A/N: please excuse the profanity; I try not to use it as much as possible, but I feel like I've got a scene here that just absolutely warrants it. (24 pages, anyone else think I've overdone it…again?)
Friday 15th of June
1:37pm
"So what, did daddy-bats ground her or something? I mean, c'mon!" Wally threw his hands up in the air.
"Tch. He's tripled security around the manor, put a tail on her every where she goes, and he's got Red Arrow as her unseen body-guard. But no, she's not grounded or under house arrest or anything. Actually…she's been avoiding everyone, even Alfred…" Dick said, pausing at the computer in the mountain base.
"Why would she be avoiding us?" Megan asked, hurt, lowering her pompoms; she had to practice for the tryouts for next year.
Dick made the mistake of glancing towards Kaldur.
"Wait, is she avoiding us?" Conner narrowed his eyes "Or—"
"Kaldur, what did you say to Cailan the other day?" Wally questioned, trying to sound casual.
"I do not believe that has any bearing on our team or our mission," the teen replied evenly, sounding as if he meant it.
"Don't go ragging on Kaldur just because the high school princess got her panties in a bunch. Why is it his fault?"
"Well, did you go and talk to her after her high school heart throb got set on fire?" Wally demanded, leaping to his feet.
"Hah, heart throb? Dude, the guy was strung out on poison for over six months."
"We caught her making out with him in the hallway,Rob." Wally sneered; Dick clenched his teeth.
"Wally!" Megan scolded, glancing towards Conner carefully.
"Still not seeing why you're once again turning against our leader." Artemis interjected.
"Hey, that's not fair either. We were ALL mad at him because we didn't understand," Conner said, putting down the wrench he was using for a manual adjustment to Sphere.
"Not to mention, Ms. Archer, your visit to Wayne manor." Dick said, not attacking but reminding.
"Wait, when did you go—why did you go—" Wally started.
"You went to visit Calie?" Megan said, hope dripping over her voice.
"What did you say to her?" Kaldur asked, mildly surprised.
"Well what did you say to her?" Artemis demanded, glaring around the room.
Kaldur closed his eyes and, turning his back on them began laughing.
"What did I tell you." Conner said, shaking his head and resuming his adjustments to Sphere. "She's been the second worst thing to happen to the team."
"I told her I knew she was lying to me and I did not like it." Kaldur chuckled, seemingly ignoring what Conner had said.
"Tch." Artemis scoffed. "Knew it."
"…she wouldn't do that," Wally said, looking quickly from Kaldur to Dick.
"What would you do to stay with your family Wally?" Dick asked. He wasn't smiling anymore.
"B-But, you can't lie to—I mean, you just don't lie to your team!" Wally protested.
"Family," Conner corrected him nonchalantly.
"I wasn't aware there was too much of a difference!" Wally shouted, getting pretty well riled up by now; Dick saw Artemis flinch and look away quickly.
"What exactly is she lying about Kaldur?" Megan asked, sitting down. "I mean, maybe it's not what it seems like,"
"Do you really believe that Joker's crew would set someone she knew on fire just outside of the one place she spends all her time, because he had some issues paying them back? No, my friend. If it was an issue of money Joker simply would have stolen it from somewhere else and killed Jake to make a point." Kaldur shook his head.
"That's what Batman thinks too," Dick said, going back to his computer, despite not really working on anything.
"They know she knows us?" Wally asked. "How could that even be possible—we would have known if someone was watching us or following us."
"Then why didn't they beat her or something?" Artemis asked, again interjecting herself into the conversation.
"Fear is a much stronger tool." Kaldur replied. "They set Jake on fire to send a message."
"So why would she not tell us this?" Megan asked, looking hurt; she looked up to Cailan, in a way.
"Because she's smart." Dick turned in his chair to explain. "She tells the League that they know she could rat us out and what do you think is going to happen? They'll move her off into some remote location with a new name. It'd be like witness-protection times ten. She couldn't see us, couldn't dance, couldn't even use her own name."
"I'd consider that selfish, not smart," Conner furrowed his brow.
"Maybe." Dick shrugged. "But, she just wants to stay with us,"
"At our expense?" Artemis growled. "No."
"Ar-Artemis, Artemis wait!" Dick stood, too late.
"Not happening," the blond said, just in front of the transport.
"Wally stop—"
Artemis jumped through the portal.
"—her… Crap. Bruce is gonna kill me."
…
1:40pm
"Hey,"
Cailan looked up, her hair hanging limply in her face, heavy with sweat.
"What, you think it's funny to play with our lives?" Artemis growled, stalking towards Cailan across the rehearsal floor.
"You can't be in here!" Jennifer said, looking around and motioning for 'security' to come and collect the intruder.
"I can't believe you. Ya know, you almost had me going the other night. You almost made me believe all the bull you've been feeding us,"
"You need to leave. Now. I will NOT have you harassing my dancers!" Demitri growled, grabbing Artemis' arm and wheeling her around to face his own livid face.
"I've got some business with Ms. Leal." The girl sneered, tearing her arm from his grasp.
"Demitri I'm so sorry," Cailan said, her eyes widened in surprise. "I'll—we—we'll…"
"Outside." He growled, pointing to the door.
"Don't touch me!" Artemis nearly screamed, reeling away from Cailan who'd tried to 'gently' push her towards the door.
"What the hell was that!" Cailan demanded, nearly out of breath from tension.
"I'm sick and tired of you. You're a lying, conning, manipulative…brat!" Artemis erupted as the girls burst from the building via a side door.
"Me? Hah look who's calling the kettle black! I can see the lie in your eyes so don't go preaching to me about lying,"
"You…ohoh you've got some nerve I otta—"
"Pfft what're you gonna do, hit me? I'm trembling at that threat, kid," Cailan said, her body very near shaking with anger.
"Kid?" Artemis exploded, stuttering in anger, her eyes bugging with irritation. "KID? You've got no idea who the hell you're talking to! I've been through more and done more than you could ever even think of!"
"I don't give a damn what you've done Artemis. You use it as an excuse to act moody and be rude to everyone and anyone you come across. Whatever pain you've gone through serves as nothing more than a perversion to suit your unquenchable anger!"
"Pain, my pain—you know nothing about me! How dare you say that—"
"I don't have to know anything about you! You've gotta attitude problem a mile high and you take it out on everyone around you—"
"Oh, as opposed to what? To stringing everyone along in some little game so that you can get your kicks messing up our family too?"
"Just what the hell does that mean? Last I checked you were the ones who—" Cailan returned, ready to fight now.
"Don't put this on us like it's all our fault you can't think outside of your own selfish idiocies! You got yourself into this mess and like hell am I gonna let you bring my family down with you!"
"Selfish idiocies—you're freaking kidding me! I spent seven years of my life taking care of a kid I hardly knew; I gave up everything to—" Cailan was flustered, trying to keep her head and argue logically back.
"You gave up everything? Like hell you did. The only reason you had to take care of her was 'cause you kidnapped her in the first place; if you had just left well enough alone and stayed put—" Artemis rolled her eyes and fumed.
Cailan let out a huff of breath. "Do not talk to me like I'm a little kid who made a jump decision after panicking." Her voice was low and surprisingly even, turning her back on Artemis as if she was ending the argument.
"Tch. C'mon princess; you don't know what it's like to—"
"Stop. Calling. Me. PRINCESS!" Cailan exploded, her voice rising as she wheeled on Artemis. "You think groveling in the streets of the Narrows in rags, stealing to give a crying kid something to keep her stomach from hurting AS MUCH is the life of a princess? You think I liked putting on a plastic face, walking around high school while guys looked at me like another score?"
"Don't—" Artemis started.
"Or how about watching your parents die right in front of you, huh Artemis?"
…
"Wait, what just happened?" Conner asked looking to the others.
"We gotta go get her back," Dick said, grabbing his coat and his shades. "Wally where did she go?"
"Gotham City exit!"
"Kaldur, c'mon," Dick paused at the portal, looking back to his leader. With an apprehensive nod and a final glance to the control center, he followed. When they came out in the phone booth it was a quick run around the corner to the rehearsal gym.
"Crap!" Wally punched the air.
"Too late…" Dick winced.
The five had a front row view to the blond and the copper headed girls going at it; however, they were still at a distance great enough to cause the scene to be pantomime.
"We need to stop them," Megan said, remembering herself and quickly sliding into her human skin.
"Right," Dick said, carefully edging his way closer so as not to draw the girls' attention.
"Do not talk to me like I'm a little kid who made a jump decision after panicking." They heard Cailan dimly, her voice angry as she began turning away.
"Tch. C'mon princess; you don't know what it's like to—" They watched Artemis, her face carrying a disgusted look, shake her head in mock of the girl she was arguing with.
"Stop. Calling. Me. PRINCESS! You think groveling in the streets of the Narrows in rags, stealing to give a crying kid something to keep her stomach from hurting AS MUCH is the life of a princess? You think I liked putting on a plastic face, walking around high school while guys looked at me like another score?" they listened as Cailan blew up at Artemis, finally losing her head.
"Don't—" Artemis started.
"Or how about watching your parents die right in front of you, huh Artemis?"
By the time Cailan had blurted this out, unthinking, the whole of her 'family' was within ear shot, close enough now that Wally could have zipped by in a second and snatched Artemis away and ended the fight right then and there.
"Well! Does that make me a princess, huh? Watching all I had go down in a second—a fiery crash destroyed everything, my family, my life, my future, and that makes me some sort of idolized princess?" Cailan scoffed, her voice wavering.
Artemis stood there, stunned and suddenly regretting some of the things she'd said. "I—I didn't mean—I'm sorry about—"
Cailan was about two strides from Artemis and she closed the distance remarkably fast. The blond wasn't expecting the slap to the face and she stood there, shocked out of her mind, her eyes wide as her hand went to her face.
"You're lucky it wasn't a fist," Cailan said, glaring, swallowing hard.
"…Cailan, Artemis!" Dick finally yelled, realizing it'd gone too far.
Except, it wasn't over.
…
Artemis stood there for a moment, shocked at what'd just happened. Cailan had hit her. She hadn't thought the princess had the nerve.
"You little bitch," Artemis hissed.
"What the hell did you expect?" Cailan rounded on her furiously bewildered, ignoring the others. "You come here and start something with me, making a scene in front of Demitri and my troupe and then act as if you're sorry for the whole thing?"
"Oh you deserve much more than that," Artemis started balling her hand into a fist.
"Uh, guys," Dick said, trying to step between them.
"Dick stay out of this," Artemis growled, pushing him from between the girls.
"Maybe you should back off and not tell him what to do," Cailan shoved Artemis back.
"Hey!" Dick said, again stepping forward.
"Don't you tell me what to do!" Artemis gave her a nasty push in return, causing her to stumble backwards.
"Should we maybe—" Megan said, looking at Kaldur and Conner—who seemed to be enjoying himself, a little bit.
"Or what, gonna go rogue and—"
"I don't go rogue—Dick and I stuck it out together and saved our team. I had a chance to run and I stayed!"
"Girls—"
"Which is why you took off here to attack me for absolutely no reason?" Cailan hissed, her own eyes locked onto Artemis.
This did give Artemis pause; she'd ignored Dick—though, to be honest, it wasn't as if he had much (any) authority over her at all. In this pause she took a breath and glanced around.
"No," a snarl curled up her lip and she settled back smugly, her shoulders pulling back relaxed. "Not for 'no reason.'"
"Then what," Cailan's voice was so low it was almost unrecognizable, her hands clenched so hard it looked like the bones were sheering through her skin.
"Why the hell are you playing with our lives?"
Cailan let out her breath in a hiss and ran a hand furiously through her hair. "ARGH! Would you get off of this! Just how am I playing with your lives?"
"…you really did lie…" Wally answered before Artemis had a chance to open her mouth.
Cailan furrowed her brow further and looked at him.
"And…this isn't the first one, is it?" he demanded, looking at her with disbelief.
"Hey, Wally," she said, her voice still cold. "When, exactly, was the last time you asked me anything about my past?"
The silence that lingered among the seven was brutal. It was as if Ice was radiating off of Cailan's shoulders towards them, pushing them away.
"And Joker's goons?" Conner questioned, his face set like stone.
Cailan went ridged, her entire body as unmoving as a mountain face. However, she said nothing. More moments passed uneasily between them, the two girls breathing hard.
"Taking time to fabricate your answer?"
"I've already been over my answer with Gotham police and… If Dick wanted to he could find the paperwork and everything." Cailan retorted, her voice still cold and stale.
"…'my answer'…?" Wally demanded, getting angry again.
"What?" Cailan shook her head, not understanding.
"You said 'my answer' not 'the truth' or 'what happened', but 'my answer'."
"…what's your point?" Conner asked, now confused.
"Most of the time, when people are telling someone what happened after a natural disaster—" Wally started.
"—or something like a bank-robbery or assault, they say 'that's what happened,' or 'that's what I saw' or even 'yes, that's the truth'." Dick finished.
"But that's not what Cailan said…" Conner looked to the girl now.
"No. It isn't" Artemis growled.
"Now you're getting on my case for how I speak?" Cailan returned the girl's glare, not ready to back down from Artemis' challenge.
"It's not how you speak Cailan," Dick said, shaking his head. "It's in the natural word-patterns that the most people use after a traumatic event."
"So, obviously I'm lying?" Cailan spat out.
"We're your friends Cailan," Megan tried reaching out to the girl.
"Yeah, lotta good that's done me so far, huh," the elder said before she realized who she was talking to, taking a step back and away from all of them. "I think you need to leave now,"
"Cailan," she tried again.
Cailan knew it would take more than that for the Martian to give up. "Get back to your clubhouse. Go back to the Intel that your mentors spoon feed you. I've got a rehearsal to get back to."
"That was uncalled for," it was the first time Kaldur had spoken and he caught them all off guard. "Artemis, it was…ill-advised to burst in on Cailan in such a public manner; it will not happen again. We need to get back to…base-ics."
He motioned with his eyes towards the main entrance—around a corner.
"Yeah. Guess our project does need some tuning-up," Wally said sourly, the first to turn and go.
Conner placed his arm around Megan's shoulders and led her after Wally; Artemis stalked off, having gotten not the last bit of scolding she was going to get. Dick glanced from Kaldur (who was staring straight ahead at Cailan with an unplacable look on his face) to Cailan who was glaring at the ground with enough anger fit to kill.
"I know you didn't mean that…" the boy said quietly "And I'm not mad at you either…just…be careful."
From the corner of her eye she watched him go, dreading his leaving with every step he took away. Then she was alone with Kaldur.
…
1:53pm
Kaldur sighed sadly and stepped forward until they were mere inches apart. "You still do not trust me?"
"It has nothing to do with trust—"
"No, Cailan. It has everything to do with trust." He interrupted her. "Not the trust that my team and I deal with; this is the kind of trust two people need for a relationship to work."
He watched her grind her teeth and fidget, her body still ridged. "It isn't as if you asked."
"I know what you are doing," he said, his voice still soft.
"What am I doing?" she said, trying to dig the wounds further.
"Cailan, I have told you before," a small smile came to his lips. "Atlantian skin is quite dense. It would not matter, even if it was not. You are trying to push everyone away, are you not?"
Her eyes shot up to him, surprised. She blinked quickly, startled at his accusation. He closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. She remained ridged and unresponsive, letting him pull her closely to himself. He smelled like…earthly-newness, like a breeze that had just kissed the sea.
"I know you are getting ready to run again." he said, holding her tightly. "I am sure you could find a way to disappear more completely than the League could."
He pulled her still tighter, nearly lifting her from the ground as he pulled her up, nuzzling into her little neck. "And I understand why you would. Sometimes, to keep what you love the most, you have to be able to let it go—"
Cailan's eyes shot open and she struggled, getting her body arms-distance away from him. Her eyes were wide as she demanded how he knew that.
He blinked at her, not sure what she was talking about. "H-How do you know that?"
"Perhaps…I—I read it or—" he stopped at her shaking her head.
"Now, my little dancing-princess," he chuckled at her, picking her up and swinging her into his arms. "You've got to set the little guy free,"
"But…papa…" the little girl pouted looking down at the small bird that was nestled into a towel under a gentle light in her little shoe-box. "he's my friend, I love him."
"Ahw, sweetie," he said, his whiskers tickling her cheek, making her giggle "sometimes…sometimes to keep what you love the most, you have to be able to let it go, otherwise, how do you know it loves you back?"
"N-No…not that way…not those words…m-my dad told me that…" she looked up at him, her eyes filling quickly with tears.
He fumbled with his words, unsure what to tell her. What if he was actually wrong, what if his memories were true, and it had been Tula he'd given the anklet to? But Cailan's reaction…how could that scenario possibly be?
"…a long time ago I met a friend, one day at the beach. When we had to part ways, she told me not to worry, that…that if I loved her, we'd always be friends,"
Her eyes widened and she tried harder to push herself away from him, but he wasn't having that. "Kaldur'Ahm that isn't funny," she whimpered, now struggling desperately to get out of his grasp. "Please…don't mess with me…"
"She told me that 'sometimes to keep what you love the most, you have to be able to let it go, otherwise, how do you know it loves you back?'"
"I didn't mention that part of the story…" she whispered, her struggle with him finished (though it was reflected in her glinting eyes).
"I know." He said, looking to the side and bracing himself for whatever reaction might head his way.
"Then…you…b-but—no, wh—how…" her eyes were searching his face frantically, her mind unable to articulate her emotions into words. "W-Why…why didn't you say something sooner?"
She finally choked out a question, her voice hardly audible, even though he was only inches away from her.
"You said you remembered your parents giving it to you, the first time we met. Your anklet, I mean. You said that they had given it to you, and after learning what happened, I assumed it must have been just before they died. I did not want to take that memory away from you."
"No," she shook her head at him again. "No, I said I liked to think they had given it to me. Kaldur…I didn't want that story to be true,"
It was his turn for his gaze to snap up, surprised. "What…I do not understand,"
"I drove myself crazy over that little boy by the sea. No one else had seen you, not one person at those lake houses had seen you, except me. Do you know how many times I went back to that god-forsaken beach, looking for that little boy? Each time I looked back at the road I was sick to my stomach…" her body suddenly started to go slack, her shoulders relaxing to a defeated slouch. "…it was you…"
"I—I am sorry to have caused you so much distress," Kaldur misunderstood her and bristled, feeling accused and rather berated.
"I don't want to leave you again," he wasn't expecting her to throw herself forward like she did.
He wasn't expecting her arms to cling around his waist like they did. He hadn't expected her to bury her face into his chest the way she was now doing. Her body was so warm against his, so soft.
"I can't leave you again," he heard her mumble indistinctly through his shirt as she pressed her face into him.
He let his head roll back, his eyes squeezed shut. How could emotions hurt one so much? He had never dreamed things would be so hard. He held her to him hard; she could just barely breathe properly with his arms locked around her like they were. He knew they were being watched. He knew she was going to leave, either on her own or via the league, he didn't know. He wanted the most of this moment. He drank in her scent, willing his mind to remember both it and how she felt against him, how feathery her hair felt as it brushed his skin, how her eyes glinted at him in the light. Knowing they were running out of time, that it had to end, he kissed her forehead.
"Do you love me?" he asked her, almost unable to make his voice work.
She looked up at him, quizzically.
"Cailan, do you love me?"
"Yes, of course I do."
He cupped her chin and tilted her head back. "Then do not worry. I will find you again, I swear."
…
Numbness shot through her body as he kissed her. First she and Artemis have a row—just when they'd started getting along—then she goes and force-feeds herself memories about how her parents died, then she finds out that the fictional boy she'd been in love with her entire life is actually real and, oh yeah, the guy she happens to be dating, but only after her life got royally messed up (again) and she has to flee to keep them safe. Now, she had his soft, passionate lips on hers, domineering her thinking. If she had had control of her thoughts she would have been thinking that the world was cruel.
As it was, she was instead thinking about his lips and how passive-aggressive they were in his kiss. He'd never tried to dominate her; instead if he wanted something, he guided her towards the avenue he wanted and let her choose to take it.
Like now, as he kissed her. He let his teeth graze her lower lip, just enough to grab her attention, enough to make her want a little bit more. Then he let his tongue slide along her lips, ever so gently; of course her own parted for him. However, this time her body was better at reacting, or, rather, worse at doing so. She was so frazzled at all that had happened in the past twenty minutes that she was passively going along, just a step behind him.
She knew it was over when his hand slid lovingly into her hair. A second later he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.
"I promise Cailan, I will find you."
…
2:04pm
"I hope whatever you were doing was important." Demitri said rhetorically, his arms crossed over his chest, watching the other dancers.
"I'll stay and work late tonight," Cailan said, deciding she was tired of fighting for the day.
"Oh, believe, me, I know." He growled, his eyes darting to her.
…
11:09pm
"Again," Demitri ordered.
Cailan inhaled deeply and held herself upright, telling herself what she needed to do for the routine. She'd only just moved her foot out before her was yelling at her.
"No. Can you do nothing right? Again." he began pacing around her.
"How can I do it again when you haven't let me start?" she quipped, spinning around and glaring at him.
"Do not take an attitude with me. You are one of my dancers you'll do as I say if you want to stay on in my troupe. Again."
She shook her head and turned back to center stage. Rolling her shoulders back she straightened and lifted to her toes, closing her eyes. She got a little farther this time in the routine before Demitri startled her with a barking order to, once again, start over from the beginning.
"I said I would stay late to work Demitri. I didn't say I was going to stay here and get yelled at and harassed because I had to take care of something. I wasn't even gone half an hour." She grumbled, her body exhausted and her mind gnawing at her, wanting to have moments to herself to process what, exactly, she should do now.
"You still don't get it, do you?" he rolled his eyes and leaned against some equipment off to the side of the stage. "This isn't about you Cailan. It isn't about your dancing. I will be the first to admit—to proclaim—that you are a very talented girl. You've got skill and a passion that I have not recognized in many professional dancers who have made very great names for themselves over the history of ballet. You make this dance more of a will to life than just a form of moving art.
"But, this is not a solo performance. It is not even a solo ability. Your ability is great Cailan, but you alone could never make a performance, only add to it like a spice to a wonderful dish."
"I don't need a lecture, Demitri." She groaned, her shoulders dropping, her body aching. She didn't care if he was right.
"You are just one aspect to the ballet." He continued on, his voice strengthening but no longer angry. "If you are off in your moves, it affects the other dancers. Even in the chorus, where there are a multitude of girls all doing the same thing. If you are off even a fraction, you set the other girls off and skew the performance. Likewise, when you are in the spotlight, you can be perfect, but your entire performance can be ruined by one girl not knowing her place.
"Or, say the main dinner piece is too strong: it will disrupt the natural design of the rest of the dinner dishes. In the same way, a lead dancer who is too strong or too weak, possibly too conceited in her own ability can ruin a performance with a tawdry flavor, and thus ruin the other dancers reflected in her light.
"Nor can the lead ever truly play her part alone. You could not do many of the movements and leaps without a partner to support you. If you leap before he lifts, or take your time in leaping, the whole routine is knocked out of balance like too much garlic or not enough paprika."
"…I know that." She half whined, flopping down in fatigue on the stage, sitting watching him lean against the equipment. "Why are you relating all of this to food?"
He shrugged at her. "I like to cook."
His bluntness brought a smile to her face. "Demitri, I get it. I've always gotten it. Ballet is a partnership and team work. It's like all the different cogs and meshing inside of a clock. I know."
"Then tell me this, why can you not perform the routine tonight?" he asked her, raising his eyebrows, his whole continence softened like an uncle, or brother.
"Because you keep interrupting me," she laughed back, thinking she'd finally won out.
"Hm. Alright, again, from the top. And I won't interrupt."
At once feeling herself relax she eased into her performance, rolling her shoulders back and extending her leg carefully, letting her passion for dance shake loose from the sediment it had settled to in her veins. She felt as if the music were making her heart beat in her chest and let herself lull into living it.
She felt a body moving behind her and felt startled, her body returning to the rigidity of the rules of ballet. Cailan knew that this part of the chorus dance required a duet: male and female partners. She felt his hand slide around her waist and braced herself. This part of the dance was a spectacular spin where the female was lifted clear of her feet. However, the male dancer hardly supported his partner in the move. Instead, it was on the female dancer to use her male partner as a support and end the move on her own.
Cailan fell to the floor.
Demitri looked down at her, his brows arched.
"…okay. I get it." She said.
He crouched down in front of her. "This has been a growing problem in your dancing Cailan. What's on your mind?"
"Nothing." She lied. "I guess it's just…nerves getting to me. I…I think we should call it a night."
…
Tuesday 19th of June
11:13am
"Cailan you will not be on stage at all if you cannot get your head together," Demitri warned in Cailan's ear as he brushed by.
She groaned inwardly. She wanted to appear in a Gotham production almost more than anything.
Who am I kidding? I'd give this up in a heartbeat if… you're running. Nothing for it, you're running.
"Sure Demitri." She said, rolling her head back. She had a lot of work to sort out.
12:07am
"Stop he's dying!" Patches wailed, darting over to the Joker and Baal, throwing her arms over the boy.
Joker's face contorted from the maniacal smile he wore to a grotesque sneer. "That was quite rude," he said as calmly as asking for slice of apple pie while his hand slithered down and struck her across the face, sending her flying.
"Mista J don't," Harley pleaded, trying to help the younger jester-girl to stand.
Despondently, joker kicked at the boy. "I don't like not getting what I want Harley,"
Everyone shivered at his graveled growl.
"Mista J, they're just kids," the woman said shakily, holding the younger girl's shoulders firmly.
"Don't kill him Joker, please," Patches said, tearing up and sniffling as she looked at Baal, who was making his way to his hands and knees.
Joker turned back to Baal and pulled a prank-pistol, pistol-whipping him across the face and giving him a brutal kick to the ribs that crashed him into the wall. Baal started coughing and sputtering, attempting to pull breath back into his bruising lungs. He groaned, covering Patches' little cry of despair as she tore from Harley and rushed to the boy. Joker rolled his eyes at her affection.
"Oh, shut up," he sneered, lifting the pistol up.
The water-pistol shocked the cronies when it exploded in a burst of fire and smoke. Patches gave a startled grunt, her back arching as a little ball of lead entered between her shoulder blades and burst through her chest. The next moment she was crumpling to the floor, coughing. Blood dribbled through her terrible teeth.
"Alright Baal," Joker spun on his heels, dropping the trap-gun, grinning as he thought. "I've decided you've got another chance."
…
Friday 29th of June
5:30pm
"You are not getting ready?" Kaldur peered into the living room of the base to see Conner and Wally playing games, Megan cooking and Artemis nowhere to be found.
Megan paused in her work and looked at him, then sent a glance towards Conner and Wally. The two boys seemed engrossed in their game and so Megan took her cue from them and ignored Kaldur's question, going back to her cooking.
"Are you truly going to leave a friend unsupported on such a momentous occasion?" he strode to a mirror and worked on a bowtie, his eyes shifting to observe the reaction of his team and family from the corner of his eye.
"Tch, what friend?" Wally demanded, leaning furiously towards the tv and punching buttons with his fingers fit to kill.
"I'm tired of sitting through stuffy ballets." Conner said calmly, rather bored; he was a natural at videogames, despite not having had previous knowledge of it six months ago.
"…she did lie to us Kaldur," Megan said meekly, her face betraying that part of her did in fact wish to attend.
"And she totally attacked Artemis," Wally added, then exploding at the videogame and throwing his hands up into the air.
"I believe it was the other way around, my friend." Kaldur said gravely, looking up and meeting the blond's gaze as she came through the portal, rather out of breath from darting around trying not to be seen by Dick.
"What's with the monkey suit?" she asked, arching her brow; in a moment she realized what she'd said and began trying to retract her statement. "I—uh, mean…it seems…you're…you look really, really formal…is all…"
"Robin had someone help pick it out." Kaldur said, looking himself over in the mirror in a modest appraisal. "It is for the Gotham Ballet troupe's performance tonight."
"Oh." Artemis' countenance dropped significantly, her face revealing her disapproval.
Kaldur sighed, just as Dick came through the portal, adjusting a tie like a pro as he walked along into the base. "Hey," he stated, looking up. "What's with everyone, if you don't hurry up we'll be late."
"I do not think we will be joined this time, my friend."
Dick looked around in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"
"Dude," Wally stood, dropping the gaming controller, and turning on Dick instantly. "You're kidding, right? She's been lying to us and playing us the entire time. She's used you and the Bat to get her fifteen minutes of fame. She doesn't give a damn about us so why the hell should we waste our time supporting her?"
There was a prolonged, horribly uncomfortable moment in which everyone was silent, four pairs of eyes looking at the two boys. Wally was clenching his teeth trying to keep from shaking. He didn't want to hear about Cailan, he didn't want to talk to her; he didn't want to think about her. The way things had played out between her and Kaldur, the way she'd lied, how she exploded at all of them the way she had. He…he felt like he hated her. Dick, on the other hand, felt a sense of duty towards Cailan. Having her live at the manner…he had been able to get a bit of his childhood back—not that becoming Robin had been bad or anything like that. But, having an older sister from time to time had let him be a little brother. He hadn't really felt that sense of family since his parents…
"Wally—"
"Don't start with me Kaldur." Wally rounded on him now. "No. I'm not going. She doesn't deserve it."
"I understand that you—"
"No, no you don't Kal. You really don't. You don't know what it's like to have someone you care about stolen right out from under your nose. Or, that same said person to turn on you and accuse you of things you'd never even allowed yourself to think of considering. Or for that person to lie straight to your face with the smile of a friend right on her face. No, don't tell me you know all about it Kaldur."
"…brilliant speech…" Artemis muttered a littler tersely under her breath. Only Conner heard her.
"Alright," Kaldur said, inclining his head and putting up his hands. He didn't mention that he did in fact know what it was like to have someone he loved 'stolen' right out from before him, nor did he mention that he did know what it was like to have Cailan lie to his face. He was not going to fight with Wally; they were family.
"Wally," Dick placed his hand on Wally's shoulder, having closed the distance silently. "…she's leaving."
…
"…" Wally whirled around and started at Dick, his mouth hanging open, his freckles standing out from his suddenly pale face.
"I mean…she didn't plan it that way or anything…" Dick glanced around the room. "…but, when Artemis, uh, started an argument, it gave her a good excuse to make us angry."
"What the—dude, stop trying to cover for her."
"He's not covering Artemis," Megan said, bowing her head down and folding her hands over her lap, her shoulders up around her ears.
"What do you know," Artemis demanded slowly.
Megan went Caucasian, very, very, pale Caucasian, and shifted on her feet. "Well…I didn't mean to but…I couldn't help it. I was just so upset I—I…I read her mind…"
"Artemis just gave her the ammunition she needed." Dick continued. "She said all that junk so that when she disappeared we wouldn't be devastated or upset or go looking for her or whatever."
"If she was leaving we'd know," Artemis said, glaring.
"No. Even if she was going into protective custody through the League, they wouldn't tell us where she was."
"What do you mean if?" Wally asked, turning back to Dick.
"She wasn't going to the League," Kaldur said, slipping his hands into his pockets, looking dignified to the utmost as he did so. "Cailan managed to disappear in her home city when she was a child, disappear for about eight years without anyone having a clue as to where she'd gone. Now that she is eighteen, do you think she will have a more difficult time doing so?"
"But the league—"
"No Conner. Even the League has protocols they must follow, even they could not make her fully disappear into oblivion the way that she could do for herself."
"Not to mention that Dick couldn't hack the equipment, and figure out where she was so that we could find her," Megan piped up.
"Hey, I resent that," Dick said, trying to hide a rather proud smirk.
There was another uncomfortable silence between the team.
"So…" Artemis started, shuffling irritably.
"You played right into her hands," Dick said happily, grinning around at his family. "Well, Kaldur and I are taking the limo."
"Give me another moment," Kaldur said, taking a step back.
Each member was allowed a room, despite the fact that they weren't all used very much throughout the weeks.
"C'mon, you look fine."Dick groaned, rolling his eyes.
"It is not my appearance Dick," Kaldur smiled. "One moment."
…
"Well, you see, we need you to do us a favor." Baal grinned, his teeth barred through his ugly lips, the smoke from her cigarette (now in his mouth) sifting through those barred teeth.
"One that's, non-negotiable." He continued, still spattered with Patches' blood, Hyena and Jack slowly pressing forward towards her, one's fangs dripping putrid saliva, the other's eyes glowering with fire straight from hell.
Jenifer pushed as deeply back into her couch as she could, shaking out of her skin. "Fine, you want her gift-wrapped too? I'll do whatever you like,"
…
6:55pm
The lights dimmed out twice, signaling the warning of five minutes until the curtain went up. Kaldur and Dick weren't even surprised when the other four came in, lead by Alfred, shifting carefully down the aisle. No one mentioned anything about it. Dick and Kaldur continued going over their pamphlets, observing the people around them, taking in the grandiose ambiance of the old, prominent theater.
"So, what did you do before we left for here?" Dick questioned under his breath; Kaldur shook his head in response.
As her rather confused friends filed into their seats, Cailan was back stage sliding into her chorus girl's costume, applying stage makeup and listening to the other stage girls twitter on about how nervous they were, or excited. There were countless 'break a leg's strewn across the dressing rooms, girls bumping into each other, changing, running around in bras and tights, their faces almost up to hooker-standard, save for the white powder skin and vibrantly pale pink lips. She used a special hook to pull the laces of her corset tight, turning in the mirror to tie them behind her back, as tight as she could. She'd gotten very used to doing costume changes herself: the ballet theater was always bustling, and it was a dog eat dog world. If she couldn't do it herself, she wasn't going to make it.
She'd just gotten her shoes laced, tapping her toes to get her slippers settled on her foot, when Julia, another one of the chorus girls, came rushing into the dressing room positively tittering with news. Not long behind her was a heavy commotion, sounding like it involved half the company.
"It's Vanessa!"
Cailan watched the girls flood out, some grabbing scarves to cover their half naked selves as they did so. She rolled her eyes and sat down, reaching for Abby's makeup. Abby always had the wrong shades, and then ended up needing to trade with someone else, or dump it on someone. It happened that Cailan's skin was the one that these shades were made for. Her summer-kissed skin had faded over the winter and her cream undertones had begun playing out, now that she spent most of her time indoors all hours of the day and night. She looked pale, but the other girls in the company seemed to think it was gorgeous anyway, despite that she hated it. And, Abby had saved her the trouble of buying more face-gunk for the performance tonight. After all, she wouldn't need it much longer.
"Cailan, c'mon!" one of the girls ducked back into the dressing room, goading her to come out and see the fun and chaos.
"I've got to get ready, Demitri will freak if everything isn't perfect tonight." Cailan said dully.
"Hah, you're not gonna matter much tonight sweetheart," the girl sneered coldly, placing her hands on her hips and settling her weight like a diva to one foot. "His little starlet has quit."
With that she marched off, hurrying over to the commotion that—as Cailan had suspected—the entire company was now a part of. It took Cailan a moment before she registered this, freezing with the brush still dusting across her cheek. Her eyes widened and she leaped from the vanity and literally ran from the room, suddenly terrified for her life.
Or, rather, her next life.
…
"You are not doing this Vanessa!" Demitri was practically screaming.
"JUST WATCH ME." she growled back, stamping her rather large ballet foot. "I'm not your play thing Demitir!"
"You will go out there tonight and you will dance until the finally of this performance. You are under contract with this troupe. I OWN YOU." Demitri's voice was so low and full of malice that Cailan shivered as she came up to the outer dregs of the ring that had formed around them.
"Oh-ho-ho just you watch me you—you—arrogant, self-asserting, hypocritical backstabbing bastar—"
"Don't you dare you little harlot. I gave you this position on your alleged skill and you're here because I've kept you going. You're going to get your butt out there and dance tonight!"
"I will not! I quit. So sue me! I've got enough time and enough money that you're stupid lawyers will spend years tangled up in any suit you bring my way!" Vanessa was nearly hysterical now. "I Will NOT go out and dance tonight, or ever again for you. YOU DON'T OWN ME."
"You will NEVER work in ballet again if you do this. Your life as you know it will be over. Do you hear me? I SAID OVER!" Demitri's voice had progressively grown louder and louder until he was roaring at her, his face red, his vocal chords straining to be seen through his skin.
"fine." She hissed at him, her eyes filled with such livid hatred that her body was almost convulsing on the spot.
Before he had any time to do more she pushed her way through the crowd, fleeing almost for her life as soon as she was clear of the bodies towards the stage door. Everyone exchanged looks; without the star… Besides, something crazy had to have happened for her to give up her career in such a way. Demitri wasn't lying. Once he was finished with a dancer, that dancer had great standing and prominence, and could be booked with ease. If Demitri placed a black mark on your name, you were less than the crap on the bottom of the shoe of a drunkard vagabond living in the streets.
The troupe had begun positively buzzing until the den was so loud that Cailan thought the audience had to have heard what was going on. Jennifer was Vanessa's understudy. Demitri was roaring for her, screaming at the stage hands and helpers to find her and bring her up to the front stage immediately.
"Sir…we can't find her…" someone finally said timidly, scuttling out of his way the second it was out of the mouth.
Demitri nearly exploded, frightening many of the dancers back into their cubby holes. They had less than five minutes by now—the performance was supposed to start promptly at seven pm. They'd already convinced the theater to delay it for a few minutes, feigning a slight technical difficulty.
Demitri was like a wild animal as he surged through the back half of the stage. The chorus girls screamed as he burst through their door.
"Oh, shut up!" he roared. "Cailan!"
She felt sick because she knew what was coming. This ruined everything. She looked up at him, having just finished her chorus makeup. "Get up!"
Demitri jerked her up by her arm and practically threw her around, tearing at the laces to her dress. "Get out of this costume and get to Vanessa's room now."
She was hastily covering her breasts and clutching the skirt of her costume to keep it from falling down. "Demitri—" she gasped, mortified and feeling her body go red.
"Shut up. Do as I say. We don't have time for this."
After that he was roaring for someone to tell the owner of the theater hall to hold off for another five minutes. Cailan fled to Vanessa's changing room and had hardly closed the door before she was tearing out her hair and letting her costume fall about her legs. Everything had to change and she had five minutes to do it and then get to the center stage. She only half remembered Vanessa's choreography, and not to mention that now she couldn't leave.
She'd planned on simply leaving in the middle of the performance. No one was going to notice one less chorus girl, in the least. However, that was out. If she left in the middle of the performance now that she was the performance, everyone would be freaking out. Everyone would notice she was gone. They'd come looking for her.
Cailan couldn't disappear if all eyes were on her.
She was almost hyperventilating. She couldn't remember the moves, her fingers were fumbling over the laces and various ties that she was supposed to be getting into. Several chorus girls had been ordered in by Demitri—most of them only half dressed and now not to be appearing in the first dance—to help with her makeup. Her cheeks felt raw from the brushes marking her over with heavy rouge, her lips felt sunburn-torn as they peeled them to get thick, greasy lip-stain coated just right, her eyes felt as if someone had cut off her eyelids while at the same time she could hardly keep them open from the weight of powder, eye-state, mascara and false lashes that had been heaped on them. Someone was grabbing her foot and forcibly shoving the proper slipper onto her foot and tying it up almost too tight only to drop it heavily and start on the other one. Other hands were tugging heartlessly at the strings she hadn't yet gotten, pulling so tight she thought she heard her ribs crack.
These girls were not happy: not to be helping, not to be out of the first dance, and certainly not that the new-be had been chosen over any one of them.
…
7:14pm
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please forgive us these technical delays. We have found another small problem with tonight's performance. If you will please look to your pamphlets, we have an adjustment to the cast for tonight's ballet. As lead, instead of Vanessa Sans, the role will be danced by the troupe's newest member, Cailan Leal." A charismatic voice sounded over the intercom.
At exactly seven fifteen the lights went off, fully silencing the murmur of the crowd, and the curtain went up.
…
After the announcement, Kaldur and the others were sitting on the edge of their seats, mostly pleasantly surprised. The curtain went up softly and the music from the live orchestra began playing in the Pit below. As the curtain rose a thin and subtle film of fog spread across the stage, around the tiny feet of one Cailan Leal.
She was trying not to tremble as she stood on one leg, poised and waiting for her cue. Everything had had to be tied beyond measure (by way of her costume) to fit her. Vanessa had a very beautiful body, one that was cured and toned to perfection—so much so that the chorus often suspected it being supplemented with silicone.
Her hair had laced silver and gemstones combed into it, a fake tiara plastered onto her head. While it throbbed painfully against her skull as if it had penetrated, she didn't feel it moving as she lifted onto the flat tip of her shoe and began to spin.
What do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do what the frickin heck to I do? She was screaming at herself, hardly daring to breathe as she tried to concentrate on what she'd seen Vanessa doing in rehearsal.
"what the hell did she do to get lead?" Artemis hissed in disbelief; she was shushed vehemently by Megan, whose eyes were hanging on Cailan's every movement.
…
9:43pm
Cailan tore back stage at the crescendo of the music. Her heart was galloping uncontrollably in her chest. If she had been chorus, now would be when she was rushing to pack up her few belongings into her bag and sneak out to the fire escape and up onto the roof of the building. Quickly she pushed those thoughts from her mind and started undressing as she walked back to the dressing room.
There should be a curtain instead of a door. It'd save time and allow for privacy, she felt the thought murmur into her head before she shook her head forcefully. She had to get ready. There was still an hour and a half until the performance was over and she could breathe again.
She tried not to like the way she looked in the regal costumes of a star. Cailan brushed another coat of rouge over her cheeks. Sweating sucked. She almost poked her eye out with the stupid mascara wand and her lips stung when she reapplied the lip-stain. She felt faint.
Just the excitement. She thought, darting back out and hurrying to stage left where she was supposed to enter and meet her partner, the borrowed Blain from the modern troupe. She didn't recall that she'd eaten almost four hours ago and hadn't had water since around that same time. How could she, with Demitri breathing down her neck, Blain groping her in the dances, and the horrible sickness she felt as she continued to go out on the stage instead of fleeing the way she'd originally intended.
"Why, hello again," Blain husked into her hear as he grabbed her up and lifted her into a leap.
She tried to ignore his hand just happening to brush over her breast. She saw Demitri's livid face as she stumbled slightly after Blain set her down. Don't let him get to you.
The audience hadn't noticed, at least, most of them probably hadn't. She reassured herself with that thought and caught herself quickly, sliding that step into the dance routine as if it were supposed to be there.
Her vision blurred for a moment and she paused, missing her cue by half a second. Demitri was going to positively kill her.
…
10:15pm
Cailan's gown was almost completely transparent, nothing but about a ton of glitter. She felt like her skin was being shredded underneath the terrible garment as she was swirling dizzyingly around stage. She passed from one set of hands to another and hated it. Her feet hadn't properly touched the ground for nearly the past ten minutes. Her legs kept getting caught in the stupid gown she was somehow supposed to dance in.
She felt ill. Demitri was going to kill her. She was going to singlehandedly bring down the Gotham Ballet Troupe in a brutal attack of fiery 'flamers', from online media to letters to the company to the highest of high critics. She was done for. She'd be a laughing stock.
What the hell does that matter, you're going to disappear anyways. No one will care if you ruined this shot because you're not going to be here one way or another! She screamed mentally at herself.
Cailan felt sick. Absolutely sick. It was getting hard to breathe now; the fog that had been at the beginning of the performance began billowing out from backstage. Cailan felt if she was to step on stage she'd be lost in it. Her mind was a whir. The air was so thick from the fake fog, it was so hot being under the stage lights and handled by men who'd body temp was through the roof from dancing, not to mention the gauze contraption she was wearing over her own rocketing body temperature and the lack of food and water—
Cailan, shut. Up! She growled angrily at herself. Quit being such a baby! This is your own fault. Isn't it want you wanted?
Isn't it what she'd wanted? To prove that she had something, that she could be someone? Perhaps, even, that her parents hadn't died in vein?
Blain grabbed her around the middle and lifted her up and spun her round. And spun her…and spun her…
He lowered and she folded her body, arching her back to hang over her shoulder, her legs in front and her arms and neck behind. Blain continued spinning around, slowly letting her slide over her shoulder in front of his own body (Kaldur took particular interest in just where he was holding Calie). In a motion Blain had set her down and flung her from himself.
Conner could easily read the looks on the faces of the rest of the dancers; they were surprised, shocked. He gauged that that hadn't been in the plan.
Cailan continued to spin after Blain had thrown her, unable to stop on a dime. So she adlibbed, having already missed the next proper move. She lifted her leg and spun on one foot, her leg out around her. In air en l' she attained Élévation on a grand jete and came back to the center where she glossed around the hands of her male accompaniments with the fog swirling around her legs and up to her torso in beautiful flourishes.
Blain took her arm and brought her into a lift; she was aware of his painful grip. Everything was off now; he was supposed to be passing her off and instead he was leaning her back; she played along and leaned back, flourishing her hands.
The ending of the performance (while late) was just as it was supposed to be. While Blain was not to be the one to do it, yet there he was, guiding her. Cailan—Blain's hand gripping her shoulder—slowly swirled down into the fog, her legs bent at ninety degrees at the knee in front and behind her, her chest lifting until she was bent back and consumed by the swirling fog.
At the utter crescendo of the music the curtain fell and the stage lights flickered off completely. All was silent as the dancers scuttled behind the curtains, waiting for their applause call.
…
The applause was too little, at least from what Cailan heard as she walked backstage away from the surging crowd of dancers who were working towards the stage. Her hand went to rest over her stomach, as if that could quench her nausea. The cast was slowly unveiled in groups; the crowed just had too much respect to boo. Demitri was going to kill her, she'd utterly failed.
"Where the hell are you going get your little butt back out there now!" Demitri hissed, grabbing her arms and whipping her around.
"I—can't" she gasped, digging her heels into floor to stop herself.
"Move!" he ordered.
Cailan had time to shake her head and swallow hard before her legs gave beneath her and she went down. Demitri swore heavily under his breath and caught her easily. He gave her a little shake, hoping to wake her. She had a performance to go to the crowd for.
"Wake up," he hissed, shaking her again. He gave her face a few gentle slaps and another, rougher, shake.
Her eyes flitted open and no sooner had they then he hauled her to her feet and practically threw her on stage to Blain. "Well, didn't know you were so eager to see me," Blain said, holding her closer than required.
It wasn't like the movies; the applause for the underdog didn't surge to a standing ovation. However, Cailan and Blain had gotten a lovely response from the audience. They didn't love this new girl with an undying love, but they most undeniably didn't hate her either.
Demitri soon strode to the center stage and waved to the audience, grinning broadly, putting his arm over Cailan and drawing her away from Blain, showing her off to the crowd.
"Kid, you just made your life worth more than all of Wayne Corp.'s enterprises." He said through his grinning, clenched teeth.