, considering the surly mood Sam found herself in after Patricia's unexpected appearance at Balliol Prep, Kara quickly determined this was a poor idea to do today. Instead, she drove the car to the Arias home, located in one of the nicer suburbs that surrounded Star City.

The house of the Arias family was a large, white homestead located within small, spacious track of land. It wasn't quite the Queen Mansion or the Queen Grounds, but it was certainly pricey and luxurious and utterly befitting for the founder and CEO of one of the most powerful companies in the world. Both Kara and Kal had stayed over her a number of times over the last three years as they grew closer to Sam and Ruby respectively, and they were almost familiar with it as much as they were with their home.

So the moment they were inside, Kara directed Sam to set her bag down on the counter and stew in her room until she could speak properly to their kids, while she got to making dinner. The children, of course, changed out of their clothes and got started on their homework. A look from Kara told them they weren't going to get their answers until the other woman calmed down, and it was normal practice to start on homework when they got home anyway.

It wasn't until several hours later, right after dinner, that Sam finally sat Ruby and Kal down to speak with them. Kara stood beside her as emotional support, trying to make her relax herself. It didn't take, unfortunately.

"That old woman you spoke to today…did she tell you her name?" Sam started off with, expression grim.

Ruby and Kal exchanged a look, before simultaneously shaking their heads.

Sam sighed. "Her name is Patricia. She's… she's your grandmother, Ruby."

Her daughter blinked. "My grandmother?"

"Yes. She's been trying to speak to me for the last several weeks. Even ambushed Kara here at work in hopes of getting her help. She refused, of course, and I'm not ready to speak to her anyway."

"But… why?"

Sam frowned, before going to one knee so she was eye-level with Ruby. "Ruby… you know I'm adopted, right?"

Slowly, Ruby nodded.

"Well, your grandmother… she wasn't the best parent. She might've cared for me, but she could also be distant and cold. And when I got pregnant with you, she threw me out."

Ruby gasped. "But why?"

Sam released a bitter laugh. "Because I had the gall to to get pregnant before I was even out of high school, and out of wedlock to boot. A stupid reason, of course, but back then I didn't see it that way. I begged and pleaded Patricia to take me back, but she didn't even bother to respond to any of my calls or emails. And when she did, she made it clear it was only if I gave up you." She caressed her daughter's face. "And I wasn't willing to give up you."

"Everything I am today, I did on my own, Ruby. I struggled and clawed my way up the ladder to become as rich and successful, to give you all this. And all the while, your grandmother ignored every invite I gave her to become a part of our lives, to share into this. Eventually, by the time you were seven, I gave up. I stopped thinking about her entirely and moved on with my life." Sam sighed. "And now, while A-Corp is as successful as its ever been, she finally shows up wanting to reconnect? Forgiving me for be a little skeptical."

Ruby was still, mouth parted slightly. She clearly didn't know what to say. But still, "She sounded really sorry about what she did, Mom."

"Oh, I bet she did. But the reality is, she tried to approach you behind my back, like she did with Kara. She intended to use you, manipulate you, to get to me. How am I supposed to trust someone willing to do that to my daughter? To her granddaughter?"

"Well, maybe the reason she's trying so hard is because she really does want to reconcile with you?" Kal suggested. Everyone glanced at him, causing him to turn red around the ears. "What?"

"I don't doubt that Kal," Sam reassures him. "What I doubt is why she wants to reconcile with me."

And, well, no one had anything to say to that.

Eddie Thawne inhaled a deep breath as he stood outside the Cary Bates Center for Mental Health. It had been recommended to him by Dante Ramon, Cisco's brother and one of the main advocates for metahuman rights in the city. In the aftermath of Zoom's attack, everything Dante had endured, including being kidnapped and replaced by a copy of himself, had finally hit him. He had been suffering greatly from nightmares and paranoia, and had kept a Doppelsensor on him at all times, to the point of visibly carrying it in his hand constantly.

Cisco, with Barry's help, sought to find help for brother in name of their reconciliation. So, they heavily donated to the Cary Bates Center in their recent initiatives for metahuman-related mental health concerns. Thanks to that donation and heavy public support, research had begun into this new area of psychological treatment.

While Eddie's issues didn't quite relate to metahumans and were actually applicable to more 'normal' psychological issues, it did come about as a result of a metahuman attack. Combined with his prior history with metahumans such as the Flash (who still made him scowl), it was determined that it was best if he began attending counseling before his reinstatement. Once his therapist cleared him, he was free to stop, though he would be required to go through a periodic check every three months for the next two years. A recent policy implemented in the wake of the aftermath of Zoom's attack — Eddie hadn't been the only one to suffer issues after that incident.

Hence, his presence here. After making the necessary arrangements, he had been given the address to the center and asked to begin treatment in preparation for his return to the precinct. All the arrangements had already been made by the department after he confirmed his decision to return to the force to Singh. He had just been given a time to appear and a phone number to reschedule in case of an emergency came up.

Eddie had to admit, it was a bit daunting. While people were a lot more tolerant about mental health issues, there was still a lot of stigma around treatment. Growing up with a politician father obsessed with the media's perception, Eddie had been constantly told all his life to swallow any complaints he had be things and to never make a nuisance of himself. To suppress his feelings, smile, and not make his parents look bad. That's all he was ever good for; an ornament to decorate the family's evermore elaborate tree.

It was surprising that his father hadn't used some kind of pull to get him out of this. But mental health was becoming one of those major hot button issues and his father needed to be seen at least somewhat progressive. He couldn't be too conservative if he wanted to appeal to younger voters, especially as a politician on the west coast. If he wanted that state senator seat, he needed to be decisive on some of those issues instead of taking central positions in hopes of not offending anyone. Having a son willingly attend therapy after a traumatic experience only made it easier to choose what issue that would be.

The idea of his issues, his plights, being used by his father to bolster the man's political reputation was galling. Eddie was tempted to drive home just to tell him off right now. But that wouldn't stop his father from using him anyway, and Eddie wouldn't put it past Hugo to use his influence to deal out some retaliation in return for such a thing. The only reason he wouldn't would be the optics, but Hugo could be patient. Even if Eddie didn't pay today, he could always pay later. And that's if Hugo didn't decide to go after someone Eddie cared about instead.

So Eddie did the only thing he could do — suck it up and move on with his life. Ignore his dad when he could, and put up with him when he couldn't. Hugo would go back to ignoring him anyway once the election was over, win or lose. At least until the next election cycle anyway.

(God willing, Hugo will lose. The loss of face meant a stumbling block toward his 'road' to the White House. Eddie didn't want Secret Service agents trailing after him all his life.)

Hey guys? Been a while. Sorry, I kind forgot to drop this chapter thanks to the chaos surrounding the new job and being busy with helping Arlyss work through Perils and stuff like that. Now that Perils is on permanent hiatus, however, I've been feeling the draw back to this story, and I've finally managed to work through most of the block I've had on it. I'm already done with planning the first three acts, and have two more to go. Once that's all done, I can begin writing again, though it may take some time to get used to writing myself again. Even though I don't have a follow up chapter after this, I figured I'd upload it to soothe ache of what happened to Perils.

As for this chapter, it's a bit of boring chapter, but necessary in order to move the plot forward. Don't worry — you'll get to see what happened with Julia soon enough. Once I get to writing again, at least.

In other news, I've also decided to disable anonymous commenting on this story for the AO3 readers. I'm sorry about that, but Arlyss has told me the Olicity trolls are acting up again, and after my last experience with a troll, I don't have the patience for that right now. This is just a precaution so we don't have any toxic bickering on my stories, like I did with some of the earlier chapters of ODAT.

Well, that's all I have for now. If you have constructive criticism or just want to leave a short review, you're welcome to (flames will be deleted, obviously), and please update the TV Tropes page!