If you follow my other stories, I'm genuinely sorry that I have been updating in the middle of the week rather than on weekends. My bad, I'm just feeling really overwhelmed lately.
But you guys don't care, so I'm going to just get with it.
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Cities were always supposed to be quieter at night. Dick had learned this in the circus, when the train would travel from town to town. The melody of the metal wheels scraping the tracks often lulled him to sleep, because other than that, all was quiet. There was no one up and about, no one to disturb the almost peace, nothing. The family of acrobats could sleep soundly in the amazement that was quiet.
However, Gotham was always a different story. People would scream at night, when the Grayson family was laying down for bed after an exhilarating performance, interrupting the otherwise silence. Police sirens were the music people accustomed to the city listened to, and the streets reeked of death and fear. It was almost impossible to get a peaceful night's sleep in this place.
And yet, Dick grew to love Gotham like a small home town that he hadn't actually come from.
He wandered her streets, inhaling the smog that had come to rest in the deepest crevices of the city, smelling the blood and pollution. He heard the police sirens, and almost wondered whether he should abandoned Selina's "No Heroing" rule just this once.
He quickly tossed the idea aside, however, remembering Selina's punishment threat, and having no doubt she was a woman of her word.
The sky was barely visible from the streets below the layer of filthy air. No, one had to be at the top of Wayne Enterprises to even get a glimpse of the moon and stars. Civilians didn't know what they were missing out on, people who didn't have the privilege of flying to the top of the building and just gazing at the beautiful night sky. However, that was another of Selina's rules. Don't go where Batman can find you.
Going to Wayne Enterprises would be like ding dong ditching Batman. Just stupid.
Sighing, Dick continued walking. Blending in with the Friday night crowd of dressed up (or dressed down, for few of these women were wearing the appropriate amount of clothing) girls and guys fresh from payday and just waiting to take someone home for the night. He wore normal clothes for a boy of fourteen: a light blue hoodie with the hood up, a white tank top underneath, black skinny jeans, and a pair of black Converse.
His head bent downward, knowing facial recognition software was literally everywhere in this city, and just looking in the wrong direction could alert Batman exactly where he was.
Don't get him wrong, Dick wanted to go home. He wanted to go home so badly he could taste the temptation to run on his tongue, and feel it churn his stomach with anticipation that would be wasted. He wanted to go home, but he could not. Well, he wouldn't, anyway. He kind of liked living with Selina, she was good company. He imagined it like living with an older version of Artemis, except way more sexual.
What was stopping him from going home?
The freedom.
Selina didn't care what he did, as long as it didn't interfere with her 'plan'. And Dick knew she would do him no harm, he was like a stepchild to her. No severe harm, anyways. Maybe a few bruises here and there, but nothing to substantial. And he liked being able to do what he wanted without having to ask permission, or wear a tracker. As long as he was home before bed he was golden.
And the break.
The break from crime-fighting was much needed, and so welcome. It was different here, because Selina forced it, but didn't place him under house arrest. Bruce would confine him to the Manor, after running several tests and trying to detox him from the drugs Ivy pumped into him. He'd get all that treatment, later. Right now, he just wanted to relax. He knew how to get home, and Selina knew this too.
Catwoman was a lot smarter than most gave her credit for. She knew exactly what would happen when Dick went home. Bruce would flip it, ask why Dick didn't come home immediately, and then Dick would be in serious trouble and probably on probation. Selina would be Dick's scapegoat, because she knew he needed this.
And Bruce couldn't hurt her. He really couldn't, even if he wanted to. Their little thing they have going on gets in his way and he always goes easier on her, hence her rarely ever being imprisoned.
Dick had to admit, it was a clever plan. And he seriously owed Selina a couple by now.
He watched colorful shoes pass by, contemplating when to go home, what to say, what Batman was doing without him. Snippets of conversations made it to his ears. Apparently Becky was going to meet them there in five, and Rick would totally love this outfit, and GIRL you look fantastic.
A small smirk appeared on Dick's features. People were an odd breed, indeed.
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"What is it you want, Ivy?" Batman asked, sitting calmly across the metal table from the over-enthusiastic gardener. The room they sat in was bland, a single hanging light from the ceiling and leaving the concrete corners of the room bathed in shadows. A green clad girl sat in wait in the corner, a small crossbow with a high enough electric shock to stun an elephant pointed at Poison Ivy's back.
And the interrogation wasn't going well.
"I want to be able to go free," Ivy said, the smirk on her face making Batman narrow his eyes in frustration. She had her arms crossed on the table before her, leaning forward as though taunting him, testing his patience with every bat of her eyelashes.
"That's not going to happen." Batman said firmly, his muscles squeezing and clenching furiously under the table. He could feel his blood rushing through his entire body, heating rapidly and boiling under the surface of his skin. "Tell me what happened and I might consider not hurting you." His voice had become a growl at some point, rumbling low in his throat and deep in his chest.
"Ohh, so violent," she crooned. She leaned even further in, pushing her chest in between her arms, enlarging her breasts and then dangling them in front of Batman. "Kinky."
Unfortunately for her, Batman was never in the mood for this nonsense, especially not right now.
"Batman," Artemis said quietly, jerking her head ever so slightly towards the side, the large metal door.
Getting up, he walked over, following the teen into the hallways of Gotham PD. The hallway was dark and dreary, a few tired and beat up cops were scuffling around, acting as though a couple of angry people in spandex arguing in the hallway was completely normal.
Hell, Artemis thought. It probably is.
"I have an idea." Artemis said, gently pulling her blonde hair back over her tan shoulder. She still held the crossbow in one hand, swaying it casually and insanely dangerously by her propped out hip. A cop walked by, awkwardly eyeing the weapon before scurrying on his own little way.
The Dark Knight scowled at her (which was apparently his only facial expression, by the way), waiting for her to respond.
"Let me go talk to Rosey or whatever the other one's name was." Artemis said, not quite caring when Batman corrected her by saying 'Venus'. "I can get the story out of her, trust me."
She felt, more than saw, Batman's gaze leave her body, traveling around the room. Robin did the same thing when he thought things over. Behind the whites of his mask, his unseen eyes would roam around the room, focusing on random objects and then finding something new to keep his face busy while his mind was elsewhere.
Artemis narrowed her eyes impatiently. "So I'm going to do that, you can either watch or continue talking to Ivy." She said, walking away while putting her crossbow back into its little pouch on her belt.
"Artemis," Batman growled, intercepting her path down the hall. She glared at him, ferocity in her eyes sparkling bright. "What is this plan?" he asked, gripping her forearm like a vice.
"Ow." Artemis said blandly. She pulled on her arm, but Batman's rubber coated gloves pulled on her soft, tan flesh. "I'm going to go talk to her, you'll see."
"I don't like surprises." He tightened his grip, nearly cutting off all circulation in Artemis' right arm.
The blond scowled, noticing the large amounts of cops waiting around, waiting for her next move. It was a rare occasion a new girl would stand up to the Batman. "You'll get over it." She ground out through clenched teeth.
She slapped her hand against Batman's wrist, forcing his fingers apart and striding away. He was left frowning after her, angry and bitter, and wondering what the hell just happened.
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Okay, first of all, sorry about the late update. The only reason I'm updating now is probably because of that large Midwestern snowstorm and I've been out of school for two days now. So I finally got the chance to actually finish the stupid chapter.
Also, I'm sorry for the fact that this chapter sucks. I honestly hate this chapter, but I've altered it and altered it and it's like ugggggghhhh I give up. It usually takes me a day. I've been writing this for a week and it's still ehh.
Also, I'm sorry that I've kind of lost sight of where I was going to go with this. I had it all planned out at one point, I promise. But I seem to have lost the document I had it on, and I literally have the worst memory in the entire history of mankind so I'm kind of lost and at this point am simply trying to provide you with small snipets without committing to something because I get scared and I don't know what I'm trying to do anymore. So if you have any guesses as to where I was going, seriously, let me know. It would help so much.
Anyway, last week's episode review. I've grown less than okay with all these episode reviews, but it's cool. I'm getting back on it. I FREAKING LOVED IT. Honestly, I'd been waiting for such a long time to see one of the Bat children use some detective skills, because we have had literally NO bat-family love recently, and it kills me. Plus, I love it that Dick was clearly all protective when (I'm guessing anyway, because this hasn't actually been confirmed yet. Though I'd assume it's rather obvious) he figured out Blue lied to him and the Team really was taken and he obviously had something to do with it.
I am very excited about the episode on Saturday, because I want to know how they get the Team back and it will be a good time. And also, I want to know how Nightwing will deal with Blue Beetle, how Aqualad and Artemis are faring. I really hope they don't cancel the show, simply because I miss how the Team used to be. If you remember correctly, I said when Invasion started I wouldn't like it. And while I have enjoyed it, I think that the Team has just a little bit too much on their plate. Now I'm not saying it's bad, but I feel like we can't narrow in on our characters anymore and I miss that. Because I feel like I don't know the characters anymore and that depresses me. If they do get the Season 3, I seriously hope they can get back to the way Season 1 was, where they had episodes dedicated to certain characters.
Despite how they never really developed the characters I specifically wanted them to, I do like the fact that now I know a lot more characters than I did when the series started. And I wish they'd get back to that. Anywho, really liked the episode. Tell me your own thoughts on my little rant in a review or something. Again, sorry about everything.